bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dissipative timescales from coarse-graining irreversibility
Authors: Cisneros Freddy A , Fakhri Nikta , Horowitz Jordan M 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
We propose and investigate a method for identifying timescales of dissipation in nonequilibrium steady states modeled as discrete-state Markov jump processes. The method is based on how the irreversibility—measured by the statistical breaking of time-reversal symmetry—varies under temporal coarse-graining. We observe a sigmoidal-like shape of the irreversibility as a function of the coarse-graining time whose functional form we derive for systems with a fast driven transition. This theoretical prediction allows us to develop a method for estimating the dissipative time scale from time-series data by fitting estimates of the irreversibility to our predicted functional form. We further analyze the accuracy and statistical fluctuations of this estimate.
Groundwater effects on net primary productivity and soil organic carbon: a global analysis
Authors: Huang Bei , Zipper Sam , Peng Shaolin , Qiu Jiangxiao 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Groundwater affects ecosystem services (ES) by altering critical zone ecohydrological and biogeochemical processes. Previous research has demonstrated significant and nonlinear impacts of shallow groundwater on ES regionally, but it remains unclear how groundwater affects ES at the global scale and how such effects respond to environmental factors. Here, we investigated global patterns of groundwater relationships with two ES indicators—net primary productivity (NPP) and soil organic carbon (SOC)—and analyzed underlying factors that mediated groundwater influences. We quantitatively compared multiple high-resolution (∼1 km) global datasets to characterize water table depth (WTD), NPP and SOC, and performed spatial simultaneous autoregressive modeling to test how selected predictors altered WTD-NPP and WTD-SOC relationships. Our results show widespread significant WTD-NPP correlations (61.5% of all basins globally) and WTD-SOC correlations (64.7% of basins globally). Negative WTD-NPP correlations, in which NPP decreased with rising groundwater, were more common than positive correlations (62.4% vs. 37.6%). However, positive WTD-SOC relationships, in which SOC increased with rising groundwater, were slightly more common (53.1%) than negative relationships (46.9%). Climate and land use (e.g., vegetation extent) were dominant factors mediating WTD-NPP and WTD-SOC relationships, whereas topography, soil type and irrigation were also significant factors yet with lesser effects. Climate also significantly constrained WTD-NPP and WTD-SOC relationships, suggesting stronger WTD-NPP and WTD-SOC relationships with increasing temperature. Our results highlight that the relationship of groundwater with ES such as NPP and SOC are spatially extensive at the global scale and are likely to be susceptible to ongoing and future climate and land-use changes.
The Womb Monologues: Toward A Mizrahi Feminist Theory of Israeli Law
Authors: Yefet Karin Carmit 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Israeli legal feminists have largely overlooked the constitutive theoretical developments that introduced the “third wave” to global feminism. Drawing on the critical insights of black and postcolonial feminist discourse, this Article introduces Mizrahi feminism to Israeli jurisprudence. It aims to lay the groundwork for a new theoretical school of critical legal scholarship in Israel and expose the multidimensional oppression endured by Mizrahi women in Israeli law and history.
To this end, the Article focuses on a particular slice of the legal history of the Israeli abortion law reform of the 1970s. Analyzing extensive parliamentary protocols and institutional archival records, the Article pioneers the deconstructive toolbox of Mizrahi feminism in order to extract the subversive ethno-class narrative that has been left invisible in the feminist story of Israeli abortion law—a sorely neglected history of a separatist, quality-control regulatory mechanism that restrains the Mizrahi womb and Orientalizes its female carrier as “unqualified” vis-à-vis the “dignified” Ashkenazi womb.
This intellectual exercise in legal historical study does more than unveil the complex dynamics behind the regulation of the female body in Israel. It also gives a voice to an intra-Jewish ethnic female minority that otherwise remains a transparent and denied gender category in the sociolegal literature.
Testing or Trusting? Urine Cotinine Levels in Plastic Surgery
Authors: Rysin Roman , Shachar Yair 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Background
Preoperative laboratory examinations are a common practice throughout all surgical disciplines. Smoking prior to and shortly after elective aesthetic surgery is generally discouraged, but abstinence is rarely examined. Nicotine's major metabolite is cotinine, which is distributed in various body fluids, including blood, saliva, and urine. Urine cotinine levels are a useful short-term marker of nicotine exposure, whether active or passive, and correlate with daily tobacco use. Urinary levels are precise, rapid, easy to examine, and accessible.

Objectives
The aim of this literature review was to describe the current body of knowledge relevant to cotinine levels in the fields of general and plastic surgery. It was hypothesized that the current available data are enough to support the judicial use of such tests in high-risk surgical candidates, especially in aesthetic surgeries.

Methods
A literature review via PubMed was conducted to identify publications that used the terms “cotinine” and “surgery,” according to the PRISMA standard flowchart.

