bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dignity Lost and Regained: Thomas Mann’s Elliptical Path, Part I: Background
Authors: Ameriks Karl
Published: June 2024

This chapter discusses the career of Thomas Mann as an especially relevant illustration of the difficulties that have arisen in the reception of Kant’s doctrine of universal human dignity and pure duty. Mann’s positions vividly illustrate the tendencies of post-Kantian German thought. Mann’s early work exhibits the common and deep misunderstanding of Kantian duty in contingent, achievement-oriented, and chauvinist terms. Mann’s early career took place in an era of German culture that had been struggling to make a decision between religious, ethical, and aesthetic conceptions of humanity’s vocation. At first Mann strongly endorsed an aesthetic orientation. In his later career, however, he began to appreciate what Kant really meant by dignity and duty, and, inspired by Walt Whitman, he turned to advocating democracy. Here it becomes essential to grasp exactly how Mann’s eventual understanding of Kant, the Early Romantics, and Nietzsche, contrasts with common and unappealing stereotypes of their philosophies.
Romani Ethnic Media in Hungary
Authors: Bleyer-Simon Konrad , Benedek Kata , Racz Tibor
Published: June 2024

Research has shown that the portrayal of ethnic communities in the media can benefit or harm the groups in question. Thus, to counter stereotypical depictions or just establish their own identity, the literature sees a role for ethnic communities to launch their own ethnic or minority media initiatives. While there has been scholarship about the media representation of the Roma in Hungary, media produced for and/or by Romani people have been under-researched.

Based on existing research and interviews, it can be established that there have been three main waves of Romani ethnic media in Hungary: first, the period of the pure ethnic press, secondly, a wave of professionalized media that involved non-Roma as managers and journalists, and finally, a new series of grassroots-level efforts to create popular media on the web. In the decades that have passed since the end of socialism, Hungary’s Romani people have had print media, a radio station, a cable television station, online outlets, and social media sites. Regardless of the promising nature of some of these Romani publications, there have been serious concerns about their sustainability. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Romani media relied on support from the government and private foundations; advertisers have proved unwilling to work with outlets associated with a marginalized ethnic group. The financial stability of Romani media has thus been dependent on conditions detached from actual audience interest; many outlets have encountered difficulties paying bills and salaries, while co-option by interest groups has been a looming threat. As of 2020, the only safe way to keep control over ethnic media has been to rely on voluntary, unpaid work.
Russia’s Arctic Ambitions
Authors: Orttung Robert
Published: June 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the Arctic a priority since taking power in 2000. He sees developing Arctic oil and natural gas resources as a key driver of Russia’s economy, the Northern Sea Route as shaping Russia’s geostrategic future, and an increased military presence as an indicator of Russia’s great-power status. Considering whether Russia will be able to realize these ambitions opens up a wide range of research questions that continue to be hotly debated more than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia’s authoritarian government has quashed independent movements among all parts of its population, and the Arctic’s Indigenous population is no exception. How these various groups can express their interests within a closed political system and what Indigeneity means in the Russian Arctic context animate work in this area. Energy is also a central theme for Russia because the country depends heavily on fossil fuel exports to power its economy and maintain standards of living. How will Russia adapt as the world moves slowly, but inexorably, away from its current reliance on fossil fuels and seeks greener forms of energy? Will Russia’s Arctic have a role to play in the new economy, or will it simply rely on state subsidies and an expanded military presence? As the global economy continues to shift, climate change and outside forces will have a growing impact on the Russian north. The Kremlin sees the Northern Sea Route as a vital link for East–West trade, but political, economic, and environmental uncertainties suggest there is little hope that the route will ever come near serving as a replacement for the Suez Canal. Similarly, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the escalating violence in both countries has ratcheted up the ongoing militarization of the Arctic and split the region into two competing blocs: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) versus Russia. In these conditions, what is the future for international diplomacy, the Arctic’s record for cooperation, and regional institutions like the Arctic Council? Having lost access to some Western technology and markets because of sanctions, the Russian north no longer benefits from its ability to balance between East and West, and it is growing more reliant on China. To what extent do the interests of these two countries coincide? While China may appreciate having Russia as a partner in countering the West, it has its own global ambitions, and cleaving too close to a chaotic and faltering Russia could limit what it can achieve. Overall, as the Putinist state looks increasingly distracted by the war effort, and as the global context around the Russian Arctic transforms, the future of Russia’s north is uncertain at best.
Climate Change
Authors: White Rob
Published: June 2024

Climate change is the defining problem of the 21st century. Global warming is transforming the biophysical landscape in unprecedented ways, with far-reaching negative consequences for all life on the planet. Extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers have enormous ramifications for humans and nonhuman species across the globe. Climate change criminology focuses on the crimes and harms associated with climate change. It examines the dynamics of criminality from the point of view of the causes of climate change, as well as the social consequences of climate change. Criminologically, strain theory provides one lens by which to understand climate-related criminal behavior, while the concepts of ecocide and state-corporate crime provide a nexus between crimes of the powerful and global warming to explore. The notion of differential victimization describes how some suffer the effects of climate change to a greater extent than others and includes reference to nonhuman victims such as animals, rivers, and trees. For criminology, climate change demands much greater attention than hitherto has been the case—for it constitutes a profound existential crisis affecting all.
Genetics of C. elegans Behavior
Authors: Walker Denise S. , Chew Yee Lian , Schafer William R.
Published: June 2024

