bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
COVID-19 and household water insecurities in vulnerable communities in the Mekong Region
Authors: Lebel Louis , Navy Hap , Siharath Phoummixay , Long Chau Thi Minh , Aung Nilar , Lebel Phimphakan , Hoanh Chu Thai , Lebel Boripat
Published: February 2022

Access to sufficient clean water is important for reducing the risks from COVID-19. It is unclear, however, what influence COVID-19 has had on water insecurities. The objective of this study was to assess the associations between COVID-19 control measures and household water insecurities. A survey of 1559 individuals living in vulnerable communities in five countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) showed that increased needs for clean water to wash hands or facemasks made it more likely a person was water insecure along those dimensions. Water insecurities with respect to handwashing and drinking, in turn, made adoption of the corresponding good practices less likely, whereas in the case of washing facemasks there was no association. Water system infrastructure, environmental conditions such as floods and droughts, as well as gender norms and knowledge, were also important for water insecurities and the adoption of good practices. As domestic water insecurities and COVID-19 control measures are associated with each other, efforts should therefore be directed at identifying and assisting the water insecure at high risk when COVID-19 reaches their communities.
Meditation, Idealism and Materiality: Vivid Visualization in the Buddhist ‘Qizil Yoga Manual’ and the Context of Caves
Authors: O’Brien-Kop Karen
Published: February 2022

This paper examines the topic of Yogācāra idealism through a little studied Buddhist meditation manual, the so-called ‘Yogalehrbuch’ or ‘Qizil Yoga Manual’, a primarily Buddhist Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma text with Mahāyāna Yogācāra strands. What does this unique Central Asian text say about Buddhist meditation practices called yogācāra or yoga? It centres on methods of vivid visualization that are somewhat specific to the Central Asian region of Kucha on the Silk Road. To understand the Manual’s practice and definition of yogic meditation, this paper considers how some of the hyper-real visualizations in the dhātuprayoga section relate the mind to reality and whether Yogācāra meditation can be said to propose idealism as a metaphysical theory about the nature of reality. The paper also asks whether neurocognitive research insights can be useful in understanding what some regard as a ‘hallucination-like’ quality of some visualizations, which destabilise distinctions between appearances and reality. Furthermore, it argues that analyzing the materiality of meditation, particularly the environment of the cave, helps us to better understand the text’s techniques of yogic visualization. The paper concludes that the ‘Qizil Yoga Manual’ facilitates soteriological idealism and suggests that factoring in the material contexts of meditation is useful, both in deciphering the text’s meditation methods and in discussing the metaphysical theory of idealism.
Natural compounds as safe therapeutic options for ulcerative colitis
Authors: Gupta Mukta , Mishra Vijay , Gulati Monica , Kapoor Bhupinder , Kaur Amrinder , Gupta Reena , Tambuwala Murtaza M.
Published: February 2022

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology. Several conventional treatments for UC such as corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, tumor necrosis factor antagonist, integrin blockers, and interleukin antagonist, and salicylates are available but are associated with the various limitations and side-effects. None of the above treatments helps to achieve the ultimate goal of the therapy, i.e., maintenance of remission in the long-term. Natural remedies for the treatment of UC show comparatively less side effects as compared to conventional approaches, and affordable. The current review presents details on the role of herbal drugs in the treatment and cure of UC. Google, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus portals have been searched for potentially relevant literature to get the latest developments and updated information related to use of natural drugs in the treatment of UC. Natural products have been used over centuries to treat UC. Some of the essential herbal constituents exhibiting antiulcerogenic activity include gymnemic acid (Gymnema sylvestre), shagoal (Zingiber officinale), catechin (Camellia sinensis), curcumin (Curcuma longa), arctigenin (Arctium lappa), and boswellic acid (Boswellia serrata). Although many plant-derived products have been recommended for UC, further research to understand the exact molecular mechanism is still warranted to establish their usefulness clinically.
The strong program in embodied cognitive science
Authors: Sanches de Oliveira Guilherme
Published: February 2022

A popular trend in the sciences of the mind is to understand cognition as embodied, embedded, enactive, ecological, and so on. While some of the work under the label of “embodied cognition” takes for granted key commitments of traditional cognitive science, other projects coincide in treating embodiment as the starting point for an entirely different way of investigating all of cognition. Focusing on the latter, this paper discusses how embodied cognitive science can be made more reflexive and more sensitive to the implications that our views of cognition have for how we understand scientific practice, including our own theorizing about cognition. Inspired by the “strong programme” in the sociology of scientific knowledge, I explore the prospect of an analogously “strong” program in embodied cognitive science. I first draw from Dewey’s transactional notion of “situation” to identify a broad sense in which embodied cognitive science takes cognition, as an embodied phenomenon, to be situated. I then sketch a perspective I call situated reflexivity, which extends the Deweyan analysis to understand scientific practice in the same terms, and thereby illustrates what research in line with a strong program in embodied cognitive science can look like. This move, I propose, has the potential of setting up a new inquiry situation that makes more salient the embodiment of scientific practice and that, through this, can help organize our own embodied cognitive activities as we try to make sense of scientific work, including our own.
Agents of change: temporal flow and feeling oneself act
Authors: Young Nick
Published: February 2022

