bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association between ambulatory blood pressure monitoring patterns with cognitive function and risk of dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Gavriilaki Maria , Anyfanti Panagiota , Mastrogiannis Konstantinos , Gavriilaki Eleni , Lazaridis Antonios , Kimiskidis Vasilios , Gkaliagkousi Eugenia
Published: March 2023

Background

The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate whether nocturnal blood pressure fall, expressed by dipping patterns according to 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), is associated with abnormal cognitive function (cognitive impairment or dementia).

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases to identify original articles through December 2022. We included any study with at least ten participants reporting on all-cause dementia or cognitive impairment incidence (primary outcome) or validated cognitive tests (secondary outcome) among ABPM patterns. We assessed risk of bias using Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. We pooled odds ratios (OR) and standardized mean differences (SMD) using random-effect models for primary and secondary outcome, respectively.

Results

In the qualitative synthesis, 28 studies examining 7595 patients were included. The pooled analysis of 18 studies showed that dippers had a 51% [OR 0.49(0.35–0.69)] lower risk of abnormal cognitive function and a 63% [OR 0.37(0.23–0.61)] lower risk of dementia alone, compared to non-dippers. Reverse dippers presented an up to sixfold higher risk [OR 6.06(3.15–11.64)] of abnormal cognitive function compared to dippers and an almost twofold higher risk [OR 1.81(1.26–2.6)] compared to non-dippers. Reverse dippers performed worse in global function neuropsychological tests compared with both dippers [SMD − 0.66(− 0.93 to − 0.39)] and non-dippers [SMD − 0.35(− 0.53 to − 0.16)].

Conclusion

Dysregulation of the normal circadian BP rhythm, specifically non-dipping and reverse dipping is associated with abnormal cognitive function. Further studies are required to determine potential underlying mechanisms and possible prognostic or therapeutic implications.

Protocol registration

PROSPERO database (ID: CRD42022310384).
Biomarkers for risk stratification and antibiotic stewardship in elderly patients
Authors: Falcone Marco , Bauer Michael , Ferrer Ricard , Gavazzi Gaëtan , Gonzalez del Castillo Juan , Pilotto Alberto , Schuetz Philipp
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Optimal treatment of infections in the elderly patients population is challenging because clinical symptoms and signs may be less specific potentially resulting in both, over- and undertreatment. Elderly patients also have a less pronounced immune response to infection, which may influence kinetics of biomarkers of infection.

Methods

Within a group of experts, we critically reviewed the current literature regarding biomarkers for risk stratification and antibiotic stewardship in elderly patients with emphasis on procalcitonin (PCT).

Results

The expert group agreed that there is strong evidence that the elderly patient population is particularly vulnerable for infections and due to ambiguity of clinical signs and parameters in the elderly, there is considerable risk for undertreatment. At the same time, however, this group of patients is particularly vulnerable for off-target effects from antibiotic treatment and limiting the use of antibiotics is therefore important. The use of infection markers including PCT to guide individual treatment decisions has thus particular appeal in geriatric patients. For the elderly, there is evidence that PCT is a valuable biomarker for assessing the risk of septic complications and adverse outcomes, and helpful for guiding individual decisions for or against antibiotic treatment. There is need for additional educational efforts regarding the concept of “biomarker-guided antibiotic stewardship” for health care providers caring for elderly patients.

Conclusion

Use of biomarkers, most notably PCT, has high potential to improve the antibiotic management of elderly patients with possible infection for improving both, undertreatment and overtreatment. Within this narrative review, we aim to provide evidence-based concepts for the safe and efficient use of PCT in elderly patients.
Tribo-corrosion interaction of the parallel steel wires in the suspension bridges
Authors: Wang Bo , Wang Dagang , Chong Hailang , Xie Guozheng , Zhang Dekun , Ge Shirong
Published: March 2023

The effect of contact load and relative displacement on tribo-corrosion interaction of parallel steel wires of main cable in the suspension bridge was investigated in this study. A self-made tribo-corrosion test bench was employed to conduct tribo-corrosion tests of parallel steel wires in 3.5% (wt%) NaCl solution and deionized water under different contact loads and different relative displacements. The friction coefficient and wear coefficient of wires were presented. Electrochemical corrosion behavior (Tafel polarization curves, Nyquist diagram, and equivalent circuit diagram) was characterized by electrochemical analyzer. Wear morphology was observed by scanning electron microscope. Wear volume loss and corrosion-wear interaction were quantitatively demonstrated by high-precision weighing balance. The results show that the electrochemical corrosion ability of the steel wires increases with the increase of the contact load or relative displacement. The increased contact load or relative displacement increases the volume loss of corrosion-wear and pure wear, but decreases the wear coefficient. The wear mechanisms in 3.5% NaCl solution are adhesive wear, abrasive wear, and corrosive wear as compared to adhesive wear and abrasive wear in deionized water under different contact loads. The wear mechanisms of parallel steel wires are slightly different under different relative displacements. But the main wear mechanisms are similar to that under different contact loads. The interaction effects of corrosion and wear produced by the contact load and relative displacement are all the synergistic effects.
Tailoring the tribological properties of nanostructured carbon films under water lubrication
Authors: Yang Lei , Xin Shaoshan , Geng Jiang , Guo Meiling
Published: March 2023

