bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Triblock Proteins with Weakly Dimerizing Terminal Blocks and an Intrinsically Disordered Region for Rational Design of Condensate Properties
Authors: Fedorov Dmitrii , Roas‐Escalona Nelmary , Tolmachev Dmitry , Harmat Adam L. , Scacchi Alberto , Sammalkorpi Maria , Aranko A. Sesilja , Linder Markus B.
Published: November 2023

Condensates are molecular assemblies that are formed through liquid–liquid phase separation and play important roles in many biological processes. The rational design of condensate formation and their properties is central to applications, such as biosynthetic materials, synthetic biology, and for understanding cell biology. Protein engineering is used to make a triblock structure with varying terminal blocks of folded proteins on both sides of an intrinsically disordered mid‐region. Dissociation constants are determined in the range of micromolar to millimolar for a set of proteins suitable for use as terminal blocks. Varying the weak dimerization of terminal blocks leads to an adjustable tendency for condensate formation while keeping the intrinsically disordered region constant. The dissociation constants of the terminal domains correlate directly with the tendency to undergo liquid–liquid phase separation. Differences in physical properties, such as diffusion rate are not directly correlated with the strength of dimerization but can be understood from the properties and interplay of the constituent blocks. The work demonstrates the importance of weak interactions in condensate formation and shows a principle for protein design that will help in fabricating functional condensates in a predictable and rational way.
Heterostructured Co‐Doped‐Cu2O/Cu Synergistically Promotes Water Dissociation for Improved Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia
Authors: Qu Yanbin , Dai Tianyi , Cui Yuhuan , Ding Guopeng , Zhu Yongfu , Wang Zhili , Jiang Qing
Published: November 2023

Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) has recently emerged as a promising approach for sustainable ammonia synthesis and wastewater treatment, while the activity and selectivity for ammonia production have remained low. Herein, rational design and controllable synthesis of heterostructured Co‐doped Cu2O/Cu nanoparticles embedded in carbon framework (Co‐Cu2O/Cu@C) is reported for NO3RR. The Co‐Cu2O/Cu@C exhibits a high ammonia yield rate of 37.86 mg h−1 mg−1cat. with 98.1% Faraday efficiency, which is higher than those obtained for most of the Cu‐based catalysts under similar conditions. Density functional theory calculations indicated that the strong electronic interactions at Cu/Co‐Cu2O interface facilitate the N species deoxygenation process and doping of Co promotes water dissociation to generate *H for the N species hydrogenation process, leading to enhanced NO3RR performance. This work provides a new design strategy toward high‐performance catalysts toward NO3RR for ammonia generation.
Hole Transport Layer in Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Authors: Zhang Jun , Li Tao , Zheng Jili , Xiao YanQiu , Li Xiaotian , Song Jun , Cheng Chuanxiao , Yang Wei , Chen Gang
Published: November 2023

Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising approach to produce green and renewable hydrogen fuel, alleviating the CO2 emissions, air pollution, and energy crisis. However, the efficiency is limited by the recombination of photogenerated carriers and the losses of holes, resulting in a mismatch between the rates of water oxidation and reduction reactions. This article starts with a discussion of the principle of photoelectrochemical water splitting, highlighting the role and importance of holes, and then summarizes the development of the hole transport layer, with a focus on the classification of the hole transport layer, the structure and properties of common hole transport materials, and the construction and improvement of the hole transport layer. Finally, it is concluded with a summary and perspective of strategies for the future development of the hole transport layer.
Evaluation, Prediction, and Feedback of Blast Furnace Hearth Activity Based on Data‐Driven Analysis and Process Metallurgy
Authors: Shi Quan , Tang Jue , Chu Mansheng
Published: November 2023

For complex, difficult‐to‐control, and hour‐delay blast furnace (BF) systems, the quantitative characterization, prediction, and adjustment of the BF hearth activity are significant in improving the furnace status. In this study, data including raw fuel, process operation, smelting state, and slag and iron discharge during the entire BF process are analyzed, with a total of 171 variables and 5033 groups of data. Based on the knowledge of BF technology, a comprehensive index of hearth activity is then proposed to quantitatively characterize and grade the activity level of the BF hearth; the rationality of this method is verified from the two aspects of furnace heat level and furnace status coincidence. Compared with the traditional single‐machine learning algorithm, the performance of the proposed method that combines genetic algorithm and stacking exhibits significant improvement. The hit rates for 10% and 5% errors in the prediction and estimation of hearth activity are 94.64% and 80.36%, respectively. To enhance the BF hearth activity, quantized and dynamic actions and suggestions are also simultaneously pushed. The model of BF hearth activity is successfully applied in practical online production. During the application period, the average furnace hearth activity increases by 10% compared to the historical value.
Stability indicating high‐performance liquid chromatography method for determining doxycycline hyclate and related substances in their various dosage forms: Utilizing Six Sigma tools, uniformity testing, and in‐vitro dissolution approaches
Authors: Mahmoud Osama A. , Omran Ahmed A. , Gomaa Hosni A. , Mohamed Mahmoud A.
Published: November 2023