Here, I put forward a new account of how experience gives rise to the belief that time passes. While there is considerable disagreement amongst metaphysicians as to whether time really does pass, it has struck many as a default, ‘common sense’ way of thinking about the world. A popular way of explaining how such a belief arises is to say that it seemsperceptuallyas though time passes. Here I outline some difficulties for this approach, and propose instead that the belief in time passing is elicited by a particular feature ofagentive experience. When we deliberately move our bodies, bring something to mind, or focus our attention, we experience ourselves as thesourcesof these actions. Sensing oneself as a source, I argue, is a unique type of change experience, one which leads us to a belief that time is passing.
Against telic monism in logic
Authors: Commandeur Leon
Published: February 2022

Telic monism in logic is the thesis that there is one single philosophically primary goal to logic. A different way to put it is that there is only one canonical application to logic. This thesis is widely present—implicitly or more explicitly—in the literature on the philosophy of logic, yet has not been examined nor argued for extensively. In this paper I will present and critically examine telic monism. One prominent candidate for the canonical application of logic, namely the formal codification of logical consequence in natural language, will be challenged directly. The critique will then be generalized by appealing to a practice-based philosophy of logic. The general argument I put forth here claims that we have no principled reason to assume there to be just one primary goal to logic. Rather, I claim that it is more plausible that there actually is a variety of goals, purposes and applications to logic, without one of them enjoying primacy over the others. If this argument succeeds, at least one of the consequences is that it allows for a kind of logical pluralism that has previously been deemed insignificant, namely logical instrumentalism.
Dynamic S-Box and PWLCM-Based Robust Watermarking Scheme
Authors: Khan Jan Sher , Kayhan Sema Koç , Ahmed Saygin Siddiq , Ahmad Jawad , Siddiqa Hafza Ayesha , Ahmed Fawad , Ghaleb Baraq , Al Dubai Ahmed
Published: February 2022

Due to the increased number of cyberattacks, numerous researchers are motivated towards the design of such schemes that can hide digital information in a signal. Watermarking is one of the promising technologies that can protect digital information. However, traditional watermarking schemes are either slow or less secure. In this paper, a dynamic S-Box based efficient watermarking scheme is presented. The original image was extracted at the receiver’s end without any loss of sensitive information. Firstly, the Secure Hash Algorithm is applied to the original image for the generation of the initial condition. Piece Wise Linear Chaotic Map is then used to generate 16  $$\times$$
×
 16 dynamic Substitution Box (S-Box). As an additional security feature, the watermark is substituted through dynamic S-Box. Hence, it is hard for the eavesdroppers to attack the proposed scheme due to the dynamic nature of S-Box. Lastly, lifting wavelet transform is applied to the host image and the High Low and High High blocks of host image are replaced with least significant bits and most significant bits of the substituted watermark, respectively. Robustness, efficiency and security of the proposed scheme is verified using Structure Similarity Index, Structure Dissimilarity Index, Structure Content, Mutual Information, energy, entropy, correlation tests and classical attacks analysis.
Influence of chain length of organic modifiers in hydrophobization process on epoxy resin properties
Authors: Morgiante G. , Piłkowski M. , Marczak J.
Published: February 2022

Resins have been widely used in a variety of industry fields for more than a century, such as coatings, adhesives, or automotive. Their low cost and workability are extremely useful in creating more and more advanced materials due to their chemical structure (Ghaffari et al. in Surf Interfaces 17:100340, 2019). Common problem today is the wetting tendency of various materials which in the end can result in further damage in the structure because of atmospheric conditions. Nowadays, scientists are trying to find better ways to improve the properties of coatings or composites in cases like hydrophobicity or icephobicity. One of the examp les are fluorinated organic compounds with good linking properties to the substrate (Qin et al. in Mater Today Commun 22:100770, 2020). Because o f that, to im prove the properties of a basic epoxy resin, its chain has been modified with hydrophobic compounds with different chain lengths. Influence of modifiers’ molecule size on hydrophobic and ice adhesion properties of obtained epoxy resins has been tested. Chemical composition of prepared coatings was analyzed by FTIR. Moreover, their thermal stability was investigated using TG and DSC measurements. Additionally, wettability of the samples was analyzed with a goniometer. Furthermore, their ice adhesion tests were performed on a dedicated apparatus. As a result, presented work provides a critique overview and concept of promising icephobic and hydrophobic coatings in the industry. Moreover, these products have a high chance to be developed further.
Novel Exosome Biomarker Candidates for Alzheimer’s Disease Unravelled Through Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Authors: Soares Martins Tânia , Marçalo Rui , da Cruz e Silva Cristóvão B. , Trindade Dário , Catita José , Amado Francisco , Melo Tânia , Rosa Ilka Martins , Vogelgsang Jonathan , Wiltfang Jens , da Cruz e Silva Odete A. B. , Henriques Ana Gabriela
Published: February 2022

