bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Autism Impact Measure (AIM): Meaningful Change Thresholds and Core Symptom Changes Over One Year from an Online Survey in the U.S.
Authors: Silkey Mariabeth , Durán-Pacheco Gonzalo , Johnson Michelle , Liu Chuang , Clinch Susanne , Law Kiely , Loss Georg
Published: July 2022

Validated outcome measures with the capacity to reflect meaningful change are key to assessing potential interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We derive clinically meaningful change thresholds (MCTs) of the Autism Impact Measure (AIM) and identify factors associated with meaningful change. Baseline and 12-months follow-up survey of caregivers of 2,761 children with ASD aged 3–17 years from the U.S. Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) cohort were analyzed. Using caregiver-reported anchors for change, the 12-month change in estimated AIM MCT (95% confidence interval) for symptom improvement was –4.5 (–7.61, –1.37) points and 9.9 (5.12, 14.59) points for symptom deterioration. These anchor-based MCTs will facilitate future assessments of caregiver-reported change in AIM scores.
A multi-perspective study of Perceived Inclusive Education for students with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Authors: Leifler Emma , Borg Anna , Bölte Sven
Published: July 2022

Consensus is often a prerequisite for communities to develop initiatives to improve practice and create a future together. We investigated the consensus around the perceived educational inclusion of autistic and other neurodivergent students, their caregivers, and their teachers. Seventeen triads of informants plus two single students from mainstream secondary and high schools in Sweden underwent the standardized INCLUSIO interview operationalizing educational inclusion domains. Inclusive practice was reported across groups to be poorly to sufficiently developed for different domains and measures. Discrepancies were extensive between informants and most pronounced for students and parents versus teachers. The findings highlight limited consensus about inclusive education in practice and suggest enhanced participation of neurodivergent students and their parents to improve inclusive education implementation.
Numerical Approximation of a System of Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman Equations Arising in Innovation Dynamics
Authors: Baňas L’ubomír , Dawid Herbert , Randrianasolo Tsiry Avisoa , Storn Johannes , Wen Xingang
Published: July 2022

We consider a system of fully nonlinear partial differential equations that corresponds to the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations for the value functions of an optimal innovation investment problem of a monopoly firm facing bankruptcy risk.
We compare several algorithms for the numerical solution of the considered problem: the collocation method, the finite difference method, WENO method and the adaptive finite element method. We discuss implementation issues for the considered schemes and perform numerical studies for different model parameters to assess their performance.
Feedback-based resource management for multi-threaded applications
Authors: Papadopoulos Alessandro V. , Agrawal Kunal , Bini Enrico , Baruah Sanjoy
Published: July 2022

Reconciling the constraint of guaranteeing to always meet deadlines with the optimization objective of reducing waste of computing capacity lies at the heart of a large body of research on real-time systems. Most approaches to doing so require the application designer to specify a deeper characterization of the workload (and perhaps extensive profiling of its run-time behavior), which then enables shaping the resource assignment to the application. In practice, such approaches are weak as they load the designer with the heavy duty of a detailed workload characterization. We seek approaches for reducing the waste of computing resources for recurrent real-time workloads in the absence of such additional characterization, by monitoring the minimal information that needs to be observable about the run-time behavior of a real-time system: its response time. We propose two resource control strategies to assign resources: one based on binary-exponential search and the other, on principles of control. Both approaches are compared against the clairvoyant scenario in which the average/typical behavior is known. Via an extensive simulation, we show that both techniques are useful approaches to reducing resource computation while meeting hard deadlines.
Schellenberg’s Capacitism about Phenomenal Evidence and the Alien Experience Problem
Authors: Zhu Zijian
Published: July 2022

This paper focuses on Schellenberg’s Capacitism about Phenomenal Evidence, according to which if one is in a phenomenal state constituted by employing perceptual capacities, then one is in a phenomenal state that provides phenomenal evidence. This view offers an attractive explanation of why perceptual experience provides phenomenal evidence, and avoids difficulties faced by its contemporary alternatives. However, in spite of the attractions of this view, it is subject to what I call “the alien experience problem”: some alien experiences (e.g. clairvoyant experience) are constituted by employing perceptual capacities, but they do not provide phenomenal evidence. This point is illustrated by a counterexample which is similar to, but also different in some important respects from, Bonjour’s famous clairvoyant Norman example. At the end of the paper, I sketch a restricted version of Capacitism about Phenomenal Evidence by putting some etiological constraint on the perceptual capacities employed.
Kennzeichen und Kennzeichnung eines arbeits- und organisationsbezogenen Peer-Begriffs
Authors: Hensen Peter
Published: July 2022

