bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Women’s Activism and Resistance to Exploitation: A Study of Women Workers in the Tea Estates of Assam
Authors: Borthakur Upasana
Published: December 2023

Patriarchy and capitalism have always considered women to be meek and submissive in nature. But women also resist and have a voice of their own. The tea plantation women workers have their agency and they also resist the exploitation they face in their daily lives in their homes and workplaces. The trade unions often do not adequately address their issues as they are not their active members. But they use acts of resistance which are usually disguised, like gossip, jokes, name-calling, foot-dragging, etc. In some of their acts of resistance, they receive help from their supervisor and women co-workers. The Jhumur folk songs portraying the plight of women workers are sung by them on various cultural occasions. In this empirical study, an attempt has been made to analyse various forms of resistance used by women workers in two tea estates of Assam.
Book review: Vibhuti Patel and Nandita Mondal (Eds.), Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India
Authors: Balakrishnan Geeta
Published: December 2023

Vibhuti Patel and Nandita Mondal (Eds.), Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India, Springer Nature, 2022, 277 pp., ₹10,858, ISBN 978-9811699733 (Hardcover).
Kepler’s labors: Figurations of scholarly work c. 1600
Authors: Algazi Gadi
Published: December 2023

Kepler’s intricate trajectory, his self-reflective comments about the conditions of production of knowledge in his time, and the wealth of materials preserved make it possible to reconstruct a whole set of regimes of scholarly work around 1600, each with its typical mode of control, forms of subordination, temporal economy, and means of remuneration. Kepler’s maneuvering in this landscape was shaped by his attempts to carve out spaces for the kind of work he considered his very own – his “speculations” or “private studies” – within work relationships involving service and subordination. Thus, we find nonalienated, self-directed scholarly work embedded, constrained, and enabled by heteronomous regimes of work, a field of tensions that I seek to capture in the formula “work within work.” A labor history of science could thus offer us an opportunity for exploring historically documented, nonincidental and partly institutionalized forms of less alienated work, and trace the ways in which they related to and interacted with dominant relations of production.
Ottoman plants, nature studies, and the attentiveness of translational labor
Authors: Yıldırım Duygu
Published: December 2023

Translations, whether in the form of text, illustration, or interpretive analysis, served knowledge-making in multiple ways. It offered a refuge, severed contexts, and concealed the various workers that created it. Over the course of the seventeenth century, European naturalists in Istanbul, such as Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658–1730), procured illustrations of Ottoman nature as fundamental resources to identify, collect, and compare indigenous plants and newly bred varieties. Despite maintaining an actual mediation for cross-cultural interactions, these sources of virtual communication remain largely forgotten in modern scholarship. This article argues that this curious yet invisible corpus was not a nonagentive medium in an alienated leisure of a gentleman-scholar; instead, these illustrations were designed to call upon the viewer’s constant attention in self-motivated scientific labor. Such handy tools responded and contributed to early modern scholars’ modes of working, and in exchange they determined these sources’ own function, position, and visibility – either as a by-product or as a derivative. It is therefore only when integrated into the labor history of science that the degrees of invisibility pertaining to both Ottoman nature studies and self-directed labor can come into a granular view.
Historiographies of science and labor: From past perspectives to future possibilities
Authors: Roberts Lissa , Rockman Seth , Hui Alexandra
Published: December 2023

This article offers suggestions for what a labor history of science might look like and what it might accomplish. It does so by first reviewing how historians of science have analyzed the history of both “science as labor” and “science and labor” since the 1930s. It then moves on to discuss recent historiographical developments in both the history of science and labor history that together provide an analytical frame for further research. The article ends by projecting into the future, considering how a labor history of science might help us grapple with connecting our understanding of the past with the challenges of today and tomorrow.
So lucky to be paid on time! Downward social comparison and gratitude in crisis economy psychological contracts
Authors: Aldossari Maryam , Simosi Maria , Rousseau Denise M
Published: December 2023

In this article the authors investigate how high unemployment and sustained economic crisis influence employee beliefs regarding their employers’ psychological contract (PC) obligations. Based on 32 semi-structured interviews with Greek white-collar employees, the authors compare PC changes among workers with pre-crisis work experience and others whose entire work lives coincide with the crisis. The majority of participants perceive their employer to exploit the crisis, demanding more of workers while offering them less. Those participants who remained with their pre-crisis employer held more positive perceptions. At the same time, social comparison and sense of gratitude influence how individuals interpret their employee–employer obligations. These factors buffer how individuals interpret their employer’s PC fulfillment in the crisis economy.
Robust planning for multi-stage forceful manipulation
Authors: Holladay Rachel , Lozano-Pérez Tomás , Rodriguez Alberto
Published: December 2023

