bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Translating government policy into practice: How new UK medical schools enact widening participation
Authors: Cleland Jennifer , Buxton Jordan , Hughes Elizabeth , Patterson Fiona
Published: May 2024

Introduction

Increasing the diversity of medical students, or widening participation (WP), is critical for social justice and healthcare delivery, and many governments are setting policies to encourage WP. However, establishing policy is only the first step in an educational change process: we also need to know “how” policy is enacted or how medical schools interpret and put into practice WP policy. Addressing this gap, the aim of this study was to examine policy enactment in six new UK medical schools with an explicit WP mandate.

Methods

This qualitative study, underpinned by social constructivism, used semi‐structured interviews to explore the experiences of key actors (6 Deans and 14 Admissions staff) of putting policy into practice when setting up a new medical school. Data coding and analysis were initially inductive, using thematic analysis. We then applied Ball's theory of policy enactment to organise the data into four contextual dimensions of ‘situation’, ‘professional’, ‘material’ and ‘external’.

Results

On the surface, there were many similarities across the six schools in terms of the four dimensions. However, how these dimensions interacted illuminated tensions and differences. For example, some schools found themselves increasingly subjected to local and extra‐local rule systems, including pressure to follow host university norms and hosts struggling to accept that medical schools are heavily regulated. There were also tensions between the new medical schools and the medical education “establishment”, including lack of power and being judged by overly narrow outcomes.

Discussion

Different contexts seem to influence the enactment of WP to medicine in different places, even in the same country, even in medical schools established at the same time. That policy enactment is a complex, non‐linear process of enactment is important to acknowledge: context is critical. Our findings will inform future policies and practices that aim to increase WP in medicine.
Metabolomic pathways in food allergy
Authors: Lee So‐Yeon , Park Yoon Mee , Yoo Hyun Ju , Hong Soo‐Jong
Published: May 2024

Food allergy (FA) is a widespread issue, affecting as many as 10% of the population. Over the past two to three decades, the prevalence of FA has been on the rise, particularly in industrialized and westernized countries. FA is a complex, multifactorial disease mediated by type 2 immune responses and involving environmental and genetic factors. However, the precise mechanisms remain inadequately understood. Metabolomics has the potential to identify disease endotypes, which could beneficially promote personalized prevention and treatment. A metabolome approach would facilitate the identification of surrogate metabolite markers reflecting the disease activity and prognosis. Here, we present a literature overview of recent metabolomic studies conducted on children with FA.

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What is philosophical progress?
Authors: Dellsén Finnur , Firing Tina , Lawler Insa , Norton James
Published: May 2024

What is it for philosophy to make progress? While various putative forms of philosophical progress have been explored in some depth, this overarching question is rarely addressed explicitly, perhaps because it has been assumed to be intractable or unlikely to have a single, unified answer. In this paper, we aim to show that the question is tractable, that it does admit of a single, unified answer, and that one such answer is plausible. This answer is, roughly, that philosophical progress consists in putting people in a position to increase their understanding, where ‘increased understanding’ is a matter of better representing the network of dependence relations between phenomena. After identifying four desiderata for an account of philosophical progress, we argue that our account meets the desiderata in a particularly satisfying way. Among other things, the account explains how various other achievements, such as philosophical arguments, counterexamples, and distinctions, may contribute to progress. Finally, we consider the implications of our account for the pressing and contentious question of how much progress has been made in philosophy.
Foreign aid: An agent for socioeconomic development? A case study from an emerging economy: Pakistan
Authors: Zaidi Syed Muhammad Saad , Akhtar Muhammad Zubair , Sargana Mujahid Hussain
Published: May 2024

Pakistan's economy since its creation has remained heavily dependent on foreign aid, especially to manage the ever‐widening gap between the available financial resources, development expenditure, fiscal deficit, and current account deficit. This article critically evaluates the effectiveness of foreign aid in Pakistan from 2000 to 2022 via an in‐depth literature review and the rational actor model (RAM). Furthermore, a mixed‐method approach based on descriptive quantitative and in‐depth qualitative research methods was adopted for this study. The article demonstrates that RAM can assist policy makers, enabling them to make decisions vis‐à‐vis foreign aid while safeguarding national interests, particularly economic interests. However, this study finds that for Pakistan to achieve sustainable economic growth, increasing exports and attracting more foreign direct investment hold greater potential than continued reliance on foreign aid. In conclusion, the article prescribes policy measures to restructure Pakistan's political system to foster socioeconomic development through trade liberalization and good governance.

Related Articles

Asongu, Simplice A., and Joseph Nnanna. 2019. “Foreign Aid, Instability, and Governance in Africa.” Politics & Policy 47(4): 807–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12320.

Dobransky, Steve. 2014. “Violators amongst Us: International Regimes and the Role of Compliance, a Case Study on Official Development Assistance.” Politics & Policy 42(4): 593–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12082.

