bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Research Project DN 12/11/December 2017-January 2022 financed by the National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and Science: "Stochastic and Simulation Models in medicine, social sciences and dynamic systems"
Authors: Prodanova Krasimira , Minkova Leda , Lazarova Meglena
Published: February 2022

The project "Stochastics and Simulations Models in the Medicine, Social Sciences and Dynamical Systems" is focused on the stochastics models and their application in the field of medicine, insurance, astrophysics and some simulation models applicable in social sciences and thermohydraulic processes. There are six work packages included in the research. The introduced models had been adapted to real data by three PhD students, two post-doctoral students and four Bulgarian scientists which are leaders in the field of mathematical modelling. The participants' research results are published in eight scientific papers with impact factor and thirty-six papers with impact rang. The results are approbated in more than twenty prestigious international conferences. As a good result of the participation three PhD scientific degrees and two scientific positions have been acquired.
Do Human and Computational Evaluations of Similarity Align? An Empirical Study of Product Function
Authors: Nandy Ananya , Goucher-Lambert Kosa
Published: February 2022

Function drives many early design considerations in product development, highlighting the importance of finding functionally similar examples if searching for sources of inspiration or evaluating designs against existing technology. However, it is difficult to capture what people consider is functionally similar and therefore, if measures that quantify and compare function using the products themselves are meaningful. In this work, human evaluations of similarity are compared to computationally determined values, shedding light on how quantitative measures align with human perceptions of functional similarity. Human perception of functional similarity is considered at two levels of abstraction: (1) the high-level purpose of a product and (2) how the product works. These human similarity evaluations are quantified by crowdsourcing 1360 triplet ratings at each functional abstraction and creating low-dimensional embeddings from the triplets. The triplets and embeddings are then compared to similarities that are computed between functional models using six representative measures, including both matching measures (e.g., cosine similarity) and network-based measures (e.g., spectral distance). The outcomes demonstrate how levels of abstraction and the fuzzy line between “highly similar” and “somewhat similar” products may impact human functional similarity representations and their subsequent alignment with computed similarity. The results inform how functional similarity can be leveraged by designers, with applications in creativity support tools, such as those used for design-by-analogy, or other computational methods in design that incorporate product function.
Deep Generative Models in Engineering Design: A Review
Authors: Regenwetter Lyle , Nobari Amin Heyrani , Ahmed Faez
Published: February 2022

Automated design synthesis has the potential to revolutionize the modern engineering design process and improve access to highly optimized and customized products across countless industries. Successfully adapting generative machine learning to design engineering may enable such automated design synthesis and is a research subject of great importance. We present a review and analysis of deep generative machine learning models in engineering design. Deep generative models (DGMs) typically leverage deep networks to learn from an input dataset and synthesize new designs. Recently, DGMs such as feedforward neural networks (NNs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), variational autoencoders (VAEs), and certain deep reinforcement learning (DRL) frameworks have shown promising results in design applications like structural optimization, materials design, and shape synthesis. The prevalence of DGMs in engineering design has skyrocketed since 2016. Anticipating the continued growth, we conduct a review of recent advances to benefit researchers interested in DGMs for design. We structure our review as an exposition of the algorithms, datasets, representation methods, and applications commonly used in the current literature. In particular, we discuss key works that have introduced new techniques and methods in DGMs, successfully applied DGMs to a design-related domain, or directly supported the development of DGMs through datasets or auxiliary methods. We further identify key challenges and limitations currently seen in DGMs across design fields, such as design creativity, handling constraints and objectives, and modeling both form and functional performance simultaneously. In our discussion, we identify possible solution pathways as key areas on which to target the future work.
A dominant tubulin mutation causes cerebellar neurodegeneration in a genetic model of tubulinopathy
Authors: Fertuzinhos Sofia , Legué Emilie , Li Davis , Liem Karel F.
Published: February 2022

Mutations in tubulins cause distinct neurodevelopmental and degenerative diseases termed “tubulinopathies”; however, little is known about the functional requirements of tubulins or how mutations cause cell-specific pathologies. Here, we identify a mutation in the gene
Tubb4a
that causes degeneration of cerebellar granule neurons and myelination defects. We show that the neural phenotypes result from a cell type–specific enrichment of a dominant mutant form of
Tubb4a
relative to the expression other β-tubulin isotypes. Loss of
Tubb4a
function does not underlie cellular pathology but is compensated by the transcriptional up-regulation of related tubulin genes in a cell type–specific manner. This work establishes that the expression of a primary tubulin mutation in mature neurons is sufficient to promote cell-autonomous cell death, consistent with a causative association of microtubule dysfunction with neurodegenerative diseases. These studies provide evidence that mutations in tubulins cause specific phenotypes based on expression ratios of tubulin isotype genes.
Structure of ATP synthase from ESKAPE pathogen
Acinetobacter baumannii
Authors: Demmer Julius K. , Phillips Ben P. , Uhrig O. Lisa , Filloux Alain , Allsopp Luke P. , Bublitz Maike , Meier Thomas
Published: February 2022

