bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genetic parameters and genome-wide association studies including the X chromosome for various reproduction and semen quality traits in Nellore cattle
Authors: de Carvalho Felipe E. , Ferraz José Bento S. , Pedrosa Victor B. , Matos Elisangela C. , Eler Joanir P. , Silva Marcio R. , Guimarães José D. , Bussiman Fernando , Silva Barbara C. A. , Mulim Henrique A. , Rocha Artur Oliveira , Araujo Andre C. , Wen Hui , Campos Gabriel S. , Brito Luiz F.
Published: January 2025

Background

The profitability of the beef industry is directly influenced by the fertility rate and reproductive performance of both males and females, which can be improved through selective breeding. When performing genomic analyses, genetic markers located on the X chromosome have been commonly ignored despite the X chromosome being one of the largest chromosomes in the cattle genome. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to: (1) estimate variance components and genetic parameters for eighteen male and five female fertility and reproductive traits in Nellore cattle including X chromosome markers in the analyses; and (2) perform genome-wide association studies and functional genomic analyses to better understand the genetic background of male and female fertility and reproductive performance traits in Nellore cattle.

Results

The percentage of the total direct heritability (h2total) explained by the X chromosome markers (h2x) ranged from 3 to 32% (average: 16.4%) and from 9 to 67% (average: 25.61%) for female reproductive performance and male fertility traits, respectively. Among the traits related to breeding soundness evaluation, the overall bull and semen evaluation and semen quality traits accounted for the highest proportion of h2x relative to h2total with an average of 39.5% and 38.75%, respectively. The total number of significant genomic markers per trait ranged from 7 (seminal vesicle width) to 43 (total major defects). The number of significant markers located on the X chromosome ranged from zero to five. A total of 683, 252, 694, 382, 61, and 77 genes overlapped with the genomic regions identified for traits related to female reproductive performance, semen quality, semen morphology, semen defects, overall bulls’ fertility evaluation, and overall semen evaluation traits, respectively. The key candidate genes located on the X chromosome are PRR32, STK26, TMSB4X, TLR7, PRPS2, SMS, SMARCA1, UTP14A, and BCORL1. The main gene ontology terms identified are “Oocyte Meiosis”, “Progesterone Mediated Oocyte Maturation”, “Thermogenesis”, “Sperm Flagellum”, and “Innate Immune Response”.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate the key role of genes located on the X chromosome on the phenotypic variability of male and female reproduction and fertility traits in Nellore cattle. Breeding programs aiming to improve these traits should consider adding the information from X chromosome markers in their genomic analyses.
Effect of acute kidney injury care bundle on kidney outcomes in cardiac patients receiving critical care: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Ahmed Fatma Refaat , Al-Yateem Nabeel , Nejadghaderi Seyed Aria , Gamil Rawia , AbuRuz Mohannad Eid
Published: January 2025

Background

Cardiac surgery is a major contributor to acute kidney injury (AKI); approximately 22% of patients who undergo cardiac surgery develop AKI, and among them, 2% will require renal replacement therapy (RRT). AKI is also associated with heightened risks of mortality and morbidity, longer intensive care stays, and increased treatment costs. Due to the challenges of treating AKI, prevention through the use of care bundles is suggested as an effective approach. This review aimed to assess the impact of care bundles on kidney outcomes, mortality, and hospital stay for cardiac patients in critical care.

Methods

PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE were searched up to November 2024. Inclusion criteria were studies on individuals with cardiac diseases receiving critical care, that used AKI care bundle as the intervention, and reported outcomes related to AKI, mortality, and other kidney-related events. We used the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool 2 and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for quality assessment. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) or risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.

Results

Seven studies on total 5045 subjects, including five observational and two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The implementation of care bundles significantly reduced the incidence of all-stage AKI (OR: 0.78; 95%CI: 0.61–0.99) and moderate-severe AKI (OR: 0.56; 95%CI: 0.43–0.72). Also, the implementation of care bundle increased the incidence of persistent renal dysfunction after 30 days by 2.39 times. However, there were no significant changes in RRT, major adverse kidney events, or mortality between the groups. The mean quality assessment score for observational studies was 7.2 out of ten, while there were noted concerns in the risk of bias assessment of the RCTs.

Conclusions

The application of care bundles in patients, including those undergoing cardiac surgeries as well as non-cardiac critical illness, appears to be effective in reducing AKI, particularly in moderate and severe stages. However, given the inclusion of non-cardiac patients in some studies, the observed effect may not be solely attributable to cardiac surgery cases. Future large-scale RCTs focusing specifically on cardiac surgery patients are recommended to clarify the impact of care bundles within this subgroup.