Results
After subtracting duplications, the search results yielded 312 papers. After a reduction process as per exclusion criteria, 61 articles were identified and fully reviewed by both authors. Fifteen full-text articles were eligible for qualitative synthesis.

Conclusions
Enough data have accumulated to strongly support the judicial use of cotinine tests prior to elective surgery and specifically in aesthetic surgery.
Are exercise prescriptions for patients with cardiovascular disease, made by physiotherapists, in agreement with European recommendations?
Authors: Marinus Nastasia , Cornelissen Véronique , Meesen Raf , Coninx Karin , Hansen Dominique 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Aims
Physiotherapists often treat patients with (elevated risk for) cardiovascular disease (CVD), and should thus be able to provide evidence-based exercise advice to these patients. This study, therefore, aims to examine whether exercise prescriptions by physiotherapists to patients with CVD are in accordance with European recommendations.

Methods and results
This prospective observational survey included forty-seven Belgian physiotherapists. The participants agreed to prescribe exercise intensity, frequency, session duration, program duration, and exercise type (endurance or strength training) for the same three patient cases. Exercise prescriptions were compared between physiotherapists and relations with their characteristics were studied. The agreement between physiotherapists’ exercise prescriptions and those from European recommendations (‘agreement score’: based on a maximal score of 60/per case) was assessed. A wide inter-clinician variability was noticed for all exercise modalities, leading to a large variance for total peak-effort training minutes (from 461 up to 9000 over the three cases). The exercise frequency was prescribed fully out of range of the recommendations and the prescription of additional exercise modes was generally flawed. Exercise intensity and program duration were prescribed partially correct. The addition of strength exercises and session duration was prescribed correctly. This led to physiotherapist agreement scores of 25.3 ± 9.6, 23.2 ± 9.9, and 27.1 ± 10.6 (all out of 60), for cases one, two, and three, respectively. A greater agreement score was found in younger colleagues and those holding a Ph.D.

Conclusion
Exercise prescriptions for CVD patients vary widely among physiotherapists and often disagree with European recommendations.

Registration
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05449652
A Requirement of Shame: On the Evolution of the Protection of LGB Refugees
Authors: Åberg Karin 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The particular difficulties that lesbian, gay, and bisexual refugees face when applying for asylum are in constant flux. As one issue is removed, another takes its place. This article provides a historical overview of these developments and shows how attempts to include lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and their experiences have transformed shame into an implicit legal requirement in certain countries, in particular, Sweden and the Netherlands. While the implementation of the Difference, Stigma, Shame, and Harm (DSSH) model aimed to promote open-ended conversations about the fluidity of sexual orientation, in the contexts examined in this study, it has arguably led to a set of legal requirements that emphasize suffering and internalized homophobia. Further, the article argues that, as developments in refugee law have centred the procedural focus on the credibility of the applicant and have formulated sexual orientation as a fixed identity, this identity has become a decisive requirement in the bureaucracy of border control. In addition, the understanding of this lesbian, gay, or bisexual refugee identity has, in turn, been influenced by colonial perceptions of homophobia and sexuality.
Novel antibiotic susceptibility of an RNA polymerase α-subunit mutant in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Cai Wenjie , Lu Mingqi , Dai Weijun 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Background
RNA polymerase (RNAP) is highly conserved and essential for prokaryotic housekeeping activities, making it an important target for the development of new antibiotics. The rpoB gene, encoding a β-subunit of bacterial RNAP, has a well-known association with rifampicin resistance. However, the roles of other RNAP component genes such as rpoA, encoding an α-subunit of RNAP, in antibiotic resistance remain unexplored.

Objectives
To characterize the antibiotic resistance-related role of RpoA.

Methods
We measured the expression of the MexEF-OprN efflux pump in an RpoA mutant using a transcriptional reporter. The MICs of various antibiotics for this RpoA mutant were determined.

Results
We uncover a novel role of antibiotic susceptibility for an RpoA mutant in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found that a single amino acid substitution in RpoA resulted in reduced activity of the MexEF-OprN efflux pump, which is responsible for the exportation of various antibiotics, including ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, ofloxacin and norfloxacin. This attenuated efflux pump activity, caused by the RpoA mutation, conferred the bacteria further susceptibility to antibiotics regulated by MexEF-OprN. Our work further revealed that certain clinical P. aeruginosa isolates also contained the same RpoA mutation, providing clinical relevance to our findings. Our results elucidate why this new antibiotic-susceptible function of RpoA mutants would have remained undetected in conventional screens for mutants involving antibiotic resistance.

