bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Queer Zombies
Authors: Reyes Xavier Aldana
Published: May 2024

This chapter focuses on contemporary gay zombies in film, literature, and media in order to shed light on a dual problem: the ways that the zombie figure has been utilised to stoke the fires of homosexual panic in the general public, but, also to illuminate anxieties within queer communities. Through a queer theoretical lens, the author probes zombie apocalypse narratives alongside queer politics. Zombie narratives investigated here are the BBC TV series In the Flesh (2013-14), the Irish film The Cured (2017), and the radical queer zombie films of Canadian director Bruce LaBruce: Otto; Or, Up with Dead People (2008) and L.A. Zombie (2010). The author argues that queer sex needs to be explored outside of the normative parameters that have been choking queer sexuality, and calls for a celebration of transgressive qualities of queer sex mirrored within various zombie narratives.
Artists
Authors: Daly Selena
Published: May 2024

The outbreak of war threw modern art into crisis across the European continent. During the war, periodicals would assume a greater importance than ever before as many artists’ usual avenues for sales, self-promotion and networking crumbled. Faced with a general hostility to modern art from the press and general public, periodicals were used as a forum to demonstrate the commitment of artists to their nations’ respective war efforts and were deployed as vehicles to prove the continued vitality and relevance of modern art movements in the face of global war. This chapter focuses on the major periodicals and artists associated with the three most important avant-garde movements active during the war years and before, namely Cubism in France, Futurism in Italy and Dada in New York and Switzerland. While in France and Italy, art was put at the service of nationalism, in non-belligerent locales, the latitude offered by a neutral context opened up new possibilities for innovation in artistic periodical publishing.
Trench Journals
Authors: Nelson Robert L.
Published: May 2024

This chapter focuses on trench journals as a specific type of periodical. Trench journals were written by soldiers for soldiers and could be handwritten or printed. They circulated in and beyond the trenches and often contained humorous content, soldiers’ slang, and songs. The best-known trench journal is probably the Wipers Times, but the phenomenon manifested itself across language borders and stimulated authorship and creativity among soldiers. In this analysis of the British, French, and German soldier newspapers, I discuss the different national approaches to entertainment, including cross-dressing male actors, as well as the varied discussions of both race and empire.
Conclusion: Demilitarisation of Society
Authors: Çaltekın Demet Asli
Published: May 2024

The concluding chapter presents the book’s findings, highlights its contribution. It offers recommendations for possible legal reforms in Turkey. It provides the following conclusion: an explicit and inclusive recognition of the right to conscientious objection, accepting absolute, total and political forms of objection, will bring an end to human rights violations. It is noteworthy that the demilitarisation of society, like militarism itself, is an on-going struggle that cannot be reduced merely to the rejection of compulsory military service. Conscientious objection is a tool which makes gendered and militarist structures visible. Therefore, legal recognition of the right to conscientious objection would be just one piece in the puzzle. To complete the puzzle, objectors will continue resisting different appearances of gendered and militarist structures in our daily life in different ways.
Camera Movement and Textural Reflexivity
Authors: Purnama Ari
Published: May 2024

This chapter pursues the following questions: How have filmmakers in the post-Suharto era explored the possibilities that camera movement as a stylistic device offers to revamp the look of Indonesian film? And how is this different from the way it was pursued in the earlier periods of Indonesian cinema history? The chapter argues that contemporary Indonesian filmmakers have leveraged camera movement to dynamise the look of Indonesian films by intensifying the use of a wide range of mobile camera techniques. In particular, prowling or free-ranging camerawork has become a principal strategy among the variety of camera movement conventions explored by contemporary Indonesian filmmakers. Whether utilising a single technique or several techniques combined, free-ranging mobile shots are those with a vantage point that roams around, goes in/out and through the spaces, objects and other elements of the mise en scène fluidly and seamlessly.
What is Peoria for? (II): Peoria, the Edge City and The Pale King
Authors: McRae Andrew Laurie
Published: May 2024

This chapter focuses on Wallace’s post-2005 work on The Pale King, showing this work to have become increasingly centred on Peoria and its ‘Regional Examination Centre’ – a narrative geography which this chapter connects with wider responses to the quintessentially postindustrial form of the ‘Edge City’. The chapter shows how the novel portrays this space as resistant to incorporation into historical and personal narratives, before exploring how Wallace responded by configuring this postindustrial space as one (literally) haunted by an industrial past; a literary intervention that aims to reconnect place with history, forming the basis of a possible rehumanisation of American geography effected within postindustrial workspace itself. As with Infinite Jest, though, the chapter shows how questions of gender and race place strains on the rehumanising strategy that Wallace situated in the spaces of postindustrial life.
Fashion commodities onscreen: The modern housewife in Naruse Mikio’s No Blood Relation ( Nasanu Naka , 1932) and masculine female attire in Ozu Yasujirō’s Dragnet Girl ( Hijōsen no onna , 1933)
Authors: Barnett Lois J. E.
Published: May 2024

