bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facile retro-Dieckmann cleavage of a pink phyllobilin: new type of potential downstream steps of natural chlorophyll breakdown
Authors: Li Chengjie , Kräutler Bernhard
Published: February 2022

In senescent leaves of higher plants, colourless chlorophyll (Chl) catabolites typically accumulate temporarily, and undergo natural oxidation, in part, to yellow- and pink-coloured phyllobilins (PBs). The latter, also classified as phylloroseobilins (PrBs), represent the final currently established products of Chl-breakdown, possibly playing important roles in metabolism. However, PrBs, themselves, do not accumulate in the leaves. Indeed, the original PrB identified, then classified as a pink Chl-catabolite (PiCC), is remarkably instable in methanolic solution. As reported here, PiCC readily converts at room temperature into yellow tetrapyrroles. The deduced main process, a retro-Dieckmann reaction, cleaves open its ring E moiety, the α-methoxycarbonyl-cyclopentanone unit characteristic of the Chls and of the natural Chl-derived PBs. This readily occurring reaction of the PiCC represents an unprecedented skeletal transformation of a PB, furnishing a cross-conjugated biladiene with a basic structure more similar to the heme-derived bilins.

Graphical abstract
The relationship between citations and the linguistic traits of specific academic discourse communities identified by using social network analysis
Authors: Watson Don , Krug Manfred , Carbon Claus-Christian
Published: February 2022

For a research article (RA) to be accepted, not only for publication, but also by its readers, it must display proficiency in the content, methodologies and discourse conventions of its specific discipline. While numerous studies have investigated the linguistic characteristics of different research disciplines, none have utilised Social Network Analysis techniques to identify communities prior to analysing their language use. This study aims to investigate the language use of three highly specific research communities in the fields of Psychology, Physics and Sports Medicine. We were interested in how these language features are related to the total number of citations, the eigencentrality within the community and the intra-network citations of the individual RAs. Applying Biber’s Multidimensional Analysis approach, a total of 771 RA abstracts published between 2010 and 2019 were analysed. We evaluated correlations between one of three network characteristics (citations, eigencentrality and in-degree), the corpora’s dimensions and 72 individual language features. The pattern of correlations suggest that features cited by other RAs within the discourse community network are in almost all cases different from those that are cited by RAs from outside the network. This finding highlights the challenges of writing for both a discipline-specific and a wider audience.
How to catch trends using MeSH terms analysis?
Authors: Ilgisonis Ekaterina V. , Pyatnitskiy Mikhail A. , Tarbeeva Svetlana N. , Aldushin Artem A. , Ponomarenko Elena A.
Published: February 2022

The paper describes a scheme for the comparative analysis of the sets of Pubmed publications. The proposed analysis is based on the comparison of the frequencies of occurrence of keywords—MeSH terms. The purpose of the analysis is to identify MeSH terms that characterize research areas specific to each group of articles, as well as to identify trends—topics on which the number of published works has changed significantly in recent years. The proposed approach was tested by comparing a set of medical publications and a group of articles in the field of personalized medicine. We analyzed about 700 thousand abstracts published in the period 2009–2021 and indexed them with MeSH terms. Topics with increasing research interest have been identified both in the field of medicine in general and specific to personalized medicine. Retrospective analysis of the keywords frequency of occurrence changes has shown the shift of the scientific priorities in this area over the past 10 years. The revealed patterns can be used to predict the relevance and significance of the scientific work direction in the horizon of 3–5 years. The proposed analysis can be scaled in the future for a larger number of groups of publications, as well as adjusted by introducing filters at the stage of sampling (scientific centers, journals, availability of full texts, etc.) or selecting a list of keywords (frequency threshold, use of qualifiers, category of generalizations).
Enlightening activation gating in P2X receptors
Authors: Sattler Christian , Benndorf Klaus
Published: February 2022

P2X receptors are trimeric nonselective cation channels gated by ATP. They assemble from seven distinct subunit isoforms as either homo- or heteromeric complexes and contain three extracellularly located binding sites for ATP. P2X receptors are expressed in nearly all tissues and are there involved in physiological processes like synaptic transmission, pain, and inflammation. Thus, they are a challenging pharmacological target. The determination of crystal and cryo-EM structures of several isoforms in the last decade in closed, open, and desensitized states has provided a firm basis for interpreting the huge amount of functional and biochemical data. Electrophysiological characterization in conjugation with optical approaches has generated significant insights into structure–function relationships of P2X receptors. This review focuses on novel optical and related approaches to better understand the conformational changes underlying the activation of these receptors.
Indizierte Prävention hochstrittiger Trennungseltern: eine qualitative Implementationsstudie zu „Kinder aus der Klemme“
Authors: Ganser Maxi A. , Kleiner Marei , Gaese Maren , von der Lippe Holger
Published: February 2022

Hintergrund

Hochstrittige Trennungen der Eltern stellen ein erhebliches Risiko für die Entwicklung von Kindern dar. Das spezifische Gruppenprogramm „Kinder aus der Klemme“ basiert auf einem multifamilientherapeutischen Konzept und zielt darauf ab, bisherige Konfliktmuster zugunsten positiver Elternfunktionen zu verändern. Die vorliegende Implementationsstudie untersucht, ob und wie das Angebot in seiner deutschsprachigen Adaptation von den Nutzern und Therapeut:innen als hilfreich erfahren wird und wie das Angebot potenziell optimiert werden kann.

