bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization and swelling behavior of hydrogels from N-isopropylacrylamide, N,N′-diethylacrylamide, acrylic acid, and its use for drug release
Authors: Tuan Huynh Nguyen Anh , Phuong Ho
Published: August 2023

Here, a series of semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) hydrogels were synthesized and investigated by combining three materials such as N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), N,N′-diethylacrylamide (DEA), and acrylic acid (AAc). The linear copolymer p(NIPAM-co-AAc) was introduced into DEA solution in the presence of N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide to synthesize p(NIPAM-co-AAc)/pDEA semi-IPN hydrogels using free radical polymerization. Scanning electron microscope images demonstrated the porous morphology of hydrogels with pore sizes in the range of 220–969 µm. The physicochemical properties of polymers were evaluated by various characterization techniques, including gel permeation chromatography, dynamic light scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, rheological measurement, mechanical properties, and swelling behaviors. The results indicated that the introduction of linear copolymers into conventional hydrogels has significantly improved the properties of the hydrogels. Besides, the use of NIPAM has significantly improved the thermal sensitivity of the polymers in this work. Finally, a selected semi-IPN hydrogel was evaluated for its potential for the drug release of paracetamol. The sorption of paracetamol was an exothermic process that obeyed the Freundlich isotherms, with the highest sorption of 119.57 mg/g. The paracetamol release followed the Korsmeyer–Peppas model and was consistent with the Fickian diffusion mechanism.
Wind farm and wildfire: spatial ecology of an endangered freshwater turtle in a recovering landscape
Authors: Delay S.J. , Urquhart O. , Litzgus J.D.
Published: August 2023

Wind energy presents many advantages, but wind farms pose risks to wildlife and habitats. We hypothesized that habitat changes caused by the impacts of wind farm construction and wildfire would alter the spatial ecology of Spotted Turtles ( Clemmys guttata (Schneider, 1792)). In a space-for-time study design, we outfitted 28 turtles with radio transmitters in three treatments (Control n = 10, Wind farm n = 9, and Windburn (wind farm and wildfire n = 9)) and located turtles every 3–5 days throughout the active season. We did not detect any significant differences in turtle body condition, home range size, minimum daily distance moved, or microhabitat selection among treatments. Macrohabitat selection differed slightly among treatments; only Windburn turtles used wet depressions on rock barrens, which may indicate that turtles exploited early successional habitats created by wildfire. Turtles did not avoid habitats near wind farm infrastructure yet did not cross service roads unless a culvert was present, highlighting the need to maintain habitat connectivity in modified landscapes. Our findings suggest that Spotted Turtles that survived the acute impacts of the wildfire and wind farm construction were able to navigate the recovering landscape, but a before–after–control–impact study is required to understand the acute and long-term impacts of wind farms and wildfires on turtles.
Effectiveness of Chinese Herbal Medicine in Patients with COVID-19 During the Omicron Wave in Hong Kong: A Retrospective Case-Controlled Study
Authors: Zhang Jialing , Luo Jingyuan , Tang Hiu To , Wong Hoi Ki , Ma Yanfang , Xie Duoli , Peng Bo , Lyu Aiping , Cheung Chun Hoi , Bian Zhaoxiang
Published: August 2023

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron led to the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong in 2022. Under the pressure of a high volume of patients and limited medical resources, Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been extensively used. This is a case-control study of the infected patients that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of CHM using data extracted from the Hong Kong Baptist University Telemedicine Chinese Medicine Centre database. Patients with COVID-19 confirmed by either a rapid antigen test or a polymerase chain reaction who had completed two consultations and taken CHM within 10 days of the first positive test were included in the study (CHM group, [Formula: see text]). The matched control cases were those who did not take CHM within 10 days of the first positive test and were based on age ([Formula: see text] 3 years), vaccine doses ([Formula: see text] 3 doses, or 3 doses), and gender (no-CHM group, [Formula: see text]). The outcomes included the negative conversion time (NCT, primary outcome), total score of individual symptoms, number of the reported symptoms, and individual symptom disappearance rates. The NCT of the CHM group (median days: 7.0, interquartile range: 6.0–8.0) was significantly shorter than that of the no-CHM group (8.0, 7.0–10.5; [Formula: see text]). CHM treatment significantly reduced the total score of individual symptoms ([Formula: see text]) and the number of the reported symptoms ([Formula: see text]) as compared with that of the no-CHM group. Additionally, the symptom disappearance rates of symptoms such as chills, cough, sputum, dry throat, itching throat, headache, chest tightness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fatigue were significantly higher in the CHM group than in the no-CHM group. In conclusion, CHM intervention can significantly reduce NCT and COVID-19 symptoms. Chinese medicine can be accurately prescribed based on a telemedical consultation.
Application of radiation technologies, increase of catalysts surface activity
Authors: Mahmudov H. M. , Gurbanov M. A. , Imanova G. T. , Suleymanov T. Y. , Sabzaliyeva Z. E. , Azizova K. V. , Hasanova S. A. , Mammadova B. M. , Isayeva G. E. , Guliyeva S. Z.
Published: August 2023

