bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Population Aging as a Global Issue
Authors: Sciubba Jennifer D.
Published: August 2020

The late 20th century brought the dawn of global population aging, the culmination of decades-long shifts to lower fertility and longer life expectancy. These novel age distributions—larger proportions of older persons relative to working-age or youth—bring with them a plethora of questions about the political, economic, and social causes and consequences of such aging. There are multiple theoretical perspectives and ways to measure population aging, and decisions about approaches, definitions, and measurements can make a dramatic difference on the results of studies of its impact. Some scholars approach the study of aging through a generational lens, others through chronological age, dependency ratios, or other measures of age structure. Studies of the implications of population aging fall into three major categories: political, economic, and social. Political demography studies often focus on the political power of various age groups and attempt to assess the degree to which intergenerational conflict is emerging as the sizes of age groups change and their demands on services like entitlements shift alongside. Political demography studies also look at voter behavior and preferences to assess possibilities for reform of age-related policies, like retirement, healthcare, and education. A separate branch of political demography examines the military implications of population aging, particularly its effect on the willingness and ability of a state to use force. Of the few studies that show a link between aging and war, empirical results are inconclusive, meaning that it is just as likely a state with a high median age will be belligerent as not. Studies on the economic implications of population aging look at the changing nature of the labor market itself and on the possibility of macroeconomic growth in the face of demographic change. Finally, research on the social impact of population aging is mostly concerned with individual- and family-level well-being, as the care demands of an aging population create pressures on individuals, families, and social safety nets. There are many controversies and debates over the impact of aging, including debates over the relative weight of demographic factors and whether population aging is a trend warranting celebration or alarm. In all, there are far more questions about the implications of aging than there are answers, and the projected development of this trend means that more questions constantly arise. Lingering questions surround historically rapid demographic aging, new sets of aging states at different speeds, shrinking populations, the intersection between migration and aging, and the intersection between aging and climate change. The field is ripe for more comparative aging work in general.
The Economy Since 1970
Authors: Glock Judge
Published: August 2020

Despite almost three decades of strong and stable growth after World War II, the US economy, like the economies of many developed nations, faced new headwinds and challenges after 1970. Although the United States eventually overcame many of them, and continues to be one of the most dynamic in the world, it could not recover its mid-century economic miracle of rapid and broad-based economic growth.

There are three major ways the US economy changed in this period. First, the US economy endured and eventually conquered the problem of high inflation, even as it instituted new policies that prioritized price stability over the so-called “Keynesian” goal of full employment. Although these new policies led to over two decades of moderate inflation and stable growth, the 2008 financial crisis challenged the post-Keynesian consensus and led to new demands for government intervention in downturns.

Second, the government’s overall influence on the economy increased dramatically. Although the government deregulated several sectors in the 1970s and 1980s, such as transportation and banking, it also created new types of social and environmental regulation that were more pervasive. And although it occasionally cut spending, on the whole government spending increased substantially in this period, until it reached about 35 percent of the economy.

Third, the US economy became more open to the world, and it imported more manufactured goods, even as it became more based on “intangible” products and on services rather than on manufacturing. These shifts created new economic winners and losers. Some institutions that thrived in the older economy, such as unions, which once compromised over a third of the workforce, became shadows of their former selves. The new service economy also created more gains for highly educated workers and for investors in quickly growing businesses, while blue-collar workers’ wages stagnated, at least in relative terms.

Most of the trends that affected the US economy in this period were long-standing and continued over decades. Major national and international crises in this period, from the end of the Cold War, to the first Gulf War in 1991, to the September 11 attacks of 2001, seemed to have only a mild or transient impact on the economy. Two events that were of lasting importance were, first, the United States leaving the gold standard in 1971, which led to high inflation in the short term and more stable monetary policy over the long term; and second, the 2008 financial crisis, which seemed to permanently decrease American economic output even while it increased political battles about the involvement of government in the economy.

The US economy at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century was richer than it had ever been, and remained in many respects the envy of the world. But widening income gaps meant many Americans felt left behind in this new economy, and led some to worry that the stability and predictability of the old economy had been lost.
Popular Music before 1945
Authors: Sandroni Carlos
Published: August 2020

Commercial recordings in Brazil were first made in 1902 in Rio de Janeiro. During the first two decades of the 20th century, however, the recorded repertoire centered around the same musical genres established in the final decades of the previous century: for sung music, this meant modinhas, lundus, waltzes, and cançonetas; for instrumental music, this meant polkas, maxixes, marches, and tangos. During this period, sheet music for pianos and musical bands played a greater role in disseminating popular music than did mechanical recordings. This included dissemination by the medium of radio, which had begun in the country in the early 1920s but only expanded when its commercial operation was authorized in the 1930s. Of the leading musical genres of the period, samba and carnival marches (always sung) came into their own during the 1930s. Rio de Janeiro, at that time the capital of the republic, the cradle of the burgeoning phonograph recording industry, and the center of the still extant sheet music publishing business and radio broadcasting, is key to understanding Brazilian popular music of the time. During the entire period, however, migrants from other regions, especially from the northeastern states of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Ceará, made crucial contributions to popular music. These contributions became particularly significant during the final years of that decade with the success of baião, a sung musical genre with a distinct northeastern flavor whose influence would stretch into the 1950s.
Verb Concatenation in Asian Linguistics
Authors: Slade Benjamin
Published: August 2020

Across a large part of Asia are found a variety of verb-verb collocations, a prominent subset of which involves collocations typically displaying completive or resultative semantics. Such collocations are found in Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages of South Asia, Turkic and Iranian languages of Central Asia, and in Chinese languages.

