bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Testosterone and Spermatogenesis: Evidence That Androgens Regulate Cellular Secretory Mechanisms in Stage VI‐VIII Seminiferous Tubules From Adult Rats
Authors: McKINNELL C. , SHARPE R. M.
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of testosterone manipulation on the quantitative synthesis and secretion of a number of specific proteins produced by seminiferous tubules (ST) isolated at stages VI‐VIII of the spermatogenic cycle from adult rats. The proteins selected were derived from different cellular sources. ST were isolated from control rats, from rats treated 4 days earlier with ethane dimethane sulfonate (EDS) to induce complete testosterone withdrawal by the destruction of the Leydig cells, and from EDS‐treated rats injected with testosterone esters (TE) in order to maintain quantitatively normal spermatogenesis. Two‐dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, combined with computerized image analysis, was used to analyze 36S‐methionine‐labeled intracellular and secreted proteins. Testosterone withdrawal did not affect to any significant degree the total synthesis of any of the proteins studied. Similarly, the secretion of the major known Sertoli cell proteins SGP‐1 and SGP‐2, together with a third putative Sertoli cell protein, all of which appeared to be secreted constitutively, was also not affected to any major degree by EDS treatment. In contrast, the secretion of another probable Sertoli cell protein, together with six proteins found to be secreted by germ cells and one protein that appeared to derive from more than one cellular source, was reduced dramatically by testosterone withdrawal, but was maintained by treatment with EDS+TE. All of the affected proteins appeared to be secreted in a regulated manner. Our results confirm that testosterone manipulation has little or no effect on either total protein synthesis by ST, or on the secretion of the major Sertoli cell secretory proteins, at stages VI‐VIII of the spermatogenic cycle, but suggest strongly that testosterone regulation of ST protein secretion at these stages is mediated by an effect on the regulated secretory pathways. Our findings also demonstrate that the secretion, not only of Sertoli cell proteins, but also of those secreted by germ cells, is androgen‐regulated.
Hypoprolactinemia Does Not Prevent Restoration of Normal Spermatogenesis in Gonadotropin‐Suppressed, Testosterone‐Replaced Rats
Authors: AWONIYI CALEB A. , ROBERTS DAWN , CHANDRASHEKAR VARADARAJ , HURST BRADLEY S. , TUCKER KATHLEEN E. , SCHLAFF WILLIAM D.
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT: We have previously shown that suppression of gonadotropins and spermatogenesis can be produced in rats by immunization against gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). Administration of testosterone (T) alone is effective in restoring complete spermatogenesis in these rats, although it is not effective in doing so in chronically treated hypophysectomized rats. This suggests that a pituitary factor(s) other than luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) is required to restore normal spermatogenesis. The studies described herein test the hypothesis that prolactin (PRL) is the additional requirement for complete restoration of spermatogenesis. Twenty rats were immunized against GnRH, and four groups of five each received either 1) 24‐cm T‐filled Silastic implant (TSI), 2) TSI plus bromocriptine pellet (B), 3) B plus empty Silastic implant (SI), or 4) SI alone. Five nonimmunized rats received SI alone and served as controls. All rats were sacrificed 2 months after treatment. GnRH immunization and B administration suppressed gonadotropins and PRL levels, respectively, and advanced spermatids were not detectable in these rats. Testis weight was suppressed to about 19% of controls. The number of advanced spermatids in control rats was 220 ± 23 × 106. TSI administration restored advanced spermatids to numbers comparable to controls in GnRH‐immunized rats whether the rat received B (191 ± 17 × 106) or not (217 ± 18 × 106). Additionally, we determined mRNA levels for PRL and FSH beta subunit (FSHβ) in the pituitary by Northern blot and densitometric scanning. The mRNA levels of PRL mirrored serum PRL levels, and the same was true for FSHβ subunits and serum FSH levels. These data show that suppression of PRL has no effect on the ability of T to restore complete spermatogenesis in GnRH‐immunized rats. This observation mitigates against the hypothesis that PRL is the pituitary factor required to allow complete restoration of spermatogenesis to occur.
Testicular Microvascular Blood Flow: Alteration After Leydig Cell Eradication and Ischemia but not Experimental Varicocele
Authors: TURNER T. T. , CAPLIS LISA , MILLER DAVID W.
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT: Testicular microvascular blood flow is known to exhibit vasomotion, or pulsatile flow. In the present study we have used laser‐Doppler flowmetry to study microvascular blood flow in the rat testis and to examine the response of the microvasculature to pharmacological stimulation and pathophysiological conditions. With a mean microvascular flow rate of 13.3 ± 1.7 perfusion units (PU), the mean cycle amplitude was 3.4 ± 0.6 PU, and the cycle frequency was 10.3 ± 0.8 cycles per minute. Blood flow parameters did not differ between left and right testes, between scrotal testes and testes in a 35°C glass testicle receptacle, or among testicular regions. Perifusion of seminiferous tubules and their vasculature with 0.1 μg/μI epinephrine significantly reduced microvascular blood flow and eliminated vasomotion. Elimination of Leydig cells and intratesticular testosterone also eliminated vasomotion but did not significantly alter mean blood flow rates. Thirty days after imposition of experimental left varicocele (ELV) there were no significant changes in microvascular blood flow parameters. Testicular torsion of sufficient degree and duration to destroy spermatogenesis did not induce a change in mean microvascular blood flow rate 24 hours after repair of torsion, but testicular vasomotion was eliminated in the majority of animals. We conclude that microvascular flow is altered in some testicular pathologies and not in others. The mechanisms underlying changes in microvascular blood flow are at present unknown.
Tackling catheter‐associated urinary tract infections with next‐generation antimicrobial technologies
Authors: Duque‐Sanchez Lina , Qu Yue , Voelcker Nicolas H. , Thissen Helmut
Published: October 2023

