bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring the cultural perspectives and implications of infertility among couples in the Talensi and Nabdam Districts of the upper east region of Ghana
Authors: Kuug Anthony Kolsabilik , James Sindiwe , Sihaam Jardien-Baboo
Published: April 2023

Background

Infertility remains a major clinical and social problem, affecting approximately one in every 10 couples. It is a reproductive health condition that is silently experienced with deep repercussions in the essence of self. In Ghana childbearing is considered a social prestige, where the couples are unduly pressurized to bear children for purposes of genealogical continuity.

Purpose

This study explored the cultural perspectives and implications among males and females experiencing infertility in the Talensi and Nabdam districts of the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Methods

This study used an ethnographic design to explore the perspectives of couples on socio-cultural beliefs about infertility on 15 participants made up of 8 male and 7 female couple units. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique while semi-structured interviews were used to explore the cultural implications on male and female couple units. The data were analysed using Tesch’s method of analysing qualitative data.

Results

Two broad themes and five subthemes emerged from the data analysis regarding the cultural implications of infertility. The major themes and subthemes include: (1) Varying cultural perceptions of infertility (Cultural beliefs and perceptions regarding causes of infertility, cultural consequences of infertility and traditional remedies for infertility), and (2) family dynamics stemming from infertility (abuse from family members, and parenthood as a standard for family inheritance).

Conclusions

This study adduces evidence of the cultural implications of infertility in rural Ghana. Considering the cultural inclination of most Ghanaian communities, especially the current study setting, it is imperative that policymakers and public health practitioners should consider fertility interventions that are culturally sensitive. Also, culturally sensitive intervention programs that are targeted at increasing the awareness of the rural population on fertility and its treatment should be considered.
Outcome of Children and Adolescents With Primary Intracranial Germinoma Treated With Chemotherapy and Reduced Dose-Field Irradiation: A Prospective Brazilian Experience
Authors: Cappellano Andrea Maria , Dassi Natalia , Mançano Bruna , Epelman Sidnei , Almeida Daniela B. , Cavalheiro Sergio , Dastoli Patricia A. , Seixas Maria Teresa , Nicacio Jardel M. , Costa Marcos D. , Silva Frederico A. , Aguiar Simone S. , Almeida Carlos R. , Teixeira Gustavo R. , Chen Michael , Figueiredo Maria Luisa , Silva Nasjla S. , Finlay Jonathan L.
Published: April 2023

PURPOSE

This prospective Brazilian single-arm trial was conducted to determine response to chemotherapy and survival after response-based radiotherapy in children with intracranial germinomas, in the setting of a multi-institutional study in a middle-income country (MIC) with significant disparity of subspecialty care.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Since 2013, 58 patients with histologic and/or serum and CSF tumor marker evaluations of primary intracranial germ cell tumors were diagnosed; 43 were germinoma with HCGβ levels ≤200 mIU/mL and five between 100 and 200 mIU/mL. The treatment plan consisted of four cycles of carboplatin and etoposide followed by 18 Gy whole-ventricular field irradiation (WVFI) and primary site(s) boost up to 30 Gy; 24 Gy craniospinal was prescribed for disseminated disease.

RESULTS

Mean age 13.2 years (range, 4.7-25.5 years); 29 were males. Diagnosis was made by tumor markers (n = 6), surgery (n = 25), or both (n = 10). Two bifocal cases with negative tumor markers were treated as germinoma. Primary tumor location was pineal (n = 18), suprasellar (n = 14), bifocal (n = 10), and basal ganglia/thalamus (n = 1). Fourteen had ventricular/spinal spread documented by imaging studies. Second-look surgery occurred in three patients after chemotherapy. Thirty-five patients achieved complete responses after chemotherapy, and eight showed residual teratoma/scar. Toxicity was mostly grade 3/4 neutropenia/thrombocytopenia during chemotherapy. At a median follow-up of 44.5 months, overall and event-free survivals were 100%.

CONCLUSION

The treatment is tolerable, and WVFI dose reduction to 18 Gy preserves efficacy; we have demonstrated the feasibility of successfully conducting a prospective multicenter trial in a large MIC despite resource disparity.
Role of predator-prey reversal in rock-paper-scissors models
Authors: Avelino P. P. , de Oliveira B. F. , Trintin R. S.
Published: April 2023

In this letter we consider a single parameter generalization of the standard three species Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) model allowing for predator-prey reversal. This model, which shall be referred to as κRPS model, incorporates bidirectional predator-prey interactions between all the species in addition to the unidirectional predator-prey interactions of the standard RPS model. We study the dynamics of a May-Leonard formulation of the κRPS model using lattice-based spatial stochastic simulations with random initial conditions. We find that if the simulation lattices are sufficiently large for the coexistence of all three species to be maintained, the model asymptotically leads to the formation of spiral patterns whose evolution is qualitatively similar to that of the standard RPS model, albeit with larger characteristic length and time scales. We show that if the likelihood of predator-prey reversal is sufficiently large there are two distinct scaling regimes: one transient curvature dominated regime in which the characteristic length of the population network grows with time and another where it becomes a constant. We also estimate the dependence of the asymptotic value of the characteristic length of the population network on the likelihood of predator-prey reversal and show that if the simulation lattices are not sufficiently large then predator-prey reversal could potentially have a negative impact on coexistence. Finally, we interpret these results by considering the much simpler dynamics of circular domains.
Nuancing the Limitations of Axonal Plasticity in World Health Organization Grade II Gliomas: White Matter Tracts Compensation Is Driven by Cortical Remodeling
Authors: Duffau Hugues
Published: April 2023

