bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of hap2 deletion on mnp/vp transcription in Pleurotus ostreatus grown on lignocellulosic substrates
Authors: Kayama Keita , Nakazawa Takehito , Yamaguchi Iori , Kawauchi Moriyuki , Sakamoto Masahiro , Honda Yoichi
Published: November 2024

The regulatory mechanisms governing expression of genes encoding lignin-modifying enzymes (LME) in white-rot fungi remain largely unexplored. Although molecular cloning has identified CCAAT-boxes frequently located 5′-upstream of these genes, their role in transcriptional regulation is not well understood. This study examines the function of hap2, a gene encoding a hypothetical protein homologous to a component of the CCAAT-binding Hap complex, in the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. Deletion of hap2 resulted in significantly reduced Mn2+-dependent peroxidase activity and lignin-degrading capacity compared to the parental strain 20b grown on beech wood sawdust (BWS) medium. Real-time PCR revealed that vp2 transcript levels were significantly lower in hap2 deletants than in 20b grown when cultured on the three solid media consisting of BWS, holocellulose, or Avicel, but not on yeast-malt-glucose (YMG) agar plates. Additionally, glutathione S-transferase (GST) pulldown and electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that recombinant P. ostreatus Hap2, Hap3, and Hap5 expressed in Escherichia coli form a complex capable of binding to the CCAAT sequence 5′-upstream of vp2 in vitro. These results suggest that Hap2, as part of the CCAAT-binding complex, is essential for transcriptional upregulation of vp2 in P. ostreatus growing on lignocellulosic substrates.

Key points

• P. ostreatus hap2 deletants were generated.

• Lignin-degrading capacity was significantly reduced in the hap2 deletants.

• vp2 was significantly downregulated upon hap2 deletion.
Overcoming immunosuppression in cancer: how ketogenic diets boost immune checkpoint blockade
Authors: Stefan Victoria E. , Weber Daniela D. , Lang Roland , Kofler Barbara
Published: November 2024

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is now part of the standard of care in the treatment of many forms of cancer, yet it lacks efficacy in some patients, necessitating adjunct therapies to support the anti-tumor immune response. Ketogenic diets (KDs), i.e., high-fat low-carbohydrate diets, have been shown to have antiproliferative and immunomodulatory effects in various preclinical cancer studies. Here, we review current knowledge of the complex interplay of KDs and the anti-tumor immune response in the context of ICB therapy, to update our understanding of diet-induced immunometabolic reprogramming in cancer. Preclinical cancer studies have revealed increased activation of and infiltration by tumor-fighting immune cells, especially CD8+ T cells, but also M1 macrophages and natural killer cells, in response to a KD regimen. In contrast, immune-suppressive cells such as regulatory CD4+ T lymphocytes, M2 macrophages, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells were reported to be decreased or largely unaffected in tumors of KD-fed mice. KDs also showed synergism with ICB therapy in several preclinical tumor studies. The observed effects are ascribed to the ability of KDs to improve immune cell infiltration and induce downregulation of immune-inhibitory processes, thus creating a more immunogenic tumor microenvironment. The studies reviewed herein show that altering the metabolic composition of the tumor microenvironment by a KD can boost the anti-tumor immune response and diminish even immunotherapy-resistant as well as immunologically "cold" tumors. However, the exact underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated, requiring further studies before KDs can be successfully implemented as an adjunct tumor therapy to improve survival rates for cancer patients.
Leveraging homologous recombination deficiency for sarcoma
Authors: Planas-Paz Lara , Pauli Chantal
Published: November 2024

Background

Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) in tumors correlates with poor prognosis and metastases development. Determining HRD is of major clinical relevance as it can be treated with PARP inhibitors (PARPi). HRD remains poorly investigated in sarcoma, a rare and heterogeneous cancer of mesenchymal origin.

Objective

We aimed (i) to investigate predictive biomarkers of HRD in several independent sarcoma cohorts using a cross-functional strategy by combining genomic, transcriptomic and phenotypic approaches and (ii) to evaluate the therapeutic potential of PARPi and DNA damage response (DDR)-based therapies ex vivo.

Materials and methods

We performed a comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic characterization of sarcoma using datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET), and our own bone and soft tissue sarcoma cohorts. We evaluated PARP1/2 and WEE1 inhibition ex vivo in patient-derived sarcoma cell models as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapeutic agents to identify synergistic effects.

Results

Firstly, we identified genomic traits of HRD in a subset of sarcomas associated with molecular alterations in homologous recombination repair (HRR) pathway genes and high chromosomal instability. Secondly, we identified and validated distinct SARC-HRD transcriptional signatures that predicted sensitivity to PARPi. Finally, we showed functional defects in HRR in sarcoma cells that were associated with functional dependency towards PARPi and WEE1i and support the clinical use of RAD51 as a predictive biomarker for PARPi sensitivity.

