bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prescriptive and Semantic Analysis of an Automatic Sign Language Translation: Cases on VLibras Avatar Translation Using Video Interviews and Textual Interactions With a Chatbot
Authors: Silva André Luiz da Cunha , Sá Tatiane Militão de , Diniz Ruan Sousa , Ferreira Simone Bacellar Leal , Siqueira Sean Wolfgand Matsui , Bourguignon Saulo Cabral
Published: August 2022

Algorithms designed to translate textual content into sign language (SL) expressed through avatars have been used to reduce accessibility barriers. Our research aimed to identify whether the VLibras tool, widely adopted on Brazilian government websites, is an effective accessibility solution for automatic translation into SL. It is an exploratory and applied qualitative research project involving a bibliographic review and support from expert interpreters. We conducted two experimental studies using sequential chronological cuts and applying prescriptive and semantic analyses. We present evidence that there is no actual translation into SL in the automatic translation process performed by the VLibras translation algorithm (TA) but only a transposition of part of the SL lexicon to the Portuguese morphosyntactic structure. The automatic translation of long texts and texts with complex syntactic structures results in excessive pauses and dactylology for words that have a sign registered in the basic SL dictionary. Using human–computer interaction concepts to evaluate automatic translation into sign language by the VLibras TA expands the existing theoretical discussion. It also contributes to minimizing communication problems caused by the discrepancy between the original message and the machine translation, a practical applicability of this study.
Collecting Raphael in reproduction in the nineteenth century
Authors: Collier Carly
Published: August 2022

Between 1853 and 1876, an unparalleled corpus of prints and photographs after the works of Raphael was assembled at the instigation of Prince Albert. Such an ambitious endeavour necessitated scrupulous bibliographic research, the assistance of art historians and artists, and international collaboration on a novel scale, as well as the harnessing of nascent photographic technologies. The Raphael Collection, recently digitized, remains a significant resource for the study of the artist’s oeuvre. This article sketches the genesis and development of the collection, considering, among other sources, previously uncited evidence in Queen Victoria’s journal. It then charts the collection’s fortunes after Albert’s death in 1861, drawing on unpublished correspondence between the prince’s librarians and royal courtiers, which illuminates the purpose, physical format and intended audience for the collection and its accompanying catalogue. Finally, it offers the first assessment of the early reception of the Raphael Collection among critics and Raphael scholars.
Wheels of Injustice: How Medical Schools Retained the Power to Discriminate Against Applicants in Wheelchairs in the Era of Disability Rights
Authors: Gordon Emily Rose
Published: August 2022

In the era of disability rights, medical schools retained the power to discriminate against applicants in wheelchairs. This article explores how medical schools set boundaries for admission into the profession, remained intransigent in their discrimination, and persuaded courts to side with them. Interviews with physicians in wheelchairs, legal documents, medical journal articles, and white papers demonstrate how medical schools established physical standards for entry into the profession specifically in response to applicants with disabilities. In the 1970s, medical schools created exclusionary physical requirements and persuaded the Supreme Court that these “technical standards” preserved patient safety. In the 1980s, schools asserted that students with disabilities would require expensive accommodations and lower educational standards. In the 1990s, medical schools strategically interpreted vague language in the Americans with Disabilities Act to justify continuing to exclude applicants with disabilities. This article complicates triumphalist histories of disability activism and reveals the continuation of exclusion in medical education, which had historically occurred based on race and gender. Interviews with successful applicants in wheelchairs provide powerful testimony against medical school policies and offer a clear path forward. Technical standards should change to value compassion and critical thinking over physical fitness. Physicians in wheelchairs perform most medical tasks and bring unique perspectives to a historically homogenous profession.
Sovereign Solvency as Monetary Power
Authors: Patrício Ferreira Lima Karina
Published: August 2022

This article reconceptualizes sovereign insolvency from a money-centred perspective. Drawing on contemporary critiques of money and finance, it argues that as long as the international monetary system is structured upon a hierarchy of currencies, monetary power determines the solvency of sovereign states. The ability to issue debt in own currency and the degree to which such currency performs the functions of money at an international level are the most important factors underpinning solvency. Sovereign insolvencies are inherent to the asymmetric character of global liquidity, rather than solely the product of fiscal misfortunes or mismanagement. To correct those asymmetries, it is necessary to reset the international monetary system. Yet insofar as this reform does not materialize, an international sovereign bankruptcy mechanism is indispensable to ensuring a more equitable global economic order.
Overcoming the Four Horsemen of Reassurance Diplomacy: Explaining Variation in Face-to-Face Engagement
Authors: Wheeler Nicholas J , Holmes Marcus
Published: August 2022

