bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology and risk factors associated with gout control among adult Asians: a real-world retrospective cohort study
Authors: Oka Prawira , Chong Wei Ming , Ng Ding Xuan , Aau Wai Keong , Tan Ngiap Chuan
Published: September 2023

Background

Gout is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, yet suboptimal gout control remains a problem globally. Identifying the risk factors associated with poor gout control among patients in primary care allows targeted interventions to improve their clinical management. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of poor gout control and its associated demographic and clinical factors among urbanized community-dwelling Asian patients.

Methods

This retrospective study was based on data extracted from the electronic medical records of 8 public primary care clinics in Singapore. Patients with a diagnostic code of gout who had 2 or more visits between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2019 were included in the analysis. Data extracted included: demographics, anthropological measurements, comorbidities, serum uric acid levels and medication prescription. A patient is defined to have poor gout control if they suffer two or more acute gout attacks within a year. Chi-Squared test was used for categorical parameters. For continuous variables, univariate logistic regression analysis was first performed. Significant factors (p ≤ 0.1) were then included in the logistics regression model to account for confounders.

Results

A total of 7,970 patients and 24,624 visits were included in the analysis. The prevalence of poorly controlled gout was 28.2% (n = 2,244/7,970); only 46.3% of them (n = 1,039/2,244) were prescribed allopurinol and 13.4% (n = 301/2,244) were taking doses ≥300 mg. Using logistic regression, factors associated with poor gout control were: male gender [adjusted OR (AOR) =1.66, p < 0.001], Malay ethnicity (AOR = 1.27, p = 0.007), congestive heart failure (AOR = 1.64, p = 0.037). Patients prescribed allopurinol (AOR = 1.52, p < 0.001), NSAIDs (AOR = 2.76, p < 0.001) and corticosteroids (AOR = 2.83, p < 0.001) were more likely to have poorly-controlled gout.

Conclusion

Nearly 30% of patients had poor gout. Interventions should focus on male and Malay patients and those with congestive cardiac failure.
Astrocytes in stroke-induced neurodegeneration: a timeline
Authors: Collyer Eileen , Blanco-Suarez Elena
Published: September 2023

Stroke is a condition characterized by sudden deprivation of blood flow to a brain region and defined by different post-injury phases, which involve various molecular and cellular cascades. At an early stage during the acute phase, fast initial cell death occurs, followed by inflammation and scarring. This is followed by a sub-acute or recovery phase when endogenous plasticity mechanisms may promote spontaneous recovery, depending on various factors that are yet to be completely understood. At later time points, stroke leads to greater neurodegeneration compared to healthy controls in both clinical and preclinical studies, this is evident during the chronic phase when recovery slows down and neurodegenerative signatures appear. Astrocytes have been studied in the context of ischemic stroke due to their role in glutamate re-uptake, as components of the neurovascular unit, as building blocks of the glial scar, and synaptic plasticity regulators. All these roles render astrocytes interesting, yet understudied players in the context of stroke-induced neurodegeneration. With this review, we provide a summary of previous research, highlight astrocytes as potential therapeutic targets, and formulate questions about the role of astrocytes in the mechanisms during the acute, sub-acute, and chronic post-stroke phases that may lead to neurorestoration or neurodegeneration.
Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical evidence of a colonial nervous system in hydroids
Authors: Kosevich Igor A.
Published: September 2023

Background

As the sister group to all Bilateria, representatives of the phylum Cnidaria (sea anemones, corals, jellyfishes, and hydroids) possess a recognizable and well-developed nervous system and have attracted considerable attention over the years from neurobiologists and evo-devo researchers. Despite a long history of nervous system investigation in Cnidaria, most studies have been performed on unitary organisms. However, the majority of cnidarians are colonial (modular) organisms with unique and specific features of development and function. Nevertheless, data on the nervous system in colonial cnidarians are scarce. Within hydrozoans (Hydrozoa and Cnidaria), a structurally "simple" nervous system has been described for Hydra and zooids of several colonial species. A more complex organization of the nervous system, closely related to the animals' motile mode of life, has been shown for the medusa stage and a few siphonophores. Direct evidence of a colonial nervous system interconnecting zooids of a hydrozoan colony has been obtained only for two species, while it has been stated that in other studied species, the coenosarc lacks nerves.

Methods

In the present study, the presence of a nervous system in the coenosarc of three species of colonial hydroids - the athecate Clava multicornis, and thecate Dynamena pumila and Obelia longissima - was studied based on immunocytochemical and ultrastructural investigations.

Results

Confocal scanning laser microscopy revealed a loose system composed of delicate, mostly bipolar, neurons visualized using a combination of anti-tyrosinated and anti-acetylated a-tubulin antibodies, as well as anti-RF-amide antibodies. Only ganglion nerve cells were observed. The neurites were found in the growing stolon tips close to the tip apex. Ultrastructural data confirmed the presence of neurons in the coenosarc epidermis of all the studied species. In the coenosarc, the neurons and their processes were found to settle on the mesoglea, and the muscle processes were found to overlay the nerve cells. Some of the neurites were found to run within the mesoglea.