Methodik

Es wurden qualitative Interviews mitn = 34 Beteiligten (darunter Trennungseltern, Kinder, Netzwerkpartner:innen und Therapeut:innen) eines neu implementierten Berliner Angebotes des Programms untersucht. Die Auswertung erfolgte per Qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse.

Ergebnisse

Alle Befragten berichten eingehend über die besonderen Herausforderungen während des Einstiegs in das Programm. Zahlreiche positive und bereichernde sowie einige konkret verbesserungswürdige Aspekte des Programms werden von allen Befragten-Gruppen wahrgenommen. Insbesondere gruppentherapeutische (z. B. Kohäsion, Beobachtungslernen) wie systemische Effekte (z. B. Ressourcenaktivierung, Stärkung der Elternfunktionen) lassen sich aus den Interviews für das Programm rekonstruieren.

Diskussion

„Kinder aus der Klemme“ stellt eine ansprechende und subjektiv wirksame Intervention für hochkonflikthafte Trennungseltern und ihre Kinder dar. Auch Familien, die zuvor bereits eine Vielzahl anderer Hilfen in Anspruch genommen haben, können sich darauf gut einlassen. Zukünftig könnte aus Sicht der Befragten die Dauer des Kurses erweitert werden, und auch die Arbeit mit den Kindern und Netzwerkpartner:innen könnte weiterentwickelt werden.
The miR151 and miR5100 Transfected Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Increase Myoblast Fusion in IGFBP2 Dependent Manner
Authors: Mierzejewski Bartosz , Michalska Zuzanna , Jackowski Daniel , Streminska Władysława , Janczyk-Ilach Katarzyna , Koblowska Marta , Iwanicka-Nowicka Roksana , Gromadka Agnieszka , Ciemerych Maria Anna , Brzoska Edyta
Published: February 2022

Background

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) form a perivascular cell population in the bone marrow. These cells do not present naïve myogenic potential. However, their myogenic identity could be induced experimentally in vitro or in vivo. In vivo, after transplantation into injured muscle, BMSCs rarely fused with myofibers. However, BMSC participation in myofiber reconstruction increased if they were modified by NICD or PAX3 overexpression. Nevertheless, BMSCs paracrine function could play a positive role in skeletal muscle regeneration. Previously, we showed that SDF-1 treatment and coculture with myofibers increased BMSC ability to reconstruct myofibers. We also noticed that SDF-1 treatment changed selected miRNAs expression, including miR151 and miR5100.

Methods

Mouse BMSCs were transfected with miR151 and miR5100 mimics and their proliferation, myogenic differentiation, and fusion with myoblasts were analyzed.

Results

We showed that miR151 and miR5100 played an important role in the regulation of BMSC proliferation and migration. Moreover, the presence of miR151 and miR5100 transfected BMSCs in co-cultures with human myoblasts increased their fusion. This effect was achieved in an IGFBP2 dependent manner.

Conclusions

Mouse BMSCs did not present naïve myogenic potential but secreted proteins could impact myogenic cell differentiation. miR151 and miR5100 transfection changed BMSC migration and IGFBP2 and MMP12 expression in BMSCs. miR151 and miR5100 transfected BMSCs increased myoblast fusion in vitro.

Graphical abstract
Enzyme-assisted extraction of red seaweed Solieria chordalis (C.Agardh) J. Agardh 1842—the starting point for the production of biostimulants of plant growth and biosorbents of metal ions
Authors: Spain Olivia , Hardouin Kevin , Bourgougnon Nathalie , Michalak Izabela
Published: February 2022

The underexploited biomass of red seaweed Solieria chordalis (C.Agardh) J.Agardh 1842 represents a potential source for biotechnological development. Extracts obtained from S. chordalis by enzyme-assisted extraction using Protamex® and Neutrase® were evaluated as potential biostimulants of plant growth. Additionally, this alga, as well as post-extraction residues, were examined as biosorbents of metal ions. The biostimulant properties of different concentrations of algal extracts (20, 40, 60, 80, 100%) were tested in vitro on radish seeds. Chlorophyll content, plant weight, and height were measured for each experimental group. For all tested concentrations, the plants demonstrated higher chlorophyll content and were higher and heavier than the control group, showing that enzyme extracts could be used as efficient biostimulants. The biosorption properties of seaweed and post-extraction residues were tested on Cr(III) ions for different experimental conditions—pH, initial metal ion concentration, and biosorbent dosage. The maximum biosorption capacity of S. chordalis was 48.1 mg/g, for the post-extraction residue obtained with Protamex®, 47.6 mg/g, and Neutrase®, 50.5 mg/g. The binding of Cr(III) ions to the surface of biosorbents was confirmed by FT-IR analysis. Good biosorption properties of tested materials can be used in the production of novel components of fertilizers or biosorbents for wastewater treatment. In this paper, it was shown that waste biomass of S. chordalis can be turned into valuable bio-products using environmental-friendly technologies.
The association between micronutrients and the SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in convalescent patients
Authors: Panahibakhsh Maryam , Amiri Faramarz , Doroudi Taher , Sadeghi Mostafa , Kolivand Pirhossein , Alipour Fatemeh , Gorji Ali
Published: February 2022

Background

Various micronutrients play key roles in the immune responses to viral infection, antibody synthesis, and susceptibility to infection. This study aimed to investigate the role of micronutrients on the immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods

To evaluate humoral immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection, the levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM and IgG, as well as the concentrations of different micronutrients, were determined in 36 convalescent COVID-19 patients 60 days after infection. Furthermore, the correlation between biochemical and hematological parameters, clinical features, and the changes in adiposity with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was evaluated.

Results

Serum IgM and IgG antibodies were detected in 38.8% and 83.3% of recovered patients after 60 days of COVID-19 infection, respectively. The values of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG were negatively correlated with the number of the platelet. Moreover, the values of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM were positively correlated with LDH and the vitamin B12 concentration. Furthermore, a gender-specific association of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and IgM with vitamins D as well as with B9 and zinc was observed. A significant negative correlation was observed between the values of IgG with vitamin D in male participants and a positive correlation was detected between IgG values and B9 in female participants. Moreover, IgM levels with serum zinc values in females were negatively correlated.

Conclusion

Our study suggests the potential role of micronutrients in gender-specific humoral immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further studies are required with a greater sample of subjects to substantiate the validity and robustness of our findings.
Inhibitors Incorporated Into Water-Based Epoxy Coatings on Metals for Corrosion Protection: A Review
Authors: Jomy Jilna , Prabhu Deepa , Prabhu P. R.
Published: February 2022

Corrosion and its protection are one of the major challenges that are faced by the industries. To overcome this, new coatings with characteristic properties which are environmentally friendly are introduced. A cost-effective and most reliable way of corrosion protection is via barrier coatings, in which water-based epoxy coatings showed significant corrosion resistance. Although the epoxy coating creates a barrier between the metal and the corroding ions, there is a chance of leakage due to mechanical rupture and the formation of micropores during the curing time of the epoxy. This leads to the incorporation of inhibitors into the epoxy coatings which in turn increase the corrosion resistance. This review discusses the different types of inhibitors that are incorporated into the epoxy coating to prevent corrosion. The use of Nano/micro containers for the encapsulation of the inhibitors leads to the discovery of self-healing smart coatings. Such water-based epoxy smart coatings are also discussed.
Short-Term Subway Inbound Passenger Flow Prediction Based on AFC Data and PSO-LSTM Optimized Model
Authors: Liu Jiaxin , Jiang Rui , Zhu Dan , Zhao Jiandong
Published: February 2022

Making accurate predictions of subway passenger flow is conducive to optimizing operation plans. This study aims to analyze the regularity of subway passenger flow and combine the modeling skills of deep learning with transportation knowledge to predict the short-term subway passenger flow in the scenarios of workdays and holidays. The processed data were collected from two months of Automated Fare Collection (AFC) data from Xizhimen station of Beijing metro. The data were first cleaned by the established cleansing rules to delete malformed and abnormal logic data. The cleaned data were used to analyze the spatial characteristics in passenger flow. Second, a short-term subway passenger flow prediction model was built on the basis of long short-term memory (LSTM). Determining that the error will be relatively high in peak hours, we proposed gradual optimizations from data input by dividing one whole day into different time periods, and then used particle swarm optimization (PSO) to search for the optimal hyperparameters setting. Finally, inbound passenger flow of Beijing Xizhimen subway station in 2018 was selected for numerical experiments. Predictions of the LSTM-based model had higher accuracy than the traditional machine learning support vector regression (SVR) model, with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 21.97% and 4.80% in the scenarios of workdays and holidays, respectively, which are both lower than those of the SVR model. The optimized PSO-LSTM model has been verified for its effectiveness and accurateness by the AFC data.
Comparison of biochar properties from 5 kinds of halophyte produced by slow pyrolysis at 500 °C
Authors: Xiao Hongyang , Lin Qimei , Li Guitong , Zhao Xiaorong , Li Jianzhong , Li Erzhen
Published: February 2022