This chapter focuses on two marketable fashion “types” aimed at Japanese women: the modern housewife, who retains her kimono while familiarising herself with the conveniences of a Western-style lifestyle and accessories, and the masculinely attired, subversive type modelled on Hollywood actresses Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo.
The chapter defines the role of Western-style fashion objects within an otherwise conventionally “Japanese” look to depict the modernising housewife in Naruse Mikio’s No Blood Relation (Nasanunaka, 1932). The chapter discusses the relationship between Naruse’s film and the Mitsukoshi department store by analysing contemporary print media aimed at both male and female audiences. This section will be of particular interest to readers focusing on early product placement and commercial product tie-ins.
The chapter then discusses how the Japanese cinema adapted masculine-attired Hollywood female star personae (Marlene Dietrich; Greta Garbo) for Japanese audiences and consumers and how Japanese star personae were utilised to market masculine attire to female consumers. Case studies are the costuming of Tanaka Kinuyo in Ozu Yasujirō’s Dragnet Girl (Hijōsen no onna, 1933) and the rebranding of actress Saijō Eriko, who was publicly scandalised for her relationship with a masculine attired female lover, as a Japanese “version” of Marlene Dietrich.
A ‘Feeling of Suspension’: Tradition and Modernity in La Pointe Courte
Authors: Byrnes Alicia
Published: May 2024

Alicia Byrnes reads Agnes Varda’s debut film La Pointe Courte (1954) as producing an inadvertently noir aesthetic through the repurposing of a modernist novel. Varda’s film offers dual narratives linked only by setting into a series of juxtapositions that generate an overall sense of uncertainty characteristic of the liminal and the porous boundaries of modernism.
Reading Virtues: Shakespeare’s Animals
Authors: Raber Karen
Published: May 2024

Shakespeare’s animals are anthropocentrically positioned to inspire or illustrate virtues in human beings, to provide the matter on which human virtues may be exercised, or to provide didactic exemplars via proverbs and fables. They may be depicted as having their own intrinsic virtues, but these are uniformly attributed to them to convey or satisfy human interests and desires. This essay argues for a turn away from a literary-historical reading of animal virtues—one that can trap scholars into reproducing the literature’s anthropocentric biases—and instead embraces Vinciane Despret’s proposal that we should ask more “polite” questions of animals, questions that do not narrow their or our options based on human assumptions and expectations. Such a method results in more interesting responses and enables us to imagine a wider range of relationships between human and nonhuman beings. To illustrate the benefit of this kind of reading, the essay offers two “polite” analyses of horses in Richard II and Two Noble Kinsmen that shift expectations of virtue away from animal objects to human readers.
Radiance and Repetition: DeLillo’s Icons
Authors: Garland Sarah
Published: May 2024

Considerations of iconic images, people and objects recur in DeLillo’s work. Focusing on a range of DeLillo’s novels across his career, this chapter reads DeLillo as a theorist of the image who presents the workings of American iconography as producing a paradox of fullness and emptiness that gives the repeated images of mass-culture a dream-like ontological shimmer. Shining like their forerunners in gold-leaved religious paintings, DeLillo’s icons are written as having an affective presence that borrows a Benjaminian aura from the rareness and value of the original. At the same time, they are felt by the artists, photographers, detectives, and writer figures who look at them as a form of absence – and absence that nevertheless produces a fascination with the image as a kind of ever-receding secret. DeLillo’s use of this cultural iconography, this chapter argues, constitutes a Warholesque sustained investigation into the epistemology of mass-circulated images.
Ekphrasis
Authors: Herren Graley
Published: May 2024

A long literary tradition of using language to describe a non-verbal artwork or object, real or imagined, ekphrasis stages conflicts between words and images, movement and stasis, speech and silence, life and death. These tensions are often implicitly or explicitly gendered. Don DeLillo is a word-painter who frequently includes ekphrasis as a model for engagement and competition between the verbal and the visual. This chapter focuses on the central animating force of ekphrasis in three DeLillo novels. In the photo shoot scene of Mao II, DeLillo reverses the typical genders of ekphrasis, featuring the photographer Brita Nilsson capturing the novelist Bill Gray in her predatory gaze. DeLillo employs ekphrasis in Falling Man to compose a counternarrative to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and their post-traumatic aftermath, with Lianne Glenn as the primary ekphrastic subject in the novel. In Zero K, the Convergence doubles as both cryonics facility and avant-garde museum. Jeff Lockhart is highly attuned to the authoritarian agenda of the Convergence to transform human subjects into mindless, powerless objects, yet he is largely blind to his own tendencies for objectifying women. DeLillo exposes, critiques and even parodies the male gaze through his depiction of Jeff.
DeLilloesque: DeLillo’s Cultural Impact
Authors: Hoberek Andrew
Published: May 2024

