bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Portrayal of Successful Ageing in British Prime-Time TV Advertisements: A Concern for the Healthcare Sector?
Authors: Olsen Dennis A.
Published: March 2023

Stereotypes conveyed by the media influence both the self-perception and behaviour of people, and may have implications for treatment and healthcare outcomes of older patients. To identify prevailing stereotypes about old age and to investigate the presentation of successful ageing, 6228 commercials aired during UK prime-time TV in September 2020 were analysed using a media content analysis. The findings indicate that the mediated ideas of growing and being old largely align with the concept of successful ageing. However, aspects of persistent ageism are also identified, which affect particularly the oldest members of society and ethnic minorities. Armed with this knowledge, proactive steps should be taken to influence stereotyping of older people, in order to better embrace equity, diversity and inclusion for both age and ethnic background.
The BAF complex inhibitor pyrimethamine reverses HIV-1 latency in people with HIV-1 on antiretroviral therapy
Authors: Prins Henrieke A. B. , Crespo Raquel , Lungu Cynthia , Rao Shringar , Li Letao , Overmars Ronald J. , Papageorgiou Grigorius , Mueller Yvonne M. , Stoszko Mateusz , Hossain Tanvir , Kan Tsung Wai , Rijnders Bart J. A. , Bax Hannelore I. , van Gorp Eric C. M. , Nouwen Jan L. , de Vries-Sluijs Theodora E. M. S. , Schurink Carolina A. M. , de Mendonça Melo Mariana , van Nood Els , Colbers Angela , Burger David , Palstra Robert-Jan , van Kampen Jeroen J. A. , van de Vijver David A. M. C. , Mesplède Thibault , Katsikis Peter D. , Gruters Rob A. , Koch Birgit C. P. , Verbon Annelies , Mahmoudi Tokameh , Rokx Casper
Published: March 2023

Reactivation of the latent HIV-1 reservoir is a first step toward triggering reservoir decay. Here, we investigated the impact of the BAF complex inhibitor pyrimethamine on the reservoir of people living with HIV-1 (PLWH). Twenty-eight PLWH on suppressive antiretroviral therapy were randomized (1:1:1:1 ratio) to receive pyrimethamine, valproic acid, both, or no intervention for 14 days. The primary end point was change in cell-associated unspliced (CA US) HIV-1 RNA at days 0 and 14. We observed a rapid, modest, and significant increase in (CA US) HIV-1 RNA in response to pyrimethamine exposure, which persisted throughout treatment and follow-up. Valproic acid treatment alone did not increase (CA US) HIV-1 RNA or augment the effect of pyrimethamine. Pyrimethamine treatment did not result in a reduction in the size of the inducible reservoir. These data demonstrate that the licensed drug pyrimethamine can be repurposed as a BAF complex inhibitor to reverse HIV-1 latency in vivo in PLWH, substantiating its potential advancement in clinical studies.
Ptychographic measurements of varying size and shape along zeolite channels
Authors: Sha Haozhi , Cui Jizhe , Li Jialu , Zhang Yuxuan , Yang Wenfeng , Li Yadong , Yu Rong
Published: March 2023

Sub-angstrom resolution imaging of porous materials like zeolites is important to reveal their structure-property relationships involved in ion exchange, molecule adsorption and separation, and catalysis. Using multislice electron ptychography, we successfully measured the atomic structure of zeolite at sub-angstrom lateral resolution for 100-nanometer-thick samples. Both lateral and depth deformations of the straight channels are mapped, showing the three-dimensional structural inhomogeneity and flexibility. Since most zeolites in industrial applications are usually tens to hundreds of nanometers thick, the sub-angstrom resolution imaging and accurate measurements of depth-dependent local structures with electron ptychography at low-dose condition will find wide applications in porous materials close to their industrially relevant conditions.
Bubble wall confinement–driven molecular assembly toward sub–12 nm and beyond precision patterning
Authors: Qu Zhiyuan , Zhou Peng , Min Fanyi , Chen Shengnan , Guo Mengmeng , Huang Zhandong , Ji Shiyang , Yan Yongli , Yin Xiaodong , Jiang Hanqiu , Ke Yubin , Zhao Yong Sheng , Yan Xuehai , Qiao Yali , Song Yanlin
Published: March 2023

Patterning is attractive for nanofabrication, electron devices, and bioengineering. However, achieving the molecular-scale patterns to meet the demands of these fields is challenging. Here, we propose a bubble-template molecular printing concept by introducing the ultrathin liquid film of bubble walls to confine the self-assembly of molecules and achieve ultrahigh-precision assembly up to 12 nanometers corresponding to the critical point toward the Newton black film limit. The disjoining pressure describing the intermolecular interaction could predict the highest precision effectively. The symmetric molecules exhibit better reconfiguration capacity and smaller preaggregates than the asymmetric ones, which are helpful in stabilizing the drainage of foam films and construct high-precision patterns. Our results confirm the robustness of the bubble template to prepare molecular-scale patterns, verify the criticality of molecular symmetry to obtain the ultimate precision, and predict the application potential of high-precision organic patterns in hierarchical self-assembly and high-sensitivity sensors.
Molecular insights into the Darwin paradox of coral reefs from the sea anemone Aiptasia
Authors: Cui Guoxin , Konciute Migle K. , Ling Lorraine , Esau Luke , Raina Jean-Baptiste , Han Baoda , Salazar Octavio R. , Presnell Jason S. , Rädecker Nils , Zhong Huawen , Menzies Jessica , Cleves Phillip A. , Liew Yi Jin , Krediet Cory J. , Sawiccy Val , Cziesielski Maha J. , Guagliardo Paul , Bougoure Jeremy , Pernice Mathieu , Hirt Heribert , Voolstra Christian R. , Weis Virginia M. , Pringle John R. , Aranda Manuel
Published: March 2023

