bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RETRACTED: Workflow task scheduling for homogeneous environments on multiprocessing based on IoT variant of beta artificial bee colony
Authors: Shukla Dhirendra Kumar , Singh Jagriti , Muthusamy Sakthivel , Satpathy Sambit , Goyal Vishal
Published: December 2022

In the present era of supercomputing, the efficient scheduling of tasks is the first priority of the IoT and cloud service provider. Their objective is to utilize the maximum resource in order to fulfill various clients' requests. The scheduling of task on multiple processors increases change of underutilization of resources. Hence, this demand‐efficient scheduling algorithm that fulfills computer service provider's demands. This paper proposes a modified artificial bee colony algorithm for scheduling of multiple tasks on multiple processors by introducing crossover operation in employee bee phase to reduce the slow convergence rate. This proposed approach is tested on various scenarios in which there exist condition dependency among the tasks exists. The experimental results reduced the proposed approach to reduce the overall makes pan on an average by 15.37%.
Geology and metallogenesis of the Tiegelongnan Cu–Au–Ag deposit, Duolong ore district, Tibet
Authors: Wang Yi‐Yun , Fang Xiang , Tang Ju‐Xing , Lin Bin , Song Yang , Yang Huan‐Huan , Zhang Zhi , Wang Qin , Gao Ke , Zhan Hong‐Yu
Published: December 2022

The Tiegelongnan deposit is a giant deposit (>10 million tons Cu resources with an average grade of 0.53%) located in the west of the Bangong Co‐Nujiang metallogenic Belt, where typical porphyry and epithermal types of alteration and mineralization are developed. A compilation of geological features and mineralogical studies revealed that the Tiegelongnan deposit developed two stages of hydrothermal alteration. The early stage was related to porphyry emplacement, developing potassic, phyllic and propylitic alterations, telescoped by the late advanced argillic alteration in the shallow levels. Correspondingly, two stages of mineralization occurred, the early porphyry‐type mineralization being overlapped by the late high‐sulfidation epithermal mineralization. Due to differences in pH, log fO2, K+ activity and temperature of ore‐forming fluids, distinct sulfide minerals of low to extremely high sulfidation states, such as chalcopyrite, tennantite, enargite and covellite, precipitated throughout the entire hydrothermal process. The Tiegelongnan deposit is a complex porphyry metallogenetic system of ‘multiple structures’. The Early Cretaceous andesitic volcanic rocks of the Meiriqiecuo Formation exposed on the surface act as a cap for the ore body, beneath which an oxidizing‐leaching zone lies. Under the cap and the oxidizing‐leaching zone, a porphyry ore body is remoulded by high‐grade high‐sulfidation epithermal hydrothermal mineralization, which gradually transitions to continuous porphyry‐type mineralization at depth.
Extracellular vesicle long RNA markers of early‐stage lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Zhang Yanwei , Liu Wei , Zhang Hongdao , Sun Beibei , Chen Tianxiang , Hu Minjuan , Zhou Haisheng , Cao Ying , Han Baohui , Wu Ligang
Published: December 2022

Lung cancer screening by low‐dose computed tomography (LDCT) can improve mortality rates among high‐risk individuals, especially adenocarcinoma cases with characteristically poor prognosis, although high false‐positive rates have limited its clinical application. The objective of our study was to identify biomarkers for early‐stage lung adenocarcinoma (ie, tumor diameter <2 cm) through extracellular vesicle long RNA (evlRNA) sequencing. High throughput evlRNA sequencing and support vector machine (SVM) identification of candidate diagnostic marker transcripts were performed using serum samples obtained before lung surgery. A total of 145 upregulated and 363 downregulated differential genes (P value <.05, fold change >1.5) were identified between lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients and benign controls. An SVM model based on a 23‐gene signature could distinguish EV samples of LUAD patients from those of control subjects with 86.49% sensitivity, 95.00% specificity and 92.31% accuracy in the training set and 93.75% sensitivity, 85.71% specificity and 88.24% accuracy in the validation set. A 17‐gene signature was then identified that could distinguish AIS patient samples from those of MIA/IAD patients with 93.33% sensitivity, 98.00% specificity, and 96.25% accuracy in the trainingset and 83.33% sensitivity, 96.55% specificity, and 94.29% accuracy in the validation set. EvlRNAs in serum show considerable diagnostic value for screening LUAD patients with tumor sizes <2 cm in conjunction with LDCT, potentially reducing false positive rates while improving mortality rates.
Urinary exosomal prostate‐specific antigen is a noninvasive biomarker to detect prostate cancer: Not only old wine in new bottles
Authors: Wei Chunmeng , Chen Xi , Ji Jin , Xu Yalong , He Xing , Zhang Huiyong , Mo Zengnan , Wang Fubo
Published: December 2022