Registration ID in PROSPERO

CRD42024498972.
Habitat preference of the dinosaurs from the Ibero-Armorican domain (Upper Cretaceous, south-western Europe)
Authors: Vázquez López Bernat Josep , Sellés Albert , Prieto-Márquez Albert , Vila Bernat
Published: January 2025

Paleoenvironmental preferences for Cretaceous dinosaurs at a regional scale have been mainly assessed in North America. In south-western Europe, the dinosaur-bearing formations ranging the late Campanian to the latest Maastrichtian encompass coastal and lowland environments that produced hundreds of fossil localities with evidence of titanosaurian sauropods, maniraptoran and abelisauroid theropods, and nodosaurid ankylosaurs, together with rhabdodontid and hadrosauroid ornithopods. In order to study environmental associations of dinosaur taxa, we have revised, updated, and expanded upon an existing database that compiles the occurrence and minimum number of individuals for the dinosaur-bearing formations spanning the upper Campanian to the uppermost Maastrichtian of South-Western Europe. Based on this database, the habitat preferences of dinosaur groups in the region were determined by means of statistical tests of independence. All chi-square tests showed positive, mostly moderate-to-strong, and statistically significant associations between the studied groups and the environment they inhabited. The analysis of the residuals indicated that most dinosaur groups preferred lowland environments (including, contrary to previous studies, nodosaurids). The only exception were abelisauroids, which showed no habitat preference. Our results concur with recent works indicating that titanosaur sauropods and hadrosauroids preferred inland environments but clearly disagree with others suggesting that the latter as well as nodosaurid ankylosaurs were positively associated with marine or coastal settings. Considering the changes in occurrence distribution throughout the Maastrichtian turnover in the region, both titanosaurians and nodosaurids probably stablished a feeding strategy-based niche partitioning with ornithopods, although additional data is required to confidently confirm this relationship.
Predictors of response to daclatasvir in addition to sofosbuvir in hepatitis C virus-infected patients with stage 4 and 5 chronic kidney disease and patients on maintenance hemodialysis
Authors: Gawish Rasha , Elgohary Eman , Tahoun Mona , Elkaraly Mona , Mohsin Heba , Kamal Ahmed
Published: January 2025

Background

The FDA authorized the use of sofosbuvir-based therapy in persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 4 and 5 and in those on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). It has been known that treatment efficacy might be affected by virus- and host-related parameters. The aim of this study was to identify the response rate of sofosbuvir plus daclatasvir in CKD stage 4/5 and HD patients. The secondary aim was to identify the predictors of treatment failure.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 55 HCV-infected patients recruited from Alexandria University hospitals. The study included patients on maintenance HD or CKD stages 4–5. Baseline characteristics and SNP genotyping of the IFNL4 rs368234815 variant were addressed as possible predictors of response. The participants received sofosbuvir alongside daclatasvir with or without ribavirin for 3–6 months, according to the EASL guidelines. The response was evaluated by testing serum HCV RNA using PCR 12 weeks after treatment.

Results

Only 29 patients achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) (52.7%). Non-responders had statistically significantly lower hemoglobin, platelets, and albumin, while they had higher INR, liver enzymes, bilirubin, and APRI scores. FIB-4 scores were significantly lower among responders (1.64 ± 0.74 versus 4.81 ± 1.82) (p < 0.001). Among those with treatment failure, 13 patients (50%) had the TT/G genotype, while only 3 patients (11.5%) of the TT/TT genotype failed to achieve SVR12. Only 13.8% of patients with the G/G genotype achieved SVR12 (P = 0.001). Multivariate regression revealed that higher FIB-4 was the only predictor of failure to achieve SVR12. FIB-4 at a cutoff level of 2.63 has a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for prediction of treatment failure of 88.46%, 93.10%, 92%, and 90%, respectively.

Conclusions

FIB-4 above 2.63 is a predictor of lower SVR rates among patients with advanced CKD stages.
Screening for Financial Toxicity in Oncology Research and Practice: A Narrative Review
Authors: Peppercorn Jeffrey , Gelin Matthew , Masteralexis Taylor E. , Zafar S. Yousuf , Nipp Ryan D.
Published: January 2025

Financial toxicity (FT) is now a well-recognized issue affecting many patients with cancer and their families. The field is rapidly moving from a focus on describing this problem to efforts to optimize screening and identify management solutions. There are now multiple validated tools to study FT in the research setting. Although there is currently no standard tool for screening in the setting of routine clinical practice, many of the scales for FT were developed with clinical screening in mind, and there is emerging evidence regarding potential to screen with one or two questions to detect financial distress. This narrative review is intended to provide an update on validated scales that have been used to study FT in the research context and provide examples of tools of varying length that are being studied for implementation of screening in clinical practice. It is important for clinicians to seek to identify and assist patients who may be experiencing FT as a result of cancer or cancer therapy.
Solely Carers and Nurturers?
Authors: Caron Roxane , Fally Marie , Blain Marie-Jeanne
Published: January 2025

Dominant discourses surrounding motherhood assume mothers to be self-sacrificing, omnipresent, and ever willing and able to respond to the needs and wants of their children. This article argues that, in the context of violent conflict and exile, mothering becomes yet more laden with expectations as mothers are faced with critical situations. The article draws on research from an intersectional perspective that is aimed at a better understanding of the trajectories of refugees from Syria who have settled in Canada and Lebanon and for whom motherhood emerged as a salient aspect of identity and experience. The article argues that more attention should be paid to the social construction of motherhood through its transformation in the context of violent conflict and exile. The article is concerned with the identities that these experiences unfold for mothers, far beyond simplistic binaries of “good” versus “bad” mothers. The article explores how three refugee mothers from Syria who experienced forced migration have nurtured their children, while it reveals their realities of discrimination and empowerment at the crossroads of structural dominant forces.
The LGBTI+ Movement in Turkey
Authors: Doğu Burak , Pasin Begüm
Published: January 2025