Glycophyte biomass-derived biochars are currently concerned in most studies. However, little attention is given to the characteristics of halophyte-derived biochars. In this study, five typical halophytes of euhalophytes (Suaeda altissima, Suaeda salsa, and Kalidium foliatum), recretohalophytes (Phragmites australis), and pseudohalophytes (Tamarix chinensis) which are widely distributed in the arid and semiarid regions of northwestern China were selected for producing biochars with a slow pyrolysis process at 500 °C for 1 h. The harvested biochars were characterized in elemental content, pores, surface area, and surface charges, and then their potential value as a soil conditioner was evaluated. The results showed that the halophyte-derived biochars had variable ash and Na+ contents, ranging from 7.26 to 23.64% and 1.06 to 33.93 g kg−1 respectively. The EC value of the biochars ranged from 1.76 to 23.45 mS cm−1. The biochar derived from Suaeda altissima had a very low specific surface area (SSA), 3.50 m2 g−1, while that derived from Phragmites australis (BPA) had a very high SSA, 344.02 m2 g−1. All the biochars carried both positive and negative charges. Kalidium foliatum biochar (BKF) possessed more negative charges, while Suaeda altissima biochar (BSA) contained more positive charges. In general, the halophyte biochars had a higher ash content and lower point of zero net charge (PZNC) value, compared with the biochars derived from glycophytes, which would imply their higher potential value as an acidic soil conditioner.
Spatial panel count data: modeling and forecasting of urban crimes
Authors: Glaser Stephanie , Jung Robert C. , Schweikert Karsten
Published: February 2022

The steadily growing access to high-quality spatio-temporal crime count data with a high level of spatial detail allows to uncover interesting relationships between crime types within and between small regional units. Data coherent forecasting of such counts has to take the integer and non-negative nature of the data into account. Spatial panel data models that meet the criterion of coherency are relatively sparse. This paper proposes a new spatial panel regression framework with fixed effects to overcome these shortcomings. Depending on whether time dynamic effects are included in the model specification, estimation and inference are based either on a pseudo maximum likelihood method or on quasi-differenced generalized methods of moments. The models’ usefulness is demonstrated in a forecasting exercise of monthly crime counts at census tract level from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Environmental effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation, and interactions with climate change: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2021
Authors: Barnes P. W. , Robson T. M. , Neale P. J. , Williamson C. E. , Zepp R. G. , Madronich S. , Wilson S. R. , Andrady A. L. , Heikkilä A. M. , Bernhard G. H. , Bais A. F. , Neale R. E. , Bornman J. F. , Jansen M. A. K. , Klekociuk A. R. , Martinez-Abaigar J. , Robinson S. A. , Wang Q.-W. , Banaszak A. T. , Häder D.-P. , Hylander S. , Rose K. C. , Wängberg S.-Å. , Foereid B. , Hou W.-C. , Ossola R. , Paul N. D. , Ukpebor J. E. , Andersen M. P. S. , Longstreth J. , Schikowski T. , Solomon K. R. , Sulzberger B. , Bruckman L. S. , Pandey K. K. , White C. C. , Zhu L. , Zhu M. , Aucamp P. J. , Liley J. B. , McKenzie R. L. , Berwick M. , Byrne S. N. , Hollestein L. M. , Lucas R. M. , Olsen C. M. , Rhodes L. E. , Yazar S. , Young A. R.
Published: February 2022

The Environmental Effects Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol under the United Nations Environment Programme evaluates effects on the environment and human health that arise from changes in the stratospheric ozone layer and concomitant variations in ultraviolet (UV) radiation at the Earth’s surface. The current update is based on scientific advances that have accumulated since our last assessment (Photochem and Photobiol Sci 20(1):1–67, 2021). We also discuss how climate change affects stratospheric ozone depletion and ultraviolet radiation, and how stratospheric ozone depletion affects climate change. The resulting interlinking effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, UV radiation, and climate change are assessed in terms of air quality, carbon sinks, ecosystems, human health, and natural and synthetic materials. We further highlight potential impacts on the biosphere from extreme climate events that are occurring with increasing frequency as a consequence of climate change. These and other interactive effects are examined with respect to the benefits that the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments are providing to life on Earth by controlling the production of various substances that contribute to both stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change.
A 3D Grouped Convolutional Network Fused with Conditional Random Field and Its Application in Image Multi-target Fine Segmentation
Authors: Yin Jian , Zhou Zhibo , Xu Shaohua , Yang Ruiping , Liu Kun
Published: February 2022

