bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Introduction: Making As Thinking, And VICE VERSA
Authors: Bal Mieke , Mitchell W. J. T.
Published: January 2023

A discussion of Material Image-Thinking, through a theatricality-based instance, brings up the need to find a term more appropriate and less hierarchical than the now-usual “artistic research”. The intertwinement of image-thinking and its resulting thought-images facilitates the build-up of a threshold where thinking, imagining, and “imaging” can merge. The chapters ends on an overview of the remaining chapters of the book, which includes brief presentations of the case studies.
Agency, Facing
Authors: Bal Mieke , Mitchell W. J. T.
Published: January 2023

The chapter challenges attempts to impose as well as to discard universalisms. One of the most tenacious instances of universalism is motherhood. The concept of facing is central in developing a vision of art that foregrounds both the global and the local, the universal and the intimate. Thinking of motherhood as a universal counters a problematic relativising, like relativising the horror of losing a child by alleging that, in some underprivileged countries, losing a child to illness, hunger, or violence occurs so frequently that it is “normal”; a dreadful condescendence and acceptance of the unacceptable. Now that we are bound to those underprivileged situations by knowledge and economic complicity, assuming the universality of motherhood – through a “strategic universalism” – is a political necessity. The work discussed, the installation Nothing is Missing, consists of audiovisual units that play DVDs of thirty minutes in which a mother talks about a child who has left in migration. It is set in a gallery looking like a generic living room, where visiting is like a social call. The image is a portrait of a woman speaking to someone else. Apart from a short introductory sequence, the videos consist of unedited single shots.
Exploring Taboos
Authors: Pugsley Peter C.
Published: January 2023

This chapter tracks the on-screen representations of themes and individual moments that might otherwise be seen as taboo in ‘polite’ Japanese culture. The awkwardness of adolescence and ‘first love’ is a universally frequent theme in high school films, and this chapter shows how verbal and physical bullying is used in Japanese films to build narratives centred on torment, shame and embarrassment in the high school environment.
Religious Dissent
Authors: Sim Stuart
Published: January 2023

Monotheistic religions historically have been harsh on dissent, demanding uncritical belief of their adherents. Fundamentalism in particular has been very intolerant towards any deviation from traditional doctrine, and continues to be so to this day. Nevertheless, dissenting movements have emerged from within the main monotheisms down the years, and a selection of these are discussed here. The chapter is to be considered a case study in the evolution of opposition to authority and the response of the latter to dissent coming from within its own ranks. Amongst the dissenting movements dealt with are: Cathars, Lollards, Hussites, and then Protestantism and Puritanism. John Bunyan is taken as an important example of the dissenting lifestyle, immortalised in his famous allegory The Pilgrim's Progress.
Formal Matters
Authors: Roth Zoë
Published: January 2023

The discursive body of postmodernism exploded essentialist ideologies about race, gender, and sexuality. But at what cost? In asserting that bodily materiality can only be grasped through representation, postmodernism placed embodied experience beyond expression. To repair postmodernism's fragmented, unrepresentable body, Formal Matters turns to an unexpected source: early and mid-century formalisms. Bringing together formalism's endeavour to give form to the ineffable with postmodernism's discursive body, Formal Matters argues that embodiment-or the experience of the lived, corporeal body-is not what resists representation but what constitutes form. Working at the intersection of formalist criticism, phenomenology, and body studies, Zoë Roth reassesses the relationship between embodiment and form in a range of modern European authors, including Primo Levi, Maurice Blanchot, Samuel Beckett, Anne F. Garréta, and Hannah Arendt. Through close textual analysis, Formal Matters provides a new method for grasping embodied experience where it appears most attenuated and fragmented. It provides an original account of the body's relationship to language and representation, while also reinvigorating formalist methods with political potential.
Against The Unrepresentable: The Common Sense of Embodied Form
Authors: Roth Zoë
Published: January 2023

The Afterword revisits the political dimension of embodied form, and the embodied form of politics, through the work of Hannah Arendt. Using her notion of 'common sense' as the sense of the body politic, the chapter argues that literary form helps integrate the embodied experience of those who do not figure within normative realms of representation into wider political forms. Against the destituency of both poststructuralism and totalitarianism, Arendt insists upon the need to construct shared forms of sensory perception that exceed the individual, subjective experiences of the body. Poetic language and form provide the expressive 'bridge' between embodiment and politics.
The Sketches: A Secondary Storyteller
Authors: Munro Lachlan
Published: January 2023

An analysis of Graham’s chosen writing medium, the impressionistic ‘sketch’. Graham’s inspiration from Bret Harte. Graham’s association with Edward Garnett, and his friendship with Joseph Conrad.
Colonialism: Misdirected Labours
Authors: Munro Lachlan
Published: January 2023

Graham’s evocations of frontier life in Argentina. Inspiration from Alfred Ebélot. Graham only writes from his own experiences. The impact of ‘progress’ on indigenous populations. Colonial abusers, and naive ‘do-gooders’.
Gendering Civil War
Authors: Rebeiz Mireille
Published: January 2023