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (EVs) present in human biofluids that can transport specific disease-associated molecules. Consequently blood-derived exosomes have emerged as important peripheral biomarker sources for a wide range of diseases, among them Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although there is no effective cure for AD, an accurate diagnosis, relying on easily accessible peripheral biofluids, is still necessary to discriminate this disease from other dementias, test potential therapies and even monitor rate of disease progression. The ultimate goal is to produce a cost-effective and widely available alternative, which can also be employed as a first clinical screen. In this study, EVs with exosome-like characteristics were isolated from serum of Controls and AD cases through precipitation- and column-based methods, followed by mass spectrometry analysis. The resulting proteomes were characterized by Gene Ontology (GO) and multivariate analyses. Although GO terms were similar for exosomes’ proteomes of Controls and ADs, using both methodologies, a clear segregation of disease cases was obtained when using the precipitation-based method. Nine significantly different abundant proteins were identified between Controls and AD cases, representing putative biomarker candidate targets. Among them are AACT and C4BPα, two Aβ-binding proteins, whose exosome levels were further validated in individuals from independent cohorts using antibody-based approaches. The findings discussed represent an important contribution to the identification of novel exosomal biomarker candidates useful as potential blood-based tools for AD diagnosis.
Environmental hazards of land use/land cover dynamics using data observation techniques and GIS: case study of Guyuan watershed, China
Authors: Abd El-Hamid Hazem T. , Caiyong Wei , Yun Zhang , El-Zeiny Ahmed M.
Published: February 2022

Agricultural production system is extensively impacted by dynamics of land use. In the present paper, dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) and environmental factors such as digital elevation model (DEM), slope, vegetation cover, soil type, and aspect were assessed to simulate the potential hazard in the watershed area at the southern part of Ningxia, Guyuan. This area was selected due to its wealthy fertile soils; thus, it provides food for multiple regions. Guyuan, Shilitan, and Yangcao cities were chosen as case studies. Multispectral Gaofen (GF) 2 satellite images and SRTM DEM were processed to produce environmental variables to assess the probable risks. In Shilitan watershed, very dense vegetation showed an increase from 14.6 to 22.1% and in Yangcao from 5.65 to 9.46% at 2005 and 2019, respectively, which protects the watershed area from flood and land degradation. However, spare vegetation recorded a decrease during the investigated period in two watershed areas. Hence, soil with little vegetative cover is more vulnerable to erosion, degradation runoff, and inconsequential water retention. DEM analyses showed that higher degree of segmentation leads to more degradation and damage of agricultural lands which adversely affects food security of the city. Results of the present study help policy makers, planners, and other accompanying development workers to apply the best suitable land use management options to protect Guyuan watershed.
Lipid-mediated antimicrobial resistance: a phantom menace or a new hope?
Authors: MacDermott-Opeskin Hugo I. , Gupta Vrinda , O’Mara Megan L.
Published: February 2022

The proposition of a post-antimicrobial era is all the more realistic with the continued rise of antimicrobial resistance. The development of new antimicrobials is failing to counter the ever-increasing rates of bacterial antimicrobial resistance. This necessitates novel antimicrobials and drug targets. The bacterial cell membrane is an essential and highly conserved cellular component in bacteria and acts as the primary barrier for entry of antimicrobials into the cell. Although previously under-exploited as an antimicrobial target, the bacterial cell membrane is attractive for the development of novel antimicrobials due to its importance in pathogen viability. Bacterial cell membranes are diverse assemblies of macromolecules built around a central lipid bilayer core. This lipid bilayer governs the overall membrane biophysical properties and function of its membrane-embedded proteins. This mini-review will outline the mechanisms by which the bacterial membrane causes and controls resistance, with a focus on alterations in the membrane lipid composition, chemical modification of constituent lipids, and the efflux of antimicrobials by membrane-embedded efflux systems. Thorough insight into the interplay between membrane-active antimicrobials and lipid-mediated resistance is needed to enable the rational development of new antimicrobials. In particular, the union of computational approaches and experimental techniques for the development of innovative and efficacious membrane-active antimicrobials is explored.
Disentangling the ecosystem service ‘flood regulation’: Mechanisms and relevant ecosystem condition characteristics
Authors: Vári Ágnes , Kozma Zsolt , Pataki Beáta , Jolánkai Zsolt , Kardos Máté , Decsi Bence , Pinke Zsolt , Jolánkai Géza , Pásztor László , Condé Sophie , Sonderegger Gabriele , Czúcz Bálint
Published: February 2022

