bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tweeting through a Public Health Crisis: Communication Strategies of Right-Wing Populist Leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Taraktaş Başak , Esen Berk , Uskudarli Suzan
Published: August 2022

How do right-wing populist leaders address a public health crisis? This article addresses the evolution of right-wing populist leaders' communication tone and style during the COVID-19 pandemic. By analysing the Twitter accounts of Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, we explore how right-wing populist leaders control the portrayal of a health crisis from above, shift blame and consolidate support. We argue that while all three leaders initially downplay the pandemic, once they acknowledge the severity of the crisis, they vary in the extent to which they give importance to the coronavirus and shift blame. While Trump uses Twitter to praise himself and his policies, and to polarize the electorate, Modi and Johnson employ Twitter to inform the public and deliver solidarity messages. The frequency of Twitter use and the tone of the language leaders employ depend on the domestic context of that country. Our findings contribute to the scholarship on populist communication.
Sino-Western Cultural Exchange as Seen through the Archaeology of the First Emperor's Necropolis
Authors: Qingbo Duan
Published: August 2022

Several cultural features found by archaeologists at the First Emperor of Qin's necropolis did not have roots in East Asian cultures but were inspired by cultural exchange with the civilizations of West Asia along the various “Silk Roads.” Examples considered in this article include terracotta figures of soldiers and horses, long-pole acrobatics, terraced architecture for tombs, bronze chariots, bar-shaped bricks, and technology for casting and repairing bronze statuary. Within Qin culture more broadly, there are several other cultural features which were probably brought from West Asia, including iron metallurgy, gold-working, trough-form pan tiles for roofing, stone inscriptions and stone sculpture, elliptical cocoon-form flasks, and possibly the transmission of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Furthermore, non-material elements of political and economic culture from the Persian Empire and Hellenistic kingdoms were also brought eastward alongside these materials. They were part of a coherent system that inspired the political and cultural revolutions of the First Emperor.
A deep look into the dagum family of isotropic covariance functions
Authors: Faouzi Tarik , Porcu Emilio , Kondrashuk Igor , Malyarenko Anatoliy
Published: August 2022

The Dagum family of isotropic covariance functions has two parameters that allow for decoupling of the fractal dimension and the Hurst effect for Gaussian random fields that are stationary and isotropic over Euclidean spaces. Sufficient conditions that allow for positive definiteness in
$\mathbb{R}^d$
of the Dagum family have been proposed on the basis of the fact that the Dagum family allows for complete monotonicity under some parameter restrictions. The spectral properties of the Dagum family have been inspected to a very limited extent only, and this paper gives insight into this direction. Specifically, we study finite and asymptotic properties of the isotropic spectral density (intended as the Hankel transform) of the Dagum model. Also, we establish some closed-form expressions for the Dagum spectral density in terms of the Fox–Wright functions. Finally, we provide asymptotic properties for such a class of spectral densities.
HOUSEHOLD BEHAVIOUR UNDER RATIONING
Authors: Fitzgerald John , Kenny Seán , Cermeño Alexandra L.
Published: August 2022

The pandemic-induced economic crisis has seen a massive increase in savings as households could not spend their income. The last time that consumers were seriously rationed was during the Second World War. This article models the behaviour of households during the War years and its immediate aftermath in Ireland, Sweden, the US and UK. Savings were held in liquid form and, once the War was over and rationing eased, a consumption boom transpired. However, significant excess savings were converted into physical assets in the housing market. There is evidence that this pattern is being repeated as the Covid-19 crisis eases.
ON THE NUMBER OF 2-HOOKS AND 3-HOOKS OF INTEGER PARTITIONS
Authors: MCSPIRIT ELEANOR , SCHECKELHOFF KRISTEN
Published: August 2022

Let
$p_t(a,b;n)$
denote the number of partitions of n such that the number of t-hooks is congruent to
$a \bmod {b}$
. For
$t\in \{2, 3\}$
, arithmetic progressions
$r_1 \bmod {m_1}$
and
$r_2 \bmod {m_2}$
on which
$p_t(r_1,m_1; m_2 n + r_2)$
vanishes were established in recent work by Bringmann, Craig, Males and Ono [‘Distributions on partitions arising from Hilbert schemes and hook lengths’, Forum Math. Sigma10 (2022), Article no. e49] using the theory of modular forms. Here we offer a direct combinatorial proof of this result using abaci and the theory of t-cores and t-quotients.
Obstetric complications and cognition in schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Amoretti Silvia , Rabelo-da-Ponte Francisco Diego , Garriga Marina , Forte Maria Florencia , Penadés Rafael , Vieta Eduard , Parellada Eduard , Ramos-Quiroga Josep Antoni , Gama Clarissa S. , Verdolini Norma , Bitanihirwe Byron , Garcia-Rizo Clemente
Published: August 2022

Background

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex brain disorder linked to cognitive and neurostructural abnormalities that involves genetic and environmental factors with obstetric complications (OCs) at birth conferring a high risk for the disease. Indeed, current research in the general population describes the deleterious effect of OCs on cognitive performance in adulthood. With this rationale, we aim to review the relationship between OCs and cognition in SZ and related psychotic disorders.

