bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reimagining Recreational Landscapes: A Generative AI-Aided Comparative Study of Academic Greenspaces at IPB University and UP Los Baños
Authors: Felizarte R M
Published: August 2024

A systematic examination of recreational landscape users’ behavioral patterns on university campuses is needed to fill the knowledge gap in implementing healthy academic greenspaces. To do so, a study is made to see the general behavioral patterns vis-à-vis cross-cultural factors in two campuses in Indonesia and the Philippines using the following methods: 1) behavioral mapping (BM) to record landscape activities data, 2) literature review to create the coding system, and 3) generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) application to aid generate images for the recommendations. The time frame, time-frequency, density, facilities, academic greenspace codes, and images were recorded using the BM. The study revealed that outdoor recreation in academic greenspaces is experienced in disparate physical spaces with various combinations of four dimensions: social space, symbolic space, active space, and experience space. The devised coding system helped align the study areas, determining commonalities, dissimilarities, and unusual findings. Common lacking features extracted from the data analysis were used as text prompts, while site images were used as image prompts. Using the prompts, landscape scenarios were generated using the GenAI application-Midjourney. Rendered figures suggest prominent landscape intervention ideas that feature enhancements of visual resources and the addition of placemaking elements.
Progressive collapse of regular RC structure considering flexibility of slabs under gravity and wind loads
Authors: Chandini M S , Manu K C , Shamana B S
Published: August 2024

Progressive collapses are disastrous phenomena which occur in the structure due to manmade incidents or natural disasters. There are not any significant studies considering the flexibility of slabs in the structures, as an alternative to treating them as rigid diaphragms. The present study deals with the progressive collapse of a regular reinforced concrete structure considering flexibility of slabs, comparing the same when the slabs are considered as rigid diaphragms. 20 storey(G+19) building is modeled using ETABS software and nonlinear static analysis is performed under the action of gravity and wind loads. At the outset, the analysis is done for undamaged structure to find the behavior of structure and then the damaged models have been analyzed by removing one of the critical column in different locations at first storey, based on general services administration (GSA) guidelines[16]. Various response parameters such as base force capacity, storey stiffness and storey displacements have been compared for undamaged and damaged structures considering and not considering the flexibility of slabs. From the comparison of the results, it was noticed that the chance of progressive collapse is high when the corner column is damaged and also resistance to wind load is considerably higher when stiffness of slabs is considered for the analysis in both undamaged structure and the four cases of damaged structure (ii), which is about three times higher.
Review on Impact of Nano Silica Inclusion on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Self Compacting Concrete.
Authors: Karanth Mr. Pradeep , Kumar Mr. Vinith
Published: August 2024

In the building sector of days, one of the buzzwords is self-compacting concrete. One of the more sophisticated results of concrete research is SCC, which has the ability to compact on its own weight without exhibiting segregation or bleeding and can flow readily through extremely crowded areas of reinforcement. the assessment of silica’s impact on the properties of both fresh and hardened concrete in self-compacting concrete (SCC). Workability, durability, and mechanical characteristics of self-compacting parks (SCC). In the experiment, various weight percentages of nano-silica—between 1% and 6%—were added to concrete as a cement-priming step. This experiment aims to investigate the effects of varying nano-carbon dioxide contents. Regarding the characteristics of concrete.
Study on the nanocomposites of polyaniline and Zn doped Fe3O4 using for arsenic absorption in water
Authors: Minh Thi Tran , Lam Nguyen Mau , Tung Do Khanh , Nghia Nguyen Manh , Quoc Van Duong , Manh Vu Quoc , Thi Bich Viet Nguyen , Linh Duong Khanh , Chinh Nguyen Thuy , Hoang Thai , Ţălu Ştefan , Trung Vu Quoc
Published: August 2024

The polyaniline/Fe2.9Zn0.1O4 (PANI/Fe2.9Zn0.1O4) nanoparticles with different mass ratios were synthesized by both co-precipitation and in situ polymerization methods. The FT-IR spectra and DTA analyses showed the involvement of PANI in the nanocomposite samples. The grain size of samples measured by SEM ranges from 25 to 40 nm. The magnetization of samples at 300 K, H = 11000 Oe decreased from 65 to 43 emu g−1 as PANI/Fe2.9Zn0.1O4 mass ratio increased from 9% to 40%. At pH 7 and 300 K, the maximum arsenic (III) adsorption capacities of sample S1 (mass ratio of 9%) qmax = 43.48 mg g−1 was higher than that of others and Fe3O4. Additionally, the substitution of Fe2+ ions by Zn2+ ions and the presence of PANI in samples contributed to improving the magnetic and chemical stability of samples over time. Furthermore, these materials could be reused after desorption in a solution at pH 14.
Minimal covers in the Weihrauch degrees
Authors: Lempp Steffen , Miller Joseph , Pauly Arno , Soskova Mariya , Valenti Manlio
Published: August 2024

