bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Differences in HDL-related mortality risk between individuals with and without hypertension: a prospective cohort study in UK Biobank
Authors: Chen Jun-Xiang , Li Rui , Geng Tingting , Wang Yuexuan , Lu Qi , Tu Zhou-Zheng , Li Yue , Liao Yun-Fei , Yang Kun , Zhou Li-Rong , Tong Wen-Wei , Zhou Yan-Feng , Liu Gang , Pan An 
Published: February 2023

Abstract

Background and aims
Very high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) have been paradoxically linked to increased mortality risk. The present study aimed to examine associations of HDL-C and varied sizes of the HDL particle (HDL-P) with mortality risk stratified by hypertension.

Methods and results
This prospective cohort study included 429 792 participants (244 866 with hypertension and 184 926 without hypertension) from the UK Biobank. During a median follow-up of 12.7 years, 23 993 (9.8%) and 8142 (4.4%) deaths occurred among individuals with and without hypertension, respectively. A U-shaped association of HDL-C with all-cause mortality was observed in individuals with hypertension after multivariable adjustment, whereas an L-shape was observed in individuals without hypertension. Compared with individuals with normal HDL-C of 50–70 mg/dL, those with very high HDL-C levels (&gt;90 mg/dL) had a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with hypertension (hazard ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.35–1.61), but not among those without hypertension (1.05, 0.91–1.22). As for HDL-P, among individuals with hypertension, a larger size of HDL-P was positively whereas smaller HDL-P was negatively associated with all-cause mortality. After additional adjustment for larger HDL-P in the model, the U-shaped association between HDL-C and mortality risk was altered to an L-shape among individuals with hypertension.

Conclusions
The increased risk of mortality associated with very high HDL-C existed only in individuals with hypertension, but not in those without hypertension. Moreover, the increased risk at high HDL-C levels in hypertension was likely driven by larger HDL-P.
Gender and socioeconomic patterning of self-reported sleep problems across European countries
Authors: Baranowski Mariusz , Jabkowski Piotr 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBackgroundSleep problems mark an important part of the research into the physical health and mental well-being of modern societies. Although there are many studies on restless sleep, they are dominated by approaches that either focus on health-related issues or social factors (such as socioeconomic status). In this report, we address both types of determinants. This study replicates the analysis for the UK that was carried out by Arber et al. (Gender and socio-economic patterning of self-reported sleep problems in Britain. Soc Sci Med 2009;68:281–9). However, this replication, based on European Social Survey data, covers 20 European countries.MethodsData are taken from the European Social Survey Round 7 from 2014 (N = 32 704). A multilevel logistic regression was used to assess the impact of sociodemographic, socioeconomic and health-related issues on reported restless sleeping.ResultsThe results show that the influence of socioeconomic status has a secondary effect on sleep problems, health-related problems and depression. In addition, the study shows that individual-level, rather than country-level, factors have a major impact on restless sleep.ConclusionsWe have replicated all the findings of Arber et al. (Gender and socio-economic patterning of self-reported sleep problems in Britain. Soc Sci Med 2009;68:281–9) and confirmed the secondary nature of socioeconomic status factors to health and depression based on 20 European countries.
Microbial community dynamics of a sequentially fed anaerobic digester treating solid organic waste
Authors: Lee HyunWoo , Fitamo Temesgen M , Nesbø Camilla L , Guilford Nigel G H , Kanger Kärt , Yang Minqing Ivy , Edwards Elizabeth A 
Published: February 2023

