bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From the Assembly to Council Democracy: Towards a Prefigurative Form of Government?
Authors: van de Sande Mathijs
Published: September 2023

The previous chapter concluded that prefigurative democracy must be understood as a radically open-ended practice. But how can a more durable form be given to a mode of political action that is precisely characterised by its radical open-endedness? This is arguably one of the central questions that inform Arendt’s theoretical work. She compared various forms of government that somehow sought to deal with this tension (such as the ancient Greek polis and the Roman Republic). Arendt’s preferred historical form of government is that of the revolutionary council, which emerged in all key revolutions of the 19th and 20th century. This chapter reconstructs Arendt’s concept of the council, engaging with some of her most important sources such as Rosa Luxemburg. In Arendt’s understanding the council combines the Greek principle of isonomia, or a political sphere devoid of rulership, with the republican practice of continuous augmentation and re-institutionalisation. The council may help to give a more durable institutional form to prefigurative democracy while maintaining its distinctive open-endedness. This also explains why many prefigurative occupy movements eventually shifted from the open public assembly to some kind of democratic council system in order to preserve their movement and continue their prefigurative practices.
Reanimating Fantasies of Fairy-tale Romance: Disney Nostalgia and The Princess and the Frog
Authors: Benhamou Eve
Published: September 2023

This chapter explores how The Princess and the Frog deploys nostalgia at the aesthetic, generic and paratextual levels to revive, or rather reanimate, the seemingly old-fashioned romance of the Disney formula, borrowing from and interacting with romantic comedies in the process. At the same time, these interactions allow the film to reinvent and subvert the generic framework of the Disney fairy tale, along with its gendered constructions. Adopting the lens of the memory film, this chapter examines the more ambiguous, problematic reverberations of nostalgia within The Princess and the Frog’s idealised fantasy world, which reveals Disney’s and Hollywood’s wider issues with cinematic constructions of the American past and race. In other words, this chapter examines the intersection of post-feminist nostalgia and Disney nostalgia.
Brave New Tale? Reframing Love and Romance in Frozen
Authors: Benhamou Eve
Published: September 2023

This chapter examines the scope of Frozen’s reinvention of Disney’s fairy-tale formula. The first part analyses the converging points between Frozen and another contemporary fairy tale, which notably diverges from both the Disney and DreamWorks canons: Pixar’s Brave. Using a similar starting point, Frozen calls into question the syntactic structure of Disney’s fairy-tale formula: this chapter examines the extent and implications of such a self-reflexive impulse. In typically post-feminist fashion, these radical generic departures are mediated through the presence of character and narrative ‘doubling’. The second part of the chapter analyses how Frozen draws on multiple strands of romance, from the chick flick to the screwball, as well as different genres of gender. Arguably, the inherent semantic and syntactic doubleness of the film, namely the tensions between sister plot and romantic plot, traditional and challenging performances of gender, allows both the update and expansion of the fairy-tale formula, without its complete dilution. The portrayal of Elsa epitomises Frozen’s more subversive impulse towards Disney’s own formulaic framework. Studying how Frozen interacts with Hollywood’s genres of romance, Disney’s cinematic universe, as well as post-feminist sensibilities allows us to reconsider the studio’s highest grossing animated feature of the 2008–18 decade.
Animal Action Buddies: Disney’s Anthropomorphic Reimaginings in Zootopia
Authors: Benhamou Eve
Published: September 2023

Zootopia stands out within Disney’s contemporary animated canon through the exclusive presence of animal characters: the anthropomorphising of action cop buddy tropes forms the basis for Zootopia’s reworking and questioning of issues linked to gendered and racial identity. Such reworking can be noticed at three levels. Zootopia’s anthropomorphic reconfiguration functions as a lens magnifying and challenging the gendered imbalance of cop buddy films, and constructions of femininity within post-feminist action-adventure cinema. This generic reworking resonates, at times ambiguously, with wider social dynamics, including constructions and understandings of race within contemporary America. The anthropomorphising of action buddy tropes also frames a more self-reflexive revising. Zootopia qualifies and re-envisions to some extent Disney’s contemporary portrayals of race relations, related to the studio’s formulaic sentimental impulses and generic predictability. This chapter examines Zootopia’s anthropomorphic reimagining of the action cop buddy film, and how this reimagining impacts on generic gendered roles, wider issues of racial identity, and Disney’s own representational and generic dynamics.
Introduction: Midterms and Mandates, Presidents and Parties
Authors: Andelic Patrick , McLay Mark , Mason Robert
Published: September 2023

The introduction to the book makes the case that historians have in general neglected the study of midterm elections and their significance for the fortunes of presidential elections and political parties. Three interpretations within political science are noted: a ‘surge and decline’ theory emphasises a midterm fallback from success in the year of a presidential election; a theory of ‘referendum voting’ explains midterm results as an evaluation of the administration’s record so far; a ‘balancing’ theory sees voters as wishing to place limits on the governing party. The introduction sets out the theme of ‘mandate’ as a way to analyse midterm elections; it asks how midterm elections modify a president’s mandate, often discussed in the context of presidential elections.
From Election to Re-election: The Electoral Politics of Presidency and Party, 1960–2012
Authors: Tiplady Sarah
Published: September 2023

