bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
U.S. Job-Seekers' Organizational Justice Perceptions of Emotion AI-Enabled Interviews
Authors: Pyle Cassidy , Roemmich Kat , Andalibi Nazanin
Published: November 2024

Emotion AI is increasingly used to automatically evaluate asynchronous hiring interviews. Although touted for increasing hiring fit and reducing bias, it is unclear how job-seekers perceive emotion AI-enabled asynchronous interviews. This gap is striking, given job-seekers' marginalized position in hiring and how job-seekers with marginalized identities may be particularly vulnerable to this technology's potential harms. Addressing this gap, we conducted exploratory interviews with 14 U.S.-based participants with direct, recent experience with emotion AI-enabled asynchronous interviews. While participants acknowledged the asynchronous, virtual modality's potential benefits to employers and job-seekers, they perceived harms to job-seekers associated with automatic emotion inferences that our analysis maps to distributive, procedural, and interactional injustices. We find that social identity can inform job-seekers' perceptions of emotion AI, extending prior work's understandings of the factors contributing to job-seekers' perceptions of AI (broadly) in hiring. Moreover, our results suggest that emotion AI use may reconfigure demands for emotional labor in hiring and that deploying this technology in its current state may unjustly risk harmful outcomes for job-seekers - or, at the very least, perceptions thereof, which shape behaviors and attitudes. Accordingly, we recommend against the present adoption of emotion AI in hiring, identifying opportunities for the design of future asynchronous hiring interview platforms to be meaningfully transparent, contestable, and privacy-preserving. We emphasize that only a subset of perceived harms we surface may be alleviated by these efforts; some injustices may only be resolved by removing emotion AI-enabled features.
Designing Collaborative Technology for Intergenerational Social Play over Distance
Authors: Yuan Ye , Jin Qiao , Mills Chelsea , Yarosh Svetlana , Neustaedter Carman
Published: November 2024

Collaborative play not only provides entertainment but also nurtures connections and strengthens community ties. In family and intergenerational contexts, collaborative activities and play can engage family members in quality conversations and meaningful connections over distance. To explore participants' preferences, practices, and interaction dynamics when playing remotely, we conducted a design probe study with 15 groups of parents and children from 16 families. Our findings highlight both similarities and notable differences in the use of communication methods, workspaces, and objects between parents and children. Specifically, we observed distinct patterns in gestural and verbal communication and identified specific challenges encountered by children in a simulated remote setting. Our findings also revealed the dynamics of play sessions, particularly when co-located participants are involved, shedding light on the complexities of remote intergenerational communication and play. Our work contributes empirical insights into designing more effective and engaging remote collaborative platforms for families.
Dittos: Personalized, Embodied Agents That Participate in Meetings When You Are Unavailable
Authors: Leong Joanne , Tang John , Cutrell Edward , Junuzovic Sasa , Baribault Gregory Paul , Inkpen Kori
Published: November 2024

Imagine being able to send a personalized embodied agent to meetings you are unable to attend. This paper explores the idea of a
Ditto
—an agent that visually resembles a person, sounds like them, possesses knowledge about them, and can represent them in meetings. This paper reports on results from two empirical investigations: 1) focus group sessions with six groups (n=24) and 2) a Wizard of Oz (WOz) study with 10 groups (n=39) recruited from within a large technology company. Results from the focus group sessions provide insights on what contexts are appropriate for Dittos, and issues around social acceptability and representation risk. The focus group results also provide feedback on visual design characteristics for Dittos. In the WOz study, teams participated in meetings with two different embodied agents: a Ditto and a Delegate (an agent which did not resemble the absent person). Insights from this research demonstrate the impact these embodied agents can have in meetings and highlight that Dittos in particular show promise in evoking feelings of presence and trust, as well as informing decision making. These results also highlight issues related to relationship dynamics such as maintaining social etiquette, managing one's professional reputation, and upholding accountability. Overall, our investigation provides early evidence that Dittos could be beneficial to represent users when they are unable to be present but also outlines many factors that need to be carefully considered to successfully realize this vision.
Facing LLMs: Robot Communication Styles in Mediating Health Information between Parents and Young Adults
Authors: Wester Joel , Moghe Bhakti , Winkle Katie , van Berkel Niels
Published: November 2024

Young adults may feel embarrassed when disclosing sensitive information to their parents, while parents might similarly avoid sharing sensitive aspects of their lives with their children. How to design interactive interventions that are sensitive to the needs of both younger and older family members in mediating sensitive information remains an open question. In this paper, we explore the integration of large language models (LLMs) with social robots. Specifically, we use GPT-4 to adapt different Robot Communication Styles (RCS) for a social robot mediator designed to elicit self-disclosure and mediate health information between parents and young adults living apart. We design and compare four literature-informed RCS: three LLM-adapted (Humorous, Self-deprecating, and Persuasive) and one manually created (Human-scripted), and assess participant perceptions of
Likeability, Usefulness, Helpfulness, Relatedness, and Interpersonal Closeness
. Through an online experiment with 183 participants, we assess the RCS across two groups: adults
with children
(Parents) and young adults
without children
(Young Adults). Our results indicate that both Parents and Young Adults favoured the Human-scripted and Self-deprecating RCS as compared to the other two RCS. The Self-deprecating RCS furthermore led to increased relatedness as compared to the Humorous RCS. Our qualitative findings reveal challenges people have in disclosing health information to family members, and
who
normally assumes the role of family facilitator-two areas in which social robots can play a key role. The findings offer insights for integrating LLMs with social robots in health-mediation and other contexts involving the sharing of sensitive information.
Leveraging the Power of Storytelling to Encourage and Empower Children towards Strong Passwords
Authors: Paudel Rizu , Al-Ameen Mahdi Nasrullah
Published: November 2024

