bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conclusion
Authors: Scott Amanda L.
Published: September 2020

This concluding chapter examines how modern seroras serve as living reminders about the historic value of the seroras and their potential for revising people's understanding of the importance of women during the Catholic Reformation. More important, the long history of the seroras demonstrates that Catholic reformers did not operate with blind efficiency and detachment, so focused on a narrow definition of success that they could not consider variability in approach. Indeed, when examined not strictly through synods and decrees but rather through personal interaction, one sees a consistent recognition of the value of women's spirituality in strengthening and promoting the pastoral mission of Tridentine reform. Moreover, these diocesan efforts to include and work with the seroras in their reform program was deliberate and formalized, as evidenced by the copious documentary record produced on the seroras during these centuries. Their rich, if scattered, records also offer significant opportunity to hear the voices of not just a handful of anomalous women but a persistent chorus of thousands of individual women across three centuries. Amplified by their supporters, as well as detractors, the seroras leave a multifaceted testament about how communities experienced reform, and about the central role women played in mediating and helping mold it to local needs.
The Masquerades of Grassroots Development
Authors: Ballvé Teo
Published: September 2020

This chapter dissects how grassroots development initiatives enabled the creation of a vast criminal economy. Paramilitaries' use of grassroots development went beyond simply whitewashing their plunder with fashionable, politically correct development-speak. The discourses, institutions, and practices of grassroots development formed an integral part of the paras' extralegal political economy. In the context of the frontier effect, grassroots development made their economies of violence surprisingly compatible with formal projects of liberal state building. The paramilitaries turned grassroots development into a vehicle both for executing their massive land grabs and for promoting, in their words, the “arrival of the state.” As a strategic assemblage of discourses, practices, and institutional formations, the grassroots development apparatus did more than simply give the paras' economic ventures a veneer of symbolic legitimacy; it also enabled and worked in conjunction with the concrete practices of paramilitary rule. Grassroots development was thus both a means of state building and a way of laundering their violently and illegally accumulated landholdings.
Italy’s Long Decolonization in the Era of Intergovernmentalism
Authors: Ballinger Pamela
Published: September 2020

This chapter situates the story of relief to both national and foreign refugees in Italy in the immediate postwar years within the entangled internationalisms and Italian struggles to reassert and reframe sovereignty in the aftermath of defeat. Although the concept of intergovernmentalism only originated in the 1960s in the context of nascent European integration, in practice it proved a key aspect of interwar and early postwar politics. Indeed, the retrenchment after 1945 of the nation-state in the international state system gained its most obvious expression in the creation of a series of intergovernmental institutions, including the United Nations and its subsidiary agencies (such as UNRRA, the IRO, and finally the UNHCR). In the realm of refugees, these agencies quite literally mediated between the realms of the state and the international; the UNHCR's statute gave expression to this interstitial role with its requirement that aid provided by states to the displaced be distributed through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In addition, decolonization—which took as its goal national independence and sovereignty—reaffirmed the centrality of the statist principle undergirding the United Nations. The chapter then considers UNRRA's Dodecanese Mission and the 1947 Peace Treaty with Italy.
A Reputation for Resolute Action
Authors: Lupton Danielle L.
Published: September 2020

This chapter explores how Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev viewed the resolve of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, considering Khrushchev's decision making surrounding the 1958 Berlin Crisis. The historical record shows that Eisenhower's early statements were particularly influential to the formation of his reputation, as they created expectations of how he would behave in the future. However, Eisenhower was unable to solidify his reputation for resolve at the 1955 Geneva Summit, as Khrushchev perceived Secretary of State John Foster Dulles rather than President Eisenhower as being in direct control of negotiations at the summit. Yet, in the year leading up to the 1958 Berlin Ultimatum, Khrushchev's perception of who was in control of U.S. foreign policy shifted to emphasize the importance of Eisenhower to America's Berlin policy. And the president's statements leading up to the Berlin Crisis led Khrushchev to believe Eisenhower was unlikely to make major concessions on the issue. Eisenhower's subsequent firm response to the Berlin Crisis then confirmed Khrushchev's expectations of the president's resolve. Accordingly, Eisenhower established a reputation for resolute action that would last until the end of his presidency. Further evidence suggests that Eisenhower's actions as a general during World War II were influential to Khrushchev's early perceptions of the president.
Change and Stability in Global Tax Policy
Authors: Hakelberg Lukas
Published: September 2020

This chapter takes a look at the ability of a great power like the United States to unilaterally effect fundamental change in international tax policy through coercion. It first shows that the structural constraints precluding a common interest in countermeasures to tax evasion were still in place when the US Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Second, the chapter reveals that there was no need for normative change, because regulative norms have never consistently prevented the United States from interfering with the legal systems of tax havens. From there, the chapter considers when a great power like the United States can effect fundamental change in international tax policy and the domestic tax policies of less powerful countries through coercion. It argues that a government reaches great power status if it controls an internal market large enough to reduce its dependence on international trade and investment relative to the government's negotiating partners and uses its regulatory capacity to effectively restrict market access for foreign firms or investors.
Power in International Tax Politics
Authors: Hakelberg Lukas
Published: September 2020

