bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Advanced dendritic glucan‐derived biomaterials: From molecular structure to versatile applications
Authors: Chen Long , Zhao Ningjing , McClements David J. , Hamaker Bruce R. , Miao Ming 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThere is considerable interest in the development of advanced biomaterials with improved or novel functionality for diversified applications. Dendritic glucans, such as phytoglycogen and glycogen, are abundant biomaterials with highly branched three‐dimensional globular architectures, which endow them with unique structural and functional attributes, including small size, large specific surface area, high water solubility, low viscosity, high water retention, and the availability of numerous modifiable surface groups. Dendritic glucans can be synthesized by in vivo biocatalysis reactions using glucosyl‐1‐phosphate as a substrate, which can be obtained from plant, animal, or microbial sources. They can also be synthesized by in vitro methods using sucrose or starch as a substrate, which may be more suitable for large‐scale industrial production. The large numbers of hydroxyl groups on the surfaces of dendritic glucan provide a platform for diverse derivatizations, including nonreducing end, hydroxyl functionalization, molecular degradation, and conjugation modifications. Due to their unique physicochemical and functional attributes, dendritic glucans have been widely applied in the food, pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetic, and chemical industries. For instance, they have been used as delivery systems, adsorbents, tissue engineering scaffolds, biosensors, and bioelectronic components. This article reviews progress in the design, synthesis, and application of dendritic glucans over the past several decades.
MicroR‐9c‐5p and novel‐mir50 co‐target Akt to regulate Lasioderma serricorne reproduction
Authors: Yan Yi , Qin Dong‐Dong , Yang Hong , Xu Kang‐Kang , Li Can , Yang Wen‐Jia 
Published: June 2023

AbstractHigh fecundity is a common characteristic of insect pests which increases the difficulty of population control. Serine/threonine kinase Akt is an indispensable component of the insulin signaling pathway. Silencing of LsAkt severely hinders reproduction in Lasioderma serricorne, a stored product insect pest. However, the post‐transcriptional pathway of LsAkt in L. serricorne remains unknown. This study identified 2 binding sites of miR‐9c‐5p and novel‐mir50 in the coding sequences of LsAkt. The expression profiles of 2 microRNAs (miRNAs) and LsAkt displayed an opposite pattern during the adult stages. Luciferase reporter assay showed that novel‐mir50 and miR‐9c‐5p could downregulate the expression of LsAkt. Overexpression of miR‐9c‐5p and novel‐mir50 by injection of mimics inhibited the expression of LsAkt and reduced oviposition, decreased egg hatchability, and blocked ovarian development. It also decreased the expression of genes involved in ovarian development (LsVg and LsVgR) and the nutritional signaling pathway (LsTOR, LsS6K, and Ls4EBP), and reduced the phosphorylation of Akt. Conversely, injection of miR‐9c‐5p and novel‐mir50 inhibitors induced the expressions of LsAkt, LsVg, LsVgR, LsTOR, LsS6K, and Ls4EBP, enhanced Akt phosphorylation level, and accelerated ovarian development. Injection of bovine insulin downregulated the expression of miR‐9c‐5p and novel‐mir50 and upregulated the LsAkt expression. It also rescued the reproductive development defects associated with miR‐9c‐5p/novel‐mir50 overexpression, forming a positive regulatory loop of insulin signaling. These results indicate that miR‐9c‐5p/novel‐mir50 regulates the female reproduction of L. serricorne by targeting Akt in response to insulin signaling. The data also demonstrate the effects of the insulin/miRNA/Akt regulatory axis in insect reproduction.
