bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Listen Deep to Subterranean Kinfrastructures
Authors: Coyne Taylor
Published: August 2023

This letter – addressed to the people of Sydney – contains an invitation. As a collection of reflections and thoughts it relates to four core ideas. (1) Urban undergrounds like tunnels, drains, and caverns, are vibrant and nourishing places. They are ecosystems and they are habitats. Undergrounds also present generous opportunities to consider parts of their city that are often made out-of-bounds. The cultural richness of the subterranean city can evoke a profound kind of connection for a city’s people. (2) I affirm that people can connect more meaningfully to a city by engaging in processes of listening to their city. More specifically, I refer to the practice of ‘deep listening’ to undergrounds. (3) Enacting this sonic connection can be mediated by planning that responds to the ‘cry for the right to the city’. (4) The infrastructures that thread into and amongst undergrounds often provide opportunities for nonhuman life to thrive and is so doing necessitate responsibility for humans to care for these infrastructures as kin especially when they are damaged by pollution or degradation. Water flows underneath cities. It flows through gutters into drains, pipes, and canals. It flows, often unseen, and even more often with voices unheard. This letter prompts stillness and reflection of these voices.
PENGARUH LINGKUNGAN KERJA DAN KOMPENSASI FINANSIAL TERHADAP KEPUASAN KERJA KARYAWAN PADA PT BANTIMURUNG INDAH KABUPATEN MAROS
Authors: Burhan Ikhlas Ikhlas , Akbar Abdi Abdi , Kurniawan Agung Widhi
Published: August 2023

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh lingkungan kerja dan kompensasi finansial baik secara parsial maupun simultan terhadap kepuasan kerja karyawan di PT. Bantimurung Indah Kabupaten Maros.Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kuantitatif dan merupakan penelitian populasi. Subjek penelitian ini adalah semua karyawan tetap di PT. Bantimurung Indah dengan jumlah 23 orang. Pengumpulan data menggunakan kuesioner yang telah diuji validitas dan reliabilitasnya dengan analisis data dilakukan dengan menggunakan analisis regresi linear berganda yang menggunakan dua metode uji statistic yaitu uji simultan (F) dan uji parsial (t) dengan menggunakan bantuan olah data Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS).Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa : 1) terdapat pengaruh yang positif dan signifikan antara lingkungan kerja terhadap kepuasan kerja yang ditunjukkan dari dari hasil uji t hitung sebesar 2.803 dengan signifikansi 0.011. 2) terdapat pengaruh yang positif dan signifikan antara kompensasi finansial terhadap kepuasan kerja yang ditunjukkan dari hasil uji t hitung sebesar 2.590 dengan signifikansi sebesar 0.018. 3) Terdapat pengaruh signifikan antara lingkungan kerja dan kompensasi finansial secara simultan terhadap kepuasan kerja, hal ini ditunjukkan oleh nilai F hitung sebesar 11.038 dengan nilai signifikansi 0.001 dan dapat ditulis dengan persamaan regresi Y = 16.555 + 0.508 X1+ 0.645 X2. Dengan besar pengaruh sebesar 52.5% terhadap kepuasan kerja karyawan, sedangkan 47.5% dipengaruhi variabel lain yang tidak diteliti.
Development Of Android Application-Based Thematic Learning Media
Authors: Sururuddin Muhammad , Indriana Ratna
Published: August 2023

This study aims to develop thematic learning media based on Android applications used the Borg and Gall development research design which consists of is simplified into 7 stages, namely: 1) potential and problems, 2) gathering information, 3) product design, 4) design validation, 5) design improvement, 6) product trial, 7) product revision. This research was conducted for class III students of MI NW 1 Kelayu. Data collected instruments include validation sheets, student response questionnaires, and teacher response questionnaires. Technical analysis of the data used in this study is a five-scale formula for validation tests, student response questionnaires, and teacher response. The results of this study indicate that the results of the media expert validation test are categorized as "very good" with a range of X scores > 92.28-110, and the total score was 102 and an average of 4.6. The results of the material expert validation test were in the "very good" category because they were in the X score range >37.8-45 with a total score of 39 and an average of 4.3. While the results of student responses that have been carried out using student response questionnaires from 16 respondents were in the "very good" category with a total score of 44.8 and were in the X score range > 41.88-50, which means the thematic learning media based on android applications developed suitable for used in the learning process.
Resources for Addressing Food Insecurity and Other Social Determinants of Health in Worcester, Massachusetts
Authors:   University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Mensah Noriasha , McKay Colleen ,   University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Published: August 2023

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the environmental, social, and economic factors that can impact people’s quality of life and health. Examples of SDOH are where people live, the environment they live in, their employment and/or education, their socioeconomic status, and access to resources and basic needs such as food. Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to enough affordable and nutritional food for every person in a household to live an active and healthy life. Food insecurity is a pressing issue in many areas including Central Massachusetts. Many communities and populations have experienced food insecurity, and these groups were especially affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenges with food insecurity have also adversely affected people of color. This tip sheet is a list of resources available in the Worcester community to help families and community partners navigate local and state resources to address food insecurity and other social determinants of health.
The Problem of the Legitimacy of the Political Elite
Authors: Zaseeva Anastasiya Sergeevna , Ivanova Mariya Igorevna
Published: August 2023

