bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Tool Wear Estimation Method of the Milling Process Based on Multisensor Blind Source Separation
Authors: Gao Chen , Bintao Sun , Wu Heng , Peng Mengjuan , Zhou Yuqing
Published: July 2021

Timely and effective identification and monitoring of tool wear is important for the milling process. However, traditional methods of tool wear estimation have run into difficulties due to under small samples with less prior knowledge. This article addresses this issue by employing a multisensor tool wear estimation method based on blind source separation technology. Stationary subspace analysis (SSA) technology is applied to transform multisensor signals to stationary and nonstationary sources without prior information of signals. Ten dimensionless time-frequency indices of the nonstationary signal are extracted to train least squares support vector regression (LS-SVR) to obtain a tool wear estimation model for small samples. The analysis and comparison of one benchmark tool wear dataset and tool wear experiments verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method and outperform other two current methods.
Charmonium Properties Using the Discrete Variable Representation (DVR) Method
Authors: A. Bhaghyesh
Published: July 2021

The Schrödinger equation is solved numerically for charmonium using the discrete variable representation (DVR) method. The Hamiltonian matrix is constructed and diagonalized to obtain the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Using these eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, spectra and various decay widths are calculated. The obtained results are in good agreement with other numerical methods and with experiments.
Clinical, Hormonal, Genetic, and Molecular Characteristics in Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome in an Asian Indian Cohort from a Single Centre in Western India
Authors: Arya Sneha , Barnabas Rohit , Lila Anurag Ranjan , Sarathi Vijaya , Memon Saba Samad , Bhandare Vishwambhar Vishnu , Thakkar Kunal , Patil Virendra , Shah Nalini Samir , Kunwar Ambarish , Bandgar Tushar
Published: July 2021

The study aimed to analyze clinical and hormonal phenotype,and genotype in patients with genetically proven androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) from Western India. Index patients with pathogenic variants in the androgen receptor (AR) gene were identified from a consecutive 46,XY DSD cohort (n = 150) evaluated with clinical exome sequencing, and their genetically-proven affected relatives were also included. In sum, 15 index cases (9 complete AIS [CAIS] and 6 partial AIS [PAIS]) were identified making AIS the second most common (10%) cause of 46,XY DSD, next to 5α-reductase 2 deficiency (n = 26; 17.3%). Most patients presented late in the postpubertal period with primary amenorrhoea in CAIS (89%) and atypical genitalia with gynecomastia in PAIS (71.4%). All CAIS were reared as females and 83.3% of PAIS as males with no gender dysphoria. Four of 6 patients with available testosterone to dihydrotestosterone ratio had a false elevation (>10). Metastatic dysgerminoma was seen in 1 patient in CAIS, while none in the PAIS group had malignancy. Fifteen different (including 6 novel) pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in AR were found. Nonsense and frameshift variants exclusively led to CAIS phenotype, whereas missense variants led to variable phenotypes. In this largest, monocentric study from the Asian Indian subcontinent, AIS was the second most common cause of 46,XY DSD with similar phenotype but later presentation when compared to cases in the rest of the world. The study reports 6 novel pathogenic variants in AR.
“Edgar Allan Poe”: uma tradução comentada da crônica de Rubén Darío
Authors: Gonçalves Davi Silva
Published: July 2021

Na crônica “Edgar Allan Poe” (2013), um narrador angustiado e indignado com as imagens assombrosas e, ao mesmo tempo, maravilhosas que se multiplicam ao redor dele em um passeio por Manhattan é desenvolvido pelo autor nicaraguense Rubén Darío. No texto, o cronista evidencia por que é importante falar da perspectiva não só da América hispânica, como também de uma América periférica a observar, crítica, o centro. Com um ritmo elétrico, marcado pela ausência de pausas, assim como através do uso de uma linguagem híbrida, repleta de referências hipertextuais, o texto é sufocante – da mesma forma que, para Darío, parecia ser sufocante Manhattan. Neste sentido, e para manter a confusão de estilo e imagens que faz Darío, muito provavelmente de forma proposital, minha proposta de tradução da crônica “Edgar Allan Poe” é guiada por duas premissas: 1) Promover a manutenção de sua pontuação peculiar, que preza pelo ritmo acelerado e dá ao leitor poucas oportunidades de “respirar” entre as diferentes observações que faz o narrador; 2) Reiterar o caráter híbrido e hipertextual da crônica, reproduzindo as diversas referências que Darío faz a personagens (históricos e fictícios) e a espaços, assim como seu uso de palavras em inglês, que, através do contrato de verossimilhança, convida o leitor a embarcar naquela viagem pela metrópole americana.
“Paz Civil”, de Chinua Achebe
Authors: Martuscelli Lívia Pacini
Published: July 2021

Nesta colaboração, propomos uma tradução para o conto Civil Peace, de Chinua Achebe, inédito em publicações editoriais no Brasil até o momento. A narrativa, escrita logo após o fim da guerra civil nigeriana, traz questões linguísticas interessantes, como a reprodução do pidgin da Nigéria na fala de personagens contraventores.
Transcatheter Treatment of Secondary Tricuspid Regurgitation With Direct Annuloplasty: Results From a Multicenter Real-World Experience
Authors: Körber Maria I. , Landendinger Melanie , Gerçek Muhammed , Beuthner Bo E. , Friedrichs Kai P. , Puls Miriam , Baldus Stephan , Rudolph Volker , Jacobshagen Claudius , Arnold Martin , Pfister Roman
Published: July 2021

Background:

Treatment options for secondary tricuspid regurgitation (TR) remain limited. Early real-world data of a new percutaneous direct annuloplasty system for tricuspid repair were examined.