Conclusion

We provide a personalized oncological approach to potentially improve the treatment of sarcoma patients. We encourage the evaluation of gene expression signatures to enhance the identification of patients who might benefit from DDR-based therapies.
Neutron tomography studies of buddhist bronze sculptures
Authors: Lehmann Eberhard H. , Mannes David , Speidel Markus
Published: November 2024

We have developed neutron tomography as a new tool to study the interior of ancient works of art. The present paper details the principles of the method and summarizes also some of the latest results, particularly concerning Mongolian Buddhist statues of the 17./18th century. It is shown that offering deposits made of organic and ceramic materials, even when fully enclosed in a cast metallic statue, can be examined in a non-invasive way. Within certain limits this concerns composition, size, structure and position of the interior deposits. Such studies can contribute to understand the history of ritual practices and their goals. They can also contribute to evaluate whether a statue has been properly cleaned and filled during consecration and is therefore fit for religious service. Such studies can also help to form an opinion of whether a statue is genuine.
Risk factors for wound complications after associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) compared to repeated liver resection - a propensity score matching analysis
Authors: Khajeh Elias , Sabetkish Nastaran , Ramouz Ali , Werba Alexander , Klotz Rosa , Michalski Christoph W. , Mehrabi Arianeb , Pianka Frank
Published: November 2024

Aim

Sufficient liver function is crucial in extracellular matrix growth, hemostasis, and wound healing. Repeated abdominal surgery is a known risk factor for the development of wound complications. This study aimed to evaluate this high-risk constellation in patients undergoing associated liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) and repeated liver resections (RLR) in comparison to single liver resection (SLR).

Method

Forty patients who underwent ALPPS between 2011 and 2020 were evenly matched with patients undergoing RLR or SLR (n = 40 per group) using propensity scores. Postoperative outcomes were compared and factors associated with wound complications were analyzed.

Results

Postoperative wound complications were significantly more frequent in ALPPS group (p = 0.001). The reoperation rate was not significantly different between the three groups (p = 0.143). However, surgical reintervention due to wound complications occurred more frequently in the ALPPS group in relation to RLR and SLR (17.5% vs. 7.5% and 5% respectively). Length of stay was significantly longer in the ALPPS group (p = 0.033). ALPPS was an independent risk factor for postoperative wound complication (OR = 8.55, 95% CI:1.07–68.44, p = 0.043). Risk factor analysis identified age ≥ 60 years (OR = 27.64, 95% CI:3.09-246.75, p = 0.003), BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 (OR = 30.21, 95% CI:3.35-271.83, p = 0.002), and low postoperative albumin levels (OR = 168.41, 95% CI:7.76-3651.18, p = 0.001) as independent predictors of postoperative wound complications after major liver resection.

Conclusion

Patients undergoing ALPPS and RLR are faced with a high risk of developing wound complications. Older age, obesity, a history of previous abdominal surgery, and a decreased postoperative albumin level were independent risk factors for wound complications.
Phase Ib study of the oral PI3Kδ inhibitor linperlisib in patients with advanced solid tumors
Authors: Li Jin , Xue Junli , Liu Tianshu , Feng Yi , Xu Nong , Huang Jianjin , Yin Yongmei , Zhang Jun , Mou Haibo , Shentu Jiangzhong , Bao Hanying , Xu Zusheng , Xu Zuhong
Published: November 2024

Background

Patients with advanced solid tumors have a suboptimal prognosis. This study investigated the safety and feasibility of linperlisib, a selective phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta isoform (PI3Kδ) inhibitor, for treating patients with advanced solid tumors.

Methods

In this phase Ib, single-arm, open-label, multi-center clinical trial, patients with histologically confirmed advanced solid tumors from eight centers in China were enrolled to receive oral linperlisib (80 mg/day). The primary endpoint was safety.

Results

Between August 2019 and June 2022, 94 patients were enrolled in the trial and received the study treatment. The most common (≥ 20%) treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) of all grades irrespective of causality were increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (26.6%), proteinuria (26.6%), decreased appetite (25.5%), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (22.3%), weight loss (21.3%), and anemia (21.3%). The most common grade ≥ 3 TEAEs were diarrhea (4.3%), increased AST (3.2%), increased ALT (3.2%), neutropenia (3.2%), anemia (3.2%), increased blood alkaline phosphatase (3.2%). The objective response rate (ORR) was 1.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.0–5.8), and the disease control rate (DCR) was 37.2% (95% CI 27.5–47.8). As of the data cutoff, the median follow-up time was 4.2 months (95% CI 2.8–6.9). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 1.85 months (95% CI 1.79–1.88). The median overall survival (OS) was not reached.

