bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bioinspired cooperation in a heterogeneous robot swarm using ferrofluid artificial pheromones for uncontrolled environments
Authors: Brenes-Torres Juan Carlos , Calderón-Arce Cindy , Blanes Francisco , Simo José
Published: October 2024

This article presents a novel bioinspired technology for the cooperation and coordination of heterogeneous robot swarms in uncontrolled environments, utilizing an artificial pheromone composed of magnetized ferrofluids. Communication between different types of robots is achieved indirectly through stigmergy, where messages are inherently associated with specific locations. This approach is advantageous for swarm experimentation outside controlled laboratory spaces, where localization is typically managed through centralized camera systems (e.g. infrared, RGB). Applying pheromone principles has also proven beneficial for various swarm behaviors. We introduce a detection methodology for the artificial ferrofluid pheromone using low-cost magnetic sensors, along with signal processing and parameter characterization. Experiments involved a heterogeneous swarm consisting of two types of robots: one equipped with camera and image processing capabilities and the other with basic sensor technologies. Validation in multiple uncontrolled environments (with varying floor surfaces, wind, and light conditions) demonstrated successful cooperation among robots with differing technological complexities using the proposed technology.
Nutrition, immunity, and infectious diseases in the context of climate change and health syndemic: a scoping review for North America
Authors: Banuet-Martínez M , Vriezen R , Yamamoto S S , Espinosa-Romero M J , Cunsolo A , Harper S L
Published: October 2024

Climate change exacerbates global food insecurity, leading to undernutrition and immunodeficiency, which in turn increases susceptibility to infectious diseases. In this way, climate change creates a syndemic, with undernutrition, immunity, and infectious disease risk adversely interacting. This scoping review aims to map: (1) trends in research about climate change impacts on food security; and (2) the extent to which food security is connected to the immune system and infectious diseases in published climate change research in North America. Using a scoping review process, we identified studies that described food security in the context of climate change in North America. A search string was developed and used to search five electronic databases for articles without language restriction. Data on food security pillars and their relationship with infectious diseases and the immune system were extracted from relevant articles and descriptively synthesized. We identified 204 published articles that met the inclusion criteria. The number of articles linking climate change to food security in North America increased yearly, with regional differences in the number of publications, climate variables analyzed, and study methods used. At least one connection between food security and the immune system or infectious diseases was discussed in 72 articles (35.3%). Of these, eleven articles mentioned both the immune system and infectious diseases and separately described their relationship with food security. However, only eight articles linked or described the relationship between food, immune systems, and infection—for example, by describing extreme weather events that reduced food security, resulting in malnutrition causing immunosuppression, thereby increasing the likelihood of infections. This highlights a gap in research on the adverse interaction between undernutrition, the immune system, and infectious disease risk in the context of climate change. This review underscores the need to study the interconnected and cascading health outcomes of climate change.
Exploring the gut microbiome composition and diversity of leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) in captive population: a case study in Zoo Melaka, Malaysia
Authors: Othman Nursyuhada , Rahman Aifat Nor
Published: October 2024

Gut microbiomes are crucial in determining wildlife’s health, especially in the captive population. The alternation of environment can lead to microbiome changes that could affect the host’s health. Therefore, the information regarding gut microbiomes is important in conducting effective husbandry management for captive animals especially in zoos. Thus, we conducted the gut microbiome study on captive leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) using Illumina Miniseq platform. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on two samples from both male and female leopard cats. The sequencing analysis successfully unveiled the diversity of gut microbiomes within this species, identifying members from 12 phyla, 74 families, and 127 genera of bacteria. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes emerged as the dominant phyla, constituting 49% in females and 34.7% in males, respectively. Intriguingly, no significant differences in alpha diverisity indices were observed between the sexes of P. bengalensis. These findings contribute substantially to our comprehension of the gut microbiome diversity in leopard cats in Malaysia. Generally, the findings of this study provide the fundamental data for the captive management and health assessment of P. bengalensis, acting as a valuable resource for future conservation efforts. By establishing a baseline understanding of the gut microbiomes in captivity, this research supports the broader goal of preserving the biological integrity of leopard cat populations especially in Malaysia.
Effects of a SigH mutation on tigecycline resistance and the SigH-RshA interaction in Mycobacteroides abscessus
Authors: Wei Chong Gan , Hien Fuh Ng , Yun Fong Ngeow
Published: October 2024

