bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Espoused implicit leadership and followership theories and emergent workplace relations: a factorial survey
Authors: Hesmert Laura , Vogel Rick
Published: May 2023

Previous research on implicit leadership and followership theories (ILTs/IFTs) and interpersonal congruence thereof has primarily focused on preexisting, vertical leader-follower dyads. This study explores interpersonal congruence of ILTs/IFTs at earliest stages of emergent workplace relations in which formal leader and follower roles are not preassigned. We suggest that ILTs/IFTs, when espoused to others, have sorting effects in the social marketplace of organizations toward adaptive workplace relations. We introduce the notion of espoused ILTs/IFTs (i.e., assumptions about leaders and followers that someone claims to have and articulates to others) and examine how congruence of self- and other-espoused ILTs/IFTs facilitates the initiation and emergence of lateral workplace relations in a ‘New Work’ design (i.e., job sharing). Results of an experimental study show that interpersonal congruence in espoused ILTs/IFTs drives attraction to a job sharing partner consistently across different types (ILTs vs. IFTs) and valences (prototypes vs. antiprototypes). While ILTs and IFTs have a similarly strong attraction effect when shared by self and other, the effect of prototype congruence is significantly larger than the effect of antiprototype congruence. The findings encourage leadership scholars to study ILTs/IFTs in a broader range of expression than hitherto and make practitioners aware of similarity biases in the formation of flexible work arrangements.
How we can protect the protectors: learning from police officers and staff involved in child sexual abuse and exploitation investigations
Authors: Redmond Theresa , Conway Paul , Bailey Simon , Lee Peter , Lundrigan Samantha
Published: May 2023

Background

Police officers and staff who work in child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) investigations are routinely exposed to traumatic materials and situations. Despite support services, working in this space can have negative impacts on wellbeing. This paper explores the experiences and perceptions held by police officers and staff involved in CSAE investigations in the United Kingdom, regarding work-related wellbeing support and barriers to accessing such support.

Method

A sample of 661 serving police officers and staff working in CSAE investigations participated in a United Kingdom-wide ‘Protecting the Protectors’ survey. We analysed quantitative and qualitative responses relating to participants’ experiences and perceptions regarding three main areas: (1) availability, usage and helpfulness of existing work-based well-being support; (2) barriers to accessing support; and (3) desired support services.

Findings

Five interconnected themes emerged from the qualitative data that represented participants’ experiences and views of work-based wellbeing support and the barriers to accessing it. These were ‘Lack of trust’, ‘Stigma’, ‘Organisational approaches to wellbeing’, ‘Support services’, and ‘Internalised barriers’. The findings suggest that whilst respondents were aware of work-based support, they indicated most frequently that they ‘never or almost never’ used them. Respondents also identified barriers to accessing support, which related to a perception of a critical or judgmental workplace culture and indicating a lack of trust in their organisations.

Conclusion

Stigma regarding mental ill health has a pervasive and harmful impact on emotional health and wellbeing of police officers and staff involved in CSAE investigations, which creates a sense of lack of emotional safety. Therefore, eliminating stigma and creating a workplace culture that explicitly values and prioritises the emotional health and wellbeing of the workforce would improve the wellbeing of officers and staff. Police organisations could further improve CSAE teams’ wellbeing by developing a continuum of care which is available to workers from recruitment to the end of the role, training managers and supervisors to better support CSAE teams, improving workplace practices, and ensuring high quality, specialist support services are readily and consistently available across forces.
Polysomnography findings in sleep-related eating disorder: a systematic review and case report
Authors: Blaszczyk Bartlomiej , Wieczorek Tomasz , Michalek-Zrabkowska Monika , Wieckiewicz Mieszko , Mazur Grzegorz , Martynowicz Helena
Published: May 2023

Background

Sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) consists of recurrent episodes of uncontrolled, involuntary eating and drinking 1–3 h after falling asleep with partial or full unconsciousness. This condition is diagnosed based on interviews with the patients affected and the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. However, polysomnography (PSG) is not necessary to confirm this disease. This systematic review aims to evaluate the findings of PSG in SRED patients.

Methods

For this systematic review, PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched in February 2023, which resulted in 219 records. After removing duplicates, the articles that included the presentation of PSG results of SRED patients in English were selected. In addition, only original studies were considered. The risk of bias by using case reports and descriptive studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools and the Risk of Bias In Non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Furthermore, a case report of a 66-year-old woman with SRED was included.

Results

A total of 15 papers were selected for further analysis, of which 7 were descriptive studies, 6 were case reports, and 2 were observational studies. The risk of bias in the majority of the studies was moderate or high. Unexpectedly, if the eating episode occurred during PSG, in most cases it was not observed during deep sleep (the N3 sleep stage). Moreover, studies did not report significant deviations in the sleep parameters measured using PSG. Among SRED patients, the prevalence of sleepwalking was much higher than the general population. Our case report presented a potentially life-threatening episode of holding an apple in the mouth that might result in choking, which was captured using PSG.