The catalyst surface was processed in the high-voltage electrical discharge device in oxygen environment. Continuous active oxide centers formed on the surface and complete filling of the surface with oxygen occur, and its thermo-physical properties, thermo-luminescence curves, scanning electron microscope and ESR spectrometers were studied. It was determined that the activity of the catalyst at values of the absorbed dose [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]kGy is many times higher than that of conventional catalysts. Thus, due to the sorption volume of the surface, the volume of the product formed in the liquid phase increases by 1.6 times.
A NEW RANDOM REWIRING METHOD TO TRANSFORM FRACTAL NETWORKS INTO SMALL-WORLD NETWORKS
Authors: LI JIAN-HUI , YU ZU-GUO , ANH VO V. , LIU JIN-LONG , PENG AN-QI
Published: August 2023

The fractal and small-word properties are two important properties of complex networks. In this paper, we propose a new random rewiring method to transform fractal networks into small-world networks. We theoretically prove that the proposed method can retain the degree of all nodes (hence the degree distribution) and the connectivity of the network. Further, we also theoretically prove that our method also retains the tree structure of tree graphs. Our method can transform many different types of fractal networks into small-world networks while the degree distribution and connectivity of these networks remain unchanged, demonstrating the generality of small-world networks. In addition, the method also works for other types of complex networks. The rewiring method proposed in this paper can be used in a broader range of applications of network analysis.
An Ontology and a Reasoning Approach for Evacuation in Flood Disaster Response
Authors: Daher Julie Bu , Huygue Tom , Stolf Patricia , Hernandez Nathalie
Published: August 2023

Managing flood-related data to assist in the disaster management is a critical process of high importance during a flood disaster. These data are heterogeneous and can be provided from different data sources, and integrating them is a challenging task which allows inferring new information that helps in limiting the consequences of a flood. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that manages heterogeneous flood-related data based on semantic web techniques and helps in limiting the damage caused by floods. We first propose an ontology that is used to formally describe the flood-related data, and we construct our knowledge graph through integrating heterogeneous data using the proposed ontology. Then, we propose a reasoning approach using SHACL rules to infer new information that helps manage the flood disaster or anticipate future events. The experimental evaluations of our proposed approach are conducted on a real case study in flood disaster management with the aim of generating evacuation priorities. The results show that the proposed approach succeeds in managing heterogeneous flood-related data and in generating evacuation priorities in a very short time.
Review of till geochemistry and indicator mineral methods for mineral exploration in glaciated terrain
Authors: McClenaghan M. B. , Paulen R. C. , Smith I. R. , Rice J. M. , Plouffe A. , McMartin I. , Campbell J. E. , Lehtonen M. , Parsasadr M. , Beckett-Brown C. E.
Published: August 2023

Since the 1970s, till geochemical and indicator mineral methods for mineral exploration, provenance studies and environmental research in glaciated terrain have been developed, tested and refined. This review summarizes these methods, focusing on field and laboratory methods for till geochemical, indicator mineral and boulder surveys. This review of protocols is intended as a guide for the mineral exploration industry and publicly funded agencies. It summarizes till as a sample medium, and describes the formation of glacial dispersal trains, along with methods for till sample collection, sample processing, matrix geochemistry, indicator mineral analyses, quality assurance/quality control procedures and data reporting and interpretation. The methods described here can be used to conduct reconnaissance- to deposit-scale till sampling surveys to assess mineral resource potential and establish environmental baselines.

Supplementary material:
Appendix A – Photographs of till types described in text; Appendix B – Logistical and geological factors to consider in till sample survey design; Appendix C – Photographs of glaciate terrain types described in text; and Appendix D – Till sample processing and analysis flow charts are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6786087

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Reviews in Exploration Geochemistry collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/topic/collections/reviews-in-exploration-geochemistry
Spatial distribution, ecological risk and origin of soil heavy metals in Laoguanhe watershed of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project
Authors: Zhao Yuqing , Han Guilin , Qu Rui , Yang Dongxue , Dong Qiuyao , Song Chao
Published: August 2023

The central section of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project has been designated as a national water conservation area, and the soil ecological security in its associated watersheds is of great importance. A total of 204 soil samples (0–20 cm depth) were obtained from the Laoguanhe River Basin. The concentrations of seven elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb and Hg) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and atomic fluorescence spectrometry following a near-total acid dissolution. Data analyses (including potential ecological risk, principal component analysis, geostatistical analysis and the positive matrix factorization model) were applied to evaluate the contamination of soil heavy metals and to identify their sources. The research results demonstrated that the mean contents of these seven elements exceeded background values for Henan Province, China, indicating human disturbance. Ecological risk evaluation revealed that Cd was the most frequently detected and the heavy metal causing the most pollution. Principal component analysis indicated that Cr, Ni and Cu stem from natural sources, while Zn and Cd are predominantly influenced by agricultural activities. Additionally, industrial activities and atmospheric deposition were responsible for the excess presence of Pb and Hg. The study suggests taking measures to control Cd sources in agricultural areas, reducing input of heavy metals into the river and providing scientific support for managing water quality.
Textural mapping and building a paragenetic interpretation of hydrothermal veins
Authors: Webb Shane , Torvela Taija , Chapman Rob , Savastano Lucia
Published: August 2023