Conclusion

Linperlisib showed an acceptable safety profile and preliminary clinical benefit in patients with a range of advanced solid tumors. Further studies of linperlisib safety and efficacy are warranted.
Technical Note: Neural Network Architectures for Self-Supervised Body Part Regression Models with Automated Localized Segmentation Application
Authors: Fei Michael , McMillan Alan B.
Published: November 2024

The advancement of medical image deep learning necessitates tools that can accurately identify body regions from whole-body scans to serve as an essential pre-processing step for downstream tasks. Typically, these deep learning models rely on labeled data and supervised learning, which is labor-intensive. However, the emergence of self-supervised learning is revolutionizing the field by eliminating the need for labels. The purpose of this study was to compare neural network architectures of self-supervised models that produced a body part regression (BPR) slice score to aid in the development of anatomically localized segmentation models. VGG, ResNet, DenseNet, ConvNext, and EfficientNet BPR models were implemented in the MONAI/Pytorch framework. Landmark organs were correlated to slice scores and mean absolute error (MAE) was calculated from the predicted slice and the actual slice of various organ landmarks. Four localized DynUNet segmentation models (thorax, upper abdomen, lower abdomen, and pelvis) were developed using the BPR slice scores. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was compared between the localized and baseline segmentation models. The best performing BPR model was the EfficientNet architecture with an overall 3.18 MAE, compared to the VGG baseline model with a MAE of 6.29. The localized segmentation model significantly outperformed the baseline in 16 out of 20 organs with a DSC of 0.88. Enhanced neural networks like EfficientNet have a large performance increase in localizing anatomical structures in a CT compared in BPR task. Utilizing BPR slice score is shown to be effective in anatomically localized segmentation tasks with improved performance.
A bird’s-eye view reveals no fixed differences in plumage coloration between divergent populations of Painted Buntings
Authors: Podkowa Pawel , Hogan Benedict G. , Stoddard Mary Caswell , Hill Geoffrey E.
Published: November 2024

In birds, the process of speciation is closely associated with transitions in ornamentation, including coloration, plumage pattern, and song. To investigate the origins of these shifts and their connection to genetic changes, we conducted a study on one of the most highly ornamented songbirds, the Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris). The male Painted Buntings exhibits a stunning array of colors, with a red chest, blue head, green back, green coverts, and pink rump. In addition, Painted Buntings show a high level of genetic structure, with eastern and western populations that have fixed genetic differences in both nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Using non-invasive spectrophotometry techniques, we measured the coloration of six plumage patches on 88 museum specimens of male Painted Buntings in definitive plumage from across the range of the species. We predicted that there would be divergence between the genetically distinct eastern and western populations in ornamental coloration that is perceptible to a bunting but imperceptible to a human observer. However, we measured no consistent nor substantial difference in the plumage coloration of males from different populations. The observation of substantial divergence in nuclear and mitochondrial genotype with no change in ornamental coloration between populations of a brightly colored bird has important implications for the role of sexual selection in the process of speciation.
Wnt-5a Signaling Mediates Metaplasticity at Hippocampal CA3–CA1 Synapses in Mice
Authors: Parodi Jorge , Mira Rodrigo G. , Fuenzalida Marco , Cerpa Waldo , Serrano Felipe G. , Tapia-Rojas Cheril , Martinez-Torres Ataulfo , Inestrosa Nibaldo C.
Published: November 2024

Wnt signaling plays a role in synaptic plasticity, but the specific cellular events and molecular components involved in Wnt signaling-mediated synaptic plasticity are not well defined. Here, we report a change in the threshold required to induce synaptic plasticity that facilitates the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) and inhibits the induction of long-term depression (LTD) during brief exposure to the noncanonical ligand Wnt-5a. Both effects are related to the metaplastic switch of hippocampal CA3–CA1 synaptic transmission, a complex mechanism underlying the regulation of the threshold required to induce synaptic plasticity and of synaptic efficacy. We observed an early increase in the amplitude of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) that persisted over time, including after washout. The first phase involves an increase in the fEPSP amplitude that is required to trigger a spontaneous second phase that depends on Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activity. These changes are prevented by treatment with secreted frizzled-related protein 2 (sFRP-2), an endogenous antagonist of Wnt ligands. Here, we demonstrate the contribution of Wnt-5a signaling to a process associated with metaplasticity at CA3–CA1 synapses that favors LTP over LTD.

