bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cardiac-targeted delivery of nuclear receptor RORα via ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction optimizes the benefits of regular dose of melatonin on sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy
Authors: Wang Shanjie , Chen Kegong , Wang Ye , Wang Zeng , Li Zhaoying , Guo JunChen , Chen Jianfeng , Liu Wenhua , Guo Xiaohui , Yan Guangcan , Liang Chenchen , Yu Huai , Fang Shaohong , Yu Bo
Published: May 2023

Background

Large-dose melatonin treatment in animal experiments was hardly translated into humans, which may explain the dilemma that the protective effects against myocardial injury in animal have been challenged by clinical trials. Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) has been considered a promising drug and gene delivery system to the target tissue. We aim to investigate whether cardiac gene delivery of melatonin receptor mediated by UTMD technology optimizes the efficacy of clinically equivalent dose of melatonin in sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy.

Methods

Melatonin and cardiac melatonin receptors in patients and rat models with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis were assessed. Rats received UTMD-mediated cardiac delivery of RORα/cationic microbubbles (CMBs) at 1, 3 and 5 days before CLP surgery. Echocardiography, histopathology and oxylipin metabolomics were assessed at 16–20 h after inducing fatal sepsis.

Results

We observed that patients with sepsis have lower serum melatonin than healthy controls, which was observed in the blood and hearts of Sprague–Dawley rat models with LPS- or CLP-induced sepsis. Notably, a mild dose (2.5 mg/kg) of intravenous melatonin did not substantially improve septic cardiomyopathy. We found decreased nuclear receptors RORα, not melatonin receptors MT1/2, under lethal sepsis that may weaken the potential benefits of a mild dose of melatonin treatment. In vivo, repeated UTMD-mediated cardiac delivery of RORα/CMBs exhibited favorable biosafety, efficiency and specificity, significantly strengthening the effects of a safe dose of melatonin on heart dysfunction and myocardial injury in septic rats. The cardiac delivery of RORα by UTMD technology and melatonin treatment improved mitochondrial dysfunction and oxylipin profiles, although there was no significant influence on systemic inflammation.

Conclusions

These findings provide new insights to explain the suboptimal effect of melatonin use in clinic and potential solutions to overcome the challenges. UTMD technology may be a promisingly interdisciplinary pattern against sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy.
Stable populations and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
Authors: Stark Alan E.
Published: May 2023

The conditions on the mating matrix associated with a stable equilibrium are specified for an autosomal locus with five alleles. This points the way to the maintenance of Hardy-Weinberg proportions with non-random mating. The myth of random mating is exposed.
Perspectives on medical 3D printing at the point-of-care from the new European 3D Printing Special Interest Group
Authors: Biglino Giovanni , Hopfner Carina , Lindhardt Joakim , Moscato Francesco , Munuera Josep , Oberoi Gunpreet , Tel Alessandro , Esteve Arnau Valls
Published: May 2023

This editorial presents the vision for the newly formed (2022) European 3D Special Interest Group (EU3DSIG) in the landscape of medical 3D printing. There are four areas of work identified by the EU3DSIG in the current landscape, namely: 1) creating and fostering communication channels among researches, clinicians and industry, 2) generating awareness of hospitals point-of-care 3D technologies; 3) knowledge sharing and education; 4) regulation, registry and reimbursement models.
How essentialist reasoning about language acquisition relates to educational myths and policy endorsements
Authors: Sun Xin , Nancekivell Shaylene E. , Shah Priti , Gelman Susan A.
Published: May 2023

How people conceptualize learning is related to real-world educational consequences across many domains of education. Despite its centrality to the educational system, we know little about how the public reasons about language acquisition, and the potential consequences for their thinking about real-world issues (e.g., policy endorsements). The current studies examined people’s essentialist beliefs about language acquisition (e.g., that language is innate and biologically based), then investigated how individual differences in these beliefs related to the endorsement of educational myths and policies. We probed several dimensions of essentialist beliefs, including that language acquisition is innate, genetically based, and wired in the brain. In two studies, we tested specific hypotheses regarding the extent to which people use essentialist thinking when reasoning about: learning a specific language (e.g., Korean), learning a first language more generally, and learning two or more languages. Across studies, participants were more likely to essentialize the ability to learn multiple languages than one’s first language, and more likely to essentialize the learning of multiple languages and one’s first language than the learning of a particular language. We also found substantial individual differences in the degree to which participants essentialized language acquisition. In both studies, these individual differences correlated with an endorsement of language-related educational neuromyths (Study 1 and pre-registered Study 2), and rejection of educational policies that promote multilingual education (Study 2). Together, these studies reveal the complexity of how people reason about language acquisition and its corresponding educational consequences.
Integrative Imaging Informatics for Cancer Research: Workflow Automation for Neuro-Oncology (I3CR-WANO)
Authors: Chakrabarty Satrajit , Abidi Syed Amaan , Mousa Mina , Mokkarala Mahati , Hren Isabelle , Yadav Divya , Kelsey Matthew , LaMontagne Pamela , Wood John , Adams Michael , Su Yuzhuo , Thorpe Sherry , Chung Caroline , Sotiras Aristeidis , Marcus Daniel S.
Published: May 2023

