bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
L’AMÉRIQUE LATINE EST À L’HONNEUR. ANTÔNIO A. CANÇADO TRINDADE IN DOCTRINE - DOI: 10.12818/P.0304-2340.2022v81p257
Authors: Burgorgue-Larsen Laurence
Published: August 2023

Le présent texte est un commentaire sur le travail intellectuel d’Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, premier juriste latino-américain à prendre place au sein de la belle et prestigieuse collection Doctrine(s) créée et dirigée par Emmanuelle Jouannet (et reprise aujourd’hui par Jean Matringe). Le texte analyse à la fois les positions de l’auteur en tant que représentant d’une tradition juridique latino-américaine et spécialiste des droits de l’homme. Le lecteur pourra constater que la vision humaniste «Cançado Trindadienne» s’installe profondé- ment dans le temps, ici celui du contentieux interaméricain. Il s’agit sans conteste, d’un aspect majeur de son œuvre : réussir à s’incarner, de façon effective, dans le droit positif.
Clinical prediction models and risk tools for early detection of patients at risk of surgical site infection and surgical wound dehiscence: a scoping review
Authors: Sandy-Hodgetts Kylie , Assadian Ojan , Wainwright Thomas W , Rochon Melissa , Van Der Merwe Zhavandre , Jones Rhidian Morgan , Serena Thomas , Alves Paulo , Smith George
Published: August 2023

Objective:

Despite advances in surgical techniques, intraoperative practice and a plethora of advanced wound therapies, surgical wound complications (SWCs), such as surgical site infection (SSI) and surgical wound dehiscence (SWD), continue to pose a considerable burden to the patient and healthcare setting. Predicting those patients at risk of a SWC may give patients and healthcare providers the opportunity to implement a tailored prevention plan or potentially ameliorate known risk factors to improve patient postoperative outcomes.

Method:

A scoping review of the literature for studies which reported predictive power and internal/external validity of risk tools for clinical use in predicting patients at risk of SWCs after surgery was conducted. An electronic search of three databases and two registries was carried out with date restrictions. The search terms included ‘prediction surgical site infection’ and ‘prediction surgical wound dehiscence’.

Results:

A total of 73 records were identified from the database search, of which six studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, the majority of validated risk tools were predominantly within the cardiothoracic domain, and targeted morbidity and mortality outcomes. There were four risk tools specifically targeting SWCs following surgery.

Conclusion:

The findings of this review have highlighted an absence of well-developed risk tools specifically for SSI and/or SWD in most surgical populations. This review suggests that further research is required for the development and clinical implementation of rigorously validated and fit-for-purpose risk tools for predicting patients at risk of SWCs following surgery. The ability to predict such patients enables the implementation of preventive strategies, such as the use of prophylactic antibiotics, delayed timing of surgery, or advanced wound therapies following a procedure.
Checklist and distribution of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) within an ecologi-cally diverse southern African ecoregion: Eswatini
Authors: MAGAGULA CEBISILE N. , HAWKES PETER G.
Published: August 2023

Documentation of species occurrences through compilation of checklists is an important component of biodiversity conservation and planning, which are limited in sub-Saharan Africa. As an ecologically diverse country, ant checklist compilation was carried out in Eswatini in order to determine ant diversity and distribution within the country’s major ecological terrestrial biomes. Collections by various sources over the years have resulted in the determination of 148 species from 41 genera in 6 subfamilies, with Myrmicinae being the dominant one with 74 species. Within the terrestrial biomes, the savanna had 77% of the species recorded while grassland and forest biomes had 52.7% and 25% of the species, respectively. Three species, Anoplolepis custodiens (Smith, 1858), Polyrhachis schistacea (Gerstäcker, 1859) and Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793) were the most widely distributed in the country. There were also the first records of Myrmicaria faurei Arnold, 1947 and Terataner transvaalensis Arnold, 1952 outside of their known ranges in Mpumalanga, South Africa, as well as Camponotus liogaster Santschi, 1932 outside of its known range in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The forty-eight species identified only to genus level illustrates the taxonomic gap within entomology. This checklist confirms the importance of such documentation of species at both local and regional scale, contributing to knowledge on the region’s biodiversity and its distribution.
Unveiling the rise of Chinese volunteering from a civil and political engagement perspective
Authors: Hu Ming
Published: August 2023