The global spread of multidrug-resistant
Acinetobacter baumannii
infections urgently calls for the identification of novel drug targets. We solved the electron cryo-microscopy structure of the F
1
F
o
–adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) synthase from
A. baumannii
in three distinct conformational states. The nucleotide-converting F
1
subcomplex reveals a specific self-inhibition mechanism, which supports a unidirectional ratchet mechanism to avoid wasteful ATP consumption. In the membrane-embedded F
o
complex, the structure shows unique structural adaptations along both the entry and exit pathways of the proton-conducting a-subunit. These features, absent in mitochondrial ATP synthases, represent attractive targets for the development of next-generation therapeutics that can act directly at the culmination of bioenergetics in this clinically relevant pathogen.
Exchange coupling–mediated broken symmetries in Ta
2
NiSe
5
revealed from quadrupolar circular photogalvanic effect
Authors: Jog Harshvardhan , Harnagea Luminita , Mele Eugene J. , Agarwal Ritesh
Published: February 2022

In low–electron density materials, interactions can lead to highly correlated quantum states of matter. Ta
2
NiSe
5
, an excitonic insulator (EI) candidate, exists in a novel broken-symmetry phase below 327 K, characterized by robust exchange interaction and electron-lattice coupling. We study this phase of Ta
2
NiSe
5
using the quadrupole circular photogalvanic effect (QCPGE). Light-matter interaction in Ta
2
NiSe
5
mediated by electric quadrupole/magnetic dipole coupling produces helicity-dependent DC response even with centrosymmetry, making it particularly sensitive to certain other broken symmetries. We show that the exchange interaction in Ta
2
NiSe
5
can lead to a triclinic structure with a broken
C
2
symmetry. Our results provide an incisive probe of the symmetries of the low-temperature phase of Ta
2
NiSe
5
and add new symmetry constraints to the identification of a strongly correlated EI phase. The high sensitivity of QCPGE to subtle symmetry breaking in centrosymmetric systems will enable its use in studying other complex crystalline systems.
Metabolomic and Transcriptional Profiling of Oleuropein Bioconversion into Hydroxytyrosol during Table Olive Fermentation by
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum
Authors: Vaccalluzzo Amanda , Solieri Lisa , Tagliazucchi Davide , Cattivelli Alice , Martini Serena , Pino Alessandra , Caggia Cinzia , Randazzo Cinzia L.
Published: February 2022

In the present study, a new candidate gene,
bglH_3
, responsible for the β-glucosidase-positive phenotype in
L. plantarum
was detected, providing the basis for the future marker-assisted selection of
L. plantarum
starter strains with a β-glucosidase-positive phenotype. Furthermore, the ability of selected strains to hydrolyze oleuropein at low temperatures is important for application as starter cultures on an industrial scale.
Hydroxyl Radical Overproduction in the Envelope: an Achilles’ Heel in Peptidoglycan Synthesis
Authors: Giacomucci Sean , Alvarez Laura , Rodrigues Christopher D. A. , Cava Felipe , Paradis-Bleau Catherine
Published: February 2022

Oxidative stress is caused by the production and excessive accumulation of oxygen reactive species. In bacterial cells, oxidative stress mediated by hydroxyl radicals is typically associated with DNA damage in the cytoplasm.
Potentiating the Anti-Tuberculosis Efficacy of Peptide Nucleic Acids through Combinations with Permeabilizing Drugs
Authors: Cotta Karishma Berta , Ghosh Saptarshi , Mehra Sarika
Published: February 2022

Peptide nucleic acids have great potential in therapeutics as anti-gene/anti-sense agents. However, their limited uptake in cells has curtailed their widespread application.
Spreading Advantages of Coresident Plasmids
bla
CTX-M
-Bearing IncFII and
mcr-1
-Bearing IncI2 in Escherichia coli
Authors: He Kun , Li Wenya , Zhao Bing , Xu Hui , Pan Yushan , He Dandan , Hu Gongzheng , Wu Hua , Yuan Li
Published: February 2022

More and more
Enterobacteriaceae
carry both
bla
CTX-M
and
mcr-1
, which are usually located on IncFII-type and IncI2-type plasmids in the same bacterial host, respectively. However, the study on advantages of coresident plasmids in bacterial host is still sparse.
Late Miocene–Quaternary seismic stratigraphic responses to tectonic and climatic changes at the northeastern margin of the South China Sea
Authors: Wang Xingxing , Cai Feng , Sun Zhilei , Li Qing , Li Ang , Sun Yunbao , Zhong Weijie , Sun Qiliang
Published: February 2022

