bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Licochalcone E inhibits trxR1 expression, alters Nrf2/STAT6 signal, and induces antitumor effects in vitro against human SH‐SY5Y and SK‐N‐BE(2) neuroblastoma cells
Authors: Zhang Qian , Zhang Jingjing , Liu Bailing , Wei Jingli
Published: January 2022

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common solid tumor of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arising in childhood less than 15 years age. Licochalcone (Lic) is known to show inhibitory effects in cancer growth, and there has evidence suggested that Lic A inhibits hypoxic induced NB SK‐N‐SH cell proliferation. However, it is unclear whether LicE exerts similar effects in NB and the associated molecular mechanism of Lic in neuroblastoma is still unclear. In the current study, we found that LicE at the concentration 2, 4 and 6 μM all induced a profound reduction in cell viability, colony formation and cell proliferation. Next, LicE treatment effectively promoted cell apoptosis, inhibited cell migration and invasion. LicE significantly suppressed trxR1 expression, activated Nrf2 expression and inhibited STAT6 expression in SH‐SY5Y and SK‐N‐BE(2) NB cells. We further identified that trxR1, STAT6 overexpression or Nrf2 silence reversed the antitumor effects of LicE in human SH‐SY5Y and SK‐N‐BE(2) NB cells. Finally, LicE treatment significantly inhibited tumor growth in nude mice carrying a SK‐N‐SH cell xenograft. These results provide new insights into the effects and highlighting a novel mechanism of LicE through regulating trxR1/Nrf2/STAT6 signal pathway in NB.
Outbreak of acute highly lethal phlegmon in the pharynx, associated with a new Pasteurella multocida MLST type ST63, in a limousine herd
Authors: González‐Martín Juan V. , Pérez‐Villalobos Natividad , Patrón‐Collantes Raquel , González Fernández Jorge , Vela Ana Isabel
Published: January 2022

We report an outbreak of pharyngeal inflammation in an extensive limousine herd, in central Spain, associated with a novel genotype (ST63) of Pasteurella multocida capsular serogroup B (capB). The outbreak affected cattle of all ages, reaching a herd‐level death rate of 17.6% and case fatality rate of 93.3%. Affected animals showed throat inflammation, respiratory distress and finally death, without characteristics of depression or haemorrhagic septicaemia in an acute course. Postmortem examination only revealed inflammation, including oedema in the pharynx and surrounding tissues. None of the necropsied animals was septicaemic and none showed multisystem petechial haemorrhages, pneumonia or enteritis characteristics of haemorrhagic septicaemia. P. multocida was isolated, serotyped and characterised as capB and, with the multihost P. multocida multilocus sequence typing database, isolates were assigned to the new sequence type ST63. Results of this study suggest that capB P. multocida type ST63 should be considered in the differential diagnoses of acute throat inflammation in cattle.
Race, Animal Bodies and Religion: Sacrifice, Sensory Politics and Public Space in South Africa
Authors: Tayob Shaheed
Published: January 2022

In South Africa, previous analyses of religious nationalism turn on the apartheid regime and its close ties to the Dutch Reformed Church. Since the fall of apartheid, democracy and pluralism have been emphasized as the discourse of the new South Africa, which aims to accommodate all of South Africa’s many religious traditions. Together with decades of neoliberal economic policy, the outcome is that in South Africa private individuals and organizations make claims on public spaces as rate-payers and property-owners, in the process revealing normative assumptions about proper and improper religions. Drawing attention to two instances of the manipulation of animal bodies in public spaces, the chapter reveals the close connections between religion, animal sacrifice, racial hierarchy and conflicts over the use of and access to public spaces. The public practice of animal sacrifice reveals the existence of a sensory politics enacted by marginalized groups through which entrenched normativities about proper and improper bodies, substances and religions are contested in the name of a future nation to come.
On the ‘Impossibility’ of Atheism in Secular India
Authors: Binder Stefan
Published: January 2022

This chapter examines two cinematic representations of atheism in Bollywood cinema and probes the precarious location of atheism as an ‘impossibility’ within the framework of religious nationalism and state secularism as two interrelated aspects of Indian nationalism. The historical genesis of secularism as a political principle in India is conceptually closely entwined with religious nationalism in so far as it tends to take the religious or spiritual nature of the Indian nation for granted. While public and academic debates tend to focus on the relationship between majoritarian Hindu nationalism and various religious minorities, atheists and those who are explicitly irreligious are often ignored or considered to be too few to deserve closer attention. On the basis of popular cinematic representations of atheism and ethnographic observations among atheists in South India, this chapter argues that atheism is not ejected from the imagined community of the Indian nation but marginalized as a discursive position that may be acceptable or even desirable within limits, but ultimately impossible as a viable practical project and social identity.
Rising, Becoming, Overcoding: On Chinese Nationalism in The Wandering Earth
Authors: de Kloet Jeroen
Published: January 2022

