bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Morality, Colour, Bodies: Epistemological and Interpretive Questions
Authors: Duschinsky Robbie , Robson Ian
Published: March 2020

As contributors to this special edition show in different ways, purity itself is a less stable concept than may first appear. This insight, however, is not always reflected in dominant theory on the topic. Contributions to this special edition are therefore placed in dialogue with a metanarrative regarding the role of purity in Western history, presented by the influential Harvard sociologist Barrington Moore Jr.. In effect, discussion of Moore’s narrative on purity is a way to expose it differently, allowing the reader to reconsider Moore’s claims. In turn, we hope that the special issue’s contributions will be exposed differently in light of work to refine and redefine Moore’s overarching thesis.
Between Validation and Emasculation: Paradox of the West as Architect of Queer Autonomy in Rabih Alameddine’s The Perv
Authors: El Hajj Sleiman
Published: March 2020

Unlike his more recent novels such as The Hakawati (2006) and An Unnecessary Woman (2013), which also lambast patriarchy, but not from a queer perspective, the early fiction of Rabih Alameddine, Lebanon's only openly gay writer to date, seeks to destabilize hetero-normative boundaries by a critical engagement through creative narrative with the homo-politics of diaspora. In resisting the coercion of the Lebanese and, to a certain extent, the Arab or Middle Eastern homosexual into calibrated, conformist social moulds, his narratives present the West as a plausible refuge in which his exiled gay characters can thrive.

In this article, I argue that a nuanced reading of this refuge is needed since the exilic sanctuary in Alameddine's The Perv (1999), his only short story collection to date, is paradoxical. Its illiberal sexualized response to queerness as a form of otherness is extrapolated to similar issues of marginalisation and sexualized abuse enacted by the patriarchal polity that has othered Alameddine’s queer(ed) exiles in the first place. The Western sanctuary’s seemingly antithetical notions of emasculation and empowerment become, ultimately, the very qualities factoring into his usage of strong sexual language in his explicit depiction of the coercive sexuality into which the encounter with the gendered and/or queered other has been relocated in different texts and cultural contexts in The Perv.
Redefining the Self: The Human Centipede and Physical Spectatorship
Authors: Wilson Laura
Published: March 2020

As I watch the infamous scene in Tom Six's 2009 release, when Katsuro, the front segment of the centipede, defecates into the mouth of the second, my body rocks back and forth in a futile attempt at self-soothing. I hear the distant whine of a voice uttering, 'I don't want, I don't want to', before I realise it is my own. Finally, in a mixture of horror and relish, my back arches, my shoulders hunch forward and my chest heaves as I retch once, twice, three times.

The Human Centipede belongs to a large and varied group of films released in recent years that have become notorious for eliciting intensely physical responses, from anxiety and nausea, to the fear of, desire to or even act of vomiting. In this paper, I build on current research into the embodied spectator by creating a detailed analysis of how physicality is constructed and manipulated by representations of faeces in this scene.

Engaging with Richard Rushton's theories of spectatorship, Vivian Sobchack's studies of phenomenology and film, and Elizabeth Wilson's work on neuroscience, I explore the concept of physical spectatorship - the idea that embodied responses to film are textual constructions that return the viewer to a sense of their own corporeality. The notion of physical spectatorship challenges the dichotomy of film as object/viewer as subject, as well as the language we use to theorise the film-viewer relationship. By acknowledging the disgust this film generates, I question the extent to which notions of the viewer are strained against the concept of spectator as textual construction. Finally, I aim to theorise that which often escapes analysis in relation to film spectatorship: those body parts that make up the gastrointestinal tract, or the gut, that are brought into play in films designed to revolt.
Personification at the Critical Threshold: Walter Pater and Angus Fletcher
Authors: Zeff Callum
Published: March 2020

In this paper I argue that Walter Pater, in both his critical and creative work, is a liminal writer along the lines set out by Angus Fletcher in his studies of Edmund Spenser and S.T. Coleridge. Fletcher suggests that personification or prosopopoeia (literally "person-making") results from "thresholdness", and I relate this observation not only to Pater's employment of personification, e.g. "art comes professing frankly", but his tendency to equate works of art with persons and vice-versa. Pater's work focuses on transitional eras of culture and on transitional minds, historical, semi-historical and imaginary, as in his "Imaginary Portraits". I argue that it is because of Pater's constant transition from experience to experience, his constant in-between state, that he invents characters which are neither wholly allegorical personifications nor fleshed out humans; that he tends to associate aesthetic experience with "the face of one's friend"; and that his work hovers between the creative and the critical.
The Reality Based Community
Authors: Foley Hugh
Published: March 2020

In this essay I argue that  increasing blurring of boundaries between representational and the real has been characcteristic of the War on terror. I then argue that has produced a response in contemporary American poetry which attempts to produce a critique by collapsing or undermining these distinctions fictionally in order to draw attention to their collapse in political and military discourse. Looking at several poems which take photography as a theme, I aim to show how a specific genre of photo-ekphrastic poetry has proved partiularly germane to this effort.
Stripp'd
Authors: Johnston Elizabeth D
Published: March 2020

This poem pays stylistic and thematic homage to 18th century writer Charlotte Smith's poem, "Thirty-Eight," which takes as its subject the revelations that come with age. However, the subject of this poem is decidely modern.