Mycobacteroides abscessus is an opportunistic pathogen ubiquitous in the environment owing to its ability to remain viable on nutrient-poor surfaces. It is a frequent cause of infections in the cosmetic industry, with patients being infected through cutaneous invasive procedures such as tattooing, piercings and cosmetic surgeries. In immunocompromised hosts, infections can be severe and difficult to treat as M. abscessus has many intrinsic and acquired resistances to different classes of antibiotics. Tigecycline, a tetracycline derivative introduced two decades ago, is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with activity on bacteria that are resistant to many existing antibiotics. Unfortunately, tigecycline-resistant strains of M. abscessus have been reported in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the resistance mechanism of CL7, a tigecycline-resistant, spontaneous mutant derived from M. abscessus ATCC 19977. CL7 notably had a 7 amino-acid truncation in the SigH protein, a sigma factor (transcriptional activator) responsible for mycobacterial responses to environmental stress. RNA sequencing showed that sigH and other genes were up-regulated in CL7 (as compared to ATCC 19977). The gene set enrichment analysis demonstrated that the SigH regulon was significantly over-represented among these genes up-regulated in CL7. A bacterial-2-hybrid assay was performed to investigate the effect of the mutation on the SigH interaction with RshA, the anti-sigma factor that inhibits SigH intracellularly. The results, supported by RNA sequencing, showed that the interaction between RshA and the mutant SigH was impeded. This reduced interaction could lead to a decreased inhibition of SigH by RshA, causing the up-regulation of the sigH gene. Coupled with the RNA polymerase, SigH would then up-regulate genes under its regulation, leading to tigecycline resistance. In general, this study enhances our understanding of tigecycline resistance mechanisms in M. abscessus, and contributes to the development of novel antibacterial therapies and diagnostic tools for managing M. abscessus infections.
Emitter design for efficient waveguide spectral lens
Authors: Ke Shijie , Ding Zhenming , Jiang Xinhong , Zhang Ziyang
Published: October 2024

As an alternative to arrayed waveguide gratings, the waveguide spectral lens (WSL) stands out with the ability to focus light in free space, thereby eliminating the need for relay optics between the chip and the camera. This becomes convenient when constructing a truly compact instrument for astronomical spectroscopic analysis. Besides dispersion and focusing, WSL offers another important function: the envelope of the diffraction orders can be manipulated via the output emitter, i.e. the waveguide array at the facet. Through careful emitter design, the diffraction efficiency can be largely improved because the side orders are well suppressed, and light is concentrated in the selected order. This feature, though particularly important for the photon-hungry astronomical application, has not been explored well in the previous works. Here, we come up with four emitter designs and evaluate their performance, including linear taper, parabolic taper, multimode interference (MMI), and slot MMI. A figure of merit considering both diffraction efficiency and uniformity is introduced to identify the optimal structure. Experimental results agree well with the simulation and confirmed that the optimal parabolic taper can achieve a diffraction efficiency of 90.9%, making it the most attractive design. This work highlights the potential of WSLs for astronomical spectroscopy with an efficiency that rivals conventional blazed gratings. It may also inspire emitter designs for side-lobe suppression in optical phased array applications.
Towards harmonization of SO(3)-equivariance and expressiveness: a hybrid deep learning framework for electronic-structure Hamiltonian prediction
Authors: Yin Shi , Pan Xinyang , Zhu Xudong , Gao Tianyu , Zhang Haochong , Wu Feng , He Lixin
Published: October 2024

Deep learning for predicting the electronic-structure Hamiltonian of quantum systems necessitates satisfying the covariance laws, among which achieving SO(3)-equivariance without sacrificing the non-linear expressive capability of networks remains unsolved. To navigate the harmonization between SO(3)-equivariance and expressiveness, we propose HarmoSE, a deep learning method synergizing two distinct categories of neural mechanisms as a two-stage encoding and regression framework. The first stage corresponds to group theory-based neural mechanisms with inherent SO(3)-equivariant properties prior to the parameter learning process, while the second stage is characterized by a non-linear 3D graph Transformer network we propose, featuring high capability on non-linear expressiveness. Their combination lies in the point that, the first stage predicts baseline Hamiltonians with abundant SO(3)-equivariant features extracted, assisting the second stage in empirical learning of equivariance; and in turn, the second stage refines the first stage’s output as a fine-grained prediction of Hamiltonians using powerful non-linear neural mappings, compensating for the intrinsic weakness on non-linear expressiveness capability of mechanisms in the first stage. Our method enables precise, generalizable predictions while capturing SO(3)-equivariance under rotational transformations, and achieves state-of-the-art performance in Hamiltonian prediction tasks under multiple mean absolute error (MAE) metrics, such as the average MAE across all samples and matrix elements, the MAE for challenging samples, the MAE for different Hamiltonian blocks, and the MAE for the challenging blocks. It also demonstrates significant improvements in accuracy for downstream quantities, such as occupied orbital energy and the electronic wavefunction, as measured by MAE and cosine similarity, respectively.
Interlayer excitons diffusion and transport in van der Waals heterostructures
Authors: Chen Yingying , Lin Qiubao , Wang Haizhen , Li Dehui
Published: October 2024