Methods:

The first 60 patients treated with the Cardioband tricuspid valve repair system at 4 centers were included in this retrospective study. The primary efficacy end point was technical success with reduction of TR ≥2 grades at discharge. Combined primary safety end point was major adverse events (death, myocardial infarction, cardiothoracic surgery, and stroke) at 30 days.

Results:

Median patient age was 76 years (73–82), median EuroScore II was 3.9% (2.2–8.1), heart failure with preserved ejection fraction was present in 78%, and 81.7% were in the New York Heart Association class III/IV. Massive or torrential TR was found in 51.7%, and severe TR in 48.3%. The primary efficacy end point was achieved in 45%, while 60.3% of patients had less-than-severe TR at discharge. Vena contracta was reduced by 47% from 12.9±4.8 to 7.0±3.4 mm (
P
<0.001). Overall, the majority of patients (81.7%) improved at least by 1 New York Heart Association class. At follow-up 81.3% of patients presented in the New York Heart Association class I or II. The primary safety end point occurred in 4 patients with 2 in-hospital deaths, both not device related. Right coronary artery complications (vessel perforation or stent implantation) occurred in 9 patients (15%). Procedural time decreased from 298 to 185 minutes (
P
<0.001) with efficacy remaining stable (
P
=0.817) when comparing procedure numbers 11 or more to the earliest 5 procedures per center.

Conclusions:

This first real-world experience suggests that transcatheter treatment of advanced secondary TR using direct annuloplasty is feasible and reasonably safe early in the learning curve, with significant symptomatic benefit. Further studies are warranted to provide data on long-term outcome and patient prognosis.
Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Mediate Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury by Secreting Type I Interferons
Authors: Lai Lina , Zhang Aimee , Yang Boris , Charles Eric J. , Kron Irving L. , Yang Zequan
Published: July 2021

Background

We previously demonstrated that ischemically injured cardiomyocytes release cell‐free DNA and HMGB1 (high mobility group box 1 protein) into circulation during reperfusion, activating proinflammatory responses and ultimately exacerbating reperfusion injury. We hypothesize that cell‐free DNA and HMGB1 mediate myocardial ischemia‐reperfusion injury by stimulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) to secrete type I interferon (IFN‐I).

Methods and Results

C57BL/6 and interferon alpha receptor‐1 knockout mice underwent 40 minutes of left coronary artery occlusion followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion (40′/60′ IR) before infarct size was evaluated by 2,3,5‐Triphenyltetrazolium chloride–Blue staining. Cardiac perfusate was acquired in ischemic hearts without reperfusion by antegrade perfusion of the isolated heart. Flow cytometry in pDC‐depleted mice treated with multiple doses of plasmacytoid dendritic cell antigen‐1 antibody via intraperitoneal injection demonstrated plasmacytoid dendritic cell antigen‐1 antibody treatment had no effect on conventional splenic dendritic cells but significantly reduced splenic pDCs by 60%. pDC‐depleted mice had significantly smaller infarct size and decreased plasma interferon‐α and interferon‐β compared with control. Blockade of the type I interferon signaling pathway with cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase inhibitor, stimulator of interferon genes antibody, or interferon regulatory factor 3 antibody upon reperfusion similarly significantly attenuated infarct size by 45%. Plasma levels of interferon‐α and interferon‐β were significantly reduced in cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase inhibitor‐treated mice. Infarct size was significantly reduced by >30% in type I interferon receptor monoclonal antibody–treated mice and interferon alpha receptor‐1 knockout mice. In splenocyte culture, 40′/0′ cardiac perfusate treatment stimulated interferon‐α and interferon‐β production; however, this effect disappeared in the presence of cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase inhibitor.

Conclusions

Type I interferon production is stimulated following myocardial ischemia by cardiogenic cell‐free DNA/HMGB1 in a pDC‐dependent manner, and subsequently activates type I interferon receptors to exacerbate reperfusion injury. These results identify new potential therapeutic targets to attenuate myocardial ischemia‐reperfusion injury.
Pathophysiology of Delayed Cerebral Ischemia After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Review
Authors: Dodd William S. , Laurent Dimitri , Dumont Aaron S. , Hasan David M. , Jabbour Pascal M. , Starke Robert M. , Hosaka Koji , Polifka Adam J. , Hoh Brian L. , Chalouhi Nohra
Published: July 2021

