bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EBV promotes TCR-T-cell therapy resistance by inducing CD163+M2 macrophage polarization and MMP9 secretion
Authors: Chen Yuanyuan , Ouyang Dijun , Wang Yan , Pan Qiuzhong , Zhao Jingjing , Chen Hao , Yang Xinyi , Tang Yan , Wang Qijing , Li Yongqiang , He Jia , You Jin-Qi , Li Yingzi , Xu Chi , Ren Yan , Xie Sisi , Li Song , Lian Jiamin , Weng Desheng , Xiang Tong , Xia Jian-Chuan
Published: June 2024

Background

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a double-stranded DNA oncogenic virus. Several types of solid tumors, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, EBV-associated gastric carcinoma, and lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the lung, have been linked to EBV infection. Currently, several TCR-T-cell therapies for EBV-associated tumors are in clinical trials, but due to the suppressive immune microenvironment of solid tumors, the clinical application of TCR-T-cell therapy for EBV-associated solid tumors is limited. Figuring out the mechanism by which EBV participates in the formation of the tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment will help T cells or TCR-T cells break through the limitation and exert stronger antitumor potential.

Methods

Flow cytometry was used for analyzing macrophage differentiation phenotypes induced by EBV-infected and EBV-uninfected tumors, as well as the function of T cells co-cultured with these macrophages. Xenograft model in mice was used to explore the effects of M2 macrophages, TCR-T cells, and matrix metalloprotein 9 (MMP9) inhibitors on the growth of EBV-infected tumors.

Results

EBV-positive tumors exhibited an exhaustion profile of T cells, despite the presence of a large T-cell infiltration. EBV-infected tumors recruited a large number of mononuclear macrophages with CCL5 and induced CD163+M2 macrophages polarization through the secretion of CSF1 and the promotion of autocrine IL10 production by mononuclear macrophages. Massive secretion of MMP9 by this group of CD163+M2 macrophages induced by EBV infection was an important factor contributing to T-cell exhaustion and TCR-T-cell therapy resistance in EBV-positive tumors, and the use of MMP9 inhibitors improved the function of T cells cocultured with M2 macrophages. Finally, the combination of an MMP9 inhibitor with TCR-T cells targeting EBV-positive tumors significantly inhibited the growth of xenografts in mice.

Conclusions

MMP9 inhibitors improve TCR-T cell function suppressed by EBV-induced M2 macrophages. TCR-T-cell therapy combined with MMP9 inhibitors was an effective therapeutic strategy for EBV-positive solid tumors.
Reasons for using e-cigarettes among adults who smoke: comparing the findings from the 2016 and 2020 ITC Korea Surveys
Authors: Yoon Wonjeong , Seo Hong Gwan , Lee Sungkyu , Lee Eon Sook , Xu Steve S , Meng Gang , Quah Anne C K , Fong Geoffrey T , Lim Sujin , Kim Gil-yong , Kim Su Young , Cho Sung-il
Published: June 2024

Introduction

Dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes is a growing usage pattern in adults, but little is known about the motivations underlying this trend. We investigated the reasons for e-cigarette use among adults who smoke, considering variation in sociodemographic subgroups.

Methods

This repeated cross-sectional study analysed adults who smoked at least weekly and vaped at any frequency. Data were from the International Tobacco Control Korea Surveys conducted in 2016 (n=164) and 2020 (n=1088). Fourteen reasons for e-cigarette use were assessed in both waves. Subgroup analyses were performed by age, sex and educational level.

Results

The top reasons for e-cigarette use in 2020 were curiosity (62.8%), less harmful than smoking (45.4%) and taste (43.2%). Curiosity was the most cited across age, sex and education subgroups. Significant differences were observed in 2020 compared with 2016, with lower percentages in goal-oriented reasons: helping quit smoking (36.3% vs 48.9%; p=0.017), helping cut down smoking (35.3% vs 52.7%; p=0.001), less harmful to others (39.0% vs 54.6%; p=0.003) and more acceptable (31.6% vs 61.2%; p<0.001). By contrast, non-goal-oriented reasons showed higher percentages in 2020, such as curiosity (62.8% vs 27.9%; p<0.001), taste (43.2% vs 22.1%; p<0.001) and enjoyment (26.8% vs 8.6%; p<0.001). In 2020, a majority of adults who smoked and vaped (53.3%) reported no intention to quit or reduce smoking.