The assembly of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) in van der Waals heterostructures yields the formation of spatially separated interlayer excitons (IXs) with large binding energies, long lifetimes, permanent dipole moments and valley-contrasting physics, providing a compelling platform for investigating and engineering spatiotemporal IX propagation with highly tunable dynamics. Further twisting the stacked TMD monolayers can create long-term periodic moiré patterns with spatially modified band structures and varying moiré potentials, featuring tailored traps that can induce strong correlations with density–dependent phase transitions to modulate the exciton transport. The rich exciton landscapes in TMD heterostructures, combined with advancements in valleytronics and twistronics, hold great promise for exploring exciton-integrated circuits base on manipulation of exciton diffusion and transport. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent progress in understanding IXs and moiré excitons, with a specific focus on emerging exciton diffusion and transport in TMD heterostructures. We put emphasis on spatial manipulation of exciton flux through various methods, encompassing exciton density, dielectric environment, electric field and structure engineering, for precise control. This ability to manipulate exciton diffusion opens up new possibilities for interconverting optical communication and signal processing, paving the way for exciting applications in high-performance optoelectronics, such as excitonic devices, valleytronic transistors and photodetectors. We finally conclude this review by outlining perspectives and challenges in harnessing IX currents for next-generation optoelectronic applications.
A convolution inequality, yielding a sharper Berry–Esseen theorem for summands Zolotarev-close to normal
Authors: Mattner Lutz
Published: October 2024

The classical Berry–Esseen error bound, for the normal approximation to the law of a sum of independent and identically distributed random variables, is here improved by replacing the standardised third absolute moment with a weak norm distance to normality, using Zolotarev’s

ζ
\zeta

norms. We thus sharpen and simplify two results of Ul’yanov (1976) and of Senatov (1998), each of them previously optimal, in the line of research initiated by Zolotarev (1965) and Paulauskas (1969).

Our proof is based on a seemingly incomparable normal approximation theorem of Zolotarev (1986), combined with our main technical result:

The Kolmogorov distance (supremum norm of difference of distribution functions) between a convolution of two laws and a convolution of two Lipschitz laws is bounded homogeneously of degree 1 in the pair of the Kantorovich distances (often called Wasserstein distances, the L

1

^1

norms of differences of distribution functions) of the corresponding factors, and also in the pair of the Lipschitz constants.

Side results include a short introduction to

ζ
\zeta

norms on the real line, simpler inequalities for various probability distances, slight improvements of the theorem of Zolotarev (1986) and of a lower bound theorem of Bobkov, Chistyakov and Götze (2012), an application to sampling from finite populations, auxiliary results on rounding and on winsorisation, and computations of a few examples.

The introductory section in particular is aimed at analysts in general rather than specialists in probability approximations.
The Prosciutto Sundial
Authors: Parslow Christopher
Published: October 2024

The sundial in the shape of a prosciutto recovered in 1755 in the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum is the earliest known Roman portable sundial. Its silver-plated cast bronze form cleverly combines an accurate modelling of a prosciutto with a relatively sophisticated scientific device capable of capturing the seasonal hours of the zodiacal year by employing the pig’s tail to cast the sun’s shadow onto the dial. The prosciutto has proved easier to describe than to explain, a trait that has shadowed the many attempts to explain how it functioned compounded by limited first-hand knowledge of its design. Although the Bourbon court sought to assert its authority through a detailed philological and astronomical assessment, the proverbial pig already had escaped the pen. Earlier errors were recycled by leading figures in eighteenth- and nineteenth -century astronomy and these colored subsequent treatments of it. It is a rare example of an antiquity that has attracted the attention of so broad an audience, from archaeologists, historians, and philologists to astronomers, philosophers, and sundial aficionados. This study draws on contemporary correspondence, popular accounts, archaeological studies, and scientific assessments to offer the first comprehensive survey of its reception and analysis from its discovery to modern times. The significance of its discovery in the Villa dei Papiri is explored here in detail for the first time. Through the findings obtained using a 3D model, it offers the first empirical analysis of its remarkably accurate capabilities as a timepiece since its assessment by the Bourbon court.
Observations
Authors: Parslow Christopher
Published: October 2024

This chapter addresses long-standing questions about the sundial, such as why a prosciutto, why it might have been in the Villa dei Papiri, to whom it belonged, and what connections it may have had with the library of philosophical texts also recovered there. Comparative analysis between the design of the dial required astronomically and the actual hourly readings on the prosciutto’s dial at latitudes between Rome and Herculaneum demonstrates that while it provided remarkably accurate readings, sufficient for its ancient user, its small scale precludes excessive precision. Empirical analysis with a 3D model deployed within the same latitude confirms this finding.
Luther Goes to War
Authors: Hayden-Roy Patrick
Published: October 2024