Conclusions
The discovery of antibiotic susceptibility in an RpoA mutant implicates a new therapeutic approach for treating clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa with RpoA mutations, using specific antibiotics regulated by MexEF-OprN. More generally, our work suggests that RpoA could serve as a promising candidate target for anti-pathogen therapeutic purposes.
From root to shoot: quantifying nematode tolerance inArabidopsis thalianaby high-throughput phenotyping of plant development
Authors: Willig Jaap-Jan , Sonneveld Devon , van Steenbrugge Joris J M , Deurhof Laurens , van Schaik Casper C , Teklu Misghina G , Goverse Aska , Lozano-Torres Jose L , Smant Geert , Sterken Mark G 
Published: July 2023

AbstractNematode migration, feeding site formation, withdrawal of plant assimilates, and activation of plant defence responses have a significant impact on plant growth and development. Plants display intraspecific variation in tolerance limits for root-feeding nematodes. Although disease tolerance has been recognized as a distinct trait in biotic interactions of mainly crops, we lack mechanistic insights. Progress is hampered by difficulties in quantification and laborious screening methods. We turned to the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, since it offers extensive resources to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying nematode–plant interactions. Through imaging of tolerance-related parameters, the green canopy area was identified as an accessible and robust measure for assessing damage due to cyst nematode infection. Subsequently, a high-throughput phenotyping platform simultaneously measuring the green canopy area growth of 960 A. thaliana plants was developed. This platform can accurately measure cyst nematode and root-knot nematode tolerance limits in A. thaliana through classical modelling approaches. Furthermore, real-time monitoring provided data for a novel view of tolerance, identifying a compensatory growth response. These findings show that our phenotyping platform will enable a new mechanistic understanding of tolerance to below-ground biotic stress.
Using elliptical galaxy kinematics to compare the strength of gravity in cosmological regions of differing gravitational potential – a first look
Authors: Pedersen Eske M , Stubbs Christopher W 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACT
Various models of modified gravity invoke ‘screening’ mechanisms that are sensitive to the value of the local gravitational potential. This could have observable consequences for galaxies. These consequences might be seen by comparing two proxies for galaxy mass – their luminosity and their internal kinematics – as a function of local galaxy density. Motivated by this prospect, we have compared the observed properties of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) inside and outside of voids in the cosmic large scale structure. We used archival measurements of line widths, luminosities, redshifts, colours, and positions of galaxies in conjunction with recent void catalogues to construct comparison LRG samples inside and outside of voids. We fitted these two samples to the well-established fundamental plane of elliptical galaxies to constrain any differences between the inferred value of the Newtonian gravitational constant G for the two samples. We obtained a null result, with an upper limit on any fractional difference in G within and outside of cosmological voids to be α = δG/G ∼ 40 per cent. This upper bound is dominated by the small-number statistics of our N ∼ 100 within-void LRG sample. With the caveat that environmental effects could influence various parameters such as star formation, we estimate that a 1 per cent statistical limit on α could be attained with data from 105 elliptical galaxies within voids. This is within the reach of future photometric and spectroscopic surveys, both of which are required to pursue this method.
Prevalence, patient burden and physicians’ perception of pruritus in haemodialysis patients
Authors: Engler Franziska , Kerschbaum Julia , Keller Felix , Mayer Gert ,   the Austrian Dialysis and Transplant Registry collaborators, Antlanger Marlies , Edlinger Roland , Horn Sabine , Kathrein Hermann , Kirsch Bernhard , Leutgeb-Pohn Elisabeth , Luschnik Roland , Oberbauer Rainer , Post Matthias , Rosenkranz Alexander , Schmaldienst Sabine , Werzowa Johannes , Wöhrer Sebastian , Winter Gottfried , Sprenger-Mähr Hannelore , Zodl Herbert 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACT

Background
Chronic kidney disease–associated pruritus (CKD-aP) is an underrated symptom in patients with impaired kidney function. The present study assessed the prevalence, impact on quality of life (QoL) and risk factors for CKD-aP in a contemporary national cohort of patients on haemodialysis. In addition, we evaluated attending physicians’ awareness and approach to therapy.

Methods
Validated patient's and physician's questionnaires on pruritus severity and QoL were used in combination with information obtained by the Austrian Dialysis and Transplant Registry.

Results
The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe pruritus in 962 observed patients was 34.4%, 11.4% and 4.3%. Physicians’ estimated prevalence values were 25.0 (95% CI 16.8–33.2), 14.4 (11.3–17.6) and 6.3% (4.9–8.3), respectively. The estimated national prevalence estimate extrapolated from the observed patients was 45.0% (95% CI 39.5–51.2) for any, 13.9% (95% CI 10.6–17.2) for moderate and 4.2% (95% CI 2.1–6.2) for severe CKD-aP. CKD-aP severity was significantly associated with impaired QoL. Risk factors for moderate–severe pruritus were higher C-reactive protein [odds ratio (OR) 1.61 (95% CI 1.07–2.43)] and parathyroid hormone (PTH) values [OR 1.50 (95% CI 1.00–2.27)]. Therapy for CKD-aP included changes in the dialysis regimen, topical treatments, antihistamines, gabapentin and pregabalin and phototherapy in a majority of centres.