PURPOSE

Efforts to use growing volumes of clinical imaging data to generate tumor evaluations continue to require significant manual data wrangling, owing to data heterogeneity. Here, we propose an artificial intelligence–based solution for the aggregation and processing of multisequence neuro-oncology MRI data to extract quantitative tumor measurements.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Our end-to-end framework (1) classifies MRI sequences using an ensemble classifier, (2) preprocesses the data in a reproducible manner, (3) delineates tumor tissue subtypes using convolutional neural networks, and (4) extracts diverse radiomic features. Moreover, it is robust to missing sequences and adopts an expert-in-the-loop approach in which the segmentation results may be manually refined by radiologists. After the implementation of the framework in Docker containers, it was applied to two retrospective glioma data sets collected from the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM; n = 384) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDA; n = 30), comprising preoperative MRI scans from patients with pathologically confirmed gliomas.

RESULTS

The scan-type classifier yielded an accuracy of >99%, correctly identifying sequences from 380 of 384 and 30 of 30 sessions from the WUSM and MDA data sets, respectively. Segmentation performance was quantified using the Dice Similarity Coefficient between the predicted and expert-refined tumor masks. The mean Dice scores were 0.882 (±0.244) and 0.977 (±0.04) for whole-tumor segmentation for WUSM and MDA, respectively.

CONCLUSION

This streamlined framework automatically curated, processed, and segmented raw MRI data of patients with varying grades of gliomas, enabling the curation of large-scale neuro-oncology data sets and demonstrating high potential for integration as an assistive tool in clinical practice.
Phase III Study Comparing Cisplatin Plus Gemcitabine With Cisplatin Plus Pemetrexed in Chemotherapy-Naive Patients With Advanced-Stage Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Scagliotti Giorgio Vittorio , Parikh Purvish , von Pawel Joachim , Biesma Bonne , Vansteenkiste Johan , Manegold Christian , Serwatowski Piotr , Gatzemeier Ulrich , Digumarti Raghunadharao , Zukin Mauro , Lee Jin S. , Mellemgaard Anders , Park Keunchil , Patil Shehkar , Rolski Janusz , Goksel Tuncay , de Marinis Filippo , Simms Lorinda , Sugarman Katherine P. , Gandara David
Published: May 2023

PURPOSE

Cisplatin plus gemcitabine is a standard regimen for first-line treatment of advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Phase II studies of pemetrexed plus platinum compounds have also shown activity in this setting.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This noninferiority, phase III, randomized study compared the overall survival between treatment arms using a fixed margin method (hazard ratio [HR] < 1.176) in 1,725 chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 to 1. Patients received cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 and gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 (n = 863) or cisplatin 75 mg/m2 and pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 on day 1 (n = 862) every 3 weeks for up to six cycles.

RESULTS

Overall survival for cisplatin/pemetrexed was noninferior to cisplatin/gemcitabine (median survival, 10.3 v 10.3 months, respectively; HR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.05). Overall survival was statistically superior for cisplatin/pemetrexed versus cisplatin/gemcitabine in patients with adenocarcinoma (n = 847; 12.6 v 10.9 months, respectively) and large-cell carcinoma histology (n = 153; 10.4 v 6.7 months, respectively). In contrast, in patients with squamous cell histology, there was a significant improvement in survival with cisplatin/gemcitabine versus cisplatin/pemetrexed (n = 473; 10.8 v 9.4 months, respectively). For cisplatin/pemetrexed, rates of grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia ( P ≤ .001); febrile neutropenia ( P = .002); and alopecia ( P < .001) were significantly lower, whereas grade 3 or 4 nausea ( P = .004) was more common.

CONCLUSION

In advanced NSCLC, cisplatin/pemetrexed provides similar efficacy with better tolerability and more convenient administration than cisplatin/gemcitabine. This is the first prospective phase III study in NSCLC to show survival differences based on histologic type.
Iodine-Induced Hyperthyroidism and Long-term Risks of Incident Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter
Authors: Inoue Kosuke , Guo Rong , Lee Martin L , Ebrahimi Ramin , Neverova Natalia V , Currier Jesse W , Bashir Muhammad T , Leung Angela M
Published: May 2023

Context

Although iodine-induced hyperthyroidism is a potential consequence of iodinated radiologic contrast administration, its association with long-term cardiovascular outcomes has not been previously studied.

Objective

To investigate the relationships between hyperthyroidism observed after iodine contrast administration and incident atrial fibrillation/flutter.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study of the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (1998-2021) of patients age ≥18 years with a normal baseline serum thyrotropin (TSH) concentration, subsequent TSH <1 year, and receipt of iodine contrast <60 days before the subsequent TSH. Cox proportional hazards regression was employed to ascertain the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% CI of incident atrial fibrillation/flutter following iodine-induced hyperthyroidism, compared with iodine-induced euthyroidism.