This chapter explores presidential re-election bids following midterm elections, contextualising the re-elections to the midterms, focusing on what happens and how successful the re-election bids are. The presidential re-election bids are discussed and explained in relation to data gathered using all available campaign speeches for each campaign. In particular, the chapter investigates the place of party in candidate rhetoric, identifying three strategies: a classic partisan strategy, a cross-partisan strategy and above party strategy. The chapter investigates connections between these campaign strategies and the respective midterm election. It considers, too, change over time and differences between Republican and Democratic candidates.
‘The power of their votes’: Richard Nixon, the Silent Majority, and the 1970 Midterm Elections
Authors: Thelen Sarah
Published: September 2023

President Richard Nixon actively involved himself in the 1970 campaign in the hopes of securing a friendlier Congress (and to revenge himself upon critical Representatives and Senators), but instead undermined a primary public opinion accomplishment of the first two years of his administration: the mobilisation of a pro-Vietnam, pro-Nixon “Silent Majority.” While Vice President Spiro Agnew lashed out at the ‘nattering nabobs of negativism’ and ‘pusillanimous pussy footers’ in Congress, the president instead urged ‘the silent majority to speak out with power far greater than four letter or any other kind of words – the power of their votes.’ Ultimately, Republicans did not reclaim Congressional control in 1970 and this chapter argues that the 1970 midterms were, for many in the White House, a referendum on strategy and tactics for a White House far more concerned with the president’s 1972 re-election campaign than with the successes (or failures) of his fellow Republicans. As such, the lessons from 1970 – particularly the advantages of moving beyond the Silent Majority to target very specific interest groups – laid the foundations for the administration’s embrace of an early form of identity politics in the 1972 campaign.
‘Imagist in Amber’: Post-Decadent Poetry and Greenwich Village
Authors: Bratton Francesca
Published: September 2023

Chapter One explores Crane’s entry into the lively literary and artistic communities of New York’s ‘quartier Latin’, Greenwich Village. It critically examines the trajectory of Crane’s early imitative efforts in fin-de-siècle poetics through the journals of the Village, Bruno’s Weekly, Bruno’s Bohemia and The Pagan. I explore how his dual interest in Imagism and magazines with ‘yellow book sympathies’ shaped his poetry, which he later termed his ‘logic of metaphor’. Finally, this chapter begins to stake out Crane’s fraught reception history. I explore how, for Crane’s contemporaneous reviewers who set the tone of his reception, he never quite escaped his association with the Decadent literary fashions of the Village.
Found footage horror: a cinema of absences
Authors: McMurdo Shellie
Published: September 2023

Opening with an overview of the rise in popularity of the found footage horror subgenre post-millennium and the converse lack of scholarly attention paid to it, this introductory chapter situates the found footage horror format firmly within its genre context and investigates the relationship it has to other horror subgenres. Particular attention is paid here to connections that can be made to torture horror. This chapter then moves to lay out the theoretical framework of the book through examining previous scholarly work on the connection between trauma and horror cinema and details the key questions that Blood on the Lens: Trauma and Anxiety in American Found Footage Horror Cinema seeks to address. After discussing various definitions and perspectives on the subgenre and outlining its characteristics, this chapter presents the central arguments of Blood on the Lens: Trauma and Anxiety in American Found Footage Horror Cinema and begins to outline how the subgenre offers new thematic and aesthetic ways of confronting national trauma and societal anxieties.
‘What if they’re not even listening?’: truth in found footage horror
Authors: McMurdo Shellie
Published: September 2023

This chapter opens by discussing how three case study films, Diary of the Dead (Romero, 2007), The Bay (Levinson, 2012), and The Conspiracy (MacBride, 2012) utilise real actuality footage within their opening scenes to blur the line between reality and fiction. This chapter focuses on the narrative preoccupation present in these films on the subject of trust, and the centrality of the found footage ‘truth teller’, who attempts to uncover hidden agendas of governmental agencies and shadowy elite groups. This chapter then moves to draw attention to the anxieties these films uncover surrounding editorial control and manipulation, and how video footage in these films is edited to serve dominant ideologies and agendas, highlighting the need to critically evaluate the presented footage. Situating these films as overtly political in their message, this chapter highlights the tension within them between self-image and actuality, and how this resonates in an American context following 9/11 and the War on Terror.
Death in digital: found footage horror and the internet
Authors: McMurdo Shellie
Published: September 2023

This chapter opens the third part of Blood on the Lens: Trauma and Anxiety in American Found Footage Horror Cinema and focuses on how the subgenre has engaged with emerging anxieties around internet-based communication. This chapter begins by outlining the tradition of Jeffrey Sconce’s (2000) concept of haunted media, before addressing the connection between found footage horror and the internet that has been apparent since the unprecedented marketing campaign of The Blair Witch Project (Myrick and Sanchez, 1999), but argues that there is a critical need to move forward from scholarly focus on this to address the myriad ways found footage horror marketing has utilised the internet in subsequent years. This chapter proposes that although different methods have been used as the internet has matured, the central aim that remains is an attempt to infiltrate the audience’s reality. The second half of this chapter moves to discuss the ways that the internet is increasingly used as a mediator of death, with close attention given to real death sites, death memorialisation online, and how livestreaming and similar movements have brought death closer to audiences than ever before.
Where is World Literature?
Authors: Dabashi Hamid
Published: September 2023

