bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Controlling CRISPR‐Cas9 by guide RNA engineering
Authors: Hu Lu‐Feng , Li Yu‐Xuan , Wang Jia‐Zhen , Zhao Yu‐Ting , Wang Yangming
Published: April 2022

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system is a product of million years of evolution by microbes to fight against invading genetic materials. Around 10 years ago, scientists started to repurpose the CRISPR as genetic tools by molecular engineering approaches. The guide RNA provides a versatile and unique platform for the innovation to improve and expand the application of CRISPR‐Cas9 system. In this review, we will first introduce the basic sequence and structure of guide RNA and its role during the function of CRISPR‐Cas9. We will then summarize recent progress on the development of various guide RNA engineering strategies. These strategies have been dedicated to improve the performance of CRISPR‐Cas9, to achieve precise spatiotemporal control of CRISPR‐Cas9, and to broaden the application of CRISPR‐Cas9. Finally, we will briefly discuss the uniqueness and advantage of guide RNA‐engineering based systems versus those with engineered Cas9 proteins and speculate potential future directions in guide RNA engineering.

This article is categorized under:

RNA Methods > RNA Analyses In Vitro and In Silico

RNA Methods > RNA Nanotechnology

Regulatory RNAs/RNAi/Riboswitches > Regulatory RNAs

RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > RNA‐Protein Complexes
Investing in a Resilient and Responsive Healthcare System During COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Sood Bulbul
Published: April 2022

Strategies implemented by Jhpiego nationally and in 15 states of India to respond to the COVID- 19 emergency and to counter the devastating impact of the pandemic are discussed. By the time the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March, 2020, Jhpiego’s COVID-19 response strategy was in action. This strategy included strengthening the capacity of the health workforce, supporting the national and the state governments, and ensuring the continuation of essential health services including reproductive health services.

Jhpiego mounted a swift multi-sectoral and multi-pronged program to provide technical support for enhancing the preparedness of the healthcare system across 15 states. Training and monitoring activities were conducted using virtual platforms. A decentralized approach was employed to co-design with the community local solutions for health problems. The thrust was on developing community-centered, community-owned, and community-driven programs. Digital technology, including tele-medicine and other innovative solutions, played a key part in these efforts. The program provided technical assistance for building a resilient healthcare system by strengthening governance mechanisms and facility-based preparedness, piloting an integrated disease surveillance system, enhancing the use of data to guide evidence-based decision-making, re-designing public health facilities, and setting-up rapid response teams which could be quickly mobilized to respond to crises.
The Twin Epidemics: TB and COVID-19 in India
Authors: Mehra Chapal
Published: April 2022

COVID-19 has disrupted the health systems in low- and middle-income countries and has consequently unleashed a global health crisis. The lack of preparedness is visible at multiple levels of the healthcare system in India. The health system is overwhelmed by the influx of COVID-19 cases, dislodging all other patients. An inadequate healthcare infrastructure with less than optimal human resources along with a rising case-load and serious supply chain disruptions, has resulted in fatigue, frustration, and anger among the health workforce on the one hand, and in an atmosphere of fear among the patients and healthcare workers, on the others.

The media is filled with messages on the COVID-19 crisis. Forgotten in the hyperbole is that numerous other diseases continue to devastate India’s population. Of these, the most important is TB. India continues to bear the highest burden of TB in the world accounting for an estimated 2.8 million cases every year and killing more than 400,000 persons annually. TB kills 1,200 Indians every day.

The symptoms of COVID-19 and TB are very similar. Both are respiratory air-borne diseases. Both diseases are heavily stigmatized. And both are associated with mental health problems. Gender disparities are apparent in TB and COVID-19, but the gendered aspects of these diseases is ignored in programming. The author argues that for all these reasons, these two diseases should be addressed in tandem. It is time to fight COVID-19 and TB just as it is time to invest in public health.
Social Media – Chancen und Risiken für die Rheumatologie
Authors: Haase I. , Mucke J. , Vossen D. , Knitza J. , Ruffer N. , Zeeck M. , Krusche M.
Published: April 2022

Die Nutzung von sozialen Medien (Social Media) und sozialen Netzwerken (Social Networks) hat in den letzten Jahren stark zugenommen. Sie gewinnen als Informationskanäle sowohl im privaten als auch beruflichen Kontext immer mehr an Bedeutung. Auch in der Medizin werden Social Media bereits vielfältig eingesetzt. So sind Fachgesellschaften und Interessenverbände immer stärker in den sozialen Netzwerken vertreten. Durch die breite Nutzung und große Reichweite der Netzwerke ergeben sich neue Möglichkeiten auch für das Fach der Rheumatologie. Dieser Übersichtsartikel gibt einen Überblick über die Charakteristika einiger großer Social-Media-Plattformen und untersucht bisherige Publikationen aus diesem Themengebiet im Rahmen einer systematischen Analyse. Weiterhin werden Vorteile, aber auch potenzielle Risiken, die bei der Nutzung entstehen können, beschrieben.
Realising Central Banks’ Climate Ambitions Through Financial Stability Mandates
Authors: D’Orazio Paola , Popoyan Lilit
Published: April 2022

