bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In vivo effects of cell seeding technique in an ex vivo regional gene therapy model for bone regeneration
Authors: Bell Jennifer A. , Mayfield Cory K. , Collon Kevin , Chang Stephanie , Gallo Matthew C. , Lechtholz‐Zey Elizabeth , Ayad Mina , Sugiyam Osamu , Tang Amy H. , Park Sang‐Hyun , Lieberman Jay R.
Published: April 2024

When delivering cells on a scaffold to treat a bone defect, the cell seeding technique determines the number and distribution of cells within a scaffold, however the optimal technique has not been established. This study investigated if human adipose‐derived stem cells (ASCs) transduced with a lentiviral vector to overexpress bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP‐2) and loaded on a scaffold using dynamic orbital shaker could reduce the total cell dose required to heal a critical sized bone defect when compared with static seeding. Human ASCs were loaded onto a collagen/biphasic ceramic scaffold using static loading and dynamic orbital shaker techniques, compared with our labs standard loading technique, and implanted into femoral defects of nude rats. Both a low dose and standard dose of transduced cells were evaluated. Outcomes investigated included BMP‐2 production, radiographic healing, micro‐computerized tomography, histologic assessment, and biomechanical torsional testing. BMP‐2 production was higher in the orbital shaker cohort compared with the static seeding cohort. No statistically significant differences were noted in radiographic, histomorphometric, and biomechanical outcomes between the low‐dose static and dynamic seeding groups, however the standard‐dose static seeding cohort had superior biomechanical properties. The standard‐dose 5 million cell dose standard loading cohort had superior maximum torque and torsional stiffness on biomechanical testing. The use of orbital shaker technique was labor intensive and did not provide equivalent biomechanical results with the use of fewer cells.
Assessing the association between safety perceptions and communication about sex and drugs among Black adolescents exposed to adversity
Authors: Smith Bianca D. , Spencer Bailey Holmes , Nur‐Singletary Zakiyyah , Adane Nancy , Moser Naya , Powell Terrinieka W.
Published: April 2024

The present study examined the association between safety perceptions and communication with a trusted adult about sex and drugs among Black adolescents exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the role of gender as a potential moderator in this association. Data were drawn from a small, randomized control pilot test of an adapted evidence‐based intervention conducted from 2022 to 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. The sample included 57 Black adolescents who had been exposed to ACEs (Mage = 15.14 years, SD = 0.81l; 47.4% female, 52.6% male). Information about safety perceptions, health communication, health behaviors, and demographic characteristics was measured using an electronic survey at baseline. Group differences by gender emerged among ACEs and substance use behaviors. Safety perceptions were significantly associated with communication with a trusted adult, B = 0.31, SE = 0.24, p = .039. As youth felt more unsafe, their communication with a trusted adult about sex and drugs increased; this association did not differ by gender. Health communication was also associated with ACEs. Black adolescents living with a parent with mental health challenges reported increased communication, B = 0.60, SE = 0.20, p = .005, whereas youth experiencing homelessness had reduced health communication, B = ‐0.63, SE = 0.24, p = .012. A lack of perceived safety significantly impacts health communication; however, having trusted adults outside of the home, school, and neighborhood can serve as a protective factor in reducing substance use and sexual risk‐taking among this population.
Responses of nesting greater white‐fronted geese to oil development in the Arctic
Authors: Rozell Kristen B. , Johnson Charles B. , Prichard Alexander K. , Gall Adrian E. , McGuire Rebecca L.
Published: April 2024

Oil and gas exploration and development is expanding across the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska, USA. To examine the effects of industrial development on greater white‐fronted geese (Anser albifrons), we monitored nests and nesting behavior within a 4‐km2 study area within 4 km of gravel roads and pads during pre‐development, construction, and operation activities at a new oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve‐Alaska in 2013−2019. We examined distribution, incubation constancy, and nest survival in relation to distance to gravel roads or pads, year and status of development, presence of an ice road the previous winter, and land cover type. Nest density increased throughout the study period, which was consistent with surveys of this species in other regions of the ACP. There was no direct evidence that oil extraction infrastructure and the associated human activity adversely influenced the abundance, distribution, or daily nest survival of greater white‐fronted goose nests. Geese avoided nesting in the alignments of ice roads from the previous winter, and land cover type influenced their nest distribution. Nest age and incubation constancy were important predictors of daily nest survival. The incubation constancy of successful nesters (98.5 ± 0.1% [SE]) was significantly greater than for failed nesters (94.7 ± 0.6%) for all years combined and tended to be greater during the pre‐construction and construction years of 2014 and 2015, compared to when oilfield operations began in 2017 and 2019. Greater‐white fronted geese appear to be tolerant of some levels of industrial activities and the presence of gravel roads did not have a significant effect on nest distribution, incubation constancy, or nest survival. We recommend, however, that indirect effects from ice roads should be explicitly considered in impact assessments because white‐fronted geese avoid nesting in the footprints of the previous winter's ice roads and pads.
Evaluation of Pinto Genotypes of Common Bean for Resistance to Anthracnose
Authors: Mwense Brian P. , Hamabwe Swivia M. , Kuwabo Kuwabo , Mataa Mebelo , Miklas Phillip N. , Mukuma Chikoti , Kamfwa Kelvin
Published: April 2024

