bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of small extracellular vesicle-miRNAs in endometriosis
Authors: Nazri Hannah M , Greaves Erin , Quenby Siobhan , Dragovic Rebecca , Tapmeier Thomas T , Becker Christian M
Published: October 2023

Endometriosis is defined by the presence of extrauterine endometrial-like tissue, which can cause pain and infertility in 10% of reproductive-age women. To date, the pathogenesis is poorly understood resulting in significant diagnostic delays and poor therapeutic outcomes in many women. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) (<200 nm) are cell-derived vesicles containing molecules that can influence gene expression and behaviour in target cells. One such cargo are microRNAs (miRNAs), which are short, non-coding RNAs mostly 19–25 nucleotides in length that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression. This mini-review focuses on the role of sEV-miRNAs, which are conceivably better biomarkers for endometriosis than free miRNAs, which reflect the true pathophysiological state in the body, as sEV-encapsulated miRNAs are protected from degradation compared to free miRNA and provide direct cell-to-cell communication via sEV surface proteins. sEV-miRNAs have been implicated in the immunomodulation of macrophages, the proliferation, migration and invasion of endometrial cells, and angiogenesis, all hallmarks of endometriosis. The diagnostic potential of sEV-miRNA was investigated in one study that reported the sensitivity and specificity of two sEV-miRNAs (hsa-miR-22-3p and hsa-miR-320a-3p) in distinguishing endometriosis from non-endometriosis cases. Only three studies have explored the therapeutic potential of sEV-miRNAs in vivo in mice—two looked into the role of sEV-hsa-miR-214-3p in decreasing fibrosis, and one investigated sEV-hsa-miR-30c-5p in suppressing the invasive and migratory potential of endometriotic lesions. While early results are encouraging, studies need to further address the potential influence of factors such as the menstrual cycle as well as the location and extent of endometriotic lesions on miRNA expression in sEVs. Given these findings, and extrapolating from other conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and pre-eclampsia, sEV-miRNAs could present an attractive and urgently needed future diagnostic and therapeutic target for millions of women suffering from endometriosis. However, research in this area is hampered by lack of adherence to the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles 2018 guideline in separating and characterising sEVs, as well as the World Endometriosis Research Foundation Endometriosis Phenome and Biobanking Harmonisation Project protocols.
Identifying best practice to integrate fisher’s experiential knowledge into marine science and management
Authors: Calderwood J , ten Brink T , Steins N A
Published: October 2023

The importance of the integration of fishers’ experiential knowledge (FEXK) into marine science is increasingly recognized. However, current integration attempts often focus on quantitative observational datasets, missing the unique information acquired by fishers throughout their lifetimes. Despite the potential value of FEXK, best practices around its collection, use, and integration into science, management, and policy have not been fully identified. To address such knowledge gaps, a dedicated session was organized at the 2022 ICES annual science conference, with the aim to build a greater understanding of how FEXK is collected and utilized. Based on presentations and resultant discussions, four best practices were identified: (i) Organize processes for mutual learning about different scientific methodologies. (ii) Acknowledge fishers as expert data providers. (iii) Set up transparent, circular processes with all stakeholders. (iv) Be aware of equity issues around data and fisher participation. These best practices, while being closely connected to ethical principles for participatory research, may just be a starting point in ensuring better integration of FEXK into science and management. However, these outputs should be seen as an important contribution to the ongoing debate about how best to achieve this, reflecting the views of many scientists currently working in this field.
Body mass index trajectories and mortality risk in Japan using a population-based prospective cohort study: the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study
Authors: Yamamoto Nao , Ejima Keisuke , Mestre Luis M , Owora Arthur H , Inoue Manami , Tsugane Shoichiro , Sawada Norie
Published: October 2023

Background

Recent studies have found that long-term changes in weight during adulthood are associated with a high risk of mortality. The objective of this study was to characterize body mass index (BMI) trajectories during adulthood and to examine the association between BMI trajectories and risk of death in the Japanese population.

Methods

The data were extracted from Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study—a population-based prospective cohort study in Japan with participants aged 40–69 years followed over 20 years. The participants were categorized into multiple BMI trajectory groups using the latent class growth model. The Cox proportional-hazards model was conducted using all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality as outcomes and the identified BMI trajectory groups as a predictor. In total, 65 520 participants were included in the analysis.

Results

Six BMI trajectory groups were identified: underweight stable (Group 1), low-to-high normal (Group 2), high-to-low normal (Group 3), normal to overweight (Group 4), overweight to normal (Group 5) and normal to obese (Group 6). Our Cox models showed a higher hazard (risk) of all-cause mortality among participants in the BMI-declining groups [Group 3, adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 1.10, 95% CI: 1.05–1.16; Group 5, aHR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.08–1.26], underweight stable group (Group 1, aHR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.21–1.33) and normal to obese group (Group 6, aHR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.13–1.33) than Group 2 (low-to-high normal BMI trajectory).