Symbiotic cnidarians such as corals and anemones form highly productive and biodiverse coral reef ecosystems in nutrient-poor ocean environments, a phenomenon known as Darwin’s paradox. Resolving this paradox requires elucidating the molecular bases of efficient nutrient distribution and recycling in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Using the sea anemone Aiptasia, we show that during symbiosis, the increased availability of glucose and the presence of the algae jointly induce the coordinated up-regulation and relocalization of glucose and ammonium transporters. These molecular responses are critical to support symbiont functioning and organism-wide nitrogen assimilation through glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase–mediated amino acid biosynthesis. Our results reveal crucial aspects of the molecular mechanisms underlying nitrogen conservation and recycling in these organisms that allow them to thrive in the nitrogen-poor ocean environments.
M3GAN
: The real horror is the lack of ethics in robotics
Authors: Murphy Robin R. , deWitte Paula
Published: March 2023

The popular robot horror movie
M3GAN
illustrates legal and ethical responsibilities that are often overlooked.
Microbial and Viral Genome and Proteome Nitrogen Demand Varies across Multiple Spatial Scales within a Marine Oxygen Minimum Zone
Authors: Muratore Daniel , Bertagnolli Anthony D. , Bristow Laura A. , Thamdrup Bo , Weitz Joshua S. , Stewart Frank J.
Published: March 2023

The genomes of marine microbes can be shaped by nutrient cycles, with ocean-scale gradients in nitrogen availability being known to influence microbial amino acid usage. It is unclear, however, how genomic properties are shaped by nutrient changes over much smaller spatial scales, for example, along the vertical transition into oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) or from the exterior to the interior of detrital particles.
Supplemental Material: Caught in the act: Diamond growth and destruction in the continental lithosphere
Authors: howarth geoffrey , al. et
Published: March 2023

Figures S1–S6 (illustrating additional computed tomography [CT] scans of diamondiferous eclogites of this study), a detailed description of the CT analytical technique, and Table S1 (a summary of the characteristic features of each diamondiferous xenolith analyzed).
Supplemental Material: Making sense of shear zone fabrics that record multiple episodes of deformation: Electron backscatter diffraction–derived and crystallographic vorticity axis–enhanced petrochronology
Authors: Miranda Elena A. , al. et
Published: March 2023

EBSD methods and working conditions, sector-field LA-ICP-MS U-Pb titanite petrochronology methods, and photomicrographs and EBSD maps of the samples used for CVA analysis.
Supplemental Material: Shallow and deep subsurface sediment remobilization and intrusion in the Middle Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Agardhfjellet Formation (Svalbard)
Authors: Ogata K. , al. et
Published: March 2023

File S1: Sample locations. File S2A and File S2B: Petrographic, mineralogical, and micromorphological data. File S3: Digital outcrop models.   
What are the characteristics of vitamin D metabolism in opioid dependence? An exploratory longitudinal study in Australian primary care
Authors: Reece Albert Stuart , Hulse Gary Kenneth
Published: March 2023

Objective

Compare vitamin D levels in opioid dependence and control population and adjust for relevant confounding effects. Nuclear hormone receptors (including the vitamin D receptor) have been shown to be key transducers and regulators of intracellular metabolism and comprise an important site of pathophysiological immune and metabolic dysregulation potentially contributing towards pro-ageing changes observed in opioid-dependent patients (ODPs).

Design

Longitudinal prospective comparing ODPs with general medical controls (GMCs).

Setting

Primary care.

Participants

Prospective review comparing 1168 ODP (72.5% men) and 415 GMC (51.6% men, p<0.0001). Mean ages were 33.92±0.31 (mean±SEM) and 41.22±1.32 years, respectively (p<0.0001). Opioid use in the ODP has been previously reported and shown to be typical.

Interventions

Nil. Observational study only.

Primary and secondary outcomes

Serum vitamin D levels and relevant biochemical parameters.

Results

Vitamin D levels were higher in the ODP (70.35±1.16 and 57.06±1.81 nmol/L, p<0.0001). The difference in ages between the two groups was handled in an age-matched case–control subanalysis and also by multiple regression. Sexes were analysed separately. The age:status (or age:time:status) was significant in case–control, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in both sexes (p<0.05). Modelled vitamin D was 62.71 vs 57.81 nmol/L in the two groups. Time-dependent mixed-effects models quadratic in age outperformed linear-only models (p=0.0377). ODP vitamin D was shown to vary with age and to correlate with alanine aminotransferase establishing it as a biomarker of age in this group. Hepatitis C seronegativity was significant in regression models (from p=0.0015).

