bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TGDD: A Genomics-Based Database for Tumor Treatment Drugs
Authors: Li Wen , Xiong Zhining , He Kangming , Zhang Zhining , Wei Huilin , Meng Qiuxia , Yan Tengyue , He Yuxiao , Pan Xuanyu , Hu Yanling
Published: February 2025

With advancements in cancer genomics, precision medicine is increasingly being applied in cancer treatment. However, the fragmentation of genetic mutation-related information and the lack of standardized interpretation tools present significant challenges to its effective implementation and clinical decision-making. To address these challenges, we have developed the Tumor Genomic Drug Database (TGDD), a comprehensive genomics-based cancer drug treatment resource. It integrates data on genes, molecular characteristics, cancer types, and therapeutic drugs from established cancer knowledge bases such as CIViC, COSMIC, and OncoKB, providing a unified and standardized clinical support tool. Currently, it encompasses 19,557 entries, including 391 gene datasets,525 cancer types,5,322 drug combinations, and 8,109 mutation coordinates. This resource assists clinicians in formulating personalized treatment plans and supports cancer research and drug development.
Application of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Directions
Authors: Ran Lingxiang , Zhao Rui , Li Yu , Lin Benfan , Yang Zhen , Teng Yuanyin , Li Jingyi , Wang Shi , Liang Hsu Yi , Hu Guangmo
Published: February 2025

In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have revolutionized the treatment landscape of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), significantly enhanced patient outcomes and expanded therapeutic options beyond traditional surgical and targeted approaches. In this review, we provide a comprehensive review of the current applications of ICI in RCC therapy, elucidating their mechanisms of action, clinical efficacy across both clear cell and non-clear cell subtypes, and safety profiles. We compare the effectiveness of monotherapy versus combination therapies, demonstrating how synergistic approaches can improve efficacy and durability of responses. Furthermore, we explore the integration of multi-omics technologies, such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, which are pivotal in predicting ICI response and addressing resistance mechanisms. Our discussion also addresses the critical challenges in RCC immunotherapy, including primary and acquired resistance, economic and ethical barriers, and the management of immune-related adverse events. By synthesizing current research and clinical findings, this review aims to provide valuable insights for optimizing RCC immunotherapy, fostering the development of more effective and individualized treatment protocols, and ultimately improving patient survival and quality of life.
Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
Authors: Maluleke Glenda , Vacu-Nqila Nomfundo
Published: February 2025

The study examined the impact of trade openness on poverty rate in South Africa. The ARDL bounds testing approach was used with annual data covering the period from 1990 to 2021. The study estimated four models, that is, an income-based model and a consumption-based model using two measures of trade openness which are total trade and exports as a percentage of GDP. For the income-based model 1, the findings confirmed that trade openness has a long-run negative impact on the poverty rate, while it has no significant impact in the short run. For model 3, it was found to be insignificant in the long run while in the short run, it was found that exports lead to a decrease in poverty rates. The finding confirmed that for the consumption-based model 2, trade openness leads to a decrease in the poverty rate in the long and short run. For model 4, in which exports are used as a measure for trade openness, it was found that it leads to a decrease in household consumption in the long run. Based on the results the study recommends that governments in developing countries should engage with other countries to increase their export capacity and in turn reduce their respective poverty levels.
Inflation, Inflationary Tax and Tax Evasion in Algeria: An Empirical Analysis of Underlying Causal Interactions
Authors: Dermechi Feriel , Zakane Ahmed
Published: February 2025

This article is an empirical study that aims to deeply examine the effects of the underlying interactions of inflation and inflationary tax on the size of tax evasion in Algeria. Accordingly, the analysis is grounded in the application of the Granger causality test within a vector autoregressive (VAR) model, covering an annual period ranging from 1980 to 2022. The findings reveal that, in the short term, the inflation rate has a positive impact on tax evasion, whereas the inflationary tax exerts a negative influence on it. Our approach strives to interpret these findings through the lens of inflationary financing theory. This theory elucidates how the inflation rate and the implicit revenues it generates contribute to the regulation of the scope of tax evasion in the country.
Assessment of the Quality of Financial Statements of Government-Owned Enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: Pobrić Amira
Published: February 2025