The object of this study is the problem of the legitimacy of the political elite. The subject of the study is the views of a number of Western and domestic researchers on the political elite. The study aims to generalize the views of theorists from different countries and periods of time regarding the qualities of the political elite as a legitimizing foundation. The dialectical method, which was used in the analysis of the categories of "political elite" and "legitimacy," their essence and interrelation, played a decisive role in achieving the goal of this study. This method has become key in understanding the texts of the works under study. The method of system-structural analysis allowed us to explore the views of the philosophers in question holistically—when the authors' positions complement each other and create a general picture of the understanding of the legitimacy of the political elite. The conclusion of the study is as follows: in the modern world, the main method of legitimizing the political elite is a democratic election procedure, but the choice of citizens should be based on a clear idea of the qualities of a political leader, confidence that the candidate has serious professional competencies, as well as deep moral convictions and moral principles. This will help to avoid falling under the power of amateurs who put their incompetence and lack of values, stability, and security in society at risk. The result of the study of the ideas of domestic and Western philosophers is the confirmation of the judgment that the legitimate political elite should be considered people with high moral and spiritual values acquired or consolidated as a result of traditional upbringing, classical education, military service, and long-term work experience in the social and political sphere.
Statistical inference on representational geometries
Authors: Schütt Heiko H , Kipnis Alexander D , Diedrichsen Jörn , Kriegeskorte Nikolaus
Published: August 2023

Neuroscience has recently made much progress, expanding the complexity of both neural activity measurements and brain-computational models. However, we lack robust methods for connecting theory and experiment by evaluating our new big models with our new big data. Here, we introduce new inference methods enabling researchers to evaluate and compare models based on the accuracy of their predictions of representational geometries: A good model should accurately predict the distances among the neural population representations (e.g. of a set of stimuli). Our inference methods combine novel 2-factor extensions of crossvalidation (to prevent overfitting to either subjects or conditions from inflating our estimates of model accuracy) and bootstrapping (to enable inferential model comparison with simultaneous generalization to both new subjects and new conditions). We validate the inference methods on data where the ground-truth model is known, by simulating data with deep neural networks and by resampling of calcium-imaging and functional MRI data. Results demonstrate that the methods are valid and conclusions generalize correctly. These data analysis methods are available in an open-source Python toolbox (rsatoolbox.readthedocs.io).
Identification of quiescent FOXC2+ spermatogonial stem cells in adult mammals
Authors: Wang Zhipeng , Jin Cheng , Li Pengyu , Li Yiran , Tang Jielin , Yu Zhixin , Jiao Tao , Ou Jinhuan , Wang Han , Zou Dingfeng , Li Mengzhen , Mang Xinyu , Liu Jun , Lu Yan , Li Kai , Zhang Ning , Yu Jia , Miao Shiying , Wang Linfang , Song Wei
Published: August 2023

In adult mammals, spermatogenesis embodies the complex developmental process from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) to spermatozoa. At the top of this developmental hierarchy lie a series of SSC subpopulations. Their individual identities as well as the relationships with each other, however, remain largely elusive. Using single-cell analysis and lineage tracing, we discovered both in mice and humans the quiescent adult SSC subpopulation marked specifically by forkhead box protein C2 (FOXC2). All spermatogenic progenies can be derived from FOXC2+ SSCs and the ablation of FOXC2+ SSCs led to the depletion of the undifferentiated spermatogonia pool. During germline regeneration, FOXC2+ SSCs were activated and able to completely restore the process. Germ cell-specific Foxc2 knockout resulted in an accelerated exhaustion of SSCs and eventually led to male infertility. Furthermore, FOXC2 prompts the expressions of negative regulators of cell cycle thereby ensures the SSCs reside in quiescence. Thus, this work proposes that the quiescent FOXC2+ SSCs are essential for maintaining the homeostasis and regeneration of spermatogenesis in adult mammals.
Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 signaling drives placental aging and can provoke preterm labor
Authors: Ciampa Erin J , Flahardy Padraich , Srinivasan Harini , Jacobs Christopher , Tsai Linus , Karumanchi S Ananth , Parikh Samir M
Published: August 2023

Most cases of preterm labor have unknown cause, and the burden of preterm birth is immense. Placental aging has been proposed to promote labor onset, but specific mechanisms remain elusive. We report findings stemming from unbiased transcriptomic analysis of mouse placenta, which revealed that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) stabilization is a hallmark of advanced gestational timepoints, accompanied by mitochondrial dysregulation and cellular senescence; we detected similar effects in aging human placenta. In parallel in primary mouse trophoblasts and human choriocarcinoma cells, we modeled HIF-1 induction and demonstrated resultant mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular senescence. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that HIF-1 stabilization recapitulated gene signatures observed in aged placenta. Further, conditioned media from trophoblasts following HIF-1 induction promoted contractility in immortalized uterine myocytes, suggesting a mechanism by which the aging placenta may drive the transition from uterine quiescence to contractility at the onset of labor. Finally, pharmacological induction of HIF-1 via intraperitoneal administration of dimethyloxalyl glycine (DMOG) to pregnant mice caused preterm labor. These results provide clear evidence for placental aging in normal pregnancy, and demonstrate how HIF-1 signaling in late gestation may be a causal determinant of the mitochondrial dysfunction and senescence observed within the trophoblast as well as a trigger for uterine contraction.
Tetraose steroidal glycoalkaloids from potato provide resistance against Alternaria solani and Colorado potato beetle
Authors: Wolters Pieter J. , Wouters Doret , Tikunov Yury M. , Ayilalath Shimlal , Kodde Linda P. , Strijker Miriam , Caarls Lotte , Visser Richard G. F. , Vleeshouwers Vivianne G. A. A.
Published: August 2023