With the increasing use of computer and smartphones by children, their online safety has been of major concern due to their limited security knowledge and skills. User authentication is pivotal for their security protection, where a body of work focused on children's password practices. The insights from these studies highlight children's lack of awareness and skills in creating a strong password. However, there is a dearth in existing literature to understand the scopes of designs for encouraging and empowering children towards strong passwords. As we begin to address this gap, we leveraged the power of storytelling to foster user attachment, encouragement, and empowerment. To this end, we adopted a systematic approach through a series of studies. First, a focus group session with three experts whose research primarily focuses on children contributed to build the narrative of a story, followed by a participatory design study with 20 children (aged between 8 and 12) to understand their preferences and perceptions of design components for the visual depiction of that narrative. The insights from focus group and participatory design led to the design of 'Story', a digital storytelling based design representing password advice for children. We also created the baseline designs and compared them with Story in a within-subject survey with 44 children aged between 8 and 12. The findings from our study unpack the efficacy of storytelling, leading us to offer guidelines for future research in these directions.
Simplify, Consolidate, Intervene: Facilitating Institutional Support with Mental Models of Learning Management System Use
Authors: Hassan Taha , Edmison Bob , Williams Daron , Cox II Larry , Louvet Matthew , Knijnenburg Bart , McCrickard D. Scott
Published: November 2024

Measuring instructors' adoption of learning management system (LMS) tools is a critical first step in evaluating the efficacy of online teaching and learning at scale. Existing models for LMS adoption are often qualitative, learner-centered, and difficult to leverage towards institutional support. We propose depth-of-use (DOU): an intuitive measurement model for faculty's utilization of a university-wide LMS and their needs for institutional support. We hypothesis-test the relationship between DOU and course attributes like modality, participation, logistics, and outcomes. In a large-scale analysis of metadata from 30000+ courses offered at Virginia Tech over two years, we find that a pervasive need for scale, interoperability and ubiquitous access drives LMS adoption by university instructors. We then demonstrate how DOU can help faculty members identify the opportunity-cost of transition from legacy apps to LMS tools. We also describe how DOU can help instructional designers and IT organizational leadership evaluate the impact of their support allocation, faculty development and LMS evangelism initiatives.
The Private Life of QAnon: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Americans' Exposure to QAnon Content on the Web
Authors: Moore Ryan C , Dahlke Ross , Forberg Peter L , Hancock Jeffrey T
Published: November 2024

The QAnon movement has been credited with spreading disinformation and fueling online radicalization in the United States and around the globe. While some research has documented publicly-visible communications and engagements with the QAnon movement, little work has examined individuals' actual exposure to QAnon content. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which Americans are exposed to QAnon websites, in what contexts, and to what effect. We employ a mixed methods review of 21 million website visits collected from a nationally representative sample of 1,238 American adults across laptops, smartphones, and tablets during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Quantitative techniques reveal overall levels of exposure to QAnon and who is more likely to be exposed, and qualitative techniques provide rich information about how participants came to be exposed to QAnon and how it fit within their broader media diets. We find that: (1) exposure to QAnon websites is limited and stratified by political ideology and news consumption; (2) exposure tends to occur within right-wing media ecosystems that align with QAnon beliefs; and (3) mixed methods approaches to analyzing digital trace data can provide rich insights that contextualize quantitative techniques. We discuss the implications of our findings for the design of interventions to lessen exposure to problematic material online and future research on the spread of disinformation and extremist content.
Trouble in Paradise? Understanding Mastodon Admin's Motivations, Experiences, and Challenges Running Decentralised Social Media
Authors: Zhang Zhilin , Zhao Jun , Wang Ge , Johnston Samantha-Kaye , Chalhoub George , Ross Tala , Liu Diyi , Tinsman Claudine , Zhao Rui , Van Kleek Max , Shadbolt Nigel
Published: November 2024

Decentralised social media platforms are increasingly being recognised as viable alternatives to their centralised counterparts. Among these, Mastodon stands out as a popular alternative, offering a citizen-powered option distinct from larger and centralised platforms like Twitter/X. However, the future path of Mastodon remains uncertain, particularly in terms of its challenges and the long-term viability of a more citizen-powered internet. In this paper, following a pre-study survey, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 Mastodon instance administrators, including those who host instances to support marginalised and stigmatised communities, to understand their motivations and lived experiences of running decentralised social media. Our research indicates that while decentralised social media offers significant potential in supporting the safety, identity and privacy needs of marginalised and stigmatised communities, they also face considerable challenges in content moderation, community building and governance. We emphasise the importance of considering the community's values and diversity when designing future support mechanisms.
AI MyData: Fostering Middle School Students’ Engagement with Machine Learning through an Ethics-Infused AI Curriculum
Authors: Sanusi Ismaila Temitayo , Martin Fred , Ma Ruizhe , Gonzales Joseph E. , Mahipal Vaishali , Oyelere Solomon Sunday , Suhonen Jarkko , Tukiainen Markku
Published: November 2024