If realism is the attempt to find aesthetic forms that adequately capture features of a given time or place, then we might well argue that Don DeLillo had one of the most successful realist projects of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Few writers achieve the honour of having their last names become an adjective, yet as the new century settled into place, “DeLilloesque” increasingly came into use as a way of describing not just art but reality itself. This chapter considers the ways contemporary literature and culture have been shaped by DeLillo’s trademark style: his flat affect; his focus on large-scale systems in addition to individual subjectivity; his at times jarring blend of the banal and the sublime. DeLillo’s two most famous literary descendants, David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen, wrote heavily DeLilloesque first novels in the late 1980s, but DeLillo’s influence has also extended, in less obviously visible ways, to women writers and writers of colour, including Dana Spiotta, Rachel Kushner, and Colson Whitehead. This chapter will also explore how DeLillo’s influence has been pervasive in prestige television associated with showrunners like Damon Lindelof and Noah Hawley, the latter of whom has explicitly acknowledged DeLillo’s influence.
Transforming the Spectacle in DeLillo’s Late Novels
Authors: Radia Pavlina
Published: May 2024

The commodity principle of what Guy Debord called “society of the spectacle” has preoccupied Don DeLillo’s writing for decades. One of the main functions of the spectacle is its mediation through images and a slow but persistent deepening of isolation and alienation. In his late novels, DeLillo frequently evokes Debord’s notion of the spectacle as “the autonomous movement of the non-living”, only to remind us of the subversive power of art. From The Body Artist’s Lauren Hartke, the body artist turned art form, or Mr. Tuttle’s specular comings and goings, Point Omega’s Jessie and her “abridged quality,” to Zero K’s fading Artis awaiting her transformation into some “lyric intensity”, DeLillo’s late novels are full of waning bodies struggling to detangle from the commodity world through the agency of their own disembodied acts that disrupt gender, cultural, and power boundaries. Drawing on the work of Guy Debord, Paul de Man, and Walter Benjamin, this chapter argues that these novels tap into alternative aspects of the spectacle queered by bodies as texts whose “shadow cloak of (im)mortality” unveils the aura of DeLillo’s art as a language that “will enable us to express things we can’t express now” (Zero K 33).
DeLillo’s Performances of Abjection
Authors: Donnelly Kelsie
Published: May 2024

Drawing on Julia Kristeva’s theorisation of abjection as the subjective experience of the porosity between self and other, and of what is cast out of the symbolic order, this chapter examines Don DeLillo’s engagement with abject art in his later fiction, particularly his 2007 novel Falling Man. Following a brief exploration of recurring ruin and rubble in DeLillo’s oeuvre, this chapter critiques the abject body art of the “Falling Man’s” predecessor: The Body Artist’s Lauren Hartke. It then turns to the “marginal story” of Lianne’s grief and experiential encounter with abject art in Falling Man. Although the novel has assumed canonical status as an exemplary ‘9/11 novel’, it is a novel of crisis and continuity, not a novel of exception. Engaging with broader questions of ontological existence, the limits of human consciousness, and enduring themes in DeLillo’s pre- and post-9/11 work, Falling Man is a counter-narrative to tired trauma narratives of ‘9/11’. The chapter also considers Zero K, drawing points of connection and continuity between this and earlier novels. Despite stylistic differences, abject aesthetics form connective tissue across DeLillo’s literary corpus, revealing the miracles of the marginal and the “awful openness” of grieving bodies.
Lyric, lovers, and limitlessness: Shakespeare’s quarrel with time in Sonnet 55
Authors: Bălan Andreea Norica
Published: May 2024

As a genre, lyric remains difficult to define. Paul Celan perhaps best summarizes its meaning by referring to an encounter that lyric effects. In Sonnet 55, Shakespeare tests the limits of lyric against the most powerful of forces—time—showing that it can withstand its assaults better than stone monuments can preserve the king’s image. Shakespeare takes it one step further, however, hinting at the resurrective power of lyric and at the possibility of lyric’s lasting into eternity. Ultimately, Shakespeare succeeds in giving us an image of lyric as fostering human culture, birthing lovers and civilizations and outlasting both.
Interpretive ironies in More’s translations of two Lucianic dialogues
Authors: Spence Patrick
Published: May 2024

The Lucianic dialogue Cynicus has often been criticized as an unconvincing (and therefore spurious) defense of the philosophy of its title character. I argue that the dialogue deliberately undercuts its characters in humorous ways that guide us to spot their errors, without letting us dismiss anyone's claims entirely. We are meant to learn to separate the good and true from the false and misleading, which is not the same as picking a character to agree with. Thomas More translates Cynicus along with two other Lucianic dialogues, and, in his dedicatory Letter to Thomas Ruthall, describes Cynicus as a straightforward and successful defense of Christian asceticism. More goes so far as to claim that John Chrysostom based a homily on it. More's letter has been criticized as an accidental or deliberate misrepresentation of Cynicus motivated by a desire to make it palatable to censorious readers. I argue that More's treatment of Cynicus, while sincerely appreciative, does not miss its ironies, and even imitates them in its description of the work. More follows Cynicus with his translation of Lucian's Menippus, whose title character's costume recalls the Cynic and whose penchant for telling ironic lies should make us reconsider the Cynic's credibility, if we had trusted him before. More's own translation of Menippus makes subtle changes that invert his dubious claims about Chrysostom and humorously insert Christian advice into the mouth of Lucian's Tiresias in Hades, ironically baptizing the dialogue in a way that is somehow both Christian and Lucianic after all.
Statement from the Editors
Authors: Bateman-Coe Majorca , Henkle Jonah
Published: May 2024