Doxycycline hyclate (DOXH) is very important to treat acne and prevent infections caused by bacteria, so quantifying doxycycline hyclate and its related substances is crucial. In this work, All analytes of doxycycline and its related substances, including methacycline, 4‐epi doxycycline, 6‐epi doxycycline, and 2‐acetyl‐2‐carbamoyl doxycycline, were successfully separated at low concentrations in a single run utilizing the suggested isocratic high‐performance liquid chromatography method with a mobile phase comprising water:acetonitrile:perchloric acid (75:25:0.2, v/v), Phenomenex Luna C18 column (50 × 4.6 mm, 3 μm i.d.) maintained at 30°C with a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min, injection volume of 25 μL, and photodiode array detector at 269 nm. DOXH and its related substances were linear in the range of 0.25–50, 0.1–30, 0.2–35, 0.5–50, and 0.6–20 μg/mL, respectively, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999 and good accuracy results between 98% and 102%. The method has been successfully used to determine the drug's comparative study in both generic and reference products, demonstrating the similarity between the two products. According to the International Council for Harmonization requirements, the proposed approach was validated. Additionally, the technique has effectively studied in vitro dissolution, Six Sigma, and content uniformity.
“I'll be there for you”: A review of research on beneficial dissertation mentoring practices
Authors: Major Claire Howell
Published: November 2023

Many doctoral students fail to finish their degrees, often stopping out at the dissertation stage. This article reviews successful dissertation mentoring practices, focusing on mentors' roles in aiding the completion of these degrees. Drawing on Kram's mentoring support framework—psychosocial and career/instrumental factors—the review employs qualitative meta‐synthesis to integrate qualitative research findings. The synthesis reveals that successful dissertation mentorship hinges on mentors' expertise, passion, care, and representation. Key findings underscore the value of trust‐building, setting high expectations, nurturing professional relationships, mutual respect, and encouragement. Moreover, career and instrumental support are crucial, encompassing accessibility, guidance, coaching, resource provisioning, modeling, feedback, and advocacy. The study highlights the alignment of effective dissertation mentorship with Kram's framework, spanning psychosocial and career/instrumental dimensions. It underscores the significance of tailored mentorship in facilitating doctoral students' successful dissertation completion and overall academic achievement.
Journal watch
Authors: Kirby Mike
Published: November 2023

Professor Mike Kirby, Editor of Trends in Urology and Men's Health, picks two interesting recent papers and highlights the ‘take‐home’ messages.
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva caused by a different mutation in a stray cat
Authors: İlgün Murat , Yanar Kerim Emre , Özdemir Selçuk , Aktaş Mustafa Sinan , Eren Emre
Published: November 2023

A 2‐year‐old, unneutered, female, short‐haired stray cat was referred for general examination. A physical examination revealed gait abnormalities characterised by short strides and stiffness in all limbs. Radiographs showed malformations with excessive mineralisation affecting the shoulders and stifle joints. To confirm the diagnosis of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, total RNA was isolated from blood samples of the cats (one cat with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva and one healthy cat). A single missense mutation was found in the coding sequence of the ACVR1 gene of the cat with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. In this mutation, a single base was changed from guanine to cytosine. After this base change, the amino acid tryptophan replaced the amino acid cysteine. This is the first report that indicates cats with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva that do not show signs similar to the characteristic findings in humans have a different mutation.
Opening the Higgs portal to lepton-flavoured dark matter
Authors: Acaroğlu Harun , Blanke Monika , Tabet Mustafa
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We study a simplified model of lepton-flavoured complex scalar dark matter coupling to right-handed leptons and the Higgs boson. The model is set up in the Dark Minimal Flavour Violation framework. In contrast to previous studies of similar models we consider the most general case and do not a priori constrain the hierarchy of dark matter masses and couplings in any way aside from the chosen parameter ranges. In the first part of the analysis we discuss the impact of Higgs portal interactions and the generalised mass hierarchy on the model’s phenomenology. We find that they render new physics masses around the electroweak scale viable, thus qualifying this model to address the (g − 2)μ puzzle. After reviewing the current situation of the latter, we perform two combined analyses — one in which (g − 2)μ allows for significant new physics effects and one in which it does not. We find that while the latter scenario allows for a larger range of new physics scales, both scenarios are equally viable.
Negotiating access to community-based participatory research
Authors: Ehsan Annahita
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) that improves social capital can be a powerful tool for promoting mental health and well-being. This work explores what gaining, maintaining, and losing access to this type of CBPR looks like from a reflexive research perspective.

Method

I describe and reflect on my experiences conducting a mixed-methods study of an existing CBPR to increase social capital in Switzerland. I draw on ethnographic observations, field notes, and reflexive memos collected during fieldwork between 2016 and 2020.