The decision to engage in face-to-face diplomacy aimed at reassuring an adversary is one of the most salient ones a state leader will have to make. However, often leaders choose not to engage in such diplomacy because they follow those scholars and pundits who are skeptical of the reassurance value of interpersonal face-to-face diplomacy. This creates an important puzzle. Why do leaders sometimes choose to promote reassurance through meeting personally? And why, in other cases, do they not? The answer we provide in this article is that it depends crucially on the extent to which each leader in the dyad possesses security dilemma sensibility (SDS). We conceptualize SDS as varying both in intensity of the strength of the actor's intention and capacity to exercise it and in the extent to which actors believe the other actor in the dyad may possess SDS. The article develops a typology of three SDS leader types—distrusters, uncertains, and empathics—showing how the strength and orientation of SDS in each type shape their willingness to pursue face-to-face diplomacy. We then illustrate the utility of the typology in three short cases: Reagan and Gorbachev's decisions to engage in 1985 in Geneva, Kennedy and Khrushchev's decisions to meet in 1961 in Vienna, and finally, one of the “dogs that did not bark” (the summits that did not happen), the lack of face-to-face diplomacy between Obama and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il. We conclude with implications for future research and recommendations for policymakers.
A novel rRNA hybridization-based approach to rapid, accurateCandidaidentification directly from blood culture
Authors: Matzko Michelle E , Sephton-Clark Poppy C S , Young Eleanor L , Jhaveri Tulip A , Martinsen Melanie A , Mojica Evan , Boykin Rich , Pierce Virginia M , Cuomo Christina A , Bhattacharyya Roby P
Published: August 2022

Invasive fungal infections are increasingly common and carry high morbidity and mortality, yet fungal diagnostics lag behind bacterial diagnostics in rapidly identifying the causal pathogen. We previously devised a fluorescent hybridization-based assay to identify bacteria within hours directly from blood culture bottles without subculture, called phylogeny-informed rRNA-based strain identification (Phirst-ID). Here, we adapt this approach to unambiguously identify 11 common pathogenic Candida species, including C. auris, with 100% accuracy from laboratory culture (33 of 33 strains in a reference panel, plus 33 of 33 additional isolates tested in a validation panel). In a pilot study on 62 consecutive positive clinical blood cultures from two hospitals that showed yeast on Gram stain, Candida Phirst-ID matched the clinical laboratory result for 58 of 59 specimens represented in the 11-species reference panel, without misclassifying the 3 off-panel species. It also detected mixed Candida species in 2 of these 62 specimens, including the one discordant classification, that were not identified by standard clinical microbiology workflows; in each case the presence of both species was validated by both clinical and experimental data. Finally, in three specimens that grew both bacteria and yeast, we paired our prior bacterial probeset with this new Candida probeset to detect both pathogen types using Phirst-ID. This simple, robust assay can provide accurate Candida identification within hours directly from blood culture bottles, and the conceptual approach holds promise for pan-microbial identification in a single workflow.

Lay Summary

Candida bloodstream infections cause considerable morbidity and mortality, yet slow diagnostics delay recognition, worsening patient outcomes. We develop and validate a novel molecular approach to accurately identify Candida species directly from blood culture one day faster than standard workflows.
Studying the chemical and kinematical structures of dense cores TMC-1C, L1544, and TMC-1 in the Taurus molecular cloud using CCS and NH3 observations
Authors: Koley Atanu
Published: August 2022

The measurement of chemical and kinematic structures in pre-stellar cores is essential for better understanding of the star-formation process. Here, we study three pre-stellar cores (TMC-1C, L1544, and TMC-1) of the Taurus molecular cloud by means of the thioxoethenylidene (CCS) radical and ammonia (NH3) molecule observed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array telescope in the D, C, and CNB configurations. Our main results are based on the CCS observation of the TMC-1C core, showing that complex structures are present. A spatial offset relative to dust emission is observed in the CCS radical. Across a wide region around the dust peak, inward motion is found through the CCS radical. We have calculated the infall velocity and measured the turbulence inside the core. The turbulence is found to be subsonic. We obtain that the virial parameter α is < 1. Thus, thermal and non-thermal motions cannot prevent the collapse. Spatial incoherence of the CCS and NH3 is observed from the integrated intensity maps in these cores, suggesting that these molecules trace different environments in the cores. We compare the integrated flux densities of CCS with previous single-dish data and find that a small amount of flux is recovered in the interferometric observations, indicating the presence of significant diffuse emission in favourable conditions for producing CCS.
The Galactic underworld: the spatial distribution of compact remnants
Authors: Sweeney David , Tuthill Peter , Sharma Sanjib , Hirai Ryosuke
Published: August 2022

We chart the expected Galactic distribution of neutron stars and black holes. These compact remnants of dead stars – the Galactic underworld – are found to exhibit a fundamentally different distribution and structure to the visible Galaxy. Compared to the visible Galaxy, concentration into a thin flattened disc structure is much less evident with the scale height more than tripling to 1260 ± 30 pc. This difference arises from two primary causes. First, the distribution is in part inherited from the integration over the evolving structure of the Galaxy itself (and hence the changing distribution of the parent stars). Secondly, an even larger effect arises from the natal kick received by the remnant at the event of its supernova birth. Due to this kick we find 30 per cent of remnants have sufficient kinetic energy to entirely escape the Galactic potential (40 per cent of neutron stars and 2 per cent of black holes) leading to a Galactic mass-loss integrated to the present day of $\sim 0.4{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the stellar mass of the Galaxy. The black hole – neutron star fraction increases near the Galactic centre: a consequence of smaller kick velocities in the former. Our simulated remnant distribution yields probable distances of 19 and 21 pc to the nearest neutron star and black hole, respectively, while our nearest probable magnetar lies at 4.2 kpc. Although the underworld only contains of order $\sim 1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the Galaxy’s mass, observational signatures and physical traces of its population, such as microlensing, will become increasingly present in data ranging from gravitational wave detectors to high precision surveys from space missions such as Gaia.
Feeding post-core collapse supernova explosion jets with an inflated main sequence companion
Authors: Hober Ofek , Bear Ealeal , Soker Noam
Published: August 2022