Results

Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism was observed in 2500 (5.6%) of 44 607 Veterans (mean ± SD age, 60.9 ± 14.1 years; 88% men) and atrial fibrillation/flutter in 10.4% over a median follow-up of 3.7 years (interquartile range 1.9-7.4). Adjusted for sociodemographic and cardiovascular risk factors, iodine-induced hyperthyroidism was associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation/flutter compared with those who remained euthyroid after iodine exposure (adjusted HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06-1.33). Females were at greater risk for incident atrial fibrillation/flutter than males (females, HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.12-2.92; males, HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.30; P for interaction = .04).

Conclusion

Hyperthyroidism following a high iodine load was associated with an increased risk of incident atrial fibrillation/flutter, particularly among females. The observed sex-based differences should be confirmed in a more sex-diverse study sample, and the cost–benefit analysis of long-term monitoring for cardiac arrhythmias following iodine-induced hyperthyroidism should be evaluated.
Correlation between salivary immunoglobulin A and interleukin-1beta in smokers with dental caries
Authors: Al-ibraheem Jaber , Zyara Yassir , Al-Quraine Nibrass , Abdulridha Wasna’a M.
Published: May 2023

Introduction. Dental caries is one of the most common infectious diseases of the oral cavity, and is an inflammatory disease caused by several factors. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a major mediator of acute inflammation and essential for the development of specific immune responses. The objective of this study was to assess the levels of secretory IgA (s-IgA) and IL-1β in the saliva of smokers with dental caries, and to discover the correlation between these parameters and dental caries.

Methods. Saliva samples were collected from 30 smokers, age range 21–70 years, with dental caries, in addition to 18 healthy non-smoker volunteers, age range 21–65 years. s-IgA and IL-1β levels in the saliva samples were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results. The mean saliva IgA levels between smokers with dental caries group and healthy subjects were not significantly different (p=0.077), while the saliva levels of IL-1β were higher in the smokers in dental caries group, with a significant difference of p<0.05. No significant associations were found between s-IgA and IL-1β levels, and other parameters such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (p>0.05). There were highly positive associations and significant differences between IL-1β and CRP levels in the two groups under the study (p=0.006).

Conclusions. Our study revealed a significant increase in IL-1β levels in saliva of smokers with dental caries, and a positive association between IL-1β levels and caries disease. There is no significant relationship between elevated IL-1β levels and s-IgA in smokers with dental caries.
Efficacy of Moringa oleifera Lam. extracts and Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic during starter period on growth performance of male broiler chicken
Authors: Karwanti Novita Wanda , Arumdani Dynda Febriana , Yulianto Andreas Berny , Marbun Tabita Dameria , Sherasiya Anjum , Al Arif Mohammad Anam , Lamid Mirni , Lokapirnasari Widya Paramita
Published: May 2023

Background: Probiotics and medicinal plants have been used to support human and livestock health. This research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf extract on the growth of P. pentosaceus, L.acidophilus and L. plantarum  during starter period on nutrient intake, body weight gain, FCR and feed efficiency in broiler chicken.

Methods: This study consisted of three sub studies: (1) Screening test for phytochemical compounds. The flavonoid test was conducted by Bate Smith-Metcalf and Wilstatter method.  The Tannin test with Denis’ reagent.  The saponin test was performed by the Forth method.  Triterpenoid tests were performed by the Liebermann-Bouchard method and the alkaloids test was conducted by the method of Mayer, Bouchardat  and Wagner. (2) evaluation of level M.oleifera extract, where each test tube was added with 1 mL of each isolate and incubated at 37°C. The growth of probiotic bacteria was calculated by using the TPC. (3) evaluation of probiotics and M. oleifera in vivo to prove growth performance. All results were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) then followed by the Duncan test.

Results: (1) The phytochemical screening test M. oleifera extract contained positive of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, triterpenoids and alkaloids; (2) in vitro evaluation of M. oleifera extract could increased the growth of bacteria probiotic (p<0.05); (3) The use of probiotics and M. oleifera extract could improve growth performance. The result of body weight, body weight gain, FCR and feed efficiency signifcantly differed (p <0.05), but there was no significant difference (p >0.05) on nutrient intake. 

Conclusions: The use of M.oleifera extract at doses of 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% increased the growth of P. pentosaceus, L. acidophilus and L. plantarum bacteria in vitro and the use of probiotics, M.oleifera extract and their combination by in vivo improved the growth performance on starter phase of broilers chicken.
Phenotypic and genetic extended spectrum beta lactamase profiles of bacterial isolates from ICU in tertiary level hospital in Kenya
Authors: Mwale Job , Magomere Edwin O. , Maina Brian , Otieno Leon , Onyambu Frank G. , Kassim Ali , Muchiri Lucy
Published: May 2023

Background: Bacterial infections in the ICUs are a threat to the lives of critically ill patients.   Moreover, their vulnerable immunity predisposes them to developing bacteria-associated sepsis, further deteriorating their already fragile health. In the face of increasing drug resistance menace, the problem of bacterial infection in ICU is likely to worsen.