Based on in-depth interviews and secondary data, this study investigates how the LGBTI+ movement in Turkey establishes and uses networks at the individual and organizational levels. At the individual level, the article reveals the networking practices of actors engaged in the LGBTI+ movement and examines the effects of networking on their identification with the movement, as well as their decision-shaping processes. At the organizational level, it explores networking practices with a particular focus on resource transfer. The study’s findings indicate that these two levels are complementary, facilitating the expansion of the LGBTI+ movement in Turkey. Networks not only help LGBTI+ individuals socialize and identify themselves with the movement but also contribute to its mobilization by enabling the transfer of material and nonmaterial resources between organizations.
Integration of ICT in educational process and the role of school management in primary and secondary special education
Authors: Τέγος Γεώργιος
Published: January 2025

Η ειδική εκπαίδευση είναι ένας τομέας που έχει προσελκύσει το ενδιαφέρον της παγκόσμιας εκπαιδευτικής κοινότητας λόγω της αδιαμφισβήτητης αναγκαιότητας και σημασίας της. Η εκπαίδευση των μαθητών με ειδικές εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες αποτελεί αναφαίρετο ανθρώπινο δικαίωμα τους. Οι αυξανόμενες και συνεχώς εξελισσόμενες ανάγκες στον τομέα της ειδικής εκπαίδευσης απαιτούν την αναζήτηση νέων μεθόδων διδασκαλίας και την ένταξη των Τεχνολογιών Πληροφορίας και Επικοινωνίας (ΤΠΕ) στη διαδικασία της μάθησης. Η ενσωμάτωση των ΤΠΕ στην ειδική εκπαίδευση παρουσιάζει έντονο ερευνητικό ενδιαφέρον, καθώς αποτελεί μία από τις σημαντικότερες προκλήσεις της εποχής μας. Το γεγονός ότι η έρευνα στο συγκεκριμένο θέμα στον Ελλαδικό χώρο είναι περιορισμένη, σε συνδυασμό με τα ποικίλα και ιδιαίτερα σημαντικά οφέλη που προσφέρουν τόσο στους μαθητές όσο και στους εκπαιδευτικούς, καθιστά το εν λόγω θέμα ιδιαίτερα ελκυστικό για περαιτέρω διερεύνηση. Ο κύριος σκοπός της διατριβής είναι να εξεταστεί ο βαθμός ενσωμάτωσης των ΤΠΕ στα ελληνικά ειδικά σχολεία της πρωτοβάθμιας και δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Η ενσωμάτωσή τους εξετάζεται επίσης λαμβάνοντας υπόψη παράγοντες όπως το φύλο, η εκπαιδευτική βαθμίδα και η επιμόρφωση των εκπαιδευτικών, προκειμένου να παρατηρηθούν τυχόν διαφοροποιήσεις. Επιπλέον, η διατριβή εξετάζει τις αντιλήψεις και τις στάσεις των εκπαιδευτικών σχετικά με τις ΤΠΕ, διότι σύμφωνα με την βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση, παρατηρείται μια ενδιαφέρουσα αντίφαση. Πιο συγκεκριμένα αν και οι εκπαιδευτικοί φαίνεται παρουσιάζονται θεωρητικά θετικοί ως προς τη χρήση των ΤΠΕ, δεν τις χρησιμοποιούν συχνά, ούτε ποσοτικά ούτε ποιοτικά, στη διδασκαλία τους. Ταυτόχρονα, η διατριβή εξετάζει το πώς διάφοροι τύποι εμποδίων και δυσκολιών, όπως ο ανεπαρκής υλικοτεχνικός εξοπλισμός και το εκπαιδευτικό λογισμικό στα σχολεία, καθώς και η έλλειψη εκπαίδευσης των εκπαιδευτικών στις ΤΠΕ, δεν συμβάλλουν ως προς την ενσωμάτωσή τους. Επιπλέον, μελετάται εάν η εφαρμογή των ΤΠΕ αυξάνει τη σχολική επίδοση των μαθητών με ειδικές εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες μέσω μιας πειραματικής διαδικασίας. Συγκεκριμένα, επισημαίνεται πώς η αξιοποίηση υπολογιστών και ΤΠΕ για την ολοκλήρωση ασκήσεων οδηγεί τους μαθητές σε λιγότερα λάθη σε σχέση με αυτούς που καλούνται να τις επιλύσουν μόνο μέσω απλών παραδοσιακών φύλλων εργασίας. Τέλος, εξετάζεται ο ρόλος της σχολικής διοίκησης και πώς αυτή επηρεάζει τα εξεταζόμενα θέματα της διατριβής.
Asymptotic and computational mathematical and electromagnetic (EM) methods for the solution of the Sommerfeld radiation problem
Authors: Μπουργιώτης Σωτήριος
Published: January 2025

