bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization and Assessment of Water Quality using Statistical Analysis for Tiruchirappalli City, Tamil Nadu, India
Authors: Chakraborty Swagata , Banu J. Fowmitha , Sridhar K. , Vignesh P. , Kalaipriya P. , Govindaraju M.
Published: March 2023

Water is an essential commodity to sustain life. The condition of water in Tiruchirappalli was measured using different Physicochemical parameters like Temperature, pH, TDS, Total Solids, Salinity, Total Hardness, and Electrical Conductivity. Water samples were collected from different places in Tiruchirappalli city, Tamil Nadu. Water samples were examined by different chemical methods. According to the results, Thiruvarambur-1 showed comparatively higher results in the case of every parameter compared to other sampling stations. Obtained results were further interpreted using statistical tools. Considering ECs as a principal component for the regression and correlation analysis with other parameters significant correlation was found. A strong correlation was observed between ECs and TDS, Total Hardness, Turbidity, and Salinity.
Somatic Evolution of Cancer: A New Synthesis
Authors: Baing Ulfat , Kharate Rohini , Watve Milind
Published: March 2023

Cancers have been interpreted either as somatic evolution of cheater cells that escape replication regulation or alternatively as non-healing wounds. Both the interpretations have substantial support as well as glaring anomalies but the two have not been put together to make a coherent synthesis. We argue here that mechanisms and pathways to escape the normal regulation of cell proliferation do not need to evolve de novo. Mechanisms to override the normal regulation have already evolved for wound healing and tissue regeneration. Almost all of the hallmarks of cancer are also seen in the wound healing process. This suggests that cancer develops not by any de novo gain of function but by exaptation of pre-evolved wound healing functions. Somatic evolution that makes the wound healing triggers constitutive is not mutation limited but selection limited and the selective forces are dependent on the tissue microenvironment. Some mechanisms for such selection have been suggested. Many more need to be investigated. A series of mechanisms have evolved to minimize the risk of cancers which may fail in an altered lifestyle context. We support our synthesis with multiple lines of evidence and also make differential testable predictions. This evolutionary perspective suggests novel lines of research and also has translatable implications for cancer prevention.
DaFKD: Domain-aware Federated Knowledge Distillation
Authors: Wang Haozhao , Li Yichen , Xu Wenchao , Li Ruixuan , Zhan Yufeng , Zeng Zhigang
Published: March 2023

Federated Distillation (FD) has recently attracted increasing attention for its efficiency in aggregating multiple diverse local models trained from statistically heterogeneous data of distributed clients. Existing FD methods generally treat these models equally by merely computing the average of their output soft predictions for some given input distillation sample, which does not take the diversity across all local models into account, thus leading to degraded performance of the aggregated model, especially when some local models learn little knowledge about the sample. In this paper, we propose a new perspective that treats the local data in each client as a specific domain and design a novel domain knowledge aware federated distillation method, dubbed DaFKD, that can discern the importance of each model to the distillation sample, and thus is able to optimize the ensemble of soft predictions from diverse models. Specifically, we employ a domain discriminator for each client, which is trained to identify the correlation factor between the sample and the corresponding domain. Then, to facilitate the training of the domain discriminator while saving communication costs, we propose sharing its partial parameters with the classification model. Extensive experiments on various datasets and settings show that the proposed method can improve the model accuracy by up to $6.02\%$ compared to state-of-the-art baselines.
Schopenhauercı İsteme’den Nietzscheci Dionysos’a ya da Kötümserliğin Üstesinden Gelmenin Trajik Karakteri
Authors: ŞEREF Canberk
Published: March 2023

Bu çalışmada, en başta, Tragedyanın Doğuşu’nun Nietzsche düşüncesinin temeli olduğu fikri benimsenerek, bu metnin temel savını irdelemek amaçlanmıştır. Bir düşünürün fikirleri şüphesiz ki belli bir birikimden başlayarak şekillenir. İlk önce biriktirilen kütüphane, daha sonrasında özgünlük adına değiştirilecek ve dönüştürülecektir. Nietzsche için can alıcı bulduğumuz da Schopenhauer ile olan karşıtlığı bakımından budur. Bu sebeplerden, çalışmamızda Schopenhauer felsefesi ve estetik anlayışı, kaçınılmaz olduğu üzere Kant ile atılan temeliyle göz önüne alınmış, sonrasında Schopenhauer ve Nietzsche arasındaki göz ardı edilemez yakınlığa rağmen yine de radikal olan farklılık belirtilmiş, ardından da Nietzsche’nin antik Yunanlılarda gördüğü, tragedyayı kuran trajik bilinç serimlenmiştir. Tüm bu süreç boyunca göz önünde bulundurulan, Schopenhauercı kötümserlik ve Nietzscheci kötümserliğin ilişkisi ve farklı olmuştur.
Pandemi (Covid-19) Dönemini Albert Camus İle Düşünmek: Nasıl Yaşamalıyız?
Authors: ŞERİFOĞULLARI Gizem
Published: March 2023

