bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of toxicity of aerosols from flavored e-liquids in Sprague–Dawley rats in a 90-day OECD inhalation study, complemented by transcriptomics analysis
Authors: Ho Jenny , Sciuscio Davide , Kogel Ulrike , Titz Bjoern , Leroy Patrice , Vuillaume Gregory , Talikka Marja , Martin Elyette , Pospisil Pavel , Lebrun Stefan , Xia Wenhao , Lee Tom , Chng Yun Xuan , Phillips Blaine W. , Veljkovic Emilija , Guedj Emmanuel , Xiang Yang , Ivanov Nikolai V. , Peitsch Manuel C. , Hoeng Julia , Vanscheeuwijck Patrick
Published: May 2020

The use of flavoring substances is an important element in the development of reduced-risk products for adult smokers to increase product acceptance and encourage switching from cigarettes. In a first step towards characterizing the sub-chronic inhalation toxicity of neat flavoring substances, a study was conducted using a mixture of the substances in a base solution of e-liquid, where the standard toxicological endpoints of the nebulized aerosols were supplemented with transcriptomics analysis. The flavor mixture was produced by grouping 178 flavors into 26 distinct chemical groups based on structural similarities and potential metabolic and biological effects. Flavoring substances predicted to show the highest toxicological effect from each group were selected as the flavor group representatives (FGR). Following Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Testing Guideline 413, rats were exposed to three concentrations of the FGR mixture in an e-liquid composed of nicotine (23 µg/L), propylene glycol (1520 µg/L), and vegetable glycerin (1890 µg/L), while non-flavored and no-nicotine mixtures were included as references to identify potential additive or synergistic effects between nicotine and the flavoring substances. The results indicated that the inhalation of an e-liquid containing the mixture of FGRs caused very minimal local and systemic toxic effects. In particular, there were no remarkable clinical (in-life) observations in flavored e-liquid-exposed rats. The biological effects related to exposure to the mixture of neat FGRs were limited and mainly nicotine-mediated, including changes in hematological and blood chemistry parameters and organ weight. These results indicate no significant additive biological changes following inhalation exposure to the nebulized FGR mixture above the nicotine effects measured in this sub-chronic inhalation study. In a subsequent study, e-liquids with FGR mixtures will be aerosolized by thermal treatment and assessed for toxicity.
Long-term simulation of lead concentrations in agricultural soils in relation to human adverse health effects
Authors: Schupp Thomas , Damm Georg , Foth Heidi , Freyberger Alexius , Gebel Thomas , Gundert-Remy Ursula , Hengstler Jan G. , Mangerich Aswin , Partosch Falko , Röhl Claudia , Wollin Klaus-Michael
Published: May 2020

Lead (Pb) exposure of consumers and the environment has been reduced over the past decades. Despite all measures taken, immission of Pb onto agricultural soils still occurs, with fertilizer application, lead shot from hunting activities, and Pb from air deposition representing major sources. Little is known about the intermediate and long-term consequences of these emissions. To gain more insight, we established a mathematical model that considers input from fertilizer, ammunition, deposition from air, uptake of Pb by crops, and wash-out to simulate the resulting Pb concentrations in soil over extended periods. In a further step, human oral exposure by crop-based food was simulated and blood concentrations were derived to estimate the margin of exposure to Pb-induced toxic effects. Simulating current farming scenarios, a new equilibrium concentration of Pb in soil would be established after several centuries. Developmental neurotoxicity represents the most critical toxicological effect of Pb for humans. According to our model, a Pb concentration of ~ 5 mg/kg in agricultural soil leads to an intake of approximately 10 µg Pb per person per day by the consumption of agricultural products, the dose corresponding to the tolerable daily intake (TDI). Therefore, 5 mg Pb/kg represents a critical concentration in soil that should not be exceeded. Starting with a soil concentration of 0.1 mg/kg, the current control level for crop fields, our simulation predicts periods of ~ 50 and ~ 175 years for two Pb immission scenarios for mass of Pb per area and year [scenario 1: ~ 400 g Pb/(ha × a); scenario 2: ~ 175 g Pb/(ha × a)], until the critical concentration of ~ 5 mg/kg Pb in soil would be reached. The two scenarios, which differ in their Pb input via fertilizer, represent relatively high but not unrealistic Pb immissions. From these scenarios, we calculated that the annual deposition of Pb onto soil should remain below ~ 100 g/(ha × a) in order not to exceed the critical soil level of 5 mg/kg. We propose as efficient measures to reduce Pb input into agricultural soil to lower the Pb content of compost and to use alternatives to Pb ammunition for hunting.
Additional surgical procedures and perioperative morbidity in post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for metastatic testicular cancer in two intermediate volume hospitals
Authors: Blok Joost M. , Meijer Richard P. , van der Poel Henk G. , Bex Axel , van Vooren Jeanette , van Urk Japke J. , Horenblas Simon , Bosch J. L. H. Ruud
Published: May 2020

Purpose

To evaluate the perioperative morbidity of PC-RPLND in two intermediate volume centers and to identify predictors of high morbidity.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of 124 patients treated with open PC-RPLND at two tertiary referral centers between 2001 and 2018. Perioperative morbidity was determined by analyzing additional surgical procedures, intra-operative blood loss, and postoperative complications.