Conclusions

E-cigarette use for curiosity and pleasure predominated among adults who smoked. The reasons for dual use in adults have shifted from goal-oriented to non-goal-oriented.
Bifurcation Analysis and Chaos Control of Carrier Phase-Shifted Cascaded H-Bridge Inverter
Authors: Wu Ronghua , Zhang Xiaohong , Jiang Wei
Published: June 2024

Cascaded H-bridge inverters, which belong to strongly nonlinear time-varying system with complex dynamics, have been widely used in high-voltage and high-power engineering fields. In this paper, a carrier phase-shifted sinusoidal pulse-width modulation cascaded H-bridge inverter is taken as an example with piecewise analysis to establish the discrete iterative mathematical model. Furthermore, the nonlinear dynamic behavior of this inverter system is investigated using folding diagrams, spectrum diagrams, bifurcation diagrams, Lyapunov exponents, etc. We find that this inverter can exhibit multiperiod bifurcation, tangential bifurcation and paroxysmal chaos within certain ranges of control coefficients and other circuit parameters, which will influence the system’s stability seriously. On the basis of this discovery, the sinusoidal time-delay feedback control method is proposed. The difference between the load current of the controlled object and its own delay is used to form a feedback term, which is then fed into the sine function and proportional link to obtain the control term. Moreover, the Jacobian matrix of this feedback inverter system is derived, and the constraints on the feedback control coefficient are obtained based on the Jury criterion. Simulation results have verified the effectiveness of such a sinusoidal time-delay feedback control method, which can improve the stability and anti-interference of the system. The research can be used to provide some reference and guidance for the circuit design, debugging and control of cascaded H-bridge inverters.
Comparison of High-Dimensional Bayesian Optimization Algorithms on BBOB
Authors: Santoni Maria Laura , Raponi Elena , Leone Renato De , Doerr Carola
Published: June 2024

Bayesian Optimization (BO) is a class of surrogate-based black-box optimization heuristics designed to efficiently locate high-quality solutions for problems that are expensive to evaluate, and therefore allow only small evaluation budgets. BO is particularly popular for solving numerical optimization problems in industry, where the evaluation of objective functions often relies on time-consuming simulations or physical experiments. However, many industrial problems depend on a large number of parameters. This poses a challenge for BO algorithms, whose performance is often reported to suffer when the dimension grows beyond 15 decision variables. Although many new algorithms have been proposed to address this, it remains unclear which one is best suited for a specific optimization problem. In this work, we compare five state-of-the-art high-dimensional BO algorithms with vanilla BO, CMA-ES, and random search on the 24 BBOB functions of the COCO environment at increasing dimensionality, ranging from 10 to 60 variables. Our results confirm the superiority of BO over CMA-ES for limited evaluation budgets and suggest that the most promising approach to improve BO is the use of trust regions. However, we also observe significant performance differences for different function landscapes and budget exploitation phases, indicating improvement potential, e.g., through hybridization of algorithmic components.
A Comprehensive Understanding of the Impact of Data Augmentation on the Transferability of 3D Adversarial Examples
Authors: Qian Fulan , Zou Yuanjun , Xu Mengyao , Zhang Xuejun , Zhang Chonghao , Xu Chenchu , Chen Hai
Published: June 2024

3D point cloud classifiers exhibit vulnerability to imperceptible perturbations, which poses a serious threat to the security and reliability of deep learning models in practical applications, making the robustness evaluation of deep 3D point cloud models increasingly important. Due to the difficulty in obtaining model parameters, black-box attacks have become a mainstream means of assessing the adversarial robustness of 3D classification models. The core of improving the transferability of adversarial examples generated by black-box attacks is to generate better generalized adversarial examples, where data augmentation has become one of the popular approaches. In this article, we employ five mainstream attack methods and combine six data augmentation strategies, namely point dropping, flipping, rotating, scaling, shearing, and translating, in order to comprehensively explore the impact of these strategies on the transferability of adversarial examples. Our research reveals that data augmentation methods generally improve the transferability of the adversarial examples, and the effect is better when the methods are stacked. The interaction between data augmentation methods, model characteristics, attack, and defense strategies collectively determines the transferability of adversarial examples. In order to comprehensively understand and improve the effectiveness of adversarial examples, it is necessary to comprehensively consider these complex interrelationships.
Heterogeneous Meta-Path Graph Learning for Higher-Order Social Recommendation
Authors: Li Munan , Liu Kai , Liu Hongbo , Zhao Zheng , Ward Tomas E. , Wu Xindong
Published: June 2024

Recommendation systems have become an indispensable part of daily life. Social recommendation systems, which utilize social relationships and past behaviors to infer users’ preferences, have gained popularity in recent years. Exploring the inherent characteristics implied by higher-order relationships offers a new approach to social recommendation. However, it is challenging due to sparse social networks, influence heterogeneity, and noisy feedback. In this article, we propose a Heterogeneous Meta-path Graph Learning model for Higher-order Social Recommendation (HEAL). Within HEAL, we introduce a heterogeneous graph in social recommendation and utilize a meta-path-guided random walk to generate higher-order relationships. By encoding higher-order structures and semantics along different meta-graphs, HEAL can mitigate the limitation of data sparsity. Moreover, HEAL exploits aspect-aware and semantic-aware attentions to adaptively propagate and aggregate useful features from different meta-neighbors and higher-order relations. These attention-based aggregation layers allow HEAL to suppress the heterogeneity of social influences. Furthermore, HEAL adopts contrastive learning as a supplemental task to the recommendation task by maximizing the consistency between the self-discriminating objectives. This auxiliary task enables the model to learn more differentiated representations, further reducing its sensitivity to noisy feedback. We evaluate the performance of HEAL through extensive experiments on public datasets. The results demonstrate that leveraging higher-order relations can enhance the quality of social recommendations by better capturing the complexity and diversity of users’ preferences and interactions.
Metabolic Rewiring During Metastasis: The Interplay Between the Environment and the Host
Authors: Vandekeere Anke , El Kharraz Sarah , Altea-Manzano Patricia , Fendt Sarah-Maria
Published: June 2024

