bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The First Recording of Blue Pea Butterfly, Lampides boeticus L. on Ziziphus Spina-christi Trees in Nineveh Governorate
Authors: Al-Jalal Haitham Mohieldin Muhammad , Yahya Wafaa Abid
Published: November 2023

The larvae of the blue pea butterfly, Lampedies boeticus L., were observed for the first time feeding on
Ziziphus spina-christi
leaves in 2020 in the gardens of Mosul University / Nineveh Governorate. The larvae feed on the lower surface layer of the leaves, leaving the feeding places in the form of transparent linear spots. The leaf may be stripped of its green area when the infection intensifies and eventually leads to its fall. The rate and severity of leaf injury varied during the months of the year and reached its peak in November with an average of 61.42% and 20.06 linear/leaf spots, respectively, while the injury rate of leaf and severity were the lowest in May with an average of 2.47%, 0, 61 linear spots/leaf. The results also showed that the southern and eastern directions of the tree were the most preferred for the insect, as the average rates of leaf infestation were 22,84, 22.12%, respectively. The mid-site leaves on the stem were the most affected by the feeding of butterfly larvae, with a severity of 7.08 linear spot/leaf.
Response of Forage Yield and Quality of Oats (Avena sativa L.) to Planting Distances and Mowing Dates
Authors: Abood Nihad M. , Alkaisy Abed Ul-Lateef Mahmood , Neamah Shamil I. , Saleh Baraa H.
Published: November 2023

A field experiment was carried out during the winter season of 2020-2021 in the Habbaniyah district, west of Baghdad, to study the response of forage yield and quality of oats Avena sativa L. var. Shifaa to planting distances and mowing dates. A split plots arrangement according to the RCBD at three replications was used. The main plots included planting distances, while the subplots included the mowing dates. The study’s results indicated that the planting distance of 25 cm between lines was significantly superior in the green forage yield and fiber percentage 12.00 ton ha-1 and 37.61%, respectively. In comparison, the planting distance of 20 cm between lines was significantly superior in the protein percentage 12.34%. As for the mowing dates, the mowing after 70 days was selected substantially in the forage yield and fiber percentage. The mowing after 50 days was significantly superior in protein percentage 12.28%. The interaction between studied factors significantly affected the most studied traits.
Evaluation of Cotton Genotypes Through the Selection Index Technique
Authors: Omar Abdullah Moayad , Al-Zubaidy Khalid Mohammed Dawod , Al-Taweel Muhammed Subhi
Published: November 2023

Eight upland cotton genotypes introduced from different origins (BA440, FLASH, EDESSA, SPERO, IK259, W888, MONTANA and CANDIA) in addition to the two local cultivars (Coker 310 and Lachata) were cultivated on April 22 and 23, 2022 in the Rahmaniyah region at levels (0, 1, 2, and 3 g/liter). l) of nano-chelated NPK 20-20-20 under drip irrigation conditions, and using a randomized complete block design with three replications, in order to evaluate it by creating multiple selection indices and to estimate the expected increase in seed cotton yield. The results of the analysis of variance for the studied traits (seed cotton yield, plant height, number of fruiting per plant, number of bolls per plant, average boll weight, seed index, and lint index) showed that the mean square of genotypes and levels of nano-fertilizer and their interaction was highly significant for all traits except seed index in case of nano-fertilizer levels. The selection index that included the two traits of plant height and number of bolls per plant was characterized by a high increase in efficiency compared to direct selection of the seed cotton yield, indicating the importance of selection by adopting the selection index for several traits. This selection index in the current study was considered the best due to its high efficiency, and by adopting it in evaluating the genotypes, it was found that the highest mean of the index was 7.689 for the CANDIA genotype, with a significant difference from most other genotypes, followed by the FLASH and BA440 genotypes. The sequence of local varieties adopted in the study (Coker 310 and Lachata) in terms of performance was 10 and 7, respectively. It appeared that six introduced genotypes were superior to the best local cultivars (Lachata), and all introduced genotypes were higher than the least performing local variety (Coker 310).
Contribute to Know the Enzymes that Secreted by Trichoderma viride and its Spores Loaded by Alginic Acid on Cucumber Seeds
Authors: Radhi Mohammed Naithel
Published: November 2023

Trichoderma species are utilized as a biological fungicide in agriculture due to their great antagonistic ability. Additionally, they can increase nutrient uptake, fertility, stress resistance, and plant development. They are also opportunistic and symbiotic infections, which may cause plant defense systems to become active. There is a need to reveal the molecular underpinnings of the disease resistance that Trichoderma induces despite research documenting its biocontrol effectiveness against fungal diseases. Therefore, the objective of the current investigation was to identify the fungus-secreted enzymes and its spores loaded by alginic acid on cucumber seeds
Carbonitriding Effect on Fatigue Behaviour and Mechanical Properties of Steel Beam
Authors: Nasser Sajad H. , Bader Qasim H. , Mohammad Ahmed J. , Al-Shammari Mohsin Abdullah
Published: November 2023