This paper discusses how financial stability governance has evolved and how central banks and financial regulators are coping with the threats posed by climate uncertainty, providing an overview of G20 countries’ green central banking experiences in the past 20 years. The analysis shows that most central banks realise their climate ambitions through financial stability mandates, leaving the monetary stability mandate unaffected. Considering the debate on market neutrality, the concerns on the risk of overstretching the central banks’ mandate, violation of Tinbergen’s principle and threats posed to central banks’ independence, the provided evidence reveals a mismatch between the observed policy practice and its theoretical underpinnings. Drawing on these findings, we argue that effective green central banking governance should be based on a synthesis between monetary and macroprudential policymaking.
Antiepileptische Pharmakotherapie im Alter: evidenzbasiertes Vorgehen versus klinischer Alltag
Authors: Holtkamp Martin , Krämer Günter
Published: April 2022

Bezüglich der Altersepilepsie oder Epilepsie im Alter müssen 2 Patientengruppen mit unterschiedlichen Bedürfnissen und Problemen unterschieden werden, die in diesem Artikel auch separat behandelt werden: die mit ihrer Epilepsie alt gewordenen Patienten und die mit einer erstmals im höheren Lebensalter auftretenden Epilepsie. Diagnostisch ist die erste Gruppe unproblematisch – es gibt nur relativ selten Patienten mit einer über Jahrzehnte tradierten Fehldiagnose einer Epilepsie. Demgegenüber werden im höheren Lebensalter beginnende Epilepsien wegen ihrer oft vergleichsweise harmlosen Semiologie inklusive eines nonkonvulsiven Status epilepticus häufiger verkannt oder erst verzögert diagnostiziert. Therapeutisch stellt sich bei den „gealterten“ Epilepsien häufiger die Frage eines Wechsels von einem „alten“ Antiepileptikum mit erhöhtem Risiko unerwünschter Effekte auf den Stoffwechsel sowie auf kognitive Parameter wie Wachheit und Gedächtnis auf einen „modernen“ Wirkstoff. Viele neuere Antiepileptika bieten zwar Vorteile, andererseits treten häufiger beispielsweise psychiatrische unerwünschte Wirkungen auf. Bei langer Anfallsfreiheit stellt sich natürlich auch die Frage eines Absetzens oder zumindest Reduzierens der Dosis der Antiepileptika. Bei Beginn einer Epilepsie im höheren Lebensalter sind bei der Auswahl eines dann in der Regel lebenslang einzunehmenden Antiepileptikums nicht zuletzt die zahlreichen Komorbiditäten und bereits bestehenden Medikationen individuell zu berücksichtigen. Ziele des vorliegenden Beitrags sind eine gestraffte Darstellung des derzeitigen Wissensstands und eine Hilfestellung bei der Betreuung älterer Patienten im Spannungsfeld der begrenzten evidenzbasierten Datenlage und der Notwendigkeit einer therapeutischen Entscheidung im klinischen Alltag.
Projective and Reedy Model Category Structures for (Infinitesimal) Bimodules over an Operad
Authors: Ducoulombier Julien , Fresse Benoit , Turchin Victor
Published: April 2022

We construct and study projective and Reedy model category structures for bimodules and infinitesimal bimodules over topological operads. Both model structures produce the same homotopy categories. For the model categories in question, we build explicit cofibrant and fibrant replacements. We show that these categories are right proper and under some conditions left proper. We also study the extension/restriction adjunctions.
A model for the lifetime of a reactive filter
Authors: Kiradjiev Kristian B. , Breward Christopher J. W. , M. Griffiths Ian
Published: April 2022

In many industrial applications, reactive filters, which remove toxic substances using chemical reactions, prove very efficient and versatile. One such example is the removal of sulphur dioxide from flue gas by converting it into liquid sulphuric acid. In this paper, we extend a model developed in Kiradjiev et al. (SIAM J Appl Math 82:591–619, 2021) for the operation of a reactive filter to consider the long-time behaviour and determine how the filter becomes clogged with liquid and becomes inefficient. We explore how the parameters that govern the operation of the filter affect its efficiency and discuss optimal filtration strategies. We also consider a distinguished asymptotic limit in terms of the key dimensionless parameters and obtain an explicit solution that compares well with the numerical solution to the full problem. Finally, we compare the results of our model with those from a simplified model for a reactive filter considered in Breward and Kiradjiev (J Eng Math, 129(14):1–28, 2021).
Size matters: variations in seagrass seed size at local scales affects seed performance
Authors: Smith Timothy M. , Sherman Craig D. H. , Cumming Erin E. , York Paul H. , Jarvis Jessie C.
Published: April 2022

