bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Next‑generation sequencing‑guided personalized therapy in renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Tang Yanfeng , Shen Yu , Wang Zilin , Zeng Hao , Li Xiang , Liu Zhenhua
Published: February 2024

Purpose

The WHO’s classification of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has transitioned from solely morphologic to an integrated molecular-defined classification with genotyping based on driver genes. One-third of patients with localized diseases eventually develop metastases. First-line treatments with tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immunotherapies have shown promise in improving patient outcomes. This study aims to assess the efficacy of next-generation sequencing (NGS) guided therapy for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Methods

We evaluated a cohort of 77 mRCC patients. In the context of first-line systemic treatment, 35 patients were administered NGS-guided personalized therapy, while 42 received empirical therapy. We subsequently compared the progression-free survival (PFS) of both groups and reported the objective response rate (ORR) for the NGS-guided group.

Results

Over the past three years, the application rate of NGS post-nephrectomy in West China Hospital averaged 21%. The NGS-guided group showed a significantly better PFS (P = .01) compared to the empirical therapy group. The NGS-guided group also exhibited an ORR of 41.9% and a disease control rate (DCR) of 90.3%.

Conclusions

Our data highlights NGS as a crucial, clinically accessible genotyping method suitable for broader adoption. This study underscores that NGS-guided therapy can significantly enhance outcomes for mRCC patients, particularly for specific driving mutations, such as FH.
Ambulatory Arterial Stiffness Index is Associated with the Presence and Severity of Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Qin Xintong , Yin Qiuguo , Zhang Yidan , Jiang Peng , Jia Xingtai , Jian Liguo
Published: February 2024

Objective

To evaluate the relationship between the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) and the degree of coronary stenosis, and assess its predictive value for the presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Materials and methods

In total, 619 consecutive patients who presented with exertional anginal symptoms and/or acute coronary syndrome between January 2021 and December 2022 underwent elective non-urgent CAG with no emergency conditions and performed 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) were included in this study and were divided into the control group (n = 68) and CAD group (n = 551) according to the angiography results. Ambulatory Arterial Stiffness Index (AASI) is obtained from the 24-h ABPM recordings, defined as 1 minus the regression slope of diastolic blood pressure on systolic blood pressure values. CAD complexity was determined by the Gensini score (GS). The patients with CAD were stratified according to the tertiles of the Gensini score (GS < 24 versus GS > 48), and GS > 48 is considered severe coronary artery disease. To explore the relationship between AASI and the severity of CAD, Spearman correlation analysis was conducted. Logistic regression analysis was then performed to determine the influence of AASI on CAD as well as severe CAD. Moreover, a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to assess the predictive value of AASI for CAD and severe CAD.

Results

The CAD group had a substantially higher median AASI than the control group [0.47 (0.4, 0.58) vs.0.32 (0.24, 0.41), P < 0.001]. There was a positive correlation between AASI and Gensini score. Compared to controls, patients in low-, medium-, and high-GS had significantly higher levels of AASI in a rising trend (P < 0.001). Logistic regression demonstrated that AASI was an independent contributor to CAD and severe CAD. The area under the curve (AUC) for AASI in predicting CAD was 0.806 (P < 0.001), and for predicting high-GS CAD was 0.663 (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

AASI was associated with CAD and the severity of coronary stenosis and demonstrated predictive potential for both CAD and severe CAD.
Do analytic philosophers in China think differently? A survey and comparative study
Authors: Wu Su , Xu Jiawei , Zhan Hao , Wang Ruoding , Wang Yucheng , Huang Junwei , You Jun , Zhu Jing
Published: February 2024

Analytic philosophy has been developing in China for over a century, and philosophers shaped by the analytic tradition have grown into an important philosophical community in China. The views of contemporary analytic philosophers in China on central philosophical issues and their similarities and differences with analytic philosophers in English-speaking countries have not been systematically investigated. Bourget and Chalmers have conducted two large-scale online questionnaire surveys on analytic philosophers in English-speaking countries. Inspired by their studies, a survey on analytic philosophers in China was performed. It is found that philosophers in China had no agreement on most issues. According to the comparative analysis with the results of Bourget and Chalmers’ second survey, there were significant differences in views as well as thinking styles between analytic philosophers in China and English-speaking countries. And these differences may be partially explained by cultural factors and academic environments.
Error Analysis of Pretrained Language Models (PLMs) in English-to-Arabic Machine Translation
Authors: Al-Khalifa Hend , Al-Khalefah Khaloud , Haroon Hesham
Published: February 2024