As initiatives on AI education in K-12 learning contexts continues to evolve, researchers have developed curricula among other resources to promote AI across grade levels. Yet, there is a need for more effort regarding curriculum, tools, and pedagogy, as well as assessment techniques to popularize AI at the middle school level. Drawing on prior work, we created original curriculum activities with innovative use of existing technology, a new computational teaching tool, and a series of approaches and assessments to evaluate students’ engagement with the learning resources. Our curriculum called
AI MyData
comprises elements of ML and data science infused with ethical orientation. In this article, we describe the novel AI curriculum and further discuss how we engaged students in learning and critiquing AI ethical dilemmas. We gathered data from two pilot studies conducted in the Northeast United States, one Artificial Intelligence Afterschool (AIA) program, and one virtual AI summer camp. The AIA program was carried out in a local public school with four middle school students aged 12 to 13; the program consisted of eleven 2-hour sessions. The summer camp consisted of 2-hour sessions over 4 consecutive days, with 18 students aged 12 to 15. We facilitated both pilot programs with hands-on plugged and unplugged activities. The method of capturing data included artifact collection, structured interviews, written assessments, and a pre- to post-questionnaire tapping participants’ dispositions about AI and its societal implication. Participant artifacts, written assessments, survey, observation, and analysis of tasks completed revealed that the children improved in their knowledge of AI. In addition, the AI curriculum units and accompanying approaches developed for this study successfully engaged the participants, even without prior knowledge of related concepts. We also found an indication that introducing ethics of AI to adolescents will help their development as ethically responsive citizens. Our study results also indicate that lessons establishing links with students’ personal lives (e.g., letting students choose personally meaningful datasets) and societal implications using unplugged activities and interactive tools were particularly valuable for promoting AI and the integration of AI in middle school education across the subject domains and settings. Based on these results, we discuss our findings, identify their limitations, and propose future work.
GUing: A Mobile GUI Search Engine using a Vision-Language Model
Authors: Wei Jialiang , Courbis Anne-Lise , Lambolais Thomas , Xu Binbin , Bernard Pierre Louis , Dray Gérard , Maalej Walid
Published: November 2024

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are central to app development projects. App developers may use the GUIs of other apps as a means of requirements refinement and rapid prototyping or as a source of inspiration for designing and improving their own apps. Recent research has thus suggested retrieving relevant GUI designs that match a certain text query from screenshot datasets acquired through crowdsourced or automated exploration of GUIs. However, such text-to-GUI retrieval approaches only leverage the textual information of the GUI elements, neglecting visual information such as icons or background images. In addition, retrieved screenshots are not steered by app developers and lack app features that require particular input data.

To overcome these limitations, this paper proposes GUing, a GUI search engine based on a vision-language model called GUIClip, which we trained specifically for the problem of designing app GUIs. For this, we first collected from Google Play app introduction images which display the most representative screenshots and are often captioned (i.e. labelled) by app vendors. Then, we developed an automated pipeline to classify, crop, and extract the captions from these images. This resulted in a large dataset which we share with this paper: including 303k app screenshots, out of which 135k have captions. We used this dataset to train a novel vision-language model, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first of its kind for GUI retrieval. We evaluated our approach on various datasets from related work and in a manual experiment. The results demonstrate that our model outperforms previous approaches in text-to-GUI retrieval achieving a Recall@10 of up to 0.69 and a HIT@10 of 0.91. We also explored the performance of GUIClip for other GUI tasks including GUI classification and sketch-to-GUI retrieval with encouraging results.
A Survey on Security of UAV Swarm Networks: Attacks and Countermeasures
Authors: Wang Xiaojie , Zhao Zhonghui , Yi Ling , Ning Zhaolong , Guo Lei , Yu F. Richard , Guo Song
Published: November 2024

The increasing popularity of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
swarms is attributed to their ability to generate substantial returns for various industries at a low cost. Additionally, in the future landscape of wireless networks, UAV swarms can serve as airborne base stations, alleviating the scarcity of communication resources. However, UAV swarm networks are vulnerable to various security threats that attackers can exploit with unpredictable consequences. Against this background, this article provides a comprehensive review on security of UAV swarm networks. We begin by briefly introducing the dominant UAV swarm technologies, followed by their civilian and military applications. We then present and categorize various potential attacks that UAV swarm networks may encounter, such as denial-of-service attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and attacks against
Machine Learning (ML)
models. After that, we introduce security technologies that can be utilized to address these attacks, including cryptography, physical layer security techniques, blockchain, ML, and intrusion detection. Additionally, we investigate and summarize mitigation strategies addressing different security threats in UAV swarm networks. Finally, some research directions and challenges are discussed.
Clipper: Online Joint Client Sampling and Power Allocation for Wireless Federated Learning
Authors: Xu Wen , Liang Ben , Boudreau Gary , Sokun Hamza
Published: November 2024