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is among the most intensely studied animals in modern experimental biology. Its amenability to classical and molecular genetics, compact nervous system, and transparency to optogenetic recording and manipulation have led to its being widely used to investigate how individual gene products act in the context of neuronal circuits to generate behavior. C. elegans was the first animal neuronal connectome to be characterized at the level of individual neurons and synapses, and the wiring organization shows significant parallels with the micro- and macro-level structures of more complex brains. It uses a wide array of sensory cues (mechanical, gustatory, olfactory, and thermal), with impressive precision, to determine an appropriate behavioral response, in the form of changes in locomotion and other motor outputs. The small number of neurons (302) and their highly stereotyped morphology have enabled the interrogation of the precise function of individual neurons, in terms of both the genes that they express and the behaviors in which they function. Approximately one third are sensory neurons, located around the mouth and in the tail, as well as along the length of the body. A complex network of interneurons connects these to the motor neurons, the majority of which output to the body wall muscles, arranged along the body, determining the changes in direction and speed of locomotion required for behaviors such as taxiing up gradients of food-related cues or avoiding noxious cues. The ability to combine information about the precise function of individual neurons with circuit knowledge, genetics, and optogenetic approaches has been critical in advancing the molecular and circuit-level understanding of the mechanisms underlying C. elegans’s behavior. In common with that of other animals, C. elegans’s behavior is subject to change in response to prior experience, and this same complement of experimental approaches has provided significant insight into how plasticity and changes in behavioral states are achieved.
Battle of Adwa
Authors: Metaferia Getachew
Published: June 2024

The Battle of Adwa was fought between Ethiopia and Italy during the rise of European colonialism and imperialism. It was a period when European powers partitioned Africa and exploited African resources to spur their economies and industrial development at the expense of the colonized societies. While African countries, except Liberia, came under European colonialism, Ethiopia remained the exception as it defeated the Italian army and remained the sole independent African country. Ethiopian success came as the result of unity among Ethiopians, astute leadership, formidable geographic terrain, a long and enduring history, and the warlike spirit of the people, especially when attacked by outsiders. The outcome of the Battle of Adwa also defused the mentality of superiority of Europeans and reverberated throughout colonized and disenfranchised societies. After the battle, Ethiopia had peace for four decades, until the dawn of World War II, and embarked upon development and the introduction of new technologies and systems. This also exemplifies that meaningful development, in any country, does not take place in the absence of durable peace and security.
Mami Wata
Authors: Jell-Bahlsen Sabine
Published: June 2024

There are several moments of approaching the image of Mami Wata and their associated concepts, beliefs, and behaviors: first, the art history of the famous Mami Wata icon; second, anthropology, ethnography, archaeology, religious studies, myth, psychology, healing, and initiate scholarship; third, artistic inspirations in fiction, fine art, and music; fourth, New World and Caribbean connections; and, finally, Christian narration and agency.

Mami Wata speaks to human beings’ essential values, for example, life, death, rebirth, and continuity of life in connection with water and the female side of the universe. This belief system prevails in different West African countries in rural and urban areas, along the coastal region, and farther inland. Water is life—and death. Water is essential for human life. A baby floats in the womb before birth, and water floods a dying person’s lungs. Africans have venerated water spirits and deities since time immemorial.

The Mami Wata complex harbors three significant elements: a Pidgin English term spelled in numerous ways, a German image turned into an icon of a woman with abundant hair holding two massive serpents, and, most importantly, pre-Christian African histories and religious beliefs and practices. These vary among ethnic groups, are complex, and may incorporate foreign ideas differently. Pan-African devotees correspond to Mami Wata’s popular image created abroad in analogous ways whereby the concept of healing plays an important part. According to Henry Drewal, she is at once originally African and imported. Still, the deity’s shrines can absorb a multitude of African, European, Christian, Hindu, and American Indian images. Caribbean variations connect to the adoration of African divinities manifest in the forces of nature, such as water.

Several subthemes emerge from an ethnographic case study among the Igbo in southeastern Nigeria: first, concepts of the divine forces of nature, especially earth, and water; second, priesthood, vocation, prophecy, illness, and healing; third, the notion of time, reincarnation, and the continuity of life; fourth mythology, color, and animal symbolism; fifth, gender, fecundity, procreation, behavioral and reproductive norms, and their social and psychological implications; sixth, artistic interpretations and expressions; and, seventh, modernity, changing concepts of wealth, Christian rhetoric, and witch-hunting.
Food as a Weapon
Authors: Messer Ellen , Cohen Marc J.
Published: June 2024

The use of food as a weapon is as old as written records. Siege, blockade, and starvation are well-documented military strategies, as are political strategies that use food as a tool to attract supporters and dissuade opposition. In the 20th and 21st centuries, societies attempted to limit the use of food deprivation as a tool of war. In this time period, international groups also increased humanitarian efforts to monitor and redress the nutritional harms connected to violent conflict. International human rights principles, as supporting architecture, assert that adequate food is a basic individual right for all human beings and that freedom from hunger is an achievable, measurable, and sustainable development goal. Because of the long-term history of weaponizing food, recent institutional efforts are in place to identify, measure, prevent, and redress harms. These include legal frameworks; economic, food, and development politics; nongovernmental, civil-society mobilizations; and community organizing around peace, food, and nutrition.