Paragenetic interpretation, defined as the process of constraining the order in which the phases (minerals) comprising a rock formed, are fundamental in all disciplines requiring a detailed mapping of the genetic relationships between the investigated crystal(s) and their surrounding phases. Ore geology, geochronology, petrological and fluid inclusion studies are underpinned by a robust interpretation of the paragenesis. Without this understanding, the interpretation of the analytical data will be greatly restricted and potentially wrong. Textural mapping is particularly useful for studying phases precipitated into hydrothermal veins because the host many metallic ore deposits. Understanding the paragenesis and the association of ore minerals feeds directly into the approach taken towards exploration, mining operation and ore processing. Apart from ore deposits, precipitation of hydrothermal phases occurs in any setting where hot fluids interact with rock or sediment (e.g. CCS storage; geothermal facilities). This paper summarizes the principles for developing a robust paragenetic interpretation, including demonstrating the practical workflow via a case study from a sulfide-bearing vein near Loch Tay, Scotland. The principles and the workflow outlined in this paper are applicable to any discipline and route of investigation that necessitates a robust understanding of the relationships of the phases in a rock.
Wadi Al-Hitan or ‘Valley of Whales’ – an Eocene World Heritage Site in the Western Desert of Egypt
Authors: Gingerich Philip D.
Published: August 2023

Wadi Al-Hitan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Western Desert of Egypt famous for the fossils it has produced, including some of the most complete skulls and skeletons of Eocene whales known anywhere in the world. Most are from the early part of the late Eocene epoch of Earth history and lived in the Tethys Sea some 38 to 36 million years before present.
Basilosaurus isis
and
Dorudon atrox
are the most abundant and best known of the archaic whales. Sea cow skeletons are present as well, as are bones or teeth of a bird, crocodiles, turtles, bony fishes, and a diversity of sharks and rays. The fossils are preserved in sedimentary strata that accumulated as sea level rose and fell, producing a succession of nearshore marine environments. Rocks exposed at the surface, now dissected by erosion, enable study of stratigraphic sequences and their architecture. Taken together, the fossil-and-strata geoheritage of Wadi Al-Hitan has exceptional value for science and for public education.
The geoheritage of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: providing geological answers to human origin questions
Authors: McHenry Lindsay J. , Stanistreet Ian G. , Njau Jackson K. , Mwankunda Joshua
Published: August 2023

While Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, is most famous for its impressive and formative record of early human technology, Pleistocene fauna and hominin fossils, its geological record is equally important. At Olduvai, palaeoanthropologically significant sites are often preserved in primary context (not redeposited), and they can be contextualized within the palaeoenvironments in which the hominins lived. This has provided an exceptional opportunity to assess not only hominin evolutionary changes over time, but also to understand their adaptive behaviour including toolmaking, foraging and sociality. Abundant volcanic material from the nearby Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands, interspersed within and between archaeology-bearing deposits, made Olduvai a target for some of the earliest applications of radiometric dating using the K/Ar system. Ultimately, the
40
Ar/
39
Ar dating system has produced ages with exceptional precision. Early radiometric dating at Olduvai helped establish the antiquity of the hominin lineage, and early palaeomagnetic studies (and the ‘Olduvai event,’ the longest normal subchron within the reversed Matuyama Chron) were critical in establishing the importance of Olduvai in the field of geochronology. More recently, high-resolution palaeoclimate studies of the palaeolake that once occupied the Olduvai Basin have helped to reconstruct the palaeoenvironments encountered by hominin species. Over a century of geological research has secured Olduvai's status as an important site for geoheritage.
Training Robust Deep Collaborative Filtering Models via Adversarial Noise Propagation
Authors: Chen Hai , Qian Fulan , Liu Chang , Zhang Yanping , Su Hang , Zhao Shu
Published: August 2023

The recommendation performance of deep collaborative filtering models drops sharply under imperceptible adversarial perturbations. Some methods promote the robustness of recommendation systems by adversarial training. However, these methods only study shallow models and lack the exploration of deep models. Furthermore, the way these methods add adversarial noise to the weight parameters of users and items is not fully applicable to deep collaborative filtering models, because the adversarial noise is not sufficient to fully affect its network structure with multiple hidden layers. In this article, we propose a novel adversarial training framework, Random Layer-wise Adversarial Training (RAT), which trains a robust deep collaborative filtering model via adversarial noise propagation. Specifically, we inject adversarial noise into the output of the hidden layer in a random layer-wise manner. The adversarial noise propagates forward from the injected position to obtain more flexible model parameters during the adversarial training process. We validate the effectiveness of RAT on multilayer perceptron (MLP) and implement RAT on MLP-based and convolutional neural networks-based deep collaborative filtering models. Experiments on three publicly available datasets show that the deep collaborative filtering model trained by RAT not only defends against adversarial noise but also guarantees recommendation performance.
The End of the Policy Analyst? Testing the Capability of Artificial Intelligence to Generate Plausible, Persuasive, and Useful Policy Analysis
Authors: Safaei Mehrdad , Longo Justin
Published: August 2023