World War I left a deep imprint on the image of Luther, expanding upon the völkisch profile of the nineteenth century. The impact of the war is traced by looking at German wartime sermons, and especially at the explosion of publications that marked the 1917 anniversary of the Reformation, where, at a critical juncture in the conflict, Luther’s nationalist image was intensely refracted to address the crisis of the war. Looking at popular publications and public addresses, it shows how the war created an overblown cult of personality around Luther, whose living presence was invoked to provide a symbol to rally the nation and provide assurance of Germany’s providential destiny. In this environment, there is a deepening of the völkisch image of Luther, who takes on ever more radical significance as an image of racial nationalist “Germanity.” The chapter closes by using memoirs and letters to consider the disposition of German Protestants with the collapse of the German war effort and the Wilhelmine Reich in November 1918 and the cultural crisis it represented.
Luther the Perpetrator?
Authors: Hayden-Roy Patrick
Published: October 2024

With World War II came the destruction of Nazi Germany both as an institutional reality and a cultural system. Germany emerged from the war facing the challenge of somehow reconstituting from the wreckage a new identity. Such was also the case with Martin Luther. The issue of guilt hung over German culture, with numerous books purported to show a fundamental continuity from Luther to Hitler, as the popular formula went. As it happened, 1946 was the four-hundredth anniversary of Luther’s death, and became a forum for considering what to make of him amidst the wreckage. What emerged was a complicated attempt to present Luther once again as a potential source for German identity, though leaving aside the völkisch garb from before the War. Protestant scholars defended Luther from accusations of culpability, among whom were some, such as Paul Althaus and Gerhart Ritter, who had been the authors of works on the pre-war völkisch Luther image. With this literature there also emerged a debate about how to assign guilt and to whom that marked the final chapter in a discourse about Luther’s image as a national symbol reaching back to 1817.
Mucilage facilitates root water uptake under edaphic stress: first evidence at the plant scale
Authors: Abdalla Mohanned , Carminati Andrea , Cai Gaochao , Ahmed Mutez Ali
Published: October 2024

Background and Aims

Mucilage has been hypothesized to soften the gradients in matric potential at the root–soil interface, thereby facilitating root water uptake in dry soils and maintaining transpiration with a moderate decline in leaf water potential. So far, this hypothesis has been tested only through simplified experiments and numerical simulations. However, the impact of mucilage on the relationship between transpiration rate (E) and leaf water potential (ψleaf) at the plant scale remains speculative.

Methods

We utilized an automated root pressure chamber to measure the E(ψleaf) relationship in two cowpea genotypes with contrasting mucilage production. We then utilized a soil–plant hydraulic model to reproduce the experimental observations and inferred the matric potential at the root–soil interface for both genotypes.

Key Results

In wet soil, the relationship between leaf water potential and transpiration rate (E) was linear for both genotypes. However, as the soil progressively dried, the E(ψleaf) relationship exhibited non-linearity. The genotype with low mucilage production exhibited non-linearity earlier during soil drying, i.e. in wetter soil conditions (soil water content <0.36 cm3 cm−3) compared to the genotype with high mucilage production (soil water content <0.30 cm3 cm−3). The incidence of non-linearity was concomitant with the decline in matric potential across the rhizosphere. High mucilage production attenuated water potential diminution at the root–soil interface with increased E. This shows, for the first time at the plant scale, that root mucilage softened the gradients in matric potential and maintained transpiration in drying soils. The model simulations indicate that a plausible explanation for this effect is an enhanced hydraulic conductivity of the rhizosphere in genotypes with higher mucilage production.

Conclusions

Mucilage exudation maintains the hydraulic continuity between soil and roots and decelerates the drop in matric potential near the root surface, thereby postponing the hydraulic limitations to transpiration during soil drying.
National biodiversity data infrastructures: ten essential functions for science, policy, and practice
Authors: Güntsch Anton , Overmann Jörg , Ebert Barbara , Bonn Aletta , Le Bras Yvan , Engel Thore , Hovstad Knut Anders , Lange Canhos Dora Ann , Newman Peggy , van Ommen Kloeke Elaine , Ratcliffe Sophia , le Roux Marianne , Smith Vincent S , Triebel Dagmar , Fichtmueller David , Luther Katja
Published: October 2024

Today, at the international level, powerful data portals are available to biodiversity researchers and policymakers, offering increasingly robust computing and network capacities and capable data services for internationally agreed-on standards. These accelerate individual and complex workflows to map data-driven research processes or even to make them possible for the first time. At the national level, however, and alongside these international developments, national infrastructures are needed to take on tasks that cannot be easily funded or addressed internationally. To avoid gaps, as well as redundancies in the research landscape, national tasks and responsibilities must be clearly defined to align efforts with core priorities. In the present article, we outline 10 essential functions of national biodiversity data infrastructures. They serve as key providers, facilitators, mediators, and platforms for effective biodiversity data management, integration, and analysis that require national efforts to foster biodiversity science, policy, and practice.
Circulating large extracellular vesicles as diagnostic biomarkers of indeterminate thyroid nodules: multi-platform omics analysis
Authors: Ahmed Nada M , Eddama Mohammad M R , Beatson Kevin , Gurung Rijan , Patel Jigisha , Iskandar Georges , Abdel-Salam Alaa , Al-Omar Abdullah , Cohen Richard , Abdel-Aziz Tarek , Clapp Lucie
Published: October 2024

Background

While most thyroid nodules are benign, 7–15% are malignant. Patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules (specifically Bethesda IV/Thy3f) often undergo diagnostic hemithyroidectomy to reach a diagnosis on final histology. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of circulating large extracellular vesicles as diagnostic biomarkers in patients presenting with Thy3f thyroid nodules.