Having visited Las Vegas in her "naive" twenties, the author of "Stripp'd" (at age 38) revisits Las Vegas under quite different circumstances: as a professor of humanities attending a working teacher's conference. The poem is a poignant depiction of the vexed relationship between the public nature of teaching and private industry, gesturing as it does toward the ways in which the publishing industry subsidizes education. The speaker of the poem reconsiders the luxuries available to her, via the generosity of publishers, in contrast to the populations of less economically privileged who surround the conference and, in turn, whose labor supports her own leisure.
Failure as Learning: Photovoice as Methodology in Research with Marginalised Young People
Authors: Gombert Karolina , Douglas Flora , McArdle Karen , Carlisle Sandra
Published: March 2020

An unpublished pilot study at a charitable youth organisation in the North East of Scotland found that young people (aged 16 to 25) accommodated by the organisation consumed a diet high in sugar and low in levels of foods such as meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables (Perry, 2013). The Foodways and Futures project (2013-2016), combining ethnographic and action research methodology, set out to explore why the diet of young people was sub-optimal, despite the organisation having a number of support services in place that would—it was perceived—encourage better eating habits amongst the young people housed within the organisation. Photovoice (PV) was identified as a participatory research method that was suitable, and that would encourage young people to participate as co-researchers in the investigation. However, despite young people getting involved in other research methods that were employed in the study, PV was generally not taken up as anticipated. This article explores how the method was employed, and argues that what could be deemed the ‘failure’ of PV instead may be interpreted as evidence of young people’s awareness and sensitivity about the potential judgements of others on personal food choices. In this sense, poor uptake of PV actually reveals much more about young people’s lived experiences than the data that it generates. The use of PV as a research method is therefore powerful, in that it allows participants to indicate, through inactivity, their sensitivity to ‘discourses of blame’.
On the Notion of 'Failure' in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: A Consideration of Joelle van Dyne's Character and the Figure of St. Teresa of Avila
Authors: Alexander Matthew
Published: March 2020

David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest, celebrated its 20th anniversary of publication in 2016. Yet in spite of two decades of critical analysis little attention is given to the female characters within. Delfino (2008) cites 'one or two strong [female] characters that cannot help but influence the male protagonists in the novel', without expanding upon this, whilst Freudenthal (2010) speaks of Wallace's female characters as having a 'political clout [that] goes no further than their domestic spheres'. Such failure on the part of critics leads to an incomplete consideration of Wallace's text. This paper sets about redressing the balance through a reading of Joelle van Dyne's character and Wallace's use of the veil, and the link that this has with an historical figure known for her donning of the veil: St. Teresa of Avila. Clare Hayes-Brady's recent work (2016) on 'failures' in Wallace's work will be used as a tool with which to analyse Joelle's/St. Teresa's inclusion in the text, and it will be argued that the issue of veiling, a practice that Hirschmann (1998) views as 'Other to most Westerners', helps to reveal the extent to which Wallace's female characters have indeed been overlooked by critics. In doing so, a new consideration of Wallace's texts may emerge.
Beyond Turner’s Liminal Community: The Perpetual Crisis of Politics and the Everyday
Authors: Hignell-Tully Daniel
Published: March 2020

The social anthropologist Victor Turner describes the process of a communitas as orientated around crisis - a liminal stage by which the community compensates for any breaches within their existing understanding of the world. As a liminal stage, crisis is the means by which a community remains politically active, in so far as it relies on the local, autonomous management of change to the lived environment. This paper seeks to explore the nature of communication as a tool of crisis, arguing that the community relies upon a network of crisis occurring both from first-hand and communally-derived communication, for which it is the distance between its membership that allows a community to flourish. Invoking the critical theory of Jean-Luc Nancy, and systems theory of Niklas Luhmann to interrogate such a network, I will argue that it is the performed misuse of a communities shared symbols that allows it to maintain political resonance. With this in mind, I will propose that the advent of what I term ‘perpetual crisis’ seeks to fundamentally undermine such a resonance, usurping the lived crisis of our everyday interactions with Other, in favour of a perpetual state of epistemological violence that exists beyond the limits of our control.  Exploring the tone and utility of political language within the mainstream media, I will seek to draw a parallel between the narrative disjunction of politicians and their policies as a means of highlighting the imposition of a crisis that impedes communitas by distancing a communities membership from meaningful political redress.
Creative and Critical Writing: The Hybridised Nature of a Networked Theory
Authors: O’Shea Anthony James
Published: March 2020

