bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AbImmPred: An immunogenicity prediction method for therapeutic antibodies using AntiBERTy-based sequence features
Authors: Wang Hong , Hao Xiaohu , He Yuzhuo , Fan Long
Published: February 2024

Due to the unnecessary immune responses induced by therapeutic antibodies in clinical applications, immunogenicity is an important factor to be considered in the development of antibody therapeutics. To a certain extent, there is a lag in using wet-lab experiments to test the immunogenicity in the development process of antibody therapeutics. Developing a computational method to predict the immunogenicity at once the antibody sequence is designed, is of great significance for the screening in the early stage and reducing the risk of antibody therapeutics development. In this study, a computational immunogenicity prediction method was proposed on the basis of AntiBERTy-based features of amino sequences in the antibody variable region. The AntiBERTy-based sequence features were first calculated using the AntiBERTy pre-trained model. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then applied to reduce the extracted feature to two dimensions to obtain the final features. AutoGluon was then used to train multiple machine learning models and the best one, the weighted ensemble model, was obtained through 5-fold cross-validation on the collected data. The data contains 199 commercial therapeutic antibodies, of which 177 samples were used for model training and 5-fold cross-validation, and the remaining 22 samples were used as an independent test dataset to evaluate the performance of the constructed model and compare it with other prediction methods. Test results show that the proposed method outperforms the comparison method with 0.7273 accuracy on the independent test dataset, which is 9.09% higher than the comparison method. The corresponding web server is available through the official website of GenScript Co., Ltd., https://www.genscript.com/tools/antibody-immunogenicity.
TTLL12 has a potential oncogenic activity, suppression of ligation of nitrotyrosine to the C-terminus of detyrosinated α-tubulin, that can be overcome by molecules identified by screening a compound library
Authors: Deshpande Amit , Brants Jan , Wasylyk Christine , van Hooij Onno , Verhaegh Gerald W. , Maas Peter , Schalken Jack A. , Wasylyk Bohdan
Published: February 2024

Tubulin tyrosine ligase 12 (TTLL12) is a promising target for therapeutic intervention since it has been implicated in tumour progression, the innate immune response to viral infection, ciliogenesis and abnormal cell division. It is the most mysterious of a fourteen-member TTL/TTLL family, since, although it is the topmost conserved in evolution, it does not have predicted enzymatic activities. TTLL12 seems to act as a pseudo-enzyme that modulates various processes indirectly. Given the need to target its functions, we initially set out to identify a property of TTLL12 that could be used to develop a reliable high-throughput screening assay. We discovered that TTLL12 suppresses the cell toxicity of nitrotyrosine (3-nitrotyrosine) and its ligation to the C-terminus of detyrosinated α-tubulin (abbreviated to ligated-nitrotyrosine). Nitrotyrosine is produced by oxidative stress and is associated with cancer progression. Ligation of nitrotyrosine has been postulated to be a check-point induced by excessive cell stress. We found that the cytotoxicities of nitrotyrosine and tubulin poisons are independent of one another, suggesting that drugs that increase nitrotyrosination could be complementary to current tubulin-directed therapeutics. TTLL12 suppression of nitrotyrosination of α-tubulin was used to develop a robust cell-based ELISA assay that detects increased nitrotyrosination in cells that overexpress TTLL12 We adapted it to a high throughput format and used it to screen a 10,000 molecule World Biological Diversity SETTM collection of low-molecular weight molecules. Two molecules were identified that robustly activate nitrotyrosine ligation at 1 μM concentration. This is the pioneer screen for molecules that modulate nitrotyrosination of α-tubulin. The molecules from the screen will be useful for the study of TTLL12, as well as leads for the development of drugs to treat cancer and other pathologies that involve nitrotyrosination.
Growth patterns of children under 5 years old in rural area northern of Abha, Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alsaleem Safar Abadi
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Measuring and monitoring physical growth is a key element in assessing children’s health. The physical and mental development of a growing child are indicators of good health and nutrition. This study aimed to explore the patterns of growth parameters among children under 5 years old attending primary health care centres (PHCCs) in rural northern Abha. Feeding habits during the first 2 years of life were also assessed.

Method

This study was conducted on 1–5 April 2022 in all (PHCCs) in Billasamr and Ballahmar, two neighbourhoods of northern Abha. The investigator designed a form for collecting each child’s age (months), weight (kilograms), gender, birth order, number of family members, type of feeding (exclusive breastfeeding, exclusive bottle feeding, or mixed feeding), and duration of exclusive breastfeeding.

Results

Gender affected the body weight of Saudi infants, as boys weighed significantly more than age-matched girls. Birth order also affected body weight. During the first and third years of life, Saudi children’s body weight was not significantly affected by feeding type. During the second and fifth years of life, formula-fed children weighed more than breastfed or combination-fed children. However, during the fourth year of life, body weight was highest in combination-fed children.