Conclusion

Vitamin D was higher in ODP in both sexes in bivariate, cross-sectional, case–control and longitudinal analyses and was robust to the inclusion of metabolic and immune biomarkers. That Hepatitis C seronegativity was significant suggests opioid dependence has an effect beyond simply that of its associated hepatitides. This finding may relate to the accelerated ageing process previously described in opioid dependence.
Clinicopathological features of CD5-positive splenic marginal zone lymphoma
Authors: Li Yunling , Wang Guannan , Liu Enjie , Zhang Dandan , Zhang Yanping , Jian Xiangyu , Zhao Wugan , Li Wencai
Published: March 2023

Aims

To investigate the clinicopathological features, immunophenotypes and differential diagnosis of CD5-positive splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL).

Methods

We retrospectively analysed 16 CD5-positive cases of SMZL. Assess their clinicopathological features and survival outcomes to evaluate their similarities and differences with a control group of 25 CD5-negative cases of SMZL.

Results

Compared with CD5-negative patients, CD5-positive SMZL tends to be more prone to B symptoms, peripheral lymphadenopathy and extranodal infiltration, high Ann Arbor stage, high International Prognostic Index scores, high serum lactic dehydrogenase and high rates of bone marrow involvement. The 5-year survival rate was significantly shorter than that of the CD5-negative group (52.1% and 81.8%, respectively).

Conclusions

There are many similarities between CD5-positive SMZL and classical CD5-negative SMZL in clinical presentations, morphology and immunohistochemistry, but the former may have a more aggressive clinical course with a poorer prognosis.
How the Alt Text Gets Made: What Roles and Processes of Alt Text Creation Can Teach Us AboutInclusive Imagery
Authors: Edwards Emory J. , Gilbert Michael , Blank Emily , Branham Stacy M.
Published: March 2023

Many studies within Accessible Computing have investigated image accessibility, from what should be included in alternative text (alt text), to possible automated, human-in-the-loop, or crowdsourced approaches to alt text generation. However, the processes through which practitioners make alt textin situhave rarely been discussed. Through interviews with three artists and three accessibility practitioners working with Google, as well as 25 end users, we identify four processes of alt text creation used by this company—The User-Evaluation Process, The Lone Writer Process, The Team Write-A-Thon Process, and The Artist-Writer Process—and unpack their potential strengths and weaknesses as they relate to access and inclusive imagery. We conclude with a discussion of what alt text researchers and industry professionals can learn from considering alt textin situ, including opportunities to support user feedback, cross-contributor consistency, and organizational or technical changes to production processes.
Cascading Residual Graph Convolutional Network for Multi-Behavior Recommendation
Authors: Yan Mingshi , Cheng Zhiyong , Gao Chen , Sun Jing , Liu Fan , Sun Fuming , Li Haojie
Published: March 2023

Multi-behavior recommendation exploits multiple types of user-item interactions, such as
view
and
cart
, to learn user preferences and has demonstrated to be an effective solution to alleviate the data sparsity problem faced by the traditional models that often utilize only one type of interaction for recommendation. In real scenarios, users often take a sequence of actions to interact with an item, in order to get more information about the item and thus accurately evaluate whether an item fits their personal preferences. Those interaction behaviors often obey a certain order, and more importantly, different behaviors reveal different information or aspects of user preferences towards the target item. Most existing multi-behavior recommendation methods take the strategy to first extract information from different behaviors separately and then fuse them for final prediction. However, they have not exploited the connections between different behaviors to learn user preferences. Besides, they often introduce complex model structures and more parameters to model multiple behaviors, largely increasing the space and time complexity. In this work, we propose a lightweight multi-behavior recommendation model named

Cascading Residual Graph Convolutional Network

(
CRGCN
for short) for multi-behavior recommendation, which can explicitly exploit the connections between different behaviors into the embedding learning process without introducing any additional parameters (with comparison to the single-behavior based recommendation model). In particular, we design a cascading residual
graph convolutional network (GCN)
structure, which enables our model to learn user preferences by continuously refining the embeddings across different types of behaviors. The multi-task learning method is adopted to jointly optimize our model based on different behaviors. Extensive experimental results on three real-world benchmark datasets show that CRGCN can substantially outperform the state-of-the-art methods, achieving 24.76%, 27.28%, and 25.10% relative gains on average in terms of HR@K (K = {10,20,50,80}) over the best baseline across the three datasets. Further studies also analyze the effects of leveraging multi-behaviors in different numbers and orders on the final performance.
Clinical, Biochemical, and ATR-FTIR Spectroscopic Parameters Associated with Death or Survival in Patients with Severe COVID-19
Authors: Martinez-Cuazitl Adriana , Mata-Miranda Monica M. , Sanchez-Brito Miguel , Valencia-Trujillo Daniel , Avila-Trejo Amanda M. , Delgado-Macuil Raul J. , Atriano-Colorado Consuelo , Garibay-Gonzalez Francisco , Sanchez-Monroy Virginia , Vazquez-Zapien Gustavo J.
Published: March 2023

