bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synergistic effects of dendrosomal nanocurcumin and oxaliplatin on oncogenic properties of ovarian cancer cell lines by down-expression of MMPs
Authors: Seyed Hosseini Elahe , Alizadeh Zarei Marziyeh , Tarrahimofrad Hossein , Zamani Javad , Haddad Kashani Hamed , Ahmad Ejaz , Nikzad Hossein
Published: January 2023

Background

Contrary to the advantageous anticancer activities of curcumin (Cur), limited bioavailability and solubility hindered its efficacy. Here, nontoxic dendrosomal nano carrier with Cur was used to overcome these problems. Despite considerable antitumor properties of Oxaliplatin (Oxa), the limiting factors are drug resistance and adverse side-effects. The hypothesis of this study was to evaluate the possible synergism between dendrosomal nanocurcumin (DNC) and Oxa and these agents showed growth regulatory effects on SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells.

Methods and materials

In the present study, colony formation, wound healing motility, cell adhesion, transwell invasion and migration assay and cell cycle arrest with or without DNC, Oxa and Combination were defined. In addition to, real time PCR and Western blot were used to analyze AKT, PI3K, PKC, JNK, P38 and MMPs mRNAs and proteins expressions. Docking of MMP-2-Cur, MMP-2-DNC and MMP-2-Oxa was performed and the results of all three complexes were simulated by molecular dynamics.

Results

Our findings illustrated that DNC had the greatest effect on cell death as compared to the Cur alone. Moreover, the growth inhibitory effects (such as cell death correlated to apoptosis) were more intense if Oxa was added followed by DNC at 4 h interval. However, insignificant effects were observed upon simultaneous addition of these two agents in both cell lines. Besides, a combination of agents synergistically alters the relative expression of MMP-9.

Conclusions

The docking results showed that His70 and Asp100 may play a key role at the MMP-2 binding site. The matrigel invasion as well as cell viability of ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3 and OVCAR3 by DNC alone or in combination with Oxa was inhibited significantly. The inhibitory effects of these agents were due to the differential expression levels of MMP 2 and MMP 9 regulated by multiple downstream signaling cascades. From the molecular dynamic simulation studies, it was confirmed that DNC established a strong interaction with MMP-2.
Teachers’ agency in the implementation of an early childhood education policy program in schools in Bogotá, Colombia
Authors: Guerrero Alba Lucy , Camargo-Abello Marina
Published: January 2023

The childhood national policy in Colombia recognizes the importance of quality in early childhood education (ECE). In this context, the government of the district of Bogota (2012–2016) proposed the program “Quality preschool in the Public Educational System” to expand the coverage of early education and provide comprehensive care to children aged 3–5 years within the public educational system. This article explores the ways in which the policy program is implemented in schools. Employing an ethnographic approach, this study focuses on the experiences of teachers from five schools that have faced the challenges of integrating the two new grades of early childhood education in formal school settings. By analyzing the educational strategies designed and implemented by teachers in their daily routines and the meaning they assign to these strategies, this study provides evidence that teachers do not simply reproduce the institutionalized discourses; instead, teachers negotiate, resist, adapt, and recreate experiences in relation to school times, spaces, activities, and materials by developing strategies more responsive to children’s needs. The concept of agency is central to understand how teachers end up generating practices that lead to new forms of individual and social transformation.
The influence of cannabis on sexual functioning and satisfaction
Authors: Moser Amanda , Ballard Sharon M. , Jensen Jake , Averett Paige
Published: January 2023

Background

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived influence of cannabis on sexual functioning and satisfaction. This study used Kaplan’s and Masters and Johnson’s sexual response cycle (desire, excitement, orgasm, plateau, resolution) and included satisfaction to complete the sexual response cycle. Given increased attention in the research literature to the potential benefits of cannabis and the lack of research on the sexual benefits of cannabis use, the current study was completed.

Methods

Data were collected using the online survey tool “Qualtrics” from a self-selected, convenience sample of adults over the age of 18 who reported previous cannabis use. The survey, developed by the researchers based on previous literature, included demographic questions followed by a scale to measure sexual functioning and satisfaction in relation to cannabis use (α = 0.897).

Results

The final sample was 811 participants ranging in age from 18 to 85 years old (M = 32.11). The majority of participants were identified as female (n = 536, 64.9%), White/Caucasian (n = 640, 78.9%), and college educated (n = 650, 80.1%). Almost 25% of the participants were identified as LGBTQIA+ (n = 187, 23.1%). Most of the participants reported being in a monogamous sexual relationship (n = 598, 73.7%). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression. Age and gender were not found to have significant effects on cannabis use and sexual functioning and satisfaction. Over 70% of participants reported increased desire (M = 4.05, SD = 0.962) and orgasm intensity (M = 4.05, SD = 0.884). Participants who reported masturbating indicated that cannabis enhanced their pleasure while masturbating (n = 620, 62.5%). Participants also stated that cannabis enhanced their sense of taste (n = 583, 71.9%) and touch (n = 576, 71.0%).