This work deals with the influence of carbonitriding on the fatigue behavior of notched beam (v-notch) with a depth of 1mm and an angle of 45° is studded. The experimental work include mechanical tests, heat treatments and fatigue test. The heat treatment is done by using carbonitriding at a constant temperature of 800 °C, and soaking time variation 30, 60, and 90 minutes, then followed after treatment by quenching of water and tempering process. The experimental fatigue test results of this work affected by soaking time. The fatigue test has been performed on a cantilever rotating-bending samples. The result shows that the fatigue strength and lifetime increased with increasing soaking time. It is found that The Fatigue Life Improvement Factor (FLIF) at time 30, 60 and 90 minutes for notched beam (v-notch) was increasing by 11.3%, 18.6% and 20.2% respectively with respect to un-treat specimens.
Requirements for Developing Farmers’ Capabilities in the Field of Fodder Crops Cultivation in the Side of Rusafa / Baghdad Governorate
Authors: Armsh Ali Hanon , Ali Najwa S.
Published: November 2023

The current research aims to Identify the requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers in the field of fodder crops cultivation in the side of Rusafa / Baghdad Governorate, Where the research community included all the agricultural divisions of the Directorate of Agriculture in Baghdad Governorate / Rusafa and they are (5) agricultural divisions and a random sample was taken from them at a rate of 50% and it was (3) agricultural divisions, A proportional stratified random sample of fodder crop farmers was taken by 40% from each agricultural division and their total became (145) farmers, the research data was collected using a questionnaire that included 43 paragraph distributed in (4) fields, the data was analyzed using the spss statistical analysis program, as well as the use of manual analysis using the Vakronbach coefficient, the weighted mean, the hypothetical mean and weight percentile, the research results are shown that the field of requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers to cultivate and serve the crop gets the first order with a weighted mean of (3.40) degrees and a weight percentile of (85) degrees, followed by the field of requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers for creativity in the field of fodder crops cultivation with a weighted mean of (3.37) degrees and a weight percentile of (84.25) degrees, then the field of requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers To face the problems with a weighted mean of (3.33) degrees and a weight percentile of (83.25), as for the field of requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers to communicate with extension and service institutions, it came at the last level with a weighted mean of (3.31) degrees and a weight percentile of (82.75).) degree, We conclude from this the agreement of all respondents on the fields and paragraphs of the questionnaire and the importance of the requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers to improve the field of fodder crops cultivation and their productivity, and therefore the researcher recommended the need for more efforts from the responsible authorities represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and its institutions to adopt this study and work to meet Requirements for developing the capabilities of farmers in the field of fodder crops cultivation through the preparation and implementation of specialized programs, and the need to intensify extension activities (training courses, extension seminars, demonstration fields) and work on communication and exchange of visits with farmers.
Evaluation of the Providing Extension Services to Vegetable Growers in the Field of Rationalizing Irrigation Water in Baghdad Province
Authors: Eskander Wasan Wadeea
Published: November 2023

The aim of research is to Evaluating the extension service provided to vegetable growers in the field of rationalizing irrigation water, as well as identifying the problems facing vegetable growers in this field. The Baghdad governorate was chosen as a region to conduct the research because it is one of the governorates that are interested in growing vegetable crops. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, a plan was prepared as a result of the evaluation study of the extension service an introduction to vegetable growers in the field of irrigation water rationalization, consisting of 47 paragraphs distributed over 5 areas (Organization, Planning, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation). A random sample of 50 vegetable growers was selected at a rate of 2% of the total vegetable growers in the research governorate, totaling 3350 farmers, to study the problems they face in the field of rationalizing irrigation water according to a quartet scale consisting of 30 items distributed over 5 areas: (climatic problems, financial problems, technology problems, extension activities problems, equipment problems). The research concluded that there is a weakness in the extension service provided to vegetable growers in the field of rationalizing irrigation water, as well as the absence of effective plans strategies by the relevant authorities in facing the problem of scarcity of irrigation water and the advancement of the agricultural reality in the country, and accordingly the researcher recommends the relevant authorities to achieve food security and security water sector by developing long-term strategies to confront climatic changes that have a direct impact on the problem of water scarcity in the country.
Requirements for Using Digital Agricultural Extension in Providing Extension Service from Viewpoint of Agricultural Extension Agents
Authors: Khalaf Ali Ghazi , Al-Mashhadani Ali Lateef Jasim
Published: November 2023