In the 2019 Chinese sci-fi blockbusterThe Wandering Earthby Frant Guo, audiences are catapulted into a dystopian 2061. The movie brings to mind a strong Hollywood genre style and history. This comparative logic runs the danger of accusing China of making a belated copy feeding into a desire to assert its Chineseness. Peter van der Veer has shown how pivotal comparative analyses are to understanding complexity and resisting generalizations. Anthropology is well equipped for this task, but as I argue in this chapter, so are cultural studies and cultural analysis. Drawing on Peter van der Veer’s work in tandem with Rey Chow, this chapter reads the movie as a translation of the sci-fi genre that betrays both its assumed origin and the copy.
Smooth interpolation between thermal Born and LPM rates
Authors: Ghiglieri J. , Laine M.
Published: January 2022

Abstract

In a weakly coupled ultrarelativistic plasma, 1 + n ↔ 2 + n scatterings, with n ≥ 0, need sometimes to be summed to all orders, in order to determine a leading-order interaction rate. To implement this “LPM resummation”, kinematic approximations are invoked. However, in cosmological settings, where the temperature changes by many orders of magnitude and both small and large momenta may play a role, such approximations are not always justified. We suggest a procedure to smoothly interpolate between LPM-resummed 1 + n ↔ 2 + n and Born-level 1 ↔ 2 results, rendering the outcome applicable to a broader range of masses and momenta. The procedure is illustrated for right-handed neutrino production from a Standard Model plasma, and dilepton production from a QCD plasma.
Graviton corrections to the Newtonian potential using invariant observables
Authors: Fröb M. B. , Rein C. , Verch R.
Published: January 2022

Abstract

We consider the effective theory of perturbative quantum gravity coupled to a point particle, quantizing fluctuations of both the gravitational field and the particle’s position around flat space. Using a recent relational approach to construct gauge-invariant observables, we compute one-loop graviton corrections to the invariant metric perturbation, whose time-time component gives the Newtonian gravitational potential. The resulting quantum correction consists of two parts: the first stems from graviton loops and agrees with the correction derived by other methods, while the second one is sourced by the quantum fluctuations of the particle’s position and energy-momentum, and may be viewed as an analog of a “Zitterbewegung”. As a check on the computation, we also recover classical corrections which agree with the perturbative expansion of the Schwarzschild metric.
On the Bingham Flow in a Thin Y-Like Shaped Structure
Authors: Bunoiu Renata , Gaudiello Antonio
Published: January 2022

We consider the steady Bingham flow in a two-dimensional thin Y-like shaped structure, with no-slip boundary conditions and under the action of given external forces. After passage to the limit with respect to a small parameter related to the thickness of the domain, we obtain three uncoupled problems. Each of these problems describes an anisotropic flow, corresponding to a lower-dimensional “Bingham-like” constitutive law. These results are in accordance with the engineering models.
From Short-Range to Contact Interactions in Two-dimensional Many-Body Quantum Systems
Authors: Griesemer Marcel , Hofacker Michael
Published: January 2022

Quantum systems composed of N distinct particles in $$\mathbb {R}^2$$

R

2

with two-body contact interactions of TMS type are shown to arise as limits—in the norm resolvent sense—of Schrödinger operators with suitably rescaled pair potentials.
Identification of bisphenols and derivatives in greenhouse dust as a potential source for human occupational exposure
Authors: Caballero-Casero Noelia , Rubio Soledad
Published: January 2022

Bisphenol A (BPA) and alternative bisphenols are widely used in the industrial production of polycarbonates and resin polymers. Adverse effects on human health have been described for BPA and owing to the structural similarity of alternative bisphenols and derivatives, a similar toxicity profile is expectable. Dust can act as a sink for bisphenols owing to the large surface area to mass ratio. Human risk exposure to bisphenols via indoor dust has been widely assessed in the last decade. The environmental conditions inside greenhouses, among other factors, facilitate that chemicals are released from greenhouse building materials to dust. This study aims to explore for the first time the potential of greenhouse dust as a new source of bisphenols for human exposure. For this purpose, a supramolecular solvent-based method was applied to the extraction of twenty-one bisphenols from greenhouse dust, prior to their determination by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Nineteen bisphenols were found in the five greenhouse dust samples analysed, with concentrations ranging from 5275 ng g−1 (BPA) to 0.25 ng g−1 (trichlorobisphenol A). The average daily dose (ADD) via dust ingestion for bisphenol compounds was calculated, in order to estimate the occupational exposure for inadvertent dust ingestion. Despite the calculated ADD value for BPA (47.81 ng kg−1 day−1) being below the tolerable daily intake proposed by EFSA (4·103 ng kg−1 day−1), this value was considerably higher than those previously reported for indoor dust, which brings to light the importance of considering greenhouse dust as bisphenols source of exposure for greenhouse workers.