Results

I negotiated access to the CBPR across three levels: (1) formal organizational with intervention leaders, (2) implementational with facilitators, and (3) the community/group level with participants. Intervention leaders let me conduct research if they benefitted from my work in a timely and reinforcing way, facilitators granted access if I made myself helpful and supported their work, and community members accepted me if I participated in their community meaningfully. I lost access when my findings posed a potential risk to the intervention funding.

Conclusion

I highlight how access is a fluid and complex process that can change throughout CBPR. I show the importance of reflexive analysis to understand how access is negotiated in diverse settings, what sources of social capital are needed to engage in these negotiations, and how positionality and power play a role in this process.
Selbst beigebrachte Schädeltrepanationen
Authors: Babian C. , Mueller W. C. , Dreßler J.
Published: November 2023

Ein 78 Jahre alt gewordener Mann hatte sich 8 Bohrlochverletzungen am Hirnschädel bei später diagnostiziertem Aneurysma cerebri beigebracht. Als wahrscheinlichstes Motiv für die außergewöhnliche Tat ist ein Vernichtungskopfschmerz anzunehmen. Nach 5‑tägiger Überlebenszeit trat der Tod im Multiorganversagen mit akutem Myokardinfarkt unter Therapiebegrenzung ein. Eine Fremdeinwirkung konnte ausgeschlossen werden.
A US real-world study of treatment patterns and outcomes in localized or locally advanced prostate cancer patients
Authors: Freedland Stephen J. , Nair Sandhya , Lin Xiwu , Karsh Lawrence , Pieczonka Christopher , Potluri Ravi , Brookman-May Sabine D. , Mundle Suneel D. , Fleming Sarah , Agarwal Neeraj
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Men with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer (LPC/LAPC) are at risk of progression after radiotherapy (RT) or radical prostatectomy (RP). Using real-world data, we evaluated patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes in LPC/LAPC.

Methods

Optum claims and electronic health records (EHR) data from January 2010 to December 2021 were queried for men with LPC/LAPC who received primary RT, RP, or androgen deprivation therapy alone within 180 days after diagnosis. Survival outcomes were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kaplan–Meier curves. Real-world overall survival (rwOS) was compared in patients with and without evidence of disease (i.e., disease recurrence, metastasis, diagnosis of castration-resistant PC) at defined time points.

Results

61,772 and 62,361 men in claims and EHR cohorts met the inclusion criteria. Median follow-up was 719 and 901 days, respectively. Most men received primary RT (51.0% claims, 35.0% EHR) or RP (39.4% claims, 53.8% EHR). Survival was greatest among men treated with RP, followed by RT. Adjusted for age and comorbidity, rwOS was shorter among men with evidence of disease within 1, 3, 4, and 5 years after primary treatment than those without at the same time points.

Conclusion

Real-world claims and EHR data show that survival among men with LPC/LAPC differs by primary treatment and time point of disease recurrence thereafter. Poor outcomes in men with LPC/LAPC who progress early indicate an unmet medical need for more effective primary treatment. If validated for surrogacy, no evidence of disease at specific time points could represent an intermediate efficacy endpoint in future trials.
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and breast cancer: a systematic review
Authors: Zürcher Aline , Knabben Laura , von Gernler Marc , Stute Petra
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Short-acting progestin-only injectables containing depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) are a safe method of contraception. Although DMPA has been available for several decades, there is little data on its influence on the risk of breast cancer. Hence, the aim of this paper was to provide an overview of the existing studies and create clarity regarding a possible association with breast cancer.

Methods

Literature searches were executed in MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov and ICTRP. Search terms were related to DMPA and breast cancer. After elimination of duplicates, 3′850 studies were identified and assessed according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, ten studies were selected and included in this review.

Results

All the selected papers were case–control-studies, except for one pooled analysis and one study comparing observed and expected number of cancer cases.

Most of the included studies found no overall elevated breast cancer incidence in DMPA users, only one study found a slightly increased risk and two studies concluded with a significant increase for the overall breast cancer risk.

Conclusion

There is little evidence that DMPA may increase the overall risk for breast cancer. However, the incidence of breast cancer is possibly increased in current and more recent users, especially in women younger than 35 years. Long-term use did not result in any risk increase. Nevertheless, further studies will be necessary to confirm these findings and weigh up the individual risks and benefits of this contraceptive method.
CRP as an early indicator for anastomotic leakage after esophagectomy for cancer: a single tertiary gastro-esophageal center study
Authors: Ri Motonari , Tzortzakakis Antonios , Sotirova Ira , Tsekrekos Andrianos , Klevebro Fredrik , Lindblad Mats , Nilsson Magnus , Rouvelas Ioannis
Published: November 2023

Purpose

To determine the relationship between postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) as an early indicator of anastomotic leakage (AL) after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.