Scarlato, Margherita, and Giorgio d'Agostino. 2019. “The Political Dimension of Cash Transfers in Latin America and Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Comparative Perspective.” Politics & Policy 47(6): 1125–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12332.
Impact of tariff liberalization on economic and social benefits: Computable general equilibrium application to Kenya
Authors: Mwatu Shadrack Muthami , Nafula Nancy Nelima , Karanja John Gakuu
Published: May 2024

This study employed computable general equilibrium policy simulations to examine the impact of import tariff liberalization on socioeconomic outcomes including living standards, cost of living, gross domestic product (GDP) from expenditure, total investment expenditure, intermediate input demand, output, value‐added, tariff revenue, sales tax revenue, indirect tax revenue, direct income tax revenue, factor income tax revenue, and factor demand. Findings from the simulations have policy implications touching on a need to embrace reciprocal tariff liberalization under agreements like strategic trade and investment partnerships and economic partnership agreements as they are associated with welfare gains, reduction in cost of living, and GDP growth. Targeted policy incentives could be directed to specific domestic sectors since tariff liberalization has negative impacts on investment expenditure. Incentives regarding intermediate inputs should be directed to the manufacturing and services sectors for liberalization of agrifood commodities. Targeted policy incentives should be directed to the manufacturing and services sectors which experience decrease in output with tariff reductions. Liberalization of manufactured commodities should be accompanied by value‐added incentives directed to the agrifood and home production–home consumption sectors. For the liberalization of manufactured commodities, targeted policy incentives should be directed to the services sector which experiences job losses while for the liberalization of tariffs on imports of agrifood commodities, targeted policy incentives should be directed to the agrifood and the home production–home consumption sectors, which also lose jobs. These targeted policy incentives could support industrial activity and compensate for revenue loss, especially from customs duties.

Related Articles

Gruber, Lloyd. 2013. “Trade, Growth, Poverty, and Politics: Toward a Unified Theory.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 723–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12034.

Onyango, Gedion, and Japheth Otieno Ondiek. 2022. “Open Innovation During the COVID‐19 Pandemic Policy Responses in South Africa and Kenya.” Politics & Policy 50(5): 1008–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12490.

Soto, Gloria. 2012. “Environmental Impact of Agricultural Trade Liberalization under NAFTA.” Politics & Policy 40(3): 471–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00354.x.
Can the military be a better manager of the economy?
Authors: Sun Mingchao
Published: May 2024

Pakistan has struggled for a political system suitable for its postindependence development; however, repeated struggles between democracy and dictatorship have slowed Pakistan's economic growth. I quantified the impact of military dictatorship on Pakistan's economy from 1999 to 2008 using synthetic control methods. I found that while the average annual GDP per capita growth grew during the military dictatorship, it was four times lower than synthetic Pakistan's. I conclude that the military did not help Pakistan with its economic malaise. The increase in military expenditure and the prevalence of terrorism due to the military dictatorship may have hindered Pakistan's economic growth.
Integrating personality psychology and intersectionality to advance diversity in the study of persons
Authors: Westberg Dulce Wilkinson , Syed Moin
Published: May 2024

Consideration of how interrelated social structures relate with personality has been limited. In this paper, we discuss how researchers might apply an intersectional framework–which uses a social justice lens to examine how social structures are interconnected and impact individuals—at three distinct levels of personality including traits, characteristic adaptations, and integrative life narratives. We begin by providing conceptualizations of personality and intersectionality and describe considerations for their integration, including the need to widen the methodological and epistemological scope of personality science. Key areas of research that demonstrate the promise of an intersectional framework for unpacking structures of power and oppression in relation to the person are then described for each level of personality. Specifically, recommendations for how an intersectional framework may be used to examine structural identity domains in relation to trait levels, values and goals, as well as the content and process of narrated lives are offered. We conclude with discussion of how application of an intersectional framework is crucial for promoting inclusion and generalizability in personality science.
Microplastic pollution in terrestrial environment: Identification, characterization, and risk assessment in Indore, Central India
Authors: Singh Surya , Chakma Sankar , Alawa Bablu , Kalyanasundaram Madhanraj , Diwan Vishal
Published: May 2024

Widespread use of plastics and improper management of plastic waste have resulted in generation of microplastic particles in the environment. These microplastic particles are pervasive contaminants having potential to invade almost all the environmental matrices and biotic species including humans. Therefore, immediate concern is necessary to investigate the level of contamination and probable risk imposed because of microplastics. Present investigation has been carried out for estimating the presence of microplastics in terrestrial environment of Indore, which is considered as commercial capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh (India). Soil samples (30 in no.) were collected from agricultural and recreational areas of the city and analysed for the presence of microplastics. Approximately 11 particles/kg and 68.25 particles/kg were found in the agricultural and recreational site soil samples, respectively. Chemical composition analysis revealed that most of the microplastic particles belonged to polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, and polyamide. Significant presence of various fibres made up of polyester, polyacrylic, and cellulose acetate was also seen, which could be attributed to the presence of textile industries in and around Indore. Ecological risk assessment aided in concluding that study area soil is under the ‘very low’ risk category; however, considering the long‐term impacts of microplastics, suitable control measures for plastic waste are needed to be adopted.
From Experimenting with Property to Experimenting on Place: A Rejoinder to Migozzi and Safransky
Authors: Fields Desiree
Published: May 2024