Advances in neural machine translation utilizing pretrained language models (PLMs) have shown promise in improving the translation quality between diverse languages. However, translation from English to languages with complex morphology, such as Arabic, remains challenging. This study investigated the prevailing error patterns of state-of-the-art PLMs when translating from English to Arabic across different text domains. Through empirical analysis using automatic metrics (chrF, BERTScore, COMET) and manual evaluation with the Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM) framework, we compared Google Translate and five PLMs (Helsinki, Marefa, Facebook, GPT-3.5-turbo, and GPT-4). Key findings provide valuable insights into current PLM limitations in handling aspects of Arabic grammar and vocabulary while also informing future improvements for advancing English–Arabic machine translation capabilities and accessibility.
Diversity supplements: An underutilized opportunity to improve the diversity of the health sciences research workforce
Authors: Rubio Doris , Maseru Noble , Miller Laura , Geraci Mark , Cooper Greg , Gary-Webb Tiffany L.
Published: February 2024

Purpose:

This paper describes the process developed at the University of Pittsburgh to increase the number of NIH-funded Diversity Supplements.

Method:

The authors formed a Diversity in Academia Workgroup where we created the infrastructure and process to increase the number of Diversity Supplements. Each year, the Office of Sponsored Programs provided a list of grants that would be eligible to submit a Diversity Supplement. We surveyed the Principal Investigators inquiring about their interest in working with a trainee on a Diversity Supplement. If yes, we included their information in a database we built so that trainees could search for eligible research studies. The Diversity Deans then identified underrepresented faculty and postdoctoral researchers. We invited Program Officers from NIH to participate in a panel presentation for trainees, which was well attended.

Results:

The number of Diversity Supplements awarded to Pitt researchers has significantly increased from 7 in 2020 to 10 in 2021 and to 15 in 2022. Six more have been awarded in the first half of 2023.

Conclusions:

We created the Diversity in Academia Workgroup with the goal to increase the number of Diversity Supplements at the University of Pittsburgh and in so doing, increase the diversity in the biomedical research workforce. While challenging, we know the critical importance and benefits of increased diversity at the University, and we have made significant strides toward this goal.
The role of mental health and protective factors in student academic persistence and retention during a global crisis
Authors: Zhai Yusen , Carney JoLynn V.
Published: February 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated challenges for millions of students globally, leading to enrollment cliff. This study addresses the existing research gap by investigating the influence of students’ mental health and various protective factors (i.e., optimism, help-seeking behaviors, social support) on academic persistence, an indicator of student retention. We utilized the structural equation modeling approach to examine the effect of students’ mental health conditions, risk perception of COVID-19 and protective factors on academic persistence through a sample of 1,051 students from 45 states. Students’ mental health positively predicted academic persistence. Risk perception of COVID-19 was negatively associated with mental health but positively predicted academic persistence and help-seeking behaviors. Optimism fully mediated the effect of mental health on help-seeking behaviors but did not mediate the effect of risk perception on help-seeking behaviors. Social support positively predicted academic persistence. This study underscores the integral role of mental health and protective factors in supporting student retention. Universities should develop targeted programs to address students’ mental health needs and promote protective behaviors. These initiatives can enhance academic persistence, thereby aiding in the retention of students affected by this pandemic or any future global crisis.
Philanthropic donor agencies and social policy in sub-Saharan Africa – New perspectives to the “welfare mix”
Authors: Lambin Roosa Amanda
Published: February 2024

The role of external actors has now been widely acknowledged in shaping social policy processes in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, the social policy roles and influence of philanthropic donors have been less recognised and examined. As various countries in the region seek to expand social policy implementation and delivery and revitalise the development of national welfare systems, it is important to better understand the roles and functions of philanthropic donor agencies in the processes of agenda-setting, financing, and delivery of social policy. This article discusses the complex social policy functions held by philanthropic donor agencies in sub-Saharan Africa through the lens of the “welfare mix,” drawing attention to the divergencies and convergences between Western philanthropic donors and their African counterparts, while reflecting on the direction of future research agendas.
Water entry of an elastic conical shell
Authors: Khabakhpasheva T.I. , Korobkin A.A. , Malenica S.
Published: February 2024

The axisymmetric problem of a conical shell impact onto an inviscid and incompressible liquid of infinite depth is studied. The shell is thin, and its deadrise angle is small. The problem is inertia dominated. Gravity, surface tension and viscous effects are not taken into account. The hydrodynamic loads acting on the shell and the shell displacements are determined at the same time. The model by Scolan (J. Sound Vib., vol. 277, issue 1–2, 2004, pp. 163–203) is used to find the flow and hydrodynamic pressure caused by the shell impact. This model is based on the Wagner theory of water impact, which was generalised to axisymmetric problems of hydroelastic slamming. Dry and wet modes of the conical shell, as well as the corresponding frequencies, are calculated. It is shown that a conical shell can be approximated by a circular plate only for a very small deadrise angle. Deflections and strains in the conical shell during the impact stage, when the wetted part of the shell increases at high rate, as well as the hydrodynamic loads, are determined and analysed.
Unifying heat transport model for the transition between buoyancy-dominated and Lorentz-force-dominated regimes in quasistatic magnetoconvection
Authors: Teimurazov Andrei , McCormack Matthew , Linkmann Moritz , Shishkina Olga
Published: February 2024

