bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Current surgical management of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease
Authors: Barnes Hayley , Niewodowski Daniel , Doi Atsuo , Marasco Silvana , Joseph Tim , Siemienowicz Miranda , Keating Dominic , Yo Shaun , Kaye David , Williams Trevor , McGiffin David , Whitford Helen
Published: August 2024

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease (CTEPD) with or without pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important potential consequence of venous thromboembolic disease. Untreated CTEPD with pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Several treatment options are now available for patients with CTEPD and CTEPH, including pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA), balloon pulmonary angioplasty, medical therapy or a combination of therapies. Choice of treatment depends on the location of the thromboembolic disease burden, presence and severity of PH and patient factors, including frailty, parenchymal lung disease and other comorbidities. PEA is a complex surgery that can result in excellent outcomes and resolution of disease, but also comes with the risk of serious perioperative complications. This manuscript examines the history of PEA and its place in Australasia, and reports on outcomes from the main Australasian CTEPH expert centre. It provides a summary of up‐to‐date guidance on how PEA should be utilised in the overall management of these patients and describes opportunities and challenges for the future diagnosis and management of this disease, particularly in the Australasian setting.
Electronic word‐of‐mouth and Indian solo female travellers’ hotel booking intention: Moderating role of perceived risk
Authors: Islam Md. Tariqul , Pandey Uma , Kumar Jeetesh
Published: August 2024

The female solo travel trend is getting very popular globally, but females often face challenges related to their safety and security during their travel. The current study aims to identify the association among electronic word‐of‐mouth (e‐WoM), brand reputation, brand engagement, attitude towards the brand and Indian solo female travellers’ hotel booking intention with the moderating role of perceived risk by incorporating the Stimulus‐Organism‐Response (S‐O‐R) theory. A survey was conducted with 218 Indian solo female travellers to meet the study's objectives. Findings revealed that e‐WoM positively impacts the hotel brand reputation, brand engagement, attitude of respondents towards the hotel brand and hotel booking intention. Moreover, brand reputation and brand engagement influence the hotel booking intention. However, no association is found between attitude towards hotel brands and hotel booking intention. Perceived risk moderates the association between e‐WoM and Indian solo female travellers’ hotel booking intention. In addition, theoretically, a research framework is developed by extending the S‐O‐R theory with perceived risk as a moderating factor. Moreover, this study contributes numerous practical implications for the stakeholders of the Indian hospitality industry.
Analysis of therapeutic effect of silver‐based dressings on chronic wound healing
Authors: Liang Kaitao , Liu Yan , Jiang Fengting
Published: August 2024

Chronic wounds are susceptible to bacterial infections and at high risk of developing antibiotic‐resistant bacterial infections. Silver is an antimicrobial by targeting almost all types of bacteria in chronic wounds to reduce the bacterial load in the infected area and further facilitate the healing process. This study focused on exploring whether silver‐based dressings were superior to non‐silver dressings in the treatment of chronic wounds. PubMed, Web of Science and Embase were comprehensively searched from inception to March 2024 for randomized clinical trials and observational studies. The endpoints in terms of wound healing rate, complete healing time, reduction on wound surface area and wound infection rate were analysed using Review Manager 5.4 software. A total of 15 studies involving 5046 patients were eventually included. The results showed that compared with patients provided with non‐silver dressings, patients provided with silver‐based dressings had higher wound healing rate (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.10–1.85, p = 0.008), shorter complete healing time (MD: −0.96, 95% CI: −1.08 ~ −0.85, p < 0.00001) and lower wound infection rate (OR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.40–0.79, p = 0.001); no significant difference in the reduction on wound surface area (MD: 12.41, 95% CI: −19.59–44.40, p = 0.45) was found. These findings suggested that the silver‐based dressings were able to enhance chronic wound healing rate, shorten the complete healing time and reduce wound infection rate, but had no significant improvement in the reduction on wound surface area. Large‐scale and rigorous studies are required to confirm the beneficial effects of silver‐based dressings on chronic wound healing.
Predicting potential microbe–disease associations based on dual branch graph convolutional network
Authors: Chen Jing , Zhu Yongjun , Yuan Qun
Published: August 2024