Diffuse World Health Organization grade II glioma (GIIG) is a slow-growing brain cancer that migrates along the white matter (WM) tracts. Neuroplastic changes were described in reaction to GIIG progression, opening the window to extensive cerebral surgical resection in patients able to resume an active life with no functional consequences. However, atlases of cortico-subcortical neural plasticity emphasized the limited potential of axonal reorganization. Yet, the removal of WM involved by GIIG can be possible, at least to some extent, without generating permanent neurological disturbances. Here, the aim was to discuss mechanisms underlying functional compensation which make feasible resection of the subcortical component of GIIG and to propose a new model of adaptative neural reconfiguration at the level of the axonal connectivity. In this model, 2 parts of the WM tracts are considered: (1) the stem of the bundle that represents the actual limitation of plastic potential, as supported by reproducible behavioral disorders elicited by intraoperative axonal electrostimulation mapping (ESM) and (2) the terminations/origins of the bundle that may no longer be critical in case of functional reallocation of the cortex to/from which these WM fibers run—thus inducing no behavioral troubles during direct ESM. Understanding that a certain degree of axonal compensation in specific portions of the tracts is driven by cortical remodeling may enable to rethink the concept of WM plasticity and to refine the preoperative estimation of extent of resection for GIIG. Identifying eloquent fibers by ESM, especially their convergence in the depth, is essential to achieve an individualized connectome-based resection.
Rapid manoeuvre of fan worms (Annelida: Sabellidae) through tubes
Authors: Jiang Wei , Sun Yu , Wu Zhigang , Pan Zhao , Bok Michael J. , Wu Jianing
Published: April 2023

Multiple variables determine the success of an escape response of an animal, and the rapidity of the escape manoeuvre is often the most important. Fan worms (Annelida: Sabellidae) can rapidly withdraw their tentacles, which are covered in heavily ciliated ramifications called pinnules, into their tubes to protect them from approaching threats. Here, we explore the dynamic and mechanistic features behind this escape manoeuvre. The escape responses of fan worms were recorded by high-speed videography and quantified by computerized motion analysis, showing an ultrahigh retraction speed of 272±135 mm s−1 (8±4 body lengths s−1). We found that fan worms possess powerful muscle-driven systems, which can generate contractive forces up to 36 times their body weight. In order to achieve these rapid, forceful movements through seawater without damaging their tentacles, fan worms have developed functional morphological adaptations to reduce fluidic drag, including the flattening of their radiolar pinnules and the deformation of bodily segmental ridges. Our hydrodynamic models indicate that these mechanical processes can decrease fluidic drag by 47%, trapped mass by 75% and friction coefficient by 89%. These strategies allow fan worms to execute rapid escape responses and could inspire the design of fast in-pipe robots.
Σχέσεις Ορθοδόξων και Παλαιοκαθολικών τον 19ο αιώνα και η θεολογική σημασία τους
Authors: Χαμπίδης Παντελεήμων
Published: April 2023

