bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Use of bidirectional transmittance distribution function measurements to determine transmittance haze
Authors: Molloy E , Koo A , Gevaux L , Obein G , Yang L 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Accurate and traceable measurements of transmittance haze are required for quality control in various different industries, such as optoelectronics, automobiles, and agriculture. Transmittance haze is defined as the fraction of light transmitted through a material that deviates from the incident beam by more than 2.5∘. Various documentary standards specify the use of an integrating sphere with a prescribed geometry for the measurement of transmittance haze. This paper uses goniometric measurements of the bidirectional transmittance distribution function (BTDF) to calculate transmittance haze according to the definition and demonstrates that the sphere-based realisation of transmittance haze specified in the documentary standards does not agree with the definition, with the difference being up to 20% for some samples. The BTDF measurements are also used to simulate the integrating sphere haze, allowing the sensitivity of the sphere haze to errors in the integrating sphere geometry to be calculated.
Rhox8 homeobox gene ablation leads to rete testis abnormality and male subfertility in mice
Authors: Oh Yeongseok , Kasu Maho , Bottoms Constence J , Douglas Jenna C , Sekulovski Nikola , Hayashi Kanako , MacLean II James A 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The reproductive homeobox X-linked (Rhox) genes encode transcription factors that are expressed selectively in reproductive tissues including the testis, epididymis, ovary, and placenta. While many Rhox genes are expressed in germ cells in the mouse testis, only Rhox8 is expressed exclusively in the Sertoli cells during embryonic and postnatal development, suggesting a possible role of Rhox8 in embryonic gonad development. Previously, Sertoli cell–specific knockdown of RHOX8 resulted in male subfertility due to germ cell defects. However, this knockdown model was limited in examining the functions of Rhox8 as RHOX8 knockdown occurred only postnatally, and there was still residual RHOX8 in the testis. In this study, we generated new Rhox8 knockout (KO) mice using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Sex determination and fetal testis development were apparently normal in mutant mice. Fertility analysis showed a low fecundity in Rhox8 KO adult males, with disrupted spermatogenic cycles, increased germ cell apoptosis, and reduced sperm count and motility. Interestingly, Rhox8 KO testes showed an increase in testis size with dilated seminiferous tubules and rete testis, which might be affected by efferent duct (ED) Rhox8 ablation dysregulating the expression of metabolism and transport genes in the EDs. Taken together, the data presented in this study suggest that Rhox8 in the Sertoli cells is not essential for sex determination and embryonic testis differentiation but has an important role in complete spermatogenesis and optimal male fertility.
Patient Characteristics, Microbiology, and Mortality of Infective Endocarditis After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
Authors: Strange Jarl Emanuel , Østergaard Lauge , Køber Lars , Bundgaard Henning , Iversen Kasper , Voldstedlund Marianne , Gislason Gunnar Hilmar , Olesen Jonas Bjerring , Fosbøl Emil Loldrup 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Background
Infective endocarditis (IE) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is associated with high mortality and surgery is rarely performed. Thus, to inform on preventive measures and treatment strategies, we investigated patient characteristics and microbiology of IE after TAVI.

Methods
Using Danish nationwide registries, we identified patients with IE after TAVI, IE after non-TAVI prosthetic valve (nTPV), and native valve IE. Patient characteristics; overall, early (≤12 m), and late IE (&gt;12 m) microbiology; and unadjusted and adjusted mortality were compared.

Results
We identified 273, 1022, and 5376 cases of IE after TAVI, IE after nTPV, and native valve IE. Age and frailty were highest among TAVI IE (4.8%; median age: 82 y; 61.9% frail). Enterococcus spp. were common for IE after TAVI (27.1%) and IE after nTPV (21.2%) compared with native valve IE (11.4%). Blood culture–negative IE was rare in IE after TAVI (5.5%) compared with IE after nTPV (15.2%) and native valve IE (13.5%). The unadjusted 90-day mortality was comparable, but the 5-year mortality was highest for IE after TAVI (75.2% vs 57.2% vs 53.6%). In Cox models adjusted for patient characteristics and bacterial etiology for 1–90 days and 91–365 days, there was no significant difference in mortality rates.

Conclusions
Patients with IE after TAVI are older and frailer, enterococci and streptococci are often the etiologic agents, and are rarely blood culture negative compared with other IE patients. Future studies regarding antibiotic prophylaxis strategies covering enterococci should be considered in this setting.
Executive Summary: Guidelines and Recommendations for Laboratory Analysis in the Diagnosis and Management of Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Sacks David B , Arnold Mark , Bakris George L , Bruns David E , Horvath Andrea R , Lernmark Åke , Metzger Boyd E , Nathan David M , Sue Kirkman M 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Background
Numerous laboratory tests are used in the diagnosis and management of patients with diabetes mellitus. The quality of the scientific evidence supporting the use of these assays varies substantially. An expert committee compiled evidence-based recommendations for laboratory analysis in patients with diabetes. The overall quality of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations were evaluated. The draft consensus recommendations were evaluated by invited reviewers and presented for public comment. Suggestions were incorporated as deemed appropriate by the authors (see Acknowledgments in the full version of the guideline). The guidelines were reviewed by the Evidence Based Laboratory Medicine Committee and the Board of Directors of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry and by the Professional Practice Committee of the American Diabetes Association.