Urinary catheters and other medical devices associated with the urinary tract such as stents are major contributors to nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs) as they provide an access path for pathogens to enter the bladder. Considering that catheter‐associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) account for approximately 75% of UTIs and that UTIs represent the most common type of healthcare‐associated infections, novel anti‐infective device technologies are urgently required. The rapid rise of antimicrobial resistance in the context of CAUTIs further highlights the importance of such preventative strategies. In this review, the risk factors for pathogen colonization in the urinary tract are dissected, taking into account the nature and mechanistics of this unique environment. Moreover, the most promising next‐generation preventative strategies are critically assessed, focusing in particular on anti‐infective surface coatings. Finally, emerging approaches in this field and their likely clinical impact are examined.
Significant benthic fluxes of bioavailable dissolved amino acids to the ocean: Results from the East/Japan Sea
Authors: Park Hyekyung , Kim Guebuem , Kim Sung‐Han , Lee Jae Seong
Published: October 2023

We measured dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved amino acid (TDAA) in seawater and sediment porewater of the Ulleung Basin in the East/Japan Sea. The DOC and TDAA concentrations were 1.1‐ and 1.4‐fold higher in the euphotic zone, and 11‐ and 43‐fold higher in sediment porewater, respectively, than those in the deep ocean. Consequently, in the deep ocean, TDAA and DOC input fluxes from porewater were 2‐ and 0.4‐fold of those from the euphotic zone, respectively. This larger contribution of benthic flux for TDAA and its shorter residence time in the benthic boundary layer (BBL) (1.3 ± 0.9 yr) seem to result in steep TDAA increases in the BBL, although DOC concentrations remained relatively uniform throughout the entire deep ocean. AA‐derived indices also show enhanced bioavailability of dissolved organic matter in the BBL. Benthic inputs seem to supply a significant amount of bioavailable TDAA to the deep ocean, fueling microbial activity.
Cooperative Passivation Exciton Quenching Triggers Surpassing 30% External Quantum Efficiency for a Deep‐Blue Organic Light‐Emitting Diode
Authors: Zhang Jiasen , Li Deli , Li Wei , Meng Yuanyuan , Ge Ziyi
Published: October 2023

Overcoming exciton quenching and improving electroluminescence (EL) performances continue to pose persistent challenges in the development of efficient deep blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. Herein, an asymmetric multi‐donors strategy is employed that provides the potential of establishing multiple radiative transition channels for fluorescence emission and reverse intersystem crossing (RISC), while allowing flexible modulation of packing modes in single‐crystal state and optimization of morphology in films by modifying the substitution site of the donor units. As a result, intermolecular π–π interactions are effectively alleviated and a very smooth surface with a reduced defect density is simultaneously achieved, which can significantly reduce the density of triplet excitons, accelerate the charge transfer rate, and enhance carrier injection efficiency. Consequently, a super‐high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 99% and fast kRISC of 1.1 × 105 s−1 are concurrently achieved for the proof‐of‐concept emitter 3,4‐Cz‐SF‐SFAC. The corresponding deep‐blue organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) demonstrates an exceptional external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 31.1%, accompanied by an emission peak at 457 nm, one of the preeminent TADF materials within the deep blue region, ranking among the most efficient OLEDs with an EL spectra below 460 nm on record.
Is it safe? The internet and the business community
Authors: Ross Steven J. , Salenger Daniel R.
Published: October 2023

The Internet poses challenges not only to the technology of business but also to the underlying structure of business and society itself.
Customer service via the internet
Authors: Whitmire Duane E.
Published: October 2023

The Bowling Green State University Computer Help Center attempts to serve the many and varied customers of the University. Anything that can be done to enable customers to help themselves should supplement the current telephone, in‐person and e‐mail services that are currently provided.
Organizational control for safety: A challenge in socioeconomic and natural environment
Authors: Ávila Filho Salvador
Published: October 2023

