bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Employee Participation Rights During Company Restructuring: Lessons Learned from the “Capability for Voice” in British Law
Authors: Dibra Migen
Published: January 2022

In the current economic context, marked by a growing number of company restructuring processes as well as a rising unemployment rate, it seems important to address the employee’s issue of job security as well as the need to reduce the negative impacts that some restructuring processes have on businesses and employees. One solution in this regard is to ensure that employees are heard during the restructuring process. Since the Quebec and the federal Canadian legal frameworks on the subject offer insufficient protections, the author’s goal is to find solutions in order to strengthen the existing frameworks as well as to suggest different ways of adopting other legal information and consultation procedures applicable to company restructuring in general. To this end, the author is interested in whether a process of information and consultation of employees in restructuring matters, similar to what exists in the European Union, is possible in Canada, in light of the British experience. In fact, the United Kingdom’s case is particularly interesting for Canada, because this country originally applied a collective laissez-faire approach to employee participation rights during company restructuring which was similar to the North American one. It was only because of mandatory directives of the European Union on the subject that the United Kingdom has set up information and consultation procedures recognized by law. In order to perform this study, we have used the method of comparative law and as a theoretical framework we have applied the capability for voice, developed by Amartya Sen, which provides a method for assessing the impact and relevance of Parliament acts that recognize extended participation rights to employees in regard to a company’s economic decisions. In doing so, we assess the extent that the British statutory instruments, related to the subject matter under study, meet the conditions of the capability for voice, which are prerequisites to pass from the involvement stage of the employees in company decisions to their real influence on such issues.
Récit colonial allemand sur la région du Cross-river au Cameroun : pluri-référentialité, collection des savoirs ethnologiques et relations interculturelles – le cas de Urwald-Dokumente: Vier Jahre unter den Crossflussnegern Kameruns d’Alfred Mansfeld
Authors: Nkouda Romuald Valentin
Published: January 2022

On the basis of the colonial narrative of Alfred Mansfeld, the present article shows how the narrator manages to convey his knowledge about Cameroon’s Cross-river region. German colonial literature played a very active part in the media campaign for the dissemination of information about the colonies. Therefore, the colonial space became an object of interest (as a source of knowledge) for colonial writers. The presented intercultural reading makes it possible to outline the different visions of cultural contact that existed between the colonizer and the natives.
Baroness Emma Orczy’s Divided Loyalties in the 1910s and 20s
Authors: Strickland-Pajtok Agnes
Published: January 2022

The aim of this article is to examine the ambivalent attitudes of the British-Hungarian popular writer Baroness Emma Orczy towards involvement in the Great War. In the 1910s Orczy participated in British military recruitment drives, whilst also maintaining cultural ties with her homeland of Hungary. The questions this study attempts to answer are: what kind of strategies of identification did Orczy employ in order to come to terms with supporting both the Allies and the Central Powers? And: whether through her contrasting stances the operation of a hybrid identity can be captured.
External characteristics of lithium-ion power battery based on electrochemical aging decay model
Authors: Li Xiao-Jie , Yu Yun-Tai , Zhang Zhi-Wen , Dong Xiao-Rui ,   School of Energy and Power Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Published: January 2022

The current electrochemical models of lithium-ion power batteries have many problems, such as complex models, difficult modeling, low computational efficiency and poor aging evaluation effect. In this paper, a mechanism model (ADME) considering battery decay and aging is proposed. In this paper, the pseudo-two-dimensions (P2D) electrochemical model is first reduced by finite difference method to obtain a simplified P2D (SP2D). On the basis of SP2D model, a mechanism model considering battery decay and aging is proposed, which is based on the degradation and aging phenomenon caused by the side reactions between positive and negative electrodes. Secondly, the multivariate deviation compensation least square method is used to identify the model parameters. Finally, the terminal voltage output of SP2D model is compared with that of ADME model and the outputs from the two models are also analyzed through the cycle experiment on power battery aging performance, constant current and pulse condition. The results show that the ADME model is relatively simple, has high computational efficiency and estimation accuracy, and can effectively evaluate the aging decline of battery capacity, and obtain the ideal external characteristic curve of lithium ion power battery.
The Sensation Novel and the Redundant Woman Question
Authors: Steinlight Emily
Published: January 2022

This chapter follows the narrative logic of biopolitics into the English countryside, where similar pressures turn out to be covertly at work. It traces how the sensation novels of the 1860s became notorious for enclosing the infectious qualities of the crowd within a female body and allowing that body to infiltrate the apparently protected sphere of domestic fiction. To explain the outrage provoked by such bestsellers as Lady Audley's Secret and East Lynne, the chapter attributes their distinctive plot twists to the Victorian demographic theory of “redundant women”: a female population exceeding the national demand for wives and mothers. It investigates how the novels of Mary Braddon and Ellen Wood made their antiheroines all but synonymous with mass population, mass culture, and systems of industrial mass production. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates why a particular narrative version of redundancy became paradoxically central to fiction as well as to the sexual and cultural politics of criticism.
“Because We Are Too Menny”
Authors: Steinlight Emily
Published: January 2022