Content
Diabetes can be diagnosed by demonstrating increased concentrations of glucose in venous plasma or increased hemoglobin A1c (Hb A1c) in the blood. Glycemic control is monitored by the patients measuring their own blood glucose with meters and/or with continuous interstitial glucose monitoring devices and also by laboratory analysis of Hb A1c. The potential roles of noninvasive glucose monitoring; genetic testing; and measurement of ketones, autoantibodies, urine albumin, insulin, proinsulin, and C-peptide are addressed.

Summary
The guidelines provide specific recommendations based on published data or derived from expert consensus. Several analytes are found to have minimal clinical value at the present time, and measurement of them is not recommended.
Variation in mortality burden of the COVID-19 pandemic across federal states in Germany
Authors: Kolobova Marina , Jdanov Dmitri , Jasilionis Domantas , Shkolnikov Vladimir M , Rau Roland 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Background
Intra-annual excess mortality is the most reliable measure of losses of lives due to short-term risk factors. The objectives of our study are (i) to estimate excess mortality across German states in the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic years 2020 and 2021 and (ii) to identify possible regional-level determinants of spatial inequality in pandemic-related excess mortality.

Methods
We use weekly mortality data series for the calculation of weekly death rates, standardized by age for each federal state of Germany. We estimate the expected level of mortality as state-specific mortality trends and excess mortality in 2020 and 2021. We explore ecological statistical relationships between excess mortality, COVID-19 morbidity, and selected regional socioeconomic indicators using fixed-effects regression models.

Results
Our study shows that during the first pandemic year, there was South-to-North gradient in excess mortality in Germany, with excess mortality being higher in the South. Over the course of the second pandemic year 2021, this gradient changed to become an East-to-West gradient, with excess mortality being higher in the East. The results of the study show stronger effects of COVID-19 morbidity on excess mortality in East Germany. State-level indicators reflecting economic activity, employment, and capacity of intensive care units show significant correlations with excess mortality across the states.

Conclusions
The results show pronounced state-level differences in the magnitude of excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Economic activity, employment and capacity of intensive care units were the most important state-level characteristics associated with the observed spatial variations in excess mortality.
Phenotypic evolution of SARS-CoV-2: a statistical inference approach
Authors: Benhamou Wakinyan , Lion Sébastien , Choquet Rémi , Gandon Sylvain 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Since its emergence in late 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread globally, causing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2020, the Alpha variant (lineage B.1.1.7) was detected in England and spread rapidly, outcompeting the previous lineage. Yet, very little is known about the underlying modifications of the infection process that can explain this selective advantage. Here, we try to quantify how the Alpha variant differed from its predecessor on two phenotypic traits: The transmission rate and the duration of infectiousness. To this end, we analyzed the joint epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics as a function of the Stringency Index, a measure of the amount of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions. Assuming that these control measures reduce contact rates and transmission, we developed a two-step approach based on ${{SEIR}}$ models and the analysis of a combination of epidemiological and evolutionary information. First, we quantify the link between the Stringency Index and the reduction in viral transmission. Second, based on a novel theoretical derivation of the selection gradient in an ${{SEIR}}$ model, we infer the phenotype of the Alpha variant from its frequency changes. We show that its selective advantage is more likely to result from a higher transmission than from a longer infectious period. Our work illustrates how the analysis of the joint epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of infectious diseases can help understand the phenotypic evolution driving pathogen adaptation.
Content moderation in times of war: testing state and self-regulation, contract and human rights law in search of optimal solutions
Authors: Filatova-Bilous Nataliia 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine and crimes against humanity accompanying it have been fuelled by the mass spread of fakes and hatred incitements, forcing the largest online platforms to review and strengthen their content moderation policies. However, the approaches taken by platforms have not been perfect, and some of them could even exacerbate the situation. All in all, this is another evidence of the need to develop mechanisms being able to cope with the challenges to online speech and safety caused by dramatic social events. Basic approaches to address content moderation issues developed by now are self-(co-) and state regulation, on the one hand, and contract and human rights law, on the other. However, neither of them taken separately can ensure the needed level of protection of human rights online. Thus, in this article the ways to combine and improve these approaches are proposed. On the one hand, there is a need to dwell on private law mechanisms allowing to ensure the protection of human rights by virtue of judgements in private disputes. On the other hand, state regulation should be improved by international instruments allowing to provide for a uniform approach to regulation at a global scale.
Bivoltine cocoon color sex-limited breeds of Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) show enhanced economic performance and fecundity following spermidine supplementation
Authors: Kasa Madhavi , Jolapuram Seetharamulu , Lima Anugata , Didugu Brinda Goda Lakshmi , Poosapati Jagannatha Raju , Mamillapalli Anitha 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Sericulture has immense economic significance. Separating male and female silkworm pupae for egg production in grainage is a laborious task; hence, sex-limited breeds for cocoon color are advantageous for this process. The major constraint in sex-limited breeds is their low fecundity. Sex-limited female moths lay a lower number of eggs than nonsex-limited breeds. Polyamine, spermidine was shown to improve fecundity in several organisms, including the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. In the present study, cocoon color sex-limited breeds, HTO2SL, APS27SL, and SLFC27, were selected and fed with spermidine to improve fecundity and nutritional efficiency. The fifth-instar silkworm larvae of the selected breeds were subjected to standard rearing conditions with and without spermidine supplementation up to spinning. The spermidine-supplemented sex-limited breeds exhibited a significant increase in fecundity, nutritional indices, and economic parameters compared with the control sex-limited breeds. Among the 3 sex-limited breeds tested, the performance of APS27SL improved significantly.
The aphidPentalonia nigronervosa(Hemiptera: Aphididae) takes advantage from the quality change in banana plant associated withBanana bunchy top virusinfection
Authors: Safari Murhububa Ignace , Tougeron Kévin , Bragard Claude , Fauconnier Marie-Laure , Mugisho Bugeme David , Bisimwa Basengere Espoir , Walangululu Masamba Jean , Hance Thierry 
Published: July 2023