China, a country with a long history of government-coerced labour among commoners, has seen a striking rise of volunteering in the past three decades. At the same time, civil society in China has been rigorously constrained by the authoritarian state. This makes dubious the usually supposed linkage between volunteering and civil society development. Analysing a nationwide dataset, this study examines Chinese citizens’ volunteer participation from the civil and political engagement perspective. It finds that individuals’ engagement with the state, neighbourhood, and civil society all helped predict their decision to volunteer, but only a few factors concerning engagement in the neighbourhood and civil society were positively associated with volunteer hours when they decided to volunteer. The article concludes with discussion on the rise of volunteerism in contemporary China and its implication for civil society development.
Wortgeschichte digital : A Historical Dictionary of German on the Internet
Authors: Harm Volker
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACT:
This article presents a new historical online dictionary of German: Wortgeschichte digital ('digital word history'). WGd focuses on New High German, the most recent period of German ranging from 1600 to the present, for which no specific historical dictionary is available so far. WGd differs from current historical lexicography most notably in three respects: first, its entirely digital nature; second, its onomasiological approach to lemma selection; and, third, its "narrative" style. Because WGd does not derive from a printed dictionary, it is in a position to make extensive use of all the instruments provided by digital humanities. For WGd , this results in a densely interconnected dictionary architecture with internal and external links and visual presentations of lexical structures. In contrast to many other historical dictionaries, WGd pursues an onomasiological approach to lemma selection, concentrating on those lexical domains that have appeared to be highly dynamic in recent language history, such as the vocabularies of society and politics, economy, traffic, natural science, everyday culture, and so forth. These fields are dealt with in separate work units of several years each, allowing for a consistent lexicographical description. The most significant feature of WGd , however, is its style of presentation: Instead of providing a traditional entry structure consisting of definitions and quotations, the entries of WGd are written as continuous texts charting the semantic evolution of a word within its intra- and extra-linguistic context.
“Accidents will happen”: Dickens’s Comical Mishaps
Authors: Wagner Tamara S.
Published: August 2023

Abstract: This article critically unpacks the complex narrative potential that mishaps fulfil in Dickens’s fiction. It parses the way comedy works in his depiction of the various accidents of daily life and explores how their shifting narrative functions influentially shaped the representation of personal misfortune and social ethics at a time that saw competing interpretative frameworks of why accidents happen. Situating Dickens’s fictional mishaps amidst the changing concepts of the accidental in the nineteenth century, I trace how he creates comedy based on pantomimic transformations in The Pickwick Papers , and how this mode continues to operate in his writing. Martin Chuzzlewit then marks a turning-point in prefiguring sensational representations of seeming household accidents. In Dickens’s later novels, the comedy of accidents shifts towards a parodic engagement with specific – individual and institutional – interpretations. Thus, in Little Dorrit , accidents and their misinterpretations comically complicate competing ideas of probability, misfortune, and poetic justice.
Charles Dickens & Sir Philip Sidney: Hard Times , An Equine Defence for the Novel
Authors: Pines Dana
Published: August 2023

Abstract: While critics have often read Hard Times as Dickens’s defense of imagination against utilitarianism, industrialism, and the fact-driven education of his time, the source of Dickens’s defensive theory and poetics has remained comparatively obscure. This article will argue that Dickens, in his attempt to defend imaginative literature, invokes Sir Philip Sidney’s sixteenth-century Defence of Poetry . More specifically, Dickens borrows from Sidney the trope of “Horsemanship” as a means to discuss the value of “Poetry.” Throughout the novel, Dickens turns to the image of the horse and the members of Sleary’s Horse-Riding as the catalysts for poetic powers, fancy, and imagination. Sleary’s troupe exposes the failure of the mechanical residents of Coketown, who insist on manufacturing passionless Bitzers rather than sensitive Sissys. The novel’s equine aesthetic repeatedly conjures the anxiety of the Gradgrindian School of “poesy,” where Dickens, through the equine invocation, carries out his apologetic debate.
Being Achilles’ Heir: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Neoptolemus in Sophocles’ Philoctetes
Authors: Cozzi Cecilia
Published: August 2023

Abstract: This article offers a psychoanalytical reading of Neoptolemus’s evolution on stage in Sophocles’ Philoctetes . The analysis stems from Italian psychoanalyst Massimo Recalcati’s definition of inheritance as a movement of reclamation, which entails the heir’s active choice in approaching his father’s example. In the end of the play, Neoptolemus emerges as a good heir, because he neither dismissed Achilles’ values entirely (as Odysseus demanded in the prologue), nor did he re-enact his father’s behavior uncritically, as Philoctetes was expecting. Neoptolemus deliberately chooses to reclaim his Achillean ethos , without overlooking the importance of other forces at work (friendship and piety).
Dialogical Ethos of Trinitarian Theology, East and West: Theological and Political Implications
Authors: Kalaitzidis Pantelis
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACT: In this article I will deal with the dialogical ethos of Trinitarian theology, its theological and political implications, including the revival of that theology during the second half of the twentieth century, and its ecumenical significance. I will expose the basic elements of a Trinitarian-based theology of personhood and communion, followed by a discussion of the meaning of the key concept of communion/ koinonia in politics. In this context I will offer a theological reflection on the political significance of the Trinitarian image in human beings and the Trinitarian dialogical ethos as derived from the fiat of creation. The article will conclude with a brief theological meditation on and critique of the authoritarian mind, thus contributing to the East-West dialogue and to the encounters between Orthodoxy and modernity and between Orthodoxy and democracy.
The Mishnah's Reader: Reconsidering Literary Meaning
Authors: Wimpfheimer Barry Scott
Published: August 2023