Discussion

Based on the findings, the possible role of the colonial nervous system in sessile hydroids is discussed.
Algae as a potential source of protein meat alternatives
Authors: Espinosa-Ramírez Johanan , Mondragón-Portocarrero Alicia C. , Rodríguez Jose A. , Lorenzo Jose M. , Santos Eva M.
Published: September 2023

With the rise of plant-based meat alternatives, there is a growing need for sustainable and nutritious sources of protein. Alga is a rich protein source, and initial studies show that it can be a good component in developing protein meat alternatives. However, there are certain limitations in their use as the need for efficient and optimal technical process in large-scale protein extraction and purification, as well as overcoming certain negative effects such as potentially harmful compounds, allergenicity issues, or sensorial affections, especially in color but also in textural and flavor characteristics. This review offers a vision of the fledgling research about using alga protein in the development of meat alternatives or supplementing meat products.
Nutritional status in perianal Crohn’s disease: are we underestimating the impact?
Authors: Alves Martins Bruno Augusto , Filho Oswaldo de Moraes , Lopes Ana Carolina Benvindo , de Faria Ricardo Jacarandá , Silva Clíslian , Lemos Gabriela de Oliveira , Silveira Dannilo Brito , de Sousa João Batista
Published: September 2023

Symptomatic perianal disease is common in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), and perianal fistulas represent the primary form of anal involvement. This type of involvement is associated with a poor prognosis and a disabling course. The treatment is challenging and involves both surgical and medical approaches. Despite combined therapy, a significant portion of patients may still require proctectomy to control the symptoms. Consequently, investigating factors that may influence the outcome of perianal disease remains a priority area of research in CD. Nutritional deficiencies are well documented among CD patients with luminal forms of involvement and are closely related to poor clinical outcomes, therapy response, and postoperative complications. As a result, leading guidelines recommend regular nutritional assessment and correction of nutritional deficiencies in patients requiring a surgical approach. Despite these recommendations and the high rate of surgeries among CD patients with perianal disease, there is a shortage of studies addressing the real impact of nutritional status on the course and outcomes of perianal disease. This knowledge gap underscores the importance of further research to understand better and improve the management of perianal CD. This narrative review aims to provide an overview of nutritional status assessment and the influence of nutritional status on the outcomes of patients with perianal CD.
Matched-pair analysis of the impact of low-dose postoperative radiotherapy on prognosis in patients with advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma without positive surgical margins and extracapsular extension
Authors: Tao Hengmin , Wei Yumei , Shen Zhong , Liu Zhichao
Published: September 2023

Background

We conducted a comparative analysis between low and high-dose postoperative radiotherapy in patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) in stage III or IV without positive surgical margins and extracapsular extension (ECE). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to eliminate confounding factors and reduce bias.

Methods

The matched-pair analysis included 156 patients divided into two groups: the low-dose radiotherapy group (LD-RT 50 Gy, 78 cases) and the high-dose radiotherapy group (HD-RT 60 Gy, 78 cases). Both cohorts were statistically comparable in terms of age, gender, subsite, and TNM classification.

Results

The median follow-up time was 49 months (ranging from 5 to 100 months). The overall survival (OS) rate, progression-free survival (PFS) rate, locoregional control rate (87% vs. 85.7%; p = 0.754), distant metastases-free survival (79.2% vs. 76.6%; p = 0.506), and the occurrence of second primary tumors (96.1% vs. 93.5%; p = 0.347) showed no significant differences between the LD-RT group and the HD-RT group. The 3-year OS was 64.9% and 61% in the low-dose and high-dose group, respectively, and 63% in the entire group (p = 0.547). The 3-year PFS was 63.6% and 54.5% (p = 0.250), respectively, and the 3-year PFS of the entire group was 59.1%. Multivariate analyses revealed that pathological T and N classification, and pathological differentiation were associated with 3-year OS, PFS, and LRFS and were independent prognostic factors (p < 0.05). LD-RT was not associated with an increased risk of death and disease progression compared to HD-RT.

Conclusion

The results of postoperative low-dose radiotherapy did not show inferiority to those of high-dose radiation for patients with advanced hypopharyngeal cancer without positive surgical margins and ECE in terms of OS, PFS, locoregional control, and metastases-free survival.
Clinical outcomes of radiation therapy for transgender and gender-expansive people with cancer
Authors: Mansur Arian , Kempf Abigail M. , Bitterman Danielle S. , Patel Chirayu G. , Dyer M Aiven , Haas-Kogan Daphne A. , Liu Kevin X. , Smart Alicia C.
Published: September 2023

Introduction

Approximately 1.6 million people in the US identify as transgender, many of whom undergo gender-affirming medical or surgical therapies. While transgender individuals are diagnosed with cancer at similar rates as those who are cisgender, the impacts of radiation therapy on outcomes of gender-affirming care in transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people with cancer are understudied. We report on the experiences and outcomes of transgender and gender-expansive patients receiving radiation therapy for cancer treatment.