This rejoinder engages with the commentaries on my article on ‘Digital experiments with landed property’ from Julien Migozzi and Sara Safransky. In my response, I share my reflections on the valuable provocations and interrelated themes offered in these generous commentaries. First, I argue that an especially distinctive aspect of digital experiments with landed property is the volumetric property relations they are generating. Second, I attend to subjectivities cultivated within and against digitised property relations, and how they relate to structures of power. Third, I extend my thinking on the glitchiness and fallibility associated with processes of experimentation.
Market area analysis with a focus on the spatial relationship between sites and their visitors
Authors: Sadahiro Yukio , Matsumoto Hidetaka
Published: May 2024

This article proposes a new approach to market area analysis. Market area analysis is conducted in various academic fields, such as retail geography, marketing science, transportation science, and tourism study. It aims to understand the factors that affect visitors' choice behavior, which improves the performance of various sites, such as stores, restaurants, museums, and stadiums. Methods for market area analysis, however, have not been fully developed in the literature. To fill the research gap, this article proposes new methods of market area analysis. The first method considers the relationship between a site and its visitors. Our focus is on the spatial pattern of visitors around a site. The second method discusses the spatial relationship between the visitors of two sites. We evaluate the competing relationship between different sites. We applied the methods to the analysis of mountain climbers in Japan. The results gave us useful and interesting empirical findings, indicating the method's soundness.
Retrospective evaluation of traumatic pneumomediastinum in dogs and cats (2005–2022): 52 cases
Authors: Klainbart Sigal , Shipov Anna , Tygiel Daliya , Segev Gilad , Kelmer Efrat
Published: May 2024

Objective

To describe the incidence, etiology, clinical signs, diagnostics, treatments, and outcome of noniatrogenic traumatic pneumomediastinum (TPM) in dogs and cats.

Design

Retrospective study of cases (2005–2022).

Setting

University veterinary teaching hospital.

Animals

Fifty‐two patients (29 dogs, 23 cats).

Measurements and Main Results

Data collected from the medical records included signalment, physical examination findings, animal trauma triage (ATT) score, clinicopathological data, imaging data, surgical intervention, length of hospitalization, supportive care, complications, and outcome. Most dogs presented with tachycardia and tachypnea, while cats presented with hypothermia and tachypnea. Subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothorax, and dyspnea were the most common clinical signs for both species. The median calculated ATT score was 3.5 in dogs and 4 in cats. The most common radiographic abnormalities other than pneumomediastinum were pneumothorax and lung contusions. The overall mortality rate was 18%, with a significantly higher survival rate in dogs (26/28 dogs [93%], 15/22 cats (68%); P = 0.03). Outcome was unknown in 1 dog and 1 cat. The only significant difference in treatment between survivors and nonsurvivors was the requirement in dogs for positive pressure ventilation. The median hospitalization period was 2 days for both species, with a shorter hospitalization in the nonsurvivors (0.6 vs 2 days, respectively; P = 0.006).

Conclusions

TPM is an infrequent pathology in veterinary medicine and may be seen without an externally obvious injury. The most common causes for TPM in dogs were vehicular trauma and bite wounds, while high‐rise syndrome was the most common cause in cats. Most of the cases have concurrent pneumothorax and require thoracocentesis; however, direct intervention to treat TPM is not usually required. The vast majority of cases did not undergo surgery to treat TPM. The prognosis for dogs with TPM was good but was guarded for cats.
A solution to the Erdős–Sárközy–Sós problem on asymptotic Sidon bases of order 3
Authors: Pilatte Cédric
Published: May 2024

A set $S\subset {\mathbb {N}}$ is a Sidon set if all pairwise sums $s_1+s_2$ (for $s_1, s_2\in S$, $s_1\leqslant s_2$) are distinct. A set $S\subset {\mathbb {N}}$ is an asymptotic basis of order 3 if every sufficiently large integer $n$ can be written as the sum of three elements of $S$. In 1993, Erdős, Sárközy and Sós asked whether there exists a set $S$ with both properties. We answer this question in the affirmative. Our proof relies on a deep result of Sawin on the $\mathbb {F}_q[t]$-analogue of Montgomery's conjecture for convolutions of the von Mangoldt function.
Effectiveness of dose-intensified salvage regimens versus standard-dose chemotherapy for progression-free survival in early progressed follicular lymphoma before autologous stem cell transplantation: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Pereira Mesquita Felipe , Borges dos Santos Kelli , Takahashi Juliana Akie , Guimarães Dutra Giffoni dos Santos Marina , Felizardo Alvim Glauber , Hallack Neto Abrahão Elias
Published: May 2024

Objective:

This review will evaluate the effectiveness of dose-intensified versus standard-dose salvage regimens on progression-free survival in early progressed follicular lymphoma before high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.