Plants with innate disease and pest resistance can contribute to more sustainable agriculture. Natural defence compounds produced by plants have the potential to provide a general protective effect against pathogens and pests, but they are not a primary target in resistance breeding. Here, we identified a wild relative of potato,
Solanum commersonii
, that provides us with unique insight in the role of glycoalkaloids in plant immunity. We cloned two atypical resistance genes that provide resistance to
Alternaria solani
and Colorado potato beetle through the production of tetraose steroidal glycoalkaloids. Moreover, we provide
in vitro
evidence to show that these compounds have potential against a range of different (potato pathogenic) fungi. This research links structural variation in steroidal glycoalkaloids to resistance against potato diseases and pests. Further research on the biosynthesis of plant defence compounds in different tissues, their toxicity, and the mechanisms for detoxification, can aid the effective use of such compounds to improve sustainability of our food production.
Determinantal point process attention over grid cell code supports out of distribution generalization
Authors: Mondal Shanka Subhra , Frankland Steven , Webb Taylor W , Cohen Jonathan D
Published: August 2023

Deep neural networks have made tremendous gains in emulating human-like intelligence, and have been used increasingly as ways of understanding how the brain may solve the complex computational problems on which this relies. However, these still fall short of, and therefore fail to provide insight into how the brain supports strong forms of generalization of which humans are capable. One such case is out-of-distribution (OOD) generalization – successful performance on test examples that lie outside the distribution of the training set. Here, we identify properties of processing in the brain that may contribute to this ability. We describe a two-part algorithm that draws on speciﬁc features of neural computation to achieve OOD generalization, and provide a proof of concept by evaluating performance on two challenging cognitive tasks. First we draw on the fact that the mammalian brain represents metric spaces using grid cell code (e.g., in the entorhinal cortex): abstract representations of relational structure, organized in recurring motifs that cover the representational space. Second, we propose an attentional mechanism that operates over the grid cell code using determinantal point process (DPP), that we call DPP attention (DPP-A) – a transformation that ensures maximum sparseness in the coverage of that space. We show that a loss function that combines standard task-optimized error with DPP-A can exploit the recurring motifs in the grid cell code, and can be integrated with common architectures to achieve strong OOD generalization performance on analogy and arithmetic tasks. This provides both an interpretation of how the grid cell code in the mammalian brain may contribute to generalization performance, and at the same time a potential means for improving such capabilities in artiﬁcial neural networks.
Coordination between ECM and cell-cell adhesion regulates the development of islet aggregation, architecture, and functional maturation
Authors: Tixi Wilma , Maldonado Maricela , Chang Ya-Ting , Chiu Amy , Yeung Wilson , Parveen Nazia , Nelson Michael S , Hart Ryan , Wang Shihao , Hsu Wu Jih , Fueger Patrick , Kopp Janel L , Huising Mark O , Dhawan Sangeeta , Shih Hung Ping
Published: August 2023

Pancreatic islets are three-dimensional cell aggregates consisting of unique cellular composition, cell-to-cell contacts, and interactions with blood vessels. Cell aggregation is essential for islet endocrine function; however, it remains unclear how developing islets establish aggregation. By combining genetic animal models, imaging tools, and gene expression profiling, we demonstrate that islet aggregation is regulated by extracellular matrix signaling and cell-cell adhesion. Islet endocrine cell-specific inactivation of extracellular matrix receptor integrin β1 disrupted blood vessel interactions but promoted cell-cell adhesion and the formation of larger islets. In contrast, ablation of cell-cell adhesion molecule α-catenin promoted blood vessel interactions yet compromised islet clustering. Simultaneous removal of integrin β1 and α-catenin disrupts islet aggregation and the endocrine cell maturation process, demonstrating that establishment of islet aggregates is essential for functional maturation. Our study provides new insights into understanding the fundamental self-organizing mechanism for islet aggregation, architecture, and functional maturation.
Smith–Magenis syndrome protein RAI1 regulates body weight homeostasis through hypothalamic BDNF-producing neurons and neurotrophin downstream signalling
Authors: Javed Sehrish , Chang Ya-Ting , Cho Yoobin , Lee Yu-Ju , Chang Hao-Cheng , Haque Minza , Lin Yu Cheng , Huang Wei-Hsiang
Published: August 2023