AbstractA 50-kg scale, high solids anaerobic digester (AD) comprising six sequentially fed leach beds with a leachate recirculation system was operated at 37°C for 88 weeks. The solid feedstock contained a constant fibre fraction (a mix of cardboard, boxboard, newsprint, and fine paper) and varying proportions of food waste. Previously, we reported on the stable operation of this digestion system, where significantly enhanced methane production from the fibre fraction was observed as the proportion of food waste increased. The objective of this study was to identify relationships between process parameters and the microbial community. Increasing food waste led to a large increase in the absolute microbial abundance in the circulating leachate. While 16S rRNA amplicons for Clostridium butyricum were most abundant and correlated with the amount of FW in the system and with the overall methane yield, it was more cryptic Candidatus Roizmanbacteria and Spirochaetaceae that correlated specifically with enhanced methane from the fiber fraction. A faulty batch of bulking agent led to hydraulic channeling, which was reflected in the leachate microbial profiles matching that of the incoming food waste. The system performance and microbial community re-established rapidly after reverting to better bulking agent, illustrating the robustness of the system.
Circular Utopia(s): Alfred Wellm’s Morisco and the Socialist City
Authors: Ehrig Stephan 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
In the context of the German Democratic Republic’s longstanding aesthetic and political discourse on social utopianism, this article will discuss Alfred Wellm’s novel Morisco (1987) and Halle-Neustadt as a key to understanding the relationship between the socialist new town and the East German cultural imaginary. Through Wellm’s novel, the article will argue that the construction of modernist new towns provoked a cultural response engaging with the rift between built reality and the utopian imagination/ambition of the classless, socialist city in different literary and visual media. Evoking Tommaso Campanella’s utopian City of the Sun (1602), the novel critically positions Neustadt within a cyclical Marxist eschatology, simultaneously expressing frustration with and hope for the progress of the socialist project. It therefore also represents the post-Stalin aesthetic shift from grand socialist realist narratives to subjective everyday perspectives, and the revived interest of authors in utopian themes in the 1980s against the backdrop of the Socialist Unity Party’s (SED) claim that socialism had already been achieved.
Kinless Older Adults With Dementia: Qualitative Analysis of Data From the Adult Changes in Thought Study
Authors: Taylor Janelle S , Figueroa Gray Marlaine S , Mar Corinne M , Crane Paul K , Kariya Hitomi , Freitag Callie , Taneja Priyanka , Ramaprasan Arvind , Shell-Duncan Bettina , O’Hare Ann M , Berridge Clara , Vig Elizabeth K , Wheeler Stephanie G B , Thakral Manu , Hawkes Rene J , Larson Eric B 
Published: February 2023

Abstract

Objectives
To examine the circumstances and needs of older adults who were “kinless,” defined as having no living spouse or children, when they developed dementia.

Methods
We conducted a secondary analysis of information from the Adult Changes in Thought study. Among 848 participants diagnosed with dementia between 1994 and 2016, we identified 64 who had no living spouse or child at dementia onset. We then conducted a qualitative analysis of administrative documents pertaining to these participants: handwritten comments recorded after each study visit, and medical history documents containing clinical chart notes from participants’ medical records.

Results
In this community-dwelling cohort of older adults diagnosed with dementia, 8.4% were kinless at dementia onset. Participants in this sample had an average age of 87 years old, half lived alone, and one third lived with unrelated persons. Through inductive content analysis, we identified 4 themes that describe their circumstances and needs: (1) life trajectories, (2) caregiving resources, (3) care needs and gaps, and (4) turning points in caregiving arrangements.

Discussion
Our qualitative analysis reveals that the life trajectories that led members of the analytic cohort to be kinless at dementia onset were quite varied. This research highlights the importance of nonfamily caregivers and participants’ own roles as caregivers. Our findings suggest that clinicians and health systems may need to work with other parties to directly provide dementia caregiving support rather than rely on family, and address factors such as neighborhood affordability that particularly affect older adults who have limited family support.
A Phenomenological Understanding of the Intersection-ality of Ageism and Racism Among Older Adults: Individual-Level Experiences
Authors: Steward Andrew T , De Fries Carson M , Dunbar Annie Zean , Trujillo Miguel , Zhu Yating , Nicotera Nicole , Hasche Leslie 
Published: February 2023