Stachka! Is a journal of Marxist-Leninist Film Studies and Visual Culture. We aim to make accessible new scholarship that advances theory and practice at the intersection of visual me- dia and communist politics. Work published in Stachka! will seek to advance anti-imperialist, feminist, anti-racist, decolonial, and class-conscious perspectives in film and media analysis, emphasizing cultivating a constructive and inclusive environment for underrepresented voices. Analysis ranging from Marxist cultural theory applied to American and European Cinema, to historical content on the cinema of socialist states, to appreciation and discussion of Third Cinema is welcome. In addition to traditional articles, Stachka! aims to publish visual art, in- terviews with filmmakers and creators, short essays, reviews, and festivals. Stachka! especially encourages submissions from young scholars and scholars from diverse backgrounds. However, anyone is welcome to submit their manuscripts. We accept English, Standard Mandarin Chi- nese, Spanish, and Russian language submissions.
The effects of carbonate and vinegar mixture on selected surface properties of iatandza (Albizia ferruginea) wood
Authors: Ayata Ümit
Published: May 2024

The color of wooden materials can be altered through various applications (thermal treatment, bleaching, impregnation, aging, etc.). This study aimed to investigate alterations in color, whiteness index (WI*), and glossiness properties resulting from the application of two distinct solutions (two different types of vinegar and a mixture of carbonate) on the surfaces of iatandza (Albizia ferruginea) wood. A reference group was established, and the surfaces subjected to treatments were compared among themselves. According to the results of the analysis of variance conducted, the solution type prepared over all tests was determined to be statistically significant. The L*, C*, b*, and a* values in the color parameters decreased while the ho value exhibited an increase after the application of solutions. The ∆E* values were measured at 13.63 for the carbonate + vinegar (A) solution and 13.13 for the carbonate + vinegar (B) solution. Furthermore, the calculated differences ∆b*, ∆L*, ∆a*, and ∆C* using color formulas were observed to be negative for both solutions. Glossiness values exhibited reductions in both directions at 60 and 85 degrees, alongside decreases in WI* values in both orientations. It was noted that the application of solutions resulted in alterations to the surface characteristics of the wooden material.
Türkiye’nin mobilya sektöründe uluslararası rekabet gücü: Seçilmiş ülkeler ile karşılaştırmalı analiz
Authors: Özözen Serdar
Published: May 2024

Mobilya sektörü Türkiye’nin en eski sektörlerinden biridir. Önceleri düşük teknolojiye ve emek yoğun üretim yapısına sahip olan mobilya sektörü günümüzde daha fazla bilgi ve sermaye yoğun bir sektör olma yolunda ilerlemektedir. Sektör, üretim ve istihdam ile ülke ekonomisine katkı sağlamaktadır. Ayrıca sektörün ülke ihracatına net katkısıyla Türkiye, dünya mobilya ihracatında önemli ihracatçı ülkeler arasında yer almaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, dünya mobilya ihracatında öne çıkan ülkeler arasında yer alan Türkiye’nin 2012-2021 dönemi için uluslararası mobilya ticaretinde rekabet gücünü belirlemek ve bu ülkeler karşısında Türkiye’nin uluslararası rekabet gücünü karşılaştırmalı analiz etmektir. Çalışmada, mobilya sektörüne ilişkin toplam 7 alt ürün grubu için Balassa’nın Açıklanmış Karşılaştırmalı Üstünlükler Endeksi hesaplanmıştır. Çalışmada elde edilen bulgular, Türkiye'nin mobilya sektöründe toplam 7 alt sektörden 6’sında zayıf, sadece 1 alt sektörde orta derecede rekabet üstünlüğüne sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Türk mobilya sektörünün rekabet gücünün artırılması için inovasyon, özgün tasarım, markalaşma ve Ar-Ge faaliyetlerine ağırlık verilmesi gerekmektedir. Hammadde tedarikinde yaşanan sorunlar mobilya sektörünü olumsuz etkilemektedir. Yeterli miktarda ve kalitede hammaddenin uygun fiyatla tedariği sağlanmalıdır.
Understanding mitochondrial potassium channels: 33 years after discovery
Authors: Szewczyk Adam
Published: May 2024

Mitochondrial investigations have extended beyond their traditional functions, covering areas such as ATP synthesis and metabolism. Mitochondria are now implicated in new functional areas such as cytoprotection, cellular senescence, tumor function and inflammation. The basis of these new areas still relies on fundamental biochemical/biophysical mitochondrial functions such as synthesis of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential, and the integrity of the inner mitochondrial membrane i.e., the passage of various molecules through the mitochondrial membranes. In this view transport of potassium cations, known as the potassium cycle, plays an important role. It is believed that K+ influx is mediated by various potassium channels present in the inner mitochondrial membrane. In this article, we present an overview of the key findings and characteristics of mitochondrial potassium channels derived from research of many groups conducted over the past 33 years. We propose a list of six fundamental observations and most important ideas dealing with mitochondrial potassium channels. We also discuss the contemporary challenges and future prospects associated with research on mitochondrial potassium channels.
Bioactive injectable mucoadhesive thermosensitive natural polymeric hydrogels for oral bone and periodontal regeneration
Authors: El-Nablaway Mohammad , Rashed Fatema , Taher Ehab S. , Atia Gamal A. , Foda Tarek , Mohammed Nourelhuda A. , Abdeen Ahmed , Abdo Mohamed , Hînda Ioana , Imbrea Ana-Maria , Taymour Noha , Ibrahim Ateya M. , Atwa Ahmed M. , Ibrahim Samah F. , Ramadan Mahmoud M. , Dinu Stefania
Published: May 2024