Results

An additional procedure was necessary for 33 patients (26.6%). The risk was higher in patients with IGCCCG intermediate/poor prognosis (OR 3.56; 95% CI 1.33–9.52) and residual tumor size > 5 cm (OR 3.53; 95% CI 1.39–8.93). Blood loss was higher in patients with IGCCCG intermediate/poor prognosis (β = 0.177; p = 0.029), large residual tumor (β = 0.570; p < 0.001), an additional intervention (β = 0.342; p < 0.001) and teratoma on retroperitoneal histology (β = − 0.19; p = 0.014). Thirty-one patients had a postoperative complication Clavien-Dindo Grade ≥ 2 (25.0%). Complication risk was highest in patients undergoing an additional intervention (OR 3.46; 95% CI 1.03–11.60; p = 0.044).

Conclusions

The rate of additional interventions in our series is comparable to what has been reported in high-volume centers. IGCCCG intermediate/poor prognosis patients with high-volume disease and patients undergoing an additional surgical procedure can be classified as high-risk patients.
Shear-induced deconfinement of hard disks
Authors: Jahreis Nikolai , Schmidt Matthias
Published: May 2020

Using Brownian dynamics simulations, we investigate the response to shear of a two-dimensional system of quasi-hard disks that are confined in the velocity gradient direction by a smooth external potential. Shearing the confined system leads to a homogenization of the one-body density profile. In order to rationalize this deconfinement effect, we split the internal one-body force field into adiabatic and superadiabatic contributions. We demonstrate that the superadiabatic force field consists of viscous and of structural contributions. We give an empirical scaling law that yields results for the superadiabatic force profiles both in the flow and in the gradient direction, in excellent agreement with the simulation data.
Mapping the ChOLE classification to hearing outcomes and disease-specific health-related quality of life
Authors: Weiss Nora M. , Bächinger David , Rrahmani Adrian , Bernd Hans E. , Huber Alexander , Mlynski Robert , Röösli Christof
Published: May 2020

Objectives

To investigate the association between the “ChOLE” classification, hearing outcomes and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods

In two tertiary referral centers, patients requiring primary or revision surgery for cholesteatoma were assessed for eligibility. Audiometric assessment was performed pre- and postoperatively. The ChOLE classification was determined intraoperatively and via the preoperative CT scan. HRQoL was assessed pre- and postoperatively using the Zurich Chronic Middle Ear Inventory (ZCMEI-21).

Results

A total of 87 patients (mean age 45.2 years, SD 16.2) were included in this study. ChOLE stage I cholesteatoma was found in 8 (9%), stage II cholesteatoma was found in 65 (75%), and stage III cholesteatoma was found in 14 (16%) patients. Postoperatively, the mean air–bone gap (0.5, 1, 2, 3 kHz) was significantly smaller than before surgery (14.3 dB vs. 23.0 dB; p = 0.0007). The mean ZCMEI-21 total score significantly decreased after surgery (26.8 vs. 20.7, p = 0.004). No correlation between the ZCMEI-21 total score and both the ChOLE stage and the extent of the cholesteatoma (ChOLE subdivision “Ch”) was found. A trend towards worse HRQoL associated with a poorer status of the ossicular chain (ChOLE subdivision “O”) was observed. The audiometric outcomes were not associated with the extent of the cholesteatoma. The ChOLE subdivision describing the ossicular status showed a strong association with the pre- and postoperative air conduction (AC) thresholds. Further, the ZCMEI-21 total score and its hearing subscore correlated with the AC thresholds.

Conclusion

The ChOLE classification does not show a clear association with HRQoL measured by the ZCMEI-21. The HRQoL neither seems to be associated with the extent of the disease nor with the ossicular chain status. Yet, surgical therapy significantly improved HRQoL by means of reduced ZCMEI-21 total scores, which were strongly associated with the AC thresholds. Intraoperative assessment of a cholesteatoma using the ChOLE classification and HRQoL complement each other and provide useful information.
Dose-dependent effects of netarsudil, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, on the distal outflow tract
Authors: Chen Si , Waxman Susannah , Wang Chao , Atta Sarah , Loewen Ralitsa , Loewen Nils A.
Published: May 2020

Purpose

To characterize the effects of netarsudil on the aqueous humor outflow tract distal to the trabecular meshwork (TM). We hypothesized that netarsudil increases outflow facility in eyes with and without circumferential ab interno trabeculectomy (AIT) that removes the TM.

Methods

Sixty-four porcine anterior segment cultures were randomly assigned to groups with (n = 32) and without circumferential AIT (n = 32). Cultures were exposed to 0.1, 1, and 10 μM netarsudil (N = 8 eyes per concentration). For each concentration, IOP and vessel diameters were compared with their respective pretreatment baselines. Outflow tract vessel diameters were assessed by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) and rendered in 4D (XYZ time series).