Introduction:

Despite the substantial advances in the management of follicular lymphoma, approximately 20% of patients experience progression of the disease within 2 years of induction therapy. These patients have worse outcomes, and autologous stem cell transplantation has been shown to improve outcomes in this context. Little is known about the optimal salvage regimen.

Inclusion criteria:

Studies must include patients ≥18 years old with early progressed follicular lymphoma who were submitted to autologous stem cell transplantation in subsequent remission. Clinical trials and observational studies will be included.

Methods:

The search strategy will be carried out in MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Periódicos CAPES), Scopus, Web of Science, LiLACS, and the Cochrane Library. No date or language restrictions will be imposed. The recommended JBI approach to critical appraisal, study selection, data extraction, and data synthesis will be used. Studies should score at least 50% in accordance with the critical appraisal tool. Data will be pooled whenever possible using the random effects model. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the standard χ2 and I
2 tests. A funnel plot will be generated to assess publication bias if there are 10 or more studies included in the meta-analysis. The GRADE approach will be used to rate certainty of evidence.

Review registration:

PROSPERO CRD42022373345
Cross-calibration of quantum atomic sensors for pressure metrology
Authors: Frieling Erik , Stewart Riley A. , Booth James L. , Madison Kirk W.
Published: May 2024

Quantum atomic sensors have shown great promise for vacuum metrology. Specifically, the density of gas particles in vacuum can be determined by measuring the collision rate between the particles and an ensemble of sensor atoms. This requires preparing the sensor atoms in a particular quantum state, observing the rate of changes of that state, and using the total collision rate coefficient for state-changing collisions to convert the rate into a corresponding density. The total collision rate coefficient can be known by various methods, including quantum scattering calculations using a computed interaction potential for the collision pair, measurements of the post-collision sensor-atom momentum recoil distribution, or empirical measurements of the collision rate at a known density. Observed discrepancies between the results of these methods call into question their accuracy. To investigate this, we study the ratio of collision rate measurements of co-located sensor atoms, 87Rb and 6Li, exposed to natural abundance versions of H2, He, N2, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe gases. This method does not require knowledge of the test gas density and is, therefore, free of the systematic errors inherent in efforts to introduce the test gas at a known density. Our results are systematically different at the level of 3% to 4% from recent theoretical and experiment measurements. This work demonstrates a model-free method for transferring the primacy of one atomic standard to another sensor atom and highlights the utility of sensor-atom cross-calibration experiments to check the validity of direct measurements and theoretical predictions.
Effects of measured and simulated diffraction from a plate on sound source localization
Authors: Kirsch Christoph , Ewert Stephan D.
Published: May 2024

In daily life, natural or man-made structures influence sound propagation, causing reflections and diffraction with potential effects on auditory spatial perception. While the effect of isolated reflections on binaural localization has been investigated, consequences of edge diffraction on spatial perception have received less attention. Here, effects of edge diffraction on the horizontal localization of a sound source were assessed when a flat square plate occludes the direct sound or produces a reflection in an otherwise anechoic environment. Binaural recordings were obtained with an artificial head for discrete sound source positions along two horizontal trajectories in the vicinity of the plate, including conditions near the incident and reflection shadow boundary. In a listening test, the apparent source position was matched for conditions with and without the plate, resulting in azimuth offsets between the apparent and physical source of up to 12°. The perceived direction of occluded frontal sound sources was laterally shifted to the visible region near the edge of the plate. Geometrical-acoustics-based simulations with different methods to binaurally render diffracted sound paths were technically and perceptually compared to the measurements. The observed localization offset was reproduced with the acoustic simulations when diffraction was rendered considering the individual ear positions.
Investigating the Effect of a Multicomponent Exercise Program on Adropin, Endothelial Function, Insulin Resistance, and Sleep Quality in Overweight Older Adults (a Link With Physiological Indexes and Sleep Quality): Results of a Randomized Controlled Study
Authors: Ghasemi Elham , Cheraghbirjandi Kazem
Published: May 2024

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of multicomponent training on adropin, endothelial function, insulin resistance, and sleep quality in overweight older adults. In this randomized controlled study, 40 overweight older adults were randomly divided into training and control groups. The multicomponent training program including aerobic, resistance, and balance exercise was followed for 8 weeks, 3 days a week. Study variables were measured 48 hr before and after the intervention. After 8 weeks of multicomponent training, adropin (p = .01), nitric oxide (p = .01), and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max; p = .002) increased, and glucose (p = .001), insulin (p = .001), insulin resistance (p = .01), systolic blood pressure (p = .01), and sleep disorders (p = .01) decreased significantly. Also, Pearson’s test results showed a significant inverse relationship between adropin level (p = .01 and r = −.55) and glucose (p = .01 and r = −.51) with sleep disorders. It seems that multicomponent training increases adropin and improves insulin resistance, endothelial function, and sleep quality in older adults.
Follow the Arrows: Using a Co-Created Causal Loop Diagram to Explore Leverage Points to Strengthen Population Physical Activity Promotion in British Columbia, Canada
Authors: Baugh Littlejohns Lori , McKee Geoffrey , Rasali Drona , Naiman Daniel , Mee Jennafer , Osborne Tanya , Dang Phuc , Winters Meghan , Lear Scott A. , Nelson Diane , McGinley Steve , Faulkner Guy
Published: May 2024