Methods

This study is a multi-institutional retrospective review of patients evaluated from 2005-2019 identified as transgender or gender-expansive in the medical record and treated with radiation therapy.

Results

We identified 23 patients who received radiation to 32 sites, including 12 (38%) to the brain, head, or neck, 8 (25%) to the thorax, and 7 (22%) to the pelvis. Seventeen patients (74%) received gender-affirming hormone therapy and 13 patients (57%) underwent gender-affirming surgery. Four patients had pelvic radiation before or after gender-affirming pelvic surgery, including two trans women who had pelvic radiation after vaginoplasty. Four patients had radiation to the chest or thorax and gender-affirming chest or breast surgery, including two trans men with breast cancer. Two pediatric patients developed hypopituitarism and hypogonadism secondary to radiation therapy and, as adults, changed their hormone replacement therapy to affirm their transgender identities.

Discussion

Transgender people with cancer undergo radiation therapy for a wide range of cancers. Understanding their prior gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments and future gender affirmation goals may identify important considerations for their oncologic care.
Prospective assessment of inter-rater reliability of a neonatal adverse event severity scale
Authors: Salaets Thomas , Lacaze-Masmonteil Thierry , Hokuto Isamu , Gauldin Cheri , Taha Amjad , Smits Anne , Thewissen Liesbeth , Van Horebeek Ilse , Shoraisham Armuchou , Mohammad Khorshid , Suzuki Manami , Komachi Shiori , Michels Kurt , Turner Mark A. , Allegaert Karel , Lewis Tamorah
Published: September 2023

Introduction: To ensure the quality of clinical trial safety data, universal data standards are required. In 2019 the International Neonatal Consortium (INC) published a neonatal adverse event severity scale (NAESS) to standardize the reporting of adverse event (AE) severity. In this study the reliability of AE severity grading with INC NAESS was prospectively assessed in a real-world setting.

Methods: Severity of AEs was assessed by two independent observers at each of four centers across the world. In each center two series of 30 neonatal adverse events were assessed by both observers: in a first phase with a generic (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, CTCAE) severity scale not specific to neonates, and in a second phase with INC NAESS (after a structured training). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to express inter-rater agreement in both phases, and bootstrap sampling was used to compare them.

Results: 120 AEs were included in each of both phases. The ICC with the use of INC NAESS in phase 2 was 0.69. This represents a significant but modest improvement in comparison to the initial ICC of 0.66 in phase 1 (confidence interval of ratio of ICC in phase 2 to phase 1 = 1.005–1.146; excludes 1). The ICC was higher for those AEs for which a diagnosis specific AE severity table was available in INC NAESS (ICC 0.80).

Discussion: Good inter-rater reliability of the INC NAESS was demonstrated in four neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across the globe. The ICC is comparable to what is reported for scales with similar purposes in different populations. There is a modest, but significant, improvement in inter-rater agreement in comparison to the naïve phase without INC NAESS. The better performance when reviewers use AE-specific NAESS tables highlights the need to expand the number of AEs that are covered by specific criteria in the current version of INC NAESS.
Analyzing the research landscape: Mapping frontiers and hot spots in anti-cancer research using bibliometric analysis and research network pharmacology
Authors: Han Qi , Li Zhongxun , Fu Yang , Liu Hongliang , Guo Huina , Guan Xiaoya , Niu Min , Zhang Chunming
Published: September 2023

Introduction: Network pharmacology has emerged as a forefront and hotspot in anti-cancer. Traditional anti-cancer drugs are limited by the paradigm of “one cancer, one target, one drug,” making it difficult to address the challenges of recurrence and drug resistance. However, the main advantage of network pharmacology lies in its approach from the perspective of molecular network relationships, employing a “one arrow, multiple targets” strategy, which provides a novel pathway for developing anti-cancer drugs. This study employed a bibliometric analysis method to examine network pharmacology’s application and research progress in cancer treatment from January 2008 to May 2023. This research will contribute to revealing its forefront and hotspots, offering new insights and methodologies for future investigations.

Methods: We conducted a literature search on network pharmacology research in anti-cancer (NPART) from January 2008 to May 2023, utilizing scientific databases such as Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and PubMed to retrieve relevant research articles and reviews. Additionally, we employed visualization tools such as Citespace, SCImago Graphica, and VOSviewer to perform bibliometric analysis.

Results: This study encompassed 3,018 articles, with 2,210 articles from WoSCC and 808 from PubMed. Firstly, an analysis of the annual national publication trends and citation counts indicated that China and the United States are the primary contributing countries in this field. Secondly, the recent keyword analysis revealed emerging research hotspots in “tumor microenvironment,” “anti-cancer drugs,” and “traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “ Furthermore, the literature clustering analysis demonstrated that “calycosin,” “molecular mechanism,” “molecular docking,” and “anti-cancer agents” were widely recognized research hotspots and forefront areas in 2023, garnering significant attention and citations in this field. Ultimately, we analyzed the application of NPART and the challenges.

