bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of C – reactive protein and Pentraxin 3 in HIV-associated pre-eclampsia
Authors: Moodley Thalia , Pillay Pamela , Govender Sumeshree , Naicker Thajasvarie
Published: December 2023

Objectives
To compare the expression of inflammatory proteins, pentraxin 3 and c-reactive proteins in HIV-associated normotensive and preeclamptic pregnancies.
Methods
Both HIV status (HIV-positive and HIV-negative) and pregnancy type (normotensive pregnant and preeclampsia) were used to stratify the study population (n = 80). Using a ProcartaPlex™ immunoassay technique, the plasma concentrations of pentraxin 3 and c-reactive protein were measured.
Results
An up-regulation of c-reactive protein was demonstrated in pre-eclamptic versus normotensive women; HIV-positive versus HIV-negative, and across the study population. albeit non-significant. Pentraxin 3 was significantly higher in preeclamptic versus normotensive women (p < 0.0001), irrespective of HIV status. However, no significance was found in HIV status, regardless of pregnancy type. When compared across all groups pentraxin 3 concentrations was significantly different between normotensive HIV-negative versus pre-eclamptic HIV-negative groups (p = 0.0001); and normotensive HIV-negative versus pre-eclamptic HIV-positive groups (p = 0.0049).
Conclusions
This novel study demonstrated pentraxin 3 concentrations to be significantly higher in pre-eclampsia compared to normotensive pregnant women, emanating from oxidative stress and inflammation. C-reactive protein was higher in the normotensive pregnant women compared to pre-eclampsia. This difference may stem from hepatic dysfunction, gestational age, disease severity, interleukin-6 production, and/or sample size.
Mendelian randomization reveals pleiotropic genes between major depression and bowel cancer
Authors: Xiao Chenxu , Shen Jing , Yan Hanfei , Zhang Hanxue , Ye Liya
Published: December 2023

Background: In recent years, researchers have been increasingly focused on the association between mental disorders and the gut-brain axis. The gut-brain axis refers to a bidirectional communication system between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system, involving interactions among the gut, microbiota, nervous system, and immune system. However, the precise relationship between mental illnesses and Bowel cancer necessitates further investigation for clarification. Elucidating these associations could offer crucial insights for the development of more effective treatment strategies and preventive measures in the future.
Methods: We employed the Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization (TSMR) approach to investigate the genetic relationships between three common mental disorders (AD, MDD, and SC) and Bowel cancer. Leveraging Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) and summary data for Mendelian Randomization (SMR), along with expression Quantitative Trait Locus (eQTL) data, we sought to identify significantly associated genes shared between MDD and Bowel cancer. This approach aimed to explore the potential association between the two conditions. Employing the mediation MR technique, utilizing the jointly significant genes as mediators, we examined whether there exists a MDD-gene-Bowel cancer directional relationship. Furthermore, the TSMR methodology was utilized to validate the previously identified shared genes' relevance to both MDD and Bowel cancer.
Results: The study findings reveal significant causal effects, wherein increased risk of AD is associated with a lowered risk of Bowel cancer, while heightened risk of MDD shows a significant positive causal influence on Bowel cancer risk. The gene OTUD4 emerges as a mediator variable with a certain level of correlation between MDD and Bowel cancer. Genes PPP6C, THUMPD3, and EML3 simultaneously exert positive causal effects on both MDD and Bowel cancer. Conversely, the gene RP3-395C13.1 exhibits negative causal effects on both MDD and Bowel cancer. HPCAL4 demonstrates a positive causal effect on MDD and a negative causal effect on Bowel cancer.MDD and Bowel Cancer show significant enrichment in pathways related to organellar localization and establishment, innate immune response, mitotic cell cycle, and defense response against other organisms.
Conclusion: This study has identified five genes (PPP6C, THUMPD3, EML3, RP3-395C13.1, HPCAL4) that concurrently influence both MDD and Bowel cancer.
ClinSeqSer: Clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19—New Orleans, August 2020–September 2021
Authors: Drouin Arnaud , Plumb Ian D. , McCullough Matthew , James-Gist Jade , Liu Sharon , Theberge Marc , Katz Joshua , Moreida Matthew , Flaherty Shelby , Chatwani Bhoomija , Briggs-Hagen Melissa , Midgley Claire M. , Fusco Dahlene
Published: December 2023