Seed size can have an impact on angiosperm reproductive fitness. Ecological theory predicts plants that will produce larger seeds in stressful environments to increase the chances of seedling survival and numerous small seeds in favourable conditions to increase the number of recruits. We measured seed morphology of the seagrass Heterozostera nigricaulis from four populations under differing environmental conditions in South East Australia. Seed size and mass among sites showed consistent differences over four flowering seasons. Seeds from exposed, ephemeral meadows (Blairgowrie, Edwards Point) were 19%–53% heavier than those from larger, stable meadows at more sheltered sites (Swan Bay, Point Henry). Overall, heavier seeds from exposed sites performed better in germination experiments and persisted (remained viable) longer compared to small seeds from sheltered sites. Seeds from sheltered sites showed contrasting levels of seed performance. Small seeds from Swan Bay had the lowest germination but the proportion of viable seeds after 12 months were much higher (41%) than similar sized seeds from Point Henry (0%). There are clear life history benefits of large seeds that facilitate seed persistence and germination at exposed sites; however, the performance of smaller seeds varied between sites and may be a function of other site-specific advantages.
Conceptualising the entrepreneurial university: the stakeholder approach
Authors: Radko Natalya , Belitski Maksim , Kalyuzhnova Yelena
Published: April 2022

This study uses the stakeholder perspective to knowledge spillover theory at university to explain how various characteristics of internal and external university stakeholders will affect its entrepreneurial outcomes. Acknowledging the heterogeneity between entrepreneurial universities, we theoretically developed and empirically tested a model for four types of stakeholders (knowledge enablers, knowledge creators, knowledge codifiers, knowledge facilitators) across three university types (Russel group, teaching-based and polytechnic universities). To test our hypotheses related to the role of stakeholders in entrepreneurial outcomes of a university we used panel data on 139 UK universities that achieved entrepreneurial outcomes during 2010 and 2016. The results demonstrate significant differences in the role that stakeholders play in knowledge spillover entrepreneurship at universities with the effects vary across three distinct university types.
Teaching Numerical Groundwater Flow Modeling with Spreadsheets
Authors: Gómez-Hernández J. Jaime
Published: April 2022

The use of spreadsheets for numerical groundwater flow modeling is not a novelty; however, its potential in the classroom has not been emphasized enough. This Teachers Aid provides a step-by-step implementation of a steady-state, vertically integrated two-dimensional groundwater flow model in a confined irregular aquifer with boundary conditions of the three kinds and subject to pumping and recharge that will enhance the learning experience of students that are confronted for the first time with the numerical solution of the groundwater flow partial differential equation.
Ghost attractor in fractional order blinking system and its application
Authors: Kamal F. M. , Elsaid A. , Elsonbaty A.
Published: April 2022

In this paper, the occurrence of ghost attractor is verified in three cases of a proposed fractional order Rössler blinking system. Firstly, the dynamical behaviors of the short memory fractional order prototype-4 Rössler system with Chua’s diode are explored via bifurcation diagrams and Lyapunov exponents. It is depicted that this system exhibits a variety of dynamics including limit cycles, period doubling and chaos. Then, a proposed non-autonomous fractional order Rössler blinking system is introduced. Numerical simulations are employed to confirm the existence of ghost attractors at specific cases which involve very fast switching time between two composing autonomous fractional subsystems. It is found that the presented fractional order blinking system is very sensitive to system parameters, initial conditions, and stochastic process parameters. Thus, the induced chaotic ghost attractor is utilized in a suggested ghost attractor-based chaotic image encryption scheme for first time. Finally, a detailed security analysis is carried out and reveals that the proposed image cryptosystem is immune against different types of attacks such as differential attacks, brute force attacks, cropping and statistical attacks.
Unsettledness in times of change
Authors: Pickup Martin
Published: April 2022

If something changes from being in one state to being in another state, when exactly does it change? And what’s going on at that time? These questions are often discussed under the heading of the ‘moment’ or ‘instant’ of change. In this paper, I will investigate a view on which there is an intrinsically distinguished, atomic time at which something changes, and at that time it is metaphysically indeterminate what is the case. The background metaphysical picture is situationalism, a theory on which reality is composed of irreducibly conflicting parts. These conflicting parts give rise to unsettledness in reality as a whole, and also (I will suggest) at the point of change. I propose this view as a competitor for existing accounts of the time of change, and spell out a few reasons in its favour.
Effect of Nd on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-La-Ce Alloys at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures
Authors: Feng Lingyun , Dong Xixi , Cai Qing , Wang Bin , Ji Shouxun
Published: April 2022

The microstructures and tensile properties were investigated for high-pressure die-cast Mg1.6La1.0Ce alloy with different Nd contents from 0 to 3 wt.%. The results showed that fine dendritic and segmented dendritic microstructures were observed in the as-cast alloys, but the eutectic morphology changed from lamellar for low Nd-containing alloys to continuous fibrous with dendritic α-Mg in eutectics for high Nd-containing alloys. The compositions of the eutectic phase were also transferred from Mg12(La, Ce) in the alloys without Nd to Mg12(La, Ce, Nd) in the alloys with Nd addition. When the concentration of Nd was greater than 2 wt.%, numerous nanoscale Mg-Nd intermetallic phases precipitated at the grain boundaries and eutectic area. The addition of Nd was also found to increase tensile strength significantly at ambient temperature and elevated temperatures. For the alloy without Nd, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was 135.6 MPa and 189.9 MPa at ambient temperature and 56.3 MPa and 57.4 MPa at 300 °C, respectively. When adding 3 wt.% Nd, the yield strength increased to 161.9 MPa at ambient temperature and 75.4 MPa at 300 °C. The UTS increased to 181.9 MPa at ambient temperature and 90.4 MPa at 300 °C. The significant improvement in strength was attributed to the strengthening from the refined structure and the dispersion of second-phases of intermetallic compounds.
On symplectomorphisms and Hamiltonian flows
Authors: Cardin Franco
Published: April 2022