Periodontitis is an inflammation-related condition, caused by an infectious microbiome and host defense that causes damage to periodontium. The natural processes of the mouth, like saliva production and eating, significantly diminish therapeutic medication residency in the region of periodontal disease. Furthermore, the complexity and diversity of pathological mechanisms make successful periodontitis treatment challenging. As a result, developing enhanced local drug delivery technologies and logical therapy procedures provides the foundation for effective periodontitis treatment. Being biocompatible, biodegradable, and easily administered to the periodontal tissues, hydrogels have sparked substantial an intense curiosity in the discipline of periodontal therapy. The primary objective of hydrogel research has changed in recent years to intelligent thermosensitive hydrogels, that involve local adjustable sol-gel transformations and regulate medication release in reaction to temperature, we present a thorough introduction to the creation and efficient construction of new intelligent thermosensitive hydrogels for periodontal regeneration. We also address cutting-edge smart hydrogel treatment options based on periodontitis pathophysiology. Furthermore, the problems and prospective study objectives are reviewed, with a focus on establishing effective hydrogel delivery methods and prospective clinical applications.
Anthropomorphic motion planning for multi-degree-of-freedom arms
Authors: Zheng Xiongfei , Han Yunyun , Liang Jiejunyi
Published: May 2024

With the development of technology, the humanoid robot is no longer a concept, but a practical partner with the potential to assist people in industry, healthcare and other daily scenarios. The basis for the success of humanoid robots is not only their appearance, but more importantly their anthropomorphic behaviors, which is crucial for the human-robot interaction. Conventionally, robots are designed to follow meticulously calculated and planned trajectories, which typically rely on predefined algorithms and models, resulting in the inadaptability to unknown environments. Especially when faced with the increasing demand for personalized and customized services, predefined motion planning cannot be adapted in time to adapt to personal behavior. To solve this problem, anthropomorphic motion planning has become the focus of recent research with advances in biomechanics, neurophysiology, and exercise physiology which deepened the understanding of the body for generating and controlling movement. However, there is still no consensus on the criteria by which anthropomorphic motion is accurately generated and how to generate anthropomorphic motion. Although there are articles that provide an overview of anthropomorphic motion planning such as sampling-based, optimization-based, mimicry-based, and other methods, these methods differ only in the nature of the planning algorithms and have not yet been systematically discussed in terms of the basis for extracting upper limb motion characteristics. To better address the problem of anthropomorphic motion planning, the key milestones and most recent literature have been collated and summarized, and three crucial topics are proposed to achieve anthropomorphic motion, which are motion redundancy, motion variation, and motion coordination. The three characteristics are interrelated and interdependent, posing the challenge for anthropomorphic motion planning system. To provide some insights for the research on anthropomorphic motion planning, and improve the anthropomorphic motion ability, this article proposes a new taxonomy based on physiology, and a more complete system of anthropomorphic motion planning by providing a detailed overview of the existing methods and their contributions.
COVID-19 influenced gut dysbiosis, post-acute sequelae, immune regulation, and therapeutic regimens
Authors: Raj Sterlin T. , Bruce Alexander W. , Anbalagan Muralidharan , Srinivasan Hemalatha , Chinnappan Sasikala , Rajagopal Mogana , Khanna Kushagra , Chandramoorthy Harish C. , Mani Ravishankar Ram
Published: May 2024

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has garnered unprecedented global attention. It caused over 2.47 million deaths through various syndromes such as acute respiratory distress, hypercoagulability, and multiple organ failure. The viral invasion proceeds through the ACE2 receptor, expressed in multiple cell types, and in some patients caused serious damage to tissues, organs, immune cells, and the microbes that colonize the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Some patients who survived the SARS-CoV-2 infection have developed months of persistent long-COVID-19 symptoms or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Diagnosis of these patients has revealed multiple biological effects, none of which are mutually exclusive. However, the severity of COVID-19 also depends on numerous comorbidities such as obesity, age, diabetes, and hypertension and care must be taken with respect to other multiple morbidities, such as host immunity. Gut microbiota in relation to SARS-CoV-2 immunopathology is considered to evolve COVID-19 progression via mechanisms of biochemical metabolism, exacerbation of inflammation, intestinal mucosal secretion, cytokine storm, and immunity regulation. Therefore, modulation of gut microbiome equilibrium through food supplements and probiotics remains a hot topic of current research and debate. In this review, we discuss the biological complications of the physio-pathological effects of COVID-19 infection, GIT immune response, and therapeutic pharmacological strategies. We also summarize the therapeutic targets of probiotics, their limitations, and the efficacy of preclinical and clinical drugs to effectively inhibit the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
The association between telomere length and blood lipids: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Yang Shengjie , Wang Xinyue , Li Yujuan , Zhou Lijun , Guo Gang , Wu Min
Published: May 2024

Background

Observational studies suggest an association between telomere length (TL) and blood lipid (BL) levels. Nevertheless, the causal connections between these two traits remain unclear. We aimed to elucidate whether genetically predicted TL is associated with BL levels via Mendelian randomization (MR) and vice versa.