We simulate the response of a main sequence star to the explosion of a stripped-envelope (type Ib or Ic) core-collapse supernova (CCSN) when the main sequence star orbits the core at a distance of $10 \, \mathrm{R}_\odot$ or $20 \, \mathrm{R}_\odot$ at explosion. We use the stellar evolution code mesa to follow the response of main sequence stars of masses $3 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ and $7\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ to energy deposition and mass removal. The collision of the CCSN ejecta with the main sequence star deposits energy and inflate the main sequence star. If the binary system stays bound after the CCSN explosion, the inflated main sequence star might engulf the newly born neutron star (NS). We assume that the NS accretes mass through an accretion disc and launches jets. The jets remove mass from the inflated main sequence star and collide with the CCSN ejecta. Although this scenario is rare, it adds up to other rare scenarios to further support the notion that many stripped envelope CCSNe are powered by late jets. The late jets can power these CCSNe-I for a long time and might power bumps in their light curve. The jets might also shape the inner ejecta to a bipolar morphology. Our results further support suggestions that there are several ways to feed an NS (or a black hole) to launch the late jets in superluminous supernovae.
Absorption-based circumgalactic medium line emission estimates
Authors: Piacitelli Daniel R , Solhaug Erik , Faerman Yakov , McQuinn Matthew
Published: August 2022

Motivated by integral field units (IFUs) on large ground telescopes and proposals for ultraviolet-sensitive space telescopes to probe circumgalactic medium (CGM) emission, we survey the most promising emission lines and how such observations can inform our understanding of the CGM and its relation to galaxy formation. We tie our emission estimates to both HST/COS absorption measurements of ions around z ≈ 0.2 Milky Way mass haloes and models for the density and temperature of gas. We also provide formulas that simplify extending our estimates to other samples and physical scenarios. We find that O iii 5007 Å and N ii 6583 Å, which at fixed ionic column density are primarily sensitive to the thermal pressure of the gas they inhabit, may be detectable with KCWI and especially IFUs on 30 m telescopes out to half a virial radius. O v 630 Å and O vi 1032,1038 Å are perhaps the most promising ultraviolet lines, with models predicting intensities >100 γ cm−2 s−1 sr−1 in the inner 100 kpc of Milky Way-like systems. A detection of O vi would confirm the collisionally ionized picture and constrain the density profile of the CGM. Other ultraviolet metal lines constrain the amount of gas that is actively cooling and mixing. We find that C iii 978 Å and C iv 1548 Å may be detectable if an appreciable fraction of the observed O vi column is associated with mixing or cooling gas. H α emission within $100\,$ kpc of Milky Way-like galaxies is within reach of current IFUs even for the minimum signal from ionizing background fluorescence, while hydrogen n > 2 Ly-series lines are too weak to be detectable.
Radio dichotomy in quasars with H β FWHM greater than 15 000 km s−1
Authors: Chakraborty Avinanda , Bhattacharjee Anirban , Brotherton Michael S , Chatterjee Ritaban , Chatterjee Suchetana , Gilbert Miranda
Published: August 2022

It has been inferred from large unbiased samples that $10$–$15{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of all quasars are radio-loud (RL). Using the quasar catalogue from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we show that the radio-loud fraction (RLF) for high broad line (HBL) quasars, containing H β full width at half-maximum greater than 15 000 km s−1, is $\sim 57 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. While there is no significant difference between the RL and radio-quiet (RQ) populations in our sample in terms of their black hole mass, Eddington ratio, and covering fraction (CF), optical continuum luminosity of the RL quasars are higher. The similarity in the distribution of their CF indicates that our analysis is unbiased in terms of the viewing angle of the HBL RL and RQ quasars. Hence, we conclude that the accretion disc luminosity of the RL quasars in our HBL sample is higher, which indicates a connection between a brighter disc and a more prominent jet. By comparing them with the non-HBL H β broad emission line quasars, we find that the HBL sources have the lowest Eddington ratios in addition to having a very high RLF. That is consistent with the theories of jet formation, in which jets are launched from low Eddington ratio accreting systems. We find that the [O iii] narrow emission line is stronger in the RL compared to RQ quasars in our HBL sample, which is consistent with previous findings in the literature, and may be caused by the interaction of the narrow line gas with the jet.
AGN feedback duty cycle in Planck SZ selected clusters using Chandra observations
Authors: Olivares V , Su Y , Nulsen P , Kraft R , Somboonpanyakul T , Andrade-Santos F , Jones C , Forman W
Published: August 2022