Louisiana experienced high morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. To assess possible explanatory factors, we conducted a cohort study of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Orleans during August 2020–September 2021. Following enrollment, we reviewed medical charts, and performed SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing on nasal and saliva specimens. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between patient characteristics and severe illness, defined as high-flow oxygen or intubation. Among 456 patients, median age was 56 years, 277 (60.5%) were Black non-Hispanic, 436 (95.2%) had underlying health conditions, and 358 were unvaccinated (92.0% of 389 verified). Overall, 187 patients (40.1%) had severe illness; 60 (13.1%) died during admission. In multivariable models, severe illness was associated with age ≥ 65 years (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.22–3.56), hospitalization > 5 days after illness onset (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.01–2.21), and SARS CoV-2 cycle threshold (Ct) result of < 32 in saliva (OR 4.79, 95% CI 1.22–18.77). Among patients who were predominantly Black non-Hispanic, unvaccinated and with underlying health conditions, approximately 1 in 3 patients required high-flow oxygen. Older age and delayed time to admission might have contributed to the high case-severity. An association between case-severity and low Ct value in saliva warrants further investigation.
Dysphagia Caused by Anterior Cervical Osteophytes: A Rare Entity!
Authors: Jayaprasad Y.D.M. , Dharmapala Arinda , Ganga N. M. P. Gagana , Edirisinghe E. M. C. H.
Published: December 2023

When we go through the medical literature, anterior cervical osteophytes are generally considered to be asymptomatic. However, on multiple occasions, there have been reports of large anterior cervical osteophytes giving rise to dysphagia in elderly patients. In our article, we will be discussing a 79-year-old male patient who presented with dysphagia. We thoroughly evaluated this patient for a possible cause of his symptoms. He had to undergo multiple investigations, including an upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy, a lateral neck X-ray, and a contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan of the neck and chest. As well, we also arranged neurology and neurosurgical referrals. Ultimately, we could confidently conclude that he was having dysphagia due to anterior cervical osteophytes. Other than patient evaluation, we have also briefly discussed in this article the treatment modalities and how to choose the best treatment modality for a patient with symptomatic anterior cervical osteophytes.
Categories: General Surgery, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery
The effects of energy density and heat treatment on the properties of 3D printed tungsten
Authors: Chen wenlian , Yang yihang
Published: December 2023

A large temperature gradient led to rapid temperature changes in the selective laser melting (SLM) process, resulting in high residual stress and micro-cracks, which were the main challenges faced by the 3D printing of tungsten (W) materials. On the other hand, the volumetric energy density had a significant effect on the density of the pure W structural component fabricated by SLM. It was difficult to eliminate defects in the formed parts solely by optimizing SLM technology parameters. The crystalline W powder with a concentrated grain size was used as the raw material, and substrate preheating was adopted to prepare the W structural component with a lattice structure by selective laser melting (SLM). The processed samples were subsequently subjected to heat treatment at 1100℃, 1400℃, 1700℃and 1900℃ for 2 hours. The mechanical properties and microstructure of the specimens at different heat treatment temperatures were analyzed. The results indicate that the optimal volumetric energy density for obtaining a theoretical density of 96.2% is around 972 J/mm3. After the heat treatment at 1700℃, the samples achieved the best mechanical performance, with an ultimate compressive strength and microhardness reaching 1200 MPa and 457HV, respectively. The fracture morphology shows cleavage fracture characteristics, and microcracks were largely eliminated after the heat treatment at 1700℃, indicating strong metallurgical bonding between layers and particles.
Study on the structural optimization of a gas distributor of vertical adsorption tower based on CFD
Authors: Guo Bingchao , Yan Yongfei , Li Cunlei , Zeng Lei , Ning Yiwan
Published: December 2023

The vertical adsorption tower serves as a crucial tool for the adsorption and separation of methane in the coalbed. Nonetheless, the complexities and variations inherent in the adsorption process pose challenges that hinder the fulfillment of actual production requirements. To enhance the uniformity of gas distribution, the installation of an appropriate gas distributor becomes necessary. To investigate this matter, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed to conduct numerical simulations comparing the effects of various gas distributors, including no gas distributor, conical gas distributor, truncated cone gas distributor, and a combination of sieve plate and baffle on the flow field of coalbed methane within the vertical adsorption tower. The simulation results were evaluated based on the smoothness of the velocity vector and velocity curve, enabling the determination of the uniformity of the gas distribution. With the installation of a single sieve plate as the gas distributor, the majority of airflow predominantly exits from the middle section of the vertical adsorption tower; however, the distribution is still insufficiently uniform. The incorporation of Type I and Type II gas distributors improved the gas flow field to some extent, but uneven distribution persisted. Notably, the installation of a type III gas distributor consisting of a combination of sieve plate and baffle enhances the uniformity of gas distribution. Further optimization of the type III gas distributor revealed that the most favorable outcome, with the greatest uniformity and effectiveness, occurs when the baffle diameter (d) measures 0.1 m and the distance (h) between the sieve plate and the baffle measures 0.15 m, resulting in a ratio of (d) to (h) equal to k = 1.5.
Ynet: Research on Deep Learning Model Driven by Multi-scale Analysis and Its Application to Image Segmentation
Authors: Meng Wenzhe , Zhu Xiaoliang , Li Hanyu , Li Yanxiang , Ma Dehua , Xu Siping
Published: December 2023