Studying the association between microbes and diseases not only aids in the prevention and diagnosis of diseases, but also provides crucial theoretical support for new drug development and personalized treatment. Due to the time‐consuming and costly nature of laboratory‐based biological tests to confirm the relationship between microbes and diseases, there is an urgent need for innovative computational frameworks to anticipate new associations between microbes and diseases. Here, we propose a novel computational approach based on a dual branch graph convolutional network (GCN) module, abbreviated as DBGCNMDA, for identifying microbe–disease associations. First, DBGCNMDA calculates the similarity matrix of diseases and microbes by integrating functional similarity and Gaussian association spectrum kernel (GAPK) similarity. Then, semantic information from different biological networks is extracted by two GCN modules from different perspectives. Finally, the scores of microbe–disease associations are predicted based on the extracted features. The main innovation of this method lies in the use of two types of information for microbe/disease similarity assessment. Additionally, we extend the disease nodes to address the issue of insufficient features due to low data dimensionality. We optimize the connectivity between the homogeneous entities using random walk with restart (RWR), and then use the optimized similarity matrix as the initial feature matrix. In terms of network understanding, we design a dual branch GCN module, namely GlobalGCN and LocalGCN, to fine‐tune node representations by introducing side information, including homologous neighbour nodes. We evaluate the accuracy of the DBGCNMDA model using five‐fold cross‐validation (5‐fold‐CV) technique. The results show that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and area under the precision versus recall curve (AUPR) of the DBGCNMDA model in the 5‐fold‐CV are 0.9559 and 0.9630, respectively. The results from the case studies using published experimental data confirm a significant number of predicted associations, indicating that DBGCNMDA is an effective tool for predicting potential microbe–disease associations.
An evaluation of legislation designed to improve airline pilots' safety and performance
Authors: Rupp Nicholas G. , Tan Kerry M.
Published: August 2024

House of representatives (H.R.) 5900, which was passed by Congress in July 2010, legislated more restrictive pilot rest requirements and increased the number of pilot training hours required to obtain an airline transport pilot license. This paper examines the effect that raising the occupational licensing standards has had on airline service quality. A priori, the effect is ambiguous since putting in place more restrictive licensing requirements reduces the available pool of replacement pilots and may cause airline pilots to behave opportunistically and put forth less effort, which suggests a detriment to on‐time performance. On the other hand, well‐rested and more experienced pilots may provide enhanced productivity leading to improved on‐time performance. Our event study analysis surrounding the effective date of H.R. 5900 (August 2013) shows an increase in traditional delays in the short run amid an ongoing pilot shortage, while extended delays were also exacerbated in the short run as a result of binding work schedule restrictions.
Life cycle strategies in free‐living unicellular eukaryotes: Diversity, evolution, and current molecular tools to unravel the private life of microorganisms
Authors: Rizos Iris , Frada Miguel J. , Bittner Lucie , Not Fabrice
Published: August 2024

An astonishing range of morphologies and life strategies has arisen across the vast diversity of protists, allowing them to thrive in most environments. In model protists, like Tetrahymena, Dictyostelium, or Trypanosoma, life cycles involving multiple life stages with different morphologies have been well characterized. In contrast, knowledge of the life cycles of free‐living protists, which primarily consist of uncultivated environmental lineages, remains largely fragmentary. Various life stages and lineage‐specific cellular innovations have been observed in the field for uncultivated protists, but such innovations generally lack functional characterization and have unknown physiological and ecological roles. In the actual state of knowledge, evidence of sexual processes is confirmed for 20% of free‐living protist lineages. Nevertheless, at the onset of eukaryotic diversification, common molecular trends emerged to promote genetic recombination, establishing sex as an inherent feature of protists. Here, we review protist life cycles from the viewpoint of life cycle transitions and genetics across major eukaryotic lineages. We focus on the scarcely observed sexual cycle of free‐living protists, summarizing evidence for its existence and describing key genes governing its progression, as well as, current methods for studying the genetics of sexual cycles in both cultivable and uncultivated protist groups.
Optimization of extraction of liquid extract from microalgae Chlorella vulgaris via cavitation‐based techniques
Authors: Jamshidi‐Kia Fatemeh , Saeidi Keramatolah , Lorigooini Zahra , Samani Bahram Hosseinzadeh , Barzegar Rahim
Published: August 2024

Microalgae are a high‐potential source of biomolecules. Therefore, extracting bioactive components from microalgae with efficient and green extraction techniques is an important objective in many research. Cavitation‐based extraction is gaining widespread attention as an environmentally friendly method due to its reduced energy and solvent consumption, enhanced extraction yield, improved extract quality, and reduced extraction time to extract bioactive products. This study aims to examine and optimize the extraction method for bioactive products from Chlorella vulgaris using Cavitation‐based techniques compared with the traditional method to enhance the efficiency of extracting liquid extract. This experiment examined the extraction of bioactive components using various extraction methods, including Maceration, ultrasound‐assisted extraction (UAE) (2–8 min) and hydrodynamic cavitation extraction (HCE) (1–5 min) was investigated regarding the extract's minerals, vitamins, amino acids, phytohormones, and total carbohydrates. The experimental design followed a response surface methodology to assess the effects of ultrasound‐assisted and hydrodynamic cavitation extraction of liquid extract. The optimum time for maximum content of bioactive components using UAE and HCE was obtained at 7.87 and 1.76 min, respectively. This study showed that in comparing the three methods, Maceration (ME), UAE, and HCE, the UAC method was more useful and had a shorter extraction time compared with the ME and HCE methods for extracting bioactive products from C. vulgaris. Also HCE was more useful compared with the ME method. These results demonstrate that the cavitation‐based extraction methods are more effective and efficient than traditional extraction methods.

Practical applications

Extract of Microalgae Chlorella vulgaris is a high‐potential source of bioactive compounds.

Ultrasonic is one of the most effective techniques for the extraction of bioactive compounds of microalgae.