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important crop grown for household revenue, food, and nutrition security in many parts of the world, especially in Africa and Latin America. Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum is a major disease of common bean globally. The objective of this study was to determine the response of selected pinto bean genotypes to seven races of C. lindemuthianum the causative fungus for anthracnose. A total of 56 pinto bean genotypes and three checks were evaluated for resistance to C. lindemuthianum races 51, 65, 73, 247, 253, 263, and 1085. Significant differences were observed among the 56 pinto genotypes in their reaction to the seven races, which was generally skewed towards susceptibility except for races 51 and 73. There was no genotype that was resistant to all seven races. In general, the genotypes that showed resistance to most of the races were those that carried Co‐42, which highlighted the importance of this locus to anthracnose resistance in pinto beans. Three genotypes—NDZ14006‐4, NDZ14110‐4, and NDZ14043—showed superior resistance (resistant to six of the seven races).
Polyphenol Extracts from Ziziphus jujuba Mill. “Junzao” Attenuates Ulcerative Colitis by Inhibiting the NLRP3 and MAPKs Signaling Pathways and Regulating Gut Microbiota Homeostasis in Mice
Authors: Wei Xiaobo , Ma Ni , Yang Wen , Tian Jinhu , Liu Huiyan , Fang Haitian
Published: April 2024

Scope

Polyphenols are the major active substances in red jujube fruit, and their anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant activities suggest their potential utility in the prevention of ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods and results

In this study, the effect of polyphenol extracts from red jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill. “Junzao”) (PERJ) on the dextron sulfate sodium (DSS)‐induced UC mice is investigated. The result shows that PERJ effectively improves clinical symptoms, including food and water intake, the disease activity insex (DAI) and spleen index, and routine blood levels, and alleviates the shortening of the colon, in mice with DSS‐induced UC. Meanwhile, PERJ remarkably decreases the expression of proinflammatory factors. Moreover, PERJ repairs intestinal barrier damage by increasing the expression level of mucin 2 and mucin 3, and the result is also confirmed in the histological assessment. Besides, the expression levels of Nod‐like receptor family pyrin domain‐containing 3 (NLRP3) and mitogen‐activated protein kinase cascade (MAPKs) signaling pathway‐related proteins are inhibited by the PERJ administration. Finally, 16S rRNA sequencing analyses reveal that PERJ reverses intestinal microbiota dysbiosis by enhancing the abundance of Firmicutes and decreasing that of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes.

Conclusion

PERJ probably inhibits the development of UC by suppressing the NLRP3 and MAPKs signaling pathways and regulating gut microbiota homeostasis, and can be considered as a potential resource for preventing UC.
Decreased oral function in Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia
Authors: Watanabe Yuichiro , Otake Masataka , Ono Shin , Ootake Masaya , Murakami Kazuhiro , Kumagai Koichiro , Matsuzawa Koji , Kasahara Hiroyuki , Hori Kazuhiro , Someya Toshiyuki
Published: April 2024

Aim

Oral function in patients with schizophrenia has not been well‐characterized. To address this, we performed a cross‐sectional study of oral function in Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia.

Methods

We measured oral function, including occlusal force, tongue–lip motor function, tongue pressure, and masticatory function in 130 Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia. We then compared the frequency of clinical signs of oral hypofunction among 63 non‐elderly and 67 elderly inpatients with schizophrenia, as well as data from 98 elderly control participants from a previous Japanese study.

Results

The frequency of reduced occlusal force was significantly higher in the elderly inpatients (76.2%) than in the non‐elderly inpatients (43.9%) and elderly controls (43.9%). The frequency of decreased tongue–lip motor function in non‐elderly inpatients (96.8%) and elderly inpatients (97.0%) was significantly higher than that in elderly controls (56.1%). The frequency of decreased tongue pressure in non‐elderly inpatients (66.1%) and elderly inpatients (80.7%) was significantly higher than that in elderly controls (43.9%). Finally, the frequency of decreased masticatory function was highest in elderly inpatients (76.5%), followed by non‐elderly inpatients (54.8%) and elderly controls (15.3%).

Conclusion

Oral function was decreased in both non‐elderly and elderly Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia compared with elderly controls.
Do government performance signals affect citizen satisfaction?
Authors: Wang Weijie , Kim Taek Kyu
Published: April 2024

Previous studies have confirmed the causal effect of performance information on citizen satisfaction, but they were primarily conducted in survey experimental settings that featured hypothetical and abstract scenarios and primed respondents to look at certain aspects of performance information. Whether the causal effects hold in the real world, which is a much more complex information environment, is questionable. We address the gaps by employing a regression discontinuity design to identify the impact of public schools’ performance grades on parents’ satisfaction with teachers and overall education in New York City. We find that performance signals have independent and lasting effects on citizens’ satisfaction. However, the effects are nonlinear, depending on the levels of performance signals. Parents’ responses are muted at the A/B performance grade cutoff, but their satisfaction increases significantly at the B/C and C/D cutoffs if their schools earn relatively higher grades.
Biosensing with Oleosin‐Stabilized Liquid Crystal Droplets
Authors: Honaker Lawrence W. , Eijffius Axel , Plankensteiner Lorenz , Nikiforidis Constantinos V. , Deshpande Siddharth
Published: April 2024