Conclusions

Stable underweight and weight loss were associated with a high risk of mortality, both of which were uniquely observed in a Japanese population.
Elucidating the Mechanisms of Sodium Benzoate in Alzheimer Disease: Insights from Quantitative Proteomics Analysis of Serum Samples
Authors: Lin Chieh-Hsin , Liao Hsin-Yi , Lane Hsien-Yuan , Chen Chao-Jung
Published: October 2023

Background

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are crucial components of brain function involved in memory and neurotransmission. Sodium benzoate is a promising NMDAR enhancer and has been proven to be a novel, safe, and efficient therapy for patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). However, in addition to the role of sodium benzoate as an NMDA enhancer, other mechanisms of sodium benzoate in treating AD are still unclear. To elucidate the potential mechanisms of sodium benzoate in Alzheimer disease, this study employed label-free quantitative proteomics to analyze serum samples from AD cohorts with and without sodium benzoate treatment.

Methods

The serum proteins from each patient were separated into 24 fractions using an immobilized pH gradient, digested with trypsin, and then subjected to nanoLC‒MS/MS to analyze the proteome of all patients. The nanoLC‒MS/MS data were obtained with a label-free quantitative proteomic approach. Proteins with fold changes were analyzed with STRING and Cytoscape to find key protein networks/processes and hub proteins.

Results

Our analysis identified 861 and 927 protein groups in the benzoate treatment cohort and the placebo cohort, respectively. The results demonstrated that sodium benzoate had the most significant effect on the complement and coagulation cascade pathways, amyloidosis disease, immune responses, and lipid metabolic processes. Moreover, Transthyretin, Fibrinogen alpha chain, Haptoglobin, Apolipoprotein B-100, Fibrinogen beta chain, Apolipoprotein E, and Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 were identified as hub proteins in the protein‒protein interaction networks.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that sodium benzoate may exert its influence on important pathways associated with AD, thus contributing to the improvement in the pathogenesis of the disease.
Identification of immune-related gene signatures for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with metabolic syndrome: evidence from integrated bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing data
Authors: Wu Yueren , Ma Mengyu , Choi Wenglam , Xu Weifang , Dong Jingcheng
Published: October 2023

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is closely related to innate and adaptive inflammatory immune responses. It is increasingly becoming evident that metabolic syndrome (MetS) affects a significant portion of COPD patients. Through this investigation, we identify shared immune-related candidate biological markers. The Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to reveal the co-expression modules linked to COPD and MetS. The commonly expressed genes in the COPD and MetS were utilized to conduct an enrichment analysis. We adopted machine-learning to screen and validate hub genes. We also assessed the relationship between hub genes and immune cell infiltration in COPD and MetS, respectively. Moreover, associations across hub genes and metabolic pathways were also explored. Finally, we chose a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) dataset to investigate the hub genes and shared mechanisms at the level of the cells. We also applied cell trajectory analysis and cell–cell communication analysis to focus on the vital immune cell we were interested in. As a result, we selected and validated 13 shared hub genes for COPD and MetS. The enrichment analysis and immune infiltration analysis illustrated strong associations between hub genes and immunology. Additionally, we applied metabolic pathway enrichment analysis, indicating the significant role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in COPD with MetS. Through scRNA-seq analysis, we found that ROS might accumulate the most in the alveolar macrophages. In conclusion, the 13 hub genes related to the immune response and metabolism may serve as diagnostic biomarkers and treatment targets of COPD with MetS.
Domestic Cylinder Blasts: A Neglected Torpedo
Authors: Rehan Muhammad , Iqbal Tariq , Khawar Khokhar Omar , Aziz Khan Amna , Ain Qurrat ul , Waheed Usman
Published: October 2023

High-pressure cylinders are used to store liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). An instant and swift explosion of these cylinders can result in serious burn injuries. This current research was conducted to study the epidemiological characteristics of LPG-related burns to highlight a major public health issue. Analysis was conducted on patients with LPG-related burns over a span of 10 years admitted to our center between January 2011 and December 2020. The data recorded included demographic features, site of burn, %TBSA, associated injuries, and outcomes. The variable data were documented for every patient in a Microsoft Excel file and analyzed by IBM SPSS version 25.0. Over the span of 10 years, 678 patients were affected by LPG-related accidents. The peak incidence was seen in 2019 when there was a surge to 18.03%. The patient’s age ranged from 1 to 79 years, with a median of 40.86 ± 15.27 years. Of the 678 patients, 52.50% were males and 47.50% were females. The majority (57.96%) of patients had a total BSA of >60% and 86.72% were diagnosed with inhalation injury. The majority of burns (84.66%) occurred at home. The mean hospital stay was 24.5 days. The total mortality rate was 59.58%. This study concludes that LPG cylinder blast is a preventable cause that can be minimized by making people aware of its safe use and by arranging awareness programs at every national level.
The genome of the invasive and broadly polyphagous Diaprepes root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus (Coleoptera), reveals an arsenal of putative polysaccharide-degrading enzymes
Authors: Sylvester Terrence , Adams Richard , Hunter Wayne B , Li Xuankun , Rivera-Marchand Bert , Shen Rongrong , Shin Na Ra , McKenna Duane D
Published: October 2023