The study aimed at evaluating the performance of urinary exosomal prostate‐specific antigen (UE‐PSA) to predict the results of initial prostate biopsies and discriminate clinically significant prostate cancer (Gleason score ≥ 7, csPCa) from nonsignificant PCa (Gleason score < 7, nsPCa) plus benign patients. Two hundred seventy‐two consecutive participants were admitted who underwent a prostate biopsy. The UE‐PSA expression was detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The predictive power and clinical value of UE‐PSA was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC), decision curve analysis (DCA) and waterfall plots. UE‐PSA was upregulated in PCa compared to benign patients (P < .001) and csPCa compared to nsPCa plus benign patients (P < .001). UE‐PSA achieved an AUC of 0.953 (0.905‐0.989) in distinguishing PCa from benign patients and an AUC of 0.879 (0.808‐0.941) in predicting csPCa from nsPCa plus benign patients. These results were validated in an additional multicenter cohort. In addition, DCA showed that UE‐PSA achieved the highest net benefit at almost any threshold probability compared to tPSA and %fPSA. As the waterfall plot showed, the UE‐PSA assay could avoid 57.6% (155 cases) and 34.6% (93 cases) unnecessary biopsies while only missing 2.6% (7 cases) and 1.5% (4 cases) of the cases of csPCa at the cutoff value of 90% and 95% sensitivity, respectively. We validated that UE‐PSA presented great diagnostic power and clinical utility to diagnose PCa and csPCa. UE‐PSA could be a promising noninvasive biomarker to improve PCa detection.
Financial inclusion and economic growth: What roles do institutions and financial regulation play?
Authors: Ofoeda Isaac , Amoah Lordina , Anarfo Ebenezer Bugri , Abor Joshua Yindenaba
Published: December 2022

The extant literature indicates that financial inclusion has a direct influence on economic growth. This has been examined by previous studies by analysing the link between financial inclusion and economic growth. This study uses the two‐step system GMM approach to investigate the moderating role of financial regulation and quality of institutions on the linkage between economic growth and financial inclusion in Africa, using balanced panel data of 52 African countries spanning 2002–2019. The findings reveal a number of things; (i) financial inclusion, financial regulation, and all proxies of institutional quality exert strong and significant effects on economic growth; (ii) institutional quality enhances the impact of financial inclusion on economic growth; iii. Financial regulation dampens the effect of financial inclusion on economic growth. Based on these findings, we recommend the following; (i) central, local governments, and policymakers should formulate public policy that promotes inclusive finance. Such policies should aim at removing barriers and constraints such as excessive customer identification requirements that hinder people from gaining access to finance; (ii) central governments and policymakers in Africa should refine policy that promotes the involvement of the citizenry in governance processes, promote accountability of public institutions, ensure effective governance systems, controls corruption, promote rule of law, and political stability and ensure quality legal and regulatory regimes; (iii) African central governments should fine‐tune policy aimed at strengthening institutions and the regulatory framework. By implication, strong, independent, and quality institutions coupled with sound financial regulatory framework is required to spur the growth of African countries.
The mediating role of thinking styles in the relationship between adolescent time perspective and subjective well‐being
Authors: Kuan Tat‐Yeung James
Published: December 2022

Introduction

The mechanism behind how time perspective (TP) relates to subjective well‐being is not fully understood and thinking styles might be potential mediators. However, our understanding of the relationship between thinking styles and subjective well‐being is currently limited to adult studies. This study aims to extend the literature by examining the mediating role of thinking styles in the relationship between TP and subjective well‐being in an adolescent sample.

Methods

One hundred forty‐nine male and one hundred and fourteen female secondary school students (13–18 years old) in Hong Kong responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory‐Revised II (TSI‐R2), the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale (TSWLS) in two waves separated by 2 months in 2017.