Writers in contemporary Lebanon stand at the crossroads of challenging and often violent dynamics in a multi-ethnic postcolonial society where competing cultural and political forces present specific and pressing problems for women. This book examines French-language narratives published between the 1970s and the present day by Lebanese women writers focusing on the civil war of 1975-1991. Drawing on a corpus of writings by Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Etel Adnan, Evelyne Accad, Andrée Chedid, Hyam Yared, and Georgia Makhlouf, some of which has previously received little or no scholarly attention, the book examines in innovative ways the use of distinctive narrative forms to address inter-linked questions of violence, war trauma, and gender relations.
The Humanist Voice of the Omniscient Narrator
Authors: Rebeiz Mireille
Published: January 2023

Chapter 2 examines the narrative voice from a post-classical narratology point of view in Andrée Chedid’s La Maisan Sans Racines (1985) and Le Message (2000), and Evelyne Accad’s Coquelicot du Massacre (1988). This Chapter argues that the omniscient narrator roams freely between the protagonists and provides a humanist reading to the events. In a cacophonic world, the omniscient narrator attempts to remain gender neutral and at equal distance from all protagonists.
The Evil, Sick and Disabled Female Body
Authors: Rebeiz Mireille
Published: January 2023

This Chapter examines Vénus Khoury-Ghata’s La Maîtresse du Notable (1992) and Hyam Yared’s La Malédiction (2012). It marks a shift in the analysis and focuses on the female body, which contributes to the construction of the narrative. In La Maîtresse du Notable, the war narrative is constructed around the image of the evil female body. The war erupts and the female body of the main protagonist is seen as the source of all the city’s ailments. In La Malédiction (2012), the sick and disabled female body represents a war-torn Lebanon.
The Magical Body and the Grotesque Body
Authors: Rebeiz Mireille
Published: January 2023

Chapter 4 focuses on the grotesque female body in Hyam Yared and Vénus Khoury-Ghata’s writings; it distinguishes between magical realism and grotesque realism or the carnivalesque. Hyam Yared’s L’Armoire des Ombres tells Lebanese women’s war stories through the magical realist image of a woman removing her shadow and putting someone else’s. This postmodern genre allows the writer to represent the war from the alternative space of magic, a space traditionally dedicated to the postcolonial marginalized voices who wish to speak against mainstream imperialistic powers. As for grotesque realism, it appears in Vénus Khoury-Ghata’s Vacarme Pour Une Lune Morte and its sequel Les Morts N’Ont Pas D’Ombre. These novels put forward the carnivalesque upside down world of Nabilie (which is Liban/Lebanon spelled backwards) where logical rules that govern space, time, life, and death are suspended. Vénus Khoury-Ghata, just like Rabelais, creates a vulgar universe to represent the madness happening in violent Lebanon.
A History of Crossroads in Early Modern Culture
Authors: Angus Bill
Published: January 2023

A History of Crossroads deals with the literature and history of the physical crossroads: its magical and religious encounters, rituals of transformation, binding of undesirable spirits, siting of gallows, associations with music, and links to ancient cosmology. Throughout history, physical crossroads have been culturally vital sites where forces human, demonic and divine were felt to converge. In many places and times, crossroads have seemed to render the boundaries between these spheres negotiable, subject to certain artifice and timing. They gave access to gods and facilitated deals with devils, they were potent sites for rituals intended to influence lovers or harm enemies and provided both a dramatic stage for communal activities and a liminal burial ground for the unwanted dead cast out in ceremonies of the night. Engaging with influential theories of cultural geography, the book assesses these phenomena collectively and discusses the possibility that the varying functions of the crossroads are related, possibly even interdependent. Its primary focus is on early modern Europe, with an isomorphic methodology that considers symmetries in other places and times. It contributes to current debates on the interaction of place and space, metamorphosis, the function of ritual, the embodiment of rejection, the figure of the wanderer and perceptions of the sacred and the profane.
Hallowed Roads: Routes to the Crossroads
Authors: Angus Bill
Published: January 2023

The status of the crossroads in the early modern imagination is bound up with ideas of the road itself, and certain roads in particular, especially where this refers to the pedestrians who might use them in ways beyond the normal necessity to travel. With the understanding that to fully understand any geographical site it must be seen in the context of the roads which lead in and out of it, this chapter explores sacred paths of various kinds, including the ‘church-way paths’ of Britain, the ancient countryside funeral routes which were understandably invested with some superstitious awe. Roads of this kind were a part of the early modern psyche and are referred to in texts like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and in the historical record. These and other forms of sacred or moral paths lent some of their presence to the places where roads crossed, and so inform the nature and understanding of the crossroads in literature and history.
Monsters: ‘Spirits of another sort’
Authors: Angus Bill
Published: January 2023

