bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bioprinted microvasculature: progressing from structure to function
Authors: Seymour Alexis J , Westerfield Ashley D , Cornelius Vincent C , Skylar-Scott Mark A , Heilshorn Sarah C
Published: January 2022

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting seeks to unlock the rapid generation of complex tissue constructs, but long-standing challenges with efficient in vitro microvascularization must be solved before this can become a reality. Microvasculature is particularly challenging to biofabricate due to the presence of a hollow lumen, a hierarchically branched network topology, and a complex signaling milieu. All of these characteristics are required for proper microvascular—and, thus, tissue—function. While several techniques have been developed to address distinct portions of this microvascularization challenge, no single approach is capable of simultaneously recreating all three microvascular characteristics. In this review, we present a three-part framework that proposes integration of existing techniques to generate mature microvascular constructs. First, extrusion-based 3D bioprinting creates a mesoscale foundation of hollow, endothelialized channels. Second, biochemical and biophysical cues induce endothelial sprouting to create a capillary-mimetic network. Third, the construct is conditioned to enhance network maturity. Across all three of these stages, we highlight the potential for extrusion-based bioprinting to become a central technique for engineering hierarchical microvasculature. We envision that the successful biofabrication of functionally engineered microvasculature will address a critical need in tissue engineering, and propel further advances in regenerative medicine and ex vivo human tissue modeling.
Uniaxial strain-induced electronic property alterations of MoS2 monolayer
Authors: Setiawan A , Handayani I P , Suprayoga E
Published: January 2022

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has attracted interests owing to its strain-tuned electronic and optical properties, making it a promising candidate for applications in strain engineering devices. In this study, we investigate the effect of uniaxial strain on the electronic properties of MoS2 monolayer using first-principles calculations. Results show that a crossover of the K–K direct to Γ–K indirect bandgap transitions occurs at a strain of 1.743%. Moreover, a strong correlation is observed between the modified bandgap and the density of states (DOS) of the Mo–4d and S-3p orbitals at the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum. The uniaxial strain–tuned interatomic distance along the a-crystallographic axis not only alters the bandgap at different rates but also affects the DOS of the Mo–4d orbital and possible electronic transitions. This study clarifies the mechanism of the electronic structural modification of two-dimensional MoS2 monolayer, which may affect intervalley transitions.
The Portevin-Le Chatelier effect and strain-rate-induced plasticity enhancement in Mg-4Li and Mg-4Li-1Al alloys
Authors: Sha Guiying , Liu Teng , Yin Miao , Na Yuduo
Published: January 2022

The effects of strain rate on deformation behavior of the Mg-4Li and Mg-4Li-1Al alloys were investigated through tension testing and microstructure analysis. The Portevin-Le Chatelier effect was detected in tension testing of Mg-4Li alloy in the strain rate range of 5 × 10–4 s−1 ∼ 1 × 10–2 s−1, and the effect was enhanced by the addition of 1% Al. The mechanism of Portevin-Le Chatelier effect was ascribed to the interaction between primary dislocations and pre-existing secondary forest dislocations. The strain rate sensitivity indexes of both Mg-4Li and Mg-4Li-1Al alloys were found as negative. With increasing strain rate, the yield strength and tensile strength of both alloys decreased, while the elongation increased.
Dehydrochlorination study of plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) contianing modified titanium dioxide, cerium stearate, organotin and β-diketone complex after long-term storage
Authors: Ma Long-juan , Lu Yi-heng , Chen Yan , Lu Yu-wei , Yuan Gang
Published: January 2022

Understanding the influence of additives on the dehydrochlorination of plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) from the source and long-term storage is an attractive topic. In this work, the effects of folic acid modified nano titanium dioxide (FANT), cerium stearate, organotin andβ-diketone compound additives on the dehydrochlorination of plasticized PVC and long-term storage were investigated using conductivity measurements. The results showed that the induction time of hydrogen chloride removal of plasticized PVC (C-1) containing composite stabilizer at 200 °C were 243% higher than those of the control (S1). After storage, the heat stability of the control decreased significantly. Instead, the induction time and stability time of plasticized PVC containing FANT, cerium stearate, organotin andβ- diketone composites were significantly enhanced at 200 °C. The thermal stability sequence from difficult to easy for removal of hydrogen chloride was : 3.0 phr (1.90% wt) (C2) >1.0 phr (0.64% wt) (C1) > 5.0 phr (3.17% wt) (C3) with FANT. It is inferred that this is due to the FANT’s hydrogen bonding van der Waals force and the complexation reaction of variable valence metal Ce+3/Ce+4with C-Cl bond in PVC polymer molecule. The induction time (min) of hydrogen chloride removal at 200 °C before and after storage is as follows: C-20 (71.9) > C-10 (70.6) > C-1 (60.7) > C-3 (57.2) > C-30 (52.7) > C-2 (49.9) > S1 (25.3) > S10 (19.7). The critical temperature for hydrogen chloride removal by the composite film is around 210 °C. If the content of FANT increased to 3.17%, the intermolecular force and repulsive force in PVC system offset each other, indicating that the increase of FANT content will lead to the increase of repulsive force with PVC. A certain amount of FANT, cerium stearate, organotin andβ- diketone composites has a significant synergistic effect on the thermal stability of PVC.
Experimental investigation of the tensile and modal properties of epoxy based symmetric interlayer glass/carbon hybrid composites
Authors: V Pujar Nagabhushan , Nanjundaradhya N V , Sharma Ramesh S
Published: January 2022

