bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Introduction of AI-based sales forecasting: how to drive digital transformation in food and beverage outlets
Authors: Groene Nicole , Zakharov Sergii
Published: January 2024

Food and beverage (F&B) outlets such as restaurants, delis and fast-food joins are commonly owner-operated small businesses with limited access to modern forecasting technologies. Managers often rely on experience-based forecasting heuristics, which face challenges, as demand is dependent on external factors such as weather conditions, holidays, and regional events. Introducing practical AI-based sales forecasting techniques is a way to improve operational and financial planning and automate repetitive forecasting tasks. This case study proposes an approach to work with F&B owners in creating and introducing machine learning (ML)-based sales forecasting tailored to the unique local aspects of the business. It enhances demand forecasting in the F&B domain by identifying data types and sources that improve predictive models and bolster managerial trust. The case study uses over 5 years of hourly sales data from a fast-food franchise in Germany. It trains a predictive algorithm using historical sales, promotional activities, weather conditions, regional holidays and events, as well as macroeconomic indicators. The AI model surpasses heuristic forecasts, reducing the root mean squared error by 22% to 33% and the mean average error by 19% to 31%. Although the initial implementation demands managerial involvement in selecting predictors and real-world testing, this forecasting method offers practical benefits for F&B businesses, enhancing both their operations and environmental impact.
Food Security: The impact of migrants and remittances in Sri Lanka
Authors: Jayaweera R. , Verma R.
Published: January 2024

The objective of this paper is to show that migrants and the subsequent remittances influence household food consumption in different ways. This paper contributes to the literature by developing an analytical framework to analyse how migrants and remittances need to be looked at separately in the migration/food security nexus. The multivalued treatment effect is used to analyse the model using the Sri Lankan household income and expenditure data (2016/17). The findings of this study shed light on areas where the government and policymakers should focus on improving the impact of migration and remittances on food security in Sri Lanka. The study's findings show that migrants and remittances affect food expenditure, calorie consumption dietary diversity in two distinct ways. Both migrants and remittances positively impact food expenditure and calorie consumption. However, remittances promote less healthy food consumption, while migrants promote healthy food consumption. Migrants and remittances jointly affect households to purchase and consume calories from expensive food. Remittances positively affect food diversity in terms of both expenditure and calorie consumption. However, migrants positively affect only expenditure-based food diversity.
Reconsidering reappraisal: in emotionally intense contexts, people choose distraction or minimizing over reconstrual to regulate others’ emotions
Authors: Xu Vicky , Double Kit S. , MacCann Carolyn
Published: January 2024

Prior research has established that people use reappraisal to regulate others’ emotions in higher-emotional intensities but use distraction in lower-emotional intensities. However, research has not compared different reappraisal subtypes, such as reconstrual versus minimizing. In three pre-registered studies, participants completed a novel advice-giving task where they selected regulation strategies (distraction, reconstrual, or minimizing) to help a ‘partner’ who was ostensibly experiencing stimuli of differing emotional intensities and types (the partner was, in fact, non-existent). In Experiment 1, participants selected reconstrual over distraction significantly more for low versus high intensity stimuli. In Experiment 2, participants showed no significant preference for minimizing over distraction on low versus high intensity stimuli. In Experiment 3, participants selected reconstrual over minimizing significantly more on low versus high intensity stimuli. Results indicate that previous findings regarding the effect of emotional intensity on ‘reappraisal’ preference are limited to reconstrual and may not generalize to other reappraisal subtypes (i.e., minimizing) which require lower cognitive costs and emotional engagement with the stimuli.
Self-Determination as Voice
Authors: Jones Natalie
Published: January 2024

Self-Determination as Voice addresses the relationship between Indigenous peoples' participation in international governance and the law of self-determination. Many states and international organizations have put in place institutional mechanisms for the express purpose of including Indigenous representatives in international policy-making and decision-making processes, as well as in the negotiation and drafting of international legal instruments. Indigenous peoples' rights have a higher profile in the UN system than ever before. This book argues that the establishment and use of mechanisms and policies to enable a certain level of Indigenous peoples' participation in international governance has become a widespread practice, and perhaps even one that is accepted as law. In theory, the law of self-determination supports this move, and it is arguably emerging as a rule of customary international law. However, ultimately the achievement of the ideal of full and effective participation, in a manner that would fulfil Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, remains deferred.
Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries
Authors: L. Reames Sherry
Published: January 2024

Sarum Use was the most widely used form of the liturgy in late medieval England, but its service books were much less standardized than their modern counterparts. The lack of uniformity is particularly marked in Sarum breviaries' lessons on saints, which can vary enormously from copy to copy. This book is the first comprehensive examination of those lessons and the manuscripts that preserve them. It provides a catalogue of over eighty manuscripts and twelve early printed versions, giving a brief description of each one, sometimes correcting previous views of its date and provenance, and identifying each copy's divergences from the standard Sarum roster of saints. The book also identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition on which modern scholars have previously depended. The author's findings offer an introduction to the unexpectedly rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Geography is not destiny: A quantitative test of Diamond's axis of orientation hypothesis
Authors: Chira Angela M. , Gray Russell D. , Botero Carlos A.
Published: January 2024