Η Παλαιοκαθολική κίνηση εν τη γενέσει της το 1871, επεδίωξε το θεολογικό διάλογο με την Ορθόδοξη τον 19ο αιώνα, σε διάστημα που εκτείνεται από το 1871 μέχρι τις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα. Η πρώτη φάση αφορά τα συνέδρια του Μονάχου (1871) της Κολωνίας (1872), της Κωστάντζας (1873), του Φριβούργου (1874) και της Βόννης (1874-1875), ενώ η δεύτερη αφορά την αλληλογραφία των επιτροπών Ρότερνταμ και Αγίας Πετρούπολης (1893-1913), συμπεριλαμβανομένων των διεθνών Παλαιοκαθολικών συνεδρίων της Λουκέρνης (1892), του Ρότερνταμ (1894) και της Βιέννης (1897), καθώς και της ιδρυτικής δήλωσης της Ουτρέχτης (1889). Εξίσου κεφαλαιώδης αποτέλεσε ο ανεπίσημος διάλογος που διεξήχθη μέσω των δημοσιεύσεων δυτικών και ανατολικών θεολόγων στο περιοδικό Revue internationale de theologie από το 1892 μέχρι το 1911, οπότε εκείνο μετονομάστηκε σε Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift. Η καταδίκη του Filioque ως παράνομης και αντικανονικής προσθήκης στο σύμβολο της πίστεως σε συνδυασμό με τα δόγματα της ασπίλου συλλήψεως της Θεοτόκου, του παπικού αλάθητου, των αξιόμισθων έργων και του καθαρτηρίου πυρός στα ενωτικά συνέδρια της Βόννης, αλλά και στις κατοπινές συναντήσεις με τους Ορθόδοξους μαρτυρεί τη θετική μεταρρυθμιστική διάθεση των Παλαιοκαθολικών. Μολαταύτα, ο δισταγμός αναγνώρισης της εβδόμης οικουμενικής συνόδου από αυτούς, τους απομάκρυνε από την Ορθόδοξη εκκλησία. Προσωπικότητες του διμερούς θεολογικού διαλόγου από τους Παλαιοκαθολικούς υπήρξαν οι Joseph Hubert Reinkens (1821-1896), Franz Heinrich Reusch (1825-1900), Johann Friedrich von Schulte (1827-1912) και Ignaz von Döllinger (1799-1890), ενώ από τους Ορθόδοξους, οι Αλέξανδρος Λυκούργος (1827-1875), Ζήκος Ρώσης (1838-1933), Νικόλαος Δαμαλάς (1842-1892), Alexander Kireeff (1838-1910) και Joseph Julian Overbeck (1821-1905). Ο τελευταίος προέκρινε τη Δυτικόρρυθμη Ορθοδοξία, μια μορφή ανεστραμμένης ουνίας από την πλευρά των Ορθόδοξων, ένα ενωτικό σχήμα που αφορούσε τόσο τους Παλαιοκαθολικούς όσο και τους υπόλοιπους ετερόδοξους. Η μελέτη των σχέσεων Ορθόδοξων-Παλαιοκαθολικών στις απαρχές τους αιτιολόγησε την πορεία του διμερούς διαλόγου κατά τον 20ο αιώνα κυρίως αναφορικά με την επαναδιαπραγμάτευση δογματικών θέσεων, όπως το Filioque, σε μια διαλεκτική που εντάσσεται στο ευρύτερο πλαίσιο συνύπαρξης του δυτικού και του ανατολικού ευρωπαϊκού πολιτισμού.
Broodstock development, induced spawning and larval rearing of the bilih, Mystacoleucus padangensis (Bleeker, 1852), a vulnerable species, and its potential as a new aquaculture candidate
Authors: Syandri Hafrijal , Azrita Azrita , Thamrin Rinold , Zen Deni , D. Roza Hendrik , Chandra Eduard Orah Jimmy , Abdurahman Maman , Yuza Alif , Irvan Irvan , Afriwan Afriwan
Published: April 2023

Background: Mystacoleucus padangensis living in Lake Singkarak, Indonesia, has high potential market demand but is threatened by overfishing and has not been successfully cultured. This study describes the first broodstock development, induced breeding, and larval rearing of M. padangensis.

Methods: A total of 1,000 female and 1,000 male broodfish were collected from the wild and reared in two concrete ponds (128 m2) at the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, P.T. Semen Padang, Indonesia. The broodfish were fed commercial feed to satiation at 09:00 and 17:00 h. The females (average weight 7.56 ± 0.85 g) and males (4.86 ± 1.20 g) were selected at a ratio of 1:4 (female:male), and gonad maturation was induced with a single dose of GnRH analogue (Ovaprim) of 0.1 ml/fish. At 16 h after hormone injection, eggs were collected individually into a plastic vessel. Spermatozoa were collected with sterile syringes. Eggs were fertilized using the "dry" method, and 0.5 ml samples (equal to 100 eggs) were taken. The eggs were incubated in a plastic strainer with a water volume of 1.57 litres and placed in a tarpaulin pond with a volume of 150.72 litres.

Results: The overall hatching rate was 78.93 ± 4.13%. The newly hatched larvae were 3900.81 µm long, with a yolk sac of 82881.480 µm2. The mouth opened at 72 DPH with a gape measuring approximately 61.880 µm. The protocol of larval feeding started with artificial feed, followed by Artemia nauplii up to 30 DPH. Weaning of larvae started at 4 DPH. Larvae started metamorphosis by 15 DPH and ended by 22 DPH when the larvae reached 7430.27 µm. Larval rearing resulted in an average survival rate of 28.4 ± 3.04%.

Conclusions: Its successful spawning induction and high larval hatching and survival rates make M. padangensis an excellent aquaculture candidate.
Post-Covid Remote Patient Monitoring using Medical Internet of Things and Machine Learning Analytics
Authors: Rahman Salka , Parveen Suraiya , Sofi Shabir Ahmad , Zahoor Saniya
Published: April 2023

The Covid-19 pandemic disturbed the smooth functioning of healthcare services throughout the world. New practices such as masking, social distancing and so on were followed to prevent the spread. Further, the severity of the problem increases for the elderly people and people having co-morbidities as proper medical care was not possible and as a result many deaths were recorded. Even for those patients who recovered from Covid could not get proper health monitoring in the Post-Covid phase as a result many deaths and severity in health conditions were reported after the Covid recovery i.e., the Post-Covid era. Technical interventions like the Internet of Things (IoT) based remote patient monitoring using Medical Internet of Things (M-IoT) wearables is one of the solutions that could help in the Post-Covid scenarios. The paper discusses a proposed framework where in a variety of IoT sensing devices along with ML algorithms are used for patient monitoring by utilizing aggregated data acquired from the registered Post-Covid patients. Thus, by using M-IoT along with Machine Learning (ML) approaches could help us in monitoring Post-Covid patients with co-morbidities for and immediate medical help.
An Efficient Bio-inspired Routing Scheme for Tactical Ad hoc Networks
Authors: Khanpara Pimal , Valiveti Sharada
Published: April 2023