Multi-step forceful manipulation tasks, such as opening a push-and-twist childproof bottle, require a robot to make various planning choices that are substantially impacted by the requirement to exert force during the task. The robot must reason over discrete and continuous choices relating to the sequence of actions, such as whether to pick up an object, and the parameters of each of those actions, such how to grasp the object. To enable planning and executing forceful manipulation, we augment an existing task and motion planner with constraints that explicitly consider torque and frictional limits, captured through the proposed forceful kinematic chain constraint. In three domains, opening a childproof bottle, twisting a nut and cutting a vegetable, we demonstrate how the system selects from among a combinatorial set of strategies. We also show how cost-sensitive planning can be used to find strategies and parameters that are robust to uncertainty in the physical parameters.
Stiffness modelling and analysis of soft fluidic-driven robots using Lie theory
Authors: Shi Jialei , Shariati Azadeh , Abad Sara-Adela , Liu Yuanchang , Dai Jian S , Wurdemann Helge A
Published: December 2023

Soft robots have been investigated for various applications due to their inherently superior deformability and flexibility compared to rigid-link robots. However, these robots struggle to perform tasks that require on-demand stiffness, that is, exerting sufficient forces within allowable deflection. In addition, the soft and compliant materials also introduce large deformation and non-negligible nonlinearity, which makes the stiffness analysis and modelling of soft robots fundamentally challenging. This paper proposes a modelling framework to investigate the underlying stiffness and the equivalent compliance properties of soft robots under different configurations. Firstly, a modelling and analysis methodology is described based on Lie theory. Here, we derive two sets (the piecewise constant curvature and Cosserat rod model) of compliance models. Furthermore, the methodology can accommodate the nonlinear responses (e.g., bending angles) resulting from elongation of robots. Using this proposed methodology, the general Cartesian stiffness or compliance matrix can be derived and used for configuration-dependent stiffness analysis. The proposed framework is then instantiated and implemented on fluidic-driven soft continuum robots. The efficacy and modelling accuracy of the proposed methodology are validated using both simulations and experiments.
The potential role of extracorporeal cytokine removal with CytoSorb® as an adjuvant therapy in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Authors: Tomescu Dana , Popescu Mihai , Akil Ali , Nassiri Amir Ahmad , Wunderlich-Sperl Florian , Kogelmann Klaus , Molnar Zsolt , Alharthy Abdulrahman , Karakitsos Dimitrios
Published: December 2023

Management of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) represents one of the greatest challenges in intensive care and despite all efforts mortality remains high. One common phenotype of ARDS is that of a secondary injury to a dysregulated inflammatory host response resulting in increased capillary congestion, interstitial lung edema, atelectasis, pulmonary embolism, muscle wasting, recurring infectious episodes, and multiple organ failure. In cases of hyperinflammation, immunomodulation by extracorporeal cytokine removal such as the CytoSorb hemoadsorption cartridge could conceptually enhance lung recovery during the early course of the disease. The aim of this narrative review is to summarize the currently available data in this field and to provide an overview of pathophysiology and rationale for the use of CytoSorb hemoadsorption in patients with hyperinflammatory ARDS.
Resilience Design: Myths of Participation and Stewardship
Authors: Lambrou Nicole
Published: December 2023

Design proposals that aim to increase resilience to future extreme weather events increasingly center on equity concerns. The question of the implementation and ongoing maintenance of resilient landscapes, however, receives scant attention in planning literature despite the abundance of stewardship references in resilience proposals. Stewardship, as both concept and act, implicates equity because it is a form of adaptation labor that is invisible and unpaid. Here, I discuss California's Resilient by Design project to show that when the labor involved in stewardship projects is not acknowledged, claims for an equitable and resilient future espoused by planning proposals are diminished.
Abolition and the Welfare State: Implications for Social Welfare
Authors: Rasmussen Cameron , Kim Mimi E.
Published: December 2023

Prison abolition has emerged as a new framework for critical analysis, policies, and practices with implications for social welfare. Mobilized through a series of social movement events and formations from the late 1990s, prison abolition has taken on public prominence since the summer of 2020 and unprecedented U.S. and global protests of racialized police violence. While proponents of abolition have called for the dismantling of the carceral state or that sphere of the state represented by policing, jails, and prisons, the implications for the welfare state have been less clear. This conceptual article provides an overview of the welfare state and its development since the New Deal, outlining critical debates regarding its contributions to well-being as well as its punitive functions. Building upon David Garland's categories of welfare state sectors, the article offers an initial framing and set of analytical questions for further inquiry into abolitionist informed frameworks and strategies with regard to the welfare state.
Restoring What Never Existed: The Role of Familism in Narratives of Return in Hungary
Authors: Gregor Anikó , Verebes Ingrid
Published: December 2023

