bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validation of the ductile fracture modeling of CGI at quasi-static loading conditions
Authors: Razanica Senad , Josefson Lennart B , Larsson Ragnar , Sjögren Torsten
Published: April 2021

Fracture modeling and experimental validation of Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) specimens loaded under quasi-static conditions at room temperature are considered. Continuum damage mechanics coupled to plasticity is adopted to describe the evolution of damage. The damage production is based on a recently developed rate dependent damage evolution law, where the damage–plasticity coupling is modeled based on a damage driving energy that involves both stored energy and plasticity contributions. To describe ductile fracture accounting for stress triaxiality on the damage initiation, the inelastic contribution to the damage driving energy is controlled by the Johnson-Cook failure criterion. Three different damage models are defined based on elastic/inelastic damage driving energies. The damage models are validated against experiments on a set of notched specimens made of CGI with different notch geometries, where the global force-displacement curves and corresponding strain fields are obtained using digital image correlation technology. It is shown from the testing and the simulations that plastic strains generally need to be accounted for in order to properly describe the different failure processes of the CGI specimens. In addition, the ductile damage model is shown to more accurately predict the experimental force-displacement response as compared to the more simplistic stress drop, element deletion technique.
Seismic response analysis of steel–concrete hybrid wind turbine tower
Authors: Chen Junling , Li Jinwei , Wang Dawei , Feng Youquan
Published: April 2021

The steel–concrete hybrid wind turbine tower is characterized by the concrete tubular segment at the lower part and the traditional steel tubular segment at the upper part. Because of the great change of mass and stiffness along the height of the tower at the connection of steel segment and concrete segment, its dynamic responses under seismic ground motions are significantly different from those of the traditional steel tubular wind turbine tower. Two detailed finite element models of a full steel tubular tower and a steel–concrete hybrid tower for 2.0 MW wind turbine built in the same wind farm are, respectively, developed by using the finite element software ABAQUS. The response spectrum method is applied to analyze the seismic action effects of these two towers under three different ground types. Three groups of ground motions corresponding to three ground types are used to analyze the dynamic response of the steel–concrete hybrid tower by the nonlinear time history method. The numerical results show that the seismic action effect by the response spectrum method is lower than those by the nonlinear time history method. And then it can be concluded that the response spectrum method is not suitable for calculating the seismic action effects of the steel–concrete hybrid tower directly and the time history analyses should be a necessary supplement for its seismic design. The first three modes have obvious contributions on the dynamic response of the steel–concrete hybrid tower.
Hand-to-mouth Consumption and Calorie Consciousness: Consequences for Junk-food Taxation
Authors: Mathieu-Bolh Nathalie
Published: April 2021

Junk-food taxes have mixed effects on obesity and junk-food consumption. We build a theoretical model to explain empirical results and better understand how to address the obesity crisis. In our framework, hand-to-mouth consumers make an intertemporal choice between junk-food consumption and weight loss. Their choice depends on calorie consciousness, which is influenced by perceived after-tax relative prices and educational attainment. Thus, a junk-food tax modifies consumers’ intertemporal choice both through their budget constraint and calorie consciousness. As a result, the effect of the tax on body weight reflects competing income, intertemporal substitution, and calorie-consciousness effects. The model explains empirical observations such as the recent rise in obesity and differences in weight outcomes for different income levels. The model explains circumstances under which junk-food taxes can be effective or ineffective to reduce body weight as well as differences in elasticities of high-calorie food consumption for high- and low-income earners.
Measuring Fiscal Spillovers in Brazilian Municipalities
Authors: Castro Marcelo , Mattos Enlinson
Published: April 2021

This article documents fiscal spillovers after an exogenous increase in the main federal transfer to Brazilian municipalities. We explore that Municipalities’ Participation Fund is distributed according to the local population and abruptly changes at some thresholds. We disentangle spillovers using bordering municipalities near different cutoffs, showing that the flypaper effect in local economies can be partially explained by bordering municipalities’ grants—roughly 20 percent. Fiscal spillovers are generally positive, except for spending in public health and sanitation for some population ranges.
Innumerable Meningiomas Arising in a Patient With Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Decades After Radiation Therapy
Authors: Gilani Ahmed , Lee Julieann C , Kleinschmidt-DeMasters BK
Published: April 2021