In this paper, we study the existence of minimal covers and strong minimal covers in the Weihrauch degrees. We characterize when a problem 

f
f

is a minimal cover or strong minimal cover of a problem 

h
h

. We show that strong minimal covers only exist in the cone below 

i
d

id

and that the Weihrauch lattice above 

i
d

id

is dense. From this, we conclude that the degree of

i
d

id

is first-order definable in the Weihrauch degrees and that the first-order theory of the Weihrauch degrees is computably isomorphic to third-order arithmetic.
Tenth Century III
Authors: Howard-Johnston James
Published: August 2024

A bare list of ranks dating from 976/9, the Escorial Taktikon, gives us an invaluable glimpse of military and civil organization of the territories in the East annexed by Byzantium in the preceding half century. It was a two-tier military system, three higher-level ducal commands presiding over thirty-five small themes. As for civil administration, all that is known is that it was supervised by six judges. The development of the new system is placed in the context of successive phases of Byzantium’s eastern expansion, from the conquest of Melitene in 934 to that of Antioch in 969. It was not extended into the large territories of Iberia and Vaspurakan annexed in the early eleventh century.
The Supreme Court and Slavery, 1800–1860
Authors: Wiecek William M
Published: August 2024

This chapter looks into the Supreme Court’s response to slavery from 1800 to 1860. Before 1865, slavery was the legal institution that defined the status of most African Americans, obliterating almost every civil right that they might claim. Since slavery permeated the new nation, the federal Constitution of 1787 protected slavery directly in three provisions that confirmed its existence, but without referring to it by its proper name. The chapter explains that the enslavement of African Americans became essential to American economic growth and the development of a mature capitalist economy. It mentions that race seemed to be a visible characteristic in American society.
War and Cold War, 1941–1953
Authors: Wiecek William M
Published: August 2024

This chapter provides an overview of the constitutional experiences of African Americans during World War II and the early Cold War. It highlights that the constitutional advances made by Black Americans during and after World War II were momentous. The constitutional advances include the protection of the civil rights movement’s economic dimensions and the protection of African Americans’ rights while striking down racial segregation in interstate commerce and intrastate transportation bans. The Court began to ensure Black access to the labor market alongside the condemnation of exclusion and segregation in the topmost strata of public higher education, law school and graduate school. The chapter considers the 1950s opinions that struck down state-imposed racial segregation and denial of equal opportunity.
The Death of Affirmative Action
Authors: Wiecek William M
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the significance and subsequent end of affirmative action. It explains that affirmative action has been part of the integration debates since the 1960s. Affirmative action expanded beyond its original anti-discrimination focus to embrace a policy of positive measures and equal opportunity for all qualified persons that President John F. Kennedy identified. The chapter then covers the extent of affirmative action in higher education, the labor market, and public contracts. Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with its Title VII provisions banning discrimination in employment. However, Title VII explicitly prohibited both preferential treatment and taking racial imbalance into account in employment policy, which effectively limited affirmative action.
Dreams, Shared Vision, and Purpose as the Driver of Change (Principle 1)
Authors: Boyatzis Richard E
Published: August 2024

Chapter 2 introduces dreams, shared vision, and purpose as the driver of change. The first phase of Intentional Change Theory is the driver of sustained, desired change—the Ideal Self, or personal vision and at the collective levels, a shared vision. The articulation of a compelling and holistic Ideal Self or personal vision is a major motivating force of sustained, desired change and learning. The Ideal Self is a person’s sense of purpose, meaning, or calling; their personal and social identities; and their core values and operating philosophy that enable prospection and dreaming. It is moderated by hope. This constitutes a shared vision when it reflects a consensus or majority of the people in various collectives. One’s Ideal Self morphs over one’s life and career eras, as a result of salient experiences and socialization. It is not a forecast, planning, needs assessment, or diagnosis that suppresses the default mode network and inhibits dreaming of possibilities. The nemesis of the Ideal Self is the Ought Self, or the many ought selves imposed on one by others. Shared vision in collectives (dyads, teams, organizations, communities, and countries) has to reflect a consensus. It may be achieved using techniques like Appreciative Inquiry and Future Search Summits.
What Next? The Call to Study Change
Authors: Boyatzis Richard E
Published: August 2024

This final chapter is a call for research on sustained, desired change to scholars and for professionals who wish to be a better consumer of such research. It proposes a set of possible research questions that need to be addressed and a review of the key topics and examples discussed in each chapter of this book. These include the need for longitudinal studies; the further exploration of speed, velocity, and periodicity of change; and the challenge of having a clear outcome or using mediator variables when studying change. Statistical methods of analysis should take into account multiple measures of the dependent variable and multiple sources of assessment, and careful calculation of change scores to avoid unintended effects. Within each chapter of this book are hundreds of possible research questions at all levels of change begging to be asked. For all that humans are doing to damage the environment and one other, they also have a distinctive ability to innovate, adapt, and care. It is hoped that this chapter and the entire book can help those on that quest.
Tax Expenditures on Union Taxes in India from 2005–06 to 2019–20
Authors: Mukherjee Sacchidananda
Published: August 2024