The crossroads is an established meeting place for disparate traditions of spirits and the other dangerous and disturbing creatures one might find wandering at night, in the liminal places of the world. In 1603 Samuel Harsnett laments how ‘children, old women and maides’ are afraid to cross a Y-shaped crossroads for fear of a menagerie of monsters. Despite the anti-Catholic rhetoric in this exasperated exposition, for some of course the maligned suspension of the natural order is exactly what they are looking for. This chapter deals with the many traditions of spirits other than those of the departed, and the dangerous and disturbing implications of things typically found either wandering or bound at crossroads. It suggests that the perception of the crossroads includes its potential for alleviating the common human feeling of powerlessness at the hands of capricious forces of all kinds, not excluding the gods.
Effective assay technologies fit for large-scale population screening of type 1 diabetes
Authors: Jia Xiaofan , Yu Liping
Published: January 2023

While worldwide prevention efforts for type 1 diabetes (T1D) are underway to abrogate or slow progression to diabetes, mass screening of islet autoantibodies (IAbs) in the general population is urgently needed. IAbs, the most reliable biomarkers, play an essential role in prediction and clinical diagnosis of T1D. Through laboratory proficiency programs and harmonization efforts, a radio-binding assay (RBA) has been well established as the current ‘gold’ standard assay for all four IAbs. However, in view of the need for large-scale screening in the non-diabetic population, RBA consistently faces two fundamental challenges, cost-efficiency and disease specificity. While all four IAbs are important for disease prediction, the RBA platform, with a separate IAb test format is laborious, inefficient and expensive. Furthermore, the majority of IAb positivity in screening, especially from individuals with single IAb were found to be low risk with low affinity. It is well documented from multiple clinical studies that IAbs with low affinity are low risk with less or no disease relevance. At present, two non-radioactive multiplex assays, a 3-assay ELISA combining three IAbs and a multiplex ECL assay combining all four IAbs, have been successfully used as the primary methods for general population screenings in Germany and the US, respectively. Recently, the TrialNet Pathway to Prevention study has been organizing an IAb workshop which aims to analyze the 5-year T1D predictive values of IAbs. A T1D-specific assay with high efficiency, low cost and requiring low volume of sample will definitely be necessary to benefit general population screening.
Defects of Nutrient Signaling and Autophagy in Neurodegeneration
Authors: Ondaro Jon , Hernandez-Eguiazu Haizea , Garciandia-Arcelus Maddi , Loera-Valencia Raúl , Rodriguez-Gómez Laura , Jiménez-Zúñiga Andrés , Goikolea Julen , Rodriguez-Rodriguez Patricia , Ruiz-Martinez Javier , Moreno Fermín , Lopez de Munain Adolfo , Holt Ian James , Gil-Bea Francisco Javier , Gereñu Gorka
Published: January 2023

Graphical Abstract

Schematic Representation Highlighting the Mechanisms of Nutrient Sensing and Autophagy Under Physiological Conditions.
Identification of EMT-Related Genes and Prognostic Signature With Significant Implications on Biological Properties and Oncology Treatment of Lower Grade Gliomas
Authors: Wu Jiasheng , He Jinru , Zhang Jiheng , Ji Hang , Wang Nan , Ma Shuai , Yan Xiuwei , Gao Xin , Du Jianyang , Liu Zhihui , Hu Shaoshan
Published: January 2023

Graphical Abstract

The mechanism of how EMT-related genes affected the biological properties of LGG and the predictive capability of EMTsig
Application of nanopore adaptive sequencing in pathogen detection of a patient with Chlamydia psittaci infection
Authors: Lin Yanfeng , Dai Yan , Zhang Shuang , Guo Hao , Yang Lang , Li Jinhui , Wang Kaiying , Ni Ming , Hu Zongqian , Jia Leili , Liu Huiying , Li Peng , Song Hongbin
Published: January 2023

Introduction

Nanopore sequencing has been widely used in clinical metagenomic sequencing for pathogen detection with high portability and real-time sequencing. Oxford Nanopore Technologies has recently launched an adaptive sequencing function, which can enrich on-target reads through real-time alignment and eject uninteresting reads by reversing the voltage across the nanopore. Here we evaluated the utility of adaptive sequencing in clinical pathogen detection.

Methods

Nanopore adaptive sequencing and standard sequencing was performed on a same flow cell with a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid sample from a patient with Chlamydia psittacosis infection, and was compared with the previous mNGS results.

Results

Nanopore adaptive sequencing identified 648 on-target stop receiving reads with the longest median read length(688bp), which account for 72.4% of all Chlamydia psittaci reads and 0.03% of total reads in enriched group. The read proportion matched to C. psittaci in the stop receiving group was 99.85%, which was much higher than that of the unblock (<0.01%) and fail to adapt (0.02%) groups. Nanopore adaptive sequencing generated similar data yield of C. psittaci compared with standard nanopore sequencing. The proportion of C. psittaci reads in adaptive sequencing is close to that of standard nanopore sequencing and mNGS, but generated lower genome coverage than mNGS.

Discussion

Nanopore adaptive sequencing can effectively identify target C. psittaci reads in real-time, but how to increase the targeted data of pathogens still needs to be further evaluated.
Impacts of urban decline on local climatology: A comparison of growing and shrinking cities in the post-industrial Rust Belt
Authors: Hwang Kyotaek , Eklund Alex , Valdez Cecily , Papuga Shirley A.
Published: January 2023

Cities such as Detroit, MI in the post-industrial Rust Belt region of the United States, have been experiencing a decline in both population and economy since the 1970's. These “shrinking cities” are characterized by aging infrastructure and increasing vacant areas, potentially resulting in more green space. While in growing cities research has demonstrated an “urban heat island” effect resulting from increased temperatures with increased urbanization, little is known about how this may be different if a city shrinks due to urban decline. We hypothesize that the changes associated with shrinking cities will have a measurable impact on their local climatology that is different than in areas experiencing increased urbanization. Here we present our analysis of historical temperature and precipitation records (1900–2020) from weather stations positioned in multiple shrinking cities from within the Rust Belt region of the United States and in growing cities within and outside of this region. Our results suggest that while temperatures are increasing overall, these increases are lower in shrinking cities than those cities that are continuing to experience urban growth. Our analysis also suggests there are differences in precipitation trends between shrinking and growing cities. We also highlight recent climate data in Detroit, MI in the context of these longer-term changes in climatology to support urban planning and management decisions that may influence or be influenced by these trends.
Galectin-3 Inhibition Ameliorates Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Cardiomyopathy in Mice
Authors: Zhu Ning , Zhu Liuyan , Huang Bingwu , Xiang Wenjun , Zhao Xuyong
Published: January 2023

Graphical Abstract

Gal-3 triggers myocardial apoptosis, oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines release, macrophage infiltration, and fibrosis, leading to cardiac dysfunction in DCM mice.
Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to evaluate a nationwide depression prevention project (ImplementIT) from the perspective of health care workers and implementers: Results on the implementation of digital interventions for farmers
Authors: Freund Johanna , Ebert David Daniel , Thielecke Janika , Braun Lina , Baumeister Harald , Berking Matthias , Titzler Ingrid
Published: January 2023

Introduction

Depression has a significant impact on individuals and society, which is why preventive measures are important. Farmers represent an occupational group exposed to many risk factors for depression. The potential of guided, tailored internet-based interventions and a personalized telephone coaching is evaluated in a German project of the Social Insurance for Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture (SVLFG). While user outcomes are promising, not much is known about actual routine care use and implementation of the two digital health interventions. This study evaluates the implementation from the perspective of social insurance employees to understand determinants influencing the uptake and implementation of digital interventions to prevent depression in farmers.

Methods

The data collection and analysis are based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Health care workers (n = 86) and implementers (n = 7) completed online surveys and/or participated in focus groups. The surveys consisted of validated questionnaires used in implementation research, adapted items from the CFIR guide or from other CFIR studies. In addition, we used reporting data to map implementation based on selected CFIR constructs.

Results

Within the five CFIR dimensions, many facilitating factors emerged in relation to intervention characteristics (e.g., relative advantage compared to existing services, evidence and quality) and the inner setting of the SVLFG (e.g., tension for change, compatibility with values and existing working processes). In addition, barriers to implementation were identified in relation to the outer setting (patient needs and resources), inner setting (e.g., available resources, access to knowledge and information) and characteristics of individuals (e.g., self-efficacy). With regard to the implementation process, facilitating factors (formal implementation leaders) as well as hindering factors (reflecting and evaluating) were identified.

Discussion

The findings shed light on the implementation of two digital prevention services in an agricultural setting. While both offerings seem to be widely accepted by health care workers, the results also point to revealed barriers and contribute to recommendations for further service implementation. For instance, special attention should be given to “patient needs and resources” by raising awareness of mental health issues among the target population as well as barriers regarding the inner setting.

Clinical Trial Registration

German Clinical Trial Registration: [DRKS00017078]. Registered on 18.04.2019
Magnesium isotopic composition of modern human teeth enamel and its implications for dietary reconstructions
Authors: Gao Fan , Zhang Pan , Liu Keyu , Ling Xue , Huang Kang-Jun
Published: January 2023

Metal stable isotopic composition of dental enamel is a novel proxy for reconstructing human dietary structure. Magnesium is the second most prevalent element in teeth only after calcium. Significant isotopic fractionation of Mg isotopes during biological processes implies its great advantages in reconstructing human recipes. To evaluate the potential of the Mg isotopic composition of dental enamel in learning the human dietary structure, elemental and Mg isotopic analyses were performed on the modern human teeth from regions in northern and southern China with various dietary characteristics. Our findings reveal that southern Chinese teeth enamel has higher Mg contents and heavier Mg isotopic compositions (-0.69‰ for SN and -0.66‰ for Hangzhou) than those of their northern counterparts (−1.27‰ for Weinan and −1.33‰ for Puyang). Such discrepancy cannot be attributed to the provenance heterogeneity or individual metabolic processes. Instead, the correlations between cereal-based dietary patterns and the δ26Mg in dental enamel demonstrate that the structure of the staple diet is more responsible for the Mg isotopic signatures. Moreover, heavier Mg isotopic compositions have been observed in dental enamel of individuals with higher rice and lower wheat in the diet, indicating that Mg isotopes are a promising tracer for rebuilding individual or population plant-based dietary structures as well as distinguishing more specific species within C3 plants. These findings suggest that Mg isotopes in teeth enamel have the great potential to better identify the food composition and constrain the diet structure of ancient humans.
Geochemical characteristics of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon isotopes and REE of cenozoic dolomites in Well Xike 1, Xisha Islands, South China sea and the significance for dolomitization in island-reef areas
Authors: Li Xiaoyu , Shi Zhiqiang , Han Lu , Hu Xiaolong
Published: January 2023

