Related Processes Research Articles

The oral-brain axis: can periodontal pathogens trigger the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia, characterized by a progressive cognitive decline. Sporadic AD, accounting for more than 95% of cases, may arise due to the influence of environmental factors. It was reported that periodontitis, a common oral ailment, shares several risk factors with AD, including advanced age, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension, among others. Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease triggered by dysbiosis of oral microorganisms, whereas Alzheimer's disease is characterized by neuroinflammation. Many studies have indicated that chronic inflammation can instigate brain AD-related pathologies, including amyloid-β plaques, Tau protein hyperphosphorylation, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration. The potential involvement of periodontal pathogens and/or their virulence factors in the onset and progression of AD by the oral-brain axis has garnered significant attention among researchers with ongoing investigations. This review has updated the periodontal pathogens potentially associated with AD, elucidating their impact on the central nervous system, immune response, and related pathological processes in the brain to provide valuable insights for future research on the oral-brain axis.

The Evaluation of Payment for Obstetric and Gynecology Services: From ACOG.

To perform an environmental scan of the current status of reimbursement for obstetric and gynecology services and identify problematic issues and opportunities for change. The areas that were evaluated include the American Medical Association (AMA) relative value unit assignment process, payer rates (where available), and trends in employment and salary determination for obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns). This report was developed by members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) Committee on Health Economics and Coding using public-facing payment data from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and state Medicaid programs, as well as published research and commentary on payment for physicians, maternal health, and gynecologic surgery. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used to describe typical patient characteristics, and practice survey reports from the AMA were analyzed. Finally, an anonymous online survey was distributed to 27,854 members of ACOG in March 2022, with a response rate of 10.8% (3,018 members) and a CI of ±1.7%. The evaluation found that payment for ob-gyns is heavily influenced by the values and rates set by third-party payers, a patient case-mix that includes a higher-than-average number of patients with Medicaid insurance, and the increase of employed physicians reliant on salary contracts that include productivity requirements and bonuses. The Committee identified action items, including payment reform for obstetric services; advocating for gynecologic surgery time as a priority for hospital administration; developing resources to assist employed physicians with payment, practice, and business management; developing a business and coding curriculum for students and early-career physicians; and continued advocacy with private and public policymakers who influence physician payment.

Pre-pregnancy BMI Association with Maternal Phenotype and Offspring Neurobehavioral Outcomes

BackgroundAllostatic load due to chronic exposure to physiological or psychological stressors lead to compromised capacity of the body to maintain homeostasis. Obesity as a metabolic stressor is associated with a suboptimal physiological milieu including an inflammatory state and a dysregulated stress axis. Perinatal maternal body mass index (BMI) impacts pregnancy, birth outcomes, and child metabolic and neurodevelopmental health. We examine the impacts of pre-pregnancy BMI on maternal phenotype characteristics throughout pregnancy and fetal heart rate measurements as an early marker of programming effects of altered autonomic nervous system and infant neurobehavioral outcomes with a focus on sex-dimorphic effects. MethodsPregnant women (n=176) attended sessions at gestation weeks 12-22, 23-28, and 34-36, where blood was collected for cytokine analysis and DNA methylation, and Edinburgh post-partum depression scale was administered. On the latter two visits, heart rate assessment was carried out for mothers and fetuses. ResultsMaternal high BMI was associated with higher perinatal depression, increased inflammation, and reduced heart rate variability. DNA methylation of maternal blood indicated enrichment in immune related biological processes. Moreover, we observed a decrease in fetal heart rate variability in female fetuses of women of high BMI, indicating alteration in the neurobehavioral development of the fetus. In infancy, female infants of high BMI mothers had reduced behavioral regulation and orientation to stimulus. ConclusionThis work highlights that the metabolic stress associated with BMI could leave a molecular fingerprint that could explain other maternal physiological and psychological outcomes, which in turn program the fetal neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Comprehensive molecular analyses of a 7-m6A-related lncRNAs signature for prognosis, tumor immunity and therapeutic effect in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver tumor. m6A modification and noncoding RNA show indispensable roles in HCC. We sought to establish and verify an appropriate m6A-related long noncoding RNA prognostic tool for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma progression. We extracted the RNA expression levels and the clinicopathologic data from GTEx and TCGA databases. Multivariate Cox regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves were performed to test the model's predictive ability. We further built a nomogram for overall survival according to the risk score and clinical features. A competing endogenous RNA network and Gene Ontology assessment were implemented to identify related biological mechanisms and processes. By bioinformatics analysis, a risk model comprising GABPB1-AS1, AC025580.1, LINC01358, AC026356.1, AC009005.1, HCG15, and AC026368.1 was built to offer a prognostic prediction for hepatocellular carcinoma independently. The prognostic tool could better prognosticate hepatocellular carcinoma patients' survival than other clinical characteristics. Then, a nomogram with risk score and clinical characteristics was created, which had strong power to calculate the survival probability in hepatocellular carcinoma. The immune-associated processes involving the differentially expressed genes between the two subgroups were displayed. Analyses of prognosis, clinicopathological characteristics, tumor mutation burden, immune checkpoint molecules, and drug response showed significant differences among the two risk subtypes, hinting that the model could appraise the efficacy of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. The tool can independently predict the prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, which benefits drug selection in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