Abstract: The Mishnah is both the best-organized work of rabbinic literature and not entirely consistent in its organization. These aspects led to robust scholarly debates about the Mishnah as a work of literature. Recent overview scholarship has highlighted the inconsistency and refused to attempt to define the Mishnah's literary genre. This essay draws on three common mishnaic phenomena to highlight the ways the Mishnah asks to be read. It argues that the Mishnah employs legal couplets (paired statutory case presentations) to communicate the presence of underlying conceptual meaning and to train the reader to mine the text for such meaning. It shows that the Mishnah stacks couplets like building blocks to produce ever-richer conceptual understandings of mishnaic information. Finally, it highlights and embraces the role that readers must play in producing the Mishnah's fullest meaning.
Writing the Talmud Anew: Shlomo Sirilio's Renaissance Edition of the Jerusalem Talmud
Authors: Mayer Yakov Z.
Published: August 2023

Abstract: Shlomo Sirilio, a resident of sixteenth-century Safed, created a radical adaptation of the Jerusalem Talmud based on its 1523 editio princeps . He sweepingly adapted the talmudic text, expanded it with medieval materials, and added novel material, based on his creative scholarly intuition. This essay describes Sirilio's scholarly conception and distinguishes between the medieval motifs and the innovative Renaissance ideas that shaped his work. It argues that such a creative approach could not have been created in the centers of humanistic culture, but only in the peripheral locale of Safed, where humanistic ideas could be developed without polemical undertones.
From Sinai to This Day: Hermann Cohen's and Franz Rosenzweig's Recasting of the Giving of the Torah
Authors: Scharf Orr
Published: August 2023

Abstract: The giving of the Torah at Sinai is the cornerstone of Jewish faith in divine revelation. Yet the account in the book of Exodus (19–20) is riddled with questionable descriptions that have puzzled commentators and exegetes from early midrash onward. In the early twentieth century, Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) and Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929) attempted to reconcile the advent of modern philosophy with the bequeathal of Jewish tradition. From their viewpoint, Ex 19–20 raised epistemological difficulties and was fraught with questionable ontological assertions. Yet, since revelation, premised on its classic Jewish formulations, was central to the thought of Cohen and Rosenzweig alike, Sinai could neither be ignored nor silenced; it had to be accommodated. This essay traces the interpretive strategies Cohen and Rosenzweig employed to construct philosophical conceptions of revelation grounded in biblical prooftexts. A close reading of Cohen's The Religion of Reason Out of the Sources of Judaism and Rosenzweig's The Star of Redemption shows that by choosing alternative biblical prooftexts (Cohen: Deuteronomy; Rosenzweig: Song of Songs), they endorsed the historical impact of Sinai on the Jewish idea of revelation without accepting it as a historically verifiable event. The essay suggests that the reliance of the two philosophers on rabbinic literature to complete their interpretive strategies is the most subtle and illuminating aspect of their reception of Sinaitic revelation.
Super-Resolution-Chip: an in-vitro platform that enables super-resolution microscopy of co-cultures and 3D systems
Authors: Sade Ofir , Boneberg Ronja , Weiss Yifat , Beldjilali-Labro Megane , Leichtmann-Bardoogo Yael , Talpir Itay , Gottfried Irit , Ashery Uri , Rauti Rossana , Maoz Ben M.
Published: August 2023

The development of organs-on-a-chip platforms has revolutionized in-vitro cellular culture by allowing cells to be grown in an environment that better mimics human physiology. However, there is still a challenge in integrating those platforms with advanced imaging technology. This is extremely important when we want to study molecular changes and subcellular processes on the level of a single molecule using super-resolution microscopy (SRM), which has a resolution beyond the diffraction limit of light. Currently, existing platforms that include SRM have certain limitations, either as they only support 2D monocultures, without flow or as they demand a lot of production and handling. In this study, we developed a Super-Res-Chip platform, consisting of a 3D-printed chip and a porous membrane, that could be used to co-culture cells in close proximity either in 2D or in 3D while allowing SRM on both sides of the membrane. To demonstrate the functionality of the device, we co-cultured in endothelial and epithelial cells and used direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) to investigate how glioblastoma cells affect the expression of the gap-junction protein Connexin43 in endothelial cells grown in 2D and in 3D. Cluster analysis of Connexin43 distribution revealed no difference in the number of clusters, their size, or radii, but did identify differences in their density. Furthermore, the spatial resolution was high also when the cells were imaged through the membrane (20-30 nm for x-y) and 10-20 nm when imaged directly both for 2D and 3D conditions. Overall, this chip allows to characterize of complex cellular processes on a molecular scale in an easy manner and improved the capacity for imaging in a single molecule resolution complex cellular organization.
The Ground State Decoherence Effect on an
Amplification of a Phase Sensitive Δ System
Authors: Pramoth Beena , JAYARAMAN AYYAPPAN , N SURESH BABU
Published: August 2023