Liquid crystals (LCs) are emerging as novel platforms for chemical, physical, and biological sensing. They can be used to detect biological amphiphiles such as lipids, fatty acids, digestive surfactants, and bacterial endotoxins. However, designing LC‐based sensors in a manner that preserves their sensitivity and responsiveness to these stimuli, and possibly improves biocompatibility, remains challenging. In this work, the stabilization of LC droplets by oleosins, plant‐sourced and highly surface active proteins due to their extended amphipathic helix, is investigated. Purified oleosins, at sub‐micromolar concentrations, are shown to readily stabilize nematic LC droplets without switching their alignment, allowing them to detect surfactants at micromolar concentrations. Direct evidence of localization of oleosins at the LC–water interface is provided with fluorescent labeling, and the stabilized droplets remain stable over months. Interestingly, chiral LC droplets readily switch in the presence of nanomolar oleosin concentrations, an unexpected behavior that is explained by accounting for the energy barriers required for switching the alignment between the two cases. This leads thus to a twofold conclusion: oleosin‐stabilized nematic LC droplets present a biocompatible alternative for bioanalyte detection, while chiral LCs can be further investigated for use as highly sensitive sensors for detecting amphipathic helices in biological systems.
Construction of Hierarchical Conductive Networks for LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 Cathode toward Stable Cycling at High Areal Mass Loadings
Authors: Wei Lu , Wu Hongyuan , Liu Songtao , Zhou Yuyu , Guo Xin
Published: April 2024

Realizing high‐performance thick electrodes is considered as a practical strategy to promote the energy density of lithium‐ion batteries. However, establishing effective transport pathways for both lithium‐ions and electrons in a thick electrode is very challenging. This study develops a hierarchical conductive network structure for constructing high‐performance NMC811 (LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2) cathode toward stable cycling at high areal mass loadings. The hierarchical conductive networks are composed of a Li+/e− mixed conducting interface (lithium polyacrylate/hydroxyl‐functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes) on NMC811 particles, and a segregated network of single‐walled carbon nanotubes in the electrode, without any additional binders or carbon black. Such strategy endows the NMC811 cathode (up to 250 µm and 50 mg cm−2) with low porosity/tortuosity, ultrahigh Li+/e‐ conductivities and excellent mechanical property at low carbon nanotube content (1.8 wt%). It significantly improves the electrochemical reaction homogeneity along the electrode depth, meanwhile effectively inhibits the side reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface and cracks in the NMC particles during cycling. This work emphasizes the crucial role of the electronic/ionic cooperative transportation in the performance deterioration of thick cathodes, and provide guidance for architecture optimization and performance improvement of thick electrodes toward practical applications, not just for the NMC811 cathode.
Decreased Electrically and Increased Ionically Conducting Scaffolds for Long‐Life, High‐Rate and Deep‐Capacity Lithium‐Metal Anodes
Authors: Li Chuanfa , Wang Jiaqi , Ye Qian , Li Pengzhou , Zhang Kun , Li Jiaxin , Zhang Yanan , Ye Lei , Song Tianbing , Gao Yue , Wang Bingjie , Peng Huisheng
Published: April 2024

Lithium (Li) metal batteries are deemed as promising next‐generation power solutions but are hindered by the uncontrolled dendrite growth and infinite volume change of Li anodes. The extensively studied 3D scaffolds as solutions generally lead to undesired “top‐growth” of Li due to their high electrical conductivity and the lack of ion‐transporting pathways. Here, by reducing electrical conductivity and increasing the ionic conductivity of the scaffold, the deposition spot of Li to the bottom of the scaffold can be regulated, thus resulting in a safe bottom‐up plating mode of the Li and dendrite‐free Li deposition. The resulting symmetrical cells with these scaffolds, despite with a limited pre‐plated Li capacity of 5 mAh cm−2, exhibit ultra‐stable Li plating/stripping for over 1 year (11 000 h) at a high current density of 3 mA cm−2 and a high areal capacity of 3 mAh cm−2. Moreover, the full cells with these scaffolds further demonstrate high cycling stability under challenging conditions, including high cathode loading of 21.6 mg cm−2, low negative‐to‐positive ratio of 1.6, and limited electrolyte‐to‐capacity ratio of 4.2 g Ah−1.
Ru‐Induced Defect Engineering in Co3O4 Lattice for High Performance Electrochemical Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonium
Authors: Lim Maggie , Ma Zhipeng , O'Connell George , Yuwono Jodie A. , Kumar Priyank , Jalili Rouhollah , Amal Rose , Daiyan Rahman , Lovell Emma C.
Published: April 2024