Retinoic acid-induced 1 (RAI1) haploinsufficiency causes Smith–Magenis syndrome (SMS), a genetic disorder with symptoms including hyperphagia, hyperlipidemia, severe obesity, and autism phenotypes. RAI1 is a transcriptional regulator with a pan-neural expression pattern and hundreds of downstream targets. The mechanisms linking neural Rai1 to body weight regulation remain unclear. Here we find that hypothalamic brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its downstream signalling are disrupted in SMS (Rai1+/-) mice. Selective Rai1 loss from all BDNF-producing cells or from BDNF-producing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) induced obesity in mice. Electrophysiological recordings revealed that Rai1 ablation decreased the intrinsic excitability of PVHBDNF neurons. Chronic treatment of SMS mice with LM22A-4 engages neurotrophin downstream signalling and delayed obesity onset. This treatment also partially rescued disrupted lipid profiles, insulin intolerance, and stereotypical repetitive behaviour in SMS mice. These data argue that RAI1 regulates body weight and metabolic function through hypothalamic BDNF-producing neurons and that targeting neurotrophin downstream signalling might improve associated SMS phenotypes.
Design of a pollution ontology-based event generation framework for the dynamic application of traffic restrictions
Authors: Ruiz de Gauna David Eneko , Sánchez Luís Enrique , Ruiz-Iniesta Almudena
Published: August 2023

The environmental damage caused by air pollution has recently become the focus of city council policies. The concept of the green city has emerged as an urban solution by which to confront environmental challenges worldwide and is founded on air pollution levels that have increased meaningfully as a result of traffic in urban areas. Local governments are attempting to meet environmental challenges by developing public traffic policies such as air pollution protocols. However, several problems must still be solved, such as the need to link smart cars to these pollution protocols in order to find more optimal routes. We have, therefore, attempted to address this problem by conducting a study of local policies in the city of Madrid (Spain) with the aim of determining the importance of the vehicle routing problem (VRP), and the need to optimise a set of routes for a fleet. The results of this study have allowed us to propose a framework with which to dynamically implement traffic constraints. This framework consists of three main layers: the data layer, the prediction layer and the event generation layer. With regard to the data layer, a dataset has been generated from traffic data concerning the city of Madrid, and deep learning techniques have then been applied to this data. The results obtained show that there are interdependencies between several factors, such as weather conditions, air quality and the local event calendar, which have an impact on drivers’ behaviour. These interdependencies have allowed the development of an ontological model, together with an event generation system that can anticipate changes and dynamically restructure traffic restrictions in order to obtain a more efficient traffic system. This system has been validated using real data from the city of Madrid.
Investigating microbial size classes associated with the transmission of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD)
Authors: Evans James S. , Paul Valerie J. , Ushijima Blake , Pitts Kelly A. , Kellogg Christina A.
Published: August 2023

Effective treatment and prevention of any disease necessitates knowledge of the causative agent, yet the causative agents of most coral diseases remain unknown, in part due to the difficulty of distinguishing the pathogenic microbe(s) among the complex microbial backdrop of coral hosts. Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a particularly destructive disease of unknown etiology, capable of transmitting through the water column and killing entire colonies within a matter of weeks. Here we used a previously described method to (i) isolate diseased and apparently healthy coral colonies within individual mesocosms containing filtered seawater with low microbial background levels; (ii) incubate for several days to enrich the water with coral-shed microbes; (iii) use tangential-flow filtration to concentrate the microbial community in the mesocosm water; and then (iv) filter the resulting concentrate through a sequential series of different pore-sized filters. To investigate the size class of microorganism(s) associated with SCTLD transmission, we used 0.8 µm pore size filters to capture microeukaryotes and expelled zooxanthellae, 0.22 µm pore size filters to capture bacteria and large viruses, and 0.025 µm pore size filters to capture smaller viruses. In an attempt to further refine which size fraction(s) contained the transmissible element of SCTLD, we then applied these filters to healthy “receiver” coral fragments and monitored them for the onset of SCTLD signs over three separate experimental runs. However, several factors outside of our control confounded the transmission results, rendering them inconclusive. As the bulk of prior studies of SCTLD in coral tissues have primarily investigated the associated bacterial community, we chose to characterize the prokaryotic community associated with all mesocosm 0.22 µm pore size filters using Illumina sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. We identified overlaps with prior SCTLD studies, including the presence of numerous previously identified SCTLD bioindicators within our mesocosms. The identification in our mesocosms of specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants that also appear across prior studies spanning different collection years, geographic regions, source material, and coral species, suggests that bacteria may play some role in the disease.
Evaluation of the validity of the HPV viral load compared to conventional techniques for the detection of high-grade anal intraepithelial lesions in men with HIV who have sex with men
Authors: Díez-Martínez Marcos , Perpiñá-Galvañ Juana , Ferri Joaquín , Ventero Maripaz , Portilla Joaquin , Cabañero-Martínez María José
Published: August 2023

Background

The incidence of high-grade anal intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) has increased in recent years among men who have sex with men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This work evaluated the validity of the human papilloma virus viral load (HPV-VL) versus cytological and qualitative HPV results to detect HSILs.

Methods

From May 2017 to January 2020, 93 men who have sex with men and HIV were included in an anal cancer screening program from the Infectious Diseases Unit at a tertiary-care hospital in Alicante (Spain). The gold-standard for the screening of anal HSILs is the anal biopsy using high-resolution anoscopy. The diagnostic methods compared against gold-standard were HPV-16-VL, HPV-18-VL, and HPV-16-18-VL co-testing, anal cytology, and qualitative HPV detection. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and cut-off points for HPV-VL were calculated. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and Cohen’s Kappa coefficient (κ) were also calculated.