This study seeks to provide insight into the mechanisms of familism in the landscapes of Hungarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public and higher education, and academia. By contextualizing the growing importance of familism as a governing ideology and an effective political tool used by the current government, aiming to offer an alternative to the insecurities rooted in economic restructuring and cultural transformation in eastern Europe in the last few decades, we show how “academic familism” and “NGO-familism,” often intertwined, reproduce the ideological underpinnings of the Hungarian neoliberal gender regime. The article’s novelty is in, first, revealing how recent institutionalization tendencies show that Hungarian academia, especially in the social sciences, is shifting to reproduce and legitimize familism, risking the autonomy of science even in the short term. Second, the study highlights the fact that besides some government-friendly NGOs dedicated to promoting familism, the ideology of the importance of families is strengthened even by some bottom-up civil organizations that campaign for a more inclusive family concept as a reaction to the government’s idealization of nuclear, heterosexual, and marriage-based family formations.
Preaching the “Traditional Family” in the Romanian Parliament: The Political Stakes and Meanings of a Hegemonic Narrative
Authors: Băluță Ionela , Tufiș Claudiu
Published: December 2023

In this article, we examine a decade of parliamentary debates related to the topic of family to understand the reasons and the rhetorical strategies that drive the support of Romanian MPs for the traditional family. Starting from four themes identified in the literature as relevant for the topic of family—national identity, religion, heteronormativity, and children—we identify the dominant definition of the “traditional family” as that of the Christian Romanian family founded and defended by ancestors—that is, union between a man and a woman for the purpose of reproduction—as the only place that can guarantee that children will grow up in a healthy and moral environment. This hegemonic narrative is enhanced by the anti-gender campaign repertoire and strengthened by populist logic, aiming to restore true Romanian values—Christian, ancestral, and national—in opposition to contemporary Western relativism and the alleged colonial cultural project of gender equality+ politics. The decadent present, threatening national identity, the continuity of the people, Christian values, the natural gender order, or the safety of children, can be saved only by returning to the traditional family, which functions as a hegemonic signifier re-imposing, in the logic of the narrative of return, a nationalist, conservative, and religious definition of the family, based on biological and natural foundations and necessarily heteronormative and chauvinist.
The Moral Matrix of Capitalism: Insights from Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Makovicky Nicolette , Wiegratz Jörg , Kofti Dimitra
Published: December 2023

This special section aims to shed light on moral milieus and agencies in contemporary capitalist central and eastern Europe. Drawing on case studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Russia, it offers insight into changing perceptions of proper economy and practice amongst a broad range of actors—from landfill workers to business managers and the super-rich. The contributors explore how actors at various scales morally construct, contest, and defend ideas of justice, (re-)distribution, and social worth, as well as socio-economic hierarchy, inequality, and harm. They analyse the capitalist moral transformation and order in the region and examine the local appropriation of and buy-in to (as well as critique of) aspects of neoliberal moral orders—a topic sidelined in much of the existing moral economy scholarship. Exploring a broad range of moral economic phenomena, the contributors move beyond the conventional definition of morals as prosocial norms and action, approaching morals as a broader empirical phenomenon of economy and politics. They examine the actions, practices, and reasoning of different actors in relation to shifting notions of acceptable and unacceptable, just and unjust, and praiseworthy and blameworthy behaviour. As such, this collection makes the case for widening the empirical object and analytical purchase of moral economy to include the study of not only moral critiques and resistance to capitalism but also the diverse moral agencies, milieus and orders of capitalism, and the ways in which the advancement and embedding of the capitalist moral order has shaped economic life in the region.
Low-velocity impact-resistance of aramid fiber three-dimensional woven textile-reinforced thermoplastic-epoxy composites
Authors: Liu Yajun , Natsuki Toshiaki , Suzuki Daisuke , Huang Canyi , Cui Lina , Ni Qing-Qing
Published: December 2023