Decolorization of porcine hemoglobin hydrolysates: The role of peptide characteristics and pH values
Authors: Li Qian , Zhang Longteng , Li Yan , Lametsch René 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe unpleasant color caused by heme limits the utilization of hemoglobin as a food ingredient. Enzymatic hydrolysis has been used to decolorize hemoglobin, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the decolorization efficiency of porcine hemoglobin using different enzymes and final pH values, and to elucidate their influence on decolorization. Based on higher yields and better decolorization, hemoglobin hydrolysates produced by papain, bromelain, savinase, and protease A were further studied. Compared to hydrolysates by savinase and protease A, a higher proportion of histidine‐containing peptides was responsible for better decolorization by papain and bromelain. For all hydrolysates, a moderate reduction in pH to 4.0–5.0 facilitated decolorization of the hydrolysates. Similar peptide profiles of hydrolysates from the same enzyme treatment reflected that pH mainly affected the precipitation of the heme‐containing fraction through heme–heme interaction rather than heme–peptide interaction. Overall, this study sheds light on the use of enzymatic hydrolysis to remove the heme group from hemoglobin.Practical ApplicationSlaughterhouses produce tons of protein‐rich blood each year. Due to the presence of the heme group in hemoglobin, blood has a dark red color and metallic taste, making it generally unacceptable for consumers. This study provided information on the decolorization of porcine hemoglobin by removing the heme fraction, which should facilitate the utilization of decolored hemoglobin hydrolysates as nutritional food ingredients.
Circ‐PDZD8 promotes cell growth and glutamine metabolism in non‐small cell lung cancer by enriching LARP1 via sequestering miR‐330‐5p
Authors: Zhu Xiaopeng , Du Tianxing , Chen Xi , Hu Peng 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe deregulation of circular RNA (circRNA) is widely reported in carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of circRNA‐PDZ domain containing 8 (circ‐PDZD8) in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression.MethodsThe histological structure of tissues was identified by hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining analysis. The expression levels of circ‐PDZD8, miR‐330‐5p and la ribonucleoprotein 1 (LARP1) mRNA were ascertained by qPCR. Cell counting kit‐8, colony formation, flow cytometry, and transwell assays were employed for functional analysis. Glutamine metabolism was monitored by glutamine consumption, alpha ketoglutarate (α‐KG) level and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level. A xenograft model was established to ascertain the role of circ‐PDZD8 in vivo. The putative binding relationships were verified by dual‐luciferase and RIP studies.ResultsCirc‐PDZD8 expression was highly increased in NSCLC. Circ‐PDZD8 knockdown inhibited cell growth, migratory capacity, invasiveness and glutamine metabolism but enhanced cell apoptosis in NSCLC cells. Circ‐PDZD8 blocked miR‐330‐5p expression, and miR‐330‐5p inhibition overturned the effects of circ‐PDZD8 absence. LARP1 targeted by miR‐330‐5p, and miR‐330‐5p upregulation‐impaired cell growth, motility and glutamine metabolism were recovered by LARP1 overexpression. Circ‐PDZD8 knockdown was also shown to impede solid tumor growth.ConclusionCirc‐PDZD8 promotes NSCLC cell growth and glutamine metabolism by increasing LARP1 via competitively targeting miR‐330‐5p.
Trends in alcohol‐related liver disease mortality in Australia: An age–period–cohort perspective
Authors: Livingston Michael , Room Robin , Chikritzhs Tanya , Taylor Nicholas , Yuen Wing See , Dietze Paul 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackground and AimsThere have been few systematic attempts to examine how alcohol‐related mortality has changed in Australia, and no studies that have explored cohort effects in alcohol‐related mortality. This study uses more than 50 years of data to measure age, period and cohort trends in alcohol‐related liver disease (ALD) mortality.Design, Setting and CasesThis was a retrospective age–period–cohort analysis of total Australian ALD mortality data from 1968 to 2020 in Australia. There was a total of 35 822 deaths—27 208 men (76%) and 8614 women (24%).MeasurementsDeaths from ALD were grouped into 5‐year age groups and periods (e.g. deaths for 20–24‐year‐olds between 1968 and 1972 were combined).FindingsALD mortality peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s for both men and women. In age–period–cohort models, mortality was highest for cohorts born 1915–30. For example, men born between 1923 and 1927 had a relative risk of 1.58 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.52, 1.64] compared with men born between 1948 and 1952. For women, there was an increase in risk for cohorts born in the 1960s [e.g. the 1963–67 cohort had a relative risk (RR) of 1.16 (95% CI = 1.07, 1.25) compared with women born in 1948–52]. For men, there was a broad decline in mortality over time [e.g. in 2020, the RR was 0.87 (95% CI = 0.82, 0.92) compared with the reference year of 2000]. For women, mortality declined until 2000 and has been stable since.ConclusionsAlcohol‐related liver disease mortality has declined across the Australian population since the 1970s and 1980s partly due to cohort‐specific shifts as the highest‐risk birth cohorts age. For women, this decline had stalled by the year 2000, and cohorts of women born during the 1960s were at higher risk than earlier cohorts, suggesting the need for thoughtful interventions as this population enters its highest‐risk years for ALD mortality.