The Hydrodynamic cavitation technology can be considered a green technology for large‐scale extraction of bioactive compounds of microalgae.

The cavitation‐based extraction methods are more efficient than traditional extraction methods.

Optimization of the extraction techniques can promote reductions in cost and time.
Can digital leadership transform AI anxiety and attitude in nurses?
Authors: Tarsuslu Sinan , Agaoglu Ferhat Onur , Bas Murat
Published: August 2024

Background

The lack of artificial intelligence applications in nursing education and the nursing profession in Turkey and the need for strategies for integrating artificial intelligence into the nursing profession continues. At this point, there is a need to transform the negative attitudes and anxiety that may occur in nurses.

Objectives

It was aimed to reorganize the professional transformation in this parallel by analyzing the effect of digital leadership perception, which is explained as how nurses approach digital technologies and innovations and their awareness of how and with which methods they can use these technologies on artificial intelligence anxiety and attitude in the nursing profession.

Design

The study was designed as descriptive, correlational, and cross‐sectional.

Participants

The research was conducted by reaching 439 nurses working in hospitals operating in three different regions of Turkey by simple random sampling method.

Methods

In the first part of the data collection tool used in this study, digital leadership scale, artificial intelligence use anxiety, and artificial intelligence attitude scales were used, including questions determining the demographic information of nurses, their relationship with technology, artificial intelligence usage status and its importance in the profession.

Results

It was determined that 29.8% of the nurses had a good relationship with technology, 66.3% knew about using artificial intelligence in health, and 27.3% wanted it to be more involved in their lives. It was determined that nurses' perceptions of digital leadership were at a medium level of 46.9% and a high level of 41.7%, 82.7% had a positive attitude towards artificial intelligence, and 82.7% had low or medium level anxiety when their artificial intelligence anxiety status was examined. There was a significant and negative relationship between digital leadership and AI anxiety (r = −0.434; p < 0.01), a significant and positive relationship between digital leadership and AI attitude (r = 0.468; p < 0.01), and a significant and negative relationship between AI attitude and AI anxiety (r = −0.629; p < 0.01). Finally, it was determined that nurses' perception of digital leadership indirectly affected AI anxiety through AI attitude (β = −0.230, 95% CI [−0.298, −0.165]).

Conclusion

It is suggested that the anxiety and attitude towards artificial intelligence can be transformed positively with the effect of digital leadership, and in this parallel, the digital leadership phenomenon should be evaluated as a practical implementation strategy in integrating artificial intelligence into the nursing profession.

Clinical Relevance

Our study showed that artificial intelligence attitude has a mediating role in the indirect effect of the perception of digital leadership in nursing on AI anxiety. It was determined that nurses' digital leadership perception, artificial intelligence anxiety, and artificial intelligence attitude differed significantly with demographic variables.
Maize insensitivity to culture filtrates from Exserohilum turcicum is related to quantitative resistance
Authors: Muñoz‐Zavala Carlos , Goodwin Paul H. , Leyva‐Mir Santos G. , Loladze Alexander , Vargas‐Hernández Mateo , García‐León Elizabeth , Tovar‐Pedraza Juan M. , San Vicente‐García Félix M. , Alakonya Amos
Published: August 2024

Turcicum leaf blight (TLB) of maize is caused by Exserohilum turcicum. The TLB resistance is mainly associated with qualitative race‐specific resistance that is linked to several Ht genes namely Ht1, Ht2, Ht3, HtM, HtN, HtNB and HtP. However, quantitative TLB resistance also occurs, but its mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, tolerance or insensitivity to chlorosis and necrosis of E. turcicum culture filtrate was associated with quantitative TLB resistance. A novel detached maize seedling assay was developed for E. turcicum culture filtrate using methanol‐treated modified Fries medium. Screening of E. turcicum isolates of races 2, 3, 23, 3 N, 23 N and 123 N against 61 maize inbred lines with diverse levels of resistance to TLB was conducted in the greenhouse by fungal inoculation and the detached seedling culture filtrate assay. Using an isolate of race 123 N, which can overcome all the qualitative resistance genes, a simple linear regression model (R2 = 0.68, p = .90) for the 61 inbred lines was established between disease severity from foliar inoculations and culture filtrate symptom rating of the detached seedling assay. Two maize lines CML474 and CML483 had relatively high culture filtrate symptom ratings but very low disease severity with foliar inoculation indicating that these sources of quantitative TLB resistance may be unrelated to tolerance to E. turcicum culture filtrates, whose effect on seedlings could be due to the toxin known as HT‐toxin or monocerin.
Effects of Landmark Availability on Japanese Speakers' Preferences for Spatial Frames of Reference
Authors: Zheng Xiaolin , Sugimura Shinichiro
Published: August 2024