Methods

A systematic review and meta-analysis describing cognitive function and OCs in patients with SZ and related disorders were conducted. PubMed, EmBase, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched to identify eligible studies up to January 2022. We calculated the effect sizes (Hedges' g) of cognitive domains within each study and quantified the proportion of between-study variability using the I2 statistic. Homogeneity was assessed using the Q-statistic (X2). The study was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42018094238).

Results

A total of 4124 studies were retrieved, with 10 studies meeting inclusion criteria for the systematic review and eight for meta-analysis. SZ subjects with OCs showed poor verbal memory [Hedges' g = −0.89 (95% CI −1.41 to −0.37), p < 0.001] and working memory performance [Hedges' g = −1.47 (95% CI −2.89 to −0.06), p = 0.01] in a random-effect model compared to those without OCs.

Conclusions

OCs appear to have a moderate impact on specific cognitive such as working memory and verbal memory. Our findings suggest that OCs are associated with brain development and might underlie the cognitive abnormalities described at onset of psychosis.
Tryptophan, more than just an interfacial amino acid in the membrane activity of cationic cell-penetrating and antimicrobial peptides
Authors: Khemaissa Sonia , Walrant Astrid , Sagan Sandrine
Published: August 2022

Trp is unique among the amino acids since it is involved in many different types of noncovalent interactions such as electrostatic and hydrophobic ones, but also in π-π, π-cation, π-anion and π-ion pair interactions. In membranotropic peptides and proteins, Trp locates preferentially at the water-membrane interface. In antimicrobial or cell-penetrating peptides (AMPs and CPPs respectively), Trp is well-known for its strong role in the capacity of these peptides to interact and affect the membrane organisation of both bacteria and animal cells at the level of the lipid bilayer. This essential amino acid can however be involved in other types of interactions, not only with lipids, but also with other membrane partners, that are crucial to understand the functional roles of membranotropic peptides. This review is focused on this latter less known role of Trp and describes in details, both in qualitative and quantitative ways: (i) the physico-chemical properties of Trp; (ii) its effect in CPP internalisation; (iii) its importance in AMP activity; (iv) its role in the interaction of AMPs with glycoconjugates or lipids in bacteria membranes and the consequences on the activity of the peptides; (v) its role in the interaction of CPPs with negatively charged polysaccharides or lipids of animal membranes and the consequences on the activity of the peptides. We intend to bring highlights of the physico-chemical properties of Trp and describe its extensive possibilities of interactions, not only at the well-known level of the lipid bilayer, but with other less considered cell membrane components, such as carbohydrates and the extracellular matrix. The focus on these interactions will allow the reader to reevaluate reported studies. Altogether, our review gathers dedicated studies to show how unique are Trp properties, which should be taken into account to design future membranotropic peptides with expected antimicrobial or cell-penetrating activity.
Locke and Hume on competing miracles
Authors: Rockwood Nathan
Published: August 2022

Christian apologists argue that the testimony of the miracles of Jesus provide evidence for Christianity. Hume tries to undermine this argument by pointing out that miracles are said to occur in other religious traditions and so miracles do not give us reason to believe in Christianity over the alternatives. Thus, competing miracles act as an undercutting defeater for the argument from miracles for Christianity. Yet, before Hume, Locke responds to this kind of objection, and in this article I explain and defend his response. In short, Locke argues that God will ensure that there is more evidence for Christianity (if true) and this greater evidence is an undercutting defeater for Hume's competing miracles defeater (i.e. it is a defeater-defeater). If so, then, as Locke argues, competing miracles do not weaken the evidence from miracles for Christianity.
Whetstones in Roman Britain: Character, Distribution, Provenance and Industries
Authors: Allen J.R.L.
Published: August 2022

A substantial database of published excavation and other reports has been used to map the character and distribution in Roman Britain of whetstones, those unprepossessing implements essential in the home, farmstead, workshop and barracks for the maintenance of edge-tools and weapons. The quality of the geological identifications in the reports varies considerably, but a wide range of lithologies are reported as put to use: granite, basalts-dolerites, lava, tuff, mica-schist, slates/phyllites, Brownstones, Pennant sandstone, micaceous sandstones, grey sandstones/siltstones, Millstone Grit, Coal Measures, red sandstones, ferruginous sandstones, sarsen, Weald Clay Formation sandstones, sandy limestones, shelly limestones, cementstones, and (Lower) Carboniferous Limestone. On distributional evidence, some of these categories are aliases for alternatively and more familiarly named lithologies. Bringing ‘high-end’ products to the market, the long-running industry based on sandstones from the Weald Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous) emerges as a British economic feature, evidenced from the Channel coast to the Scottish Borders, and with a recently demonstrated, substantial representation on the Roman near-continent. The distribution maps point to another and more complete British industry, based on the Brownstones (Old Red Sandstone, Devonian) and Pennant sandstone (Upper Carboniferous), outcropping close together in the West Country. A more systematic and geology-based treatment of excavated whetstones in the future is likely to yield yet more insights into the role these artefacts played in the economy of Roman Britain.
The Windridge FarmGlandesRevisited: Clues to Conquest?
Authors: Reid John , Müller Regine , Klein Sabine
Published: August 2022