Interlayer hybrid composites can be tailored for enhanced strength and stiffness. Research on enhancing the mechanical properties of Interlayer hybrid composites is being explored by varying fiber orientations, layup sequence, different type of fiber materials. The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of stacking sequence of the high modulus carbon fibers on the tensile and modal properties of symmetric glass/carbon fiber interlayer composite. The interlayer hybrid composites were fabricated for different stacking sequence of carbon fibers using hand layup technique. Tensile strength and modulus were evaluated as per ASTM 3039 standard. Experimental modal analysis was carried out for two boundary conditions (Free-Free and Cantilever). The modal properties such as natural frequency, mode shapes and damping were studied. The results show that interlayer hybridizations by using low & high modulus fibers along with their stacking sequence about the neutral axis of the laminate have significant influence on the tensile and modal properties. Interlayer hybridization technique offers the potential to provide better mechanical and modal properties in design of high-performance composites.
Encapsulation and on-demand release of functional materials from conductive nanofibers via electrical signals
Authors: Chen Yijun , Boyd James G , Naraghi Mohammad
Published: January 2022

The goal of this research is to establish a highly compact on-demand release platform for functional materials where porous nanofibers serve as the host, heat-based release trigger and temperature controller for regulated release. The ability to store functional materials in fibers and release them on demand via external signals may open up new frontiers in areas such as smart textiles and autonomous composites. The host material was porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs), which encapsulated functional materials, protected by a thin polymeric coating to thermally regulate the release. This platform was used to store Gentian violet (GV), an antibacterial material, and release it with highly controllable rates in aqueous environment. The high porosity of the CNF yarns, both inter- and intra-fiber porosity, resulted in a mass loading of as high as ∼50 wt%. The active release was triggered via passing electrical signals through CNF yarn backbone, thereby heating the coating. The rate of release as a function of temperature was measured. It was concluded that the release mechanism is via thermally augmented and reversible diffusion rates of GV and water through the coating. By applying electric current, the diffusion coefficient of the coating was increased, and the release rate dramatically increased in a reversible fashion by as much as 39×.
Trends and drivers of recent summer drying in Switzerland
Authors: Scherrer S C , Hirschi M , Spirig C , Maurer F , Kotlarski S
Published: January 2022

The Alpine region recently experienced several dry summers with important and adverse impacts on economy, society and ecology. Here, we analyse drought indicators, evapotranspiration and meteorological data from point observations, reanalyses and regional climate model data to assess trends and drivers of summer drought in Switzerland in the period 1981–2020. The drought indicators from station observations and ERA5-Land and ERA5 reanalyses show a tendency towards drier summer half-years (climatic water balance: −39 mm decade−1, 0–1 m integrated soil water content: −5 to −7 mm decade−1) with a drying in most months from March to October. Both, increasing evapotranspiration (potential evapotranspiration: +21 mm decade−1 or +7% K−1 warming; actual evapotranspiration: +8 to +15 mm decade−1) and a non-significant precipitation decrease of 17 mm decade−1 are identified as important and roughly equivalent drivers. The reanalyses show considerable differences for soil water and actual evapotranspiration, especially in drought summers. The ERA5 soil is clearly drier than the one in ERA5-Land. ERA5 evapotranspiration is smallest and partly soil moisture-limited in drought years while evapotranspiration in ERA5-Land is highest, still mainly energy-limited and scales well with temperature (+4% K−1 warming). ERA5-Land seems to better match with in situ measurements of soil water and evapotranspiration than ERA5, but considerable differences with in situ measurements remain. Variability and trends of the drought drivers temperature and precipitation are also investigated in the EURO-CORDEX regional climate model ensemble. Most simulations considerably underestimate the recent warming and the ensemble shows a large possible range of precipitation changes with a mean change near zero. The summer precipitation-temperature scaling and the correlation between summer temperature and precipitation on the interannual time scale are mostly overestimated. Our results highlight that the analysis of Central European summer drought evolution and its drivers remains challenging especially with regional climate model data, but considerable uncertainties also exist in reanalyses.
Numerical simulation of roughened solar air heater on heat transfer augmentation and frictional flow characteristics in turbulent flow region
Authors: Kumar Mukesh , Kumar Arun
Published: January 2022