Conclusion: This study represents the first comprehensive analysis paper based on bibliometric methods, aiming to investigate the forefront hotspots of network pharmacology in anti-cancer research. The findings of this study will facilitate researchers in swiftly comprehending the current research trends and forefront hotspots in the domain of network pharmacology in cancer research.
“Are we in this together?”: embedding social identity detection in drones improves emergency coordination
Authors: Kordoni Anastasia , Gavidia-Calderon Carlos , Levine Mark , Bennaceur Amel , Nuseibeh Bashar
Published: September 2023

Autonomous systems, such as drones, are critical for emergency mitigation, management, and recovery. They provide situational awareness and deliver communication services which effectively guide emergency responders’ decision making. This combination of technology and people comprises a socio-technical system. Yet, focusing on the use of drone technology as a solely operational tool, underplays its potential to enhance coordination between the different agents involved in mass emergencies, both human and non-human. This paper proposes a new methodological approach that capitalizes on social identity principles to enable this coordination in an evacuation operation. In the proposed approach, an adaptive drone uses sensor data to infer the group membership of the survivors it encounters during the operation. A corpus of 200 interactions of survivors’ talk during real-life emergencies was computationally classified as being indicative of a shared identity or personal/no identity. This classification model, then, informed a game-theoretic model of human-robot interactions. Bayesian Nash Equilibrium analysis determined the predicted behavior for the human agent and the strategy that the drone needs to adopt to help with survivor evacuation. Using linguistic and synthetic data, we show that the identity-adaptive architecture outperformed two non-adaptive architectures in the number of successful evacuations. The identity-adaptive drone can infer which victims are likely to be helped by survivors and where help from emergency teams is needed. This facilitates effective coordination and adaptive performance. This study shows decision-making can be an emergent capacity that arises from the interactions of both human and non-human agents in a socio-technical system.
Bidirectional connectivity alterations in schizophrenia: a multivariate, machine-learning approach
Authors: Kim Minhoe , Seo Ji Won , Yun Seokho , Kim Minchul
Published: September 2023

Objective

It is well known that altered functional connectivity is a robust neuroimaging marker of schizophrenia. However, there is inconsistency in the direction of alterations, i.e., increased or decreased connectivity. In this study, we aimed to determine the direction of the connectivity alteration associated with schizophrenia using a multivariate, data-driven approach.

Methods

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 109 individuals with schizophrenia and 120 controls across two openly available datasets. A whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) matrix was computed for each individual. A modified connectome-based predictive model (CPM) with a support vector machine (SVM) was used to classify patients and controls. We conducted a series of multivariate classification analyses using three different feature sets, increased, decreased, and both increased and decreased rsFC.

Results

For both datasets, combining information from both increased and decreased rsFC substantially improved prediction accuracy (Dataset 1: accuracy = 70.2%, permutation p = 0.001; Dataset 2: accuracy = 64.4%, permutation p = 0.003). When tested across datasets, the prediction model using decreased rsFC performed best. The identified predictive features of decreased rsFC were distributed mostly in the motor network for both datasets.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that bidirectional alterations in rsFC are distributed in schizophrenia patients, with the pattern of decreased rsFC being more similar across different populations.
Psychological resilience matters in the relationship between the decline in economic status and adults’ depression half a year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Wan Jun , Liu Lin , Chen Yue , Zhang Tianchen , Huang Jun
Published: September 2023

Background/objective

The outbreak of COVID-19 in China since 2019 has had a significant impact on the mental health of people in Hubei Province during the three-year pandemic period. Therefore, studying the prevalence of depression among the population of Hubei Province since the pandemic is of great significance.

Methods

Based on opportunity and stress theory, we collected provincial-level data from Hubei (N = 3,285) to examine the impact of declining economic status on depressive symptoms and to investigate the moderating effect of psychological resilience during the period of economic adjustment.

Results

We used propensity score matching to estimate the treatment effect of economic status decline on depression severity and confirmed the moderating effect of psychological resilience. We found that the more that an individual’s economic status declines, the more severe that his or her depressive symptoms become. Specifically, each unit decrease in economic status is associated with an increase of approximately 0.117 units in depression level. In addition, our results indicated that psychological resilience significantly moderated the relationship between economic decline and depression (−0.184*).

Conclusions and implications

Our study confirms the role of economic status in depressive symptoms. Compared with traditional research on the relationship between economic status and mental illness, this paper expands the research regarding the two in the context of a major public health emergency. Furthermore, we suggest ways to improve people’s mental health following the pandemic.
Association of age and night flight duration with sleep disorders among Chinese airline pilots
Authors: Shi Ruizi , Wang Fang , Xu Wanying , Fu Li
Published: September 2023

Objective

Night flights might aggravate sleep disorders among aging airline pilots, posing a threat to flight safety. In this study, we assess the prevalence of sleep disorders as well as the combined effects of night flight duration and aging on sleep disorders.