We propose the construction of a sequence of time one flows of autonomous Hamiltonian vector fields, converging to a fixed near the identity $$C^1$$

C
1

symplectic diffeomorphism $$\psi $$
ψ
. This convergence is proved to be uniformly exponentially fast, in a non analytic symplectic topology framework.
Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization with a Limited Budget of Function Evaluations
Authors: de Winter Roy , Bronkhorst Philip , van Stein Bas , Bäck Thomas
Published: April 2022

This paper proposes the Self-Adaptive algorithm for Multi-Objective Constrained Optimization by using Radial Basis Function Approximations, SAMO-COBRA. This algorithm automatically determines the best Radial Basis Function-fit as surrogates for the objectives as well as the constraints, to find new feasible Pareto-optimal solutions. SAMO-COBRA is compared to a wide set of other state-of-the-art algorithms (IC-SA-NSGA-II, SA-NSGA-II, NSGA-II, NSGA-III, CEGO, SMES-RBF) on 18 constrained multi-objective problems. In the first experiment, SAMO-COBRA outperforms the other algorithms in terms of achieved Hypervolume (HV) after being given a fixed small evaluation budget on the majority of test functions. In the second experiment, SAMO-COBRA outperforms the majority of competitors in terms of required function evaluations to achieve $$95\%$$

95
%

of the maximum achievable Hypervolume. In addition to academic test functions, SAMO-COBRA has been applied on a real-world ship design optimization problem with three objectives, two complex constraints, and five decision variables.
Demographic Cultures and Demographic Skepticism
Authors: Buskell Andrew
Published: April 2022

The social sciences often explain behavioral differences by appealing to membership in distinct cultural groups. This work uses the concepts of “cultures” and “cultural groups” like any other demographic category (e.g. “gender”, “socioeconomic status”). I call these joint conceptualizations of “cultures” and “cultural groups” demographic cultures. Such demographic cultures have long been subject to scrutiny. Here I isolate and respond to a set of arguments I call demographic skepticism. This skeptical position denies that the demographic cultures concept can support metaphysically plausible and empirically principled research. I argue against the skeptic, showing that their position relies on a questionable alignment between the demographic cultures concept and what I call the folk anthropological model. While the commitments of that model are problematic—they are not necessary for comparative work in the social sciences. In addition to clarifying skeptical arguments, then, I provide four recommendations for the comparative social scientist that allow them to avoid demographic skepticism.
Simulation and reaction parameter estimation in subsurface flow constructed wetland for greywater treatment
Authors: Patil Y. M. , Munavalli G. R.
Published: April 2022

Subsurface flow constructed wetland (SSFCW) is widely adopted for the removal of BOD5 and TKN from greywater. The design of SSFCW is normally based on thumb rules or using a first-order reaction kinetic model. However, the applicability of this model is system/environment-specific which necessitates the assessment of the potential applicability of other reaction kinetic models. In the present study, experiments were planned on SSFCW during initial and established phases to collect the data on BOD and TKN for assessing the system-specific application of plug flow, K-S* and CSTRs in series models. The reaction rate parameters along the length of SSFCW and overall for the system were estimated. There was no variation in values of rate parameter along the length in an initial phase, but the values increased along the length of SSFCW in established phase. Further, the applicability of these models was assessed for predicting BOD5 in SSFCW based on error analysis. And overall reaction rate parameters were estimated. Based on the average absolute error and RMS error it is concluded that plug flow and K-S* reaction kinetic models are more applicable for BOD5. The volumetric reaction rate parameter is recommended to be 0.612/day (plug flow) and 0.742/day (K-S*) for the design of SSFCW in tropical climate for BOD5 removal. The volumetric reaction rate parameter for TKN removal by plug flow model is recommended to be 0.389/day.
Assessment of groundwater quality and its controlling processes in Bemetara District of Chhattisgarh State, India
Authors: Sharma M. K. , Kumar Mohit , Malik D. S. , Singh Surjeet , Patre A. K. , Prasad Beena , Sharma Babita , Saini Shekhar , Shukla A. K. , Das P. C.
Published: April 2022

Groundwater withdrawal at very fast rate poses threat on existing groundwater resources in different parts of the world. This reduction in groundwater levels significantly disturbed the natural aquifer flow rate and thereby different hydrogeochemical processes, which may further impair the groundwater quality. The groundwater quality in rural area of Chhattisgarh State is degraded, and the problem of saline water poses health risk to people. In this research investigation, suitability of groundwater of Bemetara District, Chhattisgarh, India, has been evaluated for drinking purpose through water quality index (WQI) method and principal component analysis (PCA). Total 116 groundwater samples were collected during the pre-monsoon (June 2019) and post-monsoon season (December 2019) and analyzed for physicochemical parameters. Total dissolved solids ranged from 250 to 10,440 mg/L and 289 to 3583 mg/L during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon, respectively, and 55% of the total samples exceeded acceptable BIS limit in pre-monsoon, while about 66% samples exceeded in post-monsoon season. SO42−concentrations varied from 3 to 5734 mg/L during pre-monsoon and 4.5 to 2002 mg/L during post-monsoon, respectively. Total 28% samples in pre-monsoon and 18% samples in post-monsoon season exceeded the maximum permissible BIS limit (400 mg/L) of SO42−ion in the study area. On the basis of WQI, the quality of groundwater varies from “Excellent water” to “Good water” category. The groundwater of northeastern part of the district is not suitable for drinking, and therefore, it is recommended to treat this groundwater before human consumption with special reference to SO42−contamination. PCA inferred that four components are sufficient to explain the variance in chemistry of groundwater that is mainly governed by dissolution of gypsum mineral, other rock–water interaction and anthropogenic activities. Further, water quality was improved in the direction of groundwater flow in the study area, establishing a direct relationship between groundwater flow and water quality of the Bemetara District. This study provides very useful database to design sustainable groundwater management plan for the district.
Multi-colony ant optimization with dynamic collaborative mechanism and cooperative game
Authors: Mo Yadong , You Xiaoming , Liu Sheng
Published: April 2022

Ant Colony Optimization easily falls into premature stagnation when solving large-scale Travelling Salesmen Problems. To address this problem, a multi-colony ant optimization with dynamic collaborative mechanism and cooperative game is proposed. Firstly, Ant Colony System and Max–Min Ant System form heterogeneous colonies. Secondly, to diversify the solutions of the algorithm, the Shapley value in the cooperative game is applied to share the information by distributing the pheromone payoff of the sub-colonies. In addition, the dynamic collaborative mechanism that contains two methods is designed to enhance the co-evolution of the heterogeneous populations. One, called public path recommendation strategy, is proposed to improve the astringency of Max–Min Ant System. The other is the pheromone fusion mechanism to regulate the pheromone distribution of Ant Colony System when the algorithm falls into stagnation, which can help the algorithm jump out of the local extremum effectively. Finally, the results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can improve the accuracy of solution effectively in solving large-scale TSP instances and has strong competitiveness with other swarm intelligent algorithms.
Bounds on shifted convolution sums for Hecke eigenforms
Authors: Nordentoft Asbjørn C. , Petridis Yiannis N. , Risager Morten S.
Published: April 2022

Shifted convolution sums play a prominent rôle in analytic number theory. Here these sums are considered in the context of holomorphic Hecke eigenforms. We investigate pointwise bounds, mean-square bounds consistent with the optimal conjectural bound, and find asymptotics on average for their variance.
Mapping the complexity of political ideology using emergent networks: the Chilean case
Authors: Raveau María P. , Couyoumdjian Juan P. , Fuentes-Bravo Claudio
Published: April 2022

We propose a method to characterize political ideology using network theory. Our analysis is based on the 2015–2016 Chilean constituent process, where self-convened meetings were held throughout the country to discuss which Values, Rights, Duties, and Institutions should be included in the new constitution. Using this unique dataset, co-occurrence networks were constructed by considering the concepts selected in different meetings. The nodes are the concepts, and a link between two nodes represents the association between them. Political ideology is thus analyzed as an emergent network, and we can identify the main ideological communities in Chile and describe their characteristics. Beyond the local results, the proposed methodology enables representing the diversity of a community’s political orientations in a realistic ecological context.
Matching individual Ladoga ringed seals across short-term image sequences
Authors: Nepovinnykh Ekaterina , Chelak Ilia , Lushpanov Andrei , Eerola Tuomas , Kälviäinen Heikki , Chirkova Olga
Published: April 2022

Automated wildlife reidentification has attracted increasing attention in recent years as it provides a non-invasive tool to identify and to track individual wild animals over time. In this paper, the first steps are taken towards the automatic photo-identification of the Ladoga ringed seals (Pusa hispida ladogensis). A method is proposed that takes a sequence of images, each containing multiple individuals as the input, and produces cropped images of seals grouped based on one certain individual per group. The method starts by detecting each seal from the images and proceeds to matching the individual seals between the images. It is shown that high grouping accuracy can be obtained with a general-purpose image retrieval method on an image sequence taken from the same location within a relatively short period of time. Each resulting group contains multiple images of one individual with slightly different variations, for example, in pose and illumination. Utilizing these images simultaneously provides more information for the individual re-identification compared to the traditional approach, i.e., which utilizes just one image at a time. It is further demonstrated that a convolutional neural network based method can be used to extract the unique pelage patterns of the seals despite the low contrast. Finally, a method is proposed and experiments with the novel Ladoga ringed seals data are carried out to provide a proof-of-concept for the individual re-identification.
Robotics for a Quality-Driven Post-harvest Supply Chain
Authors: Chauhan Aneesh , Brouwer Bastiaan , Westra Eelke
Published: April 2022

Purpose of Review

This article explores the current state of robotic technology and its potential to improve post-harvest supply chain quality management and decision-making.

Recent Findings

Soft-robotics is paving the way towards generalized gripping solutions, which are highly relevant for handling fragile fresh products. Besides gripping potential, it is imperative to study the impact of these solutions on fresh product quality and safety. Automated mobile robots, AMRs, present new opportunities for automating post-harvest warehouse operations. Moreover, AMRs enable new possibilities to monitor and map qualitative and climatic changes, and to take quality-driven (semi-)autonomous actions.