Because the destructive impacts on human health, environment, economic livelihoods, and societies endure for decades to come, the concept of “food as a weapon” can be broadened to “food wars,” which encompass connections between food insecurity and conflict in both directions.
Unspecified Human Subjects in the Romance Languages
Authors: Posio Pekka
Published: June 2024

The term unspecified human subjects refers to syntactic constructions profiling a human subject participant whose identity is either not specified at all or is left underspecified, for instance by limiting the scope of potential referents either by choice of verb (e.g., They have raised taxes again) or by a locative expression (e.g., In Spain they eat late). Such constructions include human impersonal pronouns grammaticalized from nouns meaning ‘man’ or ‘person’ (e.g., French on, Portuguese a pessoa) or based on the numeral ‘one’ (e.g., Spanish uno), as well as impersonal (i.e., unspecified, generic, or arbitrary, depending on the theoretical framework) uses of personal pronouns and verb forms, in particular the second-person singular and the third-person plural. Unspecified human subjects present functional overlap with other human impersonal constructions such as the periphrastic passive and reflexive-based passives and impersonals (i.e., Romance se/si constructions), however differing from them in that the unspecified human argument is not the syntactic subject in these latter constructions. While it has been argued that man-impersonal constructions are either restricted or more frequent in languages with obligatory subject expression (e.g., French) and pronoun-based human impersonals are more frequent in so-called null subject languages (e.g., Italian, Spanish), some Romance languages and language varieties display both types, thus providing interesting data for the study of variation.
Puzzles of Commitment, Compliance, and Defection in Water Resource Management
Authors: Waterbury John
Published: June 2024

Collective action problems (CAPs) are ubiquitous in human undertakings including in the development and management of shared water resources. Various rational-actor models have been applied to understand their dynamics. These analyses tend to come to pessimistic conclusions based on the assumption of “free-riding” whereby any participant in a collective action (CA) will be motivated to benefit from the action without contributing to its costs. If all participants follow this logic, there will be no CA and hence no net benefit to the participants.

This view assumes the logic of individual rationality. It does not adequately account for observed behavior, which may be driven by collective or group rationality. CA in water management and other domains has been initiated and sustained despite the temptation of free-riding. To understand why, it is necessary to analyze the dynamics of commitment, i.e., the initial collective undertaking; compliance, i.e., sustaining the initial commitment; and defection, when compliance breaks down. None of these variables is static. With respect to water, the technological means of its management constantly change so that the dynamics of compliance change as well. Technological change must be anticipated in the commitment phase. Just as important, cost/benefit analysis must encompass assessing payoffs in domains not related to water itself. These payoffs may not be part of the formal terms of commitment but must inform the compliance process. When the process unravels, “water wars” may result although that has been a rare outcome.
Wong Kar-wai’s Argentine Affair: Happy Together as a Translingual and Multimodal Adaptation
Authors: Liang Wenxin
Published: June 2024

In 2021, a 4K-restored rendition of Wong Kar-wai’s iconic film Happy Together (1997) returned to theatres across Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Argentina, marking the film’s enduring transnational appeal two decades after its Cannes premiere. This article investigates the film’s intricate cultural ties to Argentina. I argue that Happy Together not only enhances the cultural connections between Hong Kong and Argentina but also showcases Wong’s translingual and multimodal approaches to film adaptation. ‘Translingual’ refers to the film’s literary source: I demonstrate how Wong skilfully wove elements from Manuel Puig's 1973 novel The Buenos Aires Affair into his film through a threefold Spanish-English-Chinese process of rewriting. Subsequently, I contend that various cultural facets of Argentina—the literature of Puig, the soundscape of Piazzolla’s tango, and the landscapes of the Iguazú Falls and Tierra del Fuego—contributed significantly to the Hong Kong auteur’s multimodal adaptation. In short, this article proposes a dialogic perspective on Hong Kong cinema by considering Argentina as a reflective mirror brimming with aesthetic and geopolitical implications. Through the lens of Happy Together, this study moves beyond Western-centric reception paradigms by spotlighting the cultural and socio-political affinities between Latin America and Asia, thus bringing to the forefront the often-overlooked transpacific connections within the Global South.
Plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor: A series of 10 case studies
Authors: Wang Yan Xia , Ma Li Li , Xu Wan Ni , Hu Pei Zhen , Yang Shou Jing
Published: June 2024

Objectives

We sought to investigate the clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor (PFHT) and its pathogenesis.

