In-depth Profiles Research Articles

Modified Sanliangsan Improved Sjogren's Syndrome Complicated with Interstitial Lung Disease by Suppressing Serum MUC1 Levels.

To clarify if the mechanism of Sanliangsan in improving Sjogren's syndrome complicated with interstitial lung disease (SS-ILD) involves MUC1 suppression, which is involved in SS-ILD pathogenesis. Fifty-six patients were randomly divided into two groups receiving Sanliangsan prescription (SP) therapy and conventional therapy (western medicine). In-depth transcriptome profiles from a large database of SS-ILD patients were collected and analyzed to identify candidate genes involved in SS pathogenesis. Clinical symptom scores, metabolic compositions, lung HRCT (high-resolution computed tomography) scores, and serum MUC1 levels were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. Network pharmacology, molecular docking, and ITC assays were performed to identify bioactive compounds of SP in improving SS. Metabolome analyzed the metabolic composition of serum associated with SS-ILD before and after SP treatment. Transcriptome results identified the involvement of abnormal expression of genes relevant to the immune system, inflammatory responses, and signaling pathways. Numerous genes, including CD58, CD86, CTLA4, CXCL8, STAT1, and especially MUC1, were involved in SS pathogenesis and could be used to diagnose SS-ILD early. Both treatments improved the lung HRCT scores and clinical symptoms of SS-ILD. The SP therapy improved SS-ILD more effectively than conventional therapy. Moreover, Sanliangsan prescription therapy reduced serum MUC1 levels and restored the abnormal metabolisms, improving the abnormal inflammatory and immune responses of patients. Eugenol directly interacted with MUC1, suppressed related genes, and was the bioactive compound of SP. SP could partially restore the abnormal metabolisms associated with SS-ILD pathogenesis. Based on conventional Western medicine treatment, modified Sanliangsan can significantly improve the clinical symptoms, signs, and lung function of patients; the mechanism may be due to eugenol and related to MUC1 regulation.

Coccophagus lycimnia (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae): parasitoid of soft scale pests (Coccidae: Hemiptera)

The Featured Creatures collection provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms relevant to Florida. These profiles are intended for the use of interested laypersons with some knowledge of biology as well as academic audiences.

Abstract 2807: Distinctive microbiome signatures in colorectal cancer: A comparative metagenomic analysis

Abstract The human gut microbiome is increasingly recognized for its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis. This study aims to delineate the microbiome characteristics of CRC patients compared to healthy individuals, using a comprehensive metagenomic approach. We utilized a cohort of 80 CRC patients and an equal number of matched healthy controls. Fecal samples were collected and subjected to in-depth metagenomic sequencing, targeting both structural and functional profiles of the microbiome. Data analysis involved advanced bioinformatics techniques. Key observations were subsequently validated in an independent cohort to bolster the findings. Our analysis revealed significant alterations in the microbiome composition of CRC patients versus healthy individuals. Notably, there was an increased prevalence of pathogenic bacteria, such as Bacteroides Vulgatus in CRC patients. These bacteria are implicated in promoting inflammation and carcinogenesis. Conversely, there was a noticeable depletion of beneficial microbes like Lactobacillus in the CRC group. Functionally, the microbiome in CRC patients was characterized by enriched pathways related to DNA repair, cell cycle control, and metabolism pathways like Citrate cycle and Galactose metabolism. Validation in an independent cohort confirmed these distinctive microbiomic patterns. Our study provides compelling evidence of altered microbiome landscapes in CRC patients, highlighting potential roles in disease development and progression. These findings pave the way for further investigation into microbiome-based diagnostics and therapeutic interventions in colorectal cancer. Citation Format: Ziqi Chen, Bei Ning Nie, Bin Luo, Ziliang Wang, Xinyi Wang. Distinctive microbiome signatures in colorectal cancer: A comparative metagenomic analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2807.

Characterization of diverse lysine acylations in Bacillus thuringiensis: Substrate profiling and functional exploration.