Carbon films have been considered suitable to be applied in water lubrication since they exhibit excellent friction-reducing and wear resistance, chemical inertness, etc. However, the basic understanding of tribological behaviors of carbon-based films under water lubrication still needs to be explored. In the present work, carbon films with different nanostructures were prepared by the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma nano-surface manufacturing system, and micro-textures with different sizes were prepared on the surface of carbon films by plasma etching. The influence of nanostructure and surface texture on the tribological properties of carbon films was investigated. The results show that different nanostructured carbon films can obtain lower friction coefficients and longer wear life under water lubrication than under dry condition. Due to low surface roughness, high hardness, and compact structure, the tribological properties of amorphous carbon (a-C) films under water lubrication are much better than those of graphene sheet-embedded carbon (GSEC) films. The prepared surface texture has a negative effect on the hard a-C film, but it can make the soft GSEC film generate soft wear debris at the initial stage. With the action of water, the soft wear debris is bonded on the surface of the contacting ball to form a silt-like transfer film, which increases the wear life by nearly three orders of magnitude. These results extend the basic understanding of the tribological behavior of carbon film under water lubrication, which is crucial in both fundamental and applied science.
A real-time semantic visual SLAM for dynamic environment based on deep learning and dynamic probabilistic propagation
Authors: Chen Liang , Ling Zhi , Gao Yu , Sun Rongchuan , Jin Sheng
Published: March 2023

Most existing visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms rely heavily on the static world assumption. Combined with deep learning, semantic SLAM has become a popular solution for dynamic scenes. However, most semantic SLAM methods show poor real-time performance when dealing with dynamic scenes. To handle this problem, a real-time semantic SLAM method is proposed in this paper, combining knowledge distillation and dynamic probability propagation strategy. First, to improve the execution speed, a multi-level knowledge distillation method is adopted to obtain a lightweight segmentation model, which is more suitable for continuous frames to create an independent semantic segmentation thread. This segmentation thread only accepts keyframes as input so that the system can avoid time delay caused by processing each frame. Second, a static semantic keyframe selection strategy is proposed based on the segmentation results. In this way, those keyframes containing more static information will be selected to reduce the participation of dynamic objects. By combining segmentation results and data matching algorithm, our system can realize the update and propagation of dynamic probability, reducing the influence of dynamic points in the pose optimization process. Validation results based on the KITTI and TUM datasets show that our method can effectively deal with dynamic feature points and improve running speed simultaneously.
The Quality of Regional Institutional Context and Museum Service Provision: Evidence from Italy
Authors: Cellini Roberto , Cuccia Tiziana , Ferrante Livio , Lisi Domenico
Published: March 2023

This study evaluates whether and how the services provided by Italian museums are influenced by the quality of the institutional context at the regional level. Institutional quality is measured by a range of indicators largely employed in the literature, such as the Institutional Quality Index (IQI), the European Quality of Government Index (EQI), and their components. Resorting to spatial autoregressive models, the presence of spatial dependence in museum service provision is also investigated. The analysis shows that the common institutional context is significant, especially for public museums, and it explains part of the spatial correlation among museums within regions.
Public Awareness of Medical Research Terminology in Japan, and the Accuracy of Physicians’ Predictions regarding that Awareness
Authors: Kamisato Ayako , Hong Hyunsoo , Okubo Suguru
Published: March 2023

One of the ethical principles of medical research involving human subjects is obtaining proper informed consent (IC). However, if the participants’ actual awareness of medical research terminology is lower than the researchers’ prediction of that awareness, it may cause difficulty obtaining proper IC. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the presence of “perception gaps” and then discuss IC-related issues and measures based on the insights obtained. We conducted two online surveys: a “public survey” to understand the Japanese public’s awareness of 11 medical research terms and a “physicians’ survey” to investigate physicians’ predictions regarding public awareness. In the “public survey,” for each term, respondents were instructed to select their situation from “understand,” “have heard,” or “have never heard.” In the “physicians’ survey,” respondents were asked to estimate the proportions of the general public who would “have understood,” “have heard,” or “have never heard” by using an 11-step scale. We analyzed separately in two age groups to understand the age-related difference. We received 1002 valid responses for the “public survey” and 275 for the “physicians’ survey.” Of the public respondents, more than 80% had never heard of terms such as interventional study, prospective clinical study, cohort study, Phase I clinical trial, or double-blind study. Concurrently, physicians overestimated general public awareness of the terms placebo, cohort study, double-blind study, and randomized clinical trial (in the group of people under 60). The results revealed the perception gap between the general public and physicians which raise serious concerns about obtaining proper IC from clinical research participants.
Advances in continuous polymer analysis in flow with application towards biopolymers
Authors: Patterson Samuel B. H. , Wong Raymond , Barker Graeme , Vilela Filipe
Published: March 2023