In South and Central Asian languages, verb-verb collocations usually involve some added aspectual/Aktionsart element of meaning, frequently (though not exclusively) indicating completion of an event and sometimes involving speaker evaluation of the event (e.g., surprise, regret). Thus Hindi Rām-ne kitāb paṛh diyā, literally “John read-gave the book,” with the sense “John read the book out.” In Chinese languages, many verb-verb collocations involve a resultative sense, similar to English “Kim ran herself/her shoes ragged.” However, earlier Chinese verb-verb collocations were agent-oriented, for example, She-sha Ling Gong“(Someone) shot and killed Duke Ling,” where she is “shoot” and sha is “kill.”

In Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Central Asian languages, we find verb-verb collocations that evolve from idiomaticization and grammaticalization of constructions involving converbs, for example, a collocation meaning “he, having eaten food, left” acquires the meaning “he ate food (completely).” Similarly, the Chinese verb-verb resultatives derive from earlier verb-verb “co-ordinate” constructions (originally with an overt morpheme er: ji er sha zhi “struck and killed him”), which functionally is similar to the role of converbs in South and Central Asian languages.

While these Asian verb-verb collocations are strikingly similar in broad strokes, there are significant differences in the lexical, semantic, and morphosyntactic properties of these constructions in different languages. This is true even in closely related languages in the same language family, such as in Hindi and Nepali.

The historical relation between verb-verb collocations in different Asian languages is unclear. Even in geographically proximate language families such as Indo-Aryan and Dravidian, there is evidence of independent development of verb-verb collocations, with possible later convergence. Central Asian verb-verb collocations being very similar in morphosyntactic structure to South Asian verb-verb collocations, it is tempting to suppose that for these there is some contact-based cause, particularly since such collocations are much less prominent in Turkic and Iranian languages outside of Central Asia. The relation between South and Central Asian verb-verb collocations and Chinese verb-verb collocations is even more opaque, and there are greater linguistic differences here. In this connection, further study of verb-verb collocations in Asian languages geographically intermediate to Central and South Asia, including Thai, Vietnamese, and Burmese, is required.
Economic Instruments to Control Greenhouse Gas Emissions: REDD+
Authors: Begum Rawshan Ara
Published: August 2020

Deforestation causes up to 10% of global anthropogenic carbon emissions. Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks can contribute to controlling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and limit global warming and climate change. However, global warming cannot be limited without decreasing the use of fossil fuel or emission-intensive energy sources. The forestry sector could contribute 7%–25% of global emissions reduction by 2020. Apart from emissions reduction and sink (mitigation), forests also provide cobenefits such as ecosystem services (providing food, timber, and medicinal herbs); biodiversity conservation; poverty reduction; and water quality, soil protection, and climate regulation. In 2005, the UNFCCC introduced a cost-effective mitigation strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation (RED) in developing countries.

The UN’s initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) aims to transform forest management in developing countries, where the majority of tropical forests are located, using finances from developed countries. REDD+ seeks to reward actors for maintaining or restoring forests, acting as an economic instrument by putting a monetary value on every tonne of CO2 that is prevented from entering the atmosphere. Implementation of REDD+ requires economic and policy instruments that can help to control GHG emissions by enhancing carbon sinks, reducing deforestation and forest degradation, and managing sustainable forests.

Payment for environmental services offers opportunities for either cofinancing or economic valuation in regard to REDD+ implementation. The challenge is to identify the most appropriate and cost-effective instrument.

REDD+ fulfills the current needs for economic instruments and incentives that can be implemented with existing land use and forestry policies to control global GHG emissions. However, REDD+ requires forest governance, law enforcement, clarification of land and resource rights, and forest monitoring to work in the long term. REDD+ payments can be made for results-based actions, and the UNFCCC has identified potential ways to pay for them, but challenges remain, such as clarifying financing or funding sources, distribution of funding and sharing of benefits or incentives, carbon rights, and so on. Different aspects pf the implementation, effectiveness, and scale of REDD+ and their interactions with economic, social, and environmental benefits are important for successful REDD+ implementation.
Environmental Economics and Uncertainty: Review and a Machine Learning Outlook
Authors: Zhang Ruda , Wingo Patrick , Duran Rodrigo , Rose Kelly , Bauer Jennifer , Ghanem Roger
Published: August 2020

Economic assessment in environmental science means measuring and evaluating environmental impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Integrated assessment modeling (IAM) is a unifying framework of environmental economics, which attempts to combine key elements of physical, ecological, and socioeconomic systems. The first part of this article reviews the literature on the IAM framework: its components, relations between the components, and examples.