Aiming at the utilization of adjacent image correlation information in multi-target segmentation of 3D image slices and the optimization of segmentation results, a 3D grouped fully convolutional network fused with conditional random fields (3D-GFCN) is proposed. The model takes fully convolutional network (FCN) as the image segmentation infrastructure, and fully connected conditional random field (FCCRF) as the post-processing tool. It expands the 2D convolution into 3D operations, and uses a shortcut-connection structure to achieve feature fusion of different levels and scales, to realizes the fine-segmentation of 3D image slices. 3D-GFCN uses 3D convolution kernel to correlate the information of 3D image adjacent slices, uses the context correlation and probability exploration mechanism of FCCRF to optimize the segmentation results, and uses the grouped convolution to reduce the model parameters. The dice loss that can ignore the influence of background pixels is used as the training objective function to reduce the influence of the imbalance quantity between background pixels and target pixels. The model can automatically study and focus on target structures of different shapes and sizes in the image, highlight the salient features useful for specific tasks. In the mechanism, it can improve the shortcomings and limitations of the existing image segmentation algorithms, such as insignificant morphological features of the target image, weak correlation of spatial information and discontinuous segmentation results, and improve the accuracy of multi-target segmentation results and learning efficiency. Take abdominal abnormal tissue detection and multi-target segmentation based on 3D computer tomography (CT) images as verification experiments. In the case of small-scale and unbalanced data set, the average Dice coefficient is 88.8%, the Class Pixel Accuracy is 95.3%, and Intersection of Union is 87.8%. Compared with other methods, the performance evaluation index and segmentation accuracy are significantly improved. It shows that the proposed method has good applicability for solving typical multi-target image segmentation problems, such as boundary overlap, offset deformation and low contrast.
Relative Basic Uncertain Information in Preference and Uncertain Involved Information Fusion
Authors: Jin Le-Sheng , Xu Ya-Qiang , Chen Zhen-Song , Mesiar Radko , Yager Ronald R.
Published: February 2022

Basic uncertain information is a newly proposed normative formulation to express and model uncertain information. This study further generalizes this concept by introducing the concept of refined interval of discourse in which the true value is known to be included. Hence, we define some new definitions of relative basic uncertain information, relative certainty/uncertainty degree and comprehensive certainty/uncertainty with some related measurements and analysis. With the introduced uncertain data type, we define two corresponding aggregation operators, namely, the relative basic uncertain information valued weighted arithmetic mean operator and the interval-induced relative basic uncertain information valued ordered weight averaging operator. An application of the proposed concepts and methods in multi-agents evaluation is provided.
Gevrey regularity and analyticity for the modified Camassa–Holm equation
Authors: Zhou Qingyu , Pan Xiaolin , Zhou Shouming
Published: February 2022

This paper deals with the analyticity and Gevrey regularity for the Cauchy problem of a modified Camassa–Holm (mCH) equation in Sobolev–Gevrey space $$G_{r,s}^\delta$$

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r
,
s

δ

with $$s>\frac{1}{2}$$

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, $$r\ge 1$$

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and $$0<\delta <1$$

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<
1

, and a lower bound of lifespan and continuity of the data-to-solution map was also obtained.
Design of simulation-based pilot training systems using machine learning agents
Authors: Källström J. , Granlund R. , Heintz F.
Published: February 2022

The high operational cost of aircraft, limited availability of air space, and strict safety regulations make training of fighter pilots increasingly challenging. By integrating Live, Virtual, and Constructive simulation resources, efficiency and effectiveness can be improved. In particular, if constructive simulations, which provide synthetic agents operating synthetic vehicles, were used to a higher degree, complex training scenarios could be realised at low cost, the need for support personnel could be reduced, and training availability could be improved. In this work, inspired by the recent improvements of techniques for artificial intelligence, we take a user perspective and investigate how intelligent, learning agents could help build future training systems. Through a domain analysis, a user study, and practical experiments, we identify important agent capabilities and characteristics, and then discuss design approaches and solution concepts for training systems to utilise learning agents for improved training value.
Life-history tradeoffs in a historical population (1896–1939) undergoing rapid fertility decline: Costs of reproduction?
Authors: Jaeggi Adrian V. , Martin Jordan S. , Floris Joël , Bender Nicole , Haeusler Martin , Sear Rebecca , Staub Kaspar
Published: February 2022

Evolutionary demographers often invoke tradeoffs between reproduction and survival to explain reductions in fertility during demographic transitions. The evidence for such tradeoffs in humans has been mixed, partly because tradeoffs may be masked by individual differences in quality or access to resources. Unmasking tradeoffs despite such phenotypic correlations requires sophisticated statistical analyses that account for endogeneity among variables and individual differences in access to resources. Here we tested for costs of reproduction using N = 13,663 birth records from the maternity hospital in Basel, Switzerland, 1896–1939, a period characterised by rapid fertility declines. We predicted that higher parity is associated with worse maternal and offspring condition at the time of birth, adjusting for age and a variety of covariates. We used Bayesian multivariate, multilevel models to simultaneously analyse multiple related outcomes while accounting for endogeneity, appropriately modelling non-linear effects, dealing with hierarchical data structures, and effectively imputing missing data. Despite all these efforts, we found virtually no evidence for costs of reproduction. Instead, women with better access to resources had fewer children. Barring limitations of the data, these results are consistent with demographic transitions reflecting women's investment in their own embodied capital and/or the adoption of maladaptive low-fertility norms by elites.
Four levers of reciprocity across human societies: concepts, analysis and predictions
Authors: Lehmann Laurent , Powers Simon T. , van Schaik Carel P.
Published: February 2022