Results

After controlling for gender and TP, internal and external styles positively predicted positive affect and future life satisfaction after 2 months. Adaptive Type I hierarchical style positively predicted both positive and negative affect after 2 months, which supports the two‐dimensional structure of affect. Unexpectedly, maladaptive Type II styles did not predict subjective well‐being. Longitudinal mediation using cross‐lagged panel model showed that thinking styles mediated three relationships between TP and subjective well‐being. The internal style mediated the relationship between Past‐Negative TP, positive affect, and future life satisfaction, while the external style mediated the relationship between Future TP and future life satisfaction.

Conclusions

Thinking styles predicted adolescent subjective well‐being and acted as mediators in the relationship between TPs and subjective well‐being.
Agaricus blazei Murill extract‐loaded in alginate/poly(vinyl alcohol) films prepared by Ca2+ cross‐linking for wound healing applications
Authors: Campelo Matheus da Silva , Mota Lucas Barroso , Câmara Neto João Francisco , Barbosa Maria Lucianny Lima , Gonzaga Maria Leônia da Costa , Leal Luzia Kalyne Almeida Moreira , Bastos Maria do Socorro Rocha , Soares Sandra de Aguiar , Ricardo Nágila Maria Pontes Silva , Cerqueira Gilberto Santos , Ribeiro Maria Elenir Nobre Pinho
Published: December 2022

This work aimed the development and evaluation of the wound healing activity of films based on sodium alginate, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Ca2+ loaded with Agaricus blazei Murill hydroalcoholic extract (AbE). Firstly, AbE was prepared using a previously standardized methodology. The films were prepared by casting technique and cross‐linked with Ca2+ using CaCl2 as cross‐linking agent. The physicochemical, morphological and water vapor barrier properties of the films were analyzed and the pre‐clinical efficacy was investigated against the cutaneous wound model in mice. The films showed barrier properties to water vapor promising for wound healing. AbE showed physical and chemical interactions between both polymers, noticed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and thermal analysis. The delivery of AbE in alginate/PVA films enhanced the antioxidant and wound healing properties of these polymers. Consequently, a reduction of malondialdehyde levels was observed, as well as an increase of the epidermis/dermis thickness and enhancement in collagen I deposition. Thus, these formulations are promising biomaterials for wound care and tissue repairing.
Cannabinoids inhibit ethanol‐induced activation of liver toxicity in rats through JNK/ERK/MAPK signaling pathways
Authors: Yan Lei , Luo Heng , Tang Xiaolu , Wang Haidong
Published: December 2022

Cannabinoids (CBs) are psychoactive compounds, with reported anticancer, anti‐inflammatory, and anti‐neoplastic properties. The study was aimed at assessing the hepatoprotective effects of CB against ethanol (EtOH)‐induced liver toxicity in rats. The animals were divided into seven groups: control (Group I) and Group II were treated with 50% ethanol (EtOH 5 mg/kg). Groups III, IV, and VI were treated with (EtOH + CB 10 mg/kg), (EtOH + CB 20 mg/kg), and (EtOH + CB 30 mg/kg), respectively. Groups V and VII consisted of animals treated with 20 and 30 mg/kg, of CB, respectively. Biochemical analysis revealed that Group IV (EtOH + CB 20 mg/kg) had reduced levels of ALT—alanine transferase, AST—aspartate aminotransferase, ALP—alanine peroxidase, MDA—malondialdehyde and increased levels of GSH‐reduced glutathione. Histopathological analysis of liver and kidney tissues showed that EtOH + CB (20 and 30 mg/kg) treated animal groups exhibited normal tissue architecture similar to that of the control group. ELISA revealed that the inflammatory markers were reduced in the animal groups that were treated with EtOH + CB 20 mg/kg, in comparison to the animals treated only with EtOH. The mRNA expression levels of COX‐2, CD‐14, and MIP‐2 showed a remarkable decrease in EtOH + CB treated animal groups to control groups. Western blot analysis revealed that CB downregulated p38/JNK/ERK thereby exhibiting its hepatoprotective property by inhibiting mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathways. Thus, our findings suggest that CB is a potential candidate for the treatment of alcohol‐induced hepatotoxicity.
DDIT4 promotes malignancy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Zhang Zhenxing , Zhu Haoran , Zhao Chifeng , Liu Dong , Luo Jun , Ying Yukang , Zhong Yuan
Published: December 2022