The Union government foregoes revenue on account of various tax exemptions/incentive schemes promoted for various purposes. Like the Union government, state governments also provide tax incentives but the revenue impacts of those tax-exemption schemes are yet to be assessed. The present chapter assesses the trends and patterns of tax expenditures of the Union taxes from 2005–06 to 2019–20 and finds that overall tax expenditures of the Union government declined from 8.15 per cent of GVA in 2008–09 to 1.69 per cent in 2019–20. This was possible mainly on account of the continuous reduction of tax expenditures on indirect taxes. Tax expenditures on direct taxes also declined from 32.7 per cent of direct tax collection in 2008–09 to 22.4 per cent in 2019–20. The tax expenditures related to Union excise duty and customs duty declined from 15.2 per cent in 2008–09 to 12.6 per cent of indirect tax collection in 2019–20.
Fiscal Transfers in India
Authors: Rangarajan C , Srivastava D K
Published: August 2024

The principle of equalization is consistent with the objectives of both equity and efficiency in determining fiscal transfers in federal fiscal systems. Canada is a good example of fiscal capacity equalization, whereas in Australia capacity equalization is supplemented by expenditure-side considerations. In India, the delivery of fiscal transfers is done through sharing of central taxes and grants. The former has emerged as the major vehicle for these transfers. Although equalization is not explicitly incorporated in the way this is done in Canada and Australia, in India it is incorporated at least partially through both tax devolution and grants. In this chapter, we explain in detail how the equalization objective is served by the distance criterion and how equalization content can be improved by modifying the area criterion. Similar changes can also be done in the population criterion and in changing the methodology for determination of grants.
Public Financial Management in India
Authors: Jena Pratap Ranjan
Published: August 2024

The public financial management (PFM) reforms undertaken over the years in India have produced some enduring results and provide opportunities to build upon an already existing institutional framework. The role of a sound PFM system in implementing policy decisions, establishing fiscal discipline, ensuring results from the spending of public resources, and improving service delivery has been getting increasing attention in India. The chapter discusses two important PFM reforms—outcome budget and medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF)—and provides policy options to move forward. Specifically, it suggests the need for a better coordination and consultative process in the parliamentary system of democracy in India in the budget-reform process.
Economic Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Services
Authors: Venkatachalam L
Published: August 2024

Most of the wetland ecosystem services are non-marketed, and as a result the economic importance of wetlands is undermined in the public policy domain, subjecting these natural assets to severe depletion and degradation. It is necessary to obtain information on the economic values of ecosystem services and their losses thereof to improve the wetlands. Across the globe, many economic valuation studies have been carried out to monetize the non-marketable ecosystem services of wetlands, and the results of these studies are used for creating awareness among stakeholders as well as for evidence-based policymaking in the area of wetland management. In this study, we critically review some of the important valuation studies to assess the current status, highlight the issues involved in generating such values, and propose measures to strengthen wetland-valuation practices in the future.
A pan-allelic human SIRPα-blocking antibody, ES004-B5, promotes tumor killing by enhancing macrophage phagocytosis and subsequently inducing an effective T-cell response
Authors: Niu Xiaofeng , Wang Chunnian , Jiang Haixia , Gao Rui , Lu Yefeng , Guo Xiaoli , Zhou Hongping , Cui Xue , Sun Jun , Qiu Quan , Sun Dawei , Lu Hongtao
Published: August 2024

As a major immune cell type in the tumor microenvironment, tumor-associated macrophages secrete suppressive factors that can inhibit antitumor immunity and promote tumor progression. One approach trying to utilize macrophages for immunotherapy has been to block the CD47-SIRPα axis, which mediates inhibitory signaling, to promote phagocytosis of tumor cells. Many CD47-targeted agents, namely, anti-CD47 antibodies and SIRPα fusion proteins, were associated with a diverse spectrum of toxicities that limit their use in clinical settings. Universal expression of CD47 also leads to a severe “antigen sink” effect of CD47-targeted agents. Given that the CD47 receptor, SIRPα, has a more restricted expression profile and may have CD47-independent functions, targeting SIRPα is considered to have distinct advantages in improving clinical efficacy with a better safety profile. We have developed ES004-B5, a potentially best-in-class pan-allelic human SIRPα-blocking antibody using hybridoma technology. ES004-B5 binds to major human SIRPα variants through a unique epitope with high affinity. By blocking CD47-induced inhibitory “don't-eat-me” signaling, ES004-B5 exerts superior antitumor activity in combination with anti-tumor-associated antigen antibodies in vitro and in vivo. Unlike CD47-targeted agents, ES004-B5 exhibits an excellent safety profile in nonhuman primates. ES004-B5 has potential to be an important backbone for SIRPα-based combination therapy and/or bispecific antibodies, which will likely overcome the limitations of CD47-targeted agents encountered in clinical settings.
The Impact of Minimum Wage Policy on Alcohol Use Disorder: A Quasi-Experimental Study in South Korea
Authors: Bai Yihong , Kim Chungah , Chum Antony
Published: August 2024