Results

The mean patient age was 44.6 ± 9.5 years. All of them received antiretroviral treatment, 96.8% had an HIV viral load of <50 copies/mL and 17.2% had a previous diagnosis of AIDS. The diagnosis of the anal biopsies were: 19.4% (n = 18) HSIL, 29.1% (n = 27) LSIL, and 51.6% (n = 48) negative. An HPV-16-VL >6.2 copies/cell was detected in the HSIL biopsy samples (p = 0.007), showing a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 46.2%. HPV-18-VL and HPV16-18-VL co-testing showed a sensitivity of 75% and 76.9% and a specificity of 72.7% and 61.3%, respectively. The highest PPV was 50% obtained with the cytology and HPV-18-VL. The HPV-16-VL showed a NPV of 100%, followed by 88.9% in the HPV-18-VL and 87% in the abnormal cytology. Cohen’s Kappa coefficient were: HPV-18-VL (κ = 0.412), abnormal cytology (κ = 0.353) and HPV-16-VL (κ = 0.338).

Conclusions

HPV-VL testing improved the detection sensitivity but not the specificity for HSIL biopsies compared to anal cytology and the qualitative detection of HPV. In men who have sex with men and HIV the HPV-VL could be an useful tool for diagnosis of HSILs in anal cancer screening programs. Further studies will be needed to evaluate the clinical implications of HPV-VL in these programs.
CTRP3 attenuates inflammation, oxidative and cell death in cisplatin induced HK-2 cells
Authors: Zou Chenglin , Tang Xun , Guo Tingting , Jiang Tingting , Zhang Wenying , Zhang Jun
Published: August 2023

Cisplatin has been widely studied and found to be a highly effective anti-tumor drug. It has several side effects, including acute kidney injury (AKI). Cisplatin-induced AKI can be primarily attributed to oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. The CTRP3 adipokine is a new adipokine that exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic properties. Despite this, the role of CTRP3 in AKI remain unclear. In cisplatin-induced AKI models, our findings demonstrated that CTRP3 expression was decreased in human proximal tubule epithelial cells (HK-2). In the in vitro experiments, HK-2 cells were first transfected with an overexpression plasmid of CTRP3 (pcDNA-CTRP3) or a small interfering RNA for CTRP3 (si-CTRP3) and induced by cisplatin; and cell oxidative stress, inflammation, proliferation, and apoptosis were found to be present. Overexpressing CTRP3 inhibited oxidative stress through decreasing malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and increasing the activity of SOD and CAT. The mRNA levels of SOD1 and SOD2 were increased in response to CTRP3 overexpression. Additionally, CTRP3 decreased TNF-α and MCP-1 levels. Moreover, CTRP3 overexpression increased cisplatin-induced cell activity and decreased cell apoptosis, as indicated by the elevated numbers of EdU positive cells and decreased numbers of apoptotic cells. Consistent with these results, the overexpression of CTRP3 effectively elevated the mRNA levels of Bcl-2 and reduced the mRNA levels of Bax. In contrast, inhibition of CTRP3 expression by si-CTRP3 reversed the cisplatin-induced indices. Mechanistically, we found that the overexpression of CTRP3 can increase expression of Nrf2 and inhibit the activation of MAPK phosphorylation (ERK, JNK, and p38). Furthermore, inhibition of ERK, JNK and p38 activity eliminated aggravation of cisplatin-induced inflammation and apoptosis caused by CTRP3 knockdown. Additionally, the cisplatin-induced oxidative stress and activation of MAPK phosphorylation (ERK, JNK, and p38) in HK-2 cells were reversed by Nrf2 suppression by siRNA. Collectively, these results indicated that CTRP3 may identify as a novel target for AKI treatment and protect against cisplatin-induced AKI through the Nrf2/MAPK pathway.
No genetic causal association between dental caries and Alzheimer’s disease: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis
Authors: Liao Qiao , Li Si-Zhuo , Tian Fa-Fa , Huang Kun , Bi Fang-Fang
Published: August 2023

Background

An increasing number of observational studies have suggested an association between dental caries and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The association between dental caries and Alzheimer’s disease may be mediated by confounders or reverse causality. In this study, we conducted bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate the bidirectional causality between dental caries and AD.

Materials and Methods

Genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics of dental caries were extracted from a published meta-analysis which included a total of 487,823 participants. GWAS datasets of AD and AD onset age were obtained from the FinnGen bank. A bidirectional two-sample analysis was performed to explore the causality between dental caries and AD.

Results

For the dental caries-AD causality estimation, there was no significant association between dental caries and AD, neither with the AD GWASs from the FinnGen database (OR: 1.041, p = 0.874) nor with those from the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (OR: 1.162, p = 0.409). In addition, the genetic susceptibility to dental caries was not related to the onset age of AD. No causality existed between dental caries and early-onset AD (OR: 0.515, p = 0.302) or late-onset AD (OR: 1.329, p = 0.347). For the AD-dental caries relationship, no causality was detected by the IVW method (OR: 1.000, p = 0.717). Findings from other MR methods were consistent. The pleiotropy test and sensitivity analysis confirmed the validity of these MR results.