This study sought to assess bacterial infections in ICU setting by identifying prevalent gram-negative bacterial species and characterizing their antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Phenotypic and genetic resistance were determined among gram-negative isolates from ICU patients.

Methods: Cross-sectional samples collected from Kenyatta National Hospital ICU between    January and June 2021 were cultured for subsequent analysis. Phenotypic identification of culture-positive samples was performed using VITEK 2 while Antibiotic susceptibility patterns were determined based on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) results. Cephalosporin-resistant gram-negative bacteria were assessed by PCR to detect the presence of ESBL genes.

Results and discussion: Out of the 168 gram-negative isolates, Acinetobacter baumanii was the most abundant (35%). Other isolates that were present at frequencies more than 15% are Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia. coli. A. baumaniii is known to be a notorious bacterium in ICU due to its multidrug resistance nature. Indeed, A. baumanii isolates from Kenyatta National Hospital showed significantly high level of phenotypic resistance. Concordant with the high level of phenotypic resistance, we found high carriage of the ESBL genes among the isolates analysed in this study.  Moreover, majority of isolates harboured all the four ESBL genes.

Conclusion: A high rate of phenotypic and genetic resistance was detected among the tested isolates. Resistance to cephalosporins was primarily driven by acquisition of the ESBL genes. The high-rate multidrug resistance in ICU bacterial isolates in this study has a crucial implication for ICU patient management and general antibiotics use.
Comparative evaluation of preventive and interceptive orthodontic treatment need in children aged 6, 9 and 12 years in Central India
Authors: Nerurkar Sumukh , Kamble Ranjit
Published: May 2023

Background: Preventive and interceptive orthodontics are most commonly advocated in patients to reduce the prevalence of malocclusion. The objective assessment of malocclusion is crucial to document the prevalence and complexity of cases. To determine this critical aspect of treating malocclusion, numerous indices have been developed over the years that determine the need for orthodontic treatment. The index for preventive and interceptive orthodontic treatment need (IPION) is one such index that calculates the need of a patient to undergo preventive and interceptive procedures. Due to the paucity of studies that compare this important aspect of preventing malocclusion in different age groups, we have conducted this study.

Methods: A total of 384 children aged 6, 9 and 12 years were divided into three groups and evaluated for their need to undergo treatment. The IPION was used to determine this treatment need. The mean IPION score was used to classify the patient into, ‘no need’, ‘moderate need’ and ‘definite need’ of treatment. The children in each group were also divided according to their biological sex. The numbers of children in each group were then compared using Chi-squared test and the mean IPION scores were compared using ANOVA.

Results: In the group of 6-year-old children, 63.28% of them needed some type of treatment, in the group of 9-year-old children, 71.88% of them needed treatment and in the group of 12-year-old children, 59.37% of the children needed treatment.

Conclusions: The results of the study showed a high proportion of children requiring preventive and interceptive treatment. It was also noted that there was no difference in the treatment need in 6- and 9-year-old children, but it decreased in the 12-year-old group. The study also concluded that the mean IPION scores in boys aged 6 years old was significantly greater than girls aged 6 years old.
Systematic Review of Translation and Cultural Adaptations of Autism Spectrum Disorder’s Screening Tool: The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R)
Authors: Han Yung Lin , Wan Sulaiman Wan Sharazad , Ahmad Badayai Abdul Rahman , Abdullah Hilwa
Published: May 2023

In recent years, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R), a screening tool for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has been translated into various languages and made accessible for the assessment of children globally. This study aims to systematically review and identify the available translations of the M-CHAT-R that have been adapted for use in different cultures, to evaluate the translation and cultural adaptation process, to report on the methodologies and psychometric properties of the adaptations of the M-CHAT-R and to critically discuss the implications for clinical practice and future research. An electronic search was performed through four main databases, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, PubMed and Elsevier, to identify eligible articles. The PRISMA guidelines were employed as the primary search strategy and reporting system, while the COSMIN checklist was used to evaluate the selected studies' psychometric properties and cultural validity. Thirteen studies were included in this systematic review. The evaluation of screening accuracy properties for all studies showed that the M-CHAT-R translations achieved reasonable to good screening accuracy and further highlighted that sensitivity and specificity values, which are not dependent on the prevalence rate, are more appropriate measures than other psychometric properties to reflect the validity of the M-CHAT-R. The review of methodologies and results showed that the M-CHAT-R might be equally effective as the original tool in screening children aged up to 48 months, but future research is required to obtain more normative data. The large discrepancies among sample sizes and differences in population settings with ambiguous translations and adaptations highlighted the need for a more in-depth adaptation process for future cross-cultural validation studies.
The genome sequence of the Feathered Gothic, Tholera decimalis (Poda, 1761)
Authors: Boyes Douglas , Holland Peter W.H. ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life programme,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: DNA Pipelines collective,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: May 2023