Αντικείμενο της διατριβής είναι η μελέτη ασυμπτωτικών και αριθμητικών μεθόδων για την επίλυση του προβλήματος ακτινοβολίας Sommerfeld (κατακόρυφο δίπολο υπεράνω γης). Αρχικά, προτείνεται η χρήση της μεθόδου των γενικευμένων λύσεων των εξισώσεων Maxwell, χάρη στην οποία προκύπτουν σχετικά εύκολα οι εκφράσεις του Ηλεκτρομαγνητικού (ΗΜ) πεδίου, με την μορφή των γνωστών ολοκληρωμάτων Sommerfeld (SI). Εν συνεχεία, εξετάζονται οι ασυμπτωτικές μέθοδοι στάσιμης φάσης (Stationary Phase Method, SPM) και απότομης κατάβασης (Saddle Point Method, SDP), οι οποίες έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί πολλάκις στην βιβλιογραφία για τη μελέτη διάφορων προβλημάτων ΗΜ σκέδασης. Εφαρμόζοντας τις μεθόδους αυτές στο πρόβλημα του Sommerfeld καταλήγουμε στις εκφράσεις γεωμετρικής οπτικής για το ΗΜ πεδίο, δηλαδή στο κύμα χώρου. Έπειτα, εστιάζουμε στον αριθμητικό υπολογισμό των ολοκληρωμάτων Sommerfeld, εργασία μη τετριμμένη, ένεκα της ιδιάζουσας συμπεριφοράς των SI (έντονη ταλάντωση της υπό ολοκλήρωση συνάρτησης, παρουσία ανώμαλων σημείων, άπειρα όρια ολοκλήρωσης), γεγονός που καθιστά τους κλασικούς αλγορίθμους ολοκλήρωσης αναποτελεσματικούς. Εντούτοις, με κατάλληλο μαθηματικό χειρισμό και την εφαρμογή μερικών πολύ απλών αλλαγών μεταβλητής, επιτυγχάνουμε την απομάκρυνση όλων των ανωμαλιών και την εξαγωγή ολοκληρωτικών εκφράσεων που συγκλίνουν ταχύτητα με την μεταβλητή ολοκλήρωσης. Έτσι, καθίσταται πλέον εφικτή η χρήση τυπικών τεχνικών αριθμητικής ολοκλήρωσης (π.χ. μέθοδος τραπεζίου, μέθοδος Simpsons), χάρη στις οποίες, πράγματι, το ΗΜ πεδίο μπορεί να υπολογιστεί με εξαιρετική ακρίβεια και σε ικανοποιητικό χρόνο.Τέλος, επιστρέφουμε στην ασυμπτωτική ανάλυση του προβλήματος και προτείνουμε μια τροποποιημένη SDP μέθοδο, η οποία κάνει χρήση ενός πρότυπου ολοκληρώματος (''Etalon Integral'') με γνωστές ιδιότητες και χαρακτηριστικά. Με κατάλληλο χειρισμό του Etalon Integral και την βοήθεια των συναρτήσεων σφάλματος και των ολοκληρωμάτων Fresnel καταλήγουμε σε ενδιαφέρουσες εκφράσεις κλειστής μορφής, που προσεγγίζουν με μεγαλύτερη ακρίβεια το πεδίο, σε σχέση με τις τυπικές SPM/SDP μεθόδους, ενώ ταυτόχρονα περιγράφουν και τον μηχανισμό διάδοσης, υπό ορισμένες συνθήκες ζεύξης. Η σύγκριση των διαφόρων ασυμπτωτικών μορφών γίνεται με σημείο αναφοράς τις τιμές του πεδίου που λαμβάνονται με την ακριβή NI μέθοδο, στην οποία αναφερθήκαμε ανωτέρω. Η διατριβή κλείνει με επισκόπηση των βασικότερων ευρημάτων και έναν σύντομο σχολιασμό για την αξία, τους περιορισμούς τους, καθώς και δυνητικές μελλοντικές επεκτάσεις. Επιπρόσθετα, τοποθετούμαστε αναφορικά με το διφορούμενο ζήτημα της ύπαρξης του κύματος επιφανείας, ως αποτέλεσμα της ενδελεχούς ανάλυσης της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας, η οποία, επίσης, αποτελεί βασικό αντικείμενο της παρούσης.
Η Οργανωσιακή Μάθηση ως Στρατηγικό Μέσο Ανάπτυξης του Ανθρώπινου Δυναμικού και Βελτίωσης του Εργασιακού Περιβάλλοντος: Η Περίπτωση των Διακεκριμένων Επιχειρήσεων με το Καλύτερο Εργασιακό Περιβάλλον στην Ελλάδα
Authors: Γκεβορκιάν Χρυσούλα , Τσιμπουκλή Άννα
Published: January 2025

Βασική επιδίωξη των σύγχρονων οργανισμών είναι η απόκτηση ανταγωνιστικού πλεονεκτήματος διαρκείας, προκειμένου να ανταπεξέλθουν στις απαιτήσεις του πολύπλοκου και ασταθούς περιβάλλοντος των οργανισμών. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, αρκετές επιχειρήσεις προσπαθούν να μετασχηματιστούν σε οργανισμούς μάθησης. Η παρούσα  εργασία είχε ως σκοπό να διερευνήσει κατά πόσο οι επιχειρήσεις που έχουν διακριθεί ως οι επιχειρήσεις με το καλύτερο εργασιακό περιβάλλον στην Ελλάδα παρέχουν ευκαιρίες μάθησης στους εργαζόμενούς τους στον χώρο εργασίας. Τα δεδομένα της έρευνας συλλέχθηκαν μέσω της διανομής  αυτοχορηγούμενων ερωτηματολογίων σε 80 άτομα που εργάζονται σε επιχείρηση, η οποία έχει διακριθεί από τον διεθνώς αναγνωρισμένο οργανισμό, Great Place to Work, ως μία από τις επιχειρήσεις με το καλύτερο εργασιακό περιβάλλον στην Ελλάδα. Για τους σκοπούς της μελέτης αξιοποιήθηκε  το έγκυρο και αξιόπιστο εργαλείο DLOQ-Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (η εκδοχή των 55 στοιχείων), ώστε να αξιολογηθούν οι διαστάσεις του οργανισμού μάθησης και η οργανωσιακή απόδοση. Τα ευρήματα της μελέτης δείχνουν ότι, η εξεταζόμενη επιχείρηση φέρει τα χαρακτηριστικά ενός οργανισμού μάθησης και η ενσωμάτωση των επτά διαστάσεων ενός οργανισμού μάθησης έχει θετικό αντίκτυπο στην οργανωσιακή της απόδοση. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα, η εξεταζόμενη επιχείρηση αναγνωρίζει την αξίατης καλλιέργειας μαθησιακής κουλτούρας για την ενίσχυση της αποτελεσματικότητας του οργανισμού και για τον λόγο αυτό προβαίνει στις ενέργειες που απαιτούνται για την ανάπτυξη και την εκπαίδευση του ανθρώπινου δυναμικού της προκειμένου να επιτύχει τους στόχους της.
Editorial Note
Authors: Kedraka Katerina , Karalis Thanassis
Published: January 2025