Conclusion

Polysomnography is not necessary for the diagnosis of SRED. However, it could facilitate the diagnosis and differentiation of SRED from other eating disorders. PSG also has limitations in capturing eating episodes and in addition, its cost effectiveness should be considered during the diagnostic process. More studies into the pathophysiology of SRED are needed because classifying SRED as non-rapid eye movement parasomnias can be inappropriate as it does not always occur during deep sleep.
The relationship between liver function and neurophysiological factors in depressed individuals: a cross-sectional study using an integrated “East meets West” medicine approach
Authors: Ye Jiajia , Yu Yunying , Chung Raymond C. K. , Lian Xiaowen , Wang Xin , Cheung Wai Ming , Tsang Hector W. H.
Published: May 2023

Introduction:

Depression is a common mental disorder worldwide. The pathology of depression may involve the dysregulation of neurotransmitters and immunity and produce genetic and environmental effects. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been practiced for several thousand years and has a different understanding of depression compared to Western medicine. However, this approach has not been widely accepted by scientific communities as TCM mainly focuses on clinical practice.

Methods:

In this study, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 100 participants in a rehabilitation hospital to analyze the plausible pathways linking TCM-based liver function and depression, which we hypothesized in a prior theoretical review.

Results:

A significant relationship between adrenocorticotropic hormone and TCM-based liver function was found (r = 0.211, p = 0.041). Cortisol was significantly associated with norepinephrine (r = 0.243, p = 0.015) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (r = 0.302, p < 0.001). A positive significant relationship was also found between norepinephrine and adrenocorticotropic hormone (r = 0.272, p < 0.001). There was no significant relationship between the ratio from low frequency to high frequency and TCM-based liver function (p = 0.690).

Discussion:

These results suggest that TCM-based liver function can be interpreted using the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This is a pioneering study to examine the mechanisms of depression in relation to liver function by integrating Eastern and Western medical approaches. The findings of this study are valuable for a deeper understanding of depression and public education.
Risk of psychological distress by decrease in economic activity, gender, and age due to COVID-19: A multinational study
Authors: Kim Minji , Yun Byungyoon , Sim Juho , Cho Ara , Oh Juyeon , Kim Jooyoung , Nambunmee Kowit , Rozek Laura S. , Yoon Jin-Ha
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2-virus. COVID-19 has officially been declared as the latest in the list of pandemics by WHO at the start of 2020. This study investigates the associations among decrease in economic activity, gender, age, and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the economic status and education level of countries using multinational surveys.

Methods

Online self-report questionnaires were administered in 15 countries which were spontaneously participate to 14,243 respondents in August 2020. Prevalence of decrease in economic activity and psychological distress was stratified by age, gender, education level, and Human Development Index (HDI). With 7,090 of female (49.8%), mean age 40.67, 5,734 (12.75%) lost their job and 5,734 (40.26%) suffered from psychological distress.

Results

Associations among psychological distress and economic status, age, and gender was assessed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for country and education as random effects of the mixed model. We then measured the associations between HDI and age using multivariate logistic regression. Women had a higher prevalence of psychological distress than men with 1.067 Odds ratio, and younger age was significantly associated with decrease in economic activity for 0.998 for age increasing. Moreover, countries with lower HDI showed a higher prevalence of decrease in economic activity, especially at lower education levels.

Discussion

Psychological distress due to COVID-19 revealed a significant association with decrease in economic activity, women, and younger age. While the proportion of decrease in economic activity population was different for each country, the degree of association of the individual factors was the same. Our findings are relevant, as women in high HDI countries and low education level in lower HDI countries are considered vulnerable. Policies and guidelines for both financial aid and psychological intervention are recommended.
Change trend and gender differences in disability-free life expectancy among older adults in China, 2010–2020
Authors: Lu Min , Wang Xuehui , Shen Kaijun , Ji Chengpeng , Li Wenxia
Published: May 2023

Objective

The goal of the present study was to investigate gender differences in disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) and DFLE/LE ratio among older adults in China; portray changing trend from 2010 to 2020; and discuss the implications for public policies.

Methods

Mortality data and disability rate data were derived from the Sixth China Population Census in 2010 and the Seventh China Population Census in 2020. The study assessed disability status of older adults based on self-assessment health in the above censuses. Life table and Sullivan method were used to estimate LE, DFLE, and DFLE/LE ratio by gender.

Results

DFLE increased from 19.33 to 21.78 years for 60-year-old males, while from 21.94 to 24.80 years for 60-year-old females, from 2010 to 2020, respectively. DFLE/LE ratio was 96.40% for 60-year-old males and 94.86% for 60-year-old females in 2010, while DFLE/LE ratio was 96.63% for 60-year-old males and 95.44% for 60-year-old females in 2020, respectively. In terms of gender differences in DFLE/LE ratio, men aged 60 are 1.19 percentage points higher than women at the same age; men aged 70 are 1.71 percentage points higher than women; men aged 80 are 2.87 percentage points higher than women.