Using an appropriate spatial frame of reference (FoR) is crucial for solving spatial and communication problems. This study investigated the development of FoR preferences and the effects of landmark availability on these preferences. The participants were Japanese‐speaking children (aged 4–6 years) and adults, who were instructed to remember a row of three animals presented on a table, move to another table behind them, and reconstruct the array. Landmark availability was manipulated by varying the distance between the two tables. The results revealed that both children and adults tended to use an egocentric FoR, which increased with age. The frequency of an allocentric FoR was greater in the short‐distance condition, which had more available landmarks, than in the long‐distance condition. Regarding children's FoR, the availability of landmarks should be considered, rather than adopting the stereotypical view that children prefer an FoR that corresponds to their language.
Intracardiac ultrasound‐guided transseptal puncture in horses: Outcome, follow‐up, and perioperative anticoagulant treatment
Authors: Vernemmen Ingrid , Buschmann Eva , Van Steenkiste Glenn , Demeyere Marie , Verhaeghe Lize‐Maria , De Somer Filip , Devreese Katrien M. J. , Schauvliege Stijn , Decloedt Annelies , van Loon Gunther
Published: August 2024

Background

Cardiac catheterizations in horses are mainly performed in the right heart, as access to the left heart traditionally requires an arterial approach. Transseptal puncture (TSP) has been adapted for horses but data on follow‐up and closure of the iatrogenic atrial septal defect (iASD) are lacking.

Hypothesis/Objectives

To perform TSP and assess postoperative complications and iASD closure over a minimum of 4 weeks.

Animals

Eleven healthy adult horses.

Methods

Transseptal puncture was performed under general anesthesia. Serum cardiac troponin I concentrations were measured before and after puncture. Weekly, iASD closure was monitored using transthoracic and intracardiac echocardiography. Relationship between activated clotting time and anti‐factor Xa activity during postoperative enoxaparin treatment was assessed in vitro and in vivo.

Results

Transseptal puncture was successfully achieved in all horses within a median duration of 22 (range, 10‐104) minutes. Balloon dilatation of the puncture site for sheath advancement was needed in 4 horses. Atrial arrhythmias occurred in 9/11 horses, including atrial premature depolarizations (N = 1), atrial tachycardia (N = 5), and fibrillation (N = 3). Serum cardiac troponin I concentrations increased after TSP, but remained under the reference value in 10/11 horses. Median time to iASD closure was 14 (1‐35) days. Activated clotting time correlated with anti‐factor Xa activity in vitro but not in vivo.

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

Transseptal puncture was successfully performed in all horses. The technique was safe and spontaneous iASD closure occurred in all horses. Clinical application of TSP will allow characterization and treatment of left‐sided arrhythmias in horses.
Relationship between missed nursing care and patients' trust in nurses and satisfaction with care: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Karadaş Ayşe , Ergün Sibel , Kaynak Serap
Published: August 2024

Missed nursing care is a global health problem that can have negative consequences for patients, nurses, and healthcare institutions. The purpose of the research is to determine the relationship of missed nursing care with patients' trust in nurses and satisfaction with care. A descriptive and cross‐sectional study was conducted with 350 patients treated at the cardiology clinic of a university hospital. Data were collected using the MISSCARE Survey‐Patient, the Trust in Nurses Scale (TNS), and the Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale (NSNS). There was a strong positive relationship between trust in nursing and satisfaction with care. Additionally, missed care in communication and basic care had a negative relationship with trust in nursing and satisfaction with care (p < 0.001). The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the communication subscale score was the best negative predictor of trust in nurses and satisfaction with care. The results of this research indicate a deficiency in adequately addressing all nursing care activities. The failure to meet nurse–patient communication needs is the most important missed care factor that negatively affects satisfaction with care and trust in nurses.
Association of prenatal vitamin E levels with child asthma and wheeze
Authors: Hartman Terryl J. , Gebretsadik Tebeb , Adgent Margaret A. , Nickelberry Marshae , Moore Paul E. , Carlson Hannah , Gross Myron , Zhao Qi , Alcala Cecelia S. , Zhang Xueying , Bush Nicole R. , LeWinn Kaja Z. , Wright Rosalind J. , Carroll Kecia N.
Published: August 2024

Background

We investigated the individual and interaction effects of maternal plasma 𝛂‐ and ϒ‐tocopherol levels (vitamin E isomers) on child asthma and wheeze at age 8–9.

Methods

Mother–child dyads were enrolled between 2006 and 2011 into the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) prenatal cohort. Maternal second‐trimester samples were analyzed for tocopherol and lipid concentrations. We assessed child asthma/wheeze using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and other self‐reported Ent wheeze. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, we assessed associations between vitamin E isomers and child asthma/wheeze outcomes (n = 847 mother–child dyads) and tested for prespecified interaction terms.

Results

Median cholesterol‐corrected tocopherol levels (interquartile range (IQR)) were 5.0 (4.3–5.7) and 0.8 (0.7–0.9) (umol/mmol) for 𝛂‐ and ϒ‐tocopherol, respectively. Associations between 𝛂‐tocopherol and asthma outcome variables were inverse but not statistically significant. In contrast, for ϒ‐tocopherol, associations were in the positive direction, but also nonsignificant. Interactions analysis between tocopherols did not reach statistical significance for any outcome. Among children of women with a history of asthma, the likelihood of ever asthma in the child appears to be decreasing with increasing maternal 𝛂‐tocopherol levels, whereas this trend was not observed among those without a history of asthma (p‐interaction = .05).