Roman lead sling bullets (glandes) have been found at Windridge Farm near St Albans in Hertfordshire since the 1970s. A previous study suggested these missiles could have originated from a plough-disturbed hoard of Roman lead objects. More recent discoveries of glandes from other sites throughout Europe have enhanced our understanding of depositional characteristics, morphology and lead sources for Roman sling bullets and this paper offers an alternative explanation for their loss. Their atypical form (for Britain), and the prospect of a continental origin of the lead ore for their manufacture, suggest an early date of deposition. We also argue that the number of bullets and the pattern of their dispersal are indicative of an episode of conflict. After review of attested early military engagements that could have taken place in the vicinity, we propose that the projectiles may relate to one of two events: Claudius's invasion under the auspices of Aulus Plautius ina.d. 43 or Caesar's second incursion of 54b.c.
Beaded Rims on Silver Plate Vessels in Late Roman Britain and Beyond
Authors: Hobbs Richard , Perucchetti Laura
Published: August 2022

Beaded rims are a characteristic feature of late Roman silver plate vessels, many of which have been found in British treasures including Mildenhall and Traprain Law. This paper discusses how these beaded rims provide insights into the production of silver plate, adding to what little is known of silver plate workshops. Vessels in the Mildenhall treasure provide a case study, after which measurements from beaded rims on other treasures from Roman Britain and the western Roman Empire are compared and discussed.
INFERENCE ON A DISTRIBUTION FROM NOISY DRAWS
Authors: Jochmans Koen , Weidner Martin
Published: August 2022

We consider a situation where the distribution of a random variable is being estimated by the empirical distribution of noisy measurements of that variable. This is common practice in, for example, teacher value-added models and other fixed-effect models for panel data. We use an asymptotic embedding where the noise shrinks with the sample size to calculate the leading bias in the empirical distribution arising from the presence of noise. The leading bias in the empirical quantile function is equally obtained. These calculations are new in the literature, where only results on smooth functionals such as the mean and variance have been derived. We provide both analytical and jackknife corrections that recenter the limit distribution and yield confidence intervals with correct coverage in large samples. Our approach can be connected to corrections for selection bias and shrinkage estimation and is to be contrasted with deconvolution. Simulation results confirm the much-improved sampling behavior of the corrected estimators. An empirical illustration on heterogeneity in deviations from the law of one price is equally provided.
Urban space, power and people through the optic of cemeteries in late medieval Cairo and Paris
Authors: John Caitlin
Published: August 2022

This article argues that a micro-historical and comparative analysis of urban burial spaces can provide fresh insight into cities. Two late medieval cemeteries are considered here: the Qarāfa in Cairo and Saints-Innocents in Paris. Despite the former being geographically peripheral and the latter central, both these relatively large cemeteries were integral to their respective urban spheres. Beyond the role of sultans and kings, collective shaping was key to the longue durée formation of both capitals’ cemeteries. They were also shaped by multiple urban communities of the living and the dead at the closer level and offer insight into these communities.
Morphological awareness and its role in early word reading in English monolinguals, Spanish–English, and Chinese–English simultaneous bilinguals
Authors: Marks Rebecca A. , Labotka Danielle , Sun Xin , Nickerson Nia , Zhang Kehui , Eggleston Rachel L. , Yu Chi-Lin , Uchikoshi Yuuko , Hoeft Fumiko , Kovelman Ioulia
Published: August 2022

Words’ morphemic structure and their orthographic representations vary across languages. How do bilingual experiences with structurally distinct languages influence children's morphological processes for word reading? Focusing on English literacy in monolinguals and bilinguals (N = 350, ages 5–9), we first revealed unique contributions of derivational (friend-li-est) and compound (girl-friend) morphology to early word reading. We then examined mechanisms of bilingual transfer in matched samples of Spanish–English and Chinese–English dual first language learners. Results revealed a principled cross-linguistic interaction between language group (Spanish vs. Chinese bilinguals) and type of morphological awareness. Specifically, bilinguals’ proficiency with the type of morphology that was less characteristic of their home language explained greater variance in their English literacy. These findings showcase the powerful effects of bilingualism on word reading processes in children who have similar reading proficiency but different language experiences, thereby advancing theoretical perspectives on literacy across diverse learners.
Food purchase behaviour in a Finnish population: patterns, carbon footprints and expenditures
Authors: Meinilä Jelena , Hartikainen Hanna , Tuomisto Hanna L , Uusitalo Liisa , Vepsäläinen Henna , Saarinen Merja , Kinnunen Satu , Lehto Elviira , Saarijärvi Hannu , Katajajuuri Juha-Matti , Erkkola Maijaliisa , Nevalainen Jaakko , Fogelholm Mikael
Published: August 2022

Objective:

To identify food purchase patterns and to assess their carbon footprint and expenditure.

Design:

Cross-sectional.

Setting:

Purchase patterns were identified by factor analysis from the annual purchases of 3435 product groups. The associations between purchase patterns and the total purchases’ carbon footprints (based on life-cycle assessment) and expenditure were analysed using linear regression and adjusted for nutritional energy content of the purchases.

Participants:

Loyalty card holders (n 22 860) of the largest food retailer in Finland.