Methods

This was a two-gate diagnostic accuracy study; patients with Thy3f thyroid nodules were age, sex and body mass index matched to healthy individuals. Final histology confirmed benign and malignant diagnoses. Plasma large extracellular vesicle counts were quantified using flow cytometry. Large extracellular vesicle microRNA and protein profiles were identified using next generation sequencing and mass spectrometry, respectively.

Results

A total of 42 patients with Thy3f nodules (22 with cancer, 20 with non-cancer diagnosis) and 16 healthy controls were included. Total large extracellular vesicle concentrations and the concentrations of extracellular vesicles expressing epithelial cell adhesion molecule and the cancer markers atypical chemokine receptor type 7, extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer and syndecan-4 were significantly higher in patients with Thy3f nodules (cancer and non-cancer) compared with healthy individuals. In patients with cancerous versus non-cancer Thy3f nodules, one microRNA was upregulated: mir-195–3p (P < 0.001). Five were downregulated: mir-3176 (P < 0.001), mir-205-5p (P < 0.001), novel-hsa-mir-208-3p (P < 0.001), mir-3529-3p (P = 0.01) and let-7i-3p (P = 0.02). Furthermore, three large extracellular vesicle proteins (kallikrein-related peptidase11 (KLK11) (P = 0.001), alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 2 (A1AG2) (P <0.001) and small integral membrane protein 1 (SMIM1) (P = 0.04)) were significantly upregulated, while 20 large extracellular vesicle proteins were significantly downregulated (most downregulated: chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 7 (CXCL7), tubulin beta chain 1 (TBB1), binding immunoglobulin protein (BIP) and actinin alpha 1 (ACTN1) (P < 0.001)) in cancerous compared with non-cancer Thy3f nodules.

Conclusion

Circulating large extracellular vesicle miRNA and protein profiles have a high diagnostic value to discriminate between benign and malignant nodules for patients with Thy3f cytology. Further validation for clinical performance will be needed.
Changes in patient sentiment on Reddit through periods of atopic dermatitis treatment
Authors: Yang Andrew K , Powers Camille M , Verma Hannah , Sharma Divija , Piontkowski Austin J , Orloff Jeremy , Ungar Benjamin , Gulati Nicholas
Published: October 2024

To discover patient attitudes toward atopic dermatitis (AD) treatments, 573 788 posts and comments from eczema-associated Reddit communities were analysed with the latest natural language processing techniques. Our study reveals that patient sentiment toward AD treatments has improved in the periods following the introduction of dupilumab and Janus kinase inhibitors. These insights not only highlight areas for potential improvement in patient care, but also underline the utility of artificial intelligence in capturing and analysing nuanced patient experiences in online forums.
Cumulative Socioeconomic Status Risk is Associated With Greater Increase in Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels Among Middle-Aged Black Adults
Authors: Lei Man-Kit , Beach Steven R H , Simons Ronald L , Mielke Michelle M
Published: October 2024

Background

This study examined the longitudinal relationship between cumulative socioeconomic status (SES) risk and serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels to better understand the association between social factors and a biomarker of neurodegeneration.

Methods

We used data from the Family and Community Health Study, collecting psychosocial and blood data at 2 waves (2008) and (2019) from 254 Black Americans (43 males and 211 females). Blood samples were analyzed at each wave for serum NfL concentrations. Regression analysis and mixed-effect modeling examined relationships between cumulative SES risk and serum NfL, controlling for covariates and assessing time effects.

Results

Utilizing 11-year longitudinal data, serum NfL levels increased with age. Higher cumulative SES risk at baseline correlated with elevated serum NfL at the 11-year follow-up and predicted a greater increase in NfL levels. Clinically, NfL is a sensitive biomarker for axonal injury and neurodegeneration, commonly used to detect early and preclinical stages of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that exposure to cumulative SES risk among Black adults may contribute to elevated levels of NfL, indicating potential early neurodegeneration. Given the established role of NfL in detecting neurodegenerative processes, these findings underscore the importance of interventions that bolster social safety nets and social connectedness to enhance brain health and mitigate neurodegenerative risks.
Standardization of bone morphometry and mineral density assessments in zebrafish and other small laboratory fishes using X-ray radiography and micro-computed tomography
Authors: Kague Erika , Kwon Ronald Young , Busse Björn , Witten Paul Eckhard , Karasik David
Published: October 2024