Conclusion

Growth patterns over time, established from multiple data points, must be used in conjunction with other medical and family history to evaluate appropriate growth. Recording and tracking body size, especially recumbent length and weight, as part of well-baby care is critical for any assessment of child wellbeing and health status.
Approaches to induce the maturation process of human induced pluripotent stem cell derived-endothelial cells to generate a robust model
Authors: de Boer Suzan , Laan Sebastiaan , Dirven Richard , Eikenboom Jeroen
Published: February 2024

Background

Endothelial cells generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-ECs) show the majority of endothelial cell characteristics and markers, such as cobblestone morphology and the expression of VEGF and VE-cadherin. However, these cells are failing to show a mature endothelial cell phenotype, which is represented by the low expression and production of von Willebrand Factor (VWF) leading to the round morphology of the Weibel Palade Bodies (WPBs). The aim of this study was to improve the maturation process of hiPSC-ECs and to increase the levels of VWF.

Methods

hiPSC-ECs were differentiated by a standard differentiation protocol from hiPSCs generated from healthy control donors. To induce maturation, the main focus was to increase the expression and/or production of VWF by the adjustment of potential parameters influencing differentiation and maturation. We also compared alternative differentiation protocols. Cells were analyzed for the expression of endothelial cell markers, WPB structure, and the production and secretion of VWF by flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and ELISA.

Results

The generated hiPSC-ECs have typical endothelial cell surface expression profiles, with low expression levels of non-endothelial markers as expected. Co-culture with pericytes, varying concentrations and timing of differentiation factors, applying some level of flow, and the addition of HDAC inhibitors did not substantially improve maturation of hiPSC-ECs. Transfection with the transcription factor ETV2 to induce a faster hiPSC-EC differentiation process resulted in a limited increase in VWF production, secretion, and elongation of WPB structure. Alternative differentiation protocols had limited effect.

Conclusion

hiPSCs-ECs have the potential to show a more mature endothelial phenotype with elongated WPBs after >30 days in culture. However, this comes with limitations as there are very few cells detected, and cells are deteriorating after being in culture for extended periods of time.
National outcomes of expedited discharge following esophagectomy for malignancy
Authors: Ebrahimian Shayan , Chervu Nikhil , Hadaya Joseph , Cho Nam Yong , Kronen Elsa , Sakowitz Sara , Verma Arjun , Bakhtiyar Syed Shahyan , Sanaiha Yas , Benharash Peyman
Published: February 2024

Background

Expedited discharge following esophagectomy is controversial due to concerns for higher readmissions and financial burden. The present study aimed to evaluate the association of expedited discharge with hospitalization costs and unplanned readmissions following esophagectomy for malignant lesions.

Methods

Adults undergoing elective esophagectomy for cancer were identified in the 2014–2019 Nationwide Readmissions Database. Patients discharged by postoperative day 7 were considered Expedited and others as Routine. Patients who did not survive to discharge or had major perioperative complications were excluded. Multivariable regression models were constructed to assess association of expedited discharge with index hospitalization costs as well as 30- and 90-day non-elective readmissions.

Results

Of 9,886 patients who met study criteria, 34.6% comprised the Expedited cohort. After adjustment, female sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.71, p = 0.001) and increasing Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (AOR 0.88/point, p<0.001) were associated with lower odds of expedited discharge, while laparoscopic (AOR 1.63, p<0.001, Ref: open) and robotic (AOR 1.67, p = 0.003, Ref: open) approach were linked to greater likelihood. Patients at centers in the highest-tertile of minimally invasive esophagectomy volume had increased odds of expedited discharge (AOR 1.52, p = 0.025, Ref: lowest-tertile). On multivariable analysis, expedited discharge was independently associated with an $8,300 reduction in hospitalization costs. Notably, expedited discharge was associated with similar odds of 30-day (AOR 1.10, p = 0.40) and 90-day (AOR 0.90, p = 0.70) unplanned readmissions.

Conclusion

Expedited discharge after esophagectomy was associated with decreased costs and unaltered readmissions. Prospective studies are necessary to robustly evaluate whether expedited discharge is appropriate for select patients undergoing esophagectomy.
Protocol for an observational study of working conditions and musculoskeletal health in Swedish online retail warehousing from the perspective of sex/gender and place of birth
Authors: Jackson Jennie A. , Mathiassen Svend Erik , Rydström Klara , Johansson Kristina
Published: February 2024

European and International sustainable development agendas aim to reduce inequalities in working conditions and work-related health, yet disparate occupational health outcomes are evident between both men and women and domestic- and foreign-born workers. In Sweden, major growth in online retail warehousing has increased occupational opportunities for foreign-born workers. The rapid change has left research lagging on working conditions, i.e., employment conditions, facility design, work organisation, physical and psychosocial work environment conditions, and their effects on worker health. Further, no known studies have considered patterns of inequality related to these factors. The overall aim of this study is to describe working conditions and musculoskeletal health in online retail warehousing, determine the extent to which differences exist related to sex/gender and place of birth (as a proxy for race/ethnicity), and examine factors at the organisational and individual levels to understand why any differences exist. Three online retail warehouses, each employing 50–150 operations workers performing receiving, order picking, order packing and dispatching tasks will be recruited. Warehouses will, to the extent possible, differ in their extent of digital technology use. Employment conditions, facility design (including digital tool use), work organisation, physical and psychosocial work environment conditions and worker health will be assessed by survey, interview and technical measurements. Analysis of quantitative data stratified by sex and place of birth will consider the extent to which inequalities exist. Focus group interviews with operations employees and in-depth interviews with managers, union and health and safety representatives will be conducted to assess how employee working conditions and musculoskeletal health are related to inequality regimes of sex/gender and/or race/ethnicity in organisational processes and practices in online retail warehousing. The study is pre-registered with the Open Science Framework. This study will describe working conditions and health in online retail warehouse workers and consider the extent to which patterns of inequality exist based on sex/gender and place of birth.
EU27 regional trade networks for medical products in fight against Covid-19 pandemic: Quantifying vulnerability and self sufficiency in critical inputs
Authors: Markose Sheri M. , Soyyiğit Semanur
Published: February 2024