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Case Report: A giant ruptured splenic hydatic cyst in a patient with a complete situs inversus: Diagnostic challenge and intra-operative difficulties
Authors: Chaka Amina , Boujelbène Wael , Chaabouni Amin , Bahloul Mohamed Ali , Kardoun Nizar , Boujelben Salah
Published: January 2025

The splenic localization of hydatid cysts is extremely rare. A 50-year-old obese female who consults with a painful and febrile syndrome of the right hypochondrium. Abdominal ultrasound and a CT scan computed tomography revealed a complete situs inversus, a mass of the right hypochondrium measuring 152 mm with membrane detachment, and infiltration of the surrounding fat, evoking a type II complicated splenic hydatic cyst. The patient was operated on in an emergency via midline laparotomy. Exploration revealed situs inversus, an angiant cyst of the spleen. Exposition of the splenic pedicle is difficult. The samples were then infected. Total splenectomy was performed. The postoperative period was unproblematic, and the patient was discharged with antibiotic and antiparasitic treatment and habitual vaccination.
Ayurveda; safety, effectiveness, and acceptance around the world
Authors: M Alswaidi Fahad , A Abualssayl Abdullah
Published: January 2025

Ayurveda is one of the oldest holistic healthcare approaches in the world, underpinning the interdependency of mind, body, and spirit in encouraging harmony and preventing disease. The safety and effectiveness of Ayurveda were explored systematically through this review in various global contexts, including its historical development, current practice, and epidemiological trends. This study assesses the integration of Ayurveda into healthcare systems by analyzing experiences in India, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East and its potential to contribute to global health challenges. As Ayurveda’s originator, India has established a robust regulatory framework, extensive clinical research, and government policy support for its integration into mainstream medicine. Evidence supports the efficacy of Ayurvedic therapies, such as Panchakarma and herbal formulations, for treating chronic diseases with minimal side effects. Ayurveda has entered the fold of complementary and alternative medicine in the United States and Germany. Ayurveda treatments have been shown to be effective in various conditions, such as diabetes and arthritis, although regulatory inconsistencies and quality assurance remain significant barriers. There is a cultural affinity towards traditional medicine in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, leading to a growing adoption supported by collaborative initiatives and research. Despite the globally relevant Ayurveda, the non-uniform nature of regulatory standards, lack of large-scale clinical trials, and standardization of formulations form barriers to its more general acceptance. Recommendations for the future include fostering interdisciplinary research, harmonizing regulation, and leveraging digital health in furthering personalized medicine. This study underscores Ayurveda’s transformative potential in global healthcare, advocating sustainable, patient-centered solutions to address chronic and emerging health issues.
[in]visibles. Precursoras del arte y de la conservación del patrimonio cultural
Authors: Molina-Liñán Mercedes
Published: January 2025

El libro presenta una exposición que destaca el papel de 20 mujeres influyentes en el arte y la conservación del patrimonio cultural en España. Históricamente, la participación femenina en estos campos ha sido limitada o poco reconocida. El acceso a la educación universitaria y los cambios sociales de las últimas décadas del siglo XX permitieron a las mujeres incorporarse a la ciencia y la divulgación científica. La exposición reflexiona sobre estas pioneras, enfocándose en sus esfuerzos para destacar en el ámbito cultural. El proyecto busca difundir referentes femeninos en cultura y patrimonio, ampliando así el restringido imaginario cultural que ha ocultado sus aportaciones. La exposición fue financiada por ayudas del Vicerrectorado de Servicios Sociales y el Plan de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla.
Symbioza polityki z estetyką
Authors: Łukomski Piotr
Published: January 2025

SYMBIOTIC RELATIONS BETWEEN POLITICS AND AESTHETICS
The paper is an extension of the thesis on the essential relationships between the spaces of meanings determined by the conceptualisations of politics and aesthetics at the level of language and perception. Discovering these relations is the basis for building a research project in the form of semantics of political phenomena understood as a research project in the field of political theory. Politics in the proposed model is conditioned by the structure of the social cultural space shaped by the feedback loops between language, imagination and perception that determine political behaviour. At the level of meta analysis, the above model fits in with the results of empirical research and theoretical approaches to cognitive processes in cognitive sciences, in which perception is the basis for higher cognitive levels, including political thinking and political axiology.
Między widzialnością a autentycznością w demokracji
Authors: Łukomski Piotr , Pierzchalski Filip
Published: January 2025