Communication overhead is a main bottleneck in federated learning (FL) especially in the wireless environment due to the limited data rate and unstable radio channels. The communication challenge necessitates holistic selection of participating clients that accounts for both the computation needs and communication cost, as well as judicious allocation of the limited transmission resource. Meanwhile, the random unpredictable nature of both the training data samples and the communication channels requires an online optimization approach that adapts to the changing system state over time. In this work, we consider a general framework of online joint client sampling and power allocation for wireless FL under time-varying communication channels. We formulate it as a stochastic network optimization problem that admits a Lyapunov-typed solution approach. This leads to per-training-round subproblems with a special bi-convex structure, which we leverage to propose globally optimal solutions, culminating in a meta algorithm that provides strong performance guarantees. We further study three specific FL problems covering multiple scenarios, namely with IID or non-IID data, whether robustness against data drift is required, and with unbiased or biased client sampling. We derive detailed algorithms for each of these problems. Simulation with standard classification tasks demonstrate that the proposed communication-aware algorithms outperform their counterparts under a wide range of learning and communication scenarios.
Design of a Low-Cost PMMA/PVAc/PANI Blended Polymers: Structural, Electrical and Dielectric Characteristics
Authors: El-naggar A. M. , Alhaqbani Nourah , Kamal A. M. , Albassam A. A. , Lakshminarayana G. , Mohamed Mohamed Bakr
Published: November 2024

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/polyvinyl acetate (PVAc)/tetra-n-butylammonium iodide (TBAI)/x wt % polyaniline (PANI) blended polymers are fabricated using the casting method to operate in energy storage purposes. The structure and morphology of the created blends were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. XRD analysis displayed that the semicrystalline behavior of the polymer blend is unaffected by doping. At 293 K and 100 Hz, the dielectric constant decreased from 22.7 (undoped) to 14.04–21.7 depended on the amount of PANI in the doped blend. The greatest energy density (U) values were reported in the blend with x = 0.33; U = 0.00469 J m−3 at 293 K and 100 Hz. Increasing the temperature also improves the U values for all blends. The U values of the doped blends with x = 0.11, 0.22, and 0.33 showed an impressive rise relative to the undoped blend. In the low and intermediate frequency ranges, the ac conductivity increased in the blend with x = 0.44. The correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model was used to describe the electric mechanism of all blends. The influence of the quantity of PANI doping and temperature on electrical impedance spectroscopy, electric modulus, and relaxation time was investigated. A doped blend with x = 0.44 exhibited the greatest dc conductivity; at 343 K. the dc conductivity was increased from 2.477 × 10−8 S m−1 (undoped) to 1.086 × 10−5 S m−1 (x = 0.44). The activation energies (E

a
) for undoped blends varied between 1.36 eV and 1.01 eV based on the temperature range. The amount of PANI added to the host blend controlled the values of E

a
in all samples.
p300 maintains primordial follicle activation by repressing VEGFA transcription
Authors: He Meina , Liang Yaoyun , Nie Xiaoran , Zhang Tuo , Zhao Danqing , Zhang Jixian , Lin Huan , Zeng Zhirui , Song Xingyu , Wang Yitong , Ran Shiling , Zhao Shuyun , Chen Tengxiang , Zhang Chunlin , Feng Zhanhui
Published: November 2024

In this study, our results show that p300 expression increases with primordial follicle activation. A p300 inhibitor results in premature activation of primordial follicles in cultured mouse ovaries. Conversely, the ratio of primordial follicle activation markedly decreases upon culturing with the p300 agonist. Furthermore, p300 regulates primordial follicle activation by inhibiting Vegfa transcription in granulosa cells.
Prevalence and Severity of Sleep Bruxism in Edentulous Patients
Authors: Luchi Klöppel Naiara , Pauletto Patrícia , Meiriely de Almeida Lopes Naiany , Floriani Franciele , Lidani Rangel , De Luca Canto Graziela , Gebler Philippi Analucia , André Mezzomo Luis
Published: November 2024

Aims: Edentulous patients can also suffer from sleep bruxism (SB), just like dentate patients. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and severity of SB in edentulous patients using the definitive method.

Methods: Twenty‐three edentulous patients underwent treatment with new conventional complete dentures. Definitive SB was evaluated using the Bruxoff (portable electromyography device) while sleeping at home. The prevalence of SB was assessed by the Bruxmeter software, where SB was evaluated as “absent” (score zero), “light” (<2 episodes), “moderate” (between 2 and 4 episodes), or “severe” (>4 episodes). The prevalence was expressed with descriptive statistics in percentage using the number of detected cases out of the total number of patients.

Results: Eighteen patients (78.26%) were diagnosed with SB. The severity of SB was 55.5%, 5.5%, and 39% for the light, moderate, and severe scores, respectively.