Results

Netarsudil at 1 μM reduced IOP both in eyes with TM (− 0.60 ± 0.24 mmHg, p = 0.01) and in eyes without TM (− 1.79 ± 0.42 mmHg, p < 0.01). At this concentration, vessels of the distal outflow tract dilated by 72%. However, at 0.1 μM netarsudil elevated IOP in eyes with TM (1.59 ± 0.36 mmHg, p < 0.001) as well as in eyes without TM (0.23 ± 0.32 mmHg, p < 0.001). Vessels of the distal outflow tract constricted by 31%. Similarly, netarsudil at a concentration of 10 μM elevated IOP both in eyes with TM (1.91 ± 0.193, p < 0.001) and in eyes without TM (3.65 ± 0.86 mmHg, p < 0.001). At this concentration, outflow tract vessels constricted by 27%.

Conclusion

In the porcine anterior segment culture, the dose-dependent IOP changes caused by netarsudil matched the diameter changes of distal outflow tract vessels. Hyper- and hypotensive properties of netarsudil persisted after TM removal.
Needlestick injuries: a density-equalizing mapping and socioeconomic analysis of the global research
Authors: Groneberg David A. , Braumann Hannah , Rolle Stefan , Quarcoo David , Klingelhöfer Doris , Fischer Axel , Nienhaus Albert , Brüggmann Dörthe
Published: May 2020

Background

Needlestick injuries have caused a deleterious effect on the physical and mental health of millions of health-care workers over the past decades, being responsible for occupational infections with viruses such as HIV or hepatis C. Despite this heavy burden of disease, no concise studies have been published on the global research landscape so far.

Methods

We used the New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science platform to analyze global NSI research (n = 2987 articles) over the past 115 years using the Web of Science and parameters such as global versus country-specific research activities, semi-qualitative issues, and socioeconomic figures.

Results

Density-equalizing mapping showed that although a total of n = 106 countries participated in NSI research, large parts of Africa and South America were almost invisible regarding global participation in NSI research. Average citation rate (cr) analysis indicated a high rate for Switzerland (cr = 25.1), Italy (cr = 23.5), and Japan (cr = 19.2). Socioeconomic analysis revealed that the UK had the highest quotient QGDP of 0.13 NSI-specific publications per bill. US-$ gross domestic product (GDP), followed by South Africa (QGDP = 0.12). Temporal analysis of HIV versus hepatitis research indicated that NSI-HIV research culminated in the early 1990s, whereas NSI-hepatitis research increased over the observed period from the 1980s until the last decade.

Conclusion

Albeit NSI research activity is generally increasing, the growth is asymmetrical from a global viewpoint. International strategies should be followed that put a focus on NSI in non-industrialized areas of the world.
Perinatal depression screening practices in a large health system: identifying current state and assessing opportunities to provide more equitable care
Authors: Sidebottom Abbey , Vacquier Marc , LaRusso Elizabeth , Erickson Darin , Hardeman Rachel
Published: May 2020

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of prenatal and postpartum depression screening in a large health system and to identify covariates for screening, with a specific focus in understanding disparities in practice. A retrospective cohort of women with deliveries in 2016 was created using electronic health records. Primary outcomes were depression screening during pregnancy and the first 3 months postpartum. Generalized linear mixed models with women nested within clinic were used to determine the effect of maternal and clinical characteristics on depression screening. The sample included 7548 women who received prenatal care at 35 clinics and delivered at 10 hospitals. The postpartum sample included 7059 women who returned within 3 months for a postpartum visit. Of those, 65.1% were screened for depression during pregnancy, and 64.4% were screened postpartum. Clinic site was the strongest predictor of screening, accounting for 23–30% of the variability in screening prevalence. There were no disparities identified with regard to prenatal screening. However, several disparities were identified for postpartum screening. After adjusting for clinic, women who were African American, Asian, and otherwise non-white (Native American, multi-racial) were less likely to be screened postpartum than white women (AOR (CI)’s 0.81 (0.65, 1.01), 0.64 (0.53, 0.77), and 0.44 (0.21, 0.96), respectively). Women insured by Medicaid/Medicare, a proxy for low-income, were less likely to be screened postpartum than women who were privately insured (AOR (CI) 0.78 (0.68, 0.89)). National guidelines support universal depression screening of pregnant and postpartum women. The current study found opportunities for improvement in order to achieve universal screening and to deliver equitable care.
On a Multivalued Differential Equation with Nonlocality in Time
Authors: Eikmeier André , Emmrich Etienne
Published: May 2020

The initial value problem for a multivalued differential equation is studied, which is governed by the sum of a monotone, hemicontinuous, coercive operator fulfilling a certain growth condition and a Volterra integral operator in time of convolution type with exponential decay. The two operators act on different Banach spaces where one is not embedded in the other. The set-valued right-hand side is measurable and satisfies certain continuity and growth conditions. Existence of a solution is shownviaa generalisation of the Kakutani fixed-point theorem.
Competences for implementation science: what trainees need to learn and where they learn it
Authors: Schultes Marie-Therese , Aijaz Monisa , Klug Julia , Fixsen Dean L.
Published: May 2020