Amidst these growing sustainability concerns, producing NH4+ via electrochemical NO3− reduction reaction (NO3RR) emerges as a promising alternative to the conventional Haber‐Bosch process. In a pioneering approach, this study introduces Ru incorporation into Co3O4 lattices at the nanoscale and further couples it with electroreduction conditioning (ERC) treatment as a strategy to enhance metal oxide reducibility and induce oxygen vacancies, advancing NH4+ production from NO3RR. Here, supported by a suite of ex situ and in situ characterization measurements, the findings reveal that Ru enrichment promotes Co species reduction and oxygen vacancy formation. Further, as evidenced by the theoretical calculations, Ru integration lowers the energy barrier for oxygen vacancy formation, thereby facilitating a more energy‐efficient NO3RR‐to‐NH4+ pathway. Optimal catalytic activity is realized with a Ru loading of 10 at.% (named 10Ru/Co3O4), achieving a high NH4+ production rate (98 nmol s−1 cm−2), selectivity (97.5%) and current density (≈100 mA cm−2) at −1.0 V vs RHE. The findings not only provide insights into defect engineering via the incorporation of secondary sites but also lay the groundwork for innovative catalyst design aimed at improving NH4+ yield from NO3RR. This research contributes to the ongoing efforts to develop sustainable electrochemical processes for nitrogen cycle management.
Knot Architecture for Biocompatible and Semiconducting 2D Electronic Fiber Transistors
Authors: Carey Tian , Maughan Jack , Doolan Luke , Caffrey Eoin , Garcia James , Liu Shixin , Kaur Harneet , Ilhan Cansu , Seyedin Shayan , Coleman Jonathan N.
Published: April 2024

Wearable devices have generally been rigid due to their reliance on silicon‐based technologies, while future wearables will utilize flexible components for example transistors within microprocessors to manage data. Two‐dimensional (2D) semiconducting flakes have yet to be investigated in fiber transistors but can offer a route toward high‐mobility, biocompatible, and flexible fiber‐based devices. Here, the electrochemical exfoliation of semiconducting 2D flakes of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is shown to achieve homogeneous coatings onto the surface of polyester fibers. The high aspect ratio (>100) of the flake yields aligned and conformal flake‐to‐flake junctions on polyester fibers enabling transistors with mobilities μ ≈1 cm2 V−1 s−1 and a current on/off ratio, Ion/Ioff ≈102–104. Furthermore, the cytotoxic effects of the MoS2 and WSe2 flakes with human keratinocyte cells are investigated and found to be biocompatible. As an additional step, a unique transistor ‘knot’ architecture is created by leveraging the fiber diameter to establish the length of the transistor channel, facilitating a route to scale down transistor channel dimensions (≈100 µm) and utilize it to make a MoS2 fiber transistor with a human hair that achieves mobilities as high as μ ≈15 cm2 V−1 s−1.
Continuous QoS‐compliant orchestration in the Cloud‐Edge continuum
Authors: Bisicchia Giuseppe , Forti Stefano , Pimentel Ernesto , Brogi Antonio
Published: April 2024

The problem of managing multi‐service applications on top of Cloud‐Edge networks in a quality of service (QoS)‐aware manner has been thoroughly studied in recent years from a decision‐making perspective. However, only a few studies addressed the problem of actively enforcing such decisions while orchestrating multi‐service applications and considering infrastructure and application variations. In this article, we propose a next‐gen orchestrator prototype based on Docker to achieve the continuous and QoS‐compliant management of multiservice applications on top of geographically distributed Cloud‐Edge resources, in continuity with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure monitoring tools. Finally, we assess our proposal over a geographically distributed testbed across Italy.
Transcriptome‐wide expression landscape and starch synthesis pathway co‐expression network in sorghum
Authors: Hu Zhenbin , Chen Junhao , Olatoye Marcus O. , Zhang Hengyou , Lin Zhenguo
Published: April 2024

The gene expression landscape across different tissues and developmental stages reflects their biological functions and evolutionary patterns. Integrative and comprehensive analyses of all transcriptomic data in an organism are instrumental to obtaining a comprehensive picture of gene expression landscape. Such studies are still very limited in sorghum, which limits the discovery of the genetic basis underlying complex agricultural traits in sorghum. We characterized the genome‐wide expression landscape for sorghum using 873 RNA‐sequencing (RNA‐seq) datasets representing 19 tissues. Our integrative analysis of these RNA‐seq data provides the most comprehensive transcriptomic atlas for sorghum, which will be valuable for the sorghum research community for functional characterizations of sorghum genes. Based on the transcriptome atlas, we identified 595 housekeeping genes (HKGs) and 2080 tissue‐specific expression genes (TEGs) for the 19 tissues. We identified different gene features between HKGs and TEGs, and we found that HKGs have experienced stronger selective constraints than TEGs. Furthermore, we built a transcriptome‐wide co‐expression network (TW‐CEN) comprising 35 modules with each module enriched in specific Gene Ontology terms. High‐connectivity genes in TW‐CEN tend to express at high levels while undergoing intensive selective pressure. We also built global and seed‐preferential co‐expression networks of starch synthesis pathways, which indicated that photosynthesis and microtubule‐based movement play important roles in starch synthesis. The global transcriptome atlas of sorghum generated by this study provides an important functional genomics resource for trait discovery and insight into starch synthesis regulation in sorghum.
Bone color changes and interpretation of the temperature/duration of fire exposure to human remains in the forensic context
Authors: Galloway Alison , Pope Elayne , Juarez Chelsey
Published: April 2024