The wide range of symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) makes it challenging to predict the disease evolution using a single parameter. Therefore, to describe the pathophysiological response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19, we compared according to survival or death, the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the biochemical and immunological attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra from saliva samples and their correlation with chemometric findings. Herein, we demonstrate that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy allows the description of the events related to cell damage, such as lipids biogenesis and the secondary structure of proteins associated with lactate dehydrogenase and albumin levels. Moreover, humoral (IgM) and cellular (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10, and IL-6) responses were also increased in patients who died from COVID-19.
The Formation of NETs and Their Mechanism of Promoting Tumor Metastasis
Authors: Li Jian , Chen Jing , Sun Jing , Li Kaichun
Published: March 2023

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are network structures comprised of decondensed DNA strands coated with granule proteins. There have been three types of NETs recorded. NETs have been discovered concerning the progression of some malignancies, including gastric cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer, glioblastoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and lung cancer, among others. In various methods, tumors encourage the formation of NETs, and NETs, in turn, promote tumor growth. NETs can stimulate primary tumor cell proliferation, suppress immune cells to create a tumor-friendly immune microenvironment, and stimulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). NETs significantly promote liver and lung metastasis, possibly by altering vascular permeability, inducing cytoskeleton rearrangement and directional cell migration, and reawakening dormant cancer cells. NETs are therapeutically promising targets for cancer patients. Cancer patients may benefit from anti-NETs therapy, especially when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
A Novel Multivariate Spectral Local Quasilinearization Method (MV-SLQLM) for Modelling Flow, Moisture, Heat, and Solute Transport in Soil
Authors: Mwakilama Elias , Magagula Vusi , Gathungu Duncan
Published: March 2023

Conventionally, the problem of studying the transport of water, heat, and solute in soil or groundwater systems has been numerically solved using finite difference (FD) or finite element (FE) methods. FE methods are attractive over FD methods because they are geometrically flexible. However, recent studies demonstrate that spectral collocation (SC) methods converge exponentially faster than FD or FE methods using a few grid points or on coarse grids. This work proposes and applies a multivariate spectral local quasilinearization method (MV-SLQLM) to model the transportation and interaction of soil moisture, heat, and solute concentration in a nonbare soil ridge. The MV-SLQLM uses a quasilinearization method (QLM) to linearize any nonlinear equations and then employs a local linearization method (LLM) to decouple the linearized system of PDEs to form a sequence of equations that are solved in a computationally efficient manner. The MV-SLQLM is thus an extension of the bivariate spectral local linearization method (BI-SLLM) that fails to deal with a 2D problem and is a modification of the MV-SQLM whose efficiency is compromised when operating on high dense solution matrices. We use the residual error norms of the difference between successive iterations to affirm convergence to the expected solution. To illustrate the application and check the solution accuracy, we conduct systematic analyses of the effect of model parameters on distribution profiles. Findings are in good agreement with theory and literature, thereby revealing suitability of the MV-SLQLM to solve coupled nonlinear PDEs with environmental fluid dynamics applications.
Is Tranexamic Acid Use Effective in Preventing Postinflammatory Hyperpigmentation after Laser Treatment? A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Feng Jiangfeng , Shen Sihao , Song Xiuzu , Xiang Wenzhong
Published: March 2023

Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) is one of the most prevalent complications of laser treatment. However, comprehensive evidence is lacking to confirm the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) for the prevention of postlaser PIH. We classified laser combined with TXA as the experimental group and laser alone as the control group from the selected studies in order to determine the efficacy of the extra use of TXA. We conducted a comprehensive literature review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that matched TXA coupled with laser vs. laser alone. The melanin index (MI) scores were employed as the clinically improved outcomes. Seven RCTs and a total of 222 individuals were evaluated in this meta‐analysis. The findings revealed no statistically significant difference between the TXA and control groups in terms of decrease in mean MI scores at the end of the research (P = 0.45). The subgroup analysis showed that at month 1, extra use of TXA after laser treatment resulting in a statistically significant decrease in MI as opposed to laser alone (P = 0.04). However, at months 2 (P = 0.73), 3 (P = 0.85), and 6 (P = 0.64), the decrease in MI scores was not statistically significant. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between topical, oral, and intradermal TXA on the reduction of MI scores after treatment (P = 0.61). Furthermore, nausea and menorrhagia occurred in the oral TXA group. The current meta‐analysis found limited temporary efficacy of TXA in preventing postlaser PIH after 1 month.
Temporal Foraging and Ranging Patterns Suggested the Niche Partitioning of Two Sympatric Herbivores, Axis axis and Bubalus bubalis, in the Nijhum Dweep National Park of Bangladesh
Authors: Hossain Aftab , Ara Syeda Ismat , Nath Biswajit , Zannat Kazi Fayzatul , Ahsan Md. Farid
Published: March 2023