The concepts and applications of cases in human factors (HFs), risk, reliability, and crisis, include the analysis of complex systems and difficult to predict sociotechnical systems. Rules and barriers are designed or revised to achieve better organizational efficiency results. The investigation then valuates the concepts such as the basis, the tests such as confirmation, the algorithms such as methods and tools, and the validation that indicates the certainty of achieving good results. The human elements (HE) are part of the design and can either disable or enable the flow of hazard energy. The intention is that these HEs inside the safety culture and technology design act as safeguards. The HE avoids design deficiencies, social and physical. HE can reduce load over the resistance capacity. The culture, social phenomenon, company project, management and staff, group and worker, operational control, failure control, and accident and disaster are classes of HF that transform hazard energy and need efficient HE barriers. The internal and external regulation after these discussions needs to revise its principles to correct processes of standardization and organizational communication, which would change the procedures for team building and the criteria for the technology project. An improvement program includes investigation of lessons learned and behavior treatment.
Brassica‐derived isothiocyanates as anticancer therapeutic agents and their nanodelivery
Authors: Rizwan Danish , Masoodi Farooq Ahmad
Published: October 2023

The isothiocyanates (ITCs) derived from the precursor glucosinolate molecules present in Brassica vegetables are bioactive organo‐sulfur compounds with numerous pharmacologically important properties such as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer. Over the years, ITCs have been the focus of several research investigations associated with cancer treatment. Due to their potent chemo‐preventive action, ITCs have been considered to be promising therapeutics for cancer therapy in place of the already existing conventional anticancer drugs. However, their wide spread use at the clinical stage is greatly restricted due to several factors such as low solubility in an aqueous medium, low bioavailability, low stability, and hormetic effect. To overcome these hindrances, nanotechnology can be exploited to develop nano‐scale delivery systems that have the potential to enhance stability, and bioavailability and minimize the hermetic effect of ITCs.
Dynamically Cross‐Linked, Self‐Healable, and Stretchable All‐Hydrogel Supercapacitor with Extraordinary Energy Density and Real‐Time Pressure Sensing
Authors: Xu Muchun , Zhu Jiajun , Xie Jiyang , Mao Yongyun , Hu Wanbiao
Published: October 2023

Wearable electronics with flexible, integrated, and self‐powered multi‐functions are becoming increasingly attractive, but their basic energy storage units are challenged in simultaneously high energy density, self‐healing, and real‐time sensing capability. To achieve this, a fully flexible and omni‐healable all‐hydrogel, that is dynamically crosslinked PVA@PANI hydrogel, is rationally designed and constructed via aniline/DMSO‐emulsion‐templated in situ freezing‐polymerization strategy. The PVA@PANI sheet, not only possesses a honeycombed porous conductive mesh configuration with superior flexibility that provides numerous channels for unimpeded ions/electron transport and maximizes the utilization efficiency of pseudocapacitive PANI, but also can conform to complicated body surface, enabling effective detection and discrimination of body movements. As a consequence, the fabricated flexible PVA@PANI sheet electrode demonstrates an unprecedented specific capacitance (936.8 F g−1) and the assembled symmetric flexible all‐solid‐state supercapacitor delivers an extraordinary energy density of 40.98 Wh kg−1, outperforming the previously highest‐reported values of stretchable PVA@PANI hydrogel‐based supercapacitors. What is more, such a flexible supercapacitor electrode enables precisely monitoring the full‐range human activities in real‐time, and fulfilling a quick response and excellent self‐recovery. These outstanding flexible sensing and energy storage performances render this emerging PVA@PANI hydrogel highly promising for the next‐generation wearable self‐powered sensing electronics.
Powering the Future: Unleashing the Potential of MXene‐Based Dual‐Functional Photoactive Cathodes in Photo‐Rechargeable Zinc‐Ion Capacitor
Authors: Azadmanjiri Jalal , Regner Jakub , Děkanovský Lukáš , Wu Bing , Luxa Jan , Sofer Zdeněk
Published: October 2023

Dual‐functional photo‐rechargeable (photo‐R) energy storage devices, which acquire stored energy from solar energy harvesting, are being developed to battle the current energy crisis. In this study, these findings on the photo‐driven characteristics of MXene‐based photocathodes in photo‐R zinc‐ion capacitors (ZICs) are presented. Along with the pristine Ti3C2Tx MXene, tellurium/Ti3C2Tx (Te/Ti3C2Tx) hybrid nanostructure is synthesized via facile chemical vapor transport technique to examine them for photocathodes in ZICs. Interestingly, the evaluated self‐powered photodetector devices using MXene‐based samples revealed a pyro‐phototronic behavior introduced into the samples, with higher desirability observed in Te/Ti3C2Tx. The photo‐R ZICs results exhibited a capacitance enhancement of 50.86% for Te/Ti3C2Tx at two scan rates of 5 and 10 mV s−1 under illumination, compared to dark conditions. In contrast, a capacitance enhancement of 30.20% is obtained for the pristine Ti3C2Tx at only a 5 mV s−1 scan rate. Furthermore, both samples achieved photo‐charging voltage responses of ≈960 mV, and photoconversion efficiencies of 0.01% (for Te/ Ti3C2Tx) and 0.07% (for Ti3C2Tx). These characteristics in MXene‐based single photo‐R ZICs are significant and considerable with the distinguished integrated photo‐R supercapacitors with solar cells, or coupled energy‐harvesting and energy‐storing devices reported recently in the literature.
Catheter‐Assisted Bioinspired Adhesive Magnetic Soft Millirobot for Drug Delivery
Authors: Hu Xingyue , Zhou Yuting , Li Mengyue , Wu Junfeng , He Guannan , Jiao Niandong
Published: October 2023