For such models to inform environmental decision-making, they must quantify the uncertainties associated with their estimates. Uncertainty characterization in integrated assessment varies by component models: uncertainties associated with mechanistic physical models are often assessed with an ensemble of simulations or Monte Carlo sampling, while uncertainties associated with impact models are evaluated by conjecture or econometric analysis. The second part of this article reviews the literature on uncertainty in integrated assessment, by type and by component.

Probabilistic learning on manifolds (PLoM) is a machine learning technique that constructs a joint probability model of all relevant variables, which may be concentrated on a low-dimensional geometric structure. Compared to traditional density estimation methods, PLoM is more efficient especially when the data are generated by a few latent variables. With the manifold-constrained joint probability model learned by PLoM from a small, initial sample, manifold sampling creates new samples for evaluating converged statistics, which helps answer policy-making questions from prediction, to response, and prevention. As a concrete example, this article reviews IAMs of offshore oil spills—which integrate environmental models, transport models, spill scenarios, and exposure metrics—and demonstrates the use of manifold sampling in assessing the risk of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Space, particularity and the socialisation of production
Authors: Gundogdu Ibrahim
Published: August 2020

Since the 1980s, there has been a considerable effort in critical analyses to design a particular research agenda centred on singularity and diversity in the name of avoiding “essentialistic and universalising claims.” The relations between generality and particularity are then not adequately taken into consideration while social and spatial objects are linked with each other only in external ways. In contrast, it is possible to analyse social reality in its both universal/general and particular aspects beyond their dualistic understanding. To do this, I suggest rethinking the Marxist concept of ‘socialisation of production’ by tracing the dialectical interplay between socialisation and value across geographies.
The year 2019 in the European Heart Journal—Cardiovascular Imaging: Part I
Authors: Edvardsen Thor , Haugaa Kristina H , Petersen Steffen E , Gimelli Alessia , Donal Erwan , Maurer Gerald , Popescu Bogdan A , Cosyns Bernard
Published: August 2020

The European Heart Journal—Cardiovascular Imaging was launched in 2012 and has during these years become one of the leading multimodality cardiovascular imaging journals. The journal is now established as one of the top cardiovascular journals and is the most important cardiovascular imaging journal in Europe. The most important studies published in our Journal in 2019 will be highlighted in two reports. Part I of the review will focus on studies about myocardial function and risk prediction, myocardial ischaemia, and emerging techniques in cardiovascular imaging, while Part II will focus on valvular heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart disease.
Dissecting the Helicobacter pylori-regulated transcriptome of B cells
Authors: Chichirau Bianca E , Scheidt Tamara , Diechler Sebastian , Neuper Theresa , Horejs-Hoeck Jutta , Huber Christian G , Posselt Gernot , Wessler Silja
Published: August 2020

Persistent infections with the bacterial group-I carcinogen Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) have been associated with a broad range of gastric disorders, including gastritis, ulceration, gastric cancer or mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Pathogenesis of H. pylori requires a balance between immune tolerance and defense. Although H. pylori induces inflammatory responses, the immune system cannot eliminate the pathogen. The detailed molecular mechanisms of how H. pylori interferes with cells of the immune system, in particular infiltrated B cells, are not well investigated. Previously, it was shown that the bacterial effector and oncoprotein cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) is delivered into B cells followed by its tyrosine-phosphorylation. To investigate the functional consequences in B cells colonized by CagA-positive H. pylori, we analyzed the global transcriptome of H. pylori-infected Mec-1 cells by RNA sequencing. We found 889 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and validated JUN, FOSL2, HSPA1B, SRC, CXCR3, TLR-4, TNF-α, CXCL8, CCL2, CCL4, MHC class I and MHC class II molecules by qPCR, western blot, flow cytometry and ELISA assays. The H. pylori-specific mRNA expression signature reveals a downregulation of inflammation- and migration-associated genes, whereas central signal transduction regulators of cell survival and death are upregulated.
Emotional Support Animals: An Overview of Practical and Legal Issues for Social Workers
Authors: Hahn Sur Ah , Hinton Jennifer , Hallyburton Ann
Published: August 2020

Limited literature exists to guide social workers in the effective and ethical use of emotional support animals (ESAs) in practice. This article deals with practical issues these professionals face in dealing with requests for ESA authorization. The article provides an overview of relevant U.S. regulations (as of mid-2019) governing housing, travel, workplaces, and higher education; examines the uses, efficacy, and special concerns regarding ESAs; and presents recommendations for the use of ESAs in social work practice. Ethical implications for social workers dealing with client assessment and ESA authorization are discussed. The authors also address the intrinsic nature of human and ESA well-being and its relevance to client-centered social work practice. In addition, the authors discuss opportunities for incorporating ESAs into social work education.
Inverting spectrogram measurements via aliased Wigner distribution deconvolution and angular synchronization
Authors: Perlmutter Michael , Merhi Sami , Viswanathan Aditya , Iwen Mark
Published: August 2020