Education in implementation science, which involves the training of health professionals in how to implement evidence-based findings into health practice systematically, has become a highly relevant topic in health sciences education. The present study advances education in implementation science by compiling a competence profile for implementation practice and research and by exploring implementation experts’ sources of expertise. The competence profile is theoretically based on educational psychology, which implies the definition of improvable and teachable competences. In an online-survey, an international, multidisciplinary sample of 82 implementation experts named competences that they considered most helpful for conducting implementation practice and implementation research. For these competences, they also indicated whether they had acquired them in their professional education, additional training, or by self-study and on-the-job experience. Data were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach that combined qualitative content analyses with descriptive statistics. The participants deemed collaboration knowledge and skills most helpful for implementation practice. For implementation research, they named research methodology knowledge and skills as the most important ones. The participants had acquired most of the competences that they found helpful for implementation practice in self-study or by on-the-job experience. However, participants had learned most of their competences for implementation research in their professional education. The present results inform education and training activities in implementation science and serve as a starting point for a fluid set of interdisciplinary implementation science competences that will be updated continuously. Implications for curriculum development and the design of educational activities are discussed.
Theorizing refugeedom: becoming young political subjects in Beirut
Authors: Riga Liliana , Langer Johannes , Dakessian Arek
Published: May 2020

Refugees can be formed as “subjects” as they navigate forced displacement in countries that are not their own. In particular, everyday life as the politicized Other, and as humanitarianism’s depoliticized beneficiary, can constitute them as political subjects. Understanding these produced subjects and subjectivities leads us to conceive of forced displacement – or “refugeedom” – as a human condition or experience of political (sub)alterity, within which inhere distinctive subjectivations and subjectivities. Drawing on fieldwork in Beirut, Lebanon, we use young Syrian and Iraqi refugees’ experiences with everyday racism, violent bullying and racialized discrimination as heuristic lenses with which to see displacement’s political subjects and subjectivities. We argue that the young refugees emerge as both political and moral subjects through core and defining struggles within – and against – these politicizing constraints. We interpret their struggles as ambivalently and dynamically situated within humanitarianism’s and racism’s subjections and subjectivities. Yet we also found that occasionally the young refugees could eclipse these produced subjectivities to claim repoliticized subjecthoods distinct from those of humanitarianism and outside displacement’s normal politics. We interpret these in Rancièrian terms as “political subjectivation.” Abstracting our findings, we offer a simple theoretical architecture of refugeedom’s subjectivations, subjects, and subjectivities as comprising humanitarianism’s rights-bearing or juridical subject; the vulnerable and resilient, innocent and suffering subject; and the Othered or racialized subject, formed through the exclusions of displacement’s politicized spaces. But we also conceive refugeedom as a space of values, and so the ground on which moral meaning and significance attach to agency and subjectivity.
Disk-Shaped Cobalt Nanocrystals as Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis Catalysts Under Industrially Relevant Conditions
Authors: van Deelen T. W. , Harmel J. M. , Nijhuis J. J. , Su H. , Yoshida H. , Oord R. , Zečević J. , Weckhuysen B. M. , de Jong K. P.
Published: May 2020

Colloidal synthesis of metal nanocrystals (NC) offers control over size, crystal structure and shape of nanoparticles, making it a promising method to synthesize model catalysts to investigate structure-performance relationships. Here, we investigated the synthesis of disk-shaped Co-NC, their deposition on a support and performance in the Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis under industrially relevant conditions. From the NC synthesis, either spheres only or a mixture of disk-shaped and spherical Co-NC was obtained. The disks had an average diameter of 15 nm, a thickness of 4 nm and consisted of hcp Co exposing (0001) on the base planes. The spheres were 11 nm on average and consisted of ε-Co. After mild oxidation, the CoO-NC were deposited on SiO2 with numerically 66% of the NC being disk-shaped. After reduction, the catalyst with spherical plus disk-shaped Co-NC had 50% lower intrinsic activity for FT synthesis (20 bar, 220 °C, H2/CO = 2 v/v) than the catalyst with spherical NC only, while C5+-selectivity was similar. Surprisingly, the Co-NC morphology was unchanged after catalysis. Using XPS it was established that nitrogen-containing ligands were largely removed and in situ XRD revealed that both catalysts consisted of 65% hcp Co and 21 or 32% fcc Co during FT. Furthermore, 3–5 nm polycrystalline domains were observed. Through exclusion of several phenomena, we tentatively conclude that the high fraction of (0001) facets in disk-shaped Co-NC decrease FT activity and, although very challenging to pursue, that metal nanoparticle shape effects can be studied at industrially relevant conditions.
Photocatalytic TiO2/rGO/CuO Composite for Wastewater Treatment of Cr(VI) Under Visible Light
Authors: Wang Ning , Zhang Feiyan , Mei Qiufeng , Wu Ronglan , Wang Wei
Published: May 2020