Method

A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and December, 2021. Participants were recruited from a commercial airline. Sleep disorders were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The interaction effect of night flight duration and age on sleep disorders and their correlates were examined using logistic regression models.

Results

In total, 1,208 male airline pilots were included in the study, with a median age of 34 (interquartile range [IQR]: 29–39) years. The overall prevalence of sleep disorders was 42.6%. The multivariate logistic regression identified an interaction between night flight duration and age on sleep disorders (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] of the interaction term was 5.85 95% CI: 2.23–15.34 for age ≥ 45 years; 1.96 95% CI:1.01–3.81 for the age group 30–44 years). Longer night flight duration (aOR: 4.55; 95%CI: 1.82–11.38) and body mass index (BMI) ≥28.0 kg/m2 (aOR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.03–0.91) were significantly associated with sleep disorders in participants aged ≥45 years. Hyperuricemia (aOR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.09–2.16) and regular exercise (aOR: 0.23; 95% CI: 0.08–0.70) were significantly associated with sleep disorders in the 30–44 years age group.

Conclusion

The mean monthly night flight duration and aging had a synergistic effect on airline pilots’ sleep disorders, implying an aging and work-related mechanistic pathogenesis of sleep disorders in airline pilots that requires additional exploration and intervention.
Driving the Ocean “Pump”—Formation of Dense Water in the Antarctic
Authors: Ohshima Kay I. , Blanckensee Sienna
Published: September 2023

Like a cake, the ocean is made up of several layers. The heaviest (highest density) layer of water on the bottom of the ocean is called Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). AABW forms around the coast of Antarctica in areas where lots of sea ice is produced due to freezing temperatures and strong winds. When sea ice is formed, most of the salt from the sea water is left behind, so the water underneath the sea ice becomes very salty and cold, making it heavy and dense. This dense water sinks to the bottom of the ocean to become AABW. AABW acts like a pump, powering the circulation of ocean waters all over the world. With climate change, warming temperatures and melting ice sheets will influence the formation of AABW, which could affect global ocean circulation, climate, and the plants and animals living both in the oceans and on land.
Cognitive Dissonance and Market Liquidation: A Case of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE)
Authors: Awais Muhammad , Ali Shah Dr. Syed Zulfiqar
Published: September 2023

This paper aims to investigate the effect of cognitive dissonance behavior of investors on the stock returns. The study investigates that how such behavior plays a role in the liquidation of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE). The simple regression model was used to identify the significant impact of Cognitive dissonance on market returns. This study facilitates the investors and decision makers to make effective and efficient decisions.
Moderating Effect of Employee's Emotional Intelligence on the Relation of Emotionally Intelligent Project Manager and Employee Engagement
Authors: Khan Shahbaz , Awais Muhammad , Khan Muhammad Naeem , Ahmed Khan Owais
Published: September 2023

Employee's engagement is one of the very important topics in business world from years. Organizations are focusing on success by engaging its employees and retaining the talent with skills and competencies necessary for growth and sustainability. A multifaceted conception about engagement is influenced by numerous factors like organizational communication and managerial styles. To keep employees engaged manager needs to have certain abilities and skills, one of the ability is that a leader should be emotionally intelligent, who can understand his own emotions and feelings as well as of his workforce. Emotional intelligence consists of adaptive emotional functioning involving inter-related competencies relating to perception, understanding, utilizing and managing emotions in the self and others. Researchers in diverse fields have studied emotional intelligence and found the construct to be associated with a variety of factors such as mental health, relationship satisfaction, and work performance. The present study intends to investigate the moderating impact of employee's emotional intelligence on the relation of managers' emotional intelligence and employee engagement. The results of this research demonstrate that through emotional intelligence a manager can control his employees and he can use them according to the requirement of organizational goals. However, sometimes there are employees who are also emotionally intelligent and they use their own emotional intelligence that enhances their work engagement and causes other positive outcomes. These employees are engaged at work not because of their managers' emotional intelligence or leadership, but due to their own high emotional intelligence. For this research questionnaire was used to collect the data that was distributed in different construction companies working in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Those questionnaires were adapted from the other research papers. The total sample size for this research paper is 274 employees and unit of measure is individual, for data collection simple convenience sampling technique was used. The study also offers suggestions for future research on the basis of certain limitations.
Impact of Organizational Injustice and Leader Reward Behavior on Job Satisfaction of Employees
Authors: Moazzam Anum , Awais Muhammad , Khan Afsar Ali , Ahmed Khan Owais , Hassan Wisal
Published: September 2023