Graphical abstract
Automated liquid handling robot for rapid lateral flow assay development
Authors: Anderson Caitlin E. , Huynh Toan , Gasperino David J. , Alonzo Luis F. , Cantera Jason L. , Harston Stephen P. , Hsieh Helen V. , Marzan Rosemichelle , McGuire Shawn K. , Williford John R. , Oncina Ciela I. , Glukhova Veronika A. , Bishop Joshua D. , Cate David M. , Grant Benjamin D. , Nichols Kevin P. , Weigl Bernhard H.
Published: January 2022

The lateral flow assay (LFA) is one of the most popular technologies on the point-of-care diagnostics market due to its low cost and ease of use, with applications ranging from pregnancy to environmental toxins to infectious disease. While the use of these tests is relatively straightforward, significant development time and effort are required to create tests that are both sensitive and specific. Workflows to guide the LFA development process exist but moving from target selection to an LFA that is ready for field testing can be labor intensive, resource heavy, and time consuming. To reduce the cost and the duration of the LFA development process, we introduce a novel development platform centered on the flexibility, speed, and throughput of an automated robotic liquid handling system. The system comprises LFA-specific hardware and software that enable large optimization experiments with discrete and continuous variables such as antibody pair selection or reagent concentration. Initial validation of the platform was demonstrated during development of a malaria LFA but was readily expanded to encompass development of SARS-CoV-2 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis LFAs. The validity of the platform, where optimization experiments are run directly on LFAs rather than in solution, was based on a direct comparison between the robotic system and a more traditional ELISA-like method. By minimizing hands-on time, maximizing experiment size, and enabling improved reproducibility, the robotic system improved the quality and quantity of LFA assay development efforts.

Graphical abstract
Cohomology of Fuchsian groups and non-Euclidean crystallographic groups
Authors: Hughes Sam
Published: January 2022

For each geometrically finite 2-dimensional non-Euclidean crystallographic group (NEC group), we compute the cohomology groups. In the case where the group is a Fuchsian group, we also determine the ring structure of the cohomology.
Graded matrix factorizations of size two and reduction
Authors: Ebeling Wolfgang , Takahashi Atsushi
Published: January 2022

We associate a complete intersection singularity to a graded matrix factorization of size two of a polynomial in three variables. We show that we get an inverse to the reduction of singularities considered by C. T. C. Wall. We study this for the full strongly exceptional collections in the triangulated category of graded matrix factorizations constructed by H. Kajiura, K. Saito, and the second author.
PD1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint as a potential target for preventing brain tumor progression
Authors: Filippone A. , Lanza M. , Mannino D. , Raciti G. , Colarossi C. , Sciacca D. , Cuzzocrea S. , Paterniti I.
Published: January 2022

Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a cell surface receptor that functions as a T cell checkpoint and plays a central role in regulating T cell collapse. The binding of PD-1 to its ligand programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) activates downstream signaling pathways and inhibits T cell activation in the perspective of immune system mechanism and regulation in tumor progression. It is well reported that tumors adopt certain immune-checkpoint pathways as a mechanism of resistance against immune cells such as T cells that are specific for tumor antigens. Indeed, the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway controls the induction and maintenance of immune tolerance within the tumor microenvironment. Thus, the PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint regulation appears to be of extreme importance as well as the immunotherapy targeting that via and the using of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors that have changed the scenario of brain cancer treatment and survival. Here, we review the mechanism of action of PD-1 and PD-L1, the PD/PDL-1 signaling pathway involved in the progression of brain tumors, and its application as cancer immunotherapy counteracting tumor escape in central nervous system.
Still room for improvement in traditional 3D interaction: selecting the fixed axis in the virtual trackball
Authors: Gonzalez-Toledo Daniel , Cuevas-Rodriguez Maria , Molina-Tanco Luis , Reyes-Lecuona Arcadio
Published: January 2022

Virtual trackball techniques are widely used when 3D interaction is performed through interfaces with a reduced number of degrees of freedom such as mice and touchscreens. For decades, most implementations fix a vertical axis of rotation, which is a suitable choice when the vertical axis should indeed be fixed, according to some mental model of the user. We conducted an experiment involving the use of a mouse and a touch device to study usability in terms of performance, perceived usability and mental workload when selecting different fixed axes in accordance with the user’s mental model. The results we obtained indicate that the consistency between the axis fixed by the technique and the object’s intrinsic axis has a positive effect on usability. We believe that implementations that allow to select different fixed axis for each specific object should be considered when designing future reduced-DoF interaction interfaces.
Screening for anti-adipogenic, pro-lipolytic and thermogenic plant extracts by models associating intestinal epithelial cells with human adipose cells
Authors: Guillemet Damien , Belles Chloé , Gomes Aurélie , Azalbert Vincent , André Mathilde , Faresse Nourdine , Burcelin Rémy , Lagarde Jean-Michel , Lacasa Danièle , Kéophiphath Mayoura
Published: January 2022

Purpose

Excessive fat mass accumulation in obesity leads to diverse metabolic disorders, increased risks of cardiovascular diseases and in some cases, mortality. The aim of this study was to screen the actions of botanical extracts intended for oral use on human adipose tissue, using an in vitro screening model combining human intestinal cells with human adipose cells. This was to find the most effective extracts on lipid accumulation, UCP1 expression and ATP production in pre-adipocytes and on adipocyte lipolysis.