In magnetoconvection, the flow of an electromagnetically conductive fluid is driven by a combination of buoyancy forces, which create the fluid motion due to thermal expansion and contraction, and Lorentz forces, which distort the convective flow structure in the presence of a magnetic field. The differences in the global flow structures in the buoyancy-dominated and Lorentz-force-dominated regimes lead to different heat transport properties in these regimes, reflected in distinct dimensionless scaling relations of the global heat flux (Nusselt number

$Nu$

) versus the strength of buoyancy (Rayleigh number

$Ra$

) and electromagnetic forces (Hartmann number

$Ha$

). Here, we propose a theoretical model for the transition between these two regimes for the case of a static vertical magnetic field applied across a convective fluid layer confined between two isothermal, a lower warmer and an upper colder, horizontal surfaces. The model suggests that the scaling exponents

$\gamma$

in the buoyancy-dominated regime,

$Nu\sim Ra ^\gamma$

, and

$\xi$

in the Lorentz-force-dominated regime,

$Nu\sim (Ha^{-2}Ra)^\xi$

, are related as

$\xi =\gamma /(1-2\gamma )$

, and the onset of the transition scales with

$Ha^{-1/\gamma }Ra$

. These theoretical results are supported by our direct numerical simulations for

$10\leq Ha\leq 2000$

, Prandtl number

$Pr=0.025$

and

$Ra$

up to

$10^9$

and data from the literature.
Preferential accumulation of finite-size particles in near-wall streaks
Authors: Peng Cheng , Wang Lian-Ping , Chen Songying
Published: February 2024

The preference for particles to accumulate at specific regions in the near-wall part is a widely observed phenomenon in wall-bounded turbulence. Unlike small particles more frequently found in low-speed streaks, finite-size particles can accumulate in either low-speed or high-speed streaks. However, mechanisms and influencing factors leading to the different preferential concentration locations still need to be clarified. The present study conducts particle-resolved direct numerical simulations of particle-laden turbulent channel flows to provide a better understanding of this seemingly puzzling behaviour of preferential accumulation. These simulations cover different particle-to-fluid density ratios, particle volume fractions, particle sizes and degrees of sedimentation intensity. We find that the large particle size is the crucial factor that results in particles accumulating in high-speed streaks. Large particles not only are difficult to be conveyed by the quasi-streamwise vortices to low-speed streaks but also can escape from the near-wall region before moving spanwisely out from high-speed streaks. The sedimentation effect allows particles to gather closer to the channel wall and stay longer in the near-wall regions, reinforcing the sweeping mechanism of quasi-streamwise vortices that transport particles from high- to low-speed streaks. As a result, sedimenting particles tend to accumulate in the low-speed streaks.
Use of heated corrugations for propulsion
Authors: Floryan J.M. , Aman S.A. , Panday S.
Published: February 2024

We show that a heating pattern applied to a surface with a corrugation pattern generates a propulsive effect. The same heating pattern applied to a smooth surface creates propulsion through nonlinear thermal streaming associated with pitchfork bifurcation. The combination of groove and heating patterns generates thermal drift, representing a forced response whose magnitude changes with the relative position of both patterns. Thermal drift is always present, while thermal streaming requires sufficiently intense heating. When both effects are active, a change in the relative position of these patterns produces rapid changes in the magnitude of propulsion, resulting in the formation of limit points. The strength of propulsion increases with a decrease in the Prandtl number and with an addition of uniform heating.
A Matter of Opinion? How Unexpected Opinion Authors Influence Support for Supreme Court Decisions
Authors: King Jonathan M. , Schoenherr Jessica A.
Published: February 2024

Examples abound of Supreme Court justices writing opinions because their ideological preferences or identity characteristics run counter to case outcomes, like when devoted Methodist and Nixon appointee Harry Blackmun wrote the opinion codifying abortion rights inRoe v. Wade(1973). These stories suggest that in some controversial cases, the justices ask such incongruent justices to explain decisions because they believe those justices can underscore an opinion’s legal soundness and increase support for it. Does it work? We asked participants in two survey experiments to read about a pro-abortion or pro-death penalty ruling written by justices of differing ideologies and genders, and then we asked them to respond to the ruling. Their responses indicate that deploying identity-incongruent justices can influence responses, but not the way the justices expect. We find that incongruent opinion writers can reduce partisan differences in support for a Court decision but do not broadly increase public.
Institutional Design and the Predictability of Judicial Interruptions at Oral Argument
Authors: Jacobi Tonja , Leslie Patrick , Robinson Zoe
Published: February 2024