We propose a two-step approach for reconstructing a signal $\textbf x\in \mathbb{C}^d$ from subsampled discrete short-time Fourier transform magnitude (spectogram) measurements: first, we use an aliased Wigner distribution deconvolution approach to solve for a portion of the rank-one matrix $\widehat{\textbf{x}}\widehat{\textbf{x}}^{*}.$ Secondly, we use angular synchronization to solve for $\widehat{\textbf{x}}$ (and then for $\textbf{x}$ by Fourier inversion). Using this method, we produce two new efficient phase retrieval algorithms that perform well numerically in comparison to standard approaches and also prove two theorems; one which guarantees the recovery of discrete, bandlimited signals $\textbf{x}\in \mathbb{C}^{d}$ from fewer than $d$ short-time Fourier transform magnitude measurements and another which establishes a new class of deterministic coded diffraction pattern   measurements which are guaranteed to allow efficient and noise robust recovery.
Competing ethics in a pilot strategy to implement parasitology training and research in post-Ebola Sierra Leone
Authors: Peña-Fernández Antonio , Anjum Umar , Wadoum Raoul Emeric Guetiya , Koroma Sylvester , Berghs Maria
Published: August 2020

Much of the focus of public health research post-Ebola in Sierra Leone has been on rebuilding the healthcare system. However, very little attention has focused on capacity building in knowledge necessary for (bio)medical research, specifically around emerging opportunistic human pathogens that contribute to the high morbidity and mortality rates in Sierra Leone. In collaboration with academic staff from the University of Makeni, we engaged in a small-scale pilot intervention to strengthen medical parasitology teaching and research. The cultural competencies and ethical expertise provided by Sierra Leonean academics was critical to work in local communities and ensuring consent to undertake research. Yet, at the end of a day of collecting samples, in small pieces of conversation, the staff also explained ethical constraints they experienced taking part in research collaborations. They illustrate that, while on the surface all may seem well with a project, there can be harmful effects in terms of accessibility, ownership, cultural responsiveness and accountability, which should be taken into consideration when establishing networks and collaborations with universities from low-income countries.
‘I don’t know if we can really, really change that’: a qualitative exploration of public perception towards antibiotic resistance in France
Authors: Essilini Anaïs , Kivits Joëlle , Caron Frédéric , Boivin Jean-Marc , Thilly Nathalie , Pulcini Céline
Published: August 2020

Background

Since the 2000s, French authorities have put in place various national plans to make the general public aware of antibiotic stewardship. Twenty years later, France is still one of the countries with the highest use of antibiotics in Europe.

Objectives

Our study explored the general public’s perceptions of antibiotic resistance, their behaviour around antibiotic use and their expectations regarding awareness campaigns.

Methods

A qualitative study was performed from March 2018 to March 2019 in a French region using focus groups. Two types of public were targeted: parents of young children and retired people. The interview guide contained open-ended questions organized around three main themes: perceptions of antibiotic resistance; experience and use of antibiotics; and health information and campaigns.

Results

Nine focus groups were created, including 17 parents and 19 retirees. Participants did not link antibiotic overuse and antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance was not perceived as a personal responsibility but as a suffered phenomenon on which the participants could not act. The blame was particularly put on the presence of antibiotics in the environment. Although participants expressed trust in their GPs, antibiotics remained perceived as the only solution for them to be cured quickly.

Conclusions

The study highlighted that the GPs were the preferred information source regarding the use of antibiotics. Actions targeting the public and health professionals will have little impact if, at the same time, efforts on work environment representation are not undertaken.
Feeding behavior, water intake, and energy and protein requirements of young Nellore bulls with different residual feed intakes
Authors: Menezes Ana Clara B , Valadares Filho Sebastião C , Benedeti Pedro D B , Zanetti Diego , Paulino Mário F , Silva Fabyano F , Caton Joel S
Published: August 2020

