bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Iron oxide-based charge transport layers for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells
Authors: Noman Hafiz Muhammad , Nisa Iqbal , Bilal Muhammad Meesum , Jan Muhammad Anwar , Bilal Abu Summama Sadavi , Hussain Ijaz , Bano Nargis , Qureshi Akbar Ali , Adnan Muhammad
Published: December 2024

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) represent the future generation of photovoltaic technology, offering power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) comparable to the best silicon solar cells. This research primarily investigates the effect of charge transport layers (CTLs) on the performance and stability of PSCs, focusing on their interfaces with the perovskite layer. Among the various CTLs, iron oxides, particularly hematite (α-Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) have shown significant potential due to their cost-effectiveness, stability, and non-toxicity. This study explores the use of α-Fe2O3 as the electron transport layer (ETL) and a bilayer of magnetite (Fe3O4) and spiro-OMeTAD as the hole transport layer (HTL). The incorporation of these iron oxides significantly enhances the optical and morphological properties of PSCs, achieving an impressive PCE of 18.63%, with a JSC of 22.34 mA.cm−2, VOC of 1.14 V, and FF of 73.36%. These enhancements are attributed to improved thin film morphology, efficient charge collection, and reduced recombination losses. α-Fe2O3 enhances electron mobility and reduces optical losses as the ETL, while Fe3O4 in the HTL minimizes recombination and improves interfacial contact. Together, they significantly boost device efficiency and stability. This research presents a viable approach to achieving efficient and stable PSCs by utilizing iron oxides as CTLs.
Everesting, tea scum, toddler mechanics
Authors: Banks Michael
Published: December 2024

Michael Banks picks his favourite stories and quotes from the weird and wonderful world of physics.
Implications of overlap in tariff policy on waste management costs in Italian municipalities
Authors: Di Foggia Giacomo , Kostakis Ioannis , Abeliotis Konstadinos , Beccarello Massimo
Published: December 2024

In today’s race toward a more circular economy, optimization of tariff design is important for minimizing the environmental impact and costs of municipal waste management. This study examines the overlap of an incentive-based tariff method and the unit pricing system. We address whether this overlap impacts the effectiveness and efficiency of waste management in Italian municipalities. Based on a panel data sample for 5,512 municipalities from 2016 to 2022, a generalized method of moments estimation was employed for a linear dynamic panel model. The results suggest that there is room for optimizing their overlap under certain circumstances—specifically, when the availability of waste treatment facilities is adequate and the percentage of separate waste collection is high. The interaction between the percentage of separate collection and the incentive tariff method contributed to cost reduction, confirming the need for consistency and compatibility of a tariff scheme with circular economy objectives. The effective adoption of both tools, as well as other actions such as information campaigns and service delivery improvements, can promote waste sorting and investment in management facilities. The results provide insights for policymakers seeking to design more effective and efficient policy measures aimed at maximizing environmental effectiveness, in accordance with the polluter-pays principle, and minimizing costs.
Characterizing ultrashort pulses with photon energies above 1.12 eV based on transient absorption in silicon thin films
Authors: Kumar Mayank , Mokhtari Saadat , Guay Tristan , Leblanc Adrien , Oubrerie Kosta , A Jalil Sohail , Haddad Elissa , Jargot Gaëtan , Lassonde Philippe , Ibrahim Heide , Vampa Giulio , Légaré François
Published: December 2024

Frequency-resolved optical switching (FROSt) is a phase-matching-free characterization technique for ultrashort pulses based on transient absorption in semiconductors. So far, this technique has been limited to characterizing pulses with photon energies smaller than the bandgap of the semiconductors used. In this work, we extend the method to characterize pulses of photon energy greater than the bandgap of the semiconductor used for characterization. We demonstrate this by characterizing ultrashort visible pulses and supercontinuum using silicon (Si) thin films deposited on a sapphire substrate. We also demonstrate that visible light sources up to a repetition rate of 250 kHz can be characterized using these samples. Therefore, this study highlights the potential of FROSt as a suitable technique for the temporal characterization of weak visible to infrared pulses, including high harmonics generated in solids.
Elucidating the impact of gas transport on high-performing air electrodes: a 1D physically based model unveiling the correlation between microstructure and impedance response
Authors: Cademartori Davide , Asensio Antonio Maria , Clematis Davide , Hubert Maxime , Laurencin Jérome , Barbucci Antonio
Published: December 2024