The research has aimed to determine the requirements for using digital agricultural extension in providing an extension service from the viewpoint of agricultural extension agents. The research population has included all agricultural extension agents who work in the Agricultural Extension and Training Department, the Training and Rehabilitation Center, the Agricultural Extension Center for Training, Al-Tarmiya Farm, as well as Al-Rashidiya Farm in Baghdad Governorate. Thus, a random sample has been taken from the research population at a rate of (83%). Accordingly, the proposed sample size has included (83) agricultural extension agents (from male and female). To achieve the goal of the research, a questionnaire has been prepared that included four axes: administrative requirements, technical and financial requirements, human requirements, and requirements of integrating the target audience to use digital agricultural extension. The agreement of extension agents on the requirements has been measured by using a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, somewhat agree, disagree, strongly disagree), and the following scores have determined for the scale expressions (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) respectively, hence, the general results (for the five axes) have shown that the majority of agricultural extension agents have had a high level of agreement with all requirements of using digital agricultural extension in providing agricultural extension services, with an average of (213.45) degrees, which is higher than the general average, and this may reflect the realism and objectivity of the requirements that have addressed in the research, which will provide an appropriate ground and achieve a satisfactory level of efficiency and effectiveness in the process of using digital agricultural extension in providing the agricultural extension service, if they implement and activate by the decision makers (authorities) in the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture.
Pre-war Anarchism in Japan
Authors: Willems Nadine
Published: November 2023

Although anarchist thinking can be detected in long-established East Asian philosophical traditions—notably Buddhism and Taoism—anarchism as a dissenting ideology and lever for social transformation emerged in earnest in Japan in the wake of the encounter with socialist ideas from Europe and North America at the turn of the 20th century. As an intellectual current, Japanese pre-war anarchism shaped debates on the role and means of action of the Japanese Left in the context of the country’s rapid capitalist development and imperialist expansion. Anarchist activism took a variety of forms, from “direct action,” such as labor strikes and terrorism, to social experiments embedded in the fabric of everyday life.

The movement had its heyday during the second half of the Taishō era (1912–1926), when anarcho-syndicalism gained some traction among intellectuals and the working class. Anarchists also paid attention to other visions of social organization critical of state authority, such as agrarian communes and self-government schemes. Increasingly defined in tension with communist conceptions of social change after the Bolshevik Revolution, anarchism lost momentum as an instrument of political dissent in the early Showa era (1926–1989). The conversion of anarchists to communist and ultra-nationalist ideologies gradually thinned their ranks.

From the start, government censorship and repression targeted leftist political dissenters of all persuasions. Of three leading figures who shaped the anarchist movement, Kōtoku Shūsui (1871–1911), Ōsugi Sakae (1885–1923) and Ishikawa Sanshirō (1876–1956), the first two died at the hands of the state and Ishikawa spent many years in exile. The circulation and persistence of anarchist ideas relied in large part on non-institutional channels, sometimes clandestine, among which transnational exchanges—fueled by travel, correspondence, and translation of foreign texts—were paramount.

Japanese pre-war anarchism tends to be read in exclusively political terms, with an emphasis on the theoretical debates that rocked leftist circles during the period. But this perspective ignores the wide range of intellectual and practical aspirations that preoccupied many anarchists and anarchist sympathizers, whose concerns extended into the scientific, geographical, religious, artistic, feminist, agricultural, and environmental spheres. The intersection between pre-war anarchism and ecological concerns is especially noteworthy, and this is where the anarchist influence has remained strongest.
Health Wearable Tools and Health Promotion
Authors: Chib Arul , Li Caining , Lin Sapphire
Published: November 2023

The application of wearable technology for health purposes is a multidisciplinary research topic. To summarize key contributions and simultaneously identify outstanding gaps in research, the input-mechanism-output (I-M-O) framework was applied to synthesize findings from 275 relevant papers in the period 2010–2021. Eighteen distinct cross-disciplinary themes were identified and organized under the I-M-O framework. Studies that covered input factors have largely been technocentric, exploring the design of various health wearables, with less emphasis on usability. While studies on user acceptance and engagement are increasing, there remains room for growth in user-centric aspects such as engagement. While measurement of physiological health indictors has grown more sophisticated due to sensitivity of sensors and the advancements in predictive algorithms, a rapidly growing area of research is that of measuring and tracking mental states and emotional health.