Pandemi her çağda insan hayatını derinden sarsan, insanın yaşam şeklini değiştiren zorlu bir sürece neden olmaktadır. Bu dönemin en önemli niteliği ölüm gerçeğinin öne çıkmasıyla insandaki umutsuzluk ve bıkkınlık ile varoluşun amacına ve nesnel dünyaya ilişkin sorgulamaların artmasıdır. İşte bu sorgulama ise insana hayatın amacını, yaşamın yaşanmaya değer olup olmadığını, özgürlük olanağını ve nihayetinde tüm olumsuzluklara rağmen yaşamda nasıl bir yol haritası tercih edeceğini belirlediğinden oldukça elzemdir. Bu bağlamda çalışmada ilkin Covid-19‘un ortaya çıkışına kadarki dönemlerde öne çıkan epidemilerin insan hayatına olan etkileri kısaca ele alınıp ardından Covid-19 döneminde insan hayatındaki değişiklikler, insanın yapıp etmelerine olan etkileri ele alınacaktır. Bu noktadan hareketle Camus perspektifinden Covid-19 döneminde üzerinde daha fazla düşünülen ölüm kavramı ile insan ve dünya ilişkisindeki anlamsızlık -saçma- insan özgürlüğünün sınırlılığı tartışılacaktır. Ardından Camus’nun Veba adlı eserinden yola çıkarak veba günlerinde insanlara nasıl bir yaşam rehberi sunduğu analiz edilecektir.Çalışmanın amacı da pandemi (Covid-19) dönemini Camus açısından yaşamın saçmalığı çerçevesinde özgürlük ve başkaldırı kavramıyla değerlendirerek, pandemi dönemi aracılığıyla “nasıl yaşamalıyız?” sorusunu incelemektir.
Economic consequences of keeping peace in Afghanistan through Indonesian soft power approach
Authors:   Indonesian Defense University, Rachman Arief
Published: March 2023

This study aims to determine the steps of the Indonesian Government in realizing peace in Afghanistan with a soft power approach and also economic consequences. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method. Data was obtained utilizing observation and literature study. This research was conducted over two years of 2020 and 2021 on Indonesia’s soft power efforts in Afghanistan. This study involved six policy makers in Indonesian foreign policy, especially soft power and soft diplomacy in Afghanistan. Respondents were asked to assess the various strategies Indonesia had undertaken to use soft power in Afghanistan to maintain world peace due to the rise of terrorism issues. The results show that Indonesia has a few strategies through a soft power approach in maintaining peace in Afghanistan. First, the two heads of state held a meeting. Second, the two KBRI institutions discussed with research institutions, Afghan community leaders, and the Indonesian embassy in Indonesia held a meeting with the Afghan scholar movement and the Peace Council. These three strategies can have a good impact on peace in Afghanistan.
Virtual team communication to improve employees’ financial well-being and task performance
Authors:   Banjarmasin National College of Economics, Arifin Zainal , Said Meldasari ,   Banjarmasin National College of Economics, Said Laila Refiana ,   University of Lambung Mangkurat Banjarmasin
Published: March 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced almost all countries in the world to implement lockdowns. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is work from home. This study examines employee preferences and organizational support directly and indirectly through virtual teamwork communication on employee task performance and Financial Well-being. This study used the descriptive qualitative method. The study involved 156 employees working in education, telecommunications, transportation and health in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Sampling was carried out randomly among employees in the research department. The reliability of the research tool is above the acceptable level with Cronbach’s alpha above 0.70. The data analysis used is path analysis. The results showed that employee preferences and organizational support had a direct effect on Financial Well-being and task performance. Virtual team communication can mediate influence in enhancing the relationship between employee preferences and organizational support. The research implication shows that well-functioning virtual team communication can contribute to improved work performance as well as Financial Well-being. Therefore, collaborative support is needed, both individual and organizational support.
The effect of the quality of local government financial reports on corruption moderated with the audit findings
Authors:   Universitas Bandar Lampung, Aminah
Published: March 2023

The study examines the effect of the Quality of Local Government Financial Reports (LKPD) on corruption moderated by audit findings. The study was conducted on all provincial governments in Indonesia. Corruption is measured by data on corruption cases in the Attorney General’s Office. The audit findings are evaluated using weaknesses in the Information Control System (SPI) and discoveries of non-compliance with laws and regulations. This research use data regression, model testing, hypothesis testing, and coefficient of determination. The results reveal that the LKPD’s quality had a negative and significant impact on corruption. This analysis states that if the quality of LKPD increases by 1%, corruption will decrease by 0.80%. The audit findings strengthen the relationship between the quality of LKPD on corruption. This finding supports the agency theory and stewardship theory. Therefore, the provincial government should improve the quality of LKPD to minimize audit findings and corruption.
Effects of General Anesthesia Plus Multimodal Analgesia on Immediate Perioperative Outcomes of Hamstring Tendon Autograft ACL Reconstruction
Authors: Walczak Brian E. , Bernardoni Eamon D. , Steiner Quinn , Baer Geoffrey S. , Donnelly Melanie J. , Shepler John A.
Published: March 2023

Background:

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with hamstring tendon autograft (H-ACLR) is a standard ambulatory procedure with the potential for considerable postoperative pain. We hypothesized that general anesthesia combined with a multimodal analgesia regimen would reduce postoperative opioid use associated with H-ACLR.