Methods

We reviewed patients diagnosed with esophageal or esophagogastric junctional cancer who underwent esophagectomy between 2006 and 2022 at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated relative risk for AL by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The cut-off values for CRP were based on the maximum Youden’s index using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Results

In total, 612 patients were included, with 464 (75.8%) in the non-AL (N-AL) group and 148 (24.2%) in the AL group. Preoperative body mass index and the proportion of patients with the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification 3 were significantly higher in the AL group than in the N-AL group. The median day of AL occurrence was the postoperative day (POD) 8. Trends in CRP levels from POD 2 to 3 and POD 3 to 4 were significantly higher in the AL than in the N-AL group. An increase in CRP of ≥ 4.65% on POD 2 to 3 was an independent risk factor for AL with the highest OR of 3.67 (95% CI 1.66–8.38, p = 0.001) in patients with CRP levels on POD 2 above 211 mg/L.

Conclusion

Early changes in postoperative CRP levels may help to detect AL early following esophageal cancer surgery.
Kinematic analysis of chewing and swallowing function after cervical spine surgery
Authors: Aritaki Kota , Nakagawa Kazuharu , Yoshimi Kanako , Yoshizawa Akira , Hasegawa Shohei , Yanagida Ryosuke , Hashimoto Motonori , Hirai Takashi , Yamaguchi Kohei , Nakane Ayako , Yoshii Toshitaka , Okawa Atsushi , Tohara Haruka
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Although movement of the hyoid bone is different for masticatory swallowing and liquid swallowing in normal subjects, it has not been studied after cervical spine surgery. Therefore, we analyzed the swallowing dynamics of masticatory swallowing in anterior cervical spine disease surgery using foods that require chewing close to actual meals.

Methods

A day before and one week after the surgery, a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) was performed, and the distance of hyoid bone movement in the anterior and superior directions, amount of opening of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES), time of passage through the pharynx, number of swallows, and amount of pharyngeal residual were measured on the VFSS images during a masticatory swallow of corn flakes. The swallowing function was evaluated by DSS (dysphagia severity scale) and FOIS (functional oral intake scale). Imaging software was used for the measurements.

Results

Postoperative hyoid movement during masticatory swallowing was not significantly different for anterior movement but significantly limited in upward movement (p = 0.002); UES opening volume was significantly decreased (p < 0.001), and bolus residue was significantly worse (p < 0.001), compared to preoperative. The pharyngeal transit time was not significantly different; the number of swallows increased (p < 0.001), along with DSS (p < 0.001) and FOIS (p < 0.001), with significant differences before and after surgery, indicating worsened swallowing function.

Conclusions

Swallowing function worsened in masticatory swallowing after surgery for cervical spine disease, mainly due to the restriction of upward movement of the hyoid bone and the resulting increase in pharyngeal residuals after swallowing.
A novel antibacterial approach of Cecropin-B peptide loaded on chitosan nanoparticles against MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates
Authors: Okasha Hend , Dahroug Heba , Gouda Abdullah E. , Shemis Mohamed Abbas
Published: November 2023

Egypt has witnessed the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae, which has posed a serious healthcare challenge. The proper treatment choice for MDR-KP infections is not well determined which renders the problem more complicated, thus making the control of such infections a serious challenge for healthcare professionals. This study aims to encapsulate the cationic antimicrobial peptide; Cecropin-B (Cec-B), to increase its lifetime, drug targeting, and efficacy and study the antimicrobial effect of free and encapsulated recombinant rCec-B peptide on multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae (MDR-KP) isolates. Fifty isolates were collected from different clinical departments at Theodore Bilharz Research Institute. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of rCec-B against MDR-KP isolates were determined by the broth microdilution test. In addition, encapsulation of rCec-B peptide into chitosan nanoparticles and studying its bactericidal effect against MDR-KP isolates were also performed. The relative expression of efflux pump and porin coding genes (ArcrB, TolC, mtdK, and Ompk35) was detected by quantitative PCR in treated MDR-KP bacterial isolates compared to untreated isolates. Out of 60 clinical MDR isolates, 50 were MDR-KP. 60% of the isolates were XDR while 40% were MDR. rCec-B were bactericidal on 21 isolates, then these isolates were subjected to treatment using free nanocapsule in addition to the encapsulated peptide. Free capsules showed a mild cytotoxic effect on MDR-KP at the highest concentration. MIC of encapsulated rCec-B was higher than the free peptide. The expression level of genes encoding efflux and porin (ArcrB, TolC, mtdK, and Ompk35) was downregulated after treatment with encapsulated rCec-B. These findings indicate that encapsulated rCec-B is a promising candidate with potent antibacterial activities against drug-resistant K. pneumoniae.
When time worsens framing: a longitudinal analysis of the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in women with an eating disorder and their healthy sisters
Authors: Meneguzzo Paolo , Ceccato Enrico , Sala Alessandra , Santonastaso Paolo
Published: November 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected individuals with eating disorders (ED), leading to an exacerbation of symptoms worldwide in 2020. However, there is a lack of longitudinal analyses of the psychological burdens experienced by this population. This study aims to longitudinally assess the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in people with ED and their healthy sisters (HS) 1 and 2 years after the onset of the crisis. A sample of 148 individuals, consisting of 73 with ED and 45 HS, was evaluated in spring 2021 and spring 2022 regarding their current psychological and behavioral states. Participants were also asked to reflect on their feelings and behaviors during the 2020 lockdown. General psychopathology, eating disorders, and trauma-related symptoms were evaluated using validated questionnaires. Both groups showed an overall improvement in psychopathological symptoms with time. Individuals with ED exhibited greater improvement compared to their HS, which may be attributed to their initially higher burden. Individuals with ED reported a negative reframe, characterized by internalizing negative emotions and behaviors related to the 2020 lockdown. This longitudinal evaluation revealed two distinct and contrasting effects. Both ED patients and their HS demonstrated psychological improvement over time. However, people with ED experienced a negative reframe that affected their memory of specific life events, subsequently affecting their psychological well-being. These findings shed light on the clinical severity observed in people with ED during these pandemic years.
How have public healthcare providers in Sweden conformed to the European Union’s Web Accessibility Directive regarding accessibility statements on their websites?
Authors: Jonsson Marika , Gustavsson Catharina , Gulliksen Jan , Johansson Stefan
Published: November 2023