The Covid-19 pandemic spread fast due to a lack of vaccines and a severe shortage of medical products to treat and combat the disease. Many studies have focused on the characteristics of extant global supply chains and trade networks that are determined by globalization drives for production to low-cost countries and the technological complexity of products with many components distributed globally. This, along with the lockdown of many sectors and national policies that divert exports for domestic use, are reasons for lack of access, especially, in Western countries to these products. Governments adopted policies that aim to mitigate vulnerability to imports of critical medical products that include self-sufficiency measures such as increased domestic production, stockpiling and reduction of exports. However, there is as yet no quantitative way to assess if a country’s vulnerability to critical imports has been reduced by such drives for self-sufficiency, when other countries in the trade network follow similar policies. For this we develop a Google PageRank style centrality measure based on the Markose-Giansante eigen-pair method for a specially constructed global bilateral trade network to assess the vulnerability of net importers of critical medical products when they attempt to mitigate it by regional or domestic buffers. We use the network vulnerability centrality measure to quantify the regional self-sufficiency for EU27 countries over 2019–2021 for four Covid-19 critical medical products, viz. facemasks, personal protective equipment, ventilators and hand sanitizers. Despite, growth in value and share of intra-EU regional trade in most of these products by 2021, some countries did not achieve the reduction of vulnerability centrality.
Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in unvaccinated children hospitalized with COVID-19: An observational cohort study of pre-Omicron and Omicron variants era
Authors: Uppala Rattapon , Sitthikarnkha Phanthila , Faksri Kiatichai , Kosalaraksa Pope , Techasatian Leelawadee , Tantawarak Nattakarn , Nanthavongsa Sysavanh
Published: February 2024

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in children hospitalized due to COVID-19 during the era of pre-Omicron and Omicron variants.

Methods

This was a retrospective observational study conducted at a tertiary academic medical center in Thailand between June 2021 and August 2022. We collected the data of children aged under 18-year who were hospitalized from SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. After hospital discharge, we scheduled clinical follow-up 60 to 90 days post-infection clinical follow-up. We measured antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike protein receptor-binding domain in the serum during a follow-up visit and compared the mean difference of antibody levels between children infected with COVID-19 during the pre-Omicron and Omicron eras.

Results

A total of 119 children enrolled into the study. There were 58 and 61 children hospitalized due to COVID-19 during pre-Omicron and Omicron era, respectively. The median (interquartile range, IQR) of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in all cases was 206.1 (87.9–424.1) U/mL at follow-up. Children infected during pre-Omicron had SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels at follow-up higher than children infected during Omicron era [mean difference 292.57 U/mL, 95% CI 53.85–531.28,p= 0.017). There was no difference in SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels between the children based on gender, age, co-morbidities, chest radiograph classification, or diagnosis.

Conclusions

The antibodies response to SARS-CoV-2 infection was weaker during the Omicron era than previous variant of concern. Immunization strategies and policies should be implemented in children even if they had been previously infected.
The U-shaped impact of export quality on firms’ innovation output: Empirical evidence from China
Authors: Cai Yueling , Wu Gongliang
Published: February 2024

Ensuring product quality plays a pivotal role in the successful execution of new product development and serves as a cornerstone for fostering innovation within enterprises. In this study, we investigate the impact of export quality at the firm level on innovation outcomes, utilizing data from Chinese publicly listed companies and customs data spanning the period from 2010 to 2015. Our analysis uncovers a notable U-shaped relationship between export quality and innovation output in Chinese manufacturing enterprises, particularly with respect to invention patents and utility model patents. Subsequent exploration of heterogeneity reveals that this U-shaped relationship is consistent for non-state-owned enterprises, firms operating in high-technology sectors, young firms, firms exporting to high-income countries, firms situated in the eastern region, and firms engaged in processing trade. Additionally, we find a positively significant effect of Chinese manufacturing export quality on the innovation output of firms exclusively involved in general trade. This paper’s key contribution lies in identifying the U-shaped influence of export quality on firms’ innovation output and its applicability. The findings suggest that Chinese manufacturing enterprises need to improve the quality of their export products on a long-term and sustained basis. A series of quality standards for the dynamic development of different industries should be formulated, and actively safeguard the innovation needs of these enterprises, thereby enhancing the value chain position of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.
The behavioral sensitivity of mice to acyclic, monocyclic, and bicyclic monoterpenes
Authors: Williams Ellie , Pauley Austin , Dewan Adam
Published: February 2024