The Diaprepes root weevil (DRW), Diaprepes abbreviatus, is a broadly polyphagous invasive pest of agriculture in the southern United States and the Caribbean. Its genome was sequenced, assembled, and annotated to study genomic correlates of specialized plant-feeding and invasiveness and to facilitate the development of new methods for DRW control. The 1.69 Gb D. abbreviatus genome assembly was distributed across 653 contigs, with an N50 of 7.8 Mb and the largest contig of 62 Mb. Most of the genome was comprised of repetitive sequences, with 66.17% in transposable elements, 5.75% in macrosatellites, and 2.06% in microsatellites. Most expected orthologous genes were present and fully assembled, with 99.5% of BUSCO genes present and 1.5% duplicated. One hundred and nine contigs (27.19 Mb) were identified as putative fragments of the X and Y sex chromosomes, and homology assessment with other beetle X chromosomes indicated a possible sex chromosome turnover event. Genome annotation identified 18,412 genes, including 43 putative horizontally transferred (HT) loci. Notably, 258 genes were identified from gene families known to encode plant cell wall degrading enzymes and invertases, including carbohydrate esterases, polysaccharide lyases, and glycoside hydrolases (GH). GH genes were unusually numerous, with 239 putative genes representing 19 GH families. Interestingly, several other beetle species with large numbers of GH genes are (like D. abbreviatus) successful invasive pests of agriculture or forestry.
Sexual health outcomes among adolescent and young adult cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Oveisi Niki , Cheng Vicki , Brotto Lori A , Peacock Stuart , McTaggart-Cowan Helen , Hanley Gillian , Gill Sharlene , Rayar Meera , Srikanthan Amirrtha , Ellis Ursula , De Vera Mary A
Published: October 2023

Background

Sexual health outcomes (SHO), which entail the physical, emotional, mental, and social impacts, are an important consideration for adolescent and young adults (AYA, ages 15-39) affected by cancer. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to summarize the current literature and evaluate AYA cancer impact on SHO.

Methods

EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched from January 1, 2000 to September 28, 2022 to identify epidemiologic studies that used an analytic observational design, included individuals with AYA cancer and non-cancer control participants, and evaluated SHO. Odds ratios and prevalence ratios were calculated; random effects models were used to obtain pooled measures where possible.

Results

Of 2621 articles, 8 were included that investigated 23 SHO in 9038 AYA cancer patients. Based on the sexual response cycle, outcomes were categorized as those occurring among males (desire = 1, arousal = 1, orgasm = 4, other = 3) and females (desire = 2, arousal = 1, orgasm = 2, pain = 6, other = 3). It was feasible to conduct meta-analysis for 3 female SHO and 5 male SHO. There were associations between AYA cancer and 3 SHO: vaginal dryness (pooled odds ratio = 3.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.02 to 7.70), ejaculatory dysfunction (pooled odds ratio = 3.66; 95% CI = 2.20 to 6.08), and testosterone level (pooled mean difference = -2.56 nmol/liter; 95% CI = -3.46 to -1.66; P = .00001).

Conclusion

This study found increased ejaculatory dysfunction and reduced testosterone levels in male AYA cancer patients and increased vaginal dryness in female AYA cancer patients, highlighting the need for sexual health resources in this population.
The effect of animated Sci-Fi characters’ racial presentation on narrative engagement, wishful identification, and physical activity intention among children
Authors: Lu Amy Shirong , Green Melanie C , Alon Dar
Published: October 2023

Characters play an integral role in animated narratives, but their visual racial presentation has received limited attention. A diverse group of U.S. children watched a 15-min physical activity-promoting animated Sci-Fi narrative. They were randomly assigned to one of three conditions, which varied the lead characters’ racial presentation: realistic racially unambiguous (Original: White children, Black mother), realistic racially ambiguous (Ambiguous: All with brown skin without specified race/ethnicity), and fantastical racially ambiguous (Fantastical: All with brown skin with fantastical hair-and-eye color schemes). We assessed narrative engagement, wishful identification, and physical activity intention. Controlling for social desirability and multigroup ethnic identity, children who watched Fantastical characters showed significantly higher narrative engagement than those who watched Original characters, but they did not statistically differ from those who watched Ambiguous characters. Structural equation modeling indicated that narrative engagement and wishful identification fully mediated the racial representation effect (Fantastical vs. Original) on physical activity intention.
Of mice, men, and ethics: literary study and moral concern for nonhuman animals
Authors: Collin Ross
Published: October 2023

