bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Labor XII
Authors: Hanesworth Pauline
Published: July 2021

This chapter explores Heracles’ defeat of Cerberus. After providing a brief overview of Heracles’ presence—or rather absence—in the retellings of the Cerberus myth, it focuses on four ways in which the intricacies of the Labor are explored. Concentrating on the Homeric Iliad, the intertwining of Heracles’ Labor with the underworld journey of Theseus and Pirithous, the introduction to the myth of Heracles’ initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the Labor’s representation in Euripides’ Heracles, the chapter shows how the myth is a mechanism through which ancient mythmakers explore what it means to be a hero. Heracles—godlike and superhuman, mighty and outmoded, humanized and blessed—is seen through his conquering of Cerberus either as being precisely what more contemporary heroes should not be or as embodying the very contradictions and blurred boundaries that Cerberus’ defeat creates.
Introduction
Authors: Ogden Daniel
Published: July 2021

The Introduction is principally addressed to the development of the canon of Heracles’ Twelve Labors. The canon is set in its Near Eastern context, with particular attention to the figure of Ninurta/Ningirsu, in the Akkadian epics Anzu and The Return of Ninurta to Nippur, and to the figure of Marduk in the Babylonian-Akkadian epic Enuma Eliš. Three chronologies are laid out: first, that of the development of the notion that Heracles had a special set of Labors as opposed to or in addition to a random series of adventures; second, that of the progression toward a more-or-less settled order for the twelve adventures eventually favored with Labor status; and, third, that of the expansion of the zone of the siting of the Labors, both within and beyond the Peloponnese. This discussion is preceded by brief material of a more general introductory nature: justification of the need for the volume and the interest of it, the articulation of its structure, and a review of recent books on Heracles.
Religion and Electoral Competition in Senegal
Authors: Koter Dominika
Published: July 2021

This chapter explores the role that religion plays in political competition in Senegal. It shows that since Senegal’s independence, religious parties have been few and rather marginal. On the other hand, religious leaders (marabouts) from different Muslim brotherhoods, especially the Mourides, have played an important role in assisting politicians in voter mobilization, acting as vote brokers, and occasionally issuing vote orders. Yet the analysis of electoral data over several decades shows that this type of mobilization has not resulted in sectarian electoral cleavages and religion is not a strong predictor of vote choice. Starting with the country’s first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, who was a Catholic, Muslim religious leaders have supported politicians across religious and brotherhood lines, creating fluid political competition. The chapter attributes this absence of sectarian cleavages to the role of religious leaders on the eve of independence and the existing incentive structures that made alliances with politicians across sectarian lines more beneficial.
State-Formation, Statist Islam, and Regime Instability
Authors: Fabbe Kristin E.
Published: July 2021

Religion, and particularly the forces of political Islam and state secularism, have been central to discussions of regime stability in the Turkish case. Intense polarization, political instability, and military interventions have propelled Turkey into crisis about once a decade, preventing strong democratic or authoritarian consolidation. To explore why both democracy and authoritarianism have “failed to stick,” this chapter advocates for a historical assessment of the relationship between religion and regime, making two interlocking arguments. First, using evidence from the late Ottoman Empire and early Republican Turkey, it argues that processes of state formation shaped the subsequent trajectory of Islamist politics, which came to be dominated by statist or state-centric political Islamist currents. Second, and relatedly, although Turkey’s political Islamists have indeed used grass-roots strategies to inspire and mobilize the masses, legacies of state-building have contributed to another set of strategies at the elite level: State-centric Islamists in Turkey have wielded their moral authority to homogenize and nationalize society, as well as to build and reorient the state in their own image. They have steadily gained influence through a patient strategy of temporary bargains with the anti-democratic forces of Kemalist secularism against mutual enemies (leftists, minority groups, etc.). Finally, they have aspired for institutional capture rather than protracted power sharing—much like their Kemalist counterparts. In this context, many big political battles are fought within the critical institutional corridors of the Turkish state and are thereby destabilizing to it, whether in democratic or autocratic form.
Military Medical Research Ethics
Authors: Gross Michael L.
Published: July 2021

Military medicine presents unique challenges for medical research. Landing in Iraq, Coalition forces required investigational drugs to combat the threat of poison gas. As the fighting progressed, battlefield conditions necessitated rapid innovation to control bleeding, manage fluid resuscitation and transfusion, conduct field surgery, treat traumatic brain injury, develop limb prosthetics, and enhance performance. While clinicians delivered high-quality retrospective and survey studies, conditions unique to the military made it difficult to obtain informed consent and conduct controlled clinical trials of emerging therapies and medical devices. The result was a dearth of sufficient studies. Remedying the situation requires reformulating the rules of informed consent for military medical research and enlisting civilian subjects while protecting the rights and privileges of each group.
Rights of Nature
Authors: Kauffman Craig M.
Published: July 2021

