bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Enhances Neuroplasticity and Accelerates Motor Recovery in a Stroke Mouse Model
Authors: Longo Valentina , Barbati Saviana Antonella , Re Agnese , Paciello Fabiola , Bolla Maria , Rinaudo Marco , Miraglia Francesca , Alù Francesca , Di Donna Martina Gaia , Vecchio Fabrizio , Rossini Paolo Maria , Podda Maria Vittoria , Grassi Claudio 
Published: March 2022

Background:
More effective strategies are needed to promote poststroke functional recovery. Here, we evaluated the impact of bihemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on forelimb motor function recovery and the underlying mechanisms in mice subjected to focal ischemia of the motor cortex.

Methods:
Photothrombotic stroke was induced in the forelimb brain motor area, and tDCS was applied once per day for 3 consecutive days, starting 72 hours after stroke. Grid-walking, single pellet reaching, and grip strength tests were conducted to assess motor function. Local field potentials were recorded to evaluate brain connectivity. Western immunoblotting, ELISA, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and Golgi-Cox staining were used to uncover tDCS-mediated stroke recovery mechanisms.

Results:
Among our results, tDCS increased the rate of motor recovery, anticipating it at the early subacute stage. In this window, tDCS enhanced BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) expression and dendritic spine density in the peri-infarct motor cortex, along with increasing functional connectivity between motor and somatosensory cortices. Treatment with the BDNF TrkB (tropomyosin-related tyrosine kinase B) receptor inhibitor, ANA-12, prevented tDCS effects on motor recovery and connectivity as well as the increase of spine density, pERK (phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase), pCaMKII (phosphorylated calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II), pMEF (phosphorylated myocyte-enhancer factor), and PSD (postsynaptic density)-95. The tDCS-promoted rescue was paralleled by enhanced plasma BDNF level, suggesting its potential role as circulating prognostic biomarker.