The influence of innovative business solutions on the formation of the strategic potential of food industry enterprises

The study aims to analyze modern trends and determine the impact of innovative business solutions on the formation of the strategic potential of food industry enterprises. It is noted that the Ukrainian economy does not have a high potential for development due to the low innovative activity of enterprises, as evidenced by the results of the Global Innovation Index, where in 2018-2020, Ukraine worsened its position by several positions in the overall innovation rating, taking 45th place. It is proved that the development of innovative activity in this direction relates to the political and economic situation in the country. Due to the introduction of re-strictions related to Covid-19, the innovative activity of food industry enterprises decreased by 3.5 times during 2016-2020. Despite this, the total volume of sales of innovative products showed a growth of 6.5%, reaching 7071.9 million hryvnias for 2020. However, the share of such products in the total volume sold was only 2.7%. Of the total volume of innovative products sold, the share of new products for the market was only 13.7%; the other share was for new products only for the enterprise. Research has shown that spending on innovation for 2018-2020 has increased by 2.4 times, but most of it falls on franchising and licenses rather than on R&D per-formed in-house. As shown in the study, food industry enterprises try to use various financial tools, including debt, for innovative activities while giving preference to own funds. Since the level of strategic development of innovative activity is approved by the Verkhovna Rada for up to 10 years, enterprises also use a similar planning horizon. The policy of the Ukrainian government could be faster and more effective since the level of innovation support at enterprises is only 3-4% of local and state budget funds. Strategic priorities for the development of innovativeness of business solutions of food industry enterprises should be: energy-saving, energy-efficient, and renewable energy sources; the latest production technologies, use of materials, and updating of the product range; renewal and modernization of the existing production and technical base of enterprises; implementation of environmentally friendly technologies and positive impact on the surrounding natural environment; application of information and communication technologies and related processes of automation and robotization. Keywords: innovation, competitiveness, business solutions, strategic development, food industry enterprises.

Licorice flavonoid ameliorates ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats by suppressing apoptosis via PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Ethnopharmacological relevanceLicorice is the dry roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and Glycyrrhiza inflata Bat., which was first recorded in Shengnong's herbal classic. Licorice flavonoid (LF) is the main compound isolated from licorice with an indispensable action in treating gastric ulcer (GU). However, the underlying mechanisms need to be further explored. Aim of the studyThis study aimed to investigate and further elucidate the mechanisms of LF against ethanol-induced GU using an integrated approach. Materials and methodsThe anti-GU effects of LF were evaluated in an ethanol-induced gastric injury rat model. Then, the metabolomics approach was applied to explore the specific metabolites and metabolic pathways. Next, the network pharmacology combined with metabolomics strategy was employed to predict the targets and pathways of LF for GU. Finally, these predictions were validated by molecular docking, RT-qPCR, and western blotting. ResultsLF had a positive impact on gastric injury and regulated the expression of GU-related factors. Upon serum metabolomics analysis, 25 metabolic biomarkers of LF in GU treatment were identified, which were primarily involved in amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and other related processes. Subsequently, a “components-targets-metabolites” network was constructed, revealing six key targets (HSP90AA1, AKT1, MAPK1, EGFR, ESR1, PIK3CA) that may be associated with GU treatment. More importantly, KEGG analysis highlighted the importance of the PI3K/AKT pathway including key targets, as a critical route through which LF exerted its anti-GU effects. Molecular docking analyses confirmed that the core components of LF exhibited a strong affinity for key targets. Furthermore, RT-qPCR and western blotting results indicated that LF could reverse the expression of these targets, activate the PI3K/AKT pathway, and ultimately reduce apoptosis. ConclusionLF exerted a gastroprotective effect against gastric ulcer induced by ethanol, and the therapeutic mechanism may involve improving metabolism and suppressing apoptosis through the PI3K-AKT pathway.

