bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biofortified Diets Containing Algae and Selenised Yeast: Effects on Growth Performance, Nutrient Utilization, and Tissue Composition of Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata)
Authors: Ferreira Mariana , Ribeiro Pedro C. , Ribeiro Laura , Barata Marisa , Domingues Valentina F. , Sousa Sara , Soares Cristina , Marques Alexandra , Pousão-Ferreira Pedro , Dias Jorge , Castro L. Filipe C. , Marques António , Nunes Maria L. , Valente Luisa M. P.
Published: January 2022

Efforts have been made to find natural, highly nutritious alternatives to replace fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO), which can simultaneously promote fish health and improve the nutritional quality of filets for human consumption. This study evaluated the impact of biofortified diets containing microalgae (as replacement for FM and FO), macroalgae (as natural source of iodine) and selenised yeast (organic source of selenium) on gilthead seabream growth, nutrient utilization, tissue composition and gene expression. A control diet (CTRL) with 15% FM and 5.5% FO was compared with three experimental diets (AD1, AD2, and AD3), where a microalgae blend (Chlorella sp., Tetraselmis sp., and DHA-rich Schizochytrium sp.) replaced 33% of FM. Diet AD1 contained 20% less FO. Diets were supplemented with Laminaria digitata (0.4% AD1 and AD2; 0.8% AD3) and selenised yeast (0.02% AD1 and AD2; 0.04% AD3). After feeding the experimental diets for 12 weeks, growth was similar in fish fed AD1, AD2, and CTRL, indicating that microalgae meal can partially replace both FM and FO in diets for seabream. But AD3 suppressed fish growth, suggesting that L. digitata and selenised yeast supplementation should be kept under 0.8 and 0.04%, respectively. Despite lower lipid intake and decreased PUFAs bioavailability in fish fed AD3, compared to CTRL, hepatic elovl5 was upregulated resulting in a significant increase of muscle EPA + DHA. Indeed, filets of fish fed AD2 and AD3 provided the highest EPA + DHA contents (0.7 g 100 g–1), that are well above the minimum recommended values for human consumption. Fish consuming the AD diets had a higher retention and gain of selenium, while iodine gain remained similar among diets. Upregulation of selenoproteins (gpx1, selk, and dio2) was observed in liver of fish fed AD1, but diets had limited impact on fish antioxidant status. Overall, results indicate that the tested microalgae are good sources of protein and lipids, with their LC-PUFAs being effectively accumulated in seabream muscle. Selenised yeast is a good fortification vehicle to increase selenium levels in fish, but efforts should be placed to find new strategies to fortify fish in iodine.
Deconvolution Tactics and Normalization in Renal Spatial Transcriptomics
Authors: Melo Ferreira Ricardo , Freije Benjamin J. , Eadon Michael T.
Published: January 2022

The kidney is composed of heterogeneous groups of epithelial, endothelial, immune, and stromal cells, all in close anatomic proximity. Spatial transcriptomic technologies allow the interrogation of in situ expression signatures in health and disease, overlaid upon a histologic image. However, some spatial gene expression platforms have not yet reached single-cell resolution. As such, deconvolution of spatial transcriptomic spots is important to understand the proportion of cell signature arising from these varied cell types in each spot. This article reviews the various deconvolution strategies discussed in the 2021 Indiana O’Brien Center for Microscopy workshop. The unique features of Seurat transfer score methodology, SPOTlight, Robust Cell Type Decomposition, and BayesSpace are reviewed. The application of normalization and batch effect correction across spatial transcriptomic samples is also discussed.
Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Complex Phenylpropanoid Derivatives by the Botrytis cinerea Secretome and Evaluation of Their Wnt Inhibition Activity
Authors: Huber Robin , Marcourt Laurence , Koval Alexey , Schnee Sylvain , Righi Davide , Michellod Emilie , Katanaev Vladimir L. , Wolfender Jean-Luc , Gindro Katia , Queiroz Emerson Ferreira
Published: January 2022

In this study, a series of complex phenylpropanoid derivatives were obtained by chemoenzymatic biotransformation of ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and a mixture of both acids using the enzymatic secretome of Botrytis cinerea. These substrates were incubated with fungal enzymes, and the reactions were monitored using state-of-the-art analytical methods. Under such conditions, a series of dimers, trimers, and tetramers were generated. The reactions were optimized and scaled up. The resulting mixtures were purified by high-resolution semi-preparative HPLC combined with dry load introduction. This approach generated a series of 23 phenylpropanoid derivatives, 11 of which are described here for the first time. These compounds are divided into 12 dimers, 9 trimers (including a completely new structural scaffold), and 2 tetramers. Elucidation of their structures was performed with classical spectroscopic methods such as NMR and HRESIMS analyses. The resulting compound series were analyzed for anti-Wnt activity in TNBC cells, with several derivatives demonstrating specific inhibition.
Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Potential Distribution of Meconopsis punicea and Its Influence on Ecosystem Services Supply in the Southeastern Margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Authors: Shi Ning , Naudiyal Niyati , Wang Jinniu , Gaire Narayan Prasad , Wu Yan , Wei Yanqiang , He Jiali , Wang Chunya
Published: January 2022

