bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Food in Anglophone Children’s Literature
Authors: Keeling Kara K. , Pollard Scott T.
Published: October 2024

Food is an important touchstone for both children’s literature authors and scholars, as it functions as a key material object and cultural construct within an aesthetic context in texts written for children. A full understanding of the significance of food and children’s literature draws from the interdisciplinary field of food studies, with its bases in anthropology, sociology, history, and literary studies. Food studies provides an approach to show how pervasive food is in children’s literature and how it operates as a complex cultural, political, and aesthetic signifier in myriad ways. The major approaches and uses of food in texts aimed at children divide into eight groups: eating or being eaten; the empowerment and agency of the individual; socialization, manners, and rebellion within family and community; taste; food preparation; food production, famines, and feasts; place and culture; and identity.

While food is fundamental to all human life, it occupies a particularly important place for the young. Children require food to fuel their survival and growth; adults use it daily as a socialization tool to teach children manners and social values, so that, in essence, they become civilized beings within the context of their culture. Such socialization creates emotional responses within children: They learn to develop individual tastes which they must balance with familial and cultural group identity, in the process of which they may experience anxiety or comfort. Thus, food consumption is foundational to a child’s developing sense of self. Children’s and young adult literature explores the growing identities of its protagonists; thus, the pervasiveness and complexity of food representations within it is equally unsurprising. The ways that food is used by writers of children’s literature within their texts mirror real world cultural manifestations of food in children’s lives, both past and present, locally and globally. Ultimately, children’s literature is a microcosm of how food functions generally as a multivalent cultural signifier. Its presence and treatment within texts reveal existential anxieties; individuation through developing skills, abilities, and tastes; socialization into group mores and manners as well as resistance to them; and connections between individual experiences and location: all factors that go into shaping the identity of individuals, families, and communities.
Islam in Tijuana, Mexico
Authors: Dawson Britt
Published: October 2024

While the first Muslims in northern Mexico were migrants from the Levant in the early 20th century, since 2010 the number of Muslims living in northern Mexico, particularly the borderlands, has grown rapidly. This is especially true in northern Baja California, where Mexican converts to Islam aid Muslim migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia who make their way to the city of Tijuana in hopes of claiming asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The first musallas (places of prayer) were built in the border cities of Tijuana and Rosarito in the 2010s, and they serve diverse communities of Muslims. As Muslim migrants continue to make their way to northern Baja California, the forces of the U.S.-Mexico border shape the emergence of this religious community in a variety of ways. In striving to live a coherent Muslim life, Muslims in this region of Mexico navigate life in a country where few people know about Islam in addition to multiple layers of border security and surveillance developed as part of the U.S. war on terror. While Muslims in the greater Tijuana area come from all over the world, they have recourse to the Islamic discursive tradition in building community together and as a way of making sense of life in a border zone.
Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Authors: Magness Jodi
Published: October 2024

In 1946–1947, the first Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by accident near the site of Qumran. This discovery led Roland de Vaux to undertake an expedition to Qumran, including excavations at the site and the exploration of the surrounding caves. Eventually, the remains of approximately one thousand scrolls were found in eleven caves surrounding Qumran. De Vaux’s excavations indicate that the site was inhabited in the 1st century bce and 1st century ce (until 68 ce) by members of a Jewish sect—apparently the Essenes—who deposited the scrolls in the nearby caves. They believed the end of days (eschaton) was at hand or perhaps already underway. Members conducted their lives as if the community were a virtual Temple or Tabernacle and observed the same strict regulations governing purity including immersion and purity of food, drink, and dishes as those required for the Temple cult.

Qumran’s distinctive features are physical expressions of the community’s observance of biblical laws and their adoption of a priestly lifestyle. These features include the large number of miqva’ot (Jewish ritual baths), deposits of animal bones, a large adjacent cemetery, communal dining rooms with adjacent pantries of dishes, numerous workshops, and an unusual ceramic repertoire including the same type of distinctive cylindrical jars in which the first scrolls reportedly were found. It appears that the sect observed and enacted the laws and lifestyle of the wilderness camp with the Tabernacle in its midst.

Approximately 2 miles (3 km) to the south of Qumran, excavations were conducted at Ein Feshkha by Roland de Vaux in 1958 and by Yizhar Hirschfeld in 2001. The remains at the site include a farmhouse and industrial installations by brackish springs on the shore of the Dead Sea. De Vaux considered Ein Feshkha “an agricultural and industrial establishment used to benefit the community of Qumran.” However, the archaeological evidence does not demonstrate that the two sites are related or that Ein Feshkha was a sectarian settlement, as it lacks many of the distinctive features found at Qumran.
19th-Century American Freethinkers
Authors: Stephen Eric M.
Published: October 2024