Meningioma is the most common radiation-induced brain neoplasm, usually occurring after a latency of 20 - 35 years, with multiplicity in 10% of cases. Radiation-induced meningiomas (RIMs) have not previously been reported in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), unlike their well-known occurrence in other familial tumor predisposition syndrome patients. We report a TSC patient who developed numerous intracranial meningiomas twenty five year after radiation therapy for subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA). Autopsy examination showed innumerable, coalescent, benign, meningothelial meningiomas, WHO grade 1, ranging in size from 0.2 cm to 3.3 cm. Autopsy also showed small residual SEGA, radiation-induced cerebral vasculopathy, and classic TSC features including several small subependymal nodules (“candle gutterings”), white matter radial heterotopia, facial angiofibromas, dental enamel pitting, one ash leaf spot, and multiple hepatic and renal angiomyolipomas. Next-generation sequencing analysis utilizing a 500+ gene cancer panel demonstrated chromosomal loss involving the majority of chromosome 22, including the NF2 gene locus, as well as a truncating nonsense mutation in TSC1 p. R509*. While TSC patients rarely require radiation therapy, this striking case suggests that patients with TSC should be monitored closely if cranial therapeutic radiation is administered.
Understanding service quality attributes that drive user ratings: A text mining approach
Authors: Gunasekar Sangeetha , Kumar Deepak S , Purani Keyoor , Sudhakar Sooriya , Dixit Saurabh Kumar , Menon Dileep
Published: April 2021

Studies based on online textual data are increasingly used in the hospitality sector to gain better consumer insights. Using text mining of TripAdvisor reviews and mapping it to hard and soft attributes of SERVQUAL dimensions, this research attempts to identify service quality characteristics that influence the customers’ online ratings of hotels. The moderating effects of the reviewer characteristics, namely (a) domestic vs foreign (b) novice vs experienced, (c) less vs more popular and (d) brief vs elaborate writing, on the relationship between quality attributes and online hotel ratings are also analyzed. The results imply that reviewers emphasize hard attributes of service quality in general, such as tangibles, reliability, and responsiveness, while providing online ratings to hotels. Furthermore, reviewer characteristics also influence the attributes emphasized in reviews and the resultant ratings. Finally, along with the theoretical contributions, managerial contributions, such as the usefulness of service planning outcomes, are discussed.
An agenda for Australian rural sociology: Troubling the white middle-class farming woman
Authors: Pini Barbara , Rodriguez Castro Laura , Mayes Robyn
Published: April 2021

In reflecting on the last two decades of publications by Australian rural studies scholars in three major disciplinary journals, this article argues that the field of Australian rural sociology has failed to address racial inequality and class difference. While we note a burgeoning of feminist rural research challenging the historical emphasis on the white male farmer, this too has tended to occlude class and race, as is demonstrated in our analysis of the national ‘Invisible Farmer’ project. Accordingly, we point to a need to bring anti-racist work and scholarship to bear on our subdiscipline. In particular, we call for Australian rural studies scholars to engage with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander scholarship to interrogate whiteness as a category of difference and to open a discussion about relinquishing settler power, including in the academy. We emphasise the need for actions to understand and challenge the continuing dominance and privilege of whiteness and the fundamentally classed colonial project in Australian rural studies.
Drilling performance of uncoated brad spur tools for high-strength carbon fiber-reinforced polymer laminates
Authors: Lin Tieyu , Xu Jinyang , Ji Min , Chen Ming
Published: April 2021

High-strength carbon fiber-reinforced polymers have been a promising alternative to conventional fibrous composites because of their extremely high properties. Mechanical drilling is a necessary operation to create boreholes for riveting and bolting different composite structures into assemblies. However, the high-strength carbon fiber-reinforced polymers pose much more serious machining issues than the conventional ones. The present work aims to investigate the drilling performance of one type of uncoated carbide brad spur tools when applied in machining of high-strength carbon fiber-reinforced polymer laminates. The wear mechanisms of uncoated carbide brad spur drills were figured out. Additionally, the tool wear influences on the thrust force, hole dimensional accuracy, and drilling-induced delamination were quantified. The acquired results indicate that the tool wear has a significant impact on the drilling process and the quality of machined hole wall surfaces. The dominant wear mode is proved to be abrasion wear. Moreover, the uncoated brad spur drills appear to exhibit high resistance to the abrasion wear in the drilling of high-strength carbon fiber-reinforced polymer laminates.
Learning through everyday activities: Improving preschool language and literacy outcomes via family workshops
Authors: Roberts Kathryn L , Rochester Shana E
Published: April 2021

Family literacy programmes can take many shapes, and are often focused on training adult caregivers to engage in particular literacy activities with their young children. In this study, through a series of five, two-hour workshops, we instead worked to help families take advantage of opportunities to infuse literacy learning into their daily routines with their preschool-aged children. Effects of the workshop include parent reports of increased literacy interactions in the home, particularly in the areas of read-alouds and writing opportunities. In addition, students whose families participated in the workshops showed statistically significantly greater literacy growth in print and word awareness and comprehension than peers whose families did not participate in the workshops.
Police communications and social media
Authors: Fielding Nigel G.
Published: April 2021

This article considers the affordances of Web 2.0 social media tools for public communications by the police and illustrates their use, presenting data from exploratory fieldwork with officers and staff in five UK police forces. Future lines of development are noted that may merit ongoing research.
Persistence in Doctoral Education: A Part-Time Research Student Perspective in a Developing Context
Authors: Massyn Liezel
Published: April 2021