Creative and Critical Writing is a degree available at the University of Sussex. It encourages students to adopt a writerly posture in regards to the originary thinkers that are responsible for the contemporary manifestations of theory today. At the core of this degree are thinkers such as Freud, Derrida and Marx, as well as broader theoretical concepts such as Postcolonialism, Utopia and New Historicism. All the while, the student is encouraged to engage in the wealth of theoretical content as a creative writer. Armed with a framework with an unfettered speculative gaze, the conceptual space in which these works are formulated mark the potential trajectory of the future of theoretical inquiry. This paper will make the case for the emergence of Creative and Critical Writing as a hybrid praxis. For the purpose of this article I will concentrate on the reinvigoration of Marx’s works via the poetry and academic writings of Keston Sutherland – Professor of poetics at the University of Sussex. The landscape of theory and literature today suggests that Creative Writing is increasingly looking like the readily available and profitable alternative to these courses. Creative and Critical Writing is somewhat resistant to this and is also respondent to a wider transatlantic reaction to contemporary market and ideological forces. Hence the title of this paper, Creative and Critical Writing as a ‘networked’ theory as it is an example of the intersections and convergences that constitutes the hybrid theory and praxis contained within one unique conceptual space.
Invisible Roots of Knowledge Production and their Role in Resistance to the Marketisation of Education
Authors: McKnight Heather
Published: March 2020

Recent, highly visible, struggles in Higher Education in the UK, such as the pensions strike, have aimed to recast such protests as part of a bigger struggle to maintain the public university. Viewing the shared pension scheme as one of the last defining features of a public institution. However, Federici in her recent book Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons warns us if we wish to change the university in line with the public construction of a ‘knowledge commons’ that there is a need to question “the material conditions of the production of the university, its history and its relation to the surrounding communities” (Federici, 2019) and not just the academics within it. There is a need to consider how debate on knowledge production is insulated from the invisible work that sustains academic life including cleaners, cafeteria workers and groundkeepers, as well as to consider the potential colonisation of land institutions are built upon (Federici, 2019). Narratives of resistance to marketisation in Higher Education, while well meaning, still create disproportionate invisibility on the grounds of gender, race and socio-economic status, ignoring the material and intellectual value of such contributions. This paper considers how Federici’s approach to the politics of the commons discredit, deconstruct and potentially transform approaches to resistance to marketisation in education. It argues that struggles against marketisation, or for academic freedom, should be seen in the broader scope of access to education for all, and a continuum of co-dependant knowledge production. It will consider how different structures of privilege and oppression structure what is represented, resisted and fought for within and by the institution. Issues that are seen as marginal or controversial can be avoided in increasingly legislated upon, and therefore risk averse, students’ unions and trade unions. Which in turn reproduces a student and staff body that similarly continue to propagate such damaging structures both within and out with the institution. A rethinking around who the knowledge producers are, can help us restructure the university as a commons that resists the violence of capitalist logic, rather than one that upholds it. Thus problematising and reconstructing how we view the idea of a future university commons, in a way that recognises intersectional oppression and a misuse of certain bodies as a commons in and off themselves.
Emergence of Universal Antiretroviral Therapy Coverage in South Africa: Applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework to Refine the Narratives and Inform Epidemic Responses
Authors: Momo Kadia Benjamin , Akem Dimala Christian , Pene Njefi Kevin
Published: March 2020

South Africa possesses the largest anti-retroviral therapy (ART) program in the world but the path to this record was dramatic. There is scarce literature employing a comprehensive framework to explain this ART policy change and inform current policy making processes. This paper applies the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to analyse the interactions among diverse actors, institutions and networks that were associated with the ART policy change in South Africa. Post-apartheid, HIV/AIDS and AIDS-related mortality were serious public health problems. At the time, the discernible coalitions in the AIDS policy subsystem were the prescience coalition and AIDS dissidents. In view of the availability of compelling scientific evidence on the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS, the clinical usefulness of ART, the availability of funding for national ART roll-out, strong global advocacy to reduce the cost of ART, all of these in an era when access to adequate HIV care was increasingly considered a human right, the environment to establish an appropriate ART policy for the country was conducive. However, AIDS dissidents dominated the policy agenda via their control over key institutions, the use of various dimensions of power, biasing evidence to inform policy, and promoting the activities of strong interest groups that were not in support of ART. National ART roll-out ultimately emerged as a political priority as a result of external shocks (on the ART policy subsystem) which disfavoured the dominant coalition. Failure to supplement this application of the ACF with key pubic policy concepts such as power dimensions, evidence use in policy, governance and emergence of global health networks would have led to suboptimal appraisal of the ART policy change and misinformation of current policy making processes.
Chemosensory Event-related Potentials in 3M Syndrome Infants: An early Biomarker Based on EEG Signal Processing
Authors: Invitto Sara , Grasso Alberto , Lofrumento Dario Domenico , Ciccarese Vincenzo , Paladini Angela , Paladini Pasquale , Marulli Raffaella , De Pascalis Vilfredo , Polsinelli Matteo , Placidi Giuseppe
Published: March 2020