Methods

We obtained genetic instruments associated with TL, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A-1 (ApoA-1) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWASs). The causal relationships between TL and BL were investigated via bidirectional MR, multivariable MR and mediation analysis methods. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was employed as the principal methodology, complemented by several other estimators to enhance the robustness of the analysis.

Results

In the forward MR analyses, we identified significant positive correlation between genetically predicted TL and the levels of TG (β=0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01 to 0.06, p = 0.003). In the reverse MR analysis, TG (β=0.02, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.03, p = 0.004), LDL-C (β=0.03, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04, p = 0.001) and ApoB (β=0.03, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04, p = 9.71×10–5) were significantly positively associated with TL, although this relationship was not observed in the multivariate MR analysis. The mediation analysis via two-step MR showed no significant mediation effects acting through obesity-related phenotypes in analysis of TL with TG, while the effect of LDL-C on TL was partially mediated by body mass index (BMI) in the reverse direction, with mediated proportion of 12.83% (95% CI: 0.62% to 25.04%).

Conclusions

Our study indicated that longer TL were associated with higher TG levels, while conversely, higher TG, LDL-C, and ApoB levels predicted longer TL, with BMI partially mediating these effects. Our findings present valuable insights into the development of preventive strategies and interventions that specifically target TL-related aging and age-related diseases.
Identification of potential biomarkers and pathways for asthenozoospermia by bioinformatics analysis and experiments
Authors: Lu Hui , Zhao Liqiang , Wang Anguo , Ruan Hailing , Chen Xiaoyan , Li Yejuan , Hu Jiajia , Lu Weiying , Xiao Meifang
Published: May 2024

Background

Asthenozoospermia, a type of male infertility, is primarily caused by dysfunctional sperm mitochondria. Despite previous bioinformatics analysis identifying potential key lncRNAs, miRNAs, hub genes, and pathways associated with asthenospermia, there is still a need to explore additional molecular mechanisms and potential biomarkers for this condition.

Methods

We integrated data from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) (GSE22331, GSE34514, and GSE160749) and performed bioinformatics analysis to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between normozoospermia and asthenozoospermia. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were conducted to gain insights into biological processes and signaling pathways. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) identified gene modules associated with asthenozoospermia. Expression levels of key genes were assessed using datasets and experimental data. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and correlation analysis identified pathways associated with the hub gene and explore the relationship between the ZNF764 and COQ9 and mitochondrial autophagy-related genes. Competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed, and in vitro experiments using exosome samples were conducted to validate this finding.

Results

COQ9 was identified as a marker gene in asthenozoospermia, involved in autophagy, ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling, endocytosis, and cell cycle, etc. The ceRNA regulatory network (LINC00893/miR-125a-5p/COQ9) was constructed, and PCR demonstrated that LINC00893 and COQ9 were downregulated in asthenozoospermia, while miR-125a-5p and m6A methylation level of LINC00893 were upregulated in asthenozoospermia compared to normozoospermic individuals.

Conclusion

The ceRNA regulatory network (LINC00893/miR-125a-5p/COQ9) likely plays a crucial role in the mechanism of asthenozoospermia. However, further functional experiments are needed to fully understand its significance.
Host genetics and COVID-19 severity: increasing the accuracy of latest severity scores by Boolean quantum features
Authors: Martelloni Gabriele , Turchi Alessio , Fallerini Chiara , Degl’Innocenti Andrea , Baldassarri Margherita , Olmi Simona , Furini Simone , Renieri Alessandra ,   GEN-COVID Multicenter study
Published: May 2024

The impact of common and rare variants in COVID-19 host genetics has been widely studied. In particular, in Fallerini et al. (Human genetics, 2022, 141, 147–173), common and rare variants were used to define an interpretable machine learning model for predicting COVID-19 severity. First, variants were converted into sets of Boolean features, depending on the absence or the presence of variants in each gene. An ensemble of LASSO logistic regression models was used to identify the most informative Boolean features with respect to the genetic bases of severity. After that, the Boolean features, selected by these logistic models, were combined into an Integrated PolyGenic Score (IPGS), which offers a very simple description of the contribution of host genetics in COVID-19 severity.. IPGS leads to an accuracy of 55%–60% on different cohorts, and, after a logistic regression with both IPGS and age as inputs, it leads to an accuracy of 75%. The goal of this paper is to improve the previous results, using not only the most informative Boolean features with respect to the genetic bases of severity but also the information on host organs involved in the disease. In this study, we generalize the IPGS adding a statistical weight for each organ, through the transformation of Boolean features into “Boolean quantum features,” inspired by quantum mechanics. The organ coefficients were set via the application of the genetic algorithm PyGAD, and, after that, we defined two new integrated polygenic scores (IPGSph1 and IPGSph2). By applying a logistic regression with both IPGS, (IPGSph2 (or indifferently IPGSph1) and age as inputs, we reached an accuracy of 84%–86%, thus improving the results previously shown in Fallerini et al. (Human genetics, 2022, 141, 147–173) by a factor of 10%.
Immunization with PfGBP130 generates antibodies that inhibit RBC invasion by P. falciparum parasites
Authors: Johnson Yannick , Shakri Ahmad Rushdi , Pond-Tor Sunthorn , Jnawali Anup , Najrana Tanbir , Wu Haiwei , Badhai Jhasketan , Alameh Mohamad-Gabriel , Weissman Drew , Kabyemela Edward , Duffy Patrick , Fried Michal , Kurtis Jonathan , Raj Dipak Kumar
Published: May 2024