Ample literature on the retention of undergraduate students is available. However, information on the retention of postgraduate students in doctoral research is not abundant, especially when the population comprises working adult students studying on a part-time basis. This article aims to explore factors that influence retention in this group of students. The literature identified various factors that could affect the retention of these students. Besides the academic and social integration identified by Tinto, environmental factors (finances, family and employment) and time constraints also play a role in their persistence. The data was collected from PhD students at a Business School in South Africa. The results from the survey confirm the influence of these factors on retention. The inclusion of qualitative responses as part of the survey led to recommendations that consider the finer nuances of the support needed by this group of heterogeneous students.
Baduanjin Qigong Improves Balance, Leg Strength, and Mobility in Individuals With Chronic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Study
Authors: Yuen Mandy , Ouyang H. X. , Miller Tiev , Pang Marco Y. C.
Published: April 2021

Background

Effective and sustainable exercise training methods for improving balance poststroke are needed.

Objective

To evaluate the effect of Baduanjin Qigong for improving balance after stroke.

Methods

This was a single-blinded randomized controlled study in which only the assessor was blinded. Fifty-eight people with chronic stroke (mean age: 62.5 ± 11.8 years) were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 29) or control group (n = 29). The experimental group underwent 8 weeks of supervised Baduanjin training (3 sessions per week). This was followed by home-based practice of the same exercises 3 days a week for another 8 weeks. The control group underwent 2 sessions of supervised conventional fitness training in the first week, followed by home-based exercise practice 3 days a week until the end of week 16. All outcomes were measured at baseline, week 8, and week 16.

Results

Significantly greater improvements in the Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), composite equilibrium score (Sensory Organization Test), 5 Times Sit to Stand, and Timed Up and Go test were detected at week 8 in the experimental group than in the control group ( P < .017). Further improvement in the Mini-BESTest was observed from week 8 to 16 in the experimental group ( P < .001). Other outcomes (Limit of Stability, Fall-Efficacy Scale, Modified Barthel Index, Stroke-Specific Quality of Life) showed no significant results.

Conclusion

Baduanjin is effective in improving balance, leg strength, and mobility and is a safe and sustainable form of home-based exercise for people with chronic stroke.
Translational Value of Skilled Reaching Assessment in Clinical and Preclinical Studies on Motor Recovery After Stroke
Authors: van Lieshout Eline C. C. , Boonzaier Julia , Pel Adam J. , van Heijningen Caroline L. , Vink Jord J. , Visser-Meily Johanna M. A. , van Tilborg Geralda A. F. , Dijkhuizen Rick M.
Published: April 2021

Background

Assessment of skilled reaching enables extensive analysis of upper limb function in clinical and preclinical studies on poststroke outcome. However, translational research if often limited by lack of correspondence between tests of human and rodent motor function.

Objectives

To determine (1) the translational value of skilled reaching performance for preclinical research by comparing the behavioral recovery profiles of skilled reaching characteristics between humans and rats recovering from stroke and (2) the relationship between skilled reaching performance and commonly used clinical outcome measures after stroke.

Methods

Twelve patients with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and 17 rats with photothrombotic stroke underwent an equivalent skilled reaching test at different time points, representing early to late subacute stages poststroke. Success scores and a movement element rating scale were used to measure the skilled reaching performance. The Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity (FM-UE) assessment and the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) were used as clinical outcome measures.

Results

Both species had muscle flaccidity at the early subacute stage after stroke and showed motor recovery following a proximal-distal principle toward the early subacute stage, albeit for rats within a shorter time course. Human skilled reaching scores and FM-UE and ARAT scores in the first 3 months poststroke were significantly correlated ( P < .05).

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates that poststroke changes in skilled reaching performance are highly similar between rats and humans and correspond with standard clinical outcome measures. Skilled reaching testing therefore offers an effective and highly translational means for assessment of motor recovery in experimental and clinical stroke settings.
Resting State Connectivity Is Modulated by Motor Learning in Individuals After Stroke
Authors: Kraeutner Sarah N. , Rubino Cristina , Rinat Shie , Lakhani Bimal , Borich Michael R. , Wadden Katie P. , Boyd Lara A.
Published: April 2021

Objective

Activity patterns across brain regions that can be characterized at rest (ie, resting-state functional connectivity [rsFC]) are disrupted after stroke and linked to impairments in motor function. While changes in rsFC are associated with motor recovery, it is not clear how rsFC is modulated by skilled motor practice used to promote recovery. The current study examined how rsFC is modulated by skilled motor practice after stroke and how changes in rsFC are linked to motor learning.

Methods

Two groups of participants (individuals with stroke and age-matched controls) engaged in 4 weeks of skilled motor practice of a complex, gamified reaching task. Clinical assessments of motor function and impairment, and brain activity (via functional magnetic resonance imaging) were obtained before and after training.

Results

While no differences in rsFC were observed in the control group, increased connectivity was observed in the sensorimotor network, linked to learning in the stroke group. Relative to healthy controls, a decrease in network efficiency was observed in the stroke group following training.

