bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Safety of Catheter Ablation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation in Cardiac Amyloidosis
Authors: Alhassan Hassan A. , Kainat Aleesha , Donohue Joseph , Baumgartner Scott J. , Akunor Harriet , Saba Samir , Jain Sandeep , Soman Prem 
Published: July 2023

Background
Despite the high burden of atrial fibrillation in cardiac amyloidosis (CA), the safety of catheter ablation therapy in CA is not well established. We sought to examine short‐term safety outcomes following atrial fibrillation ablation in patients with CA compared with matched patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods and Results

Using data from the National Inpatient Sample, we identified all hospitalizations for atrial fibrillation ablation from the fourth quarter of 2015 through 2019. Admissions for CA and DCM were matched in a 1:5 ratio using propensity scores based on the following sociodemographics: age, sex, race or ethnicity, payor, median income, comorbidities, and hospital characteristics. We compared in‐hospital outcomes between both cardiomyopathies. We identified 1395 unweighted hospitalizations (representing 6750 national hospitalizations) for atrial fibrillation ablation, out of which 45 (3.2%) were admissions for CA. Compared with DCM, patients with CA were older (72.9 versus 65.1 years), had a higher burden of prior stroke (20.0% versus 8.6%) and chronic kidney disease (53.3% versus 33.6%), and were less likely to have a prior implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (4.4% versus 23.0%). We successfully matched 42 CAs to 210 DCM hospitalizations. After matching, there was no difference in total complications (14.3% versus 10.5%,
P
=0.60), length‐of‐stay (3.1 versus 2.1 days,
P
=0.23), home disposition (97.6% versus 96.2%,
P
=0.65), and total charges ($137 250 versus $133 910,
P
=0.24).

Conclusions
In this nationally representative study of atrial fibrillation catheter ablation in CA, short‐term safety outcomes and complication rates were similar to a propensity score‐matched cohort of DCM. Further studies exploring long‐term safety outcomes are needed.
Renin‐Angiotensin‐Aldosterone System Inhibitors Are Associated With Favorable Outcomes Compared to Beta Blockers in Reducing Mortality Following Abdominal Aneurysm Repair
Authors: Elsayed Nadin , Gaffey Ann C. , Abou‐Zamzam Ahmed , Malas Mahmoud B. 
Published: July 2023

Background
The best medical therapy to control hypertension following abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is yet to be determined. We therefore examined whether treatment with renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASIs) versus beta blockers influenced postoperative and 1‐year clinical end points following abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in a Medicare‐linked database.

Methods and Results
All patients with hypertension undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair and open aneurysm repair in the Vascular Quality Initiative Vascular Implant Surveillance and Interventional Outcomes Network database between 2003 and 2018 were included. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on their preoperative and discharge medications, either RAASIs or beta blockers. Our cohort included 8789 patients, of whom 3523 (40.1%) were on RAASIs, and 5266 (59.9%) were on beta blockers. After propensity score matching, there were 3053 matched pairs of patients in each group. After matching, RAASI use was associated with lower risk of postoperative mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.3 [95% CI, 0.1–0.6]), myocardial infarction (OR, 0.1 [95% CI, 0.03–0.6]), and nonhome discharge (OR, 0.6 [95% CI, 0.5–0.7]). Before propensity score matching, RAASI use was associated with lower 1‐year mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.4 [95% CI, 0.4–0.5]) and lower risk of aneurysmal rupture (HR, 0.7 [95% CI, 0.5–0.9]). These results persisted after propensity score matching for mortality (HR, 0.4 [95% CI, 0.4–0.5]) and aneurysmal rupture (HR, 0.7 [95% CI, 0.5–0.9]).

Conclusions
In this large contemporary retrospective cohort study, RAASI use was associated with favorable postoperative outcomes compared with beta blockers. It was also associated with lower mortality and aneurysmal rupture at 1 year of follow‐up.
Lipid Levels During Adult Lifetime in Men and Women With and Without a Subsequent Incident Myocardial Infarction: A Longitudinal Analysis of Data From the Tromsø Study 1974 to 2016
Authors: Albrektsen Grethe , Wilsgaard Tom , Heuch Ivar , Løchen Maja‐Lisa , Thelle Dag Steinar , Njølstad Inger , Grimsgaard Sameline , Bønaa Kaare Harald 
Published: July 2023

Background
The atherosclerotic effect of an adverse lipid profile is assumed to accumulate throughout life, leading to increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI). Still, little is known about age at onset and duration of unfavorable lipid levels before MI.

