bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cellular and molecular functions of SETD2 in the central nervous system
Authors: Mitchell Benjamin , Thor Stefan , Piper Michael
Published: November 2023

The covalent modification of histones is critical for many biological functions in mammals, including gene regulation and chromatin structure. Posttranslational histone modifications are added and removed by specialised ‘writer’ and ‘eraser’ enzymes, respectively. One such writer protein implicated in a wide range of cellular processes is SET domain-containing 2 (SETD2), a histone methyltransferase that catalyses the trimethylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 (H3K36me3). Recently, SETD2 has also been found to modify proteins other than histones, including actin and tubulin. The emerging roles of SETD2 in the development and function of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) are of particular interest as several SETD2 variants have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and the overgrowth disorder Luscan–Lumish syndrome. Here, we summarise the numerous roles of SETD2 in mammalian cellular functions and development, with a focus on the CNS. We also provide an overview of the consequences of SETD2 variants in human disease and discuss future directions for understanding essential cellular functions of SETD2.
The allometry of mitochondrial efficiency is tissue dependent: a comparison between skeletal and cardiac muscles of birds
Authors: Barbe Jessica , Watson Julia , Roussel Damien , Voituron Yann
Published: November 2023

Body mass is known to be a fundamental driver of many biological traits, including metabolism. However, the effect of body mass on mitochondrial energy transduction is still poorly understood and has mainly been described in mammals. Using 13 species of birds ranging from 15 g (finches) to 160 kg (ostrich), we report here that the mitochondrial production of ATP, and the corresponding oxygen consumption, are negatively dependent on body mass in skeletal muscles but not in the heart. Results also showed that mitochondrial efficiency was positively correlated with body mass at sub-maximal phosphorylating states in the skeletal muscle, but not in the heart. This difference between muscle tissues is potentially linked to the difference in energetic demand expandability and the heavy involvement of skeletal muscle in thermoregulation.
When the tap runs dry: the physiological effects of acute experimental dehydration in Peromyscus eremicus
Authors: Blumstein Danielle M. , MacManes Matthew D.
Published: November 2023

Desert organisms have evolved physiological, biochemical and genomic mechanisms to survive the extreme aridity of desert environments. Studying desert-adapted species provides a unique opportunity to investigate the survival strategies employed by organisms in some of the harshest habitats on Earth. Two of the primary challenges faced in desert environments are maintaining water balance and thermoregulation. We collected data in a simulated desert environment and a captive colony of cactus mice (Peromyscus eremicus) and used lab-based experiments with real time physiological measurements; energy expenditure, water loss rate and respiratory exchange rate, to characterize the response to water deprivation. Mice without access to water had significantly lower energy expenditures and in turn, reduced water loss compared to mice with access to water after the first 24 h of the experiment. Additionally, we observed significant mass loss that is probably due to dehydration-associated anorexia a response to limit fluid loss by reducing waste and the solute load as well as allowing water reabsorption from the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. Finally, we observed body temperature correlated with sex, with males without access to water maintaining body temperature when compared with hydrated males, whereas body temperature decreased for females without access to water, suggesting daily metabolic depression in females.
Long-term stress induced cortisol downregulation, growth reduction and cardiac remodeling in Atlantic salmon
Authors: Opinion April Grace R. , Vanhomwegen Marine , De Boeck Gudrun , Aerts Johan
Published: November 2023

Stress and elevated plasma cortisol in salmonids have been linked with pathological remodeling of the heart and deterioration of fitness and welfare. However, these associations were based on biomarkers that fail to provide a retrospective view of stress. This study is the first whereby the association of long-term stress, using scale cortisol as a chronic stress biomarker, with cardiac morphology and growth performance of wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is made. Growth, heart morphology, plasma and scale cortisol levels, and expression of genes involved in cortisol regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary–interrenal axis of undisturbed fish (control) were compared with those of fish exposed daily to stress for 8 weeks. Though scale cortisol levels showed a time-dependent accumulation in both groups, plasma and scale cortisol levels of stress group fish were 29.1% and 25.0% lower than those of control fish, respectively. These results correlated with the overall upregulation of stress-axis genes involved in the systemic negative feedback of cortisol, and local feedback via 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases, glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors in the stress treatment at the hypothalamus and pituitary level. These lower cortisol levels were, however, counterintuitive in terms of the growth performance as stress group fish grew 33.7% slower than control fish, which probably influenced the 8.4% increase in relative ventricle mass in the stress group. Though compact myocardium area between the treatments was comparable, these parameters showed significant linear correlations with scale cortisol levels, indicating the involvement of chronic stress in cardiac remodeling. These findings underscore the importance of scale cortisol as biomarker when associating chronic stress with long-term processes including cardiac remodeling.
Early Career Paths of Economists Inside and Outside of Academia
Authors: Foster Lucia , McEntarfer Erika , Sandler Danielle H.
Published: November 2023