Riverine floods cause increasingly severe damages to human settlements and infrastructure. Ecosystems have a natural capacity to decrease both severity and frequency of floods. Natural flood regulation processes along freshwaters can be attributed to two different mechanisms: flood prevention that takes place in the whole catchment and flood mitigation once the water has accumulated in the stream. These flood regulating mechanisms are not consistently recognized in major ecosystem service (ES) classifications. For a balanced landscape management, it is important to assess the ES flood regulation so that it can account for the different processes at the relevant sites. We reviewed literature, classified them according to these mechanisms, and analysed the influencing ecosystem characteristics. For prevention, vegetation biomass and forest extent were predominant, while for mitigation, the available space for water was decisive. We add some aspects on assessing flood regulation as ES, and suggest also to include flood hazard into calculations.
Morphological and anatomical changes during floral bud development of the trioecious Idesia polycarpa Maxim
Authors: Wang Huimin , Rana Sohel , Li Zhi , Geng Xiaodong , Wang Yanmei , Cai Qifei , Li Shunfu , Sun Jialu , Liu Zhen
Published: February 2022

Idesia polycarpa Maxim is described as a dioecious species, in which flowers are female or male, but we have also found individuals with bisexual flowers. The study aimed to provide the theoretical basis for the artificial control on flowering, fruiting, and floral initiation of Idesia polycarpa Maxim species. The morphological and anatomical structure of female, male, and bisexual flowers of I. polycarpa was studied. In this study, the routine paraffin section and morphological observation methods were used. The flowering of I. polycarpa began in late July. Results showed that the short-branch terminal bud was the highest percentage of floral bud position both in the female and male plants compared to the other bud types, and the proportion was 68.6% and 76.3%, respectively. Evidence from floral structural analysis suggests that the female and male flowers of I. polycarpa are unisexual by abortion. The ovary of the male flower stops developing after the ovule primordium initiation. The female, male, and bisexual flowers of I. polycarpa had the same anatomical structure at the beginning of development, but differences emerge in the differentiation stage of the female and male. In the bisexual flowers, females and males develop normally and may produce fruits. The study suggests that the bisexual, male, and female flowers were produced on the separate plants of the same species; therefore, the species is trioecious.
Numerical study of creep effect on purging plug performance under cyclic service
Authors: Tan Fang-guan , Jin Sheng-li , He Zhu , Liang Xiong , Li Ya-wei , Li Jing
Published: February 2022

The service life of the purging plug is one of the fundamental factors that determine the downtime and usage efficiency of the whole ladle. The creep behaviour of the purging plug was thus investigated to identify the possible failure mechanism. At first, the creep parameters of the Norton–Bailey strain hardening rule were inversely identified via the results of the creep test. Then, the thermal-solid coupling model approach was employed to predict the creep behaviour of the purging plug, in which the Norton–Bailey strain hardening rule was applied. The numerical results show that the temperature of the purging plug presents a cyclic trend after the first service period since the preheating temperature is lower than the temperature of molten steel. Furthermore, the distribution of the creep strain intensity in a layered form could also contribute to a gradual spalling of the purging plug end in service. Besides, the creep strain concentration around the slit can be responsible for the clogging of the purging plug.
Are Endogenous Androgens Linked to Female Sexual Function? A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Maseroli Elisa , Vignozzi Linda
Published: February 2022

Background

The benefits of treatment with testosterone (T) in women with loss of desire suggest that low androgens may distinguish women with sexual dysfunction (SD) from others; however, evidence on this point is lacking.

Aim

To answer the question: is there an association between endogenous levels of androgens and sexual function in women?

Methods

An extensive search was performed in MEDLINE, Embase and PsycInfo. Four separate meta-analyses were conducted for total T, free T, Free Androgen Index (FAI), and Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS). Cohort, cross-sectional, and prospective studies were included.

Outcomes

The main outcome was the association between endogenous androgens and sexual desire. Global sexual function was considered as a secondary outcome. The effect measure was expressed as standardized mean difference (SMD).

Results

The meta-analysis on total T included 34 studies involving 3,268 women, mean age 36.5 years. In 11 studies, a significant association was found between sexual desire, measured by validated psychometric instruments, and total T (SMD = 0.59 [0.29;0.88], P < 0.0001), with a moderate effect. The association with global sexual function (n = 12 studies) was also significant (SMD = 0.44 [0.21;0.67], P <0.0001). Overall, total T was associated with a better sexual function (SMD = 0.55 [0.28;0.82)], P < 0.0001), with similar results obtained when poor quality studies were removed. Age showed a negative relationship with the overall outcome. No differences were found when stratifying the studies according to menopausal status, type of menopause, age at menopause, use of hormonal replacement therapy, relationship status, method for T measurement, phase of the menstrual cycle or use of hormonal contraception. The meta-analysis of T derivatives (free T and FAI) also showed a significant, moderate association with sexual desire. In contrast, DHEAS seems not to exert any significant influence on desire, whilst showing a positive association with global sexual function.

Clinical Implications

Endogenous androgens show a moderate association with a better sexual function in women; however, the role of psychological, relational and other hormonal factors should not be overlooked.

Strengths & Limitations

This represents the first attempt at meta-analyzing data available on the topic. A significant publication bias was found for total T.