Graphical Abstract
Embodied learning of science concepts through augmented reality technology
Authors: Mansour Nasser , Aras Ceren , Staarman Judith Kleine , Alotaibi Sarah Bader Mohsen
Published: November 2024

Augmented Reality (AR) revolutionizes educational approaches by providing an immersive experience that superimposes virtual 3D elements onto the physical environment. This integration of virtual and real worlds addresses the challenge of understanding abstract concepts by enabling three-dimensional visualization and interaction. This study aims to assess the role of embodied cognition in science learning through AR technology, analyze its impact on collaborative, inquiry-based learning in primary science, and understand students' perceptions of its influence on their engagement and comprehension in collaborative science tasks. Data collection methods for this study included three focus group interviews and five video observations involving ten grade 5 students, totaling 23 participants, in a primary science classroom. The analysis utilized content, thematic, and multimodal frameworks to evaluate student interactions. The findings indicated that the use of AR significantly enhanced the students' learning experiences. Students' comprehension of complex scientific concepts improved through active engagement with 3D models using the AR application. The AR app's 3D virtual shapes encouraged students to move around more during lessons, likely because these shapes were engaging and offered various perspectives. The use of embodied learning was enhanced with the support of AR technology, as students were constantly in motion around the table, using their fingers to manipulate objects and explore 3D forms from different angles.
Ecomorphology of Longnose Gar (Lepisosteus osseus): on the influence of size, sex, and river location
Authors: Doll Jason C. , Fisher Ian , Selby Aaron , Jacquemin Stephen J. , Sinopoli Daniel , David Solomon R.
Published: November 2024

Ecomorphology is essential to understanding the evolution and biogeography of species. However, morphological studies that focus on nongame or ‘rough’ fish groups such as Gar (Lepisosteidae), outside of a phylogenetic context, are comparatively rare. Herein, we investigate the effects of sex, size, and location in a river to assess the potential for sexual dimorphism, allometry, habitat, or some combination to drive observed morphologic variation. Our dataset includes 230 Longnose Gars (Lepisosteus osseus) made up of both males and females of a wide range of sizes collected from three different sites corresponding to the upper, middle, and lower Great Pee Dee River in South Carolina. Dorsal and lateral photographs were taken from each specimen and landmarked for 2D geometric morphometric analyses. Discriminant function analyses (DFA) were also conducted on a few linear trusses to compare the accuracy of sex-related shape aspects that emerged from morphometrics as a possible field-based tool to help fisheries managers understand their stock populations. Overall, location was a statistically significant predictor of shape, yet the differences were not biologically meaningful. Additionally, sex and size were strong predictors of shape, with the greatest differences seen in the largest individuals. DFA of field measurements found that the Snout Length-to-Total Length ratio accurately predicted sex 71% of the time, with females having longer snouts than males. Differences in ratio between sexes can allow tentative sex assignments without lethal gonadal inspection. This study presents the first standardized whole-body 2D geometric morphometrics protocol for Longnose Gar.
Learning to speak mathematically at the Japanese supplementary school in Sweden: critical cases of praxeological anomaly
Authors: Aoki Mayu , Asami-Johansson Yukiko , Winsløw Carl
Published: November 2024

Natural language is known to play a crucial and specific role for children’s learning in school mathematics. Not only does it carry special vocabulary, but subtle differences between natural languages may lead to surprising challenges, for instance, for learners who are not taught mathematics in their mother tongue. In this paper, the anthropological theory of didactic (ATD) is used as a main framework, and we analyse some praxeological anomalies from the teaching of fractions at Japanese schools abroad, while learners attend, at the same time, a regular school in some other language (in this case, the local language, Swedish). Our findings indicate that these praxeological anomalies arise not only from linguistic disparities related to specialised vocabulary and syntax for elementary mathematics but also from institutional and curricular differences. This study gives new insights on these language challenges related to mathematics as taught at expatriate schools, particularly in the case of Japanese.
A comparison of statistical and machine learning models for spatio-temporal prediction of ambient air pollutant concentrations in Scotland
Authors: Zhu Qiangqiang , Lee Duncan , Stoner Oliver
Published: November 2024

The spatio-temporal prediction of air pollutant concentrations is vital for assessing regulatory compliance and for producing exposure estimates in epidemiological studies. Numerous approaches have been utilised for making such predictions, including land use regression models, additive models, spatio-temporal smoothing models and machine learning prediction algorithms. However, relatively few studies have compared the predictive performance of these models thoroughly, which is one of the novel contributions of this paper. For the specific challenge of predicting monthly average concentrations of NO$$_{2}$$

2

, PM$$_{10}$$

10

and $$\hbox {PM}_{2.5}$$

PM

2.5

in Scotland, we find that random forests typically outperform (or are as good as) more traditional statistical prediction approaches. Additionally, we utilise the best performing model to provide a new data resource, namely, predictions of monthly average concentrations (with uncertainty quantification) of the above pollutants on a regular 1 km$$^{2}$$

2

grid for all of Scotland between 2016 and 2020.
“There is a Mental Resistance”: Experiences of Involving Refugee Parents in a Youth Trauma Recovery Program from the Perspective of Participating Youth, Parents and Facilitators
Authors: Gupta Sandra Löfving , Sarkadi Anna , Warner Georgina
Published: November 2024