A 1D physically based model of high-performing air electrodes for solid oxide cells is used to unravel the physical mechanisms lying behind the resistive peaks observed in experimental impedance data, posing particular attention to the low-frequency contribution. In particular, the latter is commonly observed when analyzing the impedance response of high-performing air electrode materials, but its physical interpretation is still questioned. The model construction is grounded on the microstructural characteristics of conventional screen-printed electrodes. These properties were extracted by combining the statistical analysis of experimental 2D images taken with a scanning electron microscope with a validated microstructural model able to generate synthetic 3D reconstructions of homogeneous electrode architectures. The implemented electrochemical model is tailored to the specific characteristics of a reference high-performing SmBa0.8Ca0.2Co2O5+δ
electrode material. Specifically, the model was used to reproduce its stationary and dynamic behavior in the temperature range 650 °C and 750 °C, with an inlet oxygen partial pressure from 0.1–1 atm. The performed simulations unravel the physical mechanisms lying behind the resistive contributions emerging from the impedance data. In particular, the effect of gas transport is analyzed in detail to understand the impact of the electrode microstructure on its electrochemical behavior. A sensitivity analysis of the effective gas diffusion coefficient highlighted that, in the investigated operating conditions, the electrochemical performance of classic screen-printed air electrodes is not limited by the gas diffusion. In contrast, the low-frequency contribution evidenced in the Nyquist plot was addressed to the impact of gas conversion. The developed electrochemical model successfully completes the correlation between microstructural and electrochemical properties and the results included in this study can be extended to different electrode materials tested in similar operating conditions.
Latent space dynamics learning for stiff collisional-radiative models
Authors: Xie Xuping , Tang Qi , Tang Xianzhu
Published: December 2024

In this work, we propose a data-driven method to discover the latent space and learn the corresponding latent dynamics for a collisional-radiative (CR) model in radiative plasma simulations. The CR model, consisting of high-dimensional stiff ordinary differential equations, must be solved at each grid point in the configuration space, leading to significant computational costs in plasma simulations. Our method employs a physics-assisted autoencoder to extract a low-dimensional latent representation of the original CR system. A flow map neural network is then used to learn the latent dynamics. Once trained, the reduced surrogate model predicts the entire latent dynamics given only the initial condition by iteratively applying the flow map. The radiative power loss (RPL) is then reconstructed using a decoder. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed architecture can accurately predict both the full-order CR dynamics and the RPL rate.
Athirst for God
Authors: Wheeler Michael
Published: December 2024

During the 1880s and his second and third administrations, William compared his own long life with those of deceased contemporaries, recorded in their lives and letters, and with certain figures in fiction. While associating himself with a younger generation of liberal catholic Anglicans, he reviewed the history of Tractarianism. When planning for retirement, he established the institute that was to become St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden, a centre for ‘divine learning and worship’ and his legacy to the Church of England. Undergirding all these activities was a settled belief in divine providence. He registered a deepening sense of God’s guidance in the Commons and out of doors, as the words were given to him in major speeches, along with the strength to deliver them. While campaigning in the present, with a view to the future, he frequently related his current struggles to those of the past.
Temporary Measures
Authors: Lee Suzy K
Published: December 2024

Migration is a common response to crisis. Not only by individuals, who can choose to flee danger or hardship, but also by states, which sometimes induce those individual choices through policies that facilitate migration. What impact, if any, do such migration policies have on the originating crisis? And what happens when the crisis ends? Temporary Measures examines the experiences of South Korea and the Philippines, two countries where labor export was pursued as a path out of chronic underdevelopment and economic crises. In Korea, labor export became a crucial factor in an export-led industrialization push that not only stabilized but so transform the Korean economy that within two decades, it would become a major destination country for migrant labor. The Philippines also experienced an economic transformation as a result of labor export, but in a way that generated dependence on emigration and migrant remittances. This book, by tracing the history of these two countries’ labor-export programs, offers explanations for why and how they diverged so dramatically.
Introduction
Authors: Lee Suzy K
Published: December 2024

Chapter 1 presents the book’s motivating question: What are the conditions under which a state works to send its population outside of its borders? While there are many instances in which mass migration is a spontaneous response to economic, social, or political crisis, some mass migrations are the product of a sending state’s intentional labor-export policy. Beginning in the mid-20th century, the two countries that are the focus of this book—South Korea and the Philippines—pursued such policies in service of broader national goals for industrialization and economic development. Their different experiences raise important questions about the relationship of migration and development, state capacity, and the political economy of migration policy. This chapter summarizes the main arguments of the book, describes the methodological approach, and provides an outline of the book’s subsequent chapters.
The State, Economic Development, and Labor Export
Authors: Lee Suzy K
Published: December 2024

Chapter 2 presents the conceptual ground on which the book’s analysis will build. It argues that migration scholars have always understood mass migration to be entangled with economic development. The social and economic disruptions of capitalism generate population movements—sometimes within national borders, sometimes beyond them—which, in turn, influence the direction of subsequent economic transformations. Sending states can seek to control and harness the effects of migration, and in certain contexts this should be considered a labor-export policy. This chapter offers a definition of labor-export policy, as distinct from migration-management, and considers the recent research on states that engage in this type of policy.
Labor-Export-Mediated Industrialization in the Philippines, 1974–1984
Authors: Lee Suzy K
Published: December 2024