This paper works on the numerical simulation of heat transfer augmentation and frictional flow characteristics in roughened Solar Air Heaters by using two-Dimensional CFD for a different type of rib shapes arrangement. The numerical simulation was performed with the RNG k-ε turbulence model in ANSYS 15 software. Aluminum and the air were expressed as absorber plate material and working fluid in the present analysis, respectively. The ‘second-order upwind’ approach was used for the momentum and energy equations. To couple velocity–pressure, the SIMPLE algorithm was used. For all residuals, a low convergence criterion was preferred to accurately predict different parameters. An investigation was done for different Relative roughness pitches (p/e) values and Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from 4000 to 16000 in turbulent flow areas. The result reveals that the rectangular rib with a triangular end provides the highest Nusselt number (Nu). The Nusselt number has been discovered to have a maximum value of 58.35 at Re 16000 for the rectangular rib with a triangular end. The heat transfer augmentation ratio or Nusselt number ratio is maximum in the case of a rectangular rib with a triangular end.
Precision of bit slicing with in-memory computing based on analog phase-change memory crossbars
Authors: Le Gallo Manuel , Nandakumar S R , Ciric Lazar , Boybat Irem , Khaddam-Aljameh Riduan , Mackin Charles , Sebastian Abu
Published: January 2022

In-memory computing is a promising non-von Neumann approach to perform certain computational tasks efficiently within memory devices by exploiting their physical attributes. However, the computational accuracy achieved with this approach has been rather low, owing to significant inter-device variability and inhomogeneity across an array as well as intra-device variability and randomness from the analog memory devices. Bit slicing, a technique for constructing a high precision processor from several modules of lower precision, is a promising approach for overcoming this accuracy limitation. However, a systematic study to assess the precision ultimately achieved by bit slicing with analog in-memory computing has so far been lacking. In this work, we assess the computational error from bit slicing when performing in-memory matrix-vector multiplications. Using accurate models of phase-change memory crossbar arrays, we demonstrate that unlike in digital processors where bit slicing is used to extend the dynamic range of the number representation, bit slicing with in-memory computing should aim at minimizing the error from the analog matrix representation through averaging within a given dynamic range. The results are validated using a prototype phase-change memory chip and the impact on the neural network inference accuracy on CIFAR-10 and ImageNet benchmarks is evaluated.
Novel development strategies and challenges for anti-Her2 antibody-drug conjugates
Authors: Zhang Xinling , Huang Andrew C , Chen Fahai , Chen Hu , Li Lele , Kong Nana , Luo Wenting , Fang Jianmin
Published: January 2022

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) combining potent cytotoxicity of small-molecule drugs with the selectivity and excellent pharmacokinetic profile of monoclonal antibody (mAb) are promising therapeutic modalities for a diverse range of cancers. Owing to overexpression in a wide range of tumors, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) is one of the most utilized targeting antigens for ADCs to treat Her2-positive cancers. Owing to the high density of Her2 antigens on the tumor cells and high affinity and high internalization capacity of corresponding antibodies, 56 anti-Her2 ADCs which applied >10 different types of novel payloads had entered preclinical or clinical trials. Seven of 12 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved ADCs including Polivy (2019), Padcev (2019), EnHertu (2019), Trodelvy (2020), Blenrep (2020), Zynlonta (2021), and Tivdak) (2021) have been approved by FDA in the past three years alone, indicating that the maturing of ADC technology brings more productive clinical outcomes. This review, focusing on the anti-Her2 ADCs in clinical trials or on the market, discusses the strategies to select antibody formats, the linkages between linker and mAb, and effective payloads with particular release and action mechanisms for a good clinical outcome.
Communication From a Latin American Indigenous Perspective
Authors: Magallanes-Blanco Claudia
Published: January 2022

Indigenous peoples from Latin America understand and use communication from an Indigenous perspective. Communication is a key aspect of their ongoing struggles for self-determination and autonomy, and the ways they understand and use communication embodies ancestral knowledge as well as technological appropriations. Communication is the main vehicle for self-representation, which is materialized in various practices, media, and messages that circulate within communities, between villages, or toward the population of metropolitan society. Communication attests to the capacity of Indigenous peoples to produce new knowledge and different culturally grounded responses to diverse times and historic contradictions. Indigenous peoples throughout Latin America use communication to serve several purposes. It reproduces worldviews deeply rooted in identity, territoriality, languages, spirituality, autonomy, and sovereignty. It is also a mechanism for community (self) reflexivity. It is a political strategy. It is a basic right. And it is a set of practices and processes that give rise to specific media products. Hence, from these purposes it is possible to recognize five dimensions of communication from a Latin American Indigenous perspective: (a) communication as cosmogony, (b) communication for community self-reflexivity, (c) communication as a political strategy (d) communication as a right, and (e) communication as a medium. These dimensions exemplify the capacity of Indigenous peoples from Latin America to produce new knowledge embedded in ancestral knowledge and to fight for self-determination, autonomy, and cognitive justice via communication.
The History of Japan’s Silk Exports, 1859–1899
Authors: Makimura Yasuhiro
Published: January 2022