This study investigated the cancer‐promoting effect of ferroptosis regulator DNA damage‐inducible transcript 4 (DDIT4) and its relevant mechanisms. Vital ferroptosis‐related genes were identified using bioinformatic methods on the basis of data collected from TCGA and seven other online databases. Cell Counting Kit‐8 (CCK8), colony formation, wound‐healing and transwell assays, and western blot analysis were conducted for verifying the biological role of DDIT4 in vitro. The immune score and tumor purity were calculated using R package “estimate.” The relationship was identified between DDIT4 expression and immune cell infiltration using ssGSEA and CIBERSORT algorithms. R package “Seurat” was used to perform unsupervised clustering of the single cells, and “SingleR” was utilized for annotation. R package “STUtility” was employed to plot the spatial expression of DDIT4. For trajectory analysis, monocle was used to predict cell differentiation and demonstrate the expression of DDIT4 at each state. Here, DDIT4 overexpression was observed in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) cohort, and DDIT4 upregulation showed a positive correlation with larger tumor size, lymph node metastasis, more advanced TNM stage and higher tumor mutational burden (TMB). Moreover, DDIT4 knockdown could markedly inhibit the proliferation, colony formation, invasion and migration of HNSCC cells, as well as suppress the expression of HIF‐1a, VEGF and vimentin. In comparison, DDIT4 overexpression showed a negative correlation with immune score and infiltrations of several immune cells. DDIT4 played crucial roles in the differentiation of CAFs and T cells. Collectively, this study demonstrates that DDIT4 contributes a critical role in HNSCC progression. The positive feedback regulation between DDIT4 and HIF‐1a may be a potential target for HNSCC treatment.
Somatic A‐to‐I RNA‐edited RHOA isoform 2 specific‐R176G mutation promotes tumor progression in lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Chen Kuan‐Ju , Huang Jing‐Hsiang , Shih Jou‐Ho , Gu De‐Leung , Lee Szu‐Shuo , Shen Roger , Hsu Yu‐Hsuan , Kung Ying‐Chih , Wu Cheng‐Yen , Ho Chun‐Ming , Jen Hsin‐Wei , Lee Hsin‐Yi , Lang Yaw‐Dong , Hsiao Chen‐Hao , Jou Yuh‐Shan
Published: December 2022

Adenosine‐to‐inosine (A‐to‐I) RNA editing is the most common posttranscriptional editing to create somatic mutations and increase proteomic diversity. However, the functions of the edited mutations are largely underexplored. To identify novel targets in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), we conducted a genome‐wide somatic A‐to‐I RNA editing analysis of 23 paired adjacent normal and LUAD transcriptomes and identified 26,280 events, including known nonsynonymous AZIN1‐S367G and novel RHOAiso2 (RHOA isoform 2)‐R176G, tubulin gamma complex associated protein 2 (TUBGCP2)‐N211S, and RBMXL1‐I40 M mutations. We validated the edited mutations in silico in multiple databases and in newly collected LUAD tissue pairs with the SEQUENOM MassARRAY® and TaqMan PCR Systems. We selected RHOAiso2‐R176G due to its significant level, isoform‐specificity, and being the most common somatic edited nonsynonymous mutation of RHOAiso2 to investigate its roles in LUAD tumorigenesis. RHOAiso2 is a ubiquitous but low‐expression alternative spliced isoform received a unique Alu‐rich exon at the 3′ RHOA mRNA to become an editing RNA target, leading to somatic hypermutation and protein diversity. Interestingly, LUAD patients harboring the RHOAiso2‐R176G mutation were associated with aberrant RHOA functions, cancer cell proliferation and migration, and poor clinical outcomes in transcriptome analysis. Mechanistically, RHOAiso2‐R176G mutation‐expressing LUAD cells potentiate RHOA‐guanosine triphosphate (GTP) activity to phosphorylate ROCK1/2 effectors and enhance cell proliferation and migration in vitro and increase tumor growth in xenograft and systemic metastasis models in vivo. Taken together, the RHOAiso2‐R176G mutation is a common somatic A‐to‐I edited mutation of the hypermutated RHOA isoform 2. It is an oncogenic and isoform‐specific theranostic target that activates RHOA‐GTP/p‐ROCK1/2 signaling to promote tumor progression.
Semi‐tensor product of quaternion matrices and its application
Authors: Fan Xueling , Li Ying , Ding Wenxv , Zhao Jianli
Published: December 2022