AbstractViral diseases can change plant metabolism, with potential impacts on the quality of the plant’s food supply for insect pests, including virus vectors. The banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel, is the vector of the Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), the causal agent of Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD), the most devastating viral disease of bananas in the world. The effect of BBTV on the life-history traits and population dynamics of P. nigronervosa remains poorly understood. We therefore studied the survival rate, longevity, daily fecundity per aphid, tibia length, population growth, and winged morph production of a P. nigronervosa clone grown on healthy or infected, dessert, or plantain banana plants. We found that daily fecundity was higher on infected banana than on healthy banana plants (plantain and dessert), and on plantain than on dessert banana plants (healthy and infected). Survival and longevity were lower on infected dessert bananas than on other types of bananas. In addition, virus infection resulted in a decrease in aphid hind tibia length on both plant genotypes. The survival and fecundity table revealed that the aphid net reproduction rate (Ro) was highest on plantains (especially infected plantain), and the intrinsic growth rate (r) was highest on infected plants. Finally, the increase of aphids and alate production was faster first on infected plantain, then on healthy plantain, and lower on dessert banana (infected and uninfected). Our results reinforce the idea of indirect and plant genotype-dependent manipulation of P. nigronervosa by the BBTV.
Response patterns of lncRNAs of theSpodoptera frugiperda(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae under 23 pesticide treatments
Authors: Wang Qing-nan , Xiao Wen-qing , Yao Yu , Kong Xiang-dong , Sun Yang 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe response of Spodoptera frugiperda genes toward insecticides is crucial for guiding insecticide use. The regulation of the S. frugiperda genes via long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) under insecticide treatment should be investigated. In this study, 452 differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified by analyzing RNA-sequencing data of S. frugiperda under 23 pesticide treatments. We found 59 and 43 differentially expressed lncRNAs that could regulate detoxification-related cytochrome P450 and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase genes, respectively. Furthermore, the target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs were enriched in Pfam, including chitin bind 4 and gene ontology terms such as structural constituent of the cuticle, revealing their potential mechanism of action on the growth inhibition of S. frugiperda larvae. Insecticide-specific expression of lncRNAs highlights the properties and commonalities of different insecticide-induced lncRNA regulatory mechanisms. To conclude, the results of this study provide new insights and perspectives on the use of 23 insecticides via lncRNA regulation of mRNAs.
Forms of Milgramesque Resistance
Authors: Hollander Matthew M. , Turowetz Jason 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Chapter 4 builds on the previous chapter’s presentation of resistance by documenting six recurrent forms of participant resistance to continuation of the experiment. First, we present the sequential organization of resistance in Milgram’s lab in a schematic and general way. Second, we use conversation analysis to analyze (1) three relatively implicit forms of participant resistance and then (2) three relatively more explicit forms. Third, we present a finding about a structural preference in complaint-remedy sequences in our data, which we call a preference for director’s remedy. Participants orient to this preference by treating the Experimenter as the party responsible for repairing interactional trouble, such that they appeal to him, sometimes repeatedly, prior to more explicit attempts to stop the experiment themselves. Conversely, participants orient to the dispreferred status of resistance through delays, hesitations, and mitigators (apologies, accounts, etc.). Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of the payoff or upshot of our strategy of detailed comparative analysis of both outcome categories (Obedient and Disobedient), an approach uncommon in the Milgram literature.
Hierarchies, Shadows, and Precarity
Authors: Zhao Elaine Jing 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
This chapter examines the experience of aspiring writers in the context of platformization of cultural production in the internet literature field in China. Drawing on rich empirical data and building on creative labour studies, platform studies, and informal media economics, this chapter (1) analyses how hierarchies, shadows, and precarity emerge in this creative labour market; (2) explains how the multiple realities of precarity are imbricated with platform politics of access, temporality, visibility, and copyright protection; and (3) reveals how aspiring writers exhibit an entrepreneurial ethos in navigating the uneven process of platformization. In doing so, this chapter aims to advance knowledge about the impact of platformization of cultural production on creative labour in China.