South Korea's 2018 minimum wage hike was examined for its impact on potential alcohol use disorders among affected individuals, using data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (2015-2019). The study sample was restricted to workers aged 19-64 employed over the study years. The treatment group was identified as those below minimum wages, and the control group as those earning more than minimum wages in 2016-2017 (n=3,117 control, n=578 treatment). Using outcomes derived from the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, our results from difference-in-differences models showed that the 2018 wage hike was linked to a 1.9% increase in the 'high risk' of alcohol use disorder and a 3.6% rise in hazardous consumption in the treatment group. Notably, the effects were more pronounced among men and those aged 50-64. Additionally, we confirmed that the spillover effects extended to workers earning up to 20% above the minimum wage. This study underscores the unintended substance use risk of minimum wage policies in the East Asian context. As wage policies are implemented, integrated public health campaigns targeting at-risk groups are required.
Out of and in East Asia: phylogeny, biogeography and diversification of Thalictroideae (Ranunculaceae) in the Northern Hemisphere
Authors: Ling Yuan-Yuan , Peng Huan-Wen , Lian Lian , Erst Andrey S , Xiang Kun-Li , Wang Wei
Published: August 2024

Background and Aims

Understanding the biogeographical patterns and processes underlying the distribution of diversity within the Northern Hemisphere has fascinated botanists and biogeographers for over a century. However, as a well-known centre of species diversity in the Northern Hemisphere, whether East Asia acted as a source and/or a sink of plant diversity of the Northern Hemisphere remains unclear. Here, we used Thalictroideae, a subfamily widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere with the majority of species in East Asia, to investigate the role of East Asia in shaping the biogeographical patterns of the Northern Hemisphere and to test whether East Asia acted as a museum or a cradle for herbaceous taxa.

Methods

Based on six plastid and one nuclear DNA regions, we generated the most comprehensive phylogeny for Thalictroideae, including 217 taxa (~66 % species) from all ten of the currently recognized genera. Within this phylogenetic framework, we then estimated divergence times, ancestral ranges and diversification rates.

Key Results

The monophyletic Thalictroideae contains three major clades. All genera with more than one species are strongly supported as monophyletic except for Isopyrum, which is nested in Enemion. The most recent common ancestor of Thalictroideae occurred in East Asia in the late Eocene (~36 Mya). From the Miocene onwards, ≥46 dispersal events were inferred to be responsible for the current distribution of this subfamily. East Asian Thalictroideae lineages experienced a rapid accumulation at ~10 Mya.

Conclusions

The biogeographical patterns of Thalictroideae support the ‘out of and in East Asia’ hypothesis, i.e. East Asia is both a source and a sink of biodiversity of the Northern Hemisphere. The global cooling after the middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, combined with the exposed land bridges owing to sea-level decline, might jointly have caused the bidirectional plant exchanges between East Asia and other Northern Hemisphere regions. East Asia serves as evolutionary museums and cradles for the diversity of Thalictroideae and probably for other herbaceous lineages.
Centromere drive may propel the evolution of chromosome and genome size in plants
Authors: Plačková Klára , Bureš Petr , Lysak Martin A , Zedek František
Published: August 2024

Background

Genome size is influenced by natural selection and genetic drift acting on variations from polyploidy and repetitive DNA sequences. We hypothesized that centromere drive, where centromeres compete for inclusion in the functional gamete during meiosis, may also affect genome and chromosome size. This competition occurs in asymmetric meiosis, where only one of the four meiotic products becomes a gamete. If centromere drive influences chromosome size evolution, it may also impact post-polyploid diploidization, where a polyploid genome is restructured to function more like a diploid through chromosomal rearrangements, including fusions. We tested if plant lineages with asymmetric meiosis exhibit faster chromosome size evolution compared to those with only symmetric meiosis, which lack centromere drive as all four meiotic products become gametes. We also examined if positive selection on centromeric histone H3 (CENH3), a protein that can suppress centromere drive, is more frequent in these asymmetric lineages.

Methods

We analysed plant groups with different meiotic modes: asymmetric in gymnosperms and angiosperms, and symmetric in bryophytes, lycophytes and ferns. We selected species based on available CENH3 gene sequences and chromosome size data. Using Ornstein–Uhlenbeck evolutionary models and phylogenetic regressions, we assessed the rates of chromosome size evolution and the frequency of positive selection on CENH3 in these clades.

Results

Our analyses showed that clades with asymmetric meiosis have a higher frequency of positive selection on CENH3 and increased rates of chromosome size evolution compared to symmetric clades.