Conclusion

We observed no associations for prenatal 𝛂‐ or ϒ‐tocopherol concentrations with child asthma/wheeze. We detected some evidence of effect modification by maternal asthma history in associations between 𝛂‐tocopherol and child asthma.
Capital, administrative burden, and welfare participation: Evidence from the minimum living standard scheme in China
Authors: Yang Yongzheng , Wang Ying
Published: August 2024

Administrative burden in citizen‐state interactions has received increasing attention. Building upon existing literature on its antecedents and consequences, this study further examines how financial, human, social, and political capital are associated with administrative burden and how three dimensions of administrative burden (i.e., learning, compliance, and psychological costs) are associated with welfare participation. Using unique data from the minimum living standard scheme in China and running a series of logistic regressions, this study finds that different types of capital impact various administrative costs differently. Specifically, financial, human, and social capital play important roles in administrative burden, but political capital is not significantly associated with three administrative costs. Moreover, learning and compliance costs are significantly negatively related to welfare participation, whereas psychological costs have no significant relationship with welfare participation. This study reveals the complexity of the impact of capital forms on administrative burden and the impact of administrative costs on welfare participation.
Effect of tyrode albumin lactate pyruvate and modified Krebs Ringers broth media on in vitro capacitation of HD‐K75 boar spermatozoa at different period of incubation
Authors: Das Arunima , Barua Prithviraj Mazinder , Nath Mrinal , Deka Nipu , Ahmed Kutubuddin , Sinha Sudip , Kalita Dhireswar , Borah Prabodh , Tamuly Shantanu , Borpujari Dhrubajyoti , Sonowal Joyshikh , Hussain Jakir , Choudhury Mitali Dutta
Published: August 2024

In vitro capacitation allows for a greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying fertilization and the development of improved reproductive techniques for improving fertility rates in porcine. Tyrodes albumin lactate pyruvate (TALP) and modified Krebs Ringers Broth (m‐KRB) are two medias that are commonly used in research experiments to induce capacitation in boar spermatozoa (Cañón‐Beltrán et al., Theriogenology, 198, 2023 and 231; Oberlender et al., Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria, 44, 2012 and 201; Sahoo et al., International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 241, 2023 and 124502). Moreover, understanding the morphological and functional changes in boar spermatozoa at different hours of capacitation periods might aid in the development of novel techniques for improving sperm quality and increasing the litter size. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of Tyrode albumin lactate pyruvate and modified Krebs Ringers Broth media on in vitro capacitation of HD‐K75 boar spermatozoa at three different periods of incubation. A total of 24 ejaculate from four clinically healthy, 10–12 months aged HD‐K75 boars, maintained at ICAR‐All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on pig were selected. Semen was collected by ‘Simple fist’ method using a portable dummy. The semen samples having 200 mL volume, 103 × 106 spermatozoa/ml concentration and 70% initial motility were selected and split into two parts and suspended in TALP and m‐KRB media, respectively, and incubated for 5 h at 37°C. Seminal parameters viz. sperm viability, plasma membrane integrity and acrosomal integrity were estimated in the samples at 0, 3 and 5 h of incubation. This study revealed that there was significant variation between media in live acrosome‐reacted (p < .05) and HOST‐reacted (p < .01) spermatozoa, while between capacitation periods significant (p < .01) variation was observed in hyperactivated spermatozoa, live acrosome‐reacted spermatozoa, HOST‐reacted spermatozoa, FITC‐labelled PSA, extracellular protein and sperm cholesterol. Non‐significant variation was observed in total phospholipid. TALP showed overall better consequence on sperm viability, plasma membrane and acrosomal integrity of boar spermatozoa. From this study, it could be concluded that both TALP and m‐KRB media were virtuous to induce capacitation in HD‐K75 boar spermatozoa. TALP media, however, had a better effect on sperm viability, plasma membrane and acrosomal integrity of boar spermatozoa. Out of the three different periods, 3 h capacitation period resulted in significantly (p < .01) higher incidence of sperm viability, plasma membrane and acrosomal integrity in HD‐K75 boar spermatozoa.
The Twitter Blackout: Do congressional rules influence the cyberworld?
Authors: Gutierrez‐Mannix Carlos , Gray Thomas R.
Published: August 2024

Intro

Communication is understood to be a pillar of democracy. Therefore, governments around the world enact laws which make it easier for politicians to communicate with their constituents. However, some governments also restrict this ability during campaign seasons as a way of unclogging the media. In the United States, congressional election blackout dates are periods in which politicians are not allowed to engage in mass unsolicited mailing of political advertising. Because the prohibition only applies to unsolicited media, we theorize that we should see the transition from one type of communication to another.

Methods

To test this effect, we created a database containing all tweets by all Members of Congress from the last three Congresses.

Results

We find that immediately during the blackout periods, members of Congress substantially increase the number of tweets they post.