This article explores the philosopher Alice Crary’s ideas about ethics, literature, and nonhuman animals. Through studying certain works of literature, Crary writes, readers can see aspects of animals’ moral characteristics that are difficult to perceive outside of literary study. To illustrate and extend Crary’s argument, the article presents a reading of John Steinbeck’s (1937/1993) Of Mice and Men, a novella that is taught frequently in secondary schools and that has been re-evaluated by critics as offering insights into social inequality and animal welfare. Drawing upon and adapting Crary’s work, which does not address questions of pedagogy, the article describes forms of instruction that enable students reading Of Mice and Men and other works of literature to explore the moral lives of animals. Thus, a key contribution of this project is its explanation of how educators can use philosophy to open pedagogy to new ways of seeing and assessing animals’ moral characteristics.
Streptomyces griseoincarnatus strain RB7AG promotes Oryza sativa (var. swarna) growth under salt stress: mechanisms and potential applications
Authors: Behera Subhransu Sekhar , Nivedita Suchismita , Behera Pratyush Kumar , Parwez Zahra , Giri Seemon , Parida Sourav Ranjan , Ray Lopamudra
Published: October 2023

The plant growth promoters (PGP) are the natural fertilizers that enhance the overall growth of the plant. We defined Streptomyces strain RB7AG as a potential halotolerant growth promoter and assessed its impact on rice plants' performance under salt stress. The organism was able to thrive at concentrations up to 10% of NaCl (w/v), optimal at 6% as measured by their cell growth, viability, and secondary metabolite production. Under salt stress, isolates were viable and generated Indolic chemicals and siderophores. The bacterized plants found to accumulate higher level of proline and antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalases (CAT) that are subjected to salt stress, particularly those treated with Streptomyces strain RB7AG, which helps the plants to thrive in the adverse condition. The Streptomyces-treated plants were also found to have increased roots and shoots length, implying a systemic tolerance mechanism. The strain’s formulations were created utilizing five organic and inorganic wastes as the carrier medium, and the shelf life of the propagules was also tracked. Vermicompost and vermiculite formulations were found to have the highest viable bacteria after 3 months of storage period.
Imaging with a gravitational lens: the geometric view
Authors: Toth Viktor T
Published: October 2023

We investigate imaging point sources with a monopole gravitational lens, such as the Solar Gravitational Lens in the geometric optics limit. We compute the light amplification of the lens used in conjunction with a telescope featuring a circular aperture that is placed in the focal region of the lens, compared to the amount of light collected by the same telescope unaided by a gravitational lens. We recover an averaged point spread function that is in robust agreement with a wave-theoretical description of the lens, and can be used in practical calculations or simulations.
Solar flares and active regions in the Hale sector boundary in Solar Cycle 24
Authors: Liu Claire L , Zhao Junwei
Published: October 2023

Solar eruptions, such as flares and coronal mass ejections, have serious impacts on the Earth’s environment and human activity. Predicting the eruptions and therefore avoiding their damages is a main goal in the research community. Heliospheric current sheet (HCS), the boundary dividing the positive and negative magnetic fields that open up to the interplanetary space, is believed to be related with solar eruptions. The HCS consists of two types of boundaries: the Hale boundary and the non-Hale boundary, and the former is suggested in previous studies to be the region producing most of the solar flares. In this work, we explore relationships between Hale boundary, flares, and property of active regions (ARs). The HCS is determined from the magnetic field in the heliosphere calculated from the observed photospheric magnetic field using a potential field source surface model. We have analysed 8075 flares of C-class and above and 1652 ARs in the period from May 2010 to May 2019 in Solar Cycle 24. The following results are obtained: (1) 5957 flares ($74\pm 1~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) and 1212 ARs ($73\pm 2~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) are in the HCS; (2) among them, 70  per cent ($\pm 1~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) flares and 57  per cent ($\pm 3~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) ARs are in the Hale boundary; and (3) big ARs tend to emerge in the Hale boundary. We conclude that the HCS is related tightly to solar activity, and the Hale boundary is a region favoured to produce flares and to host large ARs.
Matrine and Oxymatrine: evaluating the gene mutation potential using in silico tools and the bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test)
Authors: Fischer Benjamin Christian , Musengi Yemurai , König Jeannette , Sachse Benjamin , Hessel-Pras Stefanie , Schäfer Bernd , Kneuer Carsten , Herrmann Kristin
Published: October 2023