Conclusions

Our findings support the hypothesis that centromere drive accelerates chromosome and genome size evolution, potentially also influencing the process of post-polyploid diploidization. We propose a model which in a single framework helps explain the stability of chromosome size in symmetric lineages (bryophytes, lycophytes and ferns) and its variability in asymmetric lineages (gymnosperms and angiosperms), providing a foundation for future research in plant genome evolution.
Towards automated animal density estimation with acoustic spatial capture-recapture
Authors: Wang Yuheng , Ye Juan , Li Xiaohui , Borchers David L
Published: August 2024

Passive acoustic monitoring can be an effective way of monitoring wildlife populations that are acoustically active but difficult to survey visually, but identifying target species calls in recordings is non-trivial. Machine learning (ML) techniques can do detection quickly but may miss calls and produce false positives, i.e., misidentify calls from other sources as being from the target species. While abundance estimation methods can address the former issue effectively, methods to deal with false positives are under-investigated. We propose an acoustic spatial capture-recapture (ASCR) method that deals with false positives by treating species identity as a latent variable. Individual-level outputs from ML techniques are treated as random variables whose distributions depend on the latent identity. This gives rise to a mixture model likelihood that we maximize to estimate call density. We compare our method to existing methods by applying it to an ASCR survey of frogs and simulated acoustic surveys of gibbons based on real gibbon acoustic data. Estimates from our method are closer to ASCR applied to the dataset without false positives than those from a widely used false positive “correction factor” method. Simulations show our method to have bias close to zero and accurate coverage probabilities and to perform substantially better than ASCR without accounting for false positives.
Integrating deep learning architectures for enhanced biomedical relation extraction: a pipeline approach
Authors: Sarol M Janina , Hong Gibong , Guerra Evan , Kilicoglu Halil
Published: August 2024

Biomedical relation extraction from scientific publications is a key task in biomedical natural language processing (NLP) and can facilitate the creation of large knowledge bases, enable more efficient knowledge discovery, and accelerate evidence synthesis. In this paper, building upon our previous effort in the BioCreative VIII BioRED Track, we propose an enhanced end-to-end pipeline approach for biomedical relation extraction (RE) and novelty detection (ND) that effectively leverages existing datasets and integrates state-of-the-art deep learning methods. Our pipeline consists of four tasks performed sequentially: named entity recognition (NER), entity linking (EL), RE, and ND. We trained models using the BioRED benchmark corpus that was the basis of the shared task. We explored several methods for each task and combinations thereof: for NER, we compared a BERT-based sequence labeling model that uses the BIO scheme with a span classification model. For EL, we trained a convolutional neural network model for diseases and chemicals and used an existing tool, PubTator 3.0, for mapping other entity types. For RE and ND, we adapted the BERT-based, sentence-bound PURE model to bidirectional and document-level extraction. We also performed extensive hyperparameter tuning to improve model performance. We obtained our best performance using BERT-based models for NER, RE, and ND, and the hybrid approach for EL. Our enhanced and optimized pipeline showed substantial improvement compared to our shared task submission, NER: 93.53 (+3.09), EL: 83.87 (+9.73), RE: 46.18 (+15.67), and ND: 38.86 (+14.9). While the performances of the NER and EL models are reasonably high, RE and ND tasks remain challenging at the document level. Further enhancements to the dataset could enable more accurate and useful models for practical use. We provide our models and code at https://github.com/janinaj/e2eBioMedRE/.

Database URL: https://github.com/janinaj/e2eBioMedRE/
MACSFeD—a database of mosquito acoustic communication and swarming features
Authors: Loh YuMin M , Su Matthew P , Haruni Kayla G , Kamikouchi Azusa
Published: August 2024

Acoustic communication plays an important role during the courtship of many mosquito species. Male mosquitoes show strong attraction to female wing beat frequencies, mediated via spectral matching between female wing beat frequency and male ear mechanical tuning frequency. Such acoustic communication typically occurs within swarms, male-dominated aggregations with species-specific properties. Despite hundreds of relevant publications being available, the lack of a central platform hosting all associated data hinders research efforts and limits cross-species comparisons. Here, we introduce MACSFeD (Mosquito Acoustic Communication and Swarming Features Database), an interactive platform for the exploration of our comprehensive database containing 251 unique reports focusing on different aspects of mosquito acoustic communication, including hearing function, wing beat frequency and phonotaxis, as well as male swarming parameters. MACSFeD serves as an easily accessible, efficient, and robust data visualization tool for mosquito acoustic communication research. We envision that further in-depth studies could arise following the use of this new platform.