The aim of this paper is to find out the effect of leader reward behavior and organizational injustice on the job satisfaction of employees. The paper intends to seek a reason behind the undesired behavior of employees, which are quite common among the working class of both public as well as private organizations of Pakistan. This particular analysis is constructed by floating designed questionnaires in the Telecom Industry of Pakistan; particularly in the organizations (Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, Warid, & Zong) operating in twin cities. Statistical software SPSS has been used to interpret the results gathered from 229 respondents. Additionally, a strong correlation is found between the variables depicting a reliable strength of the research relationship. The study would be useful for top managers who develop strategies, supervise employees, and might face difficulties in handling issues related to workers in the workplace. It is limited to telecom industry of Pakistan only; however the similar relationship can be tested upon different industries across the country
Analyzing the Capital Market Movements and Saving Patterns of South Asian Countries: Evidence from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
Authors: Ahmed Mah-a-Mobeen , Awais Muhammad , Ur Rehman Dr. Kashif , Raza Asif , Saleem Kashif
Published: September 2023

This paper examines the role of capital market and saving pattern in the acceleration of economic growth in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh with special emphasis on the impact of financial sector reforms initiated in 2000. The data used in this study was collected from the period of 2000 to 2012 of three South Asian countries namely, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. The result showed that Pakistan was tried to improve its saving patterns but didn’t achieve its goal. Pakistan achieved its higher saving pattern in 2003. Pakistan was trying to strengthen its stock market as it is considered as a proxy of economy. Pakistan achieved its goal during the period of 2002-07. Pakistan was trying to focus on its “human development” Pakistan started achieving its goal in 2011 & 2012, which was the period of “Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)”, as PPP is most dominant in Pakistan in terms of pay structure reforms. Bangladesh was trying to improve its saving patterns and has also achieved its goal. Bangladesh achieved its higher saving pattern in 2009. Bangladesh was trying to strengthen its stock market as it is considered as a proxy of economy. Bangladesh was continuously achieving its goal during the period of 2002-11. Bangladesh was trying to focus on its “human development”, but Bangladesh didn’t achieve its goal because of some mismanagement of policies. Sri Lanka was trying to improve its saving patterns but didn’t achieve its goal appropriately because of too much uncertainty & fluctuations. Sri Lanka was trying to strengthen its stock market as it is considered as a proxy of economy. Sri Lanka was continuously achieving its goal during the period of 2002-06. Sri Lanka tried to focus on its “human development”, but Sri Lanka didn’t achieve its goal because of some negligence of strategies. Sri Lanka achieved its higher saving pattern in 2005.
Family Work Conflict and Job Satisfaction: A Study of Banking Sector in Pakistan
Authors: Nawaz Khubaib , Awais Muhammad
Published: September 2023

Family work conflict and work family conflict have great impact on level of job satisfaction. This empirical study examined the work family and family work conflict effects on job satisfaction from the banking sector of Pakistan. The sample size of this study was 160 employees, working in these banks at different managerial and officer level positions and data were analyzed by using SPSS 20 through regression and correlation analysis. Work family conflict and family work conflict were used for measuring the level of job satisfaction in comparison with these conflicts. Findings of the study showed that work family conflict results in deficit levels of job satisfaction.
The Inuence of Critical Factors of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction on Inter-City Bus Transport in Pakistan
Authors: Khalid Ammara , Khurshid Dr. Asif , Butt Fraz Arshed
Published: September 2023

The purpose of this research is to investigate the inuence of critical success factors of Service Quality onIntercity Bus Transport Industry and to identify the current barriers to good service quality in the intercity bustransport industry. It focuses on the measurement of service quality and communication. In this research, theliterature survey dened the service quality “gap” in this industry, identied the role of effectivecommunication in the service delivery system, measured the variables affecting current service delivery andprioritized the importance of the factors inuencing service delivery in this industry. The empirical data wascollected using a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed among different bus terminals ofdifferent companies Daewoo, Niazi express, Bilal travels, Skyways and Faisal movers located in Islamabad,Rawalpindi and Sargodha district.500 questionnaires distributed, 396 questionnaires were received, 4questionnaire were not properly lled, data analysis was done on 396 questionnaire and yielding a responserate of 79.2 percent. Data was analyzed by using SPSS relative importance Cronbach's alpha, and AMOSStructure Equation Modeling. The results of this research pointed to the importance of externalcommunication in the industry. Specic recommendations are made to improve the productivity, reducevacancy rate and maximize the benets to this industry in future.
The Clothing Disposal Behavior in Pakistan: A Study of Young Consumers
Authors: Irfan Hafsa , Ahmed Qazi Mohammed
Published: September 2023