BETWEEN VISIBILITY AND AUTHENTICITY IN DEMOCRACY: THE SPACE OF POLITICS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF HANNAH ARENDT AND ITS CONTEMPORARY RECONFIGURATIONS
The aim of the article is to look at the pluralistic democratic space of politics as a game of appearances devoid of authenticity, and shaped by contemporary media technologies in which political opinions have become a derivative of social cognition, referring primarily to perception (visualisation of politics). In this role, it replaced public debate, diversified in form and content, referring to the principles of rationality, which reflected the competitive system of interests and ideas. The theoretical basis for presenting democratic practice as a theatre game – more precisely, a strictly enacted and inauthentic staging based on diverse visual communication – will be Hannah Arendt’s phenomenological perspective. According to the philosopher, the space of politics is mainly a public area of exchange and confrontation in the dimension of visibility and audibility, where we are dealing with revealing ourselves (political actors) in the space of appearance (the articulation process as a result of subjective activity). The starting point for presenting the tension between authenticity and visibility resulting from Arendt’s assumptions will be a discussion of the attributes of a contemporary pluralistic society from the point of view of her theory of the human condition.
Europocentryzm
Authors: Kufliński Mateusz
Published: January 2025

EUROCENTRISM: A PROPOSAL FOR A THEORETICAL AXIAL MODEL
The article is a proposal of a model for mapping Eurocentrism in the social sciences and humanities. The model consists of two axes, the materialistic axis and the epistemological axis. The aim of the model is 1) to approximate the meaning of Eurocentrism, 2) to help answer the question whether something (statement, theory, concept, etc.) is Eurocentric, and if so, in what sense. The author begins by explaining the relationship between Eurocentrism and ethnocentrism. On selected examples, he presents a model, describing what the materialistic and epistemological axes refer to. Then, in the next two examples, the author shows the practical application of the model, which reveals its ambivalent and relational character. Finally, the author indicates areas requiring further research.
An Optimization-Based Scheduling Methodology for Appointment Systems with Heterogeneous Customers and Nonstationary Arrival Processes
Authors: Chatterjee Sohom , Hebaish Youssef , Aprahamian Hrayer , Ntaimo Lewis
Published: January 2025

In this paper, we analyze appointment systems involving heterogeneous customers, each requesting different services, with nonstationary arrival processes. The main goal is to identify server schedules that lead to good-performing systems, which we measure through the expected system time and the number of customer rejections. This decision problem arises in a number of applications and is especially relevant when certain service types dominate other service types. A key challenge in this analysis is the lack of closed-form analytical expressions that characterize the performance of the system. In this work, we construct a stylized optimization model based on a pointwise stationary approximation that emulates the original stochastic system. An analysis of the resulting stylized model comprised of a single customer type leads to key structural properties which we use to devise a globally convergent solution scheme that runs in polynomial time. This solution scheme is then generalized to the case of multiple customer types for two different formulations of the decision problem. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, we conduct a case study on Texas A&M University’s College and Psychological Services. Our results show that our optimal solutions substantially improve the performance of the system over current practices by reducing access time for critical mental health services by as much as 56%. Our analysis also identifies an easily implementable scheduling policy consisting of a single modification whose performance is within 10% of the more complex policies.

History: Accepted by J. Paul Brooks, Area Editor for Applications in Biology, Medicine, & Healthcare.

Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2023.0039 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2023.0039 . The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .
Recursive McCormick Linearization of Multilinear Programs
Authors: Cardonha Carlos , Raghunathan Arvind , Bergman David , Nohra Carlos
Published: January 2025

Linear programming (LP) relaxations are widely employed in exact solution methods for multilinear programs (MLPs). These relaxations can be obtained by using recursive McCormick linearizations (RMLs), by which an MLP is linearized by iteratively substituting bilinear products with artificial variables and constraints. This article introduces a systematic approach to identifying RMLs. We focus on identifying RMLs with a small number of artificial variables and strong LP bounds. We present a novel mechanism for representing all the possible RMLs, which we use to design an exact mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation to identify minimum-size RMLs; this problem is NP-hard in general, but we show that it is fixed-parameter tractable if each monomial is composed of at most three variables. Moreover, we explore the structural properties of our formulation to derive an exact MIP model that identifies RMLs of a given size with the best-possible LP relaxation bound. We test our algorithms by conducting numerical experiments on a large collection of MLPs. Numerical results indicate that the RMLs obtained with our algorithms can be significantly smaller than those derived from heuristic or greedy approaches, leading, in many cases, to tighter LP relaxation bounds. Moreover, our linearization strategies can be used to reformulate MLPs as quadratically constrained programs (QCPs), which can then be efficiently solved using state-of-the-art solvers for QCPs. This QCP-based solution approach is highly beneficial for hard MLP instances.