The subject of this paper is the assessment of the quality of financial statements of public enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the information contained in the audit reports of the supreme audit institutions. The aim of the research is to determine how often auditors indicate that financial statements are not of satisfactory quality. Furthermore, the goal is to determine which International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are most often violated for the purpose of accounting manipulations and distorting the picture of the real performance of these enterprises. The research was conducted on a sample of 135 audit reports related to the reporting periods from 2018 to 2022. The method of content analysis was used to collect data. The results of the research show that in over 80% of cases the auditors gave a modified audit opinion indicating that the quality of the financial statements is not at a satisfactory level. Most of the reasons for modifying the audit opinion relate to noncompliance with the provisions of IAS 1, IFRS 9, IAS 36, IAS 16, IAS 37 and IAS 2. In most cases, public enterprises manipulate accounting information by not assessing the impairment of fixed and current assets and reducing the value of this property to a recoverable amount. Because of this, the value of the assets is overestimated, the expenses are underestimated and the financial result is overestimated.
THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN KENYA
Authors: Musakwa Mercy T , Vacu Nomfundo P , Odhiambo Nicholas M
Published: February 2025

Purpose: Increasing awareness of global warming consequences, together with the call for all countries to take responsibility for reducing their carbon footprint by moving to cleaner energy use motivated this study to examine the impact of financial sector development on renewable energy for Kenya. The study aims to answer the question, ‘Can financial sector development help Kenya to increase renewable energy consumption?’ The study used annual data from 1990 to 2020 to examine the nature of the relationship between the two variables. Methodology: The study employed autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Results: The study found financial development to have a positive impact on renewable energy consumption in the short and long run. Conclusions: The results point to the significant role that the financial sector plays in availing resources for cleaner energy projects. Recommendations: Policymakers in Kenya should harness the country’s financial sector potential to meet the Sustainable Development Goals aligned to cleaner energy consumption.
ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF RISK MANAGEMENT COMPONENTS ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN MOROGORO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL, TANZANIA
Authors: Kamuzora Aurelia Ngirwa
Published: February 2025

This study examines the impact of risk management components on the performance of construction projects in Morogoro Municipal Council, Tanzania. Data from 162 employees of contractors reveal that 33% hold postgraduate degrees, while 67% have qualifications below this level. Additionally, 42% have over five years of project management experience, and only 20% are proficient in risk management. Logistic regression analysis explored the relationships between Project Risk Identification, Project Risk Analysis, Project Risk Control, and construction project performance. The correlation matrix shows strong positive correlations between these risk management components and project performance, suggesting that effective risk management practices lead to better project outcomes. The model summary indicates a strong positive correlation (R = 0.862) between the predictors and the dependent variable, with an R-Square value of 0.749, meaning that approximately 75% of the variability in project performance is explained by the model. Logistic regression coefficients highlight the significant impact of Project Risk Identification (β = 0.303), Project Risk Analysis (β = 0.398), and Project Risk Control (β = 0.560). In conclusion, this study emphasises the importance of comprehensive risk management practices in enhancing construction project performance in Morogoro Municipal Council. These findings provide valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in construction project management.
DIFFERENCES IN THE FINANCIAL CYCLE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA AND OTHER CURRENCY AREAS
Authors: Vlašković Vesela , Jović Dragan S.
Published: February 2025

The financial cycle is determined based on real loans or the ratio of loans to nominal GDP. In the research, we applied the standard methodology of determining trends and cycles as deviations from the trend using the Hodrick-Prescott filter. We entered the research with two hypotheses. We assumed that the BH financial cycle is different from the financial cycle in the eurozone. We also assumed that the difference between the highest and the lowest point of the financial cycle is the most pronounced in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to the financial cycle in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the subject of analysis was the financial cycle in eurozone, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Measured by real loans, Bosnia and Herzegovina had two financial cycles in the past period, while the ratio of loans to GDP indicates only one financial cycle. Both methods of determining the financial cycle show that credit activity in BH in the recent period is significantly below the trend. Compared to other countries, the correlation between the BH financial cycle and that of the eurozone is relatively low. Due to the characteristics of the banking and financial market, the absence of the credit function of the central bank on the domestic market, and the generally low degree of monetary policy discretion, the recent values of the financial cycle in BH are the lowest in the selected sample of currency areas. In BH the biggest difference is shown in the final values of the financial cycle measured by real credit, and the same result is shown in the financial cycle based on financial intermediation depth. The exception is Slovenia, where the banking crisis had a long-term impact on the financial cycle. At the end of the analyzed period, BH has the lowest value of the financial cycle. For the correction of the financial cycle, BH has at its disposal the existing instruments of monetary policy, the reserve requirements, remuneration on reserve requirements, and excess reserves, and it can introduce new ones; ex nihilo issuance of primary money and macroprudential regulation. The currency board regime does not guarantee compliance of the financial cycle with the reserve currency currency area. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a financial cycle, which is significantly different from that of a country with a reserve currency. A significant deviation from the trend value of the loan-to-GDP ratio is also connected with the use of credit potential for exposure of BH banks to predominantly еurozone markets. The extremely low recent value of the BH financial cycle indicates the low level of liquidity of the BH economy. The potential ex nihilo issue of the primary money of the central bank in the BH monetary regime would be a strong corrective factor of the financial cycle in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
CRIMINAL OFFENSES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, THREAT TO SURVIVAL, AND RISK FOR THE COMPANY AND MANAGEMENT
Authors: Matijević Goran , Đurić Željko , Matijević Martina
Published: February 2025