Conclusion

There appears to be a moderate association between total T and sexual desire/global sexual function, which is confirmed, although weak, in studies employing liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Similar results on desire were obtained for free T and FAI. DHEAS only showed a positive association with global sexual function. More research is needed.
Saving St Christopher: The History of a Looted Painting
Authors: Schlenker Ines
Published: February 2022

When, the day after the Anschluss, the Viennese aristocrat Henriette von Motesiczky and her daughter, the painter Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, fled Vienna, they left behind an “old German” painting known as Knight and Devil. In 2016, by now identified as part of an early sixteenth-century altarpiece by the Master of St Christopher with the Devil and entitled St Christopher Meeting the Devil, the painting entered the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It was donated by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust in memory of its former owner Karl von Motesiczky, Marie-Louise’s brother, who had perished in Auschwitz. This article, based on detailed archival research, traces the history of St Christopher Meeting the Devil after 1938. The painting, forcefully taken from its owner, made its way through the National Socialist art-looting operation, encountering some of its main protagonists in the process. Sold at auction in 1943, it ended up at the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich from where, in 1950, it was restituted to the surviving members of the Motesiczky family, now living in England. In an exemplary way, the fate of St Christopher Meeting the Devil throws a light on the workings of the National Socialist looting system and the steps that the Allied Forces undertook after the war to rectify the crimes they uncovered. It also highlights the problems that gaps in the knowledge of an artwork’s provenance can cause in the attempt to reconstruct cases of expropriation and emphasizes the role goodwill plays in reaching fair solutions.
Monuments Women and Men: Rethinking popular narratives via British Major Anne Olivier Popham
Authors: Campbell Elizabeth
Published: February 2022

In recent years, the work of the American Monuments Men has been celebrated in popular histories and culture, such as bestselling books by Robert Edsel and a feature film directed by George Clooney (The Monuments Men, 2014). While public awareness of Nazi art looting and the courageous work of American cultural officers is long overdue, these popular narratives elide the role played by women and other Western Allies and fail to address the corps’ greatest failure: the incomplete restitution of Jewish assets. This article explores these factors through a case study of British Major Anne Olivier Popham (1916–2018), who served the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFA&A) division in Bünde from November 1945 to October 1947. Drawing on Popham’s diaries held at the Imperial War Museum in London, the author’s interview with her, and British and American archives, the case study yields important insight into personnel recruited by the MFA&A, gender relations among the officers, methodological dilemmas presented by the use of first-hand accounts, and the ongoing need for transnational restitution efforts.
“Monuments of German Baseness”? Confiscated Nazi war art and American occupation in the United States and postwar Germany
Authors: Gramer Jennifer
Published: February 2022

Under the postwar American occupation of Germany, art produced by the Staffel der bildenden Künstler (German Combat Artist Unit) of Nazi Germany was sent to US military sites for storage under the direction of Captain Gordon Gilkey. Gilkey was head of the German War Art Project, the arm of the Historical Division of the US army tasked with confiscating German “propaganda and war art.” This art, considered a dangerous instrument of Nazi revival, was not protected by laws prohibiting art looting. Yet American officers were sympathetic to many of the paintings created by combat artists, and the German combat artists themselves were torn about their roles in Nazism, perceiving themselves as either victims or survivors merely attempting to make a living. This article traces the history of this artwork from its seizure in postwar Germany through its internment in the United States up to later attempts in the 1950s and 1980s to restitute the works to their creators.
MHeTRep: A multilingual semantically tagged health terms repository
Authors: Vivaldi Jorge , Rodríguez Horacio
Published: February 2022

This paper presents MHeTRep, a multilingual medical terminology and the methodology followed for its compilation. The multilingual terminology is organised into one vocabulary for each language. All the terms in the collection are semantically tagged with a tagset corresponding to the top categories of Snomed-CT ontology. When possible, the individual terms are linked to their equivalent in the other languages. Even though many NLP resources and tools claim to be domain independent, their application to specific tasks can be restricted to specific domains, otherwise their performance degrades notably. As the accuracy of NLP resources drops heavily when applied in environments different from which they were built, a tuning to the new environment is needed. Usually, having a domain terminology facilitates and accelerates the adaptation of general domain NLP applications to a new domain. This is particularly important in medicine, a domain living moments of great expansion. The proposed method takes Snomed-CT as starting point. From this point and using 13 multilingual resources, covering the most relevant medical concepts such as drugs, anatomy, clinical findings and procedures, we built a large resource covering seven languages totalling more than two million semantically tagged terms. The resulting collection has been intensively evaluated in several ways for the involved languages and domain categories. Our hypothesis is that MHeTRep can be used advantageously over the original resources for a number of NLP use cases and likely extended to other languages.
I'm Keeping My Baby: Migrant Domestic Worker Rights at The Intersection of Labour and Immigration Laws
Authors: Palmer Wayne , Tan Carol S.
Published: February 2022

Employment relations systems generally fail to enforce all legal rights of migrant workers. This article illustrates a broader approach to the way labour migration is regulated in practice, using the example of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. Political economists have shown that the reality of low-wage migration is either ‘more rights, less access’ or ‘fewer rights, greater access’ in terms of rights enforcement systems. Attention to the effectiveness of such mechanisms and processes reveals another feature of regulation: the divergence of theory from practice. Much scholarly attention has been paid to rights, and this analysis, in which enforcement of those rights is sought, contributes to the literature with a frequently-occurring example of how such regulatory practices effectively restrict migrant rights. The article concludes by arguing that regulation uses employers as a further ‘mechanism of control’ to determine the actual quantity and quality of migrant workers’ employment rights regardless of what is stipulated in the law.
The Detection of Continuing Current in Lightning Using the Geostationary Lightning Mapper
Authors: Fairman Sarah I. , Bitzer Phillip M.
Published: February 2022

Lightning with continuing current may have current durations that last for hundreds of milliseconds, resulting in continuous optical emission that coincides with the uninterrupted current flow. The space‐based Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is an optical sensor that allows for the detection of continuous optical emission. In this study, the optical properties associated with GLM flashes over North Alabama are characterized as continuing current flashes based on current durations estimated from electrostatic measurements. The GLM optical attributes associated with each flash are utilized to train a logistic regression model to predict the presence of continuing current across the GLM field of view. GLM flashes with higher probabilities of continuing current tend to cover a longer distance, a brighter maximum optical energy, and a larger maximum area over the span of the continuous optical emission. The continuing current model has a probability of detection (POD) of about 78% and a false alarm rate (FARate) of about 6% in North Alabama. Assuming these scores are applicable to other regions, about 13.3% of flashes detected by GLM in 2018 contain continuing current. The spatial distribution of GLM flashes reveals that continuing current flashes tend to occur over oceanic areas, while seasonal and diurnal analyses show that continuing current flashes tend to occur during wintertime and nighttime storms, which is consistent with previous Lightning Imaging Sensor results. Additionally, if the flash is known to be a cloud‐to‐ground flash, the continuing current model has a POD of approximately 80% and a FARate of about 4%.
Impacts of Precipitation Modeling on Cloud Feedback in MIROC6
Authors: Hirota N. , Michibata T. , Shiogama H. , Ogura T. , Suzuki K.
Published: February 2022

Uncertainties in cloud feedback remain stubbornly significant in global climate models, disrupting the credibility of climate projections. This study examined the impacts of the prognostic treatment of precipitation on cloud feedback using the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate version 6 (MIROC6). In a prognostic precipitation scheme, precipitating hydrometers are explicitly predicted, allowing a more sophisticated representation of their microphysical and radiative effects than that of traditional diagnostic schemes. The introduction of the prognostic scheme in MIROC6 increases cloud feedback associated with the elevated altitude of clouds in warming climates. Moreover, the equilibrium climate sensitivity increases by about 20%. Because associated high‐level clouds are better represented in the prognostic scheme, climate projections with larger altitude feedback are considered more credible. Additional analyses of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project models suggests that their altitude cloud feedback would be higher if their underestimation of high‐level clouds were mitigated.
Exploring the Impacts of Shrub‐Overwash Feedbacks in Coastal Barrier Systems With an Ecological‐Morphological Model
Authors: Reeves Ian R. B. , Goldstein Evan B. , Moore Laura J. , Zinnert Julie C.
Published: February 2022

Shrubs are common – and presently expanding – across coastal barrier interiors (the land between the foredune system and back‐barrier bay), and have the potential to influence barrier morphodynamics by obstructing cross‐shore overwash flow. The ecological and geomorphological consequences of ecomorphodynamic couplings of the barrier interior, however, remain largely unexplored. In this contribution, we add an ecological module of shrub expansion and mortality to a spatially‐explicit exploratory model of barrier evolution (Barrier3D) to explore the effects of shrub‐barrier feedbacks. In our model simulations, we find that the presence of shrubs significantly alters barrier morphology and behavior. Over timescales of decades to centuries, barriers with shrubs (relative to those without) tend to be narrower, migrate landward more slowly, and have a greater proportion of subaerial volume distributed toward the ocean‐side of the barrier. Shrubs also tend to increase the likelihood of discontinuous barrier retreat, a behavior in which a barrier oscillates between periods of transgression and relative immobility, because shrubs induce prolonged periods of barrier immobility by obstructing overwash flow. However, shrubs can increase barrier vulnerability to drowning by preventing periods of transgression needed to maintain barrier elevation relative to rising sea levels. Additionally, physical barrier processes influence shrub expansion in our simulations; we find that greater dune erosion and overwash disturbance tends to slow the rate of shrub expansion across the barrier interior. Complementing recent observational studies of barrier islands in Virginia, USA, our results suggest that interior ecology can be a key component of barrier evolution on annual to centurial timescales.
How to Improve Cumulative Methane and Nitrous Oxide Flux Estimations of the Non‐Steady‐State Chamber Method?
Authors: Yue Hongyu , Liu Chunyan , Zhang Wei , Dannenmann Michael , Wang Xianwei , Yao Zhisheng , Song Changchun , Butterbach‐Bahl Klaus
Published: February 2022