Biopolymers, polymers derived from renewable biomass sources, have gained increasing attention in recent years due to their potential to replace traditional petroleum-based polymers in a range of applications. Among the many advantages of biopolymers can be included their biocompatibility, excellent mechanical properties, and availability from renewable feedstock. However, the development of biopolymers has been limited by a lack of understanding of their properties and processing behaviours. Continuous analysis techniques have the potential to hasten progress in this area by providing real-time insights into the properties and processing of biopolymers. Significant research in polymer chemistry has focused on petroleum-derived polymers and has thus provided a wealth of synthetic and analytical methodologies which may be applied to the biopolymer field. Of particular note is the application of flow technology in polymer science and its implications for accelerating progress towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional petroleum-based polymers. In this mini review we have outlined several of the most prominent use cases for biopolymers along with the current state-of-the art in continuous analysis of polymers in flow, including defining and differentiating atline, inline, online and offline analysis. We have found several examples for continuous flow analysis which have direct application to the biopolymer field, and we demonstrate an atline continuous polymer analysis method using size exclusion chromatography.

Graphical abstract
Structures of Governance in Song Dynasty China, 960–1279 CE
Authors: Hartman Charles
Published: March 2023

Charles Hartman presents an ambitious analysis of the workings of governance in Imperial China centered on the Song Dynasty (960–1279). Here he develops a new model for thinking about the deeper structures of governance in Song and pre-imperial China – the 'technocratic–Confucian continuum' – which challenges the prevailing perception of Confucian political dominance and offers a vehicle for expanding the definition and scope of Song political culture to embrace all its actors. Building on his acclaimed work The Making of Song Dynasty History: Sources and Narratives, 960–1279 CE (2021), this richly detailed exploration of the Song court is of significance beyond the immediate period of study both in rethinking the nature of monarchy in China and in examining the constructive possibility of political dissent.
Jubilee's Experiment
Authors: Gabriel Dexter J.
Published: March 2023

Dexter J. Gabriel's Jubilee's Experiment is a thorough examination of how the emancipated British Caribbean colonies entered into the debates over abolition and African American citizenship in the US from the 1830s through the 1860s. It analyzes this public discourse, created by black and white abolitionists, and African Americans more generally in antebellum America, as both propaganda and rhetoric. Simultaneously, Gabriel interweaves the lived experiences of former slaves in the West Indies – their daily acts of resistance and struggles for greater freedoms – to further augment but complicate this debate. An important and timely intervention, Jubilee's Experiment argues that the measured success of former slaves in the West Indies became a crucial focal point in the struggle against slavery in antebellum North America.
Optimal Stocker Production Strategies for Spring and Fall Calving Cow Herd
Authors: Key Cora , Boyer Christopher N. , Martinez Charles C. , Mason Katie M.
Published: March 2023

We determine optimal stocker strategies based on calving season, herd size, and the number of days of retention before marketing weaned calves. We estimate a hedonic pricing model for feeder cattle and incorporate this into a simulation model that considers the variability of cattle prices and feed costs. The profit and utility-maximizing decision for fall calving herd would be to retain weaned calves for 150-day postweaning. The producer marketing spring-born calves would prefer to sell these calves at weaning. The results are being utilized by extension to aid cattle producers in reducing their feed costs and increasing their profits.
Individual-level determinants of current trade union membership and previous trade union membership in European countries
Authors: Iner Mehmet
Published: March 2023

This article aimed to explore the individual-level determinants of current and previous trade union memberships and to question if certain patterns are prevalent among European countries. Accordingly, repeated logit models across 15 European countries are applied drawing on the ninth round of the European Social Survey data. Variables are selected primarily considering the supply–demand theory, which explains the union membership based on the idea that employees are seeking to maximise the utility through cost and benefit analysis. In this context, this article offers a comprehensive analysis of the determinants of trade union membership with findings suggesting that personal, occupational and workplace characteristics affect current membership while occupational and workplace characteristics have effects with inverse directions on current membership and previous membership.
Instabilities in the wake of an isolated cylindrical roughness element
Authors: Weingärtner André , Mamidala Santhosh B. , Fransson Jens H.M.
Published: March 2023

The instability mechanism behind a geometrically simple cylindrical roughness element continues to be a challenging topic in fluid mechanics. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the phenomena in recent years, but more research is needed to predict the temporal nature and spatial structure of the dominant instability in a given flow configuration. This is of particular interest, as these instabilities dictate the transition to turbulence and thus are significant for large-scale effects such as skin friction drag. A smoke-flow visualization study with a large variation of parameters, featuring a cylindrical roughness element connected to a linear traverse, has been performed. Results show good agreement with previous investigations and provide further insights into the stability properties, revealing several unexpected effects. For a low roughness aspect ratio

$\eta$

, no global instability is detected even at the highest roughness Reynolds number