In this chapter I have pointedly changed the idea of “what is World Literature” to “Where is world literature,” thus complicating not the presumed substance but the changing location of the idea of world literature. This strategic move is to expose the false centrality of the illusion of “the West” as the epicentre of our theorising the idea of world literature by planting the floating signifier of “Islam” as a strategic essentialism to show how the idea of literature can be repeatedly reworded in a liberating and emancipatory and embracing ways.
All By Our Selves: Empathy and Acting
Authors: Leberg Dan
Published: September 2023

This theoretical framework unpacks the models of cognitive, phenomenological, and neurophenomenological selfhood and empathy upon which the book’s overarching claims about screen acting as a practice of soliciting empathy rely. In particular, a dynamic systems theory approach to selfhood helps to distinguish between the actor’s quotidian self (the selfhood associated with the actor when not acting as her character) and her strategic self-reorganization of her bodymind the situational self of her character while acting. The empathetic relationships and the supporting appresentations that the actors’ selves solicit while acting are a key factor in how the actor reorganizes her bodymind to become the situational self of her character. This process includes reconstructing the scripted character’s cognitive scaffolding from cues within the screenplay, as well as those which emerge while acting with her scene partners. Amy Coplan’s three criteria for empathetic relationships are explained as requisite qualifications for the kinds of empathetic relationships that actors solicit.
At the Intersection of Gender, Race, and White Privilege: A Case of Three Desdemona Plays
Authors: Corredera Vanessa I.
Published: September 2023

Desdemona as a character functions as the focus of Chapter 5’s comparative analysis of three Desdemona plays: Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (1988, Canada); Paula Vogel’s Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief (1994); and, most centrally, Toni Morrison’s Desdemona (2011). MacDonald’s and Vogel’s respective plays provide an important site for comparison that exhibits the significance of an intersectional perspective for reinterpreting Othello by considering race alongside gender. These feminist reinterpretations of Othello powerfully reimagine the play’s gender dynamics, yet in ways that manifest white feminism’s marginalization of persons of color. Conversely, Morrison’s Desdemona launches a feminist critique of Othello’s toxic masculinity but avoids antiblackness by taking what Kimberlé Crenshaw terms an intersectional approach, a view examining multiple dimensions of oppression. Desdemona thus posits that recuperating Othello’s broken relationships entails honest reconciliation, one that only occurs when Desdemona confronts her white privilege and complicit subordination of both Barbary and Othello. Desdemona’s uneasy conclusion therefore reveals how feminist appropriations of Othello do not necessitate racial misrepresentation even as it raises questions about audience reach and access.
Marooned Time: Disruptive Waiting and Idleness
Authors: Lagji Amanda
Published: September 2023

As the middle chapter, Chapter 3 pivots from waiting and dispossession to waiting and resistance. This chapter analyzes the Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier’s 1949 novel depicting the Haitian Revolution, The Kingdom of This World (El reino de este mundo), and argues for the importance of maroons to the narrative’s theme and structure. Maroons were escaped slaves who fled to the hills, and this chapter argues that the maroon’s separateness or withdrawal, the insistence on spatial difference, produces a sense of time and history antagonistic to the colonial state. The second half of the chapter turns to South African author J.M. Coetzee’s 1983 novel Life & Times of Michael K through the lens of marronage, identifying idleness as a strategy of resistive waiting. The lens of marronage permits a reading of their protagonists’ flight, labor, and “idleness” as newly legible dimensions of resistive waiting.
Ungracious Grace – Proprioception and Staging Taste in Thomas Dekker’s If This Be Not a Good Play, the Devil Is in It (1611)
Authors: Seymour Laura
Published: September 2023

Focuses on depictions of proprioception Thomas Dekker’s c. 1611 play If This Be Not a Good Play The Devil is In It. Explains the ways in Dekker engages readers’ and audiences’ kinesic and kinaesthetic understanding. Contextualises the play in terms of early modern theories of bewitchment and demonology, and folkloric material.
Chaste and Silent – Again. Vitality and the Bound and Loosed Body in I. T.’s Grim the Collier of Croydon; or, The Devil and His Dame (c. 1600)
Authors: Seymour Laura
Published: September 2023

Discusses the c.1600 play Grim the Collier of Croydon, of uncertain authorship. Focuses on the imagery of binding and loosening in this play, contextualising it in terms of Reformation debates about the Power of the Keys (priests’ power of binding and loosing). Argues that images of vitality – periods of stasis followed by an onrush of energy – linger in audiences’ minds more powerfully than the play’s words.
Introduction
Authors: Verschaffel Bart
Published: September 2023

The Introduction explains how the book is composed and how the essays for this collection were selected. It formulates the basic motivation for the kind of writing and the general perspective: thinking clearly and contributing to the ‘conversation of mankind’ about art with the minimal jargon possible, in between academia and the art world; escaping from the pressure to narrow reflection on art to the application of 'theory' consisting of a fashionably changing, limited set of concepts and problematics; choosing art and dealing with art that does not give in to the expectation, or demand, that art must be about the right content.
Uttalsundervisning på sfi
Authors: Zetterholm Elisabeth , Ydringer Emeli
Published: September 2023