Methods:

This study was a single-center, surgeon-stratified, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. The primary end point was the total postoperative opioid use during the immediate postoperative period, and secondary outcomes included postoperative knee pain, adverse events, and ambulatory discharge efficiency.

Results:

One hundred and twelve subjects, 18 to 52 years of age, were randomized to placebo (57 subjects) or combination multimodal analgesia (MA) (55 subjects). The MA group required fewer opioids postoperatively (mean ± standard deviation, 9.81 ± 7.58 versus 13.88 ± 8.49 morphine milligram equivalents; p = 0.010; effect size = −0.51). Similarly, the MA group required fewer opioids within the first 24 hours postoperatively (mean ± standard deviation, 16.56 ± 10.77 versus 22.13 ± 10.66 morphine milligram equivalents; p = 0.008; effect size = −0.52). The subjects in the MA group reported lower posteromedial knee pain (median [interquartile range, IQR]: 3.0 [0.0 to 5.0] versus 4.0 [2.0 to 5.0]; p = 0.027) at 1 hour postoperatively. Nausea medication was required for 10.5% of the subjects receiving the placebo versus 14.5% of the subjects receiving MA (p = 0.577). Pruritis was reported for 17.5% of subjects receiving the placebo versus 14.5% receiving MA (p = 0.798). The median time to discharge was 177 minutes (IQR, 150.5 to 201.0 minutes) for subjects receiving placebo versus 188 minutes (IQR, 160.0 to 222.0 minutes) for those receiving MA (p = 0.271).

Conclusions:

A combination of general anesthesia and local, regional, oral, and intravenous multimodal analgesia appears to reduce postoperative opioid requirements after H-ACLR compared with placebo. Adding preoperative patient education and focusing on donor-site analgesia may maximize perioperative outcomes.

Level of Evidence:

TherapeuticLevel I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
The impact of mixed-use development, small businesses, and walkability on carbon emissions in cool climate cities
Authors: Zagow Maged
Published: March 2023

Cities in the United States (US) with a cool climate, such as Chicago and Boston, are experiencing a decrease in carbon emissions, possibly as a result of an emphasis on public transit and alternative energy sources. A dearth of dependable data on carbon emissions and urban comparison studies between metropolitan regions makes it difficult to support or refute ideal practices and policies. Thus, we evaluated the association between land use, walkability, socioeconomic characteristics, and carbon dioxide emissions at the level of the zip code. The current study analyzes the carbon footprints of four metropolitan locations in climatic zone 5 with a model of every US zip code in order to build a benchmarking prediction model for climate change in every US zip code. Our research indicates that in temperate climates, an increase in the number of enterprises within walking distance decreases CO2 emissions. This suggests that increasing the walkability of urban areas and renovating retail, art, entertainment, and leisure facilities in line with urban sustainability regulations can substantially reduce CO2 emissions.
Landslide susceptibility modeling derived from remote sensing, multi-criteria decision analysis, and GIS techniques: A case study in the Southeast Bohol Province, Philippines
Authors: Tubog Michael Vincent , Villahermosa Ryan Lester , Perong John Glenn
Published: March 2023

Several landslide hazard susceptibility mapping has been done in the Philippines to augment the need for vulnerability assessment. As a karstic region, the southeast Bohol province is accustomed to frequent landslide occurrences, causing hazard risks in adjacent communities. These landslides are generally controlled by both extrinsic (e.g., road network, fault) and intrinsic (e.g., geomorphologic and geologic) factors. Field observation denotes several occurrences along steep slopes and stream banks. However, the challenges in updating the landslide hazard susceptibility maps arose from the scarcity of updated field information. With data access limitations, this study aims to generate accurate and precise landslide susceptibility models using remote sensing and statistical-based analysis processed in Geographic Information System (GIS). This study uses open-sourced medium-resolution satellite data and digital elevation models to generate the 8 landslide factor maps. Analysis was done through Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Logic Overlay. The resulting landslide susceptibility models were validated using Forest-based Classification and Regression (FBCR), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and ordinary linear regression. The AHP-based model shows significant accuracy and compatibility with the actual susceptibility of the site since the p-value of the map is 0.031 in ANOVA, while the Fuzzy-based model cannot be considered accurate since it generated a 0.266 p-value result. Both models were validated in FBCR and resulted in a p-value of 2.2x10-16 in the ordinary linear regression, making both significant landslide prediction models. These results denote the accuracy and compatibility of the landslide susceptibility and prediction models, validating the efficiency of the process.
Medical Report Generation and Chatbot for COVID_19 Diagnosis Using Open-AI
Authors: Mehboob Fozia , Malik Khalid Mahmood , Saudagar Abdul Khader Jilani , Rauf Abdul , Jiang Richard , Khan Muhammad Badruddin , AlTameem Abdullah
Published: March 2023