World population growth, economic development, globalization, and industrialization, the race for capital, especially in the last 100 years, have caused numerous benefits to the world’s population. But they have also caused many problems which were previously unknown. In the context of this paper, the primary focus is on the pollution of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere and the destruction of plant and animal life. The latter affected the health and the survival of people by breaking numerous food chains in nature. The goal of those who are trying to prevent the negative effects is different from the goal of those who wish to acquire capital. Criminal offenses against the environment are among the most profitable organized crimes in the world. The latter presents the third most widespread criminal activity, with an annual increase of 3-5%. It has alarmingly reached 110 to 280 billion dollars in damage. Improper waste collection, waste transport, and disposal, illegal emissions, or release of substances into the atmosphere are some of the crimes that are annually increasing, along with the constant need to monitor the situation and pass regulations to prevent and suppress these occurrences. The European Union reacted to these risks, and in 2024, improved the legal regulations, and introduced stricter sanctions with an expanded list of criminal offenses against the environment, which aim to result in a lower number of these criminal offenses, but also a cleaner and healthier environment. The paper defines the issue of environmental protection through the lens of new legislation, provides an overview of the legislative framework and the basic terms at the level of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia related to criminal offenses against the environment, identifies the most numerous ones in the Republic of Croatia, and proposes prevention measures which aim to raise the level of awareness among management, the public and highlight the need to fight against them.
The Synthesis of Chinese and Western European Musical Traditions in Xian Xinghai’s Opera “March of the Army and the People”
Authors: Luo Jingya , Chernova Anna Viktorovna
Published: February 2025

This study is based on a detailed analysis of the opera March of the Army and the People, composed by the prominent Chinese composer Xian Xinghai (1900–1945), which serves as an important example of the synthesis of Chinese and Western musical traditions. Written in 1938, the opera marked the composer’s first attempt to integrate elements of Chinese national art into the Western operatic form. The study examines the unique features of the opera’s musical language, structure, and stylistic content, which reflect the cultural and political realities of China at that time. It also explores the influence of this opera on the development of Chinese national operatic art. The research employs a comprehensive approach, including historical and cultural analysis, structural music analysis, orchestration, as well as contextual analysis of the libretto and accompaniment. Special attention is given to the techniques of incorporating Chinese melodic structures and their adaptation within a polyphonic texture. Key elements analyzed include the use of pentatonic scales and the interaction of timbres between Chinese and Western musical instruments. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the analysis of the opera March of the Army and the People, which holds groundbreaking significance in the history of Chinese music. The article highlights how Xian Xinghai innovatively combined Western compositional techniques with elements of Chinese folk music, paving the way for the creation of a new type of national opera in 20th-century China. The findings demonstrate how this work reflects a cross-cultural process, where elements of Eastern and Western musical traditions are harmoniously integrated. Additionally, the study offers a new perspective on the transformation of Chinese opera in the 20th century, providing valuable material for interpreting and studying Chinese musical culture in Russian and international academic contexts.
Investigating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Travel Mode Choice Behaviour – A Stated Preference Case in Wuhan, China
Authors: DOU Xin , PAN Xiaofeng , FENG Tao
Published: February 2025

This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel modes choice behaviour using a case study from Wuhan, China. A SP-experiment based survey was conducted in Wuhan, based on which an MNL model and a latent class MNL model were established, respectively. The model estimation results show the following conclusions. First, the attributes that are normally believed to significantly affect the residents’ travel mode choice behaviour turned out to be insignificant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, attributes such as age, gender, driving license, income trend, use frequency of public transit, currently most-frequent-used mode, household size, monthly household income, distance from metro station to home, number of confirmed/deaths cases, vaccination are significantly affecting the respondents’ travel preferences. Third, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic leads to a decline in the residents’ preferences toward public transit, but the promotion of vaccines can lead residents to return to the public transit system. Fourth, the respondents were divided into three latent classes: high-susceptible, medium-susceptible and low-susceptible classes. These conclusions are believed to provide a reference for the investigation of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or other similar public health events on the transportation system, and also offer supports for policy-making to effectively deal with such pandemics.
Bilingualism
Authors: Gardner-Chloros Penelope
Published: February 2025

All about bilingualism, in science and in life: the benefits and controversies, the individual experience, and the social significance.