The atomic decoherence effect (DE) on electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT) is studied in the phase-sensitive ∆ system. The DE forces the susceptibility of the medium into negative or positive depending upon the resultant phase and the microwave field strength. In general, the phase-sensitive amplification (PSA) on the probe resonance laser field is induced by the microwave field. The DE plays a major role in tuning the PSA in such a medium. Moreover, we show that the control of the ground state decoherence in a phase-sensitive ∆ system leads to the gain in
the output of the probe field. The DE is of great interest in the field of quantum information science, and quantum optics.
Assessing trauma center accessibility in the Southeastern region of the U.S. to improve healthcare efficacy using an anti-covering approach
Authors: Chea Heewon , Kim Hyun
Published: August 2023

Accessibility to trauma centers is vital for the patients of severe motor vehicle crashes. Many vehicle crash fatalities failed to reach the proper emergency medical services since the accident location was far away from trauma centers. The spatial discordance between the service coverage area of trauma centers and actual locations of motor vehicle accidents delays the definitive medical care and results in death or disability. Many fatalities would have been prevented if the patients had a chance to get proper treatment in time at Southeastern region of the U.S. Also, the accessibility to trauma centers from the actual locations of motor vehicle accidents is different in the Southeastern region. This research aimed to facilitate the accessibility to trauma centers for severe motor vehicle crash patients in the Southeastern region. The analyses are conducted to assess current trauma center accessibility and suggest the optimal locations of future trauma centers using the Anti-covering location model for trauma centers (TraCt model). This study found that existing trauma centers failed to serve many demands, and the actual coverages of the current locations of trauma centers over potential demands are highly different in each Southeastern state. TraCt model is applied to each Southeastern state, and its solutions provide better coverage for demand locations. However, the TraCt model for each state tends to choose too many facilities, with excessively supplied facilities across the Southeastern region. The excessive service supply issue is addressed by applying the TraCt Model to a broader spatial extent. TraCt model applied to the entire Southeastern region and most of the demand, over 98% covered by the service coverage of optimal facility locations with 15 additional facilities. This research proves that the GIS and TraCt model applied to the broader spatial extent works well with increasing trauma medical service beneficiaries while providing a minimum number of additional facilities.
Factors influencing the implementation of severe acute malnutrition guidelines within the healthcare referral systems of rural subdistricts in North West Province, South Africa
Authors: Mambulu-Chikankheni Faith Nankasa
Published: August 2023

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is associated with 30.9% of South Africa’s audited under-five children deaths regardless of available guidelines to reduce SAM at each level of a three tyre referral system. Existing research has explored and offered solutions for SAM guidelines implementation at each referral system level, but their connectedness in continuation of care is under-explored. Therefore, I examined implementation of SAM guidelines and factors influencing implementation within subdistrict referral systems. An explanatory qualitative case study design was used. The study was conducted in two subdistricts involving two district hospitals; three community health centres, four clinics, and two emergency service stations. Between February to July 2016 and 2018, data were collected using 39 in-depth interviews with clinical, emergency service and administrative personnel; 40 reviews of records of children younger than five years; appraisals of nine facilities involved in referrals and observations. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse all data except records which were aggregated to elicit whether required SAM guidelines’ steps were administered per case reviewed. Record reviews revealed SAM diagnosis discrepancies demonstrated by incomplete anthropometric assessments; non-compliance to SAM management guidelines was noted through skipping some critical steps including therapeutic feeding at clinic level. Record reviews further revealed variations of referral mechanisms across subdistricts, contradictory documentation within records, and restricted continuation of care. Interviews, observations and facility appraisals revealed that factors influencing these practices included inadequate clinical skills; inconsistent supervision and monitoring; unavailability of subdistrict specific referral policies and operational structures; and suboptimal national policies on therapeutic food. SAM diagnosis, management, and referrals within subdistrict health systems need to be strengthened to curb preventable child deaths. Implementation of SAM guidelines needs to be accompanied by job aids and supervision with standardised tools; subdistrict-specific referral policies and suboptimal national policies to ensure availability and accessibility of therapeutic foods.
Complex organic matter degradation by secondary consumers in chemolithoautotrophy-based subsurface geothermal ecosystems
Authors: Paul Raegan , Rogers Timothy J. , Fullerton Kate M. , Selci Matteo , Cascone Martina , Stokes Murray H. , Steen Andrew D. , de Moor J. Maarten , Chiodi Agostina , Stefánsson Andri , Halldórsson Sæmundur A. , Ramirez Carlos J. , Jessen Gerdhard L. , Barry Peter H. , Cordone Angelina , Giovannelli Donato , Lloyd Karen G.
Published: August 2023