With the onset of climate change, the prospect of mass extinction, and the closing window of opportunity to take meaningful action, a growing number of activists, lawyers, scientists, policy-makers, and everyday people are calling for Rights of Nature (RoN) to be legally recognized as a way to transform human legal and governance systems to prioritize ecological sustainability. Over the past decade, RoN has gone from being a radical idea espoused only by a handful of marginalized actors to a legal strategy seriously considered in a wide variety of domestic and international policy arenas. In January 2021, at least 185 legal provisions recognizing RoN existed in 17 countries spanning five continents, and 50 more RoN laws were pending in a dozen other countries. RoN is also recognized in numerous international policy documents. After defining RoN, this chapter examines how different kinds of actors have organized in global networks to advance RoN in different policy arenas through distinct pathways. This has caused RoN to be structured and implemented differently in distinct contexts. The chapter examines this variation, comparing cases from around the world. It highlights the implications of structuring RoN as a set of unique substantive rights for ecosystems versus extending legal personhood (a set of rights designed for humans). It concludes by examining the relationship between RoN and human rights—including environmental rights, Indigenous rights, and economic rights—and the implications for reconceptualizing sustainable development to prioritize ecological sustainability.
Consent, Rape, and the Criminal Law
Authors: Baker Katharine K. , Oberman Michelle
Published: July 2021

This article explores the impact of rape law reform, both within and beyond the criminal law. The story of U.S. criminal rape law reform tends to be told as one of remarkable feminist success followed by widespread stagnation. Despite comprehensive changes in the law, reporting rates, prosecution rates, and conviction rates for rape increased only slightly. This article resists that binary account of success and failure by offering a more nuanced assessment. It argues that, by changing rape’s definition to an inquiry focused on whether the victim consented, the law has facilitated a shift in cultural and institutional norms governing unwanted sex. It is naïve to think that a change in law would, on its own, end rape culture, but there is ample evidence to support the conclusion that rape law reform has played a central role in reducing society’s tolerance of the rape prerogatives that have held sway for millennia.
Calvin’s Old Testament Theology and Beyond
Authors: Huijgen Arnold
Published: July 2021

The Old Testament is particularly important for the Reformed tradition, since Calvin emphasized the unity of the covenant. This chapter highlights five paradoxes and/or problems in Calvin’s approach and compares Calvin with two Dutch theologians to overcome these problems. The concreteness of Arnold van Ruler’s pneumatological approach, and the accents on particularity and Judaism in Kornelis Heiko Miskotte’s theology serve to improve Calvin’s important impulse. The chapter concludes that the church cannot do without the Old Testament because of the concrete, Jewish, character of salvation, that the unity of the Old Testament lies in the Trinity, and that the Old Testament shows the mediated character of revelation.
Theology and Visual Culture in Early Modern Calvinism
Authors: Dyrness William A.
Published: July 2021

Recent scholarship on the arts and the Reformation has come to focus more broadly on the cultural reconstruction the Reformation made necessary and the resulting material and visual culture. Calvin’s challenge in Geneva was not about what the Reformation had left behind but what would replace that medieval world. Key for Calvin was the experience of worship: the oral performance of the sermon, the singing of Psalms and partaking the sacraments, as a dramatic call enabled by the Holy Spirit summoning worshippers to a vision of God and God’s presence in the world. The regular communal worship and the preached drama of sin and salvation constituted the aesthetic-dramatic mirror (Turner) of the emerging Protestant imagination. This encouraged a mutual caring for the needy but also carried deep aesthetic implications. In the Netherlands this imagination is evident in the placement of textualized images in churches, and in landscape paintings and portraits, and, in France, it stimulated Huguenot architects to recover classical orders in the service of restoring to the earth its Edenic beauty.
Protestantism as Liberalism
Authors: Holden R. Bradley
Published: July 2021

Milton develops a novel conception of Protestantism, a category that shapes his thought. He rejects doctrinal standards, arguing that what really matters—what makes all Protestants—is the commitment to working out one’s faith from the Bible alone (sola scriptura). He thus retains the formal, but rejects the material, principle of the Reformation. This position underlies Milton’s liberal commitments. A believer must be free to work out her faith from the Word of God; she must be free to come to an explicit faith. Milton uses this definition of Protestantism to argue against censorship. Milton also maintains the separation of church and state for theological reasons: a state church that imposed belief on Christians would be merely a ‘civil papacie’. This definition of Protestantism also underlies his arguments for tolerance. For Milton, politics are religion.
John Calvin’s Vision of Reform, Historical Thinking, and the Modern World
Authors: Pitkin Barbara
Published: July 2021

Distinctly modern forms of historical consciousness emerged first after the Enlightenment but were anticipated by early modern developments in attitudes towards and strategies for recovering the past. Scholarship has only recently focused on how religious perspectives of the sixteenth century and the demand for alternative visions of religious history contributed to broader developments in early modern historiography. This chapter investigates the role of the past in Calvin’s vision of reform through the lens of his 1543 treatise, Supplex Exhortatio, to show how an early modern version of historical thinking is reflected in and shapes his reforming agenda. Though much of his programme is in continuity with Western reforming traditions, Calvin’s vision involves more conscious and critical engagement with and re-evaluation of the past. Attention to the contours of Calvin’s historical thinking illuminates the highly complex relationships among religious orientations, religious conflicts, and engagements with history in the sixteenth century.
Calvin and the Covenant
Authors: Hildebrand Pierrick
Published: July 2021