The development of impact-resistant composite materials for protective applications such as helmet and body armor has attracted considerable attention. In this study, a novel aramid fiber-woven thermoplastic-epoxy composite was developed. Furthermore, three types of woven textiles, namely three-dimensional (3D) orthogonal-woven (3DOW), 3D angle-interlock woven (3DAIW), and two-dimensional plain-woven (2DPW) textiles, were used as reinforcement structures. To study the effect of the woven structure, impact energy, and damage repairment on impact-resistance performance of these composites, low-velocity drop-weight impact tests with various impact scenarios, such as single-impact, repeated-impact, as well as multiple-impact with hot-press damage repairment, were conducted. The results revealed that the woven structure exhibited an obvious effect on the composite impact-resistance performance and failure modes when subjected to specific impact scenarios. For the single-impact scenario, especially under high impact energy levels (10 and 20 J), the 3DOW structure exhibited superior impact-resistance performance as well as damage tolerance, followed by 3DAIW and 2DPW structures. Furthermore, 3DOW achieved superior impact-resistance to the other two structures for the 10-J repeated-impact scenario. The 3DAIW structure, in which debonding or delamination as well as severe resin cracks dominated, achieved superior impact-resistance to multiple impacts with damage repairment.
In vitro degradation analysis and mechanical characterization of PLA-CF composites prepared by fused filament fabrication technique for bio-medical applications
Authors: S Krishnakumar , T Senthilvelan
Published: December 2023

The objective of this research work is to study the in vitro degradation behavior of as-fabricated and annealed Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) composites reinforced with varying volume fractions of carbon fiber (CF).The composites are prepared by fused filament fabrication technique (FFF). Specimens are immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 8 weeks to study the degradation behavior of the composites by examining the change in weight, change in pH and degradation in mechanical properties. The obtained results show that the addition of carbon fiber reinforcement reduces the tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and compressive strength of the composites. Further, CF addition enhances the tensile modulus of the composite. The mechanical properties of annealed composites are enhanced when compared to as-fabricated composites. Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) is employed to study the thermal characteristics of the composites and % crystallinity of the composites. CF addition reduces the crystallinity of the composites. Fractographs of the tensile fractured specimens are studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The addition of the carbon fiber reinforcement is found to accelerate the degradation behavior of the composites. There is significant change in weight and pH as well as degradation in mechanical properties of PLA-CF composites immersed in SBF than pure PLA composites. Annealed composites show better degradation resistance than as-fabricated composites. SEM is employed to study the surface morphology of the composites immersed in SBF.
Sustaining Quality of Life with Education-Based Treatment for Hypertension Patients During COVID-19 Adaptation
Authors: Kristinawati Beti , Mardana Nyofan Wahyu , Wijayanti Nove Wiand Dwi
Published: December 2023

Purpose: Determine the impact of education-based treatment on sustaining quality of life during COVID-19 adaptation. Designs: A randomized, 2-group, structured, holistic education-based intervention within eight weeks in preserving total quality of life (QoL) for hypertension patients with conventional care. Methods: Utilizing randomized controlled trials, 380 patients with hypertension are separated into two groups and evaluated. The patients are separated into two groups totaling 190 individuals each group. The intervention group is treated with a holistic education-based intervention. After two months, the EQ-5D-5L is used to evaluate the quality of life. Findings: The QoL pretest for the intervention group revealed that 25 (13.2%) patients had good QoL (Score = 1), while the QoL posttest revealed that the number of patients with good QoL had grown to 48 (25.3%). Using Kolmogorov–Smirnov for data analysis yielded non-normally distributed data. The p-value for the Wilcoxon signed ranks test is .001. Conclusions: The intervention group is better equipped to deal with COVID-19 and has a higher quality of life. Education-based hypertension treatment can sustain a high quality of life.
‘You Can Sue for Anything’: Student Rights to Participate in School Disciplinary Procedures and Legal Socialisation
Authors: Zak-Doron Idan , Perry-Hazan Lotem
Published: December 2023

This study explored how participatory disciplinary systems in democratic (open) schools reflect distinct models of students’ collective rights to participate in decision making embedded in different patterns of legal socialisation. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with students, educators, and parents from three democratic schools in Israel, the study revealed contradictory approaches. One student participation model subscribes to a strictly legalistic approach, grounded in a criminal justice discourse and encompassing all aspects of the school's everyday life as well as after-school hours. A second model of participatory practices operates a flexible disciplinary system derived from mediative and therapeutic principles, applying procedural rules only in severe cases. The differences between the models indicate that participation does not inherently shape the contours of schools’ disciplinary systems. They challenge the dichotomous discourse in the literature on participation rights and legal socialisation, contrasting punitive vs. participative disciplinary methods and coercive vs. consensual approaches towards rules.
Graduated sanctioning, endogenous institutions and sustainable cooperation in common-pool resources: An experimental test
Authors: van Klingeren Fijnanda , Buskens Vincent
Published: December 2023