Discussion

The results of this study contrast and establish new evidence within the literature. Demographic results indicate that the people who use cannabis are of a wide range of ages, from a variety of occupations, and have differing cannabis use preferences. The inclusion of LGBTQIA + respondents is a strength of this study. Overall, results indicated that both men and women perceived that cannabis use increased their sexual functioning and satisfaction, particularly increased desire and orgasm intensity.

Conclusion

This study updates the current literature on cannabis and sexuality and provides implications for improving sexual quality. Medical implications of this study include the possible use of cannabis for treating sexual dysfunctions, especially within women.
Baudelaire « fictionné »
Authors: Dupont Jacques
Published: January 2023

Le Crénom, Baudelaire ! de Jean Teulé se présente comme un « roman », comme une fiction prenant appui sur la vie de Baudelaire, telle que ses biographes l’ont racontée. À première vue, le narrateur veille à confondre sa voix avec celle de Baudelaire, voire à la subordonner à celle du poète, en usant d’une mosaïque de citations, et à user de documents divers ou de photographies afin de garantir l’ancrage de sa fiction dans une sorte de vérité biographique. Mais en définitive c’est l’imagination dépréciative du narrateur qui prévaut sur sa documentation, et qui s’emploie à placer Baudelaire dans de nombreuses situations peu flatteuses, ce qui débouche, de fait, sur un réquisitoire quasi systématique. La voix du narrateur prévaut aussi par une forme d’appropriation ou d’annexion négative : les citations de Baudelaire sont fréquemment recyclées hors de leur contexte, privées de leur qualité poétique à mesure qu’elles sont intégrées aux propos volontiers prosaïques ou vulgaires du narrateur, et ainsi dotées d’un statut ancillaire. Dans ce roman inutile, soumettre la vie de Baudelaire à une insistante et triviale incrimination signifie aussi dégrader les écrits du poète.
Framing Psychoanalysis in the Context of the World
Authors: Greenspan Rachel
Published: January 2023

Where does the consulting room begin and end? And how do those limits impact the therapeutic aims of psychoanalysis? Drawing on clinical work conducted at the margins of European empire across the twentieth century, this essay explores how psychoanalytic notions of political subjectivity are mediated by the contingent spatial aesthetics of the clinic in moments of revolutionary struggle. It brings clinical uses of the psychoanalytic frame by Frantz Fanon, Wulf Sachs, Marie Langer, and Juan Carlos Volnovich into conversation with Derrida’s conceptualization of the parergon to examine the boundary between clinical space and the “context of the world” in which it is situated.
The Aesthetic Pass: Beauty and the End of Analysis
Authors: Negrete Fernanda
Published: January 2023

This essay reads Jacques Lacan’s 1967 “Proposition on the Analyst of the School” from the perspectives of the metapsychology that upholds the Pass at the École freudienne du Québec and of aesthetic acts in Andy Goldsworthy’s ephemeral works. Specifically, it examines the aesthetic act as a possible path for the unbound drive upon traversing castration. It argues that the Pass is, specifically, a transindividual act of solidarity with desire that extends its ethics and efficacy beyond both the institutional frameworks of psychoanalysis and the control of cultures and civilizations. The essay relates Freud’s thoughts on transience and beauty to the end of analysis and concludes with a reading of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore’s “Les Roses de Saadi” to contend that the transmission of the Pass occurs on the level of sensation to attain, beyond cultural particularities, desire as the common cause of humanity.
What I Learned about Teaching while TeachingMrs. Dallowayduring the Pandemic
Authors: Carillo Ellen C.
Published: January 2023

This article recounts the experience of moving an in-person literature class online at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing comparisons between the novel Mrs. Dalloway, which the class was reading at the time, and the experience of the early days of the pandemic, the piece outlines how the exigencies of the pandemic led to revised teaching and assessment practices.
Off-Center Articulations
Authors: Chan Cheow Thia
Published: January 2023