Over the course of the 19th century, “freethought,” as both a term and a movement, witnessed profound transformations in the United States. From the cosmopolitan deism of turn-of-the-century revolutionary Thomas Paine to the so-called “Golden Age of American Freethought” that blossomed between 1876 and 1914, various skeptics, nonbelievers, atheists, and radical religionists in the 1800s all worked to carve out a space for themselves and their beliefs in the American landscape. A brief overview of this topic shows the wide range of individuals, organizations, and intellectual currents found in the 1800s that have been classified in the historiography under the umbrella of “American freethought.” This survey also underscores that the concept of “freethought” is not a self-evident category. The ideas and sensibilities framed as expressions of “freethought” were constantly being reimagined and renegotiated in dynamic response to the dramatic changes within American intellectual and social life that similarly occurred throughout the century.
Park51 and the “Ground Zero Mosque” Controversy
Authors: DeConinck Kate Yanina
Published: October 2024

Park51 is the name of a nonprofit organization that was initially founded to create an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan. The organization’s leaders had hoped that the community center would serve three core purposes: providing local Muslims with a much-needed space to pray and take pride in their identity, uniting the diverse Muslim communities of New York under one roof, and offering services such as child care, educational programs, fitness facilities, and more to the wider city. Originally known as Cordoba House, the project later changed its name to reflect the address of the site that was purchased to create this community center: 51 Park Place.

The community center was first conceptualized in 2006 and, over the next few years, elicited support from local city council members, state senators, and others. However, the plans eventually drew the attention of conservative pundits, who condemned the proposal as a potential “victory mosque.” These critics claimed the site was located too close to the sacred space of Ground Zero, where thousands of people were killed on September 11, 2001. Consequently, the project came to be known in mainstream media as the “Ground Zero Mosque.” The damaging rhetoric against Park51 became increasingly severe throughout 2010 as the project became a point of debate in congressional races across the nation. Vitriol, fueled largely by Islamophobia, led to a series of challenges for the organization that effectively stalled progress on their project. After stepping back from the national spotlight for two and a half years to reevaluate their mission, the leaders of Park51 reemerged in 2014 to announce new plans for their site, which now included a residential skyscraper, a prayer space, and a three-story museum dedicated to the faith of Islam and its arts and cultures.

Scholarly literature about Islam in America reveals that Islam has a long and complex history in the United States. However, the September 11 attacks created new circumstances and questions with which American Muslims have had to grapple. First, many Muslim Americans faced widespread Islamophobia and hate crimes in the wake of 9/11, creating lasting emotional and psychological distress. The social vulnerability and sense of isolation that many American Muslims experienced was further amplified by other pressures from both inside and outside of their communities. Throughout the early 21st century, Muslims have faced ongoing pressure to foreground their identity as Americans and to show that they are civically engaged citizens. Some scholars have posited that there must be more solidarity among Muslims of different racial, ethnic, national, and other backgrounds to foster mutual support and face these challenges together. Park51 is an organization that spent more than a decade attempting to navigate these complex realities. The inclusion of a museum in the revised plans for its site is particularly noteworthy given the persisting need to shift public perceptions of and misunderstandings about Islam.
Domestic Violence and North American Muslims
Authors: Isgandarova Nazila
Published: October 2024

Although domestic violence is a global issue, it is often considered a private “terror at home.” Among Muslims in North America, the issue is connected to theology, community, religious practice, and religious identity, along with public policy and social movements for change. Domestic violence is most often aimed at women, and many who are subject to violence may not seek help due to multiple factors, including shame, fear, distrust of authorities, and a lack of resources. Connecting them to support networks like domestic violence programs offering legal advice, crisis intervention, counseling, and job placement can empower many women who are subject to domestic violence. Therefore, tackling domestic violence is not only women’s fight for safe homes: it requires a collaborative approach to eliminate the burden of domestic violence on women, families, and societies.
Human Body in Islamic Art
Authors: Shaw Wendy M. K.
Published: October 2024

Not central to worship in Islam, representation of the human body has occurred in many forms in Islamic societies: on walls, fabrics, sculptures, and paintings in manuscripts about diverse subjects, including astronomy, history, fables, mythology, medicine, religion, and poetry. Schematically incorporated within narrative or symbolic scenes in most early examples, ruler portraits led to more individualized portraiture even before the adoption of European norms of figural depiction. Not limited by visual verisimilitude, representation of the human form can also be found in lettering, through metonymic representation, and through spatial and sensual modes of embodiment that continue to inform some contemporary art.

The relationship between the human body and Islamic art invites two interpretive frameworks. Reflecting the importance of the human body in the European artistic tradition, the first emphasizes figural representation in Islamic visual traditions. Reflecting the distinct role of the body in Islam, the second treats the body as a sensory agent enhancing the capacities of the body in Islamic thought. The vast historical, geographic, and ethnographic range of Islamic cultures further complicates the consideration of the human body in Islamic arts, as each locus of Islamic culture coexists within a multitude of representational and experiential norms reflecting multireligious and multiethnic environments. The role of the body in the arts shifts again with the modernist universalization of European artistic norms and bodily practices, which have been globally met with assimilation as well as resistance.