Conclusion

From 2010 to 2020, the DFLE of China’s male and female older adults increased simultaneously with the increase of LE, and the DFLE/LE ratio also increased. However, the DFLE/LE ratio of female older adults is lower than that of male at the same age, and this gender difference is narrowing over the decade but has not yet been eliminated, especially the health disadvantage of female older adults among the oldest old age group (age 80 and above) is more prominent.
Employing automotive security to improve the security of unmanned aerial vehicles
Authors: Han Kyusuk
Published: May 2023

The concern about cyber threats on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) increases as they become more sophisticated and widely used in various areas. Although there have been efforts to improve the security of UAVs, their focus is limited to physical attacks and securing communication, and many areas remain open to issues. Although a more comprehensive approach is required to improve the overall areas of UAVs, it is reasonable to investigate the case study from the perspective of other similar cyber-physical systems (CPSs). Thus, we see the architectural similarity between UAVs and automobiles. Automotive security has seen significant improvement throughout the last decade as vehicles have begun to have connectivity and autonomy. There have been extensive research and development efforts in various aspects, including securing the components, securing communications, securing software updates, and securing the overall management system to provide multi-layered security for the automotive environments, and standardization and regulations are being issued. Due to the similarity, the employment of ideas from the automotive environments in the UAV environments becomes a reasonable approach. In this paper, we show the automotive security trends and discuss how UAV environments are comparable to automotive environments. We then show how security in automotives is adapted in UAVs with a case study.
Forgotten dust: following plasterboard for non-destructive circular economies
Authors: Rumo Delphine
Published: May 2023

The exploitative and unsustainable life of the construction material plasterboard requires more sustainable economies. In this article I examine the disposal of plasterboard as an experimental case for discussing a type of non-destructive circularity. A non-destructive circular model is one way to open imaginaries for more sustainable activities of construction. My focus is on end-of-life plasterboard, including its demolition, removal from construction sites, recycling and landfilling. Three months of fieldwork in the south of Finland clarified the current state of the material. I followed plasterboard across two building sites, two recycling facilities and a landfill site, and visually exposed disposal practices and material states to show the entanglement of workers, materials and circular economy discourses. The results highlight that plasterboard reproduces a problematic circularity that merely focuses on waste management through limited recycling, doing little to decrease the need for raw gypsum extraction. I outline how plasterboard in disposal conceptually disappears from the current economic model, which fails to address a variety of opportunities for more sustainable construction. By exposing a material reality that is concerned with small amounts of plasterboard in disposal, I show gypsum crumbs and dust which are unable to play a role in the current circular economy. However, I argue that attending to end-of-life plasterboard opens possibilities to imagine more ethical engagements with the material, towards non-destructive circularities. The disposal of plasterboard makes the inadequacy of the material for current circulation visible and can contribute to a debate on more sustainable economies of construction.
Counter-rotating black holes from FRII lifetimes
Authors: Garofalo David
Published: May 2023

Estimates suggest that while FRII jets appear to have lifetimes constrained to hundreds of millions of years, radio galaxies with FRI jets appear to be longer lived. We illustrate the nature of this time constraint from model perspectives, showing how compatibility between theory and data match in a way suggesting a key difference between active galaxies whose engines are characterized by accretion onto co-rotating versus counter-rotating black holes. We calculate a range of timescales for counter-rotating black holes for a range of accretion rates compatible with theory which we then compare to data. The validity of these timescales constitutes the most powerful recent piece of evidence for considering counter-rotation between black holes and accretion disks in high energy astrophysics.
Performance-related physiological changes induced by one year of endurance training in young athletes
Authors: Mishica Christina , Kyröläinen Heikki , Valtonen Maarit , Holmberg Hans-Christer , Linnamo Vesa
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Although maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) is generally recognized as the single best indicator of aerobic fitness in youth, interpretation of this parameter and the extent to which it can be improved by training remain controversial, as does the relative importance of VO2max for performance in comparison to other factors such as power production. Here, we examined the influence of endurance training on the VO2max, muscle power and sports-related performance of cross-country skiers attending a school specializing in sports, as well as potential relationships between any changes observed to one another and/or to perceived stress scale (Cohen) and certain blood parameters.

Methods

On two separate occasions, prior to the competition season and separated by one year of endurance training, the 12 participants (5 males, 7 females, 17 ± 1 years) carried out tests for VO2max on a treadmill, explosive power utilizing countermovement jumps (CMJ) and ski-specific maximal double pole performance (DPP) employing roller skis on a treadmill. Blood levels of ferritin (Fer), vitamin D (VitD) and hemoglobin (Hg) were monitored, and stress assessed with a questionnaire.