Chapter 4 describes the Philippine state’s efforts to reproduce the labor-export-mediated industrialization (LEMI) strategies utilized by the South Korean state. The Philippine labor-export program began a decade later but grew quickly, with Filipino workers replacing Korean workers in important markets. In order to achieve this, the Philippine state built the modern labor-export apparatus—creating state institutions for coordinating, regulating, and facilitating contract migration, as well as programs for training Filipino workers in the skills required by foreign employers. At the same time, it implemented policies to support the national construction industry in its efforts to expand abroad. Despite the success in labor export, the overall impact of LEMI strategies in the Philippines were less dramatic than in the Korean case. While labor export was effective in helping Philippine firms gain a foothold in the Middle Eastern construction market, those gains did not carry over into the national economy more generally.
The Goodness of Equality
Authors: Macklem Timothy
Published: December 2024

By its very nature, equality is deeply invested with circumstance, and so must be approached with circumstance in mind, rather than as an ideal. The dimensions of equality, as we have known and pursued them, have become the key commonalities of the modern era, and the special worth of equality is to be discovered in the fact that it has made those commonalities possible, by reason of the very features that make equality troubling when pursued as an ideal. Equality is at once both auxiliary and indifferent to what it is auxiliary to, committed to the act of assistance rather than to the nature of the assistance provided, concerned to vindicate solidarity itself rather than the various things that solidarity makes possible, and in those troubling features lie its worth. Its moral flexibility enables us to call upon it to give voice to whatever species of solidarity our culture and politics may happen to call for, or more ambitiously and progressively, for the species of solidarity that our culture and politics truly ought to call for, given that it is fluid, liberal, open, and dynamic (and likely to remain so for some time). These are qualities that largely bar us from fostering many familiar and long-standing forms of solidarity, yet are apt for certain distinctive commonalities of flourishing that, as things now stand, we regularly and self-definingly add to, notably those experienced by women, racial, ethnic, gender, and religious minorities, the elderly, the disabled, and those who are otherwise vulnerable.
The Ideal and the Everyday
Authors: Macklem Timothy
Published: December 2024

The final chapter weaves two stories together. The first has to do with the difficulty of living well, and the fruitfulness that comes from the fact of difficulty, the decisions it confronts us with, and the creativity this gives rise to, a creativity from which flows much of the worth of our existences, individual and collective. The second story is one of law and its worth. It turns out that we can only grasp the worth of law properly by having a suitable regard for difficulty and decision there, a regard that certain justly celebrated accounts of law and its worth would rule out of court, so to speak. If the person entitled to inherit under the terms of a will murders the testator, there is a question of whether the murder is a bar to any inheritance by the murderer. Is there a right way to answer that question and should the law be regarded as embodying the consequent right answer? Or are there a number of right ways to answer the question, and does the law embody larger possibilities for the worth of existence, and our grasp of and contribution to that worth, if it accepts and faces up to the difficulty, and so not only expects and supports but embodies the need for decision? If so, law is the richer for the fact that it is to be identified by its sources rather than its merits, more or less contrary to what one would intuitively suppose.
Perceived Control and Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review
Authors: Magin Zachary E , Emrich Mariel , Park Crystal L , Peña Isabella , Lyn Lynda
Published: December 2024

Background

Perceived control, defined as an individual’s belief in their ability to influence life events and circumstances, has been implicated in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Some research has demonstrated a link between perceived control and blood pressure, a major CVD risk factor. However, methodological differences across studies, including variability in definitions and measures of perceived control, preclude a clear understanding of this relationship.

Purpose

This systematic review describes the evidence regarding the association between perceived control and blood pressure, with a specific focus on integrating the literatures across multiple control-related constructs to provide a comprehensive understanding of their relationship with blood pressure.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted across five databases. Data were extracted from 24 studies that quantitatively examined the relationship between perceived control and blood pressure and met inclusion criteria. Results across studies were narratively synthesized.

Results

Limited evidence emerged across studies showing a negative relationship between perceived control and both resting blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure, but no studies reviewed found that perceived control was associated with lower blood pressure reactivity to a lab stressor.

Conclusions

The findings here provide preliminary evidence that perceived control may serve as an important protective factor against high blood pressure. The findings highlight the need for additional quality research to examine this link more thoroughly. Recommendations for future research are provided.
Behavioral medicine in the GLP-1 era
Authors: Tomiyama A Janet
Published: December 2024

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist medications are receiving high levels of attention because of their dramatic efficacy in causing weight loss. This commentary discusses several ways that those in behavioral medicine and health psychology might think about these medications—whether they should be fully in support of them or whether they pose a risk. The positive aspects of GLP-1s include their great promise in improving health independent of weight loss and the perspective that their efficacy frees individuals from the difficulties of behavioral weight maintenance and the associated stigma of “failing” to lose weight. However, GLP-1 agonist medications also risk medicalizing weight and increasing weight stigma (in addition to those on GLP-1 medications being stigmatized for taking the “easy way out”). From a social identity perspective, GLP-1 medications could even be perceived as a tool to eradicate an entire social group—those that identify as higher weight. In terms of clinical care, a patient-centered, weight-inclusive approach will allow for individuals to receive the treatment that fits with their own social and health context. In terms of research, behavioral medicine should shift away from weight loss interventions simply to lower body mass index, and instead intervene on actual health markers, disease endpoints, or healthy behaviors. Doing so will improve health regardless of a person’s weight or whether they are on GLP-1 agonist medications.
A blended mindfulness-based stress reduction program to improve diabetes self-management among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a mediation effect analysis
Authors: Wang Hongjuan , Ge Lin , Yan Yan Kwok Jojo , Zhang Zhuo , Wiley James , Guo Jia
Published: December 2024

Background

The mechanisms through which the blended mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program improves diabetes self-management among individuals with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remain unclear.