Methods

In this study, 25 individual plant extracts were screened for their effects on human adipose cells. Consequently, an original in vitro model was set up using the Caco-2 cell line, to mimic the intestinal passage of the extracts and then exposing human adipose cells to them. The biological actions of extracts were thus characterized, and compared with a coffee extract standard. The most effective extracts, and their combinations, were retained for their actions on lipid accumulation, the expression of the thermogenic effector UCP1 and ATP production in pre-adipocytes as well as on lipolysis activity of mature adipocytes.

Results

The biphasic culture system combining human Caco-2 cells with human adipose cells was verified as functional using the green coffee extract standard. Out of the 25 plant extracts studied, only 7 and their combinations were retained due to their potent effects on adipose cells biology. The data showed that compared to the coffee extract standard, Immortelle, Catechu, Carrot and Rose hip extracts were the most effective in reducing lipid accumulation and increased UCP1 expression in human pre-adipocytes.

Conclusion

This study reveals the potential inhibitory effects on lipid accumulation and thermogenic activity of Immortelle, Catechu, Carrot and Rose hip extracts, and for the first time synergies in their combinations, using an in vitro model mimicking as closely as possible, human intestinal passage linked to adipose cells. These findings need to be confirmed by in vivo trials.
Influence of sportive activity on functional and radiographic outcomes following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty: a comparative study
Authors: Geyer Stephanie , Siebler Jakob , Eggers Felipe , Münch Lukas N. , Berthold Daniel P. , Imhoff Andreas B. , Siebenlist Sebastian , Scheiderer Bastian
Published: January 2022

Background

The purpose of the present study was to compare the functional and radiographic outcomes following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) in a senior athletic and non-athletic population.

Material and methods

In this retrospective cohort study, patients who underwent RTSA between 06/2013 and 04/2018 at a single institution were included. Minimum follow-up was 2 years. A standardized questionnaire was utilized for assessment of patients’ pre- and postoperative physical fitness and sportive activity. Patients who resumed at least one sport were assigned to the athletic group, while patients who ceased participating in sports were assigned to the non-athletic group. Postoperative clinical outcome measures included the Constant score (CS), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain. Active shoulder range of motion (ROM) and abduction strength were assessed. Radiographic evaluation was based on a standardized core set of parameters for radiographic monitoring of patients following shoulder arthroplasty.

Results

Sixty-one of 71 patients (85.9%; mean age: 72.1 ± 6.6 years) were available for clinical and radiographic follow-up at a mean of 47.1 ± 18.1 months. Thirty-four patients (55.7%) were assigned to the athletic group and 27 patients (44.3%) to the non-athletic group. The athletic group demonstrated significantly better results for CS (P = 0.002), ASES score (P = 0.001), SST (P = 0.001), VAS (P = 0.022), active external rotation (P = 0.045) and abduction strength (P = 0.016) compared to the non-athletic group. The overall rate of return to sport was 78.0% at an average of 5.3 ± 3.6 months postoperatively. Incomplete radiolucent lines (RLL) around the humeral component were found significantly more frequently in the athletic group compared to the non-athletic group (P = 0.019), whereas the occurrence of complete RLLs around the implant components was similar (P = 0.382). Scapular notching was observed in 18 patients (52.9%) of the athletic group and 12 patients (44.9%) of the non-athletic group (P = 0.51). The overall rate for revision surgery was 8.2%, while postoperative complications were encountered in 3.3% of cases.

Conclusion

At mid-term follow-up, the athletic population demonstrated significantly better clinical results following RTSA without a higher rate of implant loosening and scapular notching when compared to non-athletic patients. However, incomplete radiolucency around the humeral component was observed significantly more often in the athletic group.

Level of evidence

III.
Heart rate cut-offs to identify non-febrile children with dehydration and acute kidney injury
Authors: Marzuillo Pierluigi , Di Sessa Anna , Iafusco Dario , Capalbo Daniela , Polito Cesare , Nunziata Felice , Miraglia del Giudice Emanuele , Montaldo Paolo , Guarino Stefano
Published: January 2022

We hypothesized that the heart rate (HR) variation in an acute setting compared with HR in wellbeing status could be a good marker of both dehydration and acute kidney injury (AKI). Since HR in wellbeing status is unknown in most cases, we assumed as reliable surrogate the 50th percentile of HR according to age and gender. We evaluated if the estimated percentage of heart rate variation in acute setting compared with 50th percentile of HR (EHRV) could be marker of dehydration and AKI in children. Two independent cohorts, one prospective comprehending 185 children at type 1 diabetes mellitus onset (derivation) and one retrospective comprehending 151 children with acute gastroenteritis and pneumonia (validation), were used to develop and externally validate EHRV as predictor of the ≥ 5% dehydration and/or AKI composite outcome. Febrile patients were excluded. EHRV was calculated as ((HR at admission–50th percentile of HR)/HR at admission) × 100. The prevalences of ≥ 5% dehydration and AKI were 61.1% and 43.8% in the derivation and 34.4% and 24.5% in the validation cohort. For the ≥ 5% dehydration and/or AKI composite outcome, the area under receiver-operating characteristic curve of the EHRV in the derivation cohort was 0.69 (95%CI, 0.62–0.77; p < 0.001) and the best EHRV cut-off was > 24.5%. In the validation cohort, EHRV > 24.5% showed specificity = 100% (95%CI, 96.2–100.0), positive predictive value = 100%, and negative predictive value = 67.1% (95%CI, 64.7–69.5). The positive likelihood ratio was infinity, and odds ratio was not calculable because all the patients with EHRV > 24.5% showed ≥ 5% dehydration and/or AKI.

