bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Output Comovement and Inflation Dynamics in a Two‐Sector Model with Durable Goods: The Role of Sticky Information and Heterogeneous Factor Markets
Authors: KITAMURA TOMIYUKI , TAKAMURA TAMON
Published: April 2021

In the United States, the inflation and output of durable and nondurable goods respond to a monetary policy shock in the same direction with a delay. However, the existing New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models that generate the positive output comovement cannot explain this delayed response in sectoral inflation. We show that adding sticky information to both goods along with heterogeneous factors of production can explain the observed patterns in sectoral inflation and output. Moreover, in line with recent empirical findings, the estimated information stickiness is larger for housing than for nondurable goods and services.
Ethylmalonic acid impairs bioenergetics by disturbing succinate and glutamate oxidation and induces mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening in rat cerebellum
Authors: de Moura Alvorcem Leonardo , Britto Renata , Cecatto Cristiane , Cristina Roginski Ana , Rohden Francieli , Nathali Scholl Juliete , Guma Fátima C. R. , Figueiró Fabrício , Umpierrez Amaral Alexandre , Zanatta Geancarlo , Seminotti Bianca , Wajner Moacir , Leipnitz Guilhian
Published: April 2021

Tissue accumulation and high urinary excretion of ethylmalonic acid (EMA) are found in ethylmalonic encephalopathy (EE), an inherited disorder associated with cerebral and cerebellar atrophy whose pathogenesis is poorly established. The in vitro and in vivo effects of EMA on bioenergetics and redox homeostasis were investigated in rat cerebellum. For the in vitro studies, cerebellum preparations were exposed to EMA, whereas intracerebellar injection of EMA was used for the in vivo evaluation. EMA reduced state 3 and uncoupled respiration in vitro in succinate‐, glutamate‐, and malate‐supported mitochondria, whereas decreased state 4 respiration was observed using glutamate and malate. Furthermore, mitochondria permeabilization and succinate supplementation diminished the decrease in state 3 with succinate. EMA also inhibited the activity of KGDH, an enzyme necessary for glutamate oxidation, in a mixed manner and augmented mitochondrial efflux of α‐ketoglutarate. ATP levels were markedly reduced by EMA, reflecting a severe bioenergetic disruption. Docking simulations also indicated interactions between EMA and KGDH and a competition with glutamate and succinate for their mitochondrial transporters. In vitro findings also showed that EMA decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and Ca2+ retention capacity, and induced swelling in the presence of Ca2+, which were prevented by cyclosporine A and ADP and ruthenium red, indicating mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT). Moreover, EMA, at high concentrations, mildly increased ROS levels and altered antioxidant defenses in vitro and in vivo. Our data indicate that EMA‐induced impairment of glutamate and succinate oxidation and MPT may contribute to the pathogenesis of the cerebellum abnormalities in EE.

image
Mucosal eosinophils, mast cells, and intraepithelial lymphocytes in youth with rumination syndrome
Authors: Friesen Hunter J. , Rosen John , Low Kapalu Christina , Singh Meenal , Spaeth Tracy , Cocjin Jose T. , Friesen Craig A. , Schurman Jennifer V.
Published: April 2021

Background

Rumination syndrome has been associated with increased duodenal eosinophils and intraepithelial lymphocytes in adults. The aims of the current study were to assess densities of antroduodenal eosinophils and mast cells and duodenal intraepithelial lymphocytes in youth with rumination syndrome and to compare cell densities in those with and without abdominal pain or early satiety.

Methods

Twenty‐eight youth fulfilling Rome IV criteria for rumination syndrome who had undergone endoscopy were identified and compared to 10 controls. Antral and duodenal biopsies were assessed to determine densities of eosinophils, mast cells, and intraepithelial lymphocytes. Cell densities were also compared between rumination patients with and without abdominal pain and those with and without early satiety.

Key results

Antral mast cell (peak 18.5±6.5 vs. 12.5±2.7) and eosinophil (peak 9.6±5.2 vs. 4.9±2.1) densities were significantly greater in patients with rumination syndrome as compared to controls. Duodenal intraepithelial lymphocyte densities were also increased in rumination syndrome (18.9 ± 5.1 vs. 11.7 ± 1.5; p<.001). Associations were independent of the presence of abdominal pain or early satiety.

Conclusions and Inferences

In conclusion, we found an increase in eosinophil and mast cell densities in the gastric antrum and an increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes in the duodenum in youth with rumination syndrome which was independent of the presence of abdominal pain or early satiety. These findings suggest a potential role for inflammation in the pathophysiology of rumination syndrome. Future studies should address whether treatment directed at these cells are beneficial in treating rumination syndrome.
Factors associated with hiatal hernia in neurologically impaired children
Authors: Yoo In Hyuk , Joo Jung Yeon , Yang Hye Ran
Published: April 2021

Background

Hiatal hernia is clinically important because it impairs the protective mechanism that prevents gastroesophageal reflux‐induced injury. Diagnosing hiatal hernia is more important in neurologically impaired children because hiatal hernia‐induced gastroesophageal reflux often causes severe complications such as aspiration pneumonia or malnutrition. We aimed to evaluate the patient characteristics and early predictors of hiatal hernia in neurologically impaired children.