3M syndrome is a rare disorder that involves the gene CUL7. CUL7 modulates odour detection, conditions the olfactory response (OR) and plays a role in olfactory system development. Despite this involvement, there are no direct studies on olfactory functional effects in 3M syndrome. The purpose of the present work was to analyse the cortical OR, through chemosensory event-related potentials (CSERP) and power spectra calculated by electroencephalogram (EEG) signals recorded in 3M infants: two twins (3M-N) and an additional subject (3M-O). The results suggest that olfactory processing is diversified. Comparison of N1 and LPC components indicated substantial differences in 3M syndrome that may be a consequence of a modified olfactory processing pattern. Moreover, the presence of delta rhythms in 3M-O and 3M-N clearly indicates their involvement with OR, since the delta rhythm is closely connected to chemosensory perception, in particular to olfactory perception.
Novel Meta-Heuristic Model for Discrimination between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Β-Thalassemia with CBC Indices Based on Dynamic Harmony Search (DHS)
Authors: Qasem Sultan Noman , Mosavi Amir
Published: March 2020

In recent decades, attention has been directed at anemia classification for various medical purposes, such as thalassemia screening and predicting iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this study, a new method has been successfully tested for discrimination between IDA and β-thalassemia trait (β-TT). The method is based on a Dynamic Harmony Search (DHS). Complete blood count (CBC), a fast and inexpensive laboratory test, is used as the input of the system. Other models, such as a genetic programming method called structured representation on genetic algorithm in non-linear function fitting (STROGANOFF), an artificial neural network (ANN), an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), a support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), and certain traditional methods, are compared with the proposed method.
What the Salamander Eye Has Been Telling the Vision Scientist’s Brain
Authors: Rozenblit Fernando , Gollisch Tim
Published: March 2020

Salamanders have been habitual residents of research laboratories for more than a century, and their history in science is tightly interwoven with vision research. Nevertheless, many vision scientists – even those working with salamanders – may be unaware of how much our knowledge about vision, and particularly the retina, has been shaped by studying salamanders. In this review, we take a tour through the salamander history in vision science, highlighting the main contributions of salamanders to our understanding of the vertebrate retina. We further point out specificities of the salamander visual system and discuss the perspectives of this animal system for future vision research.
Structurally Observed Electrostatic Features of the COVID-19 Coronavirus-Related Experimental Structures inside Protein Data Bank: A Brief Update
Authors: Li Wei
Published: March 2020

Since the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak at the end of 2019, the past two month has seen an acceleration both in and outside China in the R&D of the diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus. As one of the molecular forces that determine protein structure, electrostatic effects dominate many aspects of protein behaviour and biological function. Thus, incorporating currently available experimental structures related to COVID-19, this article reports a simple python-based analysis tool and a LaTeX-based editing tool to extract and summarize the electrostatic features from experimentally determined structures, to strengthen our understanding of COVID-19's structure and function and to facilitate machine-learning and structure-based computational design of its neutralizing antibodies and/or small molecule(s) as potential therapeutic candidates. Finally, this article puts forward a brief update of the structurally observed electrostatic features of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Single-diode Models of PV Modules: A Comparison of Conventional Approaches and Propose a Novel Model
Authors: Nguyen-Duc Tuyen , Nguyen-Duc Huy , Le-Viet Thinh , Takano Hirotaka
Published: March 2020

In this paper, the seven traditional models of PV modules are reviewed comprehensively to find out the appropriate model to be reliable. All the models are validated using the Matlab code and make a graphical comparison. The accuracy and convergence of each model are evaluated using data of manufactured PV panels. Then, a novel model is proposed showing its consistent performance. The most three key parameters of single-diode model are self revised to adapt to various type of PV modules. This new method is verified in three types of PV panels' data measured by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), US. The validated data show promising results when the error RMSEs' range of the proposed model is under 0.36.
The Global Forest Transition is a Human Affair
Authors: Garcia Claude A. , Savilaakso Sini , Verburg René W. , Gutierrez Victoria , Wilson Sarah Jane , Krug Cornelia B. , Sassen Marieke , Robinson Brian E. , Moersberger Hannah , Naimi Babak , Rhemtulla Jeanine M. , Dessard Hélène , Gond Valéry , Vermeulen Cédric , Trolliet Franck , Oszwald Johan , Quétier Fabien , Pietsch Stephan A , Bastin Jean-Francois , Dray Anne , Ghazoul Jaboury , Waeber Patrick O.
Published: March 2020

