bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adaptation and psychometric investigation of the Gameful Experience Questionnaire (GAMEFULQUEST) in Brazilian Portuguese
Authors: Oliveira da Silva Junior Luiz , Oliveira Wilk , Hamari Juho
Published: July 2024

Over the years, the use of questionnaires has become one of the most used methods for analyzing individuals’ experiences. Especially in the area of gameful environments (e.g., games, gamification, and simulators), the Gameful Experience Questionnaire, a self-report instrument to measure gameful experience, became one of the most popular. Despite the instrument’s popularity, there is no Brazilian Portuguese version, preventing studies from being carried out in Brazil (i.e., a country with more than 200 million inhabitants), where only 5.1% of the population have adequate English comprehension skills. To face this challenge, we conducted a cross-cultural adaptation of the Gameful Experience Questionnaire, providing a version of the questionnaire in the Brazilian Portuguese language. For this process, we conducted a mixed-methods (i.e., qualitative and quantitative) psychometric study (N = 384) organized in six steps (i.e., (i) translation, (ii) synthesis, (iii) experts evaluation, (iv) target audience evaluation, (v) adapted instrument application, and (vi) validation (i.e., confirmatory factor analysis)). The results indicate that the cross-cultural adaptation took place efficiently, where the resulting instrument maintained the psychometric properties of the original, measuring the construct of interest with similar effectiveness (i.e., $$\chi ^2/df$$

χ
2

/
d
f

= 2.4, RMSEA = 0.061, CFI = 0.991, TLI = 0.989, GFI = 0.986 and SRMR = 0.061), enabling its application with Brazilian Portuguese speakers. With this study, we contribute to researchers and practitioners in the field of gameful environments by providing an instrument to measure gameful experience in the Brazilian Portuguese language.
The influence of severe wildfire on a threatened arboreal mammal
Authors: Green Mikayla C. , Michael Damian R. , Turner James M. , Wright Lucy J. , Nimmo Dale G.
Published: July 2024

Context Fire regimes are changing with ongoing climate change, which is leading to an increase in fire frequency and severity. Australia’s Black Summer wildfires burned >12 million hectares in 2019–2020, affecting numerous threatened animal species. One of the species predicted to be most impacted was the threatened southern greater glider, an arboreal, hollow-dependent folivore, endemic to eastern Australia’s eucalypt forests. Aims This study aimed to assess how the 2019–2020 wildfires affected greater glider abundance and the resources they depend on in Woomargama National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Methods We categorised 32 sites into four fire severity treatments with eight sites for each treatment: unburned (continuous unburned vegetation); refuges (unburned patches within the fire’s perimeter); low-moderate severity; and high severity. We carried out two spotlight surveys per site using the double-observer method, beginning 21 months after the fires. We also conducted vegetation assessments on the same transects. To analyse the data, we used Generalised Linear Models to compare habitat differences based on fire severity, and N-mixture models to model greater glider detectability and abundance in relation to habitat and fire severity. Key results We found that fire severity depleted several habitat variables including canopy cover and the number of potentially hollow-bearing trees, a resource that greater gliders rely on. Greater glider abundance also decreased in all burn categories, with the greatest decline experienced in areas burned at high severity. We also found that greater glider abundance was much lower in fire refuges than unburned habitat outside of the fire zone. Conclusions Greater glider declines following severe wildfire can be at least partly attributed to the level of vegetation loss and the associated loss of key habitat resources. The contribution of direct mortality to population declines remains unknown. Implications Greater glider conservation will rely heavily on protecting expansive unburned areas of suitable habitat and maintaining hollow-bearing trees.
An ankyrin G–binding motif mediates TRAAK periodic localization at axon initial segments of hippocampal pyramidal neurons
Authors: Luque-Fernández Virginia , Vanspauwen Sam K. , Landra-Willm Arnaud , Arvedsen Emil , Besquent Maïlys , Sandoz Guillaume , Rasmussen Hanne B.
Published: July 2024

The axon initial segment (AIS) is a critical compartment in neurons. It converts postsynaptic input into action potentials that subsequently trigger information transfer to target neurons. This process relies on the presence of several voltage-gated sodium (Na
V
) and potassium (K
V
) channels that accumulate in high densities at the AIS. TRAAK is a mechanosensitive leak potassium channel that was recently localized to the nodes of Ranvier. Here, we uncover that TRAAK is also present in AISs of hippocampal and cortical neurons in the adult rat brain as well as in AISs of cultured rat hippocampal neurons. We show that the AIS localization is driven by a C-terminal ankyrin G–binding sequence that organizes TRAAK in a 190 nm spaced periodic pattern that codistributes with periodically organized ankyrin G. We furthermore uncover that while the identified ankyrin G–binding motif is analogous to known ankyrin G–binding motifs in Na
V
1 and K
V
7.2/K
V
7.3 channels, it was acquired by convergent evolution. Our findings identify TRAAK as an AIS ion channel that convergently acquired an ankyrin G–binding motif and expand the role of ankyrin G to include the nanoscale organization of ion channels at the AIS.
Claims of ownership, claims of dignity
Authors: Frei Raimundo , Cordero Rodrigo , Lang Benjamín , Rozas Juan , Rodríguez Juan Pablo
Published: July 2024