The harm of chromium pollution to the environment has caused a widespread concern; hexavalent chromium is a toxic, cancerogenic, and genetically mutagenic contaminant to the human body; by contrast, trivalent chromium is almost non-toxic to the human body; therefore, it is a feasible method to reduce hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium. Photocatalysis is a new environmentally friendly and harmless technology, which can transform pollutants into non-toxic or less toxic products. In this study, we synthesized TiO2/rGO/CuO ternary nanocomposites to treat hexavalent chromium pollution under visible light. Under optimal conditions, the photoreduction efficiency of 100 ppm hexavalent chromium solution could reach 100% in 80 min. The photoreduction rate of hexavalent chromium is 29.4 times than that of pure TiO2. The photocatalytic property of CuO in TG2C8 nanocomposites is attributed to accelerate the separation of electrons and holes and the efficient electron transfer through the rGO framework. We believe that TiO2/rGO/CuO composites have great potential in wastewater treatment.
Blood Magnesium Level and Selected Oxidative Stress Indices in Lead-Exposed Workers
Authors: Wyparło-Wszelaki Magdalena , Wąsik Marta , Machoń-Grecka Anna , Kasperczyk Aleksandra , Bellanti Francesco , Kasperczyk Sławomir , Dobrakowski Michał
Published: May 2020

Occupational exposure to lead is one of the important hazards to human global population. Lead interferes with divalent cations, such as calcium, magnesium, and iron. Magnesium is the fourth most common mineral in the human body and a cofactor in more than 325 enzymes. There are many disorders associated with magnesium deficiency. It has been postulated that hypomagnesemia promotes oxidative stress. Study population included 232 male employees of lead-zinc works and was divided into two sub-groups based on the median of magnesium serum level: low magnesium level (L-Mg) group and high magnesium level (H-Mg) group. Magnesium level was significantly higher in the H-Mg group than in the L-Mg group due to the study design. The level of zinc protoporphyrin was significantly higher in the L-Mg group than in the H-Mg group by 13%, while the blood lead levels were similar in the examined groups. The serum level of MDA was significantly higher in the L-Mg group than in the H-Mg group by 12%, while the serum levels of thiol groups, TAC, and bilirubin were significantly lower in that group by 6%, 3%, and 27%, respectively. Similarly, the erythrocyte SOD activity was lower in the L-Mg group than in the H-Mg group by 5%. Low serum magnesium levels contribute to lead-induced oxidative stress, result in unfavorable modification of antioxidant system function, and promote lead-induced impairment of heme synthesis. Obtained results indicate that prevention of hypomagnesemia should be regarded as an important step in ensuring adequate prophylaxis of chronic lead poisoning.
Quantitative Assessment of Hippocampal Tau Pathology in AD and PART
Authors: Zhang Lei , Jiang Yankai , Zhu Jie , Liang Huazheng , He Xiangyang , Qian Jiahong , Lin Hai , Tao Yubo , Zhu Keqing
Published: May 2020

To quantitatively assess the distribution pattern of hippocampal tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and primary age-related tauopathy (PART), we investigated the distribution of phosphorylated tau protein (AT8) in 6 anatomically defined subregions of the hippocampal formation and developed a mathematical algorithm to compare the patterns of tau deposition in PART and AD. We demonstrated regional patterns of selective vulnerability as distinguishing features of PART and AD in functionally relevant structures of the hippocampus. In AD cases, tau pathology was high in both CA1 and subiculum, followed by CA2/3, entorhinal cortex (EC), CA4, and dentate gyrus (DG). In PART, the severity of tau pathology in CA1 and subiculum was high, followed by EC, CA2/3, CA4, and DG. There are significant differences between sector DG and CA1, DG and subiculum in both AD and PART.
ONE-YEAR PREMIUM RISK AND EMERGENCE PATTERN OF ULTIMATE LOSS BASED ON CONDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION
Authors: Delong Łukasz , Szatkowski Marcin
Published: May 2020

We study the relation between one-year premium risk and ultimate premium risk. In practice, the one-year risk is sometimes related to the ultimate risk by using a so-called emergence pattern formula which postulates a linear relation between both risks. We define the true emergence pattern of the ultimate loss for the one-year premium risk based on a conditional distribution of the ultimate loss derived from a multivariate distribution of the claims development process. We investigate three models commonly used in claims reserving and prove that the true emergence pattern formulas are different from the linear emergence pattern formula used in practice. We show that the one-year risk, when measured by VaR, can be under and overestimated if the linear emergence pattern formula is applied. We present two modifications of the linear emergence pattern formula. These modifications allow us to go beyond the claims development models investigated in the first part and work with an arbitrary distribution of the ultimate loss.
Glacier mass and area changes on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 1986–2016
Authors: Yang Ruitang , Hock Regine , Kang Shichang , Shangguan Donghui , Guo Wanqin
Published: May 2020