This chapter investigates what happens to the novel at a notably post-Darwinian moment. It examines The Odd Women, New Grub Street, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Jude the Obscure novels — which explicitly mark their main characters as disposable lives. Telling tales of blocked generational mobility, depleted vital instinct, and failed procreation, these late-Victorian texts dealt a forceful blow to the reproductive future that fiction had once promised. In turning to the 1880s and 1890s and to the novels of Thomas Hardy and George Gissing, the chapter looks beyond the collapse of the marriage plot to a more absolute break with the projected future that marriage had once pledged. Glancing at Gissing's and Hardy's novels, the chapter reveals how unsustainable the marriage plot had become by the 1890s. Ultimately, it illustrates how Hardy's and Gissing's novels at once rely on and resist two contemporaneous discourses: Emile Durkheim's sociology of anomie and August Weismann's germ plasm theory of heredity.
Writing Nagasaki
Authors: Diehl Chad R.
Published: January 2022

This chapter discusses the psychological warfare approach of the Americans against Japan. It outlines the Supreme Commander for the Allied Power's (SCAP) control of the publishing industry and how the psychological warfare approach shaped the content of the material produced and published during the occupation. Many strategies of the psychological war against Japan during the Second World War continued into the occupation. The chapter then unfolds how the United States dedicated massive amounts of paper to disseminating ideas favorable to the Americans and their allies in the hopes of influencing the minds of the Japanese people. Among the tens of thousands of books published during the first five years after the war, the books by Nagai Takashi stand out as products of the policies of the Allied occupation. Ultimately, the chapter analyses the implications of the publication of Nagasaki no kane and how it illuminated the ways in which SCAP involvement in the publishing industry shaped the atomic-bombing literature and narratives about the Nagasaki bombing in general.
Valley of Memories
Authors: Diehl Chad R.
Published: January 2022

This chapter begins with discussing the published article of the former Nagasaki mayor Motoshima Hitoshi entitled “Hiroshima yo, ogoru nakare” (Hiroshima, be not proud!). It spotlights Motoshima's viewpoint in Hiroshima's memory of the war and its perpetuation of Japan's sense of victimhood and inability to confront its wartime aggression. The chapter also examines Motoshima's way of thinking, his career as a politician, and how he exemplified Nagasaki's convergence of atomic narratives. His view of the atomic bombings as an unavoidable end to Japan's war of aggression was sometimes misunderstood as a moral justification of the bombings, or even senility, especially when he played so prominent a role in Nagasaki's peace movement during his time as mayor. Ultimately, the chapter talks about the condition of Nagasaki today as a vibrant city that both champions its international past and commemorates its atomic tragedy.
The False Promise of Covert Regime Change
Authors: O’Rourke Lindsey A.
Published: January 2022

This chapter discusses covert regime change and how little attention it has received in international affairs. Despite the fact that covert regime changes have long played a central role in international politics, comprehensive theories to explain how, when, and why states launch these operations are lacking, possibly because of the special challenges involved in studying covert actions. Nonetheless, American actions during the Cold War offer a unique opportunity to study the covert actions of a great power. Indeed, the United States and other great powers will likely continue to undertake both covert and overt missions regularly. To understand modern world affairs, it is therefore necessary to determine how and why states launch these operations. Toward that end, the chapter briefly lays out the causes, conduct, and consequences of foreign-imposed covert regime change.
Conduct
Authors: O’Rourke Lindsey A.
Published: January 2022

This chapter explores why states intervene covertly versus overtly during their regime changes. First, it discusses the two major tactical factors weighed by policymakers. It then looks at leaders' broader geostrategic considerations. Afterward, the chapter explains why both tactical and strategic considerations favor covert conduct, and it discusses the conditions under which states will intervene overtly. Next, the five types of covert tactics employed by states during their regime changes are laid out. Finally, the chapter argues that the conduct of a regime change is best thought of as falling along a continuum between truly covert and directly overt action, and it investigates the phenomenon of “pseudo-covert operations,” that is, regime changes where the intervening state officially denies its role even though all parties involved seem to know of its participation.
Overview of US-Backed Regime Changes during the Cold War
Authors: O’Rourke Lindsey A.
Published: January 2022

This chapter provides a historical overview of America's experience with regime change during the Cold War. Looking at the broad trends in America's regime change policy highlights the shifting security interests driving U.S. behavior over this period, the reasons why leaders preferred covert conduct, and the general utility of covert operations. The chapter is split into three sections. These correspond to the three types of security interests motivating these operations: offensive, preventive, and hegemonic. Each section outlines the motives behind that type of regime change, followed by a discussion of how each type of operation fulfilled the two prerequisites for intervention introduced in Chapter 2: namely, that they were in response to a chronic, security-oriented interstate dispute and that the intervening state must have identified a plausible political alternative to the target regime. Although the chapter deals with both covert and overt cases, the six overt cases receive closer individual attention because they pose a stronger challenge to the assertion that states generally prefer to conduct their regime changes covertly.
Dictators and Democrats in the Dominican Republic
Authors: O’Rourke Lindsey A.
Published: January 2022