Relatively few studies explore theoretically backed explanations of the role of health wearables, with technocentric theories predicting adoption favored. These mainly focused on mechanisms of adoption, while postadoption use and health behavior change were less explored. As a consequence, compared to adoption mechanisms, there is an opportunity to increase our understanding of the continued use of wearables and their effects on sustained health behavior change. While a range of incentives such as social, feedback, financial, and gamification are being tested, it is worth noting that negative attitudes, such as privacy concerns, are being paid much more attention as well. Output factors were studied in both individual and organizational settings, with the former receiving considerably more attention than the latter. The progress of research on health wearables was discussed from an interdisciplinary angle, and the role of social scientists was highlighted for the advancement of research on wearable health.
Africa and the International Criminal Court
Authors: Shilaho Westen K.
Published: November 2023

A diplomatic row between Africa, specifically the African Union (AU), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), regarding accountability for mass atrocities exists. Critics accuse the ICC of bias on account of its African caseload, while the ICC counters that it has a mandate to afford justice to victims of heinous crimes—war crimes, crimes against humanity, war of aggression, and genocide—whenever domestic courts cannot do so. This article problematizes the relationship between the AU and the ICC, which was initially cordial until the indictment of former Sudanese autocrat, Omar Al-Bashir. The indictment of six Kenyan suspects, the “Ocampo Six,” among them, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, who subsequently ascended to power, worsened the Africa–ICC relationship. The article contends that, although flawed, the ICC is significant in addressing impunity. However, the ICC stands accused of favoritism, imperialism, erosion of the sovereignty of already weak African states, and escalation of conflicts. Historically, international criminal justice is steeped in controversy. Africa has suffered humiliation by the West, which evokes suspicion toward the ICC, perceived to be a stooge of Western powers. The ICC as a court of last resort, ought to afford justice to victims of mass atrocities whenever national judiciaries fail them. Crucially, however, domestic courts in Africa need capacity and political will to hold to account masterminds and perpetrators of mass atrocities. Thus, the choice between justice and peace or retributive and restorative justice preponderant among ICC critics in Africa is false. There cannot be peace and reconciliation in Africa without justice. Truth telling and retribution are complementary processes in combating impunity and realizing justice, stability, and prosperity.
Human Rights in ASEAN
Authors: Nandyatama Randy W.
Published: November 2023

While showing slow and weak progress, Southeast Asia has demonstrated a unique human rights institutionalization process. More Southeast Asian countries have adopted international human rights standards than before and even endorsed the establishment of a regional human rights body within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) mechanism. This certainly creates a new demand for understanding the process. Many scholars have provided various questions, debates, and analytical assessments of human rights in Southeast Asia. This article investigates the political dynamics in the region and reviews the scholarly literature that tries to understand the process. Most of the scholarly work on human rights in ASEAN touch upon two important issues, namely the Asian value debate on human rights and the paradox of human rights institutionalization in the region. The two issues demonstrate the lingering paradox—progressive and conservative elements of Southeast Asian culture and politics—in promoting and providing human rights protection. The paradox can be best understood through a more critical perspective in appreciating the human rights context in the region and sensing much more complex and diverse political actors engaging with the process.
Peacekeeping Economies
Authors: Jennings Kathleen M.
Published: November 2023

“Peacekeeping economy” designates the political economy of a peacekeeping operation. It broadly encompasses economic activity that either would not occur, or would occur at a much lower scale and pay rate, without the international peacekeeping (or peacebuilding) presence. Peacekeeping economies are, to a significant degree, inextricable from peacekeeping missions: While they are not under the purview or direct control of the mission, the formal and informal economic activity that they include is important to peacekeeping missions’ ability to function in the host society. Of course, behind this simple formulation is a significantly more complex phenomenon. Moreover, the peacekeeping economy is not just an interesting empirical reality. It is also a useful analytical framework for examining and better understanding how peacekeeping is designed, regulated, and done; its socioeconomic, gendered, and racialized dimensions; and its (intended and unintended) consequences.
International Relations of the Pacific Islands
Authors: Waqavakatoga William , Wallis Joanne
Published: November 2023

The Pacific Islands region occupies 15% of the world’s surface, yet there have been relatively few analyses of the international relations of the Pacific Island countries (PICs). Existing analyses tend to view the region through the lens of the interests of major and metropolitan powers. They consequently focus on how geopolitical competition between those powers is likely to develop in the region but afford little consideration to the agency of PICs to shape how that will occur. This article reimagines the international relations of the Pacific Islands to capture how Pacific Island countries are exercising their agency in pursuit of their interests and to manage the behaviour of great and metropolitan powers. This reimagining involves three analytical moves. First, it subverts stereotypes of “smallness”, “weakness”, and “fragility” which tend to dominate the policy and academic literature of metropolitan powers about the region. Second, it better recognises the agency and activism of Pacific Island countries captured by the concept of the “Blue Pacific”. Third, it accounts for the dynamism and diversity of the nature and interests of the entities and actors that make up, and are involved in the Pacific region.
Human Rights in East Asia
Authors: Carranza Ko Ñusta
Published: November 2023