Meconopsis punicea is an iconic ornamental and medicinal plant whose natural habitat has degraded under global climate change, posing a serious threat to the future survival of the species. Therefore, it is critical to analyze the influence of climate change on possible distribution of M. punicea for conservation and sustainable utilization of this species. In this study, we used MaxEnt ecological niche modeling to predict the potential distribution of M. punicea under current and future climate scenarios in the southeastern margin region of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Model projections under current climate show that 16.8% of the study area is suitable habitat for Meconopsis. However, future projections indicate a sharp decline in potential habitat for 2050 and 2070 climate change scenarios. Soil type was the most important environmental variable in determining the habitat suitability of M. punicea, with 27.75% contribution to model output. Temperature seasonality (16.41%), precipitation of warmest quarter (14.01%), and precipitation of wettest month (13.02%), precipitation seasonality (9.41%) and annual temperature range (9.24%) also made significant contributions to model output. The mean elevation of suitable habitat for distribution of M. punicea is also likely to shift upward in most future climate change scenarios. This study provides vital information for the protection and sustainable use of medicinal species like M. punicea in the context of global environmental change. Our findings can aid in developing rational, broad-scale adaptation strategies for conservation and management for ecosystem services, in light of future climate changes.
Social and Cognitive Psychology Theories in Understanding COVID-19 as the Pandemic of Blame
Authors: Bouguettaya Ayoub , Walsh Clare E. C. , Team Victoria
Published: January 2022

When faced with adverse circumstances, there may be a tendency for individuals, agencies, and governments to search for a target to assign blame. Our focus will be on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, where racial groups, political parties, countries, and minorities have been blamed for spreading, producing or creating the virus. Blame—here defined as attributing causality, responsibility, intent, or foresight to someone/something for a fault or wrong—has already begun to damage modern society and medical practice in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. Evidence from past and current pandemics suggest that this tendency to seek blame affects international relations, promotes unwarranted devaluation of health professionals, and prompts a spike of racism and discrimination. By drawing on social and cognitive psychology theories, we provide a framework that helps to understand (1) the effect of blame in pandemics, (2) when people blame, whom they blame, and (3) how blame detrimentally affects the COVID-19 response. Ultimately, we provide a path to inform health messaging to reduce blaming tendencies, based on social psychological principles for health communication.
Out of the Lab and Into the World: Analyses of Social Roles and Gender in Profiles of Scientists in The New York Times and The Scientist
Authors: Benson-Greenwald Tessa M. , Joshi Mansi P. , Diekman Amanda B.
Published: January 2022

Although representations of female scientists in the media have increased over time, stereotypical portrayals of science persist. In-depth, contemporary profiles of scientists’ roles have an opportunity to reflect or to challenge stereotypes of science and of gender. We employed content and linguistic analyses to examine whether publicly available profiles of scientists from New York Times and The Scientist Magazine support or challenge pervasive beliefs about science. Consistent with broader stereotypes of STEM fields, these portrayals focused more on agency than communality. However, profiles also challenged stereotypes through integrating communality, purpose, and growth. This analysis also found similar presence of communal and agentic constructs for both female and male scientists. The current findings highlight the importance of considering counterstereotypic representations of science in the media: Communicating messages to the public that challenge existing beliefs about the culture of science may be one path toward disrupting stereotypes that dissuade talented individuals from choosing science pathways.
The Role of Passion in Psychological and Cardiovascular Responses: Extending the Field of Passion and Positive Psychology in New Directions
Authors: Vallerand Robert J. , Paquette Virginie , Richard Christine
Published: January 2022