For proper conservation measures and to elucidate coexistence mechanism of sympatric herbivore, we assessed the temporal foraging and ranging patterns of the Axis axis (spotted deer) and feral and/or semi domesticated Bubalus bubalis (buffalos) in the Nijhum Dweep National Park (NDNP) of Bangladesh. We have collected the data by day long scan sampling method for 12 months. We found that spotted deer and buffalos, respectively, spent 50.34% and 36.41% of their total day time in foraging. To avoid clash with the larger sized buffalos in the grazing ground, the spotted deer choose a slightly different time for grazing. At least three foraging peaks were found for spotted deer, whereas, buffalos showed two foraging peaks in a day. More importantly, spotted deer relied more on browsing for their food collection although they are natural gazer, whereas, buffalos relied more on their natural grazing habit for food collection. Spotted deer spent most of their time inside the forest and forest edges, whereas, buffalos mostly spent their time in the open grazing grounds. The range of total distance moved (TDM) per day for spotted deer and buffalos was 1.56 to 2.67 km and 1.02 to 3.30 km, respectively. The total area ranged (TAR) per day were 0.23 km2 to 0.8 km2 for spotted deer and 0.03 km2 to 0.35 km2 for buffalos. Although, these two parameters varied seasonally for both species, only in case of TAR of spotted deer the variation was statistically significant (

P
<
0.05

). We conclude that because of the presence of a larger sympatric herbivore, the spotted deer did some alterations in their temporal foraging and ranging pattern (TFRP) to survive in the small island which has very limited resources for their existence and survival.
Genetic Identification of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Carriage and Its Antibiogram among Kidney Dialysis Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital in AL-Karak, Jordan
Authors: Al-Dmour Omar , Al-Groom Rania , Alsheikh Ayman , Mahmoud Sameer , Amawi Kawther , Yousef Israa , Almaraira Ayat
Published: March 2023

Background. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major bacterial pathogen. Aim. The present study aimed to determine the incidence of MRSA infections among kidney dialysis patients and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns and investigate the prevalence of mecA gene among MRSA isolates. Materials and Methods. A total of 83 nasal sterile cotton swabs samples were obtained from hemodialysis patients from Al-Karak Governmental Hospital, Al-Karak, Jordan. Collected and cultured on nutrient agar and mannitol salt agar and incubating at 37°C for 24–48 hours, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains were identified by gram stain, coagulase test, and catalase tests. The MRSA isolates were tested for the presence of MecA and SCCmec genes using the Xpert SA Nasal Complete assay real-time PCR. Factors such as age and gender were included in the study. The antibiotic profile tested by using the disc diffusion method tested all MRSA isolates. Results. This study showed that 10.8% of the cultures’ growth was S. aureus and 9.6% of all the patients were infected with MRSA, with no relationship between the number and frequency of MRSA according to the patient’s gender or age. All MRSA (100%) isolates have both genes (MecA genes and SCCmec genes), and all samples were resistant to oxacillin, ceftazidime, cefoxitin, aztreonam, and ampicillin. Conclusion. The MRSA prevalence was determined among kidney dialysis patients in the hospital. All positive samples were resistant to oxacillin, ceftazidime, cefoxitin, aztreonam, and ampicillin, which is a very rare finding, and this will give the scientists and doctors a dangerous indication about health-care centers in the Al-Karak city of Jordan.
Machine learning techniques for plant disease detection: an evaluation with a customized dataset
Authors: Humairaa Mahomodally Amatullah Fatwimah , Suddul Geerish , Armoogum Sandhya
Published: March 2023

Diseases in edible and industrial plants remains a major concern, affecting producers and consumers. The problem is further exacerbated as there are different species of plants with a wide variety of diseases that reduce the effectiveness of certain pesticides while increasing our risk of illness. A timely, accurate and automated detection of diseases can be beneficial. Our work focuses on evaluating deep learning (DL) approaches using transfer learning to automatically detect diseases in plants. To enhance the capabilities of our approach, we compiled a novel image dataset containing 87,570 records encompassing 32 different plants and 74 types of diseases. The dataset consists of leaf images from both laboratory setups and cultivation fields, making it more representative. To the best of our knowledge, no such datasets have been used for DL models. Four pre[1]trained computer vision models, namely VGG-16, VGG-19, ResNet-50, and ResNet-101 were evaluated on our dataset. Our experiments demonstrate that both VGG-16 and VGG-19 models proved more efficient, yielding an accuracy of approximately 86% and a f1-score of 87%, as compared to ResNet-50 and ResNet-101. ResNet-50 attains an accuracy and a f1-score of 46.9% and 45.6%, respectively, while ResNet-101 reaches an accuracy of 40.7% and a f1-score of 26.9%.
Developing a Research Tool for Investigating Religious Knowledge as Part of Religious Literacy: The Questionnaire – First Results – Possibilities for International Comparisons
Authors: Schnaufer Evelyn , Rutkowski Mirjam , Räsänen Antti , Osbeck Christina , Schweitzer Friedrich
Published: March 2023