Ad hoc networks are temporary networks, created mainly for applications that are infrastructure-less. Such networks and network nodes demand special characteristics like mobile nodes having dynamic topology, wireless medium, heterogeneous deployment environment, and reactive or proactive routing depending on the nature of the network which includes network parameters such as node placement, mobility model, number of participants in the network, patterns of mobility, etc. Due to these characteristics and the mobility of network nodes, the process of routing is quite challenging in the ad hoc environment, especially when the node mobility is high. Bio-inspired routing can be an effective solution to meet all the design requirements and deal with the issues of tactical ad hoc networks. Different types of nature-inspired routing mechanisms are possible to use for tactical networks. This paper proposes the design of a novel Ant Colony Optimization-based routing strategy for ad hoc networks. Ant-based algorithms are dynamic and have adaptive behavior. Hence, they are competent for routing in ad hoc networks. Our proposed routing scheme is evaluated based on the network’s performance by varying different parameters. The performance of our proposed ACO-based routing approach is also compared to some existing ad hoc routing mechanisms. Different metrics in different deployment scenarios that can affect the efficiency of our proposed protocol are taken into consideration to evaluate the performance.
Framework for Performance Enhancement of MPI based Application on Cloud
Authors: J P Ashwini , H A Sanjay , M C Nayana , Shastry K Aditya , M K Mohan Murthy
Published: April 2023

Cloud technology is a major revolution that has happened in the computing era that has changed the way applications and resources are used. Elasticity is the key characteristic of the cloud, wherein the required number of resources are provided as a service with a pay-as-you-go principle. This reduces the huge cost involved in buying, installing, and maintaining the resources. Cloud computing, with its highly scalable resources, can be a good platform for High-Performance Computing (HPC). HPC application performance highly depends on the quantity of the resources, which makes the cloud a suitable candidate. But the HPC community is not very happy with cloud technology, and most of the users still think cloud technology is not suitable for HPC applications. But virtualization technology, which is the foundation of the cloud, degrades the performance of applications in the urge to improve utilization. The hypervisor layer and resource sharing by the virtual machines (VMs) hosted on the same node are the main reasons for performance degradation in the cloud. The majority of the HPC applications belong to the message passing (MPI) category, and for these applications, communication cost is the major stakeholder in deciding performance. If these applications are hosted on the cloud, it leads to further performance degradation as the process on a VM communicates through the virtual network interface, which in turn shares the network interface of the host machine with other VMs. MPI-based applications hosted on MPPs work in a bandwidth shared environment as multiple processes communicate over the same network. But in the cloud, as the number of VMs increases, per node bandwidth availability per communication reduces. To address the above issues, we have built a framework to enhance the performance of MPI-based HPC applications on VMs by considering proper VM placement strategy and resource reservation policies, with knowledge of resource availability and process communication patterns. A VM placement strategy for dynamic clustering of VMs with high priority for shared memory-based communication is proposed and tested. Results show that with a medium number of processes, there is an improvement of around 70% with our placement strategy for high data communicating processes. If there are fewer processes, and the single physical node can hold all the VMs, then the performance improvement is up to 500%.
Multi-class Brain Tumor Classification and Segmentation using Hybrid Deep Learning Network Model
Authors: Kumar Parasa Rishi , Bonthu Kavya , Meghana Boyapati , Vani Koneru Suvarna , Chakrabarti Prasun
Published: April 2023

Brain tumor classification is a significant task for evaluating tumors and selecting the type of treatment as per their classes. Brain tumors are diagnosed using multiple imaging techniques. However, MRI is frequently utilized since it provides greater image quality and uses non-ionizing radiation. Deep learning (DL) is a subfield of machine learning and recently displayed impressive performance, particularly in segmentation and classifying problems. Based on convolutional neural network (CNN), a Hybrid Deep Learning Network (HDLN) model is proposed in this research for classifying multiple types of brain tumors including glioma, meningioma, and pituitary tumors. The Mask RCNN is used for brain tumor classification. We used a squeeze-and-excitation residual network (SE-ResNet) for brain tumor segmentation, which is a residual network (ResNet) with a squeeze-and-excitation block. A publicly available research dataset is used for testing the proposed model for experiment analysis and it obtained an overall accuracy of 98.53%, 98.64% sensitivity and 98.91% specificity. In comparison to the most advanced classification models, the proposed model obtained the best accuracy. For multi-class brain tumor diseases, the proposed HDLN model demonstrated its superiority to the existing approaches.
Neurophysiological determinants of occupational stress and burnout
Authors: Mikołajewski Dariusz , Masiak Jolanta , Mikołajewska Emilia
Published: April 2023

IntroductionResearch results show that one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st century, especially in developed countries, is becoming the fight against the effects of living too fast, including the fight against occupational stress and burnout.

Aim of the study

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the neurophysiological determinants of occupational stress and burnout, including ocupational, including through the path of research review and the development of computational models based on artificial intelligence.