Conclusions:
The rate of motor recovery is accelerated by tDCS applied in the subacute phase of stroke. Anticipation of motor recovery via vicariate pathways or neural reserve recruitment would potentially enhance the efficacy of standard treatments, such as physical therapy, which is often delayed to a later stage when plastic responses are progressively lower.
Buckets of Steam and Left-handed Hammers. The Fool’s Errand as Signal of Epistemic and Coalitional Dominance
Authors: Umbreș Radu 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
In various professional groups, experts send rookies on absurd tasks as a joke. The fool’s errand appears in factories and hospitals, in elite schools and scout camps, among soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Why are newcomers deceived and humiliated, and why are pranks relatively similar and remarkably persistent over time? I propose that the cultural success and the recurrent features of the fool’s errand are based on evolved cognitive mechanisms activated by apprenticeship as social learning and group induction. Epistemic vigilance explains how novices are reliably deceived by experts using opaque statements erroneously perceived as pedagogical. Furthermore, coalitional psychology explains why insiders use the prank as strategic signalling of hierarchies based on epistemic asymmetry. The intersection of cognitive mechanisms and patterns of professional recruitment maintains a tradition of ritualised pranking in which insiders coordinate to humiliate newcomers to assert epistemic and coalitional dominance.
Interrogating the Sacred: Radical Religious Revisionism, Agnosticism and Atheism in the Modern Arab World
Authors: Coury Ralph M. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
The article analyzes the thought of modern Arab Muslim and Christian critics of religion (believing radical and left liberal revisionists, agnostics, and atheists) who have challenged prevailing religious repertoires of both Islamists and their liberal opponents. Topics include: traditional Orientalist understandings of the fragile role of reason in Arab societies; the construction of religion in the modern West and non-West; the influences that account for the emergence and nature of Arab critiques, their similarities and differences, and the various responses that they have engendered; the degree to which the critiques have paralleled those of the modern West, and their influence on modern Arab thought; the variety of genres, including the novel, short story, poetry, fable, drama, Qur’anic exegesis, scientific theory, philosophy, metaphysics, and historical studies, in which these critiques have appeared.
Something as Essential as Life Itself
Authors: Macaluso Pasquale 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Classic trauma theory has been criticized for ignoring the possibility of healing and growth for the traumatized, especially in a non-Western context. This reading of Ghassān Kanafānī’s Returning to Haifa tries to overcome such limitations by employing a framework that articulates Ibn Khaldūn’s thought on group feeling with Pierre Janet’s theory of trauma. Accordingly, the novel construes the Nakbah as a traumatic event that, despite its subjective meaning having long remained elusive, has never stopped affecting refugees’ consciousness. It then proposes that the Arab defeat of 1967 offered an opportunity for collective engagement and historical change to the Nakbah generation because it enabled them to reconcile their traumatic memories with their lives, inspiring their support for the Palestinian resistance. Such a parable of trauma integration counters the essentialist positions that Kanafānī attributed to some Zionist literature and points to the reversal of the schemes aimed at humiliating the Palestinians.
The Traditional Qaṣīdah and Kitāb al-Zahrah by Ibn Dāwūd al-Iṣfahānī
Authors: Nasser Iyas 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
This article examines the structural affinity between the traditional qaṣīdah and Kitāb al-Zahrah, an anthology of poetry compiled by Muḥammad Ibn Dāwūd al-Iṣfahānī (d. 297/910) that consists of one hundred chapters. While the first half is devoted to love poetry, the second half presents a number of different genres, beginning notably with panegyric religious poetry. Here I explore a significant passage in which Ibn Dāwūd justifies his arrangement: love poetry followed by religious poetry. Since this passage presents some ambiguity in Nykl’s edition—which is based on the Cairo manuscript containing only the first half of Kitāb al-Zahrah—I have consulted the Turin manuscript, where the anthology appears in full, to propose important emendations for a satisfactory understanding of the anthologist’s justification. I show that Ibn Dāwūd arranges his anthology in two halves corresponding to the two sections of the Abbasid panegyrical qaṣīdah: amatory opening and panegyric. This potentially makes Kitāb al-Zahrah the only anthology to be based on the traditional structure of qaṣīdah.
The Radiative Effect on Cloud Microphysics from the Arctic to the Tropics
Authors: Zeng Xiping , Heymsfield Andrew J. , Ulanowski Zbigniew , Neely III Ryan R. , Li Xiaowen , Gong Jie , Wu Dong L. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Cloud representation is one of the largest uncertainties in the current weather and climate models. In this article, the observations and modeling of the radiative effect on (cloud) microphysics (REM) from the Arctic to the Tropics are overviewed, providing a new direction to meet the challenge of cloud representation.
REM deals with the radiation-induced temperature difference between cloud particles and air. It leads to two common phenomena observed at the surface—dew and frost—and impacts clouds aloft significantly, which is noticed via the wide occurrence of horizontally oriented ice crystals (HOICs). However, REM has been overlooked by all of the operational weather and climate models.
Based on the bin model of REM and the global distribution of radiative cooling/warming, the observations of REM from several platforms (e.g., aircrafts, field campaigns, and satellites) are coordinated in this article, yielding a global picture on REM. As a result, the picture is compatible with the global distribution of HOICs and other ice crystal characteristics obtained from various clouds on the globe, such as diamond dust (or clear-sky precipitation) in the Arctic, sub-visual cirrus clouds in the tropical tropopause layer, and other cirrus clouds from the low to high latitudes. In addition, ice crystals possess relatively strong REM compared to liquid drops because their aspect ratio is usually not one.
The global picture on REM can be used by the weather and climate modelers to diagnose their cloud representation biases. It can also be used to improve the atmospheric ice retrieval algorithm from satellite observations.
A New Structure for the Sea Ice Essential Climate Variables of the Global Climate Observing System
Authors: Lavergne Thomas , Kern Stefan , Aaboe Signe , Derby Lauren , Dybkjaer Gorm , Garric Gilles , Heil Petra , Hendricks Stefan , Holfort Jürgen , Howell Stephen , Key Jeffrey , Lieser Jan L , Maksym Ted , Maslowski Wieslaw , Meier Walt , Muñoz-Sabater Joaquín , Nicolas Julien , Özsoy Burcu , Rabe Benjamin , Rack Wolfgang , Raphael Marilyn , de Rosnay Patricia , Smolyanitsky Vasily , Tietsche Steffen , Ukita Jinro , Vichi Marcello , Wagner Penelope , Willmes Sascha , Zhao Xi 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Climate observations inform about the past and present state of the climate system. They underpin climate science, feed into policies for adaptation and mitigation, and increase awareness of the impacts of climate change. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), a body of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), assesses the maturity of the required observing system and gives guidance for its development. The Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) are central to GCOS, and the global community must monitor them with the highest standards in the form of Climate Data Records (CDR). Today, a single ECV—the sea ice ECV—encapsulates all aspects of the sea ice environment. In the early 1990s it was a single variable (sea ice concentration) but is today an umbrella for four variables (adding thickness, edge/extent, and drift). In this contribution, we argue that GCOS should from now on consider a set of seven ECVs (sea ice concentration, thickness, snow depth, surface temperature, surface albedo, age, and drift). These seven ECVs are critical and cost effective to monitor with existing satellite Earth observation capability. We advise against placing these new variables under the umbrella of the single sea ice ECV. To start a set of distinct ECVs is indeed critical to avoid adding to the suboptimal situation we experience today and to reconcile the sea ice variables with the practice in other ECV domains.
Dependence on the Lens-to-Target Distance and with the Laser Energy at Constant Irradiance of the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Signal
Authors: Sobral Hugo , Hernández-Rangel Victoria 
Published: March 2022