We present a systematic study of X-ray cavities using archival Chandra observations of nearby galaxy clusters selected by their Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) signature in the Planck survey, which provides a nearly unbiased mass-selected sample to explore the entire AGN feedback duty cycle. Based on X-ray image analysis, we report that 30 of the 164 clusters show X-ray cavities, which corresponds to a detection fraction of 18 per cent. After correcting for spatial resolution to match the high-$\mathit{ z}$ SPT-SZ sample, the detection fraction decreases to 9 per cent, consistent with the high-z sample, hinting that the AGN feedback has not evolved across almost 8 Gyrs. Our finding agrees with the lack of evolution of cool-core clusters fraction. We calculate the cavity power, Pcav, and find that most systems of our sample have enough AGN heating to offset the radiative losses of the intracluster medium.
Impacts of Jets and winds from primordial black holes
Authors: Takhistov Volodymyr , Lu Philip , Murase Kohta , Inoue Yoshiyuki , Gelmini Graciela B
Published: August 2022

Primordial black holes (PBHs) formed in the early Universe constitute an attractive candidate for dark matter. Within the gaseous environment of the interstellar medium, PBHs with accretion discs naturally launch outflows such as winds and jets. We discuss for the first time how PBHs with significant spin can sustain powerful relativistic jets and generate associated cocoons. Jets and winds can efficiently deposit their kinetic energies and heat the surrounding gas through shocks. Focusing on the Leo T dwarf galaxy, we demonstrate that these effects form novel tests and set new limits on PBHs over a significant ∼10−2 –106 M⊙ mass range, including the parameter space associated with gravitational wave observations by the LIGO and VIRGO Collaborations. Observing the morphology of emission will allow to distinguish between jet and wind contributions, and hence establishes a new method for identifying spinning PBHs.
Transferability and reproducibility of the EpiSkin™ Micronucleus Assay
Authors: Chen Lizao , Huang Fang , Kei CaiChun , Zhang Jinsong , Sang Jing , Yang Ying , Kuang Rong , Xiong Xikun , Li Qing , Liu Yanfeng , Qin Qin , Zhao E , Alépée Nathalie , Ouedraogo Gladys , Li Nan , Cai Zhenzi
Published: August 2022

A novel in vitro 3D micronucleus assay was developed in China using the EpiSkin™ 3D human skin model. This EpiSkin™ Micronucleus Assay showed good predictivity and reproducibility during internal validation and is expected to contribute to in vitro genotoxicity testing as a follow-up for positive results from 2D micronucleus assay. Having developed the assay in one laboratory, further work focused on the transferability and inter-laboratory reproducibility in two additional Chinese authority laboratories (Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Zhejiang Institute for Food and Drug Control). Formal training was provided for both laboratories, which resulted in good transferability based on the results of two positive compounds, such as mitomycin C and vinblastine. Independent experiments were then performed, and inter-laboratory reproducibility was checked using 2-acetylaminofluorene, 5-fluorouracil, 2,4-dichlorophenol, and d-limonene. The dose-responses of the positive control chemical, mitomycin C, were similar to those of the developing laboratory, and all test chemicals were correctly classified by all laboratories. Overall, there was a good transferability as well as intra- and inter-laboratory reproducibility of the EpiSkin™ Micronucleus Assay. This study further confirmed the assay’s robustness and provided confidence to enter following validation stages for scientific acceptance.
First multicentric real-life experience with the combination of CCNU and temozolomide in newly diagnosed MGMT promoter methylated IDH wildtype glioblastoma
Authors: Lazaridis Lazaros , Bumes Elisabeth , Cäcilia Spille Dorothee , Schulz Tim , Heider Sina , Agkatsev Sarina , Schmidt Teresa , Blau Tobias , Oster Christoph , Feldheim Jonas , Stummer Walter , Kessler Almuth Friederike , Seidel Clemens , Grauer Oliver , Hau Peter , Sure Ulrich , Keyvani Kathy , Herrlinger Ulrich , Kleinschnitz Christoph , Stuschke Martin , Herrmann Ken , Deuschl Cornelius , Breuer Stella , Hattingen Elke , Scheffler Björn , Kebir Sied , Glas Martin
Published: August 2022

Background

The randomized phase 3 CeTeG/NOA-09 trial assessed whether CCNU plus temozolomide was superior to temozolomide alone in newly diagnosed MGMT promoter methylated glioblastoma patients. Survival was significantly improved from 31.4 months (temozolomide) to 48.1 months (CCNU plus temozolomide). In view of this encouraging data, we assessed safety and efficacy of this regimen under real-life conditions.

Methods

We retrospectively collected clinical and radiographic data from adult newly diagnosed MGMT promoter methylated IDH wildtype glioblastoma patients from five neuro-oncology centers in Germany. For inclusion in our analysis, treatment with CCNU and temozolomide had to be performed for at least six weeks (one course).

Results

Seventy patients were included. Median progression-free survival was 14.4 months and median overall survival 33.8 months. Patients with TTFields treatment for at least 8 weeks and CCNU plus temozolomide (n = 22, 31%) had a prolonged progression-free survival compared to those with TTFields treatment for less than eight weeks (n = 48, 69%) (21.5 versus 11.2 months; P = .0105). In a multivariable Cox regression analysis, TTFields treatment for eight weeks or longer together with CCNU plus temozolomide and a Karnofsky performance score ≥ 90% were independent prognostic factors for progression-free and overall survival. Pseudoprogression occurred in n = 16 (33%) of investigated n = 49 (70%) patients. In n = 31 (44%) patients high-grade hematotoxicity was observed.

Conclusions

The results from this multicentric trial indicate that—under real-life conditions—toxicity and survival estimates are comparable to the CeTeG/NOA-09 trial. TTFields therapy for at least eight weeks in combination with this regimen was independently associated with prolonged survival.
Synthesis of pyrimidines from dinitrogen and carbon
Authors: Shi Xianghui , Wang Qianru , Qin Chao , Wu Li-Jun , Chen Yuanjin , Wang Gao-Xiang , Cai Yongli , Gao Wenbo , He Teng , Wei Junnian , Guo Jianping , Chen Ping , Xi Zhenfeng
Published: August 2022

The element nitrogen and nitrogenous compounds are vital to life. The synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds using dinitrogen as the nitrogen source, not through ammonia, is of great interest and great value but remains a grand challenge. Herein, we describe a strategy to realize this transformation by combining the heterogeneous approach with the homogeneous methodology. The N2 molecule was first fixed with carbon and LiH through a one-pot heterogeneous process, forming Li2CN2 as an ‘activated’ nitrogen source with high efficiency. Then subsequent homogeneous treatments of Li2CN2 to construct the organic synthon carbodiimide and the RNA/DNA building block pyrimidines were fulfilled. By using 15N2 as the feedstock, their corresponding 15N-labeled carbodiimide and pyrimidines were readily obtained. This homogeneous–heterogeneous synergy strategy will open a new chapter for N2 transformation.
Transforming forced displacement response through innovation
Authors: Gordon Grant , Gurumurthy Ravi
Published: August 2022

With more individuals forcibly displaced than any time since the Second World War, forced displacement has emerged as one of the defining political and humanitarian issues of the twenty-first century. In response to the changing nature of displacement, shortcomings of the humanitarian sector, and several ideological shifts that have taken place over the past 20 years, innovation has been embraced as a method to generate new breakthrough solutions for forced displacement. This article takes stock of innovation in forced displacement and charts a path forward for innovation in the sector. We articulate a vision for what forced displacement response should look like in 20 years, detailing an innovation agenda at the individual level, country level, and sector level. Grounded in our lessons learned from leading innovation at the International Rescue Committee, a large humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO), we outline a set of strategies the sector should adopt to increase the quantity and quality of new innovations, improve the mechanisms to identify cost-effective innovations, and enhance the paths to scale for these innovations.
The Syrian refugee life study: first glance
Authors: Stillman Sarah , Rozo Sandra V , Tamim Abdulrazzak , Palmer I Bailey , Smith Emma , Miguel Edward
Published: August 2022

This paper presents descriptive statistics from the first wave of the Syrian Refugee Life Study (S-RLS), which began in 2020. S-RLS is a longitudinal study that tracks a representative sample of approximately 2,500 registered Syrian refugee households in Jordan. It collects comprehensive data on sociodemographic variables, health and well-being, preferences, social capital, attitudes, and safety and crime perceptions. We use these data to document sociodemographic characteristics of Syrian refugees in Jordan and compare them to representative populations in the 2016 Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey (JLMPS). Our findings point to lags in basic service access, housing quality, and educational attainment for Syrian refugees relative to non-refugees. The impacts of the pandemic may partially explain these disparities. The data also show that most Syrian refugees have not recovered economically after Covid-19 and have larger gender disparities in income, employment, prevalence of child marriage, and gender attitudes than their non-refugee counterparts. Finally, mental health problems were common for Syrian refugees in 2020, with depression indicated among more than 45 per cent of the phone survey sample and 61 per cent of the in-person survey sample.
Labour market and redistributive consequences of the Syrian refugees in Turkey
Authors: Loayza Norman , Ulyssea Gabriel , Utsumi Tomoko
Published: August 2022

This paper analyses the labour market effects and redistributive consequences among natives of the arrival of the Syrian refugees in Turkey. For that, we use the quantitative spatial model developed in Loayza et al. (2021), in which low- and high-skill workers can choose where to live/work and firms within each region can choose to operate in the formal or informal sectors and, if formal, whether to hire their workers formally or not. We use the estimated model to quantify the effects of the ‘refugee shock’ on informality, wages, profits, and tax revenues across regions and the country as a whole. We show that informality increases among low-skill but decreases among high-skill workers and the skill premium increases. Wages of low-skill workers decline substantially in the most affected regions, but tax revenues and profits per worker increase. Redistributing tax revenues can substantially reduce low-skill workers’ losses in most affected areas. In addition, redistributing profits can completely revert both low- and high-skill workers’ losses, even in the most affected regions.
Libel in the Provinces: Disinformation and ‘Disreputation’ in Early Modern England
Authors: Egan Clare
Published: August 2022