This study aimed to determine feeding behavior, water intake (WI), and energy requirements of high- and low-residual feed intake (RFI) Nellore bulls. Data were collected from 42 weaned Nellore bulls (initial body weight [BW] 260 ± 8.1 kg; age 7 ± 1.0 mo) housed in a feedlot in group pens that contained electronic feeders, waterers, and a scale connected to the waterers. The individual dry matter intake (DMI), WI, and BW were recorded daily. The indexes of average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency (gain to feed ratio), and RFI were calculated based on the data collected. The number of feeder and waterer visits and the time spent feeding or drinking water per animal per day were recorded as feeding behavior measures. Energy requirements for maintenance and gain were calculated according to the BR-CORTE system. Low-RFI bulls had lower DMI (P < 0.01) than high-RFI bulls, and no differences (P > 0.05) were observed between the two groups regarding WI, performance, and feeding behavior measurements. The net energy requirements for maintenance, metabolizable energy for maintenance, and efficiency of metabolizable energy utilization were 63.4, 98.6 kcal/metabolic empty body weight (EBW)0.75 daily, and 64.3%, respectively, for low-RFI bulls, and 78.1, 123.9 kcal/EBW0.75 daily, and 63.0%, respectively, for high-RFI bulls. The equations obtained for net energy for gain (NEg) were: NEg (Mcal/EBW0.75) daily = 0.0528 × EBW0.75 × EBG0.5459 for low-RFI and 0.054 × EBW0.75 × EBG0.8618 for high-RFI bulls, where EBG is the empty body gain. We did not observe any difference (P > 0.05) regarding the composition of gain in terms of protein or fat deposition between the two groups. Both groups also presented similar (P > 0.05) carcass and non-carcass traits. Therefore, our study shows that low-RFI Nellore bulls eat less, grow at a similar rate, and have lower maintenance energy requirements than high-RFI bulls. We also suggest that the lower feed intake did not compromise the carcass traits of more efficient animals, which would reduce production costs and increase the competitiveness of the Brazilian beef sector on the world market.
Establishing a Method to Evaluate the Efficacy of Compounds Aimed at Repelling Horn Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Infestations on Cattle in a Laboratory Setting
Authors: Smythe Brandon G , Zepeda Ramon , Hogsette Jerome
Published: August 2020

Use of nonpesticidal chemicals to minimize or eliminate horn fly (Haematobia irritans) populations on cattle could be helpful in combating insecticide resistance. One recent approach is the use of natural products with repellent properties against the target pest. A rapid on-animal evaluation system that accounts for both host and pest interactions and bypasses the need for costly multiyear field assessments is needed. The objective of this study was to develop a system to quantify product repellency of horn flies on cattle in a laboratory setting. Animal pair treatment groups were utilized to assess product efficacy and carrier effects across three experimental trials. A treatment solution consisting of 3% geraniol in mineral oil was the natural product repellent. Horn fly populations on animal pairs receiving the geraniol treatment were significantly reduced when compared with untreated animal pairs. However, animal pairs receiving a mineral oil-only treatment showed reduced horn fly populations similar to animals treated with mineral oil plus geraniol. Thus, there was a strong carrier effect that could be difficult to distinguish in the field but was easily observed using laboratory methods.
Constitutionalizing nature’s law: dignity and the regulation of biotechnology in Switzerland
Authors: Toomey James
Published: August 2020

The Swiss Constitution was amended by referendum in 1992 to include two unique provisions: Article 119, which imposes strict limits on genetic and reproductive technologies in humans in order to protect ‘human dignity’, and Article 120, which commits the Swiss federal government to limiting genetic technologies in non-human species on the basis of the ‘dignity of the creature’. This article analyzes the role of ‘dignity’ as a limit on biotechnologies in the Swiss constitutional order. It concludes that the understanding of dignity the constitution embraces codifies a contestable metaphysical theory of value at the constitutional level. Specifically, the Swiss constitutional concept of dignity embraces the normative theory that the natural order is a source of moral value. Because this theory speaks directly to contested questions of the good life, Switzerland’s adoption of it as a constitutional principle is analogous to the adoption of a religious theory in a constitution. The concept of dignity as understood in the Swiss constitutional order is contrary to the commitment to epistemic humility characteristic of liberal constitutions.
From Romance to Tragedy: House Ownership and Relocation in the Resettlement Narratives of Nepali Bhutanese Refugees
Authors: Nelson Andrew
Published: August 2020

Based on 3 years of research with Nepali Bhutanese refugees in the Dallas–Fort Worth region of the southern US, this article asks how house ownership affects the meaning of home in third-country resettlement. While research participants initially depicted the owned house as a recovery of the pre-exile home, their narratives shifted when many started considering moves to the northern states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. In follow-up interviews based on future plans, an alternative image of home emerged based on the ability to relocate and seek better futures. In this spatially mobile and temporally open reconceptualization, home did not mean an end to displacement, but rather a continuous negotiation with conditions of alienation experienced as migrants in Bhutan and refugees in Nepal and the US. This shift suggests conceiving of refugee resettlement less as a romance of overcoming the liminality of exile, and more as a tragedy of enduring displacement.
Defining the mutation signatures of DNA polymerase θ in cancer genomes
Authors: Hwang Taejoo , Reh Shelley , Dunbayev Yerkin , Zhong Yi , Takata Yoko , Shen Jianjun , McBride Kevin M , Murnane John P , Bhak Jong , Lee Semin , Wood Richard D , Takata Kei-ichi
Published: August 2020