Zebrafish and other small laboratory fishes are emerging as important animal models for investigating human skeletal development and diseases. In recent years, there has been a notable increase in research publications employing X-ray radiography and micro-computed tomography to analyze the skeletal structures of these animals. However, evaluating bone morphology and mineral density in small laboratory fish poses unique challenges compared to well-established small rodent models. The varied approaches to image acquisition, analysis, and reporting across studies have led to substantial obstacles in interpreting and comparing research findings. This article addresses the urgent need for standardized reporting of parameters and methodologies related to image acquisition and analysis, as well as the adoption of harmonized nomenclature. Furthermore, it offers guidance on anatomical terminology, units of measurement, and the establishment of minimal parameters for reporting, along with comprehensive documentation of methods and algorithms used for acquisition and analysis. We anticipate that adherence to these guidelines will enhance the consistency, reproducibility, and interpretability of reported measurements of bone density and morphometry in small fish models. These advancements are vital for accurately interpreting phenotypes and gene functions, particularly in the context of multi-center studies.
Frauds on Navy Pay and the Men and Women of Maritime London, c.1620–1740
Authors: Hunt Margaret R
Published: October 2024

During the wars of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries tens of thousands of English sailors had their wages deferred because the government could not come up with the cash to pay them. Instead, Navy sailors were discharged with undated government promissory notes, usually called ‘sailors’ tickets’, which they and their families sometimes had to wait months or years to have paid. This essay traces the way the Navy tried to institutionalize this system, and it also looks at competing ordering projects coming from within the London maritime community that sought to pressure the government to pay the tickets in a timely fashion, to manage overextended credit networks and — in the face of considerable Navy opposition — to make tickets more fungible so they could be used as collateral for debts.

One feature of these conflicts was the rise of frauds on sailors’ pay tickets, and over time the Navy endorsed increasingly punitive methods to deal with the problem, most notably various kinds of institutional prosecution. The people indicted for ticket fraud, many of them at the Old Bailey, were predominantly women, and their ‘crimes’ were linked to more legitimate activities long associated with sailors’ female relatives. This essay argues that predatory borrowing by the State and the competing ordering projects to which it gave rise helped to configure as well as to distort social relations and economic opportunity both for women and men within the maritime community.
Prize court politics and regional ordering in the Caribbean
Authors: Mulich Jeppe
Published: October 2024

This article analyzes the practices and politics of Caribbean prize courts at the turn of the nineteenth century, in order to better understand the dynamics of these peculiar legal institutions on the ground in one of the most volatile inter-imperial maritime spaces of the period. The focus is on the daily operation of the courts, the relationship between different regional courts (within and between empires), and, importantly, on their role within wider Caribbean networks. The article asks how knowledge about these courts was shared within the trans- imperial networks of the region. Court shopping was a common practice and claimants would often go out of their way to take captures or cases to specific courts, either within a single empire or even in a different imperial jurisdiction, but how did potential claimants come to be so familiar with the characteristics of individual administrations and magistrates? And how did they disseminate this information? The story of Caribbean prize courts is the story of order-making at different, sometimes clashing, levels. While the legal regime around prizes can be seen as an ordering mechanism for interactions between empires, the Caribbean saw its own order-building project driven less by decision-­makers in faraway metropoles and more by individual actors within the region, equally likely to exploit, support, or circumvent the legal mechanisms set up by officials. These regional groups were especially likely to act against the prize regime when it posed a challenge to the sanctity of their private property, be it goods or enslaved.
Unraveling the impact of operational parameters and environmental conditions on the quality of viable bacterial aerosols
Authors: Thirugnanasampanthar Mathura , Tian Lei , Rhem Rod G , Libera Danielle D , Gomez Mellissa , Jackson Kyle , Fox-Robichaud Alison E , Dolovich Myrna B , Hosseinidoust Zeinab
Published: October 2024

Viable pathogen-laden droplets of consistent quality are essential for reliably assessing the protection offered by facemasks against airborne infections. We identified a significant gap in guidance within standardized tests for evaluating the filtration efficiencies of facemask materials using viable bacteria-laden aerosol droplets. An aerosol platform, built according to the American Society for Testing and Materials standard F2101-19, was used to validate and standardize facemask filtration test procedures. We utilized this platform to investigate the impact of varying five operating parameters, namely suspension media composition, relative humidity, pathogen concentration, and atomizer airflow and feed flow rates, on the aerosol quality of viable bacteria-laden aerosols. We achieved consistent generation of 1,700 to 3,000 viable bacteria-laden droplets sized between 2.7 and 3.3 µm under the following optimized test conditions: 1.5% w/v peptone water concentration, ≥80% relative humidity at 24 ± 2 °C, 1 × 105 CFU/mL bacterial concentration, 1.5 L/min atomizer airflow rate, and 170 μL/min feed flow rate. We also explored the consequence of deviating from these optimized test parameters on viable bacteria-laden aerosol quality. These results highlight the importance of controlling these parameters when studying airborne transmission and control.
The epistemic and the deontic preface paradox
Authors: Lissia Lina Maria , Sprenger Jan
Published: October 2024