Recent studies on Singapore Chinese literature have employed analytical lenses such as the Sinophone and postloyalism, which are exogenous to the historical and everyday experiences in the region that produced the texts. This article proposes using the lens of the Chinese-educated to bridge local self-understandings with extralocal modes of interpretation, in order to better illuminate place-specific writing practices. As a salient category of both lived experience and analysis by local researchers, the category of the Chinese-educated occasions a form of “off-center articulation” that maintains strategic distance from Sinophone studies while also enriching the field's conceptual repertoire. Specifically, this analytical perspective highlights how literary representations of social class play a significant role, alongside language and ethnicity, in registering the historical diversity of the Singapore Chinese community. Through examining Singaporean Chinese writer Chia Joo Ming's novel Exile or Pursuit (2015), this article reinterprets the novel's gallery of characters and depictions of interpersonal relations to elicit fading memories of socioeconomic divides and gaps in cultural attainment among ethnic Chinese Singaporeans and their migrant predecessors. It ends by charting future directions for Southeast Asian Chinese literary studies that collectively track a broader locus of “Chinese-educated” literary and cultural practices, and that promote critical inter-referencing within the region.
Inspecting the healing process in an artificial stone used for repair works containing crystallines
Authors: Tsampali Evangelia , Amanatiadis Stamatios , Karagiannis Georgios , Stefanidou Maria
Published: January 2023

Stone has been a basic building material of different monuments and structural components such as foundations and masonry. At the same time, dif-ferent types of stones have been used for decorative architectural elements, such as cornices, reliefs, colonnettes, and corbels. The maintenance of stone ele-ments is essential for the continuity of these structures. Many studies have been performed to produce stones with artificial materials. This study aims to present a new approach to artificial stone with self-healing capability. Crystallines have been implied in two different dosages: 0.8 and 1.6% w./w, to achieve this goal. The addition of the crystalline admixtures affected the physical properties, de-creasing the porosity and the capillary absorption, proving the sealing properties of the admixtures. The self-healing efficiency has been tested with the sorption test, recovery of compressive strength, and 3D acoustic microscopy. The crys-talline admixtures accelerate the self-healing, increasing the sealing efficiency by 20% and recovering compressive strength by 15%. The analysis by 3D to-mography provided results that confirm the healing of the crack hasn't occurred only on the surface but extended to a certain depth.
Innovative experiences in teaching conservation. Involving communities’ interests on preservation topics by fast investigations and social media dissemination
Authors: Della Torre Stefano , Moioli Rossella , Cantini Lorenzo
Published: January 2023

Since 2019, the authors carried out a didactical experience trough the Preservation Studio workshop in the historical center of Vimercate, a town in the north east area of Milan, implementing a convention agreement between the Mu-nicipality and the Atheneum. The convention was arranged in order to set the relationship between the three academic courses of the Politecnico di Milano and the administration of Vimercate, supporting the teaching staff by providing ac-cessibility to various services and some public properties located in the city-cen-ter. Thanks to this kind of agreement, the courses could be supported in their activities by document centers, public associations and the members of the local community, while the teaching staff offered a constant sharing of the main activ-ities by social media and periodical disseminations through public lectures. After maturing several years of didactical workshops on the main buildings of the his-torical center of Vimercate, this paper shows the results collected with the stu-dios: the active class strategies, the on-site survey campaigns, the evolution of the results observed by year after year inspections, ND testing activities and local community involvement. The impact coming from the researches developed by the preservation classes and specific in depth studies realized by graduation thesis showed an increasing participation of the community to the topics connected to the city center: from conservation policies to future uses, historical buildings reached the attention of the people through the development of a new sensibility and perception of new values associated to the local architectural heritage.
Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact
Authors: Kowert Rachel , Crevoshay Eve
Published: January 2023

Background: Online harassment is a relatively commonplace occurrence in the video gaming industry and player communities. A lack of diversity has unquestionably contributed to the high levels of such incidences.

Methods: In this paper, we take an exploratory approach, via a cross-sectional observational study, to evaluate the harassment of game industry professionals on social media. In this new sphere of growing concern, there is evidence of significant harm for game makers and their radius of impact. We will discuss the prevalence rates, nature of harassment, and the ways in which a lack of diversity has contributed to this phenomenon.

Results: In total, 282 video game industry professionals completed the survey in its entirety. More than half of all participants reported experiencing harassment on social media (59.6%) and nearly all reported witnessing harassment happening to other members of the videogames industry via social media (92.2%). This harassment can have a significant impact on well-being, including increased anxiety (62.1%), feelings of isolation (37.6%) and increased depression (36.2%). Almost one quarter (23.8%) reported symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder. One out of 10 participants reported suicidal thoughts because of online harassment. A significant number of respondents (37.3%) reported that had to take steps to reduce their physical safety due to online harassment. Over half of all respondents saying they were targets of hate because of some aspect of their identity.

Conclusions: The results indicate high rates of online harassment, both direct and indirect, among members of the gaming industry at all levels. Responses also pointed to substantial mental health and behavioral impacts of both experiencing and witnessing online harassment. Without large-scale action, this problem will continue to reinforce the lack of diversity inside game studios, pushing out marginalized employees due to a hostile work environment.
Identifying the core components and items to measure health workers' cultural competence in the Ethiopian context
Authors: Moges Belay , Semela Tesfaye
Published: January 2023

Background: Cultural competence (CC) is a crucial attribute in attaining quality healthcare service outcomes, mitigating malfunctioning practices, and improving patient satisfaction. Studies suggested comprehensive CC assessment requires appraising existing CC tools to measure health workers’ CC in the Ethiopian context. Selecting existing CC tools, identifying sub-constructs, pinpointing demographic characteristics, and evaluating items are the study objectives.

Methods: 20 cultural competence tools of 20 to 83 items, 1-5 sub-constructs, and 4–10 Likert-Type rating options were identified, to be rated by eight experts in three groups. Consensus based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) and test construction literature are used to develop raters rating codes to compute Inter-Raters Reliability (IRR). The first group of three experts was rated to decide the inclusion of CC tools, factors, and demographic information. The second group of three experts selected six CC tools and 65 items. Two experts in the third group further evaluated the selected items.

Results: Reliability for the inclusion of CC tools, factors, and demographic variables were found to be 75%–87%, 50%–93%, and 50%–86% respectively. 13 items that violate test construction principles like absoluteness, endorsement, proneness to multiple interpretation, ambiguity and double barring were excluded. Cultural skill, cultural knowledge, and cultural awareness are the three most common sub-constructs. Cultural sensitivity, cultural desire, and cultural encounters are the least incorporated factors. Gender, age, language, department, patients encounter, education, and cultural diversity training are demographic variables to assess health workers’ CC.

Conclusions: Items of CC instruments cover cognitive, affective, and skill domains as prominent dimensions of CC tools. The reviewed tools consist of items that violate test construction principles. To conduct CC assessment in the Ethiopian context, apart from refining and validating selected items, generating additional items is recommended.
Behaviour change techniques taxonomy v1: Feedback to inform the development of an ontology
Authors: Corker Elizabeth , Marques Marta , Johnston Marie , West Robert , Hastings Janna , Michie Susan
Published: January 2023

Background: To build cumulative evidence about what works in behaviour change interventions, efforts have been made to develop classification systems for specifying the content of interventions. The Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT) Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) is one of the most widely used classifications of behaviour change techniques across a variety of behaviours. The BCTTv1 was intentionally named version 1 to allow for further revisions to the taxonomy. This study aimed to gather data to improve the BCTTv1 and provide recommendations for developing it into a more elaborated knowledge structure, an ontology. 

Methods: Feedback from users of BCTTv1 about limitations and proposed improvements was collected through the BCT website, user survey, researchers and experts involved in the Human Behaviour-Change Project, and a consultation. In addition, relevant published research reports and other classification systems of BCTs were analysed. These data were synthesised to produce recommendations to inform the development of an ontology of BCTs.

Results: A total of 282 comments from six sources were reviewed and synthesised into four categories of suggestions: additional BCTs, amendments to labels and definitions of specific BCTs, amendments to the groupings, and general improvements. Feedback suggested some lack of clarity regarding understanding and identifying techniques from labels, definitions, and examples; distinctions and relations between BCTs; and knowing what they would look like in practice. Three recommendations to improve the BCTTv1 resulted from this analysis: to review the label and definition of each BCT, the 16 groupings of BCTs, and the examples illustrating BCTs.

Conclusions : This review of feedback about BCTTv1 identified the need to improve the precision and knowledge structure of the current taxonomy. A BCT ontology would enable the specification of relationships between BCTs, more precise definitions, and allow better interoperability with other ontologies. This ontology will be developed as part of the Human Behaviour-Change Project.
How Leagile Strategy and Strategic Partnership Affect Competitive Advantage of Construction Supply Chains
Authors: Oyombe Grace Georgine , Awino Zachary Bolo , Ogutu Martin , Njihia James Muranga
Published: January 2023

Objective: This study aimed at assessing the moderating influence of strategic partnership on the relationship between leagile strategy and competitive advantage in the supply chains of construction companies in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Methodology: Using a cross-sectional descriptive survey strategy and stratified sampling procedure, a sample size of 323 was obtained. Data from 260 companies were collected vide structured questionnaires and analyzed utilizing descriptive analysis and linear regression. Statistical software for social sciences version 22 was used for data analysis and the hypothesis was also tested. Findings: The results revealed strategic partnership had no moderating influence on the relationship between leagile strategy and competitive advantage. Further, strategic partnership was found to have a direct influence on competitive advantage as an independent variable. Conclusion: It was concluded that leagile strategy and strategic partnership influence the competitive advantage of construction supply chains in Nairobi City County as independent variables. A further conclusion was that there are additional factors attributed to the achievement of competitive advantage in construction supply chains besides leagile strategy and strategic partnership. Implications: The study provides a platform for advancing theory and research in strategic management by showing that leagile strategy and strategic partnership are significant contributing factors to the achievement of competitive advantage in the supply chains of construction companies in Nairobi City County Kenya. It adds to the existing literature, on the aspects which influence Competitive Advantage in the supply chains of Construction Companies. Managers and practitioners find this information useful in providing a comprehensive guide on the achievement of competitive advantages and survival by companies. Policymakers are made aware of ways in which the construction industry could attain competitive advantages and solve the myriad problems using a blend of leagile strategy and strategic partnership among other strategies. The government and construction industry may benefit by utilizing the findings as a basis for reforms to improve the competitiveness of companies in the sector and beyond.
Measure up
Authors: Gordon James
Published: January 2023