In both the archeological and forensic literature, experimental data have been used to equate the color of burned bone with the temperature to which it was exposed. While this may be applicable in the tightly controlled oxidizing environment of a furnace or crematorium, it is not representative of the more realistic dynamic conditions of fire events involving structures, vehicles, outdoors, and so forth, that are encountered in forensic anthropology casework. In this piece, we review the literature at the cross section of bone color and temperature and compare it to our own observations from experimental burns. We generate a cautionary path forward for future research as well as interpretation in applied contexts. Implying temperature based on burned bone color ignores other significant variables that are related to the degradation of the bone's organic matrix like, the amounts and types of fuels, duration, fluctuations of temperature, oxygen level of the environment, byproducts of combustion, and other variables unique to each scene. Research results on bone color and temperature derived from controlled environments using non‐fleshed bone samples, are not applicable for use in forensic casework involving burned human remains from fleshed bodies. We argue that to do so distracts from other contributing variables and information that can be derived from the analysis of fire patterns on burned human remains and burned bones. Finally, we caution about using bone color alone to estimate temperatures of the fire, which makes incorrect assumptions about fire behavior and could jeopardize court testimony if this method is used as a standard. We raise three issues if a direct correlation between temperature and bone color are used in court: (1) other important factors are ignored, (2) a universal unvaried exposure of the body is assumed, and (3) the expert risks impeachment given conflicting data on the correlation.

This article is categorized under:

Forensic Medicine > Death Scene Investigation

Forensic Anthropology > Taphonomic Changes and the Environment
Some combinatorics of data leakage induced by clusters
Authors: Guignard Fabian , Ginsbourger David , Levy Häner Lilia , Herrera Juan Manuel
Published: April 2024

Data leakage is a common issue that can lead to misleading generalisation error estimation and incorrect hyperparameter tuning. However, its mechanisms are not always well understood. In this work, we consider the case of clustered data and investigate the distribution of the number of elements in leakage when the data set is uniformly split. For both the validation and test sets, the first and second moments of the number of elements in leakage are derived analytically. Modelling consequences are investigated and exemplified on simulated data. In addition, the case of an actual agronomic feasibility study is presented. We demonstrate how data leakage can distort model performance estimation when an inadequate data splitting strategy is used. We provide an understanding of data leakage in the context of clustered data by quantifying its role in predictive modelling. This sheds light on related challenges that may impact the practice in agronomy and beyond.
Increased policy ambition is needed to avoid the effects of climate change and reach carbon removal targets in Portugal
Authors: Pedersen Jiesper Strandsbjerg Tristan , Dias Luís Filipe , Kok Kasper , van Vuuren Detlef , Soares Pedro M. M. , Santos Filipe Duarte , Azevedo João C.
Published: April 2024

The Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming hinges on forest carbon sequestration as a key in several national strategies. However, Portugal’s rising forest fire occurrences threaten its ability to meet ambitious 2030 and 2050 carbon sequestration targets. Considering fire and forest trends, this study aims to quantify whether Portugal can reach its carbon sequestration ambitions as stated in its 2030 and 2050 targets. We tested three national forest scenario extensions of the global Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and Shared Policy Assumptions (SPAs) based on a dynamic model, simulating forest area and carbon sequestration related to future fire risk and policies of fire management, forest management, restoration of burnt areas, and climate change adaptation. The model projects a rapidly decreasing forest area under existing Portuguese policies (PT-SSP3), a slow decline under moderate policy improvements (PT-SSP2), and an almost stable forest area under long-term sustainable policy developments (PT-SSP1). In PT-SSP3, carbon sequestration will be reduced to 60% by 2050 compared to 2015, while it declines to about 85% and 90% under PT-SSP2 and PT-SSP1, respectively. It is still plausible to reach Portugal’s 2030 sequestration obligations under the EU’s Paris Agreement target under all three scenarios, while the Portuguese GHG neutrality target is not reached in the presented scenarios. Our four introduced policy areas (increasing focus on fire and forest management, forest restoration, and climate change adaptation of forest stands) must be supplemented by other policy strategies, such as reforestation.
Reduction of bitter taste receptor gene family in folivorous colobine primates relative to omnivorous cercopithecine primates
Authors: Hou Min , Akhtar Muhammad Shoaib , Hayashi Masahiro , Ashino Ryuichi , Matsumoto-Oda Akiko , Hayakawa Takashi , Ishida Takafumi , Melin Amanda D. , Imai Hiroo , Kawamura Shoji
Published: April 2024