Delayed cerebral ischemia is a major predictor of poor outcomes in patients who suffer subarachnoid hemorrhage. Treatment options are limited and often ineffective despite many years of investigation and clinical trials. Modern advances in basic science have produced a much more complex, multifactorial framework in which delayed cerebral ischemia is better understood and novel treatments can be developed. Leveraging this knowledge to improve outcomes, however, depends on a holistic understanding of the disease process. We conducted a review of the literature to analyze the current state of investigation into delayed cerebral ischemia with emphasis on the major themes that have emerged over the past decades. Specifically, we discuss microcirculatory dysfunction, glymphatic impairment, inflammation, and neuroelectric disruption as pathological factors in addition to the canonical focus on cerebral vasospasm. This review intends to give clinicians and researchers a summary of the foundations of delayed cerebral ischemia pathophysiology while also underscoring the interactions and interdependencies between pathological factors. Through this overview, we also highlight the advances in translational studies and potential future therapeutic opportunities.
“To Be or Not To Be?”
Authors: Coonradt Nicole
Published: July 2021

This essay considers Shakespeare through Aristotelianism and Thomism to explore Hamlet as a meditation on tyranny. Based on the classical model of tragedy as presented by Aristotle in his Poetics and further informed by his Ethics and Politics, the essay identifies the climax of the play in order to determine the playwright’s argument about what should have happened instead of what did—namely, the hero should have removed the tyrant Claudius when given the opportunity at Act 3, Scene 3. Shakespeare is deliberately and successfully upending the Aristotelian model, while yet fulfilling its definitions and expectations. The claim is further supported by Aquinas’s six conditions for the right use of anger and vengeance as found in his Summa Theologica. Hamlet’s choice not to act is highly significant—and ironically Shakespearean. The play’s treatment of tyranny may have been a call to action for Shakespeare’s contemporary audience.
Revision of the squat lobsters of the genus Phylladiorhynchus Baba, 1969 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) with the description of 41 new species
Authors: RODRÍGUEZ-FLORES PAULA C. , MACPHERSON ENRIQUE , MACHORDOM ANNIE
Published: July 2021

The genus Phylladiorhynchus Baba, 1969 currently contains 11 species, all occurring in the shallow waters and on the continental shelf of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Recent expeditions in these oceans have resulted in the collection of numerous new specimens in need of analysis. We have studied this material using an integrative approach analysing both morphological and molecular (COI and 16S) characters. We describe 41 new species and resurrect three old names: P. integrus (Benedict, 1902) and P. lenzi (Rathbun, 1907), previously synonymized with P. pusillus (Henderson, 1885), and P. serrirostris (Melin, 1939), previously synonymized with P. integrirostris (Dana, 1852). Most species of the genus are described and illustrated. Some species are barely discernible on the basis of morphological characters but are highly divergent genetically. Species of Phylladiorhynchus are mainly distinguishable by the number of epigastric spines and lateral spines of the carapace, the shape and the armature of the rostrum, the number and pattern of the ridges on the carapace and pleon, the shape of thoracic sternite 3 and the armature of the P2–4 dactyli. A dichotomous identification key to all species is provided.
In Situ Oxygen Generation Enhances the SCAP Survival in Hydrogel Constructs
Authors: Zou T. , Jiang S. , Zhang Y. , Liu J. , Yi B. , Qi Y. , Dissanayaka W.L. , Zhang C.
Published: July 2021

Prolonged and severe hypoxia is the main cause of death of transplanted cells prior to the establishment of functional circulation. In situ generation of oxygen by oxygen-producing scaffolds—a unique solution that could produce and deliver oxygen to the adjacent cells independently of blood perfusion—has attracted considerable attention to enhance the survivability of the transplanted cells. However, the application of oxygen-generating scaffolds for facilitating cell survival in pulp-like tissue regeneration is yet to be explored. In this study, gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)—a biocompatible scaffolding material that closely mimics the native extracellular matrix and is conducive to cell proliferation and differentiation—was used to fabricate oxygen-generating scaffolds by loading various concentrations of CaO2. The CaO2 distribution, topography, swelling, and pore size of CaO2-GelMA hydrogels were characterized in detail. The release of O2 by the scaffold and the viability, spreading, and proliferation of stem cells from apical papilla (SCAPs) encapsulated in the GelMA hydrogels with various concentrations of CaO2 under hypoxia were evaluated. In addition, cellular constructs were engineered into root canals, and cell viability within the apical, middle, and coronal portions was assessed. Our findings showed that 0.5% CaO2-GelMA was sufficient to supply in situ oxygen for maintaining the embedded SCAP viability for 1 wk. Furthermore, the 0.5% CaO2-GelMA hydrogels improved the survivability of SCAPs within the coronal portion of the engineered cellular constructs within the root canals. This work demonstrated that 0.5% CaO2-GelMA hydrogels offer a potential promising scaffold that enhances survival of the embedded SCAPs in endodontic regeneration.
Reducing clinician inefficiency and restoring meaning in practice: A professional coaching approach for family medicine residents
Authors: Guck Adam J , Buck Katherine
Published: July 2021