Conclusions: Almost 8 out of 10 edentulous patients have SB. Approximately half of the SB‐detected patients showed moderate to severe severity of bruxism as measured by a commercial, at‐home device.
Numerical Evaluation of Self‐Aeration in the Gelas Tunnel Intake: A Comparative Study Using VOF and Mixture Methods
Authors: Nabipour Mostafa , Rostamabadi Masoumeh , Mohajeri Seyed Hossein
Published: November 2024

This present work explores the self‐aeration within the Gelas tunnel intake to accurately predict air demand and to analyze flow dynamics through advanced numerical methods. Volume of fluid (VOF) and mixture methods were used to model air–water interactions to ensure the safe and effective operation of hydraulic structures because traditional empirical models frequently fail to capture the complexity of these interactions, especially in large‐scale systems like the Gelas tunnel. Our results demonstrate that, with a relative error of only 22% when compared to empirical standards, the VOF technique performs much better in air demand predictions than the mixed method. The combination method overestimated the demand in this case by more than 153%. Furthermore, the VOF method accurately simulated not only flow depth but also air concentration and hydraulic jump dynamics which makes it a more reliable tool for modeling such complex phenomena. These results underscore the importance of integrating advanced numerical simulations into the design of essential hydraulic systems to enhance their safety and operational efficiency and offer valuable insights for the future design and optimization of water conveyance infrastructure.
The Beneficial Role of Low PVP Concentration on Sperm Apoptotic Gene Expression, Embryo Morphokinetics Status, and Clinical ICSI Outcomes
Authors: Akbari Javar Arefeh , Aflatoonian Behrouz , Talebi Ali Reza , Dehghanpour Fatemeh , Khalili Mohammad Ali , Montazeri Fateme
Published: November 2024

During the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure, 10% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is commonly used as a selection medium to decrease sperm motility. The study aimed to determine the effect of different concentrations of PVP (5% and 10%) on sperm apoptotic transcripts, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), embryo cytokinetic, and clinical characteristics in the ICSI program. In the study, 60 couples with male factor infertility underwent ICSI insemination using either 5% or 10% PVP concentration. Metaphase II (MII) oocytes were divided into two groups, with one group injected with sperm in 5% PVP and the other in 10% PVP. After fertilization, the zygotes were cultured using a time‐lapse microscope to assess morphokinetic parameters also, simultaneously with the ICSI procedure, SDF and apoptotic transcript levels were quantified using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The study found that DNA fragmentation was lower in sperm from the 5% PVP group compared to the 10% PVP group. Additionally, the expression levels of B‐cell lymphoma (BCL2) and the 70 kilodalton heat shock proteins (HSP70) genes were significantly higher in 5% PVP compared to 10% PVP, while the transcript levels of the Bcl‐2‐associated X protein (BAX) gene were lower in 5% PVP. The 5% PVP group also demonstrated higher fertilization and high‐quality embryo formation rates. Cytokinetic variables were significantly different between the two groups, and the rates of fragmentation, uneven blastomere, reverse cleavage (RC), and embryo arrest were higher in the 10% PVP group. The study concluded that a low concentration of PVP (5%) is a suitable replacement for 10% PVP in ICSI cycles for male factor infertility.
Doping and Pressure Effects on Yttrium Hydrogen Selenide
Authors: Aredo Tadesse Bekele , Shura Megersa Wodajo , Afrassa Mesfin Asfaw , Tadele Kumneger , Maremi Fekadu Tolessa , Habura Kunsa Haho
Published: November 2024

In this paper, the structural, electronic, phonon, and optical properties of lanthanum (La)‐doped yttrium hydrogen selenide (YHSe), along with the effects of pressure variations on its optical properties, are investigated using the density functional theory method. Both the La‐doped and YHSe systems are dynamically stable, as indicated by phonon calculations showing no imaginary frequencies in the Brillouin zone (BZ). The influence of pressure on optical properties is examined, revealing that increased pressure enhances these properties, particularly by improving the absorption coefficient in the ultraviolet (UV) range. Moreover, the bandgap energy of both La‐doped YHSe and YHSe compounds is explored. Increasing La concentration reduces the bandgap and enhances the density of states (DOS) at Fermi energy, inducing metallic characteristics in YHSe. Furthermore, the optical properties are examined at various La concentrations, most of which exhibit a nonlinear relationship as the La concentration increases. Doping under extreme conditions significantly enhances the optical properties of La‐doped YHSe, particularly in the UV‐light wavelength range. Specifically, the absorption coefficient reaches its maximum value in the energy range of 6.678 −13.023 eV within the UV region for all concentrations, indicating strong absorption in this range. This suggests the material’s effectiveness in absorbing electromagnetic radiation, particularly in the UV range, making it a promising candidate for photochromic applications. A thorough exploration of the optical properties under doping reveals prominent peaks, particularly in response to the UV spectrum, with a slight shift toward higher energies beyond the UV range. This suggests that the material under study holds promise as a candidate for sustained photochromic performance over time.
Aqueous Phase Textile Dye Degradation by Microbes and Nanoparticles: A Review
Authors: Khongthaw Banlambhabok , Chauhan P. K. , Chishty Nousheen , Kumar Dhruv , Velmurugan Amarnath , Singh Akruti , Bhtoya Richa , Devi Nisha , Nene Ajinkya , Sadeghzade Sorour , Ighalo Joshua O.
Published: November 2024