Glacier mass loss in Alaska has implications for global sea level rise, fresh water input into the Gulf of Alaska and terrestrial fresh water resources. We map all glaciers (>4000 km2) on the Kenai Peninsula, south central Alaska, for the years 1986, 1995, 2005 and 2016, using satellite images. Changes in surface elevation and volume are determined by differencing a digital elevation model (DEM) derived from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer stereo images in 2005 from the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar DEM of 2014. The glacier area shrunk by 543 ± 123 km2(12 ± 3%) between 1986 and 2016. The region-wide mass-balance rate between 2005 and 2014 was −0.94 ± 0.12 m w.e. a−1(−3.84 ± 0.50 Gt a−1), which is almost twice as negative than found for earlier periods in previous studies indicating an acceleration in glacier mass loss in this region. Area-averaged mass changes were most negative for lake-terminating glaciers (−1.37 ± 0.13 m w.e. a−1), followed by land-terminating glaciers (−1.02 ± 0.13 m w.e. a−1) and tidewater glaciers (−0.45 ± 0.14 m w.e. a−1). Unambiguous attribution of the observed acceleration in mass loss over the last decades is hampered by the scarcity of observational data, especially at high elevation, and by large interannual variability.
Gender is a multifaceted concept: evidence that specific life experiences differentially shape the concept of gender
Authors: MAZZUCA CLAUDIA , MAJID ASIFA , LUGLI LUISA , NICOLETTI ROBERTO , BORGHI ANNA M.
Published: May 2020

Gender has been the focus of linguistic and psychological studies, but little is known about its conceptual representation. We investigate whether the conceptual structure of gender – as expressed in participants’ free-listing responses – varies according to gender-related experiences in line with research on conceptual flexibility. Specifically, we tested groups that varied by gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender-normativity. We found that different people stressed distinct aspects of the concept. For example, normative individuals mainly relied on a bigenderist conception (e.g., male/female; man/woman), while non-normative individuals produced more aspects related to social context (e.g., queer, fluidity, construction). At a broader level, our results support the idea that gender is a multifaceted and flexible concept, constituted by social, biological, cultural, and linguistic components. Importantly, the meaning of gender is not exhausted by the classical dichotomy opposing sex, a biological fact, with gender as its cultural counterpart. Instead, both aspects are differentially salient depending on specific life experiences.
Spatial point pattern analysis of traces (SPPAT): An approach for visualizing and quantifying site-selectivity patterns of drilling predators
Authors: Rojas Alexis , Dietl Gregory P. , Kowalewski Michał , Portell Roger W. , Hendy Austin , Blackburn Jason K.
Published: May 2020

Site-selectivity analysis of drilling predation traces may provide useful behavioral information concerning a predator interacting with its prey. However, traditional approaches exclude some spatial information (i.e., oversimplified trace position) and are dependent on the scale of analysis (e.g., arbitrary grid system used to divide the prey skeleton into sectors). Here we introduce the spatial point pattern analysis of traces (SPPAT), an approach for visualizing and quantifying the distribution of traces on shelled invertebrate prey, which includes improved collection of spatial information inherent to drillhole location (morphometric-based estimation), improved visualization of spatial trends (kernel density and hotspot mapping), and distance-based statistics for hypothesis testing (K-,L-, and pair correlation functions). We illustrate the SPPAT approach through case studies of fossil samples, modern beach-collected samples, and laboratory feeding trials of naticid gastropod predation on bivalve prey. Overall results show that kernel density and hotspot maps enable visualization of subtle variations in regions of the shell with higher density of predation traces, which can be combined with the maximum clustering distance metric to generate hypotheses on predatory behavior and anti-predatory responses of prey across time and geographic space. Distance-based statistics also capture the major features in the distribution of traces across the prey skeleton, including aggregated and segregated clusters, likely associated with different combinations of two modes of drilling predation, edge and wall drilling. The SPPAT approach is transferable to other paleoecologic and taphonomic data such as encrustation and bioerosion, allowing for standardized investigation of a wide range of biotic interactions.
THE FACE OF BATTLE? DEBATING ARROW TRAUMA ON MEDIEVAL HUMAN REMAINS FROM PRINCESSHAY, EXETER
Authors: Creighton Oliver H , Evis Laura , Kingdom Mandy , McKenzie Catriona J , Watt Iain , Outram Alan K
Published: May 2020

Physical evidence of weapon trauma in medieval burials is unusual, and evidence for trauma caused by arrowheads is exceptionally rare. Where high frequencies of traumatic injuries have been identified, this is mainly in contexts related to battles; it is much less common in normative burials. Osteological analysis of one context from an assemblage of disarticulated and commingled human bones recovered from a cemetery associated with the thirteenth-century Dominican friary in Exeter, Devon, shows several instances of weapon trauma, including multiple injuries caused by projectile points. Arrow trauma is notoriously difficult to identify, but this assemblage shows that arrows fired from longbows could result in entry and exit wounds in the skull not incomparable to modern gunshot wounds. Microscopic examination of the fracture patterns and spalling associated with these puncture wounds provides tentative evidence that medieval arrows were fletched to spin clockwise. These results have profound implications for our understanding of the power of the medieval longbow, for how we recognise arrow trauma in the archaeological record and for our knowledge of how common violent death and injury were in the medieval past, and how and where casualties were buried.
THE CAROLINGIAN CUP FROM THE VALE OF YORK VIKING HOARD: ORIGINS OF ITS FORM AND DECORATIVE FEATURES
Authors: Ager Barry
Published: May 2020