Scalable light-touch programs that align with the Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) approach is becoming an established intervention model for refugee youth with symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) is one example and, as TF-CBT guidelines state, parent sessions are included as the model relies on parents to provide support and instigate the techniques. In addition to traumatic stress, refugee families are often subjected to acculturative, isolation and resettlement stress. This study sought to understand how refugee parental involvement in TRT functions in practice and how it is perceived by participating youth, parents, and facilitators in Sweden. Thirty semi-structured interviews (11 youth, 8 parents, and 11 TRT facilitators) were conducted by phone or videoconference, transcribed, and analyzed using Thematic Network Analysis. A global theme ‘Parental engagement in trauma recovery requires dedicated attention’ emerged. Three organizing themes sat within this global theme: (i) Shifting roles when adapting differently to a new context; (ii) Tendency to keep parents at a distance; and (iii) Parent sessions don’t just happen. Whilst the potential for refugee parent involvement was recognized, a number of factors preventing their participation were identified. Cultural adaptations within TRT facilitators’ training are recommended, including: raising awareness about contextual factors and changes in family dynamics with regard to trauma and migration; adopting culturally responsive ways to present parental involvement to youth and parents; adding positive parenting skills; addressing parental mental health and readiness; and preparing facilitators to redirect parents to adequate services, when needed.
Social and Educational Consciousness in Twentieth- Century Moroccan Judeo-Arabic Halakhic Literature
Authors: Guedj David
Published: November 2024

This article examines three halakhic books authored by Rabbi Barukh Assabag in Casablanca during the 1930s and 1940s. Composed in Judeo-Arabic vernacular, these works were intended to cater to the general public whose proficiency in Hebrew was limited. Mindful of the nonobservance of commandments in various sectors of Morocco’s Jewish community, Assabag embarked on this literary endeavor with the aim of rehabilitating religion’s standing. Employing modern methodologies such as the democratization of knowledge, education, and print, Assabag’s innovative approach challenges the oversight of the rabbinic elite in addressing diverse community sectors. I posit that Assabag’s criticism of the rabbinic elite propelled him to propose a novel method for imparting Jewish law to the broader public. Rooted in its language and culture, this approach reflects Assabag’s social and educational consciousness. To achieve this goal, he pioneered a distinctive literary genre in Morocco that domesticated the halakhic text for a wider audience by composing in Judeo-Arabic vernacular, designing a unique structure for his books, and crafting their contents with meticulous care.
Hydrogen-as-a-probe applied to investigate the influence of extraction and preparation methods on TDS spectra of 13CrMo4-5 samples
Authors: Silva Maria Inês , Sorger Gonçalo , Malitckii Evgenii , Vilaça Pedro
Published: November 2024

Thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) provides rich information on the desorbed hydrogen flow rate activated at different heat energy levels, supporting high-resolution assessment of small-scale features that are preferential trapping sites. TDS spectra are also highly sensitive to hydrogen uptake from the sample’s extraction and preparation methods, whose influence requires further evaluation. In this research, hydrogen-as-a-probe is applied to evaluate the influence of extraction, surface grinding, dwelling time, plate thickness, and sample thickness on TDS spectra of 13CrMo4-5 steel. Validation of TDS results confirms that all hydrogen present in the sample before the TDS measurement, including metallurgical hydrogen and hydrogen uptake from the studied methods, is desorbed during the first heating cycle. Results indicate that peaks 1 and 3 are negligibly influenced by the studied methods. Peak 2 and total hydrogen concentration are significantly influenced by sample extraction and surface grinding methods, which provide the main outcomes of this work. Methods based on severe solid-state distortion, like machine cutting and grit P320, present an increased total hydrogen content of 99% and 142%, respectively. Dwelling time and plate thickness have small influence on hydrogen content. Reducing the sample thickness results in less total hydrogen concentration at a rate of 5.7 at.ppm/mm.
Characterizing Nonuniform Hyperbolicity by Mather-Type Admissibility
Authors: Chemnitz Robin , Dragičević Davor
Published: November 2024

We consider linear cocycles acting on Banach spaces which satisfy the assumptions of the multiplicative ergodic theorem. A cocycle is nonuniformly hyperbolic if all Lyapunov exponents are non-zero, which is equivalent to the existence of a tempered exponential dichotomy. We provide an equivalent characterization of nonuniform hyperbolicity in terms of a Mather-type admissibility of a pair of weighted function spaces. As an application we give a short proof of the robustness of tempered exponential dichotomies under small linear perturbation.
Novel Syntheses of Wide-Band Gap Semiconducting CdxZnx−1Co2O4 of Spinel Nanostructure: Characterization and Optical Properties
Authors: Abd-Elrahman M. I. , Rashad Latifa , Mohamed H. A. , Taya Y. A. , Abu El-Fadl A.
Published: November 2024