The present study fills a void in research on passion by examining for the first time the role of passion in physiological responses. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of passion, and the mediating role of cognitive appraisals, in the psychological and physiological responses to a stressful situation related to one’s passion. Students (43 women, 12 men,Mage = 27.21 years), who were passionate for their studies, completed the Passion Scale for their studies and the Cognitive Appraisal Scale (assessing perceptions of challenge/threat). Then, they engaged in an education task under stressful conditions, and a subsequent unrelated leisure task under no-stress. Physiological reactivity was measured throughout the entire session and their perceptions of situational vitality and positive and negative emotions were assessed directly after the education task. Results showed that harmonious passion (HP) positively predicted challenge appraisals that, in turn, were positively related to positive emotions, vitality, and positive cardiovascular adaptation while engaging in the stressful education task, but less so with the leisure task (unrelated to one’s passion for academia). On the other hand, obsessive passion (OP) positively predicted threat appraisals. In turn, threat appraisals were positively related to negative emotions, negatively associated with vitality, and not related to cardiovascular reactivity. The present findings suggest that HP creates the onset of an adaptive psychological and physiological response whereas the response is less adaptive with OP.
The Infertility-Related Stress Scale: Validation of a Brazilian–Portuguese Version and Measurement Invariance Across Brazil and Italy
Authors: Casu Giulia , Zaia Victor , Montagna Erik , de Padua Serafim Antonio , Bianco Bianca , Barbosa Caio Parente , Gremigni Paola
Published: January 2022

Infertility constitutes an essential source of stress in the individual and couple’s life. The Infertility-Related Stress Scale (IRSS) is of clinical interest for exploring infertility-related stress affecting the intrapersonal and interpersonal domains of infertile individuals’ lives. In the present study, the IRSS was translated into Brazilian–Portuguese, and its factor structure, reliability, and relations to sociodemographic and infertility-related characteristics and depression were examined. A sample of 553 Brazilian infertile individuals (54.2% female, mean aged 36 ± 6 years) completed the Brazilian–Portuguese IRSS (IRSS-BP), and a subsample of 222 participants also completed the BDI-II. A sample of 526 Italian infertile individuals (54.2% female, mean aged 38 ± 6 years) was used to test for the IRSS measurement invariance across Brazil and Italy. Results of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) indicated that a bifactor solution best represented the structure underlying the IRSS-BP. Both the general and the two specific intrapersonal and interpersonal IRSS-BP factors showed satisfactory levels of composite reliability. The bifactor ESEM solution replicated well across countries. As evidence of relations to other variables, female gender, a longer duration of infertility, and higher depression were associated with higher scores in global and domain-specific infertility-related stress. The findings offer initial evidence of validity and reliability of the IRSS-BP, which could be used by fertility clinic staff to rapidly identify patients who need support to deal with the stressful impact of infertility in the intrapersonal and interpersonal life domains, as recommended by international guidelines for routine psychosocial care in infertility settings.
Well-Being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Youth: The Influence of Rural and Urban Contexts on the Process of Building Identity and Disclosure
Authors: Agueli Barbara , Celardo Giovanna , Esposito Ciro , Arcidiacono Caterina , Procentese Fortuna , Carbone Agostino , Di Napoli Immacolata
Published: January 2022

The study investigates how the territorial community can influence the individual and social well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) youth and especially the recognition of their feelings and the construction of their own identity as well as their needs to be socially recognized. This research focuses on the experiences of 30 LGB individuals (23 males and 7 females), with a mean age of 25.07 years (SD = 4,578), living in urban and rural areas of Southern Italy. Focalized open interviews were conducted, and the Grounded Theory Methodology, supported by the Atlas.ti 8.0 software, was used for data analysis. The textual material was first coded, and then codes were grouped into five macro-categories: Freedom of identity expression in the urban and rural context, identity construction and acceptance process, need of aggregation and identification with the LGB community, role of the interpersonal relationship in the process of identity acceptance, socio-cultural context, and LGB psychological well-being. The results showed a condition common to the two contexts that we can define as “ghettoization.” The young LGB is alone in the rural area due to a lack of places and people to identify with and greater social isolation. On the contrary, although there are more opportunities in the urban area, young people feel stigmatized and ghettoized because “their places” are frequented exclusively by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, queer (LGBTQ) community. The work will extensively discuss the limitations of the research, future proposals, and the practical implications of the results.
Levels and Determinants of Place-Of-Death Congruence in Palliative Patients: A Systematic Review
Authors: García-Sanjuán Sofía , Fernández-Alcántara Manuel , Clement-Carbonell Violeta , Campos-Calderón Concepción Petra , Orts-Beneito Núria , Cabañero-Martínez María José
Published: January 2022

Introduction: Congruence, understood as the agreement between the patient's preferred place of death and their actual place of death, is emerging as one of the main variables indicating the quality of end-of-life care. The aim of this research was to conduct a systematic literature review on levels and determinants of congruence in palliative patients over the period 2010–2021.

Method: A systematic review of the literature in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cuiden, the Cochrane Library, CSIC Indexes, and IBECS. Information was extracted on research characteristics, congruence, and associated factors.

Results: A total of 30 studies were identified, mainly of retrospective observational design. The congruence values varied substantially between the various studies, ranging from 21 to 100%. The main predictors of congruence include illness-related factors (functional status, treatments and diagnosis), individual factors (age, gender, marital status, and end of life preferences), and environmental factors (place of residence, availability of health, and palliative care services).

Conclusion: This review, in comparison with previous studies, shows that treatment-related factors such as physical pain control, marital status, having a non-working relative, age, discussing preferred place of death with a healthcare professional, and caregiver's preference have been associated with higher levels of congruence. Depending on the study, other factors have been associated with either higher or lower congruence, such as the patient's diagnosis, gender, or place of residence. This information is useful for designing interventions aimed towards greater congruence at the end of life.
Multi-Source and Multi-Representation Adaptation for Cross-Domain Electroencephalography Emotion Recognition
Authors: Cao Jiangsheng , He Xueqin , Yang Chenhui , Chen Sifang , Li Zhangyu , Wang Zhanxiang
Published: January 2022

Due to the non-invasiveness and high precision of electroencephalography (EEG), the combination of EEG and artificial intelligence (AI) is often used for emotion recognition. However, the internal differences in EEG data have become an obstacle to classification accuracy. To solve this problem, considering labeled data from similar nature but different domains, domain adaptation usually provides an attractive option. Most of the existing researches aggregate the EEG data from different subjects and sessions as a source domain, which ignores the assumption that the source has a certain marginal distribution. Moreover, existing methods often only align the representation distributions extracted from a single structure, and may only contain partial information. Therefore, we propose the multi-source and multi-representation adaptation (MSMRA) for cross-domain EEG emotion recognition, which divides the EEG data from different subjects and sessions into multiple domains and aligns the distribution of multiple representations extracted from a hybrid structure. Two datasets, i.e., SEED and SEED IV, are used to validate the proposed method in cross-session and cross-subject transfer scenarios, experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of our model to state-of-the-art models in most settings.
Analysis of Psychological and Gut Microbiome Characteristics in Patients With Non-erosive Reflux Disease
Authors: Yang Fan , Xie Xin-hui , Li Xi , Liao Hui-na , Zou Bing
Published: January 2022

Objective: To assess the correlation between the incidence of non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) and psychological factors, especially somatoform disorders. To investigate the characteristics of gut microbiome in NERD patients.

Methods: We enrolled 24 NERD patients and 24 healthy controls. All patients were evaluated via GerdQ, SOMS-7, SAS, HAMA, and HAMD. Fecal samples were collected and 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to evaluate the gut microbiome composition.

Results: The main symptoms of the NERD patients were regurgitation (87.5%), belching (66.7%), pharyngeal discomfort (50%), and heartburn (37.5%). The average score of GerdQ was 13.42 ± 3.41. In 15 patients (62.5%), the total score of the last two items was <3 points, while the average score of 24 patients was 3.63 ± 2.32. NERD patients with somatoform disorders accounted for 50%. There were 17 patients without anxiety, 6 patients with mild anxiety (25%), 1 patient with moderate anxiety (4.2%), and no patient with severe anxiety. There were 22 patients (91.7%) without depression, 2 patients (8.3%) with mild depression, and no patient with moderate or severe depression. The alpha diversity of NERD group was higher than HC, which showed significant difference (P < 0.05). The beta-diversity was significantly different between HC and NERD patients (P = 0.026), male and female patients (P = 0.009). The beta-diversity was also significantly different between male and female patients (P = 0.009). There were several bacteria with significant differences between HC and NERD group, and NERD patients with or without somatoform disorders, such as Firmicutes, TM7 were enriched in the NERD group compared with the healthy control group, while Bacteroidetes were enriched in the healthy controls.

Conclusions: NERD symptoms overlap with somatoform disorders. NERD symptoms have an impact on the daily life quality of patients. Some of them are accompanied by anxiety and depression of different degrees, and the two are significantly correlated. The diversity of gut microbiome in patients with NERD is significantly higher than healthy controls, which has its characteristics. The predominant bacteria in gut microbiome of patients with NERD are similar to the healthy population, with Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes as the main ones. The composition of gut microbiome in NERD patients with or without somatoform disorder is significantly different, which may be related to the interaction of microbiome-brain-gut axis.
Resilience and Related Factors: A Comparison of Fathers and Mothers of Patients With Cleft Lip and/or Palate in China
Authors: Yuan Lulu , Gao Yuqin , Pan Bochen , Wang Junyan , Wang Yanjie , Gong Caixia , Wang Weiren , Li Xiaohan
Published: January 2022

Background: Resilience has become a hot spot in the field of positive psychology to study life-change events. However, there were little information on resilience among the fathers and mothers of patients with cleft lip and/or palate respectively. The present study aimed to explore and compare the level and potential influential factors associated with resilience among fathers/mothers of patients with cleft lip and/or palate in China.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out between April 2019 and July 2020 among fathers/mothers of patients with cleft lip and/or palate in two cleft lip and/or palate treatment centers in China. Sixty Nine fathers and 179 mothers of patients with cleft lip and/or palate were interviewed with a questionnaire on demographic variables and the Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14), Herth Hope Index (HHI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) and Coping Health Inventory for Parents (CHIP). T-test/univariate one-way ANOVA, Pearson's r, hierarchical linear regression analysis were conducted to explore the influential factors of resilience.

Results: Fathers of patients with cleft lip and/or palate had a higher level of resilience (77.77 ± 14.18) than mothers (74.52 ± 14.33) though without significance. Resilience was positively associated with hope, perceived social support, optimism and coping and negatively correlated with parenting stress both in the fathers and the mothers. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that hope (β = 0.400, P < 0.01), coping (β = 0.281, P < 0.05), job status, medical payments (β = −0.240, P < 0.05) were found to be associated with resilience among the fathers of patients with CL/P, and all four variables in the model could explain 42.8% of the variance in resilience; Hope (β = 0.225, P < 0.05), perceived social support (β = 0.194, P < 0.05), the age of patients (β = 0.189, P < 0.05) were found to be associated with resilience among the mothers, and all three variables in the model could explain 27.6% of the variance in resilience.

Conclusion: Our study showed that, in China, fathers of patients with cleft lip and/or palate had a higher level of resilience than mothers though without significance. Hope was the only communal variable strongly associated with resilience among both the fathers and the mothers; besides, coping, job status and medical payments were found to be associated with resilience among the fathers; while perceived social support and the age of patients were found to be associated with resilience among the mothers. The results suggest that enhance hope in parents of patients with cleft lip and/or palate might greatly help improve their resilience. Besides, fathers and mothers need specific intervention to prompt their resilience.
Revisiting the Postulates of Etiological Models of Eating Disorders: Questioning Body Checking as a Longer-Term Maintaining Factor
Authors: Opladen Vanessa , Vivell Maj-Britt , Vocks Silja , Hartmann Andrea S.
Published: January 2022

Body checking (BC) is not only inherent to the maintenance of eating disorders but is also widespread among healthy females. According to etiological models, while BC serves as an affect-regulating behavior in the short term, in the longer term it is assumed to be disorder-maintaining and also produces more negative affect. The present study therefore aimed to empirically examine the proposed longer-term consequences of increased BC. In an online study, N = 167 women tracked their daily amount of BC over a total of 7 days: Following a 1-day baseline assessment of typical BC, participants were asked to check their bodies in an typical manner for 3 days and with a 3-fold increased frequency for 3-days. Before and after each BC episode, the impact of BC on affect, eating disorder symptoms, general pathology and endorsement of different functions of BC was assessed. Participants showed longer-term consequences of increased BC in terms of increased negative affect and general pathology, while eating disorder symptoms remained unaffected. In the case of typical BC, participants showed decreased general pathology and anxiety. Furthermore, the endorsement of a higher number of BC functions led to increased negative affect and an increased amount of typical BC. The findings support the theoretically assumed role of maladaptive BC in maintaining negative emotion in the longer term. However, though requiring replication, our finding of positive effects of typical BC calls into question the overall dysfunctionality of BC among non-clinical women who are not at risk of developing an eating disorder.
COVID-19-Related Mortality Risk in People With Severe Mental Illness: A Systematic and Critical Review
Authors: De Hert Marc , Mazereel Victor , Stroobants Marc , De Picker Livia , Van Assche Kristof , Detraux Johan
Published: January 2022

Background: Increasing clinical evidence suggests that people with severe mental illness (SMI), including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD), are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19. Several systematic reviews examining the association between psychiatric disorders and COVID-19-related mortality have recently been published. Although these reviews have been conducted thoroughly, certain methodological limitations may hinder the accuracy of their research findings.

Methods: A systematic literature search, using the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases (from inception to July 23, 2021), was conducted for observational studies assessing the risk of death associated with COVID-19 infection in adult patients with pre-existing schizophrenia spectrum disorders, BD, or MDD. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS).

Results: Of 1,446 records screened, 13 articles investigating the rates of death in patients with pre-existing SMI were included in this systematic review. Quality assessment scores of the included studies ranged from moderate to high. Most results seem to indicate that patients with SMI, particularly patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, are at significantly higher risk of COVID-19-related mortality, as compared to patients without SMI. However, the extent of the variation in COVID-19-related mortality rates between studies including people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders was large because of a low level of precision of the estimated mortality outcome(s) in certain studies. Most studies on MDD and BD did not include specific information on the mood state or disease severity of patients. Due to a lack of data, it remains unknown to what extent patients with BD are at increased risk of COVID-19-related mortality. A variety of factors are likely to contribute to the increased mortality risk of COVID-19 in these patients. These include male sex, older age, somatic comorbidities (particularly cardiovascular diseases), as well as disease-specific characteristics.