   Conclusions: EHRV appears a rather reliable marker of dehydration and AKI. Further validations could allow implementing EHRV in the clinical practice.

What is Known:• Increased heart rate (HR) is an easily and quickly detectable sign of dehydration in childhood, but its cut-off to suspect dehydration or acute kidney injury (AKI) is not defined.

What is New:• We found that a percentage of estimated HR variation in acute setting in comparison with 50th percentile of HR (EHRV)>24.5% predicted ≥5% dehydration and/or AKI in non-febrile patients.• We provide a one-page tool to suspect ≥5% dehydration and/or AKI on the basis of the HR. If furtherly validated, this tool could be implemented in the daily clinical practice.
Closed-suction drainage in thoracolumbar spinal surgery–clinical routine without evidence? a systematic review
Authors: Schnake Klaus John , Pumberger Matthias , Rappert Denis , Götz Achim , Zolotoverkh Oleksandr , Waligora Rita , Scheyerer Max Joseph ,   Spine Section of the German Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma
Published: January 2022

Purpose

The considered benefit of surgical drain use after spinal surgery is to prevent local accumulation of a haematoma by decompressing the closed space in the approach of the surgical site. In this context, the aim of the present systematic review was to prove the benefit of the routine use of closed-suction drains.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive systematic review of the literature according to the Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklist and algorithm.

Results

Following the literature search, 401 potentially eligible investigations were identified. Eventually, a total of 24 studies with 8579 participants were included. Negative suction drainage led to a significantly higher volume of drainage fluid. Drainage duration longer than 72 h may be associated with a higher incidence of Surgical side infections (SSI); however, accompanying antibiotic treatment is unnecessary. Regarding postoperative haematoma and neurological complications, no evidence exists concerning their prevention. Hospital stay length and related costs may be elevated in patients with drainage but appear to depend on surgery type.

Conclusions

With regard to the existing literature, the use of closed-suction drainage in elective thoracolumbar spinal surgery is not associated with any proven benefit for patients and cannot decrease postoperative complications.
Finanzierung von Zukunftsinvestitionen: Pragmatische Lösungen sind gefragt
Authors: Schnitzer Monika , Truger Achim
Published: January 2022

Since the new German federal government has imposed tight fiscal policy restrictions on itself, a pragmatic approach is needed to finance the spending requirements of the transformation. The financing instruments mentioned in the coalition agreement appears to be suitable in principle for meeting key fiscal challenges facing the federal government in the coming years. However, they need to be quantified in concrete terms as quickly as possible and designed to ensure legal security in order to send reliable signals for the necessary capacity building, particularly in the construction industry and public administration.
Berlin sieht es locker — Brüssel (noch) nicht
Authors: Boysen-Hogrefe Jens
Published: January 2022

Various ways exist to make use of public debt financing despite the existence of the debt brake. These are outlined in the recent coalition agreement, which indicates that the new government will go in this direction. Particularly, the accounting of federal special funds will change and the role of public enterprises will increase. Budget surveillance at the European level, however, uses alternative accounting that remains unaffected. German budgets will likely run up against the current European rules in the medium run. Thus, the new budget plans also hint at the readiness to renegotiate fiscal rules for the European Union.
Warum und wie die Liberalisierung des Cannabismarktes in Deutschland erfolgen sollte
Authors: Haucap Justus , Knoke Leon
Published: January 2022

Der vorliegende Beitrag fasst die Argumente für eine Legalisierung von Cannabis zusammen und macht Vorschläge zur Ausgestaltung des Regulierungsrahmens. Hauptargument für eine regulierte Cannabisfreigabe sind nicht die zu erwartenden Steuereinnahmen oder die entstehenden legalen Arbeitsplätze, sondern der verbesserte Jugend- und Gesundheitsschutz in einem staatlich regulierten Cannabismarkt. Während es bei legalen Suchtmitteln wie Tabak und Alkohol erfolgreich gelingt, den Konsum immer weiter einzudämmen, nimmt der Cannabiskonsum trotz Prohibition seit Jahren zu. Entscheidend für einen effektiven Jugend- und Gesundheitsschutz ist eine wohl durchdachte Marktordnung mit sachgerechter Marktregulierung und Besteuerung.
Instrumente einer gestaltenden Strukturpolitik?
Authors: Kampmann Ricarda
Published: January 2022

Während der Corona-Krise tätigte der Staat hohe Ausgaben, die die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung stabilisieren sollten. Langfristig dienen Subventionen eher dazu, Unternehmen bei der Sicherung ihrer Wettbewerbsfähigkeit zu unterstützen, Forschung und Investitionen zu erhöhen und damit auch den Strukturwandel voranzutreiben. Allerdings werden Subventionen kritisch betrachtet: Einerseits weisen sie Potenzial für die Kürzung öffentlicher Ausgaben auf, andererseits sollen sie Beiträge zu einem nachhaltig ausgerichteten Strukturwandel leisten. Dies ist im Folgenden Anlass dafür, die im 28. Subventionsbericht ausgewiesenen Subventionen kritisch zu beleuchten. Dabei stehen nicht die Corona-Hilfen im Blickpunkt, sondern längerfristig begründete Subventionen, welche die fi nanziellen Spielräume des Staates dauerhaft einengen.
When do Non-financial Goals Benefit Stakeholders? Theorizing on Care and Power in Family Firms
Authors: Richards Melanie
Published: January 2022

Research studying the effects of non-financial goals on stakeholder relationships remains inconclusive, with scholars disagreeing on which goals increase or decrease a firm’s proactive stakeholder engagement (PSE). Instead of examining which goals act as forces for good or evil, we shift the focus of recent discussions by emphasizing the mechanisms that can explain the positive and negative stakeholder outcomes of non-financial goals under the umbrella of one theoretical lens. We do so by introducing an ethics of care perspective. Specifically, we first show that four of the five most distinctive non-financial goals of family owners jointly stipulate care-based morality, which likely enhances PSE. However, we subsequently argue that one goal, namely, the wish to exert power and influence, interacts with other goals and related care-based morality to lower PSE. Finally, we show how female family directors temper these interactions. Our insights into the additive and interactive effects of non-financial goals on PSE contribute to corporate social responsibility research, to the organizational goal literature, to family business studies and to work drawing on care ethics in management studies.
Pressure-Tight and Non-stiff Volume Penalization for Compressible Flows
Authors: Reiss Julius
Published: January 2022

Embedding geometries in structured grids allows a simple treatment of complex objects in fluid simulations. Various methods for embedding geometries are available. The commonly used Brinkman-volume-penalization models geometries as porous media, and approximates a solid object in the limit of vanishing porosity. In its simplest form, the momentum equations are augmented by a term penalizing the fluid velocity, yielding good results in many applications. However, it induces numerical stiffness, especially if high-pressure gradients need to be balanced. Here, we focus on the effect of the reduced effective volume (commonly called porosity) of the porous medium. An approach is derived, which allows reducing the flux through objects to practically zero with little increase of numerical stiffness. Also, non-slip boundary conditions and adiabatic boundary conditions are easily constructed. The porosity terms allow keeping the skew symmetry of the underlying numerical scheme, by which the numerical stability is improved. Furthermore, very good conservation of mass and energy in the non-penalized domain can be achieved, for which the boundary smoothing introduces a small ambiguity in its definition. The scheme is tested for acoustic scenarios, for near incompressible and strongly compressible flows.
A Unified Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian Model for Fluid–Structure Interaction Problems Involving Flows in Flexible Channels
Authors: Ryzhakov P. B. , Marti J. , Dialami N.
Published: January 2022

In this work a finite element-based model for analyzing incompressible flows in flexible channels is presented. The model treats the fluid–solid interaction problem in a monolithic way, where the governing equations for both sub-domains are solved on a single moving grid taking advantage of an arbitrary Lagrangian/Eulerian framework (ALE). The unified implementation of the governing equations for both sub-domains is developed, where these are distinguished only in terms of the mesh-moving strategy and the constitutive equation coefficients. The unified formulation is derived considering a Newtonian incompressible fluid and a hypoelastic solid. Hypoelastic constitutive law is based on the strain rate and thus naturally facilitates employing velocity as a kinematic variable in the solid. Unifying the form of the governing equations and defining a semi-Lagrangian interface mesh-motion algorithm, one obtains the coupled problem formulated in terms of a unique kinematic variable. Resulting monolithic system is characterized by reduced variable heterogeneity resembling that of a single-media problem. The model used in conjunction with algebraic multigrid linear solver exhibits attractive convergence rates. The model is tested using a 2D and a 3D example.
High Order Discontinuous Cut Finite Element Methods for Linear Hyperbolic Conservation Laws with an Interface
Authors: Fu Pei , Frachon Thomas , Kreiss Gunilla , Zahedi Sara
Published: January 2022