The quinolizidine alkaloids matrine and its N-oxide oxymatrine occur in plants of the genus Sophora. Recently, matrine was sporadically detected in liquorice products. Morphological similarity of the liquorice plant Glycyrrhiza glabra with Sophora species and resulting confusion during harvesting may explain this contamination, but use of matrine as pesticide has also been reported. The detection of matrine in liquorice products raised concern as some studies suggested a genotoxic activity of matrine and oxymatrine. However, these studies are fraught with uncertainties, putting the reliability and robustness into question. Another issue was that Sophora root extracts were usually tested instead of pure matrine and oxymatrine. The aim of this work was therefore to determine whether matrine and oxymatrine have potential for causing gene mutations. In a first step and to support a weight-of-evidence analysis, in silico predictions were performed to improve the database using expert and statistical systems by VEGA, Leadscope (Instem®), and Nexus (Lhasa Limited). Unfortunately, the confidence levels of the predictions were insufficient to either identify or exclude a mutagenic potential. Thus, in order to obtain reliable results, the bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test) was carried out in accordance with OECD Test Guideline 471. The test set included the plate incorporation and the preincubation assay. It was performed with five different bacterial strains in the presence or absence of metabolic activation. Neither matrine nor oxymatrine induced a significant increase in the number of revertants under any of the selected experimental conditions. Overall, it can be concluded that matrine and oxymatrine are unlikely to have a gene mutation potential. Any positive findings with Sophora extracts in the Ames test may be related to other components. Notably, the results also indicated a need to extend the application domain of respective (Q)SAR tools to secondary plant metabolites.
The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Semantic Web of data
Authors:   SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics RDF Group Members, Altenhoff Adrian , Bairoch Amos , Bansal Parit , Baratin Delphine , Bastian Frederic , Bolleman* Jerven , Bridge Alan , Burdet Frédéric , Crameri Katrin , Dauvillier Jérôme , Dessimoz Christophe , Gehant Sebastien , Glover Natasha , Gnodtke Kristin , Hayes Catherine , Ibberson Mark , Kriventseva Evgenia , Kuznetsov Dmitry , Frédérique Lisacek , Mehl Florence , Mendes de Farias* Tarcisio , Michel Pierre-André , Moretti Sébastien , Morgat Anne , Österle Sabine , Pagni Marco , Redaschi Nicole , Robinson-Rechavi Marc , Samarasinghe Kasun , Sima Ana-Claudia , Szklarczyk Damian , Topalov Orlin , Touré Vasundra , Unni Deepak , von Mering Christian , Wollbrett Julien , Zahn-Zabal* Monique , Zdobnov Evgeny
Published: October 2023

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (https://www.sib.swiss/) is a federation of bioinformatics research and service groups. The international life science community in academia and industry has been accessing the freely available databases provided by SIB since its inception in 1998. In this paper we present the 11 databases which currently offer semantically enriched data in accordance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), as well as the Swiss Personalized Health Network initiative (SPHN) which also employs this enrichment. The semantic enrichment facilitates the manipulation of large data sets from public databases and private data sets. Examples are provided to illustrate that the data from the SIB databases can not only be queried using precise criteria individually, but also across multiple databases, including a variety of non-SIB databases. Data manipulation, be it exploration, extraction, annotation, combination, and publication, is possible using the SPARQL query language. Providing documentation, tutorials and sample queries makes it easier to navigate this web of semantic data. Through this paper, the reader will discover how the existing SIB knowledge graphs can be leveraged to tackle the complex biological or clinical questions that are being addressed today.
GSE1 links the HDAC1/CoREST co-repressor complex to DNA damage
Authors: Vcelkova Terezia , Reiter Wolfgang , Zylka Martha , Hollenstein David M , Schuckert Stefan , Hartl Markus , Seiser Christian
Published: October 2023

Post-translational modifications of histones are important regulators of the DNA damage response (DDR). By using affinity purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS) we discovered that genetic suppressor element 1 (GSE1) forms a complex with the HDAC1/CoREST deacetylase/demethylase co-repressor complex. In-depth phosphorylome analysis revealed that loss of GSE1 results in impaired DDR, ATR signalling and γH2AX formation upon DNA damage induction. Altered profiles of ATR target serine-glutamine motifs (SQ) on DDR-related hallmark proteins point to a defect in DNA damage sensing. In addition, GSE1 knock-out cells show hampered DNA damage-induced phosphorylation on SQ motifs of regulators of histone post-translational modifications, suggesting altered histone modification. While loss of GSE1 does not affect the histone deacetylation activity of CoREST, GSE1 appears to be essential for binding of the deubiquitinase USP22 to CoREST and for the deubiquitination of H2B K120 in response to DNA damage. The combination of deacetylase, demethylase, and deubiquitinase activity makes the USP22-GSE1-CoREST subcomplex a multi-enzymatic eraser that seems to play an important role during DDR. Since GSE1 has been previously associated with cancer progression and survival our findings are potentially of high medical relevance.
Implicit Theories of Smoking and Intention to Quit: A Serial Mediation Model
Authors: Hong Qiumian , Liao Yanhui , Zhang Ning
Published: October 2023

Introduction

There is growing evidence that implicit theories of smoking (ITS)—whether smokers perceive smoking behavior as malleable or fixed—are significant predictors of quitting intentions.