The Web Accessibility Directive (WAD) is part of the European Union’s work for digital inclusion. The WAD obligates that public sector bodies’ websites meet accessibility standards and provide an accessibility statement on the website informing about inaccessible content, and a feedback mechanism for reporting accessibility issues or requesting inaccessible content in an accessible format. The objective of this study was to evaluate how healthcare providers in Sweden have applied accessibility statements on their websites as regulated by law. A descriptive study using a mixed methods approach was conducted, by quantitative descriptive data analysis of the healthcare providers’ accessibility statements compliance to requirements and qualitative data analysis of the written information provided in the accessibility statement. All but one of the 37 evaluated healthcare providers published an accessibility statement. None of the healthcare providers fully met the requirements for accessibility statements, and no one complied with the intention of the law, i.e. to provide accessible health information and eHealth services. There was no or minor progress between the first and the latest published accessibility statement. The possibility to declare no or partial compliance with the law, or claim disproportionate burden, and the lack of enforcement procedures, risk producing symbolic actions e.g., publishing accessibility statements without intention to abide by the law. We suggest that the directives for accessibility statements should be advanced regarding comprehensiveness, understandability, and usefulness. It is suggested that the assessment protocol developed for this study may be used for future evaluations of accessibility statements.
Visible and near-infrared spectroscopy predicted leaf nitrogen contents of potato varieties under different growth and management conditions
Authors: Rawal Ashmita , Hartemink Alfred , Zhang Yakun , Wang Yi , Lankau Richard A. , Ruark Matthew D.
Published: November 2023

Visible-Near Infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy can provide a faster, cost-effective, and user-friendly solution to monitor leaf N status, potentially overcoming the limitations of current techniques. The objectives of the study were to develop and validate partial least square regression (PLSR) to estimate the total N contents of fresh and removed leaves of potatoes using the vis-NIR spectral range (350–2500 nm) generated from a handheld proximal sensor. The model was built using data collected from Hancock Agricultural Research Station, WI, USA in 2020 and was validated using samples collected in 2021 for four different conditions. The conditions included two sites (Coloma and Hancock), four potato varieties (Burbank, Norkotah, Goldrush, and Silverton), two N rates (unfertilized and 308 kg N ha−1), and four growth stages (vegetative, tuber initiation, tuber bulking, and tuber maturation). The calibration and validation models had high predictive performance for leaf total N with R2 > 0.8 and RPD > 2. The model accuracy was affected by the total N contents in the leaf samples where the model underpredicted the samples with total leaf N contents greater than 6%.
Anti-fibrotic Effect of Oral Versus Intraperitoneal Administration of Gold Nanoparticles in Hepatic Schistosoma mansoni-Infected Mice
Authors: Ahmed Shahira Abdelaziz Ali , Gad Samer Eid Mohamed , Eida Omima Mohamed , Makhlouf Laila Mohamed
Published: November 2023

Background

Schistosomiasis significantly impacts public health, as it causes severe morbidity. Infections caused by Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) can be treated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). This study aims to determine the most effective route of AuNPs administration and the magnitude of its anti-fibrotic effect.

Methods

In the five groups' in vivo assay design, AuNPs were administered intraperitoneally (1 mg/kg) and orally (1 mg/100 g) to S. mansoni-infected mice. Biochemical parameters (serum levels of albumin and liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured. The histological changes of the liver in distinct groups were evaluated using Hematoxylin and Eosin, Masson's trichrome, and immunohistochemical stains.