Lysine acylation has been extensively investigated due to its regulatory role in a diverse range of biological functions across prokaryotic and eukaryotic species. In-depth acylomic profiles have the potential to enhance comprehension of the biological implications of organisms. However, the extent of research on global acylation profiles in microorganisms is limited. Here, four lysine acylomes were conducted in Bacillus thuringiensis by using the LC-MS/MS based proteomics combined with antibody-enrichment strategies, and a total of 3438 acetylated sites, 5797 propionylated sites, 1705 succinylated sites, and 925 malonylated sites were identified. The motif analysis of these modified proteins revealed a high conservation of glutamate in acetylation and propionylation, whereas such conservation was not observed in succinylation and malonylation modifications. Besides, conservation analysis showed that homologous acylated proteins in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli were connected with ribosome and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. Further biological experiments showed that lysine acylation lowered the RNA binding ability of CodY and impaired the in vivo protein activity of MetK. In conclusion, our study expanded the current understanding of the global acylation in Bacillus, and the comparative analysis demonstrated that shared acylation proteins could play important roles in regulating both metabolism and RNA transcription progression.

Corrosion of 316L stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion and powder metallurgy in pressurized water reactor primary coolant

Corrosion mechanism of 316 L stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion-hot isostatic pressing (LPBF-HIP) and powder metallurgy-hot isostatic pressing (PM-HIP) is studied with in-situ electrochemical impedance measurements coupled to detailed oxide film characterization. Quantitative analysis of impedance spectra using the Mixed-Conduction Model and estimation of local kinetic and transport parameters by interpretation of in-depth elemental composition profiles indicated lower corrosion and oxidation rates of LPBF-HIP and PM-HIP materials in comparison to conventional wrought 316 L. This owes to a higher fraction of low-angle grain boundaries, smaller grain size, the presence of nano-sized oxide particles and elevated Cr and Ni contents.

Numerical parameter sensitivity analysis of residual stresses induced by deep rolling for a 34CrNiMo6 steel railway axle

To optimise the benefits of the deep-rolling process in the service life context of treated components, the process application must be investigated. In addition to the reduction in surface roughness and near-surface material strengthening, compressive residual stresses are introduced, which are primarily responsible for the increase in service life for components, especially in the case of high-strength steel materials. A numerical parameter sensitivity analysis is performed in order to investigate the introduced residual stresses in detail. For this purpose, a validated deep-rolling simulation model is used, which replicates the deep rolling of a railway axle made of the high-strength steel material 34CrNiMo6. The model is based on an elastic-plastic Chaboche material model parameterised on uniaxial tensile and LCF test results and validated with residual stress measurements. Using this model as a basis, the effect of the main process parameters deep-rolling force, feed rate, friction coefficient, number of overruns, tool geometry, and shaft geometry on the resulting residual stress state are investigated. The results reveal that the deep-rolling force has the most significant influence on the introduced residual stress state and should therefore be highlighted. In the case of applying a deep-rolling force of more than 10 kN, maximum compressive residual stresses of around − 1000 MPa are introduced, and a strong saturating behaviour is shown. Maximum compensating tensile residual stresses of + 100 MPa occur below the surface. The main influence of the deep-rolling force is the effective depth achieved, which is determined by the depth of the zero crossing. This varies from 1 mm with an applied force of 2 kN to more than 3.5 mm with 20 kN. Furthermore, the results are analysed to conclude suggestions for the process’s applicability, and a proposal for an optimised deep-rolling treatment is presented. There multiple deep rolling with decreased deep-rolling forces is used to achieve a comparably optimised residual stress state. In summary, with the presented results, a contribution to a deeper understanding of the deep-rolling process can be achieved; the influence of the most important process parameters on the residual stress in-depth profiles is established; an optimisation proposal is presented; and correlations are found. Thus, the base work for further fatigue strength assessments and the optimisation of the deep-rolling process regarding the increase of service is laid.

Thermocline stratification favors phytoplankton spatial overlap and species diversity in a subtropical deep reservoir