Following escape from the primary tumor, cancer cells face diverse micro-environments during the metastatic cascade. To survive and establish outgrowth at a distant site, metastasizing cancer cells must undergo metabolic reprogramming to adapt to the changing conditions. However, the host in which the tumors grow also experiences metabolic adaptations in response to various environmental factors that can mediate cancer progression. In this review, we highlight the endogenous factors that determine host metabolism (nutrient availability at specific organs or the microbiome), as well as exogenous factors that influence host metabolism systemically or locally (diet, alcohol, physical activity, air pollution, and circadian rhythm). Furthermore, we elaborate on how these environment-induced metabolic changes can affect metastatic progression. Understanding the interplay between environmental factors, host metabolism, and metastatic progression may unveil potential targets for future therapeutic interventions.
The Effect of Delay Techniques on a Lassa Fever Epidemic Model
Authors: Raza Ali , Rocha Eugenio , Fadhal Emad , Ibrahim Rashid I. H. , Afkar Eman , Bilal Muhammad
Published: June 2024

The delayed intervention techniques in real‐world problem modelling have a significant role in behavioural, social, physical, and biological engineering, biomathematical sciences, and many more disciplines. Delayed modelling of real‐world problems is a powerful tool and nonpharmaceutical technique for understanding the dynamics of disease in a population. This paper considers real‐world problems like the Lassa fever model. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria, and West Africa are the most affected countries with Lassa fever. The most dangerous situation is that eighty percent of the infected persons have no symptoms. To study the dynamics of Lassa fever, two types of populations are considered humans and rats. The human population includes susceptible, infected, and recovered. The rat population includes susceptible and infectious rodents. By introducing a delay parameter and decay exponential term into the existing model in the literature, we got the system of highly nonlinear delay differential equations (DDEs). The fundamental properties such as positivity, boundedness, existence, and uniqueness are verified for the said model. The equilibrium and reproduction number of the model are discussed. The reproduction number for the Lassa fever model is analyzed using the next‐generation matrix method. If the reproduction number is less than one, this situation helps eradicate the disease. If the reproduction number is more significant than one, then the virus will spread rapidly in human beings. We have also investigated the effect of the delay factor on reproduction numbers. The local and global stabilities for both equilibria of the model have also been presented. Furthermore, computer simulations are designed to analyze the academic behaviour of the model.
Study of Pathogenicity Test, Antifungal Activity, and Secondary Metabolites of Bacillus spp. from Lake Bogoria as Biocontrol of Rhizoctonia solani Kühn in Phaseolus vulgaris L.
Authors: Wekesa Tofick Barasa , Wekesa Vitalis Wafula , Onguso Justus Mong’are , Kavesu Ndinda , Okanya Patrick Wafula
Published: June 2024

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a yearly herbaceous plant grown for its edible dry seeds. Despite that, pests and diseases have contributed to the decline of common bean production in Kenya. Therefore, the study aimed to identify bacteria from Lake Bogoria, assess the pathogenicity of Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, screen for effective antifungal agents, and determine secondary metabolites for the biocontrol of R. solani. A total of 49 bacteria were isolated, of which 10 isolates had varied mycelial inhibition rates of R. solani in the co‐culture technique. The efficacy of volatile compounds of the three selected bacterial strains had varied mycelial growth and percent reduction against R. solani. The pathogenicity assay showed varied plant parameters and biomass of R. solani on common bean plantlets. The molecular characterization based on 16 S ribosomal RNA confirmed the selected bacterial strains’ identity with a diversity similar to the Bacillus genus. Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry analysis of secondary metabolites showed different antimicrobial compounds produced by Bacillus subtilis strain TW21. In conclusion, Lake Bogoria harbors useful microbes as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens. The current study discovers the potential biocontrol bacteria isolates from Lake Bogoria as alternative bioagents against R. solani. Therefore, the isolate Bacillus subtilis strain TW21 can be assessed further for toxicological and ecotoxicological studies and registered by the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), Kenya, as a biocontrol product against common diseases affecting common beans’ production.
Assessing the Impacts of Soil Water Conservation Activities and Slope Position on the Soil Properties of the Gelda Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia
Authors: Muche Kefyalew , Molla Eyayu
Published: June 2024