This article makes international debates on religious literacy as well as forms of assessment in RE related to these debates its starting point by identifying the lack of an empirical basis for the respective discussions. A questionnaire for 15-year-old pupils with a focus on religious knowledge, based on prior studies and tried out in Finland, Germany and Sweden is introduced. The results, although not representative, allow for comparative evaluation, comparing the results at country level and in reference to different kinds of religion-related knowledge. Possible influences of the different curricula are identified by comparing different degrees of familiarity with certain topics or religions in relation to when the respective curriculum foresees them being treated. The article is meant to demonstrate that meaningful international research on religious knowledge as part of religious literacy is possible, that its results could inform RE and show the possible value of developing such efforts further.
Can Rural Residential Land Transfer Raise Peasants’ Income?
Authors: Lin (林辉煌) Huihuang , Zhao (赵颖) Ying
Published: March 2023

In the less developed regions of China, except for cross-regional transfers to achieve horizontal poverty alleviation, which can increase peasants’ income to a certain extent in the short term, government-led rural residential land transfer does not significantly increase peasants’ income and may even reduce it. In developed regions, because peasants do not primarily depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and because local governments have relatively ample financial resources to provide adequate compensation for rural residential land transfer, government-led rural residential land transfer can indeed raise the income of the poor to a certain extent. Essentially, the income from the transfer of rural residential land depends on the unit price and the area of rural residential land available for transfer, which should be used as the basis for determining rural residential land policies in such a way as to protect the vital interests of the greatest number of peasants.
The smallest of its kind: Description of a new cryptic Amnirana species (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae) from West African rainforests
Authors: GRIESBAUM FREDERIC , JONGSMA GREGORY F.M. , PENNER JOHANNES , KOUAMÉ N’GORAN GERMAIN , DOUMBIA JOSEPH , GONWOUO NONO L. , HILLERS ANNIKA , GLOS JULIAN , BLACKBURN DAVID C. , RÖDEL MARK-OLIVER
Published: March 2023

The distribution of the White-Lipped Frog Amnirana albolabris was long assumed to extend from eastern-central to western African rainforests. However, recent molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that this taxon likely represents several undescribed species. Because the name-bearing types were collected in Gabon, the distantly related West African populations clearly represent an undescribed species that partly occurs in sympatry with Amnirana fonensis. Based on an integrative taxonomic approach, including molecular, morphological, and acoustic data, we describe the ‘albolabris’ populations from the Upper Guinean Forest Zone as a new species, and redescribe the morphologically similar A. fonensis on the bases of a larger series of genotyped individuals, including the first known females. We also provide new biological information for A. fonensis, including their advertisement call, habitat, and reproductive data. The new species is sister to A. fonensis and the two species differ by 5.8% in the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Morphologically, males of the new species are smaller and have relatively smaller humeral glands. Females of the new species seem to have shorter legs than A. fonensis. In comparison to A. fonensis, the advertisement call of the new species has a higher dominant frequency and more pronounced frequency modulation. The two species differ in their distribution and habitat preferences, as revealed by environmental niche modelling. Whereas the new species is restricted to the Upper Guinean forests and thus is a true lowland-rainforest inhabitant, A. fonensis lives predominantly in Guinean montane forests in the forest-savanna mosaic zone.
A study on the genus Lagria from China with one new species and new distributional records (Coleoptera: Lagriinae)
Authors: ZHOU YONG , CHEN BIN
Published: March 2023

The species of the genus Lagria Fabricius, 1775 from China are reviewed with a total of 8 species recorded in this paper. One new species, Lagria (Lagria) medogensis sp. nov. is described from Tibet, China. Four species are newly recorded from China, Lagria (Ammocera) bhutanicola Merkl, 2019, L. (Am.) unicolor Borchmann, 1941, L. (L.) indicola Bates, 1879, and L. (L.) wanduensis Merkl, 2019. The Chinese provincial distribution records for three species are updated, L. (L.) ignota (Borchmann, 1941), L. (L.) nigricollis Hope, 1843, and L. (L.) oharai Masumoto, 1988. Intraspecific variability for L. (Am.) bhutanicola and similarity of color patterns among Ammocera species are discussed. L. (L.) indicola is redescribed and illustrated.
Complete Mitochondrial genome of Eisenia nordenskioldi pallida Malevich, 1956 from Korea, with remarks on the phylogeny of the E. nordenskiodi complex (Megadrili; Lumbricidae)
Authors: CSUZDI CSABA , KOO JACHOON , HONG YONG
Published: March 2023

The Eisenia nordenskioldi (Eisen, 1879) species complex is one of the most widely distributed earthworm taxa in northern Asia, owing to its high morphological and genetic variability. This complex is represented by smaller, slightly pigmented- or unpigmented specimens in the Korean Peninsula. Here, we report the mitogenomes of two Eisenia nordenskioldi cf. pallida specimens, No. 1 and No. 3, which are slightly pigmented and unpigmented, respectively. The total length of the mitogenomes was 15,824 bp and 15,177 bp, respectively, and contained 37 genes, comprising 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a putative non-coding region, as in other earthworms. Nucleotide sequence comparisons of the 37 genes and the predicted protein sequences of 13 PCGs showed 96.6 % and 98.6 % similarity between the two mitogenomes, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis of 33 Crassiclitellata mitogenomes corroborated the monophyly of the Eisenia genus and recovered two highly supported subclades in the E. nordenskioldi species complex. The Korean specimens were the closest to the E. n. pallida L2 specimens collected near the type locality and probably represent the genuine E. nordenskioldi pallida Malevich, 1956.
Checklist of the earthworms of Albania (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae)
Authors: SZEDERJESI TÍMEA
Published: March 2023