DNA polymerase theta (POLQ)-mediated end joining (TMEJ) is a distinct pathway for mediating DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. TMEJ is required for the viability of BRCA-mutated cancer cells. It is crucial to identify tumors that rely on POLQ activity for DSB repair, because such tumors are defective in other DSB repair pathways and have predicted sensitivity to POLQ inhibition and to cancer therapies that produce DSBs. We define here the POLQ-associated mutation signatures in human cancers, characterized by short insertions and deletions in a specific range of microhomologies. By analyzing 82 COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer) signatures, we found that BRCA-mutated cancers with a higher level of POLQ expression have a greatly enhanced representation of the small insertion and deletion signature 6, as well as single base substitution signature 3. Using human cancer cells with disruptions of POLQ, we further show that TMEJ dominates end joining of two separated DSBs (distal EJ). Templated insertions with microhomology are enriched in POLQ-dependent distal EJ. The use of this signature analysis will aid in identifying tumors relying on POLQ activity.
Engineering G-quadruplex aptamer to modulate its binding specificity
Authors: Li Long , Xu Shujuan , Peng Xueyu , Ji Yuzhuo , Yan He , Cui Cheng , Li Xiaowei , Pan Xiaoshu , Yang Lu , Qiu Liping , Jiang Jianhui , Tan Weihong
Published: August 2020

The use of aptamers in bioanalytical and biomedical applications exploits their ability to recognize cell surface protein receptors. Targeted therapeutics and theranostics come to mind in this regard. However, protein receptors occur on both cancer and normal cells; as such, aptamers are now taxed with identifying high vs. low levels of protein expression. Inspired by the flexible template mechanism and elegant control of natural nucleic acid-based structures, we report an allosteric regulation strategy for constructing a structure-switching aptamer for enhanced target cell recognition by engineering aptamers with DNA intercalated motifs (i-motifs) responsive to the microenvironment, such as pH. Structure-switching sensitivity can be readily tuned by manipulating i-motif sequences. However, structure-switching sensitivity is difficult to estimate, making it equally difficult to effectively screen modified aptamers with the desired sensitivity. To address this problem, we selected a fluorescent probe capable of detecting G-quadruplex in complicated biological media.
Cultural Mapping
Authors: Duxbury Nancy , Redaelli Eleonora
Published: August 2020

Cultural mapping is a mode of inquiry and a methodological tool that aims to make visible the ways local stories, practices, relationships, memories, and rituals constitute places as meaningful locations. Although there is still a fuzziness to the boundaries of this field, cultural mapping has generally evolved along two main branches: The first begins with cultural assets, seeking to identify and document tangible and intangible assets of a place to ultimately develop a cultural resource or asset mapping. The second branch begins with a culturally sensitive humanistic approach, seeking to articulate a “sense of place,” people-place meanings, and distinctive elements. While the former approach tends to emphasize the documentation of “information” and the latter tends to focus more on “participation” and “meaning,” they are increasingly mutually informing approaches. Cultural mapping/cartography is allied with deep mapping, community mapping, participatory asset mapping, counter-mapping, qualitative GIS, and emotional mapping. These are connected through their focus on bottom-up processes for making visible the knowledge of citizens/residents, and shared topics of narratives, identity, histories, and local practices that bring meanings to places. Cultural mapping has shifted from focusing on tangible cultural assets to intangible aspects of place, aiming to discover what makes a place distinctive. Cultural products such as literature, film, and music draw from and contribute to the cultural meanings of a place; and the mapping of these onto a territory also forms a branch of cultural mapping. This work is also found within the fields of geography (see the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Geography articles “Geography and Literature,” “Geography and Film,” and “Geographies of Music, Sound, and Auditory Culture”), tourism, and digital humanities. Artist map traditions also influence the field of cultural mapping (see the section on “Map Art” within the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Geography article “Community Mapping”), with artists taking on a leadership role in many community-engaged cultural mapping initiatives. Cultural mapping has been co-developed through a loosely formulated international community of practice consisting of scholars, in-community practitioners, and policy/governance agencies (e.g., UNESCO, national cultural ministries, local authorities). While this annotated bibliography focuses mainly on the leading scholarly work in this field, it also provides an international selection of cultural mapping handbooks and toolkits as well as examples of cultural mapping projects. Following General Overviews, Special Journal Issues, Methodologies, and Theoretical Underpinnings of the field, this entry is organized according to seven domains of contemporary cultural mapping research and practice: Community Engagement, Participation, and Empowerment; Indigenous Cultural Mapping; Cultural and Creative Industries Mapping; Local Cultural Planning and Governance; Artistic Approaches; Literary and Film Mapping; and Technological Approaches.
Entrepreneurial Orientation
Authors: Balasubramanian Sandhya , Wales William J. , White Joshua V. , Gupta Vishal K.
Published: August 2020