Unlike real or complex numbers, quaternion multiplication does not satisfy the commutative law. This makes it impossible to generalize some conclusions on semi‐tensor product to quaternion directly, which is valid on real or complex number fields. In this paper, we define semi‐tensor product of quaternion matrices and study the properties of semi‐tensor product of quaternion matrices, and the conclusion is applied to the color digital image restoration model.
A multi‐scale, multi‐region and attention mechanism‐based deep learning framework for prediction of grading in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Wei Jingwei , Ji Qian , Gao Yu , Yang Xiaozhen , Guo Donghui , Gu Dongsheng , Yuan Chunwang , Tian Jie , Ding Dawei
Published: December 2022

Background

Histopathological grading is a significant risk factor for postsurgical recurrence in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Preoperative knowledge of histopathological grading could provide instructive guidance for individualized treatment decision‐making in HCC management.

Purpose

This study aims to develop and validate a newly proposed deep learning model to predict histopathological grading in HCC with improved accuracy.

Methods

In this dual‐centre study, we retrospectively enrolled 384 HCC patients with complete clinical, pathological and radiological data. Aiming to synthesize radiological information derived from both tumour parenchyma and peritumoral microenvironment regions, a modelling strategy based on a multi‐scale and multi‐region dense connected convolutional neural network (MSMR‐DenseCNNs) was proposed to predict histopathological grading using preoperative contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) images. Multi‐scale inputs were defined as three‐scale enlargement of an original minimum bounding box in width and height by given pixels, which correspondingly contained more peritumoral analysis areas with the enlargement. Multi‐region inputs were defined as three regions of interest (ROIs) including a squared ROI, a precisely delineated tumour ROI, and a peritumoral tissue ROI. The DenseCNN structure was designed to consist of a shallow feature extraction layer, dense block module, and transition and attention module. The proposed MSMR‐DenseCNN was pretrained by the ImageNet dataset to capture basic graphic characteristics from the images and was retrained by the collected retrospective CT images. The predictive ability of the MSMR‐DenseCNN models on triphasic images was compared with a conventional radiomics model, radiological model and clinical model.

Results

MSMR‐DenseCNN applied to the delayed phase (DP) achieved the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.867 in the validation cohort for grading prediction, outperforming those on the arterial phase (AP) and portal venous phase (PVP). Fusion of the results on triphasic images did not increase the predictive ability, which underscored the role of DP for grading prediction. Compared with a single‐scale and single‐region network, the DP‐phase based MSMR‐DenseCNN model remarkably raised sensitivity from 67.4% to 75.5% with comparable specificity of 78.6%. MSMR‐DenseCNN on DP defeated conventional radiomics, radiological and clinical models, where the AUCs were correspondingly 0.765, 0.695 and 0.612 in the validation cohort.

Conclusions

The MSMR‐DenseCNN modelling strategy increased the accuracy for preoperative prediction of grading in HCC, and enlightens similar radiological analysis pipelines in a variety of clinical scenarios in HCC management.
Exploring the experiences of frontline nurses during the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic: An integrated literature review
Authors: Jackson Megan R. , Porter Joanne E. , Mesagno Christopher
Published: December 2022

Aim

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of frontline nurses caring for patients during the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Design

The JBI manual for evidence synthesis and the PRISMA guidelines for reporting.

Data sources

CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, PsycINFO (EBSCO) and Scopus (Elsevier).

Review Methods

The JBI Mixed Methods Data Extraction Tool following a Convergent Integrated Approach.

Results

Nineteen studies were included in the review, comprising eight countries and 2525 frontline nurses. Six themes emerged encompassing frontline nurses' COVID‐19 experiences including emotional experiences, physical symptoms, ethical and moral challenges, professional impact, risk factors for negative emotional experiences and protective factors for future pandemic events.