Among the distinct aspects of representing the body in the Islamic world are representations of the human body in the first centuries of Islam, as Islam gained hegemony in regions with diverse religions and ethnic populations. The use of human forms in multiple media is another aspect, as is the emergence of representational restrictions. Additionally, the human body was represented in manuscript painting under the large empires that consolidated much of Islamic culture following the 13th-century Mongol conquests of western Asia. The transition to modern oil-on-canvas representation marks another shift in representations of the body. The mutual representation of body and object that is enabled through Islamic thought has also accommodated and enhanced the sensory role of the body in recognition of the divine.
The History of Tequila
Authors: Fernández Rodolfo , González Zozaya Fernando
Published: October 2024

Tequila is an emblematic alcoholic beverage of Jalisco, a state in Western Mexico, an area that was an old corregimiento of New Spain from the 16th century on. Its name, tequila, was taken from the town that was its provincial capital since then. From there it has been distributed since the end of the 18th century. Tequila in its early days was called mezcal, or mezcal wine, just like all Mesoamerican spirits derived from the mezcal plant known in the early 21st century as agave. The village where production began was called Amatitán. By 1768, the non-Indians of Tequila received authorization to distill mezcal wine and, together with Amatitán, became the main manufacturers and marketers of that liquor that became famous for its quality. At the end of the 19th century, the mezcals of central Jalisco were already known as tequilas, but continued to name it mezcal wine on their labels until the middle of the 20th century. By the early years of the 20th century, agave liquor began to be made also in the Altos de Jalisco and then it was allowed to be called tequila throughout the state.
Diagnostic incidence and pitfalls of rete testis hyperplasia and hyaline globules in a multi-institutional study of 348 testicular germ cell tumors
Authors: Potterveld Susan K , Akgul Mahmut , Pacheco Richard , Humble Robert M , Mubeen Aysha , Williamson Sean R , Gosnell Hailey , Sangoi Ankur R
Published: October 2024

Objectives

The concept of rete hyperplasia with hyaline globules simulating testicular yolk sac tumor was first reported in a mostly retrospective review over 30 years ago. Nonetheless, we continue to encounter examples where this scenario resulted in misdiagnosis. Herein, we sought to investigate the incidence of rete hyperplasia/hyaline globules in germ cell tumors and their associated subtypes and hypothesize an etiology.

Methods

A consecutive series of 348 germ cell tumor orchiectomies was evaluated for the presence of rete hyperplasia and hyaline globules, with clinicopathologic features recorded.

Results

The incidence of rete hyperplasia and/or hyaline globules in our cohort was 30%, with 56% of specimens with rete hyperplasia containing concomitant hyaline globules. Hyaline globules were more often identified in specimens with nonfocal rete hyperplasia (78%) vs focal rete hyperplasia (22%). Absence of a yolk sac tumor component was seen in over half (61%) of orchiectomies with concurrent rete hyperplasia/hyaline globules (n = 105), inclusive of tumors with “pure” subtypes (ie, pure seminoma, pure teratoma, or pure embryonal carcinoma). Of these 105 specimens, rete invasion was seen in only 48%; notably, Paneth cell–like metaplasia was identified in efferent ductules/epididymis in 13%.

Conclusions

Rete hyperplasia and hyaline globules are not uncommon findings in the setting of germ cell tumors (including occurrences in various pure/mixed germ cell tumors) and can show striking overlap with yolk sac tumor. We hypothesize that these histologic pitfalls evolve secondary to testicular obstruction by the tumor mass. Recognition of and distinguishing this morphologic mimicry is fundamental to guide appropriate clinical management.
Measuring the impact: Severity of harm from laboratory errors in 195 tests
Authors: Çubukçu Hikmet Can , Cihan Murat , Alp Hamit Hakan , Bolat Serkan , Zengi Oğuzhan , Uçar Kamil Taha , Topcu Deniz İlhan , Kılınçkaya Muhammed Fevzi , Özdemir Habib , Gülşen Murat , Canbaz Hayri , Yücel Doğan , Serdar Muhittin Abdulkadir
Published: October 2024

Objectives

This study aimed to objectively assess the potential severity of harm associated with erroneous results in 195 laboratory tests by surveying 514 specialist physicians and medical biochemistry experts.

Methods

The survey obtained participants’ (75 medical biochemists, 439 clinicians) opinions on severity of harm for the erroneous results of 195 tests. The comprehensive list of errors and their effects on test results were obtained from the literature, and then matched with severity of harm scores, from 1 (negligible effect) to 5 (life-threatening injury/death), obtained from the survey responses.

Results

Participants perceived tests such as cardiac biomarkers, blood gases, coagulation parameters (activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, and dimerized plasmin fragment D), critical ions (potassium, sodium), toxic trace elements (lead, mercury), and specific serum drug levels (lithium, digoxin) to have a greater potential for patient harm in case of errors. Medical biochemistry specialists assigned higher severity scores to some laboratory tests, including total bilirubin, pseudocholinesterase, platelet indices, and some drug levels (cyclosporine, methotrexate, vancomycin).