A review of advances in robotic manipulation and navigation technologies is presented in terms of their potential to monitor, maintain, and preserve the fresh produce quality. Soft-robotics and AMRs offer technologies with the potential to transform post-harvest supply chains. Future research should focus on leveraging these technologies and investigate their potential for quality management and quality-driven decision-making.
A candidate effector protein PstCFEM1 contributes to virulence of stripe rust fungus and impairs wheat immunity
Authors: Bai Xingxuan , Peng Huan , Goher Farhan , Islam Md Ashraful , Xu Sanding , Guo Jia , Kang Zhensheng , Guo Jun
Published: April 2022

Common in Fungal Extracellular Membrane (CFEM) domain proteins are considered to be unique to fungi and closely related to pathogenicity. However, the Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) effector containing the CFEM domain has not been reported. Here, we obtained an effector, PstCFEM1, containing a functional N-terminal signal peptide sequence and the CFEM domain from Pst race CYR31. qRT-PCR assay indicated that the transcript levels of PstCFEM1 were highly induced during the early stages of infection. Overexpression of PstCFEM1 suppressed Pst322 (an elicitor-like protein of Pst)-trigged cell death, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and callose deposition. Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) experiments showed that knockdown of PstCFEM1 decreased the virulence of Pst, while ROS accumulation in silenced plants increased near the infection site. In addition, wheat containing the PstCFEM1-silenced construct increased resistance to multiple races of Pst. Our data suggest that PstCFEM1 suppresses wheat defense by inhibiting ROS accumulation and contributes to increased virulence of Pst.
Zooming-in for climate action—hyperlocal greenhouse gas data for mitigation action?
Authors: Jungmann M , Vardag S N , Kutzner F , Keppler F , Schmidt M , Aeschbach N , Gerhard U , Zipf A , Lautenbach S , Siegmund A , Goeschl T , Butz A
Published: April 2022

While the international community has made progress in adopting goals and agreements in the field of climate change mitigation, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are significantly lacking behind global ambitions for acceptable climate change. In this perspective, we discuss whether a window of opportunity for more effective climate action is emerging due to the convergence of new scientific and technological opportunities to provide high-resolution information on GHG emissions and emerging polycentric governance forms. We hypothesize that scientific and technological developments in the geophysical sciences and geoinformatics could provide the information policy makers need to put in place effective policies on climate change mitigation and to have measures to verify the effectiveness of their mitigation policies. To contribute to a better understanding of these developments and the requirements for effective climate action, new forms of inter- and transdisciplinary research become urgently necessary.
Involvement of microbiota and short-chain fatty acids on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis when induced by feeding a hypercaloric diet rich in saturated fat and fructose
Authors: Milton-Laskibar Iñaki , Marcos-Zambrano Laura Judith , Gómez-Zorita Saioa , Carrillo de Santa Pau Enrique , Fernández-Quintela Alfredo , Martínez Jose Alfredo , Portillo María Puy
Published: April 2022

Consumption of high-energy-yielding diets, rich in fructose and lipids, is a factor contributing to the current increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease prevalence. Gut microbiota composition and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production alterations derived from unhealthy diets are considered putative underlying mechanisms. This study aimed to determine relationships between changes in gut microbiota composition and SCFA levels by comparing rats featuring diet-induced steatohepatitis with control counterparts fed a standard diet. A high-fat high-fructose (HFHF) feeding induced higher body, liver and mesenteric adipose tissue weights, increased liver triglyceride content and serum transaminase, glucose, non-HDL-c and MCP-1 levels. Greater liver malondialdehyde levels and glutathione peroxidase activity were also observed after feeding the hypercaloric diet. Regarding gut microbiota composition, a lowered diversity and increased abundances of bacteria from the Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Blautia, Eubacterium coprostanoligenes group, Flavonifractor, and UBA1819 genera were found in rats featuring diet-induced steatohepatitis, as well as higher isobutyric, valeric and isovaleric acids concentrations. These results suggest that hepatic alterations produced by a hypercaloric HFHF diet may be related to changes in overall gut microbiota composition and abundance of specific bacteria. The shift in SCFA levels produced by this unbalanced diet cannot be discarded as potential mediators of the reported hepatic and metabolic alterations.
Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios support trophic partitioning within a Silurian conodont community from Gotland, Sweden
Authors: Terrill David F. , Jarochowska Emilia , Henderson Charles M. , Shirley Bryan , Bremer Oskar
Published: April 2022

Conodonts were a highly diverse and abundant vertebrate group whose fossils are found in marine Paleozoic and Triassic strata around the world. They inhabited environments ranging from lagoons to open oceans and are represented by a wide variety of dental morphologies. Conodonts may have filled many different ecological niches and represent a significant proportion of nekton before the Devonian. Despite this, very little is known about trophic ecology of conodonts. While morphological diversity suggests a complex trophic structure within conodont communities, there is little evidence to support dietary niche partitioning among conodonts.