Cadmium doped zinc cobaltite spinel structure in the form of CdxZnx-1Co2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) are synthesized by sol-gel method. The energy dispersive X-ray spectra confirm the synthesis of pure ZnCo2O4 and Cd doped samples nanoparticles. Scanning and transmission electron microscopes images of Cd ZnCo2O4 samples show the cubic crystal structure of the nanoparticles. A good crystallinity of the ZnCo2O4 and its dopants samples are indicated by the sharpness and strong peaks of X-ray diffraction patterns. The particle size is independent of the ratio of incorporated Cd into the ZnCo2O4 matrix. The FT-IR transmission spectrum of each Cdx Zn1-xCo2O4 complex shows two strong vibration peaks that are ascribed to the spinel structure’s octahedral and tetrahedral. The absorption spectra reveal three distinct absorption characteristics for Cdx Znx-1Co2O4 peaking at 268, 532 and 778 nm due to the photoexcitation of electrons from O 2p to Co 3d transitions and d-d transition of Co 3d. N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms for Cdx Znx-1Co2O4 indicate are carried out.
A Higher Order Nonconforming Virtual Element Method for the Cahn–Hilliard Equation
Authors: Dedner Andreas , Hodson Alice
Published: November 2024

In this paper we develop a fully nonconforming virtual element method of arbitrary approximation order for the two dimensional Cahn–Hilliard equation. We carry out the error analysis for the semidiscrete (continuous-in-time) scheme and verify the theoretical convergence result via numerical experiments. We present a fully discrete scheme which uses a convex splitting Runge–Kutta method to discretize in the temporal variable alongside the virtual element spatial discretization.
What it means for an event to harm: a historical baseline variant of the causal account of harming
Authors: Zhou Yan Kai
Published: November 2024

According to the causal account of harming, an event harms a person if and only if it causes the person to be worse off. This view has emerged as a popular alternative to the more traditional view, according to which an event harms a person if and only if the person would have been better off had the event not occurred. In this paper, my primary aim is to motivate and defend a certain variant of the causal account of harming. Moreover, I also situate this variant within recent attempts to provide a unified account of harm.
Mental health pluralism
Authors: French Craig
Published: November 2024

In addressing the question of what mental health is we might proceed as if there is a single phenomenon—mental health—denoted by a single overarching concept. The task, then, is to provide an informative analysis of this concept which applies to all and only instances of mental health, and which illuminates what it is to be mentally healthy. In contrast, mental health pluralism is the idea that there are multiple mental health phenomena denoted by multiple concepts of mental health. Analysis and illumination of mental health may still be possible, but there isn’t a single phenomenon or concept to be analysed in addressing the question of what mental health is. The question of pluralism has been overlooked in the philosophy of mental health. The discussion to follow is an attempt to get us to take mental health pluralism seriously. To that end, in this essay I have three primary goals: (1) to give a precise account of what mental health pluralism is, (2) to show that the question of pluralism should not be neglected in debate about what mental health is, and (3) to argue for mental health pluralism. I also draw out some implications of this discussion for philosophy, science, and psychotherapy.
Designing for climate change: twenty-five design features to improve sanitation technology resilience in low- and middle- income countries
Authors: Cunningham Ian , Kohlitz Jeremy , Willetts Juliet
Published: November 2024

Climate change is exacerbating events such as floods and droughts, and trends including sea-level rise, leading to failures in sanitation technologies, increased public health risks and environmental pollution. To reduce these risks, it is crucial to incorporate climate resilience into sanitation technology designs. In this study, we reviewed academic and selected grey literature and identified 25 design features that can contribute to the technology’s resilience to an increasingly volatile and extreme climate. Design features that were conceptually similar were collated into seven categories. These categories included: (i) avoid exposure to hazards, (ii) withstand exposure to hazards, (iii) enable flexibility, (iv) contain failures, (v) limit consequences of complete failure, (vi) facilitate fast recovery and (vii) features that provide resilience benefits beyond technological resilience. In this paper we define the categories and design features, and provide examples of each feature in practice. We also outline how the resilience design features can support sanitation designers and implementers to critique the climate resilience of sanitation technology, and prompt more resilient designs of sanitation technology.
Unlocking the mysteries of drought: integrating snowmelt dynamics into drought analysis at the Narayani River Basin, Nepal
Authors: Bajracharya S. , Gunawardhana L. N. , Sirisena J. , Bamunawala J. , Rajapakse L. , Odara M. G. N.
Published: November 2024

Drought is among the most impactful natural hazards, undermining water security, agriculture, and livelihoods worldwide. Analysing droughts in large catchments presents several unique challenges, primarily related to the complexity of land surface characteristics and data availability limitations. Conducting drought analysis in the Narayani River Basin, which encompasses a vast area within the Himalayan region of Nepal, is extremely challenging but crucial for maintaining the river basin's social, economic, and environmental balance. In response, this study develops a new combined drought index (CDI), integrating satellite-based reanalysis parameters [i.e., Land Surface Temperature (LST), Snow Cover (SC), and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)] with a meteorological parameter [i.e., Standardised Precipitation (std_prec)]. The novel CDI was applied at the Narayani Basin to assess the droughts over the 2004–2013 period, and the results were independently evaluated using streamflow observations to validate the accuracy of the novel drought index. The principal component analysis (PCA) technique was used to determine the contribution of input parameters to the multivariate drought index. The PCA results show a strong positive correlation (0.78) between the CDI and standardised streamflow, indicating the effectiveness of the novel index in monitoring drought conditions. Accordingly, it can be concluded that surface water availability is interdependent on landscape characteristics, such as LST, SC, and NDVI, in addition to the effects of precipitation. Also, the novel CDI can identify the specific drought-affected areas in the Narayani River Basin, offering insights into its drought characteristics beyond traditional drought assessment techniques.
Incommensurability and democratic deliberation in bioethics
Authors: Eyal Nir
Published: November 2024