The emission signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of a laser-produced plasma on an aluminum target at different focusing distances and at fixed irradiances was investigated. The plasma was produced by a 1064 nm nanosecond-pulsed laser and the energy and irradiances were varied in the 6–110 mJ and 0.4–700 GW cm−2 ranges, respectively. Regardless of the applied laser energy, adjusting the lens-to-target distance, best emission values were obtained for an irradiance of nearly 8 GW cm−2. At lower irradiances, the signal decreases due to less matter removal, while at higher values, the plasma shielding effect prevents the laser from reaching the sample. This mechanism is surpassed when the lens-to-sample distance is close to the nominal focusing value at about 100 GW cm−2. The enhancement of the signal with the focusing distance is due to a combination of an increment of the plasma temperature, electron density, and atomized mass. When the irradiance is kept fixed changing simultaneously the laser energy and the ablated area, an increment of the emission was observed. This is basically due to an increment of the ablated mass while both electron density and temperature do not show significant changes, even though the laser energy increased by more than one order of magnitude.
Door-to-door hepatitis C screening in Georgia: An innovative model to increase testing and linkage to care
Authors: Butsashvili Maia , Zurashvili Tamar , Kamkamidze George , Kajaia Maia , Gulbiani Lasha , Gamezardashvili Ana , Gvinjilia Lia , Kuchuloria Tinatin , Gamkrelidze Amiran , Shadaker Shaun , Nasrullah Muazzam , Averhoff Francisco , Armstrong Paige A. 
Published: March 2022

Objectives Georgia has a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In 2015 a national HCV elimination program was launched providing free access to screening and treatment. To achieve elimination, innovative approaches to increase screening coverage and linkage to care are needed. This study estimates feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of the door-to-door pilot HCV testing program in three cities. Methods Households were approached by system random sampling and all members were invited for study participation. Researchers used a detailed guide for conducting door-to-door testing and served as case navigators to link anti-HCV-positive individuals to care. Results Testing acceptance rate was high. In total 4804 individuals were tested and 48 (1.0%) were HCV positive. Among the entire sample of newly and previously tested individuals, overall HCV antibody prevalence was 3.6%. Through case navigation, of 48 newly identified and 26 previously identified anti-HCV-positive individuals, 42 (87.5%) and 17 (65.4%), respectively, were successfully linked to care. Conclusions Door-to-door HCV testing has potential to increase testing uptake. Such community-based approaches not only improve testing, but can also serve to increase linkage to care, which is important in achieving the goal of HCV elimination. The study provides a model for high prevalence countries aiming to eliminate hepatitis C.
Transreal tracing: Queer-feminist speculations on disabled technologies
Authors: Spiel Katta 
Published: March 2022

In a world where technologies often serve to amplify the persistent rendering of disability as an undesired deficit, what we need are empowering utopias concerning bodies, disabilities and assistive technologies. Specifically, I use Barad's article ‘Transmaterialities: Trans*/Matter/Realities and Queer Political Imaginings’ to illustrate how we might speculate on technologies that understand disabled bodies as affording potentials. The Transreal Tracing Device reimagines our bodies as surfaces of possibility, encouraging explorations into how disabled bodies do and could look like. The speculative device offers an opportunity for positive renegotiations of disabled bodies as malleable and desirable – as ontologically indeterminate and transcendent. In traversing theoretical approaches and using them to design queer-feminist utopias centring disabled people, the concept challenges dominant notions of disabilities and assistive technologies alike. I close by discussing implications for ability-based, participatory but even more so self-determined design, and how to shift the focus of disabled technologies towards potential, from support to appreciation, from isolation to kinship and, ultimately, from shame to pride.
Alkalising agents in urinary tract infections: theoretical contraindications, interactions and synergy
Authors: Kavanagh Oisín N. 
Published: March 2022

Introduction: Alkalising agents have the potential to enhance the efficacy of many antimicrobial agents used in the treatment of Urinary Tract Infections; they also have the potential to cause significant patient harm if used incorrectly. This work seeks to illustrate and quantify these risks and synergies by modelling drug solubility and supersaturation against pharmacokinetic data for commonly used antibiotic agents. Methods: Solubility-pH relationships are employed to quantify the crystalluria risk for compounds which may be reasonably expected to be co-prescribed—or co-administered—with urinary alkalisers (amoxicillin, nitrofurantoin, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole and ciprofloxacin). These results are correlated against reports of crystalluria in the literature and in the EU Adverse Drug Reaction database. Results and Discussion: We find a correlation between the maximum theoretical supersaturation attainable and crystalluria reports for sulfamethoxazole, amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin. Shifts in urine pH which can be induced by alkalising agents may produce supersaturated states (and thus induce crystalluria) and may also affect antimicrobial efficacy. The importance of employing biorelevant media to improve predictive capacity of this analysis is also discussed. Conclusion: Despite their widespread use, alkalising agents have significant effects on the pharmacokinetics of the most common drugs used to treat UTIs. With self-care set to increase, all OTC products should be critically re-evaluated to ensure patient safety, particularly within contexts where healthcare professionals are not involved in treatment selection. This analysis suggests a need for consistency across patient and healthcare professional documents to improve clarity. Plain Language Summary OTC Alkalising agents need additional warning information Alkalising agents (e.g., sodium and potassium citrate) can be purchased in many locations without the supervision of a healthcare professional. Although they are thought as innocuous agents, alkalisers can greatly influence the way some antibiotics behave in the body and this can potentially cause patient harm. This work illustrates these risks and synergies by modelling drug solubility and supersaturation against pharmacokinetic data for commonly used antibiotic agents. Manufacturers and patients should be aware that the use of alkalising agents with these drugs (and potentially many others) may cause unintended consequences.
Recovery after inadvertent intramedullary microchip implantation at C1–C2 in a kitten
Authors: Schneider Nina , Blutke Andreas , Parzefall Birgit 
Published: March 2022

Case summary A 15-week-old male British Shorthair cat was presented for peracute paralysis immediately after microchip implantation. Neurological examination revealed a non-ambulatory tetraparesis and left thoracic limb plegia localised to C1–C5 spinal cord segments. CT of the cervical spine showed a diagonally orientated metallic foreign body (microchip transponder, 10 mm in length) within the vertebral canal at the level of C1–C2, resulting in a penetrating spinal cord injury. Based on concerns about further iatrogenic spinal cord injury through surgery, medical management was chosen. Despite the severe clinical signs, the kitten returned to ambulation within 6 days of the injury, with controlled urination and defecation. Continuous neurological improvement was seen for up to 6 weeks after the injury at which point a mild-to-moderate ambulatory tetraparesis and ataxia remained, with an overall good quality of life. Follow-up CT at the age of 13 months revealed a relative cranial displacement and rotation of the microchip towards the foramen magnum, while the cat’s neurological status was unchanged. Relevance and novel information This case demonstrated a cervical penetrating spinal cord injury in a growing cat caused by a microchip, which was successfully managed with medical treatment, suggesting that this might be an option for patients at risk of severe surgery-related complications or where owners reject surgery.
Targeting hypersialylation in multiple myeloma represents a novel approach to enhance NK cell–mediated tumor responses
Authors: Daly John , Sarkar Subhashis , Natoni Alessandro , Stark Jessica C. , Riley Nicholas M. , Bertozzi Carolyn R. , Carlsten Mattias , O'Dwyer Michael E. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractAbnormal glycosylation is a hallmark of cancer, and the hypersialylated tumor cell surface facilitates abnormal cell trafficking and drug resistance in several malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM). Furthermore, hypersialylation has also been implicated in facilitating evasion of natural killer (NK) cell–mediated immunosurveillance but not in MM to date. In this study, we explore the role of hypersialylation in promoting escape from NK cells. We document strong expression of sialic acid-derived ligands for Siglec-7 (Siglec-7L) on primary MM cells and MM cell lines, highlighting the possibility of Siglec-7/Siglec-7L interactions in the tumor microenvironment. Interactomics experiments in MM cell lysates revealed PSGL-1 as the predominant Siglec-7L in MM. We show that desialylation, using both a sialidase and sialyltransferase inhibitor (SIA), strongly enhances NK cell–mediated cytotoxicity against MM cells. Furthermore, MM cell desialylation results in increased detection of CD38, a well-validated target in MM. Desialylation enhanced NK cell cytotoxicity against CD38+ MM cells after treatment with the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab. Additionally, we show that MM cells with low CD38 expression can be treated with all trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), SIA and daratumumab to elicit a potent NK cell cytotoxic response. Finally, we demonstrate that Siglec-7KO potentiates NK cell cytotoxicity against Siglec-7L+ MM cells. Taken together, our work shows that desialylation of MM cells is a promising novel approach to enhance NK cell efficacy against MM, which can be combined with frontline therapies to elicit a potent anti-MM response.