Jared Diamond suggested that the unique East–West orientation of Eurasia facilitated the spread of cultural innovations and gave it substantial political, technological and military advantages over other continental regions. This controversial hypothesis assumes that innovations can spread more easily across similar habitats, and that environments tend to be more homogeneous at similar latitudes. The resulting prediction is that Eurasia is home to environmentally homogenous corridors that enable fast cultural transmission. Despite indirect evidence supporting Diamond's influential hypothesis, quantitative tests of its underlying assumptions are currently lacking. Here we address this critical gap by leveraging ecological, cultural and linguistic datasets at a global scale. Our analyses show that although societies that share similar ecologies are more likely to share cultural traits, the Eurasian continent is not significantly more ecologically homogeneous than other continental regions. Our findings highlight the perils of single factor explanations and remind us that even the most compelling ideas must be thoroughly tested to gain a solid understanding of the complex history of our species.
Grandmother Effects Over the Finnish Demographic Transition
Authors: Chapman Simon N. , Lummaa Virpi
Published: January 2024

Demographic transitions are defining events for human societies, marking shifts from natural mortality and fertility rates to the low rates seen in industrialised populations. These transitions can affect trait evolution through altering the direction and strength of selection when variance in fertility and mortality decline. One key feature of human evolution is the evolution of extended post-reproductive life through indirect fitness benefits from grandmothering. Although studies in pre- and post-transition societies have documented beneficial grandmother presence, it remains unknown whether these associations changed before, during, or after the transition. Here, we use genealogical data from 18th-20th century Finland to show grandmother-associated changes of two measures of evolutionary fitness (grandchild survival and birth rate) over the transition. We find grandmothers had greater opportunity to help as the transition progressed, but their effect on grandchild survival declined alongside general mortality rates, implying that selection on lifespan from grandmothering declined too. Whilst grandmother presence was still associated with reduced birth intervals and hence more grandchildren born post-transition, the nature of this relationship changed greatly. This suggests that though potential for intergenerational interactions increased over the demographic transition, the (hypothesised) evolutionary importance of these interactions declined, which reduced selection for extended post-reproductive lifespan.
Volume oscillations slow down a rising Taylor bubble
Authors: Zhou Guangzhao , Prosperetti Andrea
Published: January 2024

A gas volume rising in a vertical tube is called a Taylor bubble when its equivalent spherical diameter is greater than the diameter of the tube. Continuity dictates that the rising velocity of such bullet-shaped bubbles must be such that the drainage flow in the liquid film separating the gas from the tube wall equals the rate at which space is vacated by the bubble tail on its rise. The numerical simulations presented here show that, if the volume of the bubble is made to execute small-amplitude oscillations, this drainage flow can be markedly decreased so that the bubble slows down so much as to very nearly stop. The mechanism is a subtle nonlinear interplay between the upward flow imposed by the bubble expansion and the inertia of the falling liquid. Two manners of excitation are considered. In the first one the liquid column above the bubble is forced to oscillate sinusoidally, e.g. by a piston. In the second one, an oscillating pressure is imposed on the top liquid surface. With the first arrangement the bubble slows down during its entire ascent by an amount depending on the oscillation frequency and amplitude. With the second one, for a given frequency, the bubble slows down only in the neighbourhood of a certain resonant depth at which the volume oscillations are maximized, but is little affected at deeper and shallower depths.
Trends in ultra-processed food availability and its association with diet-related non-communicable disease health indicators in the Portuguese population
Authors: Pereira de Araújo Taissa , de Moraes Milena Miranda , Afonso Cláudia , Rodrigues Sara Simões Pereira
Published: January 2024

Broad variations in dietary and physical activity patterns are part of nutritional transition concept. An additional nutritional transition has as main characteristic the change of consumption of processed foods for ultra-processed foods (UPF). This study aims to evaluate trends of UPF availability in Portuguese population and its association with diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCD) health indicators. This ecological study used data from the Household Budget Surveys conducted by the National Statistics Institute each 5 years within a national representative sample of households. The percentage of UPF was calculated based on the total daily amount of food and beverages available per capita (in grams). Data from the years 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 were used, which were retrieved from DAFNE-Anemos Software. NCD age-standardised mortality, prevalence and incidence were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease database, for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. Between 1990 and 2005, the UPF availability increased from 3·9 % to 13·8 %. Over the years, almost all food and beverages categories increased the UPF availability contribution, mainly noticeable for milk, sugar, cereal and meat products. Positive correlations were observed between UPF availability and digestive diseases both in prevalence (r = 0·062; P = 0·037) and incidence (r = 0·005; P = 0·010) measures. Neoplasms incidence also showed positive correlation with UPF availability (r = 0·002; P = 0·012). Trends in UPF availability in Portugal increased exponentially. At the same time, there is a trend towards a decrease in unprocessed and processed food availability. The Portuguese population should be made aware of the health risks resulting from excessive consumption of UPF.
Fishy windows to an Arctic city: Urban (in)visibilities of global fisheries in Tromsø
Authors: Haapala Auni
Published: January 2024