$Re_{kk}$

, whereas a high aspect ratio indicates a delay in the onset of instability. From the acquired visualizations, we constructed the, so far, richest instability diagram of the wake behind an isolated roughness element in the

$Re_{kk}\unicode{x2013}\eta$

space, sampled in the same measurement campaign. Furthermore, information regarding the dominant frequency in the wake can be extracted from the visualization images. Our results suggest a new scaling of the frequency as the velocity is increased. Finally, it is shown that the dominant frequency in a certain flow regime can be well predicted using a Strouhal number based on the cylinder diameter and the roughness velocity.
Large-eddy simulation of tripping effects on the flow over a 6 : 1 prolate spheroid at angle of attack
Authors: Plasseraud Marc , Kumar Praveen , Mahesh Krishnan
Published: March 2023

Large-eddy simulation is used to simulate the flow around a 6 : 1 prolate spheroid at

$10^\circ$

and

$20^\circ$

angles of attack, and Reynolds number

$4.2 \times 10^6$

. Flows with and without trip are compared to understand the relative effect of the trip on the state of the boundary layer and separation. For the tripped case, the geometry of the trip is resolved to better predict its effect on the downstream flow. The simulations employ overset grids that allow adequate resolution of the trips without significant increase in the overall computational cost. Results suggest that while the trip accelerates transition to turbulence at

$10^\circ$

, it does not induce a fully developed turbulent boundary layer as intended at

$20^\circ$

. Rather, the influence of the trip is localized, and the near-wall flow converges towards a solution similar to that of the non-tripped case upstream of separation. This is due to two distinct phenomena: directly downstream of the trip, favourable pressure gradient and streamline curvature effects suppress the disturbance on the windward side. Further along the spheroid, the boundary layer receives a small fraction of the initial perturbation due to spanwise and wall-normal streamline curvatures inducing a secondary flow that advects the low-momentum trip wake to the leeward side. The locations of transition and separation are insensitive to the presence of the trip. The simulation results are used to construct a regime map that identifies different regions characterized by distinct boundary layer properties and flow features. The present results underscore the difficulty associated with tripping smooth bodies at angle of attack, and the importance of accounting for transition in simulations of such flows, even on tripped geometries.
Chunking up speech in real time: linguistic predictors and cognitive constraints
Authors: Vetchinnikova Svetlana , Konina Alena , Williams Nitin , Mikušová Nina , Mauranen Anna
Published: March 2023

There have been some suggestions in linguistics and cognitive science that humans process continuous speech by routinely chunking it up into smaller units. The nature of the process is open to debate, which is complicated by the apparent existence of two entirely different chunking processes, both of which seem to be warranted by the limitations of working memory. To overcome them, humans seem to both combine items into larger units for future retrieval (usage-based chunking), and partition incoming streams into temporal groups (perceptual chunking). To determine linguistic properties and cognitive constraints of perceptual chunking, most previous research has employed short-constructed stimuli modeled on written language. In contrast, we presented linguistically naïve listeners with excerpts of natural speech from corpora and collected their intuitive perceptions of chunk boundaries. We then used mixed-effects logistic regression models to find out to what extent pauses, prosody, syntax, chunk duration, and surprisal predict chunk boundary perception. The results showed that all cues were important, suggesting cue degeneracy, but with substantial variation across listeners and speech excerpts. Chunk duration had a strong effect, supporting the cognitive constraint hypothesis. The direction of the surprisal effect supported the distinction between perceptual and usage-based chunking.
Divided We Unite: The Nature of Partyism and the Role of Coalition Partnership in Europe
Authors: HAHM HYEONHO , HILPERT DAVID , KÖNIG THOMAS
Published: March 2023

Highlighting the strength of “partyism” in many democracies, recent scholarship pays keen attention to increasing hostility and distrust among citizens across party lines, known as affective polarization. By combining a conjoint analysis with decision-making games such as dictator and trust games, we design a novel survey experiment to systematically estimate and compare the strength of the partisan divide relative to other social divides across 25 European democracies. This design also allows us to investigate how the two components of affective polarization, in-group favoritism and out-group derogation, are moderated by the way parties interact with each other. We first find dominance of the partisan divide compared to other social divides that constitute traditional cleavages such as social class and religion. Second, we show that affective polarization in Europe is not primarily driven by out-group animus. Finally, we demonstrate that coalition partnership lessens affective polarization by reducing both in-group and out-group biases.
Sustainable-psycho-nutritional intervention programme for a sustainable diet (the ‘NutriSOS’ study) and its effects on eating behaviour, diet quality, nutritional status, physical activity, metabolic biomarkers, gut microbiota and water and carbon footprints in Mexican population: study protocol of an mHealth randomised controlled trial
Authors: Lares-Michel Mariana , Housni Fatima Ezzahra , Reyes-Castillo Zyanya , Huertas Jesús R. , Aguilera-Cervantes Virginia Gabriela , Michel-Nava Rosa María
Published: March 2023