Soft millirobots have evolved into various therapeutic applications in the medical field, including for vascular dredging, cell transportation, and drug delivery, owing to adaptability to their surroundings. However, most soft millirobots cannot quickly enter, retrieve, and maintain operations in their original locations after removing the external actuation field. This study introduces a soft magnetic millirobot for targeted medicine delivery that can be transported into the body through a catheter and anchored to the tissues. The millirobot has a bilayer adhesive body with a mussel‐inspired hydrogel layer and an octopus‐inspired magnetic structural layer. It completes entry and retrieval with the assistance of a medical catheter based on the difference between the adhesion of the hydrogel layer in air and water. The millirobot can operate in multiple modes of motion under external magnetic fields and underwater tissue adhesion after self‐unfolding with the structural layer. The adaptability and recyclability of the millirobots are demonstrated using a stomach model. Combined with ultrasound (US) imaging, operational feasibility within organisms is shown in isolated small intestines. In addition, a highly efficient targeted drug delivery is confirmed using a fluorescence imaging system. Therefore, the proposed soft magnetic millirobots have significant potential for medical applications.
Sialic Acid‐Functionalized Pyroptosis Nanotuner for Epigenetic Regulation and Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy
Authors: Hu Jiahao , You Yuchan , Zhu Luwen , Zhang Jucong , Song Yanling , Lu Jingyi , Xu Xinyi , Wu Xiaochuan , Huang Xiajie , Xu Xiaoling , Du Yongzhong
Published: October 2023

The efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in promoting an immune response against tumors still encounters challenges such as low response rates and off‐target effects. Pyroptosis, an immunogenic cell death (ICD) mechanism, holds the potential to overcome the limitations of ICB by activating and recruiting immune cells. However, the expression of the pyroptosis‐related protein Gasdermin‐E(GSDME) in some tumors is limited due to mRNA methylation. To overcome this obstacle, sialic acid‐functionalized liposomes coloaded with decitabine, a demethylation drug, and triclabendazole, a pyroptosis‐inducing drug are developed. This nanosystem primarily accumulates at tumor sites via sialic acid and the Siglec receptor, elevating liposome accumulation in tumors up to 3.84‐fold at 24 h and leading to the upregulation of pyroptosis‐related proteins and caspase‐3/GSDME‐dependent pyroptosis. Consequently, it facilitates the infiltration of CD8+ T cells into the tumor microenvironment and enhances the efficacy of ICB therapy. The tumor inhibition rate of the treatment group is 89.1% at 21 days. This study highlights the potential of sialic acid‐functionalized pyroptosis nanotuners as a promising approach for improving the efficacy of ICB therapy in tumors with low GSDME expression through epigenetic alteration and ICD.
Fully Active Delivery of Nanodrugs In Vivo via Remote Optical Manipulation
Authors: Liu Xiaoshuai , Wu Shuai , Wu Huaying , Zhang Tiange , Qin Haifeng , Lin Yufeng , Li Baojun , Jiang Xiqun , Zheng Xianchuang
Published: October 2023

The active delivery of nanodrugs has been a bottleneck problem in nanomedicine. While modification of nanodrugs with targeting agents can enhance their retention at the lesion location, the transportation of nanodrugs in the circulation system is still a passive process. The navigation of nanodrugs with external forces such as magnetic field has been shown to be effective for active delivery, but the existing techniques are limited to specific materials like magnetic nanoparticles. In this study, an alternative actuation method is proposed based on optical manipulation for remote navigation of nanodrugs in vivo, which is compatible with most of the common drug carriers and exhibits significantly higher manipulation precision. By the programmable scanning of the laser beam, the motion trajectory and velocity of the nanodrugs can be precisely controlled in real time, making it possible for intelligent drug delivery, such as inverse‐flow transportation, selective entry into specific vascular branch, and dynamic circumvention across obstacles. In addition, the controlled mass delivery of nanodrugs can be realized through indirect actuation by the microflow field. The developed optical manipulation method provides a new solution for the active delivery of nanodrugs, with promising potential for the treatment of blood diseases such as leukemia and thrombosis.
Configuration of the dimolybdate in salt inclusion type of compounds, Cs2Mo2O7 ⋅ CsX (X=Cl, Br, and I)
Authors: Weber Anna Katharina , Denisova Ksenia , Lemmens Peter , Möller Angela
Published: October 2023

Cs2Mo2O7 ⋅ CsI is obtained as a member of the series Cs2Mo2O7 ⋅ CsX with X=Cl, Br, and I from the synthesis of Cs2MoO4 with MoO3 and CsX. At room temperature, the compounds crystallize in the space group P63/mmc with the dimolybdate, [Mo2O7]2−, in a linear and eclipsed conformation. Low temperature Raman spectroscopy and low temperature X‐ray diffraction were used to investigate the effect of the
hetero‐honeycomb lattice on the bridging angle of the dimolybdate. For X=Cl, a phase transition occurs below 150 K (P63/mmc → Cmcm). The phase transition relates to a lock‐in that involves bending of the (Mo−O−Mo) bridge. For the Pearson softer iodide compound, no phase transition is observed down to 4 K; thus, the linear configuration remains stable. Specific heat data and their evaluation in terms of phonon contributions are given.
Forward effects from action observation: the role of attentional focus
Authors: Ianì Francesco , Limata Teresa , Ras Ivan Nabil , Bucciarelli Monica
Published: October 2023