Methods

Ten cases of PFHT were collected from Xi Jing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, from September 2008 to December 2022 for clinical data as well as microscopic and immunohistochemical observation. CCND1 gene amplification and break were assayed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Results

We report 10 cases of PFHT according to histologic classification. Seven cases were of histiocytoid type, and 3 had mucous degeneration in the nodules. One case was of fibroblastic type, which was mainly composed of fibroblast-like cells. Two cases were of mixed type. Immunohistochemically, the osteoclast-like multinucleated giant cells, histiocyte-like cells, and occasional spindle cells in the adjacent fascicles were reactive for CD68 (10/10), CD163 (5/8), CD10 (8/8), cyclin D1 (8/8), CDK4 (5/8), β-catenin (4/6), MITF (2/6), and PGP9.5 (4/5). Vimentin (9/9) was strongly positive in tumor cells and peripheral fibroblast-like cells. The positive index of Ki-67 was 5% to 40%, with an average of 20%. The FISH analysis showed neither amplification nor break of the CCND1 gene. All cases underwent surgical resection, and patients were followed up for 9 months to 11 years. Only 2 cases recurred.

Conclusions

Plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor is a low-grade malignant soft tissue neoplasm. The diagnosis mainly depends on histopathologic and immunohistochemical markers. Cyclin D1 and CD10 expression has diagnostic value for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of PFHT combined with its plexiform morphology. The overexpression of cyclin D1 suggests an involvement of cell cycle regulatory genes in the pathogenesis of PFHT.
English-Medium Instruction in International Bio-Science Engineering Programs in Vietnam: Incentivization, Support, and Discretion in a Context of Academic Consolidation
Authors: De Soete Alexander , Slembrouck Stef
Published: June 2024

This study analyzes how English-medium instruction (EMI) content lecturers in Vietnam navigate opportunities and challenges of incentivization, institutional support, and disciplinary autonomy in a context of transnational academic expansion. It reports on interview data with bio-engineering lecturers from five universities. Findings show that, despite the lecturers’ understanding of the institutional importance of prestigious international programs, the necessary linguistic and pedagogical support systems are rarely in place. Lecturers detail their struggles in a setting marked by the presence of personal incentives but a lack of training needed to reach language proficiency standards or feel confident about managing interaction and knowledge transfer. They describe difficulties preparing for classes, report extraneous workloads, and occasionally redact teaching materials to safeguard comprehension. Viewing the lecturers through the lens of Lipsky’s Street-Level Bureaucracy (1980), we bring into focus their highly informed, agentive behavior, highlighting how lecturers conceptualize students’ linguistic and academic needs, and identify pedagogical strategies to overcome language-related and other barriers in EMI. Two forms of mutual entanglement are stressed: (i) lecturer needs and student needs and (ii) subject teaching and language learning.
The impact of anthropogenic disturbance and climate change on the distribution of Dekay’s brown snake (Storeria dekayi)
Authors: Huang Tianqi , Morin Peter J , Ruane Sara
Published: June 2024

Human activities in the Anthropocene contribute to natural resource and climatic pattern shifts, which in turn affect the distributions of organisms. Currently, research efforts to understand organismal distribution patterns mainly focus on rare species, leaving common taxa to receive less attention. We constructed ecological niche models using MaxEnt to evaluate the distributions of a common urban reptile, Dekay’s brown snake (Storeria dekayi). We investigate the importance of human disturbance for the current S. dekayi distribution, the niche differentiation of the two genetic lineages of S. dekayi separated by the Mississippi River, and the potential future range shift of S. dekayi. We found no significant effect of human disturbance on current S. dekayi distribution. There was no significant evidence of niche differentiation between two lineages (eastern and western), which can possibly be attributed to their shallow genetic divergence. We also predicted a range expansion for S. dekayi in the future with anthropogenic climate change. Understanding the distribution patterns of common species is important because of the pivotal role they play in ecosystem functioning and services. We encourage more work to be conducted in the future on common and urban-dwelling species’ distributions to conserve and promote urban biodiversity and biodiversity overall.
Doubly robust estimation and sensitivity analysis for marginal structural quantile models
Authors: Cheng Chao , Hu Liangyuan , Li Fan
Published: June 2024

The marginal structure quantile model (MSQM) provides a unique lens to understand the causal effect of a time-varying treatment on the full distribution of potential outcomes. Under the semiparametric framework, we derive the efficiency influence function for the MSQM, from which a new doubly robust estimator is proposed for point estimation and inference. We show that the doubly robust estimator is consistent if either of the models associated with treatment assignment or the potential outcome distributions is correctly specified, and is semiparametric efficient if both models are correct. To implement the doubly robust MSQM estimator, we propose to solve a smoothed estimating equation to facilitate efficient computation of the point and variance estimates. In addition, we develop a confounding function approach to investigate the sensitivity of several MSQM estimators when the sequential ignorability assumption is violated. Extensive simulations are conducted to examine the finite-sample performance characteristics of the proposed methods. We apply the proposed methods to the Yale New Haven Health System Electronic Health Record data to study the effect of antihypertensive medications to patients with severe hypertension and assess the robustness of the findings to unmeasured baseline and time-varying confounding.
Water position sampling on protein structures based on a 3D distribution function using a weighted Monte Carlo method
Authors: Kobayashi Shinpei , Kiyota Yasuomi , Takeda-Shitaka Mayuko
Published: June 2024