In the field of image reconstruction and defuzzification, processing of images using frequency domain features of images is becoming popular. In the field of medical image segmentation, however, there are relatively few studies on processing using frequency domain features. Inspired by this point, this paper proposes a method of wavelet transform-based image enhancement module, which aims to separate the high-frequency and low-frequency features in the original image, and then the image is enhanced with features to improve the segmentation accuracy of the model. A single-branch network like Unet will mix high-frequency and low-frequency information during the learning process, resulting in the discarding of some useful information, to avoid this, this paper designs a novel two-branch network named YNet, which employs two encoders that are used to learn the high-frequency and low-frequency information of the image, respectively. To effectively fuse the features learned by the two encoders, this paper introduces a frequency feature fusion module based on the attention mechanism to fuse the features of the two branches, and this fusion method effectively alleviates the problem of information loss brought by the traditional feature fusion. Then it is input into the same decoder for processing. The results show that this study achieved excellent segmentation accuracy on the Kvasir-SEG, CVC-ClinicDB, ISIC2018, and DSB2018 datasets, as demonstrated by the mDice, mIoU, mPrecision, and mRecall metrics. This is of great significance for the medical image segmentation field regarding the effective integration of deep learning and machine learning.
PlGF and VEGF-A/PlGF heterodimer are crucial in the recruitment and activation of immune cells during choroidal neovascularization
Authors: Tarallo Valeria , Trotta Sara Magliacane , Panico Sonia , D’Orsi Luca , Mercadante Grazia , Cicatiello Valeria , Falco Sandro
Published: December 2023

Recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells, such as retinal microglia/macrophages, in the sub-retinal space contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, we utilized the full functional knockout of placental growth factor (PlGF), the PlGF-DE knockin mouse, to investigate the functional role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), PlGF and VEGF-A/PlGF heterodimer in immune homeostasis and activation during pathological laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Our findings demonstrate that, while there is no difference in healthy conditions, PlGF-DE-Ki mice exhibit decreased microglia reactivity and reduced recruitment of both microglia and monocyte-macrophages, compared to wild-type mice during laser-induced CNV. This impairment is associated with a reduction in VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR-1) phosphorylation in the retinae of PlGF-DE-Ki mice compared to C57Bl6/J mice. Corroborating these data, intravitreal delivery of PlGF or the heterodimer in PlGF-DE-Ki mice rescued the immune cell response at the early phase of CNV compared to VEGF-A delivery. In summary, our study suggests that targeting PlGF and the VEGF-A/PlGF heterodimer thereby preventing VEGFR-1 activation could represents a potential therapeutic approach for the management of inflammatory processes in diseases such as AMD.
Design optimization of effective modulus through variation in pore geometries of Stainless Steel 316L
Authors: Bhowmik Krishnendu , Dey Swati , Datta Sagnik , Das Apurba , Chowdhury Amit Roy , Datta Shubhabrata
Published: December 2023

Three-dimensional finite element analyses are carried out using cubic shaped representative volume element with spherical and ellipsoidal pores. The aim of this present study is to design a metal block with targeted effective modulus of elasticity in different directions with various types of pore morphology and %porosity. Parametric study in terms of porosity percentage, number of pores, axis ratio (ratio of major to minor axis of ellipsoidal pores) and orientation angle are performed. Scaffold used for bone grafting is anisotropic in nature. Adequate selection of the parameter can define the effective moduli in X and Y directions. Design optimization is employed using genetic algorithm to achieve the required properties. Artificial neural network metamodels are developed using finite element simulated data to act as the objective functions. In present study stainless steel (316L) is considered for the analysis. However, present method can be applied in material independent way.
Genetic diversity analysis of Pandanus amaryllifolius using EST-SSR and iPBS markers
Authors: Sidek Norhafizah , Tan Boon Chin , Mebus Katharina , Taheri Sima , Budi Setiawan Agus , Teo Chee How
Published: December 2023

Pandanus amaryllifolius, a tropical fragrant screw pine, is commonly used in cooking and traditional medicine. Despite the fact that various studies have been conducted on the metabolite, transcriptome and proteome profiles of P. amaryllifolius, there is a scarcity of molecular markers suitable for genetic improvement. Therefore, this research aimed to analyse the genetic diversity of P. amaryllifolius using EST-SSR markers derived from transcriptome dataset and iPBS marker system. Using the leaf transcriptomes of three biological replicates, we successfully generated 157,467 unigenes from P. amaryllifolius, with an average length of 1,084 base pairs. Of these, 66,820 EST-SSRs were identified, presenting one SSR for every 2.6 kb of distribution density. The most common SSRs were dinucleotides (45.54%), followed by mononucleotides (32.65%). Out of 48,816 developed EST-SSR markers, we randomly selected 30 for the genetic diversity analysis among 24 P. amaryllifolius accessions, together with sixteen iPBS markers for P. amaryllifolius diversity study. Only two EST-SSR and three iPBS markers showed polymorphic bands, indicating a low polymorphism level among 24 P. amaryllifolius accessions. Diversity analysis using EST-SSR markers revealed 3 polymorphic bands with an average polymorphic information content (PIC) value of 0.26. Meanwhile, the iPBS markers generated10 polymorphic bands with an average PIC value of 0.16. The UPGMA cluster analysis differentiated accessions into 5 clusters with iPBS markers and 2 clusters with EST-SSR markers, indicating that iPBS marker system is more effective in identifying the polymorphism of this species. The present work provides a great resource for identifying genes and developing markers in P. amaryllifolius.
RotMix and RotCom: Two Regularization Strategies with Contrastive Learning for Few-shot Classification
Authors: Ma Kunkun , Zhang Baopeng , Teng Zhu , Zou Junnan , Fan Jianping
Published: December 2023