Results

DPP improved by 10 ± 8% (P < 0.001), but no other significant changes were observed. There were no significant correlations between the changes in DPP and any other variable.

Discussion

Whereas one year of endurance training improved the cross-country ski-specific performance of young athletes significantly, the increase in their maximal oxygen uptake was minimal. Since DPP was not correlated with VO2max, jumping power or the levels of certain blood parameters, the improvement observed probably reflected better upper-body performance.
Postoperative hip center position is associated with gait symmetry in range of axial rotation in dysplasia patients after THA
Authors: Hu Yi , Zou Diyang , Jiang Mengda , Qian Qingyu , Li Huiwu , Tsai Tsung-Yuan , Zhang Jingwei
Published: May 2023

Background

This study aimed to explore whether pre- or postoperative hip structures or surgical changes significantly influence hip range of motion (ROM) symmetry in patients with hip dysplasia during gait after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and provide possible surgical suggestions.

Methods

Fourteen patients with unilateral hip dysplasia underwent computed tomography before and after surgery to create three-dimensional hip models. Pre- and postoperative acetabular and femoral orientations, hip rotation centers (HRC), and femoral lengths were measured. Bilateral hip ROM during level walking after THA was quantified using dual fluoroscopy. The ROM symmetry in flexion-extension, adduction-abduction, and axial rotation was calculated using the symmetry index (SI). The relationship between SI and the above anatomical parameters and demographic characteristics was tested using Pearson's correlation and linear regression.

Results

The average SI values for flexion-extension, adduction-abduction, and axial rotation during gait were −0.29, −0.30, and −0.10, respectively. Significant correlations were detected mainly in the postoperative HRC position. A distally placed HRC was associated with increased SI values for adduction-abduction (R = −0.47, p = 0.045), while a medially placed HRC was associated with decreased SI values for axial rotation (R = 0.63, p = 0.007). A regression analysis indicated that horizontal HRC positions significantly determined axial rotational symmetry (R2 = 0.40, p = 0.015). Normal axial rotation SI values were achieved with HRC between 17 mm medially and 16 mm laterally.

Conclusions

Postoperative HRC position was significantly correlated with gait symmetry in the frontal and transverse planes in patients with unilateral hip dysplasia after THA. Surgical reconstruction of the HRC to between 17 mm medially and 16 mm laterally may contribute to gait symmetry.
Associations Between Gender Gaps in Life Expectancy, Air Pollution, and Urbanization: A Global Assessment With Bayesian Spatiotemporal Modeling
Authors: Ren Zhoupeng , Wang Shaobin , Liu Xianglong , Yin Qian , Fan Junfu
Published: May 2023

Objectives: It’s evident that women have a longer life expectancy than men. This study investigates the spatiotemporal trends of gender gaps in life expectancy (GGLE). It demonstrates the spatiotemporal difference of the influence factors of population-weighted air pollution (pwPM2.5) and urbanization on GGLE.

Methods: Panel data on GGLE and influencing factors from 134 countries from 1960 to 2018 are collected. The Bayesian spatiotemporal model is performed.

Results: The results show an obvious spatial heterogeneity worldwide with a continuously increasing trend of GGLE. Bayesian spatiotemporal regression reveals a significant positive relationship between pwPM2.5, urbanization, and GGLE with the spatial random effects. Further, the regression coefficients present obvious geographic disparities across space worldwide.

Conclusion: In sum, social-economic development and air quality improvement should be considered comprehensively in global policy to make a fair chance for both genders to maximize their health gains.
Exploring Living Arrangements as a Predictor of Canadians’ Illicit Drug Use: Quantitative Findings From the Canadian Community Health Survey
Authors: Chai Xiangnan , Liu Liu , Huang Guangli , Tan Yongzhen
Published: May 2023

Objectives: About four percent of Canadians used illegal drugs in 2019, but it remains unknown whether their living arrangements are a relevant factor.

Methods: We use the public version of the 2015–2016 Canadian Community Health Survey Annual Component. The binary logit model and complementary log-log model are applied to investigate to what extent living arrangements predict Canadians’ recent illicit drug use.

Results: Living alone is significantly associated with Canadians’ illicit drug use. For young and older Canadians, those living with spouses/partners, children, or both are less likely to use illicit drugs than their solo-living counterparts. Middle-aged Canadians who lived with spouses/partners only or with children have significantly lower likelihoods of using illicit drugs compared to those living alone. Additionally, differences between men and women have been found. Spouses/partners and children play more positive roles for young and middle-aged women than for men.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that living with core families is a type of collectivity that may have positive effects on Canadians’ health behaviours compared to those living alone, who, therefore, need more attention from health officials.
Implementación del aprendizaje cooperativo, como estrategia didáctica para mejorar el rendimiento académico en Lengua y Literatura
Authors: Vizhñay-Criollo Juan Pablo , Farfán-Pacheco Pablo Cornelio
Published: May 2023