Conclusions

Findings indicate that rsFC patterns related to learning observed after stroke reflect a shift toward a compensatory network configuration characterized by decreased network efficiency.
Tribological characterisation of magnesium matrix nanocomposites: A review
Authors: Banerjee Sudip , Sahoo Prasanta , Davim J Paulo
Published: April 2021

Magnesium matrix nanocomposites (Mg-MNCs) are high grade materials widely used in aerospace, electronics, biomedical and automotive sectors for high strength to weight ratio, excellent sustainability and superior mechanical and tribological characteristics. Basic properties of Mg-MNCs rely on type and amount of reinforcement and fabrication process. Current study reviews existing literatures to explore contribution of different parameters on tribological properties of Mg-MNCs. Effects of particle size and amount of different reinforcements like SiC, WC, Al2O3, TiB2, CNT, graphene nano platelets (GNP), graphite on tribological behaviour are discussed. Incorporation of nanoparticles generally enhances properties. Role of different fabrication processes like stir casting (SC), ultrasonic treatment casting (UST), disintegrated melt deposition (DMD), friction stir processing (FSP) on wear and friction behaviour of Mg-MNCs is also reviewed. Contributions of different tribological process parameters (sliding speed, load and sliding distance) on wear, friction and wear mechanism are also examined.
Design and driving model for the quadruped robot: An elucidating draft
Authors: Yao Ligang , Yu Hao , Lu Zongxing
Published: April 2021

Recent developments in driving mode have heightened the need for quadruped robots. However, it is still a challenge to improve the dynamic characteristics. This paper makes a comprehensive review of the quadruped robot driving mode, from two aspects: hydraulic drive and motor drive. The application of hydraulic drives in quadruped robots is relatively mature. As motor performance is improving, interest in motor driving mode for quadruped robots is growing rapidly. Specific quadruped robots of milestone significance are presented in different driving modes. The performance in load capacity and motion characteristics, in different driving modes, are compared. Finally, the research difficulties in the field of quadruped robots are analyzed, while future development of the quadruped robot shows high prospects. The purpose of this paper is to summarize and analyze the previous research results and provide useful guidance for robot designers in developing more efficient driving modes for quadruped robots.
Trajectory robust control of autonomous quadcopters based on model decoupling and disturbance estimation
Authors: Alonge Francesco , D’Ippolito Filippo , Fagiolini Adriano , Garraffa Giovanni , Sferlazza Antonino
Published: April 2021

In this article, a systematic procedure is given for determining a robust motion control law for autonomous quadcopters, starting from an input–output linearizable model. In particular, the suggested technique can be considered as a robust feedback linearization (FL), where the nonlinear state-feedback terms, which contain the aerodynamic forces and moments and other unknown disturbances, are estimated online by means of extended state observers. Therefore, the control system is made robust against unmodelled dynamics and endogenous as well as exogenous disturbances. The desired closed-loop dynamics is obtained by means of pole assignment. To have a feasible control action, that is, the forces produced by the motors belong to an admissible set of forces, suitable reference signals are generated by means of differentiators supplied by the desired trajectory. The proposed control algorithm is tested by means of simulation experiments on a Raspberry-PI board by means of the hardware-in-the-loop method, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Moreover, it is compared with the standard FL control method, where the above nonlinear terms are computed using nominal parameters and the aerodynamical disturbances are neglected. The comparison shows that the control algorithm based on the online estimation of the above nonlinear state-feedback terms gives better static and dynamic behaviour over the standard FL control method.
Preoperative hematocrit and platelet count are associated with blood loss during spinal fusion for children with neuromuscular scoliosis
Authors: Lewen Margaret O , Berry Jay , Johnson Connor , Grace Rachael , Glader Laurie , Crofton Charis , Leahy Izabela , Pallikonda Nikhil , Litvinova Anna , Staffa Steven J , Glotzbecker Michael , Emans John , Hresko M Timothy , Ellen Mary , Troy Michael , Singer Sara J , Ferrari Lynne
Published: April 2021

Aim

To assess the relationship of preoperative hematology laboratory results with intraoperative estimated blood loss and transfusion volumes during posterior spinal fusion for pediatric neuromuscular scoliosis.

Methods

Retrospective chart review of 179 children with neuromuscular scoliosis undergoing spinal fusion at a tertiary children’s hospital between 2012 and 2017. The main outcome measure was estimated blood loss. Secondary outcomes were volumes of packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, and platelets transfused intraoperatively. Independent variables were preoperative blood counts, coagulation studies, and demographic and surgical characteristics. Relationships between estimated blood loss, transfusion volumes, and independent variables were assessed using bivariable analyses. Classification and Regression Trees were used to identify variables most strongly correlated with outcomes.