Bitter taste perception is important in preventing animals from ingesting potentially toxic compounds. Whole-genome assembly (WGA) data have revealed that bitter taste receptor genes (TAS2Rs) comprise a multigene family with dozens of intact and disrupted genes in primates. However, publicly available WGA data are often incomplete, especially for multigene families. In this study, we employed a targeted capture (TC) approach specifically probing TAS2Rs for ten species of cercopithecid primates with diverse diets, including eight omnivorous cercopithecine species and two folivorous colobine species. We designed RNA probes for all TAS2Rs that we modeled to be intact in the common ancestor of cercopithecids (“ancestral-cercopithecid TAS2R gene set”). The TC was followed by short-read and high-depth massive-parallel sequencing. TC retrieved more intact TAS2R genes than found in WGA databases. We confirmed a large number of gene “births” at the common ancestor of cercopithecids and found that the colobine common ancestor and the cercopithecine common ancestor had contrasting trajectories: four gene “deaths” and three gene births, respectively. The number of intact TAS2R genes was markedly reduced in colobines (25–28 detected via TC and 20–26 detected via WGA analysis) as compared with cercopithecines (27–36 via TC and 19–30 via WGA). Birth or death events occurred at almost every phylogenetic-tree branch, making the composition of intact genes variable among species. These results show that evolutionary change in intact TAS2R genes is a complex process, refute a simple general prediction that herbivory favors more TAS2R genes, and have implications for understanding dietary adaptations and the evolution of detoxification abilities.
Innovative Exploration of a Bio-Inspired Sensor Fusion Algorithm: Enhancing Micro Satellite Functionality through Touretsky's Decentralized Neural Networks
Authors: Hassani. N S. M. Mehdi. , Roshanian Jafar
Published: April 2024

Insect-inspired sensor fusion algorithms have presented a promising avenue in the development of robust and efficient systems, owing to the insects' ability to process numerous streams of noisy sensory data. The ring attractor neural network architecture has been identified as a noteworthy model for the optimal integration of diverse insect sensors. Expanding on this, our research presents an innovative bio-inspired ring attractor neural network architecture designed to augment the performance of microsatellite attitude determination systems through the fusion of data from multiple gyroscopic sensors.Extensive simulations using a nonlinear model of the microsatellite, while incorporating specific navigational disturbances, have been conducted to ascertain the viability and effectiveness of this approach. The results obtained have been superior to those of alternative methodologies, thus highlighting the potential of our proposed bio-inspired fusion technique. The findings indicate that this approach could significantly improve the accuracy and robustness of microsatellite systems across a wide range of applications.
Acanthosis nigricans – a potentially useful clue to the presence of significant occult disease at autopsy
Authors: Byard Roger W. , Gilbert John
Published: April 2024

A 19-year-old male was found dead in his apartment. At autopsy he was morbidly obese (Body mass index; BMI – 40.5) with multiple areas of velvety pigmented thickening of the skin in folds around the neck, in the axillae, in the inframammary regions, over the anterior waistline and groin regions and over the dorsal aspects of the feet. These had the typical appearance of acanthosis nigricans. Internal examination revealed aspiration of gastric contents into the airways. Vitreous humour biochemistry showed markedly elevated levels of both glucose (62.9 mmol/L) and β-hydroxybutyrate (13.54 mmol/L). Death was, therefore, due to aspiration pneumonia complicating diabetic ketoacidosis on a background of morbid obesity. The initial indicator of underlying diabetes, in conjunction with obesity had been acanthosis nigricans.
Automatic design of W-operators using membership functions: a case study in brain MRI segmentation
Authors: Robalino Trujillo Emilio José , Bouchet Agustina , Ballarin Virginia Laura , Pastore Juan Ignacio
Published: April 2024

A W-operator is an image transformation that is locally defined inside a window W, invariant to translations. The automatic design of the W-operators consists of the design of functions, whose domain is a set of patterns or vectors obtained by translating a window through training images and the output of each vector is a class or label. The main difficulty to consider when designing W-operators is the generalization problem that occurs due to lack of training images. In this work, we propose the use of membership functions to solve the generalization problem in gray level images. Membership functions are defined from the training images to model regions that are often inaccurate due to ambiguous gray levels in the images. This proposal was applied to brain magnetic resonance image segmentation to test its performance in a field of interest in biomedical images. The experiments were carried out with different numbers of training and test images, windows sizes of $$3\times 3$$

3
×
3

, $$5\times 5$$

5
×
5

, $$7\times 7$$

7
×
7

, $$11\times 11$$

11
×
11

, and $$15\times 15$$

15
×
15

, and images with noise levels at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9$$\%$$
%
. To calculate the performance of each designed W-operator, the classification error, sensitivity, and specificity were used. From the experimental results, it was concluded that the best performance is achieved with a window of size $$3\times 3$$

3
×
3

. In images with noise levels from 1 to 5$$\%$$
%
, the classification error is less than 4$$\%$$
%
and the sensitivity and specificity are greater than 94 and 98$$\%$$
%
, respectively.
Enhancing the hypotensive effect of latanoprost by combining synthetic phosphatidylcholine liposomes with hyaluronic acid and osmoprotective agents
Authors: Brugnera Marco , Vicario-de-la-Torre Marta , González-Cela Casamayor Miriam Ana , López-Cano José Javier , Bravo-Osuna Irene , Huete-Toral Fernando , González Rubio María Luisa , Carracedo Gonzalo , Molina-Martínez Irene Teresa , Andrés-Guerrero Vanessa , Herrero-Vanrell Rocío
Published: April 2024