Nearly half the world's people are bilingual, but many have no clear understanding of what—aside from being fluent in more than one language—bilingualism means. This lively introduction by linguist Penelope Gardner-Chloros covers everything a bilingual (or curious monolingual) individual might want to know. The book discusses how bilingualism affects brain development and performance in the young and old, its social and political significance throughout time and around the globe, and how people experience and describe it.

Gardner-Chloros looks at how both children and adults, become bilingual, how this affects learning, and what it means to be a bilingual family or family member. Drawing on the latest research, she offers a comprehensive but accessible account of the cognitive effects of bilingualism, and how the bilingual brain differs from the monolingual one. With the help of real examples, she outlines the impact of bilingualism on everyday speech and writing, from formal literature to social media, and lets speakers of various languages and backgrounds describe, in their own words, their experience of bilingualism and its impact on their lives. Informative, engaging, and wide-ranging, Bilingualism is the indispensable resource on a common but little understood phenomenon of far-reaching personal, social, political, and historical significance.
A History of India Volume 2
Authors: Torri Michelguglielmo
Published: February 2025

Comprehensive and in-depth exploration of one of the oldest civilisations in the world, revealing the dynamic changes of its society, the links to the rest of the world and the underlying forces that led to India's significant role on today's global stage.

This is the second of a three-volume history of India, characterized by three main arguments: (a) Indian history has been crucially conditioned by the manifold and two-way connections linking the Indian subcontinent to the remainder of the world; (b) Indian society was never static, but always crisscrossed by powerful currents of change; (c) colonialism caused both the crystallization of a 'traditional' society - which, in that shape, had never really existed before - and, at the same time, the rise of modernity.

This volume examines the history of India from the collapse of the Mughal Empire to the end of colonialism in 1947. It analyses the features of the most important pre-colonial Indian states and the role played by the British colonialism in their destruction or reduction to political irrelevance. Second, the volume highlights the contradictory role of the colonial order in freezing a previously evolving society, causing the coming into being of a 'traditional India' and, at the same time, somewhat unwittingly, triggering the rise of a new modern India. Furthermore, the volume analyses the role of India in supporting the British Empire both economically and militarily, and how the implementation of the liberal economic policy by the colonial rulers resulted in the loss of millions of Indian lives. Finally, the volume closely examines the rise and evolution of Indian nationalism, the reasons that forced the British to end their rule, and, last but not least, the causes of partition and the responsibilities of the parties and political leaders involved.
Music and Desire among the Austro-German Romantics
Authors: Walton Chris
Published: February 2025

Investigates the composition and reception of works by key representatives of Austro-German Romanticism - Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, and the Schumanns - with attention to the role of sexual desire in the composers' lives and music.

Scholars have for several decades been devoting increasing attention to aspects of sexuality and desire in the music of the Austro-German Romantics. Undertaking a close analysis of the sources, the four chapters of this book show how our assumptions about what those composers desired are often in fact contingent on what we, their commentators, have wanted them to desire over the course of reception history. Beethoven's Fidelio and Schubert's Winterreise tend to be regarded as a hymn to freedom, on the one hand, and an interior monologue of an alienated lover, on the other, though in neither case does such a view correspond to what the composer intended. In contrast, Richard Wagner dismissed his own opera The Ban on Love as a youthful indiscretion extolling the "free love" of the Young German movement; but he was reinterpreting an early work to align it with his later aesthetic.

The final chapter examines the chronology of the friendship of Robert and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms in order to discern the likely truths about their triangular relationship before and after Robert Schumann's incarceration in a mental asylum. By adhering to the sources and placing them in the social, linguistic, and geographical contexts of their time, author Chris Walton grants all these protagonists a greater agency of desire than has hitherto been the case.
Financing Queenship in Late Fifteenth Century England
Authors: Seah Michele L C
Published: February 2025

"Seah's important book richly documents and deftly analyzes the complex household economies of three fifteenth-century queens consort of England who lived during a period of political and economic upheaval. This book, based on impressive meticulous research, is more than just a much-needed methodological model for studying queenly finances that fills a gap in the historiography of queenship. It is a powerful study of the intrinsic worth of a queen." Theresa Earenfight, Professor Emerita of History, Seattle University.

Late medieval queens required considerable economic and financial resources, to enable them to dispense patronage, exercise power and influence, and establish and maintain political and social networks. This book examines the nature and usage of these resources, via an in-depth study of the reigns of three queens consort from the second half of the fifteenth century in England - Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York - considering how the queens were supported in material terms, and their impact on the economic landscape of the period. It surveys in detail the economic assets available to these queens, including dower lands, monetary and non-monetary grants, and queens' gold, before moving on to a discussion of two major entities - households and affinities - which they needed to maintain. It both sheds light on individual queens and on broader questions of authority and agency in late-medieval English queenship.
Migration and Diaspora Identity in Northern Nigeria and Ghana, 1900–1970
Authors: Olaniyi Rasheed Oyewole
Published: February 2025

At a time when the issues of internal and international migration have rarely been more present, this book brings an historic perspective to the complex and contradictory socio-economic forces and power relations at play in northern Ghana and Nigeria.