Conclusions

In this bidirectional MR study, robust evidence to support a bidirectional causal effect between dental caries and AD from the GWAS results within large-scale European-descent populations was absent. Having dental caries would not alter the onset age of AD.
Farmers’ perception of the ecosystem services provided by diurnal raptors in arid Rajasthan
Authors: Tiwari Govind , Pandey Puneet , Kaul Rahul , Singh Randeep
Published: August 2023

Farmers are the most important stakeholders in wildlife conservation in the agricultural landscape. Understanding the farmer’s perceptions, attitude, behaviour, and knowledge toward conservation is critical in developing an effective conservation programme in human-dominated landscapes. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 373 farmers to understand the farmer’s perception of ecosystem services provided by diurnal raptors in the arid region of Rajasthan from July 2020 to February 2021 and from August 2021 to January 2022. We grouped ecosystem services and disservices into larger categories and estimated the correlation between them, finding that disservices are negatively correlated with benefits. Raptors were perceived as beneficial for their role in controlling rodents and pests, but negatively for poultry predation. In addition, we built a binomial generalised linear model with a logit function to better understand the factors that influence farmers’ perceptions of raptors (positive or negative). We observed that males and females have different attitudes toward the ecosystem services provided by raptors. It is critical to understand social perceptions in order to conserve species that are rare on a global scale but may face negative perceptions on a local scale. Our study connects ecological information with socio-demographic factors, which can be useful in developing policy measures for raptor conservation.
Open-access vs. paywalled journals in translation and interpreting studies: is it the time to abolish stumbling blocks?
Authors:   Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan, Akbari Alireza , Shahrokhi Mohsen ,   Department of English, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahreza
Published: August 2023

The present research bibliometrically analyses the trend of free/open-accessibility of published documents in translation and interpreting (T&I) studies. To assess open-access trends, data was gathered from 106 translation-interpreting and translation-related journals from 1956 to 2020. A total of 321,964 entries (published documents) were extracted, of which 19,271 (open-access and non-open-access) entries were in the fields of T&I studies. Simply put, only 3,758 (1.16%) of entries in 106 journals were open-access (OA). This research paper used linear regression analysis to prognosticate the trend of OA in T&I studies. According to the provided regression equation, T&I paywalled journals require 53 years to fully become OA, which is indispensably regarded as a critical juncture in T&I scholarly outputs. In this light, it is time to remove any stumbling blocks through a worldly summation of open-access by translation and interpreting scholars/researchers across the globe. In the meantime, additional investigations are required to assess whether ongoing business models of publishing academic outputs foster an open-accessibility movement or impose indispensable constraints.
Diálogo 7: Seguridad jurídica. Debilitamiento del Estado de Derecho
Authors: Cisternas Rocha Lamberto , Phillips Letelier Jaime , Cobo Romaní Nicolás , Blavi Aros Francisco , Pereira Arce Estíbaliz
Published: August 2023

A continuación, se presenta una versión editada de la conversación sostenida por algunos de los miembros del comité de redacción de la revista con el exministro de la Corte Suprema Lamberto Cisternas y el académico e investigador Jaime Phillips. La conversación se llevó a cabo el 16 de mayo de 2023 en dependencias del Magíster LLM UC.
Las dificultades en la aplicación del principio pro persona: Caso rol 9.433-2020 del Tribunal Constitucional chileno
Authors: Narváez Gallo Francisco
Published: August 2023

Este trabajo se centra en la decisión adoptada por el Tribunal Constitucional ante un requerimiento de inaplicabilidad por inconstitucionalidad contra una disposición de la Ley 18.216. Su propósito es analizar si, a la luz de dicho fallo, existiría en Chile un efectivo acceso a los beneficios de cumplimientos alternativos a una pena privativa de libertad conforme al principio pro persona, o si, por el contrario, se reconoce una expansión a las restricciones para su otorgamiento, en pos de políticas efectivistas de carácter punitivo.
Vulneración masiva de datos personales por el Estado en Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones con Entel, crítica al rol de la jurisdicción administrativa y desafíos de la nueva institucionalidad
Authors: Sepúlveda Tormo Cristián
Published: August 2023

El trabajo analiza el caso sobre la orden emitida por la Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones a las concesionarias de servicios de telecomunicaciones en 2018 para que estas proporcionaran información respecto de su base total de clientes para ser entregadas a una empresa que elabora encuestas a nivel nacional. Ante esto, se desarrollará cuál fue la posición de la empresa Entel frente a este requerimiento de su órgano regulador, y cómo ella fue la única compañía que se negó a entregar este tipo de información por considerarlo una violación a la normativa de protección de datos personales establecida en la Ley 19.628. En ese contexto, se analizará críticamente cómo el sistema de jurisdicción administrativa actuó y resolvió el caso en sus distintas instancias, y si, dadas las características orgánicas, funcionales y procesales de la nueva institucionalidad de protección de datos contempladas en el proyecto de ley de protección de datos personales cuya tramitación se encuentra en su fase final, hubieren estas implicado o no un cambio en cómo se desarrolló y resolvió el asunto.
Revisión y crítica a la judicialización del ingreso de proyectos al Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental
Authors: Illanes Vergara José Andrés
Published: August 2023