We tested the hypothesis that individual conodont taxa occupied different trophic niches, using Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios preserved in the dental elements of assemblages from Silurian strata of Gotland, Sweden. Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca have been shown to vary in vertebrate skeletal tissues depending on trophic positioning, although biological and environmental conditions can affect these ratios. Environmental influences were minimized by examining entire conodont communities from a tropical epeiric sea and by measuring strontium isotope ratios using thermal ionization mass spectrometry in the most metropolitan taxon (Ozarkodina confluens). Composition of white matter, a tissue unique to conodonts, was also analyzed using microprobe analysis, revealing significantly lower Sr concentrations than in surrounding lamellar tissue, suggesting taxon-specific histology should be considered when analyzing conodonts for geochemical data. Excluding taxa with highly variable quantities of white matter, the results show that each taxon preserves different Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios with limited overlap, indicating variation in trophic positioning.
CHRONOLOGY OF FOSSILIFEROUS LOCALITIES IN MANJRA VALLEY, DISTRICT LATUR, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
Authors: Sathe Vijay , Kumar Pankaj , Chakraborty Prateek , Sharma Rajveer
Published: April 2022

The present paper is an announcement of first absolute age dating directly on fossilized bones and teeth of the Pleistocene mammalian fauna from the Manjra valley, District Latur, Maharashtra, India. The fossilized samples were measured using the AMS facility at Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. The results gave the time frame of 21,423 BP to 24,335 BP that correspond close to and the threshold of LGM and sheds important light on the palaeoecology of the area that supported diverse megafaunal species in the Upper Manjra valley. These calendar dates not only have wider significance in terms of first ever approximate chronological frame for the Pleistocene fauna in Peninsular India but also offer methodological innovations especially when the adequate bioapatite is absent in the fossilized bones and teeth from the fossil record.
A secular empire? Estates,nom, and religions in the Mongol empire
Authors: Atwood Christopher P.
Published: April 2022

Recent work in religious studies has emphasized how European colonial empires used the defining and constructing of religions and secularism as tools of rule. This article explores parallel processes in the Mongol empire (1206–1368) where ‘religion-making’ occurred in three areas: 1) a precise and legal definition of professional service estates among the conquered peoples that included the clergies of designated religions; 2) a broad and imprecise classification ofnomor ‘way of life’ that partially overlapped with the clergies defined in the first category; and 3) a realm above all such sectarian distinctions destined for the Mongol ruling elite who alone were capable of living in free obedience to Heaven. The parallels and differences with classifications of the religious and the secular in European colonial empires shed light on how power interacts with cultural classification and practices.
Wearing fire and chewing iron: Oaths of peace and the suspension of monotheism in contemporary Alevism
Authors: Kreger Alex
Published: April 2022

This article examines the practices and discourses surrounding theikraroaths by which some Alevis in Turkey and the Turkish diaspora are initiated into their spiritual path. I examine a contemporary revival of this Alevi oath complex, which is a historical product of the same messianic trends in post-Mongol Sufism that shaped the Mughal imperial idea ofsulh-i kull, or ‘Peace with All’ religions. I argue that theikraroaths are paradigmatic examples of ‘post-Islam’ or Islam after the messianic suspension of its scriptural law. I show how Alevis seek to maintain their suspension of monotheism through ritual practices of animal sacrifice and music as well as the replacement of standard monotheistic oaths with post-Islamic oaths. Focusing on a recent liturgical reform movement led by the shrine of Hacı Bektaş in central Turkey, I demonstrate how the shrine works to maintain Alevis’ suspension of monotheism within the constraints of modern secularism, in part by reinterpreting secular constraints in terms of post-Islamic Alevi values, thereby highlighting elective affinities between post-Islam and secularism.
Chinggisid pluralism and religious competition: Buddhists, Muslims, and the question of violence and sovereignty in Ilkhanid Iran
Authors: Brack Jonathan
Published: April 2022

This article argues that the Mongol empire's famous religious tolerance cannot be explained solely through its adoption of Inner Asian imperial political traditions of ruling over ethnically and religiously diverse subjects. Instead, this pluralism can be ascribed to a wider religious pattern of the Mongols. The first part argues that the analytical category of immanentist religions explains not only the inter-cultic transparency exhibited by the Mongol courts, but also the few explicit instances where the Chinggisid rulers reacted with ‘religious’ violence. The article further explores the strategies employed by the religious vectors, mainly Buddhists and Muslims, to address, accommodate, and subvert the Chinggisids’ patterns of religiosity and primarily their pluralism, and the Mongols’ deified mode of sacralizing kingship. Focusing on the Mongol-Ilkhanid court in Iran, the article examines how religious representatives used conceptual affinities and equivalences between the Mongol traditions and certain principles of their own religious frameworks to gain influence and favour, and persuade the khans to convert or retain their earlier commitment to the new religious affiliation. Employing this assimilative approach, they manoeuvred within the religious, immanentist paradigm of their nomadic patrons while moulding and manipulating it to their own religious, transcendentalist ends. The article further demonstrates how this ‘translation’ process of Chinggisid patterns became an arena of Buddhist–Muslim rivalry and competition, but also cross-cultural fertilization.
Exercises in peace: Āẕar Kayvānī universalism and comparison in the School of Doctrines
Authors: Sheffield Daniel J.
Published: April 2022