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of blended MBSR on perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, while also exploring the potential mechanisms underlying its effects on improving diabetes self-management.

Methods

One hundred individuals with T2DM were recruited and randomly assigned to two groups (50 participants each) from March 2020 to July 2020. A randomized clinical trial, combined with generalized estimating equations for repeated measures, was employed to assess the intervention effects of the blended MBSR on perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms compared to standard care. Mediation analyses using Model 4 in SPSS PROCESS were conducted to evaluate the contributions of the blended MBSR to diabetes self-management.

Results

Participants in the blended MBSR group showed a significant reduction in perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms compared to the control group over 12 weeks. Bootstrap mediation analyses indicated that changes in perceived stress and anxiety fully mediated the effect of the blended MBSR on diabetes self-efficacy. In contrast, depressive symptoms were not associated with diabetes self-efficacy and therefore did not qualify as mediators. Additionally, diabetes distress was found to be an insignificant mediator. Furthermore, changes in diabetes self-efficacy served as a partial mediator of the positive effects of the blended MBSR on diabetes self-management.

Conclusions

The blended MBSR program effectively reduced perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in individuals with T2DM. The intervention’s impact on perceived stress and anxiety contributed to an increase in diabetes self-efficacy, subsequently enhancing diabetes self-management. Interventions that aim to reduce perceived stress and anxiety, while also increasing diabetes self-efficacy, are recommended to develop diabetes self-management strategies with clearly defined mechanistic pathways.
Slavery in Somalia
Authors: Declich Francesca
Published: December 2024

It is apparent from the earliest extant written sources that slave labor had always formed part of the socioeconomic texture of Somali-speaking society. In both livelihood systems, farming and pastoralism, slaves were an important part of the labor force. Slaves were drawn from Cushitic-language-speaking areas, coming overland along caravan routes across the Ethiopian borders, and from Bantu-speaking groups whose members were sold in coastal ports. An important dynamic of dependency, sometimes regarded as slavery, asserted itself with the recurring migrations in Somalia prompted by the movements of pastoralist nomadic Somali-speaking people in search of pasture land and water for dromedaries. In connection with political changes in the Western Indian Ocean countries after 1800, imports of slaves from Bantu-speaking countries to the Somali territories increased. An unquantifiable percentage of imported slaves were absorbed in a patron-client system whose features have yet to be clearly described and which constitutes a central characteristic of enslavement in the Somali country. Abolition and pre-Independence post-abolition policies did not erase the inequalities accompanying the patron-clientship system; rather, they fixed and solidified such earlier social stratification in a simplified racial designation of those who had to perform compulsory labor and those who were entitled to privileges within the colony.
Periodic Integration and Seasonal Unit Roots
Authors: del Barrio Castro Tomás , Osborn Denise R.
Published: December 2024

Seasonality is pervasive across a wide range of economic time series, and it substantially complicates the analysis of unit-root non-stationarity in such series. Contributions to the literature on nonstationary seasonal processes have focused on periodically integrated (PI) and seasonally integrated (SI) processes. Whereas an SI process captures seasonal non-stationarity essentially through an annual lag, a PI process has (a restricted form of) seasonally varying autoregressive coefficients. When the fundamental properties of both types of process are compared, in particular, it is of note that a simple SI process observed S times a year has S unit roots, which contrasts to the single unit root of a PI process. Indeed, for S > 2 and even (such as processes observed quarterly or monthly), an SI process has a pair of complex-valued unit roots at each seasonal frequency except the Nyquist frequency, where a single real root applies.

Consequently, since 1999 part of the literature concerned with testing the unit roots implied by SI processes employs complex-valued unit root processes, and these are discussed in some detail. A key feature of these processes is how the demodulator operator can be used to convert a unit root process at a seasonal frequency to a conventional zero-frequency unit root process, thereby enabling the well-known properties of the latter to be exploited. Furthermore, circulant matrices can be introduced and employed in theoretical analyses to capture the repetitive nature of seasonal processes.