Examining oral argument in the Australian High Court and comparing to the U.S. Supreme Court, this article shows that institutional design drives judicial interruptive behavior. Many of the same individual- and case-level factors predict oral argument behavior. Notably, despite orthodoxy of the High Court as “apolitical,” ideology strongly predicts interruptions, just as in the United States. Yet, important divergent institutional design features between the two apex courts translate into meaningful behavioral differences, with the greater power of the Chief Justice resulting in differences in interruptions. Finally, gender effects are lower and only identifiable with new methodological techniques we develop and apply.
Why Latin American Parties Are Not Coming Back
Authors: Sánchez-Sibony Omar
Published: February 2024

This essay documents growing partisan social uprootedness across Latin America over time, manifested in diminishing social trust toward parties, debilitation of links between parties and social collectivities, lowering levels of partisanship, and rising incidence of personalism in the electorate. It focuses on some unrecognized and undertheorized causal factors behind partisan involution in the region, putting emphasis on mutually reinforcing processes. First, it identifies forces endogenous to the traits of origin of diminished parties that foster their uprootedness and decay; second, it lays out some of the manifold ways that the weakening of political parties fuels regime malperformance, in a mutually reinforcing vicious circle; third, it outlines the existence of mutual feedback loops between political agency and structure; fourth, it identifies various agential sources of party decay. There are strong theoretical and empirical reasons to expect continued party deinstitutionalization across Latin America going forward.
Approaching Equality? Media Treatment of Male and Female Members of Presidential Cabinets in a Cross-Country Comparison
Authors: Armstrong Brenna , Taylor-Robinson Michelle M.
Published: February 2024

Generalizability of extant findings about media treatment of women in politics is uncertain because most research examines candidates for the legislature or heads of government, and little work moves beyond Anglo-American countries. We examine six presidential cabinets in Costa Rica, Uruguay, and the United States, which provide differing levels of women’s incorporation into government. These cases permit us to test hypotheses arguing that differences in media treatment of men and women cabinet ministers will decrease as women’s inclusion in government expands, and that media treatment of women is more critical when women head departments associated with masculine gender stereotypes. Results show that greater incorporation of women into government is associated with fewer gendered differences in media coverage, tone of minister coverage is more favorable for women who hold masculine stereotyped portfolios, and that the media does present qualifications of women cabinet ministers.
Opinion: Which animals have personality?
Authors: Adolphs Ralph , Xu Yue
Published: February 2024

Human personality generally refers to coherent individuating patterns in affect, behavior, and cognition. We can only observe and measure behavior, from which we then infer personality and other psychological processes (affect, cognition, etc.). We emphasize that the study of personality always explains or summarizes patterns not only in behavior but also in these other psychological processes inferred from behavior. We thus argue that personality should be attributed only to nonhuman animals with behaviors from which we can infer a sufficiently rich set of psychological processes. The mere inference of a biological trait that explains behavioral variability, on our view, is not sufficient to count as a personality construct and should be given a different term. Methodologically, inferring personality in nonhuman animals entails challenges in characterizing ecologically valid behaviors, doing so across rich and varied environments, and collecting enough data. We suggest that studies should gradually accumulate such corpora of data on a species through well-curated shared databases. A mixture of approaches should include both top-down fit with extant human personality theories (such as the Big Five) as well as bottom-up discovery of species-specific personality dimensions. Adopting the above framework will help us to build a comparative psychology and will provide the most informative models also for understanding human personality, its evolution, and its disorders.
Fermentation profile and dynamics of bacterial communities in vetch-oat ensiled with a novel spray-dried inoculant
Authors: Blajman J. E. , Lingua M. S. , Irazoqui J. M. , Santiago G. M. , Eberhardt M. F. , Amadio A. F. , Peralta G. H. , Gaggiotti M. C.
Published: February 2024

This study aimed to examine and compare the effectiveness of a novel spray-dried inoculant and a commercial freeze-dried additive on the fermentation quality, aerobic stability and bacterial population of vetch-oat silage. An entirely random design used a 3 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments, with and without lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculants and four fermentation periods. Physicochemical parameters, microbiological counts and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis on Nanopore MinION were conducted to characterize the ensiling process. Both LAB inoculants increased dry matter, crude protein, lactic, acetic and propionic acid contents, while reducing pH, neutral detergent fibre, ammonia nitrogen/total nitrogen and ethanol concentrations compared to the control group. Overall, the native inoculant decreased the cell load of coliforms, yeasts and moulds. In addition, bio-inoculants enhanced the aerobic stability of vetch-oat intercrops. After ensiling, bacterial alpha diversity decreased noticeably; inoculation reduced the number of observed operational taxonomic units and the Shannon and Simpson indices. Notably, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus in the control group was lower than in treated silages, while the relative values of Staphylococcus increased sharply in the uninoculated group. In conclusion, the native strains showed promise for usage as a bio-inoculant in the ensiling of vetch-oat at a mixture rate of 1:1, producing an immediate impact as well as a favourable effect on the post-opening phase. This represents the first report on 16S rRNA gene-based nanopore metagenomics applied to the bacterial analysis of vetch-oat silage, providing a microbiological insight where native and commercial strains dominate the natural epiphytic community.
Longitudinal study of peer victimization, social support, and mental health during early adolescence
Authors: Martínez Matías , Damme Katherine S. , Vargas Teresa , Yang Beiming , Rompilla D. J. , Stephens Jacquelyn , Qu Yang , Mittal Vijay A. , Haase Claudia M.
Published: February 2024

Background

Peer victimization predicts the development of mental health symptoms in the transition to adolescence, but it is unclear whether and how parents and school environments can buffer this link.

Methods

We analyzed two-year longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, involving a diverse sample of 11 844 children across the United States (average at baseline = 9.91 years; standard deviation = 0.63; range = 8.92–11.08; complete case sample = 8385). Longitudinal associations between peer victimization and two-year changes in mental health symptoms of major depression disorder (MDD), separation anxiety (SA), prodromal psychosis (PP), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined including a wide range of covariates. Mixed linear models were used to test for the moderating effects of parental warmth and prosocial school environment.

Results

20% of children experienced peer victimization. Higher exposure to peer victimization was associated with increases in MDD, SA, and ADHD symptoms. Parental warmth was associated with decreases in MDD symptoms but did not robustly buffer the link between peer victimization and mental health symptoms. Prosocial school environment predicted decreases in PP symptoms and buffered the link between peer victimization and MDD symptoms but amplified the link between peer victimization and SA and ADHD symptoms.

Conclusions

Peer victimization is associated with increases in mental health symptoms during the transition to adolescence. Parental warmth and prosocial school environments might not be enough to counter the negative consequences of peer victimization on all mental health outcomes.
The elephant's other legs: What some sciences actually do
Authors: Baron Jonathan
Published: February 2024

Integrative experiments, as described, seem blindly empirical, as if the question of generality of effects could not be understood through controlled one-at-a-time experiments. But current research using such experiments, especially applied research, can resolve issues and make progress through understanding of cause–effect pathways, leaving to engineers the task of translating this understanding into practice.
Eliminativist induction cannot be a solution to psychology's crisis
Authors: Tunç Mehmet Necip , Uygun Tunç Duygu
Published: February 2024

Integrative experiment design assumes that we can effectively design a space of factors that cause contextual variation. However, this is impossible to do so in a sufficiently objective way, resulting inevitably in observations laden with surrogate models. Consequently, integrative experiment design may even deepen the problem of incommensurability. In comparison, one-at-a-time approaches make much more tentative assumptions about the factors excluded from experiment design, hence still seem better suited to deal with incommensurability.
The future of experimental design: Integrative, but is the sample diverse enough?
Authors: Ghai Sakshi , Banerjee Sanchayan
Published: February 2024

Almaatouq et al. propose an “integrative approach” to increase the generalisability and commensurability of experiments. Yet their metascientific approach has one glaring omission (and misinterpretation of) – the role of sample diversity in generalisability. In this commentary, we challenge false notions of subsumed duality between contexts, population, and diversity, and propose modifications to their design space to accommodate sample diversity.
Design and control of a compliant robotic actuator with parallel spring-damping transmission
Authors: Yuan Peikang , Liu Jianbin , Branson David T. , Song Zhibin , Wu Shuai , Dai Jian S. , Kang Rongjie
Published: February 2024

Physically compliant actuator brings significant benefits to robots in terms of environmental adaptability, human–robot interaction, and energy efficiency as the introduction of the inherent compliance. However, this inherent compliance also limits the force and position control performance of the actuator system due to the induced oscillations and decreased mechanical bandwidth. To solve this problem, we first investigate the dynamic effects of implementing variable physical damping into a compliant actuator. Following this, we propose a structural scheme that integrates a variable damping element in parallel to a conventional series elastic actuator. A damping regulation algorithm is then developed for the parallel spring-damping actuator (PSDA) to tune the dynamic performance of the system while remaining sufficient compliance. Experimental results show that the PSDA offers better stability and dynamic capability in the force and position control by generating appropriate damping levels.
TIME POVERTY: CONCEPTUALIZATION, GENDER DIFFERENCES, AND POLICY SOLUTIONS
Authors: Rodgers Yana Van Der Meulen
Published: February 2024

Individuals with heavy paid and unpaid work burdens may experience time deprivations that restrict their well-being and put them at risk of becoming or remaining income poor. Because unpaid work outside of the market is not captured in most large survey-based datasets, time poverty is rarely recognized in policy and practice. Yet income poverty and time poverty are mutually reinforcing; they can sap energy and impede effective decision-making, thus perpetuating the state of poverty. This essay offers a five-step approach to conceptualizing and measuring time poverty and it compares time poverty rates by gender across a range of developing countries. Results show that women have higher time poverty rates than men in most cases, with the main exception being countries with low rates of female labor force participation. Policies that strengthen physical and social infrastructure, thereby decreasing the time needed for unpaid household work, have demonstrable effects on reducing time poverty.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF POVERTY: WHERE DO WE STAND?
Authors: Haushofer Johannes , Salicath Daniel
Published: February 2024