In September 2022, Chileans overwhelmingly rejected the draft of a new constitution to replace the inherited from
Pinochet’s dictatorship. Existing explanations attribute the failure to a mixture of ill-designed procedures, political dynamics,
and ideological distortions and fake news. However, we argue for a different interpretation, emphasizing the collision of
normative worlds in the struggle for demarcating rights. Through narrative analysis of social media stories during the referendum
campaign, we investigate distinct moral economies around the constitutional debate on housing rights. These reveal a tension
between divergent rights claims anchored in the value of “ownership” versus “dignity.” Within these almost irreconcilable
normative universes, private property condenses meanings across narratives: the value of personal home-ownership effort and the
collective aspiration for decent housing access. While not inherently incompatible, these narratives evolved into polarizing
channels through which property became the defining moral boundary that underlies the stories shaping Chile’s constitutional
struggle over rights.
Analytic Ax-Kochen-Ersov theory with lifts of the residue field and value group
Authors: Bhardwaj Neer , van den Dries Lou
Published: July 2024

We develop an extension theory for analytic valuation rings in order to establish Ax-Kochen-Ersov (AKE) type results for these structures. New is that we can add in salient cases lifts of the residue field and the value group and show that the induced structure on the lifted residue field is just its field structure, and on the lifted value group is just its ordered abelian group structure. This restores an analogy with the nonanalytic AKE-setting that was missing in earlier treatments of analytic AKE-theory.
Industrialization, Collectivization, Centralization
Authors: Kibita Nataliya
Published: July 2024

Between 1925 and 1953, Ukraine was in a state of institutional inertia. As designed at the beginning of the 1920s, the Ukrainian Central Committee and the Ukrainian Sovnarkom remained the de facto dual executive, jointly responsible for the fulfilment of tasks assigned by Moscow. This shared responsibility pushed them towards ‘collective leadership’. The appointment of charismatic leaders in Ukraine had no effect on the powers of the Ukrainian leadership. The Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine remained fragmented. The policy of prioritizing heavy industry divided the Ukrainian obkoms between the privileged ‘industrial’ and underprivileged ‘agricultural’. In the second half of the 1920s, the Ukrainian leadership tried to obtain funds that would establish its usefulness to industrial managers and thus give it a say in Ukraine’s economic development. A secure financial base would also have given the Ukrainian Central Committee influence over the gubkoms. But such hopes had evaporated by the end of the decade. The first five-year plan required centralized control of the economy to meet its ambitious targets for the development of heavy industry. For the next generation, the Ukrainian government was nothing more than an agent for the all-union industrial commissariats. From the perspective of Ukraine’s large industrial enterprises, it was nothing more than a superfluous link in state administration.
Institutional Change
Authors: Kibita Nataliya
Published: July 2024

Khrushchev’s decentralization reforms set Ukraine on a path of institutional development different from other republics. During decentralization, the Ukrainian leadership did not become the supreme authority in the republic, and policymaking remained firmly with the central leadership. However, in its role as executive, the Ukrainian leadership was in a position to influence policy implementation. Throughout the entire period between 1953 and 1965, the Ukrainian leadership sought to increase its control over resources in Ukraine, to formalize its relationship with Moscow, and to convince Moscow that Ukraine should be treated as a single economic complex. As long as Moscow was open to expanding the powers of the Ukrainian leadership, the latter was willing to fight regional localism and defend the interests of Moscow. After Moscow reversed the course of the reform, the Ukrainian leadership aligned its interests with the Ukrainian regions. The Sovnarkhoz reform empowered regional party–industry alliances and exacerbated the fragmentation of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Obkoms saw their interests deeply vested in the economy of their oblasts. Hence, they remained marginal in the party’s struggle against localism. At the same time, centralized branch administration combined with the prioritization of heavy industry allowed party–industry alliances from Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk to rise in prominence. Western Ukraine remained industrially backward and by 1965 was on a path to political marginalization.
Economic Recentralization and the Ukrainian Leadership
Authors: Kibita Nataliya
Published: July 2024

By the end of 1965, the sovnarkhozy had been abolished and the Ukrainian leadership had been stripped of any meaningful influence over its economy. First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Petro Shelest, perfectly understood that economic recentralization exacerbated the imbalance between the responsibilities and the duties of the Ukrainian leadership. With a loss of control over resources, the value of the republican leadership to the regions would decline too. Shelest tried to resist recentralization and secure funds for the disposal of the Ukrainian government to tackle such problems as unemployment. However, the short battle was lost. After 1965, regional managers saw Kyiv as at best marginal in the struggle to secure resources from Moscow. In addition to his efforts to obtain powers from Moscow, Shelest tried to split regional party–industry alliances and place industrial managers under the control of the obkoms and, consequently, under his direct control. However, the incentives of the obkom secretaries to defend managers remained intact. Besides, with restoration of ministerial control over industry, obkom secretaries found themselves indirectly dependent on the all-union economic agencies. Shelest’s efforts failed. In the meantime, the continuous prioritization of heavy industry and its concentration in eastern Ukraine deepened the lines of fracture between the oblasts and between the obkoms. In 1972, Shelest was removed from his post. His power ambitions and his determination to place industrial managers under party control were a bigger threat to the central leadership than his cultural agenda.
The Ukrainian Leadership’s Experiment with Diktat
Authors: Kibita Nataliya
Published: July 2024