Although “urban” and “fisheries” are not commonly paired in the analyses of either urbanism or fisheries governance, today’s large-scale fisheries are often closely organised in connection with cities. In this paper, I build on a feminist perspective and urban studies to examine the makings of a city through contemporary fisheries. Drawing upon observations and interviews conducted in Tromsø, Norway, which is a key site for Arctic fisheries, I review how fish and fisheries are simultaneously made visible and invisible in urban spheres. By analysing the gendered structures and valuations that organise the city–fisheries relations, I introduce three “fishy” windows to demonstrate the kinds of development and future pathways for fisheries that are considered relevant and rational in and for the city. In particular, I discuss how the historical, techno-masculine narratives of mastering Arctic nature frame and legitimise fisheries practices as they expand throughout Tromsø. The study builds on the emerging research on Arctic urbanism to highlight the need to better integrate gendered analyses of the “urban” into social science research on natural resource extraction.
The joint effects of genetic liability and the death of close relatives on risk for major depression and alcohol use disorder in a Swedish national sample
Authors: Kendler Kenneth S. , Lönn Sara L. , Sundquist Jan , Sundquist Kristina
Published: January 2024

Background

To determine whether genetic risk factors for major depression (MD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) interact with a potent stressor – death of spouse, parent, and sibling – in predicting episodes of, respectively, MD and AUD.

Methods

MD and AUD registrations were assessed from national Swedish registries. In individuals born in Sweden 1960–1970, we identified 7586, 388 459, and 34 370 with the loss of, respectively, a spouse, parent, and sibling. We started following subjects at age 18 or the year 2002 with end of follow-up in 2018. We examined time to event – a registration for MD within 6 months or AUD within a year – on an additive scale, using the Nelson–Aalen estimator. Genetic risk was assessed by the Family Genetic Risk Score (FGRS).

Results

In separate models controlling for the main effects of death of spouse, parent, and sibling, FGRS, and sex, significant interactions were seen in all analyses between genetic risk for MD and death of relative in prediction of subsequent MD registration. A similar pattern of results, albeit with weaker interaction effects, was seen for genetic risk for AUD and risk for AUD registration. Genetic risk for bipolar disorder (BD) and anxiety disorders (AD) also interacted with event exposure in predicting MD.

Conclusions

Genetic risk for both MD and AUD act in part by increasing the sensitivity of individuals to the pathogenic effects of environmental stressors. For prediction of MD, similar effects are also seen for genetic risk for AD and BD.
Within-individual relationships between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study
Authors: Hiraoka Daiki , Kawanami Akiko , Sakurai Kenichi , Mori Chisato
Published: January 2024

Background

Although the importance of the dynamic intra-individual relationship between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms has been widely recognized, the complex interplay between them is not well understood. Furthermore, the potential role of prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament in this relationship remains unclear. This study aims to examine the bidirectional influence of mother-to-infant bonding on postpartum depressive symptoms within individuals and to elucidate whether prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament would influence deviations from stable individual states.

Methods

Longitudinal data were collected from 433 women in early pregnancy. Of these, 360 participants completed the main questionnaires measuring impaired mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms at least once during the postpartum period. Data were collected at early and late pregnancy and several postpartum time points: shortly after birth and at one, four, ten, and 18 months postpartum. We also assessed prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was used.

Results

Within-individual variability in mother-to-infant bonding, especially anger and rejection, significantly predicted subsequent postpartum depressive symptoms. However, the inverse relationship was not significant. Additionally, prenatal depressive symptoms and difficult infant temperament were associated with greater within-individual variability in impaired mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrated that the within-individual relationship between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms is likely non-bidirectional. The significance of the findings is underscored by the potential for interventions aimed at improving mother-to-infant bonding to alleviate postpartum depressive symptoms, suggesting avenues for future research and practice.
The gig economy, platform work, and social policy: food delivery workers’ occupational welfare dilemma in Hong Kong
Authors: Au-Yeung Tat Chor , Chan Chris King-Chi , Ming Cham Kit Keith , Tsui Wing Yin Anna
Published: January 2024

Previous literature suggests that the gig economy and platform work pose challenges to social policy, including the welfare entitlement issues caused by workers’ ambiguous occupational status. Focusing on the government’s regulatory role, this study investigates platform workers’ occupational welfare (OW) by conducting in-depth interviews with forty-six food delivery workers in Hong Kong. The evidence reveals workers’ occupational risks resulting from platforms’ algorithmic devices and the misclassification of independent contractors. The denied access to private occupational pensions was considered acceptable by workers because of the perceived irrelevance of OW. While interviewees emphasised time-based flexibility as a key intangible benefit, the shifting business costs to self-employed workers was highlighted as a disadvantage. A policy dilemma appears between strengthening state regulation/protection and maintaining workers’ temporal autonomy. Arguably, the platformisation of work is translated into the gigification of OW, disentitling platform workers’ employer-provided welfare and labour protection. Platforms possess monopolising power over workers, the state displays weak regulatory power to monitor platforms, and workers’ occupational citizenship is undermined by the government’s minimal intervention. This study contributes to the literature by linking OW to platform work and revealing how the gig economy reshapes social policy, empirically offering a worker-centred analysis of OW in Hong Kong.
Ethics Education in Health Sciences Should Engage Contentious Social Issues: Here Is Why and How
Authors: Tilburt Jon , Hafferty Fred , Leep Hunderfund Andrea , Meltzer Ellen , Thorsteinsdottir Bjorg
Published: January 2024