In recent years, the psychological causes and consequences of poverty have received renewed attention from scientists and policymakers. In this essay, we summarize new developments in this literature. First, we discuss advances in our understanding of the relationship between income and psychological well-being. There is a robust positive relationship between the two, both within and across countries, and in correlational and causal analyses. Second, we summarize recent work on the impact of “scarcity” and stress on economic preferences and decision-making. Our view of this literature is that the evidence is relatively weak. Third, we summarize evidence on the impact of psychological interventions on economic outcomes. Light-touch psychological interventions, such as videos that aim to raise aspirations, have shown some promise in encouraging investment and improving economic well-being. Similarly, psychotherapy and pharmacological mental health treatments have positive effects on economic outcomes. Relative to the effects of cash transfers, these impacts are small in absolute terms and large in per-dollar terms. We conclude by discussing whether a psychological poverty trap is plausible.
Congenital dual anterior interventricular artery
Authors: Hao Miao , An Qi , Luo Shuhua
Published: February 2024

Dual anterior interventricular artery is a rare type of CHD. We reported a fifteen-year-old girl who underwent CT angiography that demonstrated one anterior interventricular artery from aorta and another from pulmonary artery.
NEITHER ECONOMIST NOR HISTORIAN
Authors: Weintraub E. Roy
Published: February 2024

I defended my doctoral dissertation on stochastic stability of general equilibrium systems in Penn’s Applied Mathematics program in fall 1968. That year I began teaching math for economists, mathematical economics, microeconomics, and even econometrics at Rutgers College, where I remained for a couple of years before moving to Duke. At Rutgers I saw that graduate students took required courses in micro, macro, statistics, math, and econometrics, and there were electives in other fields like public finance and economic history. I didn’t know that there was any subdiscipline, or field, called the history of economic thought.
THE HES AT FIFTY: IDENTITY CRISIS AND THE NEED FOR PLURALISTIC HISTORIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES
Authors: Charles Loïc
Published: February 2024

In what follows, I use stylized facts derived from my own professional career as a member of the History of Economics Society (HES) and the history of economics (HE) community to document and illustrate the changing context of the subdiscipline over the past three decades.1 In the 1990s, the subdiscipline was comprised of a number of national communities. Among the latter the North American community held a dominant position and was quite different from its continental European counterparts, the French and Italian in particular.2 Not only were its academic culture and environment much more competitive but they were also more open to non-disciplinary history of economics.3 Over the past two decades, however, the growing domination of the continental European community has created a new context in which the identity of the North American community in general and that of the HES in particular has become uncertain.
Hemichorea–hemiballismus associated with a case of cerebral toxoplasmosis in a hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient
Authors: Rocha-Cadman Xiomara , Revilla Amanda R. , Cadman Karla , Root James C.
Published: February 2024

Due to their immunocompromised state, recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) are at a higher risk of opportunistic infections, such as that of toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is a rare but mortal infection that can cause severe neurological symptoms, including confusion. In immunosuppressed individuals, such as those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), toxoplasmosis can cause movement disorders, including hemichorea–hemiballismus. We present the case of a 54-year-old Caucasian male with a history of hypertension and JAK-2-negative primary myelofibrosis who underwent an allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplant from a related donor. After the development of acute changes in mental status, left-sided weakness, and left-sided hemichorea–hemiballismus post-transplant, the patient was readmitted to the hospital. Subsequent testing included an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, which revealed multiple ring-enhancing lesions around the thalami and basal ganglia, as well as a cerebrospinal fluid tap that tested positive for toxoplasmosis. The patient was initially treated with intravenous clindamycin and oral pyrimethamine with leucovorin. The completion of treatment improved the patient’s mental status but did not improve his hemichorea–hemiballismus. This case illustrates an uncommon complication associated with central nervous system (CNS) toxoplasmosis in stem cell transplant recipients. Due to its rarity, cerebral toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients often remains undetected, particularly in HSCT patients who are immunosuppressed to improve engraftment. Neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms due to toxoplasmosis may be misidentified as psychiatric morbidities, delaying appropriate treatment. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays offer methods that are sensitive and specific to detecting toxoplasmosis and provide opportunities for early intervention.
Looking at the other side: working conditions in Portuguese courts
Authors: Dias João Paulo , Casaleiro Paula , Gomes Conceição , Jesus Fernanda , Lima Teresa Maneca , Queirós Filipa , Relvas Ana Paula , Sotero Luciana , Henriques Marina , Verzelloni Luca
Published: February 2024