This paper surveys five human societal types – mobile foragers, horticulturalists, pre-state agriculturalists, state-based agriculturalists and liberal democracies – from the perspective of three core social problems faced by interacting individuals: coordination problems, social dilemmas and contest problems. We characterise the occurrence of these problems in the different societal types and enquire into the main force keeping societies together given the prevalence of these. To address this, we consider the social problems in light of the theory of repeated games, and delineate the role of intertemporal incentives in sustaining cooperative behaviour through the reciprocity principle. We analyse the population, economic and political structural features of the five societal types, and show that intertemporal incentives have been adapted to the changes in scope and scale of the core social problems as societies have grown in size. In all societies, reciprocity mechanisms appear to solve the social problems by enabling lifetime direct benefits to individuals for cooperation. Our analysis leads us to predict that as societies increase in complexity, they need more of the following four features to enable the scalability and adaptability of the reciprocity principle: nested grouping, decentralised enforcement and local information, centralised enforcement and coercive power, and formal rules.
Physiological significance of vitamin D produced in skin compared with oral vitamin D
Authors: Fraser David R.
Published: February 2022

Since the discovery of vitamin D, it has been accepted that its physiological supply is either from food or by endogenous synthesis in skin exposed to solar UV light. Yet vitamin D is a component of very few foods and its supply as a natural nutrient is unable to maintain good vitamin D status for human populations. One aspect of vitamin D physiology that has been ignored is that the mechanisms for its transport and processing from these two sources are quite different. Excess intake of vitamin D causes hypercalcaemic toxicity. However, experiments with different animal species have shown that long-term supply of oral vitamin D in apparently non-toxic amounts causes atherosclerosis in large arteries. A mechanism for this toxicity is proposed. Alternative strategies for addressing widespread vitamin D deficiency by food fortification should be considered in light of the angiotoxicity caused by oral vitamin D in animal experiments.
Evaluating tolerability of resistant starch 2, alone and in combination with minimally fermented fibre for patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a pilot randomised controlled cross-over trial
Authors: So Daniel , Yao Chu K. , Gibson Peter R. , Muir Jane G.
Published: February 2022

Resistant starch 2 (RS2) may offer therapeutic value to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients particularly in combination with minimally fermented fibre, but tolerability data are lacking. The present study evaluated the tolerability of RS2, sugarcane bagasse and their combination in IBS patients and healthy controls. Following baseline, participants consumed the fibres in escalating doses lasting 3 d each: RS2 (10, 15 and 20 g/d); sugarcane bagasse (5, 10 and 15 g/d); and their combination (20, 25 and 30 g/d). Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed daily. Six IBS patients and five controls were recruited. No differences in overall symptoms from baseline were found across the fibre doses (IBS, P = 0⋅586; controls, P = 0⋅687). For IBS patients, all RS2 doses led to increased bloating. One IBS patient did not tolerate the low combination dose and another the high sugarcane bagasse dose. Supplementation of RS2 ≤ 20 g/d caused mild symptoms and was generally tolerated in IBS patients even when combined with minimally fermented fibre.
Consumption of ultra-processed foods and IL-6 in two cohorts from high- and middle-income countries
Authors: Silva dos Santos Francine , Costa Mintem Gicele , Oliveira de Oliveira Isabel , Lessa Horta Bernardo , Ramos Elisabete , Lopes Carla , Petrucci Gigante Denise
Published: February 2022

This study evaluated the association between ultra-processed foods (UPF) on serum IL-6 and to investigate the mediation role of adiposity. Participants were 524 adults from the EPITeen Cohort (Porto, Portugal) and 2888 participants from the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort (Pelotas, Brazil). Dietary intake was collected using FFQ when participants were 21 years of age in the EPITeen and 23 years in the Pelotas Cohort. Serum IL-6 and body fat mass were evaluated when participants were 27 and 30 years old in the EPITeen and Pelotas, respectively. Generalised linear models were fitted to test main associations. Mediation of body fat mass was estimated using G-computation. After adjustment for socio-economic and behaviour variables, among females from the EPITeen, the concentration of IL-6 (pg/ml) increased with increasing intake of UPF from 1·31 (95 % CI 0·95, 1·82) in the first UPF quartile to 2·20 (95 % CI 1·60, 3·01) and 2·64 (95 % CI 1·89, 3·69) for the third and fourth UPF quartiles, respectively. A similar result was found among males in the Pelotas Cohort, IL-6 increased from 1·40 (95 % CI 1·32, 1·49) in the first UPF quartile to 1·50 (95 % CI 1·41, 1·59) and 1·59 (95 % CI 1·49, 1·70) in the two highest UPF quartiles. The P-value for the linear trend was < 0·01 in both findings. The indirect effect through fat mass was NS. Our findings suggest that the consumption of UPF was associated with an increase in IL-6 concentration; however, this association was not explained by adiposity.
Occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in ‘coalho’ cheese produced in Brazil
Authors: de Aguiar Felipe R. M. , Rocha Larissa Q. , Barboza Morgana M. O. , Sampaio Tiago L. , Nogueira Nádia A. P. , de Menezes Ramon R. P. P. B.
Published: February 2022