Policy advising in government centers on the analysis of public problems and the developing of recommendations for dealing with them. In carrying out this work, policy analysts consult a variety of sources and work to synthesize that body of evidence into useful decision support documents commonly called briefing notes. Advances in natural language processing (NLP) have led to the continuing development of tools that can undertake a similar task. Given a brief prompt, a large language model (LLM) can synthesize information in content databases. This article documents the findings from an experiment that tested whether contemporary NLP technology is capable of producing public policy relevant briefing notes that expert evaluators judge to be useful. The research involved two stages. First, briefing notes were created using three models: NLP generated; human generated; and NLP generated/human edited. Next, two panels of retired senior public servants (with only one panel informed of the use of NLP in the experiment) were asked to judge the briefing notes using a heuristic evaluation rubric. The findings indicate that contemporary NLP tools were not able to, on their own, generate useful policy briefings. However, the feedback from the expert evaluators indicates that automatically generated briefing notes might serve as a useful supplement to the work of human policy analysts. And the speed with which the capabilities of NLP tools are developing, supplemented with access to a larger corpus of previously prepared policy briefings and other policy-relevant material, suggests that the quality of automatically generated briefings may improve significantly in the coming years. The article concludes with reflections on what such improvements might mean for the future practice of policy analysis.
The Role of Social Media Analytics in Providing Product Intelligence: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Ram Jiwat , Zhang Changyu
Published: August 2023

The use of social media for business is becoming a new norm for gaining business intelligence. While research work is increasing on social media analytics (SMA) for some aspects of business intelligence, the knowledge of how SMA facilitates product intelligence (PI) is still very limited. To address the gap, the data from qualitative interviews was analyzed using NVivo coding and matrix queries. The results show that products, processes, and people underpin the mechanism for providing SMA-enabled PI. Serving dichotomous objectives, people act as (1) conduits for providing insights about products and processes and (2) subjects for gathering behavioral insights. The PI gathered about the products could help understanding of the process effectiveness and be used for planning, product, and promotional strategy development. Because of the impulsive nature of SM, while the utility of PI from SMA may be limited to gaining short-to-medium-term benefits, it is an important indicator of customer and market sentiments. Theoretically, the study develops a framework of SMA-enabled PI, highlighting the mechanism that yields PI and advancing knowledge on the role of SMA in improving business efficiencies. The results provide managerial insights about the levers and limitations to guide the design of SMA strategies for acquiring PI.
Contrastive Attention-guided Multi-level Feature Registration for Reference-based Super-resolution
Authors: Zheng Jianwei , Liu Yu , Feng Yuchao , Xu Honghui , Zhang Meiyu
Published: August 2023

Given low-quality input and assisted by referential images, reference-based super-resolution (RefSR) strives to enlarge the spatial size with the guarantee of realistic textures, for which sophisticated feature-matching strategies are naturally demanded. However, the miserable transformation gap between inputs and references, e.g., texture rotation and scaling within patches, often yields distorted textures and terrible ghosting artifacts, which seriously hampers the visual senses and their further investigation. To circumvent this challenge, we propose a contrastive attention-guided multi-level feature registration for RefSR, explicitly tapping the potential of interacting between inputs and references. Specifically, we develop a multi-level feature warping scheme, involving patch-level coarse feature swapping and pixel-level deformable alignment, to model generalized spatial transformation correspondences steered by contrastive attention. Notably, a spatial registration module is embedded for further calibration against the potential misalignment issue and inter-feature distribution difference. In addition, aiming at suppressing the impacts of irrelevant or superfluous information on cross-scale features, we incorporate a multi-residual feature fusion module to strive for visually plausible textures. Experimental results on four publicly available datasets demonstrate that our method outperforms most state-of-the-art approaches in terms of both efficiency and perceptual effectiveness.
Connexin 43 and cell culture substrate differentially regulate OCY454 osteocytic differentiation and signaling to primary bone cells
Authors: Hoppock Gabriel A. , Buettmann Evan G. , Denisco Joseph A. , Goldscheitter Galen M. , Condyles Sebastian N. , Juhl Otto J. , Friedman Michael A. , Zhang Yue , Donahue Henry J.
Published: August 2023

3D cell culture of OCY454 cells promoted increased differentiation compared with traditional 2D culture. Although Cx43 deficiency did not affect OCY454 differentiation, it resulted in increased signaling, promoting osteoblastogenesis and osteoclastogenesis. Our results suggest that Cx43 deficiency promotes increased bone remodeling in a cell-autonomous manner with minimal changes in osteocyte differentiation. Also, 3D cultures appear better suited to study mechanisms in Cx43-deficient OCY454 osteocytes.
Intranasal insulin treatment partially corrects the altered gene expression profile in the hippocampus of developing rats with perinatal iron deficiency
Authors: Sandri Brian J. , Ennis-Czerniak Kathleen , Kanajam Priya , Frey William H. , Lock Eric F. , Rao Raghavendra B.
Published: August 2023