AbstractObjectivesAgeism is a prevalent, insidious social justice issue that has harmful effects on the health of older adults. Preliminary literature explores the intersectionality of ageism with sexism, ableism, and ageism experienced among LGBTQ+ older adults. Yet, the intersectionality of ageism with racism remains largely absent from the literature. Therefore, this study explores the lived experience of the intersectionality of ageism and racism among older adults.MethodsThis qualitative study applied a phenomenological approach. Twenty participants 60+ years of age (M = 69, standard deviation = 8.84) in the U.S. Mountain West identifying as Black, Latino(a), Asian–American/Pacific Islander, Indigenous, or White engaged in a 1-hr interview between February and July 2021. A 3-cycle coding process applied constant comparison methods. Five coders independently coded interviews, engaging in critical discussion to resolve disagreements. An audit trail, member checking, and peer debriefing enhanced credibility.ResultsThis study focuses on individual-level experiences exemplified by 3 umbrella themes and 7 subthemes. The subthemes are (a) compounding oppression, (b) intersection of disparities, (c) White privilege, (d) racism and ageism: being tokenized or ignored, (e) ageism and racism: unspoken bias, (f) racism versus ageism: overt or covert? and (g) racism versus ageism: differentiated or ubiquitous?DiscussionThe findings indicate how ageism may be racialized through stereotypes related to mental (in)capability. Practitioners can apply the findings to enhance support for older adults by designing interventions aimed at reducing racialized ageist stereotypes and increasing collaboration through education across anti-ageism/anti-racism initiatives. Future research should focus on the impacts of the intersectionality of ageism and racism on specific health outcomes in addition to structural-level interventions.
Aging in Place or Institutionalization? A Multiscale Analysis of Independent-Living Older Adults From Four Large Cities in China’s Yangtze River Delta
Authors: He Zhongyu , Jiang Cailing 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesAging in place (AIP) has been adopted as a key strategy to cope with the global public health challenge posed by population aging. The current study aimed to understand the association between older adult’s AIP preference and various social and physical environmental factors at different scales.Research Design and MethodsFollowing the ecological model of aging, this paper conducted a questionnaire survey of 827 independent-living older adults (60 years old and above) from four big cities in China’s Yangtze River Delta region and employed a structural equation modeling method for analysis.ResultsOlder adults from more developed cities exhibited a stronger preference for AIP than those from less developed cities. Individual characteristics, mental health, and physical health had a direct impact on AIP preference, whereas the effect of the community social environment was not significant. The perceived and objectively measured community-built environment indirectly affected AIP preference via mediation and chain effects.Discussion and ImplicationsComplex paths affecting AIP preference were identified. At the city level, the social environment had a stronger influence than the physical environment on AIP, and the opposite pattern was observed at the community level. Mental health and physical health had opposite effects on AIP preference. Although physical health was negatively associated with AIP, age-friendly communities with compact, diverse, and accessible built environments have a positive impact on older adults’ physical health and therefore should be promoted.
Universities as Intermediary Organizations: Catalyzing the Construction of an Age-Friendly City in Hong Kong
Authors: Chui Cheryl Hiu-Kwan , Lu Shiyu , Chan On Fung , Cheung Johnson Chun-Sing , Guo Yingqi , Liu Yuqi , Lum Terry Y S 
Published: February 2023

Abstract

Background and Objectives
The construction of an Age-Friendly City (AFC) requires active contribution from relevant interest groups including older adults, nonprofit organizations, and policy-makers. However, given that relevant interest groups may have limited resources, knowledge, and skills, as well as unique contextual factors, they often require help from intermediary organizations—actors that aim to build interest groups’ capabilities. Our objectives were to examine the functions of universities, as an example of intermediary organizations, in facilitating the construction of an AFC, and identify critical factors that enable intermediary organizations to perform their functions.