Forests across the world stand at the crossroad with climate and land use changes shaping their future. Despite the demonstration of political will and global efforts, forest loss, fragmentation and land degradation continue unabated. No clear evidence exists that these initiatives are working. Why are policies designed to halt deforestation and increase restoration of forest landscapes failing? A key reason for this apparent ineffectiveness lies in the failure to recognize the agency of the stakeholders involved and the adaptive capacities of the systems we seek to steer. Landscapes do not happen. We make them. They are the result of the sum of individual actions and decisions made by all stakeholders, and the interactions between these and biophysical processes. Likewise, forest transitions are not ecological, but social and behavioral. They are a product of the way humans manage ecosystems. Decision-makers need to integrate better representations of people’s agency in their mental models. We suggest possible solution pathways to overcome this key current barrier. These involve eliciting mental models behind policy decision, changing perspectives to better understand divergent points of view and refining strategies through explicit theories of change. Games designed to represent the constraints and opportunities that exist in the landscapes can help decision makers in these task.
Predicting the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) Utilizing Capability as the Receptor of SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Qiu Ye , Zhao Yuan-Bo , Wang Qiong , Li Jin-Yan , ZHou Zhi-JIan , Liao Ce-Heng , Ge Xing-Yi
Published: March 2020

SARS-CoV-2, the newly identified human coronavirus causing severe pneumonia epidemic, was probably originated from Chinese horseshoe bats. However, direct transmission of the virus from bats to humans is unlikely due to lack of direct contact, implying the existence of unknown intermediate hosts. Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the receptor of SARS-CoV-2, but only ACE2s of certain species can be utilized by SARS-CoV-2. Here, we evaluated and ranked the receptor-utilizing capability of ACE2s from various species by phylogenetic clustering and sequence alignment with the currently known ACE2s utilized by SARS-CoV-2, predicting potential intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2.
Comparative Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profiles of Uropathogenic Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase Producing Strains of Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli by the CLSI and EUCAST Methodologies
Authors: Akdoğan Doğan , Güzel Mustafa , Akpınar Orhan , Aksoy Altan , Genç Bahçe Yasemin
Published: March 2020

Aims: The lack of information about the inter variability of the test results obtained by CLSI and EUCAST requires further clarifications to interpret antimicrobial susceptibility patterns better. This study aimed to compare the CLSI and EUCAST interpretations of the antimicrobial susceptibility test results of the ESBL–producing uropathogenic Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia strains. Methods: After obtaining 157 ESBL-producing E. coli and 95, ESBL-producing K. pneumonia isolates from the urine specimens of the patients, Kirby-Bauer’s disc diffusion method was used for conducting antimicrobial susceptibility test. The test procedures and the interpretation of the results were carried out according to the year 2017 versions of both of the two guidelines. For the statistical comparison of concordance between the two guidelines, the Kappa coefficients and the concordance rates were calculated. Results: The results were graded in the range from perfect to poor agreement. For E. coli, interpretations of the AST results revealed a moderate to perfect agreement between both methods. Weighted Kappa agreement scores in the range from 0.42 to 1. The agreement for AMC, TPZ30/6, ceftazidime 10, meropenem, and aztreonam was poor without any inconsistencies. For Klebsiella, the kappa agreement score was in the range from 0.25 to 1. It was incompatible with AMC, TPZ 30/6, ceftazidime 10, aztreonam; there was poor agreement for cefepime, amikacin and ertapenem. Conclusions: Our results showed agreement between the two guidelines for uropathogenic extended-spectrum ß-lactamase producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae but also showed inconsistencies between two guidelines. Therefore, the results of our study contribute to the comparison of these guidelines for interpreting antibiotic susceptibilities.
Temporal Convolutional Networks Applied to Energy-related Time Series Forecasting
Authors: Lara-Benítez Pedro , Carranza-García Manuel , Luna-Romera José M. , Riquelme José C.
Published: March 2020

Modern energy systems collect high volumes of data that can provide valuable information about energy consumption. Electric companies can now use historical data to make informed decisions on energy production by forecasting the expected demand. Many deep learning models have been proposed to deal with these type of time series forecasting problems. Deep neural networks, such as recurrent or convolutional, can automatically capture complex patterns in time series data and provide accurate predictions. In particular, Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCN) are a specialised architecture that has advantages over recurrent networks for forecasting tasks. TCNs are able to extract long-term patterns using dilated causal convolutions and residual blocks, and can also be more efficient in terms of computation time. In this work, we propose a TCN-based deep learning model to improve the predictive performance in energy demand forecasting. Two energy-related time series with data from Spain have been studied: the national electric demand, and the power demand at charging stations for electric vehicles. An extensive experimental study has been conducted, involving more than 1900 models with different architectures and parametrisations. The TCN proposal outperforms the forecasting accuracy of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent networks, which are considered the state-of-the-art in the field.
Reductive Evolution and Diversification of C5-Uracil Methylation in the Nucleic Acids of Mollicutes
Authors: Sirand-Pugnet Pascal , Brégeon Damien , Beven Laure , Goyenvalle Catherine , Blanchard Alain , Rose Simon , Grosjean Henri , Douthwaite Stephen , Hamdane Djemel , de Crécy-Lagard Valérie
Published: March 2020