Road Safety Support’s camera testing facility in the UK is now an official, international calibration laboratory. James Gordon gets the inside story
System Error
Authors: Wordsworth Saul
Published: January 2023

A new era in ITS is dawning. London’s Urban Traffic Control (UTC) system, the backbone for SCOOT, is reaching the end of its useful life. Its replacement will be revolutionary.
A new Era
Authors: Yermack Larry
Published: January 2023

As conversations about Mobility as a Service intensify, the question remains, can it effectively diminish our love of private car ownership? Larry Yermack argues that it can, so long as it is properly integrated with road user charging
The Long View
Authors: Roper Jack
Published: January 2023

IBTTA’S outgoing president, Tim Stewart, has 34 years of experience in the industry. In an exclusive interview, he reflects on his own achievements, and those of his peers across the sector, but warns against complacency in the face of future challenges
Hajime Amano
Authors: Stone Tom
Published: January 2023

As the industry prepares for the 26th ITS World Congress in Singapore, ITS Asia-Pacific secretary general Hajime Amano, gives his opinion on the outlook for the region, sustainability… and ‘flying cars’
Hybridisation of Innovation Bureaucracies in the 1970s and 1980s
Authors: Kattel Rainer , Drechsler Wolfgang , Karo Erkki
Published: January 2023

This chapter considers the 1970s as a global turning point in policy narrative and contexts with the emergence of a multitude of full-fledged innovation bureaucracy organisations carrying out a variety of tasks and capabilities. It highlights the role of the US National Security Strategy (NSS) as procurer and market maker that led to the weakening of mission-oriented policies and organisations and the emergence of hybrid innovation bureaucracies. It also explains hybrid innovation bureaucracies as organisational configurations that attempt to attain military missions and make domestic companies internationally competitive through public research and development (R&D) and market access. The chapter looks at important rearrangements of the NSS bureaucracy and integration of the mission- and diffusion-oriented policy logics towards the hybridisation of NSS bureaucracy. It mentions the Department of Defense (DoD) that had to explore new ways of procuring advanced technology that needed to meet commercial interests if it were to access non-traditional suppliers.
High-performance layer-structured Si/Ga2O3/CH3NH3PbI3 heterojunction photodetector based on a Ga2O3 buffer interlayer
Authors: Wang Guibao , Pang Tiqiang , Sun Kai , Luan Suzhen , Zhang Yuming , Yuan Lei , Jia Renxu
Published: January 2023

Organic–inorganic metal halide perovskite-based photodetectors (PDs) have attracted great attention because they exhibit extraordinary optoelectronic performances due to advantages such as a low trap-state density and large absorption coefficient. As a buffer layer,

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Non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: Awareness survey of front-desk healthcare workers in Northern Tanzania
Authors: Maya Togolani , Komba Erick , Mensah Gloria , Mnyambwa Nicholaus , Doulla Basra , Mfinanga Sayoki , Addo Kennedy , Kazwala Rudovick
Published: January 2023

Over the past decade, there have been increasing reports of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species being implicated in tuberculosis (TB) treatment failure or misdiagnosed as TB. Inadequate awareness of NTM pulmonary disease among healthcare workers (HCWs) may contribute to a low index of suspicion for patients presenting to their hospitals. In this study, we assessed the awareness of NTM pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) among front desk HCWs in Northern Tanzania. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out among front desk HCWs in four administrative regions of Northern Tanzania. A standardized questionnaire was administered to consented participants from four clusters; clinicians, laboratory scientists, nurses, and pharmacists serving TB patients from Regional and District Health Facilities. Each participant was asked a set of questions, scored and the total score for each participant was determined. An awareness score was used to measure the level of awareness. The average score for all participants was estimated including the 95% confidence interval (CI). The overall awareness score was 24.1%, 95% CI 22.0–26.2%. History of training, experience in TB care, level of health facilities, age group, and setting were found to be statistically associated with the level of awareness of study participants. More than two-thirds (67%) of participants believe that pulmonary NTM and TB are clinically similar and 60% are not aware that AFB Microscopy cannot distinguish between the two. Only 13% of participants could mention at least one risk factor for NTM pulmonary disease. The level of awareness of NTM pulmonary disease was poor among HCWs in the surveyed TB clinics. National TB Programs are advised to include a topic on NTM in various on-job TB training packages for HCWs.
Biological responses to terahertz radiation with different power density in primary hippocampal neurons
Authors: Zhao Li , Yi Ruhan , Liu Sun , Chi Yunliang , Tan Shengzhi , Dong Ji , Wang Hui , Zhang Jing , Wang Haoyu , Xu Xinping , Yao Binwei , Wang Bo , Peng Ruiyun
Published: January 2023