Discussion

We conclude that Members of Congress are strategic in their ability to exchange communication outlets.
Estimation of density functionals via cross‐validation
Authors: Chacón José E. , Tenreiro Carlos
Published: August 2024

In density estimation, the mean integrated squared error (MISE) is commonly used as a measure of performance. In that setting, the cross‐validation criterion provides an unbiased estimator of the MISE minus the integral of the squared density. Since the minimum MISE is known to converge to zero, this suggests that the minimum value of the cross‐validation criterion could be regarded as an estimator of minus the integrated squared density. This novel proposal presents the outstanding feature that, unlike all other existing estimators, it does not need the choice of any tuning parameter. Indeed, it is proved here that this approach results in a consistent and efficient estimator, with remarkable performance in practice. Moreover, apart from this base case, it is shown how several other problems on density functional estimation can be similarly handled using this new principle, thus demonstrating full potential for further applications.
The novel HLA‐C*15:279 allele, identified by Sanger dideoxy nucleotide sequencing in a Chinese individual
Authors: Li Dong Mei , Jing Yuan Yuan , Jia Yan Jun , Sun Tie Cheng
Published: August 2024

The novel HLA‐C*15:279 allele differs from HLA‐C*15:02:01:01 by five nucleotide substitutions in exons 4 and 5.
Press the Button: Designing Learning from Home – The Teacher's Willingness to Change the School Work Routine
Authors: Ma Beifang , Winther Esther
Published: August 2024

What are the challenges and prerequisites for successfully reshaping instructional practices for home-based or remote digital learning? The success of organizational change processes is largely contingent on the willingness of those involved. This article investigates the factors influencing teachers' readiness to digitize their daily work routines, particularly in terms of teaching and learning processes. A total of 72 teachers from vocational schools in Germany participated via the SmartSurvey App during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The quantitative analysis is structured across three levels: firstly, assessing how teachers adapted to the new reality of remote work; secondly, analyzing their readiness to navigate the new instructional landscape characterized by remote teaching and learning processes; and thirdly, exploring teachers' overall attitudes towards digital media and their competency in media-didactics, drawing connections to the remote utilization of digital tools.
Maternal high fat–high energy diet alters metabolic factors in the non‐human primate fetal heart
Authors: Bertossa Melanie R. , Darby Jack R. T. , Holman Stacey L. , Meakin Ashley S. , Li Cun , Huber Hillary F. , Wiese Michael D. , Nathanielsz Peter W. , Morrison Janna L.
Published: August 2024

The consumption of high fat–high energy diets (HF‐HEDs) continues to rise worldwide and parallels the rise in maternal obesity (MO) that predisposes offspring to cardiometabolic disorders. Although the underlying mechanisms are unclear, thyroid hormones (TH) modulate cardiac maturation in utero. Therefore, we aimed to determine the impact of a high fat–high energy diet (HF‐HED) on the hormonal, metabolic and contractility profile of the non‐human primate (NHP) fetal heart. At ∼9 months preconception, female baboons (Papio hamadryas) were randomly assigned to either a control diet or HF‐HED. At 165 days gestational age (term = 184 days), fetuses were delivered by Caesarean section under anaesthesia, humanely killed, and left ventricular cardiac tissue (Control (n = 6 female, 6 male); HF‐HED (n = 6 F, 6 M)) was collected. Maternal HF‐HED decreased the concentration of active cardiac TH (i.e. triiodothyronine (T3)), and type 1 iodothyronine deiodinase (DIO1) mRNA expression. Maternal HF‐HED decreased the abundance of cardiac markers of insulin‐mediated glucose uptake phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1 (Ser789) and glucose transporter 4, and increased protein abundance of key oxidative phosphorylation complexes (I, III, IV) and mitochondrial abundance in both sexes. Maternal HF‐HED alters cardiac TH status, which may induce early signs of cardiac insulin resistance. This may increase the risk of cardiometabolic disorders in later life in offspring born to these pregnancies.

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Key points

Babies born to mothers who consume a high fat–high energy diet (HF‐HED) prior to and during pregnancy are predisposed to an increased risk of cardiometabolic disorders across the life course.

Maternal HF‐HED prior to and during pregnancy decreased thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations and type 1 iodothyronine deiodinase DIO1 mRNA expression in the non‐human primate fetal heart.

Maternal HF‐HED decreased markers of insulin‐dependent glucose uptake, phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1 and glucose transporter 4 in the fetal heart.

Maternal HF‐HED increased mitochondrial abundance and mitochondrial OXPHOS complex I, III and IV in the fetal heart.