Mexico is going through an environmental and nutritional crisis related to unsustainable dietary behaviours. Sustainable diets could solve both problems together. This study protocol aims to develop a three-stage, 15-week mHealth randomised controlled trial of a sustainable-psycho-nutritional intervention programme to promote Mexican population adherence to a sustainable diet and to evaluate its effects on health and environmental outcomes. In stage 1, the programme will be designed using the sustainable diets, behaviour change wheel and capability, opportunity, motivation, and behaviour (COM-B) models. A sustainable food guide, recipes, meal plans and a mobile application will be developed. In stage 2, the intervention will be implemented for 7 weeks, and a 7-week follow-up period in a young Mexican adults (18–35 years) sample, randomly divided (1:1 ratio) into a control group (n50) and an experimental group (n50), will be divided into two arms at week 8. Outcomes will include health, nutrition, environment, behaviour and nutritional-sustainable knowledge. Additionally, socio-economics and culture will be considered. Thirteen behavioural objectives will be included using successive approaches in online workshops twice a week. The population will be monitored using the mobile application consisting of behavioural change techniques. In stage 3, the effects of the intervention will be assessed using mixed-effects models on dietary intake and quality, nutritional status, physical activity, metabolic biomarkers (serum glucose and lipid profile), gut microbiota composition and dietary water and carbon footprints of the evaluated population. Improvements in health outcomes and a decrease in dietary water and carbon footprints are expected.
MAXENTIUS AS XERXES IN EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA'S ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLE OF THE MILVIAN BRIDGE
Authors: Serfass Adam
Published: March 2023

Of the many accounts of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge ina.d.312 written soon after the conflict, only those of Eusebius of Caesarea have Maxentius cross the Tiber on a bridge of boats to face the forces of Constantine. This detail, it is here argued, suggests that Maxentius may be seen as a latter-day Xerxes, the Persian emperor who, in preparation for his invasion of Greece in 480b.c., famously spanned the Hellespont with a pair of boat-bridges. The article first reviews the seminal accounts of Xerxes’ feat in Aeschylus’Persiansand Herodotus’Histories, and next discusses the story's long afterlife in subsequent Greek (and Latin) authors, including those of Late Antiquity. Close analysis of Eusebius’ battle narratives in hisEcclesiastical History(9.9.3–8) and in hisLife of Constantine(1.38) reveals that their vocabulary echoes the distinctive language used by Aeschylus, Herodotus and later writers in reference to Xerxes’ achievement. The article concludes by exploring the implications of this identification of Maxentius with Xerxes. It exemplifies two venerable tactics in Roman political propaganda: that of portraying a native rival as a foreign enemy and that of mapping the Persian Wars onto contemporary events. As Xerxesrediuiuus, Maxentius is cast as the quintessential barbarian tyrant, an Eastern despot resident in Rome.
On the existence of baby skyrmions stabilized by vector mesons
Authors: Greco Carlo
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we prove the existence of topologically non-trivial solutions of the two-dimensional Adkins–Nappi model of nuclear physics; to this end, we minimize the energy functional by using the classical Skyrme ansatz, as well as a non-radially symmetric generalization of it. In both cases, we show that the minimization procedure preserves the topological degree of the minimization sequence.
Analytic theology and science-engaged theology
Authors: Leidenhag Joanna
Published: March 2023

This article contributes to ongoing discussions on the place of theology in secular research universities by examining the relationship between analytic theology and science-engaged theology. Writing in response to William Wood's Analytic Theology and the Academic Study of Religion, I consider if and how one might demarcate these two recent movements in academic theology given that both sociological and substantive definitions result in significant overlap. To show the extent of this overlap, I argue that both analytic theology and science-engaged theology are forms of faith seeking understanding, which use the tools and methods from other disciplines in order to make incremental progress on specific theological questions. I then offer two critiques of Wood's argument (made by analogy with the natural sciences) that the doctrine of creation provides theological warrant for the extension of common human reason seen in analytic philosophy and theology. My own attempt at a demarcation suggests that whereas analytic theology is best understood as an intellectual tradition, science-engaged theology is an intellectual disposition. This means that although science-engaged theology may not always be analytic, analytic theologians (and theologians more widely) should always be science-engaged.
Behavioural equivalences for continuous-time Markov processes
Authors: Chen Linan , Clerc Florence , Panangaden Prakash
Published: March 2023

Bisimulation is a concept that captures behavioural equivalence of states in a variety of types of transition systems. It has been widely studied in a discrete-time setting. The core of this work is to generalise the discrete-time picture to continuous time by providing a notion of behavioural equivalence for continuous-time Markov processes. In Chen et al. [(2019). Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science347 45–63.], we proposed two equivalent definitions of bisimulation for continuous-time stochastic processes where the evolution is a flow through time: the first one as an equivalence relation and the second one as a cospan of morphisms. In Chen et al. [(2020). Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science.], we developed the theory further: we introduced different concepts that correspond to different behavioural equivalences and compared them to bisimulation. In particular, we studied the relation between bisimulation and symmetry groups of the dynamics. We also provided a game interpretation for two of the behavioural equivalences. The present work unifies the cited conference presentations and gives detailed proofs.
New record of cold-adapted fauna on the Castilian Plateau: Woolly rhinoceros – Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799) – at La Mina (Burgos, Spain)
Authors: ARCEREDILLO Diego , DÍEZ FERNÁNDEZ-LOMANA Carlos , JORDÁ PARDO Jesús Francisco
Published: March 2023

