bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
One Health concepts and challenges for surveillance, forecasting, and mitigation of plant disease beyond the traditional scope of crop production
Authors: Morris Cindy E. , Géniaux Ghislain , Nédellec Claire , Sauvion Nicolas , Soubeyrand Samuel
Published: August 2021

The One Health approach to understanding disease epidemiology and achieving surveillance and prevention is holistic, while focusing on zoonotic diseases. Many of its principles are similar to those espoused in agroecology, begetting the question of what One Health can contribute—in practice—to preventing plant disease. Here we describe four knowledge challenges for plant health management that have arisen from the One Health experience for zoonotic diseases that could boost prospects for novel approaches to plant disease surveillance, prediction, and prevention. The challenges are to (a) uncover reservoirs and revise pathogen life histories, (b) elucidate drivers of virulence beyond the context of direct host–pathogen interactions, (c) account for the natural highways of long‐distance dissemination (i.e., surface water and air mass movement), and (d) update disease forecasts in the face of changing land use, cultivation practices, and climate. Furthermore, we note that implementation of a One Health approach to disease surveillance and prevention will require mobilization of tools to deal with the representation and accessibility of massive and heterogeneous data and knowledge; with knowledge inference, data science, modelling, and pattern recognition; and multi‐actor approaches that unite different sectors of society as well as different scientific disciplines. The infrastructure to build and the obstacles to overcome for a bona fide One Health approach to disease surveillance and prevention are key commonalities where actors in the efforts to prevent zoonotic diseases and plant disease can work together for the management of biodiversity and consequently human, animal, and plant health.
Social status affects how third parties assess unfairly shared losses and unfairly shared gains
Authors: Liu Yingjie , Wang He , Li Lina , Tian Tian , Li Jingyang , DiFabrizio Baxter , Liu Yaozhong
Published: August 2021

The present paper focused on how a third party’s social status affects third‐party intervention to maintain social fairness. Study 1 adopted a quasi‐experimental design. Selecting high and low‐status members of real social groups, we observed that high‐status individuals intervened more forcibly and more frequently when assessing the fairness of players’ behavior in a dictator game (DG). The manifestation of social status is generally divided into power and economic capital. In Study 2a, using the same DG punishment–compensation paradigm we randomly assigned the third party in the lab to high, medium, and low impact conditions, where their actions had relative multiplier effects on the resources retained by dictators and recipients. This tested whether the power to influence the situation would systematically affect third party’s behavior. We found that greater influence predicted increased interventions. Study 2b investigated the influence of economic capital or intrinsic wealth on a third party’s altruistic behavior by varying how much capital the third party had at their disposal to spend on punishment or recompensing. Having high capital predicted an increase in the size of penalty inflicted or compensation offered, but resource abundance had no effect on the likelihood that the third party would intervene. In conclusion, the paper showed that the social status of the third party truly does affect their altruistic interventions and the impact of social status on altruistic behaviors for maintaining fairness by the third party occurred primarily through the third parties’ perception of their power. Furthermore, the influence of gain and loss contexts and social status on third‐party punishment and compensation were independent of each other. This paper provided a new perspective for third‐party altruistic behaviors and help to clarify the view of social fairness.
Oral dexamethasone sodium phosphate solution significantly reduces pruritus and clinical lesions in feline hypersensitivity dermatitis: an open‐label study
Authors: McClintock Dayle , Austel Michaela , Gogal Robert M. , Banovic Frane
Published: August 2021

Background

There are no liquid oral glucocorticoids labelled for management of pruritus and clinical lesions of feline hypersensitivity dermatitis (feline HD).

Hypothesis

First, to demonstrate that dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DexSP, DexajectSP, Henry Schein; Dublin, OH, USA; 4 mg/mL), an intravenous glucocorticoid, can be absorbed by healthy cats when administered orally. Second, to demonstrate the efficacy of orally administered DexSP for reducing pruritus and clinical lesions in patients with feline HD.

Animals

Seven healthy and 12 client‐owned cats with HD.

Methods and materials

Healthy cats were administered a single dose of 0.2 mg/kg DexSP p.o. and serum concentrations were measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Feline HD patients were assessed with SCORing Feline Allergic Dermatitis (SCORFAD) and pruritus Visual Analog Scale (pVAS) at Visit 1 (V1) and after 20–31 days of receiving 0.2 mg/kg/day DexSP p.o. (V2). Complete blood cell counts, serum chemistry profile, and urinalysis were performed in 50% of feline HD patients at both visits.

Results

Healthy cats had detectable serum concentrations of DexSP following oral administration; concentrations ranged from 0.7 to 92.3 ng/mL. Feline HD patients showed significant decreases in SCORFAD and pVAS scores from V1 to V2.