Conclusions
While the overall prevalence of CKD-aP in our study is similar to that in previously published literature, the prevalence of moderate–severe pruritus is lower. CKD-aP was associated with reduced QoL and elevated markers of inflammation and PTH. The high awareness of CKD-aP in Austrian nephrologists may explain the lower prevalence of more severe pruritus.
Associations of neutral pH, low-GDP peritoneal dialysis solutions with patient survival, transfer to haemodialysis and peritonitis
Authors: Chen Jenny H C , Johnson David W , Cho Yeoungjee , Cheetham Melissa , Sud Kamal , Hayat Ashik , Stallard Belinda , Clayton Philip , Davies Christopher E , Borlace Monique , Boudville Neil 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACT

Background
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions containing low levels of glucose degradation products (GDPs) are associated with attenuation of peritoneal membrane injury and vascular complications. However, clinical benefits associated with neutral-pH, low-GDP (N-pH/L-GDP) solutions remain unclear.

Methods
Using data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry, we examined the associations between N-pH/L-GDP solutions and all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, transfer to haemodialysis (HD) for ≥30 days and PD peritonitis in adult incident PD patients in Australia and New Zealand between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2020 using adjusted Cox regression analyses.

Results
Of 12 814 incident PD patients, 2282 (18%) were on N-pH/L-GDP solutions. The proportion of patients on N-pH/L-GDP solutions each year increased from 11% in 2005 to 33% in 2017. During the study period, 5330 (42%) patients died, 4977 (39%) experienced transfer to HD and 5502 (43%) experienced PD peritonitis. Compared with the use of conventional solutions only, the use of any form of N-pH/L-GDP solution was associated with reduced risks of all-cause mortality {adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.61–0.74]}, cardiovascular mortality [aHR 0.65 (95% CI 0.56–0.77)], infection-related mortality [aHR 0.62 (95% CI 0.47–0.83)] and transfer to HD [aHR 0.79 (95% CI 0.72–0.86)] but an increased risk of PD peritonitis [aHR 1.16 (95% CI 1.07–1.26)].

Conclusions
Patients who received N-pH/L-GDP solutions had decreased risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality despite an increased risk of PD peritonitis. Studies assessing the causal relationships are warranted to determine the clinical benefits of N-pH/L-GDP solutions.
A digital health trust framework guided by values from the science of yoga
Authors: Venkatasubramanian Akarsh 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The ongoing digital age is reengineering a global health system supported and strengthened by digital technologies. However, a fundamental mistrust still exists among innovators, health care professionals, policy-makers and the public, with digital health technologies often considered untrustworthy. Values build trust, and the ‘values’ of digital health technologies are their ethical principles. This manuscript contributes two broad and unique additions to the ongoing conversation on digital health and trust. Firstly, it suggests four major ethics (privacy, agency, safety, security) as the pillars of a pass framework to trust digital health technologies. Secondly, it perceives these ethics as values that help build trust, through the lens of yoga. Observing these two conditions, it infers that the foundations of the science of yoga present values that help digital health technologies pass the trust test.
Blockade of MIF biological activity ameliorates house dust mite‐induced allergic airway inflammation in humanized MIF mice
Authors: Dunbar Hazel , Hawthorne Ian J. , Tunstead Courteney , Armstrong Michelle E. , Donnelly Seamas C. , English Karen 
Published: July 2023

AbstractMacrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) expression is controlled by a functional promoter polymorphism, where the number of tetranucleotide repeats (CATTn) corresponds to the level of MIF expression. To examine the role of this polymorphism in a pre‐clinical model of allergic asthma, novel humanized MIF mice with increasing CATT repeats (CATT5 and CATT7) were used to generate a physiologically relevant scale of airway inflammation following house dust mite (HDM) challenge. CATT7 mice expressing high levels of human MIF developed an aggressive asthma phenotype following HDM challenge with significantly elevated levels of immune cell infiltration, production of inflammatory mediators, goblet cell hyperplasia, subepithelial collagen deposition, and airway resistance compared to wild‐type controls. Importantly the potent MIF inhibitor SCD‐19 significantly mitigated the pathophysiology observed in CATT7 mice after HDM challenge, demonstrating the fundamental role of endogenous human MIF expression in the severity of airway inflammation in vivo. Up to now, there are limited reproducible in vivo models of asthma airway remodeling. Current asthma medications are focused on reducing the acute inflammatory response but have limited effects on airway remodeling. Here, we present a reproducible pre‐clinical model that capitulates asthma airway remodeling and suggests that in addition to having pro‐inflammatory effects MIF may play a role in driving airway remodeling.