Today, covenant theology is often equated with Calvinism. The study of Calvin’s own use of the biblical covenant motive, however, has generated a controversial interpretation of the Reformed tradition. While some scholars have recently denied Calvin a genuine theology of the covenant, so as to oppose him to Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) and the covenant theology developed in Zurich, this chapter emphasizes Calvin’s positive reception and integration of Zurich’s theology in his Institutes. Even if Calvin did not himself significantly contribute to the development of covenant theology, he ensured Bullinger’s theology gained an enduring place within Calvinism.
Reformed Exiles and International Calvinism in Reformation-Era Europe
Authors: Spohnholz Jesse
Published: July 2021

This chapter evaluates the role of religious exile in the development of confessional Calvinism during the Reformation era. Historians once put considerable emphasis on the widespread experience of exile in encouraging the development of a well-defined international Calvinist movement. This chapter reconsiders this framework from the perspective of theology, ecclesiology, liturgy, discipline, and the relationship to state authority. Drawing on recent research, it argues that, rather than encouraging confessional consolidation, exile was a deeply destabilizing force that helps explain why Reformed Protestantism never developed a unified institutional structure, liturgical practice, or statement of belief.
Social Movements
Authors: Simiti Marilena
Published: July 2021

Greece has a sustained political tradition of social movement activity. From the restoration of democracy in 1974 to the recent financial crisis Greece has experienced numerous episodes of collective action, ranging from peaceful demonstrations to violent protests. This chapter delineates the trajectory of major social movements (the student, feminist, ecological, alter-globalization movements, the anti-austerity protests, the Greek Indignados as well as the urban disruption of December 2008) underlining that social protest has not been pacified in contemporary Greek society. Even though protest is a normal and ubiquitous aspect of political life, social movement activists have not retreated from the use of confrontational protest, nor has political conflict become more institutionalized. On the other hand, the Greek social movement sector has also witnessed significant long-term shifts since 1974, including the diminishing influence of political parties on movements, the transnationalization of contention, and the increased heterogeneity and fluidity of collective identities, as well as the proliferation of non-state-centric forms of political activism. The chapter concludes with some reflections on future challenges for social movement studies in Greece.
Taxation and the Quality of Government
Authors: Karceski Steven M. , Kiser Edgar
Published: July 2021

In this chapter we explore the connection between taxation and quality of government. Taxation represents an important interaction between citizens and the state, thus the way in which tax policies are organized has important implications for the quality of government. The first part of the chapter describes three different perspectives on quality of government: The first relates to administrative impartiality, the second to state size and economic growth, and the last to democracy. It then explores how each perspective holds distinct prescriptions for the design of tax policy. The latter part of the chapter applies the conclusions on the three perspectives to discuss exemplary cases of each over different historical periods. It concludes with a discussion of path dependence and the difficulty of maintaining a high quality of government in the long run.
Measuring the Unmeasurable? Taking Stock of QoG Measures
Authors: Charron Nicholas
Published: July 2021

This chapter discusses a wide scope of the available indicators of quality of government. It begins with a brief history of the development of the indicators and their scientific impact on social science research. The chapter posits a typology of the various ways in which indicators of governance can differ and implications of such differences. The chapter then reveals the degree to which contemporary cross-country indicators of corruption in particular correlate. Next, several well-established critiques of contemporary data are presented. The chapter concludes with several comments on what makes a good quality indicator and puts for several suggestions for future work in this ever-growing field.
Memory
Authors: Messis Charis , Papaioannou Stratis
Published: July 2021

The chapter surveys the role of memory in Byzantine literature as an intrinsic, constitutive element in the process of literary creation and consumption. It proposes that texts and discourses carried the memory of other texts and discourses, and aimed at the incitement, manipulation, and indeed the creation of such memory among their readers and audiences. This (as the authors term it here) “textual” memory functioned as a code that defined the literary event in Byzantium. Attention is drawn to the techniques of memorization, to the many types of text that collected material from other texts in order serve such techniques, and to the modes of citation as the main way by which textual memory was enacted in Byzantine literature. The chapter concludes with a discussion of Byzantine literary “commonplaces.”
Neo-Latin Languages
Authors: Cupane Carolina
Published: July 2021

This section surveys translations from contemporary European vernaculars, with a focus on literature in Frankish Greece, and texts such as the War of Troy, the Chronicle of Morea, and adaptations of western romances. The survey is introduced by a general discussion of translation in the Middle Ages—which allowed for many forms of adaptation, including expansion, abridgment, and the complete rewriting of a given model—and the socio-political contexts and contact zones in which such translation activity took place in Byzantium, the dominant culture being always the giver and the dominated the receiver.
Inscriptions
Authors: Drpić Ivan
Published: July 2021