En el presente trabajo se comenzará con una revisión normativa de la obligación de someterse al Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental antes del desarrollo de proyectos de inversión, incluyendo los alcances que tiene el eludir el ingreso al SEIA. Luego, se analizará una selección de sentencias dictadas por la Corte Suprema en los últimos cuatro años (2018-2022) en las que, al resolver apelaciones sobre recursos de protección, ha ordenado a titulares de proyectos de inversión ingresar de forma obligatoria al SEIA. En vista del análisis anterior, se buscará determinar ciertos estándares comunes en los criterios que ha utilizado la Corte Suprema para configurar el ingreso obligatorio de proyectos al Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental, al margen de las condiciones que impone tanto la Ley 19.300 como el Reglamento del Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental. Finalmente, se emitirá una opinión crítica sobre la jurisprudencia que ha seguido la Corte Suprema.
Produção de farinha de mandioca: uma vivência nas casas de farinha
Authors: Dos Santos Rayssa Silva , De Lima Suely Cristina Gomes , Ribeiro Suezilde da Conceição Amaral
Published: August 2023

A farinha de mandioca é um produto bastante apreciado pela população das regiões norte e nordeste. A produção da farinha tem sido desenvolvida principalmente por agricultores familiares, onde a comercialização desse produto torna-se importante fonte de renda, por vezes a principal. Contudo são verificados vários problemas durante o processo de fabricação da farinha de mandioca que comprometem sua qualidade higienicossanitária. Assim para garantir a qualidade, conformidade e segurança desse produto destinado a alimentação humana, indica-se a implantação das Boas Práticas de Fabricação durante o processo produtivo. O objetivo desse trabalho foi realizar visitas técnicas nas casas de farinha da Agrovila Nazaré e região para conhecer as condições de processamento da farinha e identificar se há interesse dos produtores em aprender sobre as Boas Práticas de Fabricação para aplicar no processo produtivo da farinha de mandioca. A pesquisa possui abordagem qualitativa, natureza aplicada e caráter exploratório, utilizando como ferramentas de coleta de dados a observação não-participativa associada a entrevista não-estruturada. Durante as visitas realizadas nas casas de farinha foi possível observar a precariedade das instalações de processamento o que compromete a qualidade e segurança do produto. Os agricultores procuraram os órgãos competentes para informações sobre as BPF mas devido às várias inconformidades e ausência de recursos financeiros para adequações, desistiram da implantação do sistema. Verifica-se então a necessidade de realizar trabalhos de orientação técnica com os produtores para garantir um alimento adequado ao consumo.
Irrigador solar: uma análise do seu desempenho segundo uma distribuição Gaussiana
Authors: De Oliveira Lelis Araújo
Published: August 2023

O processo de maturação de alguns vegetais depende de muitos fatores, dentre os principais, estão a quantidade de luz solar recebida, na forma de radiação infravermelha, sendo a responsável por seu crescimento, e a quantidade de água que absorve durante os dias, que tem papel fundamental no processo bioquímico para a produção de energia pelo vegetal. Dependendo da região, se o cultivar recebe pouca ou muita radiação solar durante os dias e a forma como esse é irrigado, determinam seu crescimento e produção. Este artigo objetivou analisar o desempenho de um irrigador solar construído com materiais de baixo custo em uma pequena cultura de couve-flor, implementada em uma região localizada a 18 km da cidade de Abaetetuba durante os meses de março, abril, julho, agosto, novembro e dezembro. Os resultados mostraram que o irrigador teve melhor desempenho no mês de julho decorrente do equilíbrio entre as temperaturas (satisfazem uma distribuição Gaussiana), quantidade de água entregue e produção dos pés de couve-flor. Assim, verificou-se que o desempenho do irrigador solar não é fator determinante na produção deste tipo de cultura nas condições da pesquisa.
LIBRAS: e a importância dos sinais arbitrários e icônicos
Authors: Da Silva Ana Beatriz Nascimento , Ferreira Ivanilton
Published: August 2023

O presente estudo traz como tema: “LIBRAS: e a importância dos sinais arbitrários e icônicos”. E tem como objetivo analisar a importância que os sinais arbitrários e icônicos têm na comunicação na Língua Brasileira de Sinais, visando romper com a ideia de superficialidade ou que a comunicação através da língua de sinais é pantomima. Pois, historicamente as pessoas surdas foram postas às margens da sociedade durante séculos, e mesmo depois de, finalmente, os surdos brasileiros terem o reconhecimento da sua língua, ainda enfrentam discriminações. A pesquisa apresenta uma abordagem qualitativa, de cunho teórico com embasamento bibliográfico, a fim de conhecer acerca da educação de surdos, da Língua Brasileira de Sinais dos aspectos fonológicos dos sinais arbitrários. Percebemos que a comunidade surda ainda empreende esforços diários visando o reconhecimento da sua identidade cultural e a desconstrução errônea acerca da Língua de Sinais. Além disso, este estudo conclui que a arbitrariedade é um fator importante para uma língua. E, no caso da Libras, é a quebra do preconceito de que os sinais são gestos da língua oral auditiva.
Marvelous Bookcase
Authors: Miao Xiaojing
Published: August 2023