Perinatal iron deficiency (FeD) targets the hippocampus and leads to long-term cognitive deficits. Intranasal insulin administration improves cognitive deficits in adult humans with Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes and could provide benefits in FeD-induced hippocampal dysfunction. To objective was to assess the effects of intranasal insulin administration intranasal insulin administration on the hippocampal transcriptome in a developing rat model of perinatal FeD. Perinatal FeD was induced using low-iron diet from gestational day 3 until postnatal day (P) 7, followed by an iron sufficient (FeS) diet through P21. Intranasal insulin was administered at a dose of 0.3 IU twice daily from P8 to P21. Hippocampi were removed on P21 from FeS control, FeD control, FeS insulin, and FeD insulin groups. Total RNA was isolated and profiled using next-generation sequencing. Gene expression profiles were characterized using custom workflows and expression patterns examined using ingenuity pathways analysis ( n = 7–9 per group). Select RNAseq results were confirmed via qPCR. Transcriptomic profiling revealed that mitochondrial biogenesis and flux, oxidative phosphorylation, quantity of neurons, CREB signaling in neurons, and RICTOR-based mTOR signaling were disrupted with FeD and positively affected by intranasal insulin treatment with the most benefit observed in the FeD insulin group. Both perinatal FeD and intranasal insulin administration altered gene expression profile in the developing hippocampus. Intranasal insulin treatment reversed the adverse effects of FeD on many molecular pathways and could be explored as an adjunct therapy in perinatal FeD.
The Prevalence of the Burnout Syndrome and Factors Associated in the Students of Dentistry in Integral Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Chauca Bajaña Luis Alberto , Campos Lascano Luis , Jaramillo Castellon Lourdes , Carpio Cevallos Carlos , Cevallos-Pozo Gabriela , Velasquez Ron Byron , Vieira e Silva Fábio França , Perez-Sayans Mario
Published: August 2023

Background. Burnout syndrome (BS) is composed of three interrelated dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal fulfillment), and it has been documented that it affects health professionals from an early age. Aims. Determine the prevalence of BS and associated factors in the integral clinic of the Dentistry Pilot School. Material and Methods. Two instruments were applied: (1) Maslach Burnout Inventory, which measures the degree of professional burnout through 22 items that describe the professional’s attitudes and feelings toward work, as well as symptoms associated with this phenomenon; (2) the second questionnaire determines the possible symptoms of BS and consists of 14 questions that describe tiredness, sleep problems, digestive problems, respiratory problems and headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ), neck pain, back pain, and upper and lower extremity pain. The instruments were answered anonymously by a total of 300 students who participated in the study. Results. The emotional exhaustion of the participants was 48.3% at a higher level, the depersonalization was 46.7% at a higher level, and the low perception of personal fulfillment was 73%. In addition, it was shown that BS is significantly related to marital status (

p
<

0.001

∗

), with single people reporting being more exhausted, with the 6-month level (

p
=
0.011

) and with the following symptoms: non-neck pain, head, TMJ, back, waist, upper and lower body pain. Conclusion. It was found that the BS had a prevalence of high levels of exhaustion and depersonalization correlated with the marital status and level of preparation (academic degree) of the person, finding a prevalence of symptoms such as pain in the neck, head, TMJ, and back.
Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccines: Lessons from Selected Populations Who Experience Discrimination in the Australian Healthcare System
Authors: Storer Daniel , Lafferty Lise , Graham Simon , Murphy Dean , Rance Jake , Brener Loren , Seale Holly , Hammoud Mohamed A. , Prestage Garrett , Beadman Mitchell , Gardner Kristy , Blaxland Megan , Bolt Reuben , Caruana Theresa , Philpot Steven , Rule John , Bryant Joanne
Published: August 2023