Conclusions

A substantial agreement (91%) was observed between medical biochemists and clinicians in terms of the most frequently chosen severity of harm score. The study provided objective severity scores and identified high-risk tests for targeted quality improvement.
The Socio-Educational Model: An Evidence-Based Re-evaluation
Authors: Rock David , Danaee Mahmoud
Published: October 2024

The socio-educational model suggests that social milieu influences individual characteristics, which in turn affect engagement in learning contexts, ultimately impacting linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. Operationalized representations of the model tend to focus on relations among integrativeness, attitudes to the learning situation, motivation, language anxiety, and language achievement. While objections to the model exist, recent work has challenged their persuasiveness, and as such, it seems appropriate to re-evaluate the model using new data to elucidate its continuing utility in understanding second language outcomes. The objective of this study was therefore to measure the levels of the aforementioned constructs in an international sample and to determine the degree to which they covaried as predicted by the model. A structural equation modelling study of 278 Malaysian high school students studying English compulsorily in national secondary schools in Malaysia found substantial levels of model constructs and statistically significant relationships between them, implying the model’s potential ongoing utility. Implications for second language learning theorization, educational policy, curriculum design, teaching strategies, global language learning contexts, and further research are explored.
Investigation and determination of CoQ10(H2) and CoQ10(H4) species from black yeast-like fungi and filamentous fungi
Authors: Jumpathong Jomkwan , Nishida Ikuhisa , Matsuo Yasuhiro , Kaino Tomohiro , Kawamukai Makoto
Published: October 2024

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) or ubiquinone functions as an electron transporter in the electron transport system in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The isoprenyl side chain of CoQ is modified in some organisms, especially in fungi, for optimal electron transport performance under various conditions. In this study, we investigated the side chain saturated dihydro CoQ (CoQ10(H2)) in Aureobasidium pullulans EXF-150, Sydowia polyspora NBRC 30562, and naturally isolated Plowrightia sp. A37, all of which are melanized Dothideomycetes species within Ascomycota, and also in filamentous fungi Aspergillus oryzae and A. terreus. Plowrightia sp. A37 produced the rarely synthesized tetrahydro type CoQ10(H4), especially in glucose-rich medium, during extended cultivation in contrast to CoQ10(H2) in time-limited cultivation. Using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, we identified demethoxyubiquinone-H2 (DMQ(H2)) as an indicative intermediate that suggests that the side chain saturation of CoQ occurs after the formation of DMQ and not always in the last step as previously considered.
A formal goodness-of-fit test for spatial binary Markov random field models
Authors: Biswas Eva , Kaplan Andee , Kaiser Mark S , Nordman Daniel J
Published: October 2024

Binary spatial observations arise in environmental and ecological studies, where Markov random field (MRF) models are often applied. Despite the prevalence and the long history of MRF models for spatial binary data, appropriate model diagnostics have remained an unresolved issue in practice. A complicating factor is that such models involve neighborhood specifications, which are difficult to assess for binary data. To address this, we propose a formal goodness-of-fit (GOF) test for diagnosing an MRF model for spatial binary values. The test statistic involves a type of conditional Moran’s I based on the fitted conditional probabilities, which can detect departures in model form, including neighborhood structure. Numerical studies show that the GOF test can perform well in detecting deviations from a null model, with a focus on neighborhoods as a difficult issue. We illustrate the spatial test with an application to Besag’s historical endive data as well as the breeding pattern of grasshopper sparrows across Iowa.
Prospective comparative diagnostic performance of quantitative ultrasound parameters for the measurement of hepatic steatosis in a biopsy-proven metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease cohort
Authors: Wang Kun , Bao Jingwen , Wang Minghui , Yu Yanjie , Wang Min
Published: October 2024

Objectives

The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of attenuation imaging (ATI), shear wave elastography (SWE), and shear wave dispersion (SWD) for detecting and grading hepatic steatosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Methods

Sixty-six patients with MASLD confirmed histopathologically and 34 healthy volunteers who were age/sex-matched were prospectively enrolled in this study. ATI, SWE, and SWD examinations were performed. Fibrosis stage, necroinflammatory activity, and steatosis grade were confirmed histopathologically. Steatosis was graded as follows: S0 (<5%); S1 (5%-32%); S2 (33%-66%) to S3 (>66%). We compared the diagnostic performance of ATI, SWE, and SWD for detecting and grading hepatic steatosis.

Results

Both attenuation coefficient (AC) and SWD values were significantly different among the different hepatic steatosis, and both were correlated with hepatic steatosis. ATI had better diagnostic performance than SWD for detecting and grading hepatic steatosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of ATI for detecting ≥S1, ≥S2, and =S3 were 0.917 (cut-off value of 0.69 dB/cm/MHz), 0.933 (cut-off value of 0.74 dB/cm/MHz), and 0.870 (cut-off value of 0.82 dB/cm/MHz), respectively. The area under the ROC curve of SWD value was 0.758 (cut-off value of 10.79 m/s/kHz), 0.685 (cut-off value of 12.64 m/s/kHz), and 0.722 (cut-off value of 13.24 m/s/kHz), respectively.

Conclusions

ATI technology is a reliable method for detecting and grading hepatic steatosis in patients with MASLD than SWE and SWD.