Vuxna andraspråksinlärare talar ofta språket med en brytning, men det behöver inte betyda att det är svårt att förstå talaren. För att undvika missförstånd i kommunikation är ett begripligt uttal nödvändigt. Därför är explicit uttalsundervisning viktigt. Många lärare menar att det är svårt att undervisa i uttal och lägger därför mera tid på andra moment i sin undervisning. Efter att ha fått mera kunskap och didaktiska verktyg, i ett samarbete mellan lärare och forskare i ett ULF-projekt, har lärare nu fått en ny insikt om viken av uttalsundervisning och integrerar det i sin undervisning på olika nivåer. De menar också att eleverna fått en ökad medvetenhet och förståelse för vikten av ett förståeligt uttal vilket kommer att bidra till ett bättre och tydligare uttal.
Att upprätthålla en gemenskap i skolan
Authors: Horton Paul
Published: September 2023

Enligt skollagen (2010:800, kap. 2) ska grundskolan ’främja allsidiga kontakter och social gemenskap och ge god grund för ett aktivt deltagande i samhällslivet.’ Skolan ska med andra ord bidra till att elever blir en del av en god gemenskap. Men det kan upplevs som svårt för skolpersonal att hantera elevers sociala relationer eftersom de ofta inte är närvarande när något negativt händer, och även när de är närvarande kan det vara svårt att veta om det som sagts eller gjorts var negativt menat eller ’bara på skoj’. I detta ULF-projekt tog vi utgångspunkt i en hela-skolan-ansats med syftet att utveckla medvetenheten hos lärare och elever kring dessa frågor och öka vuxennärvaron på platser i skolan som både forskningen och eleverna själva pekat ut som särskilt socialt riskabla.
Facile green synthesis and characterization of Terminalia arjuna bark phenolic–selenium nanogel: a biocompatible and green nano-biomaterial for multifaceted biological applications
Authors: Puri Abhijeet , Mohite Popat , Patil Swati , Chidrawar Vijay R. , Ushir Yogesh V. , Dodiya Rajesh , Singh Sudarshan
Published: September 2023

Biogenic nanoparticle production is in demand as it is secure, has great promise, and is environmental friendly. This study aimed at green synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of Terminalia arjuna selenium nanoparticles (TA-SeNPs) for their antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer activities, and their incorporation in gel for biomedical applications. The bio-reduction attributes of the T. arjuna (TA) bark extract were utilized to fabricate selenium nanoparticles. The TA bark extract is abundant in phenolics (193.63 ± 1.61 mg gallic acid equivalents/g), flavonoids (88.23 ± 0.39 mg quercetin equivalents/g), and tannins (109.46 ± 1.16 mg catechin equivalents/g), which perform as effective capping and stabilizing agents, thus enabling the fabrication of stable SeNPs. The fabrication of TA-SeNPs was corroborated by UV–visible spectra, which exhibited surface plasmon resonance at 291 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated nano-sized spherical TA-SeNPs with an average diameter ranging from 100 to 150 nm. Zeta potential analysis revealed that TA-SeNPs were negatively charged (−26.1 mV). X-ray diffraction presented amorphous TA-SeNPs with a quantification of 82.36 ± 10.2 μg/mL resulting from ICP-AES. The IC50 45.18 ± 0.11 μg/mL for the DPPH assay and 66.51% reducing power capacity values indicated that the TA-SeNPs possessed excellent radical scavenging efficacy. Moreover, the TA-SeNPs exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against potential pathogens. Additionally, the TA-SeNPs exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, with an IC50 of 23.41 μg/mL. Furthermore, the TA-SeNP-incorporated gel showed excellent spreadability, extrudability, and consistency with retention of antimicrobial properties and hydrophilic contact angle. As an outcome, TA-SeNPs offer the possibility of the formulation and growth of sustainably designed green SeNPs that can be produced, conserved, and marketed securely across the globe.
Staphylococcus cohnii infection diagnosed by metagenomic next generation sequencing in a patient on hemodialysis with cirrhotic ascites: a case report
Authors: Lei Yu , Guo Qiaozhen , Liu Jingmei , Huang Huanjun , Han Ping
Published: September 2023

Background

Patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) often just receive empirical antibiotic therapy, as pathogens can be identified in only few patients using the techniques of conventional culture. Metagenomic next generation sequencing (mNGS) is a useful tool for diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, clinical application of mNGS in diagnosis of infected ascites of cirrhotic patients is rarely reported.

Case presentation

A 53-year-old male with cirrhosis on regular hemodialysis presented with continuous abdominal pain. After treatment with empiric antibiotics, his inflammatory parameters decreased without significant relief of abdominal pain. Finally, based on ascites mNGS detection, he was diagnosed as infection of Staphylococcus cohnii (S.cohnii), a gram-positive opportunistic pathogen. With targeted antibiotic treatment, the bacterial peritonitis was greatly improved and the patient’s abdominal pain was significantly alleviated.

Conclusions

When conventional laboratory diagnostic methods and empirical antibiotic therapy fail, proper application of mNGS can help identify pathogens and significantly improve prognosis and patients’ symptoms.
Evolutionary, comparative, and functional analyses of STATs and regulation of the JAK-STAT pathway in lumpfish upon bacterial and poly(I:C) exposure
Authors: Rao Shreesha S. , Nelson Patrick A. , Lunde Harald S. , Haugland Gyri T.
Published: September 2023

Background

The Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK-STAT) system regulates several biological processes by affecting transcription of genes as a response to cytokines and growth factors. In the present study, we have characterized the STAT genes in lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.), belonging to the order Perciformes, and investigated regulation of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway upon exposure to bacteria (Vibrio anguillarum) and poly(I:C), the latter mimicking antiviral responses.