Methods

We retrospectively investigated 97 neurologically impaired children who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and upper gastrointestinal series between March 2004 and June 2019. Demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as endoscopic and radiological findings, were statistically analyzed.

Results

Of the 97 children recruited, 22 (22.7%) had hiatal hernia. When comparing the non‐hiatal hernia group with the hiatal hernia group, neurological disease longer than 6 months (odds ratio 10.9, 95% confidence interval 1.2–96.5), wasting (odds ratio 4.6, 95% confidence interval 1.3–16.3), enteral tube feeding (odds ratio 9.2, 95% confidence interval 1.6–53.0), and history of aspiration pneumonia (odds ratio 6.5, 95% confidence interval 1.2–34.5) were identified as early predictors of hiatal hernia.

Conclusions

Timely identification of predictors of developing hiatal hernia in neurologically impaired children is important for early diagnostic confirmation to initiate optimal medical or surgical treatment of hiatal hernia to avoid serious complications such as aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition.
Talk or type? The effect of digital interfaces on citizens' satisfaction with standardized public services
Authors: Prokop Christine , Tepe Markus
Published: April 2021

Although digital interfaces are increasingly pervading public administration, little is known about how replacing face‐to‐face interaction with digital interfaces affects citizens' satisfaction with public service encounters. This study presents evidence from a vignette experiment conducted on a sample of German citizens (N = 1.234) whereby we randomly varied the type of public service request with regard to its psychological costs, service quality, and the type of interaction (face‐to‐face, self‐service terminal, or app). We found that replacing face‐to‐face communication with a digital interface has no effect on citizens' satisfaction, nor does it mitigate the effect of psychological costs, service failure, and recovery. Corroborating previous research on service recovery, we found that explaining and apologizing partially compensates for failure. Based on these results, we conclude that using digital interfaces does not undermine the goal to enhance citizen satisfaction with public services.
The Ideological Predictors of Moral Appeals by European Political Elites; An Exploration of the Use of Moral Rhetoric in Multiparty Systems
Authors: Bos Linda , Minihold Sophie
Published: April 2021

Moral rhetoric is a powerful tool for any politician. Yet knowledge on the actual use of political moral appeals is scarce and mostly limited to two‐party systems. This study is the first to systematically investigate the use of moral appeals in formal and informal political elite communication in the multiparty systems of Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. This allows us to look beyond the unidimensional left‐right axis, instead investigating the extent to which the economic, the sociocultural, and the populist dimension explain differences in moral language. The Moral Foundations Dictionary is used in automated content analyses to study the presence of (different) moral appeals in party manifestos (n = 171,639) and tweets (n = 1,130,073). The results show that West European political elites use a fair amount of moral appeals in their political communication (41.6% of manifesto statements and 33.3% of tweets). Commonalities in the usage of moral language are larger than differences. Yet found differences are multidimensional. Especially when communication is less scripted, political elites tend to distinguish themselves from opponents in their appeals to different moral foundations. Most importantly, these appeals are congruent with ideological values.
Gender and Rural Vitality: Empowerment through Women's Community Groups*
Authors: Pilela Majokweni Zipo‐Zihle , Molnar Joseph J.
Published: April 2021

Rural women are often the main supporters of their families and have been involved in improving the quality of life for households and communities. Sustainable rural development and poverty reduction is linked to empowering women. Community groups are one mechanism for empowering women and fostering economic development in rural KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. For the poor, the ability to organize and mobilize to solve problems is crucial because collective capability assists in overcoming challenges arising from marginalization and limited resources. Even though considerable work has been done on the impact of institutional support for community groups, it is not well documented how the efforts of women's community groups actually lead to improved socioeconomic wellbeing. The results of the study elucidate the positive impact of female group membership as a mechanism for advancing livelihoods and socio‐economic wellbeing. Empowering women's groups as micro‐institutions of economic and social advancement is a fundamental tool for improving the well‐being of women and their children. The findings are intended to help institutions that work with women groups improve the impact and sustainability of these key mechanisms for development intervention.
The Hierarchical Evolution in Human Vision Modeling
Authors: Ballard Dana H. , Zhang Ruohan
Published: April 2021

Computational models of primate vision took a significant advance with David Marr's tripartite separation of the vision enterprise into the problem formulation, algorithm, and neural implementation; however, many subsequent parallel developments in robotics and modeling greatly refined the algorithm descriptions into very distinct levels that complement each other. This review traces the time course of these developments and shows how the current perspective evolved to have its alternative internal hierarchical organization.
Estimating migration patterns of fish from otolith chemical composition time series
Authors: Albertsen Christoffer Moesgaard , Hüssy Karin , Serre Simon Hansen , Hemmer-Hansen Jakob , Thomsen Tonny Bernt
Published: April 2021