The novel corona_virus (COVID_19) is an infectious disease have catastrophic impact on health and spread across the world. A crucial step in COVID-19 detection is to develop an automated and efficient classification system so that prompt treatment and medical care can be provided to the patients. However, most of the medical imaging systems just present the conditions of lung and scans are generated in large quantities that add a huge burdens to the workload of radiologists. Consequently, an intelligent system having capacity of lesions analysis in images and automatically creating a medical reports is of great significance for diagnosis of COVID_19. In this paper, we propose to use the fine tuned GPT3 and OPT350m models to automatically generate the medical text reports based on the segmented lesion regions of COVID_19 CT scan of patients. The proposed approach also provides the GPT3 based chat bot for the users to ask questions regarding COVID_19 identification. The custom trained chat bot responds to the user or practitioner queries based on the generated report by the fine tuned GPT3 and OPT model(350m). The experimental results showed that proposed models achieved beyond the state-of-the-art performances on medical report generation using COVID_19 CT scan data set. We conclude our research study by enumerating few future research directions in COVID_19 report generation.
The COVID-19 pandemic and house price convergence in Poland
Authors: Tomal Mateusz
Published: March 2023

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on price convergence in the housing market is largely unknown. This paper aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on the convergence of sales and rental housing prices. The residential markets in Polish voivodeship capitals were chosen as a case study. The convergence evaluation was based on a local linear version of the log t regression test, which allowed the estimation of a time-varying convergence speed parameter. The causal effect of the pandemic on convergence was examined using a Bayesian structural time series model. The study results revealed that the pandemic led to divergence in the primary sales housing market, growth convergence in the secondary sales housing market, and to a weakening of growth convergence in the rental housing market. Finally, this paper provides the R function logt that enables the running of the local linear and dummy variable log t regression tests.
JEL Codes: R20, R31, O47.
Construction of nursing intervention plan for patients with Parkinson's constipation combined with HAPA and nudge strategy: a Delphi study
Authors: Geng Wenyao , Ren Mengdie , Zhao Feng , Yang Fuguo , Liu Heng
Published: March 2023

Background:Constipation is one of the most common non-motor symptoms in PD patients, and non-motor symptoms, like constipation, can appear before motor symptoms. Incorrect treatment of constipation in PD patients can result in colonic volvulus and pseudo intestinal obstruction, as well as a reduction in the therapeutic effect of anti-Parkinson's disease drugs due to absorption issues There is, however, no comprehensive and scientific nursing intervention plan for PD patients who are constipated.
Methods: A multi-disciplinary nursing research group of five people was established to construct the first draft of intervention plan through literature review We chose 15 experts from 7 universities and tertiary hospitals in 5 provinces (cities), including 4 neurologists, 9 clinical nursing specialists in neurology, 1 dieticians, and 1 rehabilitators. Two rounds of consultations were held from April to July 2022 with 15 experts to screen and revise the indicators at each level, confirming their importance and feasibility at each level.
Results: There were three primary indicators (pre-intentional stage, intentional stage, and action stage) in the two rounds of expert correspondence, nine secondary indicators (disease risk perception, adverse consequence expectation, self-efficacy and intention of action; action plan, coping plan and coping self-efficacy; produce healthy behaviors, maintain healthy behaviors, recover behaviors and recover self-efficacy), and 22 tertiary indicators.
Conclusions: After the implementation of two rounds of Delphi method, the final formed constipation intervention program for PD patients provides the basis for clinical nursing practice, which has the characteristics of convenience, comprehensiveness, dependence, scientificity and feasibility. Therefore, it has application and promotion value.
Misdiagnosis of Scrotal and Retroperitoneal Lymphangioma in Children
Authors: Wu Wei , Mo Jiayu , Tan Kezhe , Chen Xingzhao , Xu WeiJue , Liu JiangBin , Lv Zhibao
Published: March 2023

Objective:Scrotal and retroperitoneal lymphangioma (SRL) in children is relatively rare, the clinical symptoms of which are usually difficult to distinguish from hydrocele, incarcerated inguinal oblique hernia, etc. The study aimed to explore the clinical diagnosis and treatment of abdominal scrotal lymphangioma in children, and thus to expand the understanding of this disease in clinical practice.
Method:Nine male children, aged from 1 to 10 years, that were admitted to Shanghai Children’s Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 and finally confirmed as lymphangioma in the inguinal area, were recruited for the study. The clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of these children were retrospectively analyzed. The time periods from onset to final diagnosis are in the ranged of 3 weeks to 20 months. We also reviewed the SRL cases which were misdiagnosed at first in published English literature from 2000 to 2022.
Results:The 9 cases were misdiagnosed as hydrocele, hematoma and inguinal hernia. 3 cases underwent intracystic injection of bleomycin, 3 had laparoscopic mass resection, and 3 received resection of inguinal lymphangioma under direct vision. Postoperative pathological analysis of the surgical specimen confirmed the diagnosis of benign cystic lesions and lymphangioma. We found a total of 14 SRL cases in published English literature, of which 8 were misdiagnosed .To be specific，6 cases were diagnosed as hydrocele ，1 as inguinal oblique hernia, and 1 as testicular tumor, all of which underwent ultrasonography scans. All cases were confirmed to be lymphangioma depend on the pathological examination.
Conclusion:The high similarity of clinical manifestations may contribute to the misdiagnosis of children with scrotal mass. The detailed and accurate medical history, careful physical examination, imaging are significant in the differential diagnosis of scrotal lump in children before surgery, and the final diagnosis is based on pathological examination.
Yield of Computed Tomography Perfusion in Stroke Management
Authors: Cviková Martina , Haršány Michal , Vinklárek Jan , Štefela Jakub , Fojtová Iva , Mikulík Robert
Published: March 2023