East Asia is a region that has been the focus of discussions about economic development, democratization, nuclear proliferation, technological innovations, and health-related issues. Due to its historical past of colonization (including countries that have been colonizers and those that have been colonized), interstate and regional wars, involvement in world wars, and authoritarian governance, it is also a region that has experienced human rights violations, human rights advancements, and human rights–related policy developments. Thus, the study of East Asia and human rights encompasses colonial, Cold War, post–Cold War, and the post September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks periods of history. Based on the vast amount of scholarship on human rights in the region, a spectrum of approaches should be used to study human rights that (a) examines case-specific human rights violations which focus on vulnerable populations in society; (b) theorizes and questions the essence of human rights and its value systems; and (c) explores developments in human rights–related policy that involve transitional justice processes of truth-seeking, reparations, and criminal accountability regarding past human rights crimes. Examination of historic violations of women’s rights and children’s rights in the case of comfort women who were sexually enslaved by Japan’s Imperial Army during the Asia-Pacific War centers the victims and their experiences. A focus on minority rights leads to the consideration of issues of human trafficking of women and girls in Mongolia and North Korea, social and ethnic minority groups’ concerns in Japan and South Korea, and the plight of Uyghur people in China. The Asian (Confucian) values debate leads to consideration of why human rights have been questioned, why they may be considered as impositions, and which approaches can be taken to re-examine human rights with regard to this region. Finally, the discussion of transitional justice as it relates to East Asian states provides a much needed recognition of the importance of the region for innovating transitional justice policies.
El Paso
Authors: Wilson Alberto
Published: November 2023

El Paso, Texas, sits on the northern bank of the Rio Grande along the international boundary between Mexico and the United States and the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua. Its location makes El Paso a major urban center in the US Southwest and a key border city, and together with Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the cities comprise the largest border metroplex in the western hemisphere. Occupying formerly Mansos and Suma lands, the collision between Spanish imperial design and native stewardship began in the mid-17th century as civil and religious authorities from New Mexico established a southern settlement along the river to provide a place of rest and security for the trade and travel making its way from the mineral-rich regions of New Spain to the far-flung colony. Initial settlement patterns in El Paso occurred on the southern bank of the river in what is early 21st-century Ciudad Juárez due to seasonal flooding, which provided a natural barrier from Apache raids. El Paso remained a crossroads into the national period of the 19th century as the settlements began to experience the expansion of state power and market relations in North America. The competing national designs of Mexico and the United States collided in war from 1846 to 1848, resulting in the redrawing of national borders that turned El Paso and Ciudad Juárez into border cities. In the 20th century, industrial capitalism, migration, and state power linked these peripheral cities to national and international markets, and El Paso–Ciudad Juárez became the largest binational, bicultural community along the US–Mexico border. In 2020, the decennial census of Mexico and the United States counted a combined 2.5 million residents in the region, with over eight hundred thousand of those residing in El Paso.
Muslim Chaplains in North America
Authors: Stark Harvey
Published: November 2023

As a relatively new profession, the North American Muslim chaplaincy (NAMC) has seen significant growth since the mid 1970s the hiring of the first paid Muslim chaplains in the United States approximately twenty-five years ago. There are three observable waves of chaplains to consider as the NAMC has developed: the first wave with the hiring of the first paid prison chaplain; the second with the founding of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program at the Hartford Seminary; and the third which began shortly thereafter as chaplains develop an Islamic approach to pastoral care, create networks, and cultivate a public persona. The Muslim women and men who serve as chaplains in secular North American institutions such as prisons, the military, educational institutions, hospitals, and community centers, among others, have made it their goal to serve Muslims and non-Muslims in these North American institutions. From humble beginnings, this profession grew out of the desire to provide needed services and care to Muslims in these institutions and has evolved into a uniquely North American profession suited to the needs of all religious communities served by these institutions. North American Muslim chaplains represent an Islamic American voice, one that speaks to American cultural and legal norms. To varying degrees, these chaplains have challenged and embraced North American traditions, such as pluralism, interfaith relations, freedom of religion, and non-establishment. In addition, as they move into the third decade of the profession, chaplains have been moving into leadership roles within American communities. These roles have created an alternate form related to, but significantly different from, the role of the imam. This provides a space for a distinctly North American engagement with the Islamic tradition. It has also opened new spaces for women’s leadership within the North American Muslim community, adjusting and reaffirming traditional practice. These chaplains perform their profession, and their “ministry of presence,” in ways closely connected to institutional, regional, and personal contexts. Because of this multitude of sites, identifying points of connection, when desired, can be difficult. As such, there is no monolithic approach to the chaplaincy or how chaplains envision their Muslim identities. This diversity, which extends to a diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, and branch of Islam, is not without its challenges.
The “Arid Sertões” and the Climate Issue in the 19th-Century Brazilian Empire
Authors: Pereira de Oliveira Gabriel
Published: November 2023

Brazil is the fifth-largest country on the planet, and about 90 percent of its territory is located within the tropics. This makes Brazil the largest tropical country and the most biodiverse on Earth. Especially since its process of state building in the 19th century, the image of the Brazilian nation has been intensely associated with the ideal of an exuberant and sumptuous nature, a land of fertility and abundance, like the Amazon rainforest. However, within this gigantic and diverse territory, there were many areas that differed from that nation ideal, like the semi-arid zone located mainly in the countryside of the region that from the middle of the 20th century became known as the Brazilian Northeast. Integrating this semi-arid zone - that is considered the largest tropical dry forest in South America - into the nation project headed by the Imperial Court in Rio de Janeiro was an important challenge in the construction of Brazil in the 19th century.