Results

Infection with S. mansoni was associated with substantial changes in the histological architecture of liver tissue and abnormal levels of hepatic function tests (albumin, AST, and ALT). Schistosoma infected hepatocytes exhibited an abnormal microscopic morphology, granuloma formation and aggressive fibrosis. AuNPs restored the liver histological architecture with a highly significant anti-fibrotic effect and significantly corrected hepatic function test levels. Intraperitoneal administration of AuNPs resulted in the most significant anti-fibrotic effect against hepatic S. mansoni infection as observed in all histological sections with Masson's trichrome being the best stain to represent this fact.

Conclusion

For treating S. mansoni-induced chronic liver fibrosis, intraperitoneal administration of AuNPs is a successful and effective route of administration that can be recommended.
Immersion of complete digraphs in Eulerian digraphs
Authors: Girão António , Letzter Shoham
Published: November 2023

A digraph G immerses a digraph H if there is an injection f: V(H) → V(G) and a collection of pairwise edge-disjoint directed paths Puv, for uv ∈ E(H), such that Puv starts at f(u) and ends at f(v). We prove that every Eulerian digraph with minimum out-degree t immerses a complete digraph on Ω(t) vertices, thus answering a question of DeVos, McDonald, Mohar and Scheide.
Effectiveness of Telehealth Social Communication Intervention on Language Skills Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Hao Ying , Du Yao , Zhang Saijun , Sun Lin , Keene Gina , Ikuta Toshikazu
Published: November 2023

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of telehealth social communication intervention on language skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-one studies were included, among which 17 were single subject experimental design (SSED). Language outcomes were categorized into five linguistic domains (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics), and meta-analysis was planned for each domain. Meta-analysis was only performed for pragmatic outcomes, due to the small number of studies that included outcomes in other domains. The results showed significant pre- to post-intervention improvement, thus supporting the use of telehealth social communication intervention to improve pragmatic skills among children with ASD. More diverse measures should be used to target linguistic domains beyond pragmatics. The predominant use of SSED warrants large-scale studies for robust evidence in the future.
Verluste verzeichnen
Authors: von Contzen Eva
Published: November 2023

Ausgehend von Judith Schalanskys Verzeichnis einiger Verluste (2018) nimmt der Beitrag die frappierende Präsenz von Listen und enumerativen Strukturen in der Gegenwartsliteratur in den Blick. Als ein poetisches Prinzip sind listenhafte Formen oftmals Ausdruck einer Defamiliarisierung des Alltäglichen, das dadurch eine Aufwertung erfährt, und verhandeln darüber hinaus existenzielle Fragen.
Fast approximation methods for credit portfolio risk calculations
Authors: Jakob Kevin , Churt Johannes , Fischer Matthias , Nolte Kim , Okhrin Yarema , Sondermann Dirk , Wilke Stefan , Worbs Thomas
Published: November 2023

Credit risk is one of the main risks financial institutions are exposed to. Within the last two decades, simulation-based credit portfolio models became extremely popular and replaced closed-form analytical ones as computers became more powerful. However, especially for non-homogenous and non-granular portfolios, a full simulation of a credit portfolio model is still time consuming, which can be disadvantageous within some use cases like credit pricing or within stress testing situations where results must be available very quickly. For this purpose, we investigate if methods based on artificial intelligence (AI) can be helpful to approximate a credit portfolio model. We compare the performance of AI-based methods within three different use cases with suitable non AI-based regression methods. As a result, we see that AI-based methods can generally capture portfolio characteristics and speed-up calculations but - depending on the specific use case and the availability of training data - they are not necessarily always the best choice. Particularly, considering the time and costs for collecting data and training of the complex algorithms, non-AI-based methods can be as good as or even better than AI-based ones, while requiring less computational effort.
ProvSec: Open Cybersecurity System Provenance Analysis Benchmark Dataset with Labels
Authors: Shrestha Madhukar , Kim Yonghyun , Oh Jeehyun , Rhee Junghwan , Choe Yung Ryn , Zuo Fei , Park Myungah , Qian Gang
Published: November 2023

System provenance forensic analysis has been studied by a large body of research work. This area needs fine granularity data such as system calls along with event fields to track the dependencies of events. While prior work on security datasets has been proposed, we found a useful dataset of realistic attacks and details that are needed for high-quality provenance tracking is lacking. We created a new dataset of eleven vulnerable cases for system forensic analysis. It includes the full details of system calls including syscall parameters. Realistic attack scenarios with real software vulnerabilities and exploits are used. For each case, we created two sets of benign and adversary scenarios which are manually labeled for supervised machine-learning analysis. In addition, we present an algorithm to improve the data quality in the system provenance forensic analysis. We demonstrate the details of the dataset events and dependency analysis of our dataset cases.
The Roots of Inequality: Texas School Politics and the Leadup to Rodriguez
Authors: McLeod Angus
Published: November 2023