In 2007, near Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, a Viking-period hoard was discovered with a Carolingian silver-gilt cup. This article examines this cup, highlighting Oriental, Central Asian and classical parallels in both metal and pottery for the cup’s form and decoration. The overall significance of the cup’s iconography has already been thoroughly discussed by Professor Egon Wamers, who proposed that the scenes on the cup are paralleled in the early ninth-century Stuttgart Psalter. This article proposes that Oriental forms and decorative elements in metalwork were channelled to the West through diplomatic contacts and trade by way of a complex of routes by land and sea, as well as possibly by refugees from Islamic conquests.
The Long Road to Sainthood: Indian Christians, the Doctrine of Preparation, and the Halfway Covenant of 1662
Authors: Michna Gregory
Published: May 2020

This essay explores the origins and expansion of New England Praying Towns in the context of the ongoing theological and religious debates of 1646–1674. This period spawned significant debates regarding the extent of the Abrahamic covenant, the requirements for church membership, and the nature of conversion. The ministers present at the Synod of 1662 gathered to settle the question of “extended baptism,” an issue where Indian and English concerns intersected. Reformers who promoted a generational vision of church membership emphasized the efficacy of spiritual preparation for younger generations and the power of a broader and more inclusive church covenant. This development benefitted Algonquians living in Praying Towns because theological preparation validated efforts to catechize and instruct Praying Indians in religious matters. Likewise, a broadening vision of church membership enabled some colonists to consider the possibility that Indians might be included within their religious communities. These projects, launched before the formalization of the Halfway Covenant in 1662, presented a tangible example of spiritual preparation in practice and served to validate the conversionary process within the colony at large. English observers found Indian conversion impressive (or reacted with intense skepticism) because most theologians considered Indians unlikely converts, especially in larger numbers. For Algonquians demonstrating an interest in English spirituality, church membership represented a degree of parity with their New England brethren. Tracing the development of New England missions, the pathway to church membership, and the debates on both missions and extended baptism reveals both the possibilities and limits to the inclusion of Indian Christians within New England's religious institutions.
Expanding the Narrative: The Reception of Ignatius of Antioch in Britain, ca. 1200–1700
Authors: Lookadoo Jonathon
Published: May 2020

Recent studies of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch have helpfully located seventeenth-century Ignatian scholarship in its ecclesial and political context. Of particular importance, these new works have demonstrated that seventeenth-century British analysis of the genuineness of Ignatius's letters coincided with debates about British ecclesial government and the English Civil War. This essay contributes to such studies by expanding the discussion in three ways. The first two ways extend the study of Ignatian reception backward from the seventeenth century. First, the article observes that the study of the middle recension (the earliest form of Ignatius's letters) can be found in late medieval English theological writings and manuscripts. Second, it addresses how, simultaneously, four Ignatian letters which record a correspondence between Ignatius, John the Elder, and the Virgin Mary were read in Britain. These letters highlight Ignatius's piety and apostolic links. Finally, this essay widens the scholarly narrative of seventeenth-century Ignatian studies by observing that seventeenth-century interpreters drew on late medieval citations of Ignatius and that they were concerned with Ignatius's piety as well as the interpretive puzzles in his letters.
Comparative analysis of nutritional status and growth of immature oil palm in various intercropping systems in southern Benin
Authors: Koussihouèdé Hermione , Aholoukpè Hervé , Adjibodou Jeremie , Hinkati Haniel , Dubos Bernard , Chapuis-Lardy Lydie , Barthès Bernard G. , Amadji Guillaume , Clermont-Dauphin Cathy
Published: May 2020

Beninese smallholders associate food crops and cash crops with immature oil palms to reduce field maintenance costs and gain income before the palms reach productive phase. Little is known about the effects of these crops on the nutritional status and growth of the palms in their immature phase even though the yield of adult palms can be affected by the management practices during this phase. The objective of this study was to evaluate the most common oil palm-based intercropping systems found in southern Benin in terms of nutritional status and growth of the palm. Within 15 oil palm farms, we compared 15 immature oil palm fields where the crop succession associated with the oil palms was dominated by maize, cassava, tomato, and pineapple. The nutrient concentrations in the soil and the palm leaves, and growth indicators were measured at the end of the immature phase. We found that the palm growth indicators were the lowest in the successions with pineapple. N and P nutrition of the immature palms was satisfactory but K was deficient in all systems, especially in those with pineapple. The K levels in the soils and palm leaves were correlated. Rough field budgets comparing the amounts of N and K applied to the crop successions with their N and K exports from non-returning products indicated that soil indigenous K supply would be particularly depleted in the systems with pineapple. We concluded that the young oil palms were affected by the competition for K exerted by the crop successions with pineapple even though they were the most fertilized in the region. The high profitable crop is therefore associated with the lowest growth rates of the immature palms. The mineral fertilizer management in these oil palm temporary intercropping systems should be improved.
Resource use efficiency in a cotton-wheat double-cropping system in the Yellow River Valley of China
Authors: Wang Guoping , Li Yabing , Han Yingchun , Wang Zhanbiao , Yang Beifang , Li Xiaofei , Feng Lu
Published: May 2020