To encourage long-term cooperation in social dilemmas such as common-pool resources, the importance of sanctioning is often stressed. Elinor Ostrom advocates graduated sanctioning: the severity of a defector’s punishment is dependent on the extent of their history of deviant behaviour. In addition, endogenously chosen sanctioning is argued to induce cooperation due to a higher legitimacy. This study compares the effect of graduated and strict mutual sanctioning on cooperation in common-pool resources at the micro and macro level. In addition, we distinguish whether the type of mutual sanction is exogenously determined or endogenously chosen. A Common-Pool Resource game is used in a laboratory experiment, integrating crucial elements of social structure and rule-making mechanisms within a common. Results support the effectiveness of graduated sanctioning compared to strict sanctioning in the long term and partial support using endogenously chosen sanctioning mechanisms versus imposed sanctioning mechanisms.
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Index of Orthognathic Functional Treatment Need for Detecting Subjects with Great Need for Orthognathic Surgery
Authors: Borzabadi-Farahani Ali
Published: December 2023

Index of Orthognathic Functional Treatment Need (IOFTN) Identifies patients with greatest need for orthognathic surgery. This systematic review looks into the available evidence on prevalence of patients with great treatment need (IOFTN 4&5) who had orthognathic surgery in previous studies. Literature search of the major electronic databases was carried out for articles published between 2014 and September 2023, looking for “Index of Orthognathic Functional Treatment Need”,“Orthognathic Surgery”,“IOFTN”, “Epidemiology” and “Dentofacial Deformity”. The prevalence of patients identified with IOFTN grades of 4&5 was calculated. A random-effect model was employed and the Forest and Galbraith plots were produced. The pooled prevalence estimate for subjects with IOFTN scores of 4&5 was calculated. The heterogeneity among studies was assessed with the I2 statistics. In total, 14 retrospective studies conducted between 2015 and 2019 in 7 countries (UK, New Zealand, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan) were included, reporting on 1339 orthognathic patients. The sample sizes ranged from 30 to 200. Only 7 studies reported on the subcategories of the IOFTN for grades 1, 2&3. The prevalence of orthognathic patients with IOFTN scores of 4 & 5 ranged from 79% to 100%. The heterogeneity I2 statistics was high (76%, random effects model) for 14 studies, but after removing 3 outlier studies reduced to zero. The pooled prevalence estimate for subjects with IOFTN scores of 4&5 was 93% (95% CI, 0.91-0.94%). According to this meta-analysis, IOFTN successfully identified 93% of patients who underwent orthognathic surgery with a great need for treatment (Grade 4 & 5). To enhance the identification of patients with well-compensated malocclusions, previous orthodontic treatment, or extreme occlusal deviations (e.g., proclination or retroclination of incisors), it would be advantageous to employ additional means alongside IOFTN for assessing orthognathic need in this group.
Motivating Teachers to Reflect in a Professional Community of Practice Through Collaborative Action Research
Authors: Arefian Mohammad Hossein
Published: December 2023

Teachers’ professional development has been a widely discussed matter in the literature. Thus, a diverse range of frameworks was introduced to enhance teachers’ knowledge, experience, and skills. One such significant tool to boost teachers’ knowledge and competence can be collaborative action research (CAR). Although action research and collaborative professional development received sufficient scholarly investigation separately, CAR, which is not been explored in Iran, can have numerous implications and benefits. The current study explored Iranian in-service language teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of CAR, motivating them to reflect in a professional community of practice (CoP). Thus, ten teachers were selected through purposive sampling, and data were analyzed thematically. The result indicated that teachers gained personal, social, and professional benefits from CAR in a CoP and became motivated to reflect on their practices regularly through CAR. Moreover, teachers became systematic, reflective, collaborative, creative, curious, supportive, agentic, engaged, and conscious, which can be the foundations for motivating reflective practices. This study encourages teachers, teacher educators, and stakeholders to incorporate CAR in a CoP in order to motivate teachers’ reflective practices for professional development.
Fostering Inclusivity in Education: Unleashing the Potential of Inclusive Education in India
Authors: Guliya Sonali , Rawat Kalpana , Jain Mansi , Vats Sakshi , Kashoo Faizan Z. , Kapoor Gaurav , Chahal Aksh
Published: December 2023

Inclusive Education (IE) offers opportunity to provide accessible education for all, regardless of physical or mental disabilities. It underscores the idea that children with special needs should be seamlessly integrated into mainstream education system without discrimination. Challenges such as shortage of trained teachers, well-designed curriculum, resources, adequate infrastructure, awareness, positive attitude, effective strategies, and supportive policies hinder the expansion of IE in developing economies like India. The present need of the hour is, to prepare resilient, effective, and competent educators, who can successfully champion and implement IE. This article aims to investigate and spotlight the obstacles hindering the promotion of IE and also proposes ideas for developing strategies to make IE an integral part of the Indian Education System.
Unravelling the effects of disruptive crises on residents’ support for tourism. Lessons from COVID-19
Authors: Arnanz Jorge , Ramos Vicente , Rey-Maquieira Javier , Untong Akarapong
Published: December 2023