Burnout is widespread among primary care physicians (PCPs). Several key drivers of burnout in this specialty that have been increasingly recognized are the growing complexity and work demands placed on PCPs by outpatient clinical work environments. These high demands, from the perspective of the physician, detract from other valued tasks which provide meaning in daily work such as relationship-building and fellowship with the medical team. Given these trends, we believe that a viable means to address burnout can be found in utilizing a performance coaching approach to equip resident physicians for the practical and emotional demands of the primary care work environment into which they are entering. Specifically, we recommend a focus on clinical efficiency as an area for coaching development due to its potential impact on resident physician well-being. In this brief review article, we provide a summary of evidence for coaching interventions, along with evidence supporting an expansion to these approaches in clinical efficiency in outpatient settings based on the connection between workflow and engagement in meaningful medical practice. Lastly, we outline a prospective coaching approach which targets common sources of clinic inefficiency for resident practitioners.
Street-Level Actors, Migrants, and Gender: Dealing With Divergent Perspectives
Authors: Glyniadaki Katerina
Published: July 2021

According to the citizen–agent paradigm, the way street-level bureaucrats view their target population shapes their discretionary behavior. Applying this in the context of the so-called “European Migration Crisis,” this article investigates how street-level actors make sense of their migrant clients and how these conceptual understandings of the “Other” shape their discretionary behavior. Focusing on the divisive issue of gender identities and beliefs, or gender perspectives, this research combines ideas from public administration and social psychology. It shows that street-level actors’ discretionary behavior depends on whether they see the Self-Other difference as fixed or changeable, and as hierarchically organized or not.
Adaptive fully-distributed sign-consensus control approach for nonlinear multi-agent systems over a signed graph
Authors: Shams Amina , Rehan Muhammad , Tufail Muhammad , Rashid Haroon ur
Published: July 2021

In this paper, the notion of sign-consensus for the Lipschitz nonlinear multi-agents over a signed graph is introduced and controller design conditions are provided for realizing consensus among signs of states of agents. The previous works on sign-consensus are limited to the linear systems only. The attainment of sign-consensus for the nonlinear multi-agent systems is a non-trivial control problem, for which Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics are reformulated using the linear parameter varying (LPV) transformation. To guarantee the sign-consensus in a network of multiple agents, fully-distributed adaptive protocol is applied using reformulated Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics, and two design conditions are provided based on the Lipschitz constant oriented and LPV-based approaches. The first approach is comparatively less computationally complex while LPV approach holds significance for developing less conservative sign-consensus control scheme. To the best of our knowledge, distributed sign consensus methods for Lipschitz systems, based on LPV formulation, have been analyzed for the first time. The proposed approach is adaptive and can be regarded as fully-distributed, as it does not require the central knowledge of graph properties. Further, results are extended for nonlinear systems undergoing disturbances and ultimate boundedness of sign-consensus error is guaranteed. Numerical simulations on groups of Chua’s circuits and mechanical oscillators are presented to validate the results.
Asynchronous H∞ filtering fault detection for discrete-time switched linear systems
Authors: Huang Jinjie , Hao Xianzhi , Pan Xiaozhen
Published: July 2021

This article studies the asynchronous H∞ filtering fault detection for discrete-time switched linear systems with mode-dependent average dwell time (MDADT). Firstly, a series of mode-dependent fault detection filters are designed, and augmented with original switched systems to construct a residual evaluation system. However, in practice, the switching of the filter often lags behind the corresponding subsystem. To deal with this, the running time of the subsystem is divided into two parts: the matched and the mismatched. Then the asynchronous switched residual evaluation system is obtained, and global uniform exponential stability (GUES) and exponential H∞ performance of asynchronous switched system are guaranteed by using μ-dependent discontinuous multi-Lyapunov functions and MDADT method. The sufficient conditions for the existence of designed filter are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), and parameter matrices of the designed filter and MDADT can be obtained by solving these LMIs. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by two examples.
Opportunities to decarbonize heat in the UK using Urban Wastewater Heat Recovery
Authors: Farman Ali Shazia , Gillich Aaron
Published: July 2021

By 2050, the UK government plans to create ‘Net zero society’. 1 To meet this ambitious target, the deployment of low carbon technologies is an urgent priority. The low carbon heat recovery technologies such as heat recovery from sewage via heat pump can play an important role. It is based on recovering heat from the sewage that is added by the consumer, used and flushed in the sewer. This technology is currently successfully operating in many cities around the world. In the UK, there is also a rising interest to explore this technology after successful sewage heat recovery demonstration project at Borders College, Galashiels, Scotland. 2 However, further experimental research is needed to build the evidence base, replicate, and de-risk the concept elsewhere in the UK. The Home Energy 4 Tomorrow (HE4T) project at London South Bank University was created to address this evidence gap. This is the fourth article in the series of outputs on sewage heat recovery and presents some results using sewage data from the UK’s capital London. These data are scarce and provide useful information on the variation of flows and temperatures encountered in the sewers of the UK’s capital. Lastly, we discuss the recoverable heat potential along with policy implications for the UK heat strategy.