Combined analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics provide insights into the antibacterial mechanism of bacteriocin XJS01 against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are widespread in the environment and pose a serious threat to public health. It has been shown that bacteriocins have a great potential in controlling MDR pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus. A previously reported Lactobacillus salivarius bacteriocin XJS01 exhibited good antibacterial activity against MDR S. aureus 2612:1606BL1486 (henceforth referred to as S. aureus_26), but its molecular mechanism remains unknown. Herein, we investigated the antibacterial mechanism of XJS01 on S. aureus_26 using an approach combining transcriptomics and metabolomics. The results showed that XJS01 induced significant changes at both transcriptional and metabolic levels in S. aureus_26. In total, 231 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 206 differentially abundance metabolites (DAMs) were identified in S. aureus_26 treated with 1 × MIC (minimum inhibition concentration) XJS01 compared with untreated (XJS01-free) cells (control). Functional analysis revealed that these DEGs and DAMs, alone with the related pathways and biological processes, were typically involved in stress response, being primarily related to metal uptake, cell virulence, self-help mechanism, amino acid and energy metabolism, bacterial stress response (e.g., two-component system), and membrane transport (e.g., phosphotransferase system). Overall, this study uncovered the multi-target effects of bacteriocins against MDR S. aureus at the genome-wide transcriptional and metabolic levels. These findings might be useful in the development of bacteriocins for the control of MDR S. aureus and other drug-resistant bacteria.

A Fucose-Containing Sulfated Polysaccharide from Spatoglossum schröederi Potentially Targets Tumor Growth Rather Than Cytotoxicity: Distinguishing Action on Human Melanoma Cell Lines.

Natural substances are strategic candidates for drug development in cancer research. Marine-derived molecules are of special interest due to their wide range of biological activities and sustainable large-scale production. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that originates from genetic mutations in melanocytes. BRAF, RAS, and NF1 mutations are described as the major melanoma drivers, but approximately 20% of patients lack these mutations and are included in the triple wild-type (tripleWT) classification. Recent advances in targeted therapy directed at driver mutations along with immunotherapy have only partially improved patients' overall survival, and consequently, melanoma remains deadly when in advanced stages. Fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides (FCSP) are potential candidates to treat melanoma; therefore, we investigated Fucan A, a FCSP from Spatoglossum schröederi brown seaweed, in vitro in human melanoma cell lines presenting different mutations. Up to 72h Fucan A treatment was not cytotoxic either to normal melanocytes or melanoma cell lines. Interestingly, it was able to impair the tripleWT CHL-1 cell proliferation (57%), comparable to the chemotherapeutic cytotoxic drug cisplatin results, with the advantage of not causing cytotoxicity. Fucan A increased CHL-1 doubling time, an effect attributed to cell cycle arrest. Vascular mimicry, a close related angiogenesis process, was also impaired (73%). Fucan A mode of action could be related to gene expression modulation, in special β-catenin downregulation, a molecule with protagonist roles in important signaling pathways. Taken together, results indicate that Fucan A is a potential anticancer molecule and, therefore, deserves further investigation.

Dynamics of N6-methyladenosine modification during aging and their potential roles in the degeneration of intervertebral disc.