Conclusion

Frontline nurses have faced numerous challenges during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Providing frontline nurses with the required resources and support to perform their roles in global healthcare crises allows for an empowered and resilient workforce ensuring nurses remain in their chosen profession.
Universal Cash Transfers and Labor Market Outcomes
Authors: Bibler Andrew , Guettabi Mouhcine , Reimer Matthew N.
Published: December 2022

One major criticism of Universal Basic Income is that unconditional cash transfers discourage recipients from working. Evidence to date has largely relied on targeted and/or conditional transfer programs. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions from such programs because universal transfers may induce a positive demand shock by distributing cash to a large portion of the population, which may in turn offset any negative labor supply responses. We estimate the causal effects of universal cash transfers on short‐run labor market activity by exploiting the timing and variation in size of a long‐running unconditional and universal transfer: Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend. We find evidence of both a positive labor demand and negative labor supply response to the transfers. Small negative effects on the number of hours worked are found for women, especially those with young children. In contrast, we find an increase in the probability of employment for males in the months following the distribution. Altogether, a $1,000 increase in the per‐person disbursement leads to a 0.8 percent labor market contraction on an annual basis.
Poly(lactic acid) films reinforced with hybrid zinc oxide‐polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane nanoparticles: Morphological, mechanical, and antibacterial properties
Authors: Arshian Mahya , Estaji Sara , Tayouri Mohammad Iman , Mousavi Seyed Rasoul , Shojaei Shahrokh , Khonakdar Hossein Ali
Published: December 2022

Nanoparticles of zinc oxide (ZnO), polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS), and their hybrids were added to polylactic acid (PLA) using solution casting process at different weight percentages of the nanoparticles (1, 3, and 5 wt%) to form developed nanocomposites for food packaging applications. According to FTIR and XRD studies, both nanoparticles displayed fair chemical interactions with the PLA matrix. Furthermore, morphological investigations (SEM‐EDS) revealed that POSS, ZnO, and their hybrids were uniformly dispersed into the matrix despite some microaggregations at 5 wt% of nanoparticles, especially for those containing POSS. Moreover, adding 1 wt% of POSS to PLA increased its tensile strength and modulus by 20% and 149%, respectively, while decreasing the elongation‐at‐break by 54%. In addition, the tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elongation‐at‐break of PLA all increased by 7.5%, 28.7%, and 162%, respectively, with the addition of 1 wt% ZnO. Contact angle and surface free energy experiments demonstrated that after incorporating ZnO and POSS into the PLA matrix, the hydrophobicity of the samples increased, and POSS nanoparticles could minimize bacterial adherence effectively. In addition to the antibacterial properties of ZnO and POSS nanoparticles, increasing the concentration of hybrid nanoparticles up to 5 wt% expanded the bacteria's inhibitory zone, particularly in the case of Gram‐positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). Finally, the hybrid nanocomposites exhibited both balanced mechanical characteristics and promising antibacterial activity compared with those with ZnO and POSS alone.
Lockdown in Chinese university dormitories: Significant increase in negative feelings and time perception distortion
Authors: Wang Juanjuan , Wang Chen , Gu Xiaoming , Sun Yi
Published: December 2022

The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a global crisis resulting in lockdowns worldwide. Studies found that these could amplify negative affects predictive of disturbances in time perception. However, all existing studies on this topic concentrated on the general population during a lockdown at home. There was no research on university students living in dormitories. This study fills a gap in the literature by investigating the affective states and awareness of the passage of time of Chinese university students during an exceptional dormitory lockdown. Using a snowball sampling approach, this web‐based study recruited 225 volunteers (136 girls, 17−27 years old) during a dormitory lockdown. The online survey consisted of questions on demographic information, affective states (the Chinese version of the depression anxiety stress scales‐21 (DASS‐21) on depression, anxiety, and stress), and sense of the passage of time (the translated version of the assessment of passage of time over daily, weekly and yearly periods). The researchers shared the questionnaire link via the social media application WeChat. The study applied descriptive statistics and column charts to represent students' affective states and sense of the passage of time under extreme conditions and Pearson's correlation analysis to examine the impact of affective states on their sense of time. The study's results indicate that the dormitory lockdown caused a significant increase in all depression, anxiety, and stress categories of the DASS‐21, as well as a distortion of the sense of time passing. However, the direction of the distortion differed from that in previous studies. Moreover, a Pearson correlation analysis showed that none of the three negative affects could be associated with students' sense of time. The findings of this study indicate an increased vulnerability of students due to the lockdown. Their emotions were strongly affected, requiring particular interventions to preserve their mental well‐being. In addition, they showed a different distortion direction of time passage. Finally, they differed in the correlations between negative affect and the sense of passage of time compared to the general population in lockdown at home. This shows a need to investigate the impact of psychological states on students' routines and quality of life in emergencies. This study's scope should be expanded by incorporating additional factors pertaining to the passage of time and by integrating cross‐cultural comparisons.
Oxidative Degradation of Basic Red 29 by Persulfate Activated by Sulfur Composite Zinc
Authors: Bahri Zakaria , Djerad Souad , Nouri Loubna
Published: December 2022