We present a genome assembly from an individual female Tholera decimalis (the Feathered Gothic; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae). The genome sequence is 1,334.1 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.4 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 12,771 protein coding genes.
Contact dermatitis to acrylates and secondary nail fungal infection in 22 year old female patient – a case report
Authors: Gruszczyńska Michalina , Jarzemski Adam , Kolossa Agnieszka , Porzych Rafał , Marzyńska Dorota , Depczyńska Michalina , Gruszka Beata , Gruszka Alicja
Published: May 2023

Contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease resulting from repeated contact with allergens or irritants. Prevalence of adverse reactions to acrylates monomers is still rising due to their wide use in medical and cosmetics industry. The nail symptoms, including e.g. onycholysis, hyperkeratosis or nail plate discoloration can be indicative of different diagnoses like psoriasis, mycobacterial infections or contact dermatitis. Diagnosis is not always obvious, as exemplified by the patient’s history. The aim of the study was to describe a case of contact dermatitis to acrylates associated with secondary fungal nail infection. Moreover article reviews the pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, diagnosis and treatment methods of contact dermatitis induced by acrylates.
Practice Summary: Cainiao Optimizes the Fulfillment Routes of Parcels
Authors: Yuan Biao , Deng Zengde , Geng Na , Chen Yujie , Hu Haoyuan
Published: May 2023

Cainiao collaborates with thousands of logistics partners to provide the most cost- and time-efficient delivery services. In this work, we develop a decision support system to select good fulfillment routes consisting of partners for newly created parcels. The system’s core optimization component contains a proportion algorithm based on solving an offline integer programming problem and an online algorithm based on dual values of the associated linear programming relaxation. The company has implemented the system to transport numerous parcels from China to other countries and regions, thus saving millions of dollars annually.

History: This paper was refereed.
Smart Working: Work Flexibility Without Constraints
Authors: Angelici Marta , Profeta Paola
Published: May 2023

Does removing constraints on the time and place of work benefit the utility of workers and firms? We design a randomized experiment of a sample of workers in a large Italian company; workers are randomly divided into a treated group that engages in flexible place and time of work (which we call “smart working”) one day per week for nine months and a control group that continues to work traditionally. By comparing the treated and control groups, we find causal evidence that the flexibility of smart working increases the productivity of workers. We estimate a decrease of one day of leave on average per month, and we exclude a significant decline in objective productivity in any month. We also find sizeable improvements in well-being and work–life balance, and we observe that men also increase the time dedicated to household and care activities.

This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis.

Funding: This work was supported by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministries and European Commission (Italy’s Department for Equal Opportunities and t).

Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4767 .
Simulation and midwifery education 2011–2021: a systematic review
Authors: Changuiti Omaima , Marfak Abdelghafour , Saad Elmadani , Hilali Abderraouf , Benjouad Abdelaziz , Youlyouz-Marfak Ibtissam
Published: May 2023

Background/Aims

In the last decade, simulation has become a key pedagogical tool in midwifery education. The purpose of this study was to undertake a scoping review of the literature to explore the integration and application of simulation in midwifery education.

Methods

A search was carried out using the online database PUBMED, for articles published between 2011 and 2021. After screening and quality assessment, n=44 articles were included in the review.

Results

The number of articles published on this topic increased from three published in 2011–2012 to seven published in 2020–2021. A total of 44 articles were included, and assessed based on their main aims and objectives. These were development and evaluation of a simulation, description and/or comparison of fidelity, description of a simulation via screens/remotely, exploring student midwives' experiences, the impact on student midwives, and assessing student midwives' satisfaction in a simulation.

Conclusions

This review explored the existing literature on simulation and midwifery education. It allows an assessment of the current state of midwifery education and opens up avenues for further development.
Income inequality in later years: occupational trajectories or initial social characteristics?
Authors: Ganjour Olga , Gauthier Jacques-Antoine , Le Goff Jean-Marie , Widmer Eric D.
Published: May 2023

This study focuses on the constitution of financial reserves in Switzerland from a longitudinal perspective. Personal income after retirement derives from financial reserves whose constitution depends both on positional factors, such as sex and birth cohorts, and processual factors, such as occupational trajectories, in the institutional context of the Swiss pension system (structural factors). We hypothesise that some processual, positional and structural factors interact with each other to shape financial reserves available in old age. We assess this set of factors and their interactions using the occupational trajectory types stemming from optimal matching analysis (OMA) combined with the hierarchical clustering and regression tree methods. We used the retrospective biographic data SHARELIFE gathered during the third wave of the SHARE survey in 2009. The results show that occupational trajectories are influential factors accounting for much of the financial reserves available in later life. However, these processual factors interact with positional factors such as sex and birth cohort. The retirement schemes generalised in Switzerland during the period under consideration add up to the effect of positional factors on the constitution of financial reserves.
David L. Fried: bringing vision to atmospheric optics [Invited]
Authors: Fugate Robert Q. , Barchers Jeffrey D. , Ellerbroek Brent L.
Published: May 2023