This chapter explores the overlap and synergy of visual art and text in Byzantine culture, with focus upon inscriptions, in particular those with literary aspirations. Bringing together insights drawn from the disciplines of epigraphy and art history, the chapter introduces the reader to current approaches to the study of inscribed texts as an integral aspect of Byzantium’s literary and material cultures. Among the topics addressed are the interplay between the linguistic and extra-linguistic dimensions of the written word; the use of inscriptions to mark, enhance, and comment on artifacts and visual representations; and the agency of inscribed objects as vehicles of memory and self-representation. The discussion combines analyses of specific examples across a range of contexts and artistic media with reflections on methodology and proposals for future research.
Recitation and Chant
Authors: Martani Sandra
Published: July 2021

Music plays an important role in Byzantine culture; however, only the melodies used in the sacred services have been preserved. Two main types of neumatic notation are used in liturgical books: the lectionary (or ekphonetic) notation—intended to guide the cantillation of the Scriptures—and the melodic notation, used to sing a variety of properly melodic chants. While ekphonetic notation appears in a considerable number of sources dating from the eighth century to the fourteenth/fifteenth centuries, scholars have not yet managed to decipher it. Signs recording musical elements are attested from the sixth century, but it is only from the mid-tenth century that articulated notational systems appear. Until about the mid-twelfth century, two main melodic notations, both adiastematic, were used: the so-called Chartres and Coislin notations. In its development, the Coislin notation leads to a new diastematic system, the so-called Middle Byzantine notation. However, the full diastemacy would be attained only with the Chrysanthos reform at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Melodic notation was used in different hymnographic genres, both syllabic and melismatic, and in psalmic texts. Theoretical treatises provide explanations on the rules needed to combine the neumes. From the fourteenth century onward, a new style appears and develops under the influence of a new aesthetic and of the Hesychastic movement—the καλοφωνία (beautiful voicing). In new or revisited compositions, music is privileged over text and the notation multiplies its μεγάλα σημάδια (big signs) to create a new meaning, a purely melodic one.
Armenian
Authors: van Lint Theo Maarten
Published: July 2021

Evidence for the use of Greek by Armenians dates from the Hellenistic period, when Greek and Aramaic were court languages. The first written translations from Greek into Armenian were made much later, from the fifth century ce onward, when an alphabet for the Armenian language was devised (c. 405), following the adoption of Christianity in probably c. 314. The Bible and patristic texts were translated from Syriac and Greek, followed by liturgical and philosophical texts, as well as ecclesiastical documents, such as council canons and correspondence with church dignitaries. Education in the Eastern Mediterranean schools provided a matrix for the inculturation of religious and secular texts written in Greek. Some of the texts preserved in Armenian reflect either a more ancient redaction than the oldest preserved Greek manuscripts, or represent witnesses to texts no longer extant in Greek. Attention is given in this sub-chapter to translation techniques and their potential correlation to Antiochene and Alexandrian exegesis, as well as Christological disputes. In assessing the justification for the often-used term “Hellenizing School”, it is emphasized that the heightened or lesser levels of Grecisms deployed in translations and original works varied over time and location. The sub-chapter discusses further types of texts translated from Greek, such as pseudepigrapha, apocrypha, texts related to the trivium and quadrivium, and legal texts. It pays attention also to translation through intermediary languages such as Syriac and Georgian, and to Armenian texts into Greek. Suggestions for further reading and a bibliography complete the sub-chapter.
Slavic
Authors: Ivanov Sergey A. , Turilov Anatolii
Published: July 2021

The chapter surveys the vast corpus of Slavonic texts translated from Greek, a corpus which may not be regarded as a footprint of Byzantine literature. The Slavs mostly disregarded secular genres, with the exception of chronicles; they valued liturgical and hagiographic writings higher than theological and mystical ones, preferring Apocrypha above all. Sometimes, the texts that barely attracted the attention of the Byzantines themselves enjoyed high popularity in the Slavic world; on other occasions, literary pieces, when translated, circulated in genre frameworks, drastically different from the Byzantine ones. From the point of view of Byzantine literature, Slavic literature is important evidence of the scope and character of Byzantium’s cultural influence and offers a reservoir of texts that did not survive in their originals, or survived as Slavonic copies or redactions, more ample and ancient than the existing Greek versions.
Theory of Literature
Authors: Papaioannou Stratis
Published: July 2021

The present chapter introduces the immense body of theory on literature produced in Byzantium. It focuses on three questions: (1) Where does one encounter Byzantine literary theory? Such theory is found in manuals, textbooks, commentaries, and related works written in the context of discursive education, as well as in “para-texts” (titles, colophons, dedicatory epigrams, and the like) and in “meta-texts” (such as theoretical statements about literature within Byzantine texts). (2) What are the main features and major preoccupations of Byzantine literary theory? Here, the emphasis on prescription is highlighted, but also the absence of any comprehensive or totalizing aesthetics, and thus the presence of a multiplicity of ideologies and aesthetic preferences. And (3) what are the notions of “literature” that emerge? In regard to this, the chapter offers a case study by tracing Byzantine approaches toward a key concept in modern literary theorization, namely fiction or fictionality.
New candidates for AM Canum Venaticorum stars among ASAS-SN transients
Authors: Kato Taichi , Kojiguchi Naoto
Published: July 2021