Crafting Feminism from Literary Modernism to the Multimedia Present
Authors: Elkins Amy E. 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Crafting Feminism develops a dynamic study of craft and art-making in modern and contemporary feminist writing. In evocative readings of literary works from Virginia Woolf to Zadie Smith, this book expands our sense of transartistic modernist scholarship to encompass process-oriented and medium-specific analyses of textiles, digital design, collage, photography, painting, and sculpture in literary culture. By integrating these craft practices into the book’s enlightening archive, Elkins’s theoretical argument extends a reading of craft metaphors into the material present. Crafting Feminism demonstrates how writers have engaged with handiwork across generations and have undertaken the crafting of a new modernity, one that is queer and feminist—threaded, messy, shattered, cut-up, pasted together, preserved, repaired, reflected, and spun out. An avant-garde work of scholarship, this book interweaves queer research methods and interdisciplinary rigor with a series of surprising archival discoveries. Making visible the collaborative, creative features of craft, Elkins captivates readers with generous illustrations and a series of “Techne” interchapters—interludes between longer chapters, which powerfully convey the symbiosis between feminist theory and method and detail the network of archival influences that underpin this volume’s hybrid approach. Foregrounding the work of decentering patriarchal and Eurocentric legacies of artistic authority, Elkins champions the diverse, intergenerational history of craft as a way to reposition the work of intersectional makers at the heart of literary culture. An original and compelling study, Crafting Feminism breaks new ground in modernist and visual studies, digital humanities, and feminist, queer, and critical race theories.
Immersion, Identification, and the Iliad
Authors: Ready Jonathan L. 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Immersion, Identification, and the Iliad explains why people care about this foundational epic poem and its characters. It represents the first book-length application to the Iliad of research in communications, literary studies, media studies, and psychology on how readers of a story or viewers of a play, movie, or television show find themselves immersed in the tale and identify with the characters. Immersed recipients get wrapped up in a narrative and the world it depicts and lose track to some degree of their real-world surroundings. Identification occurs when recipients interpret the storyworld from a character’s perspective, feel emotions congruent with those of a character, and/or root for a character to succeed. This volume situates modern research on these experiences in relation to ancient criticism on how audiences react to narratives. It then offers close readings of select episodes and detailed analyses of recurring features to show how the Iliad immerses both ancient and modern recipients and encourages them to identify with its characters. Accessible to students and researchers, to those inside and outside of classical studies, this interdisciplinary project aligns research on the Iliad with contemporary approaches to storyworlds in a range of media. It thereby opens new frontiers in the study of ancient Greek literature and helps investigators of audience engagement from antiquity to the present contextualize and historicize their own work.
Introduction
Authors: Gradín Carlos , Lewandowski Piotr , Schotte Simone , Sen Kunal 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
In this chapter we outline the theme of the book. We first discuss the importance of understanding what drives income inequality in developing countries to explain inequality more generally. We then briefly review the two main competing explanations of inequality factors that prevail in the literature. These are based on the mismatch between the supply and demand for workers’ skills or the changing nature of the tasks that workers perform in their jobs. We also provide an overview of how the studies in this book contribute to this debate in the context of developing countries, as well as the structure of the book.
When Worlds Collide
Authors: Ryan Ann Marie , Boyce Anthony S. , Boyce Christine E. 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The use of machine learning (ML) in assessments in the hiring context raises many questions regarding validity, fairness, and acceptance. This chapter looks across disciplines to provide a broad overview of key questions and the limited research addressing them. In discussing measurement and prediction, literature on construct and criterion-related validity evidence for these approaches is reviewed. Considerations in bias detection and mitigation in selection contexts are discussed. Factors related to acceptability of ML approaches to stakeholders are reviewed. The chapter concludes that while the unknowns outnumber the knowns, there are practical and psychometric questions that any practitioner can be ready to ask when considering adopting an assessment that includes an application of ML.