This chapter develops a theory of power in international tax politics. This theory identifies market size and regulatory capacity as the decisive resources enabling governments to issue credible threats and inducements with a view toward making other governments do what they would not otherwise do. A lack of regulatory capacity explains why the European Union has not wielded the same power in negotiations over global tax policy as the United States despite the EU's similarly sized internal market. In fact, taxation remains an exclusive member state competence. Therefore, the European Commission has no administrative authority to impose penalties on third states or foreign firms not complying with tax good governance standards applicable within the union. At the same time, the principle of nondiscrimination enshrined in EU law prevents individual EU countries from passing sanctions against other member states abetting tax evasion and avoidance. Because of the lack of regulatory centralization in the EU, the US can act as a hegemon in international tax politics. Accordingly, US preferences determined by domestic politics decisively shape the content of global tax policy. The preferences of other governments merely affect the US administration's enforcement strategy.
The BEPS Project
Authors: Hakelberg Lukas
Published: September 2020

This chapter reveals the US government's struggles in assuming its usual leadership position in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiatives. This happened for entirely domestic reasons: the Obama administration's inability to implement its preferred solution to BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting)—a tightening of controlled foreign company (CFC) rules—in the face of opposition by US multinationals, paired with the administration's strong political commitment to tax fairness, which prevented the administration from abandoning the initiative altogether. The administration's lack of purpose initially opened agenda space for other governments. Between the release of a first set of discussion drafts and the final BEPS reports, however, the United States fought a successful rearguard battle, retrenching attempts at expanding the taxing rights of source countries and essentially preserving the status quo. This success occurred despite the inclusion of the Group of 20 (G20) emerging economies, which could be expected to shift the power balance away from the United States, and in accordance with the preferences of US multinationals. The diffusion of unilateral initiatives by source countries, which are still subject to political conflict, confirms their frustration with the outcome of the BEPS project.
From Hegemony to Transatlantic Tax Battle?
Authors: Hakelberg Lukas
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the most recent developments in transatlantic bargaining over countermeasures to financial secrecy and corporate profit-shifting, and sketches several future scenarios based on the theory developed in Chapter 2. It shows that dissatisfaction with nonreciprocal automatic exchange of information (AEI) and the BEPS project's failure to limit tax avoidance in the common market has motivated the European Commission and several member states to push for a common reaction. The European Union has since produced an integrated blacklist of third countries not complying with its tax good governance standards and ordered several member states to claw back taxes lost to sweetheart deals granting selective advantages to individual firms. Moreover, finance ministers debate the introduction of a digital services tax and a common consolidated corporate tax base to curb profit-shifting in the common market. Finally, the chapter presents some overall conclusions drawn from the research presented in this volume.
Introduction
Authors: Westendorf Jasmine-Kim
Published: September 2020

This introductory chapter provides an overview of sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations. These behaviors are diverse and have ranged from opportunistic sexual assault and rape to planned, sadistic sexual violence; from networked exploitation such as sex trafficking and the production of pornography to transactional sex, which is often also referred to as “survival sex.” The perpetrators are not just soldiers deployed into peacekeeping operations; they include the full range of uniformed and civilian UN peacekeepers as well as private contractors, aid workers, and others associated with peace operations. The chapter then considers the relatively small body of scholarly work on sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping missions. Understanding the patterns of sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations, the factors that give rise to it, and its impacts on the capacity and credibility of the international community is crucial to developing effective prevention and response policies globally.
Making Matters Worse
Authors: Westendorf Jasmine-Kim
Published: September 2020

This chapter investigates the micro- and mission-level impacts of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by interveners in peace operations on the international community's capacity to fulfill its goals related to security, stability, and peacebuilding in postconflict contexts. These impacts operate on three levels: the individual and community level, the structural level, and the operational level. One fairly obvious conclusion arising from this analysis is that, in perpetrating sexual exploitation and abuse, interveners commit human rights violations, consolidate structures and processes that facilitate further exploitation and abuse, and spark conflict with actors who object to such behaviors. Thus, these outcomes are not in line with general expectations of the impacts peacekeepers should have on local populations and host states. Sexual exploitation and abuse is a significant source of mistrust between local communities and the international intervention, particularly as it intersected with other behaviors that amplified and exploited the power imbalance between international interveners and local communities.
Conclusion
Authors: Westendorf Jasmine-Kim
Published: September 2020

This concluding chapter discusses how intervener cultures interact with the broad range of factors that challenge and undermine the effectiveness of peace operations, including by giving rise to the perpetration of sexual misconduct against local communities. In light of this, it details the key insights this book has revealed about the nature and impacts of sexual misconduct by interveners in peace operations and suggests how the international community might better address this issue and its complex, interlinked implications in the future. The chapter also reflects on the major shortcomings of policy on sexual exploitation and abuse to date, including the individualization of sexual exploitation and abuse, which relegates responses primarily to conduct and discipline policies rather than addressing the broader and systemic issues at play. It then considers the extent to which recent policy shifts might avoid replicating past mistakes in terms of sexual exploitation and abuse policy. Ultimately, recognizing the mutually reinforcing ways in which sexual exploitation and abuse by interveners undermines peacekeeping and peacebuilding outcomes and developing an effective and robust response to such misconduct and other interlinked peacekeeping challenges based on that understanding is crucial to the pursuit of global peace, order, and justice.
Introduction
Authors: Brescia Ray
Published: September 2020

This introductory chapter details the story of the passage of the G.I. Bill, revealing how an adaptive grassroots network utilized all the media technologies available to it at the time in creative ways—from the mail and the telegraph to the radio and the cinema—to promote a positive, inclusive message and bring about social change. Innovation in communications technologies created an opportunity for the American Legion; it had at its disposal a vast array of tools to not just communicate with but also coordinate the efforts of its vast network of local chapters to promote adoption of the program. This connection between communications technology and a social movement is not accidental. U.S. history reveals the deep relationship between social change and innovation in the means of communication. Thus, this book examines the link between, on the one hand, innovations in communications technology and methods and, on the other, social movements that appear to have emerged in their wake. It also identifies the components of the successes and failures of these same movements that seem to have a symbiotic relationship to the technology that fuels them.
From Medical Work to Clinic Work
Authors: Trotter LaTonya J.
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines how certain problems arrived on the nurse practitioners' (NPs) lists of things to do and how this arrival reflected both professional and organizational understandings of NP work. From meetings to email exchanges, the NPs were joined by a host of others in receiving member information. This information was not only about disease processes but also about family relationships, community context, and each member's experience of the Forest Grove Elder Services' system of coordination. Yet the NPs were singular in performing a professional openness to incorporating such diverse information into their clinical view of members. The NPs' openness allowed them to cultivate a layered knowledge of each member that was distinct from the understandings of other providers on the team. More importantly, they were uniquely positioned to wield that knowledge from inside the medical encounter. In a health care context, problems that could be relocated to the clinic were treated with more urgency and more resources than those located outside the clinic. The act of relocating a broad range of problems to the medical encounter was at the core of the NPs' performance of clinic work. Situated in the health care encounter, clinic work was not just added to traditional notions of medical work, it was a reconfiguration of what it meant to practice medicine when it was practiced by nurses.
Gaining Status, Losing Ground
Authors: Trotter LaTonya J.
Published: September 2020

This chapter explores the ways in which the presence of the nurse practitioners (NPs) is both a cause and a consequence of the changing organization of medical work. While NPs are often thought of as filling in for physicians, at the Forest Grove Elder Services, there were new pressures on the physicians to fill in for the NPs. In the face of these pressures, the physicians marshaled the traditional prerogative of being a professional and engaged in acts of refusal. These physician refusals had the intended effect of protecting their status and expertise, but they had the unintended consequence of leaving even more of medicine's traditional realm of responsibility to nursing. Ultimately, the introduction of the NP into the medical encounter raises questions not only about what uniquely constitutes a physician's work but also about what it means to be a medical expert in modern health care.
The Misrecognition of Social Problems
Authors: Trotter LaTonya J.
Published: September 2020

This chapter assesses the challenges faced by the Forest Grove Elder Services' social workers, providing a better understanding of the hurdles faced by the profession at large. State disinvestment in social problems grounds the devaluation of social work as a profession. However, this may be of little interest to anyone who is not a social worker. If the Grove's members were getting their needs met by others—whether it be nurse practitioners (NPs), chaplains, or occupational therapists (OTs)—it is not readily apparent how this devaluation might impact anything other than the professional aspirations of social workers. The chapter then argues that there are consequences for relocating problems from one terrain to another. The tools found in the clinic may not be the same as those located outside it. Moreover, not all social work concerns are necessarily taken up by those best positioned as advocates. At the Grove, social concerns were addressed both by those with recognized credentials and by those without them. When anyone is perceived as able to do social work, clients may lose an ally with the organizational power to advocate on their behalf. The chapter illustrates that the relocation of social problems has implications for people's understanding of what constitutes those problems and what they envision as the available arsenal of solutions.
Sensational Savages
Authors: Hawkins Michael C.
Published: September 2020

This chapter recounts how, from the outset, the Moro display was plagued with a number of competing tensions. In report after report, exposition officials readily acknowledged the potentially sensational nature of the displays but immediately grounded them in “scientific value.” This tension between sensationalism and scientific value was even more complex for colonial officials in the Philippines. Highlighting savagery, violence, and oddities were anathema to attracting potential American investment and settlement, particularly in Mindanao and Sulu. Sensational savagery was also distinctly repugnant to Filipino nationalists who were struggling to convince US policy makers and the American public of their modernity and capacity for self-rule. The chapter then looks at how the initial marketing efforts of the directors of the Moro exhibit were characterized by tales of violence, savagery, heathenism, cannibalism, and depravity, all of which the local press was eager to disseminate in daily columns. However, following this initial phase of sensational fearmongering, exposition officials and the Moros themselves found that the public was drawn to their exhibit for other, unforeseen reasons. The liminal space of the “semi-civilized” Moros allowed Americans a way in and a way back to places they sought, while simultaneously providing Moros with access to sources and habitations of power in the always malleable discourse of American empire.
1684: The Iroquois Lay Siege to the Fort
Authors: Walczynski Mark
Published: September 2020

This chapter focuses on the six-day Iroquois siege at Starved Rock. This attack on Fort St. Louis is an important event in French history in the West because, in the eyes of the Illinois Indians, it diminished the power of the French, both as protector and trade partner—the very reasons that the tribes had been drawn to the upper Illinois River Valley. The siege, which underscored French weaknesses, occurred during a time of social and commercial instability in the region. The near-success of the Iroquois validated their strength and encouraged their arrogance. It was clear that if the Iroquois could wrest the Canadian fur market from the French and control it themselves, then the Western tribes would trade with the Iroquois. The Iroquois would then trade those furs to the English. Had the outcome been reversed and Fort St. Louis had fallen to the Iroquois, the English would have achieved a major victory by gaining a greater role as a supplier of goods to the Western Indians. In the end, however, the repulse of the Iroquois at Starved Rock kept the important Franco-Native American trade alliance intact, and securely maintained French control of the gateway to the Mississippi through the Illinois Country.
Restricting the Hordes
Authors: Zeidel Robert F.
Published: September 2020

This chapter studies how government officials first looked to deportation as a solution to the post-war “immigration problem.” During and after the Red Scare, 1919–1924, government officials enacted new and more stringent immigration restrictions. Their implementation would curtail employers' virtually unfettered access to immigrant labor, a benefit businesses had enjoyed since the onset of industrialization. Companies continued to want immigrant workers, but decades of associating foreigners with labor unrest had reached an apex. Fear of subversive aliens combined with nativism and progressivism to convince many Americans of the need for more extensive exclusion. Only through proactive diligence, contended the restrictionist ranks, could the immigrant danger be ameliorated. The pertinent question was not if the maleficence truly existed but rather how best to eliminate it. Dismissing employers' arguments to the contrary, lawmakers ultimately enacted sweeping new quota-based restrictions, significantly reducing European immigration. Their passage effectively ended an epic chapter of American business and labor history.
Justus Liebig and the Rise of Nutritional Science
Authors: Scott-Smith Tom
Published: September 2020

This chapter explains how theories of gelatin and osmazome were eventually replaced by a more modern approach to the diet. It illustrates this change by comparing two very similar products that emerged over the space of just a decade: a substance called Osmazome Food, which was promoted by Alexis Soyer, and one known as Extractum Carnis, or “extract of meat,” which was promoted by the founder of modern biochemistry, Justus Liebig. These two products were essentially the same, but were marketed in radically different ways: the former framed by classical dietetics; the latter by modern nutritional science. The chapter shows how classical dietetic tradition, which had spread throughout Europe in the Renaissance, died away with modern biochemistry, and Liebig's science shifted attention inside the body. This had four main implications which profoundly changed how food was judged, how nutritional authority was conducted, how food was removed from its social context, and how food became a tool of progress.
Introduction
Authors: Ishikawa Machiko
Published: September 2020

This introductory chapter offers a brief background into the works of Nakagami Kenji (1946–1992) and how he represented the voices of the socially silenced in Japan. Notably, Nakagami belonged to the Burakumin (“outcaste”). Although he is known as a Burakumin writer, and much of his writing is indeed set in a Burakumin context, not all of his material provides representations of Burakumin life. His work further depicts the diversity of backgrounds among Buraku people, including those who, like the writer himself, received financial and economic benefits from the democratic systems introduced at the time. Given this Burakumin emphasis, the chapter briefly introduces key historical and sociopolitical aspects of that experience before embarking on an analysis of the writer's works. This analysis also includes a brief overview of the extensive corpus of Nakagami scholarship which exists in both Japanese and English.
The Paradox of Representation
Authors: Ishikawa Machiko
Published: September 2020

This chapter sets out to clarify the paradox of representing the silenced subaltern voice. It appropriates an aspect of Gayatri Spivak's scholarship that creates possibilities for a new reading of Nakagami. Before arguing Spivak's view, the chapter presents background information about Kishū Kumano (Japan's marginalized South) by referring to Nakagami's essays, interviews, and travel journals. It examines Spivak's critique of ideology, hegemony, the subaltern, and her discussion on the role of the intellectual. Based on these ideas of the “intellectual,” the chapter investigates Nakagami's ambivalence about his role as a member of the silenced Burakumin community who is nevertheless privileged as a “person who has (written) language.” The challenges inherent in the act of representation are investigated by reading Marx's interpretation of this issue, in addition to the ideas of more contemporary theorists such as Spivak and Karatani. The chapter concludes with an analysis of an example of Nakagami's representation of the voices of mukoku Kumano Burakumin from the 1978 travel journal Kishū.
The Voice of a Transgressive Young Man
Authors: Ishikawa Machiko
Published: September 2020

This chapter focuses on Nakagami's early writings and a short story titled “Rakudo” (1976). A number of prominent themes feature in his late 1960s writing. These include criticism of Japanese New Left writers, recollections of his “uneducated” half-brother's violence and suicide, and reflections on then nineteen-year-old Nagayama Norio, who shot and killed four people in 1968. First, through an analysis of nonfiction material produced by Nakagami from 1965 to 1969, the chapter profiles two elements that were frequently represented in literary production and discussed in academic writing during this period: the masses (taishū) and loss (sōshitsu). It also provides a detailed discussion on the intertextual relationship between Nakagami's late 1960s texts and the contemporaneous perspective of two Japanese critics. By referencing these scholars' texts, the chapter articulates Nakagami's motives for writing—giving representation to—hidden voices that express a sense of loss. Finally, the chapter focuses on Nakagami's short story “Rakudo.” Through reading this “autobiographical” yet fictional shōsetsu, it demonstrates how Nakagami represents the voices of a violent young husband and the silence of his battered wife.
The Voice of an Illegitimate Son
Authors: Ishikawa Machiko
Published: September 2020

This chapter gives a close rereading of Nakagami's most well-known work, the Akiyuki trilogy: “Misaki,” Kareki nada, and Chi no hate shijō no toki. It particularly focuses on Nakagami's depiction of the voice of a transgressive man who is oppressed by the fragmentation of the relationship between him and his family and also his subaltern (Burakumin) community during the dismantlement of the Kumano Burakumin homeland. Particular attention is paid to how Nakagami's theory of monogatari (narrative) operates to depict the voice of the Kasuga Burakumin. Of particular importance is the third novel in the trilogy, Chi no hate shijō no toki. Although this chapter provides an overview of “Misaki,” and Kareki nada, the focus of the textual analysis is on how Nakagami, a writer who consciously chose to “become a Burakumin,” represents the Burakumin voice in Chi no hate shijō no toki. It also discusses the Akiyuki trilogy as an example of Nakagami's unique writing practice that derived from overlaying the modern Japanese Western-influenced naturalist literature mode with the more traditional Japanese narrative mode.
Conclusion
Authors: Ishikawa Machiko
Published: September 2020

This concluding chapter revisits the previous chapters, drawing out major insights and highlighting further discussions on Nakagami's works that have not been covered by previous scholarship. It returns to the Burakumin, who remain marginalized in Japanese society—their members easily rendered voiceless. The chapter argues that Nakagami's literature is an attempt to address this issue and give voice to a range of individuals within this and other marginalized groups. In addition, the chapter considers Nakagami's later works, produced from the mid-1980s onward, in which a key theme of his narratives is the representation of the diaspora-like drift of the Burakumin, whose homeland has been lost. It concludes by once more drawing attention to the ways in which Spivak has helped to illuminate previously unrecognized aspects of Nakagami's work.
Evidence of transfer of miRNAs from the diet to the blood still inconclusive
Authors: Mar-Aguilar Fermín , Arreola-Triana Alejandra , Mata-Cardona Daniela , Gonzalez-Villasana Vianey , Rodríguez-Padilla Cristina , Reséndez-Pérez Diana
Published: September 2020

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding, single-strand RNA molecules that act as regulators of gene expression in plants and animals. In 2012, the first evidence was found that plant miRNAs could enter the bloodstream through the digestive tract. Since then, there has been an ongoing discussion about whether miRNAs from the diet are transferred to blood, accumulate in tissues, and regulate gene expression. Different research groups have tried to replicate these findings, using both plant and animal sources. Here, we review the evidence for and against the transfer of diet-derived miRNAs from plants, meat, milk and exosome and their assimilation and putative molecular regulation role in the consuming organism. Some groups using both miRNAs from plant and animal sources have claimed success, whereas others have not shown transfer. In spite of the biological barriers that may limit miRNA transference, several diet-derived miRNAs can transfer into the circulating system and targets genes for transcription regulation, which adds arguments that miRNAs can be absorbed from the diet and target specific genes by regulating their expression. However, many other studies show that cross-kingdom transfer of exogenous miRNAs appears to be insignificant and not biologically relevant. The main source of controversy in plant studies is the lack of reproducibility of the findings. For meat-derived miRNAs, studies concluded that the miRNAs can survive the cooking process; nevertheless, our evidence shows that the bovine miRNAs are not transferred to human bloodstream. The most important contributions and promising evidence in this controversial field is the transference of milk miRNAs in exosomes and the finding that plant miRNAs in beebread regulate honeybee caste development, and cause similar changes when fed to Drosophila. MiRNAs encapsulated in exosomes ensure their stability and resistance in the harsh conditions presented in milk, bloodstream, and gastrointestinaltract to reinforce the idea of transference. Regardless of the model organism, the idea of source of miRNAs, or the approach—bioinformatics or in vivo—the issue of transfer of miRNAs from the diet remains in doubt. Our understanding of the cross-kingdom talk of miRNAs needs more research to study the transfer of “xenomiRs” from different food sources to complement and expand what we know so far regarding the interspecies transfer of miRNAs.
Association between serum and dietary antioxidant micronutrients and advanced liver fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: an observational study
Authors: Coelho Juliana Moraes , Cansanção Katia , Perez Renata de Mello , Leite Nathalie Carvalho , Padilha Patrícia , Ramalho Andrea , Peres Wilza
Published: September 2020

Background

Despite clinical trials with antioxidant supplementation, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the nutritional status of antioxidant vitamins and minerals, and none have reported on the status of these serum antioxidants associated with the dietary intake of antioxidants by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients.

Objective

To evaluate association between serum and dietetics antioxidants with liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD.

Methods

Across-section analysis with out with 72 patients diagnosed with NAFLD. Hepatic fibrosis was measured by FibroScan®, and liver stiffness ≥7.9 kPa was considered to indicate advanced fibrosis. Retinol, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, serum zinc, and selenium were evaluated, as was the dietary intake of these micronutrients in the previous 24 h (using 24-h dietary recall). The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare the fibrosis groups and, a linear regression analysis was performed to determine associated risk factors between age, sex, BMI, hepatic fibrosis, and serum antioxidants.

Results

A high proportion of inadequate serum retinol (20.8%), vitamin C (27%), and selenium (73.6%) was observed in the patients with NAFLD, in addition to a significant inadequacy of vitamin A (98.3%) and vitamin E (100%) intake. Patients with advanced liver fibrosis had reduced levels of serum retinol (P = 0.002), with liver fibrosis being the independent risk factor associated with serum retinol lower.

Conclusion

Hepatic fibrosis was associated with a reduction in serum retinol and was reduced in advanced fibrosis. NAFLD patients showed an important serum deficiency and insufficient dietary intake of the evaluated micronutrients.
Wild meat hunting and use by sedentarised Baka Pygmies in southeastern Cameroon
Authors: Avila Martin Eva , Ros Brull Guillermo , Funk Stephan M. , Luiselli Luca , Okale Robert , Fa Julia E.
Published: September 2020

As a result of sedentarisation many Baka Pygmies have changed their mobility patterns away from nomadic lifestyles to living in roadside villages. These settled groups are increasingly dependent on cultivated foods but still rely on forest resources. The level of dependence on hunting of wild animals for food and cash, as well as the hunting profiles of sedentarised Pygmy groups is little known. In this study we describe the use of wild meat in 10 Baka villages along the Djoum-Mintom road in southeastern Cameroon. From data collected from 1,946 hunting trips by 121 hunters, we show that most trips are of around 13 hours and a median of eight hours. A mean ± SD of 1.15 ± 1.11 animal carcasses are taken in a single trip; there was a positive correlation between duration of trips and carcasses. A total of 2,245 carcasses of 49 species of 24 animal families were taken in the study; species diversity was similar in all villages except one. Most hunted animals were mammals, with ungulates contributing the highest proportion. By species, just over half of the animal biomass extracted by all hunters in the studied villages was provided by four mammal species. Most animals were trapped (65.77% ± 16.63), followed by shot with guns (22.56% ± 17.72), other methods (8.69% ± 6.96) and with dogs (2.96% ± 4.49). A mean of 7,569.7 ± 6,103.4 kg yr−1 (2,080.8–19,351.4) were extracted per village, giving 75,697 kg yr−1 in total, which is equivalent to 123 UK dairy cattle. In all villages, 48.07% ± 17.58 of animals hunted were consumed by the hunter and his family, around 32.73% ± 12.55, were sold, followed by a lower percentage of carcasses partially sold and consumed (19.21% ± 17.02). Between 60% and 80% of carcasses belonged to the “least concern” category, followed by “near threatened”, “vulnerable” and, rarely “endangered”. The only endangered species hunted was the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). We suggest that hunting is a critical activity that provides a vital source of food for our study communities. Measured wild meat extraction levels are likely to be sustainable if hunter densities do not increase.
Apoptosis (Programmed Cell Death) Studied by Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Authors: Martinez Michelle M. , Khanal Grishma , Pappas Dimitri
Published: September 2020

Several analytical methods have been developed to study apoptosis (programmed cell death), many of which rely on fluorescence processes. Apoptosis is a highly regulated biological event and is a vital process that helps regulate tissue growth, normal cell turnover, immune response, and tissue development. However, diseases such as cancer and heart disease are associated with malfunctions in the apoptosis machinery. There is, therefore, a need to elucidate the processes of apoptosis induction and inhibition. Fluorescence assays continue to play a major role in apoptosis assays, and probe and method development are ongoing. There are several standard techniques such as flow cytometry and confocal microscopy for apoptosis study in cells. In addition, new techniques such as super‐resolution microscopy, multiphoton excitation, and single cell‐single molecule spectroscopy are quickly emerging. This updated article will explore several fluorescence approaches used in apoptosis studies as well as describe the mechanisms and hallmarks of the apoptosis cascade. Since apoptosis plays such an important role in both healthy and diseased organism function, the need to develop and apply sensitive analytical methods continues to be of the utmost importance.
Association of rare variants in neurodegenerative genes with familial Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Zhang Weiwei , Jiao Bin , Xiao Tingting , Liu Xixi , Liao Xinxin , Xiao Xuewen , Guo Lina , Yuan Zhenhua , Yan Xinxiang , Tang Beisha , Shen Lu
Published: September 2020

Objective

To investigate the impact of rare variants underlying neurodegenerative‐related genes to familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Methods

We performed targeted sequencing of 277 neurodegenerative‐related genes on probands from 75 Chinese AD families non‐carrying causative mutation of dementia genes. Rare coding variants segregated in families were tested for association in an independent cohort of 506 patients with sporadic AD and 498 cognitively normal controls. East Asians data from the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) were used as a reference control.

Results

A novel rare variant, P410S of PLD3 was found in an early‐onset AD family. LRRK2 I2012T, a causative mutation of Parkinson’s disease, was identified in another early‐onset AD family. Missense variants in ABCA7 (P143S and A1507T) and CR1(T239M) were significantly associated with familial AD (P = 0.005437, 0.001383, 0.000549), a missense variant in TREM2(S183C) was significantly associated with AD (P = 0.000396) when compared with the East Asian controls in ExAC database. A non‐frameshift variant in FUS (G223del) was frequent in AD cases and significantly associated with familial AD (P = 0.008).

Interpretation

Multiple rare coding variants of causal and risk neurodegenerative genes were presented in clinically diagnosed AD families that may confer risk of AD. Our data supported that the clinical, pathological, and genetic architectures of AD, PD, and FTD/ALS may overlapping. We propose that targeted sequencing on neurodegenerative‐related genes is necessary for genetically unclear AD families.
Metal‐Assisted Chemical Etching of Silicon in Oxidizing HF Solutions: Origin, Mechanism, Development, and Black Silicon Solar Cell Application
Authors: Huo Chenliang , Wang Jiang , Fu Haoxin , Li Xianlun , Yang Yi , Wang Hui , Mateen Abdul , Farid Ghulam , Peng Kui‐Qing
Published: September 2020

Metal‐assisted chemical etching (MacEtch) of silicon in oxidizing hydrofluoric acid (HF) solutions has emerged as a prominent top‐down micro/nanofabrication approach for a wide variety of silicon micro/nanostructures. The popularity of the process is due to its simplicity, rapidity, versatility, and scalability. In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in developing MacEtch silicon micro/nanostructures for advanced energy conversion and storage applications, such as photovoltaic devices, thermoelectric devices, lithium‐ion rechargeable batteries, and supercapacitors. Particularly, MacEtch has emerged as a powerful surface micro/nanostructuring method for low‐cost and scalable production of commercial black silicon (b‐Si) with excellent light trapping properties. This review on MacEtch processing of silicon in oxidizing HF solutions provides a critical description of its history and origin including how it evolved into what it is today, the understanding of its mechanism and important technical advances in the field. As regards MacEtch‐fabricated b‐Si, its initial discovery and further improvements to its large‐scale deployment in silicon photovoltaic industry are traced. Some fundamental challenges and perspectives in this exciting field are also discussed.
Ferritin Nanocage‐Based Methyltransferase SETD6 for COVID‐19 Therapy
Authors: Kim Hong Nam , Park Hee Ho , Lim Wonhee , Hong Kyung Soo , Ahn June Hong , Na Dong Hee , Kim In‐San , Jang Jong Geol , Bae Jong‐Sup , Lee Wonhwa
Published: September 2020

The transcription factor nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) signaling is a mediator of viral infection‐mediated inflammation and SET‐domain containing 6 (SETD6) is known as a methyltransferase that suppresses the activity of NF‐κB signaling. However, the downside of the SETD6 is that it cannot be directly utilized as an inflammatory regulator due to the short half‐life and poor intracellular delivery. Here, a ferritin nanocage‐based delivery system is presented that can maintain the activity of SETD6 in vivo. According to the analysis of severe COVID‐19 patients’ peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), the SETD6 expression is downregulated while that of NF‐κB is upregulated. By engineering the structure of ferritin, a protein scaffold is fabricated in which short ferritin is decorated with cell‐penetrating peptide and nuclear‐localizing TAT‐NBD peptide together with SETD6, termed TFS. The TFS enhances the SETD6 level and reduces the NF‐κB signaling in PBMCs of severe COVID‐19 patients and subsequently suppresses the cytokine storm. When the TFS is intravenously administered in the cytokine storm mouse model, the survival rate is rescued and the lung tissue damage and cytokine expression are also inhibited. These results indicate that the ferritin nanocage‐based peptide delivery system allows stable in vivo delivery and efficient suppression of NF‐κB signaling‐mediated inflammation.
Hydrogen‐Bonding Triggered Assembly to Configure Hollow Carbon Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Tri‐Iodide Reduction
Authors: Chang Jiangwei , Song Xuedan , Yu Chang , Yu Jinhe , Ding Yiwang , Yao Chun , Zhao Zongbin , Qiu Jieshan
Published: September 2020

Carbon materials have rapidly grown as highly promising candidates to replace noble metal catalysts in energy storage/conversion technologies. In this work, a strategy of hydrogen‐bonding triggered assembly to configure hollow carbon nanosheets by applying Silicalite‐1 as a substrate in the aqueous solution of dopamine is reported. Remarkably, the combined density functional theory modelling and experimental verification present a molecule/nano‐scale insight into the nature of the bonding behavior during the fabrication process. It is demonstrated that the SiOH on the surface of Silicalite‐1 acts as an anchor and that it is energetically favorable to pre‐adsorb the building blocks of polydopamine by hydrogen‐bonding, which triggers the subsequent assembly. As an example, the as‐prepared hollow carbon nanosheets with unique structure can efficiently catalyze tri‐iodide reduction and a power conversion efficiency up to 8.58%.
Truly Electroforming‐Free Memristor Based on TiO2‐CoO Phase‐Separated Oxides with Extremely High Uniformity and Low Power Consumption
Authors: Wan Fuxing , Wang Qianwen , Harumoto Takashi , Gao Tenghua , Ando Kazuya , Nakamura Yoshio , Shi Ji
Published: September 2020

Oxide‐based memristor devices are being extensively studied as one of the most promising technologies for next generation nonvolatile memory and neuromorphic computing. However, the switching process of such devices relying on the formation and rupture of conductive filaments has not been easily controlled, and thus induces large cycle‐to‐cycle and device‐to‐device variations in resistive switching, which hinders the development of high‐performance memristors. High‐performance memristors that meet the requirements for truly electroforming‐free, highly uniform, and low‐power switching are yet to be developed. Here, a phase‐separated oxide memristor is demonstrated based on a spontaneous phase separation process to form amorphous TiO2 switching medium distributed among the crystalline CoO grains. The confinement of conductive filaments into the intergrain amorphous oxide phase effectively minimizes the stochasticity of filament formation and rupture, resulting in drastically enhanced switching uniformity. The designed microstructure also facilitates filament formation and dissolution during switching processes and leads to truly electroforming‐free switching and low switching power (simultaneous low switching voltage 0.4 V and low current 2.5 µA).
Implantable Nanosensors for Human Steroid Hormone Sensing In Vivo Using a Self‐Templating Corona Phase Molecular Recognition
Authors: Lee Michael A. , Wang Song , Jin Xiaojia , Bakh Naveed Ali , Nguyen Freddy T. , Dong Juyao , Silmore Kevin S. , Gong Xun , Pham Crystal , Jones Kelvin K. , Muthupalani Sureshkumar , Bisker Gili , Son Manki , Strano Michael S.
Published: September 2020

Dynamic measurements of steroid hormones in vivo are critical, but steroid sensing is currently limited by the availability of specific molecular recognition elements due to the chemical similarity of these hormones. In this work, a new, self‐templating synthetic approach is applied using corona phase molecular recognition (CoPhMoRe) targeting the steroid family of molecules to produce near infrared fluorescent, implantable sensors. A key limitation of CoPhMoRe has been its reliance on library generation for sensor screening. This problem is addressed with a self‐templating strategy of polymer design, using the examples of progesterone and cortisol sensing based on a styrene and acrylic acid copolymer library augmented with an acrylated steroid. The pendant steroid attached to the corona backbone is shown to self‐template the phase, providing a unique CoPhMoRE design strategy with high efficacy. The resulting sensors exhibit excellent stability and reversibility upon repeated analyte cycling. It is shown that molecular recognition using such constructs is viable even in vivo after sensor implantation into a murine model by employing a poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel and porous cellulose interface to limit nonspecific absorption. The results demonstrate that CoPhMoRe templating is sufficiently robust to enable a new class of continuous, in vivo biosensors.