Advances in knowledge

We compared the diagnostic performance of ATI, SWE, SWD for detecting and grading hepatic steatosis in patients with MASLD in order to find the best diagnostic parameters.
Unbinding the bindweed psyllid (Bactericera maculipennis [Hemiptera: Triozidae]) from its Convolvulus host exposes it to a novel bacterial symbiont
Authors: Tran Mona , Kenney Jaimie R , Di Costanzo Luigi , Gebiola Marco , Mauck Kerry E
Published: October 2024

Psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) are herbivores that feed and reproduce on narrow subsets of hosts within a few related genera. During surveys of Solanum umbelliferum (Eschsch) (Solanaceae), we collected multiple life stages of Bactericera maculipennis (Crawford), a species exclusively associated with bindweeds (Convolvulaceae). We hypothesized that B. maculipennis has expanded its host range to include this solanaceous host. To test this, we quantified egg to adult development time on S. umbelliferum, 2 other solanaceous hosts, and Convolvulus arvensis L., the most suitable host for B. maculipennis in North America. B. maculipennis failed to develop on additional solanaceous hosts but developed significantly faster on S. umbelliferum than on C. arvensis. We also sampled for B. maculipennis at 27 S. umbelliferum populations and collected 24 individuals directly from S. umbelliferum plants. We confirmed all individuals are B. maculipennis and found that 10/24 were infected with the plant pathogen ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (CLso), which is transmitted by the potato psyllid, B. cockerelli (Šulc). Half of infected individuals harbored CLso haplotype B, which is dominant in crops, but rare in S. umbelliferum. The other 50% harbored CLso haplotype Sumb2, previously documented in S. umbelliferum, but never in crops. Our results suggest that the host range of B. maculipennis has expanded to include a key wild host plant of B. cockerelli. This may create opportunities for exchange of multiple haplotypes of CLso between these 2 species, possibly facilitating the emergence of CLso variants as pathogens of plants in the Convolvulaceae.
Caesarean section and operative vaginal delivery in Estonia and Finland from 1992 to 2016: registry-based study
Authors: Sildver Kaire , Veerus Piret , Gissler Mika , Lang Katrin , Pisarev Heti
Published: October 2024

Proportion of normal deliveries is decreasing worldwide. This study analysed operative vaginal deliveries (OVD) and Caesarean sections (CS) with some background factors in Estonia and Finland from 1992 to 2016. Data on all deliveries from 1992 to 2016 were obtained from the Finnish Medical Birth Registry (1 481 160 births) and the Estonian Medical Birth Registry (356 063 births). Time trends were analysed by joinpoint regression, and factors associated with OVD and CS by logistic regression. Odds ratios with 95% CIs were calculated, adjusted for year, maternal age, foetal birthweight, and use of epidural/spinal anaesthesia. One out of four deliveries were operative in Estonia and in Finland by 2016. By 2016, the Estonian CS rate had tripled to 20.9% and the OVD rate had increased by nine times to 5.6%. In Finland, the CS rate increased slightly to 16.4% while the OVD rate nearly doubled to 9.4%. In Estonia, the incidence of OVD was 24% lower (aOR 0.76, 95% Cl 0.74–0.78) and the incidence of CS 9% higher (aOR 1.09, 95% Cl 1.07–1.10) than in Finland. Use of epidural/spinal anaesthesia and foetal birthweight increased the risk of OVD in both countries, maternal age increased the risk of CS in both countries. Even if the CS and OVD rates are different, operative delivery rates may be similar in different countries. Combined analysis of operative deliveries together with background factors gives a better understanding of the trends in birthcare than monitoring CS rates alone.
Biological soil crusts significantly improve soil fertility and change soil microbiomes in Qinghai–Tibetan alpine grasslands
Authors: Wang Zelin , Liu Kaifang , Du Yuan , Chen Danhong , Li Ting , Chi Yuan , Zhang Song , Che Rongxiao , Liu Dong
Published: October 2024

Biological soil crusts (BSCs), a vital component of ecosystems, are pivotal in carbon sequestration, nutrient enrichment, and microbial diversity conservation. However, their impact on soil microbiomes in alpine regions remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the influence of BSCs on alpine grassland soil microbiomes, by collecting 24 pairs of soils covered by biological and physical crusts along a transect on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. We found that BSCs significantly increased the contents of soil moisture, organic carbon, total nitrogen, and many available nutrients. They also substantially altered the soil microbiomes. Specifically, BSCs significantly increased the relative abundance of Cyanobacteria, Verrucomicrobiota, and Ascomycota, while decreasing the proportions of Gemmatimonadota, Firmicutes, Nitrospirae, Mortierellomycota, and Glomeromycota. By contrast, microbial abundance and α-diversity demonstrated low sensitivity to BSCs across most study sites. Under the BSCs, the assembly of prokaryotic communities was more affected by homogeneous selection and drift, but less affected by dispersal limitation. Conversely, soil fungal community assembly mechanisms showed an inverse trend. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the effects of BSCs on soil properties and microbial communities, offering vital insights into the ecological roles of BSCs.
Status Orders: Toward a Local Understanding of Status Dynamics in World Politics
Authors: Røren Pål
Published: October 2024