Teaching ethics is crucial to health sciences education. Doing it well requires a willingness to engage contentious social issues. Those issues introduce conflict and risk, but avoiding them ignores moral diversity and renders the work of ethics education irrelevant. Therefore, when (not if) contentious issues and moral differences arise, they must be acknowledged and can be addressed with humility, collegiality, and openness to support learning. Faculty must risk moments when not everyone will “feel safe,” so the candor implied in psychological safety can emerge. The deliberative and social work of ethics education involves generous listening, wading into difference, and wondering together if our beliefs and arguments are as sound as we once thought. By forecasting the need for candid engagement with contentious issues and moral difference, establishing ground rules, and bolstering due process structures for faculty and students, a riskier and more relevant ethics pedagogy can emerge. Doing so will prepare everyone for the moral diversity they can expect in our common life and in practice.
Accidents at Home in the Victorian Novel: Auguries, Probability, and Charlotte Yonge's Household Advice
Authors: Wagner Tamara S.
Published: January 2024

This article explores the narrative functions of domestic accidents in Victorian fiction. Taking Charlotte Yonge's The Pillars of the House (1873) as a case study, it critically parses how popular fiction engaged with competing explanations of how or why accidents occur. As a new understanding of chance, risk, and statistical likelihood in the nineteenth century began to reshape the representation of accidents, narratives navigated shifting concepts of personal misfortune, of providence and poetic justice, as well as of probability. In Yonge's novel, domestic accidents demonstrate risk-management at home, promoting a concept that complicates narrative expectations both of divine punishment and of conventional conversion patterns.
The Serial as Episteme
Authors: Hughes Linda K.
Published: January 2024

In the epilogue to Serial Forms, Clare Pettitt identifies key elements of the “form” she investigates in her massively detailed, deeply original study:

The serial is both form and process, and, to stay true to its form, it has to continue. Escaping form just as it is formed, the serial “begins again to begin.” . . . [S]eriality appears in different but related guises: it can be a form; a genre; a system; a technology; and it can also be a strategy; a philosophy; a mode. But wherever it appears, a distinct interrelation of its parts and a recognizable forward movement mark it as serial. Seriality was the single most important “form” to emerge out of the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth. (293)
The environmental impact of beef and ultra-processed food consumption in Brazil
Authors: da Cruz Gabriela Lopes , da Costa Louzada Maria Laura , Silva Jacqueline Tereza da , Maria Fellegger Garzillo Josefa , Rauber Fernanda , Schmidt Rivera Ximena , Reynolds Christian , Levy Renata Bertazzi
Published: January 2024

Objective:

This study evaluated the independent and combined environmental impacts of the consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods in Brazil.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Setting:

Brazil.

Participants:

We used food purchases data from a national household budget survey conducted between July 2017 and July 2018, representing all Brazilian households. Food purchases were converted into energy, carbon footprints and water footprints. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the association between quintiles of beef and ultra-processed foods in total energy purchases and the environmental footprints, controlling for sociodemographic variables.

Results:

Both beef and ultra-processed foods had a significant linear association with carbon and water footprints (P < 0·01) in crude and adjusted models. In the crude upper quintile of beef purchases, carbon and water footprints were 47·7 % and 30·8 % higher, respectively, compared to the lower quintile. The upper quintile of ultra-processed food purchases showed carbon and water footprints 14·4 % and 22·8 % higher, respectively, than the lower quintile. The greatest reduction in environmental footprints would occur when both beef and ultra-processed food purchases are decreased, resulting in a 21·1 % reduction in carbon footprint and a 20·0 % reduction in water footprint.

Conclusions:

Although the environmental footprints associated with beef consumption are higher, dietary patterns with lower consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods combined showed the greatest reduction in carbon and water footprints in Brazil. The high consumption of beef and ultra-processed foods is harmful to human health, as well as to the environment; thus, their reduction is beneficial to both.
The Evolution of Digital Trade Law: Insights from TAPED
Authors: Burri Mira , Vásquez Callo-Müller María , Kugler Kholofelo
Published: January 2024

This article discusses and contextualizes the very recent advancements in digital trade regulation based on the insights provided by the Trade Agreement Provisions on Electronic-commerce and Data (TAPED) dataset. Within the time frame of January 2020 to November 2023 that we analyze, digital trade negotiations have increased in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) significantly, and there has been a sharp rise in the negotiation of new types of treaties, known as ‘Digital Economy Agreements’. Beyond the critical advances in substantive rulemaking, we observe non-traditional actors stepping into the gap left by the shifting interest of traditional rulemakers to craft rules that best fit their policy priorities. Additionally, we see a broadening of topics beyond conventional digital trade matters, underscored by commitments of limited legal enforceability. The TAPED dataset has been updated to reflect these recent developments, emphasizing the importance of regular reviews to stay current and accurately inform research and policymaking in the area of digital trade regulation.
Reply to Comment on “Five Decades of Observed Daily Precipitation Reveal Longer and More Variable Drought Events Across Much of the Western United States”
Authors: Biederman Joel A. , Zhang Fangyue , Dannenberg Matthew P. , Yan Dong , Reed Sasha C. , Smith William K.
Published: January 2024