This paper generalizes the preface paradox beyond the conjunctive aggregation of beliefs and constructs an analogous paradox for deontic reasoning. The analysis of the deontic case suggests a systematic restriction of intuitive rules for reasoning with obligations. This proposal can be transferred to the epistemic case: It avoids the preface and the lottery paradox and saves one of the two directions of the Lockean Thesis (i.e. high credence is sufficient, but not necessary for rational belief). The resulting account compares favorably to competing proposals; in particular, we can formulate the rules of correct doxastic reasoning without reference to probabilistic features of the involved propositions.
A Cauchy–Davenport Theorem for Locally Compact Groups
Authors: Jing Yifan , Tran Chieu-Minh
Published: October 2024

We generalize the Cauchy–Davenport theorem to all locally compact groups.
Health risk assessment of toxic metals and DNA damage in somatic and germ cells by soil and groundwater of a major cement factory in Nigeria
Authors: Alabi Okunola A , Ayeni Funmilayo E , Afolabi Tomiwa A
Published: October 2024

The waste generated from cement manufacturing is an important source of heavy metal contamination of groundwater and soil. This study investigated the concentration of toxic metals in the soil of a major cement factory and nearby groundwater. Ecological and carcinogenic risks of the metals were calculated. Potential reproductive toxicity and genotoxic effects of the samples were assessed in the sex and somatic cells of male mice using sperm abnormalities and bone marrow micronucleus (MN) assays, respectively. Also, the serum ALP, ALT, AST, total testosterone (TT), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH); and liver SOD and CAT activities were measured in the treated mice. Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mn, Cd, and Pb levels in the soil and groundwater exceeded the allowable maximum standard. Ingestion and dermal contact were the most probable routes of human exposure with children having about 3 times higher probability of exposure to the metals than adults. Ni, Pb, and Cr presented carcinogenic risks in children and adults. In the MN result, nuclear abnormalities in the studied mice especially micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes increased significantly (P < 0.05). Compared to the negative control, the ratio of PCE/NCE showed the cytotoxicity of the 2 samples. Data further showed a significant increase in the serum ALP, AST, and ALT while the liver CAT and SOD activities concomitantly decreased in the exposed mice. Sperm morphology results showed that the samples contained constituents capable of inducing reproductive toxicity in exposed organisms, with alterations to the concentrations of TT, LH, and FSH. Toxic metal constituents of the samples were believed to induce these reported reproductive toxicity and genotoxic effects. These results showed the environmental pollution caused by cement factories and the potential effects the pollutants might have on exposed eukaryotic organisms.
Defining VOC signatures of airway epithelial cells with PM2.5 exposure
Authors: Linderholm Angela L , Borras Eva , Aribindi Katyayini , Jones Leilani L , Rojas Dante E , Bein Keith , McCartney Mitchell M , Davis Cristina E , Harper Richart W , Kenyon Nicholas J
Published: October 2024

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the lung in response to exposure to environmental pollutants can be utilized to study their impact on lung health and function. Previously, we developed a method to measure VOCs emitted from well-differentiated tracheobronchial epithelial cells in vitro. Using this method, we exposed well-differentiated proximal (PECs) and distal airway epithelial cells (DECs) to varying doses of traffic-related air pollutants (TRAP) and wildfire particulates to determine specific VOC signatures after exposure. We utilized PM2.5 TRAP collected from the Caldecott tunnel in Oakland, CA and the 2018 Camp Fire to model “real-life” exposures. The VOCs were collected and extracted from Twisters and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Exposure to both types of particulate matter (PM) resulted in specific VOC responses grouped by individual subjects with little overlap. Interestingly the VOCs produced by the PECs and DECs were also differentiated from each other. Our studies suggest that PM exposure induces a specific compartmentalized cellular response that can be exploited for future studies. This response is cell-type specific and potentially related to a phenotype we have yet to uncover.
Clinician and Practice Characteristics Associated With Support of Office-Based Methadone: Findings From a National Survey
Authors: Sung Minhee L. , Black Anne C. , Blevins Derek , Henry Brandy F. , Cates-Wessel Kathryn , Dawes Michael A. , Hagle Holly , Joudrey Paul J. , Molfenter Todd , Levin Frances R. , Fiellin David A. , Edelman E. Jennifer
Published: October 2024

Background

Alternative models for methadone delivery outside of federal and state-regulated opioid treatment programs may improve access. We determined factors associated with clinician support for continuing office-based methadone.