Aims and Methods

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of implicit theories on smoking in predicting smokers’ intentions to quit. We conducted multiple linear regression with quitting intentions as the dependent variable, ITS as the independent variable, and sociodemographic variables, quitting attempts in the past year, and receiving quitting advice in the past 12 months as the covariates. The mediating role of consideration of future consequences (CFC) and self-efficacy in the relationship between implicit theories of smoking and quitting intentions was evaluated by mediation analyses.

Results

A total of 510 smokers were included in the final analyses. Smokers holding a higher incremental theory of smoking reported a higher likelihood of considering future consequences (β = 0.289, p < .001) and a weaker possibility of considering immediate results (β = −0.317, p < .001), which, in turn, enhanced their quitting self-efficacy and then led to stronger intentions to quit smoking (β = 0.261, p < .001).

Conclusions

The current study enriched our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that connect smokers’ ITS and their likelihood of smoking cessation such that higher incremental theories of smoking predict stronger intention to quit smoking, and the effect was serially mediated by smokers’ likelihood of considering future consequences of their behavior and their perceived self-efficacy for smoking cessation.

Implications

This study indicated the mediating role of CFC and self-efficacy for smoking cessation on the relationship between the ITS and quitting intentions. These two psychological factors and the pathways may be important points for understanding the model of implicit theories for smoking and improving the effectiveness of implicit theories-based intervention on smoking cessation.
Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on Undocumented Families
Authors: Horner Pilar S. , Boyke Hannah
Published: October 2023

Since the late 1990s, federal immigration policy has increasingly restricted immigrants’ access to federally funded assistance programs from cash-based assistance to legal representation in immigration court. These restrictions have been particularly damaging to one of the most vulnerable sectors of the population: undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants are immigrants who lack legal immigration status, either from entering the United States without a valid visa or by overstaying a temporary visa. In response to federal restrictions on cash assistance, federal identification, post-secondary education, and legal representation, some states and localities have enacted policies and implemented programs to support undocumented immigrants. Community and grassroots organizations have emerged to respond to undocumented immigrants’ needs at the local and national level. Immigrant rights organizations are a crucial resource for both policy advocacy and distributing needed information regarding undocumented immigrants’ rights to education, protection from law enforcement, and access to state and local assistance. Still, undocumented immigrants and their family members experience a range of wide-reaching consequences due to immigration laws. Though primarily a federal domain, recent efforts (both local and national) have moved to include local police in immigration enforcement activities, which has intensified undocumented immigrants’ vulnerability when undergoing daily tasks. The consequences of immigration law and enforcement are not only experienced by individuals without legal status. Almost 17 million people in the United States live in mixed status families—families in which at least one family member is undocumented. Mixed-status and undocumented families face destabilizing impacts of the looming threat and occurrence of deportation on health and mental health outcomes, employment, transportation, remittances and home country family ties, family separation at the border and through deportation, and limited post-secondary educational opportunities. These outcomes may be amplified for undocumented immigrants who experience social and individual oppression due to their national origin, racial/ethnic identity, and/or sexual or gender identity. Due to these wide-reaching impacts, access to temporary and permanent visas for undocumented immigrants is an integral aspect of protection. Still, avenues for adjustment of legal status are limited, and major immigration reform has yet to materialize. As a result, national immigration policies on undocumented families contributes to children and families experiencing a multitude of marginalizing impacts that if not addressed will continue to exacerbate an already fragile family and social ecosystem.
Hausa
Authors: Saunders Margaret
Published: October 2023

With an estimated population of up to 50 million, Hausa make up one of the largest people groups practicing Islam. Despite settlement of today’s Hausaland in the central Sudan by the early 1000s ce, the use of “Hausa” (often spelled Haoussa in French, with Hawsa now official in Niger) for its inhabitants is absent from early records; the word first appears as a geographic term in the 1500s. Islam reached this area even before the name, with early Ibadite/Kharijite influences from North Africa, followed by the arrival of Malikite Islam by the 1400s. Groups of non-Muslim Hausa speakers known by terms such as Maguzawa, Arne, or Azna still exist today, their religious practices influenced by Islam while some traditional beliefs have also influenced Muslim Hausa practices. The Fulani-led jihad of 1804–1812 led to major political as well as religious changes in Hausa city-states and added a Fulani element to the population now called Hausa. From rural villages to large cities with long-standing trade with North Africa and the forest belt to diaspora communities, Hausa speakers present a wide range of lifestyles, in which the Hausa language and the practice of Islam are shared elements. Major research topics included here begin with the history of Islam in Hausaland and Hausa/Fulani participation in a West African “core curriculum” of Islamic scholarship, especially as it developed following the jihad. The material culture of Islam is explored in the archaeological record, in mosque architecture, and in scholarly practices. The many roles of Hausa malamai from Qurʾanic education to medicine to rituals of daily life are discussed, as are practices such as the seclusion of married women. European colonization by Britain and France at the turn of the twentieth century impacted the role of Arabic literacy, education styles, Hausa participation in the hajj, and other aspects of religious practice. Political uses of religion, including the role of the major Qadiriyya and Tijaniyya brotherhoods, are another topic of interest, both within Hausaland and in communities in the Hausa diaspora. Recent developments in Hausa Islam include the Yan Izala reform movement and the Boko Haram movement now associated with terrorism. It may be helpful to begin with a brief selection of background sources on Islam and on Hausa.
Hester Pulter
Authors: Knight Leah
Published: October 2023