COVID-19 vaccination is particularly challenging among populations who have experienced discrimination in healthcare settings. This paper presents qualitative findings from in-depth interviews about COVID-19 vaccination conducted in Australia between October 2020 and November 2021. Data from four different studies are presented; each population has unique experiences of discrimination within the healthcare system: Aboriginal people; people who inject drugs (PWID); people living with HIV (PLHIV); and gay and bisexual men (GBM). Analyses were guided by the behavioural and social determinants model that forms the basis of the World Health Organization’s “data for action: achieving high uptake of COVID-19 vaccines” interim guidance. All populations viewed vaccination as necessary for community protection, although narratives of community care were most common among Aboriginal people. Concerns about vaccine safety were expressed by all participant groups, although participants living with HIV and GBM were more trusting of vaccines possibly because of their ongoing and usually positive past experiences with biomedical technologies for HIV management and sexual health. Aboriginal participants reported distrust of mainstream government and participants who inject drugs expressed a more generalised suspicion about COVID-19 and its origins. Practical problems related to transport, booking appointments for vaccination and so forth, were more common among participants living with HIV and GBM, possibly because these specific interviews were conducted throughout 2021 when vaccines were more available, whereas data for the other populations were collected before the vaccine rollout. Findings show that vaccine willingness is shaped by past experiences of discrimination in healthcare setting, but different histories of discrimination can differently impact vaccine willingness. Promotional messaging and delivery must take account of these important differences so to not treat these populations homogenously.
Bioprospecting for Isoetes cangae Endophytes with Potential to Promote Plant Growth
Authors: Santos Danielle Silveira , Pontes Paula Veronesi Marinho , Leite Analy Machado de Oliveira , Ferreira Aline Lemos , Souza Mariana de , Araujo Thainá dos Santos Silva , Santos Henrique Fragoso dos , Oliveira Guilherme Correa de , Bitencourt José Augusto , Cavalcanti Allysson Buraslan , Martins Rodrigo Lemes , Esteves Francisco De Assis
Published: August 2023

Isoetes cangae is a native plant found only in a permanent pond in Serra dos Carajás in the Amazon region. Plant-associated microbial communities are recognized to be responsible for biological processes essential for the health, growth, and even adaptation of plants to environmental stresses. In this sense, the aims of this work were to isolate, identify, and evaluate the properties of endophytic bacteria isolated from I. cangae. The bioprospecting of potentially growth-promoting endophytes required the following steps to be taken: isolation of endophytic colonies, molecular identification by 16S rDNA sequence analysis, and evaluation of the bacterial potential for nitrogen fixation, production of indole acetic acid and siderophores, as well as phosphate solubilization and mineralization. Bacillus sp., Rhizobium sp., Priestia sp., Acinetobacter sp., Rossellomorea sp., Herbaspirillum sp., Heyndrickxia sp., and Metabacillus sp., among other bacterial species, were identified. The isolates showed to be highly promising, evidencing the physiological importance for the plant and having the potential to promote plant growth.
Application of K-Nearest Neighbor Classification for Static Webcams Visibility Observation
Authors: Sládek David
Published: August 2023

Visibility observations and accurate forecasts are essential in meteorology, requiring a dense network of observation stations. This paper investigates image processing techniques for object detection and visibility determination using static cameras. It proposes a comprehensive method that includes image preprocessing, landmark identification, and visibility estimation, mirroring the observation process of professional meteorological observers. This study validates the visibility observation procedure using the k-nearest neighbors machine learning method across six locations, including four in the Czech Republic, one in the USA, and one in Germany. By comparing our results with professional observations, the paper demonstrates the suitability of the proposed method for operational application, particularly in foggy and low visibility conditions. This versatile method holds potential for adoption by meteorological services worldwide.
Optimizing Nonlinear Distortion and Interference in MC-CDMA Receivers Employing Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Ravikumar C. V. , Bagadi Kalapraveen , Rushendrababu K. , Srinivasulu Asadi , Kumar Satish
Published: August 2023

Systems that employ multicarrier code division multiple access, commonly known as MC-CDMA, produce outstanding results in terms of both the performance of the system as a whole and the efficiency with which it uses the spectrum. However, multiple access strategies are susceptible to interference despite their high spectrum efficiency. This work aims to reduce multiple access interference (MAI) by developing an MC-CDMA receiver. When MC-CDMA deteriorates nonlinearly, standard receivers, namely, zero forcing (ZF), maximal ratio combining (MRC), minimum mean square error (MMSE), and equal gain combining (EGC), are unable to cancel MAI. Neural network (NN) receivers are a better option due to their nonlinear nature. Based on the simulation results, the suggested deep neural network- (DNN-)based schemes outperform the current baselines in terms of error handling and usability. This research explores the viability and effectiveness of a DNN-based receiver designed for MC-CDMA with nonlinearity degradations. The focus of this research is on MC-CDMA.
Nonatheromatous Coronary Kink Causing Angiographic Obstruction: A Rare Structural Anomaly
Authors: Jhawar Nikita , Prasad Abhiram , Gharacholou S. Michael
Published: August 2023

Ischemic symptoms may be explained by a multitude of coronary pathologies, including coronary artery tortuosity, atherosclerosis, fibromuscular dysplasia, vasculitis, coronary vasospasm, or microvascular disease. We present an unusual case of coronary kinking in a patient presenting with exertional jaw pain in the absence of atherosclerotic risk factors. Multimodality imaging, coronary imaging, and coronary physiology helped establish the diagnosis and guide management.
Newfangled Linearization Formula of Certain Nonsymmetric Jacobi Polynomials: Numerical Treatment of Nonlinear Fisher’s Equation
Authors: Abd-Elhameed W. M. , Ali Afnan , Youssri Y. H.
Published: August 2023