Yang Jiong 楊炯 (650–ca . 694), though hailed both by his contemporaries and later generations as one of the “Four Elites of the Early Tang,” has yet to receive due scholarly attention. This article contributes to the study of Yang Jiong by examining his “Fu on the Bookcase for Reading While Lying Down” (“Wodu shu- jia fu” 臥讀書架賦). It demonstrates how the poet displays his literary genius by skillfully employing various allusions, using self-deprecating humor for assertive self-display, devising close echoes among different parts, and building an extremely well-balanced structure, written in verse of an elaborately parallel style. More importantly, he cleverly crafts a double text so that both the physical bookcase and he himself, the “mental bookcase,” become the dual subjects of the fu. The interplay between the bookcase, the poet, and his self-representation also contributes to the wider discussions of material culture, social norms, and literary expression.
Beyond Logography
Authors: Olech Marian
Published: August 2023

Zhuānzì 專字 are often defined as graphs representing a “special meaning” of a word, manifest in the choice (i.e., addition or alteration) of a semantic component. This article approaches the zhuānzì phenomenon in the broader context of the logographic nature of the Chinese writing system. It first identifies and discusses several thematic categories of zhuānzì, including both historical examples from unearthed and transmitted corpora and instances from the Chinese script as used in the linguistic environment of modern Mandarin. The article then seeks to compare and describe different kinds of information conveyed by different zhuānzì and suggests a terminological shift toward defining zhuānzì as “representing a subset of the word’s denotation,” a phrasing more suited to the complex reality of the phenomenon in question.
Solving the Ninth-Century West Syrian Synoptic Problem
Authors: Moss Yonatan , Ruani Flavia
Published: August 2023

Within the rich literary tradition of the West Syrian (i.e., Syriac Orthodox) Church, two ninth-century authors stand out thanks to a curious problem. The authors are the bishops John of Dara, who lived in the first half of the century, and Moses bar Kepha, who died in northern Iraq in 903. The problem is the literary relationship between several of the texts transmitted in their names. Applying a three-pronged approach to this synoptic problem, this article offers a path toward a solution. On the basis of biographical, stylistic, and philological arguments, it is argued that at least one text that goes under John’s name, On Heretics, was not in fact written by him. The author of that text, likely operating in the tenth century, drew heavily from Moses bar Kepha’s treatise On Paradise, while reshaping the material from Moses, and also incorporating additional material from other sources.
Review of Iranisches Personennamenbuch, vol. 5, Iranische Namen in Nebenüberlieferungen Indogermanischer Sprachen, fasc. 3
Authors: Klein Jared S.
Published: August 2023

Iranisches Personennamenbuch, vol. 5, Iranische Namen in Nebenüberlieferungen Indogermanischer Sprachen, fasc. 3: Iranian Personal Names in Arme-nian Collateral Tradition. By Hrach Martirosyan. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil-Hist. Kl. Sitzungsberichte, vol. 912. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2021. Pp. 453. €98 (paper); €78.40 (ebook).
Front Matter
Authors: Editors
Published: August 2023

Reviews

Brief Reviews
Review of Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China
Authors: Zhang Yunshuang
Published: August 2023

Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China. By Yunchiahn C. Sena. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019 . Pp. xiii + 220. $60.
Review of In the Forest of the Blind: The Eurasian Journey of Faxian’s Record of Buddhist Kingdoms
Authors: Barrett T. H.
Published: August 2023

In the Forest of the Blind: The Eurasian Journey of Faxian’s Record of Buddhist Kingdoms. By Matthew W. King. New York: Columbia University Press. Pp. xvi + 294. $160 (cloth); $40 (paper).
Review of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History
Authors: Kinney Anne Behnke
Published: August 2023

Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History. By Ping Yao. London: Routledge, 2022. Pp. x + 201. $136 (cloth); $37 (paper).
Review of Literaturkontakte Ugarits: Wurzeln und Entfaltungen. Internationale Tagung, Münster, 13.–15. Oktober 2015
Authors: Beckman Gary
Published: August 2023

Literaturkontakte Ugarits: Wurzeln und Entfaltungen. Internationale Tagung, Münster, 13.–15. Oktober 2015. Edited by Ingo Kottsieper and Hans Neumann. Kasion, vol. 5. Münster: Zaphon, 2021. Pp. 251, illus. €69.
Review of Ritualbeschreibungen und Gebete III
Authors: Koubková Evelyne
Published: August 2023

Ritualbeschreibungen und Gebete III. By Stefan Jakob. Keilschrifttexte aus Assur literarischen Inhalts, vol. 9 / Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, vol. 154. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2018. Pp. ix + 242, illus. €54.
Review of Archaeology of Empire in Achaemenid Egypt
Authors: Tulpin Christopher J.
Published: August 2023

Archaeology of Empire in Achaemenid Egypt. By Henry P. Colburn. Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020. Pp. xvii + 318, illus. $130. [Distributed by Oxford University Press]
Review of Arabic Poetics: Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature
Authors: Noy Avigail
Published: August 2023

Arabic Poetics: Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature. By Lara Harb. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilizations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. xviii + 298. $99.99 (cloth); $29.99 (paper); $18.49 (ebook).