This analytical essay highlights the importance of status orders in the study of status and prestige in world politics. Drawing on recent research in the field, I argue that understanding the particular social structures that regulate the status dynamics within social collectives is crucial to understanding how actors seek and receive status in world politics. I review the literature on status in IR and introduce the concept of status orders as context-specific and local social structures that determine what is considered prestigious within a particular group, community, or club. Using examples from war-making, nuclear weapons, and diplomatic practice, I argue that the fact that status dynamics is often produced locally and not globally forces us to focus less on “universal” aspirations for status, and more on where that actor sought status from and eventually according to which yardstick that actor experienced a change in status.
Development of bacterial bioformulations using response surface methodology
Authors: Priyanka  , Kumar Shashi , Sharma Shilpi
Published: October 2024

Aim

Bacterial consortia exhibiting plant growth promoting properties have emerged as a sustainable approach for crop improvement. As the main challenge associated with them is loss of viability and performance under natural conditions, a robust approach for designing bioformulation is needed. In this study, an efficient bioformulation was developed using spontaneous mutants of three bacterial strains for growth promotion of Cajanus cajan.

Methods and results

Optimization of additives for solid [carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), and glycerol] and liquid [polysorbate, CMC, and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)] bioformulations was done by response surface methodology using central composite design. The stability of each bioinoculant in the formulation was assessed at 30°C and 4°C. The efficiency of the liquid bioformulation was checked in planta in sterile, and subsequently in non-sterile, soil. The maximum cell count was observed in solid bioformulation with 0.1 g l−1 CMC and 50% glycerol (8.10 × 108, 3.69 × 108, and 7.39 × 108 CFU g-1 for Priestia megaterium, Azotobacter chroococcum, and Pseudomonas sp. SK3, respectively) and in liquid bioformulation comprising 1% PVP, 0.1 g l−1 CMC, and 0.025% polysorbate (8 × 109, 3.8 × 109, and 6.82 × 109 CFU ml-1 for P. megaterium, A. chroococcum, and Pseudomonas sp. SK3, respectively). The bioinoculants showed a higher viability (6 months) at 4°C compared to 30°C. Triple culture consortium enhanced plant growth in comparison to the control. The strains could be detected in soil till 45 days after sowing.

Conclusions

The study established a systematic process for developing a potent bioformulation to promote agricultural sustainability. Using mutant strains, the bioinoculants could be tracked. In planta assays revealed that the triple culture consortium out-performed mono and dual cultures in terms of impact on plant growth.
Molecular mechanisms of endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated acute kidney injury in juvenile rats and the protective role of mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor
Authors: Zhu Li-Ran , Cui Wei , Liu Hai-Peng
Published: October 2024

Objectives

This study examined the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in pediatric acute kidney injury and the therapeutic effect of midbrain astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor.

Methods

Two-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into: Sham, ischemia-reperfusion injury-induced acute kidney injury (AKI), mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF)-treated, tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA)-treated. Analyses were conducted 24 h post-treatment. Serum creatinine, cystatin C, Albumin, MANF levels were measured, cytokine concentrations in serum and renal tissues were determined using a Luminex assay. Histopathology was assessed via light and electron microscopy. Western blotting and RT-qPCR analyzed markers for oxidative stress, apoptosis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and autophagy. HK-2 cells underwent hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) to simulate AKI and were treated with MANF or TUDCA.

Results

AKI rats had increased serum creatinine, cystatin C, and inflammatory cytokines, along with significant renal damage, and showed loose and swollen ER structures, reduced cell proliferation, and elevated levels of IRE1, PERK, ATF6, CHOP, LC3-II/I, KIM-1, TLR4, JNK, and NF-κB. MANF treatment reduced these biomarkers and protein levels, improved ER structure and cell proliferation, alleviated oxidative stress, apoptosis, ER stress, and inhibited JNK/TLR4/NF-κB signaling. In HK-2 cells, MANF reduced ER stress and inflammation post-H/R exposure.

Conclusions

MANF treatment alleviates ER stress, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation in pediatric AKI, improving renal function and morphology.
Paederus dermatitis after travelling: a case of misdiagnosis and clinical resolution
Authors: Flores Calderón Claudia , Rodriguez-Valero Natalia , Vera Isabel
Published: October 2024

A case of paederus dermatitis misdiagnosed as herpes zoster highlights the importance of clinical suspicion in returning travellers.
The Population History of Domestic Sheep Revealed by Paleogenomes
Authors: Kaptan Damla , Atağ Gözde , Vural Kıvılcım Başak , Morell Miranda Pedro , Akbaba Ali , Yüncü Eren , Buluktaev Aleksey , Abazari Mohammad Foad , Yorulmaz Sevgi , Kazancı Duygu Deniz , Küçükakdağ Doğu Ayça , Çakan Yasin Gökhan , Özbal Rana , Gerritsen Fokke , De Cupere Bea , Duru Refik , Umurtak Gülsün , Arbuckle Benjamin S , Baird Douglas , Çevik Özlem , Bıçakçı Erhan , Gündem Can Yumni , Pişkin Evangelia , Hachem Lamys , Canpolat Kayra , Fakhari Zohre , Ochir-Goryaeva Maria , Kukanova Viktoria , Valipour Hamid Reza , Hoseinzadeh Javad , Küçük Baloğlu Fatma , Götherström Anders , Hadjisterkotis Eleftherios , Grange Thierry , Geigl Eva-Maria , Togan İnci Z , Günther Torsten , Somel Mehmet , Özer Füsun
Published: October 2024