Practical application

This work focuses and accentuate that in order to meet climate change targets, substantial improvements can come by heat recovery from the raw (influent) and treated wastewater (effluent from wastewater treatment plant) that is still unexploited in the UK. The estimation presented indicates that there is much theoretical potential in the UK with significant opportunity for future energy and revenue retrieval along with GHGs emission reduction in the longer term to fulfil the ‘net zero’ objective. This work aims to raise awareness and seek support to promote pilot scale studies to help demonstrate technical and economic feasibility in the building industry.
Classifying and Predicting Surgical Complications After Laryngectomy: A Novel Approach to Diagnosing and Treating Patients
Authors: Koenen Lukas , Arens Philipp , Olze Heidi , Dommerich Steffen
Published: July 2021

Objectives:

The total laryngectomy is one of the most standardized major surgical procedures in otolaryngology. Several studies have proposed the Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC) as a solution to classifying postoperative complications into 5 grades from less severe to severe. Yet more data on classifying larger patient populations undergoing major otolaryngologic surgery according to the CDC are needed. Predicting postoperative complications in clinical practice is often subject to generalized clinical scoring systems with uncertain predictive abilities for otolaryngologic surgery. Machine learning offers methods to predict postoperative complications based on data obtained prior to surgery.

Methods:

We included all patients (N = 148) who underwent a total laryngectomy after diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma at our institution. A univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis of multiple complex risk factors was performed, and patients were grouped into severe postoperative complications (CDC ≥ 4) and less severe complications. Four different commonly used machine learning algorithms were trained on the dataset. The best model was selected to predict postoperative complications on the complete dataset.

Results:

Univariate analysis showed that the most significant predictors for postoperative complications were the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and whether reconstruction was performed intraoperatively. A multivariate analysis showed that the CCI and reconstruction remained significant. The commonly used AdaBoost algorithm achieved the highest area under the curve with 0.77 with high positive and negative predictive values in subsequent analysis.

Conclusions:

This study shows that postoperative complications can be classified according to the CDC with the CCI being a useful screening tool to predict patients at risk for postoperative complications. We provide evidence that could help identify single patients at risk for complications and customize treatment accordingly which could finally lead to a custom approach for every patient. We also suggest that there is no increase in complications with patients of higher age.
Angiomyolipoma Originating From the Nasal Vestibule: A Case Report
Authors: Perić Aleksandar , Sotirović Jelena , Folić Miljan , Đurdević Biserka Vukomanović
Published: July 2021

Angiomyolipoma is a benign, mesenchymal, hamartomatous lesion often described in the kidney and may be associated with tuberous sclerosis. Nasal angiomyolipoma is an extremely rare tumor with fewer than 20 cases reported in the literature. We report a case of angiomyolipoma arising in the right nasal vestibule in a 68-year-old male with mild, recurrent right-sided epistaxis, and nasal obstruction. With the exception of arterial hypertension, the patient did not have any comorbidities. Gross examination showed a well-circumscribed, lobulated mass. On the microscopic level, it was composed of mature smooth muscle cells, thick-walled blood vessels of varying sizes, and islands of mature adipose tissue. Angiomyolipoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis for unilateral nasal masses, especially those situated in the nasal vestibule.
Homo homini tigris: Thomas Hobbes and the global images of sovereignty
Authors: Chignola Sandro
Published: July 2021

This article addresses the modern concept of sovereignty as a multivocal and conflictual semantic field, arguing for the necessity to trace its genealogy based on the structural tensions that haunt its logical framework – as well as its representations – rather than on a linear historiographic reconstruction. In particular, the scrutiny I propose aims to examine a series of exchanges that have been characterizing this concept since the beginning: the global and the European, the maritime and the territorial, the colony and the state, the imperial and the proprietary. The problematic balance between ‘imperium’ and ‘dominium’ is indeed assumed here as the turning point of the rise of a sovereign power that appears to be originally rooted in the very production and governance of the global space, thus giving up all possible Eurocentric narratives of modernity. To illustrate my argument, I focus on the frontispieces to three of Thomas Hobbes’s most important books, that is, his translation of Thucydides’ Peloponnesian Wars, De Cive and Leviathan. A thorough analysis of these images enables us to understand how these lines of force traverse the very heart of modern European political concepts, along with the mirroring effects that constantly bounce their normative construction of subjectivity back and forth from the periphery to the centre and, ultimately, from the market to the state.
Effects of shikonin on the development of ovarian follicles and female germline stem cells
Authors: Ma Shu-Xin , Tang Li-Bo , Chen Zhi-Hang , Wei Min-Li , Tang Zi-Juan , Zheng Yue-Hui , Zong Guo , Li Jia
Published: July 2021

Objective

To investigate the effects and potential mechanism of action of shikonin (SHK) on the development of ovarian follicles and female germline stem cells (FGSCs).

Methods

Female Kunming adult mice were administered SHK (0, 20 and 50 mg/kg) by oral gavage. Cultures of FGSCs were treated with SHK 32 μmol/l for 24 h. The ovarian index in mouse ovaries was calculated. Numbers of primordial, primary and atretic follicles were counted. Germline stem cell markers and apoptosis were examined. Levels of glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured.