Methods and Results

Longitudinal data on serum lipid levels for 26 130 individuals (50.5% women, aged 20–89 years) were obtained from 7 population‐based health surveys in Tromsø, Norway. Diagnoses of MI were obtained from national registers. A linear mixed model was applied to compare age‐ and sex‐specific mean values of total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C), and triglyceride concentration by MI status (MI versus non‐MI). Already from young adulthood, 20 to 35 years before the incident MI, individuals with a subsequent incident MI had on average more adverse lipid levels than individuals of the same age and sex without MI. Analogous to a dose–response relationship, there was a clear trend toward more severe adverse lipid levels the lower the age at incident MI (
P
<0.001, test for trend through ordered categories <55, 55–74, ≥75 years). This trend was particularly pronounced for high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol in percentage of total cholesterol (both sexes) and for the relative relationship between triglyceride, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol level (women). The difference in mean lipid level by MI status was just as large in women as in men, but the age pattern differed (
P
≤0.05, tests of 3‐way interaction).

Conclusions
Compared with general population mean levels, adverse lipid levels were seen 20 to 35 years before the incident MI in both men and women.
Screening for Rare Coding Variants That Associate With the QTc Interval in Iceland
Authors: Sveinbjornsson Gardar , Benediktsdottir Bara D. , Sigfusson Gunnlaugur , Norland Kristjan , Davidsson Olafur B. , Thorolfsdottir Rosa B. , Tragante Vinicius , Arnadottir Gudny A. , Jensson Brynjar O. , Katrinardottir Hildigunnur , Fridriksdottir Run , Gudmundsdottir Hallbera , Aegisdottir Hildur M. , Fridriksson Brynjar , Thorgeirsson Gudmundur , Magnusson Vidar , Oddsson Asmundur , Sulem Patrick , Gudbjartsson Daniel F. , Holm Hilma , Arnar David O. , Stefansson Kari 
Published: July 2023

Background

Long‐QT syndrome (LQTS) is a cardiac repolarization abnormality that can lead to sudden cardiac death. The most common causes are rare coding variants in the genes
KCNQ1
,
KCNH2
, and
SCN5A
. The data on LQTS epidemiology are limited, and information on expressivity and penetrance of pathogenic variants is sparse.

Methods and Results

We screened for rare coding variants associated with the corrected QT (QTc) interval in Iceland. We explored the frequency of the identified variants, their penetrance, and their association with severe events. Twelve variants were associated with the QTc interval. Five in
KCNQ
1, 3 in
KCNH2
, 2 in cardiomyopathy genes
MYBPC3
and
PKP2
, and 2 in genes where coding variants have not been associated with the QTc interval,
ISOC1
and
MYOM2.
The combined carrier frequency of the 8 variants in the previously known LQTS genes was 530 per 100 000 individuals (1:190). p.Tyr315Cys and p.Leu273Phe in
KCNQ1
were associated with having a mean QTc interval longer than 500 ms (
P
=4.2×10
−7
; odds ratio [OR], 38.6;
P
=8.4×10
−10
, OR, 26.5; respectively), and p.Leu273Phe was associated with sudden cardiac death (
P
=0.0034; OR, 2.99). p.Val215Met in
KCNQ1
was carried by 1 in 280 Icelanders, had a smaller effect on the QTc interval (
P
=1.8×10
−44
; effect, 22.8 ms), and did not associate with severe clinical events.

Conclusions
The carrier frequency of associating variants in LQTS genes was higher than previous estimates of the prevalence of LQTS. The variants have variable effects on the QTc interval, and carriers of p.Tyr315Cys and p.Leu273Phe have a more severe disease than carriers of p.Val215Met. These data could lead to improved identification, risk stratification, and a more precise clinical approach to those with QTc prolongation.
HS‐CRP Modifies the Prognostic Value of Platelet Count for Clinical Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Liu Fanghua , Yang Pinni , Wang Yinan , Shi Mengyao , Wang Ruirui , Xu Qingyun , Peng Yanbo , Chen Jing , Zhang Jintao , Wang Aili , Xu Tan , Zhang Yonghong , He Jiang 
Published: July 2023

Background
We examined whether the relationship between baseline platelet count and clinical outcomes is modulated by HS‐CRP (high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein) in patients with ischemic stroke.