This chapter argues that presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson did not foresee a direct Soviet threat in the Dominican Republic when they decided to intervene. Instead, America pursued the maintenance of a hierarchical regional order in the Western Hemisphere. With this end in view, U.S. policymakers feared that if a socialist or communist regime came to power in the Dominican Republic, its success could spark left-wing revolts in neighboring countries, leading to a cascade of defections from the U.S.-led order and potentially the collapse of U.S. regional hegemony. As such, the chapter investigates a series of hegemonic operations against the Dominican Republic during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Eisenhower initiated a coup d'état plot against America's one-time ally General Rafael Trujillo that came to fruition under Kennedy and resulted in Trujillo's 1961 assassination. In 1962, Kennedy launched a second covert operation to manipulate the country's upcoming presidential elections. After these covert efforts failed to produce a stable government, Johnson overtly intervened during a 1965 crisis to prevent leftist forces from assuming power. Afterward, he reverted to covert conduct to manipulate Dominican elections in 1966 and 1968.
Introduction
Authors: Ferguson Gary
Published: January 2022

This chapter provides a background on the issue of same-sex marriage that come to prominence in many countries around the world in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It recounts the granting of the right of two women or two men to marry by the nations of the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, and Argentina. It also mentions other states that instituted alternative forms of civil union or domestic partnership, conferring all or some of the same legal benefits of marriage. The chapter focuses on the idea of marriage between two people of the same sex that has appeared in a wide variety of texts during the early modern period in Europe. It looks at references to the classical world and ancient sources that tell of emperors marrying their favorite male slaves.
Other Witnesses, Other Stories
Authors: Ferguson Gary
Published: January 2022

This chapter talks about a series of newsletters that were sent from Rome on the arrest of some young men that performed a wedding and went to bed together after getting drunk. It refers to the description of the youths' relations wherein the euphemism coricarsi was used by the author, noting that the association of marrying followed by sex echoes closely the accounts of Michel de Montaigne and Antonio Tiepolo. It also cites the evidence from Rome that attests to the prevalence of more sinister variants of socializing among groups of men. The chapter reviews Marina Baldassari's analysis of cases in which boys were abducted for sexual purposes by older youths or adults. It highlights the cultural scenario of pederastic exploitation, abduction, and rape that reflects the reality of certain aspects of the relations between the members of the group of men and their actions.
Marriage as Alibi, as Euphemism, as Recruitment
Authors: Ferguson Gary
Published: January 2022

This chapter looks at the testimony of Antonio Valez, who was part of the group of men that was arrested and accused of getting married and conducting sodomy in a vineyard. It describes vineyards outside the city walls of Rome as the site of sexual activities, including the abduction and rape of boys by older youths or men. It also analyzes the question of marriage that came up in Valez's next statement, which was a response to the court's telling him to describe what business it was that brought him to Rome. The chapter explores Valez's statement of a desire for chastity that serves to counter suspicions of debauchery and sodomy, referencing to marriage. It details how Valez sought to establish his distance from any form of shameful or illicit sexual activity and the potential of his contracting an honorable, religious, and legal union with a woman.
Ghost Stories
Authors: Ferguson Gary
Published: January 2022

This chapter proposes ways in which cases studies about same-sex marriage might be “usable” or lend itself to meaningful appropriation in the present. It brings the evidence from Renaissance Rome into dialogue with the issue of same-sex marriage from the perspectives of LGBT politics and queer politics. It also develops lines of reflection concerning forms of desire and resistance, including memory, loss, and place, sexual and social dissidence, creative and transformative appropriation, alternative temporalities, and histories yet unknown. The chapter reviews intimate information concerning the sex lives of a group of men from the sixteenth century, which is considered important for the history of sexuality. It explores the extent to which it was possible in early modern Europe to conceive of a marriage between two masculinities or two femininities.
Policing China
Authors: Scoggins Suzanne E.
Published: January 2022

This book delves into the paradox of China's self-projection of a strong security state while having a weak police bureaucracy. Assessing the problems of resources, enforcement, and oversight that beset the police, outside of cracking down on political protests, the book finds that the central government and the Ministry of Public Security have prioritized “stability maintenance” (weiwen) to the detriment of nearly every aspect of policing. The result, the book argues, is a hollowed-out and ineffective police force that struggles to deal with everyday crime. Using interviews with police officers up and down the hierarchy, as well as station data, news reports, and social media postings, the book probes the challenges faced by ground-level officers and their superiors at the Ministry of Public Security as they attempt to do their jobs in the face of funding limitations, reform challenges, and structural issues. The book concludes that despite the social control exerted by China's powerful bureaucracies, security failures at the street-level have undermined Chinese citizens' trust in the legitimacy of the police and the capabilities of the state.
Factory Women in the Postwar Settlement
Authors: Nam Hwasook
Published: January 2022