Methods

We used data from the electronic Opioid Use Disorder Provider COVID-19 Survey conducted among X-waivered clinicians who were providing outpatient, longitudinal treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) from July 2020 to August 2020. The outcome variable was selecting “The opportunity for patients to receive office-based methadone” when asked “Which pandemic-related policy changes or new policy changes would you like to be continued or started after the pandemic?” Using sequential multivariable logistic regression modeling, we estimated the association between clinician and practice characteristics and support for office-based methadone.

Results

Of 1900 respondents, 728 met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-eight percent indicated support for office-based methadone. Clinician characteristics associated with support for office-based methadone were being Black or African American versus White (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] [95% confidence interval (CI)], 2.88 [1.19–6.98]), having provided medications for OUD (MOUD) for >15 years versus ≤15 years (AOR [95% CI], 1.66 [1.02–2.68]), treating 51 to 100 patients with MOUD monthly versus <25 patients (AOR [95% CI], 1.79 [1.04–3.09]), providing methadone (AOR [95% CI], 1.71 [1.03–2.85]) versus not providing MOUD previously, and working in an academic medical center versus other settings (AOR [95% CI], 1.88 [1.11–3.16]).

Conclusions

A minority of surveyed X-waivered clinicians supported office-based methadone. Efforts to expand access to methadone via office-based settings should address implementation barriers.
Can Offset Analgesia Magnitude Provide Additional Information About Endogenous Pain Modulation in People With Knee Osteoarthritis?
Authors: Johansson Elin , Puts Sofie , Rice David , Beckwée David , Leemans Lynn , Bilterys Thomas , Schiphof Dieuwke , Bautmans Ivan , Coppieters Iris , Nijs Jo
Published: October 2024

Objectives:

To investigate the relationship between offset analgesia magnitude and the responsiveness to conditioned pain modulation (CPM), temporal summation of (second) pain (TSP), and clinical pain severity in people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Methods:

Electrical stimuli were applied to 88 participants with KOA to measure offset analgesia at the volar forearm of the dominant hand, and CPM and TSP at the most symptomatic knee and ipsilateral volar wrist. Clinical pain severity was assessed using the pain subscale of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOSPAIN). Linear mixed-effects models evaluated pain modulatory effects across all tests, and Spearman partial correlations assessed associations between offset analgesia, CPM, TSP, and KOOSPAIN while accounting for covariates of interest. Participants unable to validly finish all psychophysical tests were excluded from effect and correlation analyses but were evaluated for predictors of nonvalid completion using bivariate Stochastic Search Variable Selection.

Results:

Significant pain modulation was observed across all psychophysical tests (P<0.05), and no meaningful predictors of nonvalid test completion were found. Offset analgesia magnitude did not significantly correlate with CPM, TSP, or KOOSPAIN (P≥0.05), with a maximum partial correlation coefficient of ρ=0.21.

Discussion:

Offset analgesia was not associated with CPM, TSP, or KOOSPAIN in people with KOA. Despite the lack of case-control studies comparing offset analgesia between people with KOA and healthy controls, these findings suggest that offset analgesia may provide information about endogenous pain modulation beyond CPM and TSP, though its clinical translation remains uncertain.
The Prevalence of Intraoperative Neuromonitoring in Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion
Authors: Rowe Dana G. , Barrett Connor , Owolo Edwin , Rivera Nicole , Johnson Eli , Abdelgadir Jihad , Crowell Kerri-Anne , Goodwin C. Rory , Erickson Melissa M.
Published: October 2024

Study Design:

Retrospective cohort study.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate recent trends in the use of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) in the United States, (2) assess regional variations in the use of IONM, and (3) assess the association between IONM and clinical outcomes.

Summary of Background Data:

IONM is frequently used during anterior cervical procedures to mitigate the risk of neurological injury. Prior studies have demonstrated decreasing utilization of IONM in ACDFs. However, no recent studies have re-assessed these trends.

Methods:

Cases of cervical myelopathy and radiculopathy that underwent ACDF from 2011 to 2021 were identified through the PearlDiver Patient Record Database. Rates of IONM were compared based on patient age, gender, income, and region. Complications, 30-day readmissions, and reimbursement rates were also assessed.

Results:

We identified 285,939 patients undergoing isolated ACDF, with 45,943 (16.1%) of these cases using IONM. There was a significant increase in the use of IONM for ACDFs over the study period (R
2=0.87, P<0.001). Significant regional variability was observed in the utility of IONM (Northeast; 21.2%, Midwest; 16.3%, South; 14.7%, West; 14.2%; P<0.001). Younger age and higher patient income were associated with increased utility of IONM (P<0.001). IONM was associated with significantly higher costs but no reduction in rates of postoperative neurological complications (P<0.001 and 0.29, respectively).

Conclusion:

This study demonstrates a significant increase in IONM utilization during ACDFs over the past decade. Considerable differences exist in IONM use concerning patient demographics, income, and geographic region, with the highest utilization in the Northeast. Notably, despite the association of IONM with over a 20% increase in reimbursement rates, its implementation was not associated with a reduction in rates of neurological complications.