History: Accepted by Andrea Lodi, Area Editor for Design & Analysis of Algorithms—Discrete.
Theatre Safety Club 2024
Authors: Rajagopalan Upasana
Published: January 2025

The Theatre Safety Club 2024 took place on 6 November in London and on 26 November in Newcastle. The CPDcertified event aimed to educate and provide insight into safety in the operating theatre, boasting an impressive line-up of speakers and sessions that were well attended. The conference was sponsored by Cardinal Health, a leading healthcare company providing value-based product solutions, with a comprehensive portfolio covering mechanical thromboprophylaxis, nutritional insufficiency solutions, thermometry and surgical gloves.
Financially equipped
Authors: White Emma
Published: January 2025

OCT equipment not only boosts the clinical profile of a practice, increases patient loyalty and profits, it also reduces the burden of false positive referrals to over-stretched hospitals. Emma White reports
On the frontline 8
Authors: Douglass Tony
Published: January 2025

Tony Douglass discusses what OAs need to consider in day-to-day interactions with younger patients
Fine-tuning the process
Authors: Hale Mike
Published: January 2025

Mike Hale gets the inside story from Jim Dickson about how Mark'ennovy won the Contact Lens Award at the Optician Awards 2023
Bridging science and practice
Authors: Patel Sunni
Published: January 2025

With World Mental Health Day coming up on October 10, 2024, trained optometrist and health coach, Dr Sunni Patel considers whether the practice of mindfulness could play a role in future optometric practice
National Eye Health Week 2024 ends on a high note
Authors: Patchett Lucy
Published: January 2025

Lucy Patchett reports on strong involvement across the profession during the awareness week
In the running in 2024
Authors: Bennett Chris
Published: January 2025

Six weeks from now the winners of the 2024 Optician Awards will be announced at a glittering black-tie bash in London. Chris Bennett reveals who our judges shortlisted and how you can join in the fun
Putting partners first
Authors: White Emma
Published: January 2025

Winner of the 2023 Optician Awards Lens Award Carl Zeiss Vision speaks to Emma White about sustainability, product innovation and customer partnerships
Eye Health sector mobilises for World Sight Day
Authors: Thebault Alice
Published: January 2025

Alice Thebault rounds up the sector's activity for the annual awareness raising event
Multiple success
Authors: White Emma
Published: January 2025

Multiple Practice of the Year winner Specsavers Northampton's retail director Mukesh Patel reflects on the practice's ongoing mission to provide affordable eyewear and outstanding clinical care. Emma White reports
CPD: Optometric practice
Authors: Price Andrew D.
Published: January 2025

In this fourth article Andrew Price consider how dry eye drops have developed to support the complex nature of the tear film
Fitting myopia management into life
Authors: Lumb Elizabeth , Grewal Indie
Published: January 2025

With myopia management moved into core College of Optometrist guidance, Elizabeth Lumb and Indie Grewal examine the viewpoints of a practitioner and a family member involved in a child’s myopia journey
The ocular surface in digital eye strain
Authors: Pucker Andrew
Published: January 2025

Dr Andrew Pucker summarises how impact on the ocular surface forms a key component of digital eye strain and offers simple, practical advice on how symptoms may be mitigated
People power
Authors: Jones Simon
Published: January 2025

Optimum Coatings sales director Mark Marland tells Simon Jones how putting the company in an employee ownership trust has re-energised the business and reengaged the workforce
Smart and sparkly
Authors: Thébault Alice
Published: January 2025

Alice Thébault previews EssilorLuxottica's autumn/winter 2024 eyewear launches
Report sheds light on hidden impact of hearing loss
Authors: Thébault Alice
Published: January 2025

Specsavers research has estimated the economy could see a £25bn benefit from a better grip on hearing. Alice Thébault reports
Food for Thought
Authors: Fanning Paul
Published: January 2025

Food waste is a major headache for UK manufacturers, but how can it best be addressed?
Immersive Technology Boosts Service
Authors: Mazzoleni Anna
Published: January 2025

Technologies such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence have a major role to play in manufacturing maintenance
Making Sense of Digital Transformation
Authors: Fanning Paul
Published: January 2025

Donna Edwards, director of trailblazing North West Adoption Programme, warns that tackling change in the wrong way risks wasted time and money
The effect of heterogeneous adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices on household food and nutrition security of small-scale urban crop farmers in eThekwini Municipality
Authors: Khumalo Nolwazi Z. , Sibanda Melusi , Mdoda Lelethu
Published: January 2025

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses food security issues under climate change. The research examined the effect of adopting CSA practices on food and nutrition security by small-scale urban crop (SSUC) farmers in the eThekwini (ETH) Municipalityusing purposive sampling from 412 SSUC farmers. Results suggest that socio-demographic and institutional factors influence household consumption patterns and dietary status of SSUC farmers. The probit selection model show that the farmer’s age, education, household size, off-farm income, monthly expenditure on food, agricultural training, group membership, and credit access significantly influenced CSA practices adoption decisions. The endogenous switching regression using marginal treatment effects shows that farm income, off-farm income, monthly expenditure on food, group membership, hired labour and distance to the farming site significantly affected household food consumption patterns. Gender, marital status, employment status, age, household size, farm and off-farm income, monthly expenditure on food, group membership, hired labour and number of part-time labourers from households significantly influenced the household dietary diversity status of SSUC farmers. The findings confirm heterogeneity in the effects of adopting CSA practices. Unobserved benefits are prevalent through a positive selection of CSA practices depicted by the Household Food Consumption Score (HFCS) and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). Adopting CSA practices enhanced the food and nutrition of SSCU farmers, shown by the average treatment effects (ATT) when farmers adopt CSA practices. Adopting CSA practices correlated positively with the food and nutrition security of SSUC farmers, with adopters being 16 and 31 percent more food secure concerning HFCS and HDDS, respectively. Hence, SSUC farmers in ETH Municipality adopting CSA practices were likely better off regarding food consumption patterns and dietary diversity. In light of this, a nexus between SSUC farmers, researchers, and extension services must consider suitable sets of CSA practices of relevant scale chosen and directed toward the welfare of localised contexts.
Does age of ADHD medication initiation predict long-term risk of anxiety? A scoping review
Authors: Fletcher Margaret , Ledbetter Leila , Alonso Patricia , Ansah Osborn Owusu , Short Olivia , Reuter-Rice Karin
Published: January 2025