Monoterpenes are a large class of naturally occurring fragrant molecules. These chemicals are commonly used in olfactory studies to survey neural activity and probe the behavioral limits of odor discrimination. Monoterpenes (typically in the form of essential oils) have been used for centuries for therapeutic purposes and have pivotal roles in various biological and medical applications. Despite their importance for multiple lines of research using rodent models and the role of the olfactory system in detecting these volatile chemicals, the murine sensitivity to monoterpenes remains mostly unexplored. We assayed the ability of C57BL/6J mice to detect nine different monoterpenes (the acyclic monoterpenes: geraniol, citral, and linalool; the monocyclic monoterpenes: r-limonene, s-limonene, and γ-terpinene; and the bicyclic monoterpenes: eucalyptol, α-pinene, and β-pinene) using a head-fixed Go / No-Go operant conditioning assay. We found that mice can reliably detect monoterpene concentrations in the low parts per billion (ppb) range. Specifically, mice were most sensitive to geraniol (threshold: 0.7 ppb) and least sensitive to γ-terpinene (threshold: 18.1 ppb). These estimations of sensitivity serve to set the lower limit of relevant monoterpene concentrations for functional experiments in mice. To define an upper limit, we estimated the maximum concentrations that a mouse may experience in nature by collating published headspace analyses of monoterpene concentrations emitted from natural sources. We found that natural monoterpenes concentrations typically ranged from ~1 to 1000 ppb. It is our hope that this dataset will help researchers use appropriate monoterpene concentrations for functional studies and provide context for the vapor-phase delivery of these chemicals in studies investigating their biological activity in mice.
Emergent invariance and scaling properties in the collective return dynamics of a stock market
Authors: Miyahara Hideyuki , Qian Hai , Holur Pavan S. , Roychowdhury Vwani
Published: February 2024

A key metric to determine the performance of a stock in a market is its return over different investment horizons (τ). Several works have observed heavy-tailed behavior in the distributions of returns in different markets, which are observable indicators of underlying complex dynamics. Such prior works study return distributions that are marginalized across the individual stocks in the market, and do not track statistics about the joint distributions of returns conditioned on different stocks, which would be useful for optimizing inter-stock asset allocation strategies. As a step towards this goal, we study emergent phenomena in the distributions of returns as captured by their pairwise correlations. In particular, we consider the pairwise (between stocks i, j) partial correlations of returns with respect to the market mode, ci,j(τ), (thus, correcting for the baseline return behavior of the market), over different time horizons (τ), and discover two novel emergent phenomena: (i) the standardized distributions of the ci,j(τ)’s are observed to be invariant of τ ranging from from 1000min (2.5 days) to 30000min (2.5 months); (ii) the scaling of the standard deviation of ci,j(τ)’s with τ admits good fits to simple model classes such as a power-law τ−λ or stretched exponential function e - τ β (λ, β > 0). Moreover, the parameters governing these fits provide a summary view of market health: for instance, in years marked by unprecedented financial crises—for example 2008 and 2020—values of λ (scaling exponent) are substantially lower. Finally, we demonstrate that the observed emergent behavior cannot be adequately supported by existing generative frameworks such as single- and multi-factor models. We introduce a promising agent-based Vicsek model that closes this gap.
Laboratory-based evaluation of the 4th-generation AlereTM HIV Combo rapid point-of-care test
Authors: Manjate Alice , Nilsson Charlotta , Axelsson Maria , Lindroth Sarah , Sirbu Desiree , Sacarlal Jahit , Andersson Sören , Unemo Magnus
Published: February 2024

Background

Mozambique is a high-prevalence country for HIV and early detection of new HIV infections is crucial for control of the epidemic. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the 4th-generation rapid diagnostic test (RDT) AlereTM HIV Combo in detecting acute and seroconverted HIV-infection, among sexually-active women attending three clinical health centers in Maputo, Mozambique.

Methods

Women aged 14–55 years (n = 920) seeking care at the Mavalane Health Area, Maputo (February 2018-January 2019) were included, and blood specimens sampled. Sociodemographic and sexual behavior data were collected. Point-of-care HIV testing was performed using Alere DetermineTM HIV-1/2 and Uni-GoldTM HIV-1/2. All samples were also tested using Enzygnost® HIV Integral 4 and Innotest® HIV Antigen mAb in laboratory. The 4th-generation RDT AlereTM HIV Combo was evaluated on serum samples in the laboratory. Finally, Innotest® HIV Antigen mAb, Enzygnost® HIV Integral 4 (Ag/Ab), and HIV RNA quantification acted as gold standard assays in the evaluation of AlereTM HIV Combo test for HIV antigen detection (in clinical samples and in three HIV-1 seroconversion panels).