The flux calculation schemes (FCSs) and gas sampling schemes (GSSs) determine the accuracy and representativeness of non‐steady‐state chamber measurements. The study aimed to provide guidelines on FCSs and GSSs to improve cumulative flux estimations of the non‐steady‐state chamber method. Based on a dataset obtained from automated chamber measurements in a permafrost‐affected wetland in northeast China, we evaluated the effects of FCSs and GSSs on cumulative methane and nitrous oxide flux estimates at the field scale. The evolution of chamber headspace gas concentrations was classified into five patterns, presenting the measurement disturbance and variation of non‐steady‐state chamber method. Three FCSs, that is, the sole use of linear model and hybrid use of linear with empirical quadratic and theoretical exponential models, were established on the basis of evolution patterns of chamber headspace gas concentrations. The hybrid FCSs were more robust for cumulative flux estimates than the sole FCS of the linear model. The flux dataset with the high spatiotemporal resolution was subsampled to simulate datasets obtained with different GSSs. The subsampling of flux dataset proved optimization of GSSs by allocating limited measurement resources to preferentially promote the spatial representativeness of measurements (e.g., with more replicate chambers and stratified chamber placement according to microtopographies), characterize the small‐scale spatiotemporal variability of fluxes (e.g., diurnal variation and spatial heterogeneity due to microtopographies), and capture the evolution pattern of chamber headspace gas concentrations, could effectively improve cumulative flux estimates at the field scale. Our guidelines on FCSs and GSSs can serve to the improvement of non‐steady‐state chamber methodology.
The mechanism of HMGB1 secretion and release
Authors: Chen Ruochan , Kang Rui , Tang Daolin
Published: February 2022

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a nonhistone nuclear protein that has multiple functions according to its subcellular location. In the nucleus, HMGB1 is a DNA chaperone that maintains the structure and function of chromosomes. In the cytoplasm, HMGB1 can promote autophagy by binding to BECN1 protein. After its active secretion or passive release, extracellular HMGB1 usually acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule, regulating inflammation and immune responses through different receptors or direct uptake. The secretion and release of HMGB1 is fine-tuned by a variety of factors, including its posttranslational modification (e.g., acetylation, ADP-ribosylation, phosphorylation, and methylation) and the molecular machinery of cell death (e.g., apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, alkaliptosis, and ferroptosis). In this minireview, we introduce the basic structure and function of HMGB1 and focus on the regulatory mechanism of HMGB1 secretion and release. Understanding these topics may help us develop new HMGB1-targeted drugs for various conditions, especially inflammatory diseases and tissue damage.
Further reductions in the prevalence of obesity in 4-year-old New Zealand children from 2017 to 2019
Authors: Daniels Lisa , Taylor Barry J. , Taylor Rachael W. , Milne Barry J. , Camp Justine , Richards Rose , Shackleton Nichola
Published: February 2022

Objective

To examine whether the prevalence of age- and sex-adjusted BMI at, or above, the 85th, 95th and 99.7th percentiles continues to decline in New Zealand preschool children, over time.

Methods

As part of a national screening programme, 438,972 New Zealand 4-year-old children had their height and weight measured between 2011 and 2019. Age- and sex-adjusted BMI was calculated using WHO Growth Standards and the prevalence of children at, or above, the 85th, 95th, and 99.7th percentiles and at, or below, the 2nd percentile were determined. Log-binomial models were used to estimate linear time trends of ≥85th, ≥95th and ≥99.7th percentiles for the overall sample and separately by sex, deprivation, ethnicity and urban-rural classification.

Results

The percentage of children at, or above, the 85th, 95th and 99.7th percentile reduced by 4.9% [95% CI: 4.1%, 5.7%], 3.5% [95% CI: 2.9%, 4.1%], and 0.9% [95% CI: 0.7%, 1.2%], respectively, between ‘2011/12’ and ‘2018/19’. There was evidence of a decreasing linear trend (risk reduction, per year) for the percentage of children ≥85th (risk ratio (RR): 0.980 [95% CI: 0.978, 0.982]), ≥95th (RR: 0.966 [95% CI: 0.962, 0.969]) and ≥99.7th (RR: 0.957 [95% CI: 0.950, 0.964]) percentiles. Downward trends were also evident across all socioeconomic indicators (sex, ethnicity, deprivation, and urban-rural classification), for each of the BMI thresholds. Larger absolute decreases were evident for children residing in the most deprived compared with the least deprived areas, at each BMI threshold. There appeared to be no consistent trend for the percentage of children ≤2nd percentile.