Regional migration is a recurring theme in West African history. It has led to the establishment of diaspora communities and social integration as well as exclusion. This book, based on fieldworks in northern Ghana and Nigeria, examines the experiences of Yoruba migrants in the diaspora and interactions with their hometowns as well as return migration and explores the importance of mediation through kinship linkages. Comparing Yoruba migration and diaspora identity in Tamale (Ghana) and Kano (Nigeria), the author shows how dual citizenship that was empowering in the colonial period became disempowering during postcolonialism. In this study, the post-modern adoption of diaspora identity as a social theory explains migration across colonial boundaries and how Yoruba communities living outside their cultural areas interacted with the homeland for development. Most pioneer migrants in the early 20th century left home in search of money, modernity, and freedom from patriarchal control.
By the end of the Second World War, when migration had become popularized as early migrants became highly influential role models and successful figures, young men and women were pushed by their aspirations or families to migrate. As proto-bourgeoisie, some mixed African experiences with European ways. Early in their careers, they embraced modernity in the city, but they later moved to traditional life in rural areas or urban centres where they steered new waves of local development. Many of them completed the migration cycle, as they prepared for return and reintegration in their hometowns in south-west Nigeria. In Tamale, inter-group relations among the subject population were not rigidly enforced by the colonial state, allowing rapid integration of the Yoruba migrants and their acceptance as Ghanaians by the Dagomba host community. In Kano, by contrast, ethnic relations were regulated under the Native Authority system and segregation of the migrants in Sabongari. As a result, hierarchies of citizenship developed between the host community (natives) and migrants (non-natives), leading to tension, rivalry, mistrust, and conflicts among the people who laid claim to the same nationality.
Propagation of Black Orchid (Coelogyne pandurata Lindl.) by Tissue Culture Supplemented with Fertilizer and Natural Organic Additives
Authors: Sulichantini Ellok Dwi , Susylowati  , Eliyani  , Yanti Nur , Hardani Muhammad , Suroso Panca Widyaiswary , Yanti Desy Norfary
Published: February 2025

This research aims to determine the growth of black orchids (Coelogyne pandurata Lindl) on fertilizer plus several types of organic supplements and to determine the type of media that has the best influence on black orchid tissue culture. The research was conducted in March 2023 at the Tissue Culture Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Mulawarman University. The research was carried out using the Completely Randomized Design (CRD) method with a single factor arranged using 8 treatments, each treatment repeated five times. The eight treatments consisted of p1 = Growmore 1 g L-1, p2 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + ambon banana extract 100 g L-1, p3 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + mung bean sprout extract 100 g L-1, p4 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + sweet corn seed extract 100 g L-1, p5 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + ambon banana extract 100 g L-1 + mung bean sprout extract 100 g L-1, p6 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + ambon banana extract 100 g L-1 + sweet corn seed sprout extract 100 g L-1, p7 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + mung  bean sprout extract 100 g L-1 + corn seed extract sweet 100 g L-1, and p8 = Growmore 1 g L-1 + ambon banana extract 100 g L-1 + mung bean sprout extract 100 g L-1 + sweet corn seed extract 100 g L-1. The data was analyzed using variance and continued with the DMRT test (Duncan Multiple Range Test) with a level of 5%. The results of the research show that the addition of Ambon banana extract, mung bean sprouts, or sweet corn seeds to foliar fertilizer can improve the culture of black orchids using tissue culture. The best media was found in treatment p5 (Growmore 1 g L-1 + ambon banana extract 100 g L-1 + mung bean sprout extract 100 g L-1) producing the highest plant height (5.02 cm), the highest number of roots (13.00 pieces), the longest root length (7.02 cm) and the highest wet weight (0.45 g).
Decoding Investment Intentions: Uncovering How Risk Tolerance, Financial Literacy, and Subjective Norms Drive Students to Begin Stock Investing
Authors: Rahmayanti Putu Laksmita Dewi , Sasrawan I Putu Hedi , Yasa Ni Nyoman Kerti
Published: February 2025