En la actualidad se requiere la innovación académica para alcanzar los objetivos propuestos y lograr mejorar el rendimiento estudiantil; por ello, se presenta en una investigación de tipo descriptiva con un diseño correlacional, un estudio no experimental y transversal en el cual se buscó implementar el aprendizaje cooperativo como estrategia didáctica para mejorar el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de octavo año de Educación General Básica, paralelo B, en el área de Lengua y Literatura de la Unidad Educativa Cumbe de la Ciudad de Cuenca-Ecuador. Para la recolección de información se empleó el análisis documental y como técnica la aplicación de cuestionarios, además, se analizó el antes y el después de la propuesta innovadora. La población utilizada fue de 32 estudiantes, que es la totalidad de la matrícula del octavo “B”. Los resultados evidencian una mejoría en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes incluidos en la investigación vinculada a su interacción con variables como la interdependencia, el trabajo en equipo y la autoevaluación; mejorando el compañerismo, reduciendo las peleas y variando el promedio de notas de 7,92 a 8,33; por lo que se recomienda el empleo de este tipo de estrategias para mejorar los resultados en el proceso educativo en cualquier institución académica.
Clima organizacional y desempeño laboral en una Caja Municipal
Authors: Huamán-Cuya Alfredo
Published: May 2023

El presente estudio se realizó con el propósito de determinar el grado de relación entre el clima organizacional y el desempeño laboral en una Caja Municipal, bajo la siguiente consideración metodológica, enfoque cuantitativo, tipo básica, nivel correlacional y el diseño no experimental transversal correlacional. De igual forma, se recorrió al método hipotético deductivo donde se especificó una hipótesis para contrastar mediante análisis estadístico y determinar si debe ser aceptada o rechazada. Respecto a la población y muestra se tuvo la participación de 30 colaboradores, elegidos a través del muestreo no probabilístico. La técnica y su instrumento para la recojo de datos fue la encuesta y el cuestionario. El procesamiento de datos se realizó dentro del análisis no paramétrico, donde se obtuvo que el clima organizacional guarda una relación positiva moderada con el desempeño laboral. Por lo tanto, se concluyó que la gestión y fomento del ambiente laboral a través de la implementación de la estructura organizacional en función a las necesidades de cada área, las relaciones interpersonales, así como de los estándares o normas organizacionales que rigen la operatividad de la entidad impulsa el aprovechamiento de la capacidad laboral para un desenvolvimiento eficaz en el logro de objetivos.
Assessing the Within-Field Heterogeneity Using Rapid-Eye NDVI Time Series Data
Authors: Mohr Jasper , Tewes Andreas , Ahrends Hella , Gaiser Thomas
Published: May 2023

(1) Background: The relation between the sub-field heterogeneity of soil properties and high-resolution satellite time series data might help to explain spatiotemporal patterns of crop growth, but detailed field studies are seldom. (2) Methods: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data derived from satellite time series images were used to identify changes in the spatial distribution of winter triticale (×Triticosecale), winter rye (Secale cereale) and winter barley (Hordeum vulgare) growth (2015 to 2020) for a field in north-eastern Germany. NDVI patterns (quartiles) that remained persistent over time were identified and it was tested if spatially heterogeneous soil characteristics such as water holding capacity and altitude could explain them. (3) Results: A statistically significant relationship between elevation and soil classes with NDVI values was found in most cases. The lowest NDVI quartiles, considered as representing the poorest growth conditions, were generally found in the depressions with the lowest water holding capacity. These areas showed temporally stable spatial patterns, especially during the pre-harvest period. Over the six-year period, up to 80% of the grid cells with the lowest NDVI values were spatially consistent over time. Differences in the climatic water balance were rather low but could contribute to explaining spatial patterns, such as the lower clustering of values in the wettest year. (4) Conclusions: High-resolution satellite NDVI time series are a valuable information source for precise land management in order to optimize crop management with respect to yield and ecosystem services.
A New Method to Calculate Cotton Fiber Length Uniformity Using the HVI Fibrogram
Authors: Sayeed Md Abu , Turner Christopher , Kelly Brendan R. , Wanjura John , Smith Wayne , Schumann Mitchell , Hequet Eric F.
Published: May 2023