After viewing an image representing an action on an object, we recognize the forward states of the seen action faster than the backward states. The present study exploits a variant of a new experimental paradigm to investigate cognitive mechanisms underlying this effect. Participants viewed a series of still photos of unfolding actions on objects, each followed by a photo depicting either one of three (instead of two of the original paradigm) different and temporally distant moments after the image or one moment before the image, along with photos of different actions. Experiment 1 revealed the classical forward effects in this new context: when the task was to judge whether the action in the second photo was the same as in the first photo, evaluations were faster for all forward photos than for backward photos. In Experiment 2, we examined the role of participants’ attention to the object alongside the role of attention to action kinematics in triggering these “forward effects” by manipulating participants’ attentional focus. As the results showed, evaluations were faster for all forward photos when the focus was on the action kinematics, but when the focus was on the object, evaluations were faster only for the last forward photo showing the final action state. These results seem to suggest that focusing on the object triggers a representation of the action goal and thus modulates the mental simulation underlying action anticipation.
Versuch über die Probedeutung
Authors: Storck Timo
Published: October 2023

In der Psychoanalyse haben Indikationsfragen eine besondere Bedeutung. Eine Möglichkeit, die Indikation für eine psychoanalytische Behandlung zu prüfen, liegt in der sogenannten Probedeutung. Diese bleibt jedoch konzeptuell unterbestimmt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird nach einer kurzen Erörterung der Funktion einer Deutung eine Skizze dazu vorgelegt, wie Probedeutungen konzeptuell verstanden und klinisch eingesetzt werden können: Probedeutungen fußen auf einer konkordanten Probeidentifizierung, sie stellen ein Sich-Vorwagen dar und haben eine weniger gesättigte Form als spätere Deutungen. Ihre Wirkung zeigt sich oft erst in der Folgestunde, sodass ihre Funktion auch darin gesehen werden kann, die Fähigkeit eines analytischen Nacharbeitens eines Patienten oder einer Patientin zu prüfen.
Image-based Navigation in Real-World Environments via Multiple Mid-level Representations: Fusion Models, Benchmark and Efficient Evaluation
Authors: Rosano Marco , Furnari Antonino , Gulino Luigi , Santoro Corrado , Farinella Giovanni Maria
Published: October 2023

Robot visual navigation is a relevant research topic. Current deep navigation models conveniently learn the navigation policies in simulation, given the large amount of experience they need to collect. Unfortunately, the resulting models show a limited generalization ability when deployed in the real world. In this work we explore solutions to facilitate the development of visual navigation policies trained in simulation that can be successfully transferred in the real world. We first propose an efficient evaluation tool to reproduce realistic navigation episodes in simulation. We then investigate a variety of deep fusion architectures to combine a set of mid-level representations, with the aim of finding the best merge strategy that maximize the real world performances. Our experiments, performed both in simulation and on a robotic platform, show the effectiveness of the considered mid-level representations-based models and confirm the reliability of the evaluation tool. The 3D models of the environment and the code of the validation tool are publicly available at the following link: https://iplab.dmi.unict.it/EmbodiedVN/.
“Slight chemical damage due to drinking modest amount of sake, might induce beneficial effects” as a form of hormesis: an interview with Professor Sataro Goto
Authors: Radak Zsolt
Published: October 2023

Professor Sataro Goto is one of the pioneers of biological aging research in Japan. He is renowned for his work on the role of protein errors and modifications, the accumulation of abnormal proteins due to reduced protein turnover, and the modulation of aging and lifespan by adult-onset dietary restriction and regular exercise. Professor Goto is a remarkably intelligent, visionary, empathetic, humble, and wise man, who kindly agreed to this interview that I (Zsolt Radak) made with him during one of my frequent visits to his labs, in February 2023.
Semantic segmentation network stacking with genetic programming
Authors: Bakurov Illya , Buzzelli Marco , Schettini Raimondo , Castelli Mauro , Vanneschi Leonardo
Published: October 2023

Semantic segmentation consists of classifying each pixel of an image and constitutes an essential step towards scene recognition and understanding. Deep convolutional encoder–decoder neural networks now constitute state-of-the-art methods in the field of semantic segmentation. The problem of street scenes’ segmentation for automotive applications constitutes an important application field of such networks and introduces a set of imperative exigencies. Since the models need to be executed on self-driving vehicles to make fast decisions in response to a constantly changing environment, they are not only expected to operate reliably but also to process the input images rapidly. In this paper, we explore genetic programming (GP) as a meta-model that combines four different efficiency-oriented networks for the analysis of urban scenes. Notably, we present and examine two approaches. In the first approach, we represent solutions as GP trees that combine networks’ outputs such that each output class’s prediction is obtained through the same meta-model. In the second approach, we propose representing solutions as lists of GP trees, each designed to provide a unique meta-model for a given target class. The main objective is to develop efficient and accurate combination models that could be easily interpreted, therefore allowing gathering some hints on how to improve the existing networks. The experiments performed on the Cityscapes dataset of urban scene images with semantic pixel-wise annotations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Specifically, our best-performing models improve systems’ generalization ability by approximately 5% compared to traditional ensembles, 30% for the less performing state-of-the-art CNN and show competitive results with respect to state-of-the-art ensembles. Additionally, they are small in size, allow interpretability, and use fewer features due to GP’s automatic feature selection.
Characterizing Bone Phenotypes Related to Skeletal Fragility Using Advanced Medical Imaging
Authors: Whittier Danielle E. , Bevers Melissa S. A. M. , Geusens Piet P. M. M. , van den Bergh Joop P. , Gabel Leigh
Published: October 2023