Conclusions

DexSP was absorbed when administered orally to healthy cats and 0.2 mg/kg/day DexSP is an efficacious dose to rapidly improve the pruritus and clinical lesions associated with feline HD.
State‐of‐the‐art review of human autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBD)
Authors: Zeng Faith A.P. , Murrell Dedee F.
Published: August 2021

Autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) are a heterogenous group of skin conditions, broadly classified into two categories depending on the location of blister formation: intraepidermal blistering in the pemphigus group and subepidermal blistering in the pemphigoid group. Although AIBDs occur in both humans and animals, the arsenal of data for human AIBDs far exceeds those of their animal counterpart. Therefore, the main purpose of this review is to highlight existing knowledge, and recent advances in the diagnosis and management of AIBDs in humans – to serve as a road map for veterinary dermatologists.

Areas covered

Recent findings include complement‐independent pathways in the pathogenesis of bullous pemphigoid, as well as the role of desmoglein and desmocollin autoantibodies in inducing acantholysis. Systemic glucocorticoids are the mainstay of treatment for AIBDs in humans, yet their long‐term use is associated with severe adverse effects and complications, thereby limiting their use. Therefore, researchers have been exploring new and safer alternative therapeutic options for human AIBDs such as anti‐CD20 monoclonal antibodies (Rituximab), Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi) and neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) blockers.

Expert opinion

Randomised controlled trial (RCT) level evidence show that Rituximab and short‐course GC regimes are more effective and safer than traditional GC treatment for human AIBDs. FcRn blockers such as SYNT001 have shown positive results in preliminary phase 2 clinical trials for treatment of human pemphigus; further trials are required. Rilzabrutinib (PRN1008), an orally administered BTKi, has recently completed phase 2 trials in pemphigus and is in a phase 3 RCT in humans.
Evaluation of depth gauge accuracy in a canine tibial plateau leveling osteotomy model
Authors: McChesney David , Langenbach Anke , Kruger Karalynn , C. Garcia Tanya , Marcellin‐Little Denis J.
Published: August 2021

Objective

To evaluate the accuracy of six depth gauges used in three tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) plate holes.

Study design

Ex vivo experimental study.

Animals and sample population

Cadaveric canine limbs (n = 10), one 25‐mm‐thick wood board, and one 33.8‐mm‐diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe.

Methods

A TPLO was performed on 10 canine cadaveric pelvic limbs. Three 3.5‐mm plate holes were filled with screws. The remaining three plate holes: a compression hole, a combination compression‐locking hole, and a stacked combination compression‐locking hole were measured by three observers using six commercial depth gauges and using a micrometer as gold standard. The process was repeated on one wood board and one PVC pipe.

Results

Bone measurements collected using two depth gauges with base diameter < 5 mm were smaller than measurements collected using the four depth gauges with base diameter > 5.5 mm (p ranging from < .001 to .038). Mean depth gauge measurements were smaller than micrometer measurements by 2.20 mm for the compression hole, 0.82 mm for the combination hole, and 3.57 mm for the stacked combination hole. Measurement differences among depth gauges were also present for wood board and PVC pipe measurements. Bone measurement variability between depth gauges was less for the combination and compression holes than for the stacked combination hole.

Conclusion

Depth gauges lacked accuracy. Measurements differed among gauges and measurement variability varied based on plate hole geometry.

Clinical relevance

Depth gauge measurement accuracy varies based on measuring devices and on 3.5‐mm plate hole geometry.
Análise Semiótica de Sinais Fotométricos: II - Construção de Redundâncias de Ordem Superior
Authors: Vieira Jorge De Albuquerque
Published: August 2021

We present the computation of the redundancies of higher levels in a natural language outlined in photometrical signals. The semantical content refers to aspects of the local pollution of the Rio de Janeiro sky. A basic codification, the alphabet and the first order redundance were developed in previous papers. Problems concerning the growth of alphabet and a quantitative analysis of tipical "words" in the phenomenous are also studied.
Caracterização Morfométrica do Alto Macacu: Uma abordagem Quantitativa
Authors: Argento Mauro Sergio Fernandes
Published: August 2021

This paper correlates the main components of the drainage net with hight Macacu basin. The main objective is to show a group of quantitative techiniques applied in analysis of drainage nets. Classifications by Sturges Algoritms, Correlations Analysis and Cluster Analysis, were used with the drainage papameters. Similatiry matriz were analysed and several conclusions were established to hight Macacu (superior part of drainage basin) and for all drainage basin.
Extinction and Permanence Analysis of Stochastic Predator-Prey Model With Disease, Ratio-Dependent Type Functional Response and Nonlinear Incidence Rate
Authors: Xu Conghui , Yu Yongguang , Ren Guojian , Hai Xudong , Lu Zhenzhen
Published: August 2021

This paper is aimed to investigate a stochastic predator-prey model with disease in both species, which is also considered with ratio-dependent type functional response and nonlinear incidence rate. First, the existence and uniqueness of positive solution is discussed. Then, some sufficient conditions are established to ensure the solution is stochastically ultimate boundedness and permanent. Also, the extinction of susceptible prey, infected prey, susceptible predator and infected predator are analyzed, respectively. Furthermore, the boundedness of moments and upper-growth rate estimation are investigated. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate our main results.
Chatter Stability of Serrated Milling Tools in Frequency Domain
Authors: Farahani Nima Dabiri , Altintas Yusuf
Published: August 2021