Database URL: https://minmatt.shinyapps.io/MACSFeD/
Homeowners’ financial vulnerability over the house price cycle
Authors: Tarne Ruben
Published: August 2024

This paper investigates the financial vulnerability dynamics of indebted homeowners over the housing cycle using an agent-based housing market model, calibrated with UK microdata. The findings suggest that financial vulnerability is primarily driven by house purchases and dissaving due to a wealth effect on consumption. The former is more important during house price upswings, while the latter becomes significant at high price levels. Additionally, current vulnerability is path-dependent on previous purchases at high prices, as these purchases, due to a wealth effect, result in temporarily elevated consumption and consequently reduced financial buffers.
The Hox-based positional memory in muscle stem cells
Authors: Okino Ryosuke , Goda Yuki , Ono Yusuke
Published: August 2024

The skeletal muscle is a contractile tissue distributed throughout the body with various anatomical sizes, shapes and functions. In pathological conditions, such as muscular dystrophy, age-related sarcopenia and cancer cachexia, skeletal muscles are not uniformly affected throughout the body. This region-specific vulnerability cannot be fully explained by known physiological classifications, including muscle fiber types. Accumulating evidence indicates that the expression patterns of topographic homeobox (Hox) genes provide a molecular signature of positional memory, reflecting the anatomical locations and embryonic history of muscles and their associated muscle stem cells in adult mice and humans. Hox-based positional memory is not merely a remnant of embryonic development but is expected to be an intrinsic determinant controlling muscle function because recent studies have shown that aberrant Hox genes affect muscle stem cells. In this review, we discuss the concept of Hox-based positional memory, which may offer a new perspective on the region-specific pathophysiology of muscle disorders.
The Utility of Second-Look US to Evaluate Abnormal Molecular Breast Imaging Findings: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Teichgraeber Davis C , Bassett Roland L , Whitman Gary J
Published: August 2024

Objective

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of US for identifying and characterizing lesions detected on molecular breast imaging (MBI).

Methods

A retrospective single-institution review was performed of patients with MBI studies with subsequent US for abnormal MBI findings between January 1, 2015, and September 30, 2021. Medical records, imaging, and histopathology were reviewed. The reference standard was histopathology and/or imaging follow-up. Associations among MBI findings, the presence of an US correlate, and histopathology were evaluated by Fisher exact tests.

Results

The 32 lesions detected on MBI in 25 patients were evaluated by US, and 19 lesions had an US correlate (19/32, 59%). Mass uptake was more likely to have an US correlate (11/13, 85%; P = .02) than nonmass uptake (7/19, 37%), and mass uptake was more likely to be malignant (5/13, 38%; P = .01). Of the 13 lesions without an US correlate, 5 were evaluated and subsequently biopsied by MRI (2 high-risk lesions and 3 benign lesions). Follow-up MBIs demonstrated stability/resolution for 5 lesions in 4 patients at 6 months or longer. Three patients had no further imaging.

Conclusion

Mass lesions identified on MBI were more likely to have an US correlate and were more likely to be malignant than nonmass lesions.
Pulmonary metastases from pancreatic cancer have different clinico-radiological features compared with those from colorectal cancer
Authors: Kawaguchi Takeshi , Takeda Maiko , Yoshikawa Daiki , Taiji Ryosuke , Yamada Aya , Miyata Ryo , Hamaji Masatsugu , Hosono Mitsuharu , Sawabata Noriyoshi
Published: August 2024

Background

Although pulmonary metastasectomy is a commonly-performed procedure, data are lacking on the feasibility and oncological efficacy of removal of pulmonary metastases from pancreatic cancer. In this study, we retrospectively compared features of pulmonary metastases from pancreatic cancer versus colorectal cancer (CRC, patients with CRC being common candidates for pulmonary metastasectomy) and outcomes of removing such metastases, with our aim being to identify specific features of the former.

Methods

Data on removal of 182 pulmonary metastases (29 from pancreatic and 153 from CRC) performed from January 2013 to April 2024 were included in this analysis. Radio-pathological findings were compared between these groups. The study cohort comprised 139 pulmonary metastasectomies in 119 patients (24 with pancreatic cancer and 95 with CRC) in whom R0 resection was achieved and follow-up data were available.

Results

Atypical radiological findings of pulmonary metastases, including polygonal-shape (P < 0.001), spiculae (P < 0.001), air bronchogram (P = 0.012), peripheral ground-glass opacities (P < 0.001), and pleural tags (P < 0.001) were present more frequently in metastases from pancreatic cancer than from CRC. Furthermore, pleural lavage cytology was more frequently positive in pulmonary metastases from pancreatic cancer than in those from CRC (P < 0.001). Disease-free survival was significantly shorter after the removal of metastases from pancreatic than from CRC (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Some pulmonary metastases from pancreatic cancer have atypical radiological features. Surgical interventions for these may enable diagnosis. The prognosis is significantly poorer after removing metastases from pancreatic cancer than from CRC. The therapeutic significance of our findings requires further investigation.
Clear cell sarcoma in Japan: an analysis of the population-based cancer registry in Japan
Authors: Takemori Toshiyuki , Ogura Koichi , Morizane Chigusa , Satake Tomoyuki , Iwata Shintaro , Toda Yu , Muramatsu Shudai , Kondo Hiroya , Kobayashi Eisuke , Higashi Takahiro , Kawai Akira
Published: August 2024

Background

Clear cell sarcoma is rare, so no reports have previously characterized its national profiles. We examined the nationwide epidemiology and clinical outcomes of patients with clear cell sarcoma based on the National Cancer Registry in Japan.