We studied Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) light curves of 34 dwarf nova candidates discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) between 2020 May 12 and September 9 and found six AM CVn-type candidates. All objects showed short outbursts (post-superoutburst rebrightenings) on the fading tail. Two objects (ASASSN-20eq, ASASSN-20la) showed double superoutbursts. Three objects (ASASSN-20jt, ASASSN-20ke, and ASASSN-20lr) showed short superoutbursts (5–6 d). These features in the light curve can be used in discriminating AM CVn-type candidates from hydrogen-rich systems. In contrast to hydrogen-rich systems, some object did not show red color excess during the rebrightening or fading tail phase. We interpret that this is due to the higher ionization temperature in helium disks. Two objects had long (likely) supercycles: ASASSN-20gx (8.5 yr) and ASASSN-20lr (7 yr). We provide a scheme for identifying AM CVn-type candidates based on the light curve characteristics.
Characterization of Chromatin Accessibility and Gene Expression upon Cold Stress Reveals that the RAV1 Transcription Factor Functions in Cold Response inVitis Amurensis
Authors: Ren Chong , Li Huayang , Wang Zemin , Dai Zhanwu , Lecourieux Fatma , Kuang Yangfu , Xin Haiping , Li Shaohua , Liang Zhenchang
Published: July 2021

Cold tolerance is regulated by a variety of transcription factors (TFs) and their target genes. Except for the well-characterized C-repeat binding factors (CBFs)-dependent transcriptional cascade, the mechanisms of cold tolerance mediated by other transcriptional regulatory networks are still largely unknown. Here, we used the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATAC-seq) and RNA-seq to identify cold responsive TFs in Vitis amurensis, a grape species with high cold hardiness. Nine TFs, including CBF4, RAV1 and ERF104, were identified after cold treatment. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that these TFs may regulate cold response through different pathways. As a prime candidate TF, overexpression of VaRAV1 in grape cells improved its cold tolerance. The transgenic cells exhibited low electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content and high peroxidase activity. Moreover, the TF gene TCP8 and a gene involving in homogalacturonan biosynthesis were found to be regulated by VaRAV1, suggesting that the contribution of VaRAV1 to cold tolerance may be achieved by enhancing the stability of cell membrane and regulating the expression of target genes involved in plant cell wall composition. Our work provides novel insights into plant response to cold stress and demonstrates the utility of ATAC-seq and RNA-seq for the rapid identification of TFs in response to cold stress in grapevine. VaRAV1 may play an important role in adaption to cold stress.
The Contribution of Adverse Childhood Experiences to Work-Related Stressors among Law Enforcement Officers
Authors: McDonald Amber R , Prost Stephanie Grace , Plassmeyer Mark , Oehme Karen
Published: July 2021

Objective: explore the role of law enforcement officers (LEOs) experiences of early adversity on work-related stress. Data/methods: LEOs were invited to participate in a data collection effort connected to a marketed LEO prevention toolkit on domestic violence (n = 247). Linear regression models were run to identify variables associated with work-related stress. Variables such as demographics, social behaviours, and other job-related factors were controlled for during analysis. Results: mean Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) score of sample participants = 4.64; 95% of participants reported experiencing at least one ACE. ACEs are an important factor in later officer stress but is not significant when post-traumatic stress (PTS) is introduced to the regression models. ACEs, PST, and alcohol use are main explanatory variables of interest. Conclusions/implications: Out of our main variables of interest, ACEs were associated with LEO work-related stress, but the impact was blunted by PTS. PTS remained the only statistically significant variable associated with LEO work-related stress at the completion of analysis. ACEs have long been associated with development of PTS; thus, future research may explore how ACEs contribute to LEOs development of PTS.
Assessing the Effects of a Transformational Leadership Training Programme within the Catalan Police Force
Authors: Aymerich Núria , Batista-Foguet Joan Manuel , Velasco Ferran , Rueff-Lopes Rita , Marques-Quinteiro Pedro
Published: July 2021

Research shows that transformational leadership trainings can be beneficial even in highly hierarchical organizations. However, little is known about their enduring effects on such organizations when operating under social and political pressure. This study aims to evaluate a 3-month transformational leadership training programme in the Catalan police force, a programme that was designed and implemented in a period of extreme social and political upheaval. This study follows a quasi-experimental single group pre–post design, with three non-equivalent dependent variables as proxy counterfactuals. The training was delivered to police inspectors (N = 30). Leader assessments from subordinates (N = 129) were collected through the MLQ-5X questionnaire before the training (pre-test) and one year after the training (post-test). The quantitative analysis revealed that the training had a positive impact on four transformational leadership dimensions and in all leadership performance indicators. Some counter-theoretical results are discussed in the light of the social and political context of the study.
Transcriptome analysis reveals key genes modulated by ALK5 inhibition in a bleomycin model of systemic sclerosis
Authors: Decato Benjamin E , Ammar Ron , Reinke-Breen Lauren , Thompson John R , Azzara Anthony V
Published: July 2021

Objective

SSc is a rheumatic autoimmune disease affecting roughly 20 000 people worldwide and characterized by excessive collagen accumulation in the skin and internal organs. Despite the high morbidity and mortality associated with SSc, there are no approved disease-modifying agents. Our objective in this study was to explore transcriptomic and model-based drug discovery approaches for SSc.