Herein, a composite zinc formed by ZnO and different zinc sulfur species is synthesized via a simple reduction of zinc sulfate by sodium sulfite under air. The obtained product is found to be very efficient in the activation of persulfate (PS) when compared to commercial ZnO. Diluted PS at 2 mM in homogeneous system allows the degradation of 24.83% of Basic Red 29 (BR29) after 120 min at 40 °C. The addition of 5 mg of the composite zinc increases the yield to 74.89%, while commercial ZnO registers 50.21% under the same conditions. The effectiveness of the composite sample is found to be due to the presence of ZnS and SO32− species that act as dopants for PS activation. The degradation reactions follow the pseudo‐first order with both catalysts. The main components involved in the degradation process are superoxide radical followed by singlet oxygen and then sulfate radical. Further application of ultrasounds at 40 kHz and addition of H2O2 at 1 mM reduces the reaction time for total degradation to 40 min with the composite zinc and 70 min with commercial ZnO.
Comparison of the Properties of Defect States in Nitrogen‐Containing n‐ and p‐Type Float‐Zone Silicon: A Combined Deep‐Level Transient Spectroscopy and Minority‐Carrier Transient Spectroscopy Study
Authors: Scheffler Leopold , Lei Anders , Duun Sune , Julsgaard Brian
Published: December 2022

Defect states in nitrogen‐containing float‐zone silicon are investigated in both n‐ and p‐type materials using both deep‐level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and minority‐carrier transient spectroscopy (MCTS). This enables a mapping of the defect landscape in the entire electronic bandgap and an investigation of whether the properties of the defects depend on the semiconductor type. Two defects, the E1/E2 pair and the E4/E6 pair, are investigated, and no evidence is found for the defect properties to depend on the semiconductor type.
Tailoring Ultraviolet Band Absorption and Emission Features of ZnO Nanoparticles Through the Crystallite Size and Lattice Strain Modulation: Role of Yttrium Ions
Authors: Senthil Kumari S. , Nirmala W. , Chidhambaram Natarajan , Thirumurugan Arun , Gobalakrishnan S.
Published: December 2022

Herein, the influence of rare‐earth metal (REM) ion yttrium on the physical properties of co‐precipitation‐derived ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) is reported. The X‐ray diffraction analysis confirms that the inclusion of yttrium does not alter the hexagonal wurtzite phase of host ZnO up to 3% of yttrium content and forms a secondary phase for further doping. The size–strain plot (SSP) analysis of synthesized NPs shows that yttrium increases the crystallite size values. Variations in the Urbach energy value and optical bandgap support the creation of defect levels. Room‐temperature photoluminescence investigations on the Y‐doped ZnO NPs identify surface defects and vacancies. The existence of various functional groups besides the characteristic stretching vibrations of ZnO in the prepared NPs is ascertained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Elemental mapping investigation verifies the presence of constituent elements in the 5% yttrium‐doped ZnO NPs. Transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to analyze the surface morphology of the 5% yttrium‐doped ZnO NPs as well as the oxidation states of the constituent elements.
Wogonin regulates colonocyte metabolism via PPARγ to inhibit Enterobacteriaceae against dextran sulfate sodium‐induced colitis in mice
Authors: Su Yulin , Liang Junjie , Zhang Meiling , Zhao Meng , Xie Xueqian , Wang Xