bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Recent Advancements and Mechanism of Plastics Biodegradation Promoted by Bacteria: A Key for Sustainable Remediation for Plastic Wastes
Authors: Kaur Kohinoor , Sharma Samiksha , Shree Nidhi , Mehrotra Rekha
Published: April 2023

ABSTRACT: Plastic has become an indispensable part of our lives and cutting down plastic consumption entirely is difficult to achieve. The recalcitrant and non-biodegradable nature of plastic leads to accumulation of tons of plastic in landfills and water bodies which further risks marine life and human life too causing serious health issues. In recent years, several microbial enzymes have been discovered that have the ability to degrade plastic. The present review highlights the recent discovery and properties of the plastic-eating bacteria, Ideonella sakaiensis, that has potential to be used for plastic degradation and recycling. The bacteria possess unique enzymes that allow it to utilise Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, thereby degrading it to relatively safer monomeric forms that can be further degraded and purified to manufacture recycled plastics. The review focuses on the mechanism of PET hydrolysis, recent advances in the field to escalate enzymatic efficiency and development of new bacterial and enzymatic strains through genetic engineering which can enhance its catalytic competence and make the process time and cost-effective. The plastic metabolising bacteria can thus be a potential and efficient bio-alternative to degrade plastic in a biological and sustainable manner thereby helping scale the otherwise insurmountable plastic pollution crisis.
Perspective: Preparing Leaders to Engineer Sustainability and Resilience Across the Food Chain Through the Grand Challenges Scholars Program
Authors: Miller Richard K. , Yortsos Yannis C.
Published: April 2023

Highlights

Addressing the complex political, economic, and societal challenges inherent in sustainable agriculture and food production requires interdisciplinary thinking and approaches.

Relevant pedagogical models and extracurricular experiences can be provided by the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, now spread to nearly 100 universities globally.

The complexities of agriculture and food production today can be addressed by future engineering leaders based on this program.

Abstract. The education of engineers and other professionals to address the global grand challenge of sustainable food production will require much more than excellent technical skills. New mindsets, human-centered design principles, and collaborative leadership skills will be required to develop leaders who will be successful in addressing the complex political, economic, and societal challenges inherent in sustainable agriculture and food production today. This will require supplementing—not replacing—the technical core of engineering education with new pedagogical models and extracurricular experiences. One such model that has proven effective in this area and has spread to nearly 100 universities globally is the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. This article explains how the complexities of agriculture and food production today can be addressed by future engineering leaders based on this program. Keywords: Food chain, Sustainable agriculture.
Co-Harvest and Anaerobic Co-Storage of Corn Grain and Stover as Biomass Feedstocks
Authors: Pike Benjamin C. , Shinners Kevin J. , Timm Aaron J. , Friede Josh , Digman Matthew Francis
Published: April 2023

Highlights

Cutting height and harvest date were used to alter stover moisture content, yield, and composition.

Anaerobic co-storage of grain and stover limited losses to less than 6% of dry matter.

Extent of fermentation was greater for higher moisture stover than grain, but total acids were less than 5 g kg-1.

Reducing the harvester cutter head rotational speed resulted in a greater fraction of whole corn kernels.

Abstract. This research investigated the utility of co-harvesting and anaerobic co-storage of corn grain and stover to positively influence their physical and chemical characteristics as a biomass feedstock. Corn grain and stover were harvested in 2019 and 2020 with a self-propelled forage harvester. Stover yield, moisture content, and composition were altered by the harvest date, stubble height, and header configuration. Harvest date had the utility of varying the stover moisture content (p < 0.001) from 42.3% to 53.5% (w.b.) and 43.1% to 53.9% (w.b.) for the 2019 and 2020 harvest years, respectively. Stubble height was also utilized to vary stover moisture content. A negative linear relationship was established between stubble height and stover moisture content for the early (R2 = 0.76) and late harvest (R2 = 0.91) dates for both years. Stover yield also showed a negative linear relationship (R2 = 0.76) with stubble height over both years. Regardless of the stubble height, the row-crop header collected more stover (p < 0.001) than the ear-snapper header. In 2020, harvested stover ranged from 5.0 to 10.5 Mg ha-1, with ha-1 representing 41% to 85% of the total available stover. In both years, stover ash content was less than 64 g kg-1. Material stored in pilot-scale silos (19 L) was well conserved during anaerobic storage, with average DM losses of 4.8% and 3.4% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Grain moisture content averaged 23.6% (w.b.) at harvest, and 31.0% (w.b.) after storage as moisture migrated from the moist stover to the drier grain. Harvesting whole-plant corn with a forage harvester had the unwanted effect of reducing the particle size of the grain fraction, which would complicate downstream utilization. However, reducing the harvester cutterhead speed increased the fraction of intact kernels from 47% to 85% by mass. The studied system was a viable alternative to conventional corn grain and stover systems for producing feedstocks for biochemical conversion. Keywords: Ash, Ensiling, Ethanol, Maize.
A Drain Spacing Tool That Estimates the Optimum Subsurface Drain Spacing for Maximum Profit
Authors: Ghane Ehsan , Nejadhashemi A. Pouyan , Kropp Ian
Published: April 2023

Highlights

An empirical equation was embedded in a user-friendly tool to estimate the site-specific design drainage rate.

The site-specific design drainage rate was based on the local soil, weather, and economics of the area of interest.

The tool uses the site-specific design drainage rate to estimate the optimum drain spacing.

The optimum drain spacing maximizes the economic return on investment.

Abstract. Properly estimating the subsurface drain spacing is critical to optimizing crop production. The Hooghoudt equation can be used in humid climates to approximate the drain spacing. However, the application of this equation has been limited due to site-specific data requirements and because it is a complicated process that is not usually practical for practitioners. Traditionally, drainage contractors have chosen a drain spacing without using the Hooghoudt equation. The objective of this article is to develop a user-friendly decision-support tool that estimates the site-specific optimum drain spacing for maximum economic return on investment. We developed the Drain Spacing Tool for the Midwest USA based on the Hooghoudt equation and site-specific inputs. The tool automatically acquires the site-specific equivalent saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil profile and depth to the restrictive layer from the gSSURGO database, and the user manually enters the desired drain depth. The site-specific input of design drainage rate (DDR), that is required in the Hooghoudt equation, is estimated from an empirical equation that was developed from a DRAINMOD modeling study. The site-specific inputs for the empirical equation include site-specific 30-year average growing-season rainfall, drain depth, equivalent saturated hydraulic conductivity, and depth to the restrictive layer, all of which are automatically acquired from gSSURGO, except for the rainfall data, which was acquired from the PRISM Climate Group. The site-specific DDR value from the empirical equation was then used in the Hooghoudt equation to estimate the optimum drain spacing that maximizes economic return on investment. In conclusion, the tool estimates the site-specific optimum drain spacing based on the local soil, weather, and economics of the area of interest. Keywords: Decision-support tool, Design drainage rate, DRAINMOD, Farm profitability, Tile drainage.
Electrospinning with Droplet Generators: A Method for Continuous Electrospinning of Emulsion Fibers
Authors: Jensen Bjarke N. , Pedersen Thor L. V. , Fojan Peter
Published: April 2023

Emulsion electrospinning is a promising method for creating fibrous vehicles for delivery of drugs and bioactive compounds for the medical and food industries. Droplet microfluidics is a potent way of continuously generating controllable emulsion droplets. The incorporation of a droplet generator in an electrospinning setup for continuous electrospinning of emulsion fibers has been investigated. The influence of a droplet generator on the morphology of emulsion fibers has been established through electrospinning of emulsions of grapeseed oil in PVA and gelatine. The droplet generator was found to have no influence on the morphology of fibers. Conventional emulsification methods and droplet generator emulsification has been used to investigate the influence of emulsion droplet sizes on the morphology of emulsion fibers. Increasing the emulsion droplet size was found to create in-fiber droplets with diameters larger than the fiber diameter. The size of the in-fiber droplets was found to be dependent on both material and emulsion size.
DNA by Design: De novo Computational Framework for DNA Sequence Design and Nanotechnology
Authors: Vecchioni Simon , Sha Ruojie , Seeman Nadrian C. , Rothschild Lynn J. , Wind Shalom J.
Published: April 2023

Chemical analysis of metalized DNA has made it quite clear that traditional models of DNA thermodynamics are insufficient to predict and control self-assembly in the context of orthogonally-paired nucleotides. Recently, there has been an increase in reports of Watson-Crick assembly of DNA wires and nanostructures [1–4]. The ability to add or remove pairing rules between nucleobases toward non-Watson-Crick, or orthogonal, self-assembly alters the fundamental language of DNA assembly: this change in behavior necessitates an accompanying shift in computational design. We begin by exploring the state-of-the-art in DNA modeling, and include both sequence analysis and sequence design practices. We then start from first principles and establish a mathematical basis for heterostructure and ‘nmer’ analysis in connected DNA networks that operates without assumptions about nucleobase parity. A generalized search algorithm is then constructed in Matlab and implemented using evolutionary techniques. We then discuss DNA nanostructure design criteria, operation efficiency in differentially-connected networks, and the application of computationally-aided sequence design for nanotechnological applications. We design a double crossover DNA motif with a silver base pair modification as a test case, and demonstrate successful model implementation. In sum, we present a novel computational framework for geometry-informed optimization of DNA networks. This tool is meant to enable design of both linear and nonlinear polynucleotide assemblies with inherent modularity for base parity, metalation, or more exotic nucleotide substitutions that may arise from advances in synthetic biology, nanomaterials and nanomedicine.
Classifications of Intertrochanteric fractures and their Clinical Importance
Authors: Sonawane Dhiraj
Published: April 2023

Intertrochanteric fractures are one of the most common fractures encountered by an orthopaedic Surgeon. Many attempts to classify these fractures are made and different scientific rationale are applied by various authors. Here we tried to provide an overview of both old and new classification of intertrochanteric fractures and also provide with the clinical significance of the same Keywords: intertrochanteric fractures, hip fractures, classifications
Complications Related to Intertrochanteric fractures
Authors: Bagaria Vaibhav , Wadia Farokh
Published: April 2023

Intrertrochanteric fractures are not very prone for complications, however when complications do occur they are quite disabling and challenging. Major complications can be avoided by understanding the personality of the fracture and by choosing correct implant. Complications can be listed as implant cut out, non union, implant failure, peri implant fracture and general medical complications. In this review we present the current evidence related to complications of Intertrochanteric fracture and also certain guidelines to avoid these complications Keywords: Intertrochanteric fractures, complications, failure
Nonunion distal radius fracture – Case series of 6 cases with Review of Literature
Authors: Tanna Dilip D , Shyam Ashok K
Published: April 2023

Background: Distal radius nonunions are rare but complex problems. They can present with severe disability and functional limitation, however clear guidelines do exist due to sparse literature. We present our experience of 6 cases with review of literature Material and Methods: Retrospective review of 6 cases (4 males and 2 females) was done. Two cases were primarily treated with closed reduction and cast while others underwent surgical procedures ranging from single to 4 procedures. All were treated with open reduction, strut bone grafting using iliac crest bone graft and internal plate fixation. Darrach’s procedure was done in 4 cases and Sauvé-Kapandji in 2 patients after distal radius reconstruction. Supplementary wrist splint or below elbow plaster cast, was given in all cases for 3 wks with gradual mobilization. Results: All patients showed, radiological union at mean 4 months (range 3 to 6 months). Range of flexion extension at wrist and supination and pronation improved over 4 months period in all cases. Grip strength was 30 % weak compared with opposite side in 5 patients. There were no subsequent complications in our series and all patients reported satisfaction with the functional results Conclusions: Nonunion distal radius are rare but respond well to principles of open reduction, strut bone grafting and stable fixation. Distal radio ulna joint requires management in form of either a Sauvé Kapandji procedure (in young patient) or Darrach’s procedure (in older patients) Keywords: nonunion distal radius fracture, open reduction internal fixation, bone grafting, Sauvé Kapandji, Darrach’s procedure.
Modified dorsal tension band suture technique for management of finger tip injuries: A series of 288 fingertip injuries
Authors: Dumbre Patil Sampat Shivajirao , Patil Shailesh , Dumbre Patil Vaishali , Wavre Shankar , Karkamkar Sachin , Gandhalikar Manish
Published: April 2023

Fingertip injuries are extremely common injuries and generally result from blunt or crushing trauma that causes compression of the nail plate to the underlying bony surface. This may result in nail plate disruption, nail bed laceration, volar pulp loss or even amputations. Modified dorsal tension band suture technique is a well established, simple and useful procedure for the management of dorsal element disruptions. Partial or complete nail plate avulsion, nail bed lacerations with or without fracture of the distal phalanx can be treated by this technique. We treated 260 patients with 288 fingertip injuries by modified dorsal tension band suture technique that resulted in the reformation of normal nail plate. All patients showed excellent aesthetic and functional outcome and returned to their pre-injury occupational activity. The purpose of presenting this article is to evaluate and document the clinical outcome associated with this simple surgical technique which does not require specific hand surgery training. Keywords: Finger tip injury; nail bed laceration; partial nail plate avulsion; complete nail plate avulsion; figure of 8 loop.
Simultaneous imaging of CH*, C2∗, and temperature in flames using a DSLR camera and structured illumination
Authors: Chorey Devashish , Jagadale Vishal , Prakash Megha , Hanstorp Dag , Andersson Mats , Deshmukh Devendra , Mishra Yogeshwar Nath
Published: April 2023

Measurement of chemical species and
temperature mapping in flames is essential to understanding the
combustion process. Multiple cameras are conventionally employed for
measurement in such scenarios making the experimental setup not only
cost-intensive but also challenging. To circumvent this, structured
illumination (SI)-based methods are reported for multispecies
chemiluminescence (CL) imaging using a single camera. In this paper,
we demonstrate four-channel SI-based imaging for simultaneous snapshot CH∗ and C2∗ CL imaging and two-color pyrometry
for temperature profiles in a butane diffusion flame. We demonstrate
our approach using individual species and multiple species imaging.
Taking the advantage of the axisymmetric nature of the flame, the Abel
transform is performed on the line-of-sight averaged images to obtain
deconvoluted images. The deconvoluted maps of temperature are compared
with the temperature data obtained by using a physical thermocouple
probe.
Quantification of diversity sampling bias resulting from rice root bacterial isolation on popular and nitrogen-free culture media using 16S amplicon barcoding
Authors: Sondo Moussa , Wonni Issa , Klonowska Agnieszka , Koïta Kadidia , Moulin Lionel
Published: April 2023

Culturing bacteria from plant material is well known to be conducive to strong bias compared to the actual diversity in the original samples. This bias is related to the bacterial cultivability, chemical composition of the media and culture conditions. Recovery bias is often observed but has never been quantified on different media using an amplicon barcoding approach whereby plant microbiota DNA extractions are compared to DNA extracted from serial dilutions of the same plant tissues grown on bacterial culture media. In this study, we: i) quantified the bacterial culturing diversity bias using 16S amplicon barcode sequencing by comparing a culture-dependent approach (CDA) focused on rice roots on four commonly used bacterial media (10% and 50% TSA, plant-based medium with rice flour, nitrogen free medium NGN and NFb) versus a culture-independent approach (CIA) assessed with DNA extracted directly from root and rhizosphere samples; ii) assessed enriched and missing taxa detected on the different media; iii) used biostatistics functional predictions to highlight metabolic profiles that could potentially be enriched in the CDA and CIA. A comparative analysis of the two approaches revealed that among the 22 phyla present in microbiota of the studied rice root samples, only five were present in the CDA (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia). The Proteobacteria phylum was the most abundant in all CDA samples, showing high gamma-Proteobacteria enrichment. The diversity of the combined culture media represented about a third of the total microbiota diversity, and its genus diversity and frequency was documented. The functional prediction tool (PICRUSt2) detected nitrogenase enzyme enrichment in bacterial taxa sampled from nitrogen-free media, thus validating its predictive capacity. Further functional predictions also showed that the CDA mostly missed anaerobic, methylotrophic, methanotrophic and photosynthetic bacteria compared to the CIA, thereby generating valuable insight that could enable the design ofad-hocculture media and conditions to increase the rice-associated microbiota cultivability.
Modeling nationalism, religiosity, and threat perception: During the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Bullock Josh , Lane Justin E. , Mikloušić Igor , Shults F. LeRon
Published: April 2023

The rise of nationalism and populism in Europe has created significant political and policy challenges. Understanding and addressing these challenges will require attention to the psychological mechanisms and social dynamics that have engendered and promoted these societal shifts. This article presents the results of two new empirical studies that attempt to shed light on the relationships between nationalism, religiosity, national and religious identification, threat perception, and sentiment toward different groups. Informed by identity fusion theory and moral foundations theory, Study 1 collected and analysed survey data on these topics. Study 2 utilized the results of Study 1 to construct a system dynamics model in which causal propositions and links are added to the variables, creating an artificial society within which hypotheses about these dynamics can be tested. Both the survey and the simulation suggest that nationalism and religion are affected by the same variables. As such, religion might not be a cause of nationalism (or nationalism the cause of religion), but they could be correlated because of mutual causation.
The relationship between musical training and the processing of audiovisual correspondences: Evidence from a reaction time task
Authors: Ihalainen Riku , Kotsaridis Georgios , Vivas Ana B. , Paraskevopoulos Evangelos
Published: April 2023

Numerous studies have reported both cortical and functional changes for visual, tactile, and auditory brain areas in musicians, which have been attributed to long-term training induced neuroplasticity. Previous investigations have reported advantages for musicians in multisensory processing at the behavioural level, however, multisensory integration with tasks requiring higher level cognitive processing has not yet been extensively studied. Here, we investigated the association between musical expertise and the processing of audiovisual crossmodal correspondences in a decision reaction-time task. The visual display varied in three dimensions (elevation, symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude), while the auditory stimulus varied in pitch. Congruency was based on a set of newly learned abstract rules: “The higher the spatial elevation, the higher the tone”, “the more dots presented, the higher the tone”, and “the higher the number presented, the higher the tone”, and accuracy and reaction times were recorded. Musicians were significantly more accurate in their responses than non-musicians, suggesting an association between long-term musical training and audiovisual integration. Contrary to what was hypothesized, no differences in reaction times were found. The musicians’ advantage on accuracy was also observed for rule-based congruency in seemingly unrelated stimuli (pitch-magnitude). These results suggest an interaction between implicit and explicit processing–as reflected on reaction times and accuracy, respectively. This advantage was generalised on congruency in otherwise unrelated stimuli (pitch-magnitude pairs), suggesting an advantage on processes requiring higher order cognitive functions. The results support the notion that accuracy and latency measures may reflect different processes.
High prevalence and co-infection of high-risk Human Papillomavirus genotypes among unvaccinated young women from Paraguay
Authors: Bobadilla María Liz , Villagra Verónica , Ortiz Violeta , Deluca Gerardo , de Paula Vanessa Salete
Published: April 2023

Paraguay launched a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program in 2013, so virological surveillance is important for measuring the impact of HPV vaccines. This study aimed to estimate the type-specific HPV frequency in unvaccinated sexually active women aged 18–25 years in the metropolitan area of Asuncion as a baseline for monitoring the HPV vaccination program. This study included 208 women, attending the Central Laboratory of Public Health between May 2020 and December 2021, were invited for testing through social networks and flyers at local health centers and higher education institutes. All participants who agreed to contribute to the study signed a free, prior, and informed consent form and answered a questionnaire that included basic demographic data and determining factors of HPV infection. Human papillomavirus detection and genotyping were conducted using the CLART HPV2 test (Genomica, Madrid, Spain) that allows the individual identification of 35 genotypes. 54.8% women were positive for any HPV type, with 42.3% positive for high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) types. Several factors were associated with HPV detection including the number of sexual partners, new sexual partners, non-use of condoms, and history of other sexual infections. Moreover, multiple infections were identified in 43.0% of the young women. We detected 29 different viral types present in both single and multiple infections. HPV-58 was the most commonly detected HPV type (14.9%), followed by HPV-16, HPV-51, and HPV-66 (12.3%). We estimated the prevalence of bivalent (16/18), quadrivalent (6/11/16/18), and nonavalent (6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58) vaccine types to be 8.2%, 13%, and 38%, respectively. These results reinforce the importance of surveillance studies and provide the first data regarding circulating HPV genotypes in the unvaccinated population in Paraguay, thus generating a baseline to compare future changes in the overall and type-specific HPV prevalence after HPV vaccination.
Underlying medical conditions and anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibody titers after two doses of BNT162b2 vaccination: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Li Jiaqi , Nakagawa Takeshi , Kojima Masayo , Nishikimi Akihiko , Tokuda Haruhiko , Nishimura Kunihiro , Umezawa Jun , Tanaka Shiori , Inoue Manami , Ohmagari Norio , Yamaguchi Koushi , Takeda Kazuyoshi , Yamamoto Shohei , Konishi Maki , Miyo Kengo , Mizoue Tetsuya
Published: April 2023

Patients with underlying medical conditions are at high risk of developing serious symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 than healthy individuals; therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the immune response to vaccination among them to formulate precision and personalized vaccination strategies. However, inconsistent evidence exists regarding whether patients with underlying medical conditions have lower anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibody titers. We performed a cross-sectional study enrolling 2762 healthcare workers who received second doses of BNT162b2 vaccination from three medical and research institutes between June and July, 2021. Medical conditions were surveyed by a questionnaire, and spike IgG antibody titers were measured with chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay using serum collected on the median of 62 days after the second vaccination. Multilevel linear regression model was used to estimate geometric mean and ratio of mean (95% confidence interval, CI) for the presence and absence of medical conditions and treatments. Among all participants (median age, 40 years [interquartile range, 30–50]; male proportion, 29.4%), the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer was 7.5%, 2.3%, 3.8%, 1.8%, and 1.3%, respectively. Patients with treated hypertension had lower antibody titers than those without hypertension; the multivariable-adjusted ratio of mean (95% CI) was 0.86 (0.76–0.98). Patients with untreated and treated diabetes had lower antibody titers than those without diabetes; the multivariable-adjusted ratio of mean (95% CI) was 0.63 (0.42–0.95) and 0.77 (0.63–0.95), respectively. No substantial difference was observed between the presence or absence of chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, or cancer. Patients with untreated hypertension and patients with untreated and treated diabetes had lower spike IgG antibody titers than participants without those medical conditions, suggesting that continuous monitoring of antibody titers and further booster shots could be necessary to maintain adaptive immunity in patients with hypertension or diabetes.
An anesthesia-centered bundle to reduce postoperative pulmonary complications: The PRIME-AIR study protocol
Authors: Fernandez-Bustamante Ana , Parker Robert A. , Sprung Juraj , Eikermann Matthias , Gama de Abreu Marcelo , Ferrando Carlos , Thompson B. Taylor , Vidal Melo Marcos F.
Published: April 2023

Background

Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality after open abdominal surgery. Optimized perioperative lung expansion may minimize the synergistic factors responsible for the multiple-hit perioperative pulmonary dysfunction. This ongoing study will assess whether an anesthesia-centered bundle focused on perioperative lung expansion results in decreased incidence and severity of PPCs after open abdominal surgery.

Methods

Prospective multicenter randomized controlled pragmatic trial in 750 adult patients with at least moderate risk for PPCs undergoing prolonged (≥2 hour) open abdominal surgery. Participants are randomized to receive either a bundle intervention focused on perioperative lung expansion or usual care. The bundle intervention includes preoperative patient education, intraoperative protective ventilation with individualized positive end-expiratory pressure to maximize respiratory system compliance, optimized neuromuscular blockade and reversal management, and postoperative incentive spirometry and early mobilization. Primary outcome is the distribution of the highest PPC severity by postoperative day 7. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of participants with: PPC grades 1–2 through POD 7; PPC grades 3–4 through POD 7, 30 and 90; intraoperative hypoxemia, rescue recruitment maneuvers, or cardiovascular events; and any major extrapulmonary postoperative complications. Additional secondary and exploratory outcomes include individual PPCs by POD 7, length of postoperative oxygen therapy or other respiratory support, hospital resource use parameters, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurements (PROMIS®) questionnaires for dyspnea and fatigue collected before and at days 7, 30 and 90 after surgery, and plasma concentrations of lung injury biomarkers (IL6, IL-8, RAGE, CC16, Ang-2) analyzed from samples obtained before, end of, and 24 hours after surgery.

Discussion

Participant recruitment for this study started January 2020; results are expected in 2024. At the conclusion of this trial, we will determine if this anesthesia-centered strategy focused on perioperative lung expansion reduces lung morbidity and healthcare utilization after open abdominal surgery.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrial.gov NCT04108130.
Prioritizing tasks in software development: A systematic literature review
Authors: Bugayenko Yegor , Bakare Ayomide , Cheverda Arina , Farina Mirko , Kruglov Artem , Plaksin Yaroslav , Pedrycz Witold , Succi Giancarlo
Published: April 2023

Task prioritization is one of the most researched areas in software development. Given the huge number of papers written on the topic, it might be challenging for IT practitioners–software developers, and IT project managers–to find the most appropriate tools or methods developed to date to deal with this important issue. The main goal of this work is therefore to review the current state of research and practice on task prioritization in the Software Engineering domain and to individuate the most effective ranking tools and techniques used in the industry. For this purpose, we conducted a systematic literature review guided and inspired by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, otherwise known as the PRISMA statement. Based on our analysis, we can make a number of important observations for the field. Firstly, we found that most of the task prioritization approaches developed to date involve a specific type of prioritization strategy—bug prioritization. Secondly, the most recent works we review investigate task prioritization in terms of “pull request prioritization” and “issue prioritization,” (and we speculate that the number of such works will significantly increase due to the explosion of version control and issue management software systems). Thirdly, we remark that the most frequently used metrics for measuring the quality of a prioritization model are f-score, precision, recall, and accuracy.
Identification of Ndfip1 as a novel negative regulator for spatial memory formation associated with increased ubiquitination of Beclin 1 and PTEN
Authors: Hsu Wei-Lun , Ma Yun-Li , Chen Yan-Chu , Liu Yen-Chen , Cheng Kuang-Min , Lee Eminy H. Y.
Published: April 2023

Long-term memory formation requires de novo RNA and protein synthesis. By using the differential display-polymerase chain reaction strategy, we have presently identified the Nedd4 family interacting protein 1 (Ndfip1) cDNA fragment that is differentially expressed between the slow learners and the fast learners from the water maze learning task in rats. Further, the fast learners show decreased Ndfip1 mRNA and protein expression levels than the slow learners. Spatial training similarly decreases the Ndfip1 mRNA and protein expression levels. Conversely, the Ndfip1 conditional heterozygous (cHet) mice show enhanced spatial memory performance compared to the Ndfip1flox/WT control mice. Result from co-immunoprecipitation experiment indicates that spatial training decreases the association between Ndfip1 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase Nedd4 (Nedd4-1), and we have shown that both Beclin 1 and PTEN are endogenous ubiquitination targets of Nedd4 in the hippocampus. Further, spatial training decreases endogenous Beclin 1 and PTEN ubiquitination, and increases Beclin 1 and PTEN expression in the hippocampus. On the other hand, the Becn1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice and the Pten cKO mice both show impaired spatial learning and memory performance. Moreover, the expression level of Beclin 1 and PTEN is higher in the Ndfip1 cHet mice compared with the Ndfip1flox/WT control mice. Here, we have identified Ndfip1 as a candidate novel negative regulation for spatial memory formation and this is associated with increased ubiquitination of Beclin 1 and PTEN in the hippocampus.
Ensuring that a school-based smoking cessation program for adolescents is successful: A realist evaluation of the TABADO program and the program theory
Authors: Vallata Amandine , Alla François
Published: April 2023

Background

A smoking cessation program for adolescents, TABADO, demonstrated its effectiveness following a controlled trial conducted in 2007/2009. The program is now being scaled up nationally. In order to retain its efficacy across the diversity of contexts in the generalization process, we needed to assess the processes and mechanisms that inform its effects. Theory-driven evaluation is one approach used to address these issues. The aim of the present research is to develop the TABADO program theory. More specifically, we attempt to identify the factors and mechanisms that promote or hinder the enrollment and retention of student smokers in the program.

Methods

We conducted a realist evaluation of the TABADO program through 1) a documentary analysis to construct the initial program theory, and 2) a multiple case study (n = 10) conducted in three regions in France to test and enrich the initial theory with contextual, organizational and mechanistic components. We used the Intervention-Context-Actors-Mechanisms-Outcomes configurations to guide our analysis and to present our results.

Results

Our analysis highlighted 13 mechanisms that foster the enrollment and retention of student smokers in the TABADO program (e.g., being prepared to quit smoking, feeling encouraged in the attempt to quit smoking). To activate these mechanisms, the involvement of various actors is required (e.g., the school nurse, teachers), together with a combination of interventional and contextual factors (e.g., confidentiality, informal speaking time).

Conclusions

These findings allowed us to transform the TABADO program into a new optimized strategy, TABADO2, which is theory-based. Our research helps to explain why adolescent smokers enroll and stay in a school-based smoking cessation program. TABADO2 needs to be considered in a more comprehensive way than the original research-based TABADO, and should be tailored to its implementation context.
Aerobic exercise and action observation priming modulate functional connectivity
Authors: Mark Jasper I. , Ryan Hannah , Fabian Katie , DeMarco Kaitlin , Lewek Michael D. , Cassidy Jessica M.
Published: April 2023

Aerobic exercise and action observation are two clinic-ready modes of neural priming that have the potential to enhance subsequent motor learning. Prior work using transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess priming effects have shown changes in corticospinal excitability involving intra- and interhemispheric circuitry. The objective of this study was to determine outcomes exclusive to priming- how aerobic exercise and action observation priming influence functional connectivity within a sensorimotor neural network using electroencephalography. We hypothesized that both action observation and aerobic exercise priming would alter resting-state coherence measures between dominant primary motor cortex and motor-related areas in alpha (7–12 Hz) and beta (13–30 Hz) frequency bands with effects most apparent in the high beta (20–30 Hz) band. Nine unimpaired individuals (24.8 ± 3 years) completed a repeated-measures cross-over study where they received a single five-minute bout of action observation or moderate-intensity aerobic exercise priming in random order with a one-week washout period. Serial resting-state electroencephalography recordings acquired from 0 to 30 minutes following aerobic and action observation priming revealed increased alpha and beta coherence between leads overlying dominant primary motor cortex and supplementary motor area relative to pre- and immediate post-priming timepoints. Aerobic exercise priming also resulted in enhanced high beta coherence between leads overlying dominant primary motor and parietal cortices. These findings indicate that a brief bout of aerobic- or action observation-based priming modulates functional connectivity with effects most pronounced with aerobic priming. The gradual increases in coherence observed over a 10 to 30-minute post-priming window may guide the pairing of aerobic- or action observation-based priming with subsequent training to optimize learning-related outcomes.
“Look straight ahead”—A new test to diagnose spatial neglect by computed tomography
Authors: Coelho-Marques Joel , Hanke Jens , Schell Caroline , Andres Frank , Karnath Hans-Otto
Published: April 2023

Spatial neglect is the dominant behavioral disorder after right hemisphere brain lesions. Reliabel diagnosis by formal neuropsychological testing is often achieved only later during hospitalization, leading to delays in targeted therapies. We propose a way to diagnose spatial neglect right at admission. We measured the conjugated eye deviation (CED) on the initial computed tomography (CT) scans, in combination with the verbal instruction “Please look straight ahead” during the scan. The command was implemented in the scanner program and automatically played before a cranial CT started. This prospective study included a total 46 consecutive subjects (16 patients with first ever right brain damage and no spatial neglect, 12 patients with first ever right brain damage and spatial neglect, and 18 healthy controls). The right brain damaged groups were submitted to paper pencil tests to access the diagnosis of a spatial neglect after radiological confirmation of the brain damage during the initial phase of their hospitalisation. This procedure allowed us to define a cut-off value of 14.1 degrees of CED to the ipsilesional side to differentiate right hemispheric stroke patients with versus without spatial neglect with a confidence interval of 99%. This simple addition to a radiological routine procedure provides a new tool to help diagnose spatial neglect at the earliest stage possible and thus offers the possibility of providing patients with optimized rehabilitative therapy from a very early stage on.
A Hidradenitis Suppurativa molecular disease signature derived from patient samples by high-throughput RNA sequencing and re-analysis of previously reported transcriptomic data sets
Authors: Freudenberg Johannes M. , Liu Zhi , Singh Jennifer , Thomas Elizabeth , Traini Christopher , Rajpal Deepak K. , Sayed Christopher J.
Published: April 2023

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a common, debilitating inflammatory skin disease linked to immune dysregulation and abnormalities in follicular structure and function. Several studies have characterized the transcriptomic profile of affected and unaffected skin in small populations. In this study of 20 patients, RNA from lesional and matching non-lesional skin biopsies in 20 subjects were used to identify an expression-based HS disease signature. This was followed by differential expression and pathway enrichment analyses, as well as jointly reanalyzing our findings with previously published transcriptomic profiles. We establish an RNA-Seq based HS expression disease signature that is mostly consistent with previous reports. Bulk-RNA profiles from 104 subjects in 7 previously reported data sets identified a disease signature of 118 differentially regulated genes compared to three control data sets from non-lesional skin. We confirmed previously reported expression profiles and further characterized dysregulation in complement activation and host response to bacteria in disease pathogenesis. Changes in the transcriptome of lesional skin in this cohort of HS patients is consistent with smaller previously reported populations. The findings further support the significance of immune dysregulation, in particular with regard to bacterial response mechanisms. Joint analysis of this and previously reported cohorts indicate a remarkably consistent expression profile.
Deep learning for detection of age-related macular degeneration: A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies
Authors: Leng Xiangjie , Shi Ruijie , Wu Yanxia , Zhu Shiyin , Cai Xingcan , Lu Xuejing , Liu Ruobing
Published: April 2023

Objective

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of deep learning algorithms to identify age-related macular degeneration and to explore factors impacting the results for future model training.

Methods

Diagnostic accuracy studies published in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrails.gov before 11 August 2022 which employed deep learning for age-related macular degeneration detection were identified and extracted by two independent researchers. Sensitivity analysis, subgroup, and meta-regression were performed by Review Manager 5.4.1, Meta-disc 1.4, and Stata 16.0. The risk of bias was assessed using QUADAS-2. The review was registered (PROSPERO CRD42022352753).

Results

The pooled sensitivity and specificity in this meta-analysis were 94% (P = 0, 95% CI 0.94–0.94, I2 = 99.7%) and 97% (P = 0, 95% CI 0.97–0.97, I2 = 99.6%), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio, and the area under the curve value were 21.77(95% CI 15.49–30.59), 0.06 (95% CI 0.04–0.09), 342.41 (95% CI 210.31–557.49), and 0.9925, respectively. Meta-regression indicated that types of AMD (P = 0.1882, RDOR = 36.03) and layers of the network (P = 0.4878, RDOR = 0.74) contributed to the heterogeneity.

Conclusions

Convolutional neural networks are mostly adopted deep learning algorithms in age-related macular degeneration detection. Convolutional neural networks, especially ResNets, are effective in detecting age-related macular degeneration with high diagnostic accuracy. Types of age-related macular degeneration and layers of the network are the two essential factors that impact the model training process. Proper layers of the network will make the model more reliable. More datasets established by new diagnostic methods will be used to train deep learning models in the future, which will benefit for fundus application screening, long-range medical treatment, and reducing the workload of physicians.
Damage and failure of underground subway stations under different soil constraint conditions
Authors: Zhang Jing-Kun , Yu Zhong-Yang , Zhang Hong-Ru , Qiu Yan-Jia
Published: April 2023

Investigations from past earthquakes have shown that underground subway stations can suffer excessive deformation under strong seismic loads, leading to the damage of critical components and the collapse of structures. This study presents the results of finite element analyses on the seismic damage of underground subway stations installed under different soil constraint conditions. The plastic hinge distribution and damage characteristics of cut and cover double-storey and three-storey subway stations are analyzed using the finite element method software ABAQUS. Combined with the static analysis results of the column sections, a discriminant method for bending plastic hinges is presented. The numerical results show that the collapse of the subway stations begins with the failure of the bottom columns’ bottom sections, which leads to the bending of the plates and the destruction of the whole structure. The bending deformation at the end section of columns has an approximatively linear relationship with the inter-storey drift ratio, and the change in soil conditions shows no apparent influence. The sidewall deformation behavior varies significantly under different soil conditions, and the bending deformation at the bottom section of sidewalls increases along with an increase in the soil-structure stiffness ratio at the same inter-storey drift deformation level. The sidewall bending ductility ratio of the double-storey and three-storey stations at the elastic-plastic drift ratio limit increases by 61.6% and 26.7%, respectively. In addition, the fitting curves between the component bending ductility ratio and inter-storey drift ratio based on the analysis results are also presented. The findings may provide a helpful reference for the seismic performance evaluation and design of underground subway stations.
How does the public understand the causes of mental disorders? An analysis of Irish news media before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Huggard Leigh , O’Connor Cliódhna
Published: April 2023

Public perceptions of the determinants of mental illness have important implications for attitudes and stigma, but minimal previous research has explored how causal attributions are spontaneously invoked in everyday public discourse. This study investigated how causal explanations for mental illness are disseminated in popular Irish news media, in the two years before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keyword searches of a news media database identified 1,892 articles published between March 2018 to March 2022 that mentioned one of six categories of mental disorders: anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance-related disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, and psychotic disorders. Overall, 25% of the identified articles contained a causal explanation for mental illness. Inductive content analysis revealed the content and prevalence of eight types of causal explanations for mental disorders. Overall, attributions to life events/experiences, the cultural/societal environment, interpersonal relations, and health and lifestyle factors occurred more frequently than attributions to biological or psychological determinants. Life events/experiences were the most common explanation for anxiety and personality disorders, cultural/societal environment for eating disorders, and health/lifestyle factors for mood and psychotic disorders. Interpersonal factors in mental illness aetiology became more salient following the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings emphasise the need for theory and research on lay explanations of mental disorders to account for diversity, both in the range of attributions invoked, and in how attributional patterns shift across time and mental disorders category.