The years 1990–1991 gave an opportunity to the Ukrainian leadership to consolidate its power. In 1990, the all-union centre began to crumble and there was a strong demand from the regions that the Ukrainian leadership consolidate its grip over the republic. However, the shared goal of the Ukrainian leadership and the Ukrainian regions to consolidate centralized administration in Ukraine could not be achieved because of disagreement as to how to consolidate the Ukrainian centre and the sovereignty of Ukraine. The Ukrainian regions insisted that the Ukrainian leadership focus on their agenda and include them in policymaking. Ukraine’s sovereignty should be consolidated from the bottom-up, they argued. The Ukrainian leadership, on the other hand, relied on Moscow to distribute power between the all-union and republican agencies and viewed consolidation of Ukraine’s sovereignty as a top-down process with the unquestioned submission of the regions to the authority of Kyiv, the unquestioned priority of Ukrainian republican needs as defined by the Ukrainian leadership over regional needs, and the continued infallibility of the leadership. In 1991, the Ukrainian leadership realized that Moscow was an unreliable source of power, while the regions were stronger than the republican centre. However, it resented the very idea of building its power in cooperation with the regions and chose to attempt to impose its authority through diktat. Such an approach was inadequate for Ukraine.
Plastic Surgery and Cryptocurrency: A 2024 Update
Authors: Thornton Sarah M. , Attaluri Pradeep K. , Shaffrey Ellen C. , Wirth Peter J. , Rao Allison J. , Rao Venkat K.
Published: July 2024

Cryptocurrency offers a decentralized alternative to traditional financial systems, facilitating peer-to-peer transactions with minimal fees and heightened security. It also transformed into a financial asset similar to gold. Despite its volatile valuation, recent developments, such as the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds by the Securities and Exchange Commission, underscore its evolving role as an investment opportunity. Plastic surgery has increasingly embraced cryptocurrency as a form of payment, leveraging its speed, security, and privacy benefits. However, alongside its potential advantages, risks such as volatility, irreversibility of transactions, and regulatory uncertainties warrant careful consideration. Moving forward, the integration of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency is poised to revolutionize various aspects of plastic surgery, from patient privacy to postoperative monitoring devices, necessitating a proactive approach from surgeons to navigate this evolving landscape. This article explores the intersection of cryptocurrency and plastic surgery, delving into its current applications, risks, investment potential, and future prospects.
Periorbital Swellings Associated with Neurotoxin Injections
Authors: Adel Noury
Published: July 2024

Complications due to facial injectables such as neurotoxin injections can commonly occur and are underreported. Those complications may result from poor injection techniques, lack of proper knowledge about the anatomy, improper patient selection, and the use of counterfeit products. The lack of regulations, along with improper awareness, may jeopardize the quality of the aesthetic treatment provided to the patients. This case report helps in raising awareness about possible complications arising from the use of counterfeit products in the aesthetic industry.
OxyR is required for oxidative stress resistance of the entomopathogenic bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila and has a minor role during the bacterial interaction with its hosts
Authors: Bientz Victoria , Lanois Anne , Ginibre Nadège , Pagès Sylvie , Ogier Jean-Claude , George Simon , Rialle Stéphanie , Brillard Julien
Published: July 2024

Xenorhabdus nematophila is a Gram-negative bacterium, mutualistically associated with the soil nematode Steinernema carpocapsae, and this nemato-bacterial complex is parasitic for a broad spectrum of insects. The transcriptional regulator OxyR is widely conserved in bacteria and activates the transcription of a set of genes that influence cellular defence against oxidative stress. It is also involved in the virulence of several bacterial pathogens. The aim of this study was to identify the X. nematophila OxyR regulon and investigate its role in the bacterial life cycle. An oxyR mutant was constructed in X. nematophila and phenotypically characterized in vitro and in vivo after reassociation with its nematode partner. OxyR plays a major role during the X. nematophila resistance to oxidative stress in vitro. Transcriptome analysis allowed the identification of 59 genes differentially regulated in the oxyR mutant compared to the parental strain. In vivo, the oxyR mutant was able to reassociate with the nematode as efficiently as the control strain. These nemato-bacterial complexes harbouring the oxyR mutant symbiont were able to rapidly kill the insect larvae in less than 48 h after infestation, suggesting that factors other than OxyR could also allow X. nematophila to cope with oxidative stress encountered during this phase of infection in insect. The significantly increased number of offspring of the nemato-bacterial complex when reassociated with the X. nematophila oxyR mutant compared to the control strain revealed a potential role of OxyR during this symbiotic stage of the bacterial life cycle.
De Novo Exposomic Geospatial Assembly of Chronic Disease Regions with Machine Learning & Network Analysis
Authors: Deonarine Andrew , Batwara Ayushi , Wada Roy , Nair Shoba , Sharma Puneet , Loscalzo Joseph , Ojikutu Bisola , Hall Kathryn
Published: July 2024