Knowledge of cotton fiber length uniformity is important for the cotton industry. The accurate and reliable measurement of fiber length uniformity would allow cotton breeders to release new cotton varieties with improved fiber length variation. This knowledge would also help spinning mills to optimize their machine setup, which would improve yarn processing performance. Currently, the high volume instrument (HVI) is most commonly used to characterize the cotton fiber length variation. The HVI length measurement is based on the fibrogram principle. The HVI length measurement characterizes 2 points, 1.8% as the upper half mean length (UHML) and 7.8% span length as the mean length (ML) from the fibrogram, and reports UHML and uniformity index (UI). The ratio of ML to the UHML is used to calculate the UI and is expressed as a percentage. UI measurement does not represent the shorter fibers as the above two span lengths only represent the longest fibers within a sample. We propose to calculate the uniformity of the cotton fiber length using the complete fibrogram as an alternative. First, the area of the measured fibrogram curve is calculated. Second, the area of a theoretical mono-length fibrogram with a length equal to the maximum length of the fibers for the same sample is calculated. Finally, we calculate a new length uniformity as the ratio of the measured fibrogram area to the mono-length fibrogram area expressed as a percentage. Based on the results obtained using a set of 991 commercial samples, the new length uniformity shows promise. We also applied this new length uniformity to a set of 60 commercial-like samples and developed partial least square regression (PLSR) prediction models to predict yarn quality. The results obtained demonstrate that the new length uniformity predicts yarn quality better than the current UI.
Antibiotic Resistance in Selected Emerging Bacterial Foodborne Pathogens—An Issue of Concern?
Authors: Grudlewska-Buda Katarzyna , Bauza-Kaszewska Justyna , Wiktorczyk-Kapischke Natalia , Budzyńska Anna , Gospodarek-Komkowska Eugenia , Skowron Krzysztof
Published: May 2023

Antibiotic resistance (AR) and multidrug resistance (MDR) have been confirmed for all major foodborne pathogens: Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes. Of great concern to scientists and physicians are also reports of antibiotic-resistant emerging food pathogens—microorganisms that have not previously been linked to food contamination or were considered epidemiologically insignificant. Since the properties of foodborne pathogens are not always sufficiently recognized, the consequences of the infections are often not easily predictable, and the control of their activity is difficult. The bacteria most commonly identified as emerging foodborne pathogens include Aliarcobacter spp., Aeromonas spp., Cronobacter spp., Vibrio spp., Clostridioides difficile, Escherichia coli, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, Salmonella enterica, Streptocccus suis, Campylobacter jejuni, Helicobacter pylori, Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica. The results of our analysis confirm antibiotic resistance and multidrug resistance among the mentioned species. Among the antibiotics whose effectiveness is steadily declining due to expanding resistance among bacteria isolated from food are β-lactams, sulfonamides, tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones. Continuous and thorough monitoring of strains isolated from food is necessary to characterize the existing mechanisms of resistance. In our opinion, this review shows the scale of the problem of microbes related to health, which should not be underestimated.
Antifungals: From Pharmacokinetics to Clinical Practice
Authors: Carmo Anália , Rocha Marilia , Pereirinha Patricia , Tomé Rui , Costa Eulália
Published: May 2023

The use of antifungal drugs started in the 1950s with polyenes nystatin, natamycin and amphotericin B-deoxycholate (AmB). Until the present day, AmB has been considered to be a hallmark in the treatment of invasive systemic fungal infections. Nevertheless, the success and the use of AmB were associated with severe adverse effects which stimulated the development of new antifungal drugs such as azoles, pyrimidine antimetabolite, mitotic inhibitors, allylamines and echinochandins. However, all of these drugs presented one or more limitations associated with adverse reactions, administration route and more recently the development of resistance. To worsen this scenario, there has been an increase in fungal infections, especially in invasive systemic fungal infections that are particularly difficult to diagnose and treat. In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first fungal priority pathogens list, alerting people to the increased incidence of invasive systemic fungal infections and to the associated risk of mortality/morbidity. The report also emphasized the need to rationally use existing drugs and develop new drugs. In this review, we performed an overview of the history of antifungals and their classification, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) characteristics and clinical applications. In parallel, we also addressed the contribution of fungi biology and genetics to the development of resistance to antifungal drugs. Considering that drug effectiveness also depends on the mammalian host, we provide an overview on the roles of therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacogenomics as means to improve the outcome, prevent/reduce antifungal toxicity and prevent the emergence of antifungal resistance. Finally, we present the new antifungals and their main characteristics.
Perspectives of Statistician, Microbiologist, and Clinician Stakeholders on the Use of Microbiological Outcomes in Randomised Trials of Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions
Authors: Lau Tin Man Mandy , Daniel Rhian , Hood Kerenza , Wootton Mandy , Hughes Kathryn , Stuart Beth , Hayward Gail , Szakmany Tamas , Gillespie David
Published: May 2023