Tectonic and climate evolution could be well archived in deep-water stratigraphy. Based on newly acquired high-resolution two-dimensional (2-D) multichannel seismic profiles and multibeam bathymetry, together with Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program (ODP/IODP) data, this study investigated the late Miocene–Quaternary deep-water seismic stratigraphy, sedimentary evolution, and responses to regional tectonic and climatic variations at the northeastern margin of the South China Sea. The late Miocene–Quaternary stratigraphy consists of three units (i.e., SU-1, SU-2, and SU-3 from bottom to top) that are dated to 10.5–6.5 Ma (stage 1), 6.5–0.9 Ma (stage 2), and 0.9 Ma–present (stage 3), respectively. SU-1 is dominated by sheeted drifts with slight thickness variation, but SU-2 and SU-3 mainly consist of mounded, lenticular contourite drifts and channel-like moats. This suggests that the bottom currents intensified from stage 1 to stage 2, which was probably caused by the sill uplifting at the Luzon Strait under the influence of tectonic collision between the Luzon arc and Eurasia since ca. 6.5 Ma. SU-2 and SU-3 are separated by a basinwide high-amplitude seismic reflection, across which the average sedimentation rate shows a dramatic increase from ~28 m/m.y. in SU-2 to ~144 m/m.y. in SU-3. The high sediment supply since 0.9 Ma could be linked to the mid-Pleistocene climate transition, which resulted in abundant rainfall that promoted the Taiwan orogen to contribute more sediments to the South China Sea. This study indicates that the deep-water stratigraphy recorded the tectonic collision around the sole deep-water gateway (i.e., Luzon Strait) and mid-Pleistocene climate transition event at the northeastern South China Sea margin, which has important implications for understanding the relationships among the tectonic, paleoclimatic, paleoceanographic, and deepwater sedimentary processes in the largest marginal basin of the western Pacific Ocean.
Supplemental Material: The Buckskin-Rawhide and northern Plomosa Mountains metamorphic core complexes, west-central Arizona, USA
Authors: Singleton John , al. et
Published: February 2022

Table S1A: Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology data at University of California–Santa Cruz, Table S1B: Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology data at the University of Arizona Laserchron Center, Table S2: Finite strain data, and Table S3: Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material data
First Age and Geochemical Data on Zircon from Riebeckite Granites of the Verkhnee Espe Rare Earth–Rare Metal Deposit, East Kazakhstan
Authors: Levashova E. V. , Skublov S. G. , Oitseva T. A. , Dyachkov B. A. , Li X.-H. , Li Q.-L. , Shatova N. V. , Shatov V. V.
Published: February 2022

This paper is dedicated to the isotope-geochemical study of zircon from riebeckite granites of the Verkhnee Espe rare earth-rare metal deposit and the specification of its U–Pb age. Zircon from the Verkhnee Espe massif is peculiar in the high content of non-formula elements (up to 43000 ppm REE, up to 22000 Y, and others) and demonstrates a clearly expressed heterogeneous structure. The central and rim zones of the zircon show a “magmatic” rare-earth element (REE) distribution. The intermediate zones are characterized by a flattening of the REE patterns and an anomalous enrichment in REE, Y, Nb, and Ca. This compositional feature of the zircon may be caused by impact of fluid-saturated granite melts enriched in incompatible trace elements. The δ18О values in the zircon are 5.83–7.16‰, which generally corresponds to zircon formed from granitoid melts. The age of zircon from the Verkhnee Espe rare earth–rare metal deposit is 283 ± 3 Ma, which indicates that there is no significant age gap between granite crystallization, on the one hand, and metasomatic processes and ore generation, on the other.
Effectiveness of Integrative Chinese–Western Medicine for Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Chan Kam Wa , Chow Tak Yee , Yu Kam Yan , Feng Yibin , Lao Lixing , Bian Zhaoxiang , Wong Vivian Taam , Tang Sydney Chi-Wai
Published: February 2022

Diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are pandemic, requiring more therapeutic options. This retrospective cohort evaluated the effectiveness, safety profile and prescription pattern of a pilot integrative medicine service program in Hong Kong. Data from 38 patients with diabetes and CKD enrolled to receive 48-week individualized add-on Chinese medicine (CM) were retrieved from the electronically linked hospital database. A 1:1 cohort was generated with patients from the same source and matched by propensity score. The primary outcomes are the change of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) analyzed by analysis of covariance and mixed regression model adjusted for baseline eGFR, age, gender, duration of diabetes history, history of hypertension, diabetic retinopathy, and the use of insulin and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker. The rate of adverse events and the change of key biochemical parameters were analyzed. After a median of 51 weeks, patients who received add-on CM had stabilized eGFR (difference in treatment period: 0.74 ml/min/1.73m2, 95% CI: –1.01 to 2.50) and UACR (proportional difference in treatment period: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.67 to 1.34). Add-on CM was associated with significantly preserved eGFR (Inter-group difference: 3.19 ml/min/1.73m2, 95%CI: 0.32 to 6.06, [Formula: see text] 0.030) compared to standard care. The intergroup ratio of UACR was comparable (0.70, 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.08, [Formula: see text] 0.104). The result is robust in sensitivity analysis with different statistical methods, and there was no interaction with CKD stage and UACR. The rate of serious adverse events (8.1% vs. 18.9%, [Formula: see text] 0.174), moderate to severe hyperkalemia (8.1% vs. 2.7%, [Formula: see text] 0.304) and hypoglycemia (13.5% vs. 5.4%, [Formula: see text] 0.223), and the levels of key biochemical parameters were comparable between groups. The top seven most used CMs contained two classical formulations, namely Liu-wei-di-huang-wan and Si-jun-zi-tang. Individualized add-on CM was associated with significant kidney function preservation and was well tolerated. Further randomized controlled trials using CM prescriptions based on Liu-wei-di-huang-wan and Si-jun-zi-tang are warranted.
Formalization of Double-Word Arithmetic, and Comments on “Tight and Rigorous Error Bounds for Basic Building Blocks of Double-Word Arithmetic”
Authors: Muller Jean-Michel , Rideau Laurence
Published: February 2022

Recently, a complete set of algorithms for manipulating double-word numbers (some classical, some new) was analyzed [
16
]. We have formally proven all the theorems given in that article, using the Coq proof assistant. The formal proof work led us to: (i) locate mistakes in some of the original paper proofs (mistakes that, however, do not hinder the validity of the algorithms), (ii) significantly improve some error bounds, and (iii) generalize some results by showing that they are still valid if we slightly change the rounding mode. The consequence is that the algorithms presented in [
16
] can be used with high confidence, and that some of them are even more accurate than what was believed before. This illustrates what formal proof can bring to computer arithmetic: beyond mere (yet extremely useful) verification, correction, and consolidation of already known results, it can help to find new properties. All our formal proofs are freely available.
Screening of Antiviral Components of Yinhuapinggan Granule and Protective Effects of Yinhuapinggan Granule on MDCK Cells with Influenza A/H1N1 Virus
Authors: Chen Tianhang , Du Haixia , Zhou Huifen , Yang Jiehong , Zhu Jiaqi , Tong Xin , Yang Yuting , Wan Jiayang , Fan Yichen , Lu Yiyu , He Yu , Wan Haitong
Published: February 2022

Background. Traditional Chinese medicine Yinhuapinggan granule (YHPG) has been used for treating upper respiratory tract infection like influenza, cough, and viral pneumonia. However, its active ingredients that really exert the main efficacy have not been well elucidated. This study is aimed at screening its antiviral components and investigating the potential therapeutic mechanisms of YHPG against the influenza A/PR8/34 (H1N1) virus in Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK). Methods. MDCK cells were infected with the influenza virus and then treated with ribavirin, YHPG, and main active ingredients in YHPG. Based on the maximum nontoxic concentration (TC0), half‐maximal toxic concentration (TC50), half‐maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), and therapeutic index (TI), interferon‐β (IFN‐β) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) levels were measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the gene expression of TLR7, MyD88, tumor necrosis factor receptor‐associated factor 6 (TRAF6), c‐Jun amino terminal kinase (JNK), p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), and p65 nuclear transcription factor‐kappa B (p65 NF‐κB) was quantified using reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Results. The results indicated that the components of YHPG, such as ephedrine hydrochloride, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, chlorogenic acid, and emodin, had significant antiviral effects. High and medium doses of YHPG effectively reduced the cytopathic effect (CPE) and significantly decreased IFN‐β and IL‐6 levels in the supernatant. Simultaneously, the transcript levels of TLR7, MyD88, TRAF6, JNK, p38 MAPK, and p65 NF‐κB decreased in infected MDCK cells. Moreover, a certain dose‐dependent relationship among different groups of YHPG was observed. Conclusions. These results indicated that YHPG and the components of YHPG had a significant inhibitory function on the proliferation of the H1N1 virus. The mechanism might be associated with suppressing the activation of the TLR7/MyD88 signaling pathway, a decrease in the mRNA expression of key target genes, and inhibition of IFN‐β and IL‐6 secretion.
Green and Environmental Protection Recycled Concrete in Road Engineering
Authors: Ma Yulong , Ji Yongcheng , Jin Lei
Published: February 2022

In response to a series of national strategic guidelines for green and sustainable development, recycled concrete is used as a recyclable resource. First, the mechanical properties, workability, and durability of recycled concrete are briefly introduced, and the benefit and necessities of research on recycled concrete are described from environmental, economic, and social perspectives. Second, the mixing method and molding process of recycled concrete are described in detail, and the influence of vibration molding and compression molding on the performance of recycled concrete is analyzed. It is found that the compressive strength first increases and then decreases with the increase of molding pressure. In addition, porosity decreases as molding pressure build-up. Therefore, it is recommended that the molding pressure of recycled concrete be generally controlled between 600 and 800 N. Then, the influence of the water-cement ratio on recycled concrete’s fluidity and mechanical properties is discussed. It is found that with the increase of the water-cement ratio, the compressive strength first increases and then decreases and the optimum water-cement ratio is proposed to be 0.2. Finally, the application status and problems of recycled concrete in road engineering are briefly described, and relevant suggestions for construction technology are put forward. Based on the fire safety and reliability requirements of concrete structures, the performance of high-performance concrete structures after fire can be restored to the initial level or even improved through the processes and measures of building structure design, repair, and reinforcement; the strength and crack healing of high-performance concrete after fire can be gradually restored by applying or soaking repair agent and water curing; the recovery of pH value of concrete after fire and the reduction of carbonation depth can be realized by using electrochemical realkalization technology; using carbon fiber to strengthen the components after fire can restore the bearing capacity, but the degree of stiffness recovery is low; and beam side steel plate reinforcement and steel bonding reinforcement can realize the recoverability of bearing capacity, stiffness, and ductility of members after fire.
Assessment of Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity Potential of Effluents from Bahir Dar Tannery Using Allium cepa
Authors: Admas Tayachew , Kerisew Bizuayehu
Published: February 2022