According to the up-to-date checklist, the earthworm fauna of Albania consists of 31 species and subspecies, all belonging to the family Lumbricidae. Among them, four species, Dendrobaena feheri Szederjesi & Csuzdi, 2017, D. skipetarica Szederjesi & Csuzdi, 2017, Eisenia muranyii Szederjesi & Csuzdi, 2015 and Octodrilus albanicus Szederjesi & Csuzdi, 2012 are strict endemics, accompanied by the presence of further five Balkanic endemic species.
Book review: B. S. Sherin, Gendering Minorities: Muslim Women and the Politics of Modernity
Authors: Sengupta Papia
Published: March 2023

B. S. Sherin, Gendering Minorities: Muslim Women and the Politics of Modernity, Orient BlackSwan, 2021, 222 pp., ₹615, ISBN 9789352876693 (Paperback).
EWS Quota: A Policy Against Evidence
Authors: Jose Sunny , A Bheemeshwar Reddy , Nikhil Tati Sai , Reddy Madadi Chetan Kodand
Published: March 2023

Are economically weaker sections (EWS) students from the general category, who are not disadvantaged socially and educationally, underrepresented in higher education institutions in India? We examine this question by analysing a novel database of educational institutions in India, which were ranked in 2019 and 2022. The share of EWS students remains well above 10 per cent in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)-ranked higher education institutions both before and after the implementation of EWS quota. Analysis of the panel data of the same institutions ranked in both 2019 and 2022 as well as the Periodic Labour Force Survey data 2019 confirms the above finding. The evidence, thus, is at odds with the justification of the EWS reservation policy.
Book review: Nandita Devi, Bongol Bohu Dur [It Is a Long Way to Bengal]
Authors: Borah Antora
Published: March 2023

Nandita Devi, Bongol Bohu Dur [It Is a Long Way to Bengal] (Assamese), Guwahati, Jyoti Prakashan, 2021, 266 pp., ₹230, ISBN 978-81-942499-7-9 (Hardcover).
Taking the EWS Quota Seriously: Is It Fair and Just?
Authors: Verma Vidhu
Published: March 2023

The Supreme Court’s recent judgment upholding the economically weaker sections (EWS) quota has given rise to the idea that reservations can be provided to economically vulnerable sections of the people. This expansion in the beneficiaries of affirmative action has triggered the perception that the reservation policy, which was earlier seen as promoting the principle of equal opportunity and providing compensation to historically marginalised castes, is now also a tool to overthrow poverty, unemployment and economic deprivation. This essay addresses this rebuttal by the court and clarifies that in the context of India, the implementation of reservation policies was based on the premise that the abolition of untouchability was not sufficient to secure equality of opportunity and the battle for social equality will remain as long as we are struggling to deal with caste discrimination. This essay explains why the EWS quota is likely to be a poor tool for achieving economic equality or redressing social discrimination.
COVID-19 Induced New Workplace HR Practices: Practitioners’ Perspectives from India
Authors: Misra Sasmita , Ponnam Abhilash , Banerjee Pratyush
Published: March 2023

The purpose of this article is to provide a first-hand account of how human resources (HR) practitioners from India are revisiting their traditional perceptions of managing HR in the wake of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study applies an in-depth interview method to probe the mindset of 13 top-level HR practitioners from India. The time duration of each interview ranged between 45 minutes and 1 hour. The data generated from the qualitative interviews are analysed through latent thematic analysis. The findings throw light on how HR managers in India are rethinking their traditional practices to adjust to the new normal. The themes point to a shift towards a virtual organizational structure, with emphasis given to developing virtual empathy and virtual team building. There is also the resonance of being more future-ready for the potential recurrence of such types of economically disruptive shock events. There is more willingness to hire gig workers and freelancers now given the increased risk of overstaffing in the post-pandemic market. This study provides practitioners with a lot of validity about the way forward in the new world of work-from-home and virtual employment contracts. This is a novel exploration of what some of the senior HR practitioners from India are doing to counter the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced workplace disruption.
Fostering Positive Views About Older Workers and Reducing Age Discrimination: A Retest of the Workplace Intergenerational Contact and Knowledge Sharing Model
Authors: Lagacé Martine , Van De Beeck Lise , Bergeron Caroline D. , Rodrigues-Rouleau Philippe
Published: March 2023

Ageism toward older workers is prevalent in the labor market. The present study aimed to understand psychosocial mechanisms that may counteract this form of discrimination and help retain workers in the labor force. Using a sample of 500 Canadian younger and older workers, this study tested a model hypothesizing that intergenerational contacts and knowledge sharing practices can reduce ageist views about older adults and age-based discrimination against one’s own group, and in turn, enhance work engagement and intentions to remain in the workplace. The final model shows that knowledge sharing practices mediate the relationship between intergroup contacts and positive views about older workers as well as age-based discrimination. It also suggests that low levels of age-based discrimination increase work engagement and intentions to remain in the organization for workers of all ages. Practice and policy implications are discussed.
Physical Activity as a Health Determinant in Tropical Built Environments: A Multifaceted Intervention
Authors: Dahlan Nur Dalilah , Kurmanbekova Mainur , Yusoff Wardah Fatimah Mohammad , Elias Saliza Mohd
Published: March 2023