Research Design and Methods
We conducted three focus groups and one individual interview with multiple interest groups including older adults and social workers from nonprofit organizations and local government involved in a 6-year citywide AFC project in Hong Kong. Participants were asked to share their views on the role of universities in relation to their own experiences and roles in the project. Data generated from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results
Four themes pertinent to the functions of universities in facilitating development were identified: facilitating cross-sector collaborations, knowledge diffusion, interest-group building, and mediating divergent interests. We also found that neutrality and reputability are key characteristics for intermediary organizations to wield sufficient legitimacy to perform their functions efficiently.

Discussion and Implications
Findings underscore the important yet overlooked role of intermediary organizations in bridging and mediating different interest groups to facilitate AFC development. We advance gerontological scholarship by providing insights into the theoretical mechanisms and practice implications for intermediary organizations in fostering an AFC.
Crustal velocity images of northwestern Türkiye along the North Anatolian Fault Zone from transdimensional Bayesian ambient seismic noise tomography
Authors: Turunçtur Buse , Eken Tuna , Chen Yunfeng , Taymaz Tuncay , Houseman Gregory A , Saygin Erdinc 
Published: February 2023

SUMMARY
Türkiye poses a complex crustal structure and tectonic settings owing to the northward convergence of the Arabian and African plates with respect to the Anatolian and Eurasian plates. A reliable 3-D crustal structure of the unruptured segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in the Sea of Marmara is thus of utmost importance for seismic hazard assessments considering that the megacity Istanbul—with more than 15 million habitants—is close to this seismic gap. This study provides high-resolution shear wave velocity images of northwestern Türkiye, including the NAFZ, revealed from ambient seismic noise tomography. We extract over 20 000 Green’s functions from seismic ambient noise cross-correlations and then construct group velocity perturbation maps from the measured group delays with a transdimensional Bayesian tomographic method. We further perform an S-wave velocity inversion to image depth-varying velocity structures. Our high-resolution data allowed us to image S-wave velocities down to 15 km depth and reveal weak crustal zones along the NAFZ, as indicated by low shear wave velocities. We find a low-velocity zone along the Main Marmara Fault, linked with aseismic slip and a deep creep mode. Furthermore, we identify a high-velocity anomaly associated with the unruptured section that defines the boundaries of the locked zone in the crust, which can potentially trigger a destructive earthquake in the future.
Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) lipid metabolism pathway modulated by tea field microbe (Colletotrichum camelliae) to promote disease
Authors: Liu Shouan , Zhang Shuhan , He Shengnan , Qiao Xiaoyan , Runa A 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Tea is one of the most popular healthy and non-alcoholic beverages worldwide. Tea anthracnose is a disease in tea mature leaves and ultimately affects yield and quality. Colletotrichum camelliae is a dominant fungal pathogen in the tea field that infects tea plants in China. The pathogenic factors of fungus and the susceptible factors in the tea plant are not known. In this work, we performed molecular and genetic studies to observe a cerato-platanin protein CcCp1 from C. camelliae, which played a key role in fungal pathogenicity. △CcCp1 mutants lost fungal virulence and reduced the ability to produce conidia. Transcriptome and metabolome were then performed and analysed in tea-susceptible and tea-resistant cultivars, Longjing 43 and Zhongcha 108, upon C. camelliae wild-type CCA and △CcCp1 infection, respectively. The differentially expressed genes and the differentially accumulated metabolites in tea plants were clearly overrepresented such as linolenic acid and linoleic acid metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, phenylalanine biosynthesis and metabolism, biosynthesis of flavonoid, flavone and flavonol etc. In particular, the accumulation of jasmonic acid was significantly increased in the susceptible cultivar Longjing 43 upon CCA infection, in the fungal CcCp1 protein dependent manner, suggesting the compound involved in regulating fungal infection. In addition, other metabolites in the glycerophospholipid and phenylalanine pathway were observed in the resistant cultivar Zhongcha 108 upon fungal treatment, suggesting their potential role in defense response. Taken together, this work indicated C. camelliae CcCp1 affected the tea plant lipid metabolism pathway to promote disease while the lost function of CcCp1 mutants altered the fungal virulence and plant response.
The genomic and epigenetic footprint of local adaptation to variable climates in kiwifruit
Authors: Zhang Xu , Guo Rui , Shen Ruinan , Landis Jacob B , Jiang Quan , Liu Fang , Wang Hengchang , Yao Xiaohong 
Published: February 2023