Conclusion: Methodological limitations hamper the accuracy of COVID-19-related mortality estimates for the main categories of SMIs. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that SMI is associated with excess COVID-19 mortality. Policy makers therefore must consider these vulnerable individuals as a high-risk group that should be given particular attention. This means that targeted interventions to maximize vaccination uptake among these patients are required to address the higher burden of COVID-19 infection in this already disadvantaged group.
Senior High School Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Information on Their Health in the Kumasi Metropolis
Authors: Boateng Simon , Baah Akosua , Boakye-Ansah Doris , Aboagye Bosco
Published: January 2022

The study examines senior high school students' understanding and attitudes toward information on their health in the Kumasi Metropolis. Multiple sampling techniques (convenient and simple random sampling techniques) were used in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 391 respondents for the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the sociodemographic data. Again, the study used Pearson's correlation coefficient to show the degree of relationship between the level of knowledge of health information and attitudes toward seeking and sharing health information. The study found students' knowledge of the causes and symptoms of malaria, cholera, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) to be appreciably high as a result of readings from textbooks and health professionals. Again, the study found that the students preferred sharing their health information with friends than their parents and schools' authorities. The study further found that the major sources of students' health information included health professionals and textbooks. Lastly, even though some of the students claimed internet sources to their health information, it was not a major source to the student body at large. The study recommends strong health systems on the campuses of senior high schools as they have become communities on their own as a result of the emergence of the free senior high school program. The monitored positive peer-counseling group should also be encouraged by the schools' management and by extension the counseling units for the students to share views on themselves, particularly on health issues where they deem fit.
Forecasting the Health Transition and Medical Expenditure of the Future Elderly in China: A Longitudinal Study Based on Markov Chain and Two Part Model
Authors: Gao Yuan , Li Jingbo , Yuan Xin
Published: January 2022

Set in the rapid development of population aging, this study focuses on the relationship between health and medical expenditure of the elderly population. Taking the health and medical expenditure of the elderly as the research object, this study analyzes the characteristics and the intrinsic relationship between them. Based on the future elderly model, this study calculates the transition probability of the elderly's self-assessment health state using the Health Transition Model and estimates the medical expenditure of the elderly by the Two-Part Model. Based on the above, this study predicts the trend of the population size and medical expenditure of the elderly in the next 15 years (2020–2035). Based on the results, the policy suggestions are put forward. To begin with, strengthening health management and health services for the elderly in the construction of healthy China. Next, building a comprehensive system of health care for the elderly in government, society, family, and individual. Then, establishing a long-term care service system as soon as possible. In addition, it is better to establish lifelong health consciousness and cultivate healthy accomplishment behavior. Finally, it is necessary to promote gender mainstreaming in the health field.
Surgical Margins After Computer-Assisted Mandibular Reconstruction: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Crosetti Erika , Succo Giovanni , Battiston Bruno , D'Addabbo Federica , Tascone Martina , Maldi Elena , Bertotto Ilaria , Berrone Mattia
Published: January 2022

Purpose: The use of virtual surgical planning in head and neck surgery is growing strongly. In the literature, its validity, accuracy and clinical utility for mandibular reconstruction are widely documented. Virtual planning of surgical bone resection and reconstruction takes place several days before surgery and its very sensitive nature can negatively affect an intervention aimed at maximum precision in term of oncological safety.

Methods: The study focuses on a retrospective evaluation of the surgical margins in 26 consecutive cases with oral cavity malignancy and who underwent computer-assisted mandibular resection/reconstruction guided by the different types of bone, periosteal and peri-mandibular tissue involvement. The goal was to analyze the strategic and technical aspects useful to minimize the risk of positive or close margins and to vary the reconstructive strategy in the case of intraoperative findings of a non-radical planned resection.

Results: No intraoperative or perioperative complications occurred. In 20 patients, virtual surgical planning permitted mandibular reconstruction to be performed using composite fibular free flaps, characterized by high accuracy and negative bone margins. In the remaining 6 patients, also virtually planned but otherwise reconstructed due to poor general condition (advanced age, severe comorbidity), negative bone margins were obtained. Intraoperative enlargement of the resection was carried out in one case and positive soft tissue margins were observed in another case.