Results:

Eight patterns explained 55 % of the variation in food purchases. The Animal-based pattern made the greatest contribution to the annual carbon footprint, followed by the Easy-cooking, and Ready-to-eat patterns. High-energy, Traditional and Plant-based patterns made the smallest contribution to the carbon footprint of the purchases. Animal-based, Ready-to-eat, Plant-based and High-energy patterns made the greatest contribution, whereas the Traditional and Easy-cooking patterns made the smallest contribution to food expenditure. Carbon footprint per euros spent increased with stronger adherence to the Traditional, Animal-based and Easy-cooking patterns.

Conclusions:

The Animal-based, Ready-to-eat and High-energy patterns were associated with relatively high expenditure on food, suggesting no economic barrier to a potential shift towards a plant-based diet for consumers adherent to those patterns. Strong adherence to the Traditional pattern resulted in a low energy-adjusted carbon footprint but high carbon footprint per euro. This suggests a preference for cheap nutritional energy rather than environment-conscious purchase behaviour. Whether a shift towards a plant-based pattern would be affordable for those with more traditional and cheaper purchase patterns requires more research.
Charitable purposes and the shaping effects of money
Authors: Cowan Dave , Hardy Barbara
Published: August 2022

We address a curious omission from both the literature on the law of charity and socio-legal studies – the effect of apparently extraneous factors, such as politics and ideology, as well as the searching for money on the charitable purposes and identities of the public who are to benefit from the charity. This is a curious omission because even the law accepts that the idea of public benefit in charity law is a sociological concept, albeit one that has developed a technical meaning. We argue that approaching charitable purposes and public benefit as sociological concepts enables us to appreciate the tensions that those external factors produce as they re-shape those purposes and refashion the public who are to benefit. We refer to these factors under the rubric of the shaping effects of money. We use a case-study of the Canal and River Trust (CRT) to develop this argument. The trust was set up by the government as a charity to manage and control 2,000 miles of inland waterways in England and Wales. We draw on interviews with households who live on boats and ‘continuously cruise’ those boats on the canals to illustrate how their interests have been marginalised as the CRT has re-shaped itself as a well-being charity.
Objectified and Dehumanized: Does Objectification Impact Perceptions of Women Political Candidates?
Authors: Gothreau Claire M. , Alvarez Amanda Milena , Friesen Amanda
Published: August 2022

Objectification and dehumanization are topics often discussed within the social psychology and feminist theory literature. Research on objectification has largely focused on the sexual objectification of women’s bodies, whereas the dehumanization literature has focused on dehumanization in the context of racial and ethnic groups. Extant political science research has only recently begun to engage with these concepts. In this manuscript, we build upon these literatures and apply these insights to questions relevant to politics. In particular, we argue that objectifying and dehumanizing portrayals of women impact how voters evaluate women politicians and how much they support gender parity in politics. Through a proposed experimental design, we test our hypothesis that the objectification of women as a group can decrease positive evaluations and likelihood of electoral support for women political candidates.
Strain Partitioning on the Western Haiyuan Fault System Revealed by the Adjacent 2016 Mw5.9 and 2022 Mw6.7 Menyuan Earthquakes
Authors: Luo Heng , Wang Teng
Published: August 2022

The 1,000 km‐long Haiyuan fault is the largest strike‐slip fault system in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, accommodating part of the plateau's eastward extrusion. However, few large earthquakes have been instrumentally recorded, hindering our understanding of strain partitioning across the fault system. Here, we use synthetic aperture radar images to investigate fault geometries and slip distributions of the adjacent 2016 Mw5.9 and 2022 Mw6.7 Menyuan earthquakes that occurred 35 km apart along the western Haiyuan fault system. The purely strike and purely thrust slips of the 2022 and 2016 events indicate that strain was released separately on shallow steep fault and low‐angle fault at depth. We propose that such strain partitioning is controlled by the ratio between interseismic shear and normal velocities and the branching fault structure beneath the Lenglongling segment. Seismic hazard due to both focal mechanisms has to be considered along the western Haiyuan fault in northeastern Tibet.
Turbulent Dissipation in the Surface Mixed Layer of an Anticyclonic Mesoscale Eddy in the South China Sea
Authors: Dong Jihai , Fox‐Kemper Baylor , Jing Zhiyou , Yang Qingxuan , Tian Jiwei , Dong Changming
Published: August 2022

Clarifying contributions to the surface mixed layer (SML) dissipation from dynamic processes including winds, waves, buoyancy forcing and submesoscales is of significance for quantifying exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean. Based on two observation sections across an anticyclonic eddy in the South China Sea, the contributions from different dynamic processes to the SML dissipation rate of turbulence are quantified. The potential vorticity indicates instability events including symmetric instability (SI), gravitational instability and centrifugal instability at the eddy. Despite of a dominant role of wind‐ and wave‐induced dissipation rates, SI is highlighted by a mean estimated depth‐integrated dissipation rate of 4.3 × 10−6 W m kg−1 with a maximum up to 3.2 × 10−5 W m kg−1. The SI dissipation is believed to play a role in the eddy kinetic energy budget by extracting energy from the vertical geostrophic shear at the eddy.
Development of the Sanya Incoherent Scatter Radar and Preliminary Results
Authors: Yue Xinan , Wan Weixing , Ning Baiqi , Jin Lin , Ding Feng , Zhao Biqiang , Zeng Lingqi , Ke Changhai , Deng Xiaohua , Wang Junyi , Hao Honglian , Zhang Ning , Luo Junhao , Wang Yonghui , Li Mingyuan , Cai Yihui , Liu Fanyu
Published: August 2022