Soil erosion debilitates soil fertility and agricultural productivity in Ethiopia. Soil and water conservation (SWC) measures have been implemented to address this issue, but their effects have not been evaluated in different parts of the country. This study was therefore conducted to evaluate the effects of SWC structures and slope position on soil properties in the Gelda watershed, northwestern Ethiopia. Core and disturbed composite soil samples were collected at a depth of 0–20 cm from the upper (15–20%), middle (10–15%), and lower (4–10%) slope positions of cultivated fields treated with soil bund (SB), stone‐faced soil bund (SFSB), and stone‐faced soil bund stabilized by Sesbania sesban (SFSBS) and from untreated fields (control). The samples were analyzed by soil analytical techniques. The results revealed that the clay particles, pH, soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AvP), cation‐exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ were significantly (p < 0.05) increased, while bulk density (BD) and the sand fractions decreased in SWC‐treated plots. On the lower slope, significantly higher (p < 0.05) clay, silt, pH, SOM, TN, AvP, CEC, and exchangeable bases were recorded, while the upper slope had the highest sand and BD values. The interactions of slope and SWC structures affected the distribution of sand, TN, AvP, exchangeable Ca2+, and Mg2+. The SWC structures implemented in the watershed improved soil fertility, but the impact was stronger when stone‐faced soil bunds were integrated with Sesbania sesban plant species. Therefore, during the implementation of SWC structures, the integration of soil physical structures with plant species aligned with slope positions should be considered, as both factors have an impact on soil fertility improvement and soil erosion in the study area and similar agroecologies. The impacts of SWC structures on crop yield, their economic implications, and environmental benefits for the studied watershed and for the region as a whole need further investigation.
Reproductive Biology of the Mullet, Rhinomugil corsula (Hamilton, 1822) (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) in the Sitakunda Coast of Bay of Bengal, Chattogram, Bangladesh
Authors: Ara Syeda Ismat , Azadi M. Ali , Nasiruddin Munira
Published: June 2024

Reproductive biology of the Corsula Mullet, Rhinomugil corsula (Hamilton, 1822) (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) was carried out based on 1166 (394 male and 772 female) fish samples collected monthly from the fishermen’s catch of Sitakunda coast of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, from December 2016 to November 2017. Yearly male and female sex ratio were 1 : 1.96 (P < 0.01). In the male fish, immature, mature, and spent gonads were recorded as 69%, 27%, and 4%, respectively, while in the female fish, immature, maturing, mature, ripe, and spent gonads were recorded as 72%, 9% 11%, 5%, and 3%, respectively. First sexual maturity in male and female fish was attained at 16 cm and 21.5 cm length, respectively. The fish was a prolonged breeder with a peak in late monsoon. Highest GSI and GLI of male and female were recorded in September. Spawning season extended from July to November, and the peak was in September. Ova‐diameter ranged from 0.01 mm to 0.81 mm. Fecundity varied from 31488 to 251880 eggs/fish. Fecundity factor varied between 1099.09 and 2808.23 eggs/g of body weight. Relationships between fecundity and total body length, total body weight, ovary length, and ovary weight were highly significant (P < 0.01).
Hemodynamic cortical ripples through cyclicity analysis
Authors: Abraham Ivan , Shahsavarani Somayeh , Zimmerman Benjamin , Husain Fatima T. , Baryshnikov Yuliy
Published: June 2024

A fine-grained understanding of dynamics in cortical networks is crucial to unpacking brain function. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) gives rise to time series recordings of the activity of different brain regions, which are aperiodic and lack a base frequency. Cyclicity analysis, a novel technique robust under time reparametrizations, is effective in recovering the temporal ordering of such time series, collectively considered components of a multidimensional trajectory. Here, we extend this analytical method for characterizing the dynamic interaction between distant brain regions and apply it to the data from the Human Connectome Project. Our analysis detected cortical traveling waves of activity propagating along a spatial axis, resembling cortical hierarchical organization with consistent lead-lag relationships between specific brain regions in resting-state scans. In fMRI scans involving tasks, we observed short bursts of task-modulated strong temporal ordering that dominate overall lead-lag relationships between pairs of regions in the brain that align temporally with stimuli from the tasks. Our results suggest a possible role played by waves of excitation sweeping through brain regions that underlie emergent cognitive functions.
Between Positive Complementarity and Magical Legalism: Colombia and International Criminal Justice
Authors: Tamayo Gomez Camilo
Published: June 2024

This article offers an overview and analysis of the findings regarding the case of Colombia within the EU cost Action ca18228 (the Action) and the Scoping Survey examining states’ encounters with international criminal justice. It explores Colombia’s nuanced and multifaceted approach to international criminal justice frameworks, focusing on the intersection of transnational crimes and the intricate dynamics of internal armed conflicts. It presents Colombia’s multi-scalar legal approach to attempting to establish a positive complementarity and multilevel rule-of-law system, acknowledging the challenges inherent in integrating international law with diverse levels of governance and local legislation. It highlights how the ongoing implementation of the peace process and transitional justice mechanisms have sparked debates about striking the delicate balance between peace and justice, conducting in some cases expressions of magical legalism. This article’s significance rests in the idea that Colombia’s experience serves as an illustrative case study of the complexities involved in applying a multi-scalar positive complementarity legal approach and multilevel legal framework in the pursuit of justice for both national and international crimes.
Bacillus subtilis SF106 and Bacillus clausii SF174 spores reduce the inflammation and modulate the gut microbiota in a colitis model
Authors: Vittoria M. , Horwell E. , Bastoni D. , Saggese A. , Baccigalupi L. , Cutting S.M. , Ricca E.
Published: June 2024