Residents’ behaviour towards tourism could be affected by a major crisis such as the recent pandemic. In this context, we evaluate how specific elements, such as residents’ characteristics, perceptions on specific origins, and the development of alternative tourism activities and segments need to be considered in this analysis. The Social Exchange Theory is used as a conceptual framework, and the empirical analysis is done for Bangkok, a grand urban tourism destination. Our results indicate that residents are aware of the potential trade-off between economic prosperity and health concerns, and that they have a different perception towards tourists from different origins. Additionally, locals were more concerned about health considerations than foreigners. The findings and the conceptual framework can serve as guidelines for tourism organisations and authorities managing urban destinations in times of crises.
Feeling safe: Safety app discourse and affective labor
Authors: Bevan Alex
Published: December 2023

The surveillant capacities of smart phones have generated an array of safety apps targeting cis female users. Current feminist scholarship studies these apps from a variety of disciplinary perspectives that stress their detractors, namely, that they are largely ineffective and that they instead burden the user with the labor of continuous assessment of oneself and one’s surroundings. This article acknowledges the apps’ numerous failings while at the same time turning attention to the surveilled, responsible, projected user they reproduce in order to tease out some of the internal contradictions and nuances of this figure and its place in digital culture. The study samples a number of safety apps that focus on gender violence in public spaces and finds that the apps solicit a form of gendered labor which asks largely cis women users to work towards ‘feelings’ of safety.
RVX-208, an inducer of Apolipoprotein A-I, inhibits the particle production of hepatitis B virus through activation of cGAS-STING pathway
Authors: Shu Dan , Cheng Lin , Yuan Kefei , Liu Dan , Wei He
Published: December 2023

Background

Previously, we have demonstrated that Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) could inhibit the secretion of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), suggesting that stimulation of ApoA-I may block particle production. In the present study, we evaluated the anti-HBV effect of RVX-208, a small-molecule stimulator of ApoA-I gene expression.

Methods

RVX-208 was used to treat HepG2.2.15 cell, a HepG2 derived cell line stably producing HBV virus. Real-time PCR was performed to examine the HBV DNA levels. Magnetic particles, which were coated with anti-HBS or anti-HBE antibody, were used to examine the HBsAg and HBeAg levels in the supernatant of cultured HepG2.2.15 cells in combination with the enzyme conjugates that were prepared with horseradish peroxidase labelled anti-HBS or anti-HBE antibody in a double antibody sandwich manner. RNA-seq, immunoblots and real-time PCR were used to analyze the functional mechanism of RVX-208.

Results

RVX-208 could elevate the ApoA-I protein levels in HepG2.2.15 cells. In the meantime, RVX-208 significantly repressed HBV DNA, HBsAg and HBeAg levels in the supernatants of HepG2.2.15 cells. RNA-seq data revealed that RVX-208 treatment not only affected the cholesterol metabolism, which is closely related to ApoA-I, but also regulated signalling pathways that are associated with antiviral immune response. Moreover, mechanistic studies demonstrated that RVX-208 could activate cGAS-STING pathway and upregulate the transcription of a series of interferons, pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines with antiviral potential that are at the downstream of cGAS-STING pathway.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrated that RVX-208, an inducer of ApoA-I, could suppress HBV particle production through activation of cGAS-STING pathway.
Accuracy and Feasibility of Synthetic CT for Lung Adaptive Radiotherapy: A Phantom Study
Authors: Zhao Ruifeng , Wang Xingliu , Wei Huanhai
Published: December 2023

Objectives

The respiratory variations will lead to inconsistency between the actual delivery dose and the planning dose. How the minor interfractional amplitude changes affect the geometry and dose delivery accuracy remains to be investigated in the context of lung adaptive radiotherapy.

Methods

Planning 4-dimensional-computed tomography and kV-cone beam computed tomography were scanned based on the Computerized Imaging Reference Systems phantom, which was employed to simulate the minor interfractional amplitude variations. The corresponding synthetic computed tomography for a particular motion pattern can be generated from Velocity program. Then a clinically meaningful synthetic computed tomography was analyzed through the geometrical and dosimetric assessment.