The climate issue was a decisive key to guiding this process. Although the famous drought in 1877 still frequently appears as the starting point for the importance of the political debate on the semi-arid climate in Brazil, the relations between climate and power in this territory were made earlier. Since the beginnings of the Brazilian Empire in the 1820s, for example, policies to deal with these climatic phenomena were decisive to articulate the power between local elites and the empire. These policies were transformed from occasional succors like groceries especially to water reservoirs after the 1840s. Handling the rainless climate would be crucial to uphold the imperial order in that semi-arid territory. The empire sought to have control not only over the people but also over the weather. However, this relationship between the empire and the “arid hinterland” took shape within the political and environmental Brazilian puzzle at that time, rather than a mere imposition from the court.
Nueva Cádiz de Cubagua and the Pearl Fisheries of the Caribbean
Authors: Rodríguez Velásquez Fidel , Antczak Oliver
Published: November 2023

The island of Cubagua, known since the end of the 15th century as the “Island of Pearls,” is a small semi-arid island located in the southeastern Caribbean. Pre-colonially, the island formed part of an extensive network of communication and trade that crisscrossed the southeastern Caribbean and the adjacent coasts. In 1528, a settlement on the island of Cubagua was granted a charter to establish the city of Nueva Cádiz. This city played a central role in the exploitation of and trade in pearls during the the 16th century. During the early modern period, the pearls from this area circulated widely throughout the Atlantic world and inspiredabundant depictions that helped construct notions of the “New World” and brought competitions that forged new relationships between the Hispanic monarchy and American Indigenous populations. After 1540, the city was gradually abandoned. Since, the island has remained uninhabited and relatively unknown academically. However, the history of Nueva Cádiz has played an important role in debates over heritage protection, in museum narratives, and, ultimately, in the identity of the region.
Nabonidus, king of Babylon
Authors: Weiershäuser Frauke
Published: November 2023

Nabonidus was the last native king of Babylon and ruled the Neo-Babylonian empire from 555 to 539 bce. Up to the early 21st century, the evaluation of his reign is influenced by the negative propaganda initiated by his conqueror and successor, the Persian king Cyrus II, who portrayed him as unfaithful to Babylon’s main deity Marduk and devotee to the moon-god Sin. Actually, Nabonidus can be described as an energetic and successful ruler and military leader, as well as an active sponsor of construction work all over Babylonia. His decision to spend ten years in northern Arabia was exceptional but did not affect his rule adversely. His reign finally ended because his opponent was a brilliant strategist and military leader and not because of massive discontent or even rebellion of his own people.
Nebuchadnezzar II
Authors: Weiershäuser Frauke
Published: November 2023

Nebuchadnezzar II was one of the most famous Babylonian kings and the most prominent ruler of the Neo-Babylonian period. After inheriting the throne from his father Nabopolassar, he successfully ruled Babylonia for more than forty years. During this time, he secured and enlarged the empire that his father had founded, strengthened Babylonian military dominance in the Levant against Egypt, claimed supremacy over Judah by conquering its capital, Jerusalem, twice and exiled the upper stratum of Judah’s population in Babylonia. According to extant sources, the main focus of Nebuchadnezzar’s politics was in the Syro-Palestine area; little is known about his policies towards his eastern neighbour Media. In Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar sponsored large-scale construction work all over the country, but he paid special attention to his capital, Babylon, which he transformed into the most splendid and world-famous megacity, a metropolis that was praised centuries later and is still the basis for the modern image of Babylon.
Dionysius Periegetes
Authors: Lightfoot J. L.
Published: November 2023

Dionysius Periegetes is the Alexandrian author of a poem in 1,186 hexameters entitled “Periegesis of the Known World” (Οἰκουμένης Περιήγησις). Answering to Aratus’s Phaenomena as a specimen of cosmographically themed didactic epic, and conceived on a similar scale (Aratus’s poem has 1,154 lines), it describes the approximate layout of the seas and landmasses as they were understood at the time of the poem’s composition during the reign of Hadrian. It is the only work on its subject to survive in hexameters. In light of the loss of geographical poems by “Alexander” (presumably of Ephesus) and Varro of Atax, its closest relatives are the partially preserved iambic poems by ps.-Scymnus and Dionysius son of Calliphon. But the poet’s scrupulous metre and sophisticated use of allusion constructs a lineage across archaic, classical, and Hellenistic poets to place him among the most refined writers of the Second Sophistic movement. The packaging of dense informational content with user-friendly readability and adept poetics proved a winning combination, and Dionysius’s poem remained on school syllabuses for a good millennium and a half after its composition.
Recent Impact of English on Other Germanic Languages
Authors: Zenner Eline
Published: November 2023