In 1650, an encyclopedia of comparative religion known as Dabistān-i Maẕāhib (the School of Doctrines) was completed near the city of Hyderabad. Asserting that the religions of the world are reflections of a single inner truth, its author Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī, known by the poetic penname ‘Mūbad’, travelled widely across India to record encounters with diverse religious figures. This article re-examines the composition and legacy of the Dabistān in light of new manuscript evidence relating to its author and the world he inhabited. It argues that the Dabistān's universalist project reflects a widely held theory of the interrelatedness of the macrocosm, in which sociality with diverse populations was understood to be a spiritual exercise leading to saintly perfection in the same way that venerating the cosmos and ascetic bodily practices were. The article provides a close reading of the Dabistān's shortest chapter on the religion of the Tibetans, the earliest such description in Persian. Situating the Dabistān within the diverse expressions of ‘Universal Peace’ (ṣulḥ-i kull) during the Safavid and Mughal periods, it argues that the Dabistān's project of recovering a universal theology that was attributed to ancient Iran and India led to expressions of dual religious belonging—to particular religions of revelation as well as to the universal religion of the philosophers—parallel to and connected with what Jan Assmann has termed the ‘religio duplex phenomenon’ in early modern Europe. Finally, the article briefly traces the legacy of the Dabistān into the modern period.

The free do not think of religion, doctrine, and spiritual guidance—Those shackled by seeking liberation are not truly free.For how long must we wander the alleyways of religion and nation?—There is no highway through the land of verification (taḥqīq) besides heresy (ilḥād).—‘Mūbad’ Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī (fl. 1060s ah/1650s ce)1
Establishing the text of theOdes: the Anhui University bamboo manuscript
Authors: Smith Adam , Poli Maddalena
Published: April 2022

In this article we review the newly published fourth-centurybcemanuscript of the Book of Odes (Shi jing詩經) in the collection of Anhui University. We describe the preservation and material features of the manuscript, discuss issues of provenance, and compare the text with the received version of theOdes. We conclude that the text of theOdeswas already fundamentally stable by the date of the manuscript, and that written versions like the Anda manuscript provided important support for the stability of the text. However, we also argue that the manuscript shows signs of having been produced from memory, rather than sight-copying from another manuscript. We suggest that the function of the Anda manuscript was to support the learning and memorization of theOdes.
Dynamic changes of SARS-CoV-2 specific IgM and IgG among population vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine
Authors: Chen Fengling , Zhong Yi , Li Jiazhao , Luo Jianrong
Published: April 2022

To evaluate the dynamic changes of antibody levels in different groups after inoculation with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. The 1493 subjects who were tested for IgM and IgG against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at Qionglai Medical Center Hospital from June to October in 2021 were accepted for analyses of geometric mean titre (GMT) of IgG and IgM. The overall GMT of IgM and IgG in the population of Qionglai reached at a peak value at 1.497 (+3.810, −3.810) S/CO and 4.048 (+2.059, −2.059) S/CO in the second week, and then gradually decreased to 0.114 (+2.707, −2.707) and 1.885 (+1.506, −1.506) S/CO in the 11th–25th weeks, respectively. IgG was positive within 1 day, after that GMT increased continuously and peaked on the 13th day. There was a significant difference between male and female groups for titre of IgM during the prior 2 weeks and among three age groups for titre of IgG during the 2nd–3rd week after vaccination. The GMT level of IgG in the population vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine remained at a high level within 25 weeks and peaked on the 13th day, indicating that IgG could exist for a longer period and exhibiting positive SARS-CoV-2- defending effect.
Validation of an instrument to assess food diversity in women of childbearing age in Medellín, Colombia
Authors: Correa Guzmán Nathalia , Calvo Betancur Víctor Daniel , Sepúlveda Herrera Diana María , Cárdenas Sánchez Diana Liseth , Manjarrés Correa Luz Mariela
Published: April 2022

Objective:

To validate a Food Diversity Questionnaire (CDA, for its name in Spanish) that identifies the prevalence of the risk of deficiency in the intake of eleven micronutrients.

Design:

The CDA paper form, an online application for data entry and handling, was designed and compared with the 24-h recall (24HR) as a reference method. All data were processed in Personal Computer Software for Intake Distribution Estimation (PC-SIDE) v1 software. A descriptive analysis and comparisons between prevalence, concordance and reproducibility analyses were performed.

Setting:

Medellín, Colombia.

Participants:

Women of childbearing age between 19 and 50 years (n 186) who worked for the Buen Comienzo programme in 2019.

Results:

When comparing the adjusted 24HR technique and the CDA, there was no significant difference in population-level data at risk of deficiency in any micronutrient intake. However, based on individual-level data of the best linear unbiased predictor, the concordance analyses were weak, and although agreements were high according to the diagnostic performance tests, a good ability to detect deficiency was only observed in a few nutrients: vitamin A 100·0 %, Ca 98·7 %, Fe 92·8 %, folates 91·6 %, and pyridoxine 81·8 %.

Conclusions:

The CDA validated in this study is useful and faster at evaluating population-level data at risk of deficiency in the intake of Ca, Fe, Zn, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, folates, vitamin B12, vitamin C and vitamin A. Based on individual-level data, a good ability to detect deficiencies was observed in the intake of vitamin A, Ca, Fe, folates and pyridoxine.