This chapter examines the tempestuous 1950s centering on the momentous Chosŏn Spinning and Weaving (Chobang) dispute of 1951–52 in Pusan. The Chobang dispute helped create the momentum for a relatively progressive set of labor laws that passed the National Assembly in 1953. As in the Pyongyang rubber strikes of the early 1930s, women workers again performed a crucial role in the textile dispute and their role gained a certain degree of recognition and respect in 1950s Korea — unlike what happened in the following decades. The process and effect of the Chobang labor dispute, however, were quite different from those of the colonial rubber strikes. Postcolonial conditions of nation-building fostered a vastly different state–labor–capital relationship, in which organized labor controlled by men sought to consolidate male workers' rights and interests, a process that developed at the expense of women workers.
Introduction
Authors: Moore Megan
Published: January 2022

This chapter investigates how privilege is shaped by erotics of grief, and examines what that can tell us about the interplay between gender, emotion, and power. It invites us to take a closer look at grief's erotics: what is it about the grieving widow that is so arousing? Specifically, the chapter focuses on how twelfth- and thirteenth-century narratives designed for and commissioned by the medieval elite imagine the contours of their communities of privilege through eroticized grief. The chapter also distinguishes between the terms “affect” as a physiological, biochemical process in the body; “feeling” as post-cognitive; and “emotion” as the deployment of feelings in community. It seeks to shed light on how biological processes become socially mediated expressions of emotion that both expose and collapse this crucial difference. The chapter also highlights how some languages themselves, in the medieval period, collapse this difference — tightening the relation between emotion and community.
What’s At Stake?
Authors: Thomas Ward
Published: January 2022

This chapter returns to the idea that the case studies of nonstate violence examined in the book are, in fact, parts of a single phenomenon — one with important implications for the international system. It starts with addressing some of the connections among these and other types of nonstate violence, including transnational organized crime. The chapter then examines the question of control over, and accountability for, transnational violence. While it is important not to overstate the degree to which sovereign states themselves are always held accountable for the violence they employ, they are nevertheless subject to pressures that can sometimes induce restraint. Nonstate actors, on the other hand, are more often beyond the reach of such measures. In conclusion, the chapter considers some policy implications of nonstate actor violence.
Research on remote sensing image extraction based on deep learning
Authors: Shun Zhao , Li Danyang , Jiang Hongbo , Li Jiao , Peng Ran , Lin Bin , Liu QinLi , Gong Xinyao , Zheng Xingze , Liu Tao
Published: January 2022

Remote sensing technology has the advantages of fast information acquisition, short cycle, and a wide detection range. It is frequently used in surface resource monitoring tasks. However, traditional remote sensing image segmentation technology cannot make full use of the rich spatial information of the image, the workload is too large, and the accuracy is not high enough. To address these problems, this study carried out atmospheric calibration, band combination, image fusion, and other data enhancement methods for Landsat 8 satellite remote sensing data to improve the data quality. In addition, deep learning is applied to remote-sensing image block segmentation. An asymmetric convolution-CBAM (AC-CBAM) module based on the convolutional block attention module is proposed. This optimization module of the integrated attention and sliding window prediction method is adopted to effectively improve the segmentation accuracy. In the experiment of test data, the mIoU, mAcc, and aAcc in this study reached 97.34%, 98.66%, and 98.67%, respectively, which is 1.44% higher than that of DNLNet (95.9%). The AC-CBAM module of this research provides a reference for deep learning to realize the automation of remote sensing land information extraction. The experimental code of our AC-CBAM module can be found at https://github.com/LinB203/remotesense.
Post-mortem enamel surface texture alteration during taphonomic processes—do experimental approaches reflect natural phenomena?
Authors: Weber Katrin , Winkler Daniela E. , Schulz-Kornas Ellen , Kaiser Thomas M. , Tütken Thomas
Published: January 2022

Experimental approaches are often used to better understand the mechanisms behind and consequences of post-mortem alteration on proxies for diet reconstruction. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is such a dietary proxy, using dental wear features in extant and extinct taxa to reconstruct feeding behaviour and mechanical food properties. In fossil specimens especially, DMTA can be biased by post-mortem alteration caused by mechanical or chemical alteration of the enamel surface. Here we performed three different dental surface alteration experiments to assess the effect of common taphonomic processes by simplifying them: (1) tumbling in sediment suspension to simulate fluvial transport, (2) sandblasting to simulate mechanical erosion due to aeolian sediment transport, (3) acid etching to simulate chemical dissolution by stomach acid. For tumbling (1) we found alteration to be mainly dependent on sediment grain size fraction and that on specimens tumbled with sand fractions mainly post-mortem scratches formed on the dental surface, while specimens tumbled with a fine-gravel fraction showed post-mortem formed dales. Sandblasting (2) with loess caused only negligible alteration, however blasting with fine sand quartz particles resulted in significant destruction of enamel surfaces and formation of large post-mortem dales. Acid etching (3) using diluted hydrochloric acid solutions in concentrations similar to that of predator stomachs led to a complete etching of the whole dental surface, which did not resemble those of teeth recovered from owl pellets. The experiments resulted in post-mortem alteration comparable, but not identical to naturally occurring post-mortem alteration features. Nevertheless, this study serves as a first assessment and step towards further, more refined taphonomic experiments evaluating post-mortem alteration of dental microwear texture (DMT).
The Fortification of the Firth of Forth 1880–1977
Authors: Barclay Gordon J , Morris Ron
Published: January 2022