Led by the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, we have built a brand‐new modular active digital phased array, with all solid‐state transmission and digital receiving incoherent scatter radar (ISR) in Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E), a station in low latitude China called Sanya ISR (SYISR) since 2015. The development of SYISR involved the indoor design and development of key components, an outdoor prototype test, and the production and debugging of the entire array. The unique features of SYISR include a single‐channel directly connected T/R unit and antenna, a radar array monitoring and calibration network, environmental adaptability design and open architecture. The entire radar has 4,096 channels and 5,930 modules in total. All the technical indices, mainly including a >2 MW peak power, a 43 dBi antenna gain and a <120 K noise temperature, either meet or are superior to the designed value through an independent evaluation. Waveforms of single pulse, linear frequency modulation, Barker code, long pulse and alternating code have been implemented to meet multiple purposes. Four observational modes for ionospheric experiments, including zenith stare, perpendicular to geomagnetic field, meridian scan, and all sky scan, have been developed. We have implemented time domain decoding, frequency domain decoding, and statistical inversion methods in calculating the autocorrelation function and power spectra in signal processing. The preliminary experimental results on ionospheric parameters, plasma lines, irregularities and hard targets are reasonable and encouraging, which greatly enhances our confidence in achieving our scientific goals in the future.
Stress Heterogeneity as a Driver of Aseismic Slip During the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma Aftershock Sequence
Authors: Okamoto Kristina K. , Savage Heather M. , Cochran Elizabeth S. , Keranen Katie M.
Published: August 2022

The interaction of aseismic and seismic slip before and after an earthquake is fundamental for both earthquake nucleation and postseismic stress relaxation. However, it can be difficult to determine where and when aseismic slip occurs within the seismogenic zone because geodetic techniques are limited to detecting moderate to large slip amplitudes or long duration small slip amplitudes. Here, we use repeating earthquakes (earthquakes that re‐rupture the same fault patch) as a proxy for aseismic slip during the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma earthquake sequence. We find that aseismic slip in the Prague earthquake sequence occurs both within the granitic basement and the overlying sedimentary rocks. The repeating earthquakes show that patches of aseismic slip are mostly located at fault intersections. These fault intersections hosted possible mainshock slip, abundant aftershocks, and afterslip. We estimate that ∼40% of the aftershocks are driven by afterslip. We interpret that aseismic slip occurs at fault intersections where stress heterogeneity creates patches of lower stress that are stable within a nonsteady state, rate‐state framework.
Surface Wave and Roller Dissipation Observed With Shore‐Based Doppler Marine Radar
Authors: Streßer Michael , Horstmann Jochen , Baschek Burkard
Published: August 2022

Surface wave energy and dissipation are observed across the surf zone. Utilizing the concept of surface rollers, a new scaling is introduced to obtain the energy flux and dissipation related to rollers from Doppler velocities measured by a shore‐based X‐band marine radar. The dissipation of wave energy and hence the transformation of the incoming wave height (or energy) is derived using the coupled wave and roller energy balance equations. Results are compared to in‐situ wave measurements obtained from a wave rider buoy and two bottom mounted pressure wave gauges. A good performance in reproducing the significant wave height is found yielding an overall root‐mean‐square error of 0.22 m and a bias of −0.12 m. This is comparable to the skill of numerical wave models. In contrast to wave models, however, the radar observations of the wave and roller energy flux and dissipation neither require knowledge of the bathymetry nor the incident wave height. Along a 1.5 km long cross‐shore transect on a double‐barred, sandy beach in the southern North Sea, the highest dissipation rates are observed at the inner bar over a relatively short distance of less than 100 m. During the peak of a medium‐severe storm event with significant wave heights over 3 m, about 50% of the incident wave energy flux is dissipated at the outer bar.
Inorganic nanosheets facilitate humoral immunity against medical implant infections by modulating immune co-stimulatory pathways
Authors: Yang Chuang , Luo Yao , Shen Hao , Ge Min , Tang Jin , Wang Qiaojie , Lin Han , Shi Jianlin , Zhang Xianlong
Published: August 2022