The N6-methyladenosine (m6A) dynamics in the progression of intervertebral disc (IVD) aging remain largely unknown. This study aimed to explore the distribution and pattern of m6A modification in nucleus pulpous (NP) tissues of rats at different ages. Histological staining and MRI were performed to evaluate the degeneration of IVD. The expression of m6A modifiers was analyzed using qRT-PCR and western blot. Subsequently, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation next generation sequencing and RNA-seq were conducted to identify differences in m6A methylome and transcriptome of NP tissues. Compared to 2-month-old rats, we found significant changes in the global m6A level and the expression of Mettl3 and FTO in NP tissues from 20-month-old rats. During the progression of NP aging, there were 1126 persistently differentially m6A peaks within 931 genes, and 51 persistently differentially expressed genes. GO and KEGG analyses showed that these m6A peaks and m6A modified genes were mainly engaged in the biological processes and pathways of intervertebral disc degermation (IDD), such as extracellular matrix metabolism, angiogenesis, inflammatory response, mTOR and AMPK signaling pathways. Meanwhile, conjoint analyses and Venn diagram revealed a total of 405 aging related genes contained significant methylation and expression levels in 20-month-old rats in contrast to 2-month-old and 10-month-old rats. Moreover, it was found that four aging related genes with hypermethylated modification including BUB1, CA12, Adamts1, and Adamts4 depicted differentially expressed at protein level, of which BUB1 and CA12 were decreased, while Adamts1 and Adamts4 were increased during the progression of NP aging. Collectively, this study elucidated the distribution and pattern of m6A modification during the aging of IVD. Furthermore, the m6A modified genes were involved in the IDD related biological processes and pathways. These findings may provide novel insights into the mechanisms and therapies of IDD from the perspective of aging.

Minería, dinamismo y despojo

El acelerado crecimiento del sector minero en Argentina en los últimos 15 años, así como en otros países de la región, estuvo acompañado por una intensa oleada de conflictos sociales. A partir de este contexto nos preguntamos por qué este crecimiento de la minería es particularmente conflictivo. La idea principal que desarrollaremos en este artículo es que, debido a las características específicas que reviste este crecimiento de la actividad, se producen dos procesos íntimamente relacionados: la transformación de la minería en una de las actividades más dinámicas de la economía argentina y un reforzamiento de la violencia de los mecanismos de despojo capitalista sobre las poblaciones de los territorios donde se instalan los proyectos mineros.

Membranes and membrane processes for CO2 separation: MEMFO's long-term effort in reducing carbon emissions

Urgent actions are needed to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. Since the 1990s, the membrane research group (MEMFO) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has been committed to developing effective membranes and membrane processes for CO2 separation. MEMFO's research can be categorized into five main themes: facilitated transport membranes, hybrid membranes, carbon membranes, membrane contactors, and related modeling and process simulation. These themes are tied to industrial applications in CO2 capture from flue gas, biogas upgrading, natural gas sweetening, and hydrogen purification. Promising membranes, identified based on their laboratory-scale performances, have been selected for onsite testing in industrial processes to validate their performances as well as stability and durability. Verified membranes are upscaled for pilot tests. This account paper summarizes MEMFO's research and development outcomes over the past decade and discusses our research strategies and perspectives for future work.

State-of-the-art multimodal scanning hard X-ray imaging and tomography sheds light at multiple length-scales on biomineralization related processes

Biomineralization is a widespread process among living organisms, playing a significant role in the formation and preservation of geological structures, biogeochemical cycles, regulation of ocean chemistry, and carbon sequestration. Moreover pathological biomineralization has a huge impact on human health. The growth of biominerals provides a rich area for research at multiple length-scales since they have controlled hierarchical structures from nano-to macroscopic scales. Here, we provide an overview on the potentials of the state-of-the-art scanning hard X-ray imaging and tomography methods developed at the NANOSCOPIUM beamline at Synchrotron Soleil in such studies. Multimodal scanning imaging provides simultaneous information on the elemental composition by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, on the sample morphology by absorption contrast imaging, on the crystalline structure by X-ray diffraction, and on the luminescence characteristics by X-ray Excited Optical Luminescence. As illustrated through diverse research cases about biomineralization in stromatolites and pathological calcification, such a versatile portfolio of X-ray imaging techniques provides unique complementary information to conventional laboratory techniques on biominerals and the underlying mineral precipitation processes.