Microbiological data are used as indicators of infection, for diagnosis, and the identification of antimicrobial resistance in trials of antimicrobial stewardship interventions. However, several problems have been identified in a recently conducted systematic review (e.g., inconsistency in reporting and oversimplified outcomes), which motivates the need to understand and improve the use of these data including analysis and reporting. We engaged key stakeholders including statisticians, clinicians from both primary and secondary care, and microbiologists. Discussions included issues identified in the systematic review and questions about the value of using microbiological data in clinical trials, perspectives on current microbiological outcomes reported in trials, and alternative statistical approaches to analyse these data. Various factors (such as unclear sample collection process, dichotomising or categorising complex microbiological data, and unclear methods of handling missing data) were identified that contributed to the low quality of the microbiological outcomes and the analysis of these outcomes in trials. Whilst not all of these factors would be easy to overcome, there is room for improvement and a need to encourage researchers to understand the impact of misusing these data. This paper discusses the experience and challenges of using microbiological outcomes in clinical trials.
Effect of Postnatal Epigallocatechin-Gallate Treatment on Cardiac Function in Mice Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol
Authors: Andreu-Fernández Vicente , Serra-Delgado Mariona , Almeida-Toledano Laura , García-Meseguer Àgueda , Vieiros Melina , Ramos-Triguero Anna , Muñoz-Lozano Concha , Navarro-Tapia Elisabet , Martínez Leopoldo , García-Algar Óscar , Gómez-Roig María D.
Published: May 2023

Prenatal alcohol exposure affects the cardiovascular health of the offspring. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) may be a protective agent against it, but no data are available regarding its impact on cardiac dysfunction. We investigated the presence of cardiac alterations in mice prenatally exposed to alcohol and the effect of postnatal EGCG treatment on cardiac function and related biochemical pathways. C57BL/6J pregnant mice received 1.5 g/kg/day (Mediterranean pattern), 4.5 g/kg/day (binge pattern) of ethanol, or maltodextrin until Day 19 of pregnancy. Post-delivery, treatment groups received EGCG-supplemented water. At post-natal Day 60, functional echocardiographies were performed. Heart biomarkers of apoptosis, oxidative stress, and cardiac damage were analyzed by Western blot. BNP and Hif1α increased and Nrf2 decreased in mice prenatally exposed to the Mediterranean alcohol pattern. Bcl-2 was downregulated in the binge PAE drinking pattern. Troponin I, glutathione peroxidase, and Bax increased in both ethanol exposure patterns. Prenatal alcohol exposure led to cardiac dysfunction in exposed mice, evidenced by a reduced ejection fraction, left ventricle posterior wall thickness at diastole, and Tei index. EGCG postnatal therapy restored the physiological levels of these biomarkers and improved cardiac dysfunction. These findings suggest that postnatal EGCG treatment attenuates the cardiac damage caused by prenatal alcohol exposure in the offspring.
Evaluation of Fire Resistance of Polymer Composites with Natural Reinforcement as Safe Construction Materials for Small Vessels
Authors: Bryll Katarzyna , Kostecka Ewelina , Scheibe Mieczysław , Dobrzyńska Renata , Kostecki Tomasz , Ślączka Wojciech , Korczyńska Iga
Published: May 2023

In small vessels, for example, yachts, polymer–glass composites are mainly used for their construction. However, the disposal and/or recycling of composite units is very difficult. It is advisable to solve the problem of disposing of post-consumer items as soon as possible. Therefore, alternative, environmentally friendly, but also durable and safe construction materials are being sought. Such materials can be polymer–natural composites, which can be used as a potential material (alternative to polymer–glass composites) for the construction of small vessels. However, its performance properties should be investigated as new construction materials. The possibility of using polymer–hemp composites was assessed in terms of safety, i.e., the fire resistance of these materials. This paper compares selected characteristics that the reaction of composite materials has to fire with glass fiber and hemp fiber reinforcements. During the study, a natural composite reinforced with hemp fabric was investigated. Based on the laboratory test, it was found that this composite showed better susceptibility to energy recycling, with a relatively small deterioration in fire resistance compared to the composite reinforced with glass fiber. This material could therefore be a potential construction material for small vessels if we consider fire resistance in terms of the safety of the vessel’s operation.
A RTL Implementation of Heterogeneous Machine Learning Network for French Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training
Authors: Bi Yanjing , Li Chao , Benezeth Yannick , Yang Fan
Published: May 2023

Computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) is a helpful method for self-directed or long-distance foreign language learning. It greatly benefits from the progress, and of acoustic signal processing and artificial intelligence techniques. However, in real-life applications, embedded solutions are usually desired. This paper conceives a register-transfer level (RTL) core to facilitate the pronunciation diagnostic tasks by suppressing the mulitcollinearity of the speech waveforms. A recently proposed heterogeneous machine learning framework is selected as the French phoneme pronunciation diagnostic algorithm. This RTL core is implemented and optimized within a very-high-level synthesis method for fast prototyping. An original French phoneme data set containing 4830 samples is used for the evaluation experiments. The experiment results demonstrate that the proposed implementation reduces the diagnostic error rate by 0.79–1.33% compared to the state-of-the-art and achieves a speedup of 10.89× relative to its CPU implementation at the same abstract level of programming languages.
Transcriptome and Metabolome Analyses of Glucosinolate Biosynthesis-Related Genes in Different Organs of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica)
Authors: Tian Xiuling , He Hongju , Yu Xiaolu , Wang Yaqin , Hu Liping , Cheng Bing , Ding Yunhua , Liu Guangmin
Published: May 2023