Results

In bivariable analyses, increased estimated blood loss was significantly associated with higher preoperative hematocrit and lower preoperative platelet count but not with abnormal coagulation studies. Preoperative laboratory results were not associated with intraoperative transfusion volumes. In Classification and Regression Trees analysis, binary splits associated with the largest increase in estimated blood loss were hematocrit ≥44% vs. <44% and platelets ≥308 vs. <308 × 109/L.

Conclusions

Preoperative blood counts may identify patients at risk of increased bleeding, though do not predict intraoperative transfusion requirements. Abnormal coagulation studies often prompted preoperative intervention but were not associated with increased intraoperative bleeding or transfusion needs.
An Informative Discussion for School Nurses on COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine
Authors: Gordon Jenny , Reynolds Mark , Barnby Elizabeth
Published: April 2021

School nurses are advocates, caregivers, and teachers. It is the responsibility of school nurses to understand current prevention and treatment options. In understanding how and why coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccines work, school nurses are in a trusted position to explain and advocate vaccination to students and their caregivers. The messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine is a product of the latest scientific and medical technology. A better understanding of how and why this vaccination is effective may prevent vaccination hesitancy and provide reassurance to those choosing to accept vaccination. In December 2020, the National Association of School Nurses publicized its support for vaccination against COVID-19. As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers school nurses will step toward the front line to aid in the abatement of poor public health outcomes that may be severely affecting their schools, students, and caregivers.
Amide proton transfer imaging for differentiation of tuberculomas from high-grade gliomas: Preliminary experience
Authors: Kulanthaivelu Karthik , Jabeen Shumyla , Saini Jitender , Raju Sanita , Nalini Atchayaram , Sadashiva Nishanth , Hegde Shashank , Rolla Narayana Krishna , Saha Indrajit , M Netravathi , Vengalil Seena , Swaroop Saikrishna , Rao Shilpa
Published: April 2021

Purpose

Tuberculomas can occasionally masquerade as high-grade gliomas (HGG). Evidence from magnetisation transfer (MT) imaging suggests that there is lower protein content in the tuberculoma microenvironment. Building on the principles of chemical exchange saturation transfer and MT, amide proton transfer (APT) imaging generates tissue contrast as a function of the mobile amide protons in tissue’s native peptides and intracellular proteins. This study aimed to further the understanding of tuberculomas using APT and to compare it with HGG.

Method

Twenty-two patients ( n = 8 tuberculoma; n = 14 HGG) were included in the study. APT was a 3D turbo spin-echo Dixon sequence with inbuilt B0 correction. A two-second, 2 μT saturation pulse alternating over transmit channels was applied at ±3.5 ppm around water resonance. The APT-weighted image (APTw) was computed as the MT ratio asymmetry (MTRasym) at 3.5 ppm. Mean MTRasym values in regions of interest (areas = 9 mm2; positioned in component with homogeneous enhancement/least apparent diffusion coefficient) were used for the analysis.

Results

MTRasym values of tuberculomas ( n = 14; 8 cases) ranged from 1.34% to 3.11% ( M = 2.32 ± 0.50). HGG ( n = 17;14 cases) showed MTRasym ranging from 2.40% to 5.70% ( M = 4.32 ± 0.84). The inter-group difference in MTRasym was statistically significant ( p < 0.001). APTw images in tuberculomas were notable for high MTRasym values in the perilesional oedematous-appearing parenchyma (compared to contralateral white matter; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Tuberculomas demonstrate lower MTRasym ratios compared to HGG, reflective of a relative paucity of mobile amide protons in the ambient microenvironment. Elevated MTRasym values in perilesional parenchyma in tuberculomas are a unique observation that may be a clue to the inflammatory milieu.
Beyond intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A meta-analysis on self-determination theory’s multidimensional conceptualization of work motivation
Authors: Van den Broeck Anja , Howard Joshua L. , Van Vaerenbergh Yves , Leroy Hannes , Gagné Marylène
Published: April 2021

This meta-analysis aims to shed light on the added value of the complex multidimensional view on motivation of Self-determination theory (SDT). We assess the unique and incremental validity of each of SDT’s types of motivation in predicting organizational behavior, and examine SDT’s core proposition that increasing self-determined types of motivation should have increasingly positive outcomes. Meta-analytic findings (124 samples) support SDT, but also adds precision to its predictions: Intrinsic motivation is the most important type of motivation for employee well-being, attitudes and behavior, yet identified regulation is more powerful in predicting performance and organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, introjection has both positive and negative consequences, while external regulation has limited associations with employee behavior and has well-being costs. Amotivation only has negative consequences. We address conceptual and methodological implications arising from this research and exemplify how these results may inform and clarify lingering issues in the literature on employee motivation.
The Anthropocene blues: Notes from Mississippi
Authors: Ludwig Jason
Published: April 2021