Results

The antibody component of the 4th generation AlereTM HIV Combo RDT demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 100% examining clinical samples. However, the test did not detect HIV p24 antigen in any clinical samples, while Innotest® HIV Antigen mAb, verified by Enzygnost® HIV Integral 4 (Ag/Ab) and/or HIV RNA quantification, detected HIV antigen in six clinical samples. Furthermore, the AlereTM HIV Combo RDT had a low sensitivity in the detection of HIV p24 antigen in seroconversion panels. The HIV prevalence among the examined women was 17.8%.

Conclusions

The 4th-generation RDT AlereTM HIV Combo showed similar sensitivity to the 3rd-generation RDTs to detect seroconverted HIV-infections. However, the sensitivity for detection of HIV p24 antigen and diagnosing acute HIV infections, before seroconversion, was low. There is an urgent need to develop and evaluate simple and affordable POC tests with high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing individuals with acute HIV infection in resource-limited settings with high HIV prevalence.
Retrospective study of the morphology of third maxillary molars among the population of Lower Silesia based on analysis of cone beam computed tomography
Authors: Olczyk Anna , Malicka Barbara , Skośkiewicz-Malinowska Katarzyna
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Understanding the anatomy of root canal systems and being aware of their variations is crucial for successful endodontic treatment. Specifically, the intricate and diverse nature of the root anatomy in maxillary third molars poses a significant challenge for dental clinicians. The study analyzed the morphology of the root canal system in maxillary third molars among residents of the Lower Silesia region in Poland using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).

Material and methods

This retrospective cross-sectional imaging study was conducted at the X-Ray Diagnostics Laboratory of the Academic Dental Polyclinic of Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. The study evaluated 316 CBCT scans and included 196 maxillary third molars. They were obtained from 118 females and 78 males over the age of 18, in the period from January to April 2022 (three consecutive months). The number of roots, root canals, and root canal configurations according to Vertucci’s classification were analyzed.

Results

Three-rooted maxillary molars were found most often (64.29%), followed by single-rooted (24.49%), two-rooted (7.65%), and four-rooted (3.57%) teeth. Among all the roots examined, Vertucci Type I root canals were the most prevalent. Our research found that single-rooted forms (40 teeth, 33.89% vs. 8 teeth, 10.26%, p = 0.0013) of maxillary third molars were significantly more common in females than in males. However, three-rooted forms (62 teeth, 79.49% vs. 64 teeth, 54.24%, p = 0.0013) of maxillary third molars were significantly more common in males than in females.

Discussion

In the Lower Silesia region, the typical maxillary third molar in the Polish population has a three-rooted structure with Vertucci Type I root canal configuration. We noted a sex-dependent correlation in maxillary third molar morphology, with single-rooted forms more prevalent in women and three-rooted forms in men.
Halofuginone for non-hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 a multicenter, randomized placebo-controlled phase 2 trial. The HALOS trial
Authors: Tomazini Bruno Martins , Tramujas Lucas , Medrado Fernando Azevedo , Gomes Samara Pinheiro do Carmo , Negrelli Karina Leal , Murinize Gabriela Souza , Santos Renato Hideo Nakagawa , Vianna Bruna Martins Pereira , Piotto Bruna Fornazieri , Veiga Thabata Silva , Santos Bianca Rodrigues do , Peneluppi Horak Ana Clara , Lemos Olivia Mora Cavalcante , Lopes Marcela de Almeida , Olicheski Beatriz Baptista , Campones Diego Lurentt , Peixoto Luiz Angelo Alencar , Basilio Aline dos Anjos Chaves , Gebara Otavio Celso Eluf , Lopes Ana Tarina Alvarez , Saconato Humberto , Valeis Nanci , Miranda Tamiris Abait , Laranjeira Ligia Nasi , Santucci Eliana Vieira , Carlin Aaron Foster , Esko Jeffrey David , Gordts Phillip Leo Stephan Marie , Tsimikas Sotirios , Cavalcanti Alexandre Biasi
Published: February 2024

Background

Halofuginone (PJS-539) is an oral prolyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitor that has a potent in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 virus. The safety and efficacy of halofuginone in Covid-19 patients has not been studied.

Methods

We conducted a phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose ranging, safety and tolerability trial of halofuginone in symptomatic (≤ 7 days), mostly vaccinated, non-hospitalized adults with mild to moderate Covid-19. Patients were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive halofuginone 0.5mg, 1mg or placebo orally once daily for 10 days. The primary outcome was the decay rate of the SARS-CoV-2 viral load logarithmic curve within 10 days after randomization.

Results

From September 25, 2021, to February 3, 2022, 153 patients were randomized. The mean decay rate in SARS-CoV-2 viral load log10 within 10 days was -3.75 (95% CI, -4.11; -3.19) in the placebo group, -3.83 (95% CI, -4.40; -2.27) in the halofuginone 0.5mg group and -4.13 (95% CI, -4.69; -3.57) in the halofuginone 1mg group, with no statistically significant difference in between placebo vs. halofuginone 0.5mg (mean difference -0.08; 95% CI -0.82 to 0.66, p = 0.96) and between placebo vs. halofuginone 1mg (mean difference -0.38; 95% CI, -1.11; 0.36, p = 0.41). There was no difference on bleeding episodes or serious adverse events at 28 days.