Background

Despite decades of effort, Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a leading killer of children. The absence of a highly effective vaccine and the emergence of parasites resistant to both diagnosis as well as treatment hamper effective public health interventions.

Methods and results

To discover new vaccine candidates, we used our whole proteome differential screening method and identified PfGBP130 as a parasite protein uniquely recognized by antibodies from children who had developed resistance to P. falciparum infection but not from those who remained susceptible. We formulated PfGBP130 as lipid encapsulated mRNA, DNA plasmid, and recombinant protein-based immunogens and evaluated the efficacy of murine polyclonal anti-PfGBP130 antisera to inhibit parasite growth in vitro. Immunization of mice with PfGBP130-A (aa 111–374), the region identified in our differential screen, formulated as a DNA plasmid or lipid encapsulated mRNA, but not as a recombinant protein, induced antibodies that inhibited RBC invasion in vitro. mRNA encoding the full ectodomain of PfGBP130 (aa 89–824) also generated parasite growth-inhibitory antibodies.

Conclusion

We are currently advancing PfGBP130-A formulated as a lipid-encapsulated mRNA for efficacy evaluation in non-human primates.
The role of donor hypertension and angiotensin II in the occurrence of early pancreas allograft thrombosis
Authors: Masset Christophe , Branchereau Julien , Buron Fanny , Karam Georges , Rabeyrin Maud , Renaudin Karine , Le Borgne Florent , Badet Lionel , Matillon Xavier , Legendre Christophe , Glotz Denis , Antoine Corinne , Giral Magali , Dantal Jacques , Cantarovich Diego ,   DIVAT Consortium
Published: May 2024

Background

About 10–20% of pancreas allografts are still lost in the early postoperative period despite the identification of numerous detrimental risk factors that correlate with graft thrombosis.

Methods

We conducted a multicenter study including 899 pancreas transplant recipients between 2000 and 2018. Early pancreas failure due to complete thrombosis, long-term pancreas, kidney and patient survivals were analyzed and adjusted to donor, recipient and perioperative variables using a multivariate cause-specific Cox model stratified to transplant centers.

Results

Pancreas from donors with history of hypertension (6.7%), as well as with high body mass index (BMI), were independently associated with an increased risk of pancreas failure within the first 30 post-operative days (respectively, HR= 2.57, 95% CI from 1.35 to 4.89 and HR= 1.11, 95% CI from 1.04 to 1.19). Interaction term between hypertension and BMI was negative. Donor hypertension also impacted long-term pancreas survival (HR= 1.88, 95% CI from 1.13 to 3.12). However, when pancreas survival was calculated after the postoperative day 30, donor hypertension was no longer a significant risk factor (HR= 1.22, 95% CI from 0.47 to 3.15). A lower pancreas survival was observed in patients receiving a pancreas from a hypertensive donor without RAAS (Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System) blockers compared to others (50% vs 14%, p < 0.001). Pancreas survival was similar among non-hypertensive donors and hypertensive ones under RAAS blockers.

Conclusion

Donor hypertension was a significant and independent risk factor of pancreas failure. The well-known pathogenic role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system seems to be involved in the genesis of this immediate graft failure.
Preclinical immunogenicity risk assessment of biotherapeutics using CD4 T cell assays
Authors: Walsh Robin E. , Nix Angela , Ackaert Chloé , Mazy Aurélie , Schockaert Jana , Pattyn Sofie , Malherbe Laurent
Published: May 2024

T-cell dependent antibody responses to biotherapeutics remain a challenge to the optimal clinical application of biotherapeutics because of their capacity to impair drug efficacy and their potential to cause safety issues. To minimize this clinical immunogenicity risk, preclinical assays measuring the capacity of biotherapeutics to elicit CD4 T cell response in vitro are commonly used. However, there is considerable variability in assay formats and a general poor understanding of their respective predictive value. In this study, we evaluated the performance of three different CD4 T cell proliferation assays in their capacity to predict clinical immunogenicity: a CD8 T cell depleted peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) assay and two co-culture-based assays between dendritic cells (DCs) and autologous CD4 T cells with or without restimulation with monocytes. A panel of 10 antibodies with a wide range of clinical immunogenicity was selected. The CD8 T cell depleted PBMC assay predicted the clinical immunogenicity in four of the eight highly immunogenic antibodies included in the panel. Similarly, five antibodies with high clinical immunogenicity triggered a response in the DC: CD4 T cell assay but the responses were of lower magnitude than the ones observed in the PBMC assay. Remarkably, three antibodies with high clinical immunogenicity did not trigger any response in either platform. The addition of a monocyte restimulation step to the DC: CD4 T cell assay did not further improve its predictive value. Overall, these results indicate that there are no CD4 T cell assay formats that can predict the clinical immunogenicity of all biotherapeutics and reinforce the need to combine results from various preclinical assays assessing antigen uptake and presentation to fully mitigate the immunogenicity risk of biotherapeutics.
Sex differences in cancer and immunotherapy outcomes: the role of androgen receptor
Authors: Zhao Junzhe , Wang Qian , Tan Alexandra F. , Loh Celestine Jia Ling , Toh Han Chong
Published: May 2024