The experiments reported in this research communication analysed the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 112 samples of ‘coalho’ cheese, from 56 dairy producing farms in 28 cities in all mesoregions of the State of Ceará, Brazil. To assess antimicrobial resistance we also examined the presence of genes encoding enterotoxins and toxic shock syndrome toxin, as well as the presence of the blaZ gene for β-lactamases, and resistance to oxacillin. The research found 69 isolates of S. aureus, of which 13.04% had the mecA gene encoding the penicillin-binding protein, which confers resistance to methicillin, in cheese samples from 6 different cities. This included the state capital, Fortaleza, which had the largest prevalence (23.19%) of mecA positive isolates. It was also found that 55.07% of the isolates of S. aureus had the blaZ gene, and 7.25% demonstrated resistance to oxacillin in the plate disc diffusion tests. We did not show the presence of isolates carrying toxigenic genes. The findings suggest that strict supervision of production processes in the dairy industry is necessary in all production scale processes, thus preventing contamination and possible problems for consumers.
La “Doña” è Mobile: The Role of Women in Social Mobility in a Pre-Modern Economy
Authors: Espín-Sánchez José-Antonio , Gil-Guirado Salvador , Vickers Chris
Published: February 2022

We use data from marriage records in Murcia, Spain, in the eighteenth century to study the role of women in social mobility in the pre-modern era. Our measure of social standing is identification as a don or doña, an honorific denoting high, though not necessarily noble, status. We show that this measure, which is acquired over the lifecycle, shows gendered transmission patterns. In particular, same-sex transmission is stronger than opposite-sex, for both sons and daughters. The relative transmission from fathers versus mothers varies over the lifecycle, and grandparents may affect the status of their grandchildren.
What Happened to the U.S. Economy during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic? A View Through High-Frequency Data
Authors: Velde François R.
Published: February 2022

An economic downturn coincided with the start of the epidemic but the recession was short and moderate, compared with that of 1920/21. Cross-sectional high-frequency data indicate that the epidemic affected the labor supply sharply but briefly with no ensuing spill-overs; most of the recession, brief as it was, was due to the end of the war. I analyze weekly city-level mortality data and economic indicators with time series methods and structural estimation of an economic-epidemiological model: interventions to hinder the contagion reduced mortality at little economic cost, probably because reduced infections mitigated the impact on the labor force.
On reconsidering entropies and divergences and their cumulative counterparts: Csiszár's, DPD's and Fisher's type cumulative and survival measures
Authors: Zografos Konstantinos
Published: February 2022

This paper concentrates on the fundamental concepts of entropy, information and divergence to the case where the distribution function and the respective survival function play the central role in their definition. The main aim is to provide an overview of these three categories of measures of information and their cumulative and survival counterparts. It also aims to introduce and discuss Csiszár's type cumulative and survival divergences and the analogous Fisher's type information on the basis of cumulative and survival functions.
Featural affixation and sound symbolism in Fungwa
Authors: Akinbo Samuel
Published: February 2022

Fungwa marks the diminutive by fronting non-high vowels of nominal roots and the augmentative by backing non-high vowels of nominal roots. The root-vowel mutation is considered to be an effect of diminutive and augmentative morphemes which have [―back] and [+back] features as their phonetic exponents. The form–meaning association of the morphemes is consistent with the pattern of sound-size symbolism in various languages. Thus Fungwa presents categorical and deterministic evidence for sound-size symbolism. To account for the realisation of the featural affixes, I assume featural correspondence constraints. Given that the featural affixes are not realised on high vowels, I argue that the realisation of the featural affixes involves a prominence-based licensing condition.
People's History in the Age of Populism
Authors: Grama Adrian
Published: February 2022

Why write people's histories in our age of populism? Much of the original appeal of the genre derived from the marginality its subject once occupied in public life. Ordinary lives were hardly mentioned in school textbooks; popular culture was assigned to the bottom of the nation's hierarchy of values; and popular politics was either criminalised or disciplined to fit national voting patterns in states ruled by bullet and ballot alike. Defining the people naturally set the fault lines between liberal, conservative and socialist practitioners of the genre. J.R. Green's late nineteenth-century prototype – A Short History of the English People – presented a liberal story of social change, from the landing of Hengist to the battle of Waterloo. It incorporated the entirety of social life mushrooming beneath the deeds of kings, in all its evolutionary splendor. On the continent, notably in Central and Eastern Europe, the people would often feature in ethnic garb, in histories of national liberation or imperial projection. Yet it was Marxism, broadly conceived, that provided the most enduring template for people's histories, at least in the Anglosphere, from A.L. Morton's pioneering A People's History of England onwards. Extended beyond strictly national boundaries to topics such as modern Europe or even the world, two recent people's histories written in this vein, both taking their motto from Brecht's Fragen eines lesenden Arbeiters, filter their subject through class struggle and offer a narrative of freedom from want in which a vast labouring multitude toils, suffers and rebels across ages. However, political outlook and epistemological commitments aside, for the past century people's history has claimed to restore to the people its own past, often one of misery at the hands of elites yet one all the more dignified for that reason. Do any of these coordinates still obtain today? Is not the current glorification of ordinary lives, popular culture and politics the bread and butter of populism?
Psychosocial, neurodevelopmental, and transition of care practices provided to children with CHD across North American cardiac clinics
Authors: Basile Nathan L. , Brown Kirschman Keri J. , Dempster Nicole R.
Published: February 2022