The Purpose of this study is to examine the behavior young consumer clothing disposal behavior, how young consumer disposed of their unwanted or used clothes in Pakistan. Historically, extensive research has explored the dimensions of young consumer behavior in the context of buying behavior. Therefore, little research is conducted on clothing disposal behavior, while examining the relationship between young consumers’ clothing disposal behavior towards donation to charities, give away to friends and family, social motivation and social responsibility. Quantitative study design was conducted among young respondent responded total of 440 (aged 18-34). They were selected by using convenience sampling technique. Data has been collected through an online survey and analyzed through SPSS. Results indicated that there is positive significant relationship between young consumers’ clothing disposal behavior towards donation to charities, give away to friends and family, social motivation and social responsibility. The findings are comprehensively evaluated and implications in terms of theory and practice are effectively drawn.
Credit Channel of Monetary Transmission Mechanism: New Insight from SVAR-DAG Approach
Authors: Bashir Uzma , Zaman Dr. Asad
Published: September 2023

The credit channel of monetary transmission mechanism gains significant importance after global financial crises. The present study has investigated the credit channel for an emerging economy of Pakistan, which has an underdeveloped financial sector. The study has collected monthly data from June 2006 to June 2018 on credit to the private sector (CPRVS), interest rate, money supply, price level, and industrial production index. The study has contributed to the empirical literature by investigating the contemporaneous causal relationships among the variables. Further, the study has investigated the effectiveness of the credit channel of the monetary transmission mechanism. The study has employed the SVAR model along with direct acyclic graphs (DAG) to identify the covariance matrix.The study notes that the credit channel is ineffective in Pakistan, and it does not contemporaneously cause economic growth (EG).Further, EG causes credit supply to the private sector. Hence, when the economy grows, the financial sector develops, and commercial banks extend more credit to the private sector. The study also notes that the interest rate has no contemporaneous impact on the CPRVS. Moreover, for robustness check, we have estimated two SVAR models, one with a real discount rate as a measure of interest rate and the other is with the real lending rate, as it is more related to the credit supply. However, both proxies give the same results, which implies that our findings are robust. Hence, we can conclude that the credit channel is ineffective in Pakistan.
Work Life Balance, Job Performance and Life Satisfaction among Police Officers
Authors: Ghalib Humma , Jabeen Dr Mussarat , Naz Dr. Summaira , Khan Dr. Mussarat Jabeen
Published: September 2023

The present study was conducted to scrutinize the effect of work life balance and jobperformance on life satisfaction among Police Officers. The main objectives of the study were to examine the impact of work life balance and job performance on life satisfaction among Police Officers of two districts Attock and Rawalpindi on the basis of demographic variables like, gender, marital status, districts and designation. Purposive sampling technique was used to collect data. The sample comprised of 150 Police Officers (50 females and 100 male) had been taken from two districts of Punjab province. Correlation, t-test and regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses. Results of correlation analysis showed that job performance, life satisfaction and work life balance were positively correlated with each other. Results of regression analysis showed that work life balance and job performance were significant predictors of life satisfaction. ttest indicated significant difference among male and female police officers on job performance. A significant difference with respect to designation of police officers on life satisfaction declared that high designated police officers scored higher on life satisfaction than low designated police officers, while non-significant difference was shown among single and married police officers on study variables. Further significant differences with respect to districts of Punjab Police Officers on work life balance, job performance and life satisfaction were obtained. The Rawalpindi district Police officers scored higher on work life balance, job performance and life satisfaction than Attock district Police Officers
Physics-Informed Neural Networks for the Heat Equation with Source Term under Various Boundary Conditions
Authors: Bowman Brett , Oian Chad , Kurz Jason , Khan Taufiquar , Gil Eddie , Gamez Nick
Published: September 2023

Modeling of physical processes as partial differential equations (PDEs) is often carried out with computationally expensive numerical solvers. A common, and important, process to model is that of laser interaction with biological tissues. Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have been used to model many physical processes, though none have demonstrated an approximation involving a source term in a PDE, which modeling laser-tissue interactions requires. In this work, a numerical solver for simulating tissue interactions with lasers was surrogated using PINNs while testing various boundary conditions, one with a radiative source term involved. Models were tested using differing activation function combinations in their architectures for comparison. The best combinations of activation functions were different for cases with and without a source term, and R2 scores and average relative errors for the predictions of the best PINN models indicate that it is an accurate surrogate model for corresponding solvers. PINNs appear to be valid replacements for numerical solvers for one-dimensional tissue interactions with electromagnetic radiation.
Overexpression of the Peanut AhDGAT3 Gene Increases the Oil Content in Soybean
Authors: Xu Yang , Yan Fan , Liang Zhengwei , Wang Ying , Li Jingwen , Zhao Lei , Yang Xuguang , Wang Qingyu , Liu Jingya
Published: September 2023