Dieser Beitrag in der Zeitschrift Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO) widmet sich der Deutung und Bedeutung des Peer-Begriffs in der Berufs- und Arbeitswelt. Als Peers werden Personen bezeichnet, die aufgrund von Gemeinsamkeiten und Übereinstimmungen mit anderen Personen gleichgestellt sind. Die Beantwortung der Frage, wer genau zu einer Gruppe von Peers gehört, ist gewöhnlich mit methodischen Unsicherheiten behaftet, schließt sie doch Bezugs- und Bindungskräfte mit unwägbarer subjektiver und sozialer Relevanz mit ein. In diesem Artikel werden Eigenschaften eines arbeits- und organisationsbezogenen Peer-Begriffs herausgearbeitet und zu einem kennzeichnenden Kriteriensystem verdichtet. Die vorgeschlagene Systematik soll eine Einordnungs- und Begründungshilfe für die Praxis sowie Anknüpfungspunkte für die arbeits- und organisationswissenschaftliche Peer-Forschung liefern.
Evolution of Reproductive Efficiency in Caenorhabditis elegans Under Obligatory Outcrossing
Authors: Antoł Weronika , Palka Joanna K. , Błażejowska Aleksandra , Sychta Karolina , Kosztyła Paulina , Labocha Marta K. , Prokop Zofia M.
Published: July 2022

Radical shifts in reproductive systems result in radical changes in selective pressures acting on reproductive traits. Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans constitutes one of rare model systems where such shifts can be experimentally induced, providing an opportunity for studying the evolution of reproductive phenotypes in real time. Evolutionary history of predominantly selfing reproduction in has led to degeneration of traits involved outcrossing, making it inefficient. Here, we introduced obligatory outcrossing into isogenic lines of C. elegans and allowed replicate populations to evolve under the new reproductive system. We predicted that they should evolve higher outcrossing efficiency, leading to increased fitness relative to unevolved ancestors. To test this prediction, we assayed fitness of both ancestral and evolved outcrossing populations. To control for the potentially confounding effect of adaptation to laboratory conditions, we also assayed populations with wild-type (selfing) reproductive system. In five experimental blocks, we measured competitive fitness of 12 evolved populations (6 outcrossing, 6 selfing) after ca. 95 generations of evolution, along with their respective ancestors. On average, we found that fitness increased by 0.72 SD (± 0.3 CI) in outcrossing and by 0.52 (± 0.35 CI) in selfing populations, suggesting further adaptation to laboratory conditions in both types. Contrary to predictions, fitness increase was not significantly higher in outcrossing populations, suggesting no detectable adaptation to the changed reproductive system. Importantly, the results for individual populations varied strongly between experimental blocks, in some cases even differing in effect direction. This emphasises the importance of experimental replication in avoiding reporting false findings.
Does TGFBR3 Polymorphism Increase the Risk of Silent Cerebral Infarction in Egyptian Children with Sickle Cell Disease?
Authors: Hassab Hoda , Hanafi Marwa , Elbeheiry Ahmed , Hassan Mona , Chazli Yasmine El
Published: July 2022

Objectives

To evaluate the relationship between TGFBR3 rs284875 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) state and silent cerebral infarction (SCI) in asymptomatic patients with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 children with SCD above 2 y of age followed up at the hematology outpatient clinic of Alexandria University Children's Hospital in Egypt. Twenty-four healthy children were included as a control group. All patients included in the study were subjected to complete history and clinical examination. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed on patients and controls for identification of SNP rs284875 of the TGFBR3 gene. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain were performed only on patients for detection of SCI.

Results

Fifty SCD patients were enrolled (26 males and 24 females), with a median age of 10.9 y (2.3–17.8 y), and 24 children as healthy control for the studied SNP. Thirty-five (70%) patients had homozygous SCD, while 30% had sickle β-thalassemia. The brain MRI was normal in all the patients except for 2 patients who had features of SCI. The TGFBR3 rs284875 SNP was detected in 15 (30%) patients in the homozygous state (GG) versus only 1 (4.2%) child from the control group (p = 0.003). The prevalence of SCI was low in the study population and there was no statistically significant relationship between the TGFBR3 rs284875 SNP status and the presence of SCI in the brain MRI (p = 0.621).

Conclusions

This study confirmed a low prevalence of SCI in the SCD patient included in the study. The TGFBR3 rs284875 SNP did not significantly increase SCI among those patients.
Cognitive behavioral therapy adapted for patients with acromegaly
Authors: Kunzler Lia Silvia , Naves Luciana Ansaneli , Casulari Luiz Augusto
Published: July 2022

In acromegaly, excess secretion of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 may result in coarse features and enlargement of the extremities. Its negative repercussion on self-esteem can impair quality of life. Ten patients with acromegaly participated in this study. The treatment covered nine weekly group sessions. Unhealthy behaviors, thoughts, and emotions were identified, and healthy behaviors and thoughts were constructed, along with positive reflections on their associated emotions. In Session 7, the “Think healthy and feel the difference” technique was adapted to help patients better deal with their physical appearance and improve their quality of life. Qualitative data was obtained from an analysis of the content of a collaborative exercise developed in Session 7. Factors, especially thoughts, emotions, and advantages and disadvantages associated with both healthy and unhealthy behaviors, were identified. The technique improved quality of life for patients with acromegaly in relation to their acceptance of their physical appearance. UTN U 1111–1220-9846 (September 24th, 2018).
Unearthing the Learning of Genomic Medicine in the Workplace: a Qualitative Study
Authors: Kim Alice , Nisselle Amy , Weller-Newton Jennifer , McClaren Belinda , Keogh Louise
Published: July 2022