Methods

Characterization and evolutionary analyses of the STATs were performed by phylogeny, protein domain, homology similarity and synteny analyses. Antibacterial and antiviral responses were investigated by performing KEGG pathway analysis.

Results

We observed that lumpfish have stat1a, 2, 3, 4, 5a, 5b, and 6. Transcriptome-wide analyses showed that most components of the JAK-STAT pathway were present in lumpfish. il-6, il-10, il-21, iκBα and stat3 were upregulated 6 hours post exposure (hpe) against bacteria while type I interferons (IFNs), irf1, irf3, irf10, stat1 and 2 were upregulated 24 hpe against poly(I:C).

Conclusions

Our findings shed light on the diversity and evolution of the STATs and the data show that the STAT genes are highly conserved among fish, including lumpfish. The transcriptome-wide analyses lay the groundwork for future research into the functional significance of these genes in regulating critical biological processes and make an important basis for development of prophylactic measure such as vaccination, which is highly needed for lumpfish since it is vulnerable for both bacterial and viral diseases.
Urgent and emergent repair of complex aortic aneurysms using an off-the-shelf branched device
Authors: Nana Petroula , Spanos Konstantinos , Jakimowicz Tomasz , Torrealba Jose I. , Jama Katarzyna , Panuccio Giuseppe , Rohlffs Fiona , Kölbel Tilo
Published: September 2023

Introduction

Endovascular repair using off-the-shelf endografts is a viable solution in patients with ruptured or symptomatic complex aortic aneurysms. This analysis aimed to present the peri-operative and follow-up outcomes in urgent and emergent cases managed with the t-Branch multibranched thoracoabdominal endograft.

Methods

Prospectively collected data from all consecutive urgent and emergent cases managed in two aortic centers between January 1st, 2014, to November 30th, 2022, using the t-Branch device (Cook Medical Inc., Bjaeverskov, Denmark) were analyzed. Patients presenting with ruptured aortic complex aneurysms were characterized as emergent and patients with aneurysms >90 mm of diameter, or symptomatic aneurysms were characterized as urgent. Technical success, 30-day mortality, major adverse events (MAE) and spinal cord ischemia (SCI) rates were assessed.

Results

225 patients (36.5% females, 72.5 ± 2.8 years) were included; 73.0% were urgent. The mean aneurysm diameter was 109 ± 3.9 mm and 44.4% were type I–III TAAAs. Females (p = .03), para-renal aneurysms (p = .02) and ASA score IV (p < .001) were more common in emergent cases. Technical success was 97.8%. Thirty-day mortality and MAE rates were 17.8% and 30.6%, respectively. SCI rate was 14.7%, (4.8% paraplegia rate) with 22.2% of patients receiving prophylactic cerebrospinal drainage. Thirty-day mortality (13.3% vs. 26.7%, p = .04) and MAE (26.0% vs. 43.0%, p = .02) were more common among emergent cases while technical success (97.6% vs. 98.3%, p = .9), and SCI (13.3% vs. 18.3%, p = .4) were similar. Survival at 12-months was 83.5% (SE 5.9%) for the urgent and 77.1% (SE 8.2%) for the emergent group (log rank, p = 0.96).

Conclusion

T-Branch represents an effective and safe solution for the management of urgent and emergent cases with complex aortic aneurysms, with high technical success, promising early mortality and SCI rates.
Reflections on leadership preparation research and current directions
Authors: Orr Margaret Terry
Published: September 2023

This reflection addresses the need for research on how leadership preparation features develop candidates’ leadership skills and practices, as aligned to recent research on how principals best influence student learning. It reviews the nature of leadership preparation research, the investments in preparation programs, how the field has promoted leadership preparation research, and new developments in related research. Guskey’s program evaluation framework—which emphasizes evaluating the effects of professional learning on what candidates learn and do and the impact on their organizations—is useful in highlighting current shortcomings in how preparation features have been evaluated and identifying areas for further, more strategic research.
NGS analysis of collagen type I genes in Polish patients with Osteogenesis imperfecta: a nationwide multicenter study
Authors: Sałacińska Kinga , Pinkier Iwona , Rutkowska Lena , Chlebna-Sokół Danuta , Jakubowska-Pietkiewicz Elżbieta , Michałus Izabela , Kępczyński Łukasz , Salachna Dominik , Wieczorek-Cichecka Nina , Piotrowicz Małgorzata , Chilarska Tatiana , Jamsheer Aleksander , Matusik Paweł , Wilk Małgorzata , Petriczko Elżbieta , Giżewska Maria , Stecewicz Iwona , Walczak Mieczysław , Rybak-Krzyszkowska Magda , Lewiński Andrzej , Gach Agnieszka
Published: September 2023