The C5-methylation of uracil to form 5-methyluracil (m5U) is a ubiquitous base modification of nucleic acids. Four enzyme families have converged to catalyze this methylation using different chemical solutions. Here, we investigate the evolution of 5-methyluracil synthase families in Mollicutes, a class of bacteria that has undergone extensive genome erosion. Many mollicutes have lost some of the m5U methyltransferases present in their common ancestor. Cases of duplication and subsequent shift of function are also described. For example, most members of the Spiroplasma subgroup, use the ancestral tetrahydrofolate-dependent TrmFO enzyme, to catalyze the formation of m5U54 in tRNA, while a TrmFO paralog (termed RlmFO) is responsible for m5U1939 formation in 23S RNA. RlmFO has replaced the S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-enzyme RlmD that adds the same modification in the ancestor and which is still present in mollicutes from the Hominis subgroup. Another paralog of this family, the TrmFO-like protein, has a yet unidentified function that differs from the TrmFO and RlmFO homologs. Despite having evolved towards minimal genomes, the mollicutes possess a repertoire of m5U modifying enzymes that is highly dynamic and has undergone horizontal transfer. This emphasizes the necessity for combining bioinformatics predictions with empirical testing and structural information to get a reliable functional annotation of these enzymes.
Ridge to Reef Management Implications for the Development of an Open-Source Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen Loading Model in American Samoa
Authors: Shuler Christopher , Comeros-Raynal Mia
Published: March 2020

Excessive nutrient discharge to tropical island coastlines drives eutrophication and algal blooms with significant implications for reef ecosystem condition and provision of ecosystem services. Management actions to address nutrient pollution in coastal ecosystems include setting water quality standards for discharging surface waters. However, these standards do not account for the effects of groundwater discharge, variability in flow, or dilution, all of which may influence assessment of true nutrient impacts on nearshore reef habitats. We developed a method to estimate dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) loads to coastal zones by integrating commonly available datasets within a geospatial modeling framework for Tutuila, American Samoa. The DIN loading model integrated an open-source water budget model, water sampling results, and publically available streamflow data to predict watershed-scale DIN loading to the island’s entire coastline. When compared to surface water pathways, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) was determined to be the most important coastal delivery mechanism of terrigenous DIN, which supports findings from other tropical islands. Onsite wastewater disposal systems were also found to be the primary anthropogenic sources DIN to coastal waters. Our island-wide DIN loading model provides a simple and robust metric to define spatially-explicit sources and delivery mechanisms of nutrient pollution to nearshore reef habitats. Understanding the sources and primary transport modes of inorganic nitrogen to nearshore reef ecosystems can have significant implications for place-based management interventions aimed at increasing the adaptive capacity of unique island ecosystems to environmental variation and disturbances.
Research on the Characteristics and Translation Strategies of Transferred Epithet
Authors: Wang Xu , Tian Chuanmao
Published: March 2020

English transferred epithet is a figure of speech that is frequently used, especially in literary works. It works like magic and plays an important role in expression and communication, so a number of scholars have researched it from the aspects of the definition, the classification, the functions, the pragmatic characteristics, the semantic characteristics and the cognitive foundation of it. Though transferred epithet seems to deviate from logic, it can polish expressions if known and used efficiently. In this paper, the characteristics and translation strategies are studied. Based on the related theories of semantics, aesthetics, and translatology, the structural characteristics, the semantic characteristics, the aesthetic characteristics and the translation strategies of transferred epithet are discussed. This paper is of both theoretical and practical significance. If readers can draw inferences about other cases from one instance and have a good command of transferred epithet, it can be properly employed in such language activities as reading, writing, speaking, translation, etc.
Effect of Toe Type on Static Balance in Ballet Dancers
Authors: Kizawa Momoko , Yasuda Toshito , Shima Hiroaki , Mori Katsunori , Tsujinaka Seiya , Neo Masashi
Published: March 2020

OBJECTIVES: Some forefoot shapes are ideal for pointe work in ballet. Egyptian-type, with the hallux being longest and the remaining toes decreasing in size, and Greek-type, with the second toe longer than the hallux, are considered less optimal for pointe work. Square-type, with the
second toe the same length as the hallux, is considered optimal. This study compared postural stability in the bipedal stance, demi pointe, and en pointe between ballet dancers with the two toe types using a stabilometer. METHODS: This study included 25 Japanese ballet academy dancers who
had received ballet lessons for at least 6 years. Toes were categorized into Egyptian-type (n=14) and square-type (n=11). Bipedal stance, demi pointe, and en pointe were tested. Center of pressure (COP) parameters were calculated from ground-reaction forces using two force plates: total trajectory
length (LNG), velocities of anterior-posterior (VAP) and medial-lateral directions (VML), and maximum range displacement in the anterior-posterior (MAXAP) and medial-lateral directions (MAXML). Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to examine differences in COP parameters. RESULTS: There were no
differences in parameters during bipedal stance or demi pointe. However, dancers with Egyptian-type toes had significantly greater LNG (p<0.01), VML (p=0.01), MAXML (p<0.01), and MAXAP (p=0.03) during en pointe. CONCLUSIONS: Ballet dancers with Egyptian-type toes demonstrated greater
displacement in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions during en pointe. Ballet dancers should be aware of toe types and sway character to optimize ballet training and balance.
An Overview of Premenstrual Voice Syndrome: Definition, Treatment, and Future Trajectories
Authors: Kaye Sasha L
Published: March 2020