This article is devoted to deriving a new linearization formula of a class for Jacobi polynomials that generalizes the third-kind Chebyshev polynomials class. In fact, this new linearization formula generalizes some existing ones in the literature. The derivation of this formula is based on employing a new moment formula of this class of polynomials and after that using suitable symbolic computation to reduce the resulting linearization coefficients into simplified forms that do not contain any hypergeometric functions or sums. The new formula is employed along with some other formulas and with the utilization of the spectral tau method to obtain numerical solutions to the nonlinear Fisher equation. The presented method is used to convert the equation governed by its underlying conditions into a nonlinear system of equations. The solution of the resulting system can be obtained through any suitable standard numerical scheme. To demonstrate the efficiency and usefulness of the proposed algorithm, some examples are shown, including comparisons with some existing techniques in the literature.
Comparison of Vaginal Birth Rate between Induction of Labour and Expectant Management at 40 Weeks in Women with a Previous Caesarean Section: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Rajalakshmi K. , Dorairajan Gowri , Kumar Swetha S. , Palnivel C.
Published: August 2023

Background. The optimum time of labour induction among women with a previous caesarean without any pregnancy complication and eligible and willing for vaginal delivery is not specified. This study compares the vaginal birth rates between induction at 40 weeks and expectant management till 41 weeks. Method. We conducted this parallel design nonblinded, randomized controlled trial in a tertiary care teaching institution in South India on women with a previous lower segment caesarean section eligible for a trial of labour with singleton foetus without any pregnancy complication at recruitment. We screened 1886 women. Sixty women underwent block (of 6 each) randomization into two groups of thirty each at 40 weeks. We induced the women in the intervention group at 40 weeks with oxytocin or a single 24-hour application of a Foley catheter followed by oxytocin infusion and amniotomy. The expectant group underwent maternal and foetal surveillance and induction at 41 weeks with the same protocol if not delivered by then. We compared the primary outcome of the proportion of vaginal birth rate with a chi-square test. Result. Data from all sixty women were analyzed. Twenty (66.67%) in the induction compared to ten (33.33%) in the expectant group delivered vaginally. This difference was significant (RR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.13-3.52;

P
=
0.016

). One woman in the expectant group had scar dehiscence. Conclusion. Among women with a previous caesarean scar, labour induction at 40 weeks has a significantly higher vaginal birth rate than those managed expectantly till 41 weeks. More extensive trials are feasible and recommended. Trial Registry. The trial was prospectively registered with the clinical trial registry of India. This trial is registered with CTRI/2018/09/015719 (date of registration 14th September 2018).
DNA Methylation-Based Testing in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Enables Accurate and Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Xie Yan , Li Peilong , Sun Dong , Qi Qiuchen , Ma Suhong , Zhao Yinghui , Zhang Shujun , Wang Tiantian , Wang Jing , Li Shijun , Gong Tingting , Xu Huiting , Xiong Mengqiu , Li Guanghua , You Chongge , Luo Zhaofan , Li Juan , Wang Chuanxin , Du Lutao
Published: August 2023

An effective blood-based method for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer has not yet been developed. Molecular alterations of immune cells occur early in tumorigenesis, providing the theoretical underpinning for early cancer diagnosis based on immune cell profiling. Therefore, we aimed to develop an effective detection method based on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to improve the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Analysis of the genome-wide methylation landscape of PBMCs from patients with colorectal cancer and healthy controls by microarray, pyrosequencing, and targeted bisulfite sequencing revealed five DNA methylation markers for colorectal cancer diagnosis, especially early-stage colorectal cancer. A single-tube multiple methylation–specific quantitative PCR assay (multi-msqPCR) for simultaneous detection of five methylation markers was established, which allowed quantitative analysis of samples with as little as 0.1% PBMC DNA and had better discriminative performance than single-molecule detection. Then, a colorectal cancer diagnostic model (CDM) based on methylation markers and the multi-msqPCR method was constructed that achieved high accuracy for early-stage colorectal cancer (AUC = 0.91; sensitivity = 81.18%; specificity = 89.39%), which was improved compared with CEA (AUC = 0.79). The CDM also enabled a high degree of discrimination for advanced adenoma cases (AUC = 0.85; sensitivity = 63.04%). Follow-up data also demonstrated that the CDM could identify colorectal cancer potential up to 2 years before currently used diagnostic methods. In conclusion, the approach constructed in this study based on PBMC-derived DNA methylation markers and a multi-msqPCR method is a promising and easily implementable diagnostic method for early-stage colorectal cancer.