Terahertz (THz) radiation is a valuable imaging and sensing tool which is widely used in industry and medicine. However, it biological effects including genotoxicity and cytotoxicity are lacking of research, particularly on the nervous system. In this study, we investigated how terahertz radiation with 10mW (0.12 THz) and 50 mW (0.157 THz) would affect the morphology, cell growth and function of rat hippocampal neurons in vitro.
Model predictive control of consensus-based energy management system for DC microgrid
Authors: Ali Syed Umaid , Waqar Asad , Aamir Muhammad , Qaisar Saeed Mian , Iqbal Jamshed
Published: January 2023

The increasing deployment and exploitation of distributed renewable energy source (DRES) units and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in DC microgrids lead to a promising research field currently. Individual DRES and BESS controllers can operate as grid-forming (GFM) or grid-feeding (GFE) units independently, depending on the microgrid operational requirements. In standalone mode, at least one controller should operate as a GFM unit. In grid-connected mode, all the controllers may operate as GFE units. This article proposes a consensus-based energy management system based upon Model Predictive Control (MPC) for DRES and BESS individual controllers to operate in both configurations (GFM or GFE). Energy management system determines the mode of power flow based on the amount of generated power, load power, solar irradiance, wind speed, rated power of every DG, and state of charge (SOC) of BESS. Based on selection of power flow mode, the role of DRES and BESS individual controllers to operate as GFM or GFE units, is decided. MPC hybrid cost function with auto-tuning weighing factors will enable DRES and BESS converters to switch between GFM and GFE. In this paper, a single hybrid cost function has been proposed for both GFM and GFE. The performance of the proposed energy management system has been validated on an EU low voltage benchmark DC microgrid by MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation and also compared with Proportional Integral (PI) & Sliding Mode Control (SMC) technique. It has been noted that as compared to PI & SMC, MPC technique exhibits settling time of less than 1μsec and 5% overshoot.
COVID-19, jobs and skills—Exploratory analysis of the job postings in the US and UK healthcare job market
Authors: Upadhyay Himanshu , Simsekler Mecit Can Emre , Maalouf Maher , Anwar Siddiq , Omar Mohammed
Published: January 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected all spheres of life, including the healthcare workforce. While the COVID-19 pandemic has started driving organizational and societal shifts, it is vital for healthcare organizations and decision-makers to analyze patterns in the changing workforce. In this study, we aim to identify patterns in healthcare job postings during the pandemic to understand which jobs and associated skills are trending after the advent of COVID-19. Content analysis of job postings was conducted using data-driven approaches over two-time intervals in the pandemic. The proposed framework utilizes Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modeling to evaluate the patterns in job postings in the US and the UK. The most demanded jobs, skills and tasks for the US job postings are presented based on job posting data from popular job posting websites. This is obtained by mapping the job postings to the jobs, skills and tasks defined in the O*NET database for the healthcare occupations in the US. The topic modeling results clearly show increased hiring for telehealth services in both the US and UK. This study also presents an increase in demand for specific occupations and skills in the USA healthcare industry. The results and methods used in the study can help monitor rapid changes in the job market due to pandemics and guide decision-makers to make organizational shifts in a timely manner.
Clinical Outcomes, Patient-Reported Outcomes, and Economic Burden for Thai People Living with Chronic Urticaria (CORE-CU) in routine practice: A study protocol for a monocentric prospective longitudinal study
Authors: Chuamanochan Mati , Nochaiwong Surapon
Published: January 2023

Background

Few prospective longitudinal studies have been conducted in Thailand to account for the long-term response to chronic urticaria (CU) treatment, clinical outcomes, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) among people living with CU based on routine practice. As such, a prospective longitudinal study will be conducted to better understand the long-term responses to treatment options and the burden of disease in Thai CU patients.