Methods

In this study, we explored the molecular basis for SSc pathogenesis in a well-studied mouse model of scleroderma. We profiled the skin and lung transcriptomes of mice at multiple timepoints, analysing the differential gene expression that underscores the development and resolution of bleomycin-induced fibrosis.

Results

We observed shared expression signatures of upregulation and downregulation in fibrotic skin and lung tissue, and observed significant upregulation of key pro-fibrotic genes including GDF15, Saa3, Cxcl10, Spp1 and Timp1. To identify changes in gene expression in responses to anti-fibrotic therapy, we assessed the effect of TGF-β pathway inhibition via oral ALK5 (TGF-β receptor I) inhibitor SB525334 and observed a time-lagged response in the lung relative to skin. We also implemented a machine learning algorithm that showed promise at predicting lung function using transcriptome data from both skin and lung biopsies.

Conclusion

This study provides the most comprehensive look at the gene expression dynamics of an animal model of SSc to date, provides a rich dataset for future comparative fibrotic disease research, and helps refine our understanding of pathways at work during SSc pathogenesis and intervention.
Using environmental sampling to evaluate the effectiveness of decontamination methods to reduce detection of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus RNA on feed manufacturing surfaces
Authors: Muckey Mary B , Jones Cassandra K , Woodworth Jason C , Paulk Chad B , Dritz Steve S , Gebhardt Jordan T
Published: July 2021

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a possible biological hazard in feed mills. If the virus enters a feed mill, it becomes widely distributed and is difficult to decontaminate from both feed contact and non-feed contact surfaces. The objective of this study was to evaluate a variety of liquid and dry decontamination treatments that could be used to reduce the amount of PEDV found on feed manufacturing surfaces. This experiment was designed as a 5 × 10 factorial with five different feed manufacturing surfaces and 10 decontamination treatments with three replicates of each combination. Surfaces included stainless steel, solid polyethylene, woven polypropylene tote bag, rubber, and sealed concrete coupons. One mL (1×105 TCID50/mL) of stock PEDV was applied to each surface and allowed to dry completely for 60 min. Next, for decontamination requiring surface application, the application was performed and allowed 15 min contact time. The quantity of PEDV RNA was determined using quantitative reverse transcription PCR. A decontamination treatment × surface interaction was observed (P < 0.0001), indicating the efficacy of treatment is dependent upon the surface in which it is applied. Within the cement surfaces, the sodium hypochlorite resulted in the greatest (P < 0.05) cycle threshold (Ct) value, followed by formaldehyde which had a greater (P < 0.05) Ct value compared to remaining treatments. Within polyethylene, rubber, and stainless steel surfaces, the formaldehyde treated surfaces had the greatest Ct values (P < 0.05), followed by the sodium hypochlorite treatment, with other treatments all having lower Ct values (P < 0.05). For the woven polyethylene surfaces, the formaldehyde and sodium hypochlorite treatments had greater Ct values compared to all other treatments (P < 0.05). Additional research is necessary to identify the role of decontamination treatment on PEDV infectivity and develop methods for decontamination of feed manufacturing facilities.
The amino acid permease PpAAP1 mediates arginine transport in maritime pine
Authors: Llebrés María Teresa , Castro-Rodríguez Vanessa , Pascual María Belén , Avila Concepción , Cánovas Francisco M
Published: July 2021

Forest trees have access to diverse nitrogenous compounds in the soil such as ammonium, nitrate and amino acids. Recent progress has been made in the identification and characterization of ammonium and nitrate transporters. However, much more limited is our current knowledge of amino acid transport systems despite their relevance to fully understanding nitrogen nutrition in trees.

In the present study, we have identified 10 genes encoding putative amino acid permeases of the AAP family in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.). Four members of this family, PpAAP1, PpAAP2, PpAAP3 and PpAAP4 were phylogenetically related to AtAAP5, involved in arginine transport in Arabidopsis thaliana. One of these genes, PpAAP1, exhibited enhanced expression levels in maritime pine roots when arginine was externally supplied. PpAAP1 was functionally characterized by complementation of a yeast mutant strain defective in the transport of arginine, allowing yeast to take up [14C]-arginine with high affinity. Furthermore, PpAAP1 was able to restore the severely affected root uptake of arginine displayed by AtAAP5 T-DNA mutants. Uptake rates of 15N-labelled arginine were significantly higher in PpAAP1-overexpressing plants when compared to wild-type and AtAAP5 mutant plants. Taken together, our results indicate that PpAAP1 is a high-affinity arginine transporter in maritime pine.
XIV Modern Literature
Authors: Ross Shawna , Bratton Francesca , Keese Andrew , Binnie Georgina , Phillips Joshua , West Mark , Cooper Samuel , Stringfellow Sophie , Rodríguez Martín Gustavo A , Saunders Graham , Masud Noreen , Creasy Matthew , Alonso Alex , Quin Jack
Published: July 2021