Methods and Results

A total of 3267 patients with ischemic stroke were included in the analysis. The primary outcome was a combination of death and major disability at 1 year after ischemic stroke. Secondary outcomes included major disability, death, vascular events, composite outcome of vascular events or death, and an ordered 7‐level categorical score of the modified Rankin Scale at 1 year. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association between the baseline platelet count and clinical outcomes stratified by HS‐CRP levels when appropriate. There was an interaction effect of platelet count and HS‐CRP on the adverse clinical outcomes after ischemic stroke (all
P
interaction
<0.05). The elevated platelet count was significantly associated with the primary outcome (odds ratio [OR], 3.14 [95% CI, 1.77–5.58]), major disability (OR, 2.07 [95% CI, 1.15–3.71]), death (hazard ratio [HR], 2.75 [95% CI, 1.31–5.79]), and composite outcome of vascular events or death (HR, 2.57 [95% CI, 1.38–4.87]) among patients with high HS‐CRP levels (all
P
trend
<0.05).

Conclusions
The HS‐CRP levels had a modifying effect on the association between platelet count and clinical outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke. Elevated platelet count was significantly associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke with high HS‐CRP levels, but not in those with low HS‐CRP levels. These findings suggest that strategies for anti‐inflammatory and antiplatelet therapy should be developed according to the results of both platelet and HS‐CRP testing.
Targeting Neutrophil α9 Improves Functional Outcomes After Stroke in Mice With Obesity-Induced Hyperglycemia
Authors: Patel Rakesh B. , Dhanesha Nirav , Sutariya Brijesh , Ghatge Madankumar , Doddapattar Prakash , Barbhuyan Tarun , Kumskova Mariia , Leira Enrique C. , Chauhan Anil K. 
Published: July 2023

BACKGROUND:
Obesity-induced hyperglycemia is a significant risk factor for stroke. Integrin α9β1 is expressed on neutrophils and stabilizes adhesion to the endothelium via ligands, including Fn-EDA (fibronectin containing extra domain A) and tenascin C. Although myeloid deletion of α9 reduces susceptibility to ischemic stroke, it is unclear whether this is mediated by neutrophil-derived α9. We determined the role of neutrophil-specific α9 in stroke outcomes in a mice model with obesity-induced hyperglycemia.

METHODS:

α9
Neu-KO
(α9
fl/fl
MRP8Cre
+
) and littermate control α9
WT
(α9
fl/fl
MRP8Cre
−
) mice were fed on a 60% high-fat diet for 20 weeks to induce obesity-induced hyperglycemia. Functional outcomes were evaluated up to 28 days after stroke onset in mice of both sexes using a transient (30 minutes) middle cerebral artery ischemia. Infarct volume (magnetic resonance imaging) and postreperfusion thrombo-inflammation (thrombi, fibrin, neutrophil, phospho-nuclear factor kappa B [p-NFκB], TNF [tumor necrosis factor]-α, and IL [interleukin]-1β levels, markers of neutrophil extracellular traps) were measured post 6 or 48 hours of reperfusion. In addition, functional outcomes (modified Neurological Severity Score, rota-rod, corner, and wire-hanging test) were measured for up to 4 weeks.

RESULTS:

Stroke upregulated neutrophil α9 expression more in obese mice (
P
<0.05 versus lean mice). Irrespective of sex, deletion of neutrophil α9 improved functional outcomes up to 4 weeks, concomitant with reduced infarct, improved cerebral blood flow, decreased postreperfusion thrombo-inflammation, and neutrophil extracellular traps formation (NETosis) (
P
<0.05 versus α9
WT
obese mice). Obese α9
Neu-KO
mice were less susceptible to thrombosis in FeCl
3
injury-induced carotid thrombosis model. Mechanistically, we found that α9/cellular fibronectin axis contributes to NETosis via ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) and PAD4 (peptidyl arginine deiminase 4), and neutrophil α9 worsens stroke outcomes via cellular fibronectin-EDA but not tenascin C. Obese wild-type mice infused with anti–integrin α9 exhibited improved functional outcomes up to 4 weeks (
P
<0.05 versus vehicle).