Conclusions

Among non-hospitalized adults with mild to moderate Covid-19 halofuginone treatment was safe and well tolerated but did not decrease SARS-CoV-2 viral load decay rate within 10 days.
Multimodal representation learning for tourism recommendation with two-tower architecture
Authors: Cui Yuhang , Liang Shengbin , Zhang YuYing
Published: February 2024

Personalized recommendation plays an important role in many online service fields. In the field of tourism recommendation, tourist attractions contain rich context and content information. These implicit features include not only text, but also images and videos. In order to make better use of these features, researchers usually introduce richer feature information or more efficient feature representation methods, but the unrestricted introduction of a large amount of feature information will undoubtedly reduce the performance of the recommendation system. We propose a novel heterogeneous multimodal representation learning method for tourism recommendation. The proposed model is based on two-tower architecture, in which the item tower handles multimodal latent features: Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) is used to extract the text features of items, and an External Attention Transformer (EANet) is used to extract image features of items, and connect these feature vectors with item IDs to enrich the feature representation of items. In order to increase the expressiveness of the model, we introduce a deep fully connected stack layer to fuse multimodal feature vectors and capture the hidden relationship between them. The model is tested on the three different datasets, our model is better than the baseline models in NDCG and precision.
Meta/morphosis
Authors: Rushton Emily
Published: February 2024

Meta/morphosis is a long-form poetry that acts as the rationale behind wider doctoral research as a practitioner-researcher, which uses performance research as a well-being intervention for young people with socio-emotional mental health conditions through the vehicle of mythology. The rationale behind my research – which explores the navigation of human emotion and aims to create pathways to new becomings () – creative writing felt like the only apt medium. The poem meanders around the original form of Ovid’s Metamorphoses – inspired by the way in which the intertwining internal monologues and visceral feelings of the characters were never too much and, in fact, spurred on. The justification for and exploration of this mode of writing takes the form of a commentary, as is commonplace for ancient texts in Latin and Greek to be presented with an accompanying linguistic commentary. The ‘commentary’ is cut together side by side to the poem as a praxis to emphasize the materiality of how the two ideas can touch and influence/change their form (; ; ; ; ). The poem was performed in 2022 – the exploration of this practice allowed me to fully immerse myself in the epistemology and methodology of what I am hoping to do; it gave grounding to now move forward and begin research with the epistemology, methodology, practice, theory and ethics intertwined.
Inclusivity and diversity in ‘Actual Play’: Studying The Adventure Zone
Authors: Stanton Ryan , Johnson Mark R.
Published: February 2024

‘Actual Play’ is a growing form of play spectatorship which involves the recording and broadcast of tabletop gaming sessions. It has spawned bestselling comics, live shows and television adaptations. Unlike ‘Let’s Play’ videos on YouTube or game livestreaming on platforms like Twitch, there has been little in the way of critical analysis of this new media form. This article therefore aims to understand its audience(s) through qualitative and quantitative content analysis of survey responses from the fan communities of one of the most popular Actual Play shows, The Adventure Zone. We focus on the relationship between Actual Play’s attempts at creating more accessible and inclusive media that welcome all types of people and the more exclusionary, highly gendered aspects of the broader gaming community. These enquiries also serve as a case study for Actual Play as a less-examined area of both play spectatorship and gaming content creation, and points towards potential future study in these areas.

This article analyses Actual Play podcast The Adventure Zone to highlight the under-explored dynamics of fan audiences in this area of gaming content creation. Topics covered include audience reception of the creators, engagement with issues of diversity and Actual Play as a tabletop roleplaying game gateway.
On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement, Kerry O’brien and William Robin (2023)
Authors: Loydell Rupert
Published: February 2024

Review of: On Minimalism: Documenting A Musical Movement, Kerry O’brien and William Robin (2023)

Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 449 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-52038-208-4, p/bk, £30

The Names of Minimalism: Authorship, Art Music, and Historiography in Dispute, Patrick Nickleson (2023)

Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 253 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-47203-309-8, p/bk, $29.95
Rebellion Festival, Winter Gardens, Blackpool, UK, 3-6 August 2023
Authors: McGuirk Niall , Murphy Michael Mary
Published: February 2024

Review of: Rebellion Festival, Winter Gardens, Blackpool, UK, 3-6 August 2023
High prevalence of natural infection by the ruminant blood fluke Schistosoma spindale in the intermediate snail host Indoplanorbis exustus in Uttaradit, Northern Thailand
Authors: Phuangsri Chorpaka , Japa Ornampai
Published: February 2024

Background and Aim: Freshwater snails belonging to the family Planorbidae serve as the first intermediate hosts of many species of important parasitic flukes of animals and humans. Information regarding the occurrence of planorbid snail larval trematode infection is limited in Northern Thailand. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of larval trematode infection of the freshwater snail Indoplanorbis exustus in Uttaradit, Thailand, and to identify trematode species based on their morphological and molecular characteristics.

Materials and Methods: Planorbid snail specimens were collected from a water reservoir in Uttaradit, Thailand, from June to August 2023. Snails were assessed for larval trematode infection through cercarial shedding and crushing methods. The released cercariae were preliminarily identified on the basis of their morphological characteristics. In addition, species identification of the detected cercariae was conducted using 28S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene sequence analyses.