By the early modern period, libelling a private individual had been legally redefined and was being tried at the court of Star Chamber, alongside cases relating to the monarch or government. This brought the ruination of individual reputations by spreading false rumours into the same realm as the circulation of nationally significant false news. Private libels typically took the form of verses, impersonations, mock ceremonies or visual symbols that were read, sung, posted, and published; they exploited the defamatory potential of fictional reconstructions of local disputes in order to exacerbate conflicts within provincial communities. This chapter argues that private libels provide evidence for a novel multimedia practice of circulating disinformation that blended fact and fiction amongst the social networks of early modern England. It examines two cases, one centred upon a libellous verse and the other on mock proclamations, to establish the significance of literary and performance techniques in libellous disinformation. The chapter also explores the significance of ‘disreputation’ for the categories of private and public. It argues that private libels were a crucial feature of the social backdrop to established forms of oral, print and manuscript communication, which impacted upon common perceptions of trustworthiness of information and public official figures.
Conflicting Narratives: Health (Dis)information in Eighteenth-Century Italy
Authors: Delogu Giulia
Published: August 2022

This chapter analyzes a series of interconnected Italian cases in its enquiry into how disinformation was created, and how it impacted on society. It argues that disinformation is an inherent element of information itself. Disinformation is understood here as an intentional construction of fictional and often conflicting narratives, helpful in times of crisis and also in routine governance in the pursuit of political goals both internally and internationally. Since health matters figured prominently in early modern public discourse and policy making, the article focuses on health-related cases to explain how disinformation worked and may still work today.

During the eighteenth century, smallpox raged throughout the world. News of new outbreaks, and attempts to prevent it through inoculation, both sparked huge controversy, in which no participant in the dispute was above manipulating data and fabricating stories to bolster their arguments. After having laid out the context of early modern perceptions of diseases and health institutions, the chapter centres on specific instances: a successful text with Tuscan roots published in Milan by Giovanni Calvi (Tre consulti, 1762), and the port city of Livorno’s management of information about epidemics. The analysis of focal points such as port cities, along with the study of textual sources reveals the entire information chain (construction, circulation and reception). Ultimately the essay points out how disinformation itself is not an exception in the eighteenth-century media ecosystem, but is rather an essential part of interaction within public spaces.
Inhibitory effect of lanosterol on cataractous lens of cynomolgus monkeys using a subconjunctival drug release system
Authors: Zhang Keke , He Wenwen , Du Yu , Zhou Yugui , Wu Xiaokang , Zhu Jie , Zhu Xiangjia , Zhang Kang , Lu Yi
Published: August 2022

Background

To evaluate the effect of lanosterol on cataractous lens of cynomolgus monkeys using a subconjunctival drug release system.

Methods

Nine elder cynomolgus monkeys were used, consisting of three monkeys without cataract as controls, three monkeys with naturally occurring cortical cataract, and three monkeys with nuclear cataract as intervention groups. Nanoparticulated thermogel with lanosterol and fluorescein was administered by subconjunctival injection in the monkeys with cataract. Fluorescence changes of injected thermogel and cataract progression were observed. Lanosterol concentration in aqueous humor, solubility changes in lens proteins, and oxidative stress levels were analyzed in the lenses of the control and intervention groups.

Results

Injected thermogel showed decreased fluorescence during follow up. Lanosterol concentration in aqueous humor increased in the first 2 weeks and then gradually decreased, which was in accordance with the changes in cortical lens clarity. However, lenses with nuclear opacification showed little change. In the cortical region of lenses with cortical cataract, solubility of α-crystallin was significantly increased after administration of lanosterol, as well as the reduction of oxidative stress.

Conclusions

We demonstrated the effect of lanosterol on cataract progression based on in vivo models of primates. Lanosterol showed a short-term and reliable reversal effect on reducing cataract severity in cortical cataract in the early stages, possibly due to the increase in the solubility of lens proteins and changes in the oxidative stress status. Lanosterol administration using subconjunctival drug release system could be a promising nonsurgical approach for future clinical studies of cataract prevention and treatment.
Auxin and abscisic acid antagonistically regulate ascorbic acid production via the SlMAPK8–SlARF4–SlMYB11 module in tomato
Authors: Xu Xin , Zhang Qiongdan , Gao Xueli , Wu Guanle , Wu Mengbo , Yuan Yujin , Zheng Xianzhe , Gong Zehao , Hu Xiaowei , Gong Min , Qi Tiancheng , Li Honghai , Luo Zisheng , Li Zhengguo , Deng Wei
Published: August 2022

Ascorbic acid (AsA) is a multifunctional phytonutrient that is essential for the human diet as well as plant development. While much is known about AsA biosynthesis in plants, how this process is regulated in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits remains unclear. Here, we found that auxin treatment inhibited AsA accumulation in the leaves and pericarps of tomato. The auxin response factor gene SlARF4 is induced by auxin to mediate auxin-induced inhibition of AsA accumulation. Specifically, SlARF4 transcriptionally inhibits the transcription factor gene SlMYB11, thereby modulating AsA accumulation by regulating the transcription of the AsA biosynthesis genes l-galactose-1-phosphate phosphatase, l-galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase, and dehydroascorbate. By contrast, abscisic acid (ABA) treatment increased AsA accumulation in tomato under drought stress. ABA induced the expression of the mitogen-activated protein kinase gene SlMAPK8. We demonstrate that SlMAPK8 phosphorylates SlARF4 and inhibits its transcriptional activity, whereas SlMAPK8 phosphorylates SlMYB11 and activates its transcriptional activity. SlMAPK8 functions in ABA-induced AsA accumulation and drought stress tolerance. Moreover, ABA antagonizes the effects of auxin on AsA biosynthesis. Therefore, auxin- and ABA-induced regulation of AsA accumulation is mediated by the SlMAPK8–SlARF4–SlMYB11 module in tomato during fruit development and drought stress responses, shedding light on the roles of phytohormones in regulating AsA accumulation to mediate stress tolerance.
Measuring Political Knowledge in Online Surveys
Authors: Kleinberg Mona S
Published: August 2022