Wet scavenging of multi-mode 137Cs aerosols following the Fukushima accident: Size-resolved microphysics modeling with observed diameters

Wet scavenging was critical in the atmospheric transport of 137Cs aerosols following the Fukushima accident. The aerosol size diversity and related microphysical processes produce complex behaviors during wet scavenging. Such behaviors are difficult to investigate using traditional simplified size distributions, resulting in inaccurate modeling. This study establishes an improved size-resolved wet scavenging model that considers the activation process. Using this model, five monodisperse simulations with five representative observed diameters with realistic solubility setting are performed to investigate the spatiotemporal wet scavenging behaviors of 137Cs aerosols. One polydisperse simulation with an empirical size distribution is also validated against the observation. The results reveal that 137Cs aerosols with diameters of 0.6 and 2.0 μm are mainly subject to below-cloud scavenging, which makes a significant contribution to low-deposition areas (<300 kBq/m2). For 137Cs aerosols with diameters of 6.4, 15, and 30 μm, in-cloud scavenging dominates, and the resulting depositions make significant contributions in high-deposition areas. The polydisperse results satisfy the criteria for good performance and better agree with the size, and deposition observations than the five monodisperse simulations, whereas for the concentration, the results show a similar RANK2 with the best mono1 and mono2 cases and reach the satisfactory criteria. These findings reveal the complex behavior and wet scavenging process of multi-mode 137Cs aerosols, improving our understanding and modeling.

ULDNA: integrating unsupervised multi-source language models with LSTM-attention network for high-accuracy protein-DNA binding site prediction.

Efficient and accurate recognition of protein-DNA interactions is vital for understanding the molecular mechanisms of related biological processes and further guiding drug discovery. Although the current experimental protocols are the most precise way to determine protein-DNA binding sites, they tend to be labor-intensive and time-consuming. There is an immediate need to design efficient computational approaches for predicting DNA-binding sites. Here, we proposed ULDNA, a new deep-learning model, to deduce DNA-binding sites from protein sequences. This model leverages an LSTM-attention architecture, embedded with three unsupervised language models that are pre-trained on large-scale sequences from multiple database sources. To prove its effectiveness, ULDNA was tested on 229 protein chains with experimental annotation of DNA-binding sites. Results from computational experiments revealed that ULDNA significantly improves the accuracy of DNA-binding site prediction in comparison with 17 state-of-the-art methods. In-depth data analyses showed that the major strength of ULDNA stems from employing three transformer language models. Specifically, these language models capture complementary feature embeddings with evolution diversity, in which the complex DNA-binding patterns are buried. Meanwhile, the specially crafted LSTM-attention network effectively decodes evolution diversity-based embeddings as DNA-binding results at the residue level. Our findings demonstrated a new pipeline for predicting DNA-binding sites on a large scale with high accuracy from protein sequence alone.

The Effect of Positive Psychotherapy-Based Resilience Program on Resilience in Nurses: A Study Protocol

Resilience has been recognized as an important concept, especially for nurses who face many risk factors in their professional lives, provide professional care to patients with difficulties and needs in all circumstances, and have to comfort the patients. Prevention efforts and support and skill development interventions to improve the well-being and coping skills of nurses lead to sustainable changes for nurses. For this reason, this study aims to develop a resilience program for nurses, examine the effect of the program on nurses’ resilience, and report the related process. In the study, a randomized controlled experimental design was created to determine the resilience levels of nurses. The study sample consisted of nurses who met the inclusion criteria of the study. The G*power 3.1 program was used to determine the number of nurses in the experimental and control groups and the minimum sample size was calculated as 58. However, the sample size was defined as 72 (36 in the experimental, 36 in the control group) considering the possibility of dropouts (the number of those who did not continue the study) during the research period. In the study, measurements were made three times (pre-test, repeated post-test, and 3rd-month follow-up test). Within the scope of the study, a “Personal Information Form” and the “Resilience Scale for Adults” was applied to the nurses. After data collection and analysis, the findings were explained. The effectiveness of the positive psychotherapy-based resilience program on the resilience of nurses was evaluated.