Sheep was one of the first domesticated animals in Neolithic West Eurasia. The zooarchaeological record suggests that domestication first took place in Southwest Asia, although much remains unresolved about the precise location(s) and timing(s) of earliest domestication, or the post-domestication history of sheep. Here, we present 24 new partial sheep paleogenomes, including a 13,000-year-old Epipaleolithic Central Anatolian wild sheep, as well as 14 domestic sheep from Neolithic Anatolia, two from Neolithic Iran, two from Neolithic Iberia, three from Neolithic France, and one each from Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Baltic and South Russia, in addition to five present-day Central Anatolian Mouflons and two present-day Cyprian Mouflons. We find that Neolithic European, as well as domestic sheep breeds, are genetically closer to the Anatolian Epipaleolithic sheep and the present-day Anatolian and Cyprian Mouflon than to the Iranian Mouflon. This supports a Central Anatolian source for domestication, presenting strong evidence for a domestication event in SW Asia outside the Fertile Crescent, although we cannot rule out multiple domestication events also within the Neolithic Fertile Crescent. We further find evidence for multiple admixture and replacement events, including one that parallels the Pontic Steppe-related ancestry expansion in Europe, as well as a post-Bronze Age event that appears to have further spread Asia-related alleles across global sheep breeds. Our findings mark the dynamism of past domestic sheep populations in their potential for dispersal and admixture, sometimes being paralleled by their shepherds and in other cases not.
Recent and Recurrent Autopolyploidization Fueled Diversification of Snow Carp on the Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Li Xinxin , Wang Min , Zou Ming , Guan Xiaotong , Xu Shaohua , Chen Weitao , Wang Chongnv , Chen Yiyu , He Shunping , Guo Baocheng
Published: October 2024

Whole-genome duplication (WGD), or polyploidization, is a major contributor to biodiversity. However, the establishment and survival of WGDs are often considered to be stochastic, since elucidating the processes of WGD establishment remains challenging. In the current study, we explored the processes leading to polyploidy establishment in snow carp (Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae), a predominant component of the ichthyofauna of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas. Using large-scale genomic data from isoform sequencing, we analyzed ohnolog genealogies and divergence in hundreds to thousands of gene families across major snow carp lineages. Our findings demonstrated that independent autopolyploidization subsequent to speciation was prevalent, while autopolyploidization followed by speciation also occurred in the diversification of snow carp. This was further supported by matrilineal divergence and drainage evolution evidence. Contrary to the long-standing hypothesis that ancient polyploidization preceded the diversification of snow carp, we determined that polyploidy in extant snow carp was established by recurrent autopolyploidization events during the Pleistocene. These findings indicate that the diversification of extant snow carp resembles a coordinated duet: first, the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau orchestrated the biogeography and diversification of their diploid progenitors; then, the extensive Pliocene–Pleistocene climate changes acted as relay runners, further fueling diversification through recurrent autopolyploidization. Overall, this study not only reveals a hitherto unrecognized recent WGD lineage in vertebrates but also advances current understanding of WGD processes, emphasizing that WGD establishment is a nonstochastic event, emerging from numerous adaptations to environmental challenges and recurring throughout evolutionary history rather than merely in plants.
LncPepAtlas: a comprehensive resource for exploring the translational landscape of long non-coding RNAs
Authors: Zhou Xinyuan , Qin Yanxia , Li Jiangxue , Fan Linyuan , Zhang Shun , Zhang Bing , Wu Luoxuan , Gao Anwei , Yang Yongsan , Lv Xueqin , Guo Bingzhou , Sun Liang
Published: October 2024

Long non-coding RNAs were commonly viewed as non-coding elements. However, they are increasingly recognized for their ability to be translated into proteins, thereby playing a significant role in various cellular processes and diseases. With developments in biotechnology and computational algorithms, a range of novel approaches are being applied to investigate the translation of long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs). Herein, we developed the LncPepAtlas database (http://www.cnitbiotool.net/LncPepAtlas/), which aims to compile multiple evidences for the translation of lncRNAs and annotations for the upstream regulation of lncRNAs across various species. LncPepAtlas integrated compelling evidence from nine distinct sources for the translation of lncRNAs. These include a dataset comprising 2631 publicly available Ribo-seq samples from nine species, which has been collected and analysed. LncPepAtlas offers extensive annotation for lncRNA upstream regulation and expression profiles across various cancers, tissues or cell lines at transcriptional and translational levels. Importantly, it enables novel antigen predictions for lncRNA-encoded peptides. By identifying numerous peptide candidates that could potentially bind to major histocompatibility complex class I and II molecules, this work may provide new insights into cancer immunotherapy. The function of peptides were inferred by aligning them with experimentally detected proteins. LncPepAtlas aims to become a convenient resource for exploring translatable lncRNAs.
Giulia Gonzaga
Authors: Russell Camilla
Published: October 2024