OBJECTIVES
The use of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) is not supported by guidelines unless to diagnose penumbra in extended time window treatment. The purpose of this study was to define the yield of CTP for stroke diagnosis beyond penumbra imaging in hyperacute phase (0-6 hours) and extented time window (6-24 hours).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
All consecutive patients with acute onset of symptoms within 24-hour window underwent CTP. The diagnostic value of CTP was calculated against radiological and clinical diagnosis of stroke. CTP was positive in presence of core or penumbra on RAPID. Radiological diagnoses were established as acute infarction on follow up imaging or symptomatic occlusion on baseline CT angiography. Clinical diagnoses were discharge diagnoses of stroke.
RESULTS
BetweenNov/2018-Nov/2019, 585 consecutive patients with acute neurological deficit were scanned with multimodal CT imaging, 500 (85%) were included: 274 (55%) within hyperacute phase, 153 (31%) had radiological diagnoses of stroke, and 122 (24%) clinical diagnoses of stroke. CTP was positive only in patients with confirmed stroke (positive predictive value and specificity 100%). When CTP was negative, 43% had a stroke mimic. Patients with stroke mimics were younger (66±17 vs. 73±13) and had lower National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (median 0; IQR 0-2 vs median 4; IQR 2-6) compared to patients with CTP negative stroke.
CONCLUSIONs: Our study newly documents that CTP is useful beyond penumbra imaging: if CTP is positive than stroke diagnosis is established, which should prompt acute recanalization treatments. If CTP is negative physicians should consider stroke mimics.
Therapist competencies in the context of group-based exercise programs in medical rehabilitation - A qualitative study with patients and exercise therapists from Germany
Authors: Schuber André Arik , Gernert Madeleine , Schaller Andrea
Published: March 2023

Background: Group-based exercise programs account for nearly half of exercise therapy services provided in German medical rehabilitation facilities. However, information about necessary therapist competencies for the successful execution of these programs is sparse. Thus, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore relevant therapist competencies in the context of group-based exercise programs from the patients’ and therapists’ perspective.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five rehabilitation patients following a three-week inpatient orthopedic rehabilitation program as well as five exercise therapists with work experience in group-based exercise therapy. Data were analyzed using structuring content analysis according to Kuckartz.
Results: From 155 topic-related interview passages, four competency categories with 16 subcategories and respective characteristics were identified. In addition to professional expertise like biomedical knowledge, exercise therapists were expected to possess a multitude of didactic-methodological, personal, and social-communicative abilities.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the psychosocial, behavioral and educational goals of group-based exercise programs necessitate a wide range of therapist competencies. These conform to the multidimensional nature of exercise therapy and should therefore be covered in vocational and continuing education.
Unraveling the Adaptive Chemical Traits of Rhamnidium elaeocarpum in Response to Fire and Environmental Factors in Pantanal Wetlands
Authors: Siqueira Camila Sório , Santos Vanessa Samúdio dos , Júnior Geraldo Alves Damasceno , Carollo Carlos Alexandre
Published: March 2023

We conducted a study on the effects of fire onRhamnidium elaeocarpum, a widely distributed woody species found in the Pantanal wetlands, using LC-MS metabolomics, total phenolic and tannin content analysis, and thermogravimetric behavior. We sampled individuals from four different groups and found that recent fires had no significant impact on the species' phenolic metabolism, except for those specimens whose aerial parts had died during the 2020 megafire, which showed a compound decline due to leaching. The high levels of phenolics inR. elaeocarpumsuggest that the species has a biochemical tolerance to the stress caused by seasonal fires. Metabolomic profiling revealed the presence of proanthocyanidin oligomers, which protect against oxidative stress and post-fire environmental disturbances. However, the passage of fire also led to a high incidence of toxic karwinaphthopyranone derivatives, which could be a concern for the species' medicinal use. Finally, the thermogravimetric analysis showed that the species is thermotolerant, with an intrinsic relationship between the secondary compounds and thermotolerance. Our study enhances our understanding of the impact of fire on woody species' metabolism, although distinguishing whether chemical traits are an adaptive feature or a response to surrounding environmental factors is challenging.
Characteristic dynamic functional connectivity during sevoflurane-induced general anesthesia
Authors: Miao Jingya , Tantawi Mohamed , Alizadeh Mahdi , Thalheimer Sara , Vedaei Faezeh , Romo Victor , Mohamed Feroze B. , Wu Chengyuan
Published: March 2023