Understanding migration patterns and habitat use is of great importance for management and conservation of marine living resources. The chemical composition of otoliths is influenced by the surrounding environment; therefore, they are indispensable data archives. To extract migration patterns and historical habitat use of individual fish, we analyse otolith chemical compositions obtained by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry by a regime-switching state-space model. The state-space model filters the measurement noise from the environmental signal. In turn, the filtered signal is converted to geographical positions through a calibration of strontium to salinity. The method is validated by a simulation study and applied to 404 Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) otoliths.
Anisotropic constant-roll inflation with noncommutative model and swampland conjectures
Authors: Sadeghi J. , Gashti S. Noori
Published: April 2021

In this paper, we study a constant-roll inflationary model in the presence of a noncommutative parameter with a homogeneous scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. The specific noncommutative inflation conditions proposed new consequences. On the other hand, we use anisotropic conditions and find new anisotropic constant-roll solutions with respect to noncommutative parameter. Also, we will plot some figures with respect to the specific values of the corresponding parameter and the swampland criteria which is raised from the exact potential obtained from the constant-roll condition. Finally, different of figures lead us to analyze the corresponding results and also show the effect of above mentioned parameter on the inflationary model.
Heterogeneous Network Approach to Predict Individuals’ Mental Health
Authors: Liu Shikang , Vahedian Fatemeh , Hachen David , Lizardo Omar , Poellabauer Christian , Striegel Aaron , Milenković Tijana
Published: April 2021

Depression and anxiety are critical public health issues affecting millions of people around the world. To identify individuals who are vulnerable to depression and anxiety, predictive models have been built that typically utilize data from one source. Unlike these traditional models, in this study, we leverage a rich heterogeneous dataset from the University of Notre Dame’s NetHealth study that collected individuals’ (student participants’) social interaction data via smartphones, health-related behavioral data via wearables (Fitbit), and trait data from surveys. To integrate the different types of information, we model the NetHealth data as a heterogeneous information network (HIN). Then, we redefine the problem of predicting individuals’ mental health conditions (depression or anxiety) in a novel manner, as applying to our HIN a popular paradigm of a recommender system (RS), which is typically used to predict the preference that a person would give to an item (e.g., a movie or book). In our case, the items are the individuals’ different mental health states. We evaluate four state-of-the-art RS approaches. Also, we model the prediction of individuals’ mental health as another problem type—that of node classification (NC) in our HIN, evaluating in the process four node features under logistic regression as a proof-of-concept classifier. We find that our RS and NC network methods produce more accurate predictions than a logistic regression model using the same NetHealth data in the traditional
non-network
fashion as well as a random-approach. Also, we find that the best of the considered RS approaches outperforms all considered NC approaches. This is the first study to integrate smartphone, wearable sensor, and survey data in a HIN manner and use RS or NC on the HIN to predict individuals’ mental health conditions.
Design of a Noncircular Planetary Gear Mechanism for Hydraulic Motor
Authors: Li Dawei , Liu Yongping , Gong Jun , Wang Tongcheng
Published: April 2021

Given the design difficulty and poor accuracy of tooth profile of noncircular gear used in noncircular gear hydraulic motor, it is proposed to reduce the design difficulty and improve the design accuracy by using arc-shaped pitch curve instead of noncircular pitch curve with continuously varying curvature. Based on the geometric relationship and transmission relationship of the noncircular planetary gear mechanism, a nonlinear programming model is constructed for the circular arc-shaped pitch curve. By solving the nonlinear programming model, a noncircular planetary gear mechanism with a modulus of m = 1.5 is designed. The noncircular gear mechanism with the arc-shaped pitch curve was machined and installed in a hydraulic motor, and an efficiency comparison experiment was conducted with a high-order elliptical noncircular gear mechanism with a continuously varying curvature. The experiment shows that the efficiency of the two noncircular gear mechanisms is basically the same, and the best speed range is 100–400 rpm. The noncircular planetary gear mechanism with an arc-shaped pitch curve designed in this paper has reasonable structure, correct transmission relationship, and simple design method, which shows that the design method proposed in this paper has a good engineering application value.
Detection and Classification of Psychopathic Personality Trait from Social Media Text Using Deep Learning Model
Authors: Asghar Junaid , Akbar Saima , Asghar Muhammad Zubair , Ahmad Bashir , Al-Rakhami Mabrook S. , Gumaei Abdu
Published: April 2021