For classical singers, performing in peak condition is optimal at all times in an industry which demands excellence. The slightest variability in a singer’s physiology can influence sound quality and production; in severe instances, a singer’s career longevity may be compromised.
Researchers have observed an effect of menstrual cycle hormone variability on the voice, compromising tone quality, agility, and stamina. For a subset of these singers, the effect of hormone variability on voice production is especially severe. This phenomenon has been termed premenstrual
voice syndrome (PMVS) among singers, although there has been little empirical research on PMVS, which complicates matters related to defining, taxonomizing, and treating the condition. This article offers an overview of existing research related to PMVS, identifies gaps in definitional and
categorical boundaries between PMVS and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and offers recommendations for symptom management as well as suggestions for pedagogues and teachers to better educate themselves and their students about PMVS.
HUBUNGAN KONSTRUK SERVICESCAPE DAN KEPUASAN KONSUMEN COFFE SHOP DI KOTA JAMBI
Authors: Musnaini Musnaini
Published: March 2020

Tujuan penelit ian ini untuk menjelaskan hubungan antara Servicescape yaitu Ambient Condit ion(X1), Spatial Layout/Funct ion(X2) dan Sign Symbol/Artefac (X3) dan Kepuasan Konsumen Coffee Shop di kota Jambi. Penelit ian ini menggunakan pendekatan eksplanasi. Pengumpulan data dengan kuisoner kepada 100 responden secara Judgmental Sampling. Model penelit ian diolah menggunaka regresi berganda dengan software IBM SPSS Statisctics 25. Hasil analisa membuktikanbahwa secara simultan terdapat hubungan disignifikan antara dimensi Servicescape terhadap kepuasan konsumen Coffee Shop di kota Jambi. Ternyata secara parsial kepuasan konsumen Coffee Shop di jambi dominan dipengaruhi oleh dimensi Spat ial Layout/Funct ion yaitu sebesar 13,54%.
Changes levels of myokines after aerobic training and resistance training in post-menopausal females with obesity
Authors: Kang Sunghwun , Park Il Bong , Lim Seung-Taek
Published: March 2020

Background To investigate changes in levels of myokines after regular aerobic training and resistance training in post- menopausal females with obesity. Methods Among 41 post- menopausal obese females volunteered to participate in this study performed regular physical exercise training (aerobic exercise and resistance exercise). These participants were randomly assigned to one aerobic exercise group (n = 21) and one resistance exercise group (n = 20). The experimental group performed three days of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise per week (i.e., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) each group. Body composition, physical fitness, and myokines were measured at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. Results Two-way within-factor ANOVA revealed group × time interaction for body mass index (BMI, p < 0.05). In the resistance exercise group, muscle endurance, power, and agility were significantly increased at 12 weeks than those at 6 weeks and baseline. In the aerobic exercise group, muscle strength, flexibility, muscle endurance, and agility were greater at 12 weeks than those at 6 weeks and baseline. Levels of IL-6, IL15, and BDNF were greater at 12 weeks than those at 6 weeks and baseline in both exercise groups. Conclusions Aerobic exercise training and resistance exercise training can change levels of myokines and improve body composition and physical fitness of obese females. These findings provide preliminary evidence that obese females need to exercise or perform physical activity to improve their levels of myokines and physical fitness.
Lipid Profile and Differential Lipids in Serum Predict Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Prospective, Multi-Centre Study
Authors: Chen Li , Zheng Yali , Zhao Lili , Zhang Ying , Yin Lu , He Yukun , Ma Xinqian , Xu Yu , Gao Zhancheng
Published: March 2020