Giulia Gonzaga (b. 1513–d. 1566) was a celebrated and controversial figure during her lifetime: she was a leading protagonist in late-Italian Renaissance culture and above all in the religious upheavals that gripped Europe during the sixteenth century. Born in Gazzuolo near Mantua in northern Italy, she was a member of the powerful Gonzaga family (from a cadet branch of Mantua’s ruling dynasty); in her role as duchess of Gaeta and Fondi, as the young widow of Vespasiano Colonna (d. 1528; they married in 1526), from the Colonna family castle at Fondi (between Rome and Naples), her court attracted many visitors and admirers (including Ippolito de’ Medici, destined instead for the cardinal’s hat and an early death by suspected poisoning): Sebastiano del Piombo painted her portrait and poetic and prose works lauded her beauty and chronicled her narrow nocturnal escape from one of the frequent coastal raids of the corsair Khair ad-dīn (or Barbarossa, in 1534), who landed at Fondi apparently with the intention of capturing Gonzaga for the harem of Sulemein I. As the result of a bitter inheritance dispute with her almost coetaneous stepdaughter Isabella Colonna, Gonzaga’s permanent move to Naples, in 1535, to the Clarissan convent San Francesco alle Monache (where she won papal dispensation to reside without taking the veil), marked the beginning of her most noteworthy role as a member, patron, and leader of the religious heterodox reforming circle known as the spirituali. Their leader, Spanish religious exile Juan de Valdés (who assisted Gonzaga in her legal dispute with her stepdaughter) brought a distinctive spiritual outlook, while his many religious writings and commentaries attracted scores of (especially elite) followers in the mid-1530s, first among whom was Gonzaga. Their religious circle at Naples was part of a wider confluence of ideas and like-minded people, including many women, who were based at various locations across Italy, such as Viterbo, Modena, Venice, and Rome, under the leadership of the likes of Reginald Pole, Giovanni Morone, and Gasparo Contarini. From the early 1540s, the spirituali became the focus of suspicion from the newly reinstated Roman Inquisition because of their ideas’ resemblance to the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, especially the doctrine of justification by faith alone through grace and, in some cases, predestination. After the death of Valdés in 1541, Gonzaga assumed leadership of the Neapolitan circle and became custodian and promoter of spirituali writings, many of which she had published: she was also a protector of various members, especially the Florentine noble Pietro Carnesecchi, whose correspondence with Gonzaga provided the main evidence at his heresy trial and execution by the Roman Inquisition in 1567, one year after Gonzaga’s death, in Naples, in 1566. Since Gonzaga outlived many of her spirituali peers and remained in Italy while some of her associates fled over the Alps to Protestant lands, Gonzaga stands as an important example of the persistence of heterodox reformist tendencies in Italy during the Tridentine era.
Infanticide
Authors: Taddia Elena
Published: October 2024

Infanticide, from the low Latin infanticidium, refers to the murder of a newborn, a crime found in all societies, in every historical period, and in most cases committed by its mother. The word infanticidium, first used by Tertullian in the Apologeticum (c. 197), denotes a ritual crime of a child in the context of early Christianity. The crime referred to the Holy Innocents—the children of Bethlehem massacred by Herod in the attempt to destroy the Infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16–18)—and/or was associated with the issue of baptism in newborn children. The word infanticide, however, was foreign to the Roman law; there is evidence of its employ in crescendo in Western sources (jurists’ treatises, criminal archives, forensic medicine, literature, encyclopedias, etc.) only since the late sixteenth century. In the early modern period, both Protestant and Catholic countries reinforced the control against child murders in all its aspects to prevent suffocation and pregnancy concealment; the Catholic Church was concerned about saving the souls of newborn children and desired for them to avoid the eternal conditions of Limbo. Infanticide is also perceived as an attempt at birth control and controlling the sex ratio, or as a failed abortion or abandonment. Infanticide was frequently affiliated or confused with abandonment, exposure, suffocation, accidental smothering, concealment, abortion, and homicide, as well as parricide, well into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, while during the eighteenth century, infanticide appears more like a crime committed to save honor, and judges were generally indulgent with regard to criminal mothers. In the early twenty-first century, different disciplines that cross the histories of childhood, women, and gender studies—that is, anthropology, behavioral biology, criminology, law history, forensic medicine, demography, psychology, sociology, etc.—set out to give the reasons for this cruel act. Here we finally consider infanticide studies as an independent research subject within a historical perspective separated from the clinical and forensic literature, which developed from the middle of the nineteenth century. Historians dealing with infanticide were often discouraged by the “lack of sources” or by difficulty in identifying the cause of death because infanticide was easy to conceal. Forensic and juridical sources are more abundant starting in the eighteenth century, and from this century on, the crime is finally classified as infanticide. Infanticide in the field of historical sciences is a recent subject of study. There are still no exhaustive studies that bring together all-round works from a chronological and geographical point of view; nevertheless, in recent years these studies are increasing and very promising.