Due to the special tectonic background and complex geological evolution characteristics of the South China Sea, reef dolomite reservoirs (sush as Well Xike 1) are widely developed. Based on the drilling core data of Well Xike 1, the structure and geochemical characteristics of dolomite reservoirs, including carbon, oxygen, hydrogen isotopes and REE were systematically studied using geochemical and petrological methods. It is found that the geochemical characteristics of REE show that the main diagenetic environment of dolomites is a low-temperature alkaline semi open oxidation environment; the carbon and oxygen isotopes of the dolomites are generally lack of correlation, the δD value is significantly lower than the hydrogen isotope value of seawater. Meanwhile, the oxygen isotope value of deep dolomites is negatively biased, which may be due to the increase or decrease of pore water temperature caused by deep thermal convection that related to the regional tectonic movements of the South China Sea. The δ18O value is also consistent with the geological reality of increasing saddle dolomite content in deep dolomites. The distribution of the δ13C value indicates that the dolomite inherited the carbon of the original limestone during dolomitization, while the characteristic of the δD value shows that it may be affected by the mixing of atmospheric precipitation and concentrated seawater in the quasi contemporaneous period. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the geochemical characteristics of the Well Xike 1, it is considered that the higher diagenetic temperature could be an important factor leading to the huge differences between the diagenetic model of deep and shallow dolomites. The geochemical characteristics of the shallow dolomites show that it is mainly reflux infiltration dolomitization under the micro evaporation and concentration sea water environments, while the deep dolomite is transformed by the hot water fluids in the epigenetic diagenetic evolution stage.
Animal resource exploitation in the northern Guanzhong region during the mid-to-late Holocene: A zooarchaeological case study of the Xitou site
Authors: Wang Qianwen , Liu Kexin , Zhai Linlin , Liu Bin , Sun Han , Li Yue
Published: January 2023

Zooarchaeological approach has been effective in providing insights into human subsistence practices, which laid essential economic foundation for social, cultural, and political developments in the past. The Guanzhong region in northern China played a crucial role in the origins and evolution of ancient Chinese civilization. Previous research on subsistence economies of ancient societies in the Guanzhong region, human exploitation of animal resources in particular, has largely focused on the late Neolithic period or the Bronze Age. Insufficient work has been done for historical periods post-dating the end of the first millennium BCE. There is also a dearth of research on the long-term chronological changes. Here, we present a preliminary analysis of animal remains from the Nantou Locale of the Xitou site, a large settlement located in the northern Guanzhong region. Results show that pigs played a dominant role in the site’s animal economy during the Neolithic Yangshao and Longshan periods (ca. 5000–2000 BCE). The growing importance of cattle and caprines was documented for the Bronze Age Western Zhou period (ca. 11th-8th centuries BCE). In the Han-Tang periods (ca. second century BCE-tenth century CE), pigs regained their significance in local subsistence practices. Differences in the strategies for animal resource exploitation were possibly associated with changing social and environmental factors. Alongside other relevant archaeological evidence, our zooarchaeological data demonstrate the contribution of diversified animal use strategies to sustained development of subsistence economy in the northern Guanzhong region across millennia. The examination of long-term human-animal interactions in the Guanzhong region allows for a better understanding of changing economic, social, and political landscapes in ancient China.
Study on influencing factors and mechanism of pore compressibility of tight sandstone reservoir—A case study of upper carboniferous in ordos basin
Authors: Hu Yunbing , Guo Yinghai , Qing Hairuo , Hou Yundong
Published: January 2023