This article argues for the importance of integrating histories of enslaved Africans and their descendants—including histories of resistance to racialized power structures—within narratives about the Anthropocene. It suggests that the Black Studies Scholar Clyde Wood’s concept of the “blues epistemology” offers conceptual tools for considering how Black political and intellectual traditions have strived to imagine and create a more livable world amid the entangled crises of racial injustice and ecological degradation. I argue that locating Black political thought within broader narratives of environmental change and economic development illuminates the racial dimensions of current global ecological crises and orients scholarship and political practice toward the spaces in which such thought is being animated today in response to the challenges of the Anthropocene.
Bodies of the Anthropocene: On the interactive plasticity of earth systems and biological organisms
Authors: Meloni Maurizio , Wakefield-Rann Rachael , Mansfield Becky
Published: April 2021

The Anthropocene literature has brought attention to the plasticity and porosity of Earth systems under the dramatic impact of human activities. Moving across scales of analysis, this paper focuses attention on anthropogenic effects at the micro-scale of genomic regulation, neuronal functioning and cellular activity. Building on expanding dialogues at the interface of Anthropocene science, biogeography, microbiology and ecotoxicology, we mobilize epigenetic findings to show increasing evidence of anthropogenic changes in plants, animals and human bodies. Treating human-induced changes at the macro-global and micro-biological scales as part of an intertwined process has implications for how these problems are conceptualised and addressed. While we are sceptics about major geo-bio-social syntheses, we believe that agile social-scientific tools can facilitate interaction across disciplines without denying unevenness, and differences. If rightly contextualized in broad anthropological and social science frameworks, biosocial work on epigenetics offers a compelling avenue to make detectable the ‘slow violence’ of everyday pollution, racism, inequalities and the disproportionate impact of the Anthropocene on the poor and vulnerable. Consolidating work at the Anthropocene/biology interface has potential to offer a richer and more complete picture of the present crisis at the macro and micro-scale alike.
Food security among dryland pastoralists and agropastoralists: The climate, land-use change, and population dynamics nexus
Authors: Stavi Ilan , Roque de Pinho Joana , Paschalidou Anastasia K , Adamo Susana B , Galvin Kathleen , de Sherbinin Alex , Even Trevor , Heaviside Clare , van der Geest Kees
Published: April 2021

During the last decades, pastoralist, and agropastoralist populations of the world’s drylands have become exceedingly vulnerable to regional and global changes. Specifically, exacerbated stressors imposed on these populations have adversely affected their food security status, causing humanitarian emergencies and catastrophes. Of these stressors, climate variability and change, land-use and management practices, and dynamics of human demography are of a special importance. These factors affect all four pillars of food security, namely, food availability, access to food, food utilization, and food stability. The objective of this study was to critically review relevant literature to assess the complex web of interrelations and feedbacks that affect these factors. The increasing pressures on the world’s drylands necessitate a comprehensive analysis to advise policy makers regarding the complexity and linkages among factors, and to improve global action. The acquired insights may be the basis for alleviating food insecurity of vulnerable dryland populations.
Making Gideon Count? Public Defender Resources and Felony Case Outcomes for Black, White, and Latinx Individuals
Authors: Gottlieb Aaron
Published: April 2021

Although Gideon v. Wainright has provided indigent defendants potentially facing prison time the right to counsel, commentators and scholars have documented that the public defense system is vastly underfunded and currently in crisis. However, research has rarely examined how public defender resources impact case outcomes, and the research that does exist has yet, to my knowledge, examine how these resources impact racial disparities in case outcomes. By merging data from the Census of Public Defender Offices to data from the State Court Processing Statistics, I begin to fill this gap. Results from multivariate regression analyses with state-year fixed effects provide mixed evidence. Regardless of race, higher public defender and support staff caseloads tend to be associated with worse case outcomes. In the case of pretrial detention, I find that high public defender and support staff caseloads exacerbate Black-White disparities. With respect to sentence length, I find evidence that high public defender caseloads exacerbate Latinx-White disparities and some evidence that they mitigate Black-White disparities. In sum, these results provide strong support for the view that the public defender funding crisis harms indigent defendants regardless of race and mixed evidence regarding its impact on racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
Association Between Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Humeral Capitellum and Medial Epicondyle Lesion in Baseball Players
Authors: Kamei Keita , Sasaki Norihiro , Sasaki Eiji , Sasaki Shizuka , Kimura Yuka , Maeda Shugo , Yamamoto Yuji , Ishibashi Yasuyuki
Published: April 2021

Background:

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the humeral capitellum occurs in adolescent overhead athletes, and medial epicondyle (ME) lesions are also common in this population.

Purpose:

To evaluate the association between elbow OCD and ME lesions in adolescent baseball players.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

This study retrospectively evaluated adolescent baseball players with unstable elbow OCD who underwent surgery between January 2000 and February 2020. Patients were excluded if they had osteoarthritis of the elbow. A total of 139 elbows were included in this study (138 male and 1 female athlete; mean ± SD age, 13.6 ± 1.5 years). The patients were first divided into 2 groups based on OCD location: a central lesion group (72 elbows) and a lateral group (67 elbows). Next, patients were divided according to OCD size into a localized group (56 elbows) and a widespread group (83 elbows). Finally, OCD lesions that were both lateral and widespread were defined as lateral-widespread (60 elbows), resulting in 5 groups. ME apophyseal fragmentation and elongation were evaluated and defined as ME lesions. We then compared the relationship between OCD and ME lesions.