Strategies to manipulate immune cell co-inhibitory or co-activating signals have revolutionized immunotherapy. However, certain immunologically cold diseases, such as bacterial biofilm infections of medical implants are hard to target due to the complexity of the immune co-stimulatory pathways involved. Here we show that two-dimensional manganese chalcogenophosphates MnPSe3 (MPS) nanosheets modified with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) are capable of triggering a strong anti-bacterial biofilm humoral immunity in a mouse model of surgical implant infection via modulating antigen presentation and costimulatory molecule expression in the infectious microenvironment (IME). Mechanistically, the PVP-modified MPS (MPS-PVP) damages the structure of the biofilm which results in antigen exposure by generating reactive oxidative species, while changing the balance of immune-inhibitory (IL4I1 and CD206) and co-activator signals (CD40, CD80 and CD69). This leads to amplified APC priming and antigen presentation, resulting in biofilm-specific humoral immune and memory responses. In our work, we demonstrate that pre-surgical neoadjuvant immunotherapy utilizing MPS-PVP successfully mitigates residual and recurrent infections following removal of the infected implants. This study thus offers an alternative to replace antibiotics against hard-to-treat biofilm infections.
Engineering an autonomous VH domain to modulate intracellular pathways and to interrogate the eIF4F complex
Authors: Frosi Yuri , Lin Yen-Chu , Shimin Jiang , Ramlan Siti Radhiah , Hew Kelly , Engman Alf Henrik , Pillai Anil , Yeung Kit , Cheng Yue Xiang , Cornvik Tobias , Nordlund Par , Goh Megan , Lama Dilraj , Gates Zachary P. , Verma Chandra S. , Thean Dawn , Lane David P. , Asial Ignacio , Brown Christopher J.
Published: August 2022

An attractive approach to target intracellular macromolecular interfaces and to model putative drug interactions is to design small high-affinity proteins. Variable domains of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (VH domains) are ideal miniproteins, but their development has been restricted by poor intracellular stability and expression. Here we show that an autonomous and disufhide-free VH domain is suitable for intracellular studies and use it to construct a high-diversity phage display library. Using this library and affinity maturation techniques we identify VH domains with picomolar affinity against eIF4E, a protein commonly hyper-activated in cancer. We demonstrate that these molecules interact with eIF4E at the eIF4G binding site via a distinct structural pose. Intracellular overexpression of these miniproteins reduce cellular proliferation and expression of malignancy-related proteins in cancer cell lines. The linkage of high-diversity in vitro libraries with an intracellularly expressible miniprotein scaffold will facilitate the discovery of VH domains suitable for intracellular applications.
Introducing Brønsted acid sites to accelerate the bridging-oxygen-assisted deprotonation in acidic water oxidation
Authors: Wen Yunzhou , Liu Cheng , Huang Rui , Zhang Hui , Li Xiaobao , García de Arquer F. Pelayo , Liu Zhi , Li Youyong , Zhang Bo
Published: August 2022

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) consists of four sequential proton-coupled electron transfer steps, which suffer from sluggish kinetics even on state-of-the-art ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) catalysts. Understanding and controlling the proton transfer process could be an effective strategy to improve OER performances. Herein, we present a strategy to accelerate the deprotonation of OER intermediates by introducing strong Brønsted acid sites (e.g. tungsten oxides, WOx) into the RuO2. The Ru-W binary oxide is reported as a stable and active iridium-free acidic OER catalyst that exhibits a low overpotential (235 mV at 10 mA cm−2) and low degradation rate (0.014 mV h−1) over a 550-hour stability test. Electrochemical studies, in-situ near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory show that the W-O-Ru Brønsted acid sites are instrumental to facilitate proton transfer from the oxo-intermediate to the neighboring bridging oxygen sites, thus accelerating bridging-oxygen-assisted deprotonation OER steps in acidic electrolytes. The universality of the strategy is demonstrated for other Ru-M binary metal oxides (M = Cr, Mo, Nb, Ta, and Ti).
Tribological, oxidation and thermal conductivity studies of microwave synthesised molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoparticles as nano-additives in diesel based engine oil
Authors: Nagarajan Thachnatharen , Khalid Mohammad , Sridewi Nanthini , Jagadish Priyanka , Shahabuddin Syed , Muthoosamy Kasturi , Walvekar Rashmi
Published: August 2022

Lubrication has become essential in enhancing engine efficiency in the era of rapid globalising. The tribological, oxidation and thermal conductivity properties of an engine oil play a vital role in improving the quality of a vehicle’s engine life. In this research, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoparticle was synthesised via a microwave hydrothermal reactor. Later, the nanoparticles were dispersed in SAE 20W50 diesel engine oil to formulate the nanolubricant. The results show that nanolubricant with 0.01 wt% MoS2 concentration showed the coefficient of friction, average wear scar diameter decreased by 19.24% and 19.52%, respectively, compared to the base oil. Furthermore, the nanolubricant with 0.01 wt% concentration of MoS2 nanoparticle showed an enhancement of 61.15% in oxidation induction time in comparison to the base oil. Furthermore, MoS2 addition within the base oil demonstrates a ~ 10% improvement in thermal conductivity compared to the base oil.
Spatiotemporal mapping of malaria incidence in Sudan using routine surveillance data
Authors: Elagali Ahmed , Ahmed Ayman , Makki Nada , Ismail Hassan , Ajak Mark , Alene Kefyalew Addis , Weiss Daniel J. , Mohammed Abdalla Ahmed , Abubakr Mustafa , Cameron Ewan , Gething Peter , Elagali Asmaa
Published: August 2022