Investment is the allocation of capital over a certain period to generate profit or increase asset value. This study examines the influence of risk tolerance, financial literacy, and subjective norms on university students' intention to invest in stocks in Bali, Indonesia, with a sample of 150 respondents. The Structural Equation Modeling - Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) method is used to analyze the relationships between these variables. Risk tolerance reflects students' readiness to face financial uncertainty, financial literacy measures their understanding of financial concepts, and subjective norms indicate social pressure in investment decisions. The findings show that all three factors positively and significantly affect stock investment intentions. Financial literacy enhances confidence in decision-making, while risk tolerance strengthens students' readiness to participate in the stock market. Subjective norms also play a crucial role in shaping investment intentions. This study provides insights for future research on investment behavior in developing countries, particularly Indonesia.
Performance Optimization Techniques for Microservice Architectures in High-Load Scenarios
Authors: Nosiri Farzon
Published: February 2025

The article addresses existing methods for enhancing the performance of microservice architectures under high-load conditions, where stability and scalability are required to adapt to changing demands. The objective of the study is to systematize existing optimization methods. The methodological framework includes data analysis, a comparison of various approaches such as containerization, auto-scaling, and the use of frameworks for asynchronous request processing. The research was conducted based on an analysis of publicly available articles, providing a comprehensive examination of the topic. The analyzed studies demonstrate that implementing hybrid solutions incorporating machine learning for load forecasting and dynamic infrastructure configuration significantly improves performance. Additionally, the studies address the management of service states and interactions, which is critical for maintaining data integrity under high loads. The information presented in the article will be valuable for system architects, DevOps engineers, and cloud computing specialists working with resource-intensive services. These solutions enable the creation of scalable, reliable infrastructures capable of efficiently handling large volumes of real-time data. The conclusion confirms the necessity of a comprehensive approach to optimizing microservice systems, focusing on dynamic adaptation and the integration of new technologies.
Telemedicine vs Telephone Consultations and Medication Prescribing Errors Among Referring Physicians
Authors: Marcin James P. , Lieng Monica K. , Mouzoon Jamie , Sauers-Ford Hadley S. , Tancredi Daniel , Cabri Annie , Pandya Vaibhavi A. , Park Alex S. , Kuppermann Nathan
Published: February 2024

Importance

Critically ill children presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in non–children’s hospitals are at high risk for experiencing medical errors, including medication errors. Video telemedicine consultations with pediatric specialists have the potential to reduce the risk of medication errors beyond the current standard of care, telephone consultations.

Objective

To compare the rates of ED physician-related medication errors among critically ill children randomized to receive either video telemedicine or telephone consultations.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cluster randomized, unbalanced crossover trial was conducted at 15 community EDs in northern California between September 2014 and March 2018. Analyses were conducted from May 2022 to January 2023. Participants included acutely ill children younger than 15 years presenting to a participating ED.

Interventions

Participating EDs were randomized to use video telemedicine or telephone for consultations with pediatric critical care physicians according to 1 of 4 unbalanced (3 telemedicine to 1 telephone) crossover treatment assignment sequences.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Pharmacists reviewed medical records to document physician-related medication errors using a previously validated instrument. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to create models with the medication order as the unit of analysis and adjusting for age, the log-transformed Revised Pediatric Emergency Assessment Tool score, and hospital study period.

Results

A total of 696 patient encounters were included in the trial (mean [SD] age, 4.2 [4.6] years; median [IQR] age, 2.1 [0.5-2.1] years; 304 female [43.7%]), with 537 patient encounters (77.2%) assigned to video telemedicine and 159 patient encounters (22.8%) assigned to telephone. At least 1 physician-related medication error occurred for 87 patients (12.5%), including 20 of 159 patients (12.6%) in the telephone cohort and 67 of 537 patients (12.5%) in the telemedicine cohort. Of the 2414 medication orders, errors occurred in 124 cases (5.1%), including 26 of 513 orders (5.1%) in the telephone cohort and 98 of 1901 orders (5.2%) in the telemedicine cohort. In the multivariable analysis, the adjusted odds ratio of experiencing a medication error among those assigned to telemedicine was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.49-1.52; P = .61).

Conclusions and Relevance

This cluster randomized crossover trial found no statistically significant differences in physician-related medication errors between critically ill children assigned to receive telephone consultations vs video telemedicine consultations.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02877810
Disparities in Patient Portal Use Among Adults With Chronic Conditions
Authors: Yoon Esther , Hur Scott , Opsasnick Lauren , Huang Wei , Batio Stephanie , Curtis Laura M. , Benavente Julia Yoshinso , Lewis-Thames Marquita W. , Liebovitz David M. , Wolf Michael S. , Serper Marina
Published: February 2024

Importance

Disparities in patient access and use of health care portals have been documented. Limited research has evaluated disparities in portal use during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective

To assess prevalence of health care portal use before, during, and after the most restrictive phase of the pandemic (2019-2022) among the COVID-19 & Chronic Conditions (C3) cohort and to investigate any disparities in use by sociodemographic factors.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cohort study uses data from the C3 study, an ongoing, longitudinal, telephone-based survey of participants with multiple chronic conditions. Participants were middle aged and older-adult primary care patients who had an active portal account, recruited from a single academic medical center in Chicago, Illinois, between 2019 and 2022. Data were analyzed between March and June 2022.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Outcomes of portal use (ie, number of days of portal login by year) were recorded for all study participants by the electronic data warehouse. All parent studies had uniform sociodemographic data and measures of social support, self-efficacy, health literacy, and health activation.