Few-shot learning (FSL) aims to recognize new classes by adapting prior knowledge with extremely limited few-shot examples. The key challenge lies in eliminating the induction bias between SEEN classes and UNSEEN classes. Performance improvements mainly focus on enhancing feature representations or category embeddings, or designing new loss functions, while largely ignoring efficient data augmentation techniques for enhanced training. In light of this, we propose a novel embedding model called MixNet, which encodes the diversity of classes to eliminate induction bias, and evolves prior knowledge through contrastive learning. It captures sketchy patterns and focuses on detailed characteristics. Our contrastive adaptation model implicitly learns the UNSEEN embeddings to alleviate the over-fitting problem with limited labeled data.\textbf{ } Furthermore, we propose two data augmentation methods named RotMix and RotCom to exploit the extra information, which can boost the generalization ability of few-shot models. The proposed RotMix and RotCom involve random rotation and random grayscale of any patch in the original image, which encourage the model to pay attention to multiple discriminative regions of the object rather than the most salient discriminative region. Extensive experiments are conducted on widely used few-shot recognition benchmarks, including miniImageNet and tieredImageNet, verifying that our MixNet with RotMix and RotCom can boost significant performance compared with both classic and recent popular metric-based methods. Besides, we also compare the proposed methods against other augmentation methods such as Cutout, Mixup, and CutMix. Experimental results reflect the competing performance of RotMix and RotCom.
Glutathione-depleting liposome adjuvant for augmenting the efficacy of a Glutathione covalent inhibitor oridonin for acute myeloid leukemia therapy
Authors: Liu Yi , Wang Xiaoning , Feng Hui , Li Xinyan , Yang Runyu , Zhang Mengyao , Du Yue , Liu Ruimin , Luo Minna , Li Zhiyi , Liu Bo , Wang Jincheng , Wang Wenjuan , An Feifei , Niu Fan , He Pengcheng
Published: December 2023

Background
Discrepancies in the utilization of reactive oxygen species (ROS) between cancer cells and their normal counterparts constitute a pivotal juncture for the precise treatment of cancer, delineating a noteworthy trajectory in the field of targeted therapies. This phenomenon is particularly conspicuous in the domain of nano-drug precision treatment. Despite substantial strides in employing nanoparticles to disrupt ROS for cancer therapy, current strategies continue to grapple with challenges pertaining to efficacy and specificity. One of the primary hurdles lies in the elevated levels of intracellular glutathione (GSH). Presently, predominant methods to mitigate intracellular GSH involve inhibiting its synthesis or promoting GSH efflux. However, a conspicuous gap remains in the absence of a strategy capable of directly and efficiently clearing GSH.
Methods
We initially elucidated the chemical mechanism underpinning oridonin, a diminutive pharmacological agent demonstrated to perturb reactive oxygen species, through its covalent interaction with glutathione. Subsequently, we employed the incorporation of maleimide-liposomes, renowned for their capacity to disrupt the ROS delivery system, to ameliorate the drug's water solubility and pharmacokinetics, thereby enhancing its ROS-disruptive efficacy. In a pursuit to further refine the targeting for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), we harnessed the maleic imide and thiol reaction mechanism, facilitating the coupling of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) peptides to the liposomes' surface via maleic imide. This strategic approach offers a novel method for the precise removal of GSH, and its enhancement endeavors are directed towards fortifying the precision and efficacy of the drug's impact on AML targets.
ResultsWe demonstrated that this peptide-liposome-small molecule machinery targets AML and consequently induces cell apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo through three disparate mechanisms: (I) Oridonin, as a Michael acceptor molecule, inhibits GSH function through covalent bonding, triggering an initial imbalance of oxidative stress. (II) Maleimide further induces GSH exhaustion, aggravating redox imbalance as a complementary augment with oridonin. (III) Peptide targets TLR2, enhances the directivity and enrichment of oridonin within AML cells.
ConclusionsThe rationally designed nanocomplex provides a ROS drug enhancement and targeted delivery platform, representing a potential solution by disrupting redox balance for AML therapy.
Using a Physics Constrained U-Net for Real-Time Compatible Extraction of Physical Features from WEST Divertor Hot-Spots
Authors: Gorse Valentin , Mitteau Raphaël , Marot Julien
Published: December 2023