In the seventeenth century, Hester Pulter wrote over one hundred poems and an unfinished prose romance; despite this remarkable achievement, her work was not noticed for centuries, with the first public discussions appearing in the late 1990s. In being lost for so long, the manuscript joins many writings by early modern women that were long unknown or undervalued before feminist scholarship redirected attention and resources to their study. Subsequent interest in Pulter has led to multiple complete and partial editions, in print and online. Her work is preserved in a single bound manuscript with a few associated loose papers; the romance begins at one end of the volume and the verse at the other, with the poems divided into two main sections. The first section of verse features primarily meditative, devotional, occasional, and elegiac poems engaged in rich conversation with contemporary poetry and poetics, treating topics ranging from personal experiences and familial concerns to conflicts in and commitments to contemporary politics and religion, as well as natural history and natural philosophy. The second section of verse is the only book of emblems in English by a woman. Pulter’s emblems, as well as many of her other poems, develop vivid images from biblical, classical, and natural exempla in order to explore moral and political problems and their often theological resolution. Many poems conclude with an eager anticipation of her own transformation after death as enabling reunion with God. The verse also demonstrates an intense interest in earthly life forms of all kinds, supported by the author’s attention to the natural world around her and considerable reading in both ancient and contemporary works on animals and plants. Other poems evince her informed fascination with recent scientific work in fields including astronomy and alchemy. In poems treating current events, the speaker often endorses a vehemently royalist response to events and figureheads in the English Civil Wars, Interregnum, and Restoration. The romance, The Unfortunate Florinda, has been read primarily for its heroines’ resistance to violent patriarchal authority, which is seen by some to shadow Pulter’s response to Oliver Cromwell’s regime. Much of the verse is similarly politically inflected, in its royalist paeans and elegies and its trenchant critiques of tyranny and those who enable it. The range and complexity of Pulter’s contributions to lyric verse and prose fiction have led to an equally rich and rapid growth in critical responses to it.
Indigenous Borderlands in Colonial and 19th-Century Latin America
Authors: Rivaya-Martínez Joaquín
Published: October 2023

The expression “Indigenous borderlands” refers to those spaces of vague and porous contours where independent or semiautonomous Natives remained key historical agents after contact with people of European descent, interethnic exchanges were common, and no polity or community could exert full domination. Even though most Amerindian societies ended up displaced, exterminated, or incorporated into modern states, scores of Natives adapted to the European intrusion in ways that allowed them to preserve their independence, their sovereignty, their land, and their culture for prolonged periods, thus giving rise to Indigenous borderlands across the Western Hemisphere. In Indigenous borderlands, Natives successfully resisted European conquest and colonization, at least initially, as the newcomers failed to subjugate and acculturate them. Europeans brought deadly epidemics, environmental changes, and unprecedented competition over resources, labor demands, and warfare. Natives often responded through increased mobility, migration, military resistance, alliance, and selective incorporation of Old World species, technologies, and ideas. These strategies permitted some Indigenous groups to retain, at least partly, their distinct identity and their sovereignty into the nineteenth century and beyond, often through processes of hybridity and ethnogenesis. Even though few historians explicitly acknowledge the notion of Indigenous borderlands, the scholarship on Native agency, resilience, and power in contested regions of colonial and 19th-century Latin America has grown considerably in the last decades. This article includes a selection of works singled out for centering Natives and/or emphasizing Indigenous agency in long-lasting borderlands. Mesoamerica and the Andes have been left out to focus on other regions where Natives retained their independence and sovereignty longer, and on which the literature is less extensive. The unequal coverage of regions and Indigenous groups largely reflects the existing scholarship and the preference generally given to English-language and more recent works.
Whiteness in Victorian Literature
Authors: Walters Alisha R.
Published: October 2023