The export of silk products created a regional trade surplus for eastern Japan, centered on Tokyo. In producing raw silk, the people of eastern Japan created factories to lead rural industrialization. This regional trade surplus was used to fuel growth in the consumer economy of Japan, as it pushed western Japan, centered on Osaka, to develop its cotton industry. These two industries and the Yawata Steel Works in northern Kyushu transformed Japan from an agricultural country to an industrial country in the late 19th century.

In this story, the role of government is both central and peripheral. Without the decision by the Tokugawa shogun’s government to open Japan to external trade, this development would never have happened. However, once Japan was opened to trade, the Tokugawa government did not do much to help the trade, while the Meiji government, though desirous of fostering trade, did not always succeed in its efforts. Ultimately, it was the producers and merchants, the people, who transformed the rural economy and the country itself.
Japan and the Ainu in the Early Modern Period
Authors: Godefroy Noémi
Published: January 2022

The Ainu are an indigenous people of northeast Asia, and their lands encompassed what are now known as the north of Honshu, Hokkaido, the Kuril archipelago, southern Sakhalin, the southernmost tip of Kamchatka, and the Amur River estuary region. As such, Ainu space was a maritime one, linking the Pacific, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Sea of Japan, and the Ainu settlements were dynamic actors in various maritime trade networks. Hence, they actively traded with other peoples, including the Japanese, from an early stage.

Spreading over thousands of years, relations between Japan and the Ainu evolved in an ever-tightening way. These relations can be read in diplomatic or political terms, but also, and maybe even more so, in economic, spatial, and environmental terms, as Japan’s relationship with the Ainu people is deeply rooted in its relationship to Ainu goods, lands, and resources. Furthermore, Ainu songs reveal the importance of the charismatic trade with Japan in the shaping of Ainu society and worldview. From the 17th century, the initial, relative reciprocity of Ainu-Japanese relations became increasingly unbalanced, as the Tokugawa shoguns’ domestic productivity and foreign trade came to hinge upon Ainu labor, central to the transformation of northern marine products. During the 18th century, overlapping authorities and conflicting interests on both sides of the ethnic divide led to the advent of an inextricable web of mutual interdependencies, which all but snapped as the northeastern region of the Ainu lands became the convergence point of Japanese, Russian, and European interests. The need to establish clear regional sovereignty, to directly reap regional economic benefits and prevent Ainu unrest, led the shogunate to progressively establish direct control on the Ainu lands from the dawn of the 19th century.

Although shogunate control did not lead to a full-fledged colonial enterprise per se, from the advent of the Meiji era, Ainu lands were annexed and their inhabitants subjected to colonial measures of assimilation, cultural suppression, and forced agricultural redeployment on the one hand, and dichotomization and exhibition on the other hand, before they all but disappeared from public discourse from the end of the 1930s. From the 1990s, within a global context of emerging indigenous and minority voices, Ainu individuals, groups, and movements have strived to achieve discursive reappropriation and political representation, and the past years have seen them be recognized as a minority group in Japan. Given past and ongoing tensions between Russia and Japan over sovereignty in the southern Kuril, and the future opening of the Arctic route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Ainu could play an international role in both diplomatic and environmental terms.
Uganda–Tanzania War
Authors: Thomas Charles
Published: January 2022

The Uganda–Tanzania War was a military conflict between Idi Amin’s regime in Uganda and Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania. The roots of the conflict can be traced back to Amin’s seizure of power in Uganda in a coup against Nyerere’s ally Milton Obote in 1971. Their mutual animosity was then cemented by Nyerere’s approval of an invasion of Uganda by armed exiles the following year. The two countries continued to have strained relationships, leading to border disputes and faltering regional relations. Finally, in October 1978, Amin’s military invaded Tanzania and declared the annexation of all territory north of the Kagera River.

This invasion convinced President Nyerere that Amin must be dealt with once and for all. Following a period of mobilization, the Tanzanian military forced the retreat of the Ugandan forces and prepared an invasion of Uganda. The Tanzanians then won a series of battles in southern Uganda, routing Amin’s military forces and their Libyan allies. Nyerere and the Ugandan exiles then focused on taking Kampala and installing representative government. These goals were accomplished in April of 1979 and the Tanzanians completed the removal of Amin loyalist forces in June, marking an end to the war.

The Kagera War shaped much of the future for both countries. For Tanzania the war was seen as a unifying patriotic struggle. However, the economic strain of the war combined with the challenges of demobilization undermined President Nyerere’s struggling ujamaa villagization efforts. For Uganda the removal of the Amin regime was a welcome change, but not one that brought peace. The elected government of Godfrey Binaisa was removed in a coup and the return of Milton Obote to power led to a series of rebellions. The chaos released in the postwar period would only end with Museveni’s seizure of power in 1986.
Women in Algeria
Authors: Salhi Kamal
Published: January 2022

North African historiography is interested in the history of mankind, though it tends to overlook the contribution of half of humanity: women. Women are often characterized by virtues of sobriety and purity, or the conventional attributes of wives, mothers, and mistresses common in pre-Roman times. Within an erroneously interpreted Muslim tradition, prevalent since the Ottoman period, the Algerian woman was under patriarchal protection and considered a genitor, destined to perpetuate the group. It was expected that she stayed in a private, enclosed space, inaccessible to any foreign male gaze. The veil she wore created around her body an impermissible mobile believed to control her desires. In reality, the fantasizing of its representations has contributed key points to the Western—mostly French—history of women in Muslim-influenced Algeria. The haremic image of polygamy in general essentially problematizes Western Muslim societies. The Western imagination of the past, as well as that of all contemporary societies, has long nurtured the Muslim East, characterized by the appealing odalisque, far removed from any consideration and daily concerns.

The examination of the contexts in which Algerian women have become hypervisible as centers of debate and protest is no less essential to the understanding of Algeria than the history of the successive roles and challenges women have taken and experienced. Political attitudes, predominantly male, led to the introduction of the restrictive Algerian Family Law in postcolonial Algeria. Women have become the focal point for a contemporary dutiful discourse that presents itself as saving Muslim women, and that can be construed to pose a dilemma to the Western emancipation model. Women’s critical role in the unpredictably rapidly developing nation has marked events and national realizations. Despite Algerian women’s participation in various struggles and the roles assigned to them in nation-building, or even the centrality of social, political, and religious life consequential in gender relations, they demonstrate predispositions for transformational roles.
Queen Njinga
Authors: Bracks Fonseca Mariana
Published: January 2022

Njinga Mbande was a sovereign of the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms in the 17th century. She is remembered as a strong leader who challenged the Portuguese conquest of Angola. As heir to the Ndongo kingdom, she negotiated peace agreements with the Portuguese administration and was baptized. But diplomacy was not enough to guarantee the peace, security, and integrity of the Ndongo state. Military resistance was necessary to resist Portuguese advances and guarantee her political survival. Njinga Mbande defied the Portuguese armies and became the leader of a group of nomadic warriors called Jagas. Leading powerful battalions, she retreated inland and conquered the Matamba kingdom, which was ruled by women.

The military superiority of Njinga’s army and her ability to build alliances made her the most feared figure in the Angolan wars in the 17th century. With bravery and wisdom, she effectively defended her state and resisted Portuguese expansion in the region. For more than thirty years, Njinga resisted her enemies, defeating and deceiving them many times. She died when she was more than eighty years old without ever being captured or subjected. In the 20th century, Njinga Mbande’s public memory was transformed to represent nationalist resistance to earlier colonialism in Angola. She became known as the Angolan Queen, a national heroine in independent Angola, and is also remembered in the folk traditions of peoples of African descent in the Americas. It is important to stress, however, that she was the ruler of two states, and she never ruled the entire territory of what is now Angola.
Disciplinary History of International Relations (IR) in South Asia
Authors: Uz Zaman Rashed , Yasmin Lailufar
Published: January 2022

The discipline of International Relations (IR) started its journey in 1919, to understand why wars occur, reflecting the concerns arising out of World War I. The origin of the discipline thus has carried a Western bias since its inception and often remained oblivious to investigate the concerns of non-Western countries. In this context, the aim is to locate the centers of learning about the development of institutional IR in South Asia, by probing into the academic development of IR in different countries of the region. While doing so, it is necessary to emphasize how the concept of “international” emerged in South Asia much before the ideas of international relations in modern sense made their ways in the region. While there is a rich heritage of “international” in South Asia, the modern statehood often juggled between the old and the new. The institutional development shows that South Asian IR, despite a rise in local contribution to global IR, still yearns to follow Western path in educating about IR.

The investigations on South Asian IR and its institutional set ups take two broad views into concern. First, it elaborates on the root and the expanse of the idea of “international” indigenously prior to the idea of modern statehood penetrated South Asia. This discussion also highlights on how the region building itself has gone through transformation and finally the political region emerged through institutionalization of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The institutional expanse of IR in South Asia, its rise, location and development of IR in different countries of the region are worth a serious study. It should be noted here that the first institutional beginning of IR took place in modern day Bangladesh, established by the British colonial ruler in 1947, right before the partition of the subcontinent. However, one must take into account of the trend in South Asian IR of how the concept of “international” is imbued in the teaching and research of IR. In the case of Afghanistan, very few academic resources are available to ascertain if this is the case, like in other South Asian countries. Bhutan is seeing a development in the understanding of “international” as well as expanding on research in this area except it has not institutionalized the study of IR like other South Asian countries. The discussion concludes by arguing that while South Asian IR has made its distinct contribution in developing IR as a discipline, it is yet to create its own foothold as it is influenced by Western traditions in its teachings.
Devotional Art in Viceregal Latin America
Authors: Burke Marcus
Published: January 2022

The art of devotion in colonial Mexico, Central America, and South America—called the “viceregal” period, from the division of the colonies into viceroyalties from 1521 to 1821—arose in the context of reformed Roman Catholicism, especially after the Council of Trent (1545–1563). Devotional images included stand-alone compositions, images from altar ensembles and serial contexts, and works of sculpture that could be the focus of a believer’s pious contemplation or an accompaniment to liturgy. These images document the establishment of the Christian faith and its iconography in the New World, including syncretic elements, principally in the initial decades of colonization and missionization. They embody doctrines and local devotions relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary; the importance of the religious orders to Latin American devotional art; orthodox and heterodox imagery; regional variations; and special iconographies particular to Latin America. The creation of viceregal images was conditioned by issues such as the relative importance of centers of viceregal power versus peripheries, differing ethnic and religious traditions of specific localities, relatively permissive church attitudes toward heterodoxy, and the use of European models.. In the almost exactly three centuries of the viceregal era, artists of the first rank such as Baltasar de Echave Orio, Luis and José Juárez, Alonso López de Herrera, Cristóbal de Villalpando, Juan Rodríguez Juárez, and Miguel Cabrera from Mexico; Bernardo Bitti, Mateo Pérez de Alesio, Angelino Medoro, Baltasar Gavilán, and Bernardo de Legarda from Peru and Ecuador; and O Aleijadinho from Brazil created religious works responding to European stylistic developments but expressing local artistic values even as they nourished an ongoing Roman Catholic devotional life.
Thomas Stanford and His Field Recordings of Mexican Music
Authors: Reynoso Cecilia
Published: January 2022

Elmer Thomas Stanford (b. Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 2, 1929; d. Mexico City, December 10, 2018) was an ethnomusicologist from the United States who settled in Mexico in 1956. He is considered one of the precursors of field recording in Mexico, which he carried out from the end of 1956 until 2005. His recording covered various indigenous and mestizo musical traditions from more than 400 pueblos in states such as Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Jalisco, Morelos, Estado de México, Distrito Federal, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Sonora. His first field recordings can be found in the Fonoteca del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). Along with recordings from other researchers, these gave rise to a series of albums entitled Testimonio Musical de México. Stanford’s recordings were accompanied by his own reflections and research about the records that were released, which he disseminated through publications in bulletins, journal articles, books, and booklets. In 2007 Thomas Stanford gave his recordings to the Fonoteca Nacional, becoming this institution’s first collection; by 2010 his recordings were recognized as part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) Memory of the World program.
French Outside Europe
Authors: Thibault André
Published: January 2022

The first French colonial era goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries. It encompasses North American territories, the Antilles, and the Indian Ocean. The second colonial era started in the 19th century and ended in the 1960s. It first reached the Maghreb and Lebanon, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, where two colonial powers, France and Belgium, exported the use of French. The last territories affected by the expansion of the French language are to be found in the Pacific.
Jane Austen: A Very Short Introduction
Authors: Keymer Tom
Published: January 2022

Jane Austen: A Very Short Introduction combines critical introductions to each of Jane Austen’s major novels with an exploration of the themes of Austen’s writing. Austen wrote six of the best-loved novels in the English language, as well as a smaller corpus of works unpublished in her day. She pioneered new techniques for representing voices, minds, and hearts in narrative prose, and was a penetrating satirist of social tensions and trends. This VSI considers how Austen reveals the literary, social, and political tensions from which the novels emerge. It also analyses how her writing continues to charm and impact readers to the present day.
Afterword
Authors: Keymer Tom
Published: January 2022

‘Afterword’ reflects on Jane Austen’s legacy. With four of her six novels in print, Austen’s reputation was on the rise when she died on 18 July 1817. The chapter looks at her unfinished novel ‘Sanditon’, which shows numerous thematic continuities with the existing novels, including courtship and the complicating obstacles of rank and wealth, even as it points in new directions: real-estate speculation; medical consumerism; race. Technically, with the eloquent economy of her satirical insinuations and psychological hints, Austen was a pioneer of the novel genre whose impact continues to be felt. Thematically, she probed what her era called the recesses of the heart and mind, while also exploring the consequences for heart and mind of overarching circumstances, structures, and interactions.
Consciousness
Authors: Montero Barbara Gail
Published: January 2022

‘Consciousness’ asks: what is consciousness? The concept of consciousness is the subject of much discussion and there is much debate over whether it can be defined at all. Is it possible for a human to know what it is like to be a bat, a creature whose conscious experience is radically different from ours? There are various different forms of consciousness: creature consciousness, state consciousness, phenomenal consciousness, and access consciousness. The ‘hard problem’ is the problem of providing a scientific explanation of consciousness. What is the purpose of consciousness?
3. Non-Euclidean geometry
Authors: Dunajski Maciej
Published: January 2022

‘Non-Euclidean geometry’ begins with a discussion on spherical geometry, which is the study of objects on the sphere and has lines that are defined as great circles. Spherical geometry is an example of a non-Euclidean geometry, as the lines do not satisfy Euclid’s parallel postulate. Hyperbolic geometry is another example of a non-Euclidean geometry, as it violates the parallel axiom and cannot be embedded in ordinary space. Hyperbolic geometry can be introduced as an abstract surface wherein lines are singled out and the distance which makes these lines the shortest are shown. With hyperbolic geometry, the apparent paradoxes of M. C. Escher’s angels and devils can be revealed.
4. Geometry of curved spaces
Authors: Dunajski Maciej
Published: January 2022

‘Geometry of curved spaces’ shows that the curvature of a curve is an extrinsic property that is visible to people when it is viewed sitting on the plane and can be defined as a curve on the Euclidean plane. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss discovered that curvature is an intrinsic property of the surface in 1828. Gauss called it Theorema Egregium, which translates from Latin as Remarkable Theorem. The extrinsic curvature of curves, defines Gaussian curvature can be computed intrinsically. Higher-dimensional generalizations of surfaces are called manifolds.
Sustained Weight Loss, Weight Cycling, and Weight Gain During Adulthood and Pancreatic Cancer Incidence in the Women’s Health Initiative
Authors: Schwalb Molly E , Smith-Warner Stephanie A , Hou Jianrui , Rohan Thomas E , Snetselaar Linda , Luo Juhua , Genkinger Jeanine M
Published: January 2022

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality among women in the United States. Obesity is positively associated with PC risk. Current health recommendations focus on weight maintenance for healthy-weight individuals and weight loss for overweight/obese individuals; however, little research has assessed associations between PC risk and changes in weight throughout the life course. Using prospective cohort study data, we examined the relationship between baseline adulthood weight patterns self-reported between 1993 and 1998 and PC risk in 136,834 postmenopausal women with 873 incident PC cases through September 30, 2015, in the Women’s Health Initiative. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for age, smoking habits, heavy alcohol consumption, and body mass index. Compared with women with stable weight, no significant associations were found between steady weight gain (HR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.83, 1.22), sustained weight loss (HR = 1.26, 95% CI: 0.85, 1.87), or weight cycling patterns (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.30) and PC. Results were similar when the outcome definition was restricted to pancreatic adenocarcinoma cases. Overall, we did not find evidence to suggest that weight changes in adulthood significantly impact PC risk among postmenopausal women.
Two-faced compliments
Authors: McDonald Lucy
Published: January 2022

Compliments have received only cursory attention from speech act theorists and are usually characterised as run-of-the-mill illocutionary acts. Yet both intentionalist and conventionalist theories of illocutionary force struggle to accommodate ordinary language uses of ‘compliment’. I argue that this is because there are in fact two kinds of compliment: illocutionary compliments and perlocutionary compliments. This account illuminates the practice of complimenting, as well as its converse, insulting, and illustrates the complex relationship between illocutionary force and perlocutionary effect.
Current structure predictors are not learning the physics of protein folding
Authors: Outeiral Carlos , Nissley Daniel A , Deane Charlotte M
Published: January 2022

Motivation. Predicting the native state of a protein has long been considered a gateway problem for understanding protein folding. Recent advances in structural modeling driven by deep learning have achieved unprecedented success at predicting a protein’s crystal structure, but it is not clear if these models are learning the physics of how proteins dynamically fold into their equilibrium structure or are just accurate knowledge-based predictors of the final state.

Results. In this work, we compare the pathways generated by state-of-the-art protein structure prediction methods to experimental data about protein folding pathways. The methods considered were AlphaFold 2, RoseTTAFold, trRosetta, RaptorX, DMPfold, EVfold, SAINT2 and Rosetta. We find evidence that their simulated dynamics capture some information about the folding pathway, but their predictive ability is worse than a trivial classifier using sequence-agnostic features like chain length. The folding trajectories produced are also uncorrelated with experimental observables such as intermediate structures and the folding rate constant. These results suggest that recent advances in structure prediction do not yet provide an enhanced understanding of protein folding.

Availability. The data underlying this article are available in GitHub at https://github.com/oxpig/structure-vs-folding/

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Cancer diagnosis is associated with a lower burden of dementia and less Alzheimer’s-type neuropathology
Authors: Karanth Shama D , Katsumata Yuriko , Nelson Peter T , Fardo David W , McDowell Jaclyn K , Schmitt Frederick A , Kryscio Richard J , Browning Steven R , Braithwaite Dejana , Arnold Susanne M , Abner Erin L
Published: January 2022

Cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are common diseases in ageing populations. Previous research has reported a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease-type (amnestic) dementia among individuals with a diagnosis of cancer. Both cancer and amnestic dementia are prevalent and potentially lethal clinical syndromes. The current study was conducted to investigate the association of cancer diagnosis with neuropathological and cognitive features of dementia.

Data were analysed from longitudinally evaluated participants in a community-based cohort study of brain ageing who came to autopsy at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. These data were linked to the Kentucky Cancer Registry, a population-based state cancer surveillance system, to obtain cancer-related data. We examined the relationship between cancer diagnosis, clinical dementia diagnosis, Mini-Mental State Examination scores and neuropathological features using inverse probability weighting to address bias due to confounding and missing data. To address bias due to inclusion of participants with dementia at cohort baseline, we repeated all analyses restricted to the participants who were cognitively normal at baseline.

Included participants (n = 785) had a mean ± standard deviation age of death of 83.8 ± 8.6 years; 60.1% were female. Cancer diagnosis was determined in 190 (24.2%) participants, and a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia was determined in 539 (68.7%). APOE ɛ4 allele dosage was lower among participants with cancer diagnosis compared to cancer-free participants overall (P = 0.0072); however, this association was not observed among those who were cognitively normal at baseline. Participants with cancer diagnosis had lower odds of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, and higher cognitive test scores (e.g. Mini-Mental State Examination scores evaluated 6 and ≤2 years ante-mortem, P < 0.001 for both comparisons). Cancer diagnosis also associated with lower odds of higher Braak neurofibrillary tangle stages (III/IV) or (V/VI), moderate/frequent neuritic plaques, moderate/frequent diffuse plaques and moderate/severe cerebral amyloid angiopathy (all P < 0.05). By contrast, TDP-43, α-synuclein and cerebrovascular pathologies were not associated with cancer diagnosis.

Cancer diagnosis was associated with a lower burden of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and less cognitive impairment. These findings from a community-based cohort with neuropathological confirmation of substrates support the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Endocarditis Caused by Nontypeable Streptococcus pneumoniae
Authors: Henriet Stefanie S V , Langereis Jeroen D , Lo Stephanie W , Bentley Stephen , Mesman Rob J , Fejzic Zina , van Niftrik Laura , van Sorge Nina M , Wertheim Heiman F L , de Jonge Marien I , Cremers Amelieke J H
Published: January 2022

The Streptococcus pneumoniae capsule is regarded as indispensable in bacteremia. We report an infant with a ventricular septal defect and infective endocarditis caused by nontypeable S. pneumoniae. In-depth investigation confirmed a deficient capsule yet favored pneumococcal fitness for causing infective endocarditis, rather than a host immune disorder, as the cause of infective endocarditis in this case.
More dissimilarities than affinities between DNAJB11-PKD and ADPKD
Authors: Pisani Isabella , Allinovi Marco , Palazzo Viviana , Zanelli Paola , Gentile Micaela , Farina Maria Teresa , Giuliotti Sara , Cravedi Paolo , Delsante Marco , Maggiore Umberto , Fiaccadori Enrico , Manenti Lucio
Published: January 2022

Background

Polycystic kidney diseases (PKD) are an important cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) due to PKD1 or PKD2 mutations is the most common form, but other genes can be responsible for ADPKD and its phenocopies. Among them, a form of atypical ADPKD caused by DNAJB11 mutations (DNAJB11-PKD) has been recently described.

Methods

We retrospectively recruited a cohort of 27 patients from six different families sharing common ancestries and harboring the same DNAJB11 mutation (c.100C>T, p.Arg34*) and we compared it with a cohort of 42 typical ADPKD patients.

Results

DNAJB11-PKD patients show small/normal-sized kidneys, with significantly smaller cysts and a slower progression to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) than ADPKD patients. In the DNAJB11-PKD cohort, the cystic phenotype could not be detected by ultrasound in about half of the patients, but all cases with available computed tomography/magnetic resonance scans displayed cysts. Clinically, DNAJB11-PKD patients displayed proteinuria (mostly albuminuria). Compared with ADPKD, DNAJB11-PKD patients were older and had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (19% versus 0%; P = 0.007) and nephrolithiasis (62% versus 29%; P = 0.01), whereas the prevalence of cardiac valvular defects was lower (4% versus 51%; P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Overall, clinical features of DNAJB11-PKD were more subtle compared with those of ADPKD. DNAJB11-PKD shows a unique renal and extrarenal phenotype, clinical presentation and natural history. Therefore our data support that this genetic disease is classified separately from ADPKD.