Spatial segregation of species along opposing resource gradients is a major research topic in ecology as it enables the coexistence and maintenance of high diversity. Thermocline stratification causes heterogeneous resource distribution, however, the effect of thermocline stratification on phytoplankton dynamic in-depth profiles is still unclear. To understand the underlying mechanism behind the effects of thermocline stratification on phytoplankton species diversity in stratified lakes, the monthly changes in thermocline parameters, deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM) parameters, spatial overlap (SO) among major phytoplankton taxonomic groups, and phytoplankton species diversity were evaluated in Lake Qiandaohu in the Zhejiang Province of China from April 2017 to December 2018. Thermocline depth (TD) was significantly negatively related to thermocline strength (TS). The monthly air temperature was the main driver behind the thermocline and the seasonal thermal-stratification cycle was divided into two stratification stages. Significant linear relationships were observed between the DCM parameters (depth, concentration, and thickness) and TD during the strong stratification period. TD was significantly positively related to phytoplankton species diversity and the SO between Cryptophyta and Chlorophyta as well as between Cryptophyta and Bacillariophyta during weak stratification periods. Significant positive correlations were observed between SO and Shannon diversity during both periods. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that air temperature significantly decreased TD and increased species diversity by increasing SO during the strong stratification period. Strong stratification under warming favored the formation of shallower and thinner DCMs, leading to phytoplankton coexistence and maintenance of high species diversity through a preclusion of dominance. This study characterized the temporal dynamics of phytoplankton dynamic in-depth profiles in response to strong stratification from warming.

The Effect of Viscous Drag on the Maximum Residual Stresses Achievable in High-Yield-Strength Materials in Laser Shock Processing.

In this paper, the experimentally observed significant increase in yield stress for strain rates beyond 104 s-1 (viscous regime) is explicitly considered in laser shock processing (LSP) simulations. First, a detailed review of the most common high-strain-rate deformation models is presented, highlighting the expected strain rates in materials subject to LSP for a wide range of treatment conditions. Second, the abrupt yield stress increase presented beyond 104 s-1 is explicitly considered in the material model of a titanium alloy subject to LSP. A combined numerical-analytical approach is used to predict the time evolution of the plastic strain. Finally, extended areas are irradiated covering a squared area of 25 × 25 mm2 for numerical-experimental validation. The in-depth experimental residual stress profiles are obtained by means of the hole drilling method. Near-surface-temperature gradients are explicitly considered in simulations. In summary, the conventionally accepted strain rate range in LSP (106-107 s-1) is challenged in this paper. Results show that the conventional high-strain-rate hardening models widely used in LSP simulations (i.e., Johnson Cook model) clearly overestimate the induced compressive residual stresses. Additionally, pressure decay, whose importance is usually neglected, has been found to play a significant role in the total plastic strain achieved by LSP treatments.

Thrips parvispinus (Karny, 1922) (Insecta: Thysanoptera: Thripidae): A New Invasive Pest

The Featured Creatures collection provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms relevant to Florida. These profiles are intended for the use of interested laypersons with some knowledge of biology as well as academic audiences.

Formation of value-added products from the pyrolysis of date pits: A combined experimental–DFT approach

In arid and semiarid environments, bio-oil extraction from environmentally favorable and waste biomass is presently used as a mainstream strategy for the development of sustainable sources of energy. In keeping with this, we provide a thorough analysis of the pyrolysis of date palm pits here, focusing particularly on relevant thermal degradation profiles and pyrolytic products over a wide temperature range. Pyrolysis experiments were performed using a single-stage reactor at several temperature intervals. The temperature ranges were chosen following mass loss profiles of date pit biomass obtained by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) analysis. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations map out reaction pathways that dictate the decomposition of two model compounds that represented oxygen and nitrogen content in the collected condensed and non-condensed fractions. In-depth temperature-dependent profiles of pyrolytic products are thoroughly presented and analyzed. Analysis of products indicates the generation of a wide spectra of green diesel's ingredients of (i.e., long aliphatic compounds) and transportation fuels additives (alkylated benzenes). Aromatic compounds attain the highest fractions in the collected bio-oil at investigated temperature windows. Glucose derivatives appear in appreciable loads in the non-condensable fractions. The obtained mass loss curves reflect degradation curves for the most prominent biomass structural components; namely lignocellulosic, hemicellulose, and lignin. Findings presented herein shall be helpful to develop pyrolysis technologies that are suited for niche categories of biomass found in arid and semiarid regions where cultivation of standard energy crops is impractical.

In-depth proteomic analysis of juvenile dermatomyositis serum reveals protein expression associated with muscle-specific autoantibodies.