Often, a health resource distribution (or, more generally, a health policy) ranks higher than another on one value, say, on promoting total population health; and lower on another, say, on promoting that of the worst off. Then, some opine, there need not be a rational determination as to which of the multiple distributions that partially fulfill both one ought to choose. Sometimes, reason determines only partially, intransitively, or contentiously which of the many “compromises” between these two values is best or most choiceworthy. Norman Daniels, Ruth Chang, Martijn Boot, and Anders Herlitz affirm this opinion, which I shall call “value incommensurability,” “rational underdeterminacy,” or “reasonable disagreement.” To decide between the multiple reasonable compromises on health resource distribution, these philosophers recommend a deliberative democratic process, on two main grounds. First, in such situations, deliberation can produce the determinacy needed for decisionmaking. Second, by treating respectfully and justly even those patients or communities for whom the distributive compromise selected is bad, deliberation shields the legitimacy of that policy. Increasingly, practically-oriented bioethics recommends democratic deliberation even more expansively than these philosophers do—for nearly every decision on health resource distribution and not only when values are incommensurate—on these two grounds and on others. And one could propose a more modest variant on this expansive move as the justification of democratic deliberation. I argue that none of these moves warrants democratic deliberation on health policy.
Metaphor and ambiguity
Authors: Lane Elek
Published: November 2024

What is the status of metaphorical meaning? Is it an input to semantic composition or is it derived post-semantically? This question has divided theorists for decades. Griceans argue that metaphorical meaning/content is a kind of implicature that is generated through post-semantic processing. Others, such as the contextualists, argue that metaphorical meaning is an input to semantic composition and thus part of “what is said” by an utterance. I think both sides are right: metaphorical meaning is an input to semantic composition and it is also derived post-semantically. I explain how this is possible by positing that successful metaphor involves coining a new word on the spot; this new metaphorical word is ambiguous with its literal counterpart. I show that an ambiguity theory of metaphor, far from being the obvious non-starter that it has long been treated as, actually offers elegant predictions of a whole suite of otherwise recalcitrant linguistic data.
Clustering-based topic modeling for biomedical documents extractive text summarization
Authors: AbdelAziz Nabil M. , Ali Aliaa A. , Naguib Soaad M. , Fayed Lamiaa S.
Published: November 2024

The increasing volume of electronic text, especially in the biomedical domain, requires automatic text summarization (ATS) to help researchers navigate and find relevant information. This study proposes an unsupervised extractive ATS method to improve the quality of biomedical document summaries by focusing on subtopic diversity. The method integrates topic modeling and clustering with bidirectional encoder representation from transformers (BERT). To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed study, it tested on a new corpus of 200 biomedical research papers from Biomed Central. The results were evaluated using the ROUGE metric and qualitative evaluation by medical experts. The ROUGE metric yielded scores of 0.4838 (Rouge-1), 0.2174 (Rouge-2), and 0.2206 (Rouge-L), while the qualitative evaluation achieved an average score of 4.10, 4.06, 3.55, 4.0, and 4.0 for completeness, relevance, conciseness, informativity, and readability, respectively. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in summarizing long medical documents.
Radiological assessment of Sella Turcica morphology correlates with skeletal classes in an Austrian population: an observational study
Authors: Schwab Julia , Stucki Lars , Fitzek Sebastian , Tithphit Aliza , Hönigl Andreas , Stackmann Sarah , Horn Ina , Thenner Hanna , Dasser Philipp , Woitek Ramona , Choi Kyung-Eun , Hatamikia Sepideh , Furtner Julia
Published: November 2024

Objectives

This study aimed to analyze variations in the sella turcica (ST) concerning its size, shape, and bridging, providing first reference values in Austrian individuals. Additionally, it assessed associations between these morphological and demographic parameters and their correlation with patients’ skeletal class.

Methods

208 lateral cephalometric radiographs (154 female, 54 male; age 8–58 years) from DPU Dental Clinic (Austria) were included. Size, skeletal class, shape, age, and gender of ST were tested for significance in correlation using, (M)ANOVA, and chi-square.