Nowadays, there is a digital era, where social media sites like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube are used by the majority of people, generating a lot of textual content. The user-generated textual content discloses important information about people’s personalities, identifying a special type of people known as psychopaths. The aim of this work is to classify the input text into psychopath and nonpsychopath traits. Most of the existing work on psychopath’s detection has been performed in the psychology domain using traditional approaches, like SRPIII technique with limited dataset size. Therefore, it motivates us to build an advanced computational model for psychopath’s detection in the text analytics domain. In this work, we investigate an advanced deep learning technique, namely, attention-based BILSTM for psychopath’s detection with an increased dataset size for efficient classification of the input text into psychopath vs. nonpsychopath classes.
Reliability Analysis of Dynamic Fault Tree Based on Binary Decision Diagrams for Explosive Vehicle
Authors: Jiang Guang-Jun , Li Zong-Yuan , Qiao Guan , Chen Hong-Xia , Li Hai-Bin , Sun Hong-Hua
Published: April 2021

Dynamic fault tree is often used to analyze system reliability. The Markov model is a commonly used method, which can accurately reflect the relationship between the state transition process and the dynamic logic gate transfer in the dynamic fault tree. When the complexity or scale of system is increasing, the Markov model encountered a problem of state space explosion leading to increase troubles. To solve the above problems, a modular approach is needed. Based on the modular approach, a hybrid fault module was researched in this paper. Firstly, the stackable fault subtree containing complex static/dynamic logic gate is transformed into four common combinational logic gates through preprocessing of the dynamic gate in the module. Then, the complexity of the model was reduced by incorporating four common combinational logic gates and using the binary decision graph to solve variable ordering in the calculation of failure probability of static subtree. Moreover, the calculating process of complex mixed logic gate fault tree can be simplified. An example of the ammonium nitrate/fuel explosive production system for BCZH-15 explosive vehicle was used to verify the feasibility of the presented method.
L

1

Adaptive Fractional Control Optimized by Genetic Algorithms with Application to Polyarticulated Robotic Systems
Authors: Maalej Boutheina , Khlif Rim Jallouli , Mhiri Chokri , Elleuch Mohamed Habib , Derbel Nabil
Published: April 2021

Recently, an adaptive control approach has been proposed. This approach, named

L

1

adaptive control, involves the insertion of a low-pass filter at the input of the Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC). This controller has been designed to overcome several limitations of classical adaptive controllers such as (i) the initialization of estimated parameters, (ii) the stability problems with high adaptation gains, and (iii) the appropriate parameter excitation. In this paper, a new design of the filter is presented, used for

L

1

adaptive control, for which the desired performances are guaranteed (appropriate values of the control during start-up, a high filtering of noises, a reduced time lag, and a reduced energy consumption). Parameters of the new proposed filter have been optimised by genetic algorithms. The proposed

L

1

adaptive fractional control is applied to a polyarticulated robotic system. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed control approach with respect to the classical

L

1

adaptive control in the nominal case and in the presence of a multiplicative noise.
Classification of Hematoxylin and Eosin‐Stained Breast Cancer Histology Microscopy Images Using Transfer Learning with EfficientNets
Authors: Munien Chanaleä , Viriri Serestina
Published: April 2021

Breast cancer is a fatal disease and is a leading cause of death in women worldwide. The process of diagnosis based on biopsy tissue is nontrivial, time‐consuming, and prone to human error, and there may be conflict about the final diagnosis due to interobserver variability. Computer‐aided diagnosis systems have been designed and implemented to combat these issues. These systems contribute significantly to increasing the efficiency and accuracy and reducing the cost of diagnosis. Moreover, these systems must perform better so that their determined diagnosis can be more reliable. This research investigates the application of the EfficientNet architecture for the classification of hematoxylin and eosin‐stained breast cancer histology images provided by the ICIAR2018 dataset. Specifically, seven EfficientNets were fine‐tuned and evaluated on their ability to classify images into four classes: normal, benign, in situ carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma. Moreover, two standard stain normalization techniques, Reinhard and Macenko, were observed to measure the impact of stain normalization on performance. The outcome of this approach reveals that the EfficientNet‐B2 model yielded an accuracy and sensitivity of 98.33% using Reinhard stain normalization method on the training images and an accuracy and sensitivity of 96.67% using the Macenko stain normalization method. These satisfactory results indicate that transferring generic features from natural images to medical images through fine‐tuning on EfficientNets can achieve satisfactory results.
Malapposed Struts with Cre8, Biomatrix, and Xience Stents Assessed with OCT Immediately after Implantation and at 6-Month Follow-Up: Can the Different Biomechanical Characteristics of the Three Stents Impact on Struts Malapposition?
Authors: Giglioli Cristina , Cecchi Emanuele , Formentini Chiara , Chiostri Marco , Marchionni Niccolò , Romano Salvatore Mario
Published: April 2021

Background. Although the clinical effects of stent malapposition remain controversial, several analyses of stent registries consistently have found that malapposed struts were frequently identified in patients who experienced stent thrombosis. In this study, which is a subanalysis of the previously published CREBX-OCT study, we compared optical coherence tomography (OCT) analysis at the index percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and at six-month follow-up in 37 patients randomly assigned to receive, by a single operator, three different second-generation drug-eluting stents (Cre8, Biomatrix, and Xience) aiming to clarify if the malapposition observed at six-month follow-up was persistent or late-acquired. Moreover, we investigated if there were some differences in the behavior of the three different kinds of stents in relation to the struts malapposition. Material and Methods. We analyzed 614 and 599 cross sections and 5514 and 5377 struts at the index PCI and at six-month follow-up, respectively. The qualitative analysis of the plaque composition among the three groups did not show significant differences. Results. The lumen area did not significantly change from the index procedure to the six-month follow-up in the three groups; on the contrary, the number of malapposed struts increased significantly in the Cre8 and Biomatrix groups but not in the Xience group: 0.58 ± 1.51 and 3.29 ± 5.33 (

p
<
0.023

) in the Cre8 group, 0.55 ± 1.81 and 1.73 ± 2.28 (

p
<
0.024

) in the Biomatrix group, and 0.55 ± 1.5 and 0.25 ± 0.87 (

p
<
0.166

) in the Xience group, respectively. Conclusions. Therefore, the malapposition observed at six-month follow-up in our study population could be mainly considered as acquired and attributable to biomechanical reasons due to the structural differences among the three stents. This trial is registered with Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT02850497.
A Novel Compressive Image Encryption with an Improved 2D Coupled Map Lattice Model
Authors: Liu Zhuo , Wang Yong , Zhang Leo Yu , Ma Jun
Published: April 2021

The digital image, as the critical component of information transmission and storage, has been widely used in the fields of big data, cloud and frog computing, Internet of things, and so on. Due to large amounts of private information in the digital image, the image protection is fairly essential, and the designing of the encryption image scheme has become a hot issue in recent years. In this paper, to resolve the shortcoming that the probability density distribution (PDD) of the chaotic sequences generated in the original two-dimensional coupled map lattice (2D CML) model is uneven, we firstly proposed an improved 2D CML model according to adding the offsets for each node after every iteration of the original model, which possesses much better chaotic performance than the original one, and also its chaotic sequences become uniform. Based on the improved 2D CML model, we designed a compressive image encryption scheme. Under the condition of different keys, the uniform chaotic sequences generated by the improved 2D CML model are utilized for compressing, confusing, and diffusing, respectively. Meanwhile, the message authentication code (MAC) is employed for guaranteeing that the encryption image be integration. Finally, theoretical analysis and simulation tests both demonstrate that the proposed image encryption scheme owns outstanding statistical, well encryption performance, and high security. It has great potential for ensuring the digital image security in application.
Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice in Relation to Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting: A Systematic Review
Authors: Salehi Tahmine , Seyedfatemi Naiemeh , Mirzaee Mohammad Saeed , Maleki Maryam , Mardani Abbas
Published: April 2021

Aim. To describe and synthesize aspects of knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting and to explore associated barriers from a nurse perspective. Methods. A systematic review was conducted. Electronic databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge from January 2010 to October 2020 were searched. Original observational studies that were written in English and which focused on nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, practice, and perceived barriers regarding pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting in various healthcare settings were included. Results. Twenty‐three studies published in English from 2010 to 2020 were retrieved during the search process. Overall, in the knowledge domain, the median percentages of nurses who were aware of the definitions of ADRs were 74.1%, while only 26.3% were aware of the adverse drug reaction reporting form. In the attitude domain, 84.6% of nurses believed ADR reporting to be important for patient/medicine safety and 37.1% had a fear of legal liability following ADR reporting. Although 67.1% of nurses encountered ADRs during their professional life, only 21.2% had a history of ADR reporting. In addition, lack of knowledge/training (median: 47.1%) was identified as the most common barrier in ADR reporting from a nursing viewpoint. Conclusion. Despite positive nurse attitudes, knowledge and practice in relation to pharmacovigilance activities and ADR reporting did not occur regularly or often. Improving nurses’ knowledge through in‐service training and degree‐level education and addressing the main barriers of ADR reporting may help to achieve an improved level of reporting.
Deferasirox, an Iron‐Chelating Agent, Improves Testicular Morphometric and Sperm Functional Parameters in a Rat Model of Varicocele
Authors: Rahmani M. , Tavalaee M. , Hosseini M. , Eskandari A. , Shaygannia E. , Sadeghi N. , Nazem M. N. , Gharagozloo P. , Drevet J. R. , Nasr-Esfahani M. H.
Published: April 2021

Varicocele is characterized by testicular dysfunction that originates from hyperthermia and hypoxia, leading to defects in testicular tissue and altered spermatozoa structure and function. The varicocele testis is characterized by the presence of intracellular iron deposits that contribute to the associated oxidative stress. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that administration of an iron‐chelating agent, such as deferasirox (DFX), could potentially mitigate the consequences of varicocele on testicular tissue and spermatozoa. Using a well‐established rat model of varicocele (VCL), we show that treatment with DFX partially improved the structure and function of the testis and spermatozoa. In particular, sperm motility was markedly restored whereas abnormal sperm morphology was only partially improved. No significant improvement in sperm count was observed that could be associated with the proapoptotic response observed following iron chelation treatment. No reduction in oxidative damage to spermatozoa was observed since lipid peroxidation and DNA integrity were not modified. This was suggested to be a result of increased oxidative stress. Finally, we also saw no indication of attenuation of the endoplasmic reticulum/unfolded protein (ER/UPR) stress response that we recently found associated with the VCL testis in rats.
Delayed Spiking Neural P Systems with Scheduled Rules
Authors: Ren Qianqian , Liu Xiyu
Published: April 2021

Due to the inevitable delay phenomenon in the process of signal conversion and transmission, time delay is bound to occur between neurons. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the concept of time delay into the membrane computing models. Spiking neural P systems (SN P systems), as an attractive type of neural‐like P systems in membrane computing, are widely followed. Inspired by the phenomenon of time delay, in our work, a new variant of spiking neural P systems called delayed spiking neural P systems (DSN P systems) is proposed. Compared with normal spiking neural P systems, the proposed systems achieve time control by setting the schedule on spiking rules and forgetting rules, and the schedule is also used to realize the system delay. A schedule indicates the time difference between receiving and outputting spikes, and it also makes the system work in a certain time, which means that a rule can only be used within a specified time range. We specify that each rule is performed only in the continuous schedule, during which the neuron is locked and cannot send or receive spikes. If the neuron is not available at a given time, it will not receive or send spikes due to the lack of a schedule for this period of time. Moreover, the universality of DSN P systems in both generating and accepting modes is proved. And a universal DSN P system having 81 neurons for computing functions is also proved.
Nonlinear Effect Analysis of Electricity Price on Household Electricity Consumption
Authors: Zhang Lianwei , Wen Xiaoni
Published: April 2021

The household energy consumption has been a hot field in the study of household energy consumption in recent years. With the increase of residents’ income level and the pushing of urbanization, there is a complex nonlinear relationship between energy price and energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the scenario effect of per capita income and regional differences in urbanization development on the relationship between electricity sales price and urban household electricity consumption. To this direction, based on the regional characteristics of economic development in China, with the residents’ disposable income and the urbanization level as the conversion variables and the electricity sales price as the core explanatory variable, the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model of electricity sales price and urban household electricity consumption from the perspectives of income level and urbanization has been constructed in this paper. The empirical results show the following: (1) Under the consideration of regional difference of residents’ income level, with the increase of residents’ disposable income level, there is a significant negative correlation between electricity sales price and urban household electricity consumption in the whole country, the eastern region, and the central region, while such correlation is significantly positive in the western region. (2) Under the consideration of the difference of urbanization development level, the national regional electricity sales price and the urbanization level are positively related to the urban household electricity consumption, and the urbanization level in the western region plays the biggest role in promoting the urban household electricity consumption, followed by the eastern region and then the central region which plays the smallest role. This paper discusses the effect of electricity sales price on urban household electricity consumption from the perspective of regional difference in income and urbanization, which provides the decision-making basis and empirical support for developing regional electricity price policy and household energy consumption policy.
Inhibitory Effect of Multimodal Nanoassemblies against Glycative and Oxidative Stress in Cancer and Glycation Animal Models
Authors: Khan Hamda , Waseem Mohd , Faisal Mohammad , Alatar Abdulrahman A. , Qahtan Ahmed A. , Ahmad Saheem
Published: April 2021

In recent years, there has been a progress in the study of glycation reaction which is one the possible reason for multiple metabolic disorders. Glycation is a nonenzymatic reaction between nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins resulting into the formation of early glycation products that may further lead to the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The precipitation of AGEs in various cells, tissues, and organs is one of the factors for the initiation and progression of various metabolic derangements including the cancer. The AGE interaction with its receptor “RAGE” activates the inflammatory pathway; yet, the downregulation of RAGE and its role in these pathways are not clear. We explore the effect of anticancer novel nanoassemblies on AGEs to determine its role in the regulation of the expression of RAGE, NFƙB, TNF‐α, and IFN‐γ. This paper is based on the in vivo and in vitro study in glycation and lung cancer model systems. Upon the treatment of nanoassemblies in both the model systems, we observed a protective effect of nanoassemblies over the inhibition of glycative and oxidative stress via mRNA expression analysis. The mRNA expression results corroborated with the reactive oxygen species (ROS), carboxy‐methyl‐lysine (CML), and fluorescence studies. In this study, we found that the presence of common factors for glycation and lung cancer is oxidative and glycative stress. This oxidation and glycation might be responsible for the initiation of inflammation which may further lead to uncontrolled growth of cells leading to cancer. This can be a strong association between lung cancer and glycation reaction. The intervention of the anticancer and antiglycation effects of multimodal nanoassemblies throughout the study promises a new pathway for cancer research.
SCRD‐Net: A Deep Convolutional Neural Network Model for Glaucoma Detection in Retina Tomography
Authors: Wang Hua , Hu Jingfei , Zhang Jicong
Published: April 2021

Early and accurate diagnosis of glaucoma is critical for avoiding human vision deterioration and preventing blindness. A deep‐neural‐network model has been developed for the diagnosis of glaucoma based on Heidelberg retina tomography (HRT), called “Seeking Common Features and Reserving Differences Net” (SCRD‐Net) to make full use of the HRT data. In this work, the proposed SCRD‐Net model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 94.0%. For the two HRT image modalities, the model sensitivities were 91.2% and 78.3% at specificities of 0.85 and 0.95, respectively. These results demonstrate a significant improvement over earlier results. In addition, we visualized the network outputs to develop an interpretation of the learned mechanism for discriminating glaucoma and normal images. Thus, the SCRD‐Net can be an effective diagnostic indicator of glaucoma during clinical screening. To facilitate SCRD‐Net utilization by the scientific community, the code implementation will be made publicly available.
SIRT5 Is a Druggable Metabolic Vulnerability in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Authors: Yan Dongqing , Franzini Anca , Pomicter Anthony D. , Halverson Brayden J. , Antelope Orlando , Mason Clinton C. , Ahmann Jonathan M. , Senina Anna V. , Vellore Nadeem A. , Jones Courtney L. , Zabriskie Matthew S. , Than Hein , Xiao Michael J. , van Scoyk Alexandria , Patel Ami B. , Clair Phillip M. , Heaton William L. , Owen Shawn C. , Andersen Joshua L. , Egbert Christina M. , Reisz Julie A. , D'Alessandro Angelo , Cox James E. , Gantz Kevin C. , Redwine Hannah M. , Iyer Siddharth M. , Khorashad Jamshid S. , Rajabi Nima , Olsen Christian A. , O'Hare Thomas , Deininger Michael W.
Published: April 2021

We discovered that the survival and growth of many primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples and cell lines, but not normal CD34+ cells, are dependent on SIRT5, a lysine deacylase implicated in regulating multiple metabolic pathways. Dependence on SIRT5 is genotype agnostic and extends to RAS- and p53-mutated AML. Results were comparable between SIRT5 knockdown and SIRT5 inhibition using NRD167, a potent and selective SIRT5 inhibitor. Apoptosis induced by SIRT5 disruption is preceded by reductions in oxidative phosphorylation and glutamine utilization, and an increase in mitochondrial superoxide that is attenuated by ectopic superoxide dismutase 2. These data indicate that SIRT5 controls and coordinates several key metabolic pathways in AML and implicate SIRT5 as a vulnerability in AML.

Significance:

Reducing SIRT5 activity is detrimental to the survival of AML cells regardless of genotype, yet well tolerated by healthy hematopoietic cells. In mouse models, disrupting SIRT5 inhibits AML progression. SIRT5 controls several metabolic pathways that are required for leukemia cell survival. These results identify SIRT5 as a therapeutic target in AML.

See related commentary by Li and Melnick, p. 198.
Non-oncogene Addiction to SIRT5 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Authors: Li Meng , Melnick Ari M.
Published: April 2021

In this issue of Blood Cancer Discovery, Yan and colleagues discovered that mitochondrial deacylase, SIRT5, is required in AML cells to support mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, maintain redox homeostasis, and drive glutaminolysis. The new SIRT5 inhibitor, NRD167, can efficiently target SIRT5 in AMLs at micromolar range and may constitute a novel therapeutic approach to improve clinical outcomes of patients with AML.

See related article by Yan et al., p. 266.
The diet and vegetation composition of Egyptian tortoise habitat in North Sinai, Egypt
Authors: Attum Omar , Rabia Basem , El-Bana Magdy , Baha El Din Sherif
Published: April 2021

We studied the diet and vegetation composition of Egyptian tortoise, Testudo kleinmanni, habitat in North Sinai, Egypt. Dietary data was recorded through direct observations and the vegetation composition was recorded through the use of quadrats and line transects in 66 sampling points (33 in tortoise areas and 33 in non-tortoise areas). Our results showed that vegetation of Egyptian tortoise habitat had high species richness, Simpson’s diversity index, and vegetation cover in contrast to areas without Egyptian tortoises. These tortoises ate thirty four species of plants, a majority of these being perennials, with most feeding observations occurring in spring and winter. The consumption of perennials may enable Egyptian tortoises to find and consume food in an arid environment with low, variable and unpredictable rainfall. The plants most consumed were rare in our vegetation survey, suggesting food preferences. Our study suggests that Egyptian tortoises, which rely on vegetation for food and refugia, may suffer if vegetation cover and richness decrease.
The Trade Policies of Brexit Britain: the Influence of and Impacts on the Devolved Nations
Authors: Eiser David , McEwen Nicola , Roy Graeme
Published: April 2021

This paper examines the extent to which the UK’s three devolved governments have sought and achieved influence on the UK Government’s evolving post-Brexit international trade policy, distinguishing their influence at key stages of the trade policy cycle (mandate, negotiations and implementation). Despite carrying the legal responsibility to implement those aspects of trade deals that fall within areas of devolved competence, the devolved governments’ attempts to secure meaningful influence on the UK’s trade agreements have largely been frustrated. This reflects a lack of trust between the devolved and UK governments, weaknesses in the framework for and operation of intergovernmental relations, and a strong desire of the UK government to retain control centrally wherever possible. The resulting tensions have exacerbated devolved governments’ concerns over the authority of the devolved institutions post-Brexit.
The Redundant Signals Effect and the Full Body Illusion: not Multisensory, but Unisensory Tactile Stimuli Are Affected by the Illusion
Authors: Swinkels Lieke M. J. , Veling Harm , van Schie Hein T.
Published: April 2021

During a full body illusion (FBI), participants experience a change in self-location towards a body that they see in front of them from a third-person perspective and experience touch to originate from this body. Multisensory integration is thought to underlie this illusion. In the present study we tested the redundant signals effect (RSE) as a new objective measure of the illusion that was designed to directly tap into the multisensory integration underlying the illusion. The illusion was induced by an experimenter who stroked and tapped the participant’s shoulder and underarm, while participants perceived the touch on the virtual body in front of them via a head-mounted display. Participants performed a speeded detection task, responding to visual stimuli on the virtual body, to tactile stimuli on the real body and to combined (multisensory) visual and tactile stimuli. Analysis of the RSE with a race model inequality test indicated that multisensory integration took place in both the synchronous and the asynchronous condition. This surprising finding suggests that simultaneous bodily stimuli from different (visual and tactile) modalities will be transiently integrated into a multisensory representation even when no illusion is induced. Furthermore, this finding suggests that the RSE is not a suitable objective measure of body illusions. Interestingly however, responses to the unisensory tactile stimuli in the speeded detection task were found to be slower and had a larger variance in the asynchronous condition than in the synchronous condition. The implications of this finding for the literature on body representations are discussed.
“In Flesh and Bones”
Authors: Falque Emmanuel , Rios Christopher C.
Published: April 2021

Everyone can agree that the mystery of the Incarnation is difficult to believe and to understand, and yet it is precisely what Christians do not cease to profess. The most innocent questions concerning the “carnal consistency” of the Resurrected One today are omitted for want of a suitable and contemporary anthropology for us to ask them. But that a body made of “flesh and bones” can indeed now claim to appear and reappear in what we ordinarily call a horizon of reality or objectivity goes against our faculties of thought and even imagination. Philosophy must aim to render comprehensible this mystery of a God made body.
Does Local Environmental Governance Improve Tourism Companies’ Performance? Evidence from Vietnam
Authors: Nguyen Bach
Published: April 2021

Institutions (rules of law) are important to tourism activities. However, national institutions cannot become effective when the execution of rules of law is inconsistent at the local levels. This study thus examines the role of local governance arrangements on the performance of tourism companies, focusing on environmental governance quality. Utilizing institutional theory, we propose a U-shaped relationship between tourism performance and environmental governance. When environmental governance arrangements are initially implemented, the performance of local tourism companies may be negatively affected due to institutional conflicts. However, as new environmentally responsible values are gradually institutionalized, the performance of the local tourism sector will improve. Analyzing more than three thousand tourism companies in Vietnam in 2018 using instrumental variable technique to control for endogeneity, we find some evidence to support the U-shaped function. Also, it is found that the U-shaped effect is stronger on foreign inbound tourists than on domestic tourists.
Land Grabbing and the Perplexities of Territorial Sovereignty
Authors: Jurkevics Anna
Published: April 2021

The recent phenomenon of land grabbing—that is, the large-scale acquisition of private land rights by foreign investors—is an effect of increasing global demand for farmland, resources, and development opportunities. In 2008–2010 alone, land grabs covered approximately 56 million hectares of land, dispossessing and displacing inhabitants. This article proposes a philosophical framework for evaluating land grabbing as a practice of territorial alienation, whereby the private purchase of land can, under certain conditions, lead to a de facto alienation of territorial sovereignty. If land grabs alienate territorial sovereignty, it follows that inhabitants can claim a violation of the people’s right to “permanent sovereignty over natural resources.” However, because sovereignty is entangled in the historical and contemporary causes of land dispossession, I cast doubt on this strategy. Territorially sovereign regimes often undermine democratic land governance by obstructing participation in activities such as zoning, land use, property regulation, and environmental stewardship. These activities, which I theorize as practices of “world-building,” are key to democracy because they give occupants a say in the shape of their common home. The perplexities of sovereignty in matters of land governance suggest that establishing democratic participation in rule over land requires fracturing sovereignty.