Materials and methods

A literature search was conducted in six bibliographic databases: PubMed, EBSCO, PEDro, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. Articles were searched in English using the following keywords: occupational stress, burnout, marker, electroencephalography, EEG, magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, fMRI, computed tomography, CT, positron emission tomography, PET, computational model, machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual patient, digital twin and similar. Neurophysiological determinants of occupational stress and burnout as far as computational models of occupational stress and burnout were analysed and discussed.

Results

The best currently observed neurophysiological markers of occupational stress and burnout may currently be a combination of EEG analysis (alpha power (IAF, PAF), P300, ERP (VPP and EPN)), diagnostic PET imaging (ACC, insular cortex and hippocampus) and monitoring changes in cortisol, prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and thyroid hormones, as well as plasma BDNF levels. In addition, ERPs (LPPs) are a marker significantly differentiating burnout from depression.

Conclusions

The combination of traditional clinimetric tests, the aforementioned neurophysiological tests and AI-based big data analysis will provide new classifiers, highly accurate results and new diagnostic methods.
Hermano mío y de los pobres.
Authors: García del Moral Garrido Amalio
Published: April 2023

Este artículo ilustra la faceta de Amalio García del Moral Garrido, como pintor y poeta, y queremos destacar también su producción en prosa como excelente autor de artículos y ensayos. En este caso, reproducimos el dedicado a su hermano Antonio, O.P., tras su dolorosa muerte en Granada (1991) y que ya fue publicado en la revista de Gallo de Vidrio, Año 1, Nº 2 y 3, Sevilla, Otoño de 1992.
Un mirador para la Giralda.
Authors: García del Moral y Mora Amalio R.
Published: April 2023

Con este trabajo queda identificado no sólo el enamoramiento de Amalio García del Moral por Sevilla, sino ofrecer una muestra más de lo que los sevillanos saben decir de su ciudad. Los sevillanos que viven en Sevilla ahorran así a los nostálgicos exiliados el trabajo de evocar a Sevilla en la lejanía. Son los habituales, los residentes, quienes la cantan. He querido comenzar este artículo con evocaciones y citas y compartir con todos las propias palabras de Amalio con las que intenta hacernos llegar sus sentimientos y sensaciones sobre la Giralda, publicadas en algunos de sus libros de poemas. No hay como saber de primera mano las motivaciones de un artista para elaborar su arte. Siempre es difícil poner en palabras lo que el espíritu siente, pero en el caso de Amalio tenemos suerte ya que, además de ser pintor, es poeta y los poetas son los elegidos para poner al espíritu en contacto con la realidad.
Cuento Verde Lima.
Authors: González Gil Lola
Published: April 2023

El siguiente trabajo se realiza en fomento de la promoción de la lectura y de la escritura en la sociedad del siglo XXI constituyendo una obligación ineludible de las instituciones académicas. El Plan Integral de Fomento de la Lectoescritura de la Universidad de Sevilla (PIFLUS). adscrito al Vicerrectorado de Relaciones Institucionales, tiene como objetivo acometer acciones de fomento de estas competencias desde el ámbito universitario.
Clinical research nursing: the daily experience
Authors: Radford Shellie J , Dent Martin
Published: April 2023

Shellie J Radford interviews Martin Dent who describes his experience of working as a clinical research nurse in hepatology
Evolutionary Algorithm-based Approach for Multi-Objective Optimization of a Complex Reliability System
Authors: Kumar Anuj , Pant Sangeeta , Ram Mangey , Kumar Akshay
Published: April 2023

Dealing with the conflicting objectives in reliability analysis of complex engineering systems is always a challenging task. Here, we have taken two conflicting objectives namely reducing cost and increasing the reliability of a complex reliability system named life support system in space capsule (LS3C) into consideration. A novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm named MOPSO-CD has been employed to get various Pareto Optimal Fronts (POFs) in accordance with different parameter tuning. The simulation results so obtained provide a wide range of varieties of POFs to decision maker (DM).
Experimental comparison between photoconductive and graphene-based photogating detection in a UV-A region
Authors: Neisiani Zahra Sadeghi , Khaje Mahdi , Majd Abdollah Eslami , Mehrfar Amir Hossein
Published: April 2023

Photoconductive detectors that use intrinsic absorbent materials include a wide range of detectors. In this paper, a photoconductive detector is fabricated using a titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin film. The mechanism of the photodetector is changed to the photogating mechanism by transferring monolayer graphene onto the TiO2 thin film, which shows a great responsivity with a slight change in the fabrication process. Since the maximum responsivity can be obtained by applying and adjusting the gate voltage, the gate voltage is set in all experiments, and the effect of the gate voltage is investigated in both detectors. It is observed that by increasing the gate voltage, the responsivity of the photogating detector increases to 40 A/W at a gate voltage of 15 V. However, in the photoconductive detector, the increase in the gate voltage does not have a particular effect on the detector responsivity. In the photogating detector, the increase in the responsivity due to the increase in the gate voltage is attributed to applying the gate voltage to the graphene layer and not the absorber layer. The efficiency of both detectors is confirmed up to a frequency of 5 kHz.
Flexible structured light system calibration method with all digital features
Authors: Zhang Song
Published: April 2023