QUALIS is a research project that studies ‘the other side of courts’ by looking at the working conditions of judicial professions in Portugal and their impacts on the profession, health, family and personal life. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the results obtained, based mainly on the interviews and the online questionnaire administered to the Portuguese judicial professions (judges, public prosecutors and court clerks). The questionnaire was sent to all professionals (more than 10,000) working in the courts and had a good response rate; the interviews were conducted among the three judicial professions. The article focuses on three main dimensions of working conditions, namely physical environment, working time and work intensity, and work/social environment of professionals working at first instance courts. It will make then a further analysis of their impacts in the health and well-being and in the work-family conflict of the judicial professionals.
Church and state in contemporary China: securing Christianity
Authors: Jing Peitong , Koesel Karrie J.
Published: February 2024

What is the nature of church–state relations in countries where politics is restrictive, religious autonomy is limited, and Christians tend to be viewed as existential threats by those in power? This article examines the highly securitized environment for Catholics and Protestants in China and the evolving government strategies used to regulate religious life. We argue that these efforts—ranging from channeling Christians into state-sponsored institutions, promoting patriotism in seminaries, and compelling churches to Sinicize—not only extends the reach of the party-state into Christian communities, but also puts the Party at the center of religious life. There are several implications from this analysis. One is that it documents how authoritarian regimes attempt to “domesticate” religion using multi-dimensional and long-term strategies of control. A second demonstrates how strong states, like China, seek to cultivate patriotic clergy and orient them favorably toward the regime. A third shows how Christians navigate restrictive environments.
Psychometric Properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in Spanish Adolescents
Authors: López-Fernández Francisco Javier , Morales-Hidalgo Paula , Canals Josefa , Marzo Juan Carlos , García-López Luis Joaquín , Piqueras José Antonio
Published: February 2024

Few studies have examined the psychometric properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in a large adolescent community sample, finding a significant disparity. This study explores the psychometric properties of the CD-RISC among Spanish adolescents by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Rasch analysis, and measurement invariance (MI) across sex, as well as internal consistency and criterion validity. The sample was comprised of 463 adolescents (231 girls), aged 12 to 18 years, who completed the CD-RISC and other measures on emotional status and quality of life. The EFA suggested that the CD-RISC structure presented a unidimensional model. Consequently, shorter unidimensional CD-RISC models observed in the literature were explored. Thus, the Campbell-Sills and Stein CD–RISC–10 showed the soundest psychometric properties, providing an adequate item fit and supporting MI and non-differential item functioning across sex. Item difficulty levels were biased toward low levels of resilience. Some items showed malfunctioning in lower response categories. With regard to reliability, categorical omega was. 82. Strong associations with health-related quality of life, major depressive disorder symptoms, and emotional symptoms were observed. A weak association was found between resilience and the male sex. Campbell-Sills and Stein’s CD–RISC–10 model emerges as the best to assess resilience among Spanish adolescents, as already reported in adults. Thus, independently of the developmental stage, the core of resilience may reside in the aspects of hardiness and persistence.
Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey
Authors: De Beer Leon T. , van der Vaart Leoni , Escaffi-Schwarz Maximiliano , De Witte Hans , Schaufeli Wilmar B.
Published: February 2024

Abstract: This study sought to investigate the measurement properties of a “gold standard” instrument for measuring burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (MBI-GS), with a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of studies that had as the primary aim its psychometric validation. The search spanned from January 1996 to December 2022 using the following databases: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, APA PsychINFO, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. Our search identified 35 eligible studies for inclusion in the systematic review. Of these, 17 were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis of the original 16-item version studies supported a three-dimensional representation of burnout with modest internal consistencies. However, similar to the narrative findings, it also indicated the viability of a two-factor solution. Consequently, the structural validity of the MBI-GS remains unclear, and so does its cross-cultural validity. The criterion validity of the cynicism and personal efficacy scales also raised a few questions. Overall, the findings provided some support for the adequacy of the measurement properties of the MBI-GS as a research tool measuring exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. However, we also identified challenges and practices of which researchers should be cognisant and that they should consider in future burnout projects.
Early Diagenetic Controls on Sedimentary Iodine Release and Iodine‐To‐Organic Carbon Ratios in the Paleo‐Record
Authors: Scholz Florian , Hardisty Dalton S. , Dale Andrew W.
Published: February 2024