Chronic intestinal inflammation is associated with strong alterations of the microbial composition of the gut. Probiotic treatments and microbiota-targeting approaches have been considered to reduce the inflammation, improve both gut barrier function as well as overall gastrointestinal health. Here, a murine model of experimental colitis was used to assess the beneficial health effects of Bacillus subtilis SF106 and Bacillus clausii (recently renamed Shouchella clausii) SF174, two spore-forming strains previously characterised in vitro as potential probiotics. Experimental colitis was induced in BALB/c mice by the oral administration of dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) and groups of animals treated with spores of either strain. Spores of both strains reduced the DSS-induced inflammation with spores of B. clausii SF174 more effective than B. subtilis SF106. Spores of both strains remodelled the mouse gut microbiota favouring the presence of beneficial microbes such as members of the Bacteroidetes and Akkermansia genera.
We the Nation
Authors: Ateş Sabri
Published: June 2024

The last months of 1880 witnessed a turning point in Kurdish history. Under the leadership of a Naqshbandi/Qadiri Shaykh, ʿUbeydullah of Nehrî, in Central Kurdistan, thousands of Iranian and Ottoman Kurds marched on Iranian Kurdistan and temporarily captured several cities in the region. Despite the uprising’s failure, the nature of their movement has long been a subject of debate among scholars and the public. This paper provides a contextual analysis of several letters of Shaykh ʿUbeydullah, aiming to shed light on the agency, consciousness, and motivations of the participants in the uprising. Moreover, it explores whether this episode could be considered a nationalist uprising.
Archiving Resistance
Authors: Sheikhmous Omar , Ghaderi Farangis
Published: June 2024

In this conversation, Omar Sheikhmous (author, researcher, activist, and broadcaster), talks with Farangis Ghaderi (author and academic at the University of Exeter), about his life, involvement with and contributions to Kurdish political and academic activities, as well as his archive hosted at the University of Exeter. The conversation covers the content and the development of the Sheikhmous archive, challenges of archiving resistance movements and preserving Kurdish materials, and the intersection of activism and archival practice. It also sheds light on Kurdish student associations and activism in Europe.
Collaborating on the Carceral State: Political Elite Polarization and the Expansion of Federal Crime Legislation Networks, 1979 to 2005
Authors: Duxbury Scott W.
Published: June 2024

Lawmakers are routinely confronted by urgent social issues, yet they hold conflicting policy preferences, incentives, and goals that can undermine collaboration. How do lawmakers collaborate on solutions to urgent issues in the presence of conflicts? I argue that by building mutual trust, networks provide a mechanism to overcome the risks conflict imposes on policy collaboration. But, in doing so, network dependence constrains lawmakers’ ability to react to the problems that motivate policy action beyond their immediate connections. I test this argument using machine learning and longitudinal analysis of federal crime legislation co-sponsorship networks between 1979 and 2005, a period of rising political elite polarization. Results show that elite polarization increased the effects of reciprocal action and prior collaboration on crime legislation co-sponsorships while suppressing the effect of violent crime rates. These relationships vary only marginally by political party and are pronounced for ratified criminal laws. The findings provide new insights to the role of collaboration networks in the historical development of the carceral state and elucidate how political actors pursue collective policy action on urgent issues in the presence of conflict.
Lower Socioeconomic Status Predicts Greater Obstacles to Care: Using Outpatient Cholecystectomy as a Model Cohort
Authors: McGee Michelle Y. , Janjua Haroon M. , Read Meagan D. , Kuo Paul C. , Grimsley Emily A.
Published: June 2024

Background

Patients with low socioeconomic status (SES) are disadvantaged in terms of access to health care. A novel metric for SES is the Distressed Communities Index (DCI). This study evaluates the effect of DCI on hospital choice and distance traveled for surgery.

Methods

A Florida database was queried for patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis or chronic cholecystitis who underwent an outpatient cholecystectomy between 2016 and 2019. Patients’ DCI was compared with hospital ratings, comorbidities, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and distance traveled for surgery. Stepwise logistic regression was used to determine which factors most influenced distance traveled for surgery.

Results

There were 54,649 cases—81 open, 52,488 laparoscopic, and 2,080 robotic. There was no difference between surgical approach and patient’s DCI group (p = 0.12). Rural patients traveled the farthest for surgery (avg 21.29 miles); urban patients traveled the least (avg 5.84 miles). Patients from distressed areas more often had surgery at one- or two-star hospitals than prosperous patients (61% vs 36.3%). Regression indicated distressed or at-risk areas predicted further travel for rural/small-town patients, while higher hospital ratings predicted further travel for suburban/urban patients.

Discussion

Compared to prosperous areas, patients from distressed areas have surgery at lower-rated hospitals, travel further if they live in rural/small-town areas, but travel less if they live in suburban areas. We postulate that farther travel in rural areas may be explained by a lack of health care resources in poor, rural areas, while traveling less in suburban areas may be explained by personal lack of resources for patients with low SES.
Evaluation of Secondary Overtriage at a Rural Level 1 Trauma Center
Authors: Osher Jennifer , Archer Allen , Heard Matthew A. , McBride Mary E. , Leonard Matthew , Burns J. Bracken
Published: June 2024

Objective

To retrospectively assess the prevalence of secondary overtriage (SO) within a rural regional Appalachian health care system.