Serrated milling tools are widely used for chatter suppression in roughing difficult-to-cut Titanium and Nickel alloys in the aerospace industry. Due to the complexity of chip generation and serration wave geometries ground on the flutes, the chatter stability diagrams are predicted with time marching numerical simulation or semi-discrete time-domain methods, which are computationally too costly to use in practice. This paper presents a frequency domain model of milling dynamics with variable delays caused by the flute serrations. The endmill is divided into discrete cylindrical elements, each having a different radius from the cutter axis. As the cutter rotates and cuts metal, the angular distance between the subsequent tooth varies as a function of serration amplitudes and feedrate; hence, the regenerative delays vary. The angular delays and effective directional factors are averaged for each tooth to form a time-independent but serration-dependent characteristics equation for all discrete cutter elements. The stability of the resulting characteristic equation of the system is solved using Nyquist theory and compared against the experimental results and existing time marching and semi-discrete time-domain solutions. The proposed analytical model predicts the stability charts about 30 times faster than the time-domain models while providing acceptable accuracy.
Algal Biomass Harvesting Using Low-Grade Waste Heat: Investigation of Dewatering Algal Suspension by Evaporation
Authors: Yazdi Ramin E. , Garoma Temesgen
Published: August 2021

This study investigated the feasibility of harvesting algae biomass using an original and novel method that uses low-grade waste heat with an integrated heat exchanger, evaporation tank, and reservoir system. Several experiments were conducted. The experimental results showed good agreement with theoretical results estimated with a stagnant-film model. As the inlet gas temperature increased from 175 to 245 °C, the evaporation rate increased by 100%, while an 85% increase was achieved as the air speed increased from 0 to 3.5 m/s. It was also observed that the evaporation rate slightly decreased when doubling the volume of the reservoir while it is independent of the duration of experiment. The amount of lipid extracted from centrifuged algae was slightly higher than algae harvested by evaporation. However, the total amount of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) was significantly higher, by 24%, for the algae harvested by evaporation compared with centrifugation. The FAMEs profiles were the same for both methods and about 98% of FAMEs were C-16 and C-18 carbon chains which are the main components of the algal biodiesel. The method has a potential to be developed into a cost-effective and energy efficient algal biomass dewatering method. It uses low-grade waste heat, which is cheap and readily available, and has simple and inexpensive structure. It was also demonstrated that modifying the proposed system, by adding a second heat exchanger in series, improved the water evaporation rate by 58–121%, depending on the operating conditions.
Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Performance of Al2O3/Water and TiO2/Water Nanofluids in Tube Fitted With Simple or Modified Spiral Tape Inserts
Authors: Khurana Deepak , Subudhi Sudhakar
Published: August 2021

The present paper deals with the forced convection and pressure drop of Al2O3/water and TiO2/water nanofluids with the presence of inserts in a circular tube. The constant heat flux is maintained around the copper tube with the help of a nichrome wire heater. Two types of inserts are used: simple and modified spiral tape inserts. The modified spiral tape is consisting of zig-zag cuts having notches (or grooves) and projected parts. The Nusselt number, friction factor, and thermal performance factor are calculated for different cases: (1) tube with distilled water, (2) tube with distilled water and inserts, and (3) tube with nanofluids and inserts. The empirical correlations are developed for all these cases. For Al2O3/water nanofluids, the Nu values decrease with the increase in concentrations, whereas for TiO2/water nanofluids, the Nu values have highest at 0.05% concentration; then, there is a decreasing order with the concentrations of 0.075% and 0.1%. It is observed that modified spiral tape inserts with twist ratios of 3.04 and 4.35 effectively enhance the heat transfer without extra penalty of pumping power.
Confidence in Flame Impulse Response Estimation From Large Eddy Simulation With Uncertain Thermal Boundary Conditions
Authors: Kulkarni Sagar , Guo Shuai , Silva Camilo F. , Polifke Wolfgang
Published: August 2021

Thermoacoustic stability analysis is an essential part of the engine development process. Typically, thermoacoustic stability is determined by hybrid approaches. These approaches require information on the flame dynamic response. The combined approach of advanced system identification (SI) and large eddy simulation (LES) is an efficient strategy to compute the flame dynamic response to flow perturbation in terms of the finite impulse response (FIR). The identified FIR is uncertain due in part to the aleatoric uncertainties caused by applying SI on systems with combustion noise and partly due to epistemic uncertainties caused by lack of knowledge of operating or boundary conditions. Carrying out traditional uncertainty quantification techniques, such as Monte Carlo, in the framework of LES/SI would be computationally prohibitive. As a result, the present paper proposes a methodology to build a surrogate model in the presence of both aleatoric and epistemic uncertainties. Specifically, we propose a univariate Gaussian Process (GP) surrogate model, where the final trained GP takes into account the uncertainty of SI and the uncertainty in the combustor back plate temperature, which is known to have a considerable impact on the flame dynamics. The GP model is trained on the FIRs obtained from the LES/SI of turbulent premixed swirled combustor at different combustor back plate temperatures. Due to the change in the combustor back plate temperature the flame topology changes, which in turn influences the FIR. The trained GP model is successful in interpolating the FIR with confidence intervals covering the “true” FIR from LES/SI.
Environmentally adaptive automated recognition of underwater mines with synthetic aperture sonar imagery
Authors: Brandes T. Scott , Ballard Brett , Ramakrishnan Sowmya , Lockhart Ethan , Marchand Bradley , Rabenold Patrick
Published: August 2021

This work demonstrates that automated mine countermeasure (MCM) tasks are greatly facilitated by characterizing the seafloor environment in which the sensors operate as a first step within a comprehensive strategy for how to exploit information from available sensors, multiple detector types, measured features, and target classifiers, depending on the specific seabed characteristics present within the high-frequency synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imagery used to perform MCM tasks. This approach is able to adapt as environmental characteristics change and includes the ability to recognize novel seabed types. Classifiers are then adaptively retrained through active learning in these unfamiliar seabed types, resulting in improved mitigation of challenging environmental clutter as it is encountered. Further, a segmentation constrained network algorithm is introduced to enable enhanced generalization abilities for recognizing mine-like objects from underrepresented environments within the training data. Additionally, a fusion approach is presented that allows the combination of multiple detectors, feature types spanning both measured expert features and deep learning, and an ensemble of classifiers for the particular seabed mixture proportions measured around each detected target. The environmentally adaptive approach is demonstrated to provide the best overall performance for automated mine-like object recognition.
Speech and noise levels measured in occupied K–12 classrooms
Authors: Wang Lily M. , Brill Laura C.
Published: August 2021

This project acquired sound levels logged across six school days and impulse responses in 220 classrooms across four K–12 grades. Seventy-four percent met reverberation time recommendations. Sound levels were processed to estimate occupied signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), using Gaussian mixture modeling and from daily equivalent and statistical levels. A third method, k-means clustering, estimated SNR more precisely, separating data on nine dimensions into one group with high levels across speech frequencies and one without. The SNRs calculated as the daily difference between the average levels for the speech and non-speech clusters are found to be lower than 15 dB in 27.3% of the classrooms and differ from using the other two methods. The k-means data additionally indicate that speech occurred 30.5%–81.2% of the day, with statistically larger percentages found in grade 3 compared to higher grades. Speech levels exceeded 65 dBA 35% of the day, and non-speech levels exceeded 50 dBA 32% of the day, on average, with grades 3 and 8 experiencing speech levels exceeding 65 dBA statistically more often than the other two grades. Finally, classroom speech and non-speech levels were significantly correlated, with a 0.29 dBA increase in speech levels for every 1 dBA in non-speech levels.
Interaction between voice-gender difference and spatial separation in release from masking in multi-talker listening environments
Authors: Oh Yonghee , Bridges Sarah E. , Schoenfeld Hannah , Layne Allison O. , Eddins David
Published: August 2021

Voice-gender difference and spatial separation between talkers are important cues for speech segregation in multi-talker listening environments. The goal of this study was to investigate the interactions of these two cues to explore how they influence masking release in normal hearing listeners. Speech recognition thresholds in competing speech were measured, and masking release benefits by either voice-gender difference or spatial separation cues were calculated. Results revealed that the masking releases by those two cues are inversely related as a function of spatial separation, with a gender-specific difference of transition between the two types of masking release.
On the inverse quenching technique applied to gelatin solutions
Authors: Avallone Pietro Renato , Pasquino Rossana , Costanzo Salvatore , Sarrica Andrea , Delmonte Marco , Greco Francesco , Grizzuti Nino
Published: August 2021

Gelatin gels are known to be nonequilibrium systems, because of the continuous growth and rearrangements of physical junctions, even in the solidlike state. Establishing a relationship between the relative degree of cross-linking and macroscopic elasticity would be crucial in understanding, modeling, and predicting the transformation processes of gelatin solutions. Performing rheological experiments on a distinct gel structure, with a definite number of cross-links, is, however, a challenging task. In isothermal conditions, indeed, the density of physical cross-links changes indefinitely, and network evolution cannot be arrested. Inspired by the inverse quenching technique applied in the past to semicrystalline polymers, we here apply an unusual thermal history to an aqueous solution of gelatin in the semiconcentrated regime (6.67%w pig-skin gelatin), in order to freeze the system in a metastable condition for a time sufficiently long to perform a rheological characterization. The solution, initially kept in the sol state at 60°C, is rapidly cooled below gelation temperature, and isothermal gelation is started at 10°C. After soaking at this low temperature for a given time, the sample is rapidly heated (inverse quenching) up to a value in the range 24–29 °C, where kinetics is monitored. If the waiting time at low temperature and the inverse quenching temperature are suitably chosen, sample elasticity will remain stationary for a relatively large time window, and rheological experiments can then be reliably performed.
Aerobic Physical Exercise for Pain Intensity, Aerobic Capacity, and Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: García-Correa Hansel R. , Sánchez-Montoya Lida J. , Daza-Arana Jorge E. , Ordoñez-Mora Leidy T.
Published: August 2021

Background: Currently, chronic pain is a disabling condition that is difficult to manage, which generates a high burden on health systems. The objective is to determine the effects of aerobic physical exercise in adults with chronic pain.Methods: A systematic review of searches in databases including MEDLINE, LILACS, ScienceDirect, PEDro, OTseeker, The Cochrane Library, EBSCO, and Google Scholar was conducted. The search process was carried out until July 31, 2020, and the study selection process was independently carried out through a criteria analysis for each phase. Outcome measures were chosen: aerobic capacity, physical function, quality of life, and pain.Results: Twenty-seven studies were included in which aerobic exercise was considered as an option to treat chronic pain. These studies showed significant results compared with other treatment options in terms of pain measurements (−0.22 [−0.42 to −0.03]) and aerobic capacity. For quality of life, there were significant improvements in the physical function component over the mental health component evaluated with the short form health survey-36/12.Conclusion: Aerobic exercise is a nonpharmacological therapeutic option for treatment. Also, aerobic capacity and endurance improved when this type of exercise was prescribed, thus resulting in a substantial improvement in the quality of life of people suffering from chronic pain.
Effect of Load, Angle, and Contraction Type on Clinically Assessed Knee Joint Position Sense
Authors: Haggerty Adam L. , Simon Janet E. , Grooms Dustin R. , Russell Jeffrey A.
Published: August 2021

Context: Proprioception is an individual’s awareness of body position in 3-dimensional space. How proprioceptive acuity changes under varying conditions such as joint position, load, and concentric or eccentric contraction type is not well understood. In addition, a limitation of the variety of techniques to assess proprioception is the lack of clinically feasible methods to capture proprioceptive acuity. The purpose of this study was to implement a readily available instrument, a smartphone, in the clinical evaluation of knee active joint position sense and to determine how joint angle, joint loading, and quadriceps contraction type affect an individual’s active joint position sense. Design: Cross-over study. Methods: Twenty healthy, physically active university participants (10 women and 10 men: 21.4 [2.0] y; 1.73 [0.1] m; 70.9 [14.3] kg) were recruited. Individuals were included if they had no neurological disorder, no prior knee surgery, and no recent knee injury. The participants were given a verbal instruction to locate a target angle and then were tasked with reproducing the target angle without visual or verbal cues. An accelerometer application on a smartphone was used to assess the angle to the nearest tenth of a degree. Three variables, each with 2 levels, were analyzed in this study: load (weighted and unweighted), contraction type (eccentric and concentric), and joint position (20° and 70°). A repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to assess the within-subjects factors of load, contraction, and position. Results: A significant difference of 0.50° (0.19°) of greater error with eccentric versus concentric contraction (P = .02) type was identified. In addition, a significant interaction was found for contraction × position, with a mean increase in error of 0.98° (0.33°) at the 20° position when contracting eccentrically (P = .03). Conclusions: Contraction type, specifically eccentric contraction at 20°, showed significantly greater error than concentric contraction. This suggests that, during eccentric contractions of the quadriceps, there may be decreased proprioceptive sensitivity compared with concentric contractions.
The air investigator
Authors: Starr Douglas
Published: August 2021

For Joseph Allen, the pandemic has made the connection between indoor air quality and human health clearer than ever
Semiconductor quantum dots: Technological progress and future challenges
Authors: García de Arquer F. Pelayo , Talapin Dmitri V. , Klimov Victor I. , Arakawa Yasuhiko , Bayer Manfred , Sargent Edward H.
Published: August 2021

Advances in colloidal quantum dots

The confinement found in colloidal semiconductor quantum dots enables the design of materials with tunable properties. García de Arquer
et al
. review the recent advances in methods for synthesis and surface functionalization of quantum dots that enable fine tuning of their optical, chemical, and electrical properties. These important developments have driven the commercialization of display and lighting applications and provide promising developments in the related fields of lasing and sensing. —MSL
Modeling of emergent memory and voltage spiking in ionic transport through angstrom-scale slits
Authors: Robin Paul , Kavokine Nikita , Bocquet Lydéric
Published: August 2021

Confined flow effects

Most memory resistor (“memristor”) systems use electrons as the charge carrier but it may also be possible to use ionic carriers, similar to the way that neurons work. Robin
et al
. studied an aqueous electrolyte confined into a pseudo two-dimensional gap between two graphite layers (see the Perspective by Hou and Hou). The authors observed a current–voltage relation that exhibits hysteresis, and the conductance depends on the history of the system, also known as the memresistor effect. Using simulations of their system, they can model the emission of voltage spikes characteristic of neuromorphic activity. —MSL
To move beyond the paradigms of Western medicine
Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
Rupa Marya and Raj Patel
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021. 496 pp.
Authors: Ford Chandra L.
Published: August 2021

A pair of authors aspire to decolonize medicine through liminality, fugitivity, and abolition
Complete and Circularized Genome Sequences of Three
Xanthomonas
Strains Pathogenic on Soybean and Alfalfa
Authors: Ruh Mylène , Briand Martial , Bonneau Sophie , Darrasse Armelle , Jacques Marie-Agnès , Chen Nicolas W. G.
Published: August 2021

We report the complete and circularized genome sequences of two strains of
Xanthomonas citri
pv. glycines causing bacterial pustule on soybean and one strain of
Xanthomonas euvesicatoria
pv. alfalfae causing bacterial leaf and stem spot on alfalfa. These assemblies provide high-quality material for functional and evolutionary studies of these legume pathogens.
Complete Genome Sequence of Enterobacter asburiae Strain AEB30, Determined Using Illumina and PacBio Sequencing
Authors: Tran Thao D. , Hnasko Robert , Huynh Steven , Parker Craig T. , Gorski Lisa , McGarvey Jeffery A.
Published: August 2021

The complete genome sequence of
Enterobacter asburiae
strain AEB30 is presented. The strain was isolated from store-bought ginger in Albany, CA, in 2016.
Complete Genome Assemblies of Three Highly Prevalent, Toxigenic Clostridioides difficile Strains Causing Health Care-Associated Infections in Australia
Authors: O’Grady Keeley , Riley Thomas V. , Knight Daniel R.
Published: August 2021

Clostridioides difficile
infection (CDI) is the leading cause of life-threatening health care-related gastrointestinal illness worldwide. Phylogenetically appropriate closed reference genomes are essential for studies of
C. difficile
transmission and evolution. Here, we provide high-quality complete hybrid genome assemblies for the three most prevalent
C. difficile
strains causing CDI in Australia.
Near-Complete Genome Sequences of Nine SARS-CoV-2 Strains Harboring the D614G Mutation in Malaysia
Authors: Zainulabid Ummu Afeera , Kamarudin Norhidayah , Zulkifly Ahmad Hafiz , Gan Han Ming , Tay Darren Dean , Siew Shing Wei , Mat Yassim Aini Syahida , Soffian Sharmeen Nellisa , Mohd Faudzi Ahmad Afif , Gazali Ahmad Mahfuz , Maniam Gaanty Pragas , Ahmad Hajar Fauzan
Published: August 2021

Here, we report the nearly complete genome sequences of nine SARS-CoV-2 variants with the D614G mutation. These viruses were detected from various infected individuals with different levels of severity from Pahang, Malaysia. In addition, this study described the presence of lineage B.1.351 as a type of variant of concern (VOC), lineage B.1.466.2, and lineage B.1.524 as a local variant.
High frequency dorsal column spinal cord stimulation for management of erythromelalgia
Authors: Lam Christopher M , Zayed Hadi , Sayed Dawood
Published: August 2021

Erythromelalgia is a rare hereditary channelopathy affecting the Nav1.7 sodium channel. Patients afflicted with this condition suffer from pain in their hands and feet, with vasomotor changes including flushing and redness to the distal upper and lower extremities. Current treatment modalities for this condition include pharmacological therapies (neuropathic medications), behavioural interventions, lumbar epidural infusions with local anaesthetics and sympathetic nerve blocks. Despite these treatments, many patients may have refractory pain. In these situations, there may be a role for dorsal column spinal cord stimulation for management of their pain. Here, we present the case of a 21-year-old man with 9-year history of refractory erythromelalgia successfully treated with paresthesia-free dorsal column spinal cord stimulation.
Biallelic GINS2 variant p.(Arg114Leu) causes Meier-Gorlin syndrome with craniosynostosis
Authors: Nabais Sá Maria J , Miller Kerry A , McQuaid Mary , Koelling Nils , Wilkie Andrew O M , Wurtele Hugo , de Brouwer Arjan P M , Oliveira Jorge
Published: August 2021

Introduction

Replication of the nuclear genome is an essential step for cell division. Pathogenic variants in genes coding for highly conserved components of the DNA replication machinery cause Meier-Gorlin syndrome (MGORS).

Objective

Identification of novel genes associated with MGORS.

Methods

Exome sequencing was performed to investigate the genotype of an individual presenting with prenatal and postnatal growth restriction, a craniofacial gestalt of MGORS and coronal craniosynostosis. The analysis of the candidate variants employed bioinformatic tools, in silico structural protein analysis and modelling in budding yeast.

Results

A novel homozygous missense variant NM_016095.2:c.341G>T, p.(Arg114Leu), in GINS2 was identified. Both non-consanguineous healthy parents carried this variant. Bioinformatic analysis supports its classification as pathogenic. Functional analyses using yeast showed that this variant increases sensitivity to nicotinamide, a compound that interferes with DNA replication processes. The phylogenetically highly conserved residue p.Arg114 localises at the docking site of CDC45 and MCM5 at GINS2. Moreover, the missense change possibly disrupts the effective interaction between the GINS complex and CDC45, which is necessary for the CMG helicase complex (Cdc45/MCM2–7/GINS) to accurately operate. Interestingly, our patient’s phenotype is strikingly similar to the phenotype of patients with CDC45-related MGORS, particularly those with craniosynostosis, mild short stature and patellar hypoplasia.

Conclusion

GINS2 is a new disease-associated gene, expanding the genetic aetiology of MGORS.
Indigenizing the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation
Authors: Hessami Mateen A. , Bowles Ella , Popp Jesse N. , Ford Adam T.
Published: August 2021

Although a diversity of approaches to wildlife management persists in Canada and the United States of America, the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM) is a prevailing model for state, provincial, and federal agencies. The success of the NAM is both celebrated and refuted amongst scholars, with most arguing that a more holistic approach is needed. Colonial rhetoric permeates each of the NAM’s constituent tenets—yet, beyond these cultural and historical problems are the NAM’s underlying conservation values. In many ways, these values share common ground with various Indigenous worldviews. For example, the idea of safeguarding wildlife for future generations, utilizing best available knowledge to solve problems, prioritizing collaboration between nations, and democratizing the process of conserving wildlife all overlap in the many ways that the NAM and common models of Indigenous-led conservation are operationalized. Working to identify shared visions and address necessary amendments of the NAM will advance reconciliation, both in the interest of nature and society. Here, we identify the gaps and linkages between the NAM and Indigenous-led conservation efforts across Canada. We impart a revised NAM—the Indigenizing North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (I-NAM)—that interweaves various Indigenous worldviews and conservation practice from across Canada. We emphasize that the I-NAM should be a continuous learning process that seeks to update and coexist with the NAM, but not replace Indigenous-led conservation.
Mass correction and deformation of slowly rotating anisotropic neutron stars based on Hartle–Thorne formalism
Authors: Pattersons M. L. , Sulaksono A.
Published: August 2021

Due to their compactness, neutron stars are the best study matter in high density and strong-field gravity. Hartle and Thorne have proposed a good approximation or perturbation procedure within general relativity for slowly rotating relativistic stars by assuming the matter inside the stars is an ideal isotropic fluid. This study extends the analytical Hartle–Thorne formalism for slowly rotating neutron stars, including the possibility that the neutron star pressure can be anisotropic. We study the impact of neutron stars’ anisotropy pressure on mass correction and deformation numerically. For the anisotropic model, we use the Bowers-Liang model. For the equation of state of neutron stars, we use a relativistic mean-field BSP parameter set with the hyperons, and for the crust equation of state, we use the one of Miyatsu et al. We have found that the mass of neutron stars increases but the radius decreases by increasing $$\lambda _{BL}$$

λ

BL

value. Therefore, the NS compactness increases when $$\lambda _{BL}$$

λ

BL

becomes larger. This fact leads to a condition in which NS is getting harder to deformed when the $$\lambda _{BL}$$

λ

BL

increased.
Dynamics and epicyclic motions of particles around the Schwarzschild–de Sitter black hole in perfect fluid dark matter
Authors: Rayimbaev Javlon , Shaymatov Sanjar , Jamil Mubasher
Published: August 2021

In this paper, we investigate circular orbits for test particles around the Schwarzschild–de Sitter (dS) black hole surrounded by perfect fluid dark matter. We determine the region of circular orbits bounded by innermost and outermost stable circular orbits. We show that the impact of the perfect fluid dark matter shrinks the region where circular orbits can exist as the values of both innermost and outermost stable circular orbits decrease. We find that for specific lower and upper values of the dark matter parameter there exist double matching values for inner and outermost stable circular orbits. It turns out that the gravitational attraction due to the dark matter contribution dominates over cosmological repulsion. This gives rise to a remarkable result in the Schwarzschild–de Sitter black hole surrounded by dark matter field in contrast to the Schwarzschild–de Sitter metric. Finally, we study epicyclic motion and its frequencies with their applications to twin peak quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) for various models. We find the corresponding values of the black hole parameters which could best fit and explain the observed twin peak QPO object GRS 1915+109 from microquasars.
Effect of device structure on signal measurement of zinc oxide nanocolumn-based resonant cavity hydrophones
Authors: Cheng Chih-Kai , Chang Shun-Hsyung , Yang Chih-Chin , Lee Jenny Chih-Yu , Liu Yu-Mei , Fang Yi-Chin , Lee Hsiao-Yi , Yang Cheng-Fu
Published: August 2021

Hydrophones with three different resonant cavities (microscope slide, cavity with 9.8 mm diameter and 5.7 mm[Formula: see text] curve surface, and cavity with 14 mm diameter and 6.5 mm[Formula: see text] curve surface) and with two different electrode structures (interdigital electrode, without the interdigital electrode but with top–bottom structure) were designed and fabricated. Zinc oxide (ZnO) film was deposited on indium–tin oxide/glass as seed layer and ZnO nanocolumns were grown as the piezoelectric material. Grown ZnO nanocolumns were used in all samples as the sound receiver of all designed hydrophones to enhance the sensing effect and efficiency of fabricated hydrophones. The electrode mask was then adhered on the surfaces of ZnO nanocolumns to complete the electrodes of designed resonant cavity. While measuring the hydrophones without interdigitated electrode, the measurement probes were contacted directly on the substrate and on the top layer of the material. Finally, the resonant cavities in all designed hydrophones were encapsulated using epoxy resin to finish the package of the fabricated hydrophones, and then the sound receiving performance of the hydrophones was evaluated in the water and the results were well compared in this study.
The structural, magnetic and electrical transport properties of perovskite La0.67Sr0.33Mn1−x(VMn)xO3: The B-sites vacancies as a rapier
Authors: Ji Denghui , Zhang Bin , Yang Yong , Wang Shuling , Liu Yingdi , Shi Yuanping , Feng Shunzhen , Zhao Cuijian , Shi Shaohui , Zhang Qingqing
Published: August 2021