A Review on Psoriasis Pathophysiology, Clinical Appearance, and Pharmacotherapeutic Interventions

Abstract: A chronic skin condition called psoriasis can manifest as plaque, flexural, guttate, pustular, and erythrodermic lesions, among other clinical symptoms. Sixty million people are believed to be affected by psoriasis worldwide. In India, the frequency ranges from 0.44 to 2.8%, with males affected two times more frequently than females in their third or fourth decade of life. An immune-mediated inflammation condition with a sizable genetic component is psoriasis. Due to its connection to psoriatic arthritis and the increased prevalence of cardiometabolic, hepatic, and psychiatric problems, a thorough and interdisciplinary strategy for treatment is required. Corticosteroids and analogs of vitamin D are examples of topical treatments for psoriasis. Phototherapy includes NB-UVB, psoralen, and ultraviolet radiation (PUVA). Standard systemic treatments include methotrexate, acitretin, and ciclosporin. This disease is useful for physicians and scientists since it might be used as a model for research into the underlying causes of chronic inflammation. It is also crucial for clinical trial scientists as a first-choice disease indication for preliminary research of new pathogenesis-based treatment approaches. This review covers both the therapeutic choices that have resulted from the analysis of the aggressive psoriatic pathways and the processes involved in the onset and progression of the disease. We start by writing regarding the important cell kinds and inflammatory mechanisms that initiate and maintain psoriatic inflammation. Next, we discuss how skin flora interacts with heredity, related epigenetic processes, and the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Finally, we provide a thorough analysis of recently targeted medications as well as well-known, extensively used treatments.

What is moving where? Infants' visual attention to dynamic objects may assist with processing of spatial relations.

A central question in infant spatial cognition concerns how infants form abstract categories of spatial relations such as support (on) and containment (in). Prior work suggests two different possibilities regarding the role of attention to objects in infants' formation of abstract categories of spatial relations: Attention to objects may compete with (and thus hamper) attention to the spatial relations between them, or assist with encoding of the spatial relation information. Using eye-tracking, we examined how infants' visual attention to objects related to their successful formation of an abstract category of support relations (i.e., an object on another). Thirty-eight 8-month-old infants' eye movements were recorded during a support categorization task, where infants were habituated to four dynamic events depicting support relations (e.g., resting a block on a box) and then presented with test events that depicted either a support or containment relation with objects that they had seen or not seen in the habituation phase. Based on their looking time to the familiar versus novel spatial relation in the test, infants were classified into two groups: categorizers, who formed an abstract category of a support relation, and non-categorizers, who did not do so. During their initial phase of learning (i.e., the first habituation trial), categorizers paid greater attention to the object moved by a hand (i.e., the dynamic object) in comparison to non-categorizers, whereas their attention to the static object or their gaze shifts between the two objects did not differ. In addition, when presented with novel objects in a novel spatial relation after habituation, only categorizers displayed asymmetric attention between the objects, attending to the dynamic object more than the static object. Gaze shifts and attention to the concave area (i.e., hole) of the container did not differ between categorizers and non-categorizers. These findings suggest that infants' focused attention to an object in motion may play a key role in young infants' spatial category learning, and support the idea that attention to objects can assist with encoding of the spatial relational information.

“With great power comes great responsibility”: Exploring the role of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) for Artificial Intelligence Responsibility in Retail Service Automation (AIRRSA)

Scholars conceptualized the role of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) to emphasize the ethical issues unique to the digital context by pushing all the actors involved in developing and integrating digital technologies and related data processing to act ethically and responsibly. However, how to apply AI services more ethically and develop AI equipped with moral/ethical intelligence are still open questions.Accordingly, this paper aims to understand the managerial applications and tools of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) in AI retail service automation to identify the CDR value for consumers and retail managers. We link the five AI intelligence types (verbal-linguistic, logic-mathematical, visual-spatial, social, and speed-processing) to CDR strategies to produce value for retailers and consumers. Specifically, we define intelligent retail service automation, emphasizing actions, tools, and (privacy) concerns, and discuss the role of CDR in AI for intelligent retail service by developing the new concept of Artificial Intelligence Responsibility in Retail Service Automation (AIRRSA). Finally, we provide implications for scholars, managers, and policy-makers while proposing future challenges.