Paciorek and Wehner raise important questions around our use of the Mann‐Kendall nonparametric trend test on smoothed data for analyzing long‐term hydrometeorological trends in Zhang et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl092293). We thank them for initiating this important conversation and their gracious cooperation in exploring the issues addressed in their comment. In this reply we confirm the inflation of significant p‐values by our choice to smooth, illustrate the relatively minor impacts on the main conclusions of our paper, and add our voices to those of Paciorek and Wehner in highlighting the lack of methodology for hypothesis testing across multiple stations that have spatial structure (i.e., testing for regionally consistent trends).
The Dominant Role of the Summer Hemisphere in Subtropical Lower Stratospheric Wave Drag Trends
Authors: Abalos Marta , Randel William J. , Garcia Rolando R.
Published: January 2024

It is well established that the shallow branch of the Brewer‐Dobson circulation accelerates in a warming climate due to enhanced wave drag in the subtropical lower stratosphere. This has been linked to the strengthening of the upper flanks of the subtropical jets. However, the seasonality of the zonal wind trends, peaking in the winter hemisphere, is opposite to that of the Eliassen‐Palm flux convergence trends, peaking in summer. We investigate the seasonality in the wave drag trends and find a different behavior for each hemisphere. The Shepherd and McLandress (2011, https://doi.org/10.1175/2010jas3608.1) mechanism, involving transient wave dissipation at higher levels following the rise of the critical lines, is found to maximize in austral summer. On the other hand, in the Northern Hemisphere the wave drag increase peaks in summer primarily due to the changes in the stationary planetary waves (monsoonal circulations) associated with enhanced deep convection.
The Cause of Negative CO2 Forcing at the Top‐Of‐Atmosphere: The Role of Stratospheric Versus Tropospheric Temperature Inversions
Authors: Chen Yan‐Ting , Merlis Timothy M. , Huang Yi
Published: January 2024

Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere usually reduces Earth's outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). The unusual case of Antarctica, where CO2 enhances OLR and implies a negative forcing, has previously been explained by the strong near‐surface inversion or extremely low surface temperature. However, negative forcing can occasionally be found in the Arctic and tropics where neither of these explanations applies. Here, we examine the changes in infrared opacity from CO2 doubling in these low or negative forcing climate states, which shows the predominant role of the stratospheric contribution to the broadband forcing. Negative forcing in today's climate demands a combination of strong negative forcing caused by a steep stratospheric temperature inversion and a weaker positive forcing in the atmospheric window, which can be caused by a low surface temperature or a strong high cloud masking effect. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the near‐surface inversion has little impact on the forcing.
Detailed Assessment of Multiple‐Scattering Effects on Night‐Sky Brightness Modeling in Turbid Environments: The Impact of Truncation and Convergence Errors
Authors: Kocifaj M. , Wallner S. , Gueymard C. A.
Published: January 2024

Detailed modeling of the night‐sky brightness (NSB) is needed to pinpoint environmental impacts caused by artificial light at night. This becomes progressively more intricate with longer distances to emission sources or under high atmospheric turbidity. In such cases, the multiple‐scattering processes that affect light propagation become increasingly critical. To detect and quantify the potential errors caused by popular approximations like single or double scattering in current models, a rigorous multiple‐scattering model is used here. It integrates an advanced method of resolution based on the successive orders of scattering that can provide analytical “exact” solutions. With this tool, it is found that simplistic approaches lead to numerical predictions violating physics principles, resulting in incorrect outcomes that can have profound implications in a large variety of research areas. To avoid this, it is proposed to force the convergence of the modeled radiance to its true value through a carefully controlled process, by which the contribution from the remaining higher‐scattering terms to the modeled radiative property is kept below the specified error tolerance. For green light, it is found that, for a turbid atmosphere with an aerosol optical depth larger than 0.3 and an asymmetry parameter exceeding 0.7, four scattering orders are needed to compute the zenith radiance 60‐km away from the light source within an experimental error tolerance of 10%.
Novel Bacteroides Vulgatus strain protects against gluten-induced break of human celiac gut epithelial homeostasis: a pre-clinical proof-of-concept study
Authors: Tran Tina , Senger Stefania , Baldassarre Mariella , Brosnan Rachel A. , Cristofori Fernanda , Crocco Marco , De Santis Stefania , Elli Luca , Faherty Christina S. , Francavilla Ruggero , Goodchild-Michelman Isabella , Kenyon Victoria A. , Leonard Maureen M. , Lima Rosiane S. , Malerba Federica , Montuori Monica , Morelli Annalisa , Norsa Lorenzo , Passaro Tiziana , Piemontese Pasqua , Reed James C. , Sansotta Naire , Valitutti Francesco , Zomorrodi Ali R. , Fasano Alessio ,   CDGEMM Team, Forchielli Maria Luisa , Serretiello Adelaide , Vecchi Corrado , de Villasante Gemma Castillejo , Venutolo Giorgia , Malamisura Basilio , Calvi Angela , Lionetti Maria Elena , Baldassarre Mariella , Trovato Chiara Maria , Pietropaoli Nicoletta , Perrone Michela , Raguseo Lidia Celeste , Catassi Carlo
Published: January 2024

Background and aims

We have identified a decreased abundance of microbial species known to have a potential anti-inflammatory, protective effect in subjects that developed Celiac Disease (CeD) compared to those who did not. We aim to confirm the potential protective role of one of these species, namely Bacteroides vulgatus, and to mechanistically establish the effect of bacterial bioproducts on gluten-dependent changes on human gut epithelial functions.