The WEST (W Environment in Steady-state Tokamak) divertor serves as the primary element for heat exhaust and contributes critically to plasma control. The divertor receives intense heat fluxes, potentially leading to damage to the plasma facing units. Hence, it is of major interest for the safety of divertor operation to detect and characterize the hot spots appearing on the divertor surface. This is done through the use of infrared (IR) cameras, which provide a thermal mapping of the divertor surface. In this work, a knowledge-informed divertor hot spot detector is demonstrated, that explicitly accounts for hot spot structure and temperature repartition. A novel neural network, termed as Constrained U-Net, is proposed, which uses as input the bounding boxes of hot spots from prior automatic detection. The Constrained U-Net addresses jointly image segmentation and regression of physical parameters, while remaining compatible with the practical constraints of real-time use. The detector is trained on simulated data and applied to real-world infrared images. On simulated images, it yields a precision of 0.98, outperforming a classical U-Net, and Max-Tree. Visual results obtained on real-world acquisitions from the WEST Tokamak illustrate the reliability of the proposed method for safety studies on hot spots.
Self-management of COPD supported by eHealth: Patients’ attitudes towards monitoring, risk prediction and virtual coaching
Authors: Hurmuz Marian Z. M. , Braake Eline te , Jansen-Kosterink Stephanie M. , Grünloh Christiane
Published: December 2023

Purpose
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a high burden on patients, tremendously affecting their quality of life. For patients to be more pro-active, self-management is important. To improve self-management, health data collection is needed for monitoring, which can be used for risk predictions and personalised coaching. Within the RE-SAMPLE project, we want to include these features in an eHealth technology. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of adults with COPD towards health monitoring, risk predictions and virtual coaching.
Methods
We conducted workshops and interviews with persons diagnosed with COPD. Six persons participated in the workshops which focused on topics for virtual coaching. 10 Persons participated in the interviews focusing on monitoring, risk prediction and virtual coaching.
Results
For participants, collecting and having access to health data is an important aspect of health monitoring. Furthermore, participants were positive towards a technology which visualizes health data for monitoring. Regarding risk predictions, participants were not all convinced about its usefulness. Finally, participants were quite positive about including a virtual coach within a self-management eHealth technology.
Conclusion
Taking all into consideration, we noticed that most participants felt that persons who are more recently diagnosed with COPD would benefit more from using a self-management eHealth technology. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for design in this paper.
Research on Control of Single-point Magnetic Levitation System based on Improved DDPG
Authors: Wang YongZhuang , Zhang Zhenli , Cao Zehua , Yang Jie , Yu Jintao , Qin Yao
Published: December 2023

To address the limitations of the traditional maglev control algorithm that relies on mathematical models and is difficult to deploy, a single-point maglev system controller with improved DDPG based on reinforcement learning is designed. First, the experimental platform of a single-point maglev system and its simulation model are built based on physical parameters; second, the piecewise inverse proportional reward function is proposed to improve the steady-state accuracy and response time of the maglev system; then, the DDPG control flow is improved to make the controller meet the requirements of physical deployment; Finally, the effects of reward function, training step, and model variation on the control performance are analyzed by software simulation and experimental comparison. The results show that the improved DDPG controller with a piecewise inverse proportional reward function shortens the response time and reduces the steady-state error of the system. In addition, the control results obtained by using the same parameters of the controller with different models are basically the same, which verifies the advantage of model-independent reinforcement learning. It is a good reference for the control of single-point levitation-like systems.
Early Diagnosis of Solitary Functioning Kidney: Comparing the Prognosis of Renal Agenesis and Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney
Authors: Flögelova Hana , Bouchalova Katerina , Smakal Oldrich , Halek Jan , Langova Katerina , Cizkova Katerina
Published: December 2023

Background
Individuals with congenital solitary functioning kidney (SFK) are at an increased risk of kidney damage. According to some studies, the risk is higher in unilateral renal agenesis (URA) than in unilateral multicystic dysplastic kidney (UMCDK). We hypothesized that with early detection of children with URA and UMCDK, there would be no difference in the presence of hypertension, proteinuria, and reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between URA and UMCDK.
Methods
Based on a long-term follow-up protocol, we evaluated a cohort of 160 children followed from birth for SFK (84 with URA and 76 with UMCDK) detected by prenatal or routine neonatal ultrasound screening. Hypertension, proteinuria and elevated GFR were monitored as markers of kidney damage. We compared the characteristics and outcomes of the subgroups of children with URA and UMCDK.
Results
GFR was reduced in 42 (26.2%) children, of whom 41 showed only mild reduction. Hypertension and proteinuria were found in 22 (13.8%) and 14 (8.8%) children, respectively.
Combined kidney damage was present in 57 (35.6%) children. The UMCDK and URA subgroups differed in GFR at final examination, with UMCDK patients being significantly more likely to have normal GFR compared to URA patients (82% vs 67%; p = 0.039).
Conclusions
One third of the children showed signs of SFK damage, albeit mild. Patients with URA had reduced GFR significantly more often than those with UMCDK, but did not differ in the rates of hyperfiltration injury or congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) in SFK.
Genetic influence on bone mineral density for Japanese women: a twin study
Authors: Saeki Soichiro , Tomizawa Rie , Minamitani Kaori , Nakata Ken , Honda Chika
Published: December 2023