Workplace learning is fundamental in contextualizing theoretical concepts into practice, making it opportune for professionals to learn emerging concepts. With genomic testing transitioning from the research space into healthcare, there are more opportunities to engage with workplace learning related to genomic medicine. We therefore aimed to unearth how genomics was being learnt in the workplace and the opportunities and factors that influenced these learning experiences. Qualitative secondary analysis was applied to a purposive sample of interviews with non-genetic physicians who had reflected on their genomic medicine practice and education. Thematic analysis, guided by Billett’s co-participation at work theory, was conducted to identify workplace learning opportunities related to genomic medicine and any influencing factors. A coding framework was developed and iteratively refined until consensus was reached. Various workplace learning opportunities related to genomic medicine were identified from interviews with 29 physicians. Engagement occurred through established clinical work practice, contextual affordances, and agentic pursuits. Barriers and facilitators influenced participants’ experiences and access with opportunities. Some participants recognized these learning opportunities as “informal”; however, most did not. Opportunities to engage with workplace learning beyond formal training are essential to ensure the medical workforce has the knowledge and confidence to engage with practice-related developments. However, ‘work’ activities were not often recognized as ‘learning’ opportunities. With continued efforts to integrate genomics and other innovations into routine healthcare and help reduce the theory–practice gap, this study adds to our understanding of how workplace learning occurs and offers a platform on which to build a robust model for continuing education.
The Role of Human Creativity in Human-Technology Relations
Authors: Blok Vincent
Published: July 2022

One of the pressing issues in philosophy of technology is the role of human creativity in human-technology relations. We first observe that a techno-centric orientation of philosophy of technology leaves open the role and contribution of human creativity in technological evolution, while an anthropocentric orientation leaves open the role of the technical milieu in technological evolution. Subsequently, we develop a concept of creation as deviation and responsiveness in response to affordances in the environment, inspired by the affordance theory by James Gibson. With this concept of creation as deviative responsiveness, we articulate the human contribution to human-technology creation, namely, our intentional deviation of the inhibiting forces of the currently dominant niche or meaningful world of human-technology relations, in order to become responsive to new affordances in human-technology creation that constitute a new niche or world of human-technology relations.
Design and implementation of AI chatbot for COLREGs training
Authors: Sharma Amit , Undheim Per Eirik , Nazir Salman
Published: July 2022

The education and training for the maritime industry require renewed focus in the face of technological changes and increasing digitalization. Artificial intelligence presents an avenue for further research that can positively impact efficiency and competence development. Among many applications of artificial intelligence in education, conversational agents or chatbots have gained increased interest in recent years. This paper describes the design and implementation process of “FLOKI”—a chatbot aimed at assisting maritime trainees in learning Collision Avoidance Regulations (COLREGs). For the design of the chatbot, IBM Watson Assistant®—a cognitive computing service—was utilized, which enables the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in its cloud server. A selected number (n = 18) of 2nd year B.Sc. in Nautical Science students in a Norwegian maritime university interacted with the chatbot for reflecting on their knowledge about COLREGs. In addition to demographic data, the maritime trainees were asked to answer questions related to user experience utilizing the System Usability Scale (SUS). The findings are discussed along with their implications and future research directions involving AI in maritime education and training.
Equiatomic 9-cation high-entropy carbide ceramics of the IVB, VB, and VIB groups and thermodynamic analysis of the sintering process
Authors: Qin Yuan , Liu Ji-Xuan , Liang Yongcheng , Zhang Guo-Jun
Published: July 2022

The preparation of high-entropy (HE) ceramics with designed composition is essential for verifying the formability models and evaluating the properties of the ceramics. However, inevitable oxygen contamination in non-oxide ceramics will result in the formation of metal oxide impurity phases remaining in the specimen or even escaping from the specimen during the sintering process, making the elemental compositions of the HE phase deviated from the designed ones. In this work, the preparation and thermodynamic analysis during the processing of equiatomic 9-cation HE carbide (HEC9) ceramics of the IVB, VB, and VIB groups were studied focusing on the removing of the inevitable oxygen impurity existed in the starting carbide powders and the oxygen contamination during the powder mixing processing. The results demonstrate that densification by spark plasma sintering (SPS) by directly using the mixed powders of the corresponding single-component carbides will inhibit the oxygen-removing carbothermal reduction reactions, and most of the oxide impurities will remain in the sample as (Zr,Hf)O2 phase. Pretreatment of the mixed powders at high temperatures in vacuum will remove most part of the oxygen impurity but result in a remarkable escape of gaseous Cr owing to the oxygen-removing reaction between Cr3C2 and various oxide impurities. It is found that graphite addition enhances the oxygen-removing effect and simultaneously prevents the escape of gaseous Cr. On the other hand, although WC, VC, and Mo2C can also act as oxygen-removing agents, there is no metal-containing gaseous substance formation in the temperature range of this study. By using the heat-treated powders with added graphite, equiatomic HEC9 ceramics were successfully prepared by SPS.
High-temperature transport properties of BaSn1−xScxO3−δ ceramic materials as promising electrolytes for protonic ceramic fuel cells
Authors: Zvonareva Inna A. , Mineev Alexey M. , Tarasova Natalia A. , Fu Xian-Zhu , Medvedev Dmitry A.
Published: July 2022

Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) offer a convenient means for electrochemical conversion of chemical energy into electricity at intermediate temperatures with very high efficiency. Although BaCeO3- and BaZrO3-based complex oxides have been positioned as the most promising PCFC electrolytes, the design of new protonic conductors with improved properties is of paramount importance. Within the present work, we studied transport properties of scandium-doped barium stannate (Sc-doped BaSnO3). Our analysis included the fabrication of porous and dense BaSn1−xScxO3−δ ceramic materials (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.37), as well as a comprehensive analysis of their total, ionic, and electronic conductivities across all the experimental conditions realized under the PCFC operation: both air and hydrogen atmospheres with various water vapor partial pressures (p(H2O)), and a temperature range of 500–900 °C. This work reports on electrolyte domain boundaries of the undoped and doped BaSnO3 for the first time, revealing that pure BaSnO3 exhibits mixed ionic-electronic conduction behavior under both oxidizing and reducing conditions, while the Sc-doping results in the gradual improvement of ionic (including protonic) conductivity, extending the electrolyte domain boundaries towards reduced atmospheres. This latter property makes the heavily-doped BaSnO3 representatives attractive for PCFC applications.
Mining questions of ‘what’ and ‘who’: deepening discussions of the seabed for future policy and governance
Authors: Conde Marta , Mondré Aletta , Peters Kimberley , Steinberg Philip
Published: July 2022

In spite of a proliferation of academic and policy-oriented interest in deep sea mining (DSM), this paper argues that two underlying questions remain underexplored. The first relates to what exactly the seabed is; the second to who the stakeholders are. It is argued that a greater interrogation of how the seabed is defined and understood, and a deeper consideration of how stakeholders are identified and the politics of their inclusion, is crucial to the enactment of policy and planning techniques. Through the analysis of current regulations to govern DSM in both national and international jurisdictions, this paper critically examines these seemingly banal but vital questions in different contexts. It is contended that most regulations are ‘fuzzy’ when it comes to addressing these questions, with the result that different understandings of the seabed and the implications of mining are ignored and that who stakeholders are and how they are defined causes many relevant voices to be unheard. It is argued, therefore, that it is imperative to address these often-overlooked questions directly in order to inform future seabed policy and governance.
A warning from the Russian–Ukrainian war: avoiding a future that rhymes with the past
Authors: Mariotti Sergio
Published: July 2022

The Russian–Ukrainian war is a dramatic effect of the growing imbalances and instability of the global economic and political order, together with other effects that this contribution analyzes. This paper in fact offers empirical evidence of a rampant “global protectionism”, the slowdown of the world’s economy in the long term, and the changing structure of global value chains. The paper also seeks to link these manifestations together in a historical perspective, considering the results of previous studies that adopted the comparative historical approach. Although there are profound differences between today’s globalized economy and its historical equivalents, learning from the past should not be precluded, as it can help avoid dangerous paths from being followed that could lead to universally undesired outcomes in the future. The aim of the paper is to open a discussion on the criteria that are needed to inform and develop an economic and industrial policy that is aware of the seriousness of future risks and capable of facing such risks with the necessary wisdom, through the concerted support of the major countries, and through international inter-state collaboration.
Current overview on the genetic basis of key genes involved in soybean domestication
Authors: Lu Sijia , Fang Chao , Abe Jun , Kong Fanjiang , Liu Baohui
Published: July 2022

Modern crops were created through the domestication and genetic introgression of wild relatives and adaptive differentiation in new environments. Identifying the domestication-related genes and unveiling their molecular diversity provide clues for understanding how the domesticated variants were selected by ancient people, elucidating how and where these crops were domesticated. Molecular genetics and genomics have explored some domestication-related genes in soybean (Glycine max). Here, we summarize recent studies about the quantitative trait locus (QTL) and genes involved in the domestication traits, introduce the functions of these genes, clarify which alleles of domesticated genes were selected during domestication. A deeper understanding of soybean domestication could help to break the bottleneck of modern breeding by highlighting unused genetic diversity not selected in the original domestication process, as well as highlighting promising new avenues for the identification and research of important agronomic traits among different crop species.
Heat treatment of bimetals produced by selective laser melting of MS1 maraging steel on conventionally produced 42SiCr martensitic steel
Authors: Kučerová Ludmila , Jeníček Štěpán , Zetková Ivana , Burdová Karolína
Published: July 2022