Background: Determining spatial relationships between disease and the exposome is limited by available methodologies. aPEER (algorithm for Projection of Exposome and Epidemiological Relationships) uses machine learning (ML) and network analysis to find spatial relationships between diseases and the exposome in the United States. Methods: Using aPEER we examined the relationship between 12 chronic diseases and 186 pollutants. PCA, K-means clustering, and map projection produced clusters of counties derived from pollutants, and the Jaccard correlation of these clusters with counties with high rates of disease was calculated. Pollution correlation matrices were used together with network analysis to identify the strongest disease-pollution relationships. Results were compared to LISA, Moran's I, univariate, elastic net, and random forest regression. Findings: aPEER produced 68,820 maps with human interpretable, distinct pollution-derived regions. Diseases with the strongest pollution associations were hypertension (J=0.5316, p=3.89x10-208), COPD (J=0.4545, p=8.27x10-131), stroke (J=0.4517, p=1.15x10-127), stroke mortality (J=0.4445, p=4.28x10-125), and diabetes mellitus (J=0.4425, p=2.34x10-127). Methanol, acetaldehyde, and formaldehyde were identified as strongly associated with stroke, COPD, stroke mortality, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus in the southeast United States (which correlated with both the Stroke and Diabetes Belt). Pollutants were strongly predictive of chronic disease geography and outperformed conventional prediction models based on preventive services and social determinants of health (using elastic net and random forest regression). Interpretation: aPEER used machine learning to identify disease and air pollutant relationships with similar or superior AUCs compared to social determinants of health (SDOH) and healthcare preventive service models. These findings highlight the utility of aPEER in epidemiological and geospatial analysis as well as the emerging role of exposomics in understanding chronic disease pathology. Funding: Boston Public Health Commission, NHLBI (R03 HL157890) and the CDC.
South Africa’s solidarity fund: navigating the shores of uncertainty and crisis
Authors: Mogotsi Keratiloe , Bowen Amanda , Mitchell Clare
Published: July 2024

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes focus on enabling higher-order learning for students to critically assess Agile project management in philanthropic settings, specifically compare and contrast Agile project management versus traditional project management in the context of a non-profit organisation (The Solidarity Fund) during a crisis; discuss and evaluate the role and contribution of philanthropy during times of crisis; rate the value additions and contributions of Agile approaches in philanthropy; evaluate the phases of Agile (unconventional) project management executed by The Solidarity Fund; and develop a review of the impact of the work done by The Solidarity Fund in terms of the approach that the Fund used. How effective/not effective was it?

Case overview/synopsis

Chaos, crisis and confusion: the three “C”s that succinctly condense the status quo during the COVID-19 pandemic. The roles and contributions of non-profit organisations gained recognition as countries worldwide responded to the crisis to save lives and livelihoods.

In South Africa, there was a sense of urgency and considerable pressure for a multi-stakeholder approach led by the government to save as many South African lives as possible. The conditions, however, were the opposite of traditional project management methodologies that advocate for the management of the triple constraints, namely, cost, time and scope.

How could cost be managed in a project without a set budget and which was reliant on philanthropy? How could time be managed without a set deadline and while tackling an invisible enemy – a virus that changed dynamics on a daily basis and – how could scope be managed in a context where the future was increasingly uncertain?

Complexity academic level

This case study can be useful for students undertaking postgraduate diploma in business, master of business administration (MBA), master of management courses.

Supplementary material

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 11: Strategy.
Decoding the directives: a textual analysis of monetary policy
Authors: Sharma Rajesh , Kafle Pradip Kumar
Published: July 2024

Purpose

This study aims to explore the linguistic and syntactic textual features of Central Bank of Nepal (Nepal Rastra Bank [NRB])’s monetary policy. Considering the recent literature and methodological advancement in computational linguistic analysis, this study intends to explore the features of published monetary policy reports.

Design/methodology/approach

Text mining technique has been used on the monetary policy published by Central Bank of Nepal for the period between 2002/03 and 2021/22 to describe the textual features such as length, tone, degree of forward looking, use of numerical contents and readability. The raw text was tokenized using Python’s Natural Language Toolkit. Considering the LM dictionary, the frequency of tokens matching with dictionary is computed and divided by total number of words to normalize the obtained value.