Contrary to Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell’s majority opinion in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973), Texas’s school finance system was the result of years of legislation and state-building that gave some areas the resources and capacity to provide more educational opportunities than others. As this article demonstrates, during the century leading up to the Rodriguez decision, Texas political leaders developed a public school funding system reliant on the highly unequal spatial distribution of property wealth across rural/urban, class, and racial lines. There was nothing inevitable about this. In fact, the history of Texas’s system reveals four pivotal eras when the state’s White leaders created and maintained a school finance system reliant on local property taxes and defined by rural/urban and racial differences that cemented deep inequalities. This case study traces those changes over time and brings part of the story to life through the example of Kirbyville, Texas, and its struggle to finance a new White high school. Returning to the historical roots of school financing in Texas reveals how rural/urban, racial, and wealth inequalities have been foundational to Texas’s public school finance system.
Design, performance and application of a line-imaging velocity interferometer system for any reflector coupled with a streaked optical pyrometer system at the Shenguang-II upgrade laser facility
Authors: Yuan Dawei , Wang Shaojun , Wei Huigang , Gu Haochen , Dai Yu , Zhong Jiayong , Li Yutong , Zhao Gang , Zhang Jie
Published: November 2023

The velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR) coupled with a streaked optical pyrometer (SOP) system is used as a diagnostic tool in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments involving equations of state and shock timing. To validate the process of adiabatically compressing the fuel shell through precise tuning of shocks in experimental campaigns for the double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme of ICF, a compact line-imaging VISAR with an SOP system is designed and implemented at the Shenguang-II upgrade laser facility. The temporal and spatial resolutions of the system are better than 30 ps and 7 μm, respectively. An illumination lens is used to adjust the lighting spot size matching with the target size. A polarization beam splitter and λ/4 waveplate are used to increase the transmission efficiency of our system. The VISAR and SOP work at 660 and 450 nm, respectively, to differentiate the signals from the scattered lights of the drive lasers. The VISAR can measure the shock velocity. At the same time, the SOP system can give the shock timing and relative strength. This system has been used in different DCI campaigns, where the generation and propagation processes of multi-shock are carefully diagnosed.
Potential use of weather derivatives in hedging aggregate viticulture yields: An analysis of the Niagara region of Canada
Authors: Cyr Don , Kushner Joseph , Zhang Mingtian
Published: November 2023

Although potentially useful for financially hedging systemic weather-related risks, weather contracts/derivatives (also referred to as parametric insurance) have not seen wide adoption in agriculture outside of applications in developing countries, frequently supported by governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). A significant impediment is the lack of financial firms willing to stand ready to sell weather derivatives to individual agricultural producers in the over-the-counter market who, due to the localized nature of weather, face idiosyncratic weather-related risks. In particular, the administrative and reinsurance costs of supplying relatively small contracts with specific terms to many different producers are often prohibitive. The current study considers the potential use of weather derivatives in hedging the aggregate yield/revenues of viticulture producers represented by an industry association located in the province of Ontario, Canada. We examine the sensitivity of aggregate industry yields to several relevant weather-related risks employing copula function analysis. We then consider the potential of a weather derivative in hedging the financial risk associated with cold winter temperatures, which pose the greatest risk to aggregate vinifera yields. The issue of attributing costs and payouts to individual association members remains unresolved, and several alternatives are suggested.
Ippolita Maria Sforza, Student and Patron of Greek in Milan
Authors: Van Rooy Raf
Published: November 2023

When ancient Greek heritage was rehabilitated in the Renaissance, its students were first and foremost aspiring humanists, and, almost as a rule, men. An early exception was Ippolita Maria Sforza (1445–88), the eldest daughter of the Duke of Milan, Francesco I Sforza. I argue that she not only studied the Greek language but also acted as a patron of Greek studies. Sforza's double role is confirmed by two Greek grammars dedicated to her and connected to the Byzantine migrant Constantine Lascaris. These documents reveal how Sforza probably studied the language, and how she was imagined as a student.
Gospel Harmonies and the Genres of Biblical Scholarship in Early Modern Europe
Authors: Macfarlane Kirsten
Published: November 2023

Early modern Gospel harmonies have received little attention and are mostly studied as poor precursors to modern synoptic criticism. This article reassesses the harmony's significance by reconstructing its development ca. 1500–1700, reaching two conclusions. First, it argues that Gospel harmonies acted as a touchstone for critical intellectual developments such as the rise of scientific chronology. Second, it argues that the harmony's transformation over this period, influenced by multiple overlapping disciplines, resulted in it becoming one of the most creative scholarly genres by the late seventeenth century. This interdisciplinarity was simultaneously the prime attraction of the harmony and the reason for its eighteenth-century decline.
Fiestas Fit for a King: Contested Symbolic Regimes of Power in New Spain
Authors: Hughes Nicole T.
Published: November 2023

After Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco died in 1564, royal officials watched with trepidation as the conquistadores’ descendants adopted heraldry, hereditary titles, and royal ceremony, supposedly in jest. Scholars have argued that the royal judges used these over-the-top fiestas to frame powerful settlers for sedition. This article instead argues that the royal judges’ obsession with how wealthy settlers adopted royal pomp and circumstance, on the one hand, and refusal to recognize how they imprecisely imitated the Mexica nobility, on the other, helped to consolidate Spanish power—symbolic and literal—in New Spain.
Disentangling potential causal effects of educational duration on well-being, and mental and physical health outcomes
Authors: van de Weijer Margot P. , Demange Perline A. , Pelt Dirk H.M. , Bartels Meike , Nivard Michel G.
Published: November 2023

Background

Extensive research has focused on the potential benefits of education on various mental and physical health outcomes. However, whether the associations reflect a causal effect is harder to establish.

Methods

To examine associations between educational duration and specific aspects of well-being, anxiety and mood disorders, and cardiovascular health in a sample of European Ancestry UK Biobank participants born in England and Wales, we apply four different causal inference methods (a natural policy experiment leveraging the minimum school-leaving age, a sibling-control design, Mendelian randomization [MR], and within-family MR), and assess if the methods converge on the same conclusion.

Results

A comparison of results across the four methods reveals that associations between educational duration and these outcomes appears predominantly to be the result of confounding or bias rather than a true causal effect of education on well-being and health outcomes. Although we do consistently find no associations between educational duration and happiness, family satisfaction, work satisfaction, meaning in life, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, we do not find consistent significant associations across all methods for the other phenotypes (health satisfaction, depression, financial satisfaction, friendship satisfaction, neuroticism, and cardiovascular outcomes).

Conclusions

We discuss inconsistencies in results across methods considering their respective limitations and biases, and additionally discuss the generalizability of our findings in light of the sample and phenotype limitations. Overall, this study strengthens the idea that triangulation across different methods is necessary to enhance our understanding of the causal consequences of educational duration.
The development of a novel terrestrial/aerial robot: autonomous quadrotor tilting hybrid robot
Authors: Zhang Daoxun , Xu Ming , Zhu Pengming , Guo Ce , Zhong Zhengyu , Lu Huimin , Zheng Zhiqiang
Published: November 2023

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) possess fast-moving abilities and have been used in various tasks in the past decades. However, their performances are still restricted by insufficient endurance and confined environments. Intuitively, combining other locomotion modes with UAVs, such as diving and driving, would be an appropriate idea to improve the robot’s adaptability and solve the endurance problem. Recently, the terrestrial/aerial hybrid robots have drawn the researchers’ eyes for their outstanding performances, which can deploy flight mode to traverse insurmountable terrains and ground mode to increase endurance and realize detailed searches. Therefore, this paper developed the autonomous quadrotor tilting hybrid robot (AQT-HR) to achieve terrestrial/aerial dual-modal mobility and verified that the robot delivers high energy efficiency. The AQT-HR can achieve flying and driving through a quadrotor tilting mechanism, which can alter one single driving force into different directions. Furthermore, the dynamic models of the hybrid robot’s aerial and ground locomotion are derived and introduced into the model-feedforward PID control algorithm for improving the robot’s flying stability. Finally, we conducted some mobility tests and experiments about traversing obstacles to demonstrate that the proposed hybrid robot can realize autonomous mode switching and perform a low energy consumption in ground movement mode.
An Upper Pleistocene and Holocene Black Carbon‐Related Fire Record From the SW Balkans
Authors: Wöstehoff Luisa , Kappenberg Arne , Lehndorff Eva , Wagner Bernd , Panagiotopoulos Konstantinos , Amelung Wulf
Published: November 2023

Lake sediments are unique archives of human environment interactions. Lake Prespa is one of the oldest lakes in Europe, lying in the southwestern Balkans and thus on a possible dispersal route of anatomically modern humans from Africa. In this study, we investigated the effects of climate, vegetation and human activity on fire over the last 92,000 years in this region. Sediment samples were taken from Lake Prespa, and nearby Lake Ohrid for comparison of the regional relevance, and analyzed for benzene polycarboxylic acids as markers for burned organic carbon residues (black carbon, BC). Peaking contents of BC (up to 1 g BC kg−1 sediment) coincided with warm and humid phases, when forests expanded at marine isotope stages (MIS) 5 and 1. During the colder and more arid climates of MIS 4 and 2, BC contents were lowered by a factor of 10, with a distinct minimum during the Last Glacial Maximum (0.07 g BC kg−1). The ratio of pentacarboxylic acid to mellitic acid (B5CA/B6CA) declined from 1.2 at MIS 5 to values of 0.3 at MIS 2, confirming a change in fire regime. Overall, BC contents peaked at cycles of solar radiation, vegetation composition and fuel availability, and thus correspond to the BC signal of other environmental archives. However, in the Late Holocene and as a result of human sedentary settlement, BC production increased, independent of decreasing insolation forcing.