Results:

Of the 139 elbows, 63 (45.3%) had ME lesions. The prevalence of ME lesion was higher in the lateral group than the central group (56.7% vs 34.7%; P = .009) and higher in the widespread group than the localized group (55.4% vs 30.4%; P = .004). Furthermore, the prevalence ratio of ME lesion was significantly higher in the lateral-widespread group than for other lesions (58.3% vs 35.4%; P = .007).

Conclusion:

In patients undergoing surgery for capitellar OCD, the presence of ME lesions was more commonly associated with lateral and widespread capitellar lesions when compared with central and localized lesions.
Postoperative Maladaptive Behavior, Preoperative Anxiety and Emergence Delirium in Children Undergone General Anesthesia: A Narrative Review
Authors: Zainal Abidin Huda , Omar Sanihah Che , Mazlan Mohd Zulfakar , Hassan Mohd Hasyizan , Isa Ruwaida , Ali Saedah , Hassan Shamsul Kamalrujan , Marzuki Ariffin
Published: April 2021

Over the years, the number of pediatric patients undergoing surgeries are increasing steadily. The types of surgery vary between elective to emergency with involvement of multidisciplinary teams. The development of day care surgery unit is expanding where the patients will only come to the hospital on the day of surgery and discharge home after such as satisfactory parameters achieved, minimal to no pain, minimal to no bleeding from surgical site and able to tolerate fluids. Hospitalization and surgery could contribute to significant psychological disturbance to the children. These issues are not being addressed as children have difficulty in conveying their problems and fear. They do however express it through negative behavioral changes.
Airplanes, cameras, computers, wildebeests: The technological mediation of spaces for humans and wildlife in the Serengeti since 1950
Authors: Schleper Simone
Published: April 2021

Drawing on the concept of technological mediation, this article examines the spatial politics of observation technologies and associated practices that have been used to monitor the movement of migratory wildebeests in the Serengeti from the 1950s until the 2000s. It shows that key technologies, and the types of research collaborations they sustained, mediated notably different normative ideas about human–wildlife interaction and the sharing of space in and around protected areas. During the 1950s and 1960s, observations of animal migration were conducted by airplane. Direct observation was characterized by the study of movement of migratory ungulates, such as the wildebeest, and humans across space in real time. Aerial observations depended on a close cooperation between scientists and park authorities, and on the knowledge and observational skills of game wardens. The experience of the movement of animals and people in real time allowed, to some degree, for experimentation with forms of human land-use. During the 1970s, many small-scale and short-term projects shifted the research focus toward data recording by camera. Aerial photographs created supposedly complete spatial overviews of inhabitation, which supported interpretations of spatial conflicts between humans occupying the park’s surrounding areas and animal populations inside the park. From the 1980s onward, computer technology allowed for long-term calculations of past and future trends in population densities of individual species. The understanding of the wildebeest as a keystone species and the Serengeti as a baseline ecosystem turned communities of local pastoralists and agriculturalists into a future threat. As observation technologies are here to stay, it remains important to pay attention to technologies’ potential roles in creating additional distances between researchers and research subjects. Historical insights, such as the ones presented in this article, can help reflect on how various forms of remote sensing may mediate normative views on human–wildlife interactions and consequentially affect local livelihoods.
Hepatocyte neogenin is required for hemojuvelin-mediated hepcidin expression and iron homeostasis in mice
Authors: Enns Caroline A. , Jue Shall , Zhang An-Sheng
Published: April 2021