Textile industries utilize a variety of dyes and chemicals, resulting in wastewater that contains numerous hazardous components. The release of these dyes into aquatic systems poses a serious environmental and harms human health due to their persistence, recalcitrance, and nonbiodegradability. To address this, microbial bioremediation and nano‐photocatalysts are commonly employed for the effective removal of dyes and toxic compounds from textile effluents. This review explores the ecofriendly and efficient use of microbes, such as fungi, yeast, bacteria, and algae, in dye treatment, emphasizing their role in decolorization and degradation. Additionally, microbial remediation is highlighted as a clean, effective, and safe technology for detoxifying azo dyes in wastewater. The review also compares microbial and nanoparticle methods for dye removal from textile wastewater, examining the environmental impact of each approach. Furthermore, we have highlighted challenges and prospects for the development direction and future of this field.
Spatial and Single-Cell Analyses Reveal Heterogeneity of DNAM-1 Receptor–Ligand Interactions That Instructs Intratumoral γδT-cell Activity
Authors: Wang Xiaolin , Wang Hui , Lu Zhengjing , Liu Xiangjun , Chai Wenjia , Wang Wei , Feng Jun , Yang Shen , Yang Wei , Cheng Haiyan , Chen Chenghao , Zhang Shihan , Sun Nian , Liu Qiaoyin , Li Qiliang , Song Wenqi , Jin Fang , Zeng Qi , Wang Shengcai , Su Yan , Wang Huanmin , Ni Xin , Gui Jingang
Published: November 2024

The dynamic interplay between tumor cells and γδT cells within the tumor microenvironment significantly influences disease progression and immunotherapy outcome. In this study, we delved into the modulation of γδT-cell activation by tumor cell ligands CD112 and CD155, which interact with the activating receptor DNAM-1 on γδT cells. Spatial and single-cell RNA sequencing, as well as spatial metabolomic analysis, from neuroblastoma revealed that the expression levels and localization of CD112 and CD155 varied across and within tumors, correlating with differentiation status, metabolic pathways, and ultimately disease prognosis and patient survival. Both in vivo tumor xenograft experiments and in vitro coculture experiments demonstrated that a high CD112/CD155 expression ratio in tumors enhanced γδT cell–mediated cytotoxicity, whereas a low ratio fostered tumor resistance. Mechanistically, CD112 sustained DNAM-1–mediated γδT-cell activation, whereas CD155 downregulated DNAM-1 expression via E3 ubiquitin ligase tripartite motif–containing 21–mediated ubiquitin proteasomal degradation. By interacting with tumor cells differentially expressing CD112 and CD155, intratumoral γδT cells exhibited varying degrees of activation and DNAM-1 expression, representing three major functional subsets. This study underscores the complexity of tumor–immune cross-talk, offering insights into how tumor heterogeneity shapes the immune landscape.

Significance: Tumor cells in different intratumoral neighborhoods display divergent patterns of ligands that regulate γδT-cell activation, highlighting multilevel regulation of antitumor immunity resulting from the heterogeneity of intercellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment.
Table S3 from Circulating HPV DNA as a Marker for Early Detection of Relapse in Patients with Cervical Cancer
Authors: Jeannot Emmanuelle , Latouche Aurélien , Bonneau Claire , Calméjane Marie-Ange , Beaufort Corine , Ruigrok-Ritstier Kirsten , Bataillon Guillaume , Larbi Chérif Linda , Dupain Célia , Lecerf Charlotte , Popovic Marina , de la Rochefordière Anne , Lecuru Fabrice , Fourchotte Virginie , Jordanova Ekaterina S. , von der Leyen Heiko , Tran-Perennou Carine , Legrier Marie-Emmanuelle , Dureau Sylvain , Raizonville Laurence , Bello Roufai Diana , Le Tourneau Christophe , Bièche Ivan , Rouzier Roman , Berns Els M.J.J. , Kamal Maud , Scholl Suzy
Published: November 2024

Table S3. Clinical and biological characteristics of patients with HPV integration site and PIK3CA mutations.
Table S2 from Circulating HPV DNA as a Marker for Early Detection of Relapse in Patients with Cervical Cancer
Authors: Jeannot Emmanuelle , Latouche Aurélien , Bonneau Claire , Calméjane Marie-Ange , Beaufort Corine , Ruigrok-Ritstier Kirsten , Bataillon Guillaume , Larbi Chérif Linda , Dupain Célia , Lecerf Charlotte , Popovic Marina , de la Rochefordière Anne , Lecuru Fabrice , Fourchotte Virginie , Jordanova Ekaterina S. , von der Leyen Heiko , Tran-Perennou Carine , Legrier Marie-Emmanuelle , Dureau Sylvain , Raizonville Laurence , Bello Roufai Diana , Le Tourneau Christophe , Bièche Ivan , Rouzier Roman , Berns Els M.J.J. , Kamal Maud , Scholl Suzy
Published: November 2024

Table S2. HPV ctDNA detection according to HPV copy number and histological type.
Randomized Phase II Study of Durvalumab with or without Tremelimumab in Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Authors: Winquist Eric , Hotte Sebastien J. , Chi Kim , Sridhar Srikala , Ellard Susan , Ong Michael , Iqbal Nayyer , Salim Muhammad , Emmenegger Urban , Gingerich Joel R. , Lalani Aly-Khan , Major Pierre , Kollmannsberger Christian , Yip Steven , Hansen Aaron , Finch Daygen , Canil Christina , Hutchenreuther James , Vera-Badillo Francisco , Smoragiewicz Martin , Cabanero Michael , Tsao Ming-Sound , Ritch Elie , Wyatt Alexander W. , Seymour Lesley
Published: November 2024

Purpose:

PD-L1 is overexpressed by dendritic cells in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) progressing on androgen receptor pathway inhibitors. We tested whether checkpoint blockade could enhance antitumor activity in mCRPC.