This book describes the story of the great Forth Fortress from 1880 to 1977, when the final traditional defensive capabilities were abandoned. The authors combine archival sources with new fieldwork and oral histories to not only describe what was built, but when and why. This meticulously researched, richly illustrated volume relates the defences in the Forth to the wider political and military context and also describes the human side of the defences: the men and women who manned the fortress. This is a fascinating resource for those interested in Scottish military and naval history, and conflict and battlefield archaeology.
Understanding Nanomaterial–Liver Interactions to Facilitate the Development of Safer Nanoapplications
Authors: Li Jiulong , Chen Chunying , Xia Tian
Published: January 2022

Nanomaterials (NMs) are widely used in commercial and medical products, such as cosmetics, vaccines, and drug carriers. Exposure to NMs via various routes such as dermal, inhalation, and ingestion has been shown to gain access to the systemic circulation, resulting in the accumulation of NMs in the liver. The unique organ structures and blood flow features facilitate the liver sequestration of NMs, which may cause adverse effects in the liver. Currently, most in vivo studies are focused on NMs accumulation at the organ level and evaluation of the gross changes in liver structure and functions, however, cell‐type‐specific uptake and responses, as well as the molecular mechanisms at cellular levels leading to effects at organ levels are lagging. Herein, the authors systematically review diverse interactions of NMs with the liver, specifically on major liver cell types including Kupffer cells (KCs), liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs), hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), and hepatocytes as well as the detailed molecular mechanisms involved. In addition, the knowledge gained on nano‐liver interactions that can facilitate the development of safer nanoproducts and nanomedicine is also reviewed.
3D Microvascularized Tissue Models by Laser‐Based Cavitation Molding of Collagen
Authors: Enrico Alessandro , Voulgaris Dimitrios , Östmans Rebecca , Sundaravadivel Naveen , Moutaux Lucille , Cordier Aurélie , Niklaus Frank , Herland Anna , Stemme Göran
Published: January 2022

3D tissue models recapitulating human physiology are important for fundamental biomedical research, and they hold promise to become a new tool in drug development. An integrated and defined microvasculature in 3D tissue models is necessary for optimal cell functions. However, conventional bioprinting only allows the fabrication of hydrogel scaffolds containing vessel‐like structures with large diameters (>100 µm) and simple geometries. Recent developments in laser photoablation enable the generation of this type of structure with higher resolution and complexity, but the photo‐thermal process can compromise cell viability and hydrogel integrity. To address these limitations, the present work reports in situ 3D patterning of collagen hydrogels by femtosecond laser irradiation to create channels and cavities with diameters ranging from 20 to 60 µm. In this process, laser irradiation of the hydrogel generates cavitation gas bubbles that rearrange the collagen fibers, thereby creating stable microchannels. Such 3D channels can be formed in cell‐ and organoid‐laden hydrogel without affecting the viability outside the lumen and can enable the formation of artificial microvasculature by the culture of endothelial cells and cell media perfusion. Thus, this method enables organs‐on‐a‐chip and 3D tissue models featuring complex microvasculature.
Visible‐Light‐Driven Isocyanide Insertion to o‐Alkenylanilines: A Route to Isoindolinone Synthesis
Authors: Dahiya Anjali , Das Bubul , Sahoo Ashish Kumar , Patel Bhisma K.
Published: January 2022

A visible‐light‐mediated intermolecular radical insertion of isocyanides to electron‐deficient o‐alkenylanilines leading to isoindolinone is reported. Deuterium (D2O) and H2O18 labelling experiments suggest H and O incorporation in the product. The formation of an N‐centered radical (NCR) via stepwise PT/ET process was confirmed by radical trapping experiments, photoluminescence, cyclic voltammetry and DFT studies. This photo cascade methodology is overall a redox neutral process featuring metal‐free condition and broad substrate scope (32 examples). The synthesis of analogue of GABA receptor antagonist shows the practical utility of this method.