English is a global language. Synthesizing how it has impacted other languages is far from straightforward, given the sheer number of languages it is in contact with, the diversity of the outcome of this contact, and its dependence on the nature and history of the particularities of the contact setting, the domains of use, and the actual users involved. Even when reducing the span to Germanic languages within the European context, at least two stories can be told.

A first account focuses on the use of English as a means of communication in Europe. The impact on other Germanic languages then mainly focuses on the progressive use of English instead of other Germanic languages in domains such as (international) business, (tertiary) education, or science. A second account rather foregrounds how English is used within Germanic languages, studying variation and change that is induced by contact with English, primarily in the form of lexical borrowing. The question then becomes which English words, phrases, and constructions have been imported; how this import takes place; and why.

Both accounts can be considered as part of the same story, with a stronger presence of English as a means of communication in certain domains also leading to more intense contact, more bilingual speakers, and, hence, more occasions for contact-induced variation and change. Although the theoretical frameworks, research questions and methodologies relied on in scholarly work focusing on English instead of other Germanic languages are quite different from those in work on the use of English within other Germanic languages, closer inspection reveals that their objectives are quite similar overall.

First, while research on English as a means of communication fundamentally aims to conceptualize the relationship between English and other languages, research on borrowing does the same at the level of the linguistic system, targeting the relationship between English terms and the heritage lexicon. Second, both accounts consider whether existing linguistic terminology is sufficiently apt for this conceptualization, with critical musings on terms such as variety or native speaker in research on the use of English as a lingua franca, or on loanword and synonymy in the field of borrowing. Finally, strengthened by findings from empirical research, these conceptualizations are used to inspire, sometimes spark, or rather defuse, ideological debates on the status of English as a global language.

This article provides a closer description of these research themes, prioritizing research on the impact of English on German, Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish, within the European areas traditionally associated with these languages. To set the scene, a more panoramic perspective is adopted in the first section, which briefly describes the rationale of this article.
Indian Americans: Overview
Authors: John Rachel , Murugan Vithya , Desai Isha
Published: November 2023

Indian Americans have immigrated to the United States since the 19th century. This population is one of the fastest growing and the second largest immigrant group in the United States. Understanding the Indian American experience in the United States requires knowledge of Indian histories, such as British colonialism, immigration policies, and casteism, that have shaped the lived experiences of this population. Significant values and cultural norms, such as being a collectivist and the importance of family, are central to the Indian American experience.
Peripheral Blood MicroRNA-21 as a Predictive Biomarker for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction in Old Hypertensives
Authors: Marketou Maria , Kontaraki Joanna , Zacharis Evangelos , Maragkoudakis Spyros , Fragkiadakis Kostantinos , Kampanieris Emmanouil , Plevritaki Anthoula , Savva Eirini , Malikides Onoufrios , Chlouverakis Gregory , Kochiadakis George
Published: November 2023

BACKGROUND

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a major health issue with high morbidity and mortality. The epidemiology and the factors that cause HFpEF have not been fully clarified, while accurate predictive biomarkers are lacking. Our aim was to determine whether levels of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in peripheral blood monocytes, which play a critical role in many pathophysiological pathways of hypertensive heart disease, can predict the occurrence of HFpEF in older hypertensives, as well as the associated mortality and morbidity.

METHODS

We enrolled 151 elderly patients >60 years old with essential hypertension but without HF at baseline. miRs expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells had been quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up of 8.2 years, 56 patients (37%) had an event. Levels of miR-21 in peripheral mononuclear blood cells proved to be significantly associated with the occurrence of HFpEF. More specifically, the median HFpEF-free period was 110 months for those with miR-21 >2.1 and 114 months for those with miR-21 <2.1. In addition, multivariate analysis showed that miR-21 (hazard ratio 11.14), followed by hemoglobin (Hg) (hazard ratio 0.56 for Hg >13.6 g/dl, a 45% risk reduction), were independent and the most significant predictors of HFpEF events.