Differential methylation of linoleic acid pathway genes is associated with PTSD symptoms – a longitudinal study with Burundian soldiers returning from a war zone

Soldiers may be exposed to traumatic stress during combat deployment and thus are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Genetic and epigenetic evidence suggests that PTSD is linked to forming stress-related memories. In the current study, we investigated post-deployment associations of PTSD symptoms with differential DNA methylation in a sample of Burundian soldiers returning from the African Union Mission in Somalia’s war zone. We used a matched longitudinal study design to explore epigenetic changes associated with PTSD symptoms in N = 191 participants. PTSD symptoms and saliva samples were collected at 1–3 (t1) and 9–14 months (t2) after the return of the soldiers to their home base. Individuals with either worsening or improving PTSD symptoms were matched for age, stressful, traumatic and self-perpetrated events prior to the post-assessment, traumatic and violent experiences between the post- and the follow-up assessment, and violence experienced during childhood. A mixed model analysis was conducted to identify top nominally significantly differentially methylated genes, which were then used to perform a gene enrichment analysis. The linoleic acid metabolism pathway was significantly associated with post-deployment PTSD symptoms, after accounting for multiple comparisons. Linoleic acid has been linked to memory and immune related processes in previous research. Our findings suggest that differential methylation of linoleic acid pathway genes is associated with PTSD and thus may merit closer inspection as a possible mediator of resilience.

Iron isotope systematics of the Jiajika granite-pegmatite lithium deposit, Sichuan, China

The Jiajika deposit in western Sichuan is the largest pegmatite-type lithium deposit in China, but the mechanism of rare metal element enrichment in this giant deposit remains a topic of debate. This study presents a comprehensive Fe isotope study of granites, aplites, pegmatites, metamorphic rocks, and associated mineral separates from the 3211 m long deep Jiajika scientific drilling core (JSD-1) to constrain the magmatic-hydrothermal processes in the Jiajika deposit. Aplites and pegmatites have variable δ56Fe values that range from –0.12 ± 0.02 ‰ to 0.38 ± 0.02 ‰, by contrast, two-mica granite samples show limited variation in δ56Fe compositions (0.11 ± 0.04 ‰ to 0.21 ± 0.04 ‰). The Fe isotope data of the coexisting Fe-bearing minerals can impose critical constraints on crystal fractionation. Garnet shows the lightest δ56Fe compositions (–0.19 ± 0.06 ‰ to –0.06 ± 0.02 ‰) and tourmaline has the highest δ56Fe values (0.15 ± 0.01 ‰ to 0.22 ± 0.02 ‰) among all the investigated minerals, whereas the δ56Fe values of biotite range from 0.06 ± 0.02 ‰ to 0.18 ± 0.02 ‰. According to the compositional homogeneity of minerals and the relatively consistent offsets in δ56Fe between the three Fe-bearing mineral pairs, the co-existing Fe-bearing minerals in the Jiajika granitic pegmatites are interpreted to be in Fe isotope equilibrium. Additionally, based on the differences in mineral composition and geochemistry of bulk-rock samples at different observation depths, as well as the modeling results, the significant Fe isotope variation in Jiajika deposit reflect the combined results of biotite fractionation, hydrothermal alteration (tourmalinization), and garnet accumulation during multistage magmatic-hydrothermal processes. Spodumene-bearing pegmatites located in the upper portion of the drill core exhibit enrichment in heavy Fe isotopes (0.18 ± 0.04 ‰ and 0.30 ± 0.03 ‰) which can be attributed to their higher degree of magma evolution and the most abundant magmatic fluids related to enrichment and migration of rare metals. Furthermore, we conducted a comprehensive statistical analysis on the available Fe isotope data of granitic pegmatites, providing new insights into granite-pegmatite systems and related rare-metal mineralization processes from a Fe isotope perspective.