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic disorder of the connective tissue. It presents with a wide spectrum of skeletal and extraskeletal features, and ranges in severity from mild to perinatal lethal. The disease is characterized by a heterogeneous genetic background, where approximately 85%–90% of cases have dominantly inherited heterozygous pathogenic variants located in the COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes. This paper presents the results of the first nationwide study, performed on a large cohort of 197 Polish OI patients. Variants were identified using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) custom gene panel and multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA) assay. The following OI types were observed: 1 (42%), 2 (3%), 3 (35%), and 4 (20%). Collagen type I pathogenic variants were reported in 108 families. Alterations were observed in α1 and α2 in 70% and 30% of cases, respectively. The presented paper reports 97 distinct causative variants and expands the OI database with 38 novel pathogenic changes. It also enabled the identification of the first glycine-to-tryptophan substitution in the COL1A1 gene and brought new insights into the clinical severity associated with variants localized in “lethal regions”. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the clinical and genetic aspects of OI.
Thermal decomposition of n-hexane in organic Rankine cycle: a study combined ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamic and density functional theory
Authors: Liu Wei , Wang Nan , Chen Jun , Shen Aijing , Yan Fei
Published: September 2023

The thermal decomposition mechanism of n-hexane is investigated by using density functional theory and ReaxFF force field. The initial decomposition reactions, the effect of temperature on thermal decomposition and first-order kinetics are analyzed. The results show that the C-C bonds in n-hexane molecule are more easily decomposed than that of C-H bonds, and the breakage of C3-C4 bond is the main initial decomposition reaction. The main decomposition products of n-hexane are H2, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, and C3H6. The decomposition rate of n-hexane is accelerated by temperature. The apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor of n-hexane thermal decomposition are 209.8 kJ mol−1 and 1.1 × 1013 s−1, respectively.
Silvicultural treatments improve pest and disease conditions of white pine (Pinus strobus) residual trees and regeneration
Authors: Munck Isabel Alvarez , Yamasaki Mariko , Janelle Jon
Published: September 2023

Managing multiple forest insect pests and diseases is challenging. For example, in eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) stands whereas partial shading and high seedling density is encouraged to reduce damage by white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) and white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi), dense conditions in the understory may increase damage by foliar diseases such as brown spot needle blight (Lecanosticta acicola) and Caliciopsis canker (Caliciopsis pinea). We evaluated the effect of silvicultural treatments, shelterwoods (residual basal area < 18 m2 ha−1), low density thinnings (residual basal area ≤ 14 m2 ha−1), patch cuts (1.2 ha openings), and untreated controls on damage by these insect pest and diseases in residual overstory trees and regeneration. Shelterwoods and low density thinnings provided a good balance of some shading and reduced stem density, which resulted in less weevil damage and foliar disease severity. Crown condition and quality of regeneration was better in all treatments compared to unmanaged controls. Shelterwoods, low density thinnings and patch cuts have the added benefit on increasing seral habitat, resulting in greater songbird diversity.
Flow cytometric analysis of innate lymphoid cells: challenges and solutions
Authors: Sadeghalvad Mona , Khijakadze Davit , Orangi Mona , Takei Fumio
Published: September 2023

Introduction

The three groups of helper innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), namely ILC1, ILC2 and ILC3, have been identified by flow cytometry by combinations of cell surface markers. Here, we review various ways ILCs are currently identified, focusing on potential problems and their solutions. The first step to identify all ILCs is to exclude other lymphocytes and myeloid cells by their lineage-specific markers (Lin). However, the Lin cocktail varies in various studies, and the definition of Lin- population containing ILCs is often ambiguous, resulting in contamination of Lin+ cells, particularly T cells.

Method

We have designed combinations of cell surface markers to identify ILC populations in various tissues of B6 mice by flow cytometry. To minimize T cell contamination, TCR/CD3ϵ antibodies were used separately from the Lin cocktail. ILCs identified by surface markers are confirmed by the expression of the transcription factors GATA3, RORγt, T-bet and Eomes.

Result

ILC1s in the B6 mouse liver are identified by Lin-NKp46+NK1.1+TCR/CD3ϵ−CD49a+CD49b−. However, defining ILC1s in other tissues remains a challenge. ILC2s in the lung are identified by Lin−TCR/CD3ϵ− Thy1+CD127+ST2+ whereas ILC2s in the small intestine and liver are identified by Lin−TCR/CD3ϵ−Thy1+GATA3+RORγt−. ILC3s in B6 mouse spleen, liver, lung and small intestine are identified by Lin−TCR/CD3ϵ− Thy1+CD127+RORγt+.

Discussion

The ILC population is heterogeneous and the strategies to identify ILCs have to be designed for each ILC population and tissue. Excluding T cells in all cases is crucial, and a combination of transcription factors GATA3, RORγt, T-bet, and Eomes should be used to identify ILCs. Using CD3ϵ/TCRs in a different fluorochrome not in Lin cocktail minimizes contamination of T cells specifically identify individual ILC populations in various tissues.
ß1-adrenergic blockers preserve neuromuscular function by inhibiting the production of extracellular traps during systemic inflammation in mice
Authors: Bourcier Camille H. , Michel-Flutot Pauline , Emam Laila , Adam Lucille , Gasser Adeline , Vinit Stéphane , Mansart Arnaud
Published: September 2023

Severe inflammation via innate immune system activation causes organ dysfunction. Among these, the central nervous system (CNS) is particularly affected by encephalopathies. These symptoms are associated with the activation of microglia and a potential infiltration of leukocytes. These immune cells have recently been discovered to have the ability to produce extracellular traps (ETs). While these components capture and destroy pathogens, deleterious effects occur such as reduced neuronal excitability correlated with excessive ETs production. In this study, the objectives were to determine (1) whether immune cells form ETs in the CNS during acute inflammation (2) whether ETs produce neuromuscular disorders and (3) whether an immunomodulatory treatment such as β1-adrenergic blockers limits these effects. We observed an infiltration of neutrophils in the CNS, an activation of microglia and a production of ETs following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. Atenolol, a β1-adrenergic blocker, significantly decreased the production of ETs in both microglia and neutrophils. This treatment also preserved the gastrocnemius motoneuron excitability. Similar results were observed when the production of ETs was prevented by sivelestat, an inhibitor of ET formation. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that LPS administration increases neutrophils infiltration into the CNS, activates immune cells and produces ETs that directly impair neuromuscular function. Prevention of ETs formation by β1-adrenergic blockers partly restores this function and could be a good target in order to reduce adverse effects in severe inflammation such as sepsis but also in other motor related pathologies linked to ETs production.
M2 macrophage inhibits the antitumor effects of Lenvatinib on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Yang Long , Han Pinsheng , Cui Tao , Miao Yu , Zhao Tianyu , Cui Zilin , Chen Yijia , Chi Hao , Zhang Jieying , Zhang Yamin
Published: September 2023

Background and objectives

The relationship between the tumor microenvironment and the network of key signaling pathways in cancer plays a key role in the occurrence and development of tumors. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are important inflammatory cells in the tumor microenvironment and play an important role in tumorigenesis and progression. Macrophages in malignant tumors, mainly the M2 subtype, promote tumor progression by producing cytokines and down-regulating anti-inflammatory immune responses. Several articles have investigated the effect of macrophages on the sensitivity of cancer chemotherapeutic agents, but few such articles have been reported in cholangiocarcinoma, so we investigated the effect of M2 macrophage on the sensitivity of cholangiocarcinoma cells to Lenvatinib compared to M1.

Methods

THP-1 monocytes were polarized to M0 macrophage by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and then induced to differentiate into M1 and M2 macrophages by LPS, IFN-γ and IL-4 and IL-13, respectively. Macrophages and cholangiocarcinoma cells were co-cultured prior to 24 hours of Lenvatinib administration, cancer cell apoptosis was detected by western-blot, FACS analysis of Annexin V and PI staining. Furthermore, we use xCELLigence RTCA SP Instrument (ACEA Bio-sciences) to monitor cell viability of Lenvatinib administration in co-culture of cholangiocarcinoma cells and macrophages. After tumorigenesis in immunodeficient mice, Lenvatinib was administered, and the effects of M2 on biological characteristics of cholangiocarcinoma cells were investigated by immuno-histochemistry.

Results

mRNA and protein expression of M1 and M2 markers confirmed the polarization of THP-1 derived macrophages, which provided a successful and efficient model of monocyte polarization to TAMs. Lenvatinib-induced apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells was significantly reduced when co-cultured with M2 macrophage, whereas apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells co-cultured with M1 macrophage was increased. In the CDX model, Lenvatinib-induced cancer cell apoptosis was markedly reduced, and proliferative cells increased in the presence of M2 macrophages. Angiogenesis related factors was significantly increased in cholangiocarcinoma cells co-cultured with M2.

Conclusion

Compared with M1, M2 macrophages can inhibit the anti-tumor effect of Lenvatinib on cholangiocarcinoma through immune regulation, which may be related to the tumor angiogenesis factor effect of M2 macrophage.
Toward efficient deep learning system for in-situ plankton image recognition
Authors: Yue Junbai , Chen Zhenshuai , Long Yupu , Cheng Kaichang , Bi Hongsheng , Cheng Xuemin
Published: September 2023

Plankton is critical for the structure and function of marine ecosystems. In the past three decades, various underwater imaging systems have been developed to collect in-situ plankton images and image processing has been a major bottleneck that hinders the deployment of plankton imaging systems. In recent years, deep learning methods have greatly enhanced our ability of processing in-situ plankton images, but high-computational demands and longtime consumption still remain problematic. In this study, we used knowledge distillation as a framework for model compression and improved computing efficiency while maintaining original high accuracy. A novel inter-class similarity distillation algorithm based on feature prototypes was proposed and enabled the student network (small scale) to acquire excellent ability for plankton recognition after being guided by the teacher network (large scale). To identify the suitable teacher network, we compared emerging Transformer neural networks and convolution neural networks (CNNs), and the best performing deep learning model, Swin-B, was selected. Utilizing the proposed knowledge distillation algorithm, the feature extraction ability of Swin-B was transferred to five more lightweight networks, and the results had been evaluated in taxonomic dataset of in-situ plankton images. Subsequently, the chosen lightweight model and the Bilateral–Sobel edge enhancement were tested to process in-situ images with high level of noises captured from coastal waters of Guangdong, China and achieved an overall recall rate of 91.73%. Our work contributes to effective deep learning models and facilitates the deployment of underwater plankton imaging systems by promoting both accuracy and speed in recognition of plankton targets.
Suspended particulates at the Point Loma, California wastewater outfall
Authors: Stokes M. Dale , Leichter James J. , Nadeau David
Published: September 2023