La Mina is one of three sites, along with Cueva Millán and La Ermita, located in the middle course of the Arlanza river. La Mina was excavated for the first time in 2006 and three test pits were carried out. In one of them, evidence of two Palaeolithic occupations was identified and several remains of woolly rhinoceros were recovered. Amino acid racemisation dating yielded an age of 52.5 ka BP, the earliest Upper Pleistocene date for Coelodonta antiquitatis on the Iberian Peninsula. This new record may have several implications for understanding the access routes to the Castilian Plateau, together with the definition of a new migratory wave of this species at the end of the Pleistocene. The location of La Mina on the Castilian Plateau may help researchers to complete the movements of this species through the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic on the Iberian Peninsula.
SAMT
Authors: Merkert Alexandra , Lenske Gerlinde
Published: March 2023

Zusammenfassung: Sprachliche Fähigkeiten erweisen sich als relevant für das mathematische Lernen (siehe u. a. Bochnik & Ufer, 2016 ; Daroczy et al., 2015 ; Prediger et al., 2019 ). Die Diagnostik sprachlicher Fähigkeiten in Mathematik kann eine Grundlage für die individuelle und fachspezifische Förderung bilden ( Häsel-Weide & Prediger, 2017 ). Das Diagnoseinstrument SAMT ermöglicht die Diagnostik der sprachlichen Ausdrucksfähigkeit von Primarstufenschülerinnen und -schülern im Fach Mathematik. Gegenstand des Beitrags ist die Validierung des Diagnoseinstruments und damit die Darstellung der Testgüte. Die Validierung war in das Forschungs- und Evaluationsprojekt Eva-Prim eingebettet, das durch das BMBF gefördert wurde. Die der Validierungsstudie zugrundliegende Stichprobe umfasst insgesamt 384 Schülerinnen und Schüler der 3. und 4. Klassenstufe. Zusammenfassend liefern die Ergebnisse den Nachweis für eine zufriedenstellende Reliabilität, faktorielle Validität und kriteriale Validität sowie Änderungssensitivität. Zusätzlich konnte die Messinvarianz zwischen den Geschlechtern nachgewiesen werden (siehe dazu auch Merkert, 2022 ).
An Impartial Measure of Collective Action
Authors: Cervone Carmen , Suitner Caterina , Carraro Luciana , Maass Anne
Published: March 2023

Abstract: In three studies, we developed and validated the Belief-aligned Collective Action scale (BCA), a new measure of collective action that discriminates the so far confounded engagement in collective action from the ideological stance on the issue. In Studies 1a ( N = 585 Italian adult participants, 61% women) and 1b ( N = 296 British adult participants, 52% women), an Exploratory Factor Analysis identified two factors, Normative and Non-normative actions. In Study 2 ( N = 602 Italian adult participants, 50% women), a bifactor Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed an adequate fit of the two-factor structure. Across studies, the scale presents good internal reliability (as indicated by Cronbach’s α and ω total) and correlations in the predicted direction with common predictors of collective action, namely efficacy, anger, and group identity. Furthermore, Study 2 shows the generalizability of the scale to multiple topics, of which some are more relevant to left-wing people (e.g., wealth tax) and some to right-wing people (e.g., abortion). In these cases, we find no evidence for the effect of ideological variables such as political orientation and system justification. This tool allows researchers to assess collective action unbiasedly, contributing to the bridging of the ideological knowledge gap in the field of social psychology.
60 Years and Beyond of Reviews of Geophysics
Authors: Florindo Fabio , Acocella Valerio , Carlton Ann Marie , D’Odorico Paolo , Duan Qingyun , Gettelman Andrew , Halekas Jasper , Harris Ruth , Mollenhauer Gesine , Robock Alan , Stirling Claudine , Yokoyama Yusuke
Published: March 2023

Reviews of Geophysics is an AGU journal, first established in February 1963. It is a hybrid open access invitation‐only journal that publishes comprehensive review articles across various disciplines within the Earth and Space Sciences. The selection criteria are rigorous and many submissions are declined without review. The journal is the highest ranked in the fields of Geochemistry and Geophysics, with a high Journal Impact Factor (JIF2021 = 24.9), which is indicative of its high visibility and influence within the scientific community. The journal's published review papers, beyond a mere summary of literature, provide crucial context for current work, and establish the framework for comprehensive understanding of research progress, challenges, and interconnections between different communities, so that research may be appreciated by a broad audience. We emphasize the importance of publishing studies that provide a comprehensive overview and synthesis of the current state of knowledge in a field, especially in the case of geophysics, where knowledge is rapidly developing, increasing and becoming more specialized.
Enhancement of pattern quality in maskless plasmonic lithography via spatial loss modulation
Authors: Han Dandan , Deng Sen , Ye Tianchun , Wei Yayi
Published: March 2023