This paper recognizes the life work of  David L. Fried. The goal is to put the relevance of his contributions to atmospheric optics in context from three perspectives: solutions to real world problems as seen by an experimentalist, insights of his analytical process as perceived by co-workers, and his role as a mentor to bright, young minds passionate about a deeper understanding of the governing physics. During his professional career of sixty years from 1962 to 2022, Fried published 106 refereed papers, cited over 6000 times. This paper reviews the impact of Fried’s work, especially addressing his contributions to ameliorating the effects of turbulence on optical system performance and the insight this provides into his analytical approach and interactions with colleagues.
Fingerprint construction of optical transmitters based on the characteristic of electro-optic chaos for secure authentication
Authors: Li Zongyang , Wang Hongxiang , Ji Yuefeng
Published: May 2023

In this paper, an optical transmitter authentication method using hardware fingerprints based on the characteristic of electro-optic chaos is proposed. By means of phase space reconstruction of chaotic time series generated by an electro-optic feedback loop, the largest Lyapunov exponent spectrum (LLES) is defined and used as the hardware fingerprint for secure authentication. The time division multiplexing (TDM) module and the optical temporal encryption (OTE) module are introduced to combine chaotic signal and the message to ensure the security of the fingerprint. Support vector machine (SVM) models are trained to recognize legal and illegal optical transmitters at the receiver. Simulation results show that LLES of chaos has the fingerprint characteristic and is highly sensitive to the time delay of the electro-optic feedback loop. The trained SVM models can distinguish electro-optic chaos generated by different feedback loops with a time delay difference of only 0.03ns and have a good anti-noise ability. Experimental results show that the recognition accuracy of the authentication module based on LLES can reach 98.20% for both legal and illegal transmitters. Our strategy can improve the defense ability of optical networks against active injection attacks and has high flexibility.
Distortion-free amplification of 100 GHz mode-locked optical frequency comb using quantum dot technology
Authors: Cao Victoria , Pan Shujie , Fan Yulong , Wu Dingyi , Tang Mingchu , Seeds Alwyn , Liu Huiyun , Xiao Xi , Chen Siming
Published: May 2023

Semiconductor mode-locked optical frequency comb (ML-OFC) sources with extremely high repetition rates are central to many high-frequency applications, such as dense wavelength-division multiplexing. Dealing with distortion-free amplification of ultra-fast pulse trains from such ML-OFC sources in high-speed data transmission networks requires the deployment of semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) with ultrafast gain recovery dynamics. Quantum dot (QD) technology now lies at the heart of many photonic devices/systems owing to their unique properties at the O-band, including low alpha factor, broad gain spectrum, ultrafast gain dynamics, and pattern-effect free amplification. In this swork, we report on ultrafast and pattern-free amplification of ∼100 GHz pulsed trains from a passively ML-OFC and up to 80 Gbaud/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data transmission using an SOA. Most significantly, both key photonic devices presented in this work are fabricated from identical InAs/GaAs QD materials operating at O-band, which paves the way for future advanced photonic chips, where ML-OFCs could be monolithically integrated with SOAs and other photonic components, all originated from the same QD-based epi-wafer.
Deep learning-based real-time driving for 3-field sequential color displays with low color breakup and high fidelity
Authors: Wang Zeyu , Zou Guowei , Shen Yan , Yang Bo-Ru , Qin Zong
Published: May 2023

Field sequential color liquid crystal displays (FSC-LCDs) are promising for applications needing high brightness and high resolution because removing color filters brings three times the light efficiency and spatial resolution. In particular, the emerging mini-LED backlight introduces compact volume and high contrast. However, the color breakup severely deteriorates FSC-LCDs. Concerning color breakup, various 4-field driving algorithms have been proposed at the cost of an additional field. In contrast, although 3-field driving is more desired due to fewer fields used, few 3-field methods that can balance image fidelity and color breakup for diverse image content have been proposed. To develop the desired 3-field algorithm, we first derive the backlight signal of one multi-color field using multi-objective optimization (MOO), which achieves a Pareto optimality between color breakup and distortion. Next, considering the slow MOO, the MOO-generated backlight data forms a training set to train a lightweight backlight generation neural network (LBGNN), which can produce a Pareto optimal backlight in real-time (2.3 ms on GeForce RTX 3060). As a result, objective evaluation demonstrates a reduction of 21% in color breakup compared with currently the best algorithm in color breakup suppression. Meantime, the proposed algorithm controls the distortion within the just noticeable difference (JND), successfully addressing the conventional dilemma between color breakup and distortion for 3-field driving. Finally, experiments with subjective evaluation further validate the proposed method by matching the objective evaluation.
Three-dimensional mode-division multiplexing system
Authors: Ma Hansi , Du Te , Jiang Xinpeng , Peng Zheng , Cheng Wei , Zhang Yiyi , Wei Xueling , Zhang Zhaojian , He Xin , Zhang Zhenfu , Yu Yang , Han Yunxin , Chen Huan , Peng Yuanxi , Fang Liang , Yang Junbo
Published: May 2023