One approach to producing hybrid bimetallic parts is to additively manufacture a new material onto a conventionally manufactured base material. This technique can expand the potential applications of additive manufacturing and offer new solutions for the engineering design of hybrid parts. In this work, laser powder bed fusion was used to deposit MS1 maraging steel on a conventionally produced (cast and hot-rolled) 42SiCr martensitic steel base material. Despite the profoundly different chemical compositions and hardening behaviours of these materials, their yield and ultimate tensile strengths in solution-annealed and hardened conditions are quite similar. Various heat treatments were performed to optimise the mechanical properties of the resulting hybrid part. The highest yield strength of 1400 MPa and tensile strength of 1483 MPa was achieved with a post-processing heat treatment which consisted of annealing at 900 °C for 25 min followed by water quenching and subsequent very short tempering at 490 °C. In the tensile tests, all the hybrid parts, regardless of heat treatment parameters, fractured within the base material and neither in the joint nor in the adjacent heat-affected zone. The interface areas and the microstructures of both materials were documented in detail in the as-built state and also after the heat treatment.
Climate Litigation against companies
Authors: Weller Marc-Philippe , Tran Mai-Lan
Published: July 2022

The article takes the spectacular Shell ruling from The Hague as an opportunity to identify cross-jurisdictional problems of civil climate change litigation. The Shell case was the first climate action between private parties that was successful in the first instance and led to Shell’s obligation to drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, including its Scope 3 emissions. From the perspective of legal realism, the Dutch ruling provides a momentum for climate litigation worldwide. However, from the perspective of potential lawsuits for the reduction of CO2 emissions against companies in Germany, one must assert that the Shell ruling cannot simply be transposed into the German legal order.
Length of stay of hospitalized patients at tertiary psychiatry facilities in Uganda: the role of caregiver’s presence
Authors: Kaggwa Mark Mohan , Najjuka Maria Sarah , Kesande Claire , Nyemara Novatus , Kule Moses , Mamum Mohammed A. , Bongomin Felix , Ashaba Scholastic
Published: July 2022

Background

Whether the presence of caregivers during the hospital stay of patients with mental illness affects the length of hospital stay (LoS) remains inconclusive.

Aims

(1) To determine the average LoS and the associated factors, and (2) to determine the role of caregivers’ presences during inpatient stay on LoS.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study in two hospitals in Uganda; one with caregivers and the other without caregivers between July to November 2020. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare LoS in the two selected hospitals and linear regression was used to determine factors associated with LoS.

Results

A total of 222 participants were enrolled, the majority were males (62.4%). Mean age was 36.3 (standard deviation (SD) = 13.1) years. The average LoS was 18.3 (SD = 22.3) days, with patients in a hospital without caregivers having a longer median LoS (i.e., (30 (interquartile range (IQR) = 30) vs. 7 (7) days; χ2 = 68.95, p < 0.001). The factors significantly associated a longer LoS among our study participants included; being admitted in a hospital without caregivers (adjusted coefficient [aCoef]: 14.88, 95% CI 7.98–21.79, p < 0.001), a diagnosis of schizophrenia (aCoef: 10.68, 95 %CI 5.53–15.83, p < 0.001), being separated or divorced (aCoef: 7.68, 95% CI 1.09–14.27, p = 0.023), and increase in money spent during the admission (aCoef: 0.14, 95% CI 0.09–0.18, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Patients with mental illness in southwestern Uganda have a short LoS (below 28 days), and the stay was much shorter for patients with fulltime caregivers. We recommend caregivers presence during patient’s hospital stay to reduce the LoS and minimize healthcare expenditure.
Embodied Narratives
Authors: Postan Emily
Published: July 2022

Increasing quantities of information about our health, bodies, and biological relationships are being generated by health technologies, research, and surveillance. This escalation presents challenges to us all when it comes to deciding how to manage this information and what should be disclosed to the very people it describes. This book establishes the ethical imperative to take seriously the potential impacts on our identities of encountering bioinformation about ourselves. Emily Postan argues that identity interests in accessing personal bioinformation are currently under-protected in law and often linked to problematic bio-essentialist assumptions. Drawing on a picture of identity constructed through embodied self-narratives, and examples of people's encounters with diverse kinds of information, Postan addresses these gaps. This book provides a robust account of the source, scope, and ethical significance of our identity-related interests in accessing – and not accessing – bioinformation about ourselves, and the need for disclosure practices to respond appropriately. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
ANDRIA MOI ENNEPE: AN ALLUSION TO ODYSSEUS IN TERENCE, ANDRIA 560–2
Authors: Gellar-Goad T.H.M.
Published: July 2022

This note argues for a previously unnoticed allusion in Terence's Andria to Odysseus and the Sirens, in a wish expressed by the play's old man that his son will escape the alluring clutches of the sex-labourer next door.
PLINY, LETTERS 10.98. A METAPHOR FOR THE SOLUTION TO THE CHRISTIAN PROBLEM?
Authors: Beckmann Martin
Published: July 2022

I argue that letter 98 of Book 10 of Pliny's Letters (= Epistulae) was deliberately moved from its original position in the sequence of letters in order to serve as a metaphor for the solution to the problem of Christians in Bithynia and Pontus. This solves a chronological problem in Pliny's Letters and is evidence of the hand of an active editor.
Imperial Cartography and National Mapping in Afghanistan
Authors: Hanifi Shah Mahmoud
Published: July 2022