Background: This study aimed to characterize the lipidomic responses to community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and validate the effectiveness of these lipids as indicators of the severity of the CAP as well as of the risk of death in severe CAP.Methods: Lipidomic profiles of serum were generated using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was implemented to distinguish between the classes of samples and to identify the differentially expressed variables. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the significant differential lipids was compared. Spearman’s rank correlation test and multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis were applied to further explore the putative differentially expressed lipids correlation with clinical parameters. Kaplan–Meier methods were used to build 30-day survival curves, and survival rates were compared using the log-rank test.Results: A total of 6 categories and 509 lipid species were detected in the positive ion mode using UPLC-MS/MS. In the negative ion mode, 3 categories and 195 lipid species were detected. According to the screening criteria, 5 lipids in total were selected as target lipids, which are PC (16:0_18:1), PC (18:2_20:4), PC (20:5_18:2), PC (36:4) and PC (38:6). Area under curves (AUC) for all five li p ids were superior to PSI (0.749, 0.550-0.892) and CURB-65 (0.772, 0.575-0.908). PC (18: 2_20: 4), PC (38: 6) and PC (36: 4) was negatively related to FiO 2 and PC (18: 2_20: 4) was inversely correlated with the PCT. As the relative abundance of PC (16:0_18:1), PC (36: 4), PC (20: 5_18: 2) and PC (38: 6) decreased, the length of hospital stay significantly extended. There was a statistically significant difference in the probability of 30-day mortality between the high-abundance and low-abundance groups of PC (16: 0_18: 1), PC (36: 4) and PC (20: 5_18: 2) (og-rank p <0.05).Conclusion: Our research suggests that the serum lipidomics approach of the UHPLC-MS/MS platform can be used to reveal lipid changes during CAP and establish lipid profiles related to disease severity.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03093220. Registered on 28 March 2017 (retrospectively registered).
Optimizing assessment of risk factors for severe bronchial asthma
Authors: Potapova N. L. , Gaymolenko I. N. , Smolyakov Yu. N.
Published: March 2020

Purpose. To determine the anamnestic predictors of severe bronchial asthma in children. Material and methods. We analyzed risk factors of 335 patients with bronchial asthma. We statistically selected 287 patients and developed a prognostic model. Results. The predictors of severe bronchial asthma are combination of factors such as high incidence of ARVI in the first 3 years of life (odds ratio – OR 4.5; p<0.0001), smoking parents (OR 3.9; p<0.01), female (OR 2.06; p=0.041), patient age (OR 1.44; p<0.0001) and the early disease debut (OR 0.58; p<0.0001). Conclusion. The results obtained should be used to predict the severe course of bronchial asthma based on the analysis of anamnestic data complex available in practical healthcare, to organize dispensary observation of sick children.
The role of the pediatrician in the early diagnosis of malignant neoplasms in children
Authors: Rykov M. Yu. , Manerova O. A. , Turabov I. A. , Kozlov V. V. , Reshetnikov V. A.
Published: March 2020

Malignant neoplasms prevail in the structure of mortality in children all over the world, while most patients are diagnosed at the common stages; the second place is taken by external causes. It determines a particular relevance of developing new approaches to strengthen the role of district pediatricians in the early diagnosis of malignant neoplasms in children.

Material and methods.The Algorithm for determining the appropriateness of referring a patient to a pediatric oncologist was introduced in the medical organizations of the Arkhangelsk region in 2016. To evalute the effectiveness of the Algorithm, we compared two groups of patients with histologically verified solid malignant neoplasms: Group 1: 49 patients who received medical care in the Arkhangelsk region in 2011–2015 (prior to the experiment); Group 2: 51 patients who received medical care in the Department of Pediatric Oncology of the Arkhangelsk region in 2016–2018.

Results.The average survival time was significantly increased in Group 2016–2018 (30.3 ± 1.57 months) as compared with the survival time of patients receiving treatment in 2011–2015 (25.04 ± 2.05 months) (p=0.045). The following time parameters were reduced: from the moment of contacting the pediatric oncologist to the verification of the diagnosis – from 9.0 to 7.0 days; from verification of the diagnosis to the start of specialized treatment – from 12.0 to 8.0 days; from the moment of contacting the local pediatrician to the referral to the pediatric oncologist – from 11.0 to 2.0 days; from the moment of contacting the local pediatrician to the start of specialized treatment – from 23.0 to 9.0 days.

Conclusion:The organizational experiment confirmed the effectiveness of the Algorithm and the expediency of its implementation in the medical organizations.
Bioengineered Polymer/Composites as Advanced Biological Detection of Sorbitol: An Application in Healthcare Sector
Authors: Rani Ruma , Singh Geeta , Batra Kanisht , Minakshi Prasad
Published: March 2020

Bioengineered polymers and nanomaterials have emerged as promising and advanced materials for the fabrication and development of novel biosensors. Nanotechnology-enabled biosensor methods have high sensitivity, selectivity and more rapid detection of an analyte. Biosensor based methods are more rapid and simple with higher sensitivity and selectivity and can be developed for point-of-care diagnostic testing. Development of a simple, sensitive and rapid method for sorbitol detection is of considerable significance to efficient monitoring of diabetes-associated disorders like cataract, neuropathy, and nephropathy at initial stages. This issue encourages us to write a review that highlights recent advancements in the field of sorbitol detection as no such reports have been published till the date. The first section of this review will be dedicated to the conventional approaches or methods that had been playing a role in detection. The second part focused on the emerging field i.e. biosensors with optical, electrochemical, piezoelectric, etc. approaches for sorbitol detection and the importance of its detection in healthcare application. It is expected that this review will be very helpful for readers to know the different conventional and recent detection techniques for sorbitol at a glance.