Malaria is a serious threat to global health, with over $$95\%$$

95
%

of the cases reported in 2020 by the World Health Organization in African countries, including Sudan. Sudan is a low-income country with a limited healthcare system and a substantial burden of malaria. The epidemiology of malaria in Sudan is rapidly changing due to factors including the rapidly developing resistance to drugs and insecticides among the parasites and vectors, respectively; the growing population living in humanitarian settings due to political instability; and the recent emergence of Anopheles stephensi in the country. These factors contribute to changes in the distribution of the parasites species as well as malaria vectors in Sudan, and the shifting patterns of malaria epidemiology underscore the need for investment in improved situational awareness, early preparedness, and a national prevention and control strategy that is updated, evidence based, and proactive. A key component of this strategy is accurate, high-resolution endemicity maps of species-specific malaria. Here, we present a spatiotemporal Bayesian model, developed in collaboration with the Sudanese Ministry of Health, that predicts a fine-scale (1 km $$\times $$
×
 1 km) clinical incidence and seasonality profiles for Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax across the country. We use monthly malaria case counts for both species collected via routine surveillance between January 2017 and December 2019, as well as a suite of high-resolution environmental covariates to inform our predictions. These epidemiological maps provide a useful resource for strategic planning and cost-effective implementation of malaria interventions, thus informing policymakers in Sudan to achieve success in malaria control and elimination.
Continuous activation of the IL-17F driven inflammatory pathway in acute and chronic digital dermatitis lesions in dairy cattle
Authors: Vermeersch Anne-Sofie , Geldhof Peter , Ducatelle Richard , Gansemans Yannick , Van Nieuwerburgh Filip , Deforce Dieter , Opsomer Geert
Published: August 2022

Objectives of the present study were to get a deeper insight into the course of the inflammatory pathways of digital dermatitis lesions in dairy cattle by investigating the gene expression patterns throughout the different clinical stages (M0 to M4.1) of the disease. Normal skin samples (M0) were used as a reference for comparing the gene expression levels in the other M-stages through RNA Seq-technology. Principal component analysis revealed a distinct gene expression pattern associated with digital dermatitis lesions in comparison to healthy skin with a further clustering of the acute M1, M2 and M4.1 stages versus the chronic M3 and M4 stages. The majority of the up-and downregulated genes in the acute and chronic stages can be placed into a common ‘core’ set of genes involved in inflammation, such as A2ML1, PI3, CCL11 and elafin-like protein, whereas the most downregulated genes included keratins and anti-inflammatory molecules such as SCGB1D and MGC151921. Pathway analysis indicated the activation of the pro-inflammatory IL-17 signaling pathway in all the M stages through the upregulation of IL-17F. These results indicate that digital dermatitis is associated with an excessive inflammatory immune response concomitant with a disrupted skin barrier and impaired wound repair mechanism. Importantly, despite their macroscopically healed appearance, a significant inflammatory response (Padj < 0.05) was still measurable in the M3 and M4 lesions, potentially explaining the frequent re-activation of such lesions.
Association between cooking fuels and mild cognitive impairment among older adults from six low- and middle-income countries
Authors: Smith Lee , Pizzol Damiano , López Sánchez Guillermo F. , Kostev Karel , Oh Hans , Jacob Louis , Veronese Nicola , Underwood Benjamin R. , Butler Laurie , Barnett Yvonne , Tully Mark A. , Koyanagi Ai
Published: August 2022

There is a small body of evidence suggesting that unclean cooking fuel use may be associated with cognitive decline. However, to date, no study has investigated the association between unclean cooking fuel and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Thus, we investigated the association between cooking fuel type or ventilation type and MCI among adults aged ≥ 65 years using nationally representative datasets from six low- and middle-income countries. Cross-sectional, community-based data from the World Health Organization (WHO) Study on global Ageing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. MCI was defined using the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association criteria. Unclean cooking fuel referred to kerosene/paraffin, coal/charcoal, wood, agriculture/crop, animal dung, and shrubs/grass. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess associations. Data on 13,623 individuals were analyzed [mean (SD) age 72.8 (11.0) years; 45.5% males]. Unclean cooking fuel (vs. clean cooking fuel) was associated with a significant 1.48 (95% CI = 1.08–2.03) times higher odds for MCI. Having no chimney or hood for cooking ventilation was also associated with significantly higher odds for MCI (OR = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.25–2.84). Unclean cooking fuel use and lack of chimney or hood for cooking ventilation were associated with higher odds for MCI. Findings support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Goal 7, which advocates affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, as this may also help reduce MCI and ultimately dementia.
Ultrasound dynamic monitoring of IVCD to guide application of CRRT in patients with renal failure combined with acute heart failure
Authors: Yu Guang , Tao Shaoyu , Jin Yingzhi , Li Wanxia , Hu Zanqun , Fang Xiaowei
Published: August 2022