Afghanistan assumed its modern cartographic form in piecemeal fashion between the late 1860s and early 1890s in the context of British imperial boundary-making projects in South Asia and the Middle East. The bordering of Afghanistan was contextualized by the global British empire and multiple boundary conflicts and frontier anxieties involving the British and the French, German, Russian, and other imperial powers as well as local rulers. The fundamental point here is that the map of Afghanistan is a product of imperial and interimperial concerns, and it has not benefited the Afghan people. The map of Afghanistan may or may not have served the imperial purposes for which it was created, but more importantly, by uncritically accepting it and its imperial heritage, we Afghans have become victims of an imperial map of ourselves. Afghans and non-Afghans will benefit from directly confronting the coercive impact of imperial mapping agendas on the largely invisible people “on the map” of Afghanistan. This essay historicizes the production of maps of modern Afghanistan, exposing imperial and crypto-colonial influences upon our national cartography. In so doing, it critically reimagines our spatial politics and reconfigures our intellectual infrastructure. It is an exercise in historical recentering designed to instill Afghan humanity and agency onto the map of Afghanistan.
Rethinking the concept of God and the problem of evil from the perspective of African thought
Authors: Agada Ada
Published: July 2022

In this article, I show that: (1) There is a transcendence strain in African Traditional Religion (ATR) and traditional African thought that agrees perfectly with traditional monotheism and legitimizes the question of the relation of God with evil in the world. (2) There is incontrovertible evidence of the conception of God as a limited deity that subverts the categories of omnipotence and omniscience. (3) African philosophers of religion must show how a transcendent or, conversely, a limited God is related to the evil that exists in the world, since the overwhelming stance of ATR is that God is the creator of the world and wields effective power. I substitute the categories of omnipotence and omniscience with the novel categories of power and glory and argue that while a powerful and glorious God is not the author of evil and cannot eliminate evil in the world, such a God can be conceived as working to reduce the evil in the world through the instrumentality of human moral agency.
Learning conversational dependency: Children’s response using un in Japanese
Authors: TATSUMI Tomoko , SALA Giovanni
Published: July 2022

This study investigates how Japanese-speaking children learn interactional dependencies in conversations that determine the use of un, a token typically used as a positive response for yes-no questions, backchannel, and acknowledgement. We hypothesise that children learn to produce un appropriately by recognising different types of cues occurring in the immediately preceding turns. We built a set of generalised linear models on the longitudinal conversation data from seven children aged 1 to 5 years and their caregivers. Our models revealed that children not only increased their un production, but also learned to attend relevant cues in the preceding turns to understand when to respond by producing un. Children increasingly produced un when their interlocutors asked a yes-no question or signalled the continuation of their own speech. These results illustrate how children learn the probabilistic dependency between adjacent turns, and become able to participate in conversational interactions.
Editorial report 2022
Authors: Hodgson Geoffrey M.
Published: July 2022

With its eighteenth annual volume, theJournal of Institutional Economics(JOIE) has come of age. This editorial report looks at the growth of the journal, summarises some of its achievements, reviews progress in addressing diversity and gender balance, outlines current editorial policy, and considers some further issues that are important for the future.
Changes in the Relative Importance of Biogenic Isoprene and Soil NOx Emissions on Ozone Concentrations in Nonattainment Areas of the United States
Authors: Geddes Jeffrey A. , Pusede Sally E. , Wong Anthony Y. H.
Published: July 2022

Reductions in anthropogenic emissions have drawn increasing attention to the role of the biosphere in O3 production chemistry in U.S. cities. We report the results of chemical transport model sensitivity simulations exploring the relative impacts of biogenic isoprene and soil nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions on O3 and its temporal variability. We compare scenarios with high and low anthropogenic NOx emissions representing the reductions that have occurred in recent decades. As expected, summertime O3 concentrations become less sensitive to perturbations in biogenic isoprene emissions as anthropogenic NOx emissions decline. However, we demonstrate for the first time that across policy relevant O3 nonattainment areas of the United States, O3 becomes more sensitive to perturbations in soil NOx emissions than to identical perturbations in isoprene emissions. We show that interannual variability in soil NOx emissions may now have larger impacts on interannual O3 variability than isoprene emissions in many areas where the latter would have dominated in the recent past.
Shallow Water Records of the PETM: Novel Insights From NE India (Eastern Tethys)
Authors: Sarkar Suman , Cotton Laura J. , Valdes Paul J. , Schmidt Daniela N.
Published: July 2022

The Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is associated with major extinctions in the deep ocean, and significant paleogeographic and ecological changes in surface ocean and terrestrial environments. However, the impact of the associated environmental change on shelf biota is less well understood. Here, we present a new PETM record of a low paleolatitude shallow‐marine carbonate platform from Meghalaya, NE India (eastern Tethys). The biotic assemblage was distinctly different to other Tethyan PETM records dominated by larger benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae both in the Paleocene and Eocene. A change in taxa and forms indicating deeper waters with a concurrent decrease in abundance of shallow water algae suggests a sea‐level rise during the onset of the PETM. The record is lacking the ecological change from corals to larger foraminiferal assemblages and theLockhartiadominance, characteristic of several other sections in the Tethys. Comparison with a global circulation model (GCM) indicates high regional temperatures in the Thanetian which may have excluded corals from the region. Furthermore, the regional circulation pattern is isolating the site from the wider Paratethys. Our study highlights the need for a diverse global perspective on shallow‐marine response to the PETM and the strength of coupling data to global climate models for interpretation.
Sensitivity of Erosion‐Rate in Permafrost Landscapes to Changing Climatic and Environmental Conditions Based on Lake Sediments From Northwestern Alaska
Authors: Shelef Eitan , Griffore Melissa , Mark Sam , Coleman Tim , Wondolowski Nick , Lasher G. Everett , Abbott Mark
Published: July 2022

Erosion of landscapes underlaid by permafrost can transform sediment and nutrient fluxes, surface and subsurface hydrology, soil properties, and rates of permafrost thaw, thus changing ecosystems and carbon emissions in high latitude regions with potential implications for global climate. However, future rates of erosion and sediment transport are difficult to predict as they depend on complex interactions between climatic and environmental parameters such as temperature, precipitation, permafrost, vegetation, wildfires, and hydrology. Thus, despite the potential influence of erosion on the future of the Arctic and global systems, the relations between erosion‐rate and these parameters, as well as their relative importance, remain largely unquantified. Here we quantify these relations based on a sedimentary record from Burial Lake, Alaska, one of the richest datasets of Arctic lake deposits. We apply a set of bi‐ and multi‐variate techniques to explore the association between the flux of terrigenous sediments into the lake (a proxy for erosion‐rate) and a variety of biogeochemical sedimentary proxies for paleoclimatic and environmental conditions over the past 25 cal ka BP. Our results show that erosion‐rate is most strongly associated with temperature and vegetation proxies, and that erosion‐rate decreases with increased temperature, pollen‐counts, and abundance of pollen from shrubs and trees. Other proxies, such as those associated with fire frequency, aeolian dust supply, mass wasting and hydrologic conditions, play a secondary role. The marginal effects of the sedimentary‐proxies on erosion‐rate are often threshold dependent, highlighting the potential for strong non‐linear changes in erosion in response to future changes in Arctic conditions.
Variability in the Global Ocean Carbon Sink From 1959 to 2020 by Correcting Models With Observations
Authors: Bennington Val , Gloege Lucas , McKinley Galen A.
Published: July 2022

The ocean reduces human impact on the climate by absorbing and sequestering CO2. From 1950s to the 1980s, observations of pCO2 and related ocean carbon variables were sparse and uncertain. Thus, global ocean biogeochemical models (GOBMs) have been the basis for quantifying the ocean carbon sink. The LDEO‐Hybrid Physics Data product (LDEO‐HPD) interpolates sparse surface ocean pCO2 data to global coverage by using GOBMs as priors, and applying machine learning to estimate full‐coverage corrections. The largest component of the GOBM corrections are climatological. This is consistent with recent findings of large seasonal discrepancies in GOBMs, but contrasts the long‐held view that interannual variability is a major source of GOBM error. This supports extension of the LDEO‐HPD pCO2 product back to 1959, using a climatology of model‐observation misfits prior to 1982. Consistent with previous studies for 1980 onward, air‐sea CO2 fluxes for 1959–2020 demonstrate response to atmospheric pCO2 growth and volcanic eruptions.
Growth rate-dependent coordination of catabolism and anabolism in the archaeonMethanococcus maripaludisunder phosphate limitation
Authors: Gu Wenyu , Müller Albert L , Deutzmann Jörg S , Williamson James R , Spormann Alfred M
Published: July 2022

Catabolic and anabolic processes are finely coordinated in microorganisms to provide optimized fitness under varying environmental conditions. Understanding this coordination and the resulting physiological traits reveals fundamental strategies of microbial acclimation. Here, we characterized the system-level physiology of Methanococcus maripaludis, a niche-specialized methanogenic archaeon, at different dilution rates ranging from 0.09 to 0.003 h−1 in chemostat experiments under phosphate (i.e., anabolic) limitation. Phosphate was supplied as the limiting nutrient, while formate was supplied in excess as the catabolic substrate and carbon source. We observed a decoupling of catabolism and anabolism resulting in lower biomass yield relative to catabolically limited cells at the same dilution rates. In addition, the mass abundance of several coarse-grained proteome sectors (i.e., combined abundance of proteins grouped based on their function) exhibited a linear relationship with growth rate, mostly ribosomes and their biogenesis. Accordingly, cellular RNA content also correlated with growth rate. Although the methanogenesis proteome sector was invariant, the metabolic capacity for methanogenesis, measured as methane production rates immediately after transfer to batch culture, correlated with growth rate suggesting translationally independent regulation that allows cells to only increase catabolic activity under growth-permissible conditions. These observations are in stark contrast to the physiology of M. maripaludis under formate (i.e., catabolic) limitation, where cells keep an invariant proteome including ribosomal content and a high methanogenesis capacity across a wide range of growth rates. Our findings reveal that M. maripaludis employs fundamentally different strategies to coordinate global physiology during anabolic phosphate and catabolic formate limitation.
Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles for immunomodulation and regeneration: a next generation therapeutic tool?
Authors: Kou Meng , Huang Li , Yang Jinjuan , Chiang Zhixin , Chen Shaoxiang , Liu Jie , Guo Liyan , Zhang Xiaoxian , Zhou Xiaoya , Xu Xiang , Yan Xiaomei , Wang Yan , Zhang Jinqiu , Xu Aimin , Tse Hung-fat , Lian Qizhou
Published: July 2022