Results

Both doses of SHK significantly decreased the ovarian index, the numbers of primordial follicles, primary follicles and antral follicles in mice. SHK significantly increased the numbers of atretic follicles and atretic corpora lutea. SHK promoted apoptosis in vivo and in vitro. SHK significantly decreased the levels of the germline stem cell markers. SHK significantly lowered GSH levels and the activity of SOD in the peripheral blood from mice, whereas SHK significantly elevated cellular ROS content in FGSCs.

Conclusions

These current results suggested that follicular development and FGSCs were suppressed by SHK through the induction of apoptosis and oxidative stress might be involved in this pathological process.
Help wanted: A qualitative study of what newspaper editors consider when hiring journalism school graduates
Authors: Pitluk Adam
Published: July 2021

This research examines what skills are needed by legacy newspaper hiring editors of their new employees hired after journalism school, including writing and reporting skills for print and online, coding, data scrubbing and analysis, and design skills. Moreover, this article highlights, for the first time, that the perceived disconnect between legacy newspaper editors and journalism academic administrators is, in fact, real.
Do Diversity Awards Discourage Applicants From Marginalized Groups From Pursuing More Lucrative Opportunities?
Authors: Germano Adriana L. , Ziegler Sianna A. , Banham Laura , Cheryan Sapna
Published: July 2021

Four studies reveal that offering diversity awards (i.e., awards for applicants from marginalized groups) has unintentionally negative implications for equity. Across the four studies, applicants from marginalized groups were more likely to select the more lucrative award when two unrestricted awards were offered (Study 1: adults from racial groups underrepresented in U.S. colleges who were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, N = 168; Studies 2–4: college women, N range = 152–628). However, the presence of a less lucrative diversity award caused applicants to apply for and prioritize diversity awards over more lucrative unrestricted awards. Fit, or how much applicants felt the award was for someone like them, mediated their increased likelihood of applying for diversity awards over unrestricted awards. These findings suggest that diversity awards may inadvertently siphon applicants from marginalized groups out of application pools for unrestricted awards. Greater examination of unrestricted awards is needed to increase their attractiveness and fit, especially in instances when diversity awards are also offered.
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus managed with pembrolizumab: A case report with literature review
Authors: Lan Ting-Yuan , Chen Yan-Siou , Cheng Chiao-Feng , Huang Sin-Tuan , Shen Chieh-Yu , Hsu Ping-Ning
Published: July 2021

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is one of the rare but lethal infectious complication in patients with SLE, manifesting progressive central nervous demyelination caused by JC virus (JCV). There have been no effective antiviral agents so far; however, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been demonstrated as potential treatments by reinvigorating antiviral T-cell activity against JC virus. To date, sixteen PML cases treated with anti-PD-1 have been reported; however, there was no report addressing the use of ICI in patients with concomitant PML and rheumatic disease, possibly due to the concern for possible autoimmune disease flare-up. In addition, treatment outcomes of these ICI-treated cases were heterogeneous. Experiences from these cases suggested that high disease burden, JC viral load in CSF, and severe immunosuppression status at baseline may predict poor response to treatment. Our case, a 62-year-old woman with long-standing SLE, turned out to have a delayed but effective response to prolonged ICI treatment despite of her high JC viral load and immunosuppressed status caused by high-dose steroid and rituximab. To our knowledge, this is the first case report with SLE complicated with PML clinically improved by pembrolizumab treatment without consequent immune related adverse events (irAE). Considering the lethal nature of PML and absence of effective medication, ICI is a reasonable consideration in patients with SLE and progressive PML.
Development of a Data Visualization Tool for Occupational Exposure to Chemicals of Concern for Breast Cancer Among California Working Women, 2010–2014
Authors: Beckman Stella , Silver Elana , Weinberg Justine L. , Hurley Susan , Frederick Matt , Chan Jacqueline , Reynolds Peggy , Harrison Robert
Published: July 2021

We identified the occupations that employ California women and a list of chemicals of concern for breast cancer. We evaluated the likelihood of on-the-job exposure to the categories of chemicals by occupation among formally and informally employed women. We selected 145 occupations representing more than 6.6 million women (85% of California working women), along with an additional sixteen occupations for informal workers only. We organized 1012 chemicals (including mammary gland carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals) into twenty-five categories. More than 80 percent of occupations investigated had possible or probable exposure to at least one category of chemicals. This is the first categorization of occupational exposure to chemicals of concern for breast cancer among California working women. Our investigation revealed significant data gaps, which could be improved by policy changes resulting in enhanced collection of data on occupation and chemical exposure.
Autopoiesis and evolution: the role of organisms in natural drift
Authors: Raimondi Vincenzo
Published: July 2021

Genetic reductionism is increasingly seen as a severely limited approach to understanding living systems. The Neo-Darwinian explanatory framework tends to overlook the role of the organism for an understanding of development and evolution. In the current fast-changing theoretical landscape, the autopoietic approach provides conceptual distinctions and tools that may contribute to building an alternative framework. In this article, I examine the implications of the theories of autopoiesis and natural drift for an organism-centered view of evolution. By shifting the attention from genes to ontogenetic organism-niche configurations and their transformations over generations, this approach presents a compelling perspective on the role of organismal behavior in guiding phylogenetic drift.
Addressing Determinants of Paternal Subjective Well-Being Through Fatherhood Education
Authors: Turner Joshua J. , Bradford Kay , Higginbotham Brian J.
Published: July 2021

Fatherhood education promotes responsible father involvement, which supports family well-being. However, research is lacking relative to the impact of these programs on paternal subjective well-being. Using Andersen’s Behavioral Model, this study examines the impact of a fatherhood education program on participants’ perceptions of social support and self-reported mental health. Upon program completion, participants reported higher levels of perceived social support, and lower levels of depression and anxiety. Bi-directional associations between social support and paternal mental health were noted. Multivariate analyses revealed the characteristics of fathers who might benefit from post-program interventions that focus on building stronger social support systems and addressing mental health needs.
Is fetuin-A a biomarker of dialysis access dysfunction?
Authors: Roca-Tey Ramon , Ramírez de Arellano Manel , González-Oliva Juan Carlos , Roda Amparo , Samon Rosa , Ibrik Omar , Ugalde-Altamirano Jessica , Viladoms Jordi , Calls Jordi
Published: July 2021

Background:

The arteriovenous (AV) access function of hemodialysis (HD) patients can be impaired by afferent artery stiffness due to preexisting microcalcification and by venous stenosis secondary to neointimal hyperplasia in whose development participates an upregulated local inflammatory process. Fetuin-A is a circulating potent inhibitor of vascular calcification and plays an important anti-inflammatory role. The aims of this prospective study were to investigate the relationship between baseline serum fetuin-A levels and: blood flow (QA) values at baseline, AV access failure (thrombosis or intervention for stenosis) during follow-up and primary unassisted AV access patency.

Methods:

We measured baseline serum fetuin-A levels and QA values of the AV access in 64 HD patients under routine QA surveillance for stenosis. Patients were classified into tertiles according to their baseline fetuin-A levels (g/L): <0.5 (tertile-1), 0.5–1.20 (tertile-2), and >1.20 (tertile-3).

Results:

Fetuin-A was positively correlated with QA (Spearman coefficient = 0.311, p = 0.012). Fourteen patients (21.9%) underwent AV access failure and they had lower fetuin-A (0.59 ± 0.32 g/L) and lower QA (739.4 ± 438.8 mL/min) values at baseline compared with the remaining patients (1.05 ± 0.65 g/L and 1273.0 ± 596.3 mL/min, respectively) ( p = 0.027 and p < 0.001, respectively). The AV access failure rate was highest (34.8%) in tertile-1 (lowest fetuin-A level). Unadjusted Cox regression analysis showed a decrease in the risk of AV access patency loss by increasing fetuin-A concentration (hazard ratio 0.395 (95% confidence interval: 1.42–1.69), p = 0.044) but it was not confirmed in the adjusted model, although the hazard ratio was low (0.523). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that patients in tertile-3 (highest fetuin-A concentration) had the highest primary unassisted AV access patency (λ2 = 4.68, p = 0.030, log-rank test).

Conclusion:

If our results are confirmed in further studies, fetuin-A could be used as a circulating biomarker to identify HD patients at greater risk for AV access dysfunction, who would benefit from much closer dialysis access surveillance.
Who is a good journalist? Evaluations of journalistic worth in the era of social media
Authors: Papanagnou Vaios
Published: July 2021

In this article, I enquire into the ways that journalists understand their identities and values now that social media dominate the routines of networked newsrooms. My approach is grounded on a Discourse Theory framework within which journalism emerges as a symbolic practice constituted through the discourse of its practitioners. Drawing additionally on pragmatic sociology, I understand journalists as reflexive practitioners who discursively attribute value to various orders of worth in order to evaluate their own identities. Taking the British news organisation The Guardian as my case study, my analysis of 10 newsroom interviews demonstrates how journalists develop a series of evaluations in order to identify themselves. My findings confirm a shift in the ways that journalists evaluate themselves, which is today associated with a new valorisation of networking. This shift towards networking, however, does not destroy long-standing journalistic values. It is ultimately their institutional identities that journalists re-invent through social media, and it is according to their institutional expertise that they evaluate themselves as professionals. In conclusion, I argue that, whilst journalists reaffirm their disdain for the financial rewards of the market, by embracing social media networking they expose themselves to the influence of capitalist markets.
Social protection responses by states and international organisations to the COVID-19 crisis in the global South: Stopgap or new departure?
Authors: Leisering Lutz
Published: July 2021