The clinical symptoms and complications of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) differ depending on the type of muscle-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) present. We aimed to identify protein expression profiles specific for MSAs that characterize various clinical features by comprehensively analyzing the proteins present in the serum of patients with JDM. We analyzed sera from patients with JDM that were positive for anti-melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5) antibodies (n = 5), anti-nuclear matrix protein 2 (NXP2) antibodies (n = 5), and anti-transcriptional intermediary factor 1 alpha or gamma subunit (TIF1-γ) antibodies (n = 5) and evaluated healthy controls (n = 5) via single-shot liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MS) in data-independent acquisition mode, which is superior for comparative quantitative analysis. We identified different protein groups based on MSAs and performed pathway analysis to understand their characteristics. We detected 2,413 proteins from serum MS analysis; 508 proteins were commonly altered in MSAs, including many myogenic enzymes and interferon-regulated proteins. Pathway analysis using the top 50 proteins that were upregulated in each MSA group revealed that the type 1 interferon and proteasome pathways were significantly upregulated in the anti-MDA5 antibody group alone. Although JDM serum contains many proteins commonly altered in MSAs, the pathways associated with clinical features of MSAs differ based on protein accumulation. In-depth serum protein profiles associated with MSAs may be useful for developing therapeutic target molecules and biomarkers.

Alteration of gut microbiota in wild-borne long-tailed macaques after 1-year being housed in hygienic captivity

The wild-born long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were recently recruited and used as breeders for the National Primate Research Center of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University (NPRCT-CU), and changes in their in-depth gut microbiota profiles were investigated. The Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) was used to explore full-length 16S rDNA sequences of gut microbiota in animals once captured in their natural habitat and 1-year following translocation and housing in a hygienic environment at NPRCT-CU. Our findings show that the gut microbiota of macaques after 1 year of hygienic housing and programmed diets feeding was altered and reshaped. The prevalent gut bacteria such as Prevotella copri and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were enriched after translocation, causing the lower alpha diversity. The correlation analysis revealed that Prevotella copri, Phascolarctobacterium succinatutens, and Prevotella stercorea, showed a positive correlation with each other. Significantly enriched pathways in the macaques after translocation included biosynthesis of essential amino acids, fatty acids, polyamine and butanoate. The effects of microbiota change could help macaques to harvest the energy from programmed diets and adapt their gut metabolism. The novel probiotics and microbiota engineering approach could be further developed based on the current findings and should be helpful for captive animal health care management.

Northern frog biting mosquito Culex territans (Walker 1856) (Insecta: Diptera: Culicidae)

The Featured Creatures collection provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms relevant to Florida. These profiles are intended for the use of interested laypersons with some knowledge of biology as well as academic audiences.