General anesthesia (GA) during surgery is commonly maintained by inhalational sevoflurane. Previous resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) studies have demonstrated suppressed functional connectivity (FC) of the entire brain networks, especially the default mode networks, transitioning from the awake to GA condition. However, accuracy and reliability were limited by previous administration methods (e.g. face mask) and short rs-fMRI scans. Therefore, in this study, a clinical scenario of epilepsy patients undergoing laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) was leveraged to acquire 15 minutes of rs-fMRI while under general endotracheal anesthesia to maximize the accuracy of sevoflurane level. Nine recruited patients had fMRI acquired during awake and under GA, of which seven were included in both static and dynamic FC analyses. Group independent component analysis (ICA) and a sliding-window method followed by k-means clustering were applied to identify four dynamic brain states, which characterized subtypes of FC patterns. Our results showed that a low-FC brain state was characteristic of the GA condition as a single featuring state during the entire rs-fMRI session; while a highly synchronized brain state was characteristic of the awake condition, with frequent fluctuations between three brain states. In conclusion, our study revealed remarkable dynamic connectivity changes from awake to GA condition and demonstrated the advantages of dynamic FC analysis for future studies in the assessments of the effects of GA on brain functional activities.
Design of 3D animation color rendering system supported by cloud computing based on genetic algorithm
Authors: Ling Yan
Published: March 2023

The wireless network is composed of multiple micro network nodes that are difficult to replace. These network nodes are usually located in areas with poor environmental conditions, so the energy consumption and security of nodes have become the main limitations and challenges. Therefore, this paper discusses the network topology, data transmission and node trust mechanism, and proposes a cloud computing technology algorithm for intelligent regional wireless network. According to the data of arrival delay difference in intelligent regional wireless network environment, the approximate location of mobile system is set as different positioning results. The dynamic position of the mobile system is obtained through multiple calculations. With the support of cloud computing technology, this paper also studies the color rendering system of 3D animation. 3D animation can not only express emotions and feelings, but also color render through the facial expressions of characters in the animation, so as to enhance the entertainment and interest visible to the audience. However, due to the great demand for computing resources and color rendering resources, At present, the main research and implementation are carried out on the desktop platform. There are also solutions to use high-end infrared devices for 3D animation color rendering on the mobile system. However, because this method has high cost in use and does not have universality on the mobile device, this paper proposes a rendering system suitable for the general mobile platform. This paper studies the 3D animation color rendering system based on wireless network cloud computing technology, hoping to realize the universality of the system with the support of technology.
Taxol acts differently on different tubulin isotypes
Authors: Chew Yean Ming , Cross Robert
Published: March 2023

Taxol is a small molecule effector that allosterically locks tubulin into the microtubule lattice. We report that taxol has different effects on different single isotype microtubule lattices. Using in vitro reconstitution, we show that α1β4 human and zebrafish GDP-tubulin lattices are stabilised and expanded by taxol, whereas α1β3 human GDP-tubulin lattices require tenfold more taxol for stability and are not expanded. In kinesin motility assays, this isotype-specific mechanical action of taxol causes segmented isotype microtubules to deviate into loops, because the expanded β4 and compacted β3 segments try to glide at different rates. To explain, we propose that taxol switches GDP-microtubules into one of two different lattice-mechanical states, a compacted/slow-gliding state or an expanded/fast-gliding state, with switching to the expanded/fast-gliding state dependant on taxol occupancy and available to only some tubulin isotypes. In mixed isotype lattices, we find evidence that this lattice-mechanical switching occurs cooperatively.
Comparison of different risk scoring systems for predicting intravenous immunoglobulin resistance in Chinese children with Kawasaki disease
Authors: Zeng Yuanyuan , Chen Feng , Xu Kang-Kang , Ji Lian-Fu , Yang Shi-Wei
Published: March 2023

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the predictive efficacies of 6 established scoring systems for intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance to Kawasaki disease (KD) in Chinese children.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed KD patients treated at cardiovascular medical ward in our institution between January 2020 and December 2022. Data were analyzed in 6scoring systems (Egami, Formosa, Harada, Kobayashi, Lan and Yang).
Results: We recruited 763 KD patients in our study, including 60 IVIG-resistant cases (7.9%). Our study indicated that IVIG resistance KD patients represent a higher risk of developing coronary arterial lesions (CALs) (P < 0.001). In determining IVIG resistance, the sensitivity and specificity varied among scoring systems (Egami, 33.3% and 87.2%; Formosa, 91.7% and 42.0%; Harada, 76.7% and 42.8%; Kobayashi, 66.7% and 79.2%; Lan, 68.3% and 73.0%; Yang, 65.0% and 76.4%, respectively). Our study discovered that neutrophilic granulocyte percentage (NE%) ≥ 72.3% was an independent risk factor associated with IVIG resistance.
Conclusion: The Kobayashi, Lan and Yang scoring systems were shown to be appropriate for determining IVIG resistance in Chinese KD patients. Meanwhile, more consideration should be considered for KD patients with high NE% to reduce IVIG resistance.
Assessing Immunization Data Quality in Sunyani West Municipality to inform Sound Healthcare Decision-making
Authors: Adoma Prince Owusu , Kumassah Sosu-Elorm , Abubakari Yakubu , Baidoo Michael Afari , Agyemang Edward , Hanson Ruby
Published: March 2023