Purpose of Review

Summarize the recent literature that investigates how advanced medical imaging has contributed to our understanding of skeletal phenotypes and fracture risk across the lifespan.

Recent Findings

Characterization of bone phenotypes on the macro-scale using advanced imaging has shown that while wide bones are generally stronger than narrow bones, they may be more susceptible to age-related declines in bone strength. On the micro-scale, HR-pQCT has been used to identify bone microarchitecture phenotypes that improve stratification of fracture risk based on phenotype-specific risk factors. Adolescence is a key phase for bone development, with distinct sex-specific growth patterns and significant within-sex bone property variability. However, longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate how early skeletal growth impacts adult bone phenotypes and fracture risk. Metabolic and rare bone diseases amplify fracture risk, but the interplay between bone phenotypes and disease remains unclear. Although bone phenotyping is a promising approach to improve fracture risk assessment, the clinical availability of advanced imaging is still limited. Consequently, alternative strategies for assessing and managing fracture risk include vertebral fracture assessment from clinically available medical imaging modalities/techniques or from fracture risk assessment tools based on clinical risk factors.

Bone fragility is not solely determined by its density but by a combination of bone geometry, distribution of bone mass, microarchitecture, and the intrinsic material properties of bone tissue. As such, different individuals can exhibit distinct bone phenotypes, which may predispose them to be more vulnerable or resilient to certain perturbations that influence bone strength.
Pion and photon beam initiated backward charmonium or lepton pair production
Authors: Pire Bernard , Semenov-Tian-Shansky Kirill M. , Shaikhutdinova Alisa A. , Szymanowski Lech
Published: October 2023

Hard exclusive reactions initiated by pion or photon beams within the near-backward kinematical regime specified by the small Mandelstam variable $$-u$$

-
u

can be studied to access pion-to-nucleon and photon-to-nucleon transition distribution amplitudes (TDAs). Checking the validity of collinear factorized description of pion and photon induced reactions in terms of TDAs allows to test the universality of TDAs between the space-like and time-like regimes that is the indispensable feature of the QCD collinear factorization approach.

In this short review, we consider the exclusive pion- and photo-production off nucleon of a highly virtual lepton pair (or heavy quarkonium) in the near-backward region. We first employ a simplistic cross channel nucleon exchange model of pion-to-nucleon TDAs to estimate the magnitude of the corresponding cross sections for the kinematical conditions of J-PARC. We then illustrate the flexibility of our approach by building a two parameter model for the photon-to-nucleon TDAs based on recent results for near threshold $$J/\psi$$

J
/
ψ

photoproduction at JLab and provide our estimates for near-backward $$J/\psi$$

J
/
ψ

photoproduction and timelike Compton scattering cross sections for the kinematical conditions of JLab and of future EIC and EIcC.
Implication of gender mainstreaming on policy-making for sustainable fisheries development in China
Authors: Lu Jie , Zou Leilei
Published: October 2023

Currently, gender mainstreaming is widely recognized by the international community as an essential component of social development. Increasing attention is also being directed toward its significant role in the field of marine and fisheries, especially because gender equality-responsive fisheries development is believed to be a significant impulse for the continued advancement of this field. An analysis of the role of gender mainstreaming in fisheries development reveals that the long-term challenges faced by Chinese women in fisheries are closely tied to the absence of the gender perspective in existing fishery policies. In recent years, international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, along with various regions and countries, have accumulated extensive experience and achieved notable progress in promoting gender mainstreaming in fisheries. Furthermore, they have established successful models for the scientific implementation of gender mainstreaming from the top down and with diverse perspectives, thus providing valuable insights for China to incorporate gender mainstreaming in policymaking. As China endeavors to foster high-quality marine and fisheries development while positioning itself as a responsible fishery power, it is imperative for the country to proactively address gender issues within the fisheries sector. Drawing on international best practices and considering China’s national conditions, this paper proposes the integration of a gender perspective into China’s fisheries policy by raising policymakers’ gender awareness, conducting dynamic monitoring and evaluation of the status of women in the fisheries sector, encouraging the active involvement of women and fisheries organizations in policymaking, and promoting research on gender issues in fisheries, all of which can bridge the gap in gender responsiveness within China’s fisheries policy system.
The Crossings
Authors: Wells Jeremy
Published: October 2023