Economics job candidates face considerable professional and financial uncertainties when deciding between academic and nonacademic career paths. Using novel panel data, we provide a broad picture of PhD economists’ early career mobility and earnings growth–both in and outside of academia. We find that academic jobs have fallen to just over half of US placements, with growing shares in tech, consulting, and government. We document considerable early career job mobility and higher earnings growth among job changers, private-sector economists, and men. We also find an earnings premium for graduates of top-ranked PhD programs that grows over early career years in academia while shrinking in the private sector. These different earnings dynamics mean the opportunity cost (in terms of potential earnings) of remaining in academia is generally less for graduates of top-ranked programs, although there is significant dispersion in mid-career earnings among these academics.
Changes in the Distribution of Black and White Wealth since the US Civil War
Authors: Derenoncourt Ellora , Kim Chi Hyun , Kuhn Moritz , Schularick Moritz
Published: November 2023

The difference in the average wealth of Black and white Americans narrowed in the first century after the Civil War, but remained large and even widened again after 1980. Given high levels of wealth concentration both historically and today, dynamics at the average may not capture important heterogeneity in racial wealth gaps across the distribution. This paper looks into the historical evolution of the Black and white wealth distributions since Emancipation. The picture that emerges is an even starker one than racial wealth inequality at the mean. Tracing, for the first time, the evolution of wealth of the median Black household and the gap between the typical Black and white household over time, we estimate that the majority of Black households only began to dispose of measurable wealth around World War II. While the civil rights era brought substantial wealth gains for the median Black household, the gap between Black and white wealth at the median has not changed much since the 1970s. The top and the bottom of the wealth distribution show even greater persistence, with Black households consistently over-represented in the bottom half of the wealth distribution and under-represented in the top-10 percent over the past seven decades.
Fair and Efficient Online Allocations
Authors: Benadè Gerdus , Kazachkov Aleksandr M. , Procaccia Ariel D. , Psomas Alexandros , Zeng David
Published: November 2023

Trade-Offs in Dynamic Allocation Problems

Food rescue organizations often receive donations to allocate to food pantries or families. Donations are unpredictable, and goods are often perishable; as a result, allocations have to be made within a short time frame after arrival without knowledge of future arrivals. It is important that donations go to organizations that are able to use them; at the same time, organizations that serve different communities should be treated equitably. In “Fair and Efficient Online Allocations,” Benadè, Kazachkov, Procaccia, Psomas, and Zeng study fairness-efficiency trade-offs in such online allocation problems. Against adversarial arrivals, no algorithm can provide nontrivial guarantees for both these objectives simultaneously. When item values are drawn from (potentially correlated) distributions, there is no trade-off, and a simultaneously fair and efficient algorithm is presented.
Express yourself
Authors: Weinstein Nicole
Published: November 2023

Environments resourced with a wide variety of materials, both found and bought, will encourage children to express themselves artistically, explains Nicole Weinstein
Biliary hemorrhage caused by a malignant small round cell tumor in the common bile duct: A case report
Authors: Jin Ying-Li , Ruan Ye-Jiao , Lu Guang-Rong
Published: November 2023

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which is distinguished by increased glucose levels in the bloodstream, is a metabolic disease with a rapidly increasing incidence worldwide. Nevertheless, the etiology and characteristics of the mechanism of T2DM remain unclear. Recently, abundant evidence has indicated that the intestinal microbiota is crucially involved in the initiation and progression of T2DM. The gut microbiome, the largest microecosystem, engages in material and energy metabolism in the human body. In this review, we concentrated on the correlation between the gut flora and T2DM. Meanwhile, we summarized the pathogenesis involving the intestinal flora in T2DM, as well as therapeutic approaches aimed at modulating the gut microbiota for the management of T2DM. Through the analysis presented here, we draw attention to further exploration of these research directions.
Healthcare Labor Unions-Has the Time Come?
Authors:   Phoenix Pulmonary and Critical Care Research and Education Foundation, Gilbert, AZ USA, Robbins Richard
Published: November 2023

No abstract available. Article truncated after 150 words. Labor unions in America look like they are making a comeback. Employees at Starbucks stores, Amazon warehouses, Trader Joe's, and REI, grad students, Uber and Lyft drivers and employees at the Medieval Times have voted to unionize. Hollywood actor and writers, the United Auto Workers, and Kaiser Permanente employees have been on strike (1). Headline writers began declaring things like, "Employees everywhere are organizing" and that the United States was seeing a "union boom” (2). In September, the White House asserted "Organized labor appears to be having a moment" (2). However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its union data for 2022 and the data shows that the share of American workers in a union has continued to decline (2). Last year, the union membership rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 10.1% — the lowest on record. Despite an increase in union efforts since the pandemic, healthcare workers — particularly …
The Camera and the Cattle: Bovine Photography and Technologies of "Improvement" in Colonial South India
Authors: Arnold David
Published: November 2023

abstract: Photography, also an innovative technology at the time, engaged with two interconnected bovine technologies in late nineteenth and early twentieth century India: cattle as the animal power behind other agrarian technologies and cattle breeding. The Ongole cattle of Nellore district in south India, ancestors of the internationally renowned zebu cattle, were famed for their beauty, their strength as haulage and tillage animals, and their milk yields. Along with other Indian breeds, they were systematically photographed, beginning with the 1865 Addanki cattle show. This article examines the role of bovine photography as an agent of technological change in relation to the transition from a local cattle-raising culture through provincial "improvement" schemes to a pantropical market for Ongoles. It reflects on the racial discourse of animal breeds and its intersection with colonial-era ideas of bovine "degeneration" and "improvement," while highlighting the importance of cattle fairs and experimental farms.
Universal method using a pre-deformed reference subset to eliminate the interpolation bias in digital image correlation
Authors: Liu Yang , Fang Zheng , Ren Tianxiang , Zhao Jiangcheng , Su Yong , Zhang Qingchuan
Published: November 2023

The high measurement accuracy of the digital image correlation (DIC) method is derived from the sub-pixel registration algorithm, which interpolates the intensities at the sub-pixel position in the image. The displacement error caused by the interpolation is a systematic bias in the DIC method, known as the sinusoidal bias in the sub-pixel translation experiment. Although the interpolation bias has been well researched, there is a lack of a universal method to eliminate interpolation bias. In this work, we propose a universal method to eliminate the interpolation bias using a pre-deformed reference subset; pixel points in the pre-deformed subset are deviated from the integer-pixel location. The purpose of the adjustment is to set the deformed pixel points at a specific position, so that the interpolation bias of all deformed pixel points cancels each other out, close to zero. The adjustment of the pre-deformed reference subset is related with the subset size and subset deformation. Numerical experiments including DIC challenge data and a real uniaxial tensile test were conducted to verify the effectiveness and universality of the proposed method, contributing to improved measurement accuracy. Considering the effect of pixel point location on the interpolation bias, this work proposes a universal method to eliminate the interpolation bias and provides a perspective to study DIC errors.
Two-way focal stack fusion for light field saliency detection
Authors: Zhang Yani , Chen Fen , Peng Zongju , Zou Wenhui , Nie Mengyu , Zhang Changhe
Published: November 2023

To improve the accuracy of saliency detection in challenging scenes such as small objects, multiple objects, and blur, we propose a light field saliency detection method via two-way focal stack fusion. The first way extracts latent depth features by calculating the transmittance of the focal stack to avoid the interference of out-of-focus regions. The second way analyzes the focused distribution and calculates the background probability of the slice, which can distinguish the foreground from the background. Extracting the potential cues of the focal stack through the two different ways can improve saliency detection in complex scenes. Finally, a multi-layer cellular automaton optimizer is utilized to incorporate compactness, focus, center prior, and depth features to obtain the final salient result. Comparison and ablation experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental results prove that the proposed method demonstrates effectiveness in challenging scenarios and outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. They also verify that the depth and focus cues of the focal stack can enhance the performance of previous methods.
Fiber laser cascaded with an MZ interferometer for simultaneous measurement of temperature and refractive index
Authors: Li Jingwen , Hong Tianjia , Yu Desheng , Che Kaijun , Chen Lujian
Published: November 2023

A fiber laser with strong spontaneous emission and high signal-to-noise ratio is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of temperature and refractive index (RI). By cascading a single MZ interferometer, the power and the emission spectrum of the fiber laser are modulated by surrounding temperature and RI. The dual parameters are determined from the measured power change and interference dip shift. A temperature sensitivity of 0.146 dB/°C (−0.06nm/∘C) in the range from 20°C to 90°C at an RI of 1.3910 and an RI sensitivity of −156.07dB/RIU (153.70 nm/RIU) in the range from 1.3333 to 1.3910 at 20°C are achieved.
Focusing field energy flow simulation of an azimuthally polarized Lorentz–Gaussian beam modulated by a concentric vortex phase mask
Authors: Zhou Zijie , Li Jinsong , Feng Guojin , Li Shuo , Lu Chenxu
Published: November 2023

Based on the vector diffraction theory, this paper investigated the energy flow
evolution of focusing an azimuthally polarized Lorentz–Gaussian beam
modulated by concentric vortex phase mask. Three concentric zones make
up the concentric vortex phase mask: the center zone, middle circular
zone, and outer circular zone. Each zone has an adjusted phase. The
findings demonstrate that flexible transverse energy flow rings can be
obtained in the focal plane and that transverse energy flows with
various polygonal forms can be produced by varying the middle circular
radius or phase distribution. By adjusting the phase of the center
zone and outer circular zone, the normalized transverse energy flow
distribution can be rotated or changed. Findings demonstrate that this
technique offers a potent means of controlling the distribution and
orientation of Poynting vectors and electromagnetic fields. Moreover,
a series of energy flow rings are generated to facilitate the
transportation of absorptive particles to predetermined positions.
These phenomena may provide a new approach for particle capture and
optical particle manipulation.
Hybrid multi-channel electrically tunable bandstop filter based on DAST electro-optical material
Authors: Qi Yunping , Zhang Shu , Shi Qiang , Su Mingrui , Zhao Shiyu , Zhou Zihao , Wang Xiangxian
Published: November 2023

A voltage tunable hybrid multi-channel bandstop filter based on a metal–insulator–metal (MIM) waveguide is presented in this work, which can realize three narrowband and one broadband filtering functions simultaneously. The filter comprises two asymmetric composite cavities, which are filled with organic electro-optical material of 4-dimethylamino-N-methyl-4-toluenesulfonate (DAST). The composite cavity is composed of a rectangular cavity and an annular cavity, and the annular cavity is formed by two rectangular cavities connected with two semi-elliptical annular cavities. The transmission spectrum and magnetic field distribution of the filter are studied and analyzed by the finite element method (FEM), and the effects of the structure parameters on the transmission spectrum are discussed. Our analysis indicates that the bandstop filter has minimum transmittances of 0.02%, 0.29%, and 0.1%, minimum bandwidths of 5 nm, 9 nm, and 25 nm, and maximum quality factors (Q) of 123.7, 87.1, and 44.2, respectively, in three narrowband modes. The stopband bandwidth at the broadband mode is 70 nm, and the adjustable range is 1695–2065 nm. Additionally, the filter characteristics can be adjusted by imposing a control voltage, providing a high degree of tunability and maintaining stable filter performance. Finally, the basic structure is optimized yielding an increased bandwidth of 238 nm for the broadband mode, which does retain great electrical tuning characteristics. Consequently, the proposed structure can be applied with huge potential in high-density integrated circuits and nano-optics.
X-ray-based overlay metrology using reciprocal space slicing analysis
Authors: Zhang Jiahao , Chen Xiuguo , Yang Tianjuan , Liu Shiyuan
Published: November 2023

Overlay serves as the pivotal performance indicator for lithography tools, and its prompt and precise measurement significantly underpins the process yield control. At present, diffraction-based overlay metrology employing optical wavelengths encounters constraints in terms of measurement sensitivity. When transitioning to x-ray wavelengths, the critical-dimension small-angle x-ray scattering (CDSAXS) method for nanostructure characterization necessitates reciprocal space mapping (RSM) and inverse problem solving, resulting in substantial throughput constraints. In this work, we propose an x-ray-based overlay metrology using reciprocal space slicing analysis (RSS), yielding high-precision overlay measurement at one single angle of incidence (AOI). Moreover, we examine the robustness of the proposed method against errors stemming from overlay target grating fabrication and measurement processes, substantiating its efficacy as a novel x-ray-based overlay metrology and unveiling the potential application of x-ray-based techniques within the realm of integrated circuit metrology.
Adapting a community-based intervention to address social determinants of health influencing pre-exposure prophylaxis services for Black adults in Washington, District of Columbia: A study protocol
Authors: Conserve Donaldson F. , Tun Waimar , Hickson DeMarc A. , Gomez- Berrospi Jennifer , Janson Samuel , Rinola Bukola , Durkin Mallory , Buchanan Christian , Morris Christian , Saleeban Alia , Olughu Kelia , Pulerwitz Julie , Kerrigan Deanna
Published: November 2023

Community-based HIV treatment initiation and continuation helps to address social determinants of health (SDOH) barriers to care and increase antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake and adherence. Similarly, community-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (cbPrEP) services can help address SDOH barriers such as transportation costs and stigma. However, few studies have examined cbPrEP programming in the Washington, District of Columbia (DC) area where more Blacks are disproportionately affected by HIV and have low PrEP uptake. This study aims to adapt and pilot a community-based ART intervention (cbART) intervention for cbPrEP service delivery for Black adults in the Washington, DC area. The adaptation of the cbART intervention will be informed by the ADAPT-ITT framework and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. For Aim 1, in-depth and key informant interviews will be conducted with PrEP program managers at community-based organizations (N = 10), DC health department representatives (N = 8), PrEP providers (N = 10) and current and potential Black PrEP users (n = 24). The interviews will provide an initial assessment of barriers and facilitators to PrEP services and inform the decisions on how to adapt the cbART intervention for cbPrEP services. In Aim 2, we will train and pilot test the cbPrEP intervention for acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness with Black adults (n = 60). Enrolled participants will complete a survey at baseline and at 45 days post-enrollment. In-depth interviews will be conducted with a subset (N = 16) of participants, those who did not enroll (N = 10) and providers implementing the cbPrEP intervention (N = 8). Alternative strategies to PrEP service delivery are needed to increase PrEP uptake among those most in need in the DC area. If cbPrEP delivery is found to be acceptable, feasible, and appropriate, it could have a significant impact on DC’s Ending the HIV Epidemic efforts and will inform future efforts to investigate the intervention’s efficacy on PrEP uptake and continuation among Black adults in DC.
Circulating antibody-secreting cells are a biomarker for early diagnosis in patients with Lyme disease
Authors: Haddad Natalie S. , Nozick Sophia , Ohanian Shant , Smith Robert , Elias Susan , Auwaerter Paul G. , Lee F. Eun-Hyung , Daiss John L.
Published: November 2023

Background

Diagnostic immunoassays for Lyme disease have several limitations including: 1) not all patients seroconvert; 2) seroconversion occurs later than symptom onset; and 3) serum antibody levels remain elevated long after resolution of the infection.

Introduction

MENSA (Medium Enriched for Newly Synthesized Antibodies) is a novel diagnostic fluid that contains antibodies produced in vitro by circulating antibody-secreting cells (ASC). It enables measurement of the active humoral immune response.

Methods

In this observational, case-control study, we developed the MicroB-plex Anti-C6/Anti-pepC10 Immunoassay to measure antibodies specific for the Borrelia burgdorferi peptide antigens C6 and pepC10 and validated it using a CDC serum sample collection. Then we examined serum and MENSA samples from 36 uninfected Control subjects and 12 Newly Diagnosed Lyme Disease Patients.

Results

Among the CDC samples, antibodies against C6 and/or pepC10 were detected in all seropositive Lyme patients (8/8), but not in sera from seronegative patients or healthy controls (0/24). Serum antibodies against C6 and pepC10 were detected in one of 36 uninfected control subjects (1/36); none were detected in the corresponding MENSA samples (0/36). In samples from newly diagnosed patients, serum antibodies identified 8/12 patients; MENSA antibodies also detected 8/12 patients. The two measures agreed on six positive individuals and differed on four others. In combination, the serum and MENSA tests identified 10/12 early Lyme patients. Typically, serum antibodies persisted 80 days or longer while MENSA antibodies declined to baseline within 40 days of successful treatment.

Discussion

MENSA-based immunoassays present a promising complement to serum immunoassays for diagnosis and tracking therapeutic success in Lyme infections.
Instruments for assessing back pain in athletes: A systematic review
Authors: Azevedo Vinicius Diniz , Ferreira Silva Regina Márcia , de Carvalho Borges Silvia Cristina , Fernades Michele da Silva Valadão , Miñana-Signes Vicente , Monfort-Pañego Manuel , Silva Noll Priscilla Rayanne E. , Noll Matias
Published: November 2023

Back pain in athletes varies with sport, age, and sex, which can impair athletic performance, thereby contributing to retirement. Studies on back pain in this population use questionnaires to assess components, such as pain intensity and location and factors associated with pain, among others. This study aimed to review validated questionnaires that have assessed back pain in athletes. This systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) by searching the databases Embase, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and Scopus. The articles were selected regardless of language and date of publication. Titles and abstracts were independently selected by two reviewers; disagreements were resolved by a third reviewer. All the steps were conducted using the software Rayyan. The methodological quality of the questionnaire validation articles was assessed using a critical appraisal tool checklist proposed by Brink and Louw. The search returned 4748 articles, of which 60 were selected for this review, including 5 questionnaire validation studies. These articles were published between 2004 and 2022, which were performed in more than 20 countries, particularly Germany (14) and Sweden (5). Thirteen different instruments were identified, of which 46.1% were developed in Europe. The most commonly used questionnaires were the Oswestry Disability Index and Nordic Standardized Questionnaire. In addition, five questionnaire validation studies were selected for methodological quality assessment, with only two studies demonstrating high methodological quality. The following three instruments were identified for assessing back pain specifically in athletes: Micheli Functional Scale, Persian Functional Rating Index, and Athlete Disability Index. This review confirmed that all three instruments were specifically designed to assess this condition.
Force plate coverings significantly affect measurement of ground reaction forces
Authors: Smith Tina , Ditroilo Massimiliano
Published: November 2023

The purpose of this study was to carry out a material test to investigate the effect of different force plate coverings on vertical and horizontal ground reaction force and derived parameters. Four surface conditions were analysed; bare plate, vinyl, sportflex, and astroturf on a Kistler force plate. Vertical data were collected by dropping a 2 kg rigid, textured medicine ball from a low (61 cm) and a high (139 cm) height. Horizontal data were collected using a custom-built, rigid, metal pendulum device. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of surface on peak force and rate of force development for high height, low height, and horizontal force conditions (all p<0.001), with effect sizes in the post-hoc analysis being mostly large to very large. Interestingly, sportflex yielded the highest vertical but the lowest horizontal ground reaction forces. This study showed the use of current force platform coverings had a significant effect on peak force and rate of force development measurements during a standardised testing procedure. Future research should try to obtain rate of force development values that more closely replicate aspects of human performance during standardised testing procedures. Also further investigate the effect of the different surfaces on ground reaction forces during human movement.
Information literacy, data literacy, privacy literacy, and ChatGPT
Authors: Lund Brady , Agbaji Daniel , Teel Zoë A.
Published: November 2023

This research delves into the interplay between three pivotal literacies in the digital age–information literacy, data literacy, and privacy literacy—and the receptivity towards the adoption of emerging technology within communities, with a specific focus on the chatbot ChatGPT. Data was gathered through online surveys conducted among adults residing in a four-county region in northern Texas during a two-week period in late 2022, yielding 130 valid responses. The results of regression analysis indicate a positive association between the inclination to utilize ChatGPT for enhancing one's community and proficiency in information literacy and privacy literacy. However, an unexpected observation emerges as data literacy skills do not exhibit a significant relationship with this inclination, despite ChatGPT's standing as a data science innovation. Moreover, age, gender, educational attainment, and internet usage patterns are identified as influential factors in these associations. These findings hold substantial importance in comprehending the intricate dynamics of how diverse literacies and individual and community-related variables mutually shape each other's development.
Credibility of social media influencers: Impact on purchase intention
Authors: Coutinho Francisca , Dias Alvaro , F. Pereira Leandro
Published: November 2023

Nowadays a lot of companies use social media influencers as a marketing strategy. They are a tool for any emerging company that wants to increase consumer numbers of a specific target audience, effective for several generations. This research focuses on examining brand equity and consumers’ attitude and purchase intentions depending on credibility, measured as the expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness of social media influencers. To study these variables, a study hypothesis was made using the PSL-SEM model based on a measured questionnaire. The obtained results suggest that both credibility of social media influencers and brand equity have a positive impact on consumers’ purchase intentions and they are positively interrelated. These results also make it possible to infer that although the independent variable, trustworthiness, does not directly influence brand equity, it has indirect impact through other variables.
Payment implants as an element of human enhancement technology
Authors: Sułkowski Łukasz , Kaczorowska-Spychalska Dominika
Published: November 2023

Technology leads to changes that cause the biosphere and the techno-sphere to interpenetrate and co-evolve. This paper is part of a wider research project on the social acceptance of payment implants as an example of Human Enhancement Technology. At this stage, the focus was on identifying the characteristics attributed to users of this form of augmentation in order to assess social attitudes towards them. The study used the method of projection techniques, recognizing that real attitudes towards payment implants may be unconscious or reluctantly verbalized by a person. The research results indicate that the profile of people using payment implants as perceived by society and the set of characteristics attributed to them differs depending on whether the user is a woman or a man. Attention was also drawn to the differences in social and individual attitudes towards this form of augmentation.
Factors influencing acceptance of Indonesian contact tracing APP: Development of the technology acceptance model
Authors: Priyansyah Rifki Nur , Fuady Ikhsan , Pratamawaty Benazir Bona
Published: November 2023

Contact tracing apps for the COVID-19 have been broadly developed worldwide and Indonesia is no exception. The Indonesian application is called PeduliLindungi. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive understading of the public’s intention to use such applications by incorporating trust, trust in government, privacy concerns, and social influence variables as an extension to the technology acceptance model (TAM). A questionnaire was distributed online through social media to attain 371 participants among Indonesian inhabitants based on the convenience sampling method. Descriptive analysis and covariance-based structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that intention was predicted well by trust, attitude, and social influence. Furthermore, trust in government played a role in predicting the application’s trustworthiness. The government and decision-makers should consider this observation in promoting the PeduliLindungi application, as it could increase its effectiveness.
Sexting, fear of missing out (FOMO), and problematic social network use among adolescents
Authors: Tomczyk Łukasz , Szotkowski Rene
Published: November 2023

The article is part of the current discussion on the scale and mechanisms of selected threats of the digital world to which adolescents are exposed. The text presents data on three e-risks: FOMO, Problematic Use of Social Networks, and sexting. The study covered adolescents aged 13-17 in Poland (N=1053) in 2020. Based on analyses of the quantitative data, it was noted that: 1) Almost half of the adolescents use SNS daily just before going to sleep; 2) Every fourth respondent has multiple features of problematic Internet use (PUI); 3) The majority of adolescents use the Internet in ways not classified as PUI; 4) The age and gender (female) of the respondents is associated with higher levels of PUI; 5) The vast majority of adolescents have no experience of sexting; 6) Adolescents are much more often recipients of materials classified as sexting than creators; 7) Girls receive erotic messages, much more often than boys.
Marginal Artery of Drummond Masquerading as a Fistulous Tract Resulting in Recurrent Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding
Authors: Bejcek Alexis , Ancha Anupama , Amundsen Tyson , Rodich Sean , Smith Steven , Johnson Christopher
Published: November 2023

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) can be caused by a variety of causes. Pseudoaneurysms have been described as a rare etiology of LGIB and are associated with pancreatic pseudocysts that involve adjacent vasculature. Our study describes a 38-year-old man with recent severe coronavirus disease 2019 and necrotizing pancreatitis presenting with hematochezia and blood clots by gastrostomy-jejunostomy. Initial flexible sigmoidoscopy did not elicit an etiology for the LGIB. Recurrent hematochezia prompted colonoscopy and angiography, which demonstrated a pseudoaneurysm in the marginal artery of Drummond as the source. Our case highlights the importance of repeat evaluation of gastrointestinal bleeding of unknown etiology.
Social logistics: Rethinking public transport as a regional distributor of goods in rural areas. Chances for the long-term establishment of a sustainable regional logistics approach
Authors: Greischel Eva , Nagy Emilia , Conrad Alexander , Schäfer Martina
Published: November 2023

This paper presents initial findings on the establishment of a social logistics project in a peripheral rural region in Germany. As part of a real-life laboratory, two services were developed and tested with the aim of improving rural supply: the delivery of regional goods and the return of online orders in cooperation with a regional public transport provider, regional retailers and parcel services. An evaluation team provided support to the project in identifying, monitoring, and documenting the societal impact of the services and promoted impact-oriented project management. The concept of providing services of general interest through social logistics and testing them in a real-world laboratory was based on preliminary work in the region. The results indicate that this approach can promote this type of social logistics in the long term. A social logistics approach does not focus solely on economic aspects but emphasises social and environmental benefits for the region. A real-world laboratory approach enables an environment that promotes open exchange, involvement of different stakeholders and joint problem solving in a reflective, iterative process. This methodological approach enabled the continuation and out-scaling of the service’s core offerings immediately after ending the test phase and is seen as an important prerequisite for establishing a long-term perspective.
Heavy Metal Contamination on Vannamei Shrimp Aquaculture in North Coast of Central Java
Authors: Apresia Fadil , Ambariyanto Ambariyanto , Yulianto Bambang , Payus Carolyn Melissa
Published: November 2023

The North Coast of Central Java receives consignments of waste containing heavy metal contamination from several sources, resulting in a decrease in water quality on the coast. Heavy metal contamination in water sources, such as Pb, Cd, and Cr that will be used in shrimp farming. The impact of Pb, Cd, and Cr can have several adverse effects, such as health risk, ecological imbalance, reduce shrimp growth and productivity, environment pollution. The research was conducted to analyze heavy metal contamination levels in ponds and vannamei shrimp yields on the northern coast of Central Java. The method involved collecting shrimp, water, and sediment samples at nine different locations (Dampyak; Suradadi; Kedongkelor; Danasari; Nyamplungsari; Pesantren; Depok; Wonokerto; Degayu). Heavy metal data were analyzed with SPSS. The mean lead concentrations were 0.52+0.19 mg.kg-1 in sediment, 0.66+0.11 mg.kg-1 in water, and 0.86+0.18 mg.kg-1 in shrimp. Cadmium levels were measured in soil (0.028+0.03 mg.kg-1), water (0.027+0.021 mg.kg-1), and shrimp (0.011+0.004 mg.kg-1). The mean chromium concentrations were 0.51+0.25 mg.kg-1 in sediment, 0.93+0.40 mg.kg-1 in water, and 0.95+0.11 mg.kg-1 in shrimp. Based on the calculation of the average BAF x > 1.0, vannamei shrimp on the northern coast of Central Java have the capability of becoming bioaccumulation and bioindicators. The consumption of vannamei shrimp for 70 years has a lifetime risk of developing cancer due to the LCR value of x > 10-6 on the northern coast of Central Java.
Právní propedeutika v pojetí Leopolda Heyrovského
Authors: Maršálek Pavel
Published: November 2023

The paper deals with the contribution of a prominent legal Romanist to the development of legal propaedeutics (introduction to the study of law). This author dedicated the introductory chapter of his textbook on private Roman law to legal propaedeutics. The paper examines how this text has stood up in comparison with the contributions of the author’s contemporaries, what has made it of timeless significance and, conversely, what within it has been superseded.
Polish-Czechoslovak Cross-border Tourism between 1919 and 1939 in the Light of Polish Legislation
Authors: Ćwikła Leszek
Published: November 2023

The article revolves around Polish-Czechoslovak tourism relations between 1919 and 1939. The author analysed the legislation establishing solutions aimed to facilitate tourism on both sides of the border. The Tourism Convention drawn up in Prague on 30th May 1925 was of key importance in this regard. Attention was also paid to selected provisions of the Polish-Czechoslovak commercial conventions relevant to the development of tourism. The following part of the article examines passport and visa regulations governing departure from Poland to Czechoslovakia and arrival to Poland from Czechoslovakia. The author also studies the foreign exchange regulations that individuals entering Czechoslovakia for tourist purposes had to follow.
Karel Engliš. Paměti. Kdo sloužíš vlasti, nečekej odměny
Authors: Vojáček Ladislav
Published: November 2023

Book review: Karel Engliš. Paměti. Kdo sloužíš vlasti, nečekej odměny. Brno – Praha: MU – Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR, v. v. i., 2022, 598 s.
Tomášek, M. Bilanční zpráva 60
Authors: Maršálek Pavel
Published: November 2023

Book review: Tomášek, M. Bilanční zpráva 60. Praha: Univerzita Karlova – Právnická fakulta, 2023, 192 s.
Zpráva z konference „Second Central and Eastern European Legal History Conference“
Authors: Zapletalová Petra
Published: November 2023