Results

Of 536 participants (mean [SD] age, 66.7 [12.0] years; 336 [62.7%] female), 44 (8.2%) were Hispanic or Latinx, 142 (26.5%) were non-Hispanic Black, 322 (60.1%) were non-Hispanic White, and 20 individuals (3.7%) identified as other race, including Asian, Native American or Alaskan Native, and self-reported other race. In multivariable analyses, portal login activity was higher during the 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the 2019 baseline. Higher portal login activity was associated with adequate health literacy (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.51; 95% CI, 1.18-1.94) and multimorbidity (IRR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.17-1.64). Lower portal activity was associated with older age (≥70 years: IRR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.55-0.85) and female sex (IRR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.66-0.91). Compared with non-Hispanic White patients, lower portal activity was observed among Hispanic or Latinx patients (IRR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49-0.89), non-Hispanic Black patients (IRR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.56-0.83), and patients who identified as other race (IRR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.28-0.64).

Conclusions and Relevance

This cohort study using data from the C3 study identified changes in portal use over time and highlighted populations that had lower access to health information. The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in portal use. Sociodemographic disparities by sex and age were reduced, although disparities by health literacy widened. A brief validated health literacy measure may serve as a useful digital literacy screening tool to identify patients who need further support.
Mortality Risks Over 20 Years in Men With Stage I to III Hormone Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer
Authors: Leone Julieta , Hassett Michael J. , Freedman Rachel A. , Tolaney Sara M. , Graham Noah , Tayob Nabihah , Vallejo Carlos T. , Winer Eric P. , Lin Nancy U. , Leone José P.
Published: February 2024

Importance

In women with hormone receptor–positive (HR+) breast cancer, the risk of distant recurrence and death persists for at least 20 years from diagnosis. The risk of late mortality in men with HR+ breast cancer has not been reported.

Objective

To report 20-year risks of breast cancer–specific mortality (BCSM) and non-BCSM in men with stage I to III HR+ breast cancer and identify factors associated with late BCSM.

Design, Setting, and Participants

An observational cohort study was conducted of men diagnosed with HR+ breast cancer from 1990 to 2008, using population-based data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. Men diagnosed with stage I to III HR+ breast cancer were included in the analysis. Cumulative incidence function was used to estimate the outcomes of baseline clinicopathologic variables regarding cumulative risk of BCSM and non-BCSM since diagnosis. Smoothed hazard estimates over time were plotted for BCSM. Fine and Gray multivariable regression evaluated the association of preselected variables with BCSM, conditional on having survived 5 years.

Main Outcome Measure

BCSM.

Results

A total of 2836 men with stage I to III HR+ breast cancer were included, with a median follow-up of 15.41 (IQR, 12.08-18.67) years. Median age at diagnosis was 67 (IQR, 57-76) years. The cumulative 20-year risk of BCSM was 12.4% for stage I, 26.2% for stage II, and 46.0% for stage III. Smoothed annual hazard estimates for BCSM revealed an increase in late hazard rates with each incremental node category, reaching a bimodal distribution in N3 and stage III, with each having peaks in hazard rates at 4 and 11 years. Among patients who survived 5 years from diagnosis, the adjusted BCSM risk was higher for those younger than 50 years vs older than 64 years, those with grade II or III/IV vs grade I tumors, and stage II or III vs stage I disease.

Conclusions and Relevance

The findings of this study suggest that, in men with stage I to III HR+ breast cancer, the risk of BCSM persists for at least 20 years and depends on traditional clinicopathologic factors, such as age, tumor stage, and tumor grade. Among men with higher stages of disease, the kinetics of the BCSM risk appear different from the risk that has been reported in women.
Highly Efficient Consolidation of Mesoporous Silica Microstructures Using Photonic Curing
Authors: Trihan Romain , Aimable Anne , Lejeune Martine , Andreazza Pascal , Cattoën Xavier , Rossignol Fabrice
Published: February 2024