The long‐run effects of the imperial bureaucracy: Two tales along the Great Wall of Ming China
Authors: Gao Ming , Gu Qiankun , He Shijun , Kong Dongmin 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis article examines the long‐term effects of the administrative system using the Great Wall as a geographical discontinuity. Using town‐level nighttime light luminosity per capita as a measure of economic development, we find that today, luminosity per capita is significantly and robustly higher in towns south of the Great Wall than in those north of it. The holding of resource allocation authority by the administrative hierarchy and the uniform enforcement of justice by hierarchy officials were advantageous for city building and judicial cross‐territory enforceability on the south side of the great wall, which had a long‐term impact on the imperial bureaucracy.
Social vulnerability predictors of drug poisoning mortality: A machine learning analysis in the United States
Authors: Tatar Moosa , Faraji Mohammad R. , Keyes Katherine , Wilson Fernando A. , Jalali Mohammad S. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesDrug poisoning is a leading cause of unintentional deaths in the United States. Despite the growing literature, there are a few recent analyses of a wide range of community‐level social vulnerability features contributing to drug poisoning mortality. Current studies on this topic face three limitations: often studying a limited subset of vulnerability features, focusing on small sample sizes, or solely including local data. To address this gap, we conducted a national‐level analysis to study the impacts of several social vulnerability features in predicting drug mortality rates in the United States.MethodsWe used machine learning to investigate the role of 16 social vulnerability features in predicting drug mortality rates for US counties in 2014, 2016, and 2018—the most recent available data. We estimated each vulnerability feature's gain relative contribution in predicting drug poisoning mortality.ResultsAmong all social vulnerability features, the percentage of noninstitutionalized persons with a disability is the most influential predictor, with a gain relative contribution of 18.6%, followed by population density and the percentage of minority residents (13.3% and 13%, respectively). Percentages of households with no available vehicles, mobile homes, and persons without a high school diploma are the following features with gain relative contributions of 6.3%, 5.8%, and 5.1%, respectively.Conclusion and Scientific SignificanceWe identified social vulnerability features that are most predictive of drug poisoning mortality. Public health interventions and policies targeting vulnerable communities may increase the resilience of these communities and mitigate the overdose death and drug misuse crisis.
Ecological networks as planning tools for African fragmented landscapes: Overcoming weaknesses for an effective connectivity conservation
Authors: Battisti Corrado 
Published: June 2023

AbstractLandscape‐based Ecological Networks (EN) have been considered a conservation tool developed to contrast habitat fragmentation (HF) as an anthropogenic process. This approach, based on the “core‐buffer‐corridors” model, has been largely applied in the Northern world to plan human‐dominated landscapes. However, an application of this process to the African continent should be carried out with criticism. When adopting the EN approach as a connectivity conservation tool, planners must remember that (i) it is important to be aware that “core–buffer–corridors” designs are species‐specific, (ii) the identification of connective areas can be biased due to a “framing effect”, (iii) planners and managers focus too much on areas of conservation concern and less on human‐transformed sites where anthropogenic threats arise, (iv) ecological and social processes are dynamic and that it is necessary to apply a flexible approach, (v) ecologists only partially know the HF problem; therefore, they will have to involve experts from other disciplines, (vi) spatial patterns of HF may be determined by multiple threats, often historically overlapping, (viii) no planning solution can be exclusively top–down (i.e., only through governmental Agencies) and that, especially in areas of rapid urban expansion and demographic growth, local populations must be involved because they can make a difference in achieving conservation successes.
Does Tax‐Favored Policy Improve the Profitability of Environmental Protection Firms? An Empirical Study from the Implicit Tax Perspective
Authors: Cao Jifeng , Cui Yiwen 
Published: June 2023

AbstractAn implicit tax is a reduction in the pretax rate of return driven by tax preferences. With increasingly stringent requirements of sustainable development, Chinese government actively promotes environmental protection with the direct corporate income tax rate preferences, which provide a unique opportunity to examine whether implicit taxes remain a significant tax cost in the environmental protection industry. This paper finds the existence of implicit taxes in environmental protection firms and the market structure impedes the realization of implicit taxes. The market power and market concentration reduce the negative effect of tax preferences on the firm's pretax rate of return. The environmental protection firms with lower competition bear lower implicit taxes. These findings are important to evaluate the effectiveness of the tax incentives on environmental protection firms and other tax‐favored industries.
Role of the HLA‐G regulatory region polymorphisms in idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA)
Authors: Marik Binata , Nomani Khusru , Agarwal Nutan , Dadhwal Vatsla , Sharma Arundhati 
Published: June 2023

AbstractProblemHLA‐G polymorphisms have a functional impact on its expression and may cause a breakdown of maternal tolerance towards the semi‐allogenic fetus, resulting in recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA). This study reports on the association of HLA‐G regulatory region polymorphisms with idiopathic RSA.MethodsSeventy‐five couples with ≥2 spontaneous abortions were recruited in comparison to 75 healthy couples who had normal pregnancies. About 5 mL of blood samples were collected from all the participants, and DNA was extracted. Screening of HLA‐G 5′‐upstream regulatory region (5′‐URR) was done by direct sequencing in 50 each of RSA and healthy couples, respectively. The 14 bp deletion/insertion polymorphism in the 3′‐untranslated region (3′‐UTR) was genotyped in 75 each of RSA and healthy couples, respectively, by PCR amplification of HLA‐G exon 8. MedCalc, GraphPad Prism, Haploview, PLINK, and multifactor dimensionality reduction were used to analyze the data.ResultsHLA‐G screening revealed the presence of −762C/T, −725C/G, −716T/G, −689A/G, −486C/A, and −477C/G single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5′‐URR. At positions −762 and −477, the frequency of CC homozygotes was significantly higher in controls compared to the patients. The 14 bp deletion/insertion polymorphism in the 3′‐UTR showed an association with RSA with the heterozygous genotype being significantly higher in RSA compared to controls.ConclusionsThe study indicates a protective role of the CC genotypes of the two HLA‐G 5’‐URR polymorphisms, −762C/T and −477C/G, against RSA. It also suggests that women with the 14 bp deletion/insertion genotype have a significantly higher risk of RSA.
Changes in practice and management of placenta accreta spectrum disorder: A 20‐year retrospective cohort study
Authors: Holmes Victoria J. , Skinner Sasha , Silagy Michael , Rolnik Daniel L. , Mol Ben W. , Kroushev Annie 
Published: June 2023

BackgroundPlacenta accreta spectrum disorder is an increasingly prevalent cause of maternal morbidity in developed countries.AimsThis study aimed to review the management and outcomes of cases of placenta accreta spectrum, and compare blood loss and blood transfusion rates, over time after an institutional change in planned primary surgeon from gynaecological oncologists to experienced obstetricians.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included all cases of suspected or confirmed placenta accreta spectrum disorder (PASD) between 1999 and 2021 at Monash Health. Data were collected by reviewing medical records to obtain baseline characteristics, details of surgical planning and management and major maternal morbidity outcomes over a 20‐year period. The primary surgical lead was recorded as either gynaecological oncologist or experienced obstetricians. The primary outcomes were estimated maternal blood loss and number of units of blood transfused.ResultsA total of 88 patients were identified: 43 between 1999 and 2015 where gynaecological oncologists were the primary surgeon in 79% of cases and 45 between 2016 and 2021 where experienced obstetricians were the primary surgeon in 73.3% of cases. There was no statistically significant difference in the estimated blood loss between the two time periods (median: 2000 vs 2500 mL, P = 0.669). Hysterectomy rates were significantly reduced in the second time period, from 100 to 73.3%, P < 0.001.ConclusionManagement of cases of PASDs has improved over time with changes in antenatal diagnosis and perioperative management, and management by experienced obstetricians has similar maternal outcomes compared to those whose management includes the presence of gynaecological oncologists.