Significance:

Development of a diagnostic model for early colorectal cancer based on epigenetic analysis of PBMCs supports the utility of altered DNA methylation in immune cells for cancer diagnosis.
The Tumor Immune Microenvironment Architecture Correlates with Risk of Recurrence in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Weed Donald T. , Zilio Serena , McGee Christie , Marnissi Boutheina , Sargi Zoukaa , Franzmann Elizabeth , Thomas Giovana , Leibowitz Jason , Nicolli Elizabeth , Arnold David , Bicciato Silvio , Serafini Paolo
Published: August 2023

Emerging evidence suggests that not only the frequency and composition of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes but also their spatial organization might be a major determinant of tumor progression and response to therapy. Therefore, mapping and analyzing the fine tumor immune architecture could potentially provide insights for predicting cancer prognosis. Here, we performed an explorative, prospective clinical study to assess whether structures within the tumor microenvironment can predict recurrence after salvage surgery in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The major immune subsets were measured using flow cytometry and co-detection by indexing (CODEX) multiparametric imaging. Flow cytometry underestimated the number of PMN-MDSCs and neutrophils in the tumor and overestimated the tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte frequency. An ad hoc computational framework was used to identify and analyze discrete cellular neighborhoods. A high frequency of tertiary lymphoid structures composed of CD31highCD38high plasma cells was associated with reduced recurrence after surgery in HNSCC. These data support the notion that the structural architecture of the tumor immune microenvironment plays an essential role in tumor progression and indicates that type 1 tertiary lymphoid structures and long-lived CD31highCD38high plasma cells are associated with good prognosis in HNSCC.

Significance:

Imaging the spatial tumor immune microenvironment and evaluating the presence of type 1 tertiary lymphoid structures enables prediction of recurrence after surgery in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Modifying Effect of Anthocyanin from Purple Sweet Potatoes on Visceral Fat Tissue Inflammation and Liver Oxidative Stress in Psychological Stress-Induced Mice
Authors:   Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Kurnianingsih Nia , Artamevia Dian ,   Bachelor Program of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Winarta Antania ,   Bachelor Program of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Wulandari Andini ,   Bachelor Program of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Siregar Syifa ,   Bachelor Program of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Hasanah Dian ,   Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Widodo Edwin ,   Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia, Ratmawati Retty ,   Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya,Malang65145, Indonesia
Published: August 2023

Psychological stress generates inflammation and oxidative stress in various tissues. Visceral fat as the target site of inflammation is then correlated with stress-induced obesity. Redox imbalance following inflammation also has prominent impacts on hepatic tissue. Therefore, the development of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties from plant bioactive compounds is necessary to be investigated. Anthocyanin (ANC) from various plants is previously described as a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant even though its effect in psychological stress remains underexplored. Purple sweet potatoes (PSP) has ANC as its natural pigment. Previous studies revealed the potential effect of ANC from PSP on behavior and an antidepressant candidate. Thus, this study was purposed to determine the effect of ANC from PSP on inflammation and oxidative stress in visceral fat and hepatic tissue respectively. A total of 25 adult male BALB/c mice were assigned into groups of control, stress, stress+ANC 10 mg/kgBW, stress+ANC 20 mg/kgBW and stress+ANC 40 mg/kgBW. Restraint stress was applied 2 hours/day for 14 days. Enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was conducted to measure level of IL-6 and IL-10 in visceral fat as well as SOD and MDA from hepatic tissue. The results demonstrated that the supplementation of ANC reduces the level of IL-6 cytokine (p=0.005), tends to increase IL-10 (p=0.612), reduces hepatic SOD (p=0.03), and does not significantly affect the level of hepatic MDA (p=0.432). Both ratios of IL-6/IL-10 and SOD/MDA were reduced following ANC administration. Total ANC extracts are suggested to have a potential role of resisting inflammation and oxidative stress in the psychologically stressed model. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the benefits of ANC from PSP in other peripheral organs under psychological stress exposure.
Antagonistic activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Minas artisanal cheeses against Brucella abortus
Authors: Mussi Jamili Maria Suhet , Tavares Guilherme Campos , Santos Ethiene Luiza de Souza , Ferreira Lucas Oliveira , Rangel Damiana Alves de Almeida , Dorneles Elaine Maria Seles , Gonçalves Maysa Serpa , Fonseca Junior Antônio Augusto , Soares Filho Paulo Martins , Souza Patrícia Gomes de , Souza Marcelo Resende de , Lage Andrey Pereira
Published: August 2023

This study aimed to evaluate methods for studying the in vitro antimicrobial activity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) against Brucella abortus and to evaluate the antagonistic effect of LAB on the viability of this pathogen. A total of 18 LAB strains (Lactobacillus plantarum, n = 11; Pediococcus acidilactici, n = 1; Lactobacillus rhamnosus, n = 4; and Lactobacillus brevis, n = 2), isolated from Minas artisanal cheeses produced in three regions (Canastra, Campos das Vertentes, and Araxá) of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, were tested for their antimicrobial activity against B. abortus using three methods: spot-on-lawn, agar well diffusion assay, and antagonistic activity of the culture supernatants. None of the tested LAB strains could inhibit B. abortus in the spot-on-lawn and agar-well diffusion assays. The supernatants produced by LAB had an acidic pH, with intensity depending on bacterial growth and strain, and could inhibit the growth of B. abortus. In contrast, pH-neutralized (pH 7.0) LAB supernatants did not suppress the growth of B. abortus. The results showed that the best technique to study the in vitro antagonism of LAB against B. abortus was the antagonistic activity of culture supernatants. The growth of B. abortus may have been inhibited by acid production.