Discriminating between SI and PI processes requires care, since testing for unit roots at seasonal frequencies may lead to a PI process (erroneously) appearing to have an SI form, while an application to monthly U.S. industrial production series illustrates how these types of seasonal non-stationarity can be distinguished in practice. Although univariate processes are discussed, the methods considered in the article can be used to analyze cointegration, including cointegration across different frequencies.
QAnon, Conspiracies, and Religion
Authors: Barkun Michael
Published: December 2024

After its obscure Internet beginnings in late 2017, QAnon experienced very rapid growth in both the United States and overseas. Although it began as a political conspiracy theory, it gradually was transformed into a religious movement, although conspiracism remained a central element in its belief system. QAnon was unusual among religious movements in having no formal organization and no designated leadership. However, for its adherents it involves matters of ultimate concern, a hallmark of religious movements.

Its prophet-figure, Q, ceased posting—Q’s only movement activity—in late 2020. QAnon asserts that there is a “deep state” cabal consisting of the liberal “establishment”—Democratic Party leadership and supporters, media figures, and celebrities—who seek to undermine conservative policies while also engaging in a plot to kidnap children, abuse them, and sacrifice them in satanic rituals. Their sacrifice is also supposedly for the purpose of extracting adrenochrome from their bodies, which the members of the conspiracy are said to imbibe for a “high” and to preserve their youth. This is set against an eschatology that argues that there will be a coming final battle with the conspirators in which the forces of virtue will be led by Donald Trump in a quasi-messianic role.
TRPS1 is a useful marker in differentiating metastatic breast carcinoma from pancreatic adenocarcinoma in fine-needle aspiration specimens
Authors: Yildiz Bahadir , Jean-Gilles Jerome , Giampoli Ellen J , Kovar-Peltz Sierra , Yang Qi , Miyamoto Hiroshi , Wang Ying
Published: December 2024

Objectives

Distinction of metastatic breast carcinoma (BC) to the pancreas from primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) is essential but challenging. Breast carcinoma shares similar morphology and exhibits an overlapping immunohistochemistry (IHC) profile with PAC. We investigated the utility of recently reported trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type 1 (TRPS1) IHC in differentiating metastatic BC from PAC in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens.

Methods

We assessed consecutive patients of PAC (n = 49). Due to limited cases of metastatic BC to the pancreas (n = 3), cases of metastatic BC (n = 23) in various locations, including lymph node, lung, bone, or soft tissue, were included. Immunohistochemistry for TRPS1 was performed by using the cell blocks obtained from FNA. A quantitative score for TRPS1 expression was calculated by multiplying the intensity and the percentage of positive cells. Immunoreactivity scores were assigned as negative, low positive, intermediate positive, or high positive.

Results

In 49 PAC cases, 47 (95.9%) exhibited negative while 2 (4.1%) exhibited low positive TRPS1 expression. However, TRPS1 expression was high positive in 23 (88.0%) of 26 metastatic BC cases, including 10 (83.3%) of 12 triple-negative BC (TNBC) and 13 (92.9%) of 14 non-TNBC cases.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that TRPS1 IHC represents a highly accurate and reliable method for differentiating metastatic BC from PAC.
The Role of Renal Medullary Bilirubin and Biliverdin Reductase in Angiotensin II-Dependent Hypertension
Authors: Arthur Gertrude , Wasson Andrew R , Straughan Ross E , Drummond Heather A , Stec David E
Published: December 2024

BACKGROUND

Increased circulating bilirubin attenuates angiotensin (Ang) II-induced hypertension and improves renal hemodynamics. However, the intrarenal mechanisms that mediate these effects are not known. The goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that bilirubin generation in the renal medulla plays a protective role against Ang II-induced hypertension.

METHODS

Twenty-week-old male C57Bl/6J mice were implanted with intrarenal medullary interstitial (IRMI) catheters following unilateral nephrectomy. After this time, biliverdin IXα was specifically infused into the kidney (3.6 mg/day) for 3 days before implantation with an osmotic minipump delivering Ang II (1,000 ng/kg/min). BP was recorded for 3 days, 1 week after minipump infusion, in conscious mice. To further explore the antihypertensive role of renal medullary bilirubin generation, mice with specific deletion of biliverdin reductase-A (Blvra) in the thick ascending loop of Henle were generated. At 20 weeks, BlvraTALHKO and control mice (Blvrafl/fl) were infused with Ang II for 2 weeks.

RESULTS

IRMI infusion of biliverdin significantly decreased blood pressure compared with mice infused with vehicle (118 ± 4 vs. 158 ± 2 mmHg, p < 0.05). Angiotensin-II infusion resulted in significantly higher blood pressure measured in conscious mice 7 days after implantation in BlvraTALHKO as compared to Blvrafl/fl mice (152 ± 2 vs. 140 ± 3 mmHg, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Altogether, these findings show that medullary bilirubin and biliverdin reductase can improve hypertension and that mechanisms that increase bilirubin and biliverdin reductase in the renal medulla could be an effective approach to treat hypertension.
Isomaltodextrin inhibits kidney enlargement induced by a high-protein diet through its metabolism by gut microbiota
Authors: Takagaki Ryodai , Takahashi Jun , Endo Shin , Kujirai Ryota , Abe Mizuki , Kikuchi Koichi , Suzuki Chitose , Matsumoto Yotaro , Tomioka Yoshihisa , Abe Takaaki , Morita Hidetoshi
Published: December 2024