Tannery effluent plays a significant role in increasing pollution in the environment; in particular, it contains toxic heavy metals which cause toxic effects on plant genetic materials. Among tannery effluent chemicals, chromium and lead have cytotoxicity and genotoxicity potentials on Allium cepa. This investigation was undertaken to assess the physicochemical properties of tannery wastewater and their effect on the genetic materials of A. cepa. Effluent’s physicochemical characteristics were investigated using digital instruments for direct measurement and standard methods of atomic absorption spectrophotometer colorimetric analysis. A series of six onion bulbs were grown in 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% concentrations of wastewater (v/v) ratio, and root tips from each onion bulb were cut and processed for analysis by aceto-orcein squash technique. Most of effluent components were above the discharge limit standards set by Federal Environmental Protection Agency and Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority. The cytotoxicity effect on the root growth showed a significant reduction at high concentration. Simple regression analysis showed that the results of mitotic index were statistically significant (P < 0.05) in different concentrations. A decrease in mitotic index with increasing concentration of the effluent was observed. The effluent had induced chromosomal abnormalities such as laggard, fragmentation, stickiness, bridge, micronucleus, and binucleated and morphologically changed nuclei in A. cepa root cells among others. The results showed that cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and chromosomal aberrations were induced by the tannery effluent. Industries shall think of biological waste treatment methods.
Sports Video Athlete Detection Based on Associative Memory Neural Network
Authors: Yang Jingwei
Published: February 2022

Aiming at the detection of athletes in sports videos, an automatic detection method based on AMNN is proposed. The background image from the image sequence is obtained, the moving area is extracted, and the color information of pixels to extract the green stadium from the background image is used. In order to improve the accuracy of athletes’ detection, the texture similarity measurement method is used to eliminate the shadow in the movement area, the morphological method is used to eliminate the cracks in the area, and the noise outside the stadium is removed according to the stadium information. Combined with the images of nonathletes, a training set is constructed to train the NN classifier. For the input image frames, image pyramids of different scales are constructed by subsampling and the positions of several candidate athletes are detected by NN. The center of gravity of candidate athletes is calculated, a representative candidate athlete is obtained, and then, the final athlete position through a local search process is determined. Experiments show that the system can accurately detect the motion shape of moving targets, can process images in real time, and has good real-time performance.
Investigation on Coal Pillar Stability between Different Shapes of Gasifier Cavities under High Temperatures during UCG
Authors: Shi Yue , Yun Xiaopeng , Zuo Jianping , Li Zhengdai , Sun Yunjiang , Yu Meilu
Published: February 2022

The shape of the gasifier cavity and the high temperatures induced by underground coal gasification (UCG) have a significant influence on the failure characteristics of the surrounding rock. In this study, the variations in the mechanical properties of the surrounding rock in gasifier cavities subjected to different temperatures (20–700°C) were obtained experimentally, and the results were used to establish numerical models. FLAC3D was used to analyse the failure of the surrounding rock in drop-shaped and traditional rectangular gasifier cavities. The mechanical parameters of the surrounding rock in the numerical model were assigned a gradient distribution based on the temperature propagation law and the experimental results. The results revealed that the temperature of the surrounding rock has a significant influence on the coal pillar stability, and the surrounding rock primarily undergoes shear failure. As the temperature of the surrounding rock increases, the width of the stable coal pillar increases exponentially; the reasonable widths for coal pillars between adjacent drop-shaped gasifier cavities are 12 m (room temperature), 17 m (700°C and 850°C), 18 m (1000°C), 19 m (1150°C), and 20 m (1300°C). In contrast, the reasonable width of coal pillars in traditional rectangular gasifier cavities is approximately 21 m, which is significantly higher than that for drop-shaped gasifier cavities.
Elevated CEACAM5 Levels in Patients with Asthma
Authors: Xu Changyi , Du Lijuan , Zeng Zhimin , Chen Fengjia , Liang Yuxia , Guo Yubiao
Published: February 2022