The first line of glaucoma treatment focuses on reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) through the prescription of topical prostaglandin analogues, such as latanoprost (LAT). Topical ophthalmic medicines have low bioavailability due to their rapid elimination from the ocular surface. Nanotechnology offers innovative ways of enhancing the ocular bioavailability of antiglaucoma agents while reducing administration frequency. This study aims to combine LAT-loaded synthetic phosphatidylcholine liposomes with hyaluronic acid (0.2% w/v) and the osmoprotectants betaine (0.40% w/v) and leucine (0.90% w/v) (LAT-HA-LIP) to extend the hypotensive effect of LAT while protecting the ocular surface. LAT-HA-LIP was prepared as a mixture of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, cholesterol and α-tocopherol acetate. LAT-HA-LIP exhibited high drug-loading capacity (104.52 ± 4.10%), unimodal vesicle sizes (195.14 ± 14.34 nm) and a zeta potential of -13.96 ± 0.78 mV. LAT-HA-LIP was isotonic (284.00 ± 1.41 mOsm L−1), had neutral pH (7.63 ± 0.01) and had suitable surface tension (44.07 ± 2.70 mN m−1) and viscosity (2.69 ± 0.15 mPa s−1) for topical ophthalmic administration. LAT-HA-LIP exhibited optimal in vitro tolerance in human corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells. No signs of ocular alteration or discomfort were observed when LAT-HA-LIP was instilled in albino male New Zealand rabbits. Hypotensive studies revealed that, after a single eye drop, the effect of LAT-HA-LIP lasted 24 h longer than that of a marketed formulation and that relative ocular bioavailability was almost three times higher (p < 0.001). These findings indicate the potential ocular protection and hypotensive effect LAT-HA-LIP offers in glaucoma treatment.

Graphical abstract
The role of religious capital in shaping wellbeing of individuals
Authors: Watts Sean , Munir Tanya
Published: April 2024

By investigating the role of religiosity in shaping Human Well-being, this study bridges the gap through quantitative study on the importance of religious capital to enhance people’s level of well-being. This research emphasized the relation of social exclusion and religious capital to wellbeing, whereas previous studies generally used individual and economic factors as the basis. Due to large sample size of 757 people, this quantitative research using Divine Economic Survey 2013 data looks at how religious capital affects people's subjective well-being. To minimize the diversity of subjective well-being, prayers, and religious activities, constructing them continuous and escaping the problem of multicollinearity and emphasizing the key underlying factors that most effectively capture the variance in these variables, therefore we have adopted principal component analysis. The ordinary least squares approach is then used to regress the variables and evaluate the links between subjective wellbeing and rituals, religious practices, gender health, general education. household size, and marital status of individuals. The finding reveals that religious rituals, gender, age, general education, health, and log of income are statistically significant and have a positive influence on subjective well-being, but Household Members and Marital Status are statistically significant and negatively affect the subjective well-being of human-being. The study is beneficial for government agencies that would make the policies and programs to augment people’s income, educational prospects and health facilities and services.
Autism spectrum disorder in the workplace: a position paper to support an inclusive and neurodivergent approach to work participation and engagement
Authors: Zhou Kathy , Alam Bushra , Bani-Fatemi Ali , Howe Aaron , Chattu Vijay Kumar , Nowrouzi-Kia Behdin
Published: April 2024

Autistic individuals often experience a wide range of barriers and challenges with employment across their lifetime. Despite their strengths and abilities to contribute to the workforce, many individuals experience unemployment, underemployment and malemployment. However, current supports and services are often inadequate to meet their needs. To allow autistic people to achieve vocational success, we explore four contributors to employment and expand upon the issues and potential solutions to each. These positions include the importance of family support and its consideration in the application of vocational support interventions, addressing transitional needs for autistic youth, building employer capacity, and conducting research that advises the development of meaningful programs and policies. By advocating for these positions, we aim to foster greater inclusivity and support for individuals with ASD in the workplace.
Monotheism and Fundamentalism
Authors: Peels Rik
Published: April 2024

This Element explores the relation between monotheism and fundamentalism. It does so from both an empirical perspective and a more theoretical one that combines theological and philosophical insights. The empirical part addresses how as a matter of fact, particularly quantitively, monotheism and fundamentalism relate to one another. The more theoretical part studies the relation between the two by considering the doctrine of God and the issue of exclusion, theories of revelation, and ethics. Finally, the book considers whether monotheism has particular resources that can be employed in mitigating the consequences of or even altogether preventing fundamentalism. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Atlas of the Messier Objects
Authors: Stoyan Ronald , Schroeder Klaus-Peter
Published: April 2024