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has its roots in the literature on organizational strategy-making processes. EO is conceived as an organizational attribute that exists to the degree that an organization supports and exhibits a sustained pattern of entrepreneurial behavior reflecting incidents of new entry. That is, as a fundamental organizational attribute, EO captures an overarching strategic posture toward entrepreneurial activity. Though researchers have explored a number of aspects of EO, three primary areas continue to propel the advancement of the EO research agenda: conceptualization, measurement, and levels of analyses. Variations in these three aspects in turn have key implications for the antecedents and consequences of EO. Research on EO has explored its antecedents, moderators, mediators and has done so across various organizational forms, levels, and contexts. Notably, there has been a steady increase in the number of publications exploring EO over the years, within field journals in entrepreneurship (e.g., Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice; Journal of Business Venturing), in general management journals (e.g., Journal of Management; Strategic Management Journal), and in journals of other academic fields (e.g., Journal of Marketing; Journal of Operations Management). Since the late 1980s, EO has emerged as one of the most popular and robust constructs in entrepreneurship, strategy, and management research.
Chinese Alchemy
Authors: Pregadio Fabrizio
Published: August 2020

Chinese alchemy has a history of more than two thousand years. It is divided into two main branches, known as Waidan 外丹, or External Alchemy, and Neidan 內丹, or Internal Alchemy. Waidan (literally, “external elixir”) arose by the 2nd century bce; it is based on compounding elixirs through the manipulation of natural substances—primarily minerals and metals—which release their essences when they are submitted to the action of fire. Neidan (literally, “internal elixir”), documented from the 8th century ce, aims instead to produce the elixir within the person itself, according to two main models of doctrine and practice: by causing the primary components of the cosmos and the human being—essence (jing精), breath (qi氣), and spirit (shen神)—to revert to their original states; or by purifying the mind from defilements and passions, in order to “see one’s Nature” (jianxing見性). Neither alchemy as a whole, nor Waidan or Neidan individually, constitute “schools” of Daoism, with a definite canonical corpus and a single line of transmission. On the contrary, the respective sources display wide differences in both doctrines and practices. However, if one may attempt to formulate a broad statement that encompasses at least a large part of its different forms, Chinese alchemy is characterized by a foundation in doctrinal principles concerning the relation between the Dao 道 (Way) and the world. The cosmos as we know it is deemed to be the last stage in a sequence of “transformations” leading from Non-Being (wu無) to Unity (yi一), duality (Yin and Yang 陰陽), and finally multiplicity (wanwu萬物, “ten thousand things”). Alchemists intend to trace this sequence backwards and return to its inception. In both Waidan and Neidan, the practice is variously said to grant transcendence (a state described by such expressions as “joining with the Dao,” hedao合道), “immortality” (mainly meant as a spiritual condition), longevity, healing (either in a broad sense or with regard to specific illnesses), and—especially in Waidan—communication with the deities of the celestial pantheon and protection from spirits, demons, and other malevolent entities.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the State of Texas of the United States: Past Reflections, Present Shortcomings, and Future Needs of the Public Health Response
Authors: Abbas Ume L , Hallmark Camden J , McNeese Marlene , Hemmige Vagish , Gathe Joseph , Williams Victoria , Wolf Brandon , Rodriguez-Barradas Maria C
Published: August 2020

A strategy titled “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” aims to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence in the United States by at least 90% by 2030, using diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies. Texas is a Southern state that has one of the highest numbers of new HIV diagnoses and people with HIV in the country, and where HIV disproportionately impacts minorities. We retrace the historical epidemic in its largest city, Houston, to illustrate the lessons learned and milestones accomplished, which could serve as guideposts for the future. We examine the current epidemic in Texas, including the achieved levels of HIV testing, treatment continua, and pre-exposure prophylaxis prescription, and compare and contrast these with the national estimates and Plan targets. Our findings call for urgent and accelerated expansion of efforts to end HIV in Texas.
Short- and long-term responses of photosynthetic capacity to temperature in four boreal tree species in a free-air warming and rainfall manipulation experiment
Authors: Bermudez Raimundo , Stefanski Artur , Montgomery Rebecca A , Reich Peter B
Published: August 2020