To evaluate the effects of the soluble fiber isomaltodextrin in a protein-biased diet, a 21-day protein diet trial was conducted in rats, with 60% of the calories derived from protein. The results revealed that the high-protein diet alone led to a significant increase in kidney weight. In contrast, the consumption of water with 5% isomaltodextrin dissolved in it, along with a high-protein diet, suppressed this weight gain. To elucidate this mechanism, an analysis of serum urea toxins confirmed that the concentrations of phenyl sulfate were significantly higher with high protein, and significantly lower with isomaltodextrin. The impact of a high-protein diet increased phenol in cecal contents, an increase that was mitigated by isomaltodextrin. This suggests that the inhibitory effect of isomaltodextrin on renal hypertrophy was due to the suppression of urea toxin precursor production by the gut microbiota.
Age interactions influence biparental care behavior and reproductive success
Authors: Van Parys Dakota , Harris Carter W , Brady Brittany N , Verrillo Jessica R , Benowitz Kyle M
Published: December 2024

Prolonged reproductive interactions can lead to social plasticity and fitness differences for a focal individual in response to their partner’s characteristics. Age can provide a way to manipulate the influence of a social partner due to its predictable consequences for mate quality and reproductive effort. Here, we use a full factorial design to examine the interactions between male and female age on behavior and reproductive performance in the obligately caring, frequently biparental burying beetle Nicrophorus orbicollis. We found that both males and females increased their reproductive effort with age. However, this response was weaker than that of a related, more uniparental species that provides facultative care, indicating that details of age-related behavior are predictable based on species differences. We also found that male and female behavior depended on both their own and their partner’s age, as well as their partner’s behavior. Lastly, we found that mismatched age pairs had the highest levels of reproductive success. These results indicate that reproductive senescence does occur but that it can be mitigated by having a young social partner. This also suggests a rarely found pattern wherein age-mismatching may have beneficial consequences for both parental and offspring fitness.
Benchmarking recent computational tools for DNA-binding protein identification
Authors: Luo Xizi , Chi Amadeus Song Yi , Lin Andre Huikai , Ong Tze Jet , Wong Limsoon , Rahman Chowdhury Rafeed
Published: December 2024

Identification of DNA-binding proteins (DBPs) is a crucial task in genome annotation, as it aids in understanding gene regulation, DNA replication, transcriptional control, and various cellular processes. In this paper, we conduct an unbiased benchmarking of 11 state-of-the-art computational tools as well as traditional tools such as ScanProsite, BLAST, and HMMER for identifying DBPs. We highlight the data leakage issue in conventional datasets leading to inflated performance. We introduce new evaluation datasets to support further development. Through a comprehensive evaluation pipeline, we identify potential limitations in models, feature extraction techniques, and training methods, and recommend solutions regarding these issues. We show that combining the predictions of the two best computational tools with BLAST-based prediction significantly enhances DBP identification capability. We provide this consensus method as user-friendly software. The datasets and software are available at https://github.com/Rafeed-bot/DNA_BP_Benchmarking.
Ecphrasis and manual labour: the aesthetics of woodwork in Leonidas
Authors: Chaldekas Matthew
Published: December 2024

Leonidas of Tarentum wrote many epigrams commemorating dedications by poor labourers. Yet his epigrams also include ecphrases of famous artworks that evoke aristocratic tastes and prestige, such as Apelles’ Aphrodite Anadyomene and Myron’s Cow. This contrast raises the problem of how to reconcile these two seemingly discordant registers. Leonidas himself offers a solution in two epigrams on the dedications of woodworkers that both draw upon the conventions of ecphrasis (AP 6.204, 205). By framing this banausic craft in a mode usually reserved for high art, Leonidas presents his characteristic appreciation of society’s lower classes in aesthetic terms. Moreover, his ecphrastic depiction of woodworkers also draws upon the actual iconography through which these craftsmen were represented in the ancient plastic arts. Thus, we can witness Leonidas’ engagement with his Lebenswelt and his employment of an underappreciated aesthetic register in his dedicatory epigrams. As with ecphrastic epigrams on artworks such as Myron’s Cow, Leonidas’ poems draw upon artefacts that Leonidas and his readers may have encountered in their real lives, but we must also be wary of assuming that Leonidas simply acts as an impartial witness who merely documents what he has seen. Despite the iconographic parallels, Leonidas’ poems utilize a highly stylized poetic language. The article will conclude by showing how Leonidas’ use of manual labour plays a metapoetic role within his own aesthetics of purported poverty.
Fabius Maximus Rullianus and the capture of Gavius Pontius: Livy’s book 11 and the last years of the Third Samnite War
Authors: Waldron Byron
Published: December 2024