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with mental health comorbidities, including anxiety. The purpose of this review is to describe evidence regarding the relationship between timing of ADHD medication initiation and long-term anxiety outcomes. Anxiety has a unique relationship to ADHD, as it tends to present earlier in individuals with ADHD compared to those without ADHD and can precede or co-occur with other disorders such as depression. Despite evidence that psychostimulant treatment can reduce short-term anxiety symptoms, the effects of ADHD medication on anxiety long-term are less clear, and the influence of age at medication initiation is unknown. This scoping review included a search of the databases MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Elsevier), and Web of Science (Clarivate). The search was conducted by a professional medical librarian in consultation with the author team and included keywords and subject headings representing ADHD, children, medication, and anxiety. Searches yielded a total of 3516 citations after removal of duplicates. Titles and abstracts were screened independently by two reviewers, and conflicts were resolved via discussion. Full-text articles were screened independently by a team of reviewers. Data extraction was completed independently by two reviewers. All screening and data extraction activities were piloted prior to completion. Two articles were selected for inclusion, and neither article found a relationship between age at ADHD medication initiation and long-term anxiety outcomes. Literature examining the relationship between age at ADHD medication initiation and long-term anxiety outcomes is scarce. Neither of the two articles included in this review revealed a significant relationship, however these results must be considered in light of major limitations. Future research is needed to discover the effects of age at ADHD medication initiation on long-term anxiety. This topic is of importance in development of clinical and policy interventions increasing access to early diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.
Immunoinformatics design of a novel multiepitope vaccine candidate against non-typhoidal salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Kentucky using outer membrane proteins A, C, and F
Authors: Igomu Elayoni E. , Mamman Paul H. , Adamu Jibril , Muhammad Maryam , Woziri Abubarkar O. , Sugun Manasa Y. , Benshak John A. , Anyika Kingsley C. , Sam-Gyang Rhoda , Ehizibolo David O.
Published: January 2025

The global public health risk posed by Salmonella Kentucky (S. Kentucky) is rising, particularly due to the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes in human and animal populations. This serovar, widespread in Africa, has emerged as a notable cause of non-typhoidal gastroenteritis in humans. In this study, we used a bioinformatics approach to develop a peptide-based vaccine targeting epitopes from the outer membrane proteins A, C, and F of S. Kentucky. Additionally, we employed flagellin protein (fliC) from Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) as an adjuvant to enhance the vaccine’s effectiveness. Through this approach, we identified 14 CD8+ and 7 CD4+ T-cell epitopes, which are predicted to be restricted by various MHC class I and MHC class II alleles. The predicted epitopes are expected to achieve a population coverage of 94.91% when used in vaccine formulations. Furthermore, we identified seven highly immunogenic linear B-cell epitopes and three conformational B-cell epitopes. These T-cell and B-cell epitopes were then linked using appropriate linkers to create a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV). To boost the immunogenicity of the peptide construct, fliC from S. Typhimurium was included at the N-terminal. The resulting MEV construct demonstrated high structural quality and favorable physicochemical properties. Molecular docking studies with Toll-like receptors 1, 2, 4, and 5, followed by molecular dynamic simulations, suggested that the vaccine-receptor complexes are energetically feasible, stable, and robust. Immune simulation results showed that the MEV elicited significant responses, including IgG, IgM, CD8+ T-cells, CD4+ T-cells, and various cytokines (IFN-γ, TGF-β, IL-2, IL-10, and IL-12), along with a noticeable reduction in antigen levels. Despite these promising in-silico findings, further validation through preclinical and clinical trials is required to confirm the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.
National assessment on the frequency of pain medication prescribed for intrauterine device insertion procedures within the Veterans Affairs Health Care System
Authors: Ware Anna D. , Blumke Terri L. , Hoover Peter J. , Veigulis Zach P. , Ferguson Jacqueline M. , Pillai Malvika , Osborne Thomas F.
Published: January 2025

Background

The intrauterine device (IUD) is a highly effective form of long-acting reversible contraception, widely recognized for its convenience and efficacy. Despite its benefits, many patients report moderate to severe pain during and after their IUD insertion procedure. Furthermore, reports suggest significant variability in pain control medications, including no adequate pain medication. The aim of this evaluation was to assess the pharmaceutical pain medication types, proportions, and trends related to IUD insertion procedures within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods

IUD insertion procedures documented in the VA electronic health record were assessed from 1/1/2018 to 10/13/2023. Descriptive statistics described patient and facility characteristics while annual trends were assessed using linear regression.

Results

Out of the 28,717 procedures captured, only 11.4% had any form of prescribed pain medication identified. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) were the most frequently prescribed pain medication category (8.3%), with ibuprofen being the most common pain medication overall (6.1%). Over the assessment period, there was an average annual increase of 0.52% (p = 0.038) of procedures with prescribed pain medication, increasing from 10.3% in 2018 to 13.3% in 2023.

Conclusions

Although IUD insertion procedures have been seeing an increase in prescribed pain medication, the overall proportion remains disproportionality low relative to the pain experienced. Additionally, when pain interventions were initiated, they disproportionally utilized medication that have been shown to be ineffective. The intent of the work is that the information will help guide data driven pain medication strategies for patients undergoing IUD insertion procedures within the VHA.