CONCLUSIONS:
Genetic ablation of neutrophil-specific α9 or pharmacological inhibition improves long-term functional outcomes after stroke in mice with obesity-induced hyperglycemia, most likely by limiting thrombo-inflammation.
Gender Trouble in the Land of the Nile: Transgender Identities, the Judiciary and Islam in Egypt
Authors: Noralla Nora 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The paper provides a socio-political context analysis to outline Al-Azhar’s discourse on transgender identities and its influence on law and policy in Egypt. Transgender identities in Egypt represent an issue governed by Islamic Sharia more than anything else. Scholars at Al-Azhar, Egypt’s highest Islamic authority, viewed transgender identities as a danger to the fabric of society if not regulated. Thus, in the 1980s, several Fatwas were issued to examine the compatibility of transgender identities with Sharia. These Fatwas were mostly concerned with the criteria that should exist to allow people to undergo surgical and hormonal interventions to change their sex. Initially, judicial opinions reviewed the issue of transgender identities independently of those Fatwas. However, since late 2000s, judicial opinions shifted to be more aligned with Sharia on the matter. Apart from judicial opinions, the Fatwas that emerged from the 1980s have also managed to influence the official health policy on transgender identities. To understand Al-Azhar’s discourse on transgender identities, the author provides an analysis of three Fatwas issued by three different jurists in the 1980s and 1990s; examines the influence of that discourse on the current health policy providing medical care for transgender people; and provides a socio-political context analysis of judicial opinions in the 1980s and present-day to outline the reasons behind the judicial shift in attitude towards transgender identities.
Affordances and Actions: Requests for Confirmation as Devices for Implementing Challenging and Other Disagreement- Implicative Actions
Authors: Küttner Uwe-A. , Ehmer Oliver 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
This article examines how requests for confirmation (RfCs) can be used as devices for challenging or disagreeing with another participant, their talk, or their action(s) in informal interaction. Based on their defining pragmatic characteristics, we identify two generic interactional affordances RfCs offer their speakers: (1) a capacity to do questioning and (2) a capacity to forward propositional content. While these two affordances are generally utilized together, one or the other may be mobilized more strongly when bringing off challenging or disagreement-implicative actions. Drawing on interactional data in (Peninsular) Spanish and (American) English, and using conversation analytic methods, we illustrate how participants may differentially draw on these two basic affordances with respect to two major classes of “challengeables”: (1) a co-participant’s claims and assertions (or the stances with which they are delivered), and (2) a co-participant’s plans or decisions. We end with a discussion of the usefulness of an affordance-based approach.
Folktales of Mayotte, an African Island
Authors: Haring Lee 
Published: July 2023

The book uncovers the versatility and literary skills of oral narrators in a small African island. Relying on the researches of three French ethnographers who interviewed storytellers in the 1970s-80s, Lee Haring shows a once-colonised people using verbal art to preserve ancient values in the postcolonial world, when the island of Mayotte was transforming itself from a neglected colony to an overseas department of France.
The author’s innovation is to read ethnographic researches as play scripts—to see printed folktales as accounts of live performances. One storyteller after another comments symbolically on what it is like to be a formerly colonised population. Storytelling women, in particular, combine diverse plots and characters to create traditional-sounding stories, which could not have been predicted from the African, Malagasy, Indian, and European traditions coexisting in Mayotte. Haring’s account shows them to be particularly skilled at irony and ambiguity, conveying both submissive and rebellious attitudes in their tales. He makes Mayotte storytelling accessible to a new, English-speaking audience and demonstrates that traditional storytellers in those years were preserving, but also critiquing, their inherited social order in a changing world. Their creative intentions, cultural influences and widely different narrative styles constitute Mayotte’s system of the arts of the word.
Literary specialists, folklore enthusiasts, and people who like reading stories will find much to appreciate in this engaging and sophisticated book.
2. A “Two Person Career”
Authors: Auspos Patricia 
Published: July 2023

The marital ideal that made it difficult for Grace Chisholm Young (1868-1944) to maintain an independent professional life was that of the "helpmate wife” who advanced her husband’s career. A graduate of Girton College and the first woman to defend a thesis and earn a doctorate in mathematics in Germany, Grace Chisholm was a mathematician in her own right when she married her former college tutor, William Henry Young (1863-1942), in 1896.
After they moved to Europe with their infant son, Will encouraged Grace to fulfill her longstanding desire to study medicine, instead of continuing to work with him on pure mathematics. She remained in Germany with their two children while he divided his time between Germany and teaching jobs in Britain. Soon Grace was doing mathematics with Will as well as medicine, and also caring for their growing family (four more children were born between 1901 and 1908).
Their partnership, which never fully acknowledged her contribution, established Will as a highly creative mathematician in the early 1900s. Over the next two decades, the Youngs produced several books and over two hundred articles, but Will took public credit for their joint work. Grace willingly assumed the role of junior, mostly anonymous, and distinctly subordinate partner in the Youngs’ collaboration. Her role in their professional partnership mirrored her role in their domestic partnership, and reflected their assessment of their respective talents: he was a late-blooming genius while she was merely talented. They agreed that helping him was more important than anything she could do on her own.
Nevertheless, Grace refused to give up her medical training -- an aspect of her life that has not been adequately explored until now. Will encouraged her interest in medicine, but simultaneously pressured her to devote more time to helping him with mathematics. Grace never became a licensed doctor, but she eventually completed all the required coursework, despite the seemingly impossible demands on her time. She also published two children’s books about science, penned stories for her own children, wrote poetry, and authored an historical novel about Elizabethan England that was never published.
When Will was teaching in India from 1914 to 1916, Grace wrote a series of papers under her own name that established her independent reputation in pure mathematics. Although she found it increasingly difficult to be Will’s self-sacrificing helpmate, especially after he retired, she continued to cultivate her image as a devoted, helpmate wife who advanced her husband’s career. But she silently rebelled, and her notebooks, pocket diaries, and the poetry she wrote in the 1930s record her disillusionment and suppressed anger.
Physical Mechanism of Winter Temperature Multidecadal Variations in Arid Central Asia: The Role of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)
Authors: Zheng Fei , Liu Xiaoning , Chen Jianhui , Huang Wei , Sun Cheng , Wang Hao 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
This study investigates the influence of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on the multidecadal variability of winter surface air temperature in arid central Asia (ACASAT). Apart from a long-term warming trend, the observational analysis shows that the winter ACASAT exhibits a significant multidecadal variability, which is characterized by antiphase fluctuations with the AMO. The mechanism for this negative correlation between the AMO and the winter ACASAT is explored from the aspect of wave teleconnection. The AMO provides energy for the Scandinavian teleconnection pattern at middle and low altitudes by regulating the high-altitude wave train over the middle and high latitudes of Eurasia, and thus has an impact on the remote climate in arid central Asia. Results from the linear baroclinic model (LBM) provide evidence for the linkage between the AMO and the Scandinavian teleconnection pattern. When the AMO is in its warm periods, the Scandinavian teleconnection pattern is in a positive phase, which further makes the cold air from the northeast strengthen, leading to the anomalously colder surface air temperature in arid central Asia. Based on the relationship that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) leads the AMO by 15–20 years, it is further found that there is a leading relationship between the NAO and the winter ACASAT via the AMO. On this basis, an empirical model using the NAO as a predictor was established to predict the ACASAT, and the empirical model shows good hindcast performance. Results from the model show that the winter ACASAT will continue to rise in the next 10 years and decline after 2030.
On the Consistent Parametric Description of the Wave Age Dependence of the Sea Surface Roughness
Authors: Li Shuiqing 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The wind drag on the sea surface is characterized by the aerodynamic roughness of the sea surface, z0, which is regulated by surface wind waves. Many studies have related the dimensionless form of z0 to the wave age parameter estimated from spectral peak information. These parametric relationships have been well developed for the wind-driven sea but not for mixed seas. Based on an analysis using observations from a fixed platform in the northern South China Sea, the deficiency of the spectral peak information in the parametric description z0 when swells dominate is indicated. Instead, a consistent parametric description of z0 can be obtained by using the wave age estimated from the mean wave period, and normalizing z0 by the mean wavelength. Normalizing z0 by the significant wave height introduces a spurious residual dependence of z0 on the wave steepness. A parametric relationship is developed between the dimensionless z0 (normalized by the mean wavelength) and the wave age from the mean wave period. A comparison of this new relationship to the wind-speed-only formulation in COARE 3.5 is provided.

Significance Statement
In this paper, a consistent parametric description of the wave age dependence of the surface aerodynamic roughness is presented, with a wide range of sea states from dominant wind-driven seas to mixed seas in which the swells are dominant.