Methods and design

This study is a routine clinical practice registry-based, monocentric, prospective, observational longitudinal study in the northern region of Thailand. Adult patients in an outpatient clinic diagnosed with CU, including both chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria will be recruited for this study. The cohort will be collected and registered using the joint routine clinical practice data based on multiple datasets including claims outpatient and inpatient data, routine laboratory results, medication utilization, health care costs, clinical characteristics, long-term urticaria care and monitoring, and PRO measures. The point prevalence of adverse health outcomes will be estimated and reported corresponding to 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The overall trend analysis will be analyzed to explore the effect of over time across the cohort time frame.

Conclusion

This prospective longitudinal study will report the clinical outcomes, PROs, and economic burden among Thai people living with CU based on routine clinical practice. Findings will provide comprehensive evidence and could facilitate best practices for CU care management for health care professionals, researchers, policymakers, and public society.

Trial registration

Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR, thaiclinicaltrials.org) registration TCTR20210706005. Registered on July 6, 2021.
Antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in pharmaceutical industries: A structural equation modelling approach
Authors: Alshurideh Muhammad Turki , Al Kurdi Barween , Almomani Hamzeh , Obeidat Zaid Mohammad , Masa’deh Ra’ed
Published: January 2023

This study aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in the Jordanian pharmaceutical industry. A convenience sampling technique was used to select a representative sample of physicians working in the public healthcare sector in Jordan. Particularly, 500 questionnaires were distributed and 374 questionnaires were used in the analyses. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the research hypotheses. Results revealed that the relationship quality was affected positively by the following antecedent variables (relational selling behavior, expertise, and ethical Relationship) while similarities had no significant effect on the relationship quality. The findings also revealed that the anticipation of future interaction between the physicians and medical representatives was affected positively by relationship quality. This study is the first that adequately examined the relationship quality and the anticipation of future interaction in the Jordanian pharmaceutical sector.
Using bioluminescence to image gene expression and spontaneous behavior in freely moving mice
Authors: Malik Astha , Zavadil Jessica A. , Geusz Michael E.
Published: January 2023

Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of gene expression in live animals is a powerful method for monitoring development, tumor growth, infections, healing, and other progressive, long-term biological processes. BLI remains an effective approach for reducing the number of animals needed to monitor dynamic changes in gene activity because images can be captured repeatedly from the same animals. When examining these ongoing changes, it is sometimes necessary to remove rhythmic effects on the bioluminescence signal caused by the circadian clock’s daily modulation of gene expression. Furthermore, BLI using freely moving animals remains limited because the standard procedures can alter normal behaviors. Another obstacle with conventional BLI of animals is that luciferin, the firefly luciferase substrate, is usually injected into mice that are then imaged while anesthetized. Unfortunately, the luciferase signal declines rapidly during imaging as luciferin is cleared from the body. Alternatively, mice are imaged after they are surgically implanted with a pump or connected to a tether to deliver luciferin, but stressors such as this surgery and anesthesia can alter physiology, behavior, and the actual gene expression being imaged. Consequently, we developed a strategy that minimizes animal exposure to stressors before and during sustained BLI of freely moving unanesthetized mice. This technique was effective when monitoring expression of the Per1 gene that serves in the circadian clock timing mechanism and was previously shown to produce circadian bioluminescence rhythms in live mice. We used hairless albino mice expressing luciferase that were allowed to drink luciferin and engage in normal behaviors during imaging with cooled electron-multiplying-CCD cameras. Computer-aided image selection was developed to measure signal intensity of individual mice each time they were in the same posture, thereby providing comparable measurements over long intervals. This imaging procedure, performed primarily during the animal’s night, is compatible with entrainment of the mouse circadian timing system to the light cycle while allowing sampling at multi-day intervals to monitor long-term changes. When the circadian expression of a gene is known, this approach provides an effective alternative to imaging immobile anesthetized animals and can removing noise caused by circadian oscillations and body movements that can degrade data collected during long-term imaging studies.
Extracellular histone release by renal cells after warm and cold ischemic kidney injury: Studies in an ex-vivo porcine kidney perfusion model
Authors: van Smaalen Tim C. , Beurskens Danielle M. H. , Kox Jasper J. H. F. M. , Polonia Rasheendra , Vos Rein , Duimel Hans , van de Wetering Willine J. , López-Iglesias Carmen , Reutelingsperger Chris P. , Ernest van Heurn L. W. , Peutz-Kootstra Carine J. , Nicolaes Gerry A. F.
Published: January 2023