Patients and Methods:

In a multicenter open-label noncomparative randomized phase II study, patients with mCRPC treated with ≤1 prior cytotoxic chemotherapy, with measurable disease and progression on abiraterone and/or enzalutamide, were randomized to durvalumab 1,500 mg intravenously every 4 weeks ±4 doses of tremelimumab 75 mg intravenously. The primary endpoint was objective response (OR) by iRECIST using a Simon two-stage design. Correlative testing included PD-L1/cluster designation 8 IHC on baseline tumor biopsies and deep targeted sequencing of plasma cell–free DNA.

Results:

Fifty-two patients were enrolled. Median age was 70 years (range, 50–83 years), and 52% had prior taxane therapy for mCRPC. In stage I, 13 patients were randomized to durvalumab with no OR observed. Durvalumab + tremelimumab advanced to stage II with 39 patients enrolled (receiving a median three cycles, range 1–53). Durvalumab + tremelimumab–related adverse events were mainly ≤ grade 2 but led to discontinuation in seven patients. There were seven ORs [19.4% (95% confidence interval: 8.2%–36.0%); intention to treat 17.9% (95% confidence interval: 7.5%–33.5%)]. Five responding tumors were PD-L1–positive and two exhibited DNA damage repair defects. Responses were observed without high tumor mutational burden or other genomic indices of immunotherapy sensitivity.

Conclusions:

Durvalumab + tremelimumab is active in mCRPC, but patient selection remains a challenge. Further studies to develop predictive biomarkers are warranted.
Re-Irradiation Plus Pembrolizumab: A Phase II Study for Patients with Recurrent Glioblastoma
Authors: Iwamoto Fabio M. , Tanguturi Shyam K. , Nayak Lakshmi , Wang Tony J. , Desai Arati , Lustig Robert A. , Bagley Stephen , Wong Eric T. , Hertan Lauren M. , McCluskey Christine , Hayden Julia , Muzikansky Alona , Nakhawa Shreya , Japo Julia , Bossi Connor C. , Meylan Maxime , Tian Ye , Barlow Graham L. , Speliakos Paul , Ayoub Georges , Meredith David M. , Ligon Keith L. , Haas-Kogan Daphne , Huang Kun , Wucherpfennig Kai W. , Wen Patrick Y. , Reardon David A.
Published: November 2024

Purpose:

Radiotherapy may enhance antitumor immune responses by several mechanisms, including induction of immunogenic cell death. We performed a phase 2 study of pembrolizumab with re-irradiation in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Patients and Methods:

Sixty patients with recurrent glioblastoma received pembrolizumab with re-irradiation alone (cohort A, bevacizumab-naïve; n = 30) or with bevacizumab continuation (cohort B, n = 30). Dual primary endpoints, including the overall response rate and overall survival (OS) at either 12 (OS-12; cohort A) or 6 months (OS-6; cohort B), were assessed per cohort relative to historic benchmarks. Paired paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed tumor samples were assessed for immunologic biomarkers by IHC using digital quantification and co-detection-by-indexing (CODEX).

Results:

Study therapy was well tolerated, with most toxicities being grade ≤3. For cohort B, the primary endpoint of OS-6 was achieved (57%); however, survival was not improved for cohort A patients. The overall response rate was 3.3% and 6.7% for cohorts A and B, respectively. CODEX analysis of paired tumor samples from five patients revealed an increase of activated T cells in the tumor microenvironment after study therapy.

Conclusions:

Compared with historic controls, re-irradiation plus pembrolizumab seemed to improve survival among bevacizumab-refractory patients but not among bevacizumab-naïve patients. CODEX revealed evidence of intratumoral infiltration of activated immune effector cells. A randomized, properly controlled trial of PD-1 blockade plus re-irradiation is warranted to further evaluate this regimen for bevacizumab-refractory patients, but alternative approaches are needed for bevacizumab-naïve patients.
(Trans)ver paisagens no percurso entre a casa e a escola: descobrindo patrimônios cotidianos através do olhar de crianças e jovens nas periferias da “cidade maravilhosa”
Authors: Lamounier Alex Assunção , Cardoso Flora Oliveira de Souza , Tângari Vera Regina , Souza Amanda Duarte da Costa , Santos Brendo Tavares dos , Maiolino Isabella Maria Bulus
Published: November 2024

This study investigates everyday heritage and affective spatial appropriations in the peripheries of Rio de Janeiro by analyzing the drawings of children and youths who study in the municipal public school system, reporting their perceptions and desires on the daily commute between their homes and school. Stemming from inter-institutional partnerships between Universidade Federal Fluminense, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, this study is based on the importance of children’s views of their own daily lives for city planning. First results show that free spaces to play configure affective heritages that take many forms: vacant lots, soccer fields, community squares, rivers, urban canals, among others. This affective and distressing mapping constitute landscapes and heritage from perspectives that are often invisible, stimulating thinking about inclusive strategies for heritage education and access to the municipality.
Military Naming Practices of Palestinian Factions in Reactive Response to Israeli Incursions and Aggressions
Authors: Jabali Oqab , Dwikat Hanadi , Saeedi Munther
Published: November 2024