Fetuses from HF‐HED pregnancies are predisposed to cardiometabolic disorders that may be mediated by changes in T3, placing them on a poor lifetime cardiovascular health trajectory.
Dos variantes de la alfabetización académica cuando se entrelazan la lectura y la escritura en las materias
Authors: Carlino Paula
Published: August 2024

Este trabajo reexamina datos de tres investigaciones realizadas por el Grupo para la Inclusión y Calidad Educativas a través de Ocuparnos de la Lectura y la Escritura en todas las Materias (GICEOLEM), que versan sobre los modos en que escribir y leer se incluyen en distintos espacios curriculares de la educación superior. Mediante una encuesta nacional, identificamos que existen dos modalidades de trabajo con la lectura y la escritura en cada materia: la periférica y la entrelazada.
A través del análisis de registros observacionales en clases de Historia y de Biología, distinguimos, a su vez, dos variantes de la modalidad entrelazada, correspondientes a situaciones en las que se dialoga en torno a lo leído y escrito sobre temas disciplinares. El análisis de las observaciones de clase permite caracterizar las prácticas de enseñanza, y triangularlas con lo que de ellas se declara en la encuesta.
Se busca con ello aportar al debate sobre la alfabetización académica, precisando cómo, con qué fin y por qué ocuparse de la escritura y lectura a través del currículum.
El proceso de adaptación y configuración de la radio en Colombia
Authors: Barrios Rubio Andrés , Gutiérrez García Maria
Published: August 2024

El punto de partida de este artículo es la implementación de la radio colombiana en el entorno online. Se realizó un análisis de las estrategias aplicadas en los programas del prime time de las cinco emisoras generalistas con los índices de audiencia más significativos.
Se aplicó un instrumento metodológico mixto que combinó la aproximación cualitativa y cuantitativa y permitió detectar las sinergias establecidas entre la antena convencional y el ámbito online (web-radio y redes sociales).
Los resultados del estudio evidencian, en primer lugar, el interés por reivindicar el contenido sonoro frente a otros modos de expresión en las multiplataformas; en segundo, una estrategia comunicativa que escenifica una interrelación mediatizada con un bajo índice de interacción entre el emisor y los oyentes-usuarios, y, finalmente, el uso de la web-radio como herramienta para la promoción y difusión de los contenidos de la antena convencional.
Periodistas en el laberinto
Authors: Rodríguez Borges Rodrigo Fidel
Published: August 2024

Distintas investigaciones (Casero-Ripollés, 2014; Eberwein y Porlezza, 2014; Fengler. et al., 2015; Gómez-Mompard, Gutiérrez-Lozano y Palau-Sampio, 2015a, 2015b; Mauri-Ríos y Ramón-Vega, 2015, Maciá-Barber, 2014) han señalado la baja credibilidad pública de los periodistas y la progresiva pérdida de calidad del producto informativo ⎯a pesar de que voces autorizadas como la de Jürguen Habermas consideran que la prensa constituye la espina dorsal de la democracia.
Este texto analiza las evidencias empíricas disponibles sobre estas cuestiones, al tiempo que plantea aplicar el influyente aparato analítico desarrollado por MacIntyre en Tras la virtud (1987) para iluminar el conflicto entre los valores de ejemplaridad, rendición de cuentas y calidad que deberían caracterizar al periodismo y las coerciones del mercado, que encorsetan el comportamiento de los medios de comunicación. Finalmente, se proponen los elementos para una moral mínima que pueda contribuir a mejorar el crédito social de los periodistas.
Teorías implícitas sobre la escritura académica en estudiantes de programas de formación inicial docente: ¿inciden en el desempeño escrito?
Authors: Errázuriz María Constanza
Published: August 2024

El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar las teorías implícitas sobre la escritura académica en estudiantes y su relación con el desempeño de los mismos en programas de formación inicial docente. Con respecto a las teorías implícitas, se consideró la tipología de transmisión o transacción de White y Bruning (2005), que considera esta actividad como una reproducción del conocimiento o una construcción de este.
Desde una metodología cuantitativa, se incluyó la participación de una muestra representativa de 240 estudiantes de Pedagogía de dos regiones chilenas, a quienes se les aplicó un cuestionario y una evaluación de escritura. Uno de los principales hallazgos es que los estudiantes de cuarto año no han evolucionado en sus teorías implícitas y en su desempeño con respecto a los de primer año. Asimismo, se constató que, a más altas teorías implícitas transaccionales, mayor desempeño.
Crashworthiness Analysis: Exploiting Information of Developed Products With Control Variates
Authors: Colella Giada , Valdebenito Marcos A. , Duddeck Fabian , Lange Volker A. , Faes Matthias
Published: August 2024

Assessing vehicle safety is a challenging, yet fundamental task. In the early phase of development, car manufacturers need to ensure the compliance with strict safety requirements. An interesting task to automate these early-stage operations is to harness information from already developed products. Established designs are largely accessible, with abundant data; novel designs' data are scarce. While established and novel designs are (by definition) different, it is expected nonetheless that there is a degree of correlation between them. Thus, the established design could be regarded as a low-fidelity (LF) model of the novel design, in the sense that it may provide an approximation of the behavior of the novel design. In turn, the novel design could be regarded as a high-fidelity (HF) model, as it represents the true product being designed. This bifidelity character of the problem stands at the basis of this paper. This work explores the application of control variates (CV) to a crashworthiness analysis scenario. Control variates is a variance reduction technique that exploits the low-fidelity information to improve the accuracy of the response statistics of the high-fidelity model. Such an approach could be most useful for industrial applications. Therefore, we apply control variates to a crash box example and compare its performance to its plain Monte Carlo (MC) counterpart. The results of this paper show the benefits of this bifidelity approach, resulting in control variates being a powerful technique to extract valuable information from limited data sets. Indeed, control variates can serve as an innovative solution to support car manufacturers in the early phase of vehicle development and thus improve the performance in crashworthiness scenarios.
On the Application of Bio-Inspired Sea-Pen Blades in a Savonius Wind Rotor: A Three-Dimensional Computational Analysis
Authors: Nalavade Chetan S. , Rathod Umang H. , Saha Ujjwal K. , Kulkarni Vinayak
Published: August 2024