Conclusion: The results were satisfactory in terms of oncological radicality and precision. The functional benefits and reduction in operating times, previously demonstrated in other articles also by the authors, seem to justify the side effects related to the risk of modifying the planned surgery. During virtual planning, the surgeons must bear in mind that an unexpected progression of the tumor or a limited planned resection will entail modifying the extent of the resection intraoperatively and nullifying the virtual planning on which the reconstruction was based. Further investigations are necessary to clarify all aspects of virtual surgical planning in this setting.
Farm to Institution to Farm: Circular Food Systems With Native Entomoculture
Authors: Shafer Patrick J. , Chen Yolanda H. , Reynolds Travis , von Wettberg Eric J. B.
Published: January 2022

Edible insects recycle food waste, which can help feed a hungrier planet by making food systems more circular and diversifying protein production. The potential for entomophagy (i.e., insect cuisine) to contribute to waste recycling and lower input food production is only beginning to be explored in the U.S., although insects have been consumed by people for millennia in a wide range of cultures. In this perspective piece, we consider as a case study the potential for university foodservice programs in New England to serve as incubators for circular entomophagous food systems. Students are likely early adopters of entomophagy because they increasingly demand sustainable non-meat protein options. University foodservices meanwhile purchase large amounts of food wholesale from local producers, utilize standardized pre-processing, and generate consistent waste streams which may be valuable feed for local insect farmers. Current Farm to Institution approaches strengthen regional food systems by connecting small farmers with university foodservices; we argue that a similar model (Farm to Institution to Farm) could support establishment of local insect farms, introduce edible insects to a relatively receptive base of university student customers, and provide a more sustainable mechanism for repurposing university food waste as insect feed. But to enable this type of food system, additional requirements include: (1) research on domestication of native insect species; (2) investment in processing capacity, ensuring new insect farmers have reliable markets for raw insect products; (3) infrastructure to recirculate waste streams within existing food systems; and (4) creation of recipes that entice new insect consumers.
An Updated Review of Porcine Deltacoronavirus in Terms of Prevalence, Pathogenicity, Pathogenesis and Antiviral Strategy
Authors: Duan Cong
Published: January 2022

The recent experience with SARS-COV-2 has raised our alarm about the cross-species transmissibility of coronaviruses and the emergence of new coronaviruses. Knowledge of this family of viruses needs to be constantly updated. Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), a newly emerging member of the genus Deltacoronavirus in the family Coronaviridae, is a swine enteropathogen that causes diarrhea in pigs and may lead to death in severe cases. Since PDCoV diarrhea first broke out in the United States in early 2014, PDCoV has been detected in many countries, such as South Korea, Japan and China. More importantly, PDCoV can also infect species other than pigs, and infections have even been reported in children, highlighting its potential for cross-species transmission. A thorough and systematic knowledge of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of PDCoV will not only help us control PDCoV infection, but also enable us to discover the common cellular pathways and key factors of coronaviruses. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the prevalence, pathogenicity and infection dynamics, pathogenesis and immune evasion strategies of PDCoV. The existing anti-PDCoV strategies and corresponding mechanisms of PDCoV infection are also introduced, aiming to provide suggestions for the prevention and treatment of PDCoV and zoonotic diseases.
Tries-Based Parallel Solutions for Generating Perfect Crosswords Grids
Authors: Niculescu Virginia , Ştefănică Robert Manuel
Published: January 2022

A general crossword grid generation is considered an NP-complete problem and theoretically it could be a good candidate to be used by cryptography algorithms. In this article, we propose a new algorithm for generating perfect crosswords grids (with no black boxes) that relies on using tries data structures, which are very important for reducing the time for finding the solutions, and offers good opportunity for parallelisation, too. The algorithm uses a special tries representation and it is very efficient, but through parallelisation the performance is improved to a level that allows the solution to be obtained extremely fast. The experiments were conducted using a dictionary of almost 700,000 words, and the solutions were obtained using the parallelised version with an execution time in the order of minutes. We demonstrate here that finding a perfect crossword grid could be solved faster than has been estimated before, if we use tries as supporting data structures together with parallelisation. Still, if the size of the dictionary is increased by a lot (e.g., considering a set of dictionaries for different languages—not only for one), or through a generalisation to a 3D space or multidimensional spaces, then the problem still could be investigated for a possible usage in cryptography.
Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses
Authors: Kovářová Marcela , Maděra Petr , Frantík Tomáš , Novák Jan , Vencl Štěpán
Published: January 2022

The aboveground biomass of dry knotweed was administered daily to large groups of young (1- to 3-year-old) stallions of the Czech Warmblood, Czech-Moravian Coldblood and Silesian Norik breeds, fed individually for 4 and 6 months in two successive winter experiments. Their fitness was compared with control groups consisting of equally numerous subgroups comparable in age, breed, body mass and initial blood parameters. The effects of knotweed on the horses’ fitness were evaluated based on changes in blood characteristics. Even if administered in small amounts, 150 g per day, knotweed could (1) increase the thrombocyte numbers, (2) increase the globulin content (thus improving the horses’ immunity, which is desired in large groups of animals), (3) stimulate lipid metabolism in cold-blooded horses and (4) decrease the concentration of cholesterol. The long-lasting effect of knotweed on both the urea and triglyceride–cholesterol ratio presumably reflected, between the two experiments, the temporary protein starvation of horses on pastures with poor quality of grass in a dry summer.
Performance Assessment of Farm Machinery for Persimmon Fruit Cultivation in a Japanese Mountainous Area
Authors: Yamamoto Atsushi , Kusudo Tsumugu , Kimura Masaomi , Matsuno Yutaka
Published: January 2022

Japanese agriculture is facing a decrease in agricultural workers. Mechanization, both to save time and reduce physical input, is essential to solving this issue. Recent worldwide progress in Internet-of-things technology has enabled the application of remote-controlled and unmanned machinery in agriculture. This study was conducted in the Gojo-Yoshino mountainous region in Nara, Japan, which is famous for its persimmon cultivation. The performance of newly introduced smart agricultural machinery was studied in the field by simulating cultivation work. The results showed that the remote-control weeder, speed sprayer, and remote-control mini crawler carrier saved 90%, 75%, and 5% of weeding, spraying, and harvesting times, respectively, when compared with conventional methods. Such time savings led to an 8% decrease in the total working time spent on persimmon cultivation. In addition, using the speed sprayer showed improvement in the fruit’s quality. Results of the power assist suits did not show a time-saving effect but showed a reduction of physical burden. These results suggest that the mechanization of persimmon cultivation is efficient and labor-saving, and satisfies the need for farmers. However, the high investment costs remain an issue in extending mechanization to the region.
Efficient Genetic Transformation of Rice for CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated Genome-Editing and Stable Overexpression Studies: A Case Study on Rice Lipase 1 and Galactinol Synthase Encoding Genes
Authors: Thakur Tanika , Sinha Kshitija , Kaur Tushpinder , Kapoor Ritu , Kumar Gulshan , Bhunia Rupam Kumar , Salvi Prafull
Published: January 2022

Rice is a staple food crop for almost half of the world’s population, especially in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. It is widely grown in different climatic conditions, depending on the quality of the water, soil, and genetic makeup of the rice cultivar. Many (a)biotic stresses severely curtail rice growth and development, with an eventual reduction in crop yield. However, for molecular functional analysis, the availability of an efficient genetic transformation protocol is essential. To ensure food security and safety for the continuously increasing global population, the development of climate-resilient crops is crucial. Here, in this study, the rice transformation protocol has been effectively optimized for the efficient and rapid generation of rice transgenic plants. We also highlighted the critical steps and precautionary measures to be taken while performing the rice transformation. We further assess the efficacy of this protocol by transforming rice with two different transformation constructs for generating galactinol synthase (GolS) overexpression lines and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated edited lines of lipase (Lip) encoding the OsLip1 gene. The putative transformants were subjected to molecular analysis to confirm gene integration/editing, respectively. Collectively, the easy, efficient, and rapid rice transformation protocol used in this present study can be applied as a potential tool for gene(s) function studies in rice and eventually to the rice crop improvement.
Chinese Residents’ Perceived Ecosystem Services and Disservices Impacts Behavioral Intention for Urban Community Garden: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior
Authors: Wu Can , Li Xiaoma , Tian Yuqing , Deng Ziniu , Yu Xiaoying , Wu Shenglan , Shu Di , Peng Yulin , Sheng Feipeng , Gan Dexin
Published: January 2022

Urban community gardens (UCGs), greenspace cultivated and managed for vegetables by local communities, provide substantial ecosystem services (ES) and are warmly welcomed by residents. However, they also have many ecosystem disservices (EDS) and are almost always refused by the decision-makers of the government, especially in China. Better understanding the residents’ perceived ES and EDS and the impact on the behavioral intention (BI) toward UCGs is of great value to solve the conflicts between residents and the government concerning UCGs and to develop sustainable UCGs. Following the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we measured perceived ES/EDS, attitudes (ATT), perceived behavioral control (PBC), subjective norm (SN), and BI of 1142 residents in Changsha, China, and investigated their direct and indirect causal relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that: (1) ATT, PBC, and SN significantly and positively impact the BI of UCGs and together explained 54% of the variation of BI. (2) The extended TPB model with additional components of perceived ED/EDS improved the explanatory ability of the model, explaining 65% of the variance of BI. Perceived ES and perceived EDS showed significant direct positive and negative impacts on UCGs, respectively. They also indirectly impacted BI by influencing ATT, PBC, and SN. The findings of this study can extend our understanding of residents’ attitudes, behavior, and driving mechanism toward UCGs, and can help decision makers to design better policies for UCG planning and management.