To gain a detailed understanding of protein structure, function, and interaction, water molecules around proteins are important. Therefore, computational methods for predicting water positions are required. When a hydration water distribution such as a 3D distribution function is available, methods to predict water positions explicitly from the water distribution are useful. In this paper, we introduce DroPred, a method for predicting water positions based on a 3D distribution function of water oxygen atoms using a weighted Monte Carlo method. The probability density derived from the 3D distribution function is used as weight in the weighted Monte Carlo method. DroPred generates multiple samples from a single 3D distribution function. We evaluated the performance of DroPred by predicting water positions at protein–protein interface structures. By adjusting the weight using an exponential parameter, prediction performance of DroPred in water position sampling was improved. This method will be helpful for understanding protein structure, function, and interaction.
Study on factors affecting quantum yield for the design of improved ortho-nitrobenzyl photoremovable protecting groups
Authors: Nguyen Linh Tran Bao , Abe Manabu
Published: June 2024

The use of photoremovable protecting groups (PPGs) for the protection and deprotection of biologically active substances has become instrumental in elucidating functional mechanisms in cells. However, the development of chromophores responsive to visible and near-infrared (NIR) light often results in reduced quantum yields (Φu) of uncaging reactions. Because a high quantum yield is essential for practical PPGs, it is imperative to understand the factors influencing it and devise strategies to enhance it. In this study, we systematically investigated nitrobiphenyl scaffolds featuring amino substituents as electron donors, potentially serving as visible and NIR excitable chromophores. Among the synthesized structures, PPGs incorporating carbazole and phenothiazine units as amino substituents exhibited the highest Φu values of 0.2 and 0.1, respectively, rendering them promising candidates for physiological studies. Conversely, diphenylamine substituents yielded considerably lower Φu values. Photophysical properties and quantum chemical calculations provided insights into the nature of the lowest excited states and their impact on Φu, highlighting the significance of achieving the balance between local n–π* excitation and charge-transfer excitation for manipulating the uncaging quantum yield in ortho-nitrobenzyl derivatives.
Sulfur atom effect on the photochemical release of benzylamine from caged amines
Authors: Nguyen Hai Dang , Abe Manabu
Published: June 2024

Carbamate linkers are commonly used to attach photolabile protecting groups (PPGs) to amine functional groups. However, the release of amines from the carbamate linkage has low photochemical quantum yields because of the low leaving ability of the carbamic anion. In this study, we synthesized a new coumarin-based thiocarbamate-containing caged amine as a model to study the effect of sulfur on the photocleavage of the amine from the PPG. The release of the amine from the thiocarbamate (−SC(O)NHCH2Ph) linkage was ∼20 times faster than from the carbamate (−OC(O)NHCH2Ph) linkage.
Surface alterations and compound release from aligner attachments in vitro
Authors: Iliadi Anna , Zervou Sevasti-Kiriaki , Koletsi Despina , Schätzle Marc , Hiskia Anastasia , Eliades Theodore , Eliades George
Published: June 2024

Aim

The aim of the present study was to assess the alterations in morphology, roughness, and composition of the surfaces of a conventional and a flowable composite attachment engaged with aligners, and to evaluate the release of resin monomers and their derivatives in an aqueous environment.

Methods

Zirconia tooth-arch frames (n = 20) and corresponding thermoformed PET-G aligners with bonded attachments comprising two composite materials (universal—C and flowable—F) were fabricated. The morphological features (stereomicroscopy), roughness (optical profilometry), and surface composition (ATR-FTIR) of the attachments were examined before and after immersion in water. To simulate intraoral use, the aligners were removed and re-seated to the frames four times per day for a 7-day immersion period. After testing, the eluents were analyzed by LC-MS/MS targeting the compounds Bis-GMA, UDMA, 2-HEMA, TEGDMA and BPA and by LC-HRMS for suspect screening of the leached dental material compounds and their degradation products.

Results

After testing, abrasion-induced defects were found on attachment surfaces such as scratches, marginal cracks, loss of surface texturing, and fractures. The morphological changes and debonding rate were greater in F. Comparisons (before-after testing) revealed a significantly lower Sc roughness parameter in F. The surface composition of the aligners after testing showed minor changes from the control, with insignificant differences in the degree of C = C conversion, except for few cases with strong evidence of hydrolytic degradation. Targeted analysis results revealed a significant difference in the compounds released between Days 1 and 7 in both materials. Insignificant differences were found when C was compared with F in both timeframes. Several degradation products were detected on Day 7, with a strong reduction in the concentration of the targeted compounds.