This chapter has eight sections 1. General; 2. Fiction Pre-1945; 3. Fiction Post-1945; 4. Drama Pre-1950; 5. Drama Post-1950; 6. British Poetry Pre-1950; 7. British Poetry Post-1950; 8. Modern Irish Poetry. Section 1 is by Shawna Ross; section 2(a) is by Francesca Bratton; Section 2(b) will resume in 2022; section 2(c) is by Georgina Binnie; section 2(d) is by Andrew Keese; section 2(e) is by Joshua Phillips; section 3(a) is by Mark West; section 3(b) is by Samuel Cooper; section 4(a) is by Sophie Stringfellow; section 4(b) is by Gustavo A. Rodríguez Martín; section 5 is by Graham Saunders; section 6(a) is by Noreen Masud; section 6(b) is by Matthew Creasy; section 7 is by Alex Alonso; section 8 is by Jack Quin.
First Report of Leaf Blight of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) Caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Minnesota, U.S.A.
Authors: Khan Mohamed F. R. , Bhuiyan Md. Ziaur Rahman , Liu Yangxi , Lakshman Dilip , Bloomquist Mark
Published: July 2021

Minnesota is the top sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) producing state in the United States. In 2020, sugar beet plants were observed for the first time in which the two to three oldest leaves had light brown to dark brown necrotic leaf lesions that eventually became yellow or brown and died but remained attached to the plant. Morphological data and sequences of internal transcribed spacer regions identified the pathogen as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Because over 90% of the plants in identified fields were infected it was difficult to quantify loss in yield or quality caused by this disease. All fields with symptomatic plants had soybean or edible beans in the rotation. One field planted to several different varieties indicated that all the varieties were symptomatic. It will be useful to determine any economic loss caused by S. sclerotiorum and any known varietal resistance to this pathogen.
Recovery Plan for Tar Spot of Corn, Caused by Phyllachora maydis
Authors: Rocco da Silva Camila , Check Jill , MacCready Joshua S. , Alakonya Amos E. , Beiriger Robert , Bissonnette Kaitlyn M. , Collins Alyssa , Cruz C. D. , Esker Paul D. , Goodwin Stephen B. , Malvick Dean , Mueller Daren S. , Paul Pierce , Raid Richard , Robertson Alison E. , Roggenkamp Emily , Ross Tiffanna J. , Singh Raksha , Smith Damon L. , Tenuta Albert U. , Chilvers Martin I. , Telenko Darcy E. P.
Published: July 2021

Tar spot is a foliar disease of corn threatening production across the Americas. The disease was first documented in Mexico in 1904 and is now present in 15 additional countries throughout Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Researchers and growers in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean consider tar spot to be a disease complex caused by multiple fungal pathogens. When environmental conditions are conducive for infection, these regions have experienced yield losses that can reach up to 100%. In 2015, tar spot was detected in the United States for the first time in Illinois and Indiana. Since that time tar spot has spread across the U.S. corn-growing region, and the disease has been found in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In 2020, tar spot was also found in southwest Ontario, Canada. Losses in the United States due to tar spot totaled an estimated 241 million bushels from 2018 to 2020. With the potential to continue to spread across the U.S. corn-growing states, much greater losses could result when environmental conditions are conducive.
One-stage Distal Interphalangeal Joint Fusion With External Fixator for the Treatment of Septic Joint Arthritis
Authors: Couceiro Jose , Sanchez-Crespo Manuel R. , Ayala Higinio , Del Canto Fernando , Menendez Guillermo , Fernandez-Sampedro Marta
Published: July 2021

Septic joint arthritis in the small joints of the hand can be caused by penetrating trauma, ruptured ganglion cysts, or open joint dislocations, among others. The use of external fixation for the treatment of this condition has been reported in the past as a means of temporary joint distraction, or for secondary fusion procedures. In the present article, the authors describe a surgical technique involving the use of a low-cost external fixator for the primary arthrodesis of infected distal interphalangeal joints of the hand. The external fixator is fabricated with simple materials, threaded Kirshner wires, bone cement, and an insulin syringe, which the authors have used to fuse the distal interphalangeal joint primarily when destroyed by septic arthritis.
Surgical Treatment of a Bilateral Mandibular Fracture in a Patient with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type III
Authors: Reece Mac Kenzie J. , Quillin Kyle , Homewood Tyler Jay , Bunevich Jared
Published: July 2021

Osteogenesis imperfecta is a group of genetic disorders affecting skeletal and connective tissue that commonly presents with a history of multiple fractures. In particular, Osteogenesis imperfecta type III is associated with severe bone deformities, specifically in the mandible with deformities such as mandibular overjet and cross-bite. We report a case of a bilateral mandibular fracture in a young adult diagnosed with Osteogenesis imperfecta type III, managed surgically with open reduction internal fixation.
Operational and Financial Impact of COVID-19: A Survey of Plastic Surgeons in Miami
Authors: Al Bayati Mahmood J. , Samaha Georges J. , Wo Luccie M. , Wolfe Erin M. , Samaha Mario J. , Kassira Wrood M. , Lessard Anne-Sophie
Published: July 2021

Background:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, new guidelines were issued cautioning against performing elective procedures. We aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on operational and financial aspects of plastic surgery in Miami.