Methods

We identified, isolated, cultivated, and sequenced a unique novel strain (20220303-A2) of B. vulgatus found only in control subjects. Using a human gut organoid system developed from pre-celiac patients, we monitored epithelial phenotype and innate immune cytokines at baseline, after exposure to gliadin, or gliadin plus B. vulgatus cell free supernatant (CFS).

Results

Following gliadin exposure, we observed increases in epithelial cell death, epithelial monolayer permeability, and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These effects were mitigated upon exposure to B. vulgatus 20220303-A2 CFS, which had matched phenotype gene product mutations. These protective effects were mediated by epigenetic reprogramming of the organoids treated with B. vulgatus CFS.

Conclusions

We identified a unique strain of B. vulgatus that may exert a beneficial role by protecting CeD epithelium against a gluten-induced break of epithelial tolerance through miRNA reprogramming.

Impact

Gut dysbiosis precedes the onset of celiac disease in genetically at-risk infants.

This dysbiosis is characterized by the loss of protective bacterial strains in those children who will go on to develop celiac disease.

The paper reports the mechanism by which one of these protective strains, B. vulgatus, ameliorates the gluten-induced break of gut epithelial homeostasis by epigenetically re-programming the target intestinal epithelium involving pathways controlling permeability, immune response, and cell turnover.
A MYC-rearrangement is a negative prognostic factor in stage II, but not in stage I diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
Authors: de Jonge A. V. , Bult J. A. A. , Karssing D. F. E. , Nijland M. , Chamuleau M. E. D. , Brink M.
Published: January 2024

MYC oncogene rearrangements (MYC-R) negatively affect survival in patients with Ann Arbor stage III–IV diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but their impact in limited stage (LS) I–II is unclear. Therefore, we assessed the impact of MYC-R on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in LS DLBCL patients at the population level. We identified 1,434 LS DLBCL patients with known MYC-R status diagnosed between 2014 and 2020, who received R-CHOP(-like) regimens using the Netherlands Cancer Registry, with survival follow-up until February 2022. Stage I patients with (n = 83, 11%) and without (n = 650, 89%) a MYC-R had similar 2-years PFS (89% and 93%, p = 0.63) and OS (both 95%, p = 0.22). Conversely, stage II DLBCL patients with a MYC-R (n = 90, 13%) had inferior survival outcomes compared to stage II patients without a MYC-R (n = 611, 87%) (PFS 70% vs. 89%, p = 0.001; OS 79% vs. 94%, p < 0.0001). Both single MYC-R (single hit, n = 36) and concurrent BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements (double/triple hit, n = 39) were associated with increased mortality and relapse risk. In conclusion, in stage II DLBCL a MYC-R is negatively associated with survival. In stage I DLBCL, however, survival outcomes are excellent irrespective of MYC-R status. This challenges the diagnostic assessment of MYC-R in stage I DLBCL patients.
Screens in aging-relevant human ALS-motor neurons identify MAP4Ks as therapeutic targets for the disease
Authors: Liu Meng-Lu , Ma Shuaipeng , Tai Wenjiao , Zhong Xiaoling , Ni Haoqi , Zou Yuhua , Wang Jingcheng , Zhang Chun-Li
Published: January 2024

Effective therapeutics is much needed for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease mainly affecting motor neurons. By screening chemical compounds in human patient-derived and aging-relevant motor neurons, we identify a neuroprotective compound and show that MAP4Ks may serve as therapeutic targets for treating ALS. The lead compound broadly improves survival and function of motor neurons directly converted from human ALS patients. Mechanistically, it works as an inhibitor of MAP4Ks, regulates the MAP4Ks-HDAC6-TUBA4A-RANGAP1 pathway, and normalizes subcellular distribution of RANGAP1 and TDP-43. Finally, in an ALS mouse model we show that inhibiting MAP4Ks preserves motor neurons and significantly extends animal lifespan.
Cullin5 drives experimental asthma exacerbations by modulating alveolar macrophage antiviral immunity
Authors: Zhang Haibo , Xue Keke , Li Wen , Yang Xinyi , Gou Yusen , Su Xiao , Qian Feng , Sun Lei
Published: January 2024