Iodine cycling in the ocean is closely linked to productivity, organic carbon export, and oxygenation. However, iodine sources and sinks at the seafloor are poorly constrained, which limits the applicability of iodine as a biogeochemical tracer. We present pore water and solid phase iodine data for sediment cores from the Peruvian continental margin, which cover a range of bottom water oxygen concentrations, organic carbon rain rates and sedimentation rates. By applying a numerical reaction‐transport model, we evaluate how these parameters determine benthic iodine fluxes and sedimentary iodine‐to‐organic carbon ratios (I:Corg) in the paleo‐record. Iodine is delivered to the sediment with organic material and released into the pore water as iodide (I−) during early diagenesis. Under anoxic conditions in the bottom water, most of the iodine delivered is recycled, which can explain the presence of excess dissolved iodine in near‐shore anoxic seawater. According to our model, the benthic I− efflux in anoxic areas is mainly determined by the organic carbon rain rate. Under oxic conditions, pore water dissolved I− is oxidized and precipitated at the sediment surface. Much of the precipitated iodine re‐dissolves during early diagenesis and only a fraction is buried. Particulate iodine burial efficiency and I:Corg burial ratios do increase with bottom water oxygen. However, multiple combinations of bottom water oxygen, organic carbon rain rate and sedimentation rate can lead to identical I:Corg, which limits the utility of I:Corg as a quantitative oxygenation proxy. Our findings may help to better constrain the ocean's iodine mass balance, both today and in the geological past.
Upscaling Soil Organic Carbon Measurements at the Continental Scale Using Multivariate Clustering Analysis and Machine Learning
Authors: Wang Zhuonan , Kumar Jitendra , Weintraub‐Leff Samantha R. , Todd‐Brown Katherine , Mishra Umakant , Sihi Debjani
Published: February 2024

Estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are essential for many environmental applications. However, significant inconsistencies exist in SOC stock estimates for the U.S. across current SOC maps. We propose a framework that combines unsupervised multivariate geographic clustering (MGC) and supervised Random Forests regression, improving SOC maps by capturing heterogeneous relationships with SOC drivers. We first used MGC to divide the U.S. into 20 SOC regions based on the similarity of covariates (soil biogeochemical, bioclimatic, biological, and physiographic variables). Subsequently, separate Random Forests models were trained for each SOC region, utilizing environmental covariates and SOC observations. Our estimated SOC stocks for the U.S. (52.6 ± 3.2 Pg for 0–30 cm and 108.3 ± 8.2 Pg for 0–100 cm depth) were within the range estimated by existing products like Harmonized World Soil Database, HWSD (46.7 Pg for 0–30 cm and 90.7 Pg for 0–100 cm depth) and SoilGrids 2.0 (45.7 Pg for 0–30 cm and 133.0 Pg for 0–100 cm depth). However, independent validation with soil profile data from the National Ecological Observatory Network showed that our approach (R2 = 0.51) outperformed the estimates obtained from Harmonized World Soil Database (R2 = 0.23) and SoilGrids 2.0 (R2 = 0.39) for the topsoil (0–30 cm). Uncertainty analysis (e.g., low representativeness and high coefficients of variation) identified regions requiring more measurements, such as Alaska and the deserts of the U.S. Southwest. Our approach effectively captures the heterogeneous relationships between widely available predictors and the current SOC baseline across regions, offering reliable SOC estimates at 1 km resolution for benchmarking Earth system models.
Nucleus pulposus cells regulate macrophages in degenerated intervertebral discs via the integrated stress response-mediated CCL2/7-CCR2 signaling pathway
Authors: Tian Shuo , Chen Xuanzuo , Wu Wei , Lin Hui , Qing Xiangcheng , Liu Sheng , Wang BaiChuan , Xiao Yan , Shao Zengwu , Peng Yizhong
Published: February 2024

Lower back pain (LBP), which is a primary cause of disability, is largely attributed to intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Macrophages (MΦs) in degenerated intervertebral discs (IVDs) form a chronic inflammatory microenvironment, but how MΦs are recruited to degenerative segments and transform into a proinflammatory phenotype remains unclear. We evaluated chemokine expression in degenerated nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) to clarify the role of NPCs in the establishment of an inflammatory microenvironment in IDD and explored the mechanisms. We found that the production of C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and C-C motif chemokine ligand 7 (CCL7) was significantly increased in NPCs under inflammatory conditions, and blocking CCL2/7 and their receptor, C-C chemokine receptor type 2(CCR2), inhibited the inductive effects of NPCs on MΦ infiltration and proinflammatory polarization. Moreover, activation of the integrated stress response (ISR) was obvious in IDD, and ISR inhibition reduced the production of CCL2/7 in NPCs. Further investigation revealed that activating Transcription Factor 3 (ATF3) responded to ISR activation, and ChIP-qPCR verified the DNA-binding activity of ATF3 on CCL2/7 promoters. In addition, we found that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) inhibition modulated ISR activation, and TLR4 regulated the accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Downregulating the level of mtROS reduced the amount of dsRNA and ISR activation. Deactivating the ISR or blocking CCL2/7 release alleviated inflammation and the progression of IDD in vivo. Moreover, MΦ infiltration and IDD were inhibited in CCR2-knockout mice. In conclusion, this study highlights the critical role of TLR4/mtROS/dsRNA axis-mediated ISR activation in the production of CCL2/7 and the progression of IDD, which provides promising therapeutic strategies for discogenic LBP.