A series of studies were carried out on 11 tight sandstone samples of Upper Carboniferous in Ordos Basin. Firstly, the deposit composition and pore structure characteristics are investigated based on analysis and experiments including cast thin section scanning electron microscope high-pressure mercury intrusion and nuclear magnetic resonance Then, combined with DP-P test, the stress-dependent permeability change and pore compressibility characteristics of sandstone reservoirs were studied to reveal the influencing factors and mechanism of reservoir pore compressibility. The detrital particles of the sandstone reservoir in the study area are mainly quartz (75.8%–89%), followed by fragments (3%–16.1%), and almost no feldspar. The content of interstitial materials is 6.5%–11.2%. The type I reservoirs mainly consist of mesopores and macropores, accounting for 60.57% and 32.84% respectively. Mesopores are dominated in Type II reservoirs, accounting for 78.98% of the total pore volume. There are almost no macropores, while a similar proportion of mesopores, micro mesopores and micropores in the type Ⅲ reservoirs. The study of pore compressibility shows that the pore compressibility coefficient decreases with the increase of effective stress, and the reduction rate shows the two-stage characteristics of rapid in the early stage and slow in the later stage. The pressure turning point is between 3 and 10 MPa. The average pore compressibility coefficient increases from type I to type Ⅲ reservoirs. The compressibility coefficient is directly proportional to the changing rate of the pore volume. The higher the content of rigid detrital particles, quartz and carbonate cement in sandstone, the smaller the pore compressibility coefficient, while the higher the content of ductile components such as soft rock fragments and clay minerals, the greater the pore compression coefficient. The pore-throat structure is closely related to the pore compressibility, reservoirs with low displacement pressure, T2glm value, and large average pore-throat radius show lower compressibility coefficient. In addition, the compressibility coefficient of the reservoir is positively correlated with DL (dimension of large pores such as mesopores and macropores), and negatively correlated with DS (the fractal dimension of micropores and micro mesopores). It is considered the pore compression of sandstone including two stages, viscoplastic destructive deformation of ductile components for the first and then the small-scale non-ideal elastic deformation on rigid particles.
Research trends in international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education conference series: An analysis of a decade of proceedings
Authors: Santos Rodrigo , Anderson David , Milner-Bolotin Marina
Published: January 2023

This paper reports on the results of a descriptive analysis of 675 publications included in the proceedings of five editions of the International Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in Education Conferences held in Australia, Canada, and China over 9 years between 2012 and 2021. Peer-reviewed academic journals are traditional sources of high quality and established research. Yet these papers might take months and sometimes years to get published. On the other hand, an analysis of research foci represented at international STEM conferences can be used as a source of the most recent trends in the field, and the developments of STEM education research across time and by national origins. In this analysis, 675 abstracts from five editions of the International STEM in Education Conference were coded into eight topics, followed by a descriptive analysis of the results. Four countries were consistently the top four contributors: Australia, Canada, China, and the United States. Thus, the study conducted a descriptive analysis and discussion of the trends among these countries. The results revealed trends in STEM education research, among which policy, curriculum, assessment; K-12 teaching and learning, are dominant topics of research investigation, while postsecondary STEM teaching and learning are less investigated. The results also demonstrated the dominance of some topics over others among the countries that most contributed to the conferences. For instance, Canada dominated in the studies of culture, gender, and social issues and in postsecondary STEM education. China paid much less attention to these topics, while putting more emphasis on historical and epistemological perspectives on STEM, policy and curriculum, and K-12 teaching and learning. Australian research focused on policy and curriculum; K-12 teaching and learning; and industry. Meanwhile, the United States showed the least difference in percentages between topics. Overall the analysis indicates a relatively low interest in postsecondary STEM education research, despite the growing demand for STEM professionals. This highlights the need for STEM education research focused on institutions of higher education. This analysis interprets the trend results in light of the issues in STEM education confronting various national jurisdictions.
Deep learning-aided joint DG-substation siting and sizing in distribution network stochastic expansion planning
Authors: Han Zhentao , Li Jianfeng , Wang Qixiang , Lu Hao , Xu Siyu , Zheng Weiye , Zhang Zixin
Published: January 2023

The rapid growth of distributed generation (DG) and load has highlighted the necessity of optimizing their ways of integration, as their siting and sizing significantly impact distribution networks. However, little attention has been paid to the siting and sizing of new substations which are to be installed. This paper proposes deep learning-aided joint DG-substation siting and sizing in distribution network stochastic expansion planning. First, as the model depends on an accurate forecast, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) deep neural network is used to forecast DG output and load, where electricity growth rate, bidding capacity of the electric expansion, and industrial difference are all considered. Then, a two-stage stochastic mixed integer bilinear programming model was established for joint DG-substation siting and sizing under uncertainties, where multiple objective functions are comprehensively addressed. By using the Fortuny-Amat McCarl Linearization, the resultant bilinear model is equivalently transformed into a mixed integer linear program, which can be efficiently solved. Finally, stochastic power flow calculation in the IEEE 69-node system is conducted to analyze the influence of electric expansion and DG integration on the node voltage and power flow distribution of the power system. The effectiveness of the proposed method is also verified by simulation tests.
Temporal and spatial distribution of the alpine meadow carbon budget in Gannan, China from 1969 to 2018
Authors: Wang Xingyu , Zhang Meiling , Nazieh Stephen , Nkrumah Teddy
Published: January 2023