Messier's catalog of 110 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies is the most popular list of deep sky gems. The first edition of this stunning reference atlas was hailed as the most comprehensive, detailed, and beautiful account of the Messier objects then available. The second edition continues this trend, with thoroughly investigated and updated astrophysical, historical, and observational information for every object. The main object photos have all been replaced with more than 150 new images from some of the world's best amateurs displaying the objects' splendor through large-scale color images. Historical sketches from classical observers from the nineteenth century are presented, alongside the author's modern deep-sky drawings. Extensive information is given on visual observation from using the naked eye and binoculars through to large modern amateur telescopes. Astronomers of all abilities will delight in the Atlas's return as your guide to the sky's finest objects.
Menacing Tides
Authors: de Lange Erik
Published: April 2024

New ideas of security spelled the end of piracy on the Mediterranean Sea during the nineteenth century. As European states ended their military conflicts and privateering wars against one another, they turned their attention to the 'Barbary pirates' of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Naval commanders, diplomats, merchant lobbies and activists cooperated for the first time against this shared threat. Together, they installed a new order of security at sea. Drawing on European and Ottoman archival records – from diplomatic correspondence and naval journals to songs, poems and pamphlets – Erik de Lange explores how security was used in the nineteenth century to legitimise the repression of piracy. This repression brought European imperial expansionism and colonial rule to North Africa. By highlighting the crucial role of security within international relations, Menacing Tides demonstrates how European cooperation against shared threats remade the Mediterranean and unleashed a new form of collaborative imperialism.
Narrative and Religion in the Superdiverse City
Authors: Pihlaja Stephen
Published: April 2024

This Element focuses on how narrative is used to construct religious identity in superdiverse contexts, considering specifically how people talk about their own religious identity, and the religious identity of others. Drawing on interviews with twenty-five participants, and numerous site visits throughout the city of Birmingham (UK), the analysis focuses on how self and other positioning is used to construct religious identity in talk about beliefs, actions, and behaviours in different contexts. Additionally, the analysis shows how conflict emerges and is resolved in spaces where people of different faiths and no faith interact, and how people talk about and understand community. Finally, a model for talking about faith in diverse contexts is presented to help people find common goals and act together towards shared interests.
Yeats, Revival, and the Temporalities of Irish Modernism
Authors: Castle Gregory
Published: April 2024

Yeats, Revivalism, and the Temporalities of Irish Modernism offers a new understanding of a writer whose revivalist commitments are often regarded in terms of nostalgic yearning and dreamy romanticism. It counters such conventions by arguing that Yeats's revivalism is an inextricable part of his modernism. Gregory Castle provides a new reading of Yeats that is informed by the latest research on the Irish Revival and guided by the phenomenological idea of worldmaking, a way of looking at literature as an aesthetic space with its own temporal and spatial norms, its own atmosphere generated by language, narrative, and literary form. The dialectical relation between the various worlds created in the work of art generate new ways of accounting for time beyond the limits of historical thinking. It is just this worldmaking power that links Yeats's revivalism to his modernism and constructs new grounds for recognizing his life and work.
Means, Motives, and Opportunities
Authors: Breunig Christian , Koski Chris
Published: April 2024

Means, Motives, and Opportunities illuminates how states spend public money through the lens of governmental structure, executive power, and interest group competition. Christian Breunig and Chris Koski argue that policymaking is a function of not only policymakers' means (powers), but of their motives (issues) and opportunities (interest group competition) for change. Using over twenty-five years of data across all fifty US states, four in-depth case studies, and multiple examples of budget battles, the book describes a budget-making environment in which governors must balance the preferences of interest groups with their own, all while attempting to build a budget that roughly balances. While governors are uniquely powerful, the range of changes they can make is largely impacted by interest group competition. By showing how means, motives, and opportunities matter, the book shows how spending decisions at the state level influence nearly every aspect of American life.
Economic Networks
Authors: Sargent Thomas J. , Stachurski John
Published: April 2024

It has become increasingly clear that economies can fruitfully be viewed as networks, consisting of millions of nodes (households, firms, banks, etc.) connected by business, social, and legal relationships. These relationships shape many outcomes that economists often measure. Over the past few years, research on production networks has flourished, as economists try to understand supply-side dynamics, default cascades, aggregate fluctuations, and many other phenomena. Economic Networks provides a brisk introduction to network analysis that is self-contained, rigorous, and illustrated with many figures, diagrams and listings with computer code. Network methods are put to work analyzing production networks, financial networks, and other related topics (including optimal transport, another highly active research field). Visualizations using recent data bring key ideas to life.
A stand-alone proximity-based gaming wearable for remote physical activity monitoring
Authors: Woodward Kieran , Kanjo Eiman , Parker Will , Patrick Bradley
Published: April 2024

The Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable computing are crucial elements of modern information systems and applications in which advanced features for user interactivity and monitoring are required. However, in the fields of pervasive gaming, IoT has had limited real-world applications. In this work, we present a prototype of a wearable platform for pervasive games that combines IoT with wearable computing to enable the real-time monitoring of physical activity. The main objective of the solution is to promote the utilization of gamification techniques to enhance the physical activity of users through challenges and quests. This aims to create a symbolic link between the virtual gameplay and the real-world environment without the requirement of a smartphone. With the integration of sensors and wearable devices by design, the platform has the capability of real-time monitoring the users’ physical activity during the game. The system performance results highlight the efficiency and attractiveness of the wearable platform for gamifying physical activity.