Results: The overall prevalence of cercarial infection was 61.5% (107/174) in planorbid snails in Uttaradit province. Two species of cercarial trematodes, Schistosoma spindale (106/174, 60.9%) and Artyfechinostomum malayanum (1/174, 0.6%), were identified using morphological and molecular analyses, of which S. spindale was the most abundant species. Our studied snails did not have mixed infection with more than two cercarial species.

Conclusion: Our findings reveal a remarkably high prevalence of S. spindale cercariae infecting planorbid snails in Uttaradit, indicating that humans and animals across the study area are at risk of infection. Our data may contribute to the development of effective strategies to control this zoonotic infectious disease.

Keywords: Artyfechinostomum malayanum, cercaria, cercarial dermatitis, Indoplanorbis exustus, Planorbid snails, Schistosoma spindale.
Anti-Blackness and Moral Repair
Authors: Haruyama Justin
Published: February 2024

For centuries, Europeans interpreted the biblical curse of Ham to justify the colonization and enslavement of Africans. Yet some Zambians today repeat this story as a demonstration of God’s intention for Africans to be servants to whites, thus explaining global inequalities. I approach these apparently anti-Black views not as evidence of false consciousness but as counterhegemonic theorizations of racism, coloniality, and capitalism. Many Zambians use the Ham narrative to challenge the liberal fetishization of equality amid the territorializing border logics of the nation-state. They demonstrate how, in a radically unequal world, these fetishes perpetuate social divisions that contravene God’s will. This constitutes a non-egalitarian decolonizing critique that instead demands relations of mutual connection, kinship, and care across continents. Working toward moral repair, I enlist the resources of liberation theology to imagine new ethical and political futures that are both anti-racist and anti-statist.
Hope and Truth-telling: A Response to Aristotle Papanikolaou
Authors: Ryan Gregory A.
Published: February 2024

This article is a revised version of the paper given at the Anthropology of Hope conference in Prague, May 2023, in response to Professor Aristotle Papanikolaou’s presentation on ‘Hope and Truth-telling’. The first part responds briefly to the affective nature of truth-telling which was presented, and queries the use of martyrial language. The second part looks at three sites on hope and truth-telling in the contemporary Catholic Church: (i) responding to the abuse crisis; (ii) ecumenical relationships, through the lens of ‘Receptive Ecumenism’; and, (iii) communal discernment, taking note of the current movement of synodality. A proposal is made to consider structures of (or structural) virtue as well as structural (or structures of) sin.
From Dangerous Memory to Dangerous Hope: Reading the Theology of Johann Baptist Metz
Authors: Jandejsek Petr
Published: February 2024

From the perspective of theological anthropology, the article aims to explore the possibility of hope in the contemporary world. It draws on the work of the Catholic theologian Johann Baptist Metz and presents the struggle for hope in three areas that were central to Metz and his time. All relate to the question of suffering. Specifically, these are Metz’s conversation with Marxism, in which he develops an eschatological concept of creative hope; the topic of post-Holocaust theology, which must speak out on behalf of the victims of violence and at the same time work with the silence that remains after the victims no more exist; and, finally, a post-idealist approach in theology that will be able to critically view its own Eurocentrism.
Contemporary contexts are in some ways different from Metz’s. Still, one can benefit from his honest efforts, at least methodologically. The article concludes by relating Metz’s ideas to some selected contemporary issues, such as the relationship between activism and spirituality. The article notes a certain affinity between Metz’s thought and the pontificate of the current Pope Francis, especially with regard to a commitment to reality.
Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between Czechoslovakia and the Holy See After the Creation of Czechoslovakia in the Fall of 1918
Authors: Šmíd Marek
Published: February 2024

The present study deals with the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and the Holy See immediately after the creation of Czechoslovakia in the fall of 1918 which underwent a dramatic and turbulent change. The most acute questions to discuss included the filling of Czech and Slovak bishopric thrones, the Church administration in Slovakia and the matters of Church education while the filling of the bishopric thrones in the Czech lands and Slovakia proved to be of crucial importance for the proper functioning of the Church administration in Czechoslovakia. The study is based on source material, mainly of diplomatic nature, from the Archive of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague and the Vatican archives, the study reconstructs the character, form and transformation of diplomatic relations between the young Republic and the headquarters of the Catholic Church in Rome at the turn of the 1910s and 1920s. Extensive archival funds have been confronted with numerous literature sources, including contemporary history texts.
Experimental investigation of RC beams strengthened with externally bonded BFRP composites
Authors: Al-Asadi Ali K. , Alrebeh Salih K. , Hadi Waleed Kh.
Published: February 2024

Objectives

The goal of this article is to examine the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) rays that strengthen superficially the basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) fabrics. We found out that one ray without BFRP and seven rays enveloped within numerous lay-up arrangements. The importance of the study is to improve the flexural capacity of rays, using fiber-reinforced polymer procedure and examine the over-reinforcement technique.