Background
Osteoporosis is a major risk factor for fractures among the elderlies. Despite osteoporosis being a significant concern in super-aged societies such as Japan, the heritability of bone mineral density within the Japanese populace remains unexplored.
Methods
The bone area ratio (BAR, %) of 298 healthy, female Japanese twins (comprising 149 pairs, 136 monozygotic and 13 dizygotic twin pairs) registered in the Osaka University Twin Registry was measured using quantitative ultrasound. Classical twin analysis was employed to ascertain the heritability of bone mineral density.
Results
The heritability of bone mineral density for the entire cohort was 0.51 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.38–0.63). For the subset of subjects younger than 50 years, the effects of menopause were adjusted, and the best-fit model was also found to be the AE model, with a heritability estimate of 0.53 (95% CI: 0.34–0.72).
Conclusions
Compared to women from other countries, Japanese women appear to exhibit relatively lower heritability of bone mineral density. Consequently, environmental factors may exert a more significant influence on osteoporosis in Japanese women compared to women of other races and ethnicities.
Efficient neighborhood evaluation for the Maximally Diverse Grouping Problem
Authors: Schulz Arne
Published: December 2023

The Maximally Diverse Grouping Problem is one of the well-known combinatorial optimization problems with applications in the assignment of students to groups or courses. Due to its NP-hardness several (meta)heuristic solution approaches have been presented in the literature. Most of them include the insertion of an item of one group into another group and the swap of two items currently assigned to different groups as neighborhoods. The paper presents a new efficient implementation for both neighborhoods and compares it with the standard implementation in which all inserts/swaps are evaluated as well as the neighborhood decomposition approach. The results show that the newly presented approach is clearly superior for larger instances allowing for up to 160% more iterations in comparison to the standard implementation and up to 76% more iterations in comparison to the neighborhood decomposition approach. Moreover, the results can also be used for (meta)heuristic algorithms for other grouping or clustering problems.
Assessment of Soil Erosion Dynamics and Vulnerable Areas in the Upper Gillo Region, Baro Akobo Basin, Ethiopia
Authors: Mengistu
Published: December 2023

Study Region: This has a look at specializes in the Upper Gillo place within the Baro Akobo Basin, Ethiopia
Study Focus: The objectives are to estimate soil erosion charges and become aware of vulnerable regions through the usage of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and Geographic Information System (GIS). Through GIS evaluation of rainfall, soil traits, topography, and land cover statistics, soil loss charges and erosion-contributing elements were quantified. Results showed varying soil loss rates, with a mean annual lack of 20 lots in keeping with hectare. Steep slopes and mountainous regions skilled better fees above 50 heaps in keeping with hectare annually, even as 31.88% of the watershed had lower erosion risk
New Hydrological Insights for the Region: These findings highlight the number one driver of soil erosion inside the Upper Gillo place and the pressing need for erosion management measures. High-danger areas, together with the Gillo River, valleys, and floodplains, require on-the-spot attention. Vegetated and cultivated areas showed decreased soil loss fees, emphasizing the significance of plant life cover in erosion discount. The integration of USLE and GIS enables informed choice-making for sustainable land management inside the Baro Akobo Basin. The quantified soil loss fees and identified susceptible regions provide valuable statistics for policymakers, land managers, and stakeholders to put into effect effective erosion manipulation strategies, mainly to step forward environmental resilience and sustainable improvement
Analysis of bacterial culture of fluid in the surgical area in transanal total mesorectal excision and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision
Authors: xie yang , ding liping , li jie , zhang hongyu
Published: December 2023

Purpose
To investigate the clinical value of the bacterial culture of fluid in the surgical area in laparoscopic transanal total mesorectal excision (Lap-taTME) and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (Lap-TME).
Methods
Clinical data of 106 patients who had successfully undergone radical resection of rectal cancer at gastrointestinal surgery department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from September 2017 to August 2019 were retrospectively collected. There were 56 patients in the Lap-taTME group and 50 patients in the Lap-TME group. In the Lap-taTME group, the initial pelvic fluid, the rectal cavity fluid after purse-string suture, and the pelvic cavity fluid after anastomosis were collected and recorded as culture No.1, No.2, and No.3, respectively. In the Lap-TME group, culture No.1 and No.3 were collected as done in the Lap-taTME group. The postoperative pathology, culture results, and postoperative complications were statistically analyzed.
Results
The postoperative pathological results showed that the positive rates of distal margin, proximal margin, and circumferential resection margin were zero in both groups, and there were no significant intergroup differences in the total number of lymph nodes detected and pathological TNM stage (all P > 0.05). The positive rate of culture No.1 was zero in both groups, and there were six cases (10.7%) with positive culture No.2 in the Lap-taTME group. However, the number of patients with positive culture No.3 in the Lap-taTME group (7, 12.5%) was significantly higher than that in the Lap-TME group (0) (P < 0.05), and the number of cumulative positive culture cases in the Lap-taTME group (11, 19.6%) was significantly higher than that in the Lap-TME group (0) (P < 0.05). Pelvic infection occurred in four (7.1% of all cases) of the eleven cases with positive culture (19.6% of all cases) in the Lap-taTME group, accounting for 36.4% of the cases with positive culture (4/11). There were no significant intergroup differences in anastomotic leakage and pelvic infection (all P > 0.05).
Conclusions
Positive bacterial culture of fluid during Lap-taTME indicates an increased risk of pelvic infection after operation. Lap-taTME is more prone to intraoperative contamination than Lap-TME but does not significantly increase the risk of postoperative pelvic infection.
Günter Dietz, 1930–2017
Authors: Schellinger Andrea
Published: December 2023