CONCLUSIONS

miR-21 levels in peripheral blood monocytes are associated with the development of future HFpEF. Our findings may alter the risk models of HFpEF and support the rationale for further research into the modulation of miRs as biomarkers and treatment targets for HFpEF.
Social Communication in Young Children With Sex Chromosome Trisomy (XXY, XXX, XYY): A Study With Eye Tracking and Heart Rate Measures
Authors: Urbanus Evelien , Swaab Hanna , Tartaglia Nicole , van Rijn Sophie
Published: November 2023

Objective

Children with sex chromosome trisomy (SCT) have an increased risk for suboptimal development. Difficulties with language are frequently reported, start from a very young age, and encompass various domains. This cross-sectional study examined social orientation with eye tracking and physiological arousal responses to gain more knowledge on how children perceive and respond to communicative bids and evaluated the associations between social orientation and language outcomes, concurrently and 1 year later.

Method

In total, 107 children with SCT (33 XXX, 50 XXY, and 24 XYY) and 102 controls (58 girls and 44 boys) aged between 1 and 7 years were included. Assessments took place in the USA and Western Europe. A communicative bids eye tracking paradigm, physiological arousal measures, and receptive and expressive language outcomes were used.

Results

Compared to controls, children with SCT showed reduced attention to the face and eyes of the on-screen interaction partner and reduced physiological arousal sensitivity in response to direct versus averted gaze. In addition, social orientation to the mouth was related to concurrent receptive and expressive language abilities in 1-year-old children with SCT.

Conclusions

Children with SCT may experience difficulties with social communication that extend past the well-recognized risk for early language delays. These difficulties may underlie social–behavioral problems that have been described in the SCT population and are an important target for early monitoring and support.
BELB: a biomedical entity linking benchmark
Authors: Garda Samuele , Weber-Genzel Leon , Martin Robert , Leser Ulf
Published: November 2023

Motivation

Biomedical entity linking (BEL) is the task of grounding entity mentions to a knowledge base (KB). It plays a vital role in information extraction pipelines for the life sciences literature. We review recent work in the field and find that, as the task is absent from existing benchmarks for biomedical text mining, different studies adopt different experimental setups making comparisons based on published numbers problematic. Furthermore, neural systems are tested primarily on instances linked to the broad coverage KB UMLS, leaving their performance to more specialized ones, e.g. genes or variants, understudied.

Results

We therefore developed BELB, a biomedical entity linking benchmark, providing access in a unified format to 11 corpora linked to 7 KBs and spanning six entity types: gene, disease, chemical, species, cell line, and variant. BELB greatly reduces preprocessing overhead in testing BEL systems on multiple corpora offering a standardized testbed for reproducible experiments. Using BELB, we perform an extensive evaluation of six rule-based entity-specific systems and three recent neural approaches leveraging pre-trained language models. Our results reveal a mixed picture showing that neural approaches fail to perform consistently across entity types, highlighting the need of further studies towards entity-agnostic models.

Availability and implementation

The source code of BELB is available at: https://github.com/sg-wbi/belb. The code to reproduce our experiments can be found at: https://github.com/sg-wbi/belb-exp.
Penetrance and expressivity of mitochondrial variants in a large clinically unselected population
Authors: Cannon Stuart J , Hall Timothy , Hawkes Gareth , Colclough Kevin , Boggan Roisin M , Wright Caroline F , Pickett Sarah J , Hattersley Andrew T , Weedon Michael N , Patel Kashyap A
Published: November 2023

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) from large clinically unselected cohorts provides a unique opportunity to assess the penetrance and expressivity of rare and/or known pathogenic mitochondrial variants in population. Using WGS from 179 862 clinically unselected individuals from the UK Biobank, we performed extensive single and rare variant aggregation association analyses of 15 881 mtDNA variants and 73 known pathogenic variants with 15 mitochondrial disease-relevant phenotypes. We identified 12 homoplasmic and one heteroplasmic variant (m.3243A>G) with genome-wide significant associations in our clinically unselected cohort. Heteroplasmic m.3243A>G (MAF = 0.0002, a known pathogenic variant) was associated with diabetes, deafness and heart failure and 12 homoplasmic variants increased aspartate aminotransferase levels including three low-frequency variants (MAF ~0.002 and beta~0.3 SD). Most pathogenic mitochondrial disease variants (n = 66/74) were rare in the population (<1:9000). Aggregated or single variant analysis of pathogenic variants showed low penetrance in unselected settings for the relevant phenotypes, except m.3243A>G. Multi-system disease risk and penetrance of diabetes, deafness and heart failure greatly increased with m.3243A>G level ≥ 10%. The odds ratio of these traits increased from 5.61, 12.3 and 10.1 to 25.1, 55.0 and 39.5, respectively. Diabetes risk with m.3243A>G was further influenced by type 2 diabetes genetic risk. Our study of mitochondrial variation in a large-unselected population identified novel associations and demonstrated that pathogenic mitochondrial variants have lower penetrance in clinically unselected settings. m.3243A>G was an exception at higher heteroplasmy showing a significant impact on health making it a good candidate for incidental reporting.