Methods

Trauma registry data was extracted for all trauma activation transfer patients from 2017 to 2022. Transferred patients were then stratified into two groups, non-secondary overtriage (non-SO) or SO. Patients were considered SO if they met three criteria following transfer: an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of less than 15, no required operative intervention, and discharge within 48 hours of arrival. Descriptive statistics were compared for age, length of stay (LOS), ICU LOS, and ISS. Surgical subspecialty consultations were compared between the two groups. Patients in the SO group were further assessed by body region of injury and Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS).

Results

Among 3,291 trauma activation transfer patients, 43% (1,407) were considered SO transfers. Patients in the SO group were significantly younger, had shorter average hospital and ICU LOS, and lower ISS compared to the non-SO group. Additionally, 25.7% of patients in the SO group had injuries to the head or neck of which 8.96% have an AIS ≥3. 21% of patients had injuries to the face, with 0.14% having an AIS ≥3.

Conclusions

43% of transfer patients in this study met our definition of SO. Although no optimal rate of SO has been universally established, limiting SO stands to benefit both patients and trauma systems. This study highlights how institutional analysis of transfer patients may help inform transfer protocols to reduce secondary overtriage and overutilization of scarce resources.
New Protocol for Twinning of Raman Devices Toward a Raman Intensity Harmonization
Authors: Fernández-Álvarez María , Moure Alberto , Reinosa Julián Jiménez , Diz Enrique Lozano , Fernández José Francisco
Published: June 2024

The use of Raman spectroscopy has rapidly been on the rise across a great number of industries where comparability, reproducibility, and reliability of the data are of paramount importance. However, controlling the intensity of the Raman signal depends on a large number of factors such as the wavelength of the laser light, the optical components of each device, or the number of molecules in the illuminated volume. For this reason, in this study, a new protocol has been applied to twin Raman devices to achieve a conversion of the signal between them, by pairing the intensity response of the units using a reference sample. The new reference material is a homogenous dispersion of a 0.5 wt% anatase (titanium dioxide, or TiO2) in an epoxy resin matrix, with deviations <2.5% in Raman intensity across the reference material. The proposed protocol for Raman-twinned devices takes a well-defined approach that leads to obtaining a correction factor that relates the differences in the signal intensity between the two Raman devices, in order to obtain the same Raman intensity counts. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated based on the data from the devices, which presented the most common user cases: twinning Raman devices of the non-confocal same model for two different wavelengths; and twinning confocal and non-confocal devices. The results obtained show that the protocol has worked for both of the Raman twinning cases, allowing the Raman intensity harmonization of Raman spectra between two different devices.
Enhancing water pressure sensing in challenging environments: A strain gage technology integrated with deep learning approach
Authors: Nguyen Thanh Q , Tu Vu Ba , Nguyen Duong N
Published: June 2024

The manuscript introduces a novel approach to design and construct a pore water pressure sensor utilizing strain gage technology integrated with deep learning principles. This sensor type is specifically tailored for measuring pressure at the vertex of pile bases in structures with substantial load-bearing capacity. While existing pressure sensors employing strain gage technology are available, this research addresses a unique measurement model suited for deep-water environments characterized by high corrosiveness and heavy loads. Consequently, the manuscript proposes design innovations aimed at optimizing the sensor’s form and dimensions to accommodate these demanding conditions. Computational simulations are conducted to perform relevant calculations, with results validated through rigorous analysis and experimentation against real-world datasets. Moreover, the study incorporates a pioneering deep learning-based data acquisition model to enhance output values, a feature currently underutilized in sensor technology. The findings demonstrate the viability of the proposed water pressure sensor model in various challenging working environments. This research underscores the potential for proactive manufacturing of sensors in diverse configurations, emphasizing adaptability and efficiency.
Black Woman Victimhood: An Intersectional Analysis of Meg Thee Stallion’s Testimony
Authors: Lane Lauren
Published: June 2024

The violent nature of Hip-Hop culture in tandem with racial injustice and sexism leaves Black women victims of Black male perpetrators feeling unheard, unprotected and conflicted. It is known that Black women are experiencing more domestic violence than their white counterparts yet reporting it less out of fear of prejudices and stereotyping. In this study, I engage in an intersectional textual analysis of rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s telling of violence enacted upon her by rapper Tory Lanez in 2020. Hip-hop concepts of violence and snitching, expectations about black womanhood, and issues of police brutality were all prominent themes of her storytelling. The analysis indicates that Black women who are domestic violence victims grapple with protecting the men of their community, protecting themselves from police, and endure doubt and criticism for speaking their truth.
Brittle–Ductile Threshold in Lithium Disilicate under Sharp Sliding Contact
Authors: Bawazir M. , Lim C.H. , Arnés-Urgellés P. , Lu M. , Huang H. , Zhang Y.
Published: June 2024

Computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) milling and handpiece grinding are critical procedures in the fabrication and adjustment of ceramic dental restorations. However, due to the formation of microfractures, these procedures are detrimental to the strength of ceramics. This study analyzes the damage associated with current brittle-regime grinding and presents a potential remedy in the application of a safer yet still efficient grinding regime known as “ductile-regime grinding.” Disc-shaped specimens of a lithium disilicate glass-ceramic material (IPS e.max CAD) were obtained by cutting and crystallizing the lithium metasilicate CAD/CAM blanks (the so-called blue blocks) following the manufacturer’s instructions. The discs were then polished to a 1 µm diamond suspension finish. Single-particle micro-scratch tests ( n = 10) with a conical diamond indenter were conducted to reproduce basic modes of deformation and fracture. Key parameters such as coefficient of friction and penetration depth were recorded as a function of scratch load. Further, biaxial flexure strength tests ( n = 6) were performed after applying various scratch loads to analyze their effects on ceramic strength. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) were used to characterize surface and subsurface damage. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey tests. While the SEM surface analysis of scratch tracks revealed the occurrence of both ductile and brittle removal modes, it failed to accurately determine the threshold load for the brittle–ductile transition. The threshold load for brittle–ductile transition was determined to be 70 mN based on FIB subsurface damage analyses in conjunction with strength degradation studies. Below 70 mN, the specimens exhibited neither strength degradation nor the formation of subsurface cracks. Determination of the brittle–ductile thresholds is significant because it sets a foundation for future research on the feasibility of implementing ductile-regime milling/grinding protocols for fabricating damage-free ceramic dental restorations.
Audiovisual Perception of Lexical Stress: Beat Gestures and Articulatory Cues
Authors: Bujok Ronny , Meyer Antje S. , Bosker Hans Rutger
Published: June 2024

Human communication is inherently multimodal. Auditory speech, but also visual cues can be used to understand another talker. Most studies of audiovisual speech perception have focused on the perception of speech segments (i.e., speech sounds). However, less is known about the influence of visual information on the perception of suprasegmental aspects of speech like lexical stress. In two experiments, we investigated the influence of different visual cues (e.g., facial articulatory cues and beat gestures) on the audiovisual perception of lexical stress. We presented auditory lexical stress continua of disyllabic Dutch stress pairs together with videos of a speaker producing stress on the first or second syllable (e.g., articulating VOORnaam or voorNAAM). Moreover, we combined and fully crossed the face of the speaker producing lexical stress on either syllable with a gesturing body producing a beat gesture on either the first or second syllable. Results showed that people successfully used visual articulatory cues to stress in muted videos. However, in audiovisual conditions, we were not able to find an effect of visual articulatory cues. In contrast, we found that the temporal alignment of beat gestures with speech robustly influenced participants’ perception of lexical stress. These results highlight the importance of considering suprasegmental aspects of language in multimodal contexts.
Mentalizing as a Predictor of Well-Being and Emotion Regulation: Longitudinal Evidence from a Community Sample of Young Adults
Authors: Schwarzer Nicola-Hans , Heim Nikolas , Gingelmaier Stephan , Fonagy Peter , Nolte Tobias
Published: June 2024

Background: In recent years, mentalizing – the capacity to understand one’s own and others’ intentional mental states in social contexts – has been considered to be a protective capacity that enables adaptive processing of stress-related emotional arousal, benefits general well-being and underpins adaptive emotion regulation. Objective: Several studies using cross-sectional research designs have demonstrated the potential health-promoting effect of mentalizing in non-clinical samples. However, longitudinal evidence is scarce. The present study aimed to investigate whether mentalizing predicts well-being and emotion regulation strategies in a non-clinical sample of mainly young adults using a prospective longitudinal design. Methods: In a prospective research design, 135 participants completed questionnaires assessing well-being, psychological symptom severity and mentalizing capacity at baseline (T1). Twelve months later (T2), emotion regulation strategies (suppression and cognitive reappraisal), well-being and psychological symptom severity were assessed by self-report. The data were analyzed using multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: Impairments in mentalizing were a significant negative predictor of well-being 12 months later. Furthermore, impairments in mentalizing positively predicted suppression of emotional states at T2. No association was found between deficits in mentalizing and cognitive reappraisal of emotional states over the course of 1 year. Conclusion: The findings indicate that mentalizing is longitudinally associated with mental health indicators in a non-clinical adult sample. Specifically, ineffective mentalizing was associated with impaired psychological well-being and a tendency to suppress intense emotional states over a period of 1 year. Future research should replicate these findings using multiple measurement timepoints to etablish causality.
Seasonal Cycles of Social In- and Exclusion: Leisure Culture in Amsterdam and The Hague, 1815-1890
Authors: Furnée Jan Hein
Published: June 2024