Objective
Data quality is critical in ensuring sound healthcare decision making and service delivery. Data quality provided at all levels of health care enhances accurate and timely information for effective and efficient health service delivery decision making. The study sought to assess the Sunyani West Municipality’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) data quality on measles vaccinations.
Method
The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional design. It involved a structured observation of data from EPI tally books from five sub-municipal facilities to inform healthcare decision making. WHO Immunization Data Quality Self-Assessment Tool (DQS) was adopted to assess data quality. The DQS captured period was from January to December, 2018. Field data was entered into the DQS Toolbox to generate accuracy ratio (%) and discrepancy rate (%) figures.
Results
When capturing data into the tally books at the facility level, there were over ninety reported data, whereas data reported to the Municipal Health Information Management System (DHIMS2) was one hundred and fifty-one (151) under-reported data. Furthermore, data gathered from all the sub-municipal facilities showed that data accuracy ratio from the point of immunization to the facility was 97% and discrepancy rate of 3%. However, when reported to the Municipality, the accuracy ratio was found to be 105% with a discrepancy ratio of 5%.
Conclusion
Immunization data quality was generally good, however, there were insufficient and irregular on-site observation and weekly monitoring by facility heads. It is, therefore, important for Sunyani West Municipal Health Directorate to ensure regular monitoring and assessment of immunization data in sub-Municipalities so that errors encountered in capturing and reporting of data are rectified in order to harness the full potential of immunization data.
Carbon dynamics vary among tidal marsh plant species in a sea-level rise experiment
Authors: Barry Aidan , Ooi Sean Khan , Helton Ashley M. , Steven Blaire , Elphick Chris S. , Lawrence Beth A.
Published: March 2023

Tidal wetlands are important blue carbon reservoirs, but it is unclear how sea-level rise (SLR) may affect carbon cycling and soil microbial communities either by increased inundation frequency or via shifting plant species dominance. We used an in-situ marsh organ experiment to test how SLR-scenarios (0, +7.5, +15 cm) and vegetation treatments (Spartina alterniflora, Spartina patens, Phragmites australis, unvegetated controls) altered CO2 fluxes (net ecosystem exchange, ecosystem respiration), soil carbon mineralization rates, potential denitrification rates, and microbial community composition. Increasing inundation frequency with SLR treatments decreased the carbon sink strength and promoted carbon emissions with +15-cm SLR. However, SLR treatments did not alter soil chemistry, microbial process rates, or bacterial community structure. In contrast, our vegetation treatments affected all carbon flux measurements; S. alterniflora and S. patens had greater CO2 uptake and ecosystem respiration compared to P. australis. Soils associated with Spartina spp. had higher carbon mineralization rates than P. australis or unvegetated controls. Soil bacterial assemblages differed among vegetation treatments but shifted more dramatically over the three-month experiment. As marshes flood more frequently with projected SLR, marsh vegetation composition is predicted to shift towards more flood-tolerant S. alterniflora, which may lead to increased CO2 uptake, though tidal marsh carbon sink strength will likely be offset by increased abundance of unvegetated tidal flats and open water. Our findings suggest that plant species play a central role in ecosystem carbon dynamics in vegetated tidal marshes undergoing rapid SLR.
A physician strike team to disseminate accurate and timely COVID-19 vaccination information and improve responses to patient questions
Authors: Chima-Melton Chidinma , Han Maria , Naghshineh Sheila , Chima-Okereke Chibisi , Samras Nathan
Published: March 2023

Background
Vaccination is an important component of the public health response to the pandemic, and a large health care system such as UCLA Health must optimize mechanisms to address questions from patients to expedite vaccine acceptance and administration.
Local Problem
In 2020-2021, COVID-19 vaccines were developed, studied, and approved at unusual speed, leading to both vaccine hesitancy and requests for urgent availability. This required up-to-date responses from physicians to questions through the online patient portal in the UCLA health care system. There was the additional risk of physician burnout due to the large number of questions.
Intervention
We developed a physician strike team that enabled accurate and timely dissemination of vaccine information in response to patient queries. The strike team served a dual purpose of answering patient questions quickly with accurate information, and reducing the workload for other physicians. Using a strike team of 10 early career physicians responding to a collection of patient messages, this large community-based health system was able to provide timely, high-quality responses to COVID-19 vaccine-related questions.
Results
After the introduction of the physician strike team program in late January 2021 through April 2021, there was a significant reduction in the average number of messages and calls received by covered providers per month compared to the adjusted number of messages and calls they would have received had the pool not existed. The strike team provided a service with high satisfaction scores from both the participating strike team members and the physicians being covered by the strike team.
Conclusions
The success of this small physician strike team to impact inbasket patient messages and calls in
our institution suggests that a similar mechanism can be developed to centralize the replies to certain messages, which may reduce the workload and burnout of physicians.
The Utilization of Click Reactions in Understanding the Structure and Function of IgE in Allergic Reactions
Authors: Shinde Parth , Saini Yash , Mandal Manas , Baths Veeky , Kundu Suman
Published: March 2023