Conference report
An Interactive Biography of the Survivor or a Survivor’s Hologram? Novel Methods of Collecting Holocaust Oral Testimony and Their Determinants
Authors: Papier Sylwia
Published: November 2023

This article aims to discuss the Dimensions in Testimony project, designed and launched by the USC Shoah Foundation to establish a novel approach to collecting oral testimony. The Foundation’s project was initially presented to a wide audience, especially by the U.S. press and researchers, as involving the creation of witness holograms. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Misdescribed by media outlets as based around holograms, this USC Shoah Foundation initiative looks, at least for the moment, to create two-dimensional images based on a long recording process and hours of in-depth interviews. Nevertheless, the project is bound to shape the future of Holocaust testimony and oral history itself. The key challenge for its authors remains to explain what the project actually is and to develop the concept of interactive biography, a name proposed by Stephen Smith, but not fleshed out enough in any academic articles in the author’s opinion. Consequently, this paper aims to discuss the USC Shoah Dimensions in Testimony project as a collection of interactive biographies, with particular emphasis on what an interactive biography is, as well as formulate a definition and propose alternative terms. For this purpose, the author proposes an interdisciplinary approach. To define interactive biography, this article will necessarily describe the mechanisms governing the project, the technique for displaying two-dimensional recordings of survivors, and how this aforementioned interactivity operates in the encounter of two-dimensional images of survivors and the recipients of their testimony. Finally, this paper will also look to answer attendant questions, including whether the project works as a post-memory tool for sharing survivor stories, and how are the survivors expressed in a digital tool.
Post-Peak China in Africa?
Authors: Carmody Padraig
Published: November 2023

China’s increased engagements in Africa over the past two decades have been as notable as they have been controversial. While some have predicted China’s economic stagnation as a result of issues such as debt, supply chain shortening as a result of the impacts of COVID and the impact of strict lockdowns in that country, others see its economy dramatically rebounding. However, it appears that Chinese lending to Africa has now peaked and is in precipitous decline. Other indicators of economic engagement have also decreased and other powers are also now vigorously contesting for space on the continent. This paper examines whether or not we are now in a period “post-peak China in Africa” and the reconfiguration of strategies of influence. The original Ian Taylor Memorial Lecture under the same title held on April 27, 2023 at the University of Pécs has been edited and headings added for clarity, and references included/provided.
Weapons and technology: the economics of Augustine weapons systems
Authors: Hartley Keith
Published: November 2023

Augustine weapons systems are a new class of weapons which are high technology and costly with their unit costs rising between successive generations reflected in inter-generational cost escalation. They have potential for revolutionary change in a nation’s armed forces and defence industries. In the same time frame, another new technology is emerging in the form of cheap drones replacing manned aircraft. Both of these new technologies are assessed in terms of their likely impact on military forces and defence industries. Augustine weapons systems are defined and their substitution effects are identified. There will be opposite effects on industry output, with costly Augustine systems bought in smaller quantities and cheap drones in larger volumes. Evidence is presented on cost escalation for a sample of UK fighter aircraft.
Classification of Models of Two-component Mixtures of Symmetrical Distributions with Zero Kurtosis Coefficient
Authors: Krasilnikov A.I.
Published: November 2023

On the basis of a family of two-component mixtures of distributions, a class K of symmetric non-Gaussian distributions with a zero kurtosis coefficient is defined, which is divided into two groups and five types. The dependence of the fourth-order cumulant on the weight coefficient of the mixture is studied, as a result of which the conditions are determined under which the kurtosis coefficient of the mixture is equal to zero. The use of a two-component mixture of Subbotin distributions for modeling single-vertex symmetric distributions with a zero kurtosis coefficient is justified. Examples of symmetric non-Gaussian distributions with zero kurtosis coefficient are given. The use of class K models gives a practical opportunity at the design stage to compare the effectiveness of the developed methods and systems for non-Gaussian signals with zero coefficients of asymmetry and kurtosis processing.
Україна в епіцентрі цивілізаційного зіткнення: євразійський/рашистський виклик
Authors: Якубова Лариса Дмитрівна
Published: November 2023

У доповіді зазначено, що з початком повномасштабної війни РФ проти України перед вченими-гуманітаріями постав новий потужний науковий виклик: необхідність вивчення такого феномену, як рашизм, його наукової атрибуції, потреба в оновленні методології дослідження тоталітаризму. З різних причин світ сьогодні ще не готовий дати належну оцінку рашизму як глобальній загрозі, а тому головними завданнями вітчизняної гуманітаристики на цьому етапі є забезпечення методологічного підґрунтя розвитку світових тоталітарних студій, широке представлення українського погляду на рашизм і його місце в світовому дискурсі, науковий супровід державної політики щодо протистояння рашистській навалі, посилення опірності українського проєкту, захисту українських інтересів та подолання руйнівних наслідків російсько-української війни в ментальній площині.