Regulating for the Future: The Law’s Enforcement Deficit

Regulating for the Future: The Law’s Enforcement Deficit Orla Lynskey (bio) I. Introduction Digitization has changed the way we operate as individuals and as a society in significant ways, with this change accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Digital technologies are now treated as ‘imperative’ across many spheres of life.1 A by-product of this digitization has been datafication, as formerly analogue phenomena need to be translated into data in order to digitize them. As our daily social, professional, administrative, and civic interactions have taken on a digital dimension, the data generated about these transactions are recorded and analysed for insights. The data generated by your morning coffee purchase might therefore reveal your location, your appetite for early mornings, and your price sensitivity, amongst many other insights. The aggregation of such insights across all your daily activities can create remarkably in-depth profiles of individual behaviour. Repeated across the population, datafication facilitates surveillance at a mass scale. The creation and capture of data therefore has clear implications for society. Most evidently, the very act of capturing our interactions through data has privacy implications and could have a chilling effect on the exercise of other rights, including freedom of expression and association. Datafication therefore impacts upon established fundamental rights in democratic societies, with consequences for individuals and society at large. Data also act as a source of power to their holders. Data analytics, including automated decision-making and machine learning, enable the holders of data to categorize and sort individuals in novel ways and to differentiate between cohorts on this basis. While we browse the Internet, the advertisements displayed are targeted based on our profiles, with individuals being grouped into categories to deliver these ads – categories including ‘fertility’, ‘eating disorders’, ‘left-wing politics’ and ‘right-wing politics’, amongst many others.2 Beyond clear privacy implications, the use of such categorizations to differentiate the content that individuals see and the opportunities they are offered offends against ideals of equality, exacerbates asymmetries of power [End Page 104] and information, and has the capacity to further segment already fragmented societies. These data collections have been a source of economic power for their holders and users, but their use goes beyond commerce. The state also engages in such classification-by-data. In England, for instance, resource-pressured local authorities have relied upon automated recommendations to identify children at risk3 while the eligibility of criminal offenders for rehabilitation programmes is assessed, in part, algorithmically, taking into account information scraped from social media sites.4 Increasingly, we see the state operate in tandem with private-sector actors in ways that obscure the flow of data and render effective accountability more difficult to achieve. The challenge for the law, against this backdrop, is to ensure continued respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights. In this contribution, the efforts of the European Union to date will be evaluated with two significant challenges identified. This paper proceeds by, first, providing an overview of the legislative initiatives introduced to regulate the European ‘data economy’. In subsequent sections, it identifies and discusses two key challenges. Firstly, there is an enforcement deficit – to which Ireland contributes – that limits the effectiveness of these laws and detracts from their legitimacy. This enforcement deficit has ironically led to the push for more legislation to plug perceived gaps, which itself may contribute to enforcement pressures. Secondly, and perhaps more fundamentally, there is an ambiguity in European data and digital policy regarding what objectives we seek to promote. While the overarching aim might be to secure rights-respecting innovation, there is little recognition that these two elements – respect for rights and innovation – might be in tension and no clear indication about how conflicts between efficiencies and rights might be resolved. II. The European approach to digital regulation The European approach to digital regulation has been juxtaposed with that of the US, where a liberal ethos and the constraints of the First Amendment protection of speech have characterized its response to digitization, and China, where emphasis has been placed on promoting home-grown tech giants and on data-gathering for surveillance and commercial purposes.5 In contrast, Europe has taken it upon itself to...

MiR-150-5p in neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles associated with sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy in septic patients

IntroductionEarly diagnosis and potential therapeutic targets of sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC) remain challenges clinically. Circulating extracellular vesicles from immune cells carrying crucial injurious mediators, including miRNAs in sepsis. However, the impacts of neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles and their miRNAs in the SIC development are unknown.ObjectivesThe present study focused on the in-depth miRNA expression profiles of neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles and explored the potential molecular biomarkers during the process of SIC.MethodsNeutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles were isolated from the blood samples in three sepsis patients with or without cardiomyopathy on day 1 and day 3 after ICU admission in comparison with three healthy controls. miRNAs were determined by RNA sequencing. The closely related differentially expressed miRNAs with SIC were further validated through qRT-PCR in the other cohorts of sepsis patients with (30 patients) or without cardiomyopathy (20 patients) and the association between miRNAs and the occurrence or disease severity of septic cardiomyopathy were stratified with logistic regression analysis.ResultsSixty-eight miRNAs from neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles were changed significantly between healthy controls and without septic cardiomyopathy patients (61 miRNAs upregulated and seven downregulated). Thirty-eight miRNAs were differentially expressed in the septic cardiomyopathy patients. 27 common differentially expressed miRNAs were found in both groups with similar kinetics (23 miRNAs upregulated and four downregulated). The enriched cellular signaling pathway mediated by miRNAs from sepsis to septic cardiomyopathy was the HIF-1 signaling system modulated septic inflammation. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, miR-150-5p coupled with NT-pro BNP, LVEF, and SOFA score (AUC = 0.941) were found to be the independent predictors of septic cardiomyopathy.ConclusionmiRNAs derived from neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles play an important role in septic disease severity development towards cardiomyopathy. miR-150-5p may be a predictor of sepsis severity development but warrants further study.

Modeling of the shot peening of a nickel alloy with the consideration of both residual stresses and work hardening

Shot peening of turbine disk engines is performed in the aerospace industry in order to enhance fatigue life. This surface enhancement method generates beneficial modifications like superficial compressive residual stresses that are known to delay crack initiation and propagation. In the same way, work hardening is also introduced at the surface of the part during shot peening and can have a significant influence on fatigue crack initiation. Taking this parameter into account in the fatigue design of parts, in addition to the residual stresses, is a real challenge to be the most predictive. One possibility for this is to be able to predict it during the modeling of the shot peening process. In the present work, various peening conditions are considered in order to be able to propose a model able to account for the influence of coverage and Almen intensity on residual stresses and work hardening. The studied material is Inconel 718, commonly used for aeronautical parts. The X-ray diffraction method is used to obtain the in-depth residual stress and work hardening profiles. A three-dimensional numerical model is proposed to predict these quantities. Efforts are made to consider all recent advances in three-dimensional simulation of the process, in terms of coverage assessment, shot and treated part modeling. The numerical results are compared to the experimentally measured residual stresses and work hardening.