Extracellular histones are cytotoxic molecules involved in experimental acute kidney injury. In patients receiving a renal transplant from donors after circulatory death, who suffer from additional warm ischemia, worse graft outcome is associated with higher machine perfusate extracellular histone H3 concentrations. We now investigated temperature-dependent extracellular histone release in an ex vivo porcine renal perfusion model, and subsequently studied histone release in the absence and presence of non-anticoagulant heparin. Seven pairs of ischemically damaged porcine kidneys were machine perfused at 4°C (cold ischemia) or 28°C (warm ischemia). Perfusate histone H3 concentration was higher after warm as compared to cold ischemia (median (IQR) = 0.48 (0.20–0.83) μg/mL vs. 0.02 (0.00–0.06) μg/mL; p = .045, respectively). Employing immune-electron microscopy (EM), histone containing cytoplasmic protrusions of tubular and endothelial cells were found after warm ischemic injury. Furthermore, abundant histone localization was detected in debris surrounding severely damaged glomerular cells, in a “buck shot” pattern. In vitro, histones were cytotoxic to endothelial and kidney epithelial cells in a temperature-dependent manner. In a separate ex vivo experiment, addition of heparin did not change the total histone H3 levels observed in the perfusate but revealed a continuous increase in the level of a lower molecular weight histone H3 variant. Our findings show that ischemically damaged kidneys release more extracellular histones in warm ischemia, which by EM was due to histone release by renal cells. Blocking of histone-mediated damage during transplantation may be beneficial in prevention of renal injury.
Co-culture models of endothelial cells, macrophages, and vascular smooth muscle cells for the study of the natural history of atherosclerosis
Authors: Liu Martin , Samant Saurabhi , Vasa Charu Hasini , Pedrigi Ryan M. , Oguz Usama M. , Ryu Sangjin , Wei Timothy , Anderson Daniel R. , Agrawal Devendra K. , Chatzizisis Yiannis S.
Published: January 2023

Background

This work aims to present a fast, affordable, and reproducible three-cell co-culture system that could represent the different cellular mechanisms of atherosclerosis, extending from atherogenesis to pathological intimal thickening.

Methods and results

We built four culture models: (i) Culture model #1 (representing normal arterial intima), where human coronary artery endothelial cells were added on top of Matrigel-coated collagen type I matrix, (ii) Culture model #2 (representing atherogenesis), which demonstrated the subendothelial accumulation and oxidative modification of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), (iii) Culture model #3 (representing intimal xanthomas), which demonstrated the monocyte adhesion to the endothelial cell monolayer, transmigration into the subendothelial space, and transformation to lipid-laden macrophages, (iv) Culture model #4 (representing pathological intimal thickening), which incorporated multiple layers of human coronary artery smooth muscle cells within the matrix. Coupling this model with different shear stress conditions revealed the effect of low shear stress on the oxidative modification of LDL and the upregulation of pro-inflammatory molecules and matrix-degrading enzymes. Using electron microscopy, immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, protein and mRNA quantification assays, we showed that the behaviors exhibited by the endothelial cells, macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells in these models were very similar to those exhibited by these cell types in nascent and intermediate atherosclerotic plaques in humans. The preparation time of the cultures was 24 hours.

Conclusion

We present three-cell co-culture models of human atherosclerosis. These models have the potential to allow cost- and time-effective investigations of the mechanobiology of atherosclerosis and new anti-atherosclerotic drug therapies.
Research priorities for nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries
Authors: Lelijveld Natasha , Wrottesley Stephanie V. , Aburmishan Dina , Hemler Elena C. , Fentahun Netsanet , Ali Zakari , Menezes Rachael , Roche Marion , Sharma Deepika , Wazny Kerri , Ross David A. , Sethi Vani , Mates Emily
Published: January 2023

Purpose

A lack of data, intervention studies, policies, and targets for nutrition in school-age children (SAC) and adolescents (5-19 years) is hampering progress towards tackling malnutrition. To stimulate and guide further research, this study generated a list of research priorities.

Methods

Using the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method, a list of 48 research questions was compiled and questions were scored against defined criteria using a stakeholder survey. Questions covered all forms of malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies, thinness, stunting, overweight/obesity, and suboptimal dietary quality. The context was defined as research focused on SAC and adolescents, 5 to 19 years old, in low-and middle-income countries, that could achieve measurable results in reducing the prevalence of malnutrition in the next 10 years.

Results

Between 85 and 101 stakeholders responded per question. Respondents covered a broad geographical distribution across 38 countries, with the largest proportion focusing on work in East and Southern Africa. Of the research questions ranked in the top ten, half focused on delivery strategies for reaching adolescents and half on improving existing interventions. There were few differences in the ranked order of questions between age groups but those related to in-school children and adolescents had higher expert agreement than those for out-of-school adolescents. The top ranked research question focused on tailoring antenatal and postnatal care for pregnant adolescent girls.

Conclusion

Nutrition programmes should incorporate implementation research to inform delivery of effective interventions to this age group, starting in schools. Academic research on the development and tailoring of existing nutrition interventions is also needed; specifically, on how to package multisectoral programmes and how to better reach vulnerable and underserved sub- groups, including those out of school.