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) is a globally popular vegetable because of its nutrient richness, especially its glucosinolates (GSLs). The content of GSLs in different organs of broccoli varies greatly. However, few studies have focused on the differences in the GSLs biosynthesis-related genes in different organs. In this study, we selected extreme individuals from an F2 population of broccoli and mixed them to form low and high glucoraphanin content pools of leaf, stalk and floret, respectively. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses showed that 539, 755 and 617 genes are significantly differentially expressed, and 44, 66 and 118 metabolites are significantly differentially accumulated in leaf, stalk and floret comparison groups, respectively. The combined analysis revealed that some genes such as Bo5g113720, Bo2g161100 and Bo7g09800, Bo4g018590, Bo5g021810, and Bo2g011730 showed different expression trends between low and high glucoraphanin content pools, which increased the accumulation of glucoraphanin. These genes have different expression levels in the three plant parts. Strikingly, the accumulation of glucoraphanin upregulated the expression of plant hormone signal transduction-related genes TIFY, JAR1, IAA, GH3 and SAU, and also increased the levels of tentatively identified flavonoid metabolites. Our study deepens the understanding of glucosinolate biosynthesis in different organs at the molecular level, and also provides evidence for the crosstalk between glucosinolates and flavonoids biosynthesis pathways.
IQM Mitigation Algorithm with Channel Awareness for Upstream SC-FDMA Systems in the Context of Dual-Hop Broadcasts
Authors: Marey Mohamed , Esmail Maged , Mostafa Hala
Published: May 2023

A challenging issue for single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) transmissions is in-phase and quadrature-phase mismatch (IQM). There has been prior reporting on this issue; however, it has always been in the setting of single-hop broadcasts. This study explored the problem of IQM in multiple users upstream SC-FDMA networks within the framework of amplify-and-forward (AF) dual-hop transmissions. We got closer to realistic scenarios by supposing that each node in the network creates its own IQM. Moreover, we profited from the channel decoders that are included in most wireless standards to provide a valuable aid to the offered estimator. A mathematical analysis revealed that IQM originating from all nodes can be merged into channel coefficients to provide so-called effective channel coefficients. This eliminates the requirement for a chain of algorithms to be employed at each node to estimate and adjust for IQM, as well as the algorithms needed to evaluate channel coefficients between the base station and each node in the network. A theoretical investigation showed that the maximum likelihood (ML) solution to the effective channel coefficients estimation is too complicated to be applied in reality. Alternatively, we employed a simple methodology relying on the space-alternating generalized expectation maximization (SAGE) process to determine the ML predictions of the required parameters. The proposed approach incorporates a feedback loop in which the estimator and the channel decoder exchange information to boost one another’s efficiency. Furthermore, we detail how to execute data detection by making use of the predicted effective channel coefficients. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach and show that it outperforms the current methods.
DCAGS-IoT: Dynamic Cross-Domain Authentication Scheme Using Group Signature in IoT
Authors: Yuan Weihan , Li Xiaoya , Li Mingyue , Zheng Liudong
Published: May 2023

Cross-domain authentication requires that there is no trust gap between different trust domains that can cause cross-domain devices to exceed the security control scope of the original trust domain and further expose cross-domain authentication systems to security threats. In addition, as relying on the traditional cross-domain authentication means built by centralized institutions cannot meet the data security needs in a big data environment. Therefore, it is necessary to design a secure dynamic cross-domain authentication scheme. In this paper, we propose a dynamic cross-domain authentication scheme (DCAGS-IoT) in the Internet of Things environment using the group signature technology and the distributed system architecture of blockchain. Specifically aiming at the problem of increasing and revoking users in dynamic cross-domain authentication, a user update algorithm with the complexity of O (logN) was designed to manage users in the trust domain. Moreover, we used the characteristics that group signature users can sign on behalf of a group to protect the users’ privacy and track suspicious users. Since the size of the signature generated by the scheme is independent of the number of group members N and only depends on the security parameters λ, the efficiency of the protocol implementation is improved, and the security and availability of the authentication scheme are guaranteed.
Causality Analysis with Different Probabilistic Distributions Using Transfer Entropy
Authors: Falkowski Michał J. , Domański Paweł D.
Published: May 2023

This paper presents the results of an analysis of causality detection in a multi-loop control system. The investigation focuses on application of the Transfer Entropy method, which is not commonly used during the exact construction of information and material flow pathways in the field of automation. Calculations are performed on simulated multi-loop control system data obtained from a system with a structure known a priori. The model incorporates the possibility of freely changing its parameters and of applying noise with different properties. In addition, a method for determining the entropy transfer between process variables is investigated. The fitting of different variants of the probability distribution functions to the data is crucial for effective evaluation of the Transfer Entropy approach. The obtained results allow for suggestions to be formulated with respect to choosing which probability function the transfer entropy should be based upon. Moreover, we provide a proposal for the design of a causality analysis approach that can reliably obtain information relationships.