Findings

This study found that NRB publishes lengthy monetary policies during economic contractions and vice versa. The tone of the policies are pessimistic most of the time. NRB’s policies are not sufficiently forward looking and complex to be comprehended by layman. Ergo, NRB shall form a team of communication experts to ensure publication of optimistic policies with appropriate linguistic features. Furthermore, publishing the minutes of monetary policy meetings will help enhance effective communication through transparency and proper functioning of expectations channel.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar study has been conducted to assess the textual features of monetary policy in Nepal. And this study will be helpful to gauge the status of central bank communication in the context of emerging and least developed countries.
The use of problem-solving methodology to develop institutional and curricular change: work-integrated learning as a strategy of differentiation
Authors: Crosbie Beth , Gerhardt Trevor , Montgomery Joel
Published: July 2024

Purpose

Using a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, this paper examines whether internships can stand as a viable alternative to Higher Degree Apprenticeships (HDAs) within the UK Higher Education (HE) context. It was a process that was undertaken to identify work-integrated schemes as a part of a curriculum portfolio transformation project. This presented itself as a strategic avenue capable of fostering a competitive advantage (strategic differentiation), particularly in enhancing graduate employability through a differentiation in pedagogy employing Work-Integrated Learning (WIL).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applied a PBL approach comprising of five distinct stages based on the McMaster Five-Point Strategy. This included the Problem Identification, Generating Solutions through a review of relevant literature and a case study, using an evaluation matrix to identify the best solution to Decide a Course of Action, Implementing the Solution and Evaluating the Solution. It presents an institutional and curriculum change project.

Findings

WIL can offer both strategic differentiation, an organisational distinctiveness within HE and Pedagogical differentiation, such as embedding internships in curriculum. This can be achieved by creating clear guidelines and expected outcome frameworks, bespoke feedback templates and enhanced collaboration, Experiential Learning pedagogy in the curriculum and the inclusion of other forms of WIL to further diversify and create a WIL organisational culture.

Practical implications

Practitioner use of applying problem-solving models for work-integrated curriculum planning.

Originality/value

We present a confluence of the concepts strategic differentiation and pedagogical differentiation using WIL as a conduit. We present this using a PBL evaluative review approach. The paper’s distinct contribution manifests in the formulation of three pivotal recommendations.
Improving public services’ performance measurement systems: applying data envelopment analysis in the big and open data context
Authors: Bartolacci Francesca , Del Gobbo Roberto , Soverchia Michela
Published: July 2024

Purpose

This paper contributes to the field of public services’ performance measurement systems by proposing a benchmarking-based methodology that improves the effective use of big and open data in analyzing and evaluating efficiency, for supporting internal decision-making processes of public entities.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed methodology uses data envelopment analysis in combination with a multivariate outlier detection algorithm—local outlier factor—to ensure the proper exploitation of the data available for efficiency evaluation in the presence of the multidimensional datasets with anomalous values that often characterize big and open data. An empirical implementation of the proposed methodology was conducted on waste management services provided in Italy.

Findings

The paper addresses the problem of misleading targets for entities that are erroneously deemed inefficient when applying data envelopment analysis to real-life datasets containing outliers. The proposed approach makes big and open data useful in evaluating relative efficiency, and it supports the development of performance-based strategies and policies by public entities from a data-driven public sector perspective.

Originality/value

Few empirical studies have explored how to make the use of big and open data more feasible for performance measurement systems in the public sector, addressing the challenges related to data quality and the need for analytical tools readily usable from a managerial perspective, given the poor diffusion of technical skills in public organizations. The paper fills this research gap by proposing a methodology that allows for exploiting the opportunities offered by big and open data for supporting internal decision-making processes within the public services context.
Sustainability and environmental life cycle analysis of welding processes
Authors: Doncheva Elisaveta , Avramov Nikola , Krstevska Aleksandra , Petreski Martin , Djokikj Jelena , Djidrov Marjan
Published: July 2024

Purpose

Welding is a widely used manufacturing process in many industries. The process consumes a lot of energy and resources, pollutes the environment, and emits gases and fumes into the atmosphere that are dangerous to human health. There are various welding processes, and the suitable welding process is usually chosen based on cost, material, and conditions. Subjectivity is the most significant impediment to selecting an optimal process. As a result, it is critical to develop the appropriate set of criteria, use the best tool and methodology, and collect sufficient data. This study examines the sustainability of welding processes and their environmental impact.

Design/methodology/approach

The welding process’s sustainability was examined and discussed in general, considering the technological specifics of each welding process, physical performance, and environmental, economic, and social effects. The study investigates the environmental impact of MMAW, GMAW, and GTAW/GMAW processes through experimental work and LCA methodology.

Findings

MMAW is the most environmentally harmful technology, whereas GMAW has the least impact. The GTAW/GMAW process outperformed the other processes in terms of yield stress, but the analyses revealed that it had a greater environmental impact than GMAW.

Originality/value

The study provides an environmental impact summary and demonstrates the effects of welding parameters and processes. This gives users an understanding of choosing the best welding technique or making the process more environmentally friendly. These recommendations help policymakers identify hot spots and implement the right plans to achieve more sustainable manufacturing.
Nonprofits and community resilience during a pandemic: a France-Quebec perspective
Authors: Lethielleux Laëtitia , Demeyère Caroline , Artis Amélie , Vézina Martine , Girard Jean-Pierre
Published: July 2024

Purpose

This article examines the links between nonprofits and communities’ resilience during the COVID-19 crisis. Previous research on resilience has overlooked nonprofits, with limited studies on their ongoing resilience processes. While nonprofits’ potential to lead their communities’ resilience has been highlighted, we know little about how this potential can be fully achieved.