Introduction: Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease. This study aimed to explore the expression level of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5) in induced sputum supernatant, induced sputum cells, and serum of asthma patients. Methods: The protein levels of CEACAM5 in induced sputum supernatant and serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of CEACAM5 in induced sputum cells was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We analyzed the correlations between CEACAM5 expression and the clinical characteristics (FeNO and IgE) of asthma. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of CEACAM5 in asthma. The expression level of CEACAM5 in 16HBE and BEAS-2B cells was detected by qRT-PCR. Results: The expression of CEACAM5 in induced sputum supernatant, induced sputum cells, and serum of asthma patients was significantly upregulated. Asthma patients with high CEACAM5 expression in induced sputum supernatant had higher levels of FeNO, IgE, and IL-13. The expression levels of CEACAM5 in induced sputum supernatant and induced sputum cells were positively correlated with FeNO and IgE. The ROC curve showed that CEACAM5 had a good diagnostic value in asthma. CEACAM5 expression was upregulated in BEAS-2B and 16HBE cells after IL-4 or IL-13 stimulation for 48 h. Conclusion: The expression levels of CEACAM5 in induced sputum supernatant, induced sputum cells, and serum of asthma patients were significantly increased. CEACAM5 may be involved in eosinophilic inflammation of asthma and may be used as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target of asthma.
Genetic Analyses of Enamel Hypoplasia in Multiethnic Cohorts
Authors: Alotaibi Rasha N. , Howe Brian J. , Moreno Uribe Lina M. , Sanchez Carla , Deleyiannis Frederic W.B. , Padilla Carmencita , Poletta Fernando A. , Orioli Ieda M. , Buxó Carmen J. , Wehby George L. , Vieira Alexandre R. , Murray Jeffrey , Valencia-Ramírez Consuelo , Restrepo Muñeton Claudia P. , Long Ross E. , Shaffer John R. , Reis Steven E. , Weinberg Seth M. , Neiswanger Katherine , McNeil Daniel W. , Marazita Mary L.
Published: February 2022

Introduction: Enamel hypoplasia causes a reduction in the thickness of affected enamel and is one of the most common dental anomalies. This defect is caused by environmental and/or genetic factors that interfere with tooth formation, emphasizing the importance of investigating enamel hypoplasia on an epidemiological and genetic level. Methods: A genome-wide association of enamel hypoplasia was performed in multiple cohorts, overall comprising 7,159 individuals ranging in age from 7 to 82 years. Mixed models were used to test for genetic association while simultaneously accounting for relatedness and genetic population structure. Meta-analysis was then performed. More than 5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms were tested in individual cohorts. Results: Analyses of the individual cohorts and meta-analysis identified association signals close to genome-wide significance (p < 5 × 10–8), and many suggestive association signals (5 × 10–8 < p < 5 × 10–6) near genes with plausible roles in tooth/enamel development. Conclusion: The strongest association signal (p = 1.57 × 10–9) was observed near BMP2K in one of the individual cohorts. Additional suggestive signals were observed near genes with plausible roles in tooth development in the meta-analysis, such as SLC4A4 which can influence enamel hypoplasia. Additional human genetic studies are needed to replicate these results and functional studies in model systems are needed to validate our findings.
Onde trabalham os médicos formados na Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo? Um estudo transversal observacional
Authors: Schalch Alexandre Santos , Matijasevich Alicia , Scheffer Mário César
Published: February 2022

Conhecer a inserção e a atuação dos profissionais de saúde depois de formados contribui para o aprimoramento das instituições formadoras e para o planejamento de políticas públicas de educação e saúde. O objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar a inserção no mercado de trabalho e no sistema de saúde dos médicos formados pela Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo nos anos de 1999, 2000, 2009 e 2010. Para as características demográficas e de formação dos médicos foi utilizada a base de dados do estudo Demografia Médica no Brasil. Os dados sobre vínculos de trabalho foram extraídos de 4 plataformas digitais, e permitiram caracterizar a inserção dessa população: Plataforma Lattes, Cadastro Nacional de Estabelecimentos de Saúde, LinkedIn e Doctoralia. Dos 602 médicos estudados, 63,1% eram homens, com idade média de 44,7 anos; a maioria trabalhava em dupla prática pública e privada, enquanto uma minoria, apenas no Sistema Único de Saúde. O vínculo mais frequente foi com hospitais e houve baixa frequência de médicos na atenção primária. Manter a capacidade de formar especialistas em áreas fundamentais, além de fomentar vocações para a atenção primária, essencial ao sistema de saúde, é um desafio curricular e institucional a ser repensado. O estudo pode ser reproduzido para acompanhar a inserção profissional e o retorno social dos recursos humanos em saúde egressos de instituições de ensino.
Crianças africanas escravizadas nos anúncios de fugidos, nos oitocentos, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Gutman Cátia Regina
Published: February 2022

Este artigo é um recorte de uma tese de doutorado em andamento e tem como objetivo propor questões e reflexões, a partir do paradigma da Afrocentricidade, as crianças africanas escravizadas como sujeitos africanos, ou seja, como sujeitos históricos e atores sociais que foram invisibilizadas nas demografias do tráfico atlântico ao Brasil para incluí-los na historiografia da infância brasileira. Neste trabalho, a análise é feita através de 420 anúncios de fugas de crianças africanas escravizadas publicados entre os anos de 1839 a 1849 no jornal O Diário do Rio de Janeiro. É importante relacionar essas crianças africanas escravizadas (encontradas nos anúncios de fugidos no jornal) e a infância africana vivida e revivida por muitas delas nas suas memórias trazidas no corpo e na mente, vistos diariamente entre os seus, na cidade, nos oitocentos.
Estudio de caso: implementación de un modelo estratégico de comunicación organizacional
Authors: Torres Fernando Andres Castro
Published: February 2022