High latitude forests cope with considerable variation in moisture and temperature at multiple temporal scales. To assess how their photosynthetic physiology responds to short- and long-term temperature variation, we measured photosynthetic capacity for four tree species growing in an open-air experiment in the boreal-temperate ecotone `Boreal Forest Warming at an Ecotone in Danger' (B4WarmED). The experiment factorially manipulated temperature above- and below-ground (ambient, +3.2 °C) and summer rainfall (ambient, 40% removal). We measured A/Ci curves at 18, 25 and 32 °C for individuals of two boreal (Pinus banksiana Lamb., Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and two temperate species (Pinus strobus L., Acer rubrum L.) experiencing the long-term warming and/or reduced-rainfall conditions induced by our experimental treatments. We calculated the apparent photosynthetic capacity descriptors VCmax,Ci and Jmax,Ci and their ratio for each measurement temperate. We hypothesized that (i) VCmax,Ci and Jmax,Ci would be down-regulated in plants experiencing longer term (e.g., weeks to months) warming and reduced rainfall (i.e., have lower values at a given measurement temperature), as is sometimes found in the literature, and that (ii) plants growing at warmer temperatures or from warmer ranges would show greater sensitivity (steeper slope) to short-term (minutes to hours) temperature variation. Neither hypothesis was supported as a general trend across the four species, as there was not a significant main effect (across species) of either warming or rainfall reduction on VCmax,Ci and Jmax,Ci. All species markedly increased VCmax,Ci and Jmax,Ci (and decreased their ratio) with short-term increases in temperature (i.e., contrasting values at 18, 25 and 32 °C), and those responses were independent of long-term treatments and did not differ among species. The Jmax,Ci:VCmax,Ci ratio was, however, significantly lower across species in warmed and reduced rainfall treatments. Collectively, these results suggest that boreal trees possess considerable short-term plasticity that may allow homeostasis of VCmax,Ci and Jmax,Ci to a longer term temperature treatment. Our results also caution against extrapolating results obtained under controlled and markedly contrasting temperature treatments to responses of photosynthetic parameters to more modest temperature changes expected in the near-term with climate warming in field conditions.
Podoconiosis: key priorities for research and implementation
Authors: Deribe Kebede , Mackenzie Charles D , Newport Melanie J , Argaw Daniel , Molyneux David H , Davey Gail
Published: August 2020

Podoconiosis is a non-infectious tropical lymphoedema causing swelling of the lower legs. Podoconiosis is associated with stigma, depression and reduced productivity, resulting in significant socio-economic impacts for affected individuals, families and communities. It is caused by barefoot exposure to soils and affects disadvantaged populations. Evidence from the past 5 y suggests that podoconiosis is amenable to public health interventions, e.g. footwear and hygiene-based morbidity management, which reduce acute clinical episodes. Although much has been learned in recent years, advances in care for these patients and worldwide control requires further reliable and relevant research. To develop a comprehensive global control strategy, the following key research priorities are important: better understanding of the global burden of podoconiosis through extended worldwide mapping, development of new point-of-care diagnostic methods and approaches to define the presence of the environmental characteristics that contribute to the development of the condition, improving treatment through an increased understanding of the pathogenesis of dermal changes over time, improved understanding of optimal ways of providing patient care at the national level, including research to optimize behavioural change strategies, determine the optimum package of care and integrate approaches to deliver robust surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of control programmes.
Morphological and Phylogenetic Resolution of Diplodia corticola and D. quercivora, Emerging Canker Pathogens of Oak (Quercus spp.), in the United States
Authors: Ferreira Savannah L. , Stauder Cameron M. , Martin Danielle K. H. , Kasson Matt T.
Published: August 2020

In Mediterranean Europe and the United States, oak species (Quercus spp.) have been in various states of decline for the past several decades. Several insect pests and pathogens contribute to this decline to varying degrees, including Phytophthora cinnamomi, Armillaria spp., various insect defoliators, and, in the United States, the oak wilt pathogen Bretziella fagacearum. More recently, two emerging canker pathogens, Diplodia corticola and D. quercivora, have been implicated in causing dieback and mortality of oak species in Europe and in several regions in the United States. In 2019, a fungal survey was conducted in the Mid-Atlantic region of the eastern United States, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, to determine the range and impact of D. corticola and D. quercivora on forest health in the United States. A total of 563 oak trees between red and white oak family members were evaluated across 33 forests spanning 18 counties. A total of 32 Diplodia isolates encompassing three Diplodia spp. were recovered from 5,335 total plugs collected from the 13 of 18 sampled counties. Recovered Diplodia species included D. corticola, D. quercivora, and D. sapinea, as well as Botryosphaeria dothidea, a closely related canker pathogen in the Botryosphaeriaceae. Both D. corticola and D. sapinea were recovered from red and white oak family members, whereas D. quercivora was exclusive to white oak family members and B. dothidea to red oak family members. Of these species, D. corticola was most frequently isolated, followed by D. quercivora, D. sapinea, and B. dothidea. Overall, mortality was low across all sampled counties, indicating that these fungi, at the levels that were detected, are not widely inciting oak decline across the region, but probably are acting opportunistically when the environment is conducive to disease. To better understand the relationships between D. corticola and potentially their geographic origins, a multigene phylogenetic study and corresponding morphological study were conducted. A total of 49 Diplodia isolates from Spain, France, Italy, and the United States were assessed. Across all isolates and geographic regions, D. corticola formed a strongly supported monophyletic clade sister to D. quercivora and included two strongly supported subclades, one that included isolates from Spain and California and a second that included isolates from Italy, Maryland, and West Virginia. Both subclades also exhibited overlapping spore measurements. These results support D. corticola as a cosmopolitan pathogen, native to both Europe and the United States, with the possibility of secondary introductions.