Conclusions

Reassuringly, continued declines of children with age- and sex-adjusted BMI at, or above, the 85th, 95th and 99.7th percentiles are occurring over time, overall and across all sociodemographic indicators, with little evidence for consistent trends in the prevalence of children at, or below, the 2nd percentile.
Altered cardiac and vascular stiffness in pregnancy after a hypertensive pregnancy
Authors: Castleman James S. , Shantsila Alena , Brown Richard A. , Shantsila Eduard , Lip Gregory Y. H.
Published: February 2022

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are an important cause of morbidity and mortality, impacting on both maternal and fetal wellbeing. Affected women are at higher risk of future cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Our study objective was to assess differences in cardiovascular function in pregnant women previously affected by gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. Pregnant women diagnosed with gestational hypertension or preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy were recruited at the start of a subsequent pregnancy and compared to healthy pregnant and non-pregnant controls. All patients underwent pulse wave analysis and echocardiography. Indexes of echocardiography-derived arterial and left ventricular elastance were calculated. In our study women with prior hypertension (n = 25) were more likely to have blood pressure in the 120–139/80–99 mmHg (prehypertension) range. Women with previous hypertension in pregnancy had increased late diastolic transmitral flow velocities (A wave) and increased augmentation index. Women without prior hypertension (n = 50) demonstrated more compliance (reduced EaI and Ees) compared to the non-pregnant controls (n = 40). This adaptation was not seen in pregnancy with prior hypertension, where increased arterial stiffness was observed. In conclusion we have shown increased prevalence of prehypertension and increased arterial stiffness in pregnant women previously affected by gestational hypertensive disease. An increased atrial component to ventricular filling reflects altered diastolic function after hypertensive pregnancy. These women are at increased future cardiovascular risk due to altered cardiac and vascular function and require effective risk mitigation.
Effective targeting of breast cancer stem cells by combined inhibition of Sam68 and Rad51
Authors: Turdo Alice , Gaggianesi Miriam , Di Franco Simone , Veschi Veronica , D’Accardo Caterina , Porcelli Gaetana , Lo Iacono Melania , Pillitteri Irene , Verona Francesco , Militello Gabriella , Zippo Alessio , Poli Vittoria , Fagnocchi Luca , Beyes Sven , Stella Stefania , Lattanzio Rossano , Faldetta Naida , Lentini Vincenzo L. , Porcasi Rossana , Pistone Giuseppe , Bongiorno Maria Rita , Stassi Giorgio , De Maria Ruggero , Todaro Matilde
Published: February 2022

Breast cancer (BC) is the second cause of cancer-related deceases in the worldwide female population. Despite the successful treatment advances, 25% of BC develops resistance to current therapeutic regimens, thereby remaining a major hurdle for patient management. Current therapies, targeting the molecular events underpinning the adaptive resistance, still require effort to improve BC treatment. Using BC sphere cells (BCSphCs) as a model, here we showed that BC stem-like cells express high levels of Myc, which requires the presence of the multifunctional DNA/RNA binding protein Sam68 for the DNA-damage repair. Analysis of a cohort of BC patients displayed that Sam68 is an independent negative factor correlated with the progression of the disease. Genetic inhibition of Sam68 caused a defect in PARP-induced PAR chain synthesis upon DNA-damaging insults, resulting in cell death of TNBC cells. In contrast, BC stem-like cells were able to survive due to an upregulation of Rad51. Importantly, the inhibition of Rad51 showed synthetic lethal effect with the silencing of Sam68, hampering the cell viability of patient-derived BCSphCs and stabilizing the growth of tumor xenografts, including those TNBC carrying BRCA mutation. Moreover, the analysis of Myc, Sam68 and Rad51 expression demarcated a signature of a poor outcome in a large cohort of BC patients. Thus, our findings suggest the importance of targeting Sam68-PARP1 axis and Rad51 as potential therapeutic candidates to counteract the expansion of BC cells with an aggressive phenotype.
The novel genus, ‘Candidatus Phosphoribacter’, previously identified as Tetrasphaera, is the dominant polyphosphate accumulating lineage in EBPR wastewater treatment plants worldwide
Authors: Singleton C M , Petriglieri F , Wasmund K , Nierychlo M , Kondrotaite Z , Petersen J F , Peces M , Dueholm M S , Wagner M , Nielsen P H
Published: February 2022

The bacterial genus Tetrasphaera encompasses abundant polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) that are responsible for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) in wastewater treatment plants. Recent analyses of genomes from pure cultures revealed that 16S rRNA genes cannot resolve the lineage, and that Tetrasphaera spp. are from several different genera within the Dermatophilaceae. Here, we examine 14 recently recovered high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes from wastewater treatment plants containing full-length 16S rRNA genes identified as Tetrasphaera, 11 of which belong to the uncultured Tetrasphaera clade 3. We find that this clade represents two distinct genera, named here Ca. Phosphoribacter and Ca. Lutibacillus, and reveal that the widely used model organism Tetrasphaera elongata is less relevant for physiological predictions of this uncultured group. Ca. Phosphoribacter incorporates species diversity unresolved at the 16S rRNA gene level, with the two most abundant and often co-occurring species encoding identical V1-V3 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence variants but different metabolic capabilities, and possibly, niches. Both Ca. P. hodrii and Ca. P. baldrii were visualised using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH), and PAO capabilities were confirmed with FISH-Raman microspectroscopy and phosphate cycling experiments. Ca. Phosphoribacter represents the most abundant former Tetrasphaera lineage and PAO in EPBR systems in Denmark and globally.