The curvilinear relationship between corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: Empirical evidence from China
Authors: Wu Dingyu , Li Xiaolin 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe positive or negative impacts corporate social responsibility (CSR) may have on business performance have drawn research interest. In recent years, the focus of research has shifted toward the link between CSR and corporate competitive advantage. Corporate competitive advantage is a multifaceted and holistic concept that captures more than just corporate financial performance. Building on the resource‐based view (RBV), corporate competitive advantage construct theory, and CSR behavior theory, we explore how a firm's CSR engagement shapes its corporate competitive advantage. Our analysis of a panel dataset of 64 companies with a top‐100 CSR development index in China and 704 firm‐year observations over the sample period from 2009 to 2019 reveals an inverse U‐shaped relationship between CSR and corporate competitive advantage. This signifies that corporate competitive advantage first increases with CSR engagement but declines as it reaches a threshold level where CSR activities are beyond the affordability of the firm. We also examine how behaviors at various CSR engagement levels influence different dimensions of corporate competitive advantage. These results support a curvilinear relationship, explaining why many CSR strategies have been ineffective in the past. The findings may help guide corporate decisions and government policymaking on CSR.
Hierarchical Nuclear Norm Penalization for Multi-View Data Integration
Authors: Yi Sangyoon , Wong Raymond Ka Wai , Gaynanova Irina 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
The prevalence of data collected on the same set of samples from multiple sources (i.e., multi-view data) has prompted significant development of data integration methods based on low-rank matrix factorizations. These methods decompose signal matrices from each view into the sum of shared and individual structures, which are further used for dimension reduction, exploratory analyses, and quantifying associations across views. However, existing methods have limitations in modeling partially-shared structures due to either too restrictive models, or restrictive identifiability conditions. To address these challenges, we propose a new formulation for signal structures that include partially-shared signals based on grouping the views into so-called hierarchical levels with identifiable guarantees under suitable conditions. The proposed hierarchy leads us to introduce a new penalty, hierarchical nuclear norm (HNN), for signal estimation. In contrast to existing methods, HNN penalization avoids scores and loadings factorization of the signals and leads to a convex optimization problem, which we solve using a dual forward–backward algorithm. We propose a simple refitting procedure to adjust the penalization bias and develop an adapted version of bi-cross-validation for selecting tuning parameters. Extensive simulation studies and analysis of the genotype-tissue expression data demonstrate the advantages of our method over existing alternatives.
‘Lots of Black people are on meds because they're seen as aggressive’: STOMP, COVID‐19 and anti‐racism in community learning disability services
Authors: Holmes Ryan , Kearney Lucy , Gopal Sheetal , Daddi Inderpal 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe STOMP agenda (Stopping Over‐Medication of People with learning disabilities, autism, or both) drew focus to individuals with a diagnosis of a learning disability being prescribed psychotropic medication to manage ‘behaviours that challenge’. The following study is an audit of two community learning disability services in the London boroughs of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea for compliance with national guidance on the use of medication in this population, the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic, and equality, diversity and anti‐racism.MethodRoutinely collected data were audited relating to clients identified in each service, totalling 54 participants. Data were audited against five standards: minimum effective dose, medication reviews, alternative multidisciplinary input, the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and equality, diversity and anti–racism. Comparisons were made to the overall caseload (N = 365) where appropriate.ResultsEvidence demonstrated a greater risk of receiving psychotropic medication to manage behaviours that challenge for service users from racialised backgrounds, further evidencing institutional and/or individualised racism within practice for this population. Prescriptions also increased in dosage during the COVID‐19 pandemic exacerbated by insufficient provision of alternative input and regular multi‐disciplinary review as required by national guidance.ConclusionsCommunity learning disability teams require dedicated, co‐produced STOMP pathways to review those at risk of over‐medication. Additional research is required to explore individual and systemic factors contributing to ethnic disparities in medication prescription for behaviours that challenge among people with learning disabilities. Further recommendations are considered around developing data collection, service user involvement, and future directions.