Conclusions

The use of aligners affects the surface characteristics and degradation rate of composite attachments in an aqueous environment, releasing monomers, and monomer hydrolysates within 1-week simulated use.
Extracellular vesicles
Authors: Wang Juan , Barr Maureen M , Wehman Ann M
Published: June 2024

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) encompass a diverse array of membrane-bound organelles released outside cells in response to developmental and physiological cell needs. EVs play important roles in remodeling the shape and content of differentiating cells and can rescue damaged cells from toxic or dysfunctional content. EVs can send signals and transfer metabolites between tissues and organisms to regulate development, respond to stress or tissue damage, or alter mating behaviors. While many EV functions have been uncovered by characterizing ex vivo EVs isolated from body fluids and cultured cells, research using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has provided insights into the in vivo functions, biogenesis, and uptake pathways. The C. elegans EV field has also developed methods to analyze endogenous EVs within the organismal context of development and adult physiology in free-living, behaving animals. In this review, we summarize major themes that have emerged for C. elegans EVs and their relevance to human health and disease. We also highlight the diversity of biogenesis mechanisms, locations, and functions of worm EVs and discuss open questions and unexplored topics tenable in C. elegans, given the nematode model is ideal for light and electron microscopy, genetic screens, genome engineering, and high-throughput omics.
The chromatin-associated 53BP1 ortholog, HSR-9, regulates recombinational repair and X chromosome segregation in the Caenorhabditis elegans germ line
Authors: Li Qianyan , Hariri Sara , Calidas Aashna , Kaur Arshdeep , Huey Erica , Engebrecht JoAnne
Published: June 2024

53BP1 plays a crucial role in regulating DNA damage repair pathway choice and checkpoint signaling in somatic cells; however, its role in meiosis has remained enigmatic. In this study, we demonstrate that the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of 53BP1, HSR-9, associates with chromatin in both proliferating and meiotic germ cells. Notably, HSR-9 is enriched on the X chromosome pair in pachytene oogenic germ cells. HSR-9 is also present at kinetochores during both mitotic and meiotic divisions but does not appear to be essential for monitoring microtubule–kinetochore attachments or tension. Using cytological markers of different steps in recombinational repair, we found that HSR-9 influences the processing of a subset of meiotic double-stranded breaks into COSA-1-marked crossovers. Additionally, HSR-9 plays a role in meiotic X chromosome segregation under conditions where X chromosomes fail to pair, synapse, and recombine. Together, these results highlight that chromatin-associated HSR-9 has both conserved and unique functions in the regulation of meiotic chromosome behavior.
The (im)possibility of personal and industrial (machine-generated) data to be subject to property rights
Authors: Nekit Kateryna
Published: June 2024

Discussions surrounding the possibility of expanding the legal regime of ownership to data have been ongoing for several decades. Proponents of recognizing the right of ownership to data motivate their position by the needs of the data economy and the need to protect the interests of data subjects. However, specific properties of data cause contradictions with the concept of property rights. This paper examines data in a system of related categories, such as information and knowledge, aiming to determine their correlation and answer the question of whether personal and industrial (machine-generated) data can be objects of ownership. The category of digital data is analysed; its specific features, which make it possible to equate them with a type of property, are determined. The paper reveals correlation between concepts of digital ownership and data ownership and answers the question of why there is no room for personal and industrial data in the ownership paradigm.
Afghan Women Are Under Threat from the Taliban: A Great Test of the Turkish Government and the Courts
Authors: Kaya Hülya
Published: June 2024

This article examines how Türkiye evaluates the protection requirements of Afghan women fleeing from persecution in Afghanistan. It considers whether Türkiye grants refugee status to Afghan women as members of a ‘particular social group’ or on other Refugee Convention grounds. It analyses the jurisprudence of Türkiye’s Administrative Courts and Regional Administrative Courts concerning international protection claims lodged by Afghan women between August 2021 and June 2023 to determine whether Türkiye follows a gender-sensitive interpretation of the Refugee Convention and respects the principle of non-refoulement.
Sumset Estimates in Convex Geometry
Authors: Fradelizi Matthieu , Madiman Mokshay , Zvavitch Artem
Published: June 2024

Sumset estimates, which provide bounds on the cardinality of sumsets of finite sets in a group, form an essential part of the toolkit of additive combinatorics. In recent years, probabilistic or entropic forms of many of these inequalities were introduced. We study analogues of these sumset estimates in the context of convex geometry and the Lebesgue measure on ${\mathbb{R}}^{n}$. First, we observe that, with respect to Minkowski summation, volume is supermodular to arbitrary order on the space of convex bodies. Second, we explore sharp constants in the convex geometry analogues of variants of the Plünnecke-Ruzsa inequalities. In the last section of the paper, we provide connections of these inequalities to the classical Rogers-Shephard inequality.
Acceptance and forage utilization responses of steers consuming low-quality forage and supplemented black soldier fly larvae as a novel feed
Authors: Tasci Kayra D , Wickersham Tryon A , Drewery Merritt L
Published: June 2024

As the insect-rearing industry scales in the United States and other developed nations, it has the potential to create multiple product streams (e.g., oil and protein-rich biomass) for existing markets. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL; Hermetia illucens) has been identified as a potential livestock feed because it is not expected to compete in the human food sector and its production has a lesser environmental footprint than that of conventional feeds. Existing research on BSFL as feed focuses on full-fat BSFL for poultry and aquaculture. Therefore, the objective of our experiment was to evaluate the viability of defatted BSFL as an alternative protein source for beef cattle consuming forage. Procedures were approved by Texas State University IACUC (#7726). Two experiments were conducted using ruminally cannulated beef steers fed low-quality forage in 5 × 5 Latin squares. Experiment 1 assessed consumption of BSFL as a protein supplement and included five 5-d periods with 3-d for washout and 2-d for measurement of supplement intake and preference. There were five treatments delivered in addition to the basal forage: 100% soybean meal (SBM); 75% SBM/25% BSFL; 50% SBM/50% BSFL; 25% SBM/75% BSFL; and 100% BSFL. Supplement and forage intake did not differ between treatments (P ≥ 0.45) nor was there a treatment × day interaction (P ≥ 0.45). Experiment 2 evaluated the effect of BSFL supplementation on forage (5.3% crude protein) intake and digestion and included five 14-d periods with 8-d for treatment adaptation, 5-d for measurement of intake and digestion, and 1-d for determination of ruminal fermentation. There were four treatments of supplemental BSFL provided at graded N levels: 0, 50, 100, or 150 mg N/kg BW and one level of SBM at 100 mg N/kg BW. Increasing provision of BSFL linearly increased forage organic matter (OM) intake (P = 0.04), total OM intake (P < 0.01), total digestible OM intake (P < 0.01), dry matter digestibility (P = 0.01), and OM digestibility (P = 0.02). There were no significant differences (P ≥ 0.17) in intake or digestibility between levels of BSFL and SBM. Ultimately, defatted BSFL has potential to replace conventional feeds as a protein supplement without sacrificing forage utilization.
Changes in the trends of initial treatment for newly diagnosed prostate cancer in Japan: a nationwide multi-institutional study
Authors: Kawai Taketo , Onozawa Mizuki , Taguchi Satoru , Shiota Masaki , Sakamoto Shinichi , Yamamoto Yoshiyuki , Kitagawa Yasuhide , Nakagawa Tohru , Hinotsu Shiro , Kume Haruki ,   Japan Study Group of Prostate Cancer (J-CaP)
Published: June 2024

Background

In previous large-scale studies conducted through 2010, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was the most common initial treatment for prostate cancer patients in Japan. However, recent advancements in treatment technologies have significantly affected the management of prostate cancer in Japan. This study analyzed the trends in initial treatments for prostate cancer based on two nationwide surveys.

Methods

Two Japan-wide multi-institutional surveys, J-CaP2010 and J-CaP2016, were conducted to enroll patients newly histologically diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 and 2016–18, respectively. Both surveys included age at diagnosis, initial PSA level, ISUP Grade Group, TNM classification, and initial treatment for prostate cancer.

Results

J-CaP2010 included data from 8192 patients across 140 institutions, whereas J-CaP2016 included data from 21 841 patients across 186 institutions. In J-CaP2016, the proportion of radical prostatectomy (RP) and radiation therapy (RT) in the initial treatment increased (from 32% to 36% and 21% to 26%, respectively), whereas the proportion of ADT decreased (from 40% to 29%) compared with those in J-CaP2010. The increase in RP or RT was noticeable in patients aged 75 years and older (from 20% to 38%) and those with high-risk localized cancer (from 58% to 74%) or locally advanced cancer (from 38% to 56%). The proportion of active surveillance or watchful waiting increased in patients with low-risk localized cancer (from 21% to 41%). The proportion of robot-assisted RP within all RPs and the proportion of intensity-modulated RT within all RTs increased remarkably (from 2.3% to 78% and 20% to 50%, respectively).

Conclusions

In Japan, RP and RT have increased as initial treatments for prostate cancer, whereas ADT has decreased. Consequently, RP has emerged as the most commonly selected initial treatment, replacing ADT.
Kennington Common, 10 April 1848: The Photographs, the Chartist Crowd, and the Coachman
Authors: Bensimon Fabrice
Published: June 2024

The daguerreotypes of the Chartist meeting on Kennington Common in London on 10 April 1848, often considered as the first crowd photographs, are among the most reproduced photos of the Victorian era. But they have not yet yielded all their secrets. This article discusses the old question of the number of people attending the meeting. Re-examining the daguerreotypes in the light of other sources, it additionally addresses issues relating to the depiction of labour. It looks at what the daguerreotypes tell us about the relationship between the Chartist movement and London’s working class. It attempts to identify places and objects. Finally, it focuses on the place of individuals in the images of this anonymous, faceless, and voiceless crowd. It suggests the name and identity of a little-studied Chartist figure who may be seen on a photo, the coachman, carpenter and builder Henry Cullingham (1791–1873), and considers what we may derive from that.
Optimizing Contrast in Automated 4D STEM Cryotomography
Authors: Seifer Shahar , Kirchweger Peter , Edel Karlina Maria , Elbaum Michael
Published: June 2024