Microbial communities in terrestrial geothermal systems often contain chemolithoautotrophs with well-characterized distributions and metabolic capabilities. However, the extent to which organic matter produced by these chemolithoautotrophs supports heterotrophs remains largely unknown. Here we compared the abundance and activity of peptidases and carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) that are predicted to be extracellular identified in metagenomic assemblies from 63 springs in the Central American and the Andean convergent margin (Argentinian backarc of the Central Volcanic Zone), as well as the plume-influenced spreading center in Iceland. All assemblies contain two orders of magnitude more peptidases than CAZymes, suggesting that the microorganisms more often use proteins for their carbon and/or nitrogen acquisition instead of complex sugars. The CAZy families in highest abundance are GH23 and CBM50, and the most abundant peptidase families are M23 and C26, all four of which degrade peptidoglycan found in bacterial cells. This implies that the heterotrophic community relies on autochthonous dead cell biomass, rather than allochthonous plant matter, for organic material. Enzymes involved in the degradation of cyanobacterial- and algal-derived compounds are in lower abundance at every site, with volcanic sites having more enzymes degrading cyanobacterial compounds and non-volcanic sites having more enzymes degrading algal compounds. Activity assays showed that many of these enzyme classes are active in these samples. High temperature sites (> 80°C) had similar extracellular carbon-degrading enzymes regardless of their province, suggesting a less well-developed population of secondary consumers at these sites, possibly connected with the limited extent of the subsurface biosphere in these high temperature sites. We conclude that in < 80°C springs, chemolithoautotrophic production supports heterotrophs capable of degrading a wide range of organic compounds that do not vary by geological province, even though the taxonomic and respiratory repertoire of chemolithoautotrophs and heterotrophs differ greatly across these regions.
The initial development and validation of the Social Adaptability Skills Questionnaire: SASQ
Authors: Owiti Samuel , Hauw Denis
Published: August 2023

Changing clubs over the course of an athletic career may not always be easy, and this has raised questions about how these changes affect career development. However, few studies have focused on the process of adapting to a new club and the factors that lead to success or failure. To address this gap in the literature, we aimed to develop and provide the initial validation of a questionnaire designed to assess athletes’ social adaptability skills (SAS). To do so, we conducted four studies, from the initial development stage to the final validation stage. In the first phase, we generated questionnaire items with clear content and face validity. The second phase explored the factor structure and reliability of the Social Adaptability Skills Questionnaire (SASQ). This was carried out with 543 young athletes in talent development through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which was validated with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EFA yielded a 17-item, four-factor structure with good internal reliability (⍺ = 0.876). The CFA revealed that the model fit indices were acceptable (RMSEA = 0.06, CFI = 0.809, TLI = 0.844, and GFI = 0.926). In addition, Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was applied to determine the predictive validity of SASQ resulting into identification of three classes (low achievers, average achievers, and high achievers) with four discriminating dimensions (coach, teammates, family, and club). The SASQ appears to be a promising psychometric instrument of potential usefulness for education and program reviews in applied settings and a measurement tool in talent development research.
The psychophysics of bouncing: Perceptual constraints, physical constraints, animacy, and phenomenal causality
Authors: Vicovaro Michele , Brunello Loris , Parovel Giulia
Published: August 2023

In the present study we broadly explored the perception of physical and animated motion in bouncing-like scenarios through four experiments. In the first experiment, participants were asked to categorize bouncing-like displays as physical bounce, animated motion, or other. Several parameters of the animations were manipulated, that is, the simulated coefficient of restitution, the value of simulated gravitational acceleration, the motion pattern (uniform acceleration/deceleration or constant speed) and the number of bouncing cycles. In the second experiment, a variable delay at the moment of the collision between the bouncing object and the bouncing surface was introduced. Main results show that, although observers appear to have realistic representations of physical constraints like energy conservation and gravitational acceleration/deceleration, the amount of visual information available in the scene has a strong modulation effect on the extent to which they rely on these representations. A coefficient of restitution >1 was a crucial cue to animacy in displays showing three bouncing cycles, but not in displays showing one bouncing cycle. Additionally, bouncing impressions appear to be driven by perceptual constraints that are unrelated to the physical realism of the scene, like preference for simulated gravitational attraction smaller than g and perceived temporal contiguity between the different phases of bouncing. In the third experiment, the visible opaque bouncing surface was removed from the scene, and the results showed that this did not have any substantial effect on the resulting impressions of physical bounce or animated motion, suggesting that the visual system can fill-in the scene with the missing element. The fourth experiment explored visual impressions of causality in bouncing scenarios. At odds with claims of current causal perception theories, results indicate that a passive object can be perceived as the direct cause of the motion behavior of an active object.
Evaluation of potential rabies exposure among Japanese international travelers: A retrospective descriptive study
Authors: Nomoto Hidetoshi , Yamamoto Kei , Kutsuna Satoshi , Asai Yusuke , Kasamatsu Yu , Shirano Michinori , Sahara Toshinori , Nakamura Fukumi , Katsuragi Yukiko , Yamato Masaya , Shinohara Koh , Sakamoto Naoya , Hase Ryota , Ogawa Taku , Nagasaka Atsushi , Miyata Nobuyuki , Ohmagari Norio
Published: August 2023

Background

Although Japan has been a rabies-free country for >50 years, a few cases have been reported among people traveling abroad. This study aimed to investigate animal exposure among Japanese travelers using the Japanese Registry for Infectious Diseases from Abroad (J-RIDA).