The influence of Sb doping on the local structure and disorder in thermoelectric ZnO:Sb thin films

Thermoelectric transparent ZnO:Sb thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering, with Sb content varying between 2 and 14 at%. As evidenced by X-ray diffraction analysis, the films crystallize in the ZnO wurtzite structure for lower levels of Sb-doping, developing a degree of amorphization for higher levels of Sb-doping. Temperature-dependent (10–300 K) X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of the produced thin films were performed at the Zn and Sb K-edges to shed light on the influence of Sb doping on the local atomic structure and disorder in the ZnO:Sb thin films. The analysis of the Zn K-edge EXAFS spectra by the reverse Monte Carlo method allowed to extract detailed and accurate structural information in terms of the radial and bond angle distribution functions. The obtained results suggest that the introduction of antimony to the ZnO matrix promotes static disorder, which leads to partial amorphization with very small crystallites (∼3 nm) for large (12–14 at%) Sb content. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) experiments enabled the determination of the in-depth atomic composition profiles of the films. The film composition at the surfaces determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) matches that of the bulk determined by RBS, except for higher Sb-doping in ZnO films, where the concentration of oxygen determined by XPS is smaller near the surface, possibly due to the formation of oxygen vacancies that lead to an increase in electrical conductivity. Traces of Sb–Sb metal bonds were found by XPS for the sample with the highest level of Sb-doping. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry obtained an Sb/Zn ratio that follows that of the film bulk determined by RBS, although Sb is not always homogeneous, with samples with smaller Sb content (2 and 4 at% of Sb) showing a larger Sb content closer to the film/substrate interface. From the optical transmittance and reflectance curves, it was determined that the films with the lower amount of Sb doping have larger optical band-gaps, in the range of 2.9–3.2 eV, while the partially amorphous films with higher Sb content have smaller band-gaps in the range of 1.6–2.1 eV. Albeit the short-range crystalline order (∼3 nm), the film with 12 at% of Sb has the highest absolute Seebeck coefficient (∼56 μV/K) and a corresponding thermoelectric power factor of ∼0.2 μW·K−2·m−1.

Multiscale modeling of moisture diffusion in polymer/clay nanocomposites

In this paper, a multiscale approach is proposed to study the moisture diffusion behavior of polymer/clay nanocomposites. For this purpose, a new method to determine the representative elementary volume is proposed for possible nanocomposites structures. For this study, two structures at nanoscale are considered based on micrographs of the actual microstructures of these materials at this scale. The results, obtained for the in-depth profiles of the moisture content as well as the overall moisture diffusion kinetics curves revealed a significant effect of the clay volume fraction on the moisture diffusion in nanocomposites. Furthermore, the predicted results show, that the moisture diffusion behavior at microscale strongly depends on the structure at nanoscale. From these results, it seems that the exfoliated structure is the most critical for the moisture diffusion in polymer/clay nanocomposites.

The GENESIS-UV study on ultraviolet radiation exposure levels in 250 occupations to foster epidemiological and legislative efforts to combat nonmelanoma skin cancer.

Several hundred million of the 3 billion formally employed people worldwide are at risk from high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Chronic light damage to the skin can lead to nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), especially when irradiation is too high and is acquired for decades. However, data with uniform metrics, high resolution over time and in-depth occupational profiles are not available. To build a worldwide usable matrix of UVR exposure in occupations and to show use cases for the data. One thousand test persons were recruited to wear electronic data logger dosimeters during their working time for 7 months each. The measurements yielded 3.7 billion data points for around 48 000 days with high-quality data capture covering more than 250 occupations and 650 activities. Scientific evaluation of the data included daily and half-hourly means, geographical transfer calculations to the world, threshold exceedance quotas, transcriptome effects, and occupational disease estimates. A compendium for global use is presented. In-depth analyses and the resulting implications for research have been elaborated to directly link exposure data to effects in the human body. Interestingly, the annual irradiances of the different occupations span a wide range of values: from about 650 to 50 standard erythemal doses, with different distributions over the months. Detailed exposure data per occupation were derived, and the risk on an occupational or activity basis assuming different exposure level quotas was quantified. This showed that, for example, in temperate latitudes, all activities with a duration of > 2 h outdoors are associated with increased NMSC risk. We offer our work to enable sound studies on the nature of ultraviolet-induced skin cancer, dose-response relationships, intermittency of skin exposure, and derivation of limit values. Sociological studies on prevention are now possible. Practitioners may use the findings for their daily work with employees.