The album Slave to the Rhythm is typical of the exaltation of pop stars but atypical in its presentation and interaction with biographical material. Three crossings are considered in this assessment of the work: technological, cultural, and structural. These are presented with a detailed track-by-track analysis using a range of signal processing techniques, some adapted specifically for this project. This Element focuses on the combination of digital, novel, and analogue technology that was used, and the organisational and transformational treatments of recorded material it offered, along with their associated musical cultures. The way in which studio technology functions, and offers interaction with its users, has a direct influence over the sound of the music that is created with it. To understand how that influence is manifested in Slave, there is considerable focus on the development and use of music technology.
The Fair Process Effect
Authors: van den Bos Kees
Published: October 2023

The Fair Process Effect aims to shed light on why there are so many instances of distrust, polarization, and conspiracy thinking in our world and what we can do about this. The book focuses on the fair process effect as a mechanism that may help to start overcoming these important issues of societal discontent. This is a positive effect that people exhibit when they have been treated in genuinely fair and just ways by fellow human beings and societal authorities. Current insights presented in the book aid the understanding of why people may experience discontent, distrust, and disillusionment. Furthermore, these insights can be used to start countering exaggerated levels of distrust, heightened polarization, and unfounded conspiracy thinking. To this end, Van den Bos develops a coherent and modern account of the fair process effect, targeted at understanding and managing these pertinent issues.
Scale, Crisis, and the Modern Novel
Authors: Rosenberg Aaron
Published: October 2023

At the turn of the twentieth century, novelists faced an unprecedented crisis of scale. While exponential increases in industrial production, resource extraction, and technological complexity accelerated daily life, growing concerns about deep time, evolution, globalization, and extinction destabilised scale's value as a measure of reality. Here, Aaron Rosenberg examines how four novelists moved radically beyond novelistic realism, repurposing the genres-romance, melodrama, gothic, and epic-it had ostensibly superseded. He demonstrates how H. G. Wells, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, and Virginia Woolf engaged with climatic and ecological crises that persist today, requiring us to navigate multiple temporal and spatial scales simultaneously. The volume shows that problems of scale constrain our responses to crisis by shaping the linguistic, aesthetic, and narrative structures through which we imagine it. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.
Privacy-preserving Computing
Authors: Chen Kai , Yang Qiang
Published: October 2023

Privacy-preserving computing aims to protect the personal information of users while capitalizing on the possibilities unlocked by big data. This practical introduction for students, researchers, and industry practitioners is the first cohesive and systematic presentation of the field's advances over four decades. The book shows how to use privacy-preserving computing in real-world problems in data analytics and AI, and includes applications in statistics, database queries, and machine learning. The book begins by introducing cryptographic techniques such as secret sharing, homomorphic encryption, and oblivious transfer, and then broadens its focus to more widely applicable techniques such as differential privacy, trusted execution environment, and federated learning. The book ends with privacy-preserving computing in practice in areas like finance, online advertising, and healthcare, and finally offers a vision for the future of the field.
Alone with Others
Authors: Haustein Katja
Published: October 2023

Times of crisis expose how we experience social, physical, and emotional forms of distance. Alone with Others explores how these experiences overlap, shaping our coexistence. Departing from conventional debates that associate intimacy with affection and distance with alienation, Haustein introduces tact as a particular mode of feeling one's way and making space in the sphere of human interaction. Reconstructing tact's conceptual history from the late eighteenth century to the present, she then focuses on three specific periods of socio-political upheaval: the two World Wars, and 1968. In five reading encounters with Marcel Proust, Helmuth Plessner, Theodor Adorno, François Truffaut, and Roland Barthes, Haustein invites us to reconsider our own ways of engaging with other people, images, and texts, and to gauge the significance of tact today. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.
The Gift
Authors: Araujo Ana Lucia
Published: October 2023

The Gift explores how objects of prestige contributed to cross-cultural exchanges between Africans and Europeans during the Atlantic slave trade. An eighteenth-century silver ceremonial sword, commissioned in the port of La Rochelle by French traders, was offered as a gift to an African commercial agent in the port of Cabinda (Kingdom of Ngoyo), in twenty-first century Angola. Slave traders carried this object from Cabinda to Abomey, the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey in twenty-first century's Republic of Benin, from where French officers looted the item in the late nineteenth century. Drawing on a rich set of sources in French, English, and Portuguese, as well as artifacts housed in museums across Europe and the Americas, Ana Lucia Araujo illuminates how luxury objects impacted European–African relations, and how these economic, cultural, and social interactions paved the way for the European conquest and colonization of West Africa and West Central Africa.
An Attribute Perspective on Regulatory Regimes in Risk Governance
Authors: Langøy Morten A. , Braut Geir Sverre
Published: October 2023