This study examines cutting-edge techniques, namely click chemistry and antigen-antibody complex formations, in order to develop affordable and effective home allergy testing kits. The ultimate objective is to provide effective methods for diagnosing and treating allergic conditions. Through an azide click reaction, the surface of the hydrophilic polymer-coated paper is functionalized with captured antibodies and used as a diagnosticsubstrate for the detection of food allergies. After introducing ablood sample and a second antibody conjugated with a detection moiety, the presence of specific IgE antibodies to the food allergen is determined by measuring the fluorescence or colourintensity of bound IgE. By comparing the test’s results to internationally recognized benchmarks, the test’s accuracy is confirmed. When examining how IgE interacts with antigens andits role in effector cell activation, the application of click chemistry in this context has substantial implications for developingnovel therapies for allergic diseases. Additional research in this field will increase our understanding of the underlying mechanisms, paving the way for future advances in allergy diagnosis and treatment.
A top-down slow breathing circuit that alleviates negative affect
Authors: Han Sung , Jhang Jinho , Liu Shijia , O'Keefe David
Published: March 2023

Breathing is profoundly influenced by both behavior and emotion1-4 and is the only physiological parameter that can be volitionally controlled4-6. This indicates the presence of cortical-to-brainstem pathways that directly control breathing centers in the brainstem, but the neural circuit mechanisms of top-down breathing control remain poorly understood. Here, we identify neurons in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) that project to the pontine reticular nucleus caudalis (PnC) and function to slow breathing rates. Optogenetic activation of this corticopontine pathway (dACC→PnC neurons) in mice slows breathing and alleviates anxiety-like behaviors without altering valence. Calcium responses of dACC→PnC neurons are tightly correlated with changes in breathing patterns that are entrained to behavior, such as drinking. Activity is also elevated when mice find relief from an anxiety-provoking environment and slow their breathing pattern. Further, GABAergic inhibitory neurons within the PnC that receive direct input from dACC neurons decrease breathing rate by projecting to pontomedullary breathing centers. They also send collateral projections to anxiety-related structures in the forebrain, thus comprising a neural network that modulates breathing and negative affect in parallel. These analyses greatly expand our understanding of top-down breathing control and reveal circuit-based mechanisms by which slow breathing and anxiety relief are regulated together.
The Association between loneliness and social avoidance among the college students of China: Mediation of depression and regulation by self-esteem
Authors: Yuan Ye , Zhu Beilei , Yang Zhengkun , Wang Yumeng , Fu Huanhuan , Ge Yifan , Chang Liyun , Zhao Ke , Xiang Min
Published: March 2023

Background
To explore the relationship between loneliness and social avoidance of college students, the mediating role of depression and interpersonal trust between them, and the regulating role of self-esteem. A theoretical approach to provide an internal mechanism for the intervention of loneliness and social avoidance.
Methods
We included 1050 college students using simple random cluster sampling with the self-esteem scale(SES), the social avoidance and distress scale(SAD) , UCLA loneliness scale, the interpersonal trust scale(ITS), and the self-rating depression scale(SDS). And descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis, structural equation model analysis were conducted
Results
(1) The correlations between depression, loneliness, interpersonal trust, self-esteem and social avoidance were all statistically significant. (2) There is a significant positive correlation between loneliness and social avoidance. (3) Depression and interpersonal trust play multiple mediating roles between loneliness and social avoidance. (4) Self-esteem plays a regulating role between interpersonal trust and social avoidance.
Conclusion
Loneliness has a significant positive predictive effect on social avoidance. More profound loneliness among college students correlates with social avoidance.It provides a new way to explain the mechanism of loneliness, and a new perspective for the clinical intervention of loneliness, that is, from the perspective of their self-experience and self-esteem.
Macroeconomic Dynamics in a Finite World: the Thermodynamic Potential Approach
Authors: Herbert Eric , Giraud Gaël , Louis-Napoléon Aurélie , Goupil Christophe
Published: March 2023

This paper presents a conceptual model describing the medium and long term co-evolution of natural and socio-economic subsystems of Earth. An economy is viewed as an out-of-equilibrium dissipative structure that can only be maintained with a flow of energy and matter. The distinctive approach emphasized here consists of capturing the economic impact of natural ecosystems being depleted and destroyed by human activities via a pinch of thermodynamic potentials. This viewpoint allows: (i) the full-blown integration of a limited quantity of primary resources into a non-linear macrodynamics that is stock-flow consistent both in terms ofmatter-energy as well as economic transactions; (ii) the inclusion of natural and forced recycling; (iii) the inclusion of a friction term which reflects the impossibility of producing goods and services in high metabolizing intensity without exuding energy and matter wastes and (iv) the computation of the anthropically produced entropy as a function of intensity and friction. Analysis and numerical computations confirm the role played by intensity and friction as key factors for sustainability. Our approach is flexible enough to allow for various economic models to be embedded into our thermodynamic framework.Finally, we propose the open source \ed software as a first complete realization implementing economic dynamics in a multi-resource environment.