Across the wide range of clinical conditions, there exists a sex imbalance where biological females are more prone to autoimmune diseases and males to some cancers. These discrepancies are the combinatory consequence of lifestyle and environmental factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and oncogenic viruses, as well as other intrinsic biological traits including sex chromosomes and sex hormones. While the emergence of immuno-oncology (I/O) has revolutionised cancer care, the efficacy across multiple cancers may be limited because of a complex, dynamic interplay between the tumour and its microenvironment (TME). Indeed, sex and gender can also influence the varying effectiveness of I/O. Androgen receptor (AR) plays an important role in tumorigenesis and in shaping the TME. Here, we lay out the epidemiological context of sex disparity in cancer and then review the current literature on how AR signalling contributes to such observation via altered tumour development and immunology. We offer insights into AR-mediated immunosuppressive mechanisms, with the hope of translating preclinical and clinical evidence in gender oncology into improved outcomes in personalised, I/O-based cancer care.
The comprehension of clitic gender in child heritage and second language Spanish: evidence from a dual language program
Authors: Austin Jennifer , Thane Patrick D. , Rodríguez Stephanie A. , Goldin Michele
Published: May 2024

Despite the growth of dual-language programs in the United States, few studies have examined how children acquire Spanish through immersion. This article compares how heritage speakers (HS) and English-fluent Spanish L2 learners (L2L) immersed in Spanish comprehend gender in direct object clitics, an area of Spanish grammar prone to bilingual effects. A total of 78 English-dominant children enrolled in a dual language school participated in the experiment: 24 HS (6 in 2nd grade, 10 in 4th/5th grade, 8 in 7th/8th grade) and 54 L2L (16 in 2nd grade, 20 in 4th/5th grade, 18 in 7th/8th grade). Participants completed a forced-choice task which tested their ability to select target-like clitic gender after hearing sentences such as ‘La niña está tocando la guitarra (feminine). ¿Qué hace?' The girl is playing the guitar (feminine). What does she do? * ‘Lo toca' (masculine singular clitic)/ ‘La toca' (feminine singular clitic) She plays it. Results did not reveal any significant differences at the p < 0.05 level between the HS and L2L groups with accuracy in clitic gender. We found that in receptive knowledge of masculine clitic gender, the HS and L2L children had very similar scores in the 2nd grade and showed a similar improvement in accuracy by the 7th/8th grades. However, we did not find a similar pattern of growth in children's ability to select target-like feminine gender in either group. We discuss our findings and propose possible implications for immersion programs.
Mangrove sediments-associated bacterium (Bacillus sp. SW7) with multiple plant growth-promoting traits promotes the growth of tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum)
Authors: Afridi Mahideen , Sadaiappan Balamurugan , Nassar Amna Saood , Mahmoudi Henda , Khan Munawwar Ali , Mundra Sunil
Published: May 2024

Global food production intensification presents a major hurdle to ensuring food security amidst a growing world population. Widespread use of chemical fertilizers in recent decades has risked soil fertility, compounded by the challenges posed by climate change, particularly in arid regions. To address these issues, adopting plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria stands out as a promising solution, offering multifaceted benefits to arid agroecosystems. We isolated a bacterial strain, SW7, from mangrove sediment, characterised the entire genome followed by phylogenetic analyses, and evaluated its in-vitro PGP activity. Subsequently, we examined its impact on tomato seed germination and plant growth. The strain SW7 exhibited growth on 11% NaCl, survival at 50°C, and possessed multiple PGP traits such as significant increase in seed germination rate (60.60 ± 38.85%), phosphate (83.3 g L−1) and potassium (39.6 g L−1) solubilization and produced indole acetic acid (3.60 ppm). Additionally, strain SW7 tested positive for ammonia, catalase, and oxidase enzyme production. The strain SW7 genome consists of 5.1 MB with 35.18% G+C content. Through genome-based phylogenetic and orthoANI analyses, the strain was identified as a novel Bacillus species, designated herein as Bacillus sp. SW7. In an eight-week shade-house experiment, inoculation of strain SW7 improved, leaf number, leaf density, leaf area index and mass water of tomatoes. Additional parameters, like chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids were not affected in SW7-inoculated tomatoes. In conclusion, Bacillus sp. SW7 exhibits multiple PGP traits and an adaptive capacity to high temperature and salinity, positioning it as a potential candidate for elevating the productivity of arid agroecosystems.