Plasmonic lithography, which uses the evanescent electromagnetic (EM) fields to generate image beyond the diffraction limit, has been successfully demonstrated as an alternative lithographic technology for creating sub-10 nm patterns. However, the obtained photoresist pattern contour in general exhibits a very poor fidelity due to the near-field optical proximity effect (OPE), which is far below the minimum requirement for nanofabrication. Understanding the near-field OPE formation mechanism is important to minimize its impact on nanodevice fabrication and improve its lithographic performance. In this work, a point-spread function (PSF) generated by a plasmonic bowtie-shaped nanoaperture (BNA) is employed to quantify the photon-beam deposited energy in the near-field patterning process. The achievable resolution of plasmonic lithography has successfully been enhanced to approximately 4 nm with numerical simulations. A field enhancement factor (F) as a function of gap size is defined to quantitatively evaluate the strong near-field enhancement effect excited by a plasmonic BNA, which also reveals that the high enhancement of the evanescent field is due to the strong resonant coupling between the plasmonic waveguide and the surface plasmon waves (SPWs). However, based on an investigation of the physical origin of the near-field OPE, and the theoretical calculations and simulation results indicate that the evanescent-field-induced rapid loss of high-k information is one of the main optical contributors to the near-field OPE. Furthermore, an analytic formula is introduced to quantitatively analyze the effect of the rapidly decaying feature of the evanescent field on the final exposure pattern profile. Notably, a fast and effective optimization method based on the compensation principle of the exposure dose is proposed to reduce the pattern distortion by modulating the exposure map with dose leveling. The proposed pattern quality enhancement method can open new possibilities in the manufacture of nanostructures with ultrahigh pattern quality via plasmonic lithography, which would find potentially promising applications in high density optical storage, biosensors, and plasmonic nanofocusing.
Emotion processing in youths with conduct problems: an fMRI meta-analysis
Authors: Berluti Kathryn , Ploe Montana L. , Marsh Abigail A.
Published: March 2023

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies consistently indicate differences in emotion processing in youth with conduct problems. However, no prior meta-analysis has investigated emotion-specific responses associated with conduct problems. This meta-analysis aimed to generate an up-to-date assessment of socio-affective neural responding among youths with conduct problems. A systematic literature search was conducted in youths (ages 10–21) with conduct problems. Task-specific seed-based d mapping analyses examined responses to threatening images, fearful and angry facial expressions, and empathic pain stimuli from 23 fMRI studies, which included 606 youths with conduct problems and 459 comparison youths. Whole-brain analyses revealed youths with conduct problems relative to typically developing youths, when viewing angry facial expressions, had reduced activity in left supplementary motor area and superior frontal gyrus. Additional region of interest analyses of responses to negative images and fearful facial expressions showed reduced activation in right amygdala across youths with conduct problems. Youths with callous-unemotional traits also exhibited reduced activation in left fusiform gyrus, superior parietal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus when viewing fearful facial expressions. Consistent with the behavioral profile of conduct problems, these findings suggest the most consistent dysfunction is found in regions associated with empathic responding and social learning, including the amygdala and temporal cortex. Youth with callous-unemotional traits also show reduced activation in the fusiform gyrus, consistent with reduced attention or facial processing. These findings highlight the potential role of empathic responding, social learning, and facial processing along with the associated brain regions as potential targets for interventions.
Influenza viral matrix 1 protein aggravates viral pathogenicity by inducing TLR4-mediated reactive oxygen species production and apoptotic cell death
Authors: Kim Chang-Ung , Lim Dahwan , Kim Young Sang , Ku Bonsu , Kim Doo-Jin
Published: March 2023

Influenza virus is one of the most challenging viruses threating human health. Since infection with influenza virus triggers inflammatory responses and induces cell death, the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which the virus-infected cells undergo apoptotic and necrotic cell death have been widely studied. However, most of the studies have focused on the molecular events occurring in the cytosol and there is limited information on the physiological correlation between virus-induced cell death and the viral pathogenesis in vivo. In this study, we demonstrate that the influenza virus matrix 1 (M1) protein is released from virus-infected cells and triggers apoptotic cell death of lung epithelial and pulmonary immune cells, through the activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling. Treatment with M1 protein led to robust cellular inflammatory responses, such as the production of proinflammatory cytokines and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and induction of cell death. When M1 protein was administered in vivo, it induced the activation of inflammatory responses and cell death in the lungs. Furthermore, the administration of M1 aggravated lung pathology and mortality of the virus-infected mice in a TLR4-dependent manner. These results demonstrate that M1 is an important pathogenic factor contributing to influenza virus pathogenicity by enhancing cell death in the lungs, thereby expanding our understanding of the molecular mechanism of influenza virus-induced cell death through the interaction with an innate immune receptor.
Public attitudes toward cloud computing and willingness to share personal health records (PHRs) and genome data for health care research in Japan
Authors: Kusunose Mayumi , Muto Kaori
Published: March 2023