We propose an innovative method for single-camera and single-projector structured light system calibration in that it eliminates the need for calibration targets with physical features. Instead, a digital display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen is used to present a digital feature pattern for camera intrinsic calibration, while a flat surface such as a mirror is used for projector intrinsic and extrinsic calibration. To carry out this calibration, a secondary camera is required to facilitate the entire process. Because no specially made calibration targets with real physical features are required for the entire calibration process, our method offers greater flexibility and simplicity in achieving accurate calibration for structured light systems. Experimental results have demonstrated the success of this proposed method.
Tunable nonlocal metasurfaces based on graphene for analogue optical computation
Authors: Khodasevych Iryna , Wesemann Lukas , Roberts Ann , Iacopi Francesca
Published: April 2023

Meta-optical devices have recently emerged as ultra-compact candidates for real-time computation in the spatial domain. The use of meta-optics for applications in image processing and wavefront sensing could enable an order of magnitude increase in processing speed and data throughput, while simultaneously drastically reducing the footprint of currently available solutions to enable miniaturisation. Most research to date has focused on static devices that can perform a single operation. Dynamically tunable devices, however, offer increased versatility. Here we propose graphene covered subwavelength silicon carbide gratings as electrically tunable optical computation and image processing devices at mid-infrared wavelengths.
Radiative pumping of exciton-polaritons in 2D hybrid perovskites
Authors: Deshmukh Prathmesh , Zhao Lianfeng , Satapathy Sitakanta , Khatoniar Mandeep , Datta Biswajit , Rand Barry P. , Menon Vinod
Published: April 2023

In addition to their attractive technological applications in photovoltaics and light emitters, the perovskite family of semiconductors has recently emerged as an excellent excitonic material for fundamental studies. Specifically, the 2D hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite (HOIP) offers the added advantage of room temperature investigations owing to their large exciton binding energy. In this work, we strongly couple excitons in 2D HOIP crystals to planar microcavity photons sustaining exciton-polaritons under ambient conditions resulting in a Rabi splitting of 290 meV. Dark excitons directly pump the polariton branch along its dispersion in resonance with the Stokes shifted emission state (radiative pumping), creating a high density of polaritons at higher in-plane momentum (k||). We further probe the nonlinear polariton dispersion dynamics at varying input laser fluence, which indicates efficient polariton-polariton scattering and decay to k|| = 0 from higher k||. The observation of Stokes shift-assisted energy exchange of dark states with lower polaritons coupled with evidence of efficient polariton-polariton scattering makes 2D HOIPs an attractive platform to study exciton-polariton many-body physics and Bose-Einstein like condensation (BEC) at room temperature.
Mental health issues is common, resiliency is rare: Qataris and residents’ experiences with distress, traumatic symptoms, and coping during the blockade
Authors: Abu-Ras Wahiba , Burghul Maryam , Decker Eliza
Published: April 2023

Many people feel vulnerable and uncertain about their future during a political crisis or political instability. Nonetheless, people may choose different coping strategies, making some more resilient and others more vulnerable to mental health issues. Added to the stress caused by these political factors is that social media has become the only source of information, including intolerance, hate speech, and bigotry. Therefore, reactive strategies to traumatic events and resiliency are essential components in addressing the affected population’s stress and mental health issues. Although much attention has been paid to the political blockade imposed on Qatar in 2017, little emphasis has been placed on its impact on the affected people’s mental health, coping strategies, and resiliency. The study explores Qatari citizens’ mental health, resilience, distress, traumatic symptoms, and coping in the context of the blockade. This study fills the knowledge gap in this area by using a mixed-method approach with 443 online surveys and 23 face-to-face interviews. Quantitative data shows women scored higher on distress than men (17.37 v 9.13, p = .009), but men scored higher on resiliency (73.63 v 68.19, p = .009). Qualitative data supported these findings. The findings will lay the foundation for clinical trials and social interventions to provide better mental health services to Qatari families directly affected by the blockade and inform mental health providers and policymakers about stress, coping strategies, and resilience during this crisis.
Efficacy and safety of intravenous glucocorticoid therapy for IgG4-related ophthalmic disease
Authors: Yang Min Kyu , Kim Gye Jung , Choi Yeong A. , Sa Ho-Seok
Published: April 2023

Purpose

To evaluate and compare the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) glucocorticoid therapy with those of oral glucocorticoids as a first-line treatment for IgG4-related ophthalmic disease (IgG4-ROD).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent systemic glucocorticoid therapy for biopsy-proven IgG4-ROD from June 2012 to June 2022. Glucocorticoids were given either oral prednisolone at an initial dose of 0.6 mg/kg/day for four weeks with subsequent tapering or once weekly IV methylprednisolone (500 mg for six weeks, then 250 mg for six weeks), according to the date of treatment. Clinicoserological features, initial response, relapse during follow-ups, cumulative doses of glucocorticoids, and adverse effects of glucocorticoids were compared for the IV and oral steroid groups.

Results

Sixty one eyes of 35 patients were evaluated over a median follow-up period of 32.9 months. The complete response rate was significantly higher in the IV steroid group (n = 30 eyes) than in the oral steroid group (n = 31 eyes) (66.7% vs. 38.7%, p = 0.041). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that the 2-year relapse-free survival was 71.5% (95% confidence interval: 51.6–91.4) and 21.5% (95% confidence interval: 4.5–38.5) in the IV steroid and oral steroid group, respectively (p < 0.001). Although the cumulative dose of glucocorticoids was significantly higher in the IV steroid group than in the oral steroid group (7.8 g vs. 4.9 g, p = 0.012), systemic and ophthalmic adverse effects were not significantly different between the two groups throughout follow-ups (all p > 0.05).

Conclusions

As a first-line treatment for IgG4-ROD, IV glucocorticoid therapy was well-tolerated, led to better clinical remission and more effectively prevented inflammatory relapse than oral steroids. Further research is needed to establish guidelines on dosage regimens.
Effect of socioeconomic status and healthcare provider on post-transplantation care in Malaysia: A multi-centre survey of kidney transplant recipients
Authors: Gan Kim Soon Peter , Rampal Sanjay , Lim Soo Kun , Su Tin Tin
Published: April 2023

Introduction

As the rate of end-stage kidney disease rises, there is an urgent need to consider the catastrophic health expenditure of post-transplantation care. Even a small amount of out-of-pocket payment for healthcare can negatively affect households’ financial security. This study aims to determine the association between socioeconomic status and the prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure in post-transplantation care.

Method

A multi-centre cross-sectional survey was conducted in person among 409 kidney transplant recipients in six public hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Catastrophic health expenditure is considered at 10% out-of-pocket payment from household income used for healthcare expenditure. The association of socioeconomic status with catastrophic health expenditure is determined via multiple logistic regression analysis.

Results

93 kidney transplant recipients (23.6%) incurred catastrophic health expenditures. Kidney transplant recipients in the Middle 40% (RM 4360 to RM 9619 or USD 1085.39 –USD 2394.57) and Bottom 40% (<RM 4,360 or < USD 1085.39) income groups experienced catastrophic health expenditure compared to the Top 20% (>RM 9619 or > USD 2394.57) income group. Kidney transplant recipients in the Bottom 40% and Middle 40% income groups were more susceptible to catastrophic health expenditure at 2.8 times and 3.1 times compared to higher-income groups, even under the care of the Ministry of Health.

Conclusion

Universal health coverage in Malaysia cannot address the burden of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure on low-income Kidney transplant recipients for long-term post-transplantation care. Policymakers must reexamine the healthcare system to protect vulnerable households from catastrophic health expenditures.
Changes in cortisol awakening responses (CAR) in menopausal women through short-term marine healing retreat program with specific factors affecting each CAR index
Authors: Moon Yesol , Lee Eunil , Lee Seoeun , Son Gwang-Ic , Byeon Hangjin , Shin Hyang-Ree , Bolortsetseg Baatar
Published: April 2023

Recent studies have reported that the cortisol awakening response (CAR) is associated with various health risks. The different indices used to represent the CAR include the average cortisol levels in the morning immediately after waking (AVE); the total area under the curve of cortisol levels with respect to ground (AUCg); and the area under the curve of cortisol levels with respect to increase (AUCi). However, it is unclear which physiological phenomenon each index reflects. This study investigated the factors, such as stress, circadian rhythm, sleep, and obesity, affecting the CAR through a marine retreat-based healing program in which the anticipated stress of the participants could be controlled to some degree. Fifty-one menopausal women in their 50s and 60s were included, who performed beach yoga and Nordic walking for four days at an uncontaminated beach. The baseline CAR indices showed that the AVE and AUCg were significantly higher in the high sleep efficiency group than in the low sleep efficiency group. However, the AUCi decreased substantially with increasing age. The changes in the AVE, AUCg, and AUCi were calculated through the program, and it was found that the AVE and AUCg increased significantly more in the obese group than in the normal and overweight groups. The obese group also showed significantly decreased serum triglyceride and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) levels compared to the low BMI group. Thus, it was confirmed that AVE and AUCg reflected physiological phenomena affected by factors such as sleep efficiency and obesity, whereas the AUCi was affected by factors such as age. In addition, the marine retreat program can improve the low levels of CAR associated with obesity and aging.
The Changing Risk Preferences of High-Net-Worth Individual Investors During the Global Financial Crisis
Authors: Cunha Antonio M. , Lobão Júlio
Published: April 2023

This paper studies how high-net-worth individual (HNWI) investors changed their risk preferences during the Global Financial Crisis (from 2007 to 2009) and how their asset allocation evolved in the same period. We had access to a confidential database from a Swiss international private bank with two samples of risk preferences questionnaires (suitability tests) filled by the same HNWI investors in 2007 and 2009. We compared the suitability tests’ suggested investment profiles to those investors’ real asset allocations at the same moments in time. We estimated correlation coefficients and ran hypothesis tests to examine if the changes in risk preferences during the period were statistically significant. Findings: HNWI investors’ risk preferences changed during the period, but the gap between their self-assessed risk preference and their real asset allocation narrowed, suggesting that they have a convex value function curve. We found evidence consistent with the psychological risk-as-feelings model, as lower risk-exposed HNWI investors also tended to decrease their risk preference level during a crisis. The evidence also suggests a stronger preference for cash during the crisis period, confirming the results of studies that have focused on the importance of liquidity during external shocks.
East and Central European Students’ Financial Self-Sufficiency During Their University Years
Authors: Hvozdetska Bohdanna , Varha Nataliia , Kocsis Zsófia , Nechitailo Iryna , Bartosh Olena
Published: April 2023