Individuals use the internet to look up information. This has consequences for the measurement of political knowledge in self-administered online surveys. Online surveys may now include answers that were retrieved from the internet instead of a respondent’s declarative memory, thereby distorting knowledge measures. This problem has been acknowledged and studied, but existing research focuses on interventions designed to deter online searching and on methods to detect the behavior. I take a different approach and focus on the questions themselves to show that some questions are more vulnerable to bias via internet searching than others. I take advantage of interview mode differences in the 2016 ANES to examine the effect of internet access on different kinds of political knowledge questions. The study concludes with best practices recommendations for researchers wishing to improve their knowledge scales by discussing what type of questions are most likely to form a scale that retains criterion validity in the online environment.
How Can Scholars Help to Embed Institutions of Public-Sector Change? (Or Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was a Grad Student)
Authors: Moynihan Donald P
Published: August 2022

What is the purpose of the applied study of government? In this essay, I lay out one response—that scholars of this topic should help in the job of what I characterize as embedding institutions of public-sector change. Public institutions offer the key means to direct governance, but at the same time also risk becoming sclerotic, failing to adapt to public concerns. How can academics help resolve this duality, matching public values to contemporary challenges? First, we as scholars can play a role in purposeful problem framing. Second, we can study and document related behavior and empirical outcomes. Finally, we can design solutions. I illustrate these processes with examples from my own research, discussing performance management, administrative burdens, and public personnel systems.
Exact Solution to Axisymmetric Interface Crack Problem in Magneto-Piezo-Electric Transversely Isotropic Materials
Authors: Fabrikant V I
Published: August 2022

This seems to be the first exact closed-form solution to the problem of a penny-shaped interface crack, subjected to an axisymmetric normal and tangential loading. The crack is located at the boundary between two bonded magneto-piezo-electric transversely isotropic half-spaces, made of different materials. We use the combination of Green’s functions for two different half-spaces and Fourier transform. We derive first the governing equations, which are valid for a crack of arbitrary shape. The usual approach leads to five hypersingular integral equations, we arrive at four integro-differential equations (one of them being complex). While the coefficients of the governing equations in existing publications are presented in terms of the results of the solution of a set of linear algebraic equations and are too cumbersome to be written explicitly in terms of the basic constants, our choice of the basic constants leads to quite elegant explicit expressions for these coefficients and reveals certain symmetry, which was noticed only numerically in previous publications or not noticed at all. In the particular case of axial symmetry, the problem is reduced to just one singular equation, for which an exact closed-form solution is known. We are not aware of any other publication with which our results can be compared.
Cytarabine delivered by CD44 and bone targeting redox-sensitive liposomes for treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia
Authors: Wu Hao , Gao Yuan , Ma Jia , Hu Maosong , Xia Jing , Bao Shuting , Liu Yuxi , Feng Kai
Published: August 2022

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) remains a serious fatal disease for the patients and effective treatment strategies are urgently needed. Based on the characteristics of the AML, we developed the CD44 and bone targeting liposomes delivery system decorated with the redox-cleavable polymer. First, ALN-HA was obtained by amination between alendronate (ALN) and hyaluronic acid (HA), and cholesterol (Chol) was coupled by a disulfide linker (-SS-) with biological reducibility to obtain the goal polymer, ALN-HA-SS-Chol, decorated the liposomes loaded with the Cytarabine (AraC). ALN-HA-SS-AraC-Lip exhibited a spherical morphology with the diameter of 117.5 nm and expanded at the environment of 10 mM dithiothreitol. Besides, compared with other groups, ALN-HA-SS-AraC-Lip showed benign hydroxyapatite affinity in vitro and bone targeting in C57/BL6 mice, also, ALN-HA-SS-AraC-Lip exhibited encouraging antitumor which significantly reduced the white blood cell amount in bone marrow and blood smear caused by AML model, besides, the dual targeting liposomes also prolong the survival time of mice. In conclusion, the bone and CD44 dual targeting liposomes with redox sensitivity could target to the leukemia stem cells regions and then uptake by the tumor cells, which would be a valuable target for the treatment of the AML.
Vasectomy in Interwar Europe: From Medical to Political Practices
Authors: Serna Elodie
Published: August 2022