The cotton-wheat double-cropping system is widely used in the Yellow River Valley of China, but whether and how different planting patterns within cotton-wheat double-cropping systems impact heat and light use efficiency have not been well documented. A field experiment investigated the effects of the cropping system on crop productivity and the capture and use efficiency of heat and light in two fields differing in soil fertility. Three planting patterns, namely cotton intercropped with wheat (CIW), cotton directly seeded after wheat (CDW), and cotton transplanted after wheat (CTW), as well as one cotton monoculture (CM) system were used. Cotton-wheat double cropping significantly increased crop productivity and land equivalent ratios relative to the CM system in both fields. As a result of increased growing degree days (GDD), intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (IPAR), and photothermal product (PTP), the capture of light and heat in the double-cropping systems was compared with that in the CM system in both fields. With improved resource capture, the double-cropping systems exhibited a higher light and heat use efficiency according to thermal product efficiency, solar energy use efficiency (Eu), radiation use efficiency (RUE), and PTP use efficiency (PTPU). The cotton lint yield and biomass were not significantly correlated with RUE across cropping patterns, indicating that RUE does not limit cotton production. Among the double-cropping treatments, CDW had the lowest GDD, IPAR, and PTP values but the highest heat and light resource use efficiency and highest overall resource use efficiency. This good performance was even more obvious in the high-fertility field. Therefore, we encourage the expanded use of CDW in the Yellow River Valley, especially in fields with high fertility, given the high productivity and resource use efficiency of this system. Moreover, the use of agronomic practices involving a reasonably close planting density, optimized irrigation and nutrient supply, and the application of new short-season varieties of cotton or wheat can potentially enhance CDW crop yields and productivity.
Ontology and revelation in Bavinck's Stone Lectures
Authors: Shannon Nathan Daniel
Published: May 2020

This essay examines Herman Bavinck's Stone Lectures (1908), published as Philosophy of Revelation, for indications of a noteworthy conception of the relation between ontology and revelation. One discovers in the lectures that in responding constructively to various challenges to the Christian faith, Bavinck pushes in a direction documented in recent studies of his work: toward doctrinal organicism. What emerges in terms of ontology and revelation is Bavinck's belief that Christianity is distinguished primarily by confession of a real divine relational initiative, understood in terms of the incarnation, which serves as the ontological precondition of divine revelation and thus as vindication of creaturely naming of God.
Not Moses, but David: Theology and politics in Psalm 78
Authors: Kugler Gili
Published: May 2020

Psalm 78 is a lengthy psalm with puzzling phrasing, which presents a peculiar historiography and enigmatic entities. The article begins by highlighting the omission of Moses in the psalm's chronological review, a feature that enables a strong focus on the role of God in the people's history. From concern with the absent Moses, the article moves to examine the role of David in the psalm as a way to access the psalmist's motivations and historical-political context. By examining literary, historical and theological features of the psalm, the article explores the use of collective memory and rewritten narratives for consolidating the people's religious and political ideals.
The people's critical linguistics: Using archival data to investigate responses to linguistic informalisation
Authors: Spencer-Bennett Joe
Published: May 2020

Arguments about the sociopolitical significance of the informalisation of English have been central to the critical study of language in society since the 1980s. This article demonstrates that informalisation was also a key concern of ordinary users of British English in the 1980s. Correspondents in the British Mass Observation Project articulated judgements of informalisation that were in many ways continuous with those of academic linguists. The article argues that such critical arguments about language were part of a ‘structure of feeling’ (Raymond Williams) of late twentieth-century Britain. This suggests a rethinking of ordinary language users’ relations to their linguistic experience, not as unthinkingly ‘prescriptivist’, nor as merely ‘commonsensical’, but as exhibiting a nuance which academic linguists would do well to engage with more fully. The article makes the case for the use of social-historical archives in investigations of metalanguage, as a means by which the social significance of language can be better understood. (Critical linguistics, folk linguistics, terms of address, informalisation, synthetic personalisation, prescriptivism)
Childhood adversities and mental health outcomes: Does the perception or age of the event matter?
Authors: Negriff Sonya
Published: May 2020

The current study extends knowledge regarding the individual contribution of different adverse experiences to mental health symptoms in late adolescence by including the perception of how upsetting each experience was to the adolescent and the age at the first occurrence. We also sought to move beyond sum scores of adverse experiences by using a person-centered approach to classifying individuals with similar co-occurrence of adversities. The data came from a longitudinal study of maltreatment on adolescent development (N = 454). Self-reported childhood adversities were assessed at Wave 4 (average of 7 years postbaseline) and examined with respect to current mental health symptoms (depression, PTSD, anxiety, and externalizing). Although the adversity sum score was a potent predictor of all mental health outcomes, the results indicated that the use of a sum score obscures information about the importance of individual adversities. Additionally, the influence of age of occurrence varied based on the adversity and outcome, while the perception of the event did not add much unique variance. Finally, the latent class analyses provided unique information about the patterns of co-occurring adversity in this sample, and that membership in either of the multiple-adversity classes was associated with more mental health symptoms.