AbstractA full understanding of adaptive genetic variation at the genomic level will help address questions of how organisms adapt to diverse climates. Actinidia eriantha is a shade-tolerant species, widely distributed in the southern tropical region of China, occurring in spatially heterogeneous environments. In the present study we combined population genomic, epigenomic, and environmental association analyses to infer population genetic structure and positive selection across a climatic gradient, and to assess genomic offset to climatic change for A. eriantha. The population structure is strongly shaped by geography and influenced by restricted gene flow resulting from isolation by distance due to habitat fragmentation. In total, we identified 102 outlier loci and annotated 455 candidate genes associated with the genomic basis of climate adaptation, which were enriched in functional categories related to development processes and stress response; both temperature and precipitation are important factors driving adaptive variation. In addition to single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), a total of 27 single-methylation variants (SMVs) had significant correlation with at least one of four climatic variables and 16 SMVs were located in or adjacent to genes, several of which were predicted to be involved in plant response to abiotic or biotic stress. Gradient forest analysis indicated that the central/east populations were predicted to be at higher risk of future population maladaptation under climate change. Our results demonstrate that local climate factors impose strong selection pressures and lead to local adaptation. Such information adds to our understanding of adaptive mechanisms to variable climates revealed by both population genome and epigenome analysis.
A standardized assessment of geographic variation in size at maturity of European lobster (Homarus gammarus L.) in the North East Atlantic
Authors: Coleman Matthew T , Garratt Matthew , Hold Natalie , Bloor Isobel S M , Jenkins Stuart R , Porter Joanne S , Tully Oliver , Bell Michael C 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Assessing size at maturity for European lobster Homarus gammarus across the North East Atlantic remains a fundamental knowledge gap for this commercially valuable fishery. This study for the first time collates existing data on physiological maturity of female European lobster H. gammarus across the North East Atlantic, including new data from Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Physiological estimates of size at maturity were undertaken using 1309 lobsters from 11 locations using a standardized methodology. Carapace length (CL) at which 50% of the sampled population had reached physiological maturity (CL50) varied between populations, ranging from 82 to 92.5 mm. CL50 estimates reported here are broadly similar for historic population samples in England, but estimates for Irish samples were lower than previous results. The development of a H. gammarus specific staging guide and methodology in this study enables the future comparison of potential fluctuations in female size at maturity.
Predictive factors for postoperative myasthenic crisis in patients with myasthenia gravis
Authors: Wei Bohua , Lu Gaojun , Zhang Yi 
Published: February 2023

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Thymectomy plays an important role in the comprehensive treatment of myasthenia gravis. The present study aimed to investigate the risk factors for postoperative myasthenic crisis (POMC) in these patients and then establish a predicting model based on preoperatively available indicators.

METHODS
The clinical records of 177 consecutive patients with myasthenia gravis who received extended thymectomy between January 2018 and September 2022 in our department were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether they developed POMC. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to identify the independent risk factors of POMC. Then a nomogram was constructed to intuitively show the results. Finally, the calibration curve and bootstrap resampling were used to evaluate its performance.

RESULTS
POMC occurred in 42 (23.7%) patients. By multivariate analysis, body mass index (P = 0.029), Osserman classification (P = 0.015), percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (pred%) (P = 0.044), percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in the first second (pred%) (P = 0.043) and albumin to globulin ratio (P = 0.009) were identified as independent risk factors and entered into the nomogram. The calibration curve showed good concordance between the predicted and actual probability of prolonged ventilation.

CONCLUSIONS
Our model is a valuable tool for predicting POMC in myasthenia gravis patients. For those high-risk patients, appropriate preoperative treatment is necessary to improve the symptoms and greater attention to postoperative complications is needed.