In 292 BC, Fabius Maximus Rullianus and his son Fabius Gurges led an army against the Samnites in one of the last battles of the Third Samnite War (298–290). According to Periochae 11 and Orosius’ History against the Pagans (7.22), the Fabii captured none other than Gavius Pontius himself, who, thirty years earlier, had humiliated Rome at the Caudine Forks. This article demonstrates the untenability of two modern claims against the episode’s historicity, namely, that the cooperation of the Fabii can be dismissed entirely as a literary duplicate, and that this account of Pontius’ capture is as problematic as the annalistic claim that Pontius was captured in 318. The article argues for the broad reliability of the events described. It then discusses the Fabian-Pontian clash within the context of the last years of the Third Samnite War and considers the campaign’s significance to Roman expansion in the late 290s.
An efficient injection protocol for Drosophila larvae
Authors: Soltani Sattar , Huynh Nhan , King-Jones Kirst
Published: December 2024

Intravenous injection provides a direct, rapid, and efficient route for delivering drugs or other substances, particularly for compounds with poor intestinal absorption or molecules (e.g. proteins) that are prone to structural changes and degradation within the digestive system. While Drosophila larvae represent a well-established genetic model for studying developmental and physiological pathways, as well as human diseases, their use in analyzing the molecular effects of substance exposure remains limited. In this study, we present a highly efficient injection method for Drosophila first- and second-instar larvae. Despite causing a slight developmental delay, this method achieves a high survival rate and offers a quick, easily adjustable protocol. The process requires 3–5 h to inject 150–300 larvae, depending on the microcapillary needle, microinjection system, and the compound being administered. As proof of concept, we compared the effects of injecting ferritin protein into Fer1HCH00451 mutant first instar larvae with those of dietary ferritin administration. Our results show that ferritin injection rescues Fer1HCH mutants, a result that cannot be achieved through dietary delivery. This approach is particularly valuable for the delivery of complex compounds in cases where oral administration is impaired or limited by the digestive system.
Association of sleep disturbance and itch intensity with quality-of-life impairment and disease severity in prurigo nodularis
Authors: Lu Weiying , Yossef Selina M , Ma Emily Z , Manjunath Jaya , Akiska Yagiz M , Kollhoff Alexander L , Kwatra Shawn G
Published: December 2024

In this study, we explored the relationship between itch intensity, sleep disturbance and quality-of-life (QoL) impairment in patients with prurigo nodularis (PN). Using validated assessment tools, we found significant correlations between self-reported itch severity, objective disease measures, and their impact on sleep and QoL. These findings highlight the profound burden of PN on patients’ daily lives and the importance of addressing both itch and sleep disturbances in managing this condition.
Taxonomic and functional profiling of skin microbiome in psoriasis
Authors: Sinkko Hanna , Olah Peter , Yang Ying , Maia Guilherme , Barrientos-Somarribas Mauricio , Rádai Zoltan , Mäenpää Kuunsäde , Soratto Tatiany , Salava Alexander , Lauerma Antti , Barker Jonathan , Ranki Annamari , Homey Bernhard , Andersson Björn , Fyhrquist Nanna , Alenius Harri ,   the MAARS consortium, Kere Juha , Skoog Tiina , Levi-Schaffer Francesca , Greco Dario , Prast-Nielsen Stefanie , Soumelis Vassili , Tsoka Sophia , Schröder Jens M , Nestle Frank O , Hupé Philippe
Published: December 2024

This research utilizes whole metagenomic shotgun sequencing to analyse the skin microbiome in patients with psoriasis, comparing lesional and nonlesional skin with those of healthy individuals. The study identifies significant differences in the microbial composition and functionality between psoriatic and healthy skin, revealing distinct microbial patterns and disruptions in psoriatic skin. These findings highlight the complex role of skin microbiota in psoriasis, emphasizing variations in bacteria and their functional characteristics beyond mere species identification.
Construction of a multi-parametric ultrasonographic nomogram for precise assessment of papillary breast lesions
Authors: Li Yunhua , Li Hui , Du Lianfang , Shi Qiusheng , Li Gang , Jia Chao , Jin Lifang , Liang Hongmei , Li Fan
Published: December 2024

Objectives

To analyze the multi-parametric ultrasonographic (MpUS) features of atypical/malignant papillary lesions of the breast with clinical information, identify independent risk factors, and construct a nomogram to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Methods

This retrospective study analyzed consecutively hospitalized patients diagnosed with pathologically confirmed papillary breast lesions from January 2017 to June 2023. Preoperative sonographic examinations, including gray-scale ultrasound (G-US), color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI), and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), were conducted. Sonographic scans were retrospectively reviewed alongside clinicopathological data. Binary logistic regression identified independent risk factors for screening atypical/malignant papillary lesions. The receiver operating characteristic curve evaluated the predictive accuracy of these lesions, resulting in the development of a nomogram for assessing risk.