Blindly increasing the channels of the mode (de)multiplexer on the single-layer chip can cause the device structure to be too complex to optimize. The three-dimensional (3D) mode division multiplexing (MDM) technology is a potential solution to extend the data capacity of the photonic integrated circuit by assembling the simple devices in the 3D space. In our work, we propose a 16 × 16 3D MDM system with a compact footprint of about 100 µm × 5.0 µm × 3.7 µm. It can realize 256 mode routes by converting the fundamental transverse electric (TE0) modes in arbitrary input waveguides into the expected modes in arbitrary output waveguides. To illustrate its mode-routing principle, the TE0 mode is launched in one of the sixteen input waveguides, and converted into corresponding modes in four output waveguides. The simulated results indicate that the ILs and CTs of the 16 × 16 3D MDM system are less than 3.5 dB and lower than -14.2 dB at 1550 nm, respectively. In principle, the 3D design architecture can be scaled to realize arbitrary network complexity levels.
Speckle- and interference fringes-free illumination system with a multi-retarder plate
Authors: Lapchuk Anatoliy , Gorbov Ivan , Prygun Alexander , Morozov Yevhenii
Published: May 2023

Our study proposes a novel method for obtaining speckle-free homogeneous illumination using a combination of a multi-retarder plate, a microlens array, a Fourier lens, and a diffraction optical element (DOE) based on pseudorandom binary sequences. The proof-of-concept multi-retarder plate is introduced to generate multiple uncorrelated laser beams, while a mathematical model was developed to explain the method's mechanism and evaluate its effectiveness. In the DOE passive (stationary) mode, the method was found to reduce speckle contrast to 0.167, 0.108, and 0.053 for red, green, and blue laser diodes, respectively. In active mode, the speckle contrast was further reduced to 0.011, 0.0147, and 0.008. The observed differences in speckle contrast in the stationary mode were attributed to variations in the coherence lengths of the RGB lasers. By implementing the proposed method, we successfully generated a square-shaped illumination spot that was free from interference artifacts. The spot obtained exhibited a slow, weak variation in intensity across the screen, attributable to the multi-retarder plate's suboptimal quality. However, this limitation can be readily addressed in future studies through the adoption of more advanced fabrication techniques.
Optical parity-time induced perfect resonance transmission in zero index metamaterials
Authors: Wang Cong , Zhou Qingjia , Jiang Jian-Hua , Gao Lei , Xu Yadong
Published: May 2023

Non-Hermitian photonic systems with balanced gain and loss have become significantly more popular due to their potential applications in communications and lasing. In this study, we introduce the concept of optical parity-time (PT) symmetry to zero-index metamaterials (ZIMs) to investigate the transport of electromagnetic (EM) waves through a PT-ZIM junction in a waveguide system. The PT-ZIM junction is formed by doping two dielectric defects of the same geometry in the ZIM, with one being the gain and the other being the loss. It is found that the balanced gain and loss can induce a perfect transmission resonance in a perfect reflection background, and the resonant linewidth is controllable and determined by the gain/loss. The smaller the gain/loss, the narrower the linewidth and the larger the quality (Q) factor of the resonance. This finding originates from the fact that the introduced PT symmetry breaks the spatial symmetry of the structure, leading to the excitation of quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BIC). Additionally, we also show that the lateral displacements of the two cylinders play a crucial role in the electromagnetic transport properties in ZIMs with PT symmetry, which breaks the common sense that the transport effect in ZIMs is location-independent. Our results provide a new approach to manipulate the interaction of EM waves with defects in ZIMs using gain and loss to achieve anomalous transmission, and a pathway to investigate non-Hermitian photonics in ZIMs with potential applications in sensing, lasing, and nonlinear optics.
Matrix prior for data transfer between single cell data types in latent Dirichlet allocation
Authors: Min Alan , Durham Timothy , Gevirtzman Louis , Noble William Stafford
Published: May 2023

Single cell ATAC-seq (scATAC-seq) enables the mapping of regulatory elements in fine-grained cell types. Despite this advance, analysis of the resulting data is challenging, and large scale scATAC-seq data are difficult to obtain and expensive to generate. This motivates a method to leverage information from previously generated large scale scATAC-seq or scRNA-seq data to guide our analysis of new scATAC-seq datasets. We analyze scATAC-seq data using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), a Bayesian algorithm that was developed to model text corpora, summarizing documents as mixtures of topics defined based on the words that distinguish the documents. When applied to scATAC-seq, LDA treats cells as documents and their accessible sites as words, identifying “topics” based on the cell type-specific accessible sites in those cells. Previous work used uniform symmetric priors in LDA, but we hypothesized that nonuniform matrix priors generated from LDA models trained on existing data sets may enable improved detection of cell types in new data sets, especially if they have relatively few cells. In this work, we test this hypothesis in scATAC-seq data from whole C. elegans nematodes and SHARE-seq data from mouse skin cells. We show that nonsymmetric matrix priors for LDA improve our ability to capture cell type information from small scATAC-seq datasets.
A unitary mechanism underlies adaptation to both local and global environmental statistics in time perception
Authors: Wang Tianhe , Luo Yingrui , Ivry Richard B. , Tsay Jonathan S. , Pöppel Ernst , Bao Yan
Published: May 2023

Our duration estimation flexibly adapts to the statistical properties of the temporal context. Humans and non-human species exhibit a perceptual bias towards the mean of durations previously observed as well as serial dependence, a perceptual bias towards the duration of recently processed events. Here we asked whether those two phenomena arise from a unitary mechanism or reflect the operation of two distinct systems that adapt separately to the global and local statistics of the environment. We employed a set of duration reproduction tasks in which the target duration was sampled from distributions with different variances and means. The central tendency and serial dependence biases were jointly modulated by the range and the variance of the prior, and these effects were well-captured by a unitary mechanism model in which temporal expectancies are updated after each trial based on perceptual observations. Alternative models that assume separate mechanisms for global and local contextual effects failed to capture the empirical results.
Genetic variation in chromatin state across multiple tissues in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Huynh Khoi , Smith Brittny R. , Macdonald Stuart J. , Long Anthony D.
Published: May 2023

We use ATAC-seq to examine chromatin accessibility for four different tissues inDrosophila melanogaster: adult female brain, ovaries, and both wing and eye-antennal imaginal discs from males. Each tissue is assayed in eight different inbred strain genetic backgrounds, seven associated with a reference quality genome assembly. We develop a method for the quantile normalization of ATAC-seq fragments and test for differences in coverage among genotypes, tissues, and their interaction at 44099 peaks throughout the euchromatic genome. For the strains with reference quality genome assemblies, we correct ATAC-seq profiles for read mis-mapping due to nearby polymorphic structural variants (SVs). Comparing coverage among genotypes without accounting for SVs results in a highly elevated rate (55%) of identifying false positive differences in chromatin state between genotypes. After SV correction, we identify 1050, 30383, and 4508 regions whose peak heights are polymorphic among genotypes, among tissues, or exhibit genotype-by-tissue interactions, respectively. Finally, we identify 3988 candidate causative variants that explain at least 80% of the variance in chromatin state at nearby ATAC-seq peaks.
XRN2 suppresses aberrant entry of tRNA trailers into argonaute in humans and Arabidopsis
Authors: Wilson Briana , Su Zhangli , Kumar Pankaj , Dutta Anindya
Published: May 2023

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a well-characterized class of small RNAs (sRNAs) that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. miRNAs function within a complex milieu of other sRNAs of similar size and abundance, with the best characterized being tRNA fragments or tRFs. The mechanism by which the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) selects for specific sRNAs over others is not entirely understood in human cells. Several highly expressed tRNA trailers (tRF-1s) are strikingly similar to microRNAs in length but are generally excluded from the microRNA effector pathway. This exclusion provides a paradigm for identifying mechanisms of RISC selectivity. Here, we show that 5′ to 3′ exoribonuclease XRN2 contributes to human RISC selectivity. Although highly abundant, tRF-1s are highly unstable and degraded by XRN2 which blocks tRF-1 accumulation in RISC. We also find that XRN mediated degradation of tRF-1s and subsequent exclusion from RISC is conserved in plants. Our findings reveal a conserved mechanism that prevents aberrant entry of a class of highly produced sRNAs into Ago2.
A pilot randomized clinical trial of biomedical link with mental health in art therapy intervention programs for alcohol use disorder: Changes in NK cells, addiction biomarkers, electroencephalography, and MMPI-2 profiles
Authors: Kang Soo-Ji , Pei Chang-Zhu , Lee Da-Hye , Ha Jong-Eun , Baek Kwang-Hyun
Published: May 2023

Objective

Alcohol intake is a major risk factor for various diseases. Elucidating alcohol use disorder (AUD) is important in preventing diseases and promoting health. We aimed to investigate the effect of art therapy on emotional (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 [MMPI-2]) and physical (natural killer [NK] cell count, expression of stress-associated proteins [SAP], and electroencephalography) changes in patients with AUD.

Methods

Participants were randomly divided into two groups (n = 35), with the experimental group undergoing art therapy involving weekly 60-min group therapy sessions for 10 weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using Ranked ANCOVA and Wilcoxon’s signed rank test. Western blotting was performed to analyze serum SAP levels.

Results

We observed an association between psychological mechanisms and stress proteins. There was an increased number of NK cells in the experimental group after the program. Moreover, compared with the control group, the experimental group showed significant changes in SAP expression. Further, the experimental group showed a positive change in the MMPI-2 profile, as well as a decrease in depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and alcohol dependence.

Conclusions

Continuous psychological support could be applied as a stress-control program for preventing stress recurrence and post-discharge relapse. Our findings strengthen the link between biomedical science and mental health in rehabilitation treatment for AUD.