Photonic curing offers the advantage of strongly reducing the treatment time of materials, especially for industrial purposes. The current work highlights the benefits of photonic curing for mesoporous silica made by inkjet‐printing. This study shows that appropriate curing treatment allows the preservation of the shape and porosity of mesoporous silica microstructures obtained by inkjet‐printing. Moreover, for the first time, this study demonstrates that photonic curing is compatible with very fragile organic functional groups such as the azide functional groups that enable a versatile functionalization by the copper catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) click reaction.
Macroscale TiO2 Microspherical Arrays with Multiple Synergistic Effect for Highly Sensitive Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering
Authors: Li Junfang , Xie Qinhui , Li Junbo , Sun Lei , Xie Yunfei , Ozaki Yukihiro , Ji Wei
Published: February 2024

Semiconductor materials represent an ideal choice for designing surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)‐based sensors due to their superior thermal and chemical stability compared to conventional metal materials. However, current SERS‐active semiconductor substrates have limitations such as low detection sensitivity and often complicated preparation steps, which restrict their real‐life applications. In this work, for the first time the feasibility of large‐area fabricating SERS‐active semiconductor substrates based on screen‐printing of micron‐sized TiO2 ink synthesized through a simple flame thermal‐assisted method is demonstrated. The resultant TiO2 microspherical arrays (MSAs) exhibit extraordinary SERS sensitivity with an enhancement factor of 3.28 × 107, which represents one of the highest sensitivity and are the easiest strategy among the reported SERS‐active semiconductor substrates. Both experiments and simulations rationalize the observed enhancement factor and propose that multiple synergistic resonances, including Mie resonance, charge‐transfer resonance, and molecular resonance significantly boost the performance of semiconductor substrates. Dye‐modified TiO2 MSAs are further exploited as the sensing platform for the development of a ratiometric SERS sensor, enabling the highly sensitive, selective, low cost, and stable detection of Hg2+ ions. This study opens up new possibilities for preparing a large‐scale SERS‐active semiconductor array, ultimately advancing the fields of semiconductor‐based SERS sensing technology.
Peripheral Selenium Modification of Multi‐Resonance Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Molecules for High‐Performance Blue Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes
Authors: Jin Jibiao , Wang Shumeng , Jiang He , Wang Lixiang , Wong Wai‐Yeung
Published: February 2024

Multi‐resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF) molecules have attracted much attention in the academia owing to their unique photoelectrical properties. However, MR‐TADF emitters usually show slow reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) rate, resulting in high efficiency roll‐off of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) and seriously limiting their further development. Here, a peripheral selenium (Se) modification is presented for MR‐TADF molecules to promote the RISC process while keeping the narrowband emission for high‐performance blue OLEDs. Compared to the parent molecules (NBN and tBuNBN), SeNBN and SetBuNBN exhibited narrower full‐width at half maximum (FWHM) value of 23 nm and more obvious delayed fluorescence properties with a high efficiency of delayed fluorescence up to 86%, shorter delayed lifetime of 2.4 µs as well as a faster RISC rate of 3.34×105 s−1. Therefore, high‐performance OLEDs based on these two Se modified MR‐TADF emitters are achieved with a high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to 25.5% and extremely suppressed efficiency roll‐offs of 3.9% at 100 cd m−2 and 24.4% at 1000 cd m−2. This work demonstrated that the introduction of peripheral Se atom can achieve high‐performance organic semiconductors with both narrowband emission and fast RISC rate constant for high‐performance organic optoelectronic devices.
Organic Hole‐Transport Layers: An Innovative Approach for Efficient Perovskite Light‐Emitting Diodes
Authors: Islam Amjad , Shah Syed Hamad Ullah , Haider Zeeshan , Imran Muhammad , Li Ming‐De
Published: February 2024

Organic–inorganic‐halide‐perovskite (OIHP) based light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) are becoming more and more well‐described as having multiple potential uses in lighting and display technology, owing to their broad color gamut and high color purity. Recent research reveals that hole‐transport layers (HTLs) perform crucial roles in realizing high‐performance and highly stable perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs). However, the exploration of organic HTLs for obtaining efficient PeLEDs has lagged behind compared to electron‐transport layers. In the past few years, some innovative HTLs have been developed for PeLEDs, which have demonstrated excellent performances in the devices. It has been established that HTL/OIHP interface has a significant impact on the crystallization behaviors and electrical properties of OIHP film. Herein, different types of organic HTLs (polymer/small molecule) used for PeLEDs are discussed. Also, the mechanism of action of those HTLs in perovskite devices is also presented. Moreover, the recent progress of organic HTLs in blue, green, and red PeLED devices is highlighted. Furthermore, the strategies to improve the performance of existing standard HTLs are also reviewed. Additionally, the challenges present in the PeLED technology are briefly summarized. Lastly, viewpoints regarding the ongoing obstacles and forthcoming prospects are emphasized.