Der 1930 in Karlsruhe geborene Günter Dietz hat sich als Altphilologe, Übersetzer und Lyriker einen Namen gemacht. Er studierte Klassische Philologie und Germanistik in Freiburg i. Br. Im Anschluss an die Promotion bei Karl Büchner mit einer Arbeit über "Sallusts Briefe an Cäsar" arbeitete er als Lehrer in Athen. In dieser Zeit (1958 bis 1964) kam Dietz in Berührung mit der modernen griechischen Literatur und fing an, Lyrik zu übersetzen.
University Teachers’ Agency in Relation to Technology Use in Teaching: A Quantitative Investigation
Authors: Nøhr Liv , Hvid Stenalt Maria , Hagood Danielle
Published: December 2023

This study investigates Danish university teachers’ agency in using digital technologies in teaching. Furthermore, it explores how teachers’ conduct and experienced constraints are connected to different dimensions of teachers’ agency.

The paper is based on survey responses from 344 teachers about their agentic will and power to influence aspects of technology usage in teaching. Using an exploratory factor analysis, we identify three distinct factors and their relations: 1) wanting to control digital data and having the power to do so is distinct from 2) teachers’ power and will to control the technologies adopted and 3) how technologies are applied in teaching. Furthermore, all factors correlate with the teachers’ conduct (extent to which technology facilitates education interactions), while there are factor-specific patterns to the constraints (e.g., time, experience).

The results provide a basis for revisiting teachers’ role in university decision-making. We include a discussion on the entangledness of agency across institutional levels.
Modelos y modalidades educativas basados en tecnología educativa: una revisión bibliográfica.
Authors: León-Garrido Antonio , Barroso-Osuna Julio Manuel
Published: December 2023

La revolución tecnológica ha transformado los contextos educativos. Es más, a medida que la sociedad avanza, se vuelve cada vez más imprescindible el uso de las TIC en los quehaceres de las personas. De hecho, las tecnologías se han convertido en herramientas esenciales en todos los ámbitos, integrándose del mismo modo en la educación, originando diferentes modalidades de presentar la educación y diversos modos de aprender. Por ello, surgió la necesidad de examinar, analizar, seleccionar y describir las modalidades y modelos más recientes en el campo de la tecnología educativa, con el propósito de proporcionar a los docentes una nueva perspectiva del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Para ello, se realizó una revisión bibliográfica en tres bases de datos: WoS, Scopus y Dialnet. Los datos se presentaron mediante una metodología mixta. La muestra total fueron 42 artículos, de los cuales, el 50% proviene de WoS, el 26% de Scopus, y el 24% restante de Dialnet. Se hallaron un total de 3 modelos y 6 modalidades educativas basadas en la tecnología educativa, aportando cada uno de ellos una visión diferente de su integración y facilitación del conocimiento.
Características de la acreditación de la Competencia Digital Docente. Relaciones con la Competencia Digital del alumnado
Authors: Marrón Fernández Yolanda I , Martínez-Aznar María Mercedes
Published: December 2023

El artículo describe la competencia digital de los docentes y de los alumnos desde una perspectiva internacional y nacional. Emplea un método cualitativo de carácter descriptivo, con un enfoque documental. Enuncia los programas que están realizando las comunidades autónomas españolas para la promoción de la competencia digital. Además, analiza los procedimientos de acreditación realizados en las comunidades autónomas a lo largo del curso académico 2022/23 un fenómeno de gran actualidad que implica al profesorado. También compara las competencias que deben tener los ciudadanos según el marco europeo CompDig de 2022 con el currículo español vigente para tratar de establecer una correspondencia con las competencias que adquirirán al terminar la escolaridad obligatoria.