Lost in Transition: Removing, Resettling, and Renewing Appalachia ed. by Aaron D. Purcell

Reviewed by: Lost in Transition: Removing, Resettling, and Renewing Appalachia ed. by Aaron D. Purcell Madison Cates Lost in Transition: Removing, Resettling, and Renewing Appalachia. Edited by Aaron D. Purcell. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. xvi, 283. $48.00, ISBN 978-1-62190-589-9.) Displacement narratives have long occupied a central place in Appalachian literature and film. Fictionalized stories of love, conflict, and loss that unfold when Duke Power or the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) come to town appear in works ranging from Ron Rash's novels to the star-studded 1960 film Wild River. Taking such legacies of dams and lost towns as its starting point, Lost in Transition: Removing, Resettling, and Renewing Appalachia, a [End Page 802] collection of essays edited by Aaron D. Purcell, offers a cohesive and welcome antidote to the relative paucity of historical studies on loss and displacement in the modern South. Of course, prominent works by economic and environmental historians do show well how dams and national parks reshaped the modern South. But few of these histories have centered the local experiences and memories of displacement fundamental to the region's twentieth-century history as effectively as Lost in Transition. Not simply a critique of the bureaucratic "progress narrative" that was central to public and private land actions, this collection shows the power of local histories to peel back the layers of the physical and imagined landscapes of the South and reveal pasts often hidden in plain sight (p. 216). Using case studies including the atomic weapons labs of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, dams built by Duke Power and TVA, and three different national parks, the authors explore how intertwined discourses of "progress" and "removal"––formerly used to justify the dispossession of Native Americans––were repurposed to justify removals in the twentieth century. To do so, they rely on a wealth of government documents, oral histories, and local newspapers. This archive of Appalachian dispossession is one of the volume's most important contributions. As Purcell and others show, opening documents hidden behind sanitized, euphemistic labels like TVA's "population readjustment case files" helps expose the emotional and contested process of creating parks, lakes, and dams (p. 41). These archives also reinforce the diversity of Appalachia. As Alyssa D. Warrick and Russell Olwell point out in their respective essays on Mammoth Cave and Oak Ridge, federal documents provide in-depth profiles of Black communities that struggled to remain amid eminent domain and white repression. These essays work well with pieces by Margaret Lynn Brown on the Great Smoky Mountains and by Katrina M. Powell and Savannah Paige Murray on Shenandoah National Park and the New River Valley, which examine how ideas about race, class, and nostalgia influenced later efforts to remember, lament, and protest communal dispossession. In each chapter, oral testimonies––collected both at the time of removal and in more contemporary interviews––offer powerful correctives to the progress narratives that sought to erase these communities. Two of the later essays, Matthew Chisholm's study of Bryson City, North Carolina's "Road to Nowhere" and Stephen Wallace Taylor's conclusion, analyze the fluidity of local memory through the changing politics of Appalachia. Here, the growing resentment toward public land actions owes as much to the New Right and its challenge to the New Deal as it does to local grievances. Historians of the region's environment, politics, and memory should learn from and engage with the valuable insights provided by such in-depth local studies. To the authors' collective credit, the juxtaposition of the rural, small Appalachian communities against the "nearly unstoppable" forces of public and private actors only occasionally strays toward what Taylor calls a "hero narrative" (pp. 186, 216). It is easy to portray displaced communities as tragic figures, often defiant but usually doomed. But at their best, these essays avoid [End Page 803] that temptation by showing how communal memories are constructed and contested. Such stories offer a more fitting elegy for Appalachia, where nostalgic lamentations are both recognized and examined. Madison Cates Coastal Carolina University Copyright © 2022 The Southern Historical Association