Soybean (Glycine max) is the main oilseed crop that provides vegetable oil for human nutrition. The main objective of its breeding research is to increase the total oil content. In the Kennedy pathway, Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) is a rate-limiting enzyme that converts diacylglycerol (DAG) to triacylglycerol (TAG). Here, the AhDGAT3 gene was cloned from peanut and overexpressed in the wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis. The total fatty acid content in T3AhDGAT3 transgenic Arabidopsis seeds was 1.1 times higher on average than that of the WT. Therefore, AhDGAT3 was transferred into the WT (JACK), and four T3 transgenic soybean lines were obtained, which proved to be positive using molecular biological detection. Specific T-DNA insertion region location information was also obtained via genome re-sequencing. The results of high-performance gas chromatography showed that the contents of oleic acid (18:1) composition and total fatty acids in transgenic soybean plants were significantly higher than that of the WT. However, linoleic acid (18:2) was much lower compared to the WT. The agronomic trait survey showed that the quantitative and yield traits of AhDGAT3 transgenic soybean were better than those of the WT. These results suggest that fatty acids in transgenic soybeans, especially oleic acid and total fatty acid, are enhanced by the over-expression of AhDGAT3.
Location of Trigger Points in a Group of Police Working Dogs: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Formenton Maira Rezende , Portier Karine , Gaspar Beatriz Ribeiro , Gauthier Lisa , Yeng Lin Tchia , Fantoni Denise Tabacchi
Published: September 2023

This study examined the percentage and location of trigger points in police working dogs. Twelve dogs housed at a military police kennel were selected through convenience sampling. Only active dogs with no comorbidities or radiographic changes doing 6 hours of intense physical activity per day were included. After orthopedic and neurological examination, dogs were palpated for the detection of trigger points (TPs), carried out by two independent examiners, with criteria of palpations previously standardized. TPs were recorded using an anatomy reference image according to the corresponding anatomical location. The percentage of TPs was highest in the lumbar portion of the longissimus dorsi muscle (42%), followed by the latissimus dorsi, pectineus, quadriceps femoris, and sartorius (33%) muscles. Most TPs were located on the right side of the body. This study’s percentage of TPs in police working dogs was higher in spinal and hind limb muscles, especially on the right side. The major criteria for identifying TPs in dogs were the pain responses to palpation and contractile local response. The findings of this study could be used to refine myofascial pain prevention to reduce early retirement due to musculoskeletal pain and draw attention to this kind of problem that can also affect dogs.
Treatments and Prognosis for Subchondral Cystic Lesions in the Distal Extremities in Thoroughbred Prospect Racehorses
Authors: Pérez-Nogués Marcos , López-Sanromán Javier , Spirito Michael , Manso-Díaz Gabriel
Published: September 2023

Subchondral cystic lesions (SCLs) in equines and their treatments have been mainly studied in the medial femoral condyle of the femur. SCLs in the distal extremities affecting the fetlock or interphalangeal joints are frequent, but treatment or prognosis studies in horses are currently sparse. Our objective was to compare four treatments for SCLs in the distal extremities (intralesional injection of corticosteroids, transcortical drilling, cortical screw placement, and absorbable hydroxyapatite implant placement) and report the racing prognoses for affected thoroughbred yearlings. Data from 113 thoroughbred yearlings treated for SCLs in the distal extremities were collected from 2014 to 2020. Age at surgery, sex, bone affected, radiographic SCL measurements, SCL shape, and type of treatment were recorded. Sale data and racing performance were collected for the operated horses and for 109 maternal siblings that were free of SCLs. An analysis was conducted to assess if SCL size affected racing prognosis and to detect differences in sale value and selected racing parameters between the cases and controls. The outcomes for the different treatments, the different bones affected, and the SCL shape type were also analyzed. There was no difference in the ability to start in a race between the cases and controls (60.2% vs. 69.7%, respectively). The auction value of the treated horses was significantly lower than that of their siblings. The bone affected did not impact any of the racing variables studied, whereas the height of the SCLs negatively affected the number of wins and placed races. The type of treatment for the horses affected by SCLs did not have an impact on sale prices, ability to start a race, race starts, wins, and places, or age at the time of the first start. In conclusion, yearlings diagnosed with an SCL in the distal extremities had lower auction prices and decreased racing performances, with lower numbers of wins correlated with larger SCL heights compared to the siblings. Similar racing performance was found regardless of the treatment received.
Microplastics in Seabird Feces from Coastal Areas of Central Chile
Authors: Mendez-Sanhueza Sebastian , Torres Mariett , Pozo Karla , Del Aguila Gabriela , Hernandez Fabián , Jacobsen Camila , Echeverry Diana
Published: September 2023

Pollution from plastic waste thrown into the ocean affects all levels of the food chain. Marine species of birds are affected by plastic particles of different sizes, especially the mesoplastics (1 to 10 mm) found in their digestive tract, which mainly cause obstructions. In the case of microplastics (1.000 µm to 1 mm), their presence in the digestive tract of these species has been widely reported. We studied fecal samples of the Dominican gull (Larus dominicanus) (n = 14), Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) (n = 8), and Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) (n = 1) obtained from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of the Biobío region, Chile. Microfibers of various colors were present in the feces of Dominican gulls and Magellanic penguins, corresponding mainly in composition to polypropylene (PP) (83%) and rayon (77%). These results demonstrate that microplastic particles occur in the coastal environments of central Chile and suggest that they are probably circulating in the food chain.