Background: Population physical activity promotion (PPAP) is one of the most effective noncommunicable disease prevention strategies, yet coordination is lacking around the world. Whole-of-system approaches and complex systems methods are called for to advance PPAP. This paper reports on a project which (1) used an Attributes Framework with system mapping (group model building and causal loop diagramming of feedback loops) and (2) identified potential leverage points to address the challenge of effective coordination of multisectoral PPAP in British Columbia. Methods: Key findings from stakeholder interviews and workshops described the current system for PPAP in terms of attributes and dimensions in the framework. These were translated into variables and used in group model building. Participants prioritized the importance of variables to address the coordination challenge and then created causal loop diagrams in 3 small groups. One collective causal loop diagram was created, and top priority variables and associated feedback loops were highlighted to explore potential leverage points. Results: Leverage points included the relationships and feedback loops among priority variables: political leadership, visible policy support and governance, connectivity for knowledge translation, collaborative multisector grants, multisector collaboration, and integrating co-benefits. Leveraging and altering “vicious” cyclical patterns to increase coordinated multisector PPAP are key. Conclusions: The Attributes Framework, group model building and causal loop diagrams, and emergent feedback loops were useful to explore potential leverage points to address the challenge of multisectoral coordination of PPAP. Future research could apply the same methods in other jurisdictions and compare and contrast resultant frameworks, variables, feedback loops, and leverage points.
Diet-induced obesity affects influenza disease severity and transmission dynamics in ferrets
Authors: Meliopoulos Victoria , Honce Rebekah , Livingston Brandi , Hargest Virginia , Freiden Pamela , Lazure Lauren , Brigleb Pamela H. , Karlsson Erik , Sheppard Heather , Allen E. Kaity , Boyd David , Thomas Paul G. , Schultz-Cherry Stacey
Published: May 2024

Obesity, and the associated metabolic syndrome, is a risk factor for increased disease severity with a variety of infectious agents, including influenza virus. Yet, the mechanisms are only partially understood. As the number of people, particularly children, living with obesity continues to rise, it is critical to understand the role of host status on disease pathogenesis. In these studies, we use a diet-induced obese ferret model and tools to demonstrate that, like humans, obesity resulted in notable changes to the lung microenvironment, leading to increased clinical disease and viral spread to the lower respiratory tract. The decreased antiviral responses also resulted in obese animals shedding higher infectious virus for a longer period, making them more likely to transmit to contacts. These data suggest that the obese ferret model may be crucial to understanding obesity’s impact on influenza disease severity and community transmission and a key tool for therapeutic and intervention development for this high-risk population.
CD8
+
T cell targeting of tumor antigens presented by HLA-E
Authors: Iyer Ravi F. , Verweij Marieke C. , Nair Sujit S. , Morrow David , Mansouri Mandana , Chakravarty Dimple , Beechwood Teresa , Meyer Christine , Uebelhoer Luke , Lauron Elvin J. , Selseth Andrea , John Nessy , Thin Tin Htwe , Dzedzik Siarhei , Havenar-Daughton Colin , Axthelm Michael K. , Douglas Janet , Korman Alan , Bhardwaj Nina , Tewari Ashutosh K. , Hansen Scott , Malouli Daniel , Picker Louis J. , Früh Klaus
Published: May 2024

The nonpolymorphic major histocompatibility complex E (MHC-E) molecule is up-regulated on many cancer cells, thus contributing to immune evasion by engaging inhibitory NKG2A/CD94 receptors on NK cells and tumor-infiltrating T cells. To investigate whether MHC-E expression by cancer cells can be targeted for MHC-E–restricted T cell control, we immunized rhesus macaques (RM) with rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) vectors genetically programmed to elicit MHC-E–restricted CD8
+
T cells and to express established tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) including prostatic acidic phosphatase (PAP), Wilms tumor-1 protein, or Mesothelin. T cell responses to all three tumor antigens were comparable to viral antigen-specific responses with respect to frequency, duration, phenotype, epitope density, and MHC restriction. Thus, CMV-vectored cancer vaccines can bypass central tolerance by eliciting T cells to noncanonical epitopes. We further demonstrate that PAP-specific, MHC-E–restricted CD8
+
T cells from RhCMV/PAP-immunized RM respond to PAP-expressing HLA-E
+
prostate cancer cells, suggesting that the HLA-E/NKG2A immune checkpoint can be exploited for CD8
+
T cell–based immunotherapies.
Engineering a coenzyme-independent dioxygenase for one-step production of vanillin from ferulic acid
Authors: Fujimaki Shizuka , Sakamoto Satsuki , Shimada Shota , Kino Kuniki , Furuya Toshiki
Published: May 2024