4D STEM is an emerging approach to electron microscopy. While it was developed principally for high-resolution studies in materials science, the possibility to collect the entire transmitted flux makes it attractive for cryomicroscopy in application to life science and radiation-sensitive materials where dose efficiency is of utmost importance. We present a workflow to acquire tomographic tilt series of 4D STEM data sets using a segmented diode and an ultrafast pixelated detector, demonstrating the methods using a specimen of a T4 bacteriophage. Full integration with the SerialEM platform conveniently provides all the tools for grid navigation and automation of the data collection. Scripts are provided to convert the raw data to mrc format files and further to generate a variety of modes representing both scattering and phase contrasts, including incoherent and annular bright field, integrated center of mass, and parallax decomposition of a simulated integrated differential phase contrast. Principal component analysis of virtual annular detectors proves particularly useful, and axial contrast is improved by 3D deconvolution with an optimized point spread function. Contrast optimization enables visualization of irregular features such as DNA strands and thin filaments of the phage tails, which would be lost upon averaging or imposition of an inappropriate symmetry.
Rewiring the Sex-Determination Pathway During the Evolution of Self-Fertility
Authors: Shen Yongquan , Lin Shin-Yi , Harbin Jonathan , Amin Richa , Vassalotti Allison , Romanowski Joseph , Schmidt Emily , Tierney Alexis , Ellis Ronald E
Published: June 2024

Although evolution is driven by changes in how regulatory pathways control development, we know little about the molecular details underlying these transitions. The TRA-2 domain that mediates contact with TRA-1 is conserved in Caenorhabditis. By comparing the interaction of these proteins in two species, we identified a striking change in how sexual development is controlled. Identical mutations in this domain promote oogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans but promote spermatogenesis in Caenorhabditis briggsae. Furthermore, the effects of these mutations involve the male-promoting gene fem-3 in C. elegans but are independent of fem-3 in C. briggsae. Finally, reciprocal mutations in these genes show that C. briggsae TRA-2 binds TRA-1 to prevent expression of spermatogenesis regulators. By contrast, in C. elegans TRA-1 sequesters TRA-2 in the germ line, allowing FEM-3 to initiate spermatogenesis. Thus, we propose that the flow of information within the sex determination pathway has switched directions during evolution. This result has important implications for how evolutionary change can occur.
Multiple Human Population Movements and Cultural Dispersal Events Shaped the Landscape of Chinese Paternal Heritage
Authors: Wang Mengge , Huang Yuguo , Liu Kaijun , Wang Zhiyong , Zhang Menghan , Yuan Haibing , Duan Shuhan , Wei Lanhai , Yao Hongbing , Sun Qiuxia , Zhong Jie , Tang Renkuan , Chen Jing , Sun Yuntao , Li Xiangping , Su Haoran , Yang Qingxin , Hu Liping , Yun Libing , Yang Junbao , Nie Shengjie , Cai Yan , Yan Jiangwei , Zhou Kun , Wang Chuanchao ,   10K_CPGDP Consortium, He Guanglin , Liu Chao , Wang Mengge , Tang Renkuan , Yun Libing , Yang Junbao , Wang Chuan-Chao , Yan Jiangwei , Zhu Bofeng , Hu Liping , Nie Shengjie , Yao Hongbing , Zhu Bofeng , Liu Chao , He Guanglin
Published: June 2024

Large-scale genomic projects and ancient DNA innovations have ushered in a new paradigm for exploring human evolutionary history. However, the genetic legacy of spatiotemporally diverse ancient Eurasians within Chinese paternal lineages remains unresolved. Here, we report an integrated Y-chromosome genomic database encompassing 15,563 individuals from both modern and ancient Eurasians, including 919 newly reported individuals, to investigate the Chinese paternal genomic diversity. The high-resolution, time-stamped phylogeny reveals multiple diversification events and extensive expansions in the early and middle Neolithic. We identify four major ancient population movements, each associated with technological innovations that have shaped the Chinese paternal landscape. First, the expansion of early East Asians and millet farmers from the Yellow River Basin predominantly carrying O2/D subclades significantly influenced the formation of the Sino-Tibetan people and facilitated the permanent settlement of the Tibetan Plateau. Second, the dispersal of rice farmers from the Yangtze River Valley carrying O1 and certain O2 sublineages reshapes the genetic makeup of southern Han Chinese, as well as the Tai-Kadai, Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, and Austroasiatic people. Third, the Neolithic Siberian Q/C paternal lineages originated and proliferated among hunter-gatherers on the Mongolian Plateau and the Amur River Basin, leaving a significant imprint on the gene pools of northern China. Fourth, the J/G/R paternal lineages derived from western Eurasia, which were initially spread by Yamnaya-related steppe pastoralists, maintain their presence primarily in northwestern China. Overall, our research provides comprehensive genetic evidence elucidating the significant impact of interactions with culturally distinct ancient Eurasians on the patterns of paternal diversity in modern Chinese populations.