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Moderated Basicity of Endohedral Amine Groups in an Octa‐Cationic Self‐Assembled Cage
Authors: Ngai Courtney , Wu Hoi‐Ting , da Camara Bryce , Williams Christopher G. , Mueller Leonard J. , Julian Ryan R. , Hooley Richard J.
Published: January 2022

A self‐assembled FeII4L6 cage was synthesized with 12 internal amines in the cavity. The cage forms as the dodeca‐ammonium salt, despite the cage carrying an overall 8+ charge at the metal centers, extracting protons from displaced water in the reaction. Despite this, the basicity of the internal amines is lower than their counterparts in free solution. The 12 amines have a sliding scale of basicity, with a ≈6 pKa unit difference between the first and last protons to be removed. This moderation of side‐chain basicity in an active site is a hallmark of enzymatic catalysis.
Fluorescence Colour Control in Perylene‐Labeled Polymer Chains Trapped by Nanotextured Silicon
Authors: Takao Ryota , Ushiro Kenta , Kusano Hazuki , Yuyama Ken‐ichi , Shoji Tatsuya , Linklater Denver P. , Ivanova Elena , Juodkazis Saulius , Tsuboi Yasuyuki
Published: January 2022

The ability to modulate, tune, and control fluorescence colour has attracted much attention in photonics‐related research fields. Thus far, it has been impossible to achieve fluorescence colour control (FCC) for material with a fixed structure, size, surrounding medium, and concentration. Here, we propose a novel approach to FCC using optical tweezers. We demonstrate an optical trapping technique using nanotextured Si (black‐Si) that can efficiently trap polymer chains. By increasing the laser intensity, the local concentration of perylene‐labelled water‐soluble polymer chains increased inside the trapping potential. Accordingly, the excimer fluorescence of perylene increased while the monomer fluorescence decreased, evidenced by a fluorescence colour change from blue to orange. Using nanostructure‐assisted optical tweezing, we demonstrate control of the relative intensity ratio of fluorescence of the two fluorophores, thus showing remote and reversible FCC of the polymer assembly.
Epigenetic comparison of CHO hosts and clones reveals divergent methylation and transcription patterns across lineages
Authors: Chang Meiping , Kumar Amit , Kumar Swetha , Huhn Steven , Timp Winston , Betenbaugh Michael , Du Zhimei
Published: January 2022

In this study, we examined DNA methylation and transcription profiles of recombinant clones derived from two different Chinese hamster ovary hosts. We found striking epigenetic differences between the clones, with global hypomethylation in the host 1 clones that produce bispecific antibody with higher productivity and complex assembly efficiency. Whereas the methylation patterns were found mostly inherited from the host, the host 1 clones exhibited continued demethylation reflected by the hypomethylation of newly emerged differential methylation regions (DMRs) even at the clone development stage. Several interconnected biological functions and pathways including cell adhesion, regulation of ion transport, and cholesterol biosynthesis were significantly altered between the clones at the RNA expression level and contained DMR in the promoter and/or gene‐body of the transcripts, suggesting epigenetic regulation. Indeed, expression changes of epigenetic regulators were observed including writers (Dnmt1, Setdb1), readers (Mecp2), and erasers (Tet3, Kdm3a, Kdm1b/5c) involved in CpG methylation, histone methylation, and heterochromatin maintenance. In addition, we identified putative transcription factors that may be readers or effectors of the epigenetic regulation in these clones. By combining transcriptomics with DNA methylation data, we identified potential processes and factors that may contribute to the variability in cell physiology between different production hosts.
Heterogeneity among tumors with acquired resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors harboring EGFR‐T790M mutation in non‐small cell lung cancer cells
Authors: Katayama Yuki , Yamada Tadaaki , Tokuda Shinsaku , Okura Naoko , Nishioka Naoya , Morimoto Kenji , Tanimura Keiko , Morimoto Yoshie , Iwasaku Masahiro , Horinaka Mano , Sakai Toshiyuki , Kita Kenji , Yano Seiji , Takayama Koichi
Published: January 2022

EGFR‐T790M mutation is a major mechanism underlying acquired resistance to first‐ and second‐generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR‐TKIs) in lung cancer with mutated EGFR. However, differences in the biological characteristics of T790M tumors based on treatment regimens with each generation of EGFR‐TKI are not fully understood. We established cell lines with acquired resistance harboring EGFR‐T790M mutation derived from xenograft tumors treated with each generation of EGFR‐TKI and examined their biological characteristics with respect to third‐generation EGFR‐TKI osimertinib sensitivity. Second‐generation EGFR‐TKI dacomitinib‐resistant cells with T790M‐exhibited higher sensitivity to osimertinib than first‐generation EGFR‐TKI gefitinib‐resistant cells with T790M via inhibition of AKT and ERK signaling and promotion of apoptosis. Furthermore, gefitinib‐resistant cells showed enhanced intratumor heterogeneity accompanied by genomic instability and activation of alternative resistance mechanisms compared with dacomitinib‐resistant cells; this suggests that the maintenance of EGFR dependency after acquiring resistance might depend on the type of EGFR‐TKI. Our results demonstrate that the progression of tumor heterogeneity via both genetic and non‐genetic mechanisms might affect osimertinib sensitivity in tumors with acquired resistance harboring EGFR‐T790M mutation.
Pre‐diagnostic levels of sVEGFR2, sTNFR2, sIL‐2Rα and sIL‐6R are associated with glioma risk: A nested case–control study of repeated samples
Authors: Wu Wendy Yi‐Ying , Späth Florentin , Wibom Carl , Björkblom Benny , Dahlin Anna M. , Melin Beatrice
Published: January 2022

No strong aetiological factors have been established for glioma aside from genetic mutations and variants, ionising radiation and an inverse relationship with asthmas and allergies. Our aim was to investigate the association between pre‐diagnostic immune protein levels and glioma risk. We conducted a case–control study nested in the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study cohort. We analysed 133 glioma cases and 133 control subjects matched by age, sex and date of blood donation. ELISA or Luminex bead‐based multiplex assays were used to measure plasma levels of 19 proteins. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios and 95% CIs. To further model the protein trajectories over time, the linear mixed‐effects models were conducted. We found that the levels of sVEGFR2, sTNFR2, sIL‐2Rα and sIL‐6R were associated with glioma risk. After adjusting for the time between blood sample collection and glioma diagnosis, the odds ratios were 1.72 (95% CI = 1.01–2.93), 1.48 (95% CI = 1.01–2.16) and 1.90 (95% CI = 1.14–3.17) for sTNFR2, sIL‐2Rα and sIL‐6R, respectively. The trajectory of sVEGFR2 concentrations over time was different between cases and controls (p‐value = 0.031), increasing for cases (0.8% per year) and constant for controls. Our findings suggest these proteins play important roles in gliomagenesis.
Ultrawide Range and High‐precision Temperature Monitoring based on NiO/Polyimide Hybrid Nanomaterials
Authors: Wu Sicheng , Yu Jiajie , Zhang Ke , Yang Jie , Zhang Shuai , Xing Jian , Liu Changbo , Deng Yuan
Published: January 2022

The need for temperature observation appears in all aspects of our lives. With the development of science and technology, higher requirements are put forward for the combination of high‐accuracy and wide detection range of the sensor. In this study, a facile strategy method was developed to prepare a NiO slurry and realize a wide‐range and high‐precision thermistor based on NiO. By dispersing NiO nanoparticles in polyimide (PI) to afford the NiO slurry, a thermistor was obtained by spin coating, thermal curing, and electrode preparation, which can operate in a very wide range from 220 K to 470 K, as well as exhibited an outstanding thermal sensitivity (B) with a value exceeding 5400 K. Moreover, the sensor shows very high detection accuracy and can detect small temperature differences up to 0.05 K. Notably, through brushing the mixture onto the PI substrate or peeling off from the substrate, a flexible, or free‐stand sensor was obtained, which displayed great mechanical properties and stabilities. This allows the sensor to be used on various curved surfaces and other objects with complex shapes, which greatly increases potential applications and the scope of the temperature sensor.
Analytic performance model for parallel overlapping memory‐bound kernels
Authors: Afzal Ayesha , Hager Georg , Wellein Gerhard
Published: January 2022

Complex applications running on multicore processors show a rich performance phenomenology. The growing number of cores per ccNUMA domain complicates performance analysis of memory‐bound code since system noise, load imbalance, or task‐based programming models can lead to thread desynchronization. Hence, the simplifying assumption that all cores execute the same loop can not be upheld. Motivated by observations on plain and modified versions of the HPCG benchmark, we construct a performance model of execution of memory‐bound loop kernels. It can predict the memory bandwidth share per kernel on a memory contention domain depending on the number of active cores and which other workload the kernel is paired with. The only code features required are the single‐thread memory request fraction per kernel, which is directly related to the single‐thread memory bandwidth, and its saturated bandwidth. The former can either be measured directly or predicted using the Execution‐Cache‐Memory performance model. The computational intensity of the kernels and the detailed structure of the code is of no significance. We validate our model on Intel Broadwell, Intel Cascade Lake, and AMD Rome processors pairing various streaming and stencil kernels. The error in predicting the bandwidth share per kernel is less than 8%.
Isolation of Transcriptomic‐Quality Total RNA from Mouse Spinal Cords
Authors: Stokes John V. , Nicaise Ashleigh J. , Frodella Christa M. , Varela‐Stokes Andrea S. , Thompson Tom , Kaplan Barbara L. F.
Published: January 2022

Assessing cells, proteins, and total RNA in the spinal cord is vital for advancing our understanding of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. For instance, immune cells infiltrate the spinal cord in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model, commonly used to study multiple sclerosis. Thus, it is valuable to assess total RNA to determine the neuronal and inflammatory profiles in the spinal cord. Further, RNA profiles are useful for deciphering the effects of drugs or chemicals on neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases such as EAE. The purpose of this protocol and the online video illustrating it is to describe and demonstrate the expulsion of the spinal cord from the mouse spinal column and homogenization of the spinal cord using liquid nitrogen for optimal RNA isolation. Although we present this method with spinal cords from EAE mice, the technique is broadly applicable, including RNA isolation from the spinal cords of healthy mice. Proper performance of these steps is critical to achieving a sufficient yield of transcriptomic‐quality spinal cord RNA when combined with final isolation using commercially available kits. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Basic Protocol 1: Isolation of the spinal cord from the spinal column