A recent study conducted at the Point Loma wastewater outfall in San Diego used a novel sampling technique, the Pelagic Laser Tomographer (PLT), in combination with traditional water column profiling instruments to analyze suspended particulate distributions and effluent plume dynamics. Coastal wastewater discharges create buoyant plumes that interact with the surrounding water, and the tracking and mapping of the resulting diluted effluent is essential for monitoring outfall system performance. The results from the PLT sampling highlight the utility of high spatial and temporal resolution estimates of suspended particulate size spectra to help capture the dynamics of the plume interactions with the coastal current flow field. In addition, new tools like the PLT can help marine scientists estimate natural and anthropogenic particulate size distributions that are essential to our understanding sediment and pollutant transport, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem energy dynamics.
Fatty infiltration of the pancreas: a systematic concept analysis
Authors: Mahyoub Mueataz A. , Elhoumed Mohamed , Maqul Abdulfatah Hassan , Almezgagi Maged , Abbas Mustafa , Jiao Yang , Wang Jinhai , Alnaggar Mohammed , Zhao Ping , He Shuixiang
Published: September 2023

Fatty infiltration of the pancreas (FIP) has been recognized for nearly a century, yet many aspects of this condition remain unclear. Regular literature reviews on the diagnosis, consequences, and management of FIP are crucial. This review article highlights the various disorders for which FIP has been established as a risk factor, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), pancreatitis, pancreatic fistula (PF), metabolic syndrome (MS), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma (PDAC), as well as the new investigation tools. Given the interdisciplinary nature of FIP research, a broad range of healthcare specialists are involved. This review article covers key aspects of FIP, including nomenclature and definition of pancreatic fat infiltration, history and epidemiology, etiology and pathophysiology, clinical presentation and diagnosis, clinical consequences, and treatment. This review is presented in a detailed narrative format for accessibility to clinicians and medical students.
Corticospinal excitability after 5-day Dry Immersion in women
Authors: Nosikova Inna , Riabova Alexandra , Kitov Vladimir , Tomilovskaya Elena
Published: September 2023

In light of the development of manned astronautics and the increasing participation of women in space flights, the question of female body adaptation to microgravity conditions becomes relevant. Currently, one of the important directions in this issue is to study the effects of support withdrawal as a factor of weightlessness on the human sensorimotor system. Dry Immersion is one of the well-known ground-based models, which adequately reproduces the main physiological effects of space flight. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in motor evoked potentials of the lower leg gravity-dependent muscles in women after a 5-day Dry Immersion. We analyzed evoked responses to transcranial and trans-spinal magnetic stimulation. In this method, areas of interest (the motor cortex and lumbosacral thickening of the spinal cord) are stimulated with an electromagnetic stimulus. The experiment was conducted with the participation of 16 healthy female volunteers with a natural menstrual cycle. The thresholds, amplitudes, and latencies of motor potentials evoked by magnetic stimulation were assessed. We showed that 5-day exposure to support withdrawal leads to a decrease in motor-evoked potential thresholds and central motor conduction time, although changes in motor response amplitudes were ambiguous. The data obtained correspond to the results of previous research on Dry Immersion effects on the sensorimotor system in men.
Diffusion tensor free water MRI predicts progression of FLAIR white matter hyperintensities after ischemic stroke
Authors: Kern Kyle C. , Zagzoug Marwah S. , Gottesman Rebecca F. , Wright Clinton B. , Leigh Richard
Published: September 2023

Background

The progression of FLAIR white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on MRI heralds vascular-mediated cognitive decline. Even before FLAIR WMH progression, adjacent normal appearing white matter (NAWM) already demonstrates microstructural deterioration on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We hypothesized that elevated DTI free water (FW) would precede FLAIR WMH progression, implicating interstitial fluid accumulation as a key pathological step in the progression of cerebral small vessel disease.

Methods

Participants at least 3 months after an ischemic stroke or TIA with WMH on MRI underwent serial brain MRIs every 3 months over the subsequent year. For each participant, the WMHs were automatically segmented, serial MRIs were aligned, and a region of WMH penumbra tissue at risk was defined by dilating lesions at any time point and subtracting baseline lesions. Penumbra voxels were classified as either stable or progressing to WMH if they were segmented as new lesions and demonstrated increasing FLAIR intensity over time. Aligned DTI images included FW and FW-corrected fractional anisotropy (FATissue) and mean diffusivity (MDTissue). Logistic regression and area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve (AUC) were used to test whether baseline DTI predicted voxel-wise classification of stable penumbra or progression to WMH while covarying for clinical risk factors.

Results

In the included participants (n = 26, mean age 71 ± 9 years, 31% female), we detected a median annual voxel-wise WMH growth of 2.9 ± 2.6 ml. Each baseline DTI metric was associated with lesion progression in the penumbra, but FW had the greatest AUC of 0.732 (0.730 – 0.733) for predicting voxel-wise WMH progression pooled across participants.

Discussion

Baseline increased interstitial fluid, estimated as FW on DTI, predicted the progression of NAWM to WMH over the following year. These results implicate the presence of FW in the pathogenesis of cerebral small vessel disease progression.