Methods

Overall, 23 522 patients with soft tissue sarcoma—entered in the National Cancer Registry in 2016–2019 using the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition cancer topography and morphology codes—were enrolled in either the clear cell or the non-clear cell sarcoma group. Data extracted included: demographics (sex and age), tumor details (reason for diagnosis, tumor location, histology and stage), hospital volume and facility type, treatment and prognosis for each patient.

Results

Of 23 522 soft tissue sarcoma patients, 122 were enrolled in the clear cell sarcoma group and 23 400 in the non-clear cell sarcoma group. The incidence of clear cell sarcoma was 0.52% of all soft tissue sarcoma, with an age-adjusted incidence of 0.024/100 000/year. The age at diagnosis was significantly younger, and more tumors were at the localized stage in the clear cell than the non-clear cell sarcoma group. In addition, the overall survival in the clear cell group was worse than in the non-clear cell group (P < 0.001). Of 122 patients with clear cell sarcoma, the localized stage, surgical treatment and treatment without chemotherapy were associated with better overall survival in the univariate analyses.

Conclusions

The present study is the first to have clarified the epidemiology, clinical features, treatment, prognosis and significant factors affecting the prognosis of patients with clear cell sarcoma in Japan.
Partisan bias in securities enforcement
Authors: Steel Reilly S
Published: August 2024

In this article, I present a partisan theory of agency enforcement and empirically investigate the possibility of partisan bias in the enforcement of the federal securities laws. Leveraging plausibly exogenous shocks to partisan control of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), I find evidence that a firm’s partisan alignment with the SEC substantially reduces the likelihood of enforcement. For a firm that is ex ante equally likely to be targeted for enforcement or not, my estimates indicate that a typical increase in partisan alignment following a change in party control of the SEC reduces the likelihood of enforcement by over 19%. Partisan alignment also appears to reduce aggregate monetary sanctions, though these estimates are less certain. By contrast, I find little evidence of partisan bias in the initial opening of investigations. These findings suggest there may be meaningful partisan bias in SEC enforcement and have important implications for democratic governance. (JEL D73, K22, K23, K41, K42, P00)
Sampling targets to assess occupational health in occupational health and safety management system audits: a mixed-methods research in Japan
Authors: Inoue Shunsuke , Kajiki Shigeyuki , Shimoda Hayato , Fujita Amane , Mori Koji
Published: August 2024

Background: Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) are the foundation of occupational health and safety activities within an organization. An important element of these systems is audits. However, OHSMS auditors often lack confidence in conducting occupational health audits compared with their proficiency in conducting occupational safety audits. For occupational health to be effectively managed by OHSMS, the sampling competence of auditors engaged in third-party audits should be improved. Therefore, we conducted this study to identify appropriate sampling targets for occupational health related to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 45001.

Methods: We adopted a mixed methods approach to identify appropriate sampling targets. This involved conducting focus group discussions with experts in occupational health and performing systematic text condensation analysis. The validity of our findings was further reinforced through confirmation by external auditors who specialize in ISO 45001.

Results: In the qualitative phase, 6 occupational health sampling targets were identified, and of these, 5 were subsequently validated in the quantitative phase: (1) Health issues, legal requirements, and occupational health goals identified by the organization; (2) Occupational health risk assessment and control processes; (3) Processes related to occupational health and documented information showing the results of efforts; (4) Organizational roles and functions of occupational health professionals and opportunities for their professional development; and (5) Processes to ensure commitment to occupational health issues and objectives.