Results

The image quality of synthetic computed tomography was improved obviously compared with cone beam computed tomography. Mean absolute error was minimized when no significant interfractional motion occurs and Velocity can be qualified for dealing with the regular breathing motion patterns. The mean percent hounsfield unit difference of the synthetic hounsfield unit values per organ relative to the planning 4-dimensional-computed tomography image was 22.3%. Under the same conditions, the mean percent hounsfield unit difference of the cone beam computed tomography hounsfield unit values per organ, relative to the planning 4-dimensional-computed tomography image was 83.9%. Overall, the accuracy of hounsfield unit in synthetic computed tomography was improved obviously and the variability of the synthetic image correlates with the planning 4-dimensional-computed tomography image variability. Meanwhile, the dose-volume histograms between planning 4-dimensional-computed tomography and synthetic computed tomography almost coincided each other, which indicates that Velocity program can qualify lung adaptive radiotherapy well when there were no interfractional respiratory variations. However, for cases with obvious interfractional amplitude change, the volume covered at least by 100% of the prescription dose was only 59.6% for that synthetic image.

Conclusion

The synthetic computed tomography images generated from Velocity were close to the real images in anatomy and dosimetry, which can make clinical lung adaptive radiotherapy possible based on the actual patient anatomy during treatment.
Suppress Globally or Seize Locally: Cortical Network Activity Explains Seizure Diversity Among Kcnt1 Mutants
Authors: Kilianski Scott , Beenhakker Mark
Published: December 2023

[Box: see text]
Artificial intelligence (AI) in restorative dentistry: Performance of AI models designed for detection of interproximal carious lesions on primary and permanent dentition
Authors: Azhari Amr Ahmed , Helal Narmin , Sabri Leena M , Abduljawad Abeer
Published: December 2023

Objective

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of deep learning methods in detecting dental caries from radiographic images.

Methods

A total of 771 bitewing radiographs were divided into two groups: adult (n = 554) and pediatric (n = 217). Two distinct semantic segmentation models were constructed for each group. They were manually labeled by general dentists for semantic segmentation. The inter-examiner reliability of the two examiners was also measured. Finally, the models were trained using transfer learning methodology along with computer science advanced tools, such as ensemble U-Nets with ResNet50, ResNext101, and Vgg19 as the encoders, which were all pretrained on ImageNet weights using a training dataset.

Results

Intersection over union (IoU) score was used to evaluate the outcomes of the deep learning model. For the adult dataset, the IoU averaged 98%, 23%, 19%, and 51% for zero, primary, moderate, and advanced carious lesions, respectively. For pediatric bitewings, the IoU averaged 97%, 8%, 17%, and 25% for zero, primary, moderate, and advanced caries, respectively. Advanced caries was more accurately detected than primary caries on adults and pediatric bitewings P < 0.05.

Conclusions

The proposed deep learning models can accurately detect advanced caries in permanent or primary bitewing radiographs. Misclassification mostly occurs between primary and moderate caries. Although the model performed well in correctly classifying the lesions, it can misclassify one as the other or does not accurately capture the depth of the lesion at this early stage.
An Analysis of Industry Payments Toward Physicians in the United States—Cryolipolysis
Authors: Jaszkul Katrina M. , Kemp Austin , Alghanim Khalifa , Letourneau Sasha , Kim Stephanie , Simpson Andrew
Published: December 2023

Background : Cryolipolysis has emerged as a nonsurgical fat reduction alternative to liposuction. Industry payments may impact how physician authors view medical devices in the literature. Under-reporting financial conflicts of interest has raised concerns about full transparency between industry and physicians. Objectives : We aim to determine the impact industry payments to physicians have on the cryolipolysis literature and whether there is under-reporting of financial conflicts of interest in the literature. Methods : We collated all articles that cite the pivotal trial in the Food and Drug Administration approval of a cryolipolysis device. Articles were read independently and coded as favourable or neutral. A separate researcher screened the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments database for direct or in-kind payments and recorded financial conflicts of interest. Results : A total of 19 articles met the inclusion criteria. This included 37 unique authors across multiple specialties. Eighteen (95%) published articles had at least one author who received industry payment. Payments totalled $1,476,564.16. Twelve (63%) articles were positive, and 7 (37%) neutral. Of the 31 authors who received payments, 11 (35%) did not report a conflict of interest. The majority of industry payments assessed were for consulting fees, which totalled $980,334.86 (66.4%). Conclusions : We found the majority of published opinions on cryolipolysis from the United States were written by physicians who received industry payments. We also found financial conflicts of interest around cryolipolysis devices are under-reported in the literature.
Understanding the experiences and needs in autism education: A semi-structured interview among Chinese American parents of autistic children
Authors: Yang Xihan , Crehan Eileen T
Published: December 2023

Background and Aims

The diversity of the autistic population seeking professional services and education in the United States has increased. As the diagnosis of autism increases among the Chinese American immigrant population, there is also an increasing need to learn about this population and provide appropriate intervention and education for this group. However, current education and intervention provided for autistic individuals tend to be culturally blind. Gaps were found in our understanding of the cultural context and its relationship with the education mechanisms among Chinese American autistic families. The current study intends to investigate how Chinese American parents perceive the education materials and intervention strategies received by their autistic children as well as their experiences and needs in the education process.