The drag-based Savonius-type wind rotors are usually preferred to harvest wind energy at low-wind velocity conditions. These Savonius rotors are characterized by their compatibility with urban environments and small-scale standalone systems besides their direction independency, absence of yaw mechanism, and easy installation and maintenance. Recent research trend indicates the implementation of biomimetic principles into the rotor blade design to develop novel bio-inspired/nature-inspired blade profiles for improving the rotor performance. The most recent example is the Orange sea-pen (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) inspired blade profile, which successfully carries over the insights of the sea-pen's feeding mechanism to the torque mechanism of the rotor besides improving the rotor performance. The present research article is aimed at conducting three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The 3D transient simulations are carried out by the ansys fluent software using the shear stress transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model. The reported experimental data of sea-pen-bladed rotor performance is utilized to validate the numerical performance trends. Considering the suitability of the Savonius wind rotor in lower wind velocities, the simulations have been conducted in the range of 5–7 m/s wind velocities. The operating conditions for the sea-pen and the semicircular-bladed rotor types are identical to have a direct comparison of their performances. The numerical findings reveal performance improvement of approximately 10–13% by the sea-pen blade as compared to the semicircular blade for a given range of wind velocities.
Integration of Combined Heat and Power With Renewables and Energy Storage for Reducing Carbon Emission in Transition Pathway Toward Carbon Neutrality
Authors: Zenouzi Mansour , Naman Yasin , Kowalski Gregory
Published: August 2024

Strong synergies exist between cogeneration and renewables for reducing emission of harmful gases in the transition period toward carbon neutrality. Integration of combined heat and power (CHP) with renewables and energy storage along with electrification of buildings is a pathway to create resilient and efficient solutions towards decarbonization. Optimizing the size of a CHP system to satisfy both electrical and thermal loads of a given facility while minimizing fuel consumption is a challenging problem. The thermal load consists of heating, cooling, or hot water production. Integration of renewable energy sources and energy storage presents additional design challenges. An interactive software was developed by the authors to quickly estimate the performance of different configurations of CHP and renewable energy sources and it was tested for an office complex of four commercial buildings found in National Renewable Energy Laboratory's dataset End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock. The software is intended to size CHP devices and calculate the Energy Utilization Factor (EUF), CO2 emissions, and the rate of Entropy Production. A heat pump module and solar photovoltaic with electrical power storage were introduced for this study. The objective of this paper is to compare different configurations of renewable or low-emission technologies and design an appropriate solution for a test data set for a Typical Metrological Year (TMY). The software requires energy inputs separated by cooling load, heating load, and electric demand as a time series and is used to optimize the plant size to match all the loads to the corresponding systems.
Investigating the Physical Activity Habits and Apparel Choices of Perinatal Women
Authors: Vatter Rachael F. , Segura-Velandia Diana , Moore Isabel S. , Mears Aimée C.
Published: August 2024

Background: This study investigates the physical activity and apparel choices of perinatal women. The perinatal period involves significant anatomical, physiological, and biomechanical changes as the body prepares to carry and deliver a child, and the recovery process which follows. Despite the recognized benefits of physical activity, returning to physical activity postpartum can be difficult. Methods: One hundred and six postpartum women completed an online questionnaire exploring women’s physical activity habits before, during, and after pregnancy, along with their use of activewear/compression garments during this time. Statistical analyses, including chi-squared tests, investigated the relationship between initiation of physical activity postpartum (by and after 12 weeks) and: delivery method (vaginal, c-section, and assisted), perineal trauma, activewear purchase, and prepregnancy activity level. Thematic analysis was applied to identify themes from participant’s answers. Results: A vaginal delivery correlated with a higher likelihood of resuming physical activity within 12 weeks postpartum. Moreover, a high level of activity prepregnancy was associated with a high level of physical activity postpartum. The study identified key reasons for the cessation of physical activity during pregnancy including discomfort, tiredness, and misinformation. Barriers hindering the return to physical activity postpartum included discomfort, misinformation, and time constraints. Few participants used compression garments in the postpartum period, with the majority leveraging them to alleviate pain (71%). Conclusions: This study highlights a crucial gap in utilization of compression garments during the postpartum period. Understanding these factors is pivotal in enhancing support for postpartum women in their pursuit of resuming physical activity.