Support Protocol: Preparation of blunt‐end needle for spinal cord isolation

Basic Protocol 2: Spinal cord homogenization using liquid nitrogen

Basic Protocol 3: Assessment of RNA purity, quantification, and integrity
High lysine and high protein‐containing salinity‐tolerant rice grains (Oryza sativa cv IR64)
Authors: Mishra Manjari , Rathore Ray Singh , Singla‐Pareek Sneh L , Pareek Ashwani
Published: January 2022

Lysine cannot be synthesized by the human body, and it is, therefore, an indispensable amino acid in the human that must be consumed in adequate amounts to prevent disease. Unfortunately, lysine is not abundant in many important food sources such as rice grains. Efforts to fortify rice and other monocotyledonous crops with high lysine have proved to be challenging because of their effects on plant growth. The present study was designed to avoid the problems that are often encountered in engineering lysine metabolism. We generated different over‐expression constructs for the key anabolic enzyme, dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS and cdapA) and knockdown (KD) constructs for the catabolic enzyme—lysine ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase (LKR/SDH), with expression under the control of either the CaMV35S promoter or the endosperm‐specific glutelinD1 promoter. The use of the endosperm‐specific promoter together with the lysine feedback‐insensitive cdapA for over‐expression provides distinct advantages, as does silencing of LKR/SDH under the control of this promoter. Rice plants produced by over‐expressing cdapA together with silencing of LKR/SDH showed a 58% increase in grain lysine content, as well as higher amounts of total seed protein levels. Moreover, the transgenic seedlings were more tolerant to salinity. These results demonstrate that it is possible to generate high lysine stress‐tolerant rice varieties, which have the potential to reduce the need for dietary supplementation.
Omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acid encapsulation system: Physical and oxidative stability, and medical applications
Authors: Du Qiwei , Zhou Linhui , Li Minghui , Lyu Fei , Liu Jianhua , Ding Yuting
Published: January 2022

The benefits of omega‐3 (ω‐3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) to human health and the therapeutic properties of diseases have been widely identified. However, due to abundant double bonds, they are sensitive to environmental conditions which cause oxidative deterioration. This is one of the main factors limiting their application. The encapsulation of ω‐3 PUFAs is an effective way to improve their oxidation stability. This review summarizes the recent advances in different forms of ω‐3 encapsulation systems, such as emulsions, liposomes, microcapsules, and liquid crystalline. Particular emphasis is given to the effects of food‐derived biopolymers wall materials (proteins, polysaccharides, and esters) on encapsulation efficiency and oxidation stability of ω‐3 PUFAs encapsulation systems. In addition, the effects of natural antioxidants (polyphenols, carotenoids, flavonoids, plant essential oils, etc.) on the antioxidant enhancement of ω‐3 PUFAs encapsulation system based on food‐derived biopolymers are discussed. Different forms of ω‐3 PUFAs encapsulation systems have been proven to be used as supplements in the medical field. The regulation and improvement of the ω‐3 PUFAs encapsulation system on the diseases of animal and human, which are related to central nervous system, retina, lung, kidney and tissue cell, are systematically discussed.
Pricing vulnerable options under correlated skew Brownian motions
Authors: Guo Che , Wang Xingchun
Published: January 2022

In this paper, we consider vulnerable options in a pricing model with correlated skew Brownian motions. In the proposed pricing model, both the underlying asset and option issuer's assets are exposed to endogenous and exogenous risks. We deduct a new pricing formula of vulnerable European options, and then use it to illustrate the effect of the skewness parameters on vulnerable option prices. An interesting finding is that vulnerable option prices are higher when the variance of the logarithm of option issuer's assets is larger in some cases.
The digital transformation of hepatology: The patient is logged in
Authors: Wu Tiffany , Simonetto Douglas A. , Halamka John D. , Shah Vijay H.
Published: January 2022

The rise in innovative digital health technologies has led a paradigm shift in health care toward personalized, patient‐centric medicine that is reaching beyond traditional brick‐and‐mortar facilities into patients’ homes and everyday lives. Digital solutions can monitor and detect early changes in physiological data, predict disease progression and health‐related outcomes based on individual risk factors, and manage disease intervention with a range of accessible telemedicine and mobile health options. In this review, we discuss the unique transformation underway in the care of patients with liver disease, specifically examining the digital transformation of diagnostics, prediction and clinical decision‐making, and management. Additionally, we discuss the general considerations needed to confirm validity and oversight of new technologies, usability and acceptability of digital solutions, and equity and inclusivity of vulnerable populations.