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be widely isolated from various tissues including bone marrow, umbilical cord, and adipose tissue, with the potential for self-renewal and multipotent differentiation. There is compelling evidence that the therapeutic effect of MSCs mainly depends on their paracrine action. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are fundamental paracrine effectors of MSCs and play a crucial role in intercellular communication, existing in various body fluids and cell supernatants. Since MSC-derived EVs retain the function of protocells and have lower immunogenicity, they have a wide range of prospective therapeutic applications with advantages over cell therapy. We describe some characteristics of MSC-EVs, and discuss their role in immune regulation and regeneration, with emphasis on the molecular mechanism and application of MSC-EVs in the treatment of fibrosis and support tissue repair. We also highlight current challenges in the clinical application of MSC-EVs and potential ways to overcome the problem of quality heterogeneity.
Iron-overloaded follicular fluid increases the risk of endometriosis-related infertility by triggering granulosa cell ferroptosis and oocyte dysmaturity
Authors: Ni Zhexin , Li Yangshuo , Song Di , Ding Jie , Mei Shanshan , Sun Shuai , Cheng Wen , Yu Jin , Zhou Ling , Kuang Yanping , Li Mingqing , Cai Zailong , Yu Chaoqin
Published: July 2022

Endometriosis (EMs) occurs in approximately 50% of women with infertility. The main causes of EMs-related infertility are follicle dysplasia and reduced oocyte quality. Iron overload occurs in ovarian follicular fluid (FF) of patients with EMs, and this condition is associated with oocyte maturation disorder. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. In the present study, we identified the mechanism underlying ferroptosis in ovarian granulosa cells and oocyte maturation failure in EMs based on a retrospective review of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-frozen embryo transfer outcomes in infertile patients with EMs. Mouse granulosa cells were treated with EMs-related infertile patients' follicular fluid (EMFF) in vitro. Western blot analysis, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, fluorescence staining, and transmission electron microscopy were used to assess granulosa cells ferroptosis. The effects of exosomes were examined by nanoparticle tracking analysis, RNA-seq, and Western blot analysis. Finally, the therapeutic values of vitamin E and iron chelator (deferoxamine mesylate) in vivo were evaluated in an EMs-related infertility model. Patients with ovarian EMs experienced poorer oocyte fertility than patients with non-ovarian EMs. We observed that EMFF with iron overload-induced granulosa cell ferroptosis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, nuclear receptor coactivator four-dependent ferritinophagy was involved in this process. Notably, granulosa cells undergoing ferroptosis further suppressed oocyte maturation by releasing exosomes from granulosa cells. In therapeutic studies, vitamin E and iron chelators effectively alleviated EMs-related infertility models. Our study indicates a novel mechanism through which EMFF with iron overload induces ferroptosis of granulosa cells and oocyte dysmaturity in EMs-related infertility, providing a potential therapeutic strategy for EMs-related infertility.
The splicing factor RBM17 drives leukemic stem cell maintenance by evading nonsense-mediated decay of pro-leukemic factors
Authors: Liu Lina , Vujovic Ana , Deshpande Nandan P. , Sathe Shashank , Anande Govardhan , Chen He Tian Tony , Xu Joshua , Minden Mark D. , Yeo Gene W. , Unnikrishnan Ashwin , Hope Kristin J. , Lu Yu
Published: July 2022

Chemo-resistance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients is driven by leukemic stem cells (LSCs) resulting in high rates of relapse and low overall survival. Here, we demonstrate that upregulation of the splicing factor, RBM17 preferentially marks and sustains LSCs and directly correlates with shorten patient survival. RBM17 knockdown in primary AML cells leads to myeloid differentiation and impaired colony formation and in vivo engraftment. Integrative multi-omics analyses show that RBM17 repression leads to inclusion of poison exons and production of nonsense-mediated decay (NMD)-sensitive transcripts for pro-leukemic factors and the translation initiation factor, EIF4A2. We show that EIF4A2 is enriched in LSCs and its inhibition impairs primary AML progenitor activity. Proteomic analysis of EIF4A2-depleted AML cells shows recapitulation of the RBM17 knockdown biological effects, including pronounced suppression of proteins involved in ribosome biogenesis. Overall, these results provide a rationale to target RBM17 and/or its downstream NMD-sensitive splicing substrates for AML treatment.