Asthma exacerbations caused by respiratory viral infections are a serious global health problem. Impaired antiviral immunity is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms remain understudied. Here using mouse models we find that Cullin5 (CUL5), a key component of Cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase 5, is upregulated and associated with increased neutrophil count and influenza-induced exacerbations of house dust mite-induced asthma. By contrast, CUL5 deficiency mitigates neutrophilic lung inflammation and asthma exacerbations by augmenting IFN-β production. Mechanistically, following thymic stromal lymphopoietin stimulation, CUL5 interacts with O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and induces Lys48-linked polyubiquitination of OGT, blocking the effect of OGT on mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein O-GlcNAcylation and RIG-I signaling activation. Our results thus suggest that, in mouse models, pre-existing allergic injury induces CUL5 expression, impairing antiviral immunity and promoting neutrophilic inflammation for asthma exacerbations. Targeting of the CUL5/IFN-β signaling axis may thereby serve as a possible therapy for treating asthma exacerbations.
The single-cell transcriptomic atlas and RORA-mediated 3D epigenomic remodeling in driving corneal epithelial differentiation
Authors: Li Mingsen , Guo Huizhen , Wang Bofeng , Han Zhuo , Wu Siqi , Liu Jiafeng , Huang Huaxing , Zhu Jin , An Fengjiao , Lin Zesong , Mo Kunlun , Tan Jieying , Liu Chunqiao , Wang Li , Deng Xin , Li Guigang , Ji Jianping , Ouyang Hong
Published: January 2024

Proper differentiation of corneal epithelial cells (CECs) from limbal stem/progenitor cells (LSCs) is required for maintenance of ocular homeostasis and clear vision. Here, using a single-cell transcriptomic atlas, we delineate the comprehensive and refined molecular regulatory dynamics during human CEC development and differentiation. We find that RORA is a CEC-specific molecular switch that initiates and drives LSCs to differentiate into mature CECs by activating PITX1. RORA dictates CEC differentiation by establishing CEC-specific enhancers and chromatin interactions between CEC gene promoters and distal regulatory elements. Conversely, RORA silences LSC-specific promoters and disrupts promoter-anchored chromatin loops to turn off LSC genes. Collectively, our work provides detailed and comprehensive insights into the transcriptional dynamics and RORA-mediated epigenetic remodeling underlying human corneal epithelial differentiation.
Cleavage-intermediate Lassa virus trimer elicits neutralizing responses, identifies neutralizing nanobodies, and reveals an apex-situated site-of-vulnerability
Authors: Gorman Jason , Cheung Crystal Sao-Fong , Duan Zhijian , Ou Li , Wang Maple , Chen Xuejun , Cheng Cheng , Biju Andrea , Sun Yaping , Wang Pengfei , Yang Yongping , Zhang Baoshan , Boyington Jeffrey C. , Bylund Tatsiana , Charaf Sam , Chen Steven J. , Du Haijuan , Henry Amy R. , Liu Tracy , Sarfo Edward K. , Schramm Chaim A. , Shen Chen-Hsiang , Stephens Tyler , Teng I-Ting , Todd John-Paul , Tsybovsky Yaroslav , Verardi Raffaello , Wang Danyi , Wang Shuishu , Wang Zhantong , Zheng Cheng-Yan , Zhou Tongqing , Douek Daniel C. , Mascola John R. , Ho David D. , Ho Mitchell , Kwong Peter D.
Published: January 2024

Lassa virus (LASV) infection is expanding outside its traditionally endemic areas in West Africa, posing a pandemic biothreat. LASV-neutralizing antibodies, moreover, have proven difficult to elicit. To gain insight into LASV neutralization, here we develop a prefusion-stabilized LASV glycoprotein trimer (GPC), pan it against phage libraries comprising single-domain antibodies (nanobodies) from shark and camel, and identify one, D5, which neutralizes LASV. Cryo-EM analyses reveal D5 to recognize a cleavage-dependent site-of-vulnerability at the trimer apex. The recognized site appears specific to GPC intermediates, with protomers lacking full cleavage between GP1 and GP2 subunits. Guinea pig immunizations with the prefusion-stabilized cleavage-intermediate LASV GPC, first as trimer and then as a nanoparticle, induce neutralizing responses, targeting multiple epitopes including that of D5; we identify a neutralizing antibody (GP23) from the immunized guinea pigs. Collectively, our findings define a prefusion-stabilized GPC trimer, reveal an apex-situated site-of-vulnerability, and demonstrate elicitation of LASV-neutralizing responses by a cleavage-intermediate LASV trimer.
Helical reconstruction of VP39 reveals principles for baculovirus nucleocapsid assembly
Authors: Benning Friederike M. C. , Jenni Simon , Garcia Coby Y. , Nguyen Tran H. , Zhang Xuewu , Chao Luke H.
Published: January 2024

Baculoviruses are insect-infecting pathogens with wide applications as biological pesticides, in vitro protein production vehicles and gene therapy tools. Its cylindrical nucleocapsid, which encapsulates and protects the circular double-stranded viral DNA encoding proteins for viral replication and entry, is formed by the highly conserved major capsid protein VP39. The mechanism for VP39 assembly remains unknown. We use electron cryomicroscopy to determine a 3.2 Å helical reconstruction of an infectious nucleocapsid of Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus, revealing how dimers of VP39 assemble into a 14-stranded helical tube. We show that VP39 comprises a distinct protein fold conserved across baculoviruses, which includes a Zinc finger domain and a stabilizing intra-dimer sling. Analysis of sample polymorphism shows that VP39 assembles in several closely-related helical geometries. This VP39 reconstruction reveals general principles for baculoviral nucleocapsid assembly.
Galvanic corrosion behavior of welded joint in marine atmosphere environment based on capillary microcell
Authors: Wang Xinyu , Huang Feng , Hu Qian , Zhang Jiawei , Liu Jing
Published: January 2024