Method

In this retrospective analysis, we examined Japanese overseas travelers with animal exposure, as included the J-RIDA database, reported from October 1, 2017, to October 31, 2019, with a focus on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) administration and the animals to which the patients were exposed.

Results

Among the 322 cases included in the analysis, 19 (5.9%) patients received PrEP and 303 did not. The most common purpose of travel was a non-package tour (n = 175, 54.3%). Most trips (n = 213, 66.1%) were to a single country for <2 weeks. Most patients (n = 286, 87.9%) traveled to countries with a rabies risk. The majority of patients with and without PrEP were injured in rabies-risk countries [n = 270 (89.1%) for non-PrEP and n = 16 (84.2%) for PrEP]. Animals associated with injuries included dogs (55.0%), cats (25.5%), and monkeys (15.5%). Most patients were classified as World Health Organization Category II/III for contact with suspected rabid animals (39.5% and 44.1% for categories II and III, respectively) and had exposure within 5 days of travel. Southeast Asia (n = 180, 55.9%) was the most common region in which travelers were exposed to animals.

Conclusions

Japanese overseas travelers had contact with animals that could possibly transmit the rabies virus, even on short trips. Promoting pre-travel consultation and increasing awareness of the potential for rabies exposure are important for prevention of rabies among Japanese international travelers.
Investigating the hard X-ray production via proton spallation on different materials to detect elements
Authors: Khezripour Saeedeh , Rezaie Mohammadreza , Hassanpour Mehdi , Hassanpour Marzieh , Rashed Iqbal Faruque Mohammad , Uddin Khandaker Mayeen
Published: August 2023

Various atomic and nuclear methods use hard (high-energy) X-rays to detect elements. The current study aims to investigate the hard X-ray production rate via high-energy proton beam irradiation of various materials. For which, appropriate conditions for producing X-rays were established. The MCNPX code, based on the Monte Carlo method, was used for simulation. Protons with energies up to 1650 MeV were irradiated on various materials such as carbon, lithium, lead, nickel, salt, and soil, where the resulting X-ray spectra were extracted. The production of X-rays in lead was observed to increase 16 times, with the gain reaching 0.18 as the proton energy increases from 100 MeV to 1650 MeV. Comparatively, salt is a good candidate among the lightweight elements to produce X-rays at a low proton energy of 30 MeV with a production gain of 0.03. Therefore, it is suggested to irradiate the NaCl target with 30 MeV proton to produce X-rays in the 0–2 MeV range.
Connecting the dots: Path model to identify key phenotypic traits for screening plants with tolerance to nitrogen deficiency
Authors: Adhikari Ranjeeta , Nemali Krishna
Published: August 2023

Varieties that tolerate low nitrogen (N) application rates can reduce fertilizer costs, minimize nitrate leaching and runoff losses, and lower overall CO2 emissions associated with fertilizer manufacturing. The goal of our research is to show the usefulness of path models to identify key phenotypic traits for screening plants with a tolerance to low N application rates. We grew tolerant and sensitive cultivars of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) using a water-soluble fertilizer (15-5-15 Cal Mag) in both optimal (electrical conductivity of 2.5 dS·m-1) and N-deficient (electrical conductivity of 0.75 dS·m-1) treatments and measured 24 different traits at the cellular, leaf, and whole-plant scales in both cultivars and treatments. The experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with N treatments as main plots and cultivars as sub-plots, with five replications. Path analysis was conducted to develop sequential relationships among these traits. Statistical comparisons between tolerant and sensitive cultivars in the N-deficient treatment indicated an increase in shoot biomass (19.9 vs 14.4 g), leaf area (2775 vs 1824 cm2), leaf dry weight (14.7 vs 10.0 g), lateral root dry weight (3.7 vs 2.4 g), light-saturated photosynthesis (14.5 vs 10.1 μmol∙m-2∙s-1), maximum electron transport rate (119 vs 89 μmol∙m-2∙s-1), chlorophyll content (28.1 vs 12.9 g∙100g-1), leaf N content (27.5 vs 19.9 mg∙g-1), and fine root N content (26.1 vs 20.9 mg∙g-1), and a decrease in anthocyanin content (0.07 vs 0.16 ΔOD∙g-1). The path model indicated that an increase in the lateral root growth and fine root N content can lead to an increase in the leaf N content, in the N-deficient treatment. There were three separate paths that connected higher leaf N content to increased shoot biomass. These paths were mediated by the levels of anthocyanin, chlorophylls, and light-saturated photosynthesis rate (or rubisco capacity). The light-saturated photosynthesis model suggested that the increased uptake of N by fine roots in the tolerant cultivar was likely supported by the photosynthates translocated from the shoot to the root. Leaf N content was associated with multiple plant responses in the N-deficient treatment, and can be a useful screening trait for developing new cultivars, especially in marker-assisted molecular breeding.
Leading consumption patterns of psychoactive substances in Colombia: A deep neural network-based clustering-oriented embedding approach
Authors: Palomino Kevin , Berdugo Carmen R. , Vélez Jorge I.
Published: August 2023