Macro events like the Great Depression in the 1930s and the Second World War have triggered new departures in social policy. What about the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant socio-economic crisis? This article analyses the social protection measures taken by governments in the global South in response to the crisis, the social protection concepts developed by international organisations, and the overall strategies of the organisations in view of future shocks. The finding is that while the measures taken by governments expectedly have just been stopgap measures of a transitory nature, international organisations are aspiring to future-oriented policies and present a range of concepts for the time after the crisis. However, these are old concepts from pre-COVID-19 times, and the main strategy is to expand rather than reform the old models, even though the international organisations themselves identify new forms of poverty and structural inequalities. Moreover, the organisations do not provide conclusive evidence of their strategy’s viability; the strategy rather reflects a belief in social progress. All in all, the crisis has hardly been used as a window of opportunity for generating new ideas of social protection. Rather, the crisis has revealed the flimsy nature of widespread thinking about building social protection in the global South. Conceptually, the article draws on world society theory, conceiving of the pandemic as a global macro event.
Freeplaying with narrative: A Jogando method in/as Capoeira research
Authors: Cruz Joshua , Griffith Lauren , Lawal Idera
Published: July 2021

In this article, we rethink the ways that analysis within narrative research might occur based on the topic being studied and provide an example using the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira. Locating our work at the intersection of Derridean freeplay and the spirit of play present in the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, we reconceive of the ways that narratives may be constructed, and suggest that the topic under study, capoeira, may actually become an analytic. This piece offers one of many potential directions for rethinking analysis of narrative data and representing participant experiences and suggests blurring lines between content and method of analysis. While our own analysis occurs using play as it appears in capoeira, we suggest that any number of research topics may be used to inform the ways that we analyze data.
The impact of team-based learning on students’ perceptions of classroom community
Authors: Parrish Christopher W , Guffey Sarah K , Williams David S
Published: July 2021

Developing a sense of classroom community is important in promoting course satisfaction and in helping students overcome feelings of disconnectedness, especially in online courses. When considering the various strategies identified as contributing to a sense of classroom community, instructors likely need support in which strategies and technology tools to select, as well as how to implement those strategies. This support may be especially needed for instructors seeking to translate community building practices in face-to-face settings to their online courses. Team-based learning might be used to foster a sense of classroom community among students in both face-to-face and online courses. An embedded mixed methods design was used to determine if and how students’ perceptions of classroom community varied between method of course delivery (face-to-face or online) and course format (non-TBL or TBL). The results showed whether students in face-to-face courses (non-TBL and TBL) reported a stronger sense of classroom community than those students in online courses (non-TBL and TBL). The results also revealed how students in TBL courses (face-to-face and online) described their sense of connectedness to their instructor and peers compared to those in non-TBL courses.
Machines driving machines: Deleuze and Guattari’s asignifying unconscious
Authors: Coffin Jack
Published: July 2021

The psychoanalytic tradition is split. Most marketing theorists work with a linguistic model, treating the unconscious as an extension of conscious language. This article promotes the machinic model of Deleuze and Guattari, which treats the unconscious as asubjective but also asignifying. This means that the unconscious is comprised of colliding forces and their contingent connections, rather than a chain of signification in a wider symbolic structure. There are a small number of machinic or proto-machinic articles in marketing theory, but this article explores how explicating the Deleuzoguattarian model could reconceptualise: (1) the unconscious, (2) its relation to sociomaterial systems, (3) its relation to marketing practice, and (4) the role of critical marketing theory. This article also argues that there is a strategic benefit in searching for complementarities between Deleuze and Guattari, on the one hand, and other psychoanalytic thinkers, on the other. A united front of unconscious understandings would be advantageous in a discipline that lionises conscious choice. As such, this article presents the machinic model as another perspective in the already pluralistic tradition of psychoanalytic marketing theory.
On the selection of the most plausible non-linear axial stress–strain model for railway ballast under different impulse magnitudes
Authors: Adeagbo Mujib Olamide , Lam Heung-Fai , Hu Qin
Published: July 2021

The effective maintenance and health monitoring of ballasted railway tracks, which involves the determination of differential settlement, track support stress and stiffness, and the strain-hardening property of ballast, is essential. The vertical stress–strain behavior of the ballast layer is primarily responsible for the irrecoverable strains and settlements in tracks, leading to further track degradation. This article reports the development of a series of applicable yet simple uniaxial models and the selection of the most plausible one for capturing the behavior of vertical stresses and strains in ballasts utilizing a set of measured vibration data of the rail–sleeper–ballast system from a Bayesian perspective. From the literature, the dynamic behavior of ballast can be divided into linear and non-linear regions. Under small amplitude vibration, the stress–strain property is linear and elastic, while the behavior becomes non-linear and inelastic once the elasticity limit is exceeded. By integrating the linear phase to some well-known non-linear engineering material laws, a list of new ballast stress–strain model classes was developed. An enhanced Markov chain Monte Carlo–based Bayesian scheme was utilized to explicitly handle the uncertainties in the model updating process, while the Bayesian model class selection method was employed to select the most plausible ballast stress–strain model class under the prevailing system conditions. The proposed methodology was verified using three sets of measured acceleration data from impact hammer tests on an in situ sleeper with simulated ballast damage. The obtained results suggest that the linear-elastic model is sufficient for small amplitude vibrations, while the modified Voce model is the most plausible amongst the investigated model classes for high impact load. The results also demonstrate the importance of the non-linear ballast model in ballast damage identification and the potential applicability of the selected ballast model in field track monitoring.