Results

Linear dimensions of ST ranged from 11.1 to 12.9 mm across readers, with a standard deviation of 2.0–2.2 mm. Normal ST (49.76%) and round ST (58.77%) were the most frequent. ST bridging was detected in 6.97%. Skeletal class I appeared most frequently (54.8%). Statistical significance was observed between age, gender, and ST length, with further significant age effects on ST shape. Moreover, age showed significant modification of ST shape, while skeletal parameters appeared unaffected by other ST parameters.

Conclusions

These preliminary findings define normal ST dimensions in an Austrian population, offering reference values for clinical interpretation and broadening the available European data. Clear associations between morphological and demographic parameters were detected. Additionally, these findings may contribute to diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in orthodontics and craniofacial pathology. Future studies employing cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) along a larger sample size could enhance the generalizability of these findings.
ACSL3 is a promising therapeutic target for alleviating anxiety and depression in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Wu Celeste Yin-Chieh , Zhang Yulan , Howard Peyton , Huang Fang , Lee Reggie Hui-Chao
Published: November 2024

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the leading cause of dementia, affects over 55 million people worldwide and is often accompanied by depression and anxiety. Both significantly impact patients’ quality of life and impose substantial societal and economic burdens on healthcare systems. Identifying the complex regulatory mechanisms that contribute to the psychological and emotional deficits in AD will provide promising therapeutic targets. Biosynthesis of omega-3 (ω3) and omega-6 fatty acids (ω6-FA) through long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL) is crucial for cell function and survival. This is due to ω3/6-FA’s imperative role in modulating the plasma membrane, energy production, and inflammation. While ACSL dysfunction is known to cause heart, liver, and kidney diseases, the role of ACSL in pathological conditions in the central nervous system (e.g., depression and anxiety) remains largely unexplored. The impact of ACSLs on AD-related depression and anxiety was investigated in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (3xTg-AD). ACSL3 levels were significantly reduced in the hippocampus of aged 3xTg-AD mice (via capillary-based immunoassay). This reduction in ACAL3 was closely associated with increased depression and anxiety-like behavior (via forced swim, tail suspension, elevated plus maze, and sucrose preference test). Upregulation of ACSL3 via adenovirus in aged 3xTg-AD mice led to increased protein levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) (via brain histology, capillary-based immunoassay), resulting in alleviation of depression and anxiety symptoms. The present study highlights a novel neuroprotective role of ACSL3 in the brain. Targeting ACSL3 will offer an innovative approach for treating AD-related depression and anxiety.
Assessing social risks in Greek and Dutch economies: A product social impact life cycle assessment approach
Authors: Tsalidis Georgios Archimidis , Shahvi Shervin , Renfrew David , Katsou Evina
Published: November 2024

Purpose

Input–output tables describe monetary relationships between producers and consumers within an economy and have been used to assess the effects on job creation and gross domestic product (GDP). The objective of this study was to apply the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) to assess direct social risks in national economies and explore whether S-LCA can replace or support beyond-GDP metrics.

Methods

S-LCA was applied in three ways. First, a hotspot assessment was conducted using the Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database to assess the direct social risks of monetary outputs of the Dutch and Greek economies in 2018. Classification 1 regarded the comparison of the Dutch and Greek economies based on direct social risks classified as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Classification 2 grouped the calculated social risks into sub-sub-topics of the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Standards (CSRS) directive. In each classification, the calculated risks were normalized by the total monetary output of the national economy.

Results and discussion

This study showed that the Dutch economy results in lower normalized risk values for all S-LCA stakeholders and impact subcategories, except for “Respect of indigenous rights” and “Health and safety (Workers).” The main contributing parameters were sectorial monetary output and the risk levels of the indicators. Classification 1 showed that using input–output tables and PSILCA to simplify the calculation of SDGs was partially successful, because the SDGs also consider environmental aspects and PSILCA is limited to social aspects. Classification 2 showed that the Greek economy resulted in higher normalized risk values than the Dutch economy for almost all sub-sub-topics of the CSRS.

Conclusions

The results indicate that input–output tables can be extended to incorporate social dimensions with S-LCA and PSILCA. However, the nature of the SDGs means that S-LCA is not capable of simplifying the evaluation of countries’ societal progress, but S-LCA combined with PSILCA can assist national governments in taking targeted actions to reach SDG targets and enforce European CSRS directive compliance in the most impactful economic sectors for social performance monitoring and reporting.
Mechanochemistry of cyclobutanes
Authors: Obregon Roberto , Wang Junpeng
Published: November 2024

The field of polymer mechanochemistry has been revolutionized by implementing force-responsive functional groups—mechanophores. The rational design of mechanophores enables the controlled use of force to achieve constructive molecular reactivity and material responses. While a variety of mechanophores have been developed, this Mini Review focuses on cyclobutane, which has brought valuable insights into molecular reactivity and dynamics as well as innovations in materials. We discuss its reactivity and mechanism, dynamics and stereoselectivity, as well as impacts on material properties.