Neogenin (NEO1) is a ubiquitously expressed multifunctional transmembrane protein. It interacts with hemojuvelin (HJV), a BMP coreceptor that plays a pivotal role in hepatic hepcidin expression. Earlier studies suggest that the function of HJV relies on its interaction with NEO1. However, the role of NEO1 in iron homeostasis remains controversial because of the lack of an appropriate animal model. Here, we generated a hepatocyte-specific Neo1 knockout (Neo1fl/fl;Alb-Cre+) mouse model that circumvented the developmental and lethality issues of the global Neo1 mutant. Results show that ablation of hepatocyte Neo1 decreased hepcidin expression and caused iron overload. This iron overload did not result from altered iron utilization by erythropoiesis. Replacement studies revealed that expression of the Neo1L1046E mutant that does not interact with Hjv, was unable to correct the decreased hepcidin expression and high serum iron in Neo1fl/fl;Alb-Cre+ mice. In Hjv−/− mice, expression of HjvA183R mutant that has reduced interaction with Neo1, also displayed a blunted induction of hepcidin expression. These observations indicate that Neo1-Hjv interaction is essential for hepcidin expression. Further analyses suggest that the Hjv binding triggered the cleavage of the Neo1 cytoplasmic domain by a protease, which resulted in accumulation of truncated Neo1 on the plasma membrane. Additional studies did not support that Neo1 functions by inhibiting Hjv shedding as previously proposed. Together, our data favor a model in which Neo1 interaction with Hjv leads to accumulation of cleaved Neo1 on the plasma membrane, where Neo1 acts as a scaffold to induce the Bmp signaling and hepcidin expression.
Intact TP-53 function is essential for sustaining durable responses to BH3-mimetic drugs in leukemias
Authors: Thijssen Rachel , Diepstraten Sarah T. , Moujalled Donia , Chew Edward , Flensburg Christoffer , Shi Melissa X. , Dengler Michael A. , Litalien Veronique , MacRaild Sarah , Chen Maoshan , Anstee Natasha S. , Reljić Boris , Gabriel Sarah S. , Djajawi Tirta M. , Riffkin Chris D. , Aubrey Brandon J. , Chang Catherine , Tai Lin , Xu Zhen , Morley Thomas , Pomilio Giovanna , Bruedigam Claudia , Kallies Axel , Stroud David A. , Bajel Ashish , Kluck Ruth M. , Lane Steven W. , Schoumacher Marie , Banquet Sébastien , Majewski Ian J. , Strasser Andreas , Roberts Andrew W. , Huang David C. S. , Brown Fiona C. , Kelly Gemma L. , Wei Andrew H.
Published: April 2021

Selective targeting of BCL-2 with the BH3-mimetic venetoclax has been a transformative treatment for patients with various leukemias. TP-53 controls apoptosis upstream of where BCL-2 and its prosurvival relatives, such as MCL-1, act. Therefore, targeting these prosurvival proteins could trigger apoptosis across diverse blood cancers, irrespective of TP53 mutation status. Indeed, targeting BCL-2 has produced clinically relevant responses in blood cancers with aberrant TP-53. However, in our study, TP53-mutated or -deficient myeloid and lymphoid leukemias outcompeted isogenic controls with intact TP-53, unless sufficient concentrations of BH3-mimetics targeting BCL-2 or MCL-1 were applied. Strikingly, tumor cells with TP-53 dysfunction escaped and thrived over time if inhibition of BCL-2 or MCL-1 was sublethal, in part because of an increased threshold for BAX/BAK activation in these cells. Our study revealed the key role of TP-53 in shaping long-term responses to BH3-mimetic drugs and reconciled the disparate pattern of initial clinical response to venetoclax, followed by subsequent treatment failure among patients with TP53-mutant chronic lymphocytic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia. In contrast to BH3-mimetics targeting just BCL-2 or MCL-1 at doses that are individually sublethal, a combined BH3-mimetic approach targeting both prosurvival proteins enhanced lethality and durably suppressed the leukemia burden, regardless of TP53 mutation status. Our findings highlight the importance of using sufficiently lethal treatment strategies to maximize outcomes of patients with TP53-mutant disease. In addition, our findings caution against use of sublethal BH3-mimetic drug regimens that may enhance the risk of disease progression driven by emergent TP53-mutant clones.
SPL36 Encodes a Receptor-like Protein Kinase that Regulates Programmed Cell Death and Defense Responses in Rice
Authors: Yuchun R. A. O. , Ran J. I. A. O. , Sheng W. A. N. G. , Xianmei W. U. , Hanfei Y. E. , Chenyang P. A. N. , Sanfeng L. I. , Dedong Xin , Weiyong Z. H. O. U. , Gaoxing D. A. I. , Juan H. U. , Deyong R. E. N. , Yuexing W. A. N. G.
Published: April 2021

Lesion mimic mutants spontaneously produce disease spots in the absence of biotic or abiotic stresses. Analyzing lesion mimic mutants’ sheds light on the mechanisms underlying programmed cell death and defense-related responses in plants. Here, we isolated and characterized the rice (Oryza sativa) spotted leaf 36 (spl36) mutant, which was identified from an ethyl methanesulfonate-mutagenized japonica cultivar Yundao population. spl36 displayed spontaneous cell death and enhanced resistance to rice bacterial pathogens. Gene expression analysis suggested that spl36 functions in the disease response by upregulating the expression of defense-related genes. Physiological and biochemical experiments indicated that more cell death occurred in spl36 than the wild type and that plant growth and development were affected in this mutant. We isolated SPL36 by map-based cloning. A single base substitution was detected in spl36, which results in a cysteine-to-arginine substitution in SPL36. SPL36 is predicted to encode a receptor-like protein kinase containing leucine-rich domains that may be involved in stress responses in rice. spl36 was more sensitive to salt stress than the wild type, suggesting that SPL36 also negatively regulates the salt-stress response. These findings suggest that SPL36 regulates the disease resistance response in rice by affecting the expression of defense- and stress-related genes.