The kinetical behavior and mechanism of micro-galvanic corrosion of Q690 bainitic weathering steel welded joint in marine atmosphere were investigated. The results showed that a micro-galvanic corrosion cell formed among different regions of the Q690 welded joint. The kinetical behavior of micro-galvanic corrosion could be divided into four stages: the initiation and development of micro-galvanic corrosion, the decreasing of galvanic corrosion rate, the polarity reversal of galvanic couple, and the disappearance of galvanic effect. The difference of corrosion rate between Q690 steel and its welded joint is closely related to the micro-galvanic corrosion kinetic behavior.
Antigen self-anchoring onto bacteriophage T5 capsid-like particles for vaccine design
Authors: Vernhes Emeline , Larbi Chérif Linda , Ducrot Nicolas , Vanbergue Clément , Ouldali Malika , Zig Lena , Sidibe N’diaye , Hoos Sylviane , Ramirez-Chamorro Luis , Renouard Madalena , Rossier Ombeline , England Patrick , Schoehn Guy , Boulanger Pascale , Benihoud Karim
Published: January 2024

The promises of vaccines based on virus-like particles stimulate demand for universal non-infectious virus-like platforms that can be efficiently grafted with large antigens. Here, we harnessed the modularity and extreme affinity of the decoration protein pb10 for the capsid of bacteriophage T5. SPR experiments demonstrated that pb10 fused to mCherry or to the model antigen ovalbumin (Ova) retained picomolar affinity for DNA-free T5 capsid-like particles (T5-CLPs), while cryo-EM studies attested to the full occupancy of the 120 capsid binding sites. Mice immunization with CLP-bound pb10-Ova chimeras elicited strong long-lasting anti-Ova humoral responses involving a large panel of isotypes, as well as CD8+ T cell responses, without any extrinsic adjuvant. Therefore, T5-CLP constitutes a unique DNA-free bacteriophage capsid able to display a regular array of large antigens through highly efficient chemical-free anchoring. Its ability to elicit robust immune responses paves the way for further development of this novel vaccination platform.
FOXO1-mediated lipid metabolism maintains mammalian embryos in dormancy
Authors: van der Weijden Vera A. , Stötzel Maximilian , Iyer Dhanur P. , Fauler Beatrix , Gralinska Elzbieta , Shahraz Mohammed , Meierhofer David , Vingron Martin , Rulands Steffen , Alexandrov Theodore , Mielke Thorsten , Bulut-Karslioglu Aydan
Published: January 2024

Mammalian developmental timing is adjustable in vivo by preserving pre-implantation embryos in a dormant state called diapause. Inhibition of the growth regulator mTOR (mTORi) pauses mouse development in vitro, yet how embryonic dormancy is maintained is not known. Here we show that mouse embryos in diapause are sustained by using lipids as primary energy source. In vitro, supplementation of embryos with the metabolite l-carnitine balances lipid consumption, puts the embryos in deeper dormancy and boosts embryo longevity. We identify FOXO1 as an essential regulator of the energy balance in dormant embryos and propose, through meta-analyses of dormant cell signatures, that it may be a common regulator of dormancy across adult tissues. Our results lift a constraint on in vitro embryo survival and suggest that lipid metabolism may be a critical metabolic transition relevant for longevity and stem cell function across tissues.
Multifunctional sulfonium-based treatment for perovskite solar cells with less than 1% efficiency loss over 4,500-h operational stability tests
Authors: Suo Jiajia , Yang Bowen , Mosconi Edoardo , Bogachuk Dmitry , Doherty Tiarnan A. S. , Frohna Kyle , Kubicki Dominik J. , Fu Fan , Kim YeonJu , Er-Raji Oussama , Zhang Tiankai , Baldinelli Lorenzo , Wagner Lukas , Tiwari Ayodhya N. , Gao Feng , Hinsch Andreas , Stranks Samuel D. , De Angelis Filippo , Hagfeldt Anders
Published: January 2024

The stabilization of grain boundaries and surfaces of the perovskite layer is critical to extend the durability of perovskite solar cells. Here we introduced a sulfonium-based molecule, dimethylphenethylsulfonium iodide (DMPESI), for the post-deposition treatment of formamidinium lead iodide perovskite films. The treated films show improved stability upon light soaking and remains in the black α phase after two years ageing under ambient condition without encapsulation. The DMPESI-treated perovskite solar cells show less than 1% performance loss after more than 4,500 h at maximum power point tracking, yielding a theoretical T80 of over nine years under continuous 1-sun illumination. The solar cells also display less than 5% power conversion efficiency drops under various ageing conditions, including 100 thermal cycles between 25 °C and 85 °C and an 1,050-h damp heat test.