Identifying the problems of youth requires taking into account the transformational processes that affect individuals’ development, the formation of a certain social environment, and changing youth market orientation priorities. The current orientations of youth – inflated expectations, aspirations for a quality education, employment, higher-status achievement, improved financial status, etc. – contradict the reality that in fact involves limited access to social status and professional realization, thereby creating barriers to fulfilment. The novelty of this research is that we evaluate the literature and empirical data and examine the self-sufficiency of university students in post-socialist countries as a factor in their adulthood and an indicator of life readiness according to the principles of a democratic society and rules of the market economy. The study aims to determine the role of economic factors in the process of obtaining a higher education for students in Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine) through an analysis of students’ financial self-sufficiency during their university years. The presented research results demonstrate students’ financial selfsufficiency during their university studies and the proportion of students’ average monthly expenses in relation to income. The comparative analysis confirms that the respondents’ financial situation in the five countries under study is almost identical.
Intuitive Decision: When to Begin the Succession Process
Authors: Darabos Katalin
Published: April 2023

Family business succession research usually focuses on the problems that make many companies fail during or as a result of succession, to focus on the individual process of decision making itself is rare. In understanding the phenomenon on the personal level of reality, and understand decision-making process of succession, the decision maker’s thinking process and aspirations have to be taken in consideration. This can lead to uncertainties and errors; decisions are predetermined as being rational human limitations border them. Therefore, aspirations and search rules are adjusted over time in response to experience. Our aim was to search for the understanding of a phenomenon: the succession decision in family businesses, where, based on the survey, we attempted to order their intuitive knowledge and aspirations to surface the aspirations, intuitive knowledge of decision makers, in order to deepen our understanding of the succession decision making phenomenon.
Egg yolk and albumen as biomonitoring tissues for organic pollution: Estimating mother-egg partitioning
Authors: C. Munoz Cynthia , Vermeiren Peter
Published: April 2023

The composition and concentration of chemical cocktails are often poorly established in marine environments particularly beyond the coastal zone. Marine migratory species could act as biomonitors to represent the exposure of associated communities, provided that suitable tissues for biomonitoring are available. Sea turtles could present suitable biomonitors because they integrate pollution across their long lifespan and wide migrations. They also do not feed during their nesting migrations, making their eggs potentially suitable biomonitoring tissues to reflect pollution in maternal foraging grounds. We investigated maternal transfer among 56 PCB, 12 OCP and 34 PBDE compounds from coupled samples of loggerhead turtle maternal plasma and replicate egg yolk and albumen. We applied robust Regression on Order Statistics to calculate summary statistics among samples with measured concentrations below detection limit. Wet weight concentrations of compounds were lower and more variable among replicate samples in albumen than yolk. Additionally, the correlation with plasma concentrations was lower for albumen than yolk, which discourages the use of albumen as a model tissue for maternal burdens at the current moment. By contrast, lipid-normalized concentrations of PCB and OCP were positively correlated between plasma and yolk, and overlapped with previous observations between whole blood and whole egg for leatherback and green turtles. The maternal transfer rate between yolk and plasma indicated that lipid normalized concentrations in yolk were on average 6.6 times lower than those in plasma. Nevertheless, this maternal transfer rate varied between compounds suggesting compound-specific transfer, and negatively related with compound lipophilicity as estimated by the octanol-water partitioning coefficient, K
ow. Dioxin-like PCB 118 was among the three PCB with highest concentrations in yolk, and obtained a high log
10 maternal transfer ratio of -0.30. Regarding OCP, p,p`DDE was the most prevalent compounds in yolk, albumen and plasma, and obtained a near-equilibrium log
10 maternal transfer ratio of 0.01. Our results indicate that yolk could offer a suitable biomonitoring tissue which relates to maternal body burdens. Nevertheless, compound-specific maternal transfer rates need to be considered when translating yolk levels back to maternal pollution burdens, and when assessing the risk to the subsequent generations of turtle embryos.
Cemiplimab-Associated Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome
Authors: Sarsour Nadeen Y. , Minervini Marta , Malik Shahid M.
Published: April 2023

A 58-year-old woman developed new-onset recurrent ascites after the recent initiation of cemiplimab for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. A comprehensive serological workup for viral, metabolic, and autoimmune causes was unrevealing. Transjugular liver biopsy demonstrated parenchymal changes consistent with a diagnosis of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome. While this is a condition commonly observed in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or use of chemotherapeutic agents, it should also be considered in patients who develop new-onset liver dysfunction after the initiation of checkpoint inhibitors.
Woman's Liberation
Authors: Savkovic Mirko
Published: April 2023

Published ahead of the First Congress of the Social-Democrat Women in Belgrade on 12 September 1910Source: Radničke novine, issue 109, 11 September 1910(Digital version: https://sr.wikisource.org/sr-el/%D0%9E%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%92%D0%B5%D1%9A%D0%B5_%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5 )