La metamorfosis contemporánea exige gestionar estratégicamente la comunicación organizacional e identificar las representaciones y mentalidades de los sujetos en el plano discursivo y cómo se materializan en los procesos comunicacionales. Este artículo se propone interrogar las formas de constitución de algunas mentalidades contemporáneas para plantear la necesidad de una lectura interdisciplinaria por parte del comunicador, además toma como estudio de caso Colegiatura Colombiana para plantear un modelo de comunicación estratégica de coherencia ante un mundo en metamorfosis.
Comunicación organizacional y decolonialidad: desafíos para una intersección factible
Authors: Torrico Erick
Published: February 2022

La Comunicación Organizacional comparte los condicionamientos de la “Comunicación occidental”. Este bagaje de ideas, conceptos y teorías erigido como referencia universal sustenta una concepción instrumental y deshumanizadora que formaliza, en el plano del conocimiento, la in-comunicación instalada por la modernidad y su proyecto civilizatorio con la dominación colonial del “Nuevo Mundo”. La decolonialidad se propone remontar esos límites en pos de una comunicación que (re)humanice. En tal dirección, este texto plantea como desafío la intersección entre Comunicación Organizacional y decolonización.
Orientation and emigration of larval and juvenile amphibians: selected topics and hypotheses
Authors: Landler Lukas
Published: February 2022

Most amphibians have a complex life cycle with an aquatic larval and an adult (semi-) terrestrial stage. However, studies concerning spatial behaviour and orientation mainly focus on either the aquatic larvae or the adult animals on land. Consequently, behavioural changes that happen during metamorphosis and the consequences for emigration and population distribution are less understood. This paper aims to summarize the knowledge concerning specific topics of early amphibian life history stages and proposes several testable hypotheses within the following fields of research: larval and juvenile orientation, influences of environmental and genetic factors on juvenile emigration, their habitat choice later in life as well as population biology. I argue that studying larval and juvenile amphibian spatial behaviour is an understudied field of research, however, could considerably improve our understanding of amphibian ecology.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 on Starvation and Armed Conflicts and Its Limits: Tigray/Ethiopia as an Example
Authors: Tefera Fisseha Fantahun
Published: February 2022

The 2018 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 makes a significant contribution to the growing normative framework that is considering famines as subjects of global peace and security. The Resolution’s limits and blind spots in connection with non-state armed groups, the use of human shields, and the politics of humanitarian intervention are raised and discussed in this essay. The current armed conflict and risk of famine in Ethiopia is used an example for these discussions.
The Potential Impacts of the Stability/Instability of the Tigray Region and the Whole of Ethiopia on the Wider East and Horn of Africa
Authors: Bekalo Samuel Ayele
Published: February 2022

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the region, is at a critical situation now due to the destabilising internal and external conflicts. If the situation is not addressed quickly and fairly by all the concerned parties, it has the potential to destabilise the fragile peace and development in the neighbouring countries and beyond. It is imperative, therefore, for influential local/regional/international power players to play their own parts timely and constructively to stabilise Ethiopia.
What is Direct Perceptual Knowledge? A Fivefold Confusion
Authors: McDermid Douglas James
Published: February 2022

When philosophers speak of direct perceptual knowledge, they obviously mean to suggest that such knowledge is unmediated- but unmediated by what? This is where we find evidence of violent disagreement. To clarify matters, I want to identify and briefly describe several important senses of "direct" that have helped shape our understanding of perceptual knowledge. They are ( 1) "Direct" as Non-Inferential Perception; (2) "Direct" as Unmediating by Objects of Perception; (3) "Direct" as Conceptually Unmediated Perception; (4) "Direct" as Independent Verification of Perceptual Beliefs; and (5) "Direct" as Perception of What is Epistemically Prior.
The Semantic Insignificance of Referential Intentions
Authors: Bozickovic Vojislav
Published: February 2022

It is argued that none of the speaker's referential intentions accompanying his utterance of a demonstrative are semantically significant but rather the associated demonstration (or some other source of salience). It is constitutive of the speaker's having the specifically referential intention-held by Kent Bach to be semantically significant- that the speaker is taking, and relying upon, his accompanying gesture (or some other source of salience) as semantically significant, making it the case that this intention is not even partly semantically significant. The same is then shown to hold for the speaker's remaining referential intentions: his intention aimed at a perceived object, believed by David Kaplan to be semantically significant, as well as the intention to refer to the object that he has in mind.
Do Meinong’s Impossible Objects Entail Contradictions?
Authors: Thrush Michael
Published: February 2022

Meinong’s theory of objects commits him to impossiblia: objects which have contradictory properties. Russell famously objected that these impossiblia were apt to infringe the law of non-contradiction. Meinong’s defenders have often relied upon the distinction between internal and external negation, a defense that only works against less exotic impossiblia. The more exotic impossiblia fall victim to an argument that uses an intuitively attractive logical principle similar to the abstraction principle, but which is not subject to Russell’s paradox. The upshot is that things are not as bad as Russell claims. Some impossiblia don’t entail contradictions. Nevertheless, things are still disastrous for Meinong. Some of his impossiblia do entail contradictions.
Marxism, Theory, Conjuncture: Notes on a Possible Contemporary Gramsci–Althusser Dialogue
Authors: Cortés Martín
Published: February 2022