Vanillin is one of the world’s most important flavor and fragrance compounds used in foods and cosmetics. In plants, vanillin is reportedly biosynthesized from ferulic acid via the hydratase/lyase-type enzyme VpVAN. However, in biotechnological and biocatalytic applications, the use of VpVAN limits the production of vanillin. Although microbial enzymes are helpful as substitutes for plant enzymes, synthesizing vanillin from ferulic acid in one step using microbial enzymes remains a challenge. Here, we developed a single enzyme that catalyzes vanillin production from ferulic acid in a coenzyme-independent manner via the rational design of a microbial dioxygenase in the carotenoid cleavage oxygenase family using computational simulations. This enzyme acquired catalytic activity toward ferulic acid by introducing mutations into the active center to increase its affinity for ferulic acid. We found that the single enzyme can catalyze not only the production of vanillin from ferulic acid but also the synthesis of other aldehydes from
p
-coumaric acid, sinapinic acid, and coniferyl alcohol. These results indicate that the approach used in this study can greatly expand the range of substrates available for the dioxygenase family of enzymes. The engineered enzyme enables efficient production of vanillin and other value-added aldehydes from renewable lignin-derived compounds.

IMPORTANCE

The final step of vanillin biosynthesis in plants is reportedly catalyzed by the enzyme VpVAN. Prior to our study, VpVAN was the only reported enzyme that directly converts ferulic acid to vanillin. However, as many characteristics of VpVAN remain unknown, this enzyme is not yet suitable for biocatalytic applications. We show that an enzyme that converts ferulic acid to vanillin in one step could be constructed by modifying a microbial dioxygenase-type enzyme. The engineered enzyme is of biotechnological importance as a tool for the production of vanillin and related compounds via biocatalytic processes and metabolic engineering. The results of this study may also provide useful insights for understanding vanillin biosynthesis in plants.
Repression of
Acinetobacter baumannii
DNA damage response requires DdrR-assisted binding of UmuDAb dimers to atypical SOS box
Authors: Candra Belinda , Cook Deborah , Hare Janelle
Published: May 2024

The DNA damage response of the multi-drug-resistant nosocomial pathogen
Acinetobacter baumannii
possesses multiple features that distinguish it from the commonly used LexA repression system. These include the absence of LexA in this genus, the evolution of a UmuD polymerase manager into the UmuDAb repressor of error-prone polymerases, the use of a corepressor unique to
Acinetobacter
(DdrR), and an unusually large UmuDAb binding site. We defined cis- and trans-acting factors required for UmuDAb DNA binding and gene repression, and tested whether DdrR directly enhances its DNA binding. We used DNA binding assays to characterize UmuDAb’s binding to its proposed operator present upstream of the six co-repressed
umuDC
or
umuC
genes. UmuDAb bound tightly and cooperatively to this site with ~10-fold less affinity than LexA. DdrR enhanced the binding of both native and dimerization-deficient UmuDAb forms, but only in greater than equimolar ratios relative to UmuDAb. UmuDAb mutants unable to dimerize or effect gene repression showed impaired DNA binding, and a strain expressing the G124D dimerization mutant could not repress transcription of the UmuDAb-DdrR regulon. Competition electrophoretic mobility shift assays conducted with mutated operator probes showed that, unlike typical SOS boxes, the UmuDAb operator possessed a five-base pair central core whose sequence was more crucial for binding than the flanking palindrome. The presence of only one of the two flanking arms of the palindrome was necessary for UmuDAb binding. Overall, the data supported a model of an operator with two UmuDAb binding sites. The distinct characteristics of UmuDAb and its regulated promoters differ from the typical LexA repression model, demonstrating a novel method of repression.

IMPORTANCE

Acinetobacter baumannii
is a gram-negative bacterium responsible for hospital-acquired infections. Its unique DNA damage response can activate multiple error-prone polymerase genes, allowing it to gain mutations that can increase its virulence and antibiotic resistance. The emergence of infectious strains carrying multiple antibiotic resistance genes, including carbapenem resistance, lends urgency to discovering and developing ways to combat infections resistant to treatment with known antibiotics. Deciphering how the regulators UmuDAb and DdrR repress the error-prone polymerases could lead to developing complementary treatments to halt this mechanism of generating resistance.
Mental health in student-athletes in Norwegian lower secondary sport schools
Authors: Saarinen Milla , Phipps Daniel John , Bjørndal Christian Thue
Published: May 2024

Objectives

The Norwegian sport school system offers a method for helping young dual-career athletes achieve their best both in academia and sports. However, there remains a concern that pursuing dual careers at a young age may leave some student-athletes vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between gender, grade, and sport type and problematic scores on school burn-out, sport burn-out, self-esteem and psychological distress in student-athletes within a sample of Norwegian lower secondary schools.

Methods

A sample of 642 student-athletes (ages 12–14) in grades 8–10 across 8 Norwegian lower secondary sport schools completed questionnaires on burn-out, self-esteem and psychological distress at the beginning of the school year.

Results

Females were more likely to report high levels of sport-related burn-out and psychological distress, and low self-esteem; older student-athletes were more likely to report severe school-related and sport-related burn-out; and individual sport student-athletes were more likely to report high levels of psychological distress.

Conclusions

Lower secondary sport schools in Norway may seek to be aware of the challenges facing student-athletes for informed practical steps to protect their mental health and maximise their outcomes as school students and athletes.
Midlife health crisis of former competitive athletes: dissecting their experiences via qualitative study
Authors: Capin Jacob John , Wolf Taylor L , Street Jena Heck , Smith Carolyn S , Lennon Shannon L , Farquhar William B , Hunter Sandra K , Piacentine Linda B
Published: May 2024

Sports participation confers many health benefits yet greatly increases injury risk. Long-term health outcomes in former athletes and transition to life after competitive sports are understudied. Ending a sport may pose physical and psychosocial challenges. The purpose was to determine the lived experiences of former competitive athletes and how their sports participation impacted their long-term health and well-being. Former college varsity athletes participated in semistructured interviews focusing on their experiences, including past and current health, the impact of injuries, activity, exercise, diet and transition to life after competitive sport. Thematic analysis was completed using a collaborative, iterative process. Thirty-one (16 female, 15 male) former college athletes aged 51.3±7.4 years were interviewed. Six themes emerged: (1) lifelong athlete identity; (2) structure, support and challenges of the college athlete experience; (3) a big transition to life beyond competitive sport; (4) impact of competitive sport on long-term health; (5) facilitators and barriers to long-term health after sport and (6) transferable life skills. Continuing sports eased the transition for many but often delayed their postathlete void. Challenges included managing pain and prior injury (eg,If I didn't have my knee injury, I would definitely be more active), reducing energy needs and intake (eg,When I was an athlete, I could eat anything; and unfortunately, that’s carried into my regular life),lack of accountability, changed identity and lost resources and social support. Participants suggested a programme, toolkit, mentoring or exit course to facilitate the transition. While former athletes benefit from transferrable life skills and often continue sports and exercise, they face unique challenges such as managing pain and prior injury, staying active, reducing energy intake and changing identity. Future research should develop and evaluate a toolkit, programme and other resources to facilitate life after ending competitive sports under ‘normal’ conditions (eg, retirement) and after a career-ending injury.
Impacts of artificial rearing on cisco Coregonus artedi morphology, including pugheadedness
Authors: Honsey Andrew E. , Anweiler Katie V. , Bunnell David B. , Brant Cory O. , Hoffman Georgia , O'Malley Brian P. , Keeler Kevin M. , Olds Chris , Kraus Jeremy , Kao Yu-Chun , Stott Wendylee
Published: May 2024

Cisco ( Coregonus artedi Lesueur, 1818) in the Laurentian Great Lakes declined throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Managers are attempting to restore Great Lakes cisco and other coregonines using multiple approaches, including stocking. A potential obstacle to these efforts is that artificially reared coregonines can display deformities and morphological differences compared to wild fish, but the impacts of artificial rearing on cisco morphology are not well understood. We compared morphologies of wild cisco to their artificially reared offspring, including one family that was exposed to three rearing temperature treatments. We found that artificially reared cisco had smaller eyes, shallower bodies, fewer gill rakers, and longer paired fins than their wild parents. We also found that artificially reared cisco were pugheaded, and this result held for another cisco population and rearing facility. Across the temperature treatments we tested, rearing temperatures did not impact the degree of pugheadedness or other morphological differences. Our results have important implications for coregonine restoration efforts. Future work should evaluate whether morphological differences that arise through artificial rearing affect cisco fitness in the wild.
ℓ-adic digits and class number of imaginary quadratic fields
Authors: Pujahari Sudhir , Saikia Neelam
Published: May 2024

Motivated by the work of [K. Girstmair, A “popular” class number formula, Amer. Math. Monthly 101(10) (1994) 997–1001; K. Girstmair, The digits of [Formula: see text] in connection with class number factors, Acta Arith. 67(4) (1994) 381–386] and [M. R. Murty and R. Thangadurai, The class number of [Formula: see text] and digits of [Formula: see text], Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 139(4) (2010) 1277–1289], we study the average of the digits of the [Formula: see text]-adic expansion of [Formula: see text] whenever [Formula: see text] is a product of two distinct primes or a prime power. More explicitly, if [Formula: see text] is an integer such that [Formula: see text] and suppose that [Formula: see text] is the [Formula: see text]-adic expansion of [Formula: see text] then we establish the average of the digits of the [Formula: see text]-adic expansion of [Formula: see text] in terms of [Formula: see text] and the “trace” of generalized Bernoulli numbers [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text]’s are odd Dirichlet characters modulo [Formula: see text] As a consequence of these results, we recover two well-known results of Gauss and Heilbronn (see Theorems 1.6 and 1.7).
Asymptotic base loci on hyper-Kähler manifolds
Authors: Denisi Francesco Antonio , Ortiz Ángel David Ríos
Published: May 2024

Given a projective hyper-Kähler manifold [Formula: see text], we study the asymptotic base loci of big divisors on [Formula: see text]. We provide a numerical characterization of these loci and study how they vary while moving a big divisor class in the big cone, using the divisorial Zariski decomposition, and the Beauville–Bogomolov–Fujiki form. We determine the dual of the cones of [Formula: see text]-ample divisors [Formula: see text], for any [Formula: see text], answering affirmatively (in the case of projective hyper-Kähler manifolds) a question asked by Sam Payne. We provide a decomposition for the effective cone [Formula: see text] into chambers of Mori-type, analogous to that for Mori dream spaces into Mori chambers. To conclude, we illustrate our results with several examples.
On some isoperimetric inequalities for the Newtonian capacity
Authors: van den Berg M.
Published: May 2024

Upper bounds are obtained for the Newtonian capacity of compact sets in [Formula: see text] in terms of the perimeter of the [Formula: see text]-parallel neighborhood of [Formula: see text]. For compact, convex sets in [Formula: see text] with a [Formula: see text] boundary the Newtonian capacity is bounded from above by [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the integral of the mean curvature over the boundary of [Formula: see text] with equality if [Formula: see text] is a ball. For compact, convex sets in [Formula: see text] with non-empty interior the Newtonian capacity is bounded from above by [Formula: see text] with equality if [Formula: see text] is a ball. Here, [Formula: see text] is the perimeter of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is its measure. A quantitative refinement of the latter inequality in terms of the Fraenkel asymmetry is also obtained. An upper bound is obtained for expected Newtonian capacity of the Wiener sausage in [Formula: see text] with radius [Formula: see text] and time length [Formula: see text].
Mechanical Characteristics of Bistable Inflatable Folding Beam Structure
Authors: Zhao Liang-Jie , Sun Bo-Hua
Published: May 2024

Folding structures are easy to transport and deploy, and they have promising engineering applications. A multi-stable folding system with a high deployment efficiency can be obtained by combining the inflatability of pneumatic structures with the multi-stability of origami structures. With the triangular unit as the basic element, an inflatable-driven folding beam structure with folding and unfolding bistable characteristics was designed, and then the mechanical characteristics of the designed beam were analyzed through the finite element method. The results showed that after the designed beam was inflated, the maximum stress appeared at the intersection of multiple creases between adjacent cavities, and with the increase in the fluid cavity pressure, the increase rate of the crease stress was four times that of inner wall stress. It was easier to break the energy barrier of the bistable state by applying a longitudinal load perpendicular to the crease direction of the design beam than by applying the transverse load along the crease direction. Therefore, when the designed beam was subjected to bending deformation, its bearing capacity was not significantly affected by the change of the fluid cavity pressure. However, when the designed beam was compressed under a longitudinal load, the fluid cavity pressure increased by 10[Formula: see text]kPa, and the longitudinal load-bearing capacity was increased by about 12.8%. Finally, increasing an inner angle of a triangle within the limits will enhance the load capacity of the design beam. It is difficult to improve the proposed beam load capacity by increasing the sheet width.
Quantum counting on the complete bipartite graph
Authors: Bezerra Gustavo A. , Santos Raqueline A. M. , Portugal Renato
Published: May 2024

Quantum counting is a key quantum algorithm that aims to determine the number of marked elements in a database. This algorithm is based on the quantum phase estimation algorithm and uses the evolution operator of Grover’s algorithm because its nontrivial eigenvalues are dependent on the number of marked elements. Since Grover’s algorithm can be viewed as a quantum walk on a complete graph, a natural way to extend quantum counting is to use the evolution operator of quantum-walk-based search on noncomplete graphs instead of Grover’s operator. In this paper, we explore this extension by analyzing the coined quantum walk on the complete bipartite graph with an arbitrary number of marked vertices. We show that some eigenvalues of the evolution operator depend on the number of marked vertices and using this fact we show that the quantum phase estimation can be used to obtain the number of marked vertices. The time complexity for estimating the number of marked vertices in the bipartite graph with our algorithm equates closely with that of the original quantum counting algorithm.
A Node-Based Smoothed Finite Element Method (NS-FEM) for Free and Forced Vibration Analysis of Three-Dimensional (3D) Structures
Authors: Zhao Jingui , Liu Guirong , Huo Shuhao , Wang Gang , Sun Chao , Li Zirui
Published: May 2024

The smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) has been found to be an effective solution method for solid mechanics problems. This paper proposes an effective approach to compute the lower bound solution of free vibration and the upper bound solution of the forced vibration of solid structures, by making use of the important softening effects of the node-based smoothed finite element method (NS-FEM). Through the gradient smoothing technique, the strain-displacement matrix is obtained in the smoothing domain based on the element mesh nodes. Subsequently, the stiffness matrix is computed in a manner consistent with the standard finite element method (FEM). Here, the practical Lanczos algorithm and the modal superposition technique are employed to obtain the frequencies, modes, and transient responses of a given homogeneous structure. For three-dimensional (3D) solid structures, the automatically generated four-node tetrahedron (T4) element meshes are utilized. The results obtained from the NS-FEM are compared with the standard FEM in terms of accuracy, convergence and computational efficiency.