The changing nature of technology has influenced the physical activity behaviour of working adults in tropical-built environments. Existing physical activity interventions show a lack of diversity in delivery strategies and limited local context community assimilation measures. This study aims to provide a perspective on the interventions implemented to promote physical activity in urban and rural neighbourhoods in tropical regions. Three analytical themes were synthesised from 29 screened qualitative and quantitative literature: the social context, the environmental factors and the mechanisms to promote physical activity in the built environment. The findings recognise the importance of spatial heterogeneity in physical activity promotion at midstream and downstream intervention levels in a tropical built environment. A multifaceted intervention model for positive physical activity behaviour change (MIPA) consisting of built environment variables, micro-climate conscious design, health awareness and self-efficacy factors according to the tropical built environments context is proposed.
Selective excitation of hyperbolic phonon polaritons-induced broadband absorption via α-MoO3 square pyramid arrays
Authors: Pian Chui , Sang Tian , Li Shi , Yang Chaoyu , Zhang Xianghu
Published: March 2023

Optical anisotropy of α-MoO3 in its reststrahlen (RS) bands provides exciting opportunities for constructing the polarization-dependent devices. However, achieving broadband anisotropic absorptions through the same α-MoO3 arrays is still challenging. In this study, we demonstrate that selective broadband absorption can be achieved by using the same α-MoO3 square pyramid arrays (SPAs). For both the x and y polarizations, the absorption responses of the α-MoO3 SPAs calculated by using the effective medium theory (EMT) agreed well with those of the FDTD, indicating the excellent selective broadband absorption of the α-MoO3 SPAs are associated with the resonant hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) modes assisted by the anisotropic gradient antireflection (AR) effect of the structure. The near-field distribution of the absorption wavelengths of the α-MoO3 SPAs shows that the magnetic-field enhancement of the lager absorption wavelength tends to shift to the bottom of the α-MoO3 SPAs due to the lateral Fabry–Pérot (F–P) resonance, and the electric-field distribution exhibits the ray-like light propagation trails due to the resonance nature of the HPhPs modes. In addition, broadband absorption of the α-MoO3 SPAs can be maintained if the width of the bottom edge of the α-MoO3 pyramid is large than 0.8 μm, and excellent anisotropic absorption performances are almost immune to the variations of the thickness of the spacer and the height of the α-MoO3 pyramid.
A holobiont approach towards polysaccharide degradation by the highly compartmentalised gut system of the soil-feeding higher termite Labiotermes labralis
Authors: Marynowska Martyna , Sillam-Dussès David , Untereiner Boris , Klimek Dominika , Goux Xavier , Gawron Piotr , Roisin Yves , Delfosse Philippe , Calusinska Magdalena
Published: March 2023

Background

Termites are among the most successful insects on Earth and can feed on a broad range of organic matter at various stages of decomposition. The termite gut system is often referred to as a micro-reactor and is a complex structure consisting of several components. It includes the host, its gut microbiome and fungal gardens, in the case of fungi-growing higher termites. The digestive tract of soil-feeding higher termites is characterised by radial and axial gradients of physicochemical parameters (e.g.pH, O2and H2partial pressure), and also differs in the density and structure of residing microbial communities. Although soil-feeding termites account for 60% of the known termite species, their biomass degradation strategies are far less known compared to their wood-feeding counterparts.

Results

In this work, we applied an integrative multi-omics approach for the first time at the holobiont level to study the highly compartmentalised gut system of the soil-feeding higher termiteLabiotermes labralis. We relied on 16S rRNA gene community profiling, metagenomics and (meta)transcriptomics to uncover the distribution of functional roles, in particular those related to carbohydrate hydrolysis, across different gut compartments and among the members of the bacterial community and the host itself. We showed that theLabiotermesgut was dominated by members of the Firmicutes phylum, whose abundance gradually decreased towards the posterior segments of the hindgut, in favour of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. Contrary to expectations, we observed thatL. labralisgut microbes expressed a high diversity of carbohydrate active enzymes involved in cellulose and hemicelluloses degradation, making the soil-feeding termite gut a unique reservoir of lignocellulolytic enzymes with considerable biotechnological potential. We also evidenced that the host cellulases have different phylogenetic origins and structures, which is possibly translated into their different specificities towards cellulose. From an ecological perspective, we could speculate that the capacity to feed on distinct polymorphs of cellulose retained in soil might have enabled this termite species to widely colonise the different habitats of the Amazon basin.

Conclusions

Our study provides interesting insights into the distribution of the hydrolytic potential of the highly compartmentalised higher termite gut. The large number of expressed enzymes targeting the different lignocellulose components make theLabiotermesworker gut a relevant lignocellulose-valorising model to mimic by biomass conversion industries.