Japan’s government aims to promote the linkage of medical records, including medical genomic testing data and personal health records (PHRs), via cloud computing (the cloud). However, linking national medical records and using them for health care research can be controversial. Additionally, many ethical issues with using cloud networks with health care and genome data have been noted. However, no research has yet explored the Japanese public’s opinions about their PHRs, including genome data, being shared for health care research or the use of the cloud for storing and analyzing such data. Therefore, we conducted a survey in March 2021 to clarify the public’s attitudes toward sharing their PHRs, including genome data and using the cloud for health care research. We analyzed data to experimentally create digital health basic literacy scores (BLSs). Our results showed that the Japanese public had concerns about data sharing that overlapped with structural cloud computing issues. The effect of incentives on changes in participants’ willingness to share data (WTSD) was limited. Instead, there could be a correlation between WTSD and BLSs. Finally, we argue that it is vital to consider not only researchers but also research participants as value cocreators in health care research conducted through the cloud to overcome both parties’ vulnerability.
A combinatorial code of neurexin-3 alternative splicing controls inhibitory synapses via a trans-synaptic dystroglycan signaling loop
Authors: Trotter Justin H. , Wang Cosmos Yuqi , Zhou Peng , Nakahara George , Südhof Thomas C.
Published: March 2023

Disrupted synaptic inhibition is implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders, yet the molecular mechanisms that shape and sustain inhibitory synapses are poorly understood. Here, we show through rescue experiments performed using Neurexin-3 conditional knockout mice that alternative splicing at SS2 and SS4 regulates the release probability, but not the number, of inhibitory synapses in the olfactory bulb and prefrontal cortex independent of sex. Neurexin-3 splice variants that mediate Neurexin-3 binding to dystroglycan enable inhibitory synapse function, whereas splice variants that don’t allow dystroglycan binding do not. Furthermore, a minimal Neurexin-3 protein that binds to dystroglycan fully sustains inhibitory synaptic function, indicating that trans-synaptic dystroglycan binding is necessary and sufficient for Neurexin-3 function in inhibitory synaptic transmission. Thus, Neurexin-3 enables a normal release probability at inhibitory synapses via a trans-synaptic feedback signaling loop consisting of presynaptic Neurexin-3 and postsynaptic dystroglycan.
Turning universal O into rare Bombay type blood
Authors: Anso Itxaso , Naegeli Andreas , Cifuente Javier O. , Orrantia Ane , Andersson Erica , Zenarruzabeitia Olatz , Moraleda-Montoya Alicia , García-Alija Mikel , Corzana Francisco , Del Orbe Rafael A. , Borrego Francisco , Trastoy Beatriz , Sjögren Jonathan , Guerin Marcelo E.
Published: March 2023

Red blood cell antigens play critical roles in blood transfusion since donor incompatibilities can be lethal. Recipients with the rare total deficiency in H antigen, the OhBombay phenotype, can only be transfused with group Ohblood to avoid serious transfusion reactions. We discover FucOB from the mucin-degrading bacteriaAkkermansia muciniphilaas an α-1,2-fucosidase able to hydrolyze Type I, Type II, Type III and Type V H antigens to obtain the afucosylated Bombay phenotype in vitro. X-ray crystal structures of FucOB show a three-domain architecture, including a GH95 glycoside hydrolase. The structural data together with site-directed mutagenesis, enzymatic activity and computational methods provide molecular insights into substrate specificity and catalysis. Furthermore, using agglutination tests and flow cytometry-based techniques, we demonstrate the ability of FucOB to convert universal O type into rare Bombay type blood, providing exciting possibilities to facilitate transfusion in recipients/patients with Bombay phenotype.
Cryo-tomography reveals rigid-body motion and organization of apicomplexan invasion machinery
Authors: Gui Long , O’Shaughnessy William J. , Cai Kai , Reetz Evan , Reese Michael L. , Nicastro Daniela
Published: March 2023

The apical complex is a specialized collection of cytoskeletal and secretory machinery in apicomplexan parasites, which include the pathogens that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis. Its structure and mechanism of motion are poorly understood. We used cryo-FIB-milling and cryo-electron tomography to visualize the 3D-structure of the apical complex in its protruded and retracted states. Averages of conoid-fibers revealed their polarity and unusual nine-protofilament arrangement with associated proteins connecting and likely stabilizing the fibers. Neither the structure of the conoid-fibers nor the architecture of the spiral-shaped conoid complex change during protrusion or retraction. Thus, the conoid moves as a rigid body, and is not spring-like and compressible, as previously suggested. Instead, the apical-polar-rings (APR), previously considered rigid, dilate during conoid protrusion. We identified actin-like filaments connecting the conoid and APR during protrusion, suggesting a role during conoid movements. Furthermore, our data capture the parasites in the act of secretion during conoid protrusion.