The polycrystalline samples of manganites perovskite [Formula: see text] with B-sites vacancies were synthesized using the conventional solid-state reaction method. The results based on the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analyses show that the samples with [Formula: see text] have a secondary phase of lanthanum oxides. It indicates there is a maximum vacancy content at the B-sites with [Formula: see text]. By X-ray Photoelectron Spectra (XPS), the ionicities of oxygen were determined to be 0.762, 0.842, and 0.886, corresponding to [Formula: see text], 0.03, and 0.05, respectively. The B-sites vacancy plays an important role in magnetic performances: (i) B-sites vacancy changes the contents and the average cant angle of Mn cations, and makes the specific saturation magnetization at 100 K and 300 K increase, and then decrease rapidly. (ii) The Curie temperature changes in a small range from 363.93 K to 366.00 K, resulting from both the double exchange interaction increasing and the double exchange path destroyed by the vacancies. (iii) The magnetoresistance (MR) at room temperature achieves 6.97% in the [Formula: see text] sample, whose value is larger than that of [Formula: see text] sample.
The Political Economy of Deep Integration
Authors: Maggi Giovanni , Ossa Ralph
Published: August 2021

Modern trade agreements no longer emphasize basic trade liberalization but instead focus on international policy coordination in a much broader sense. In this review we introduce the emerging literature on the political economy of such deep integration agreements. We organize our discussion around three main points. First, the political conflict surrounding trade agreements is moving beyond the classic antagonism of exporter interests who gain from trade and import-competing interests who lose from trade. Second, there is a more intense popular backlash against deep integration agreements than there was against shallow integration agreements. Finally, the welfare economics of trade agreements has become more complex, in the sense that the goal of achieving freer trade is no longer sufficient as a guide to evaluating the efficiency of international agreements.
Growth and Division of the Peptidoglycan Matrix
Authors: Rohs Patricia D.A. , Bernhardt Thomas G.
Published: August 2021

Most bacteria are surrounded by a peptidoglycan cell wall that defines their shape and protects them from osmotic lysis. The expansion and division of this structure therefore plays an integral role in bacterial growth and division. Additionally, the biogenesis of the peptidoglycan layer is the target of many of our most effective antibiotics. Thus, a better understanding of how the cell wall is built will enable the development of new therapies to combat the rise of drug-resistant bacterial infections. This review covers recent advances in defining the mechanisms involved in assembling the peptidoglycan layer with an emphasis on discoveries related to the function and regulation of the cell elongation and division machineries in the model organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles: From Discovery to Applications
Authors: Sartorio Mariana G. , Pardue Evan J. , Feldman Mario F. , Haurat M. Florencia
Published: August 2021

Secretion of cellular components across the plasma membrane is an essential process that enables organisms to interact with their environments. Production of extracellular vesicles in bacteria is a well-documented but poorly understood process. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are produced in gram-negative bacteria by blebbing of the outer membrane. In addition to their roles in pathogenesis, cell-to-cell communication, and stress responses, OMVs play important roles in immunomodulation and the establishment and balance of the gut microbiota. In this review, we discuss the multiple roles of OMVs and the current knowledge of OMV biogenesis. We also discuss the growing and promising biotechnological applications of OMV.
A Study of Job Satisfaction and Its Effect on the Performance of Employees Working in Private Sector Organizations, Peshawar
Authors: Inayat Wasaf , Jahanzeb Khan Muhammad
Published: August 2021

The aim of the present research was to study the effect of job satisfaction on the performance of employees working in private sector organizations of Peshawar, Pakistan. For that purpose, one hundred and eighty employees (N = 180) were selected as a sample from private organizations of Peshawar. An equal number of employees, i.e., (n = 60), were selected through random sampling method from three types of organizations, viz., hospitals, banks, and universities. A Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ-short form) developed by Weiss et al. (1967) and a self-constructed Performance Evaluation Form (PRF) were used as instruments for the study. Initially, the reliability statistics of both the instruments was calculated to know the significance of the scales. According to the findings of the study, the type of occupation has been shown significant correlation with job satisfaction. Similarly, the positive relationship of job satisfaction with performance of employees was also confirmed. Therefore, it is concluded from the study that satisfied employees were better in performance as compared to dissatisfied employees, thus contributing significant role in the uplifting of their organizations. As there are unstable economic and political conditions of Peshawar, it is therefore necessary for every organization to make their employees motivated and satisfied towards high performance by adopting different techniques and methods.