The history of vasectomy, which began at the end of the nineteenth century, was made more complex during the inter-war period. While vasectomy was used as a method of rejuvenation in many European countries and was advocated as a means of enforcing eugenicist policies, it was used also clandestinely for contraception since the late 1920s. Male sterilisation has been the subject of a transfer of knowledge from the medical to the political sphere. While doctors were discreetly going beyond the therapeutic framework, clandestine militant action was gradually organised. The networks developed beyond borders and the biography of a clandestine steriliser highlights the forms of popularisation of an expertise specific to the anarchist circles. While the practice of the operation itself questions men’s involvement in contraception, its legal treatment demonstrated the limits of personal disposal of oneself, whereas its political use underlined the stakes of reappropriation of sexual knowledge.
The Abstraction of Sovereignty: The Ottoman Empire in Early Twentieth-Century Socialist Thought
Authors: Zaman Faridah
Published: August 2022

This article examines the way British socialists came to provide intellectual and political weight to the ‘internationalizing’ of non-European territory during and after the First World War. While there is now a substantial body of scholarship articulating the continuities between Victorian liberal imperialism and the liberal internationalism of the early twentieth century that gave rise, most notably, to the League of Nations’ mandates system, parallel developments within socialist thought in Britain have been less readily noted. Critically, leading Fabian Society intellectuals reaffirmed the late nineteenth-century belief that European powers had the legal as well as moral right to partition and internationalize territories and markets in the name of preserving peace and advancing prosperity. Indeed, in the drive to produce conceptually robust positions on problems of world order, in certain respects socialists went furthest in scope and ambition. An aspect of this dynamic is explored here by paying particular attention to the place of the Ottoman Empire in socialist discussions of international government and the mandates system.
Litchi consumption and missed meals continue to be associated with acute encephalopathy syndrome among children: an investigation of the 2019 outbreak in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar, India
Authors: Ponnaiah Manickam , Dikid Tanzin , Yadav Rajesh , Thangaraj Jeromie Wesley Vivian , Velusamy Saravanakumar , Vaisakh T P , Babu Binoy , Mishra Abhishek , Patel Purvi , Papanna Mohan , Velayudhan Anoop , Sharma Rajeev , Shrivastava Aakash , Jain S K , Prasad Ravindra , Kumar Sanjay , Singh Varsha , Singh Sujeet Kumar , Murhekar Manoj
Published: August 2022

Background

Muzaffarpur district in Bihar State of India recorded a resurgence of acute encephalopathy syndrome (AES) cases in the summer of 2019 after no reported outbreak in 3 y. Earlier studies generated evidence that litchi consumption and missing the previous evening's meal were associated with AES. We investigated the recent outbreak to understand the risk factors associated with AES.

Methods

We conducted a matched case-control study by comparing AES cases with healthy controls from case-households and the neighborhood community for risk factors like missing evening meal and litchi consumption before onset of AES.

Results

We recruited 61 cases and 239 controls. Compared with the community controls, case-patients were five times more likely to have reported eating litchi in the 7 d preceding the onset of illness (adjusted OR [AOR]=5.1; 95% CI 1.3 to 19) and skipping the previous evening's meal (AOR=5.2; 95% CI 1.4 to 20). Compared with household controls, case-patients were five times more likely to be children aged <5 y (AOR=5.3; 95% CI 1.3 to 22) and seven times more likely to have skipped the previous evening's meal (AOR=7.4; 95% CI 1.7 to 34).

Conclusions

Skipping the previous evening's meal and litchi consumption were significantly associated with AES among children in Muzaffarpur and adjoining districts of Bihar.
Human cytomegalovirus strain diversity and dynamics reveal the donor lung as a major contributor after transplantation
Authors: Külekci Büsra , Schwarz Stefan , Brait Nadja , Perkmann-Nagele Nicole , Jaksch Peter , Hoetzenecker Konrad , Puchhammer-Stöckl Elisabeth , Goerzer Irene
Published: August 2022

Mixed human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain infections are frequent in lung transplant recipients (LTRs). To date, the influence of the donor (D) and recipient (R) HCMV serostatus on intra-host HCMV strain composition and viral population dynamics after transplantation is only poorly understood. Here, we investigated ten pre-transplant lungs from HCMV-seropositive donors and 163 sequential HCMV-DNA-positive plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage samples from fifty LTRs with multiviremic episodes post-transplantation. The study cohort included D+R+ (38 per cent), D+R− (36 per cent), and D−R+ (26 per cent) patients. All samples were subjected to quantitative genotyping by short amplicon deep sequencing, and twenty-four of them were additionally PacBio long-read sequenced for genotype linkages. We find that D+R+ patients show a significantly elevated intra-host strain diversity compared to D+R− and D−R+ patients (P = 0.0089). Both D+ patient groups display significantly higher viral population dynamics than D− patients (P = 0.0061). Five out of ten pre-transplant donor lungs were HCMV DNA positive, whereof three multiple HCMV strains were detected, indicating that multi-strain transmission via lung transplantation is likely. Using long reads, we show that intra-host haplotypes can share distinctly linked genotypes, which limits overall intra-host diversity in mixed infections. Together, our findings demonstrate donor-derived strains as the main source of increased HCMV strain diversity and dynamics post-transplantation. These results foster strategies to mitigate the potential transmission of the donor strain reservoir to the allograft, such as ex vivo delivery of HCMV-selective immunotoxins prior to transplantation to reduce latent HCMV.