Methods

Interestingly, we have examined under two-point loading, one BFRP fabric sheet flexure.

Results

Loads corresponding to the first crack/delamination and ultimate failure of the beams have been verified. Moreover, we have recognized the types of failure and load contrasted with deflection graphs that have been strategized at outstanding ray locations.

Novelty

Our investigation has unraveled the increased flexural strength of the strengthened RC rays after using coating. Additionally, we have applied pressure to the BFRP fabrics on both sides of the beams. Moreover, we have improved performance with flexural strength, ductility, and failure. Our results are novel and show that the flexural capacity of the wrapped RC rays increases by 46.6%. The ductility increased by 84%, and unfortunately, we had failed the FRB and the concrete had crushed.
The preparation of permanent antistatic additive based on poly(ether-b-amide) copolymers and its modification effect on polyamide 6
Authors: Yuan Lihui , Zhu Ping , Wang Yu , Dong Xia , Wang Dujin
Published: February 2024

Conventional polymers have typically been used in the packaging of various electronic devices; however, due to the inherent electrically insulating properties these materials fail to dissipate static charges. To address this issue, novel poly(ether-b-amide) (PEBA) segmented copolymers consisting of uniform rigid oxalamide and flexible polyethylene glycol (PEG) were synthesized via melt polycondensation. The influence of PEG molecular weight and the spacer length separating two oxalamide units on the condensed structure, mechanical performance, and antistatic properties was systematically investigated. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) demonstrated strongly hydrogen bonded and highly ordered oxalamide hard segments with the degree of ordering between 71 and 85 % even at low levels. Mechanical behavior results showed that segmented copolymers have an obvious yield point, an elastic modulus between 20 and 30 MPa, and strain at break exceeding 2000 %. Meanwhile, such copolymers possessed low surface resistivity, as low as 107 Ω, which is significantly less than that of commercial antistatic additives. The antistatic effect of PEBA on polyamide 6 (PA6) was also investigated, revealing that when the content reached 30 wt%, the surface resistivity of the alloys decreased from 1013 Ω to 1011 Ω and remained stable after 40 days, even after water washing treatment. Overall, these findings illustrate that the newly synthesized PEBA copolymers demonstrate outstanding long-term antistatic properties and provide valuable insights for the development of polyether-based multiblock copolymer antistatic agents.
Numerical analysis of thermophoretic particle deposition on 3D Casson nanofluid: Artificial neural networks-based Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm
Authors: Khan Amna , Aljuaydi Fahad , Khan Zeeshan , Islam Saeed
Published: February 2024

The aim of this research is to provide a new computer-assisted approach for predicting thermophoresis particle decomposition on three-dimensional Casson nanofluid flow that passed over a stretched surface (thermophoresis particle decomposition on three-dimensional Casson nanofluid flow; TPD-CNF). In order to understand the flow behavior of nanofluid flow model, an optimized Levenberg–Marquardt learning algorithm with backpropagation neural network (LMLA-BPNN) has been designed. The mathematical model of TPD-CNF framed with appropriate assumptions and turned into ordinary differential equations via suitable similarity transformations are used. The bvp4c approach is used to collect the data for the LMLA-BPNN, which is used for parameters related with the TPD-CNF model controlling the velocity, temperature, and nanofluid concentration profiles. The proposed algorithm LMLA-BPNN is used to evaluate the obtained TDP-CNF model performance in various instances, and a correlation of the findings with a reference dataset is performed to check the validity and efficacy of the proposed algorithm for the analysis of nanofluids flow composed of sodium alginate nanoparticles dispersed in base fluid water. Statistical tools such as Mean square error, State transition dynamics, regression analysis, and error dynamic histogram investigations all successfully validate the suggested LMLA-BPNN for solving the TPD-CNF model. LMLA-BPNN networks have been used to numerically study the impact of different parameters of interest, such as Casson parameter, power-law index, thermophoretic parameter, and Schmidt number on flow profiles (axial and transverse), and energy and nanofluid concentration profiles. The range, i.e., 10−4–10−5 of absolute error of the reference and target data demonstrates the optimal accuracy performance of LMLA-BPNN networks.
Analyzing fuzzy fractional Degasperis–Procesi and Camassa–Holm equations with the Atangana–Baleanu operator
Authors: Alshehry Azzh Saad , Yasmin Humaira , Shah Manzoor Ali , Shah Rasool
Published: February 2024

This article presents a new approach for solving the fuzzy fractional Degasperis–Procesi (FFDP) and Camassa–Holm equations using the iterative transform method (ITM). The fractional Degasperis–Procesi (DP) and Camassa–Holm equations are extended from the classical DP and Camassa–Holm equations by incorporating fuzzy sets and fractional derivatives. The ITM is a powerful technique widely used for solving nonlinear differential equations. This approach transforms the fuzzy fractional differential equations into a series of ordinary differential equations, which are then solved iteratively using a recursive algorithm. Numerical simulations demonstrate the proposed approach’s accuracy and effectiveness. The results show that the ITM provides an efficient and accurate method for solving the FFDP and Camassa–Holm equations. The proposed method can be extended to solve other fuzzy fractional differential equations.