Method

Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 10 Chinese American parents (one father and nine mothers) online. They all had children who had a formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and received some intervention or education. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the results.

Results

The study suggested that most Chinese American parents were satisfied with the current education materials and intervention strategies provided to their autistic children. Due to cultural-related stigma, parents differ in their perceptions of children's autism diagnosis and characteristics as well as their expectations of children's culturally sensitive education. A theoretical model was created to provide culture-centered interpretation of the interconnected relationship between their pre- and post-immigration contexts and parenting attitudes.

Conclusions

Culture plays a critical role in understanding Chinese American parents’ experiences, needs, and expectations of culturally sensitive education for their autistic children. Interconnected relationships were found between contexts and parenting attitudes, which were largely influenced by cultural-related stigma.

Implications

Suggestions and implications were provided for institutions and professionals working with Chinese American families and children. It is critical for them to learn about the experiences, needs, and attitudes of Chinese American parents to provide Chinese American autistic children with more appropriate and culturally sensitive education.
The implicated subject: Colonial atrocity, harki identity, and an ontology of the in-between
Authors: Stepanov Brigitte
Published: December 2023

Michael Rothberg’s concept of the “implicated subject” complicates the boundaries between the categories of “victim” and “perpetrator.” Rothberg’s work provides a wide framework developed through a comparative lens, broaching several nations and time periods—and, as I argue, can be extended even further. As I develop in this article, I see the “implicated subject” as a richer notion yet, one that not only imbricates victim and perpetrator but also subject and object, human and inhuman. Thus, focusing on the “implicated subject” as an ontological problematic, I add another case study to Rothberg’s rich work—harki soldiers—in order to underscore how “implicated subjects” shed light on patterns of dehumanization and help us understand permutations of being in times of extreme cruelty.
Discrimination, segregation, and stereotypes of Holocaust vs. atomic bomb survivors in indigenous societies of Israel and Japan
Authors: Ichikawa Kimiko
Published: December 2023

In searching for humanity after atrocities, this article investigates the obstacles encountered by survivors of atrocities, such as societal stereotypes and discrimination in the wake of traumatic events. It explores the link between poverty and discrimination, and how survivors, as minorities, have lived in poverty despite receiving government compensation or reparations, experiencing marginalization and neocolonialism in their post-WWII postcolonial societies. The article employs postcolonial theories and perspectives to analyze survivors’ experiences of stereotyping, bias, and oppression. It compares survivors of two atrocities, the Holocaust, and the atomic bombings of Japan, by categorizing them into two groups: those experiencing stereotyping or poverty.
Association between Inflammatory Factors and Myeloproliferative Neoplasm: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study
Authors: Li Yang , Jia Chen , Sun Ting , Yang Renchi , Zhang Lei
Published: December 2023

Introduction : Mounting epidemiological and observational evidence supports the association between chronic inflammation and the development of myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). Despite ongoing research, the causal or biased nature of genetic associations with specific inflammatory biomarkers remains unclear. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of C-reactive protein (CRP) and systemic regulators of inflammation on MPN using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization approach.

Methods: Genetic associations with MPN were derived from a publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising 1,086 cases and 407,155 controls of European ancestry. Additionally, data on inflammation were extracted from two GWASs focusing on CRP and cytokines. The primary analysis employed inverse-variance weighted Mendelian randomization (MR) as the statistical method. To validate the findings, various sensitivity analyses, such as MR-Egger, weighted median, and MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO), were conducted simultaneously.

Results: The findings of our study indicate that decreased levels of macrophage-migration inhibitory factor (MIF, IVW estimate odds ratio [ORIVW] per SD genetic cytokines change: 0.641; 95% CI: 0.427-0.964; P=0.032) and elevated levels of interleukin-2 receptor α (lL2Rα,1.377,1.006-1.883; P=0.046) are associated with an elevated risk of MPN. Moreover, genetically predicted MPN is correlated with heightened levels of RANTES (IVW estimate β: 0.043, 95% CI: 0.002-0.084; P=0.039) and interleukin-10 (IL-10, 0.030, 0.001-0.060; P=0.041).

Conclusion: Our study provides evidence supporting the significant association between MIF and lL2Rαwith the etiology of MPN, while RANTES and interleukin-10 are more likely to be involved in MPN development. These findings offer valuable insights into the causal relationship between systemic inflammatory regulators and MPN, contributing to a better understanding of the etiology, prevention, and prognosis of MPN.