In recent years, carbon balance has been a hot research topic both at home and abroad. The grasslands are rich in carbon storage and are also sensitive to climate change, and the Gannan alpine meadow, a distinct type of grassland in Gansu Province, is used as the study area in this paper. The consequences of climate change have a huge impact on human development and can even cause major human disasters. Effective management of climate change is, therefore, a major problem that currently needs to be solved, and grasslands play an indispensable role in the process of carbon deposition in terrestrial ecosystems. The CENTURY model has been used to study the spatial distribution and changes in the carbon budget in the Gannan alpine meadow of Gansu Province over the last 50 years, which is of great significance for climate change management. The results show that 1) the carbon budget has different distribution characteristics in different regions. 2) The spatial distribution of the carbon budget changes over time, as evidenced by the different spatial distribution of the carbon budget in each study stage and quarter. The spatial distribution differs as well. Some areas in the northern part of southern Gansu are carbon sources in spring and carbon sinks in summer, autumn, and winter. The spatial distribution of the carbon budget changes over time and is different at each stage, but it is a carbon sink overall. 3) The Gannan alpine meadow as a whole demonstrated a carbon sink phenomenon from 1969 to 2018, and the carbon balance is a carbon sink. 4) Every year, the carbon sink initially increases and then shows a decreasing trend, with the carbon sink reaching a maximum in August. 5) Temperature and precipitation are positively correlated with net ecosystem productivity (NEP). 6) In the last 50 years, the Gannan alpine meadow has sequestered 43,580.9 gC of carbon. The annual and monthly average NEP values are approximately 871.62 gC/m2 and 72.635 gC/m2, respectively.
Genetic association of wool quality characteristics in United States Rambouillet sheep
Authors: Becker Gabrielle M. , Woods Julia L. , Schauer Christopher S. , Stewart Whit C. , Murdoch Brenda M.
Published: January 2023

Introduction: Fine wool production is an important source of revenue, accounting for up to 13% of total revenue in extensively managed wool sheep production systems of the United States. The Rambouillet are a predominant breed that excels in wool quality characteristics. Understanding the genetic basis of wool quality characteristics would aid in the development of genomic breeding strategies to facilitate genetic improvement.

Methods: Wool characteristics and DNA were collected for rams enrolled in the North Dakota State University and University of Wyoming annual central performance ram tests over a three-year period (2019–2021, N = 313). The relationships of wool quality characteristics including grease fleece weight adjusted 365 days (wt. 365 adj.), clean fleece wt. 365 adj., staple length 365 adj., average fiber diameter, face wool cover, amount of skin wrinkles and belly wool were evaluated through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), Pearson correlation and ANOVA.

Results: The GWAS identified four genome-wide significant genetic markers (p-value <1.19e-06) and five chromosome-wide significant markers (p-value <1.13e-05) on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 15, and 19. Significant markers were associated with genes notable for relevant wool biological functions, including the gene ABCC8 which codes for SUR1, an ATP-sensitive potassium channel known to affect hair growth and 60S ribosomal protein L17-like, previously found to be expressed during follicle formation. The strongest Pearson correlation coefficients were identified between clean fleece wt. 365 adj. and grease fleece wt. 365 adj. (r = 0.83) and between clean fleece wt. 365 adj. and staple length 365 adj. (r = 0.53). Additionally, clean fleece wt. 365 adj. was correlated with final body weight (r = 0.35) and scrotal circumference (r = 0.16). Staple length 365 adj. (p-value = 5e-04), average fiber diameter (p-value = .0053) and clean fleece wt. 365 adj. (p-value = .014) were significantly associated with belly wool score.

Discussion: The results of this study provide important insight into the relationships between wool quality characteristics and report specific markers that Rambouillet sheep producers may use to help inform selection and breeding decisions for improved wool quality.
Blood transcriptome responses in patients correlate with severity of COVID-19 disease
Authors: Wang Ya , Schughart Klaus , Pelaia Tiana Maria , Chew Tracy , Kim Karan , Karvunidis Thomas , Knippenberg Ben , Teoh Sally , Phu Amy L. , Short Kirsty R. , Iredell Jonathan , Thevarajan Irani , Audsley Jennifer , Macdonald Stephen , Burcham Jonathon , McLean Anthony ,   PREDICT-19 consortium, Tang Benjamin , Shojaei Maryam
Published: January 2023

Background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Infected individuals display a wide spectrum of disease severity, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the main factors underlying this heterogeneity is the host immune response, with severe COVID-19 often associated with a hyperinflammatory state.

Aim

Our current study aimed to pinpoint the specific genes and pathways underlying differences in the disease spectrum and outcomes observed, through in-depth analyses of whole blood transcriptomics in a large cohort of COVID-19 participants.

Results

All WHO severity levels were well represented and mild and severe disease displaying distinct gene expression profiles. WHO severity levels 1-4 were grouped as mild disease, and signatures from these participants were different from those with WHO severity levels 6-9 classified as severe disease. Severity level 5 (moderate cases) presented a unique transitional gene signature between severity levels 2-4 (mild/moderate) and 6-9 (severe) and hence might represent the turning point for better or worse disease outcome. Gene expression changes are very distinct when comparing mild/moderate or severe cases to healthy controls. In particular, we demonstrated the hallmark down-regulation of adaptive immune response pathways and activation of neutrophil pathways in severe compared to mild/moderate cases, as well as activation of blood coagulation pathways.

Conclusions

Our data revealed discrete gene signatures associated with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 identifying valuable candidates for future biomarker discovery.
Cost-effectiveness of sintilimab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Liu Lulu , Wang Lei , Chen Li , Ding Yiling , Zhang Qilin , Shu Yamin
Published: January 2023

Background

Sintilimab plus chemotherapy significantly prolongs overall survival (OS) for patients with advanced or metastatic oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, the cost-effectiveness of this high-priced therapy is currently unknown. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of sintilimab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone as fist-line therapy in patients with advanced or metastatic OSCC from the perspective of Chinese healthcare system.

Methods

A partitioned survival model consisting of 3 discrete health states was constructed to assess the cost and effectiveness of sintilimab plus chemotherapy vs chemotherapy as first-line treatment of OSCC. Key clinical data in the model came from the ORIENT-15 trial. Costs and utilities were collected from published sources. Life-years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), incremental net health benefits (INHB), and incremental net monetary benefits (INMB) were calculated for the two treatment strategies. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to account for uncertainty and model stability. Additional subgroup and scenario analyses were performed.

Results

Treatment with sintilimab plus chemotherapy provided an additional 0.37 QALYs and an incremental cost of $8,046.58 compared with chemotherapy, which resulted in an ICER of $21,782.24 per QALY gained. One-way sensitivity analysis revealed that the model was most sensitive to utility of progression-free survival (PFS) and the cost of sintilimab. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that the probability of sintilimab plus chemotherapy being cost-effective was 0.01%, 76.80% and 98.60% at the threshold of 1, 2 or 3 times GDP per capita per QALY, respectively. Subgroup analysis found that all subgroups other than PD-L1 expression combined positive scores < 1 subgroup favored sintilimab plus chemotherapy treatment due to its association with positive INHBs by varying the hazard ratios for OS and PFS. The scenario analyses showed altering the time horizon of the model or fitting survival curves separately did not reverse results of the model.

Conclusion

Sintilimab plus chemotherapy was associated with improved QALYs and an additional cost but was estimated to be cost-effective compared with chemotherapy alone as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced or metastatic OSCC at the commonly adopted willingness-to-pay threshold of 3 times GDP per capita per QALY in China.
Iripin-1, a new anti-inflammatory tick serpin, inhibits leukocyte recruitment in vivo while altering the levels of chemokines and adhesion molecules
Authors: Chlastáková Adéla , Kaščáková Barbora , Kotál Jan , Langhansová Helena , Kotsyfakis Michail , Kutá Smatanová Ivana , Tirloni Lucas , Chmelař Jindřich
Published: January 2023

Serpins are widely distributed and functionally diverse inhibitors of serine proteases. Ticks secrete serpins with anti-coagulation, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities via their saliva into the feeding cavity to modulate host’s hemostatic and immune reaction initiated by the insertion of tick’s mouthparts into skin. The suppression of the host’s immune response not only allows ticks to feed on a host for several days but also creates favorable conditions for the transmission of tick-borne pathogens. Herein we present the functional and structural characterization of Iripin-1 (Ixodes ricinus serpin-1), whose expression was detected in the salivary glands of the tick Ixodes ricinus, a European vector of tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease. Of 16 selected serine proteases, Iripin-1 inhibited primarily trypsin and further exhibited weaker inhibitory activity against kallikrein, matriptase, and plasmin. In the mouse model of acute peritonitis, Iripin-1 enhanced the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and chemokines involved in neutrophil and monocyte recruitment, including MCP-1/CCL2, a potent histamine-releasing factor. Despite increased chemokine levels, the migration of neutrophils and monocytes to inflamed peritoneal cavities was significantly attenuated following Iripin-1 administration. Based on the results of in vitro experiments, immune cell recruitment might be inhibited due to Iripin-1-mediated reduction of the expression of chemokine receptors in neutrophils and adhesion molecules in endothelial cells. Decreased activity of serine proteases in the presence of Iripin-1 could further impede cell migration to the site of inflammation. Finally, we determined the tertiary structure of native Iripin-1 at 2.10 Å resolution by employing the X-ray crystallography technique. In conclusion, our data indicate that Iripin-1 facilitates I. ricinus feeding by attenuating the host’s inflammatory response at the tick attachment site.
Immunologic, metabolic and genetic impact of diabetes on tuberculosis susceptibility
Authors: Ssekamatte Phillip , Sande Obondo James , van Crevel Reinout , Biraro Irene Andia
Published: January 2023

Due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) globally, the interaction between DM and major global diseases like tuberculosis (TB) is of great public health significance, with evidence of DM having about a three-fold risk for TB disease. TB defense may be impacted by diabetes-related effects on immunity, metabolism, and gene transcription. An update on the epidemiological aspects of DM and TB, and the recent trends in understanding the DM-associated immunologic, metabolic, and genetic mechanisms of susceptibility to TB will be discussed in this review. This review highlights gaps in the incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that may relate to TB susceptibility in type 2 DM (T2DM). Understanding these three main domains regarding mechanisms of TB susceptibility in T2DM patients can help us build practical treatment plans to lessen the combined burden of the diseases in rampant areas.