During the long nineteenth century, public and semi-public venues of urban recreation were spaces where people actively shaped local social order by reinforcing, challenging, and changing patterns of social in- and exclusion in terms of class, gender, ethnicity, and other axes of social difference. Over the last decades, historians have been able to demonstrate how these tactics and patterns of social in- and exclusion functioned by focusing on different types of urban recreation. This article argues that during the long nineteenth century, the cyclical rhythm of the seasons—and their regularly shifting contexts of space, environment, weather, temperature, light, and so on—played a crucial role in the ways in which people interacted in urban recreations. Urban society actually functioned differently and was, in important ways, defined by the rhythm of the seasons. The article focuses on indoor sites of winter recreation such as theaters, concert halls, cultural associations, and balls; on sites of summer recreation such as parks, zoos, and other open air recreations; and on the annual urban fairs in between in Amsterdam and The Hague.
From Endurance to Escape: The Tokyo Summer as Lived Experience in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Mitsuda Tatsuya
Published: June 2024

This article investigates how heat and humidity—as lived experiences in the summer—were negotiated through an analysis of various sites of coolness and heat, focusing on the period between the American occupation and high economic growth in postwar Tokyo. As the population of Tokyo grew from eight to eleven million between 1955 and 1965 and major infrastructure projects changed the urban landscape, the study shows how coping mechanisms for dealing with the heat and humidity were characterized, on one hand, by heat avoidance strategies that manifested themselves in a search for coolness in nonurban environments, in the home, and in shades created by new urban assemblages. Yet the article also demonstrates that the dictates of employment bore witness to paradoxical heat-inducing practices embodied in the not-so-cool clothes men and women wore, revealing the extent to which social and sexual norms inhibited the realization of individual corporeal coolness. As mechanical cooling made inroads into urban life, a shift from a passive to an active strategy of combating the summer emerged, resulting in inhabitants increasingly choosing not to leave the capital but to stay in it. Despite resistance to artificial coolness at home, where heat avoidance strategies had been largely successful, the article finds that the air conditioner managed to establish itself first in the workplace, and then eventually in the home, as the needs of middle-class urban families living in more western-style apartment blocks made themselves felt.
Pleomorphic Adenoma in the Nasal Cavity: Case Report and Review of Literature
Authors: Pan Xin , Cheng XiaoLing , Wang QianRu , Feng WenJiao , Lu Yao , Wei Xudong
Published: June 2024

Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) represents the most frequently occurring benign tumor within both major and minor salivary glands. However, in rare instances, nasal PA is an epithelial-derived borderline tumor, often originating from the nasal septum. Diagnosis usually relies on histopathological analysis. Under general anesthesia, these rare nasal tumors can be completely resected via endoscopic surgery. This article reports a case of PA originating from the nasal septum in a 49-year-old patient presenting with nasal congestion, along with a brief review of the current literature. The diagnostic nasal endoscopic examination showed a pink neoplastic mass in the left nasal cavity. Subsequent radiologic examination demonstrated a soft tissue mass in the anterior part of the nasal septum. After complete resection under nasal endoscopy, histopathological examination confirmed it as PA. Fortunately, no related complications occurred perioperatively and postoperatively. After surgery, performing a thorough examination with nasal endoscopy and scheduling regular follow-ups are crucial steps to prevent local recurrence.
Adolescent leadership: Associations with exclusion of others, effortful control, and popularity
Authors: Wei Luhao , Shen Mengqian , Purwono Urip , French Doran C.
Published: June 2024

Three-year longitudinal and concurrent associations of leadership with overt aggression, exclusion of others, effortful control (EC), popularity, unpopularity, prosocial behavior, and academic achievement were assessed in this study of Indonesian adolescents. Participants were initially assessed in the 10th grade ( n = 462, 256 girls; Mage = 15.14, SD = .62) and followed for 2 years. Concurrent analyses revealed that leadership was positively associated with exclusion of others, EC, and popularity and negatively associated with overt aggression at 12th grade. The positive associations between leadership and exclusion of others only emerged for youth with high levels of EC. Positive associations of leadership with academic achievement were found in the longitudinal analyses and concurrent analyses at the 11th and 12th grade and concurrent associations between prosocial behavior and leadership were found each year. These findings reflect Indonesian cultural norms in which leaders are expected to maintain interpersonal harmony and avoid overt conflict.
Migration and the racialised politics of desire
Authors: Tazzioli Martina
Published: June 2024

This article interrogates the reservations in the Left in Europe towards claims for freedom of movement and stay. The piece argues that an unequal right to desire – conceived as an aspiration move, to stay and to seek for a better life – underpins those criticisms and suggests that for developing counter-politics of migration, it is key to challenge such racialised predicament. The first section shows how expansive claims for equal access to mobility and the right to stay are discredited as utopian and non-realistic. The second section unsettles the politics of number that sustains public discourses on migration showing that this can be turned to the advantage of arguments in support of border controls. It moves on contending that a critique of racialising borders needs to unpack the unequal right to desire. The fourth section draws attention to the nexus between the disruption of futurity and the unequal right to desire and argues that this enables tracing connections between migrants and (some) citizens through the lens of dispossessed future. It suggests that the allegedly utopian character of claims for freedom of movement does not the depend on the failure of past struggles but on the unquestioned racialised right to desire