The number of health-related incidents caused using illegal and legal psychoactive substances (PAS) has dramatically increased over two decades worldwide. In Colombia, the use of illicit substances has increased up to 10.3%, while the consumption alcohol and tobacco has increased to 84% and 12%, respectively. It is well-known that identifying drug consumption patterns in the general population is essential in reducing overall drug consumption. However, existing approaches do not incorporate Machine Learning and/or Deep Data Mining methods in combination with spatial techniques. To enhance our understanding of mental health issues related to PAS and assist in the development of national policies, here we present a novel Deep Neural Network-based Clustering-oriented Embedding Algorithm that incorporates an autoencoder and spatial techniques. The primary goal of our model is to identify general and spatial patterns of drug consumption and abuse, while also extracting relevant features from the input data and identifying clusters during the learning process. As a test case, we used the largest publicly available database of legal and illegal PAS consumption comprising 49,600 Colombian households. We estimated and geographically represented the prevalence of consumption and/or abuse of both PAS and non-PAS, while achieving statistically significant goodness-of-fit values. Our results indicate that region, sex, housing type, socioeconomic status, age, and variables related to household finances contribute to explaining the patterns of consumption and/or abuse of PAS. Additionally, we identified three distinct patterns of PAS consumption and/or abuse. At the spatial level, these patterns indicate concentrations of drug consumption in specific regions of the country, which are closely related to specific geographic locations and the prevailing social and environmental contexts. These findings can provide valuable insights to facilitate decision-making and develop national policies targeting specific groups given their cultural, geographic, and social conditions.
Predictors of pretraumatic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
Authors: Łyś Agnieszka E. , Huflejt-Łukasik Mirosława , Gambin Małgorzata , Studzińska Anna , Bargiel-Matusiewicz Kamilla , Oleksy Tomasz , Wnuk Anna , Pankowski Daniel
Published: August 2023

Background

Pretraumatic stress has the same symptoms as post-traumatic stress but instead pertains to anticipated threats. There is evidence that pretraumatic stress occurs among soldiers and pregnant people.

Objective

We analyzed correlates of pretraumatic stress concerning the threat of COVID-19 infection.

Method

Our pilot study was cross-sectional (N = 74); our main study was longitudinal and consisted of three waves (N = 1067, N = 894, and N = 752 for Waves 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Our pilot study used correlation and multiple linear regression. Our main study used quadratic regression and a random intercept cross-lagged panel model.

Results

The pilot study found that pretraumatic stress was positively correlated with agreeableness (r = .24, p < .01) and negatively correlated with emotional stability (r = -.30, p < .01) and intellect/imagination (r = -.37, p < .01). The main study demonstrated that pretraumatic stress was positively correlated with other measures of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic and with perceived positive aspects of the pandemic (r = .11, p < .01). There is evidence of a U-shaped relationship between pretraumatic stress and perceived positive aspects of the pandemic. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model analysis demonstrated that pretraumatic stress in Wave 2 was negatively predicted by levels of prosocial behavior in Wave 1 (B = -1.130, p < .01).

Conclusion

Mental health professionals should take into account pretraumatic stress, not only as a possible consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak but more generally as a risk in situations that are new, difficult, and challenging for people.
Comparative proteomic analysis of exosomes derived from endothelial cells and Schwann cells
Authors: Wang Lei , Lu XueRong , Chopp Michael , Li Chao , Zhang Yi , Szalad Alexandra , Liu Xian Shuang , Zhang Zheng Gang
Published: August 2023

Exosomes derived from endothelial cells and Schwann cells have been employed as novel treatments of neurological diseases, including peripheral neuropathy. Exosomal cargo plays a critical role in mediating recipient cell function. In this study, we thus performed a comprehensive proteomic analysis of exosomes derived from healthy mouse dermal microvascular endothelial cells (EC-Exo) and healthy mouse Schwann cells (SC-Exo). We detected 1,817and 1,579 proteins in EC-Exo and SC-Exo, respectively. Among them, 1506 proteins were present in both EC-Exo and SC-Exo, while 311 and 73 proteins were detected only in EC-Exo and SC-Exo, respectively. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that EC-Exo enriched proteins were involved in neurovascular function, while SC-Exo enriched proteins were related to lipid metabolism. Western blot analysis of 14 enriched proteins revealed that EC-Exo contained proteins involved in mediating endothelial function such as delta-like 4 (DLL4) and endothelial NOS (NOS3), whereas SC-Exo had proteins involved in mediating glial function such as apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1) and phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP). Collectively, the present study identifies differences in the cargo protein profiles of EC-Exo and SC-Exo, thus providing new molecular insights into their biological functions for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy.
Optimal barbell force-velocity profiles can contribute to maximize weightlifting performance
Authors: Sandau Ingo , Granacher Urs
Published: August 2023