We develop a family of cut finite element methods of different orders based on the discontinuous Galerkin framework, for hyperbolic conservation laws with stationary interfaces in both one and two space dimensions, and for moving interfaces in one space dimension. Interface conditions are imposed weakly and so that both conservation and stability are ensured. A CutFEM with discontinuous elements in space is developed and coupled to standard explicit time stepping schemes for linear advection problems and the acoustic wave problem with stationary interfaces. In the case of moving interfaces, we propose a space-time CutFEM based on discontinuous elements both in space and time for linear advection problems. We show that the proposed CutFEM are conservative and energy stable. For the stationary interface case an a priori error estimate is proven. Numerical computations in both one and two space dimensions support the analysis, and in addition demonstrate that the proposed methods have the expected accuracy.
Visually Encoded Contact Inspection System for EMATs
Authors: Yung Ka , Garriga-Casanovas Arnau , Khalili Pouyan , Cegla Frederic
Published: January 2022

Contact inspections are commonly performed in industry to check for defects and degradation, such as corrosion or cracks. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) probes are being deployed with increasing frequency using autonomous robots, especially in harsh environments or in areas where access is restricted and difficult. Together with the NDE measurement, it is important to capture the 3D position of the probe so that the location where the data originated is known. This allows for the generation of 3D maps of the inspection, which ensure full scan coverage, and can be used for inspection reports and to generate digital twins of the structure for asset management. In this paper, a full inspection system integrating a robot mountable stereo camera system together with an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) probe and a wireless NDE data acquisition system is presented. The system is capable of capturing and merging 3D positional data of the probe as it is scanned and NDE data. The system design in terms of hardware and software is described in this paper. A set of tests to evaluate its performance on relevant structural components are also presented, and the results are reported and discussed.
“Caught in the Middle! Wealth Inequality and Conflict over Redistribution”
Authors: Lierse Hanna , Lascombes Davy-Kim , Becker Bastian
Published: January 2022

A vast literature documents that wealth inequality has risen throughout advanced democracies, especially the accumulation of wealth among the rich. Yet, instead of increasing wealth redistribution, governments have done the seemingly opposite. Key to understanding why democratic governments do not increase wealth redistribution in times of rising inequalities is to shed light on the public’s preferences. In this paper, we map the public’s redistributive preferences in fourteen countries based on new survey data. We show that traditional socioeconomic cleavages in preferences for wealth redistribution are undermined by diverging mobility expectations. People who expect to climb up the wealth distribution, mostly lower wealth groups, are less supportive of redistribution than people with high stakes of major wealth losses, mainly upper wealth groups. We show that future expectations among the rich and the poor have a highly moderating role for the class conflict over wealth redistribution. Moreover, the middle class, the decisive group in democracies, is highly unresponsive to future prospects. The findings suggest that the middle class does not have much to lose or to win, and therefore, wealth redistribution is of low salience among this group.
Frequentist Model Averaging in Structure Equation Model With Ordinal Data
Authors: Jin Shaobo
Published: January 2022

In practice, it is common that a best fitting structural equation model (SEM) is selected from a set of candidate SEMs and inference is conducted conditional on the selected model. Such post-selection inference ignores the model selection uncertainty and yields too optimistic inference. Using the largest candidate model avoids model selection uncertainty but introduces a large variation. Jin and Ankargren (Psychometrika 84:84–104, 2019) proposed to use frequentist model averaging in SEM with continuous data as a compromise between model selection and the full model. They assumed that the true values of the parameters depend on <mml:math xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:mnf="http://cambridge.org/core/manifest" xmlns:cup="http://contentservices.cambridge.org" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:m="http://cambridge.org/core/metadata" xmlns:core="http://cambridge.org/core" xmlns:c="http://cambridge.org/core/content">n-1/2\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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Cultural identity central to Native American persistence in science
Authors: Chow-Garcia Nizhoni , Lee Naomi , Svihla Vanessa , Sohn Claira , Willie Scott , Holsti Maija , Wandinger-Ness Angela
Published: January 2022

Native Americans are the least represented population in science fields. In recent years, undergraduate and graduate level summer research programs that aimed to increase the number of Native Americans in science have made some progress. As new programs are designed, key characteristics that address science self-efficacy and science identity and provide supports for Native American students’ commitment to a scientific career should be considered. In this study, we used sequential mixed methods to investigate the potential of culturally tailored internship programs on Native American persistence in science. We analyzed surveys (n = 47) and interviews (n = 4) with Native American students to understand their perceptions of themselves in relation to science research and how summer research experiences might develop science identities. Based on regression modeling, science identity, but not science self-efficacy, predicted intent to persist in science. In turn, science self-efficacy and Native American identity predicted science identity, and this suggests cultural identity is central to Native American persistence in science. In interviews, students’ comments reinforced these findings and shed light on students’ reasoning about the kinds of science experiences they sought; specifically, they chose to participate in culturally tailored internships because these programs provided a sense of belonging to the scientific community that did not conflict with their cultural identities. Based on our analysis, we propose an Indigenous science internship model and recommend that agencies target funding for culturally tailored programs from high school through early-investigator levels as well as provide inclusive programmatic and mentoring guidelines.
Transformative change in context—stakeholders’ understandings of leverage at the forest–climate nexus
Authors: Priebe Janina , Reimerson Elsa , Hallberg-Sramek Isabella , Sténs Anna , Sandström Camilla , Mårald Erland
Published: January 2022