Children with CHD are at risk for psychosocial and neurodevelopmental difficulties, as well as lapses in care during their transition from paediatric to adult CHD providers. The American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics released guidelines for best practices in the neurodevelopmental and transitional care for children with CHD in 2012 and 2011, respectively. CHD providers from 48 (42.1% response rate) geographically diverse cardiac clinics completed a 31-item electronic survey designed to assess the cardiac teams’ consistency with neurodevelopmental evaluation and management recommendations, consultation/liaison patterns for psychosocial services, and procedures regarding transitional services for emerging adults. Responses suggest most cardiac teams refer patients to psychosocial services as needed, and 39.6% of teams screen for psychosocial distress. CHD providers at 66.7% of cardiac clinics reported a formal neurodevelopmental programme/clinic. Nearly half of cardiac teams conduct routine neurodevelopmental evaluations, most frequently occurring at 9 months of age. Less than 10% of cardiac clinics have resources to meet the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics 2012 neurodevelopmental evaluation and management guidelines. Formal paediatric to adult CHD transition programmes were reported at 70.8% of cardiac clinics and were associated with younger ages of transition to adult CHD care. Care practices varied across the 48 represented cardiac clinics, indicating inconsistent practices for patients with CHD. Barriers and facilitators to the provision of care for children in these areas were reported and are presented. More support is needed for cardiac clinics to continue improvements in psychosocial, neurodevelopmental, and transitional care services.
The motor profile of obsessive-compulsive rituals: psychopathological and evolutionary implications
Authors: Tonna Matteo , Ottoni Rebecca , Pellegrini Clara , Mora Lorenzo , Gambolo Luca , Di Donna Anna , Parmigiani Stefano , Marchesi Carlo
Published: February 2022

Background

Studies investigating obsessive-compulsive disorder from an ethological approach have highlighted a specific motor pattern of compulsive rituals with respect to corresponding ordinary behaviors. Particularly, compulsive motor profile is built through the repetition of acts, with prevalence of nonfunctional ones and redirection of attention to its basic structural units. These formal features would characterize ritual behavior throughout evolution, from nonhuman animals to human cultures. However, no study to date has investigated a possible relationship between such motor profile and underlying psychopathology. Therefore, the first objective of the study was to confirm previous findings on a larger sample size of obsessive patients; the second objective was to elucidate whether motor profile might be associated with obsessive-compulsive psychopathology and/or prepsychotic symptoms of schizophrenia.

Methods

Twenty-one obsessive-compulsive outpatients provided a videotape of their rituals. An equal number of healthy controls, matched for sex and age, were registered for corresponding ordinary acts. Obsessive patients were administered the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire.

Results

The results of the present study confirm that ritual compulsions present a specific motor structure characterized by repetition of both functional and nonfunctional acts and their longer duration. Such a motor pattern is independent from obsessive-compulsive psychopathology, whereas it results specifically associated with prepsychotic symptoms of schizophrenia.

Conclusions

We argue that this association may reflect the adaptive significance of ritual behavior across evolution, that is, its homeostatic function in conditions of unpredictability.
Enhancing deep neural networks with morphological information
Authors: Klemen Matej , Krsnik Luka , Robnik-Šikonja Marko
Published: February 2022

Deep learning approaches are superior in natural language processing due to their ability to extract informative features and patterns from languages. The two most successful neural architectures are LSTM and transformers, used in large pretrained language models such as BERT. While cross-lingual approaches are on the rise, most current natural language processing techniques are designed and applied to English, and less-resourced languages are lagging behind. In morphologically rich languages, information is conveyed through morphology, for example, through affixes modifying stems of words. The existing neural approaches do not explicitly use the information on word morphology. We analyse the effect of adding morphological features to LSTM and BERT models. As a testbed, we use three tasks available in many less-resourced languages: named entity recognition (NER), dependency parsing (DP) and comment filtering (CF). We construct baselines involving LSTM and BERT models, which we adjust by adding additional input in the form of part of speech (POS) tags and universal features. We compare the models across several languages from different language families. Our results suggest that adding morphological features has mixed effects depending on the quality of features and the task. The features improve the performance of LSTM-based models on the NER and DP tasks, while they do not benefit the performance on the CF task. For BERT-based models, the added morphological features only improve the performance on DP when they are of high quality (i.e., manually checked) while not showing any practical improvement when they are predicted. Even for high-quality features, the improvements are less pronounced in language-specific BERT variants compared to massively multilingual BERT models. As in NER and CF datasets manually checked features are not available, we only experiment with predicted features and find that they do not cause any practical improvement in performance.