Conclusion: To ensure effective and comprehensive occupational health audits, auditors should review these targets. This study will enhance the competence of auditors by identifying appropriate occupational health sampling targets.
Revocability of offer
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes Article 16. Article 16 deals with the question whether and under which prerequisites the offeror can revoke its offer after it has already reached the offeree. The provision thereby supplements Article 15(2)’s rule on the ‘withdrawal’ of offers prior to their receipt by the offeree. As in case of the withdrawal of an offer (Article 15(2)), any rule on an offer’s revocation after its receipt has to balance the interest of the offeree of being able to accept a profitable offer and thereby create a contract under the offer’s terms with the offeror’s interest not to remain bound to an offer that, as the offeror has only noticed after its dispatch, is disadvantageous to them. The decisive difference from the constellations addressed in Article 15(2) lies in the opposing interest of the offeree to be able to consider the offer and to have a reasonable time to do so, because this interest obviously carries more weight after the offeree has received the offer. The problem of whether an offer is binding and whether it may be revoked that is the subject of Article 16 was one of the most difficult issues when unifying the law on contract formation, because it was necessary to bridge the gap between dramatically different preconceptions inspired by domestic laws.
Termination of offer by rejection
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter analyses Article 17. The compact wording of Article 17 contains three statements, all of which are of a primarily clarifying nature. It appears self-understood that an offer is being terminated through its rejection by the offeree; Article 17 insofar protects the reasonable expectations of the offeror. In contrast, it is not similarly obvious from a comparative law perspective that the termination only occurs once the rejection reaches the offeror, and not already when it is being dispatched; the point in time referred to in Article 16(1) that was modelled on the Common Law’s ‘mailbox rule’ accordingly does not apply in the present context. Finally, it would not necessarily be clear without Article 17 that a rejection by the offeree also terminates offers that the offeror has designed as irrevocable.
Effect of fundamental breach on passing of risk
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter tackles Article 70, which addresses the situation where the seller has committed a fundamental breach of contract and the goods – for reasons unrelated to that breach – are lost or damaged. In such a case, the risk reverts to the seller and the buyer may continue to exercise its remedies for breach of contract. In other words, the provision prevents the breaching seller from being rescued by coincidental loss of or damage to the goods. The chapter discusses the scope of Article 70 by looking at the fundamental and non-fundamental breach of contract. It also discusses the re-transfer of risk.
Avoidance in case of anticipatory breach of contract
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on the provisions of Article 72, which entitles a party to avoid the contract before the other party’s obligations become due. The conditions to exercise this right are strict: a clear fundamental breach on behalf of the debtor in the future is required. The creditor must, if time permits, notify the other party of its intention to avoid the contract in order to grant it the opportunity to provide sufficient security, in which case the creditor will be deprived of the right to avoid the contract. On the other hand, in case of an anticipatory breach where the debtor has definitely declared that it will not fulfill its contractual obligations, the creditor has an unconditional right to declare the contract avoided at once and is not obliged to give notice to the debtor before it terminates the contract.
Mitigation of damages
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter tackles Article 77, which expresses that the party entitled to damages is required to mitigate damages. It explains that the duty resting on the aggrieved party to take all possible and appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of loss or to mitigate its extent is seen by civil law authors as an expression of the general principle of good faith in international commerce. The rationale for the provision is that the aggrieved party does not deserve to be compensated for an avoidable loss. The discussion also highlights that the duty to mitigate damages does not only arise when a loss has already occurred but also before that time. Furthermore, it lays down the distinction between Articles 77 and 80.
Self-help and emergency sale of preserved goods
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter reviews the 1980 Sales Convention, which is a multilateral treaty concluded between State parties which the Convention’s text refers to as Contracting States. It explains that Articles 89–101 contains the Convention’s treaty law framework that define the public international law obligations that a State undertakes when becoming a Contracting State of the CISG. The content of Article 89-101 affects the performance of those obligations, which occurs by the Convention’s uniform provisions on contract conclusion and on the rights and obligations of buyers and sellers being applied to international sales contracts between private parties. The chapter discusses how Articles 89–101 define the treaty obligations of CISG Contracting States by providing rules about the creation of such obligations. The Preamble to the CISG describes it as the creation of uniform rules which govern contracts for the international sale of goods.
Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods 1974
Authors: Schwenzer Ingeborg , Schroeter Ulrich G
Published: August 2024

This chapter recounts the diplomatic conference in New York that adopted the United Nations Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods on 14 June 1974. It refers to the deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession required by Article 44 of the Convention, which caused the Limitation Convention to enter into force on 1 August 1988. The Limitation Convention was signed in 1974 on the basis of the travaux préparatoires for the CISG. The chapter looks at preliminary works differed in several aspects from the final version of the CISG, which was adopted in Vienna on 11 April 1980. An adaption of the Limitation Convention to the changes became necessary and the respective Protocol amending the Convention on the Limitation Period was adopted at the Vienna Conference on 11 April 1980 to adjust the scope of application ratione materiae et loci.
Modal weak Kleene logics: axiomatizations and relational semantics
Authors: Bonzio S , Zamperlin N
Published: August 2024

Weak Kleene logics are three-valued logics characterized by the presence of an infectious truth-value. In their external versions, as they were originally introduced by Bochvar [4] and Halldén [30], these systems are equipped with an additional connective capable of expressing whether a formula is classically true. In this paper we further expand the expressive power of external weak Kleen logics by modalizing them with a unary operator. The addition of an alethic modality gives rise to the two systems $\textsf{B}_{\text{e}}^{\square }$ and $\textsf{PWK}^{\Box }_{\text{e}} $, which have two different readings of the modal operator. We provide these logics with a complete and decidable Hilbert-style axiomatization w.r.t. a three-valued possible worlds semantics. The starting point of these calculi are new axiomatizations for the non-modal bases $\textsf{B}_{\text{e}}$ and $\textsf{PWK}_{\text{e}}$, which we provide using the recent algebraization results about these two logics. In particular, we prove the algebraizability of $\textsf{PWK}_{\text{e}}$. Finally some standard extensions of the basic modal systems are provided with their completeness results w.r.t. special classes of frames.