This article explores the military operation-naming practices of Palestinian factions in response to Israeli aggression, analyzing their strategies and their impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dynamics. The research uses the War Normalizing Discourse (WND) theory as a framework and draws from Islamic tradition, official Hamas documentation, publicly disseminated materials, and insights from Arab intellectuals. The results show that the names chosen for military operations by Palestinian factions hold deep symbolic, cultural, and emotional significance, aiming to recruit fighters, gain public support, and maintain resilience. Understanding these naming practices provides valuable insights into the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the intricate interplay between the nomenclature of battles conducted by Palestinian factions and Israel’s military operations.
The Problem of ‘Siloed Media Blocs’: How Modes of Communication Shape Our Organizing
Authors: Davidson Carl
Published: November 2024

Our mass media has taken us into a realm of political crisis, dividing our people in new ways, not simply in the old ways of class, race, and gender, or liberal and conservative. The multiple new ‘media silos’ – with conflicting ideas of ‘fake news,’ ‘alternate facts,’ and myriad conspiracies – also block any simple resolutions. In this article, we will try to dig deeper into this problem, and find what solutions we can.
Who’s Afraid of Jadidism?: Reckoning with the Legacy of a Cold War Paradigm
Authors: Ross Danielle
Published: November 2024

Since the 1990s, scholars in the fields of Central Asian, Volga-Ural, North and South Caucasian, and Crimean history have debated the role of Jadidism in the study of the history of Muslim societies under Russia imperial rule. The concept of Jadidism – variously described as a program for teaching literacy in Turkic languages, a set of educational reforms, and a movement advocating a broad range of cultural, social, and legal reforms designed to “modernize” Muslim communities – made its first appearances in Soviet historiography in the 1920s–1930s. In the 1960s, as the Cold War reached new heights, the Jadid paradigm made its way into English- and French-language historical studies, whence it became the primary lens through which Western audiences encountered and interpreted the histories of Muslims in late imperial Russia. The opening of archival and library collections following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the embrace of new theories and paradigms in Russian studies broke the hold of the Jadid paradigm over Western scholarship. At the same time, a series of heated disputes began over the legacy of the Jadid paradigm and how best to research the intellectual history of Russia’s Muslims in a post-Cold War context. In this essay, I will present a history of the rise and fall of the old Jadid paradigm in European and American scholarship. I will consider how the study of Central Asian intellectual history has evolved since the paradigm’s decline and what this evolution and the contributions to this journal issue suggest about how historians can continue to examine the nature, extent, and meaning of Muslim reform movements without reviving the old Jadid paradigm.
Who Were the Kazakh Jadids?
Authors: Frank Allen J.
Published: November 2024

Located between the Volga-Ural region and Central Asia, where jadidism has been scrupulously studied over the past half century, the Kazakh steppe was nevertheless also an arena for the development of jadid thought, here, as elsewhere, characterized by the coexistence of modernist and Islamic reformist ideas. During the later imperial period figures identifying themselves, or subsequently identified as jadids were numerous. Jadids were active in urban commercial settlements, including Troitsk, Petropavlovsk, and Omsk, as well as in nomadic encampments on the steppe, and included Tatars, Bashkirs, and Kazakhs. The Kazakh case brings into question problems in defining jadidism itself. This is because figures identified in Kazakh Soviet, post-Soviet and in Western historiography as “intellectuals” or supposedly secular reformers also fit the definition of jadidism.
Technical-Economic Study of the Agri-Food Investment Project “Big Milk Production Unit in Algeria- 4000 Dairy Cows”
Authors: Noui Abderrahmane , Kamli Meriem , Guesbaya Zineb
Published: November 2024

National milk production reached 3.52 billion liters in 2017, including more than 2.58 billion liters of cow's milk (73%), according to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in Algeria. Due to the geographical location of the State of Biskra, its environmental diversity, its water resources, its flat lands and its human potential with its crops, the Zibans region has endowed its agricultural, pastoral and agri-food professions. According to statistics from the Directorate of Agricultural Services (DSA) of the Wilaya of Biskra (2019), milk production in the State of Biskra has seen a slight increase of 1% since 2016, reaching 44,783,000 liters, to reach 45,244,820 liters in 2019. Meeting the needs of milk consumers at the local, regional and national levels remains a challenge for the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture. In this regard, the main objectives of the Bouchagroune Dairy are: participation in the development of the local social and economic sector (State of Biskra) by providing products that can contribute to meeting milk needs at the local level, creating jobs and increasing tax revenues to the public treasury. This technical-economic study has shown the feasibility of the project “Big Milk Production Unit in Algeria- 4000 Dairy Cows” that it will cover 100% of the local needs of the Biskra region, 50% of the regional needs and 20% of the national needs.
Book review: Taylor, Monique, China’s Digital Authoritarianism: A Governance Perspective
Authors: Kumar Dharmendra
Published: November 2024

Taylor, Monique, China’s Digital Authoritarianism: A Governance Perspective (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) pp. 169, ₹4,618, ISBN: 97830311125152 (Hardcover).