Methods:

A multiple-choice and short-answer survey regarding practice changes and financial impact was sent to all 67 members of the Miami Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Results:

A 41.8% (n = 28) response rate was obtained, five responses did not meet the inclusion criteria, and statistical analysis was performed on 34.3% (n = 23) of responses. Of the plastic surgeons who responded, 21.74% operate in an academic setting, 60.87% are in a single practitioner private practice, and 17.39% are in a multi-practitioner private practice. An estimated 60% of academic plastic surgeons had 75% or more of their previously scheduled cases canceled, compared with 57.14% in single practitioner private practice and 100% in multi-practitioner private practice. In total, 64.29% of single practitioner private practices and 50% of multi-practitioner private practices have had to obtain a small business loan. Single practitioner private practice plastic surgeons reported having an average of 6.5 months until having to file for bankruptcy or permanently close their practices, and multi-practitioner private practice plastic surgeons reported an average of 6 months.

Conclusions:

Guidelines to support small business must be implemented in order to allow private practice surgeons to recover from the substantial economic impact caused by the pandemic because it is necessary to reestablish patient access and provide proper care to our patients.
Is Increased Intracranial Pressure a Factor in Persistent Headache After Coronavirus Disease 2019?
Authors: Altunisik Erman , Sut Suat Kamil , Sahin Sukru , Baykan Ali Haydar
Published: July 2021

This study aimed to determine pain characteristics in patients with persistent headache after COVID-19 and to investigate the role of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) in the pathogenesis of this headache. This is a case-control study comparing the parameters and measurements indicating increased ICP based on magnetic resonance imaging between COVID-19–diagnosed patients with persistent headache and a control group. Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and eyeball transverse diameter (ETD) were performed on the left eye of each participant. Seventeen of the patients (53.12%) met the diagnostic criteria for new daily persistent headache. Seven patients (21.87%) had migraine, and eight (25%) had tension headache characteristics. No significant difference was observed between the patient and control groups in terms of the ONSD and ETD values. It is possible that the etiopathogenesis is multifactorial. We consider that future studies that will evaluate ICP measurements in large patient groups can present a different perspective for this subject.
Touchpoints
Authors: Koneri Lucy , Green Alexia , Gilder Richard E.
Published: July 2021

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to reduce the turnover of new RNs (NRNs) completing a 1-year nurse residency program.

BACKGROUND

Businesses use touchpoints to retain both internal and external customers, yet no evidence was found in retaining NRNs. Touchpoints, distinct points in the company-customer experience, play a vital role in the customer's experience with the company. Employees are one of a company's many customer types.

METHODS

This quality-improvement project implemented touchpoints to improve NRN retention rates.

RESULTS

Retention rates and job-satisfaction scores were significantly higher among the touchpoint-intervention cohort compared with the nonintervention cohort. Implementation costs were far less than those associated with NRN turnover.

CONCLUSIONS

Touchpoints are a practical management approach for NRN retention.
Novel population-level proxy measures for suboptimal HIV preexposure prophylaxis initiation and persistence in the USA
Authors: Dean Lorraine T. , Chang Hsien-Yen , Goedel William C. , Chan Philip A. , Doshi Jalpa A. , Nunn Amy S.
Published: July 2021

Objective:

In the United States (USA), HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use is suboptimal. Population-level metrics on PrEP use are limited and focus on prescriptions issued rather than how much prescriptions are picked up. We introduce PrEP reversals, defined as when patients fail to pick up PrEP prescriptions at the pharmacy point-of-sale, as a proxy for PrEP initiation and persistence.

Design:

We analysed PrEP pharmacy claims and HIV diagnoses from a Symphony Health Solutions dataset across all US states from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019.

Methods:

We calculated the percentage of individuals who were newly prescribed PrEP and who reversed (i.e. patient did not pick up an insurance-approved prescription and pharmacy withdrew the claim), delayed (reversed and then picked up within 90 days), very delayed (reversed and then picked up between 90 and 365 days) or abandoned (not picked up within 365 days), and subsequent HIV diagnosis within 365 days.

Results:

Of 59 219 individuals newly prescribed PrEP, 19% reversed their index prescription. Among those, 21% delayed initiation and 8% had very delayed initiation. Seventy-one percent of patients who reversed their initial prescription abandoned it, 6% of whom were diagnosed with HIV---three times higher than those who persisted on PrEP.

Conclusion:

Nearly one in five patients newlyprescribed PrEP reversed initial prescriptions, leading to delayed medication access, being lost to PrEP care, and dramatically higher HIV risk. Reversals could be used for real-time nationwide PrEP population-based initiation and persistence tracking, and for identifying patients that might otherwise be lost to care.