Transformation acquires its meaning within contexts and particular settings where transformative change is experienced, and where people engage in meaning-making. We used the forest–climate nexus in Sweden as an empirical case study, and the leverage-points perspective as an analytical lens. The aim was to investigate contextual leverage for transformative change, and how our use of context and relations shapes our understanding of transformation and leverage for change. The empirical basis was a whole-day workshop, held in both northern and southern Sweden, for local forest stakeholders. To detract from current conflict and barriers to change, we asked the stakeholders to reflect on transformative change in the past and in the future, and the spatio-temporal relations that form the forest–climate nexus. Our analysis suggests that leverage associated with a transformative change in the future is commonly seen as universal and detached from context, reflecting, for example, national and global discourses on forests and climate change. Regarding transformative changes in the past, however, contextual leverage is linked to the community values and pluralism that drove the change in particular situations. Focusing on the complex spatio-temporal relations and meaning-making helps identify how leverage emerges from context, and how leverage also acquires a richer meaning for people experiencing transformative change.
CDK9 inhibitors in multiple myeloma: a review of progress and perspectives
Authors: Borowczak Jędrzej , Szczerbowski Krzysztof , Ahmadi Navid , Szylberg Łukasz
Published: January 2022

Currently, multiple myeloma is not yet considered a curable disease. Despite the recent advances in therapy, the average patient lifespan is still unsatisfactory. Recently, CDK9 inhibitors emerged as a suitable agent to overcome resistance and prolong survival in patients with poor diagnoses. Downregulation of c-MYC, XIAP, Mcl-1 and restoration of p53 tumor-suppressive functions seems to play a key role in achieving clinical response. The applicability of the first generation of CDK9 inhibitors was limited due to relatively high toxicity, but the introduction of novel, highly selective drugs, seems to reduce the effects of off-target inhibition. CDK9 inhibitors were able to induce dose-dependent cytotoxicity in Doxorubicin-resistant, Lenalidomide-resistant and Bortezomib-resistant cell lines. They seem to be effective in cell lines with unfavorable prognostic factors, such as p53 deletion, t(4; 14) and t(14; 16). In preclinical trials, the application of CDK9 inhibitors led to tumor cells apoptosis, tumor growth inhibition and tumor mass reduction. Synergistic effects between CDK9 inhibitors and either Venetoclax, Bortezomib, Lenalidomide or Erlotinib have been proven and are awaiting verification in clinical trials. Although conclusions should be drawn with due care, obtained reports suggest that including CDK9 inhibitors into the current drug regimen may turn out to be beneficial, especially in poor prognosis patients.
Fredholm Toeplitz Operators on Doubling Fock Spaces
Authors: Hu Zhangjian , Virtanen Jani A.
Published: January 2022

Recently the authors characterized the Fredholmn properties of Toeplitz operators on weighted Fock spaces when the Laplacian of the weight function is bounded below and above. In the present work the authors extend their characterization to doubling Fock spaces with a subharmonic weight whose Laplacian is a doubling measure. The geometry induced by the Bergman metric for doubling Fock spaces is much more complicated than that of the Euclidean metric used in all the previous cases to study Fredholmness, which leads to considerably more involved calculations.
Some Inequalities and Applications of Simons’ Type Formulas in Riemannian, Affine, and Statistical Geometry
Authors: Opozda Barbara
Published: January 2022

A few formulas and theorems for statistical structures are proved. They deal with various curvatures as well as with metric properties of the cubic form or its covariant derivative. Some of them generalize formulas and theorems known in the case of Lagrangian submanifolds or affine hypersurfaces.
Urbanisation-driven land degradation and socioeconomic challenges in peri-urban areas: Insights from Southern Europe
Authors: Seifollahi-Aghmiuni Samaneh , Kalantari Zahra , Egidi Gianluca , Gaburova Luisa , Salvati Luca
Published: January 2022

Climate change and landscape transformation have led to rapid expansion of peri-urban areas globally, representing new ‘laboratories’ for the study of human–nature relationships aiming at land degradation management. This paper contributes to the debate on human-driven land degradation processes by highlighting how natural and socioeconomic forces trigger soil depletion and environmental degradation in peri-urban areas. The aim was to classify and synthesise the interactions of urbanisation-driven factors with direct or indirect, on-site or off-site, and short-term or century-scale impacts on land degradation, focussing on Southern Europe as a paradigmatic case to address this issue. Assuming complex and multifaceted interactions among influencing factors, a relevant contribution to land degradation was shown to derive from socioeconomic drivers, the most important of which were population growth and urban sprawl. Viewing peri-urban areas as socio-environmental systems adapting to intense socioeconomic transformations, these factors were identified as forming complex environmental ‘syndromes’ driven by urbanisation. Based on this classification, we suggested three key measures to support future land management in Southern European peri-urban areas.