This article offers various hypotheses regarding the conditions necessary for the reconstruction of a Marxist theory capable of meeting contemporary dilemmas. The central hypothesis posits two beliefs: first, the deep crisis of contemporary capitalism (and perhaps of civilisation) can only be critically addressed by rehabilitating strong theories based on a perspective of totality (this category’s fall from grace, as well as how to rework and revive it, are in part the focus of this text); secondly, while the current crisis might be outwardly novel, the heterogeneous body of texts making up what is called Marxism is already capable of furnishing tools to address the crisis. The starting point is the characterisation of the present conjuncture as anti-theoretical. By this is meant an excessive interest in how reality describes itself and an equally excessive disinterest in the use of strong concepts to think through that reality. Based on this hypothesis, the possibility explored is that a certain interpretation of Antonio Gramsci’s Marxism – excessively historicist and immanentist – has participated, in its own way, in a form of anti-theoricism. In order to propose a theoretical alternative, the article aims to rehabilitate a virtuous relationship between the contributions of Gramsci and those of Louis Althusser with the purpose of thinking a Marxism concerned with the problem of theory, but also attentive, through the centrality of the problematic of the conjuncture¸ to the question of historical singularity.
Machiavelli: On Power, Freedom and the Use of Time
Authors: Prinzi Salvatore
Published: February 2022

Since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, some philosophical questions connected with modernity have taken centre stage again: these relate to power, sovereignty, freedom and moral responsibility; and above all to the importance of the use of time in public life and health issues, something that is closely connected to political organisation. This article goes back to the birth of modernity to see how problems related to these subjects were dealt with by one of its most important thinkers: Machiavelli. The aim is to go beyond the traditional two-dimensional reading that defines him as a ‘Machiavellian’ friend of tyrants and at the same time overcome the contemporary interpretation that he was a champion of republican freedom. Instead, the article detects the temporality of political life, which constantly changes the setting in which we move – meaning we are unable to always trust the same solutions. Machiavelli allows us to understand this time of contingency and opportunity, which we must learn to use in order to take ownership of the sovereign space in which what was not can be.
Tronti and Gramsci on the Young Tronti’s Research Programme
Authors: Serra Pasquale
Published: February 2022

This article reviews, for the first time, all the research, published and unpublished, by the young pre-operaismo Tronti (as well as his key cultural sources, from Ugo Spirito to Galvano Della Volpe), from his 1956 undergraduate thesis, supervised by Ugo Spirito and Lucio Colletti, to an essay written in 1961 for Società, which symbolically closes his pre-operaismo phase. The author reconstructs the formation of the Tronti–Gramsci relationship, between 1958 and 1959, through two fundamental writings. Those texts outline not only all the issues around Gramsci’s thought (that anticipate by a few decades criticisms from, for example, Bobbio, Del Noce, Biagio de Giovanni and Althusser and Laclau), but also the fundamental aspects of a critical reflection on Gramsci and his philosophy.
A Digital Communication Adapted to the Information Practices of the Legislative District?
Authors: Neihouser Marie , Carrier Justin
Published: February 2022

Constituent relations is a major component of representative democracy. From a normative point of view, elected politicians need to communicate with their represented. By creating unmediated and inexpensive pathways for communication, ict s would then encourage more direct forms of communication between constituents and their representatives. In this article, we propose to see if political actors take citizen practices into account to propose them an online constituent communication that corresponds to their online practices. Our case study concerns the uses of digital media by provincial deputies (Quebec mna s) in their relationship with their constituency. The consequence of our results are discussed in the Discussion section.
Reflections on the Legacy of 19th-century Istanbul Armenian Theater Projects in the Contexts of Ottomanism and Turkishness
Authors: Sönmez Ayşan
Published: February 2022

Modern European theater disseminated both revolutionary discourse and a nationalist project in the aftermath of the French Revolution to every region it entered – a situation, which led to staggering impacts in multi-national, multi-religious, and decentralized territories such as the Ottoman Empire. Local individuals who engaged in European-style theatrical productions within the Ottoman Empire were initially and primarily Armenians. As a politicized form in terms of public opinion, urbanization, westernization, and education, the Ottoman Armenian theatrical experience became a legacy that was able to serve a budding Armenian nationalism, the idea of a shared Ottomanism during a specific time, and, eventually, to bolstering Turkishness as the Empire evolved into a nation-state.
Diagnostic pitfalls in computed tomography of the chest
Authors: Patiño Paula , Semionov Alexandre , Sayegh Karl , Kosiuk John , Pressacco Josephine
Published: February 2022

Anatomical variants and imaging artifacts on thoracic computed tomography (CT), when unrecognized as such, can lead to radiological misinterpretation and erroneous diagnosis. This is a concise review of 15 common CT diagnostic pitfalls due to anatomical variants and imaging artifacts which have potential to be misinterpreted as significant pathology, such as neoplasia, infection, traumatic injury, interstitial lung disease, pleural disease, or vascular lesions.