Victorian ideas of whiteness are inseparable from the expansion of British settler colonialism and the concomitant rise of racial science in the nineteenth century. In the century prior, descriptions of white skin to denote European origin had not been unusual; however, during this earlier period, racial categorization was also mapped along lines of religious difference and socioeconomic status, which largely fell away by the Victorian period. In the nineteenth century, deeply embodied and “scientific” understandings of racial difference proliferated, and race became understood as a more fixed biological category. Race was indeed “everything,” as racial theorist Robert Knox stated. It became a recognizable anatomical classification, not equivalent to other social categories like religion or class. While there has been much scholarship on the essential role of Blackness in the construction of Victorian racial categories, understandings of whiteness were equally instrumental in the creation of racialized hierarchies. Theories of whiteness are thus an integral—if critically overlooked—thread of the nineteenth century’s construction of racial ontologies. Victorian notions of whiteness were by no means coherent. Synchronic discussions of whiteness in the period were diverse and deeply contingent on spatial geographies, gender, social class, and labor production. At the same time, Victorian ideas of whiteness depended on diachronic, deeply historical understandings of white identity, an identity tied to an imagined and remote racial past. And competing and overlapping theories of Anglo-Saxonism and Celticism framed debates about the intra-ethnic origins of British racial identity. British race was thus imaged as being pure, but also hybridized, through internal European mixture. Notably, while scholarly domains such as sociology, Irish studies, and African American studies have employed critical whiteness scholarship for decades, such engagement has been relatively recent in Victorian studies. The field has newly come to reckon with its own implication with white supremacy as have other scholarly fields in recent years, such as classical studies, medieval studies, and early modern studies. In Victorian studies, scholars often cite the work of Toni Morrison, Sara Ahmed, Dwayne Dyer, Sylvia Wynter, and David Lloyd when interrogating the construction of whiteness as the invisible default subject position—both within 19th-century literature, and the profession, itself. For instance, Ronjaunee Chatterjee, Alicia Mireles Christoff, and Amy R. Wong argue for a thorough reckoning with the whiteness that underpins the praxes of Victorian studies. And others have called for more inclusive pedagogies and practices within the classroom where, as Carolyn Betensky argues, the offhanded racism of the Victorian text—taught by an overwhelmingly white professoriate—is seldom theorized sufficiently.
Microbial Oceanography
Authors: Karl David M. , Church Matthew J.
Published: October 2023

The research mission of this relatively new subdiscipline is anchored at the intersections of oceanography, marine microbiology, and ecology. While the specific disciplinary boundaries are not well defined, the core foci are biogeochemistry, especially element cycles, the microbial loop, and controls on microbial population distributions and dynamics in time and space. This current bibliography is restricted to pelagic ecosystems, those seaward of the continental shelves and above the seafloor. Future microbial oceanography themed bibliographies could focus on benthic habitats (from littoral habitats to the abyss), microbial life in extreme environments (e.g., oxygen minimum zones, hydrothermal and seep habitats, life in polar seas), or other relevant topics, but the pelagic ocean is the largest biome on Earth, so our stated focus is well justified. A central challenge of microbial oceanography is to conduct comprehensive field campaigns to track the physical and chemical variables that define specific marine biomes and to understand how these habitat characteristics influence in situ microbial processes. The key physical processes, ranging in scale from molecular diffusion to global ocean circulation to ocean-atmosphere-climate interactions, cannot be reproduced in a laboratory setting. The target populations in microbial oceanography include bacteria, archaea, protists, microalgae, and small (<150 μm) metazoans, as well as their viruses. Symbiosis, including parasitism and mutualism, syntrophy, and other direct and indirect cell-to-cell interactions are important phenomena in the sea, but they are also difficult to reproduce in a shore-based laboratory setting. Consequently, access to the sea and the ability to conduct at-sea experiments is vital for research success in the discipline of microbial oceanography. Finally, a major challenge in microbial oceanography is the training of the next generation of practitioners and leaders. Because the research foci are transdisciplinary, the formal training should also be at the intersections of oceanography, marine microbiology, and ecology, but few academic degree programs are designed for this purpose. Like many emergent scientific disciplines, microbial oceanography is rapidly evolving, so we have endeavored to select several “classic” publications to provide an intellectual foundation of knowledge rather than rely solely on “last week’s” discovery papers. The hope is that this annotated bibliography will serve as a useful starting point to identify key concepts in the discipline and will help to educate and to inspire those interested in pursuing a career in this important and timely discipline.
Identifying literacy and numeracy skill mismatch in OECD countries using the job analysis method
Authors: Pérez Rodríguez Sandra , van der Velden Rolf , Huijts Tim , Jacobs Babs
Published: October 2023

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is currently the most important data source that provides information on the key skills possessed by workers, including literacy and numeracy. However, to assess skill mismatch, we also need information on the required skills in those domains, measured in the same metric and scale. In this article, we use the Job Analysis Method (JAM) to determine the required skill levels of literacy and numeracy for all four-digit International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) 2008 unit groups. JAM is often considered the ‘gold standard’ in estimating required levels but has never been used in the context of PIAAC. This article thus presents the first results on the prevalence of skill mismatches using JAM comparing different OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and different occupations. We compare our results with alternative methods and show some advantages of using JAM. We discuss some of the limitations as well.