Los resultados indican una escasa regularidad en dichos procesos y ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de revisión de la formación, tanto inicial como permanente de los docentes de nuestro país para dar respuesta a una realidad cambiante en un mundo globalizado y digitalizado. También se plantea la necesidad de un diseño de la formación del profesorado en competencia digital que tenga en cuenta la especificidad de las diferentes materias, la motivación y el compromiso con el aprendizaje, para conseguir un cambio real que impacte en el alumnado.
Analysis on accident types of coal mine in global major coal producing countries
Authors: Wang Fei , Yang Yuzhong , Wu Liyun , Meng Han , Li Peng , Pang Longlong
Published: December 2023

Coal plays an extremely important role in the global primary energy consumption structure; It is of great significance to analyze the types of coal mine accidents in major coal producing countries. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the types of coal mine accidents in the USA, Australia, Russia, India, and China, which has a significance for further improving coal mine safety in various countries.
Optimization of the water quality monitoring network in a basin with intensive agriculture using artificial intelligence algorithms
Authors: Mendivil-García Kimberly , Medina José Luis , Rodríguez-Rangel Héctor , Roé-Sosa Adriana , Amábilis-Sosa Leonel Ernesto
Published: December 2023

This research applies artificial intelligence algorithms for optimizing the water quality monitoring network in a representative basin with intensive agricultural and livestock activities. This study used the water quality database provided by the National Water Commission (CONAGUA). Bi-monthly monitoring was registered from 2013 to 2020 for 23 water quality parameters in 23 sampling locations in tributaries and the mainstream river. Therefore, it was necessary to apply principal component analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the data and thus identify the parameters that contribute most to the variation in the water quality. This artificial intelligence algorithm promoted the ease of clustering sampling sites with similar water quality characteristics by reducing the number of variables involved in the database. The reduction highlighted nutrients (TN and TP), parameters related to dissolved organic matter (NH3-N and TOC), and pathogens such as fecal coliforms. The similarity of sampling sites was determined through hierarchical clustering using the Euclidean distance as a measure of dissimilarity and the Ward method as a grouping method. As a result, nine clusters were obtained for the rainy and dry seasons, reducing approximately 50% of the sampling sites and generating an optimized network of 11 sampling sites.
Application of a hybrid-fruit-peel (HFP) coagulant in low carbon source wastewater treatment as an external carbon source
Authors: Fu Ying , Yue Qinghe , Luo Shuyuan , Tian Xi
Published: December 2023

The application of a hybrid-fruit-peel (HFP) coagulant used as an external carbon source (ECS) in both simulated water and real sewage having a low carbon source treated with sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was studied, compared with that of sodium acetate (NaAc). The impact of HFP on sludge properties (such as extracellular polymer substance (EPS), dehydrogenase activity (DHA), charged property, size, microscopic images and bacteria phase) was characterized. The results showed that as an ECS, HFP basically gave similar nitrogen removal to NaAc and also gave a similar developing trend of both dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH. HFP promoted more proliferation of microorganisms and posed higher levels of protein (PN) and polysaccharide (PS) than NaAc, but gave slightly lower DHA than NaAc. After HFP was added as an ECS, the types and quantities of microorganisms increased significantly, the effluent qualities were improved and the sludge size and extensibility became larger, which was conducive to direct contact and remove pollutants. HFP played a similar role to NaAc as ECS and can be used as a quality and slow-releasing ECS for low carbon source wastewaters.
Active methodologies in mathematics learning
Authors: Candela-Munoz Johanna Lisbeth , Rodríguez-Gámez María
Published: December 2023

Active methodologies are necessary in the educational process because they comprise a fundamental tool for the student to achieve an adequate level of success in their educational process. It is important to mention that the student plays a very important role, where students build their knowledge based on scenarios and activities designed by the teacher. Analyzing the impact of the implementation of Problem-Based Learning, the research is relevant because active methodologies include interactive teaching-learning processes that are based on active communication and the interconnection between teachers, students, and teaching material. Its advantages lie in the application of methods where the role in the classroom passes from the teacher to the student, who must adopt a greater degree of involvement than in more traditional or classic classes. The objective of the research is to know the impact they produce between the use of active methodology in learning mathematics in students at the basic general education level, and upper basic sublevel of the Eloy Alfaro de Chone Educational Unit, during the 2023 school year, where the inductive method was used for the investigation Development. Obtaining as a result that the application of active methodologies in curricular programs and the classroom generates cognitive, social, and motivational advantages for students, providing improvements to the educational system.
Editorial
Authors: Sheth Chirag C. , Pascual Ortíz Marina , Chicharro Alcántara Deborah
Published: December 2023

Welcome to the International Virtual Exchange Conference (IVEC) 2022 Special Issue (SI) for the Journal of Virtual Exchange! In this SI, arising from projects presented at the International Virtual Exchange Conference, hosted at CEU Cardenal Herrera University in Valencia, Spain in 2022, we discover the many benefits of collaborative education, exploring the intersections of technology, intercultural exchange, and educational innovation. We, the guest editors, are proud to have participated in bringing you, the reader, this captivating exploration of two creative, insightful research articles and four enlightening practice reports that showcase the potential of virtual engagement.