Maximal barbell power output (Pmax) and vertical barbell threshold velocity (vthres) are major determinants of weightlifting performance. Moreover, an optimal force-velocity relationship (FvR) profile is an additional variable that has the potential to maximize sports performance. The aims of this study were (i) to present a biomechanical model to calculate an optimal FvR profile for weightlifting, and (ii) to determine how vthres, Pmax, and the optimal FvR profile influence theoretical snatch performance (snatchth). To address these aims, simulations were applied to quantify the respective influence on snatchth. The main findings confirmed that at constant vthres and Pmax, snatchth is maximized at an optimal FvR profile. With increasing Pmax and decreasing vthres, the optimal FvR profile becomes more force dominated and more effective to enhance snatchth. However, sensitivity analysis showed that vthres and Pmax have a larger effect on snatchth than the optimal FvR profile. It can be concluded that in weightlifting, training protocols should be designed with the goal to improve Pmax and to reduce vthres to ultimately enhance snatchth. Training programs designed to achieve the optimal FvR profile may constitute an additional training goal to further develop weightlifting performance in elite athletes that already present high Pmax levels.
Perception of typical migraine images on the internet: Comparison between a metropolis and a smaller rural city in Germany
Authors: Hamann Till , Hong Ja Bin , Lange Kristin Sophie , Overeem Lucas Hendrik , Triller Paul , Rimmele Florian , Jürgens Tim Patrick , Kropp Peter , Reuter Uwe , Raffaelli Bianca
Published: August 2023

The medial portrayal of migraine is often stereotypical and inaccurate but reflects how society perceives migraine. The discrepancy between others’ views and the reality of affected individuals may negatively affect access to treatment and the disease course of patients with migraine. This study aimed to investigate whether images presented in the media as typical migraine attacks are perceived as realistic and representative by migraine patients in Rostock, a smaller town in rural Germany, and compare the results to those from Berlin, a large metropolis. We performed an online survey in Rostock. Migraine patients were shown ten images of migraine attacks, which were among the most downloaded stock pictures on the internet under the search term "migraine". They rated on a scale of 0–100 to what extent the pictures were realistic for migraine attacks (realism score), representative of their own migraine (representation score), or the society’s view of migraine (society score). In addition, we compared our results with a recently published study from the metropolitan region of Berlin. A total of 174 migraine patients completed our survey. Mean (SD) realism, representation, and society scores were 59.9 (17.5), 56.7 (18.3), and 58.4 (17.1) respectively. Images of older patients were perceived as significantly more realistic and representative than those of younger patients (P < .001). Patients in Rostock (rural region) rated the images as significantly more realistic and representative than survey participants in Berlin (metropolis). Migraine patients in a rural region found typical migraine images only moderately realistic and representative but to a higher degree than their counterparts from a metropolis.
Interspecific differences in the effects of masking and distraction on anti-predator behavior in suburban anthropogenic noise
Authors: Chou Trina L. , Krishna Anjali , Fossesca Mark , Desai Avani , Goldberg Julia , Jones Sophie , Stephens Morgan , Basile Benjamin M. , Gall Megan D.
Published: August 2023

Predation is a common threat to animal survival. The detection of predators or anti-predator communication signals can be disrupted by anthropogenic noise; however, the mechanism by which responses are affected is unclear. Masking and distraction are the two hypotheses that have emerged as likely explanations for changes in behavior in noise. Masking occurs when the signal and noise fall within the same sensory domain; noise overlapping the energy in the signal reduces signal detection. Distraction can occur when noise in any sensory domain contributes to a greater cognitive load, thereby reducing signal detection. Here, we used a repeated measures field experiment to determine the relative contributions of masking and distraction in mediating reduced anti-predator responses in noise. We recorded the approaches and vocalizations of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), tufted titmice (Baeolophus bicolor), and white-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) to both visual and acoustic cues of predator presence, either with or without simultaneous exposure to anthropogenic noise. Titmice increased their calling to both visual and acoustic cues of predator presence. However, there was no significant effect of noise on the calling responses of titmice regardless of stimulus modality. Noise appeared to produce a distraction effect in chickadees; however, this effect was small, suggesting that chickadees may be relatively unaffected by low levels of anthropogenic noise in suburban environments. White-breasted nuthatch calling behavior was affected by the interaction of the modality of the predator stimulus and the noise condition. Nuthatches had a delayed response to the predator presentations, with a greater calling rate following the presentation of the acoustic stimulus in quiet compared to the presentation of the acoustic stimulus in noise. However, there was no difference in calling rate between the quiet and noise conditions for the visual stimulus. Together this suggests that even moderate levels of noise have some masking effect for white-breasted nuthatches. We suggest that the mechanisms through which noise influences anti-predator behavior may depend on the social roles, foraging ecology and auditory capabilities of each species.