Results

The study involved 176 female patients with breast papillary lesions, identifying key predictors for atypical or malignant outcomes: age 57 or order, US diameter ≥13.95 mm, resistive index ≥0.70, enlarged enhancement on CEUS, and contrast agent retention, with respective odds ratios of 6.279, 8.078, 9.246, 9.401, and 5.047. The integrated use of G-US, CDFI, and CEUS in the MpUS approach offered higher diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.966) than G-US or CDFI alone (0.869/0.918). CEUS particularly enhanced prediction for non-mass-like lesions, with a positive predictive value of 83.3%. A nomogram incorporating MpUS and patient age achieved an AUC of 0.956 for predicting atypical or malignant papillary lesions.

Conclusions

MpUS imaging is highly effective for predicting malignant breast papillary lesions, especially considering patient age. The nomogram offers an intuitive framework for assessing malignant risk in these lesions.

Advances in knowledge

Ultrasound excels in identifying papillary lesions, and integrating diverse data and multi-parametric imaging enhances malignant risk evaluation. This study establishes a predictive risk model using the nomogram method, demonstrating heightened diagnostic efficacy in breast papillary lesions.
Rethinking phase 2 trials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Authors: Benatar Michael , McDermott Christopher , Turner Martin R , van Eijk Ruben P A
Published: December 2024

There is a long history in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) of promoting therapies based on phase 2 data, which then fail in phase 3 trials. Experience suggests that studies of 6 months in duration are too short, especially with function-based outcome measures. Multiplicity poses a serious threat to data interpretation, and strategies to impute missing data may not be appropriate for ALS where progression is always expected.

Emerging surrogate markers of clinical benefit such as reduction of neurofilament light chain levels may be better suited to phase 2 go/no-go decisions. Over-interpretation of phase 2 data, and overly optimistic communication of exploratory analyses must be avoided to ensure optimal prioritization for the investment needed for definitive phase 3 trials and to minimize the harm of false hope for people living with ALS. Delivering on advances in understanding of the neurobiology of ALS requires urgent attention to phase 2 design and implementation.
Amygdala-predominant α-synuclein pathology is associated with exacerbated hippocampal neuron loss in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Gawor Klara , Tomé Sandra O , Vandenberghe Rik , Van Damme Philip , Vandenbulcke Mathieu , Otto Markus , von Arnim Christine A F , Ghebremedhin Estifanos , Ronisz Alicja , Ospitalieri Simona , Blaschko Matthew , Thal Dietmar Rudolf
Published: December 2024

Misfolded α-synuclein protein accumulates in 43–63% of individuals with symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. Two main patterns of comorbid α-synuclein pathology have been identified: caudo-rostral and amygdala-predominant. α-Synuclein aggregates have been shown to interact with the transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) and abnormally phosphorylated tau protein. All these proteins accumulate in the amygdala, which is anatomically connected with the hippocampus. However, the specific role of amygdala-predominant α-synuclein pathology in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and hippocampal degeneration remains unclear. In this cross-sectional study, we analysed 291 autopsy brains from both demented and non-demented elderly individuals neuropathologically. Neuronal density in the CA1 region of the hippocampus was assessed for all cases. We semiquantitatively evaluated α-synuclein pathology severity across seven brain regions and calculated a ratio of limbic to brainstem α-synuclein pathology severity, which was used to stratify the cases into two distinct spreading patterns. In the 99 symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease cases, we assessed severity of limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 neuropathological changes and CA1 phosphorylated tau density. We performed triple fluorescence staining of medial temporal lobe samples with antibodies against phosphorylated TDP-43, α-synuclein and phosphorylated tau. Finally, we employed path analysis to determine the association network of various parameters of limbic pathology in Alzheimer’s disease cases and CA1 neuronal density. We identified an association between the amygdala-predominant αSyn pathology pattern and decreased neuronal density in the CA1 region. We found that Alzheimer’s disease cases with an amygdala-predominant α-synuclein pattern exhibited the highest TDP-43 severity and prevalence of TDP-43 inclusions in the dentate gyrus among all groups, while those with the caudo-rostral pattern had the lowest severity of Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes. We observed colocalization of TDP-43, aggregated α-synuclein and hyperphosphorylated tau in cytoplasmic inclusions within hippocampal and amygdala neurons of Alzheimer’s disease cases. Path analysis modelling suggests that the relationship between amygdala-predominant α-synuclein pathology and CA1 neuron loss is partially mediated by hippocampal tau and TDP-43 aggregates. Our findings suggest that Alzheimer’s disease cases with amygdala-predominant α-synuclein pathology may constitute a distinct group with more severe hippocampal damage, a higher TDP-43 burden and potential interactions among α-synuclein, TDP-43 and hyperphosphorylated tau.
‘I looked like a beetroot’: a patient’s experience of dermatomyositis
Authors: Sexton Fiona , Doyle Claire , Murphy Lesley Ann
Published: December 2024

A unique patient viewpoint highlighting one patient’s struggle with dermatomyositis in the setting of triple-negative pregnancy-induced breast cancer. This viewpoint emphasizes the link between image, self and purpose and how these aspects can be challenged by dermatological conditions.