Increasing interest from stakeholders has brought new focus on risk governance and risk regulation, such as the regulator’s execution of duty and tangible results on safety and environmental protection in oil and gas industry. One recent example, from 2019, is the Office of the Auditor General Norway’s (OAG) investigation of the Petroleum Safety Authority’s (PSA) follow-up on health, safety and the environment in the petroleum industry, where the regulatory regime in Norway resting on functional requirements was questioned. Simplistically speaking, there are two current traditions or main schools in regulatory regimes: use of functional requirements associated with co-regulation and use of normative requirements associated with prescriptive regulation. In this paper, we introduce a generic model from an attribute perspective on contrasting, gauging or evaluating the two different regulatory regimes. Furthermore, this approach may explain the controversy regarding the favouring of functional or prescriptive regulatory regimes by the different players in the industry. Our case is based on regulations relating to offshore oil and gas operations, in particular focusing on the Norwegian sector. We use the OAG’s investigation of the PSA and the public reaction as our material because this material is proposed to provide a thorough and valid description of how the effects of the Norwegian regulatory regime are perceived from the outside. We believe that the generic concept presented here is applicable when performing investigations in other industries involved in hazardous activities.
Hydrodynamic roughness induced by a multiscale topography
Authors: Jia Pan , Andreotti Bruno , Claudin Philippe
Published: October 2023

Turbulent flows above a solid surface are characterised by a hydrodynamic roughness that represents, for the far velocity field, the typical length scale at which momentum mixing occurs close to the surface. Here, we are theoretically interested in the hydrodynamic roughness induced by a two-dimensional modulated surface, the elevation profile of which is decomposed in Fourier modes. We describe the flow for a sinusoidal mode of given wavelength and amplitude with Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations closed by means of a mixing-length approach that takes into account a possible surface geometrical roughness as well as the presence of a viscous sublayer. It also incorporates spatial transient effects at the laminar–turbulent transition. Performing a weekly nonlinear expansion in the bedform aspect ratio, we predict the effective hydrodynamic roughness when the surface wavelength is varied and we show that it presents a non-monotonic behaviour at the laminar–turbulent transition when the surface is hydrodynamically smooth. Further, with a self-consistent looped calculation, we are able to recover the smooth–rough transition of a flat surface, for which the hydrodynamic roughness changes from a regime where it is dominated by the viscous length to another one where it scales with the surface corrugation. We finally apply the results to natural patterns resulting from hydrodynamic instabilities such as those associated with dissolution or sediment transport. We discuss in particular the aspect ratio selection of dissolution bedforms and roughness hierarchy in superimposed ripples and dunes.
Settling versus mixing in stratified shear flows
Authors: Petropoulos Nicolaos , Caulfield Colm-cille P. , Meunier Patrice , Villermaux Emmanuel
Published: October 2023

We study the coupled settling, deformation and mixing dynamics of a dense blob of fluid falling in an axially (vertically) linearly stratified Taylor–Couette cell (operated in a laminar stable regime). This configuration allows the independent analysis of stretching dynamics, driven by radial (horizontal) velocity variations, and settling dynamics, driven by buoyancy forces associated with vertical density variations. As the blob settles, it is stretched in the horizontal plane and forms an elongated lamella. Through the competing effects of transverse compression of the lamella due to this shear-induced stretching and broadening due to diffusion, the lamella irreversibly mixes with ambient fluid, thus progressively adjusting its own density towards that of the ambient fluid. Eventually, the lamella settling stops at a final equilibrium position that depends on the ambient vertical density gradient and the rate at which it has been deformed by the horizontal shear. We show how this final position is determined by stretching-enhanced diffusion, i.e. mixing. We demonstrate that a theoretical mixing model compares favourably with experiments with various Froude numbers (quantifying the relative strength of the horizontal shear and the vertical stratification) and construct a new criterion for the energetic ‘efficiency’ of this mixing process that explicitly captures its inherently diffusive character.
Ciceronian Jurisprudence and the Law of Nations
Authors: Dymond Jeffrey
Published: October 2023

At the turn of the seventeenth century, jurists such as Alberico Gentili (1552–1608) and Hugo Grotius (1583–1645), began to advance a novel account of the law of nations (ius gentium) as a law that binds a world of sovereign states. That they would produce such a theory is surprising, however, considering that sovereign states were neither the dominant form of political organization at the time, nor did conventional medieval jurisprudence treat them as the normative standard. This article traces this evolution to a broader transformation in legal interpretation. In an effort to put Roman law on a more rational foundation, jurists such as François Connan (1508–51) and Hugues Doneau (1527–91) connected the origin of law to the unfolding of a certain account of human sociability, with the result that a conception of the state as an autonomous body acquired a normative status within their version of the global legal order. It then argues that we should see Gentili’s work on the ius gentium as part of this tradition. In so doing, the article demonstrates how the innovations of a particular school of legal interpretation, by combining Roman law with a distinctive social theory, contributed to making the sovereign state the legal norm.
Catholic Clergy of Italian Nationality in the British Middle East, 1939–1944
Authors: PILI JACOPO
Published: October 2023

During the Second World War, the British Government interned or asked the Holy See to replace many of the Italian clergy within the territories that it controlled. This led to a political conflict between London and the Vatican which was not resolved until the end of the war. This article addresses the development of the controversy and its causes, concluding that it stemmed from traditional imperial hegemonic goals rather than from anti-Catholicism. It also stresses that the Church's response was weakened by national rivalries within the Catholic clergy in the region, and the fundamentally different views of the war of London and the Vatican.