We explored the application value of bedside ultrasound dynamic monitoring of the inferior vena cava diameter (IVCD) and collapse with sniff (inferior vena cava collapsibility index [IVCCI]) to guide dehydration adjustment in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in patients with combined renal failure and acute heart failure. We selected 90 patients with combined renal and acute heart failure who required CRRT in the intensive care unit (ICU) from January 2019 to June 2021. According to different blood volume assessment methods, patients were randomly divided into ultrasound, experience, and control groups. We compared serum creatinine, potassium, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels; time to improved heart failure symptoms; CRRT time; ventilator use; ICU length of stay; vasopressor use; and incidence of adverse events among groups. There were no significant differences in serum creatinine, potassium, and NT-proBNP levels in pairwise comparisons among groups before and after CRRT (P > 0.05). The time to improved heart failure symptoms, CRRT time, and ICU length of stay in the ultrasound and experience groups were lower than those in the control group; the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Ventilator use duration was lower in the ultrasound and experience groups compared with the control group, with a statistically significant difference between the ultrasound and control groups (P < 0.05). The duration of vasopressor use in the ultrasound and control groups was lower than that in the experience group; the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse events was lower in the ultrasound group compared with the experience and control groups; the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Ultrasound dynamic monitoring of IVCD and collapse with sniff can accurately assess blood volume status, and provide guidance for dehydration adjustments in CRRT and rapid relief of heart failure symptoms in patients with combined renal and acute heart failure.
Tanshinone IIA reduces AQP4 expression and astrocyte swelling after OGD/R by inhibiting the HMGB1/RAGE/NF-κB/IL-6 pro-inflammatory axis
Authors: Tang Zhaohua , Yang Gang , Liao Zhengbu , Chen Feilan , Chen Song , Wang Wentao , Huo Gang , Sun Xiaochuan , Wang Xiaoshu
Published: August 2022

This study aimed to investigate the role of tanshinone IIA (TSO IIA) in astrocytic swelling caused by ischemia–reperfusion-like injury in an in vitro model and the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect. Primary brain astrocytes were cultured under conditions of glucose and oxygen deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R). The study explored the effects of TSO IIA treatment on cell swelling and injury and the protein levels of aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in the plasma membrane. It then examined the involvement of the high-mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1)/receptors for advanced-glycation end products (RAGE)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)/interleukin-6 (IL-6) pro-inflammatory axis in TSO IIA-mediated protection. The treatment with TSO IIA alleviated OGD/R-induced astrocytic swelling and the overclustering of AQP4 protein in the plasma membrane. In addition, TSO IIA significantly reduced the overexpression of HMGB1 and the high levels of the NF-κB protein in the nucleus and of the IL-6 protein in the cytoplasm and extracellular media induced by OGD/R. The combination of TSO IIA and recombinant HMGB1 reversed these effects. The inhibition of the RAGE, the receptor of HMGB1, induced results similar to those of TSO IIA. In addition, exogenous IL-6 reversed TSO IIA-mediated effect on AQP4 overclustering and cell swelling. TSO IIA significantly reduced astrocyte swelling after OGD/R injury in vitro, via blocking the activation of the HMGB1/RAGE/NF-κB/IL-6 pro-inflammatory axis and thereby decreasing the expression of AQP4 in the plasma membrane.
ALF-Score++, a novel approach to transfer knowledge and predict network-based walkability scores across cities
Authors: S. Alfosool Ali M. , Chen Yuanzhu , Fuller Daniel
Published: August 2022

Walkability is an important measure with strong ties to our health. However, there are existing gaps in the literature. Our previous work proposed new approaches to address existing limitations. This paper explores new ways of applying transferability using transfer-learning. Road networks, POIs, and road-related characteristics grow/change over time. Moreover, calculating walkability for all locations in all cities is very time-consuming. Transferability enables reuse of already-learned knowledge for continued learning, reduce training time, resource consumption, training labels and improve prediction accuracy. We propose ALF-Score++, that reuses trained models to generate transferable models capable of predicting walkability score for cities not seen in the process. We trained transfer-learned models for St. John’s NL and Montréal QC and used them to predict walkability scores for Kingston ON and Vancouver BC. MAE error of 13.87 units (ranging 0–100) was achieved for transfer-learning using MLP and 4.56 units for direct-training (random forest) on personalized clusters.
Automated diagnosing primary open-angle glaucoma from fundus image by simulating human’s grading with deep learning
Authors: Lin Mingquan , Hou Bojian , Liu Lei , Gordon Mae , Kass Michael , Wang Fei , Van Tassel Sarah H. , Peng Yifan
Published: August 2022

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Although deep learning methods have been proposed to diagnose POAG, it remains challenging to develop a robust and explainable algorithm to automatically facilitate the downstream diagnostic tasks. In this study, we present an automated classification algorithm, GlaucomaNet, to identify POAG using variable fundus photographs from different populations and settings. GlaucomaNet consists of two convolutional neural networks to simulate the human grading process: learning the discriminative features and fusing the features for grading. We evaluated GlaucomaNet on two datasets: Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) participants and the Large-scale Attention-based Glaucoma (LAG) dataset. GlaucomaNet achieved the highest AUC of 0.904 and 0.997 for POAG diagnosis on OHTS and LAG datasets. An ensemble of network architectures further improved diagnostic accuracy. By simulating the human grading process, GlaucomaNet demonstrated high accuracy with increased transparency in POAG diagnosis (comprehensiveness scores of 97% and 36%). These methods also address two well-known challenges in the field: the need for increased image data diversity and relying heavily on perimetry for POAG diagnosis. These results highlight the potential of deep learning to assist and enhance clinical POAG diagnosis. GlaucomaNet is publicly available onhttps://github.com/bionlplab/GlaucomaNet.