Design/methodology/approach

Nonprofit’s potential to lead their communities’ resilience has been highlighted. Yet, nonprofits are also deeply affected by crises, and little is known about their organizational resilience. This study explores the interplay between nonprofits’ organizational resilience and community resilience in the face of crises. We draw from an international comparative case study based on two participatory research designs in France and Quebec during the Covid-19 crisis.

Findings

The results highlight similarities and differences in how nonprofits’ developed organizational resilience capabilities. These different organizational resilience processes affected in return the reactive and proactive roles the nonprofits could play in community resilience.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of the research method include its time boundaries, the specificity of the Covid-19 crisis, which differs from natural hazards which are traditionally studied in the resilience literature (e.g.: Roberts et al., 2021). The unicity of the cases fits the comprehensive purpose of the study, and generalizations of the results are limited.

Practical implications

Empirically, we offer an original approach of nonprofits and community resilience as ongoing interdependent processes.

Originality/value

The article contributes to the organizational resilience literature in refining how nonprofits’ characteristics and embeddedness in their community affect their development of resilience capabilities. We theorize the dynamic reciprocal links between nonprofits and community resilience.
When deliberative mini‐publics’ outcomes and political decisions clash: Examining how responsive communication influences legitimacy perceptions
Authors: GOOVAERTS INE , DE FINE LICHT JENNY , MARIEN SOFIE
Published: July 2024

This article explores how citizens’ legitimacy perceptions are affected when decision makers deviate from the recommendations of a deliberative mini‐public (DMP), and what can be done to mitigate negative consequences. The results of a preregistered vignette experiment in Belgium (N = 2659) support our two main expectations. First, citizens’ legitimacy perceptions decrease when politicians do not follow the outcome of a DMP. Second, when politicians communicate responsively about this – meaning that they show respect for the recommendations and publicly justify why they deviated from them – legitimacy perceptions substantially increase, generally reaching the level of those cases where recommendations are followed. Diving deeper into this result also shows that for this effect to occur, citizens must find the provided reasoning valid and acceptable. Finally, the results hold among both policy winners and policy losers. These findings have implications for the literature on democratic innovations, empirical legitimacy, and political representation, but also for policymakers striving to combine arrangements of public participation that go beyond triviality, with political responsibility for the whole, and sustained mechanisms for accountability.
An Indeterminate Conception of Practical Reasoning
Authors: Dannenberg Jorah
Published: July 2024

This paper makes a case for treating the boundary between what counts as practical reasoning and what does not as essentially indeterminate. The idea that there is an “essential indeterminacy in what can be counted as a rational deliberative process” was put forward by Bernard Williams in his well‐known discussion of statements about an agent's reasons for action. But in contrast to the more familiar argument of that paper, the idea has received almost no attention. To understand and defend the idea, I first offer a somewhat novel reconstruction of the more familiar argument against making statements about a person's reasons intended on an “external” interpretation. On my reading, the argument shows how making such statements runs afoul of ideals of honesty in our interpersonal dealings. I then argue for countenancing an essential indeterminacy in what counts as practical reasoning, in a manner that involves a re‐application of these same ideals of honesty, albeit at a higher level of abstraction. One advantage of understanding the entire discussion of reasons statements and reasoning along these lines is that it highlights the deeply anti‐rationalistic flavor of Williams' own interest in these topics. Unsurprisingly, Williams' treatment displays a deep affinity with the anti‐rationalistic ethics advanced by Hume. It also turns out to be at cross purposes with the far more rationalistic ethical vision that animates more recent attempts to advance a “Humean Theory of Reasons,” which is sometimes mistakenly seen as following in Williams' and Hume's footsteps.
Anscombe on the shallowness of consequentialism
Authors: Taylor Craig
Published: July 2024

This paper is divided into two parts. In the first I outline and defend Elizabeth Anscombe's claim that consequentialism is a shallow philosophy by considering how two contemporary consequentialists reach opposing but equally outlandish moral conclusions on a matter as fundamental as whether it is good or bad that the human race continues. In the second I argue that in order to show what is wrong with the consequentialist arguments presented in part one, we need to deploy a wider range of critical resources than what typically appears in contemporary analytic moral philosophy. One example of a relevant and under‐appreciated resource I then consider is satire as a mode of moral thought.
Tooth autotransplantation and resin composite reshaping as a multidisciplinary approach for treating dental agenesia: A 10‐year follow‐up
Authors: Ferraresso Lucas Fernando de Oliveira Tomáz , Besegato João Felipe , Maler Gustavo Lopes , Takahashi Ricardo , Stábile Glaykon Alex Vitti , Hoeppner Márcio Grama
Published: July 2024

Case report

This case report describes the multidisciplinary approach performed in a 9‐year‐old male patient with dental agenesia affecting teeth 21 and 22. Autotransplantation of the right upper second premolar with incomplete rhizogenesis to the missing area was combined with coronary reshaping with resin composite and orthodontic therapy. The treatment began with the extraction of the deciduous upper left central incisor, bone preparation for the recipient site of the donor tooth, atraumatic extraction of the right upper second premolar and immediate autotransplantation in the surgically prepared recipient site. Subsequently, sutures to reposition the flap and a rigid splint were performed. After 12 months, coronary reshaping of the autotransplanted tooth with resin composite was carried out. Orthodontic treatment involving the use of a fixed appliance was used to correct the interdental spaces and achieve adequate occlusion. Clinical and radiographic follow‐up 10 years after tooth autotransplantation and 9 years after reshaping revealed partial obliteration of the pulp chamber, root resorption, ankylosis and the presence of endodontic treatment.

Conclusions

The long‐term outcomes highlighted that tooth autotransplantation represents a biologically and cost‐effective procedure for replacing missing teeth in young patients, particularly in cases of incomplete rhizogenesis of the autotransplanted tooth.

Clinical Significance

This case report discusses tooth autotransplantation and resin composite reshaping as viable and long‐term clinical options for treating young patients with dental agenesis.
Multi‐omics analysis to evaluate the effects of solar exposure and a broad‐spectrum SPF50+ sunscreen on markers of skin barrier function in a skin ecosystem model
Authors: Jacques Carine , Jamin Emilien L. , Noustens Anais , Lauze Christophe , Jouanin Isabelle , Doat Gautier , Debrauwer Laurent , Bessou‐Touya Sandrine , Stockfleth Eggert , Duplan Hélène
Published: July 2024

Sun exposure induces major skin alterations, but its effects on skin metabolites and lipids remain largely unknown. Using an original reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) model colonized with human microbiota and supplemented with human sebum, we previously showed that a single dose of simulated solar radiation (SSR) significantly impacted the skin metabolome and microbiota. In this article, we further analyzed SSR‐induced changes on skin metabolites and lipids in the same RHE model. Among the significantly altered metabolites (log2‐fold changes with p ≤ 0.05), we found several natural moisturizing factors (NMFs): amino acids, lactate, glycerol, urocanic acid, pyrrolidone carboxylic acid and derivatives. Analyses of the stratum corneum lipids also showed that SSR induced lower levels of free fatty acids and higher levels of ceramides, cholesterols and its derivatives. An imbalance in NMFs and ceramides combined to an increase of proinflammatory lipids may participate in skin permeability barrier impairment, dehydration and inflammatory reaction to the sun. Our skin model also allowed the evaluation of an innovative ultraviolet/blue light (UV/BL) broad‐spectrum sunscreen with a high sun protection factor (SPF50+). We found that using this sunscreen prior to SSR exposure could in part prevent SSR‐induced alterations in NMFs and lipids in the skin ecosystem RHE model.
The protective effect of 1400W against ischaemia and reperfusion injury is countered by transient medullary kidney endothelial dysregulation
Authors: Pasten Consuelo , Lozano Mauricio , Osorio Luis A. , Cisterna Matías , Jara Valeria , Sepúlveda Catalina , Ramírez‐Balaguera Daniela , Moreno‐Hidalgo Viviana , Arévalo‐Gil Dayana , Soto Paola , Hurtado Valeria , Morales Antonia , Méndez Gonzalo P. , Busso Dolores , Leon Pablo , Michea Luis , Corvalán Daniela , Luarte Alejandro , Irarrazabal Carlos E.
Published: July 2024

Renal ischaemia and reperfusion (I/R) is caused by a sudden temporary impairment of the blood flow. I/R is a prevalent cause of acute kidney injury. As nitric oxide generated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has detrimental effects during I/R, the pharmacological blockade of iNOS has been proposed as a potential strategy to prevent I/R injury. The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of 1400W (an iNOS inhibitor) on renal I/R as a pharmacological strategy against kidney disease. BALB/c mice received 30 min of bilateral ischaemia, followed by 48 h or 28 days of reperfusion. Vehicle or 1400W (10 mg/kg) was administered 30 min before inducing ischaemia. We found that after 48 h of reperfusion 1400W decreased the serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, neutrophil gelatinase‐associated lipocalin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen 3 in the I/R animals. Unexpectedly, we observed mRNA upregulation of genes involved in kidney injury, cell‐cycle arrest, inflammation, mesenchymal transition and endothelial activation in the renal medulla of sham animals treated with 1400W. We also explored if 1400W promoted chronic kidney dysfunction 28 days after I/R and did not find significant alterations in renal function, fibrosis, blood pressure or mortality. The results provide evidence that 1400W may have adverse effects in the renal medulla. Importantly, our data point to 1400W‐induced endothelial dysfunction, establishing therapeutic limitations for its use.

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Key points

Acute kidney injury is a global health problem associated with high morbidity and mortality.

The pharmacological blockade of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been proposed as a potential strategy to prevent AKI induced by ischaemia and reperfusion (I/R).

Our main finding is that 1400W, a selective and irreversible iNOS inhibitor with low toxicity that is proposed as a therapeutic strategy to prevent kidney I/R injury, produces aberrant gene expression in the medulla associated to tissue injury, cell cycle arrest, inflammation, mesenchymal transition and endothelial activation.

The negative effect of 1400W observed in the renal medulla at 48 h from drug administration, is transient as it did not translate into a chronic kidney disease condition.
Sensory-motor circuit is a therapeutic target for
dystonia musculorum
mice, a model of hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy 6
Authors: Yoshioka Nozomu , Kurose Masayuki , Sano Hiromi , Tran Dang Minh , Chiken Satomi , Tainaka Kazuki , Yamamura Kensuke , Kobayashi Kenta , Nambu Atsushi , Takebayashi Hirohide
Published: July 2024

Mutations in Dystonin (
DST
), which encodes cytoskeletal linker proteins, cause hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy 6 (HSAN-VI) in humans and the
dystonia musculorum
(
dt
) phenotype in mice; however, the neuronal circuit underlying the HSAN-VI and
dt
phenotype is unresolved.
dt
mice exhibit dystonic movements accompanied by the simultaneous contraction of agonist and antagonist muscles and postnatal lethality. Here, we identified the sensory-motor circuit as a major causative neural circuit using a gene trap system that enables neural circuit-selective inactivation and restoration of
Dst
by Cre-mediated recombination. Sensory neuron–selective
Dst
deletion led to motor impairment, degeneration of proprioceptive sensory neurons, and disruption of the sensory-motor circuit. Restoration of
Dst
expression in sensory neurons using Cre driver mice or a single postnatal injection of Cre-expressing adeno-associated virus ameliorated sensory degeneration and improved abnormal movements. These findings demonstrate that the sensory-motor circuit is involved in the movement disorders in
dt
mice and that the sensory circuit is a therapeutic target for HSAN-VI.
Emergence and reconfiguration of modular structure for artificial neural networks during continual familiarity detection
Authors: Gu Shi , Mattar Marcelo G. , Tang Huajin , Pan Gang
Published: July 2024

Advances in artificial intelligence enable neural networks to learn a wide variety of tasks, yet our understanding of the learning dynamics of these networks remains limited. Here, we study the temporal dynamics during learning of Hebbian feedforward neural networks in tasks of continual familiarity detection. Drawing inspiration from network neuroscience, we examine the network’s dynamic reconfiguration, focusing on how network modules evolve throughout learning. Through a comprehensive assessment involving metrics like network accuracy, modular flexibility, and distribution entropy across diverse learning modes, our approach reveals various previously unknown patterns of network reconfiguration. We find that the emergence of network modularity is a salient predictor of performance and that modularization strengthens with increasing flexibility throughout learning. These insights not only elucidate the nuanced interplay of network modularity, accuracy, and learning dynamics but also bridge our understanding of learning in artificial and biological agents.
Correction of preferred orientation–induced distortion in cryo–electron microscopy maps
Authors: Zhu Dongjie , Cao Weili , Li Junxi , Wu Chunling , Cao Duanfang , Zhang Xinzheng
Published: July 2024

Reconstruction maps of cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM) exhibit distortion when the cryo-EM dataset is incomplete, usually caused by unevenly distributed orientations. Prior efforts had been attempted to address this preferred orientation problem using tilt-collection strategy and modifications to grids or to air-water interfaces. However, these approaches often require time-consuming experiments, and the effect was always protein dependent. Here, we developed a procedure containing removing misaligned particles and an iterative reconstruction method based on signal-to-noise ratio of Fourier component to correct this distortion by recovering missing data using a purely computational algorithm. This procedure called signal-to-noise ratio iterative reconstruction method (SIRM) was applied on incomplete datasets of various proteins to fix distortion in cryo-EM maps and to a more isotropic resolution. In addition, SIRM provides a better reference map for further reconstruction refinements, resulting in an improved alignment, which ultimately improves map quality and benefits model building.
Near-infrared light–driven biomass conversion
Authors: Hong Longfei , Zhang Huiyan , Hu Liangdong , Xiao Rui , Chu Sheng
Published: July 2024

Current photocatalytic technologies mainly rely on the input of high-energy ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) light to obtain the desired excited states with adequate energy to drive redox reactions, precluding the use of low-energy near-infrared (NIR) light that occupies ~50% of the solar spectrum. Here, we report the efficient utilization of NIR light by coupling the low-energy NIR photons with reactive biomass conversion. A unique mechanism of photothermally synergistic photocatalysis was revealed for the selective biomass conversion under NIR light. Using biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) conversion as a model reaction, it was found that NIR and UV-vis light featured markedly different reaction patterns. 5-Formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA) was almost exclusively produced under NIR light, whereas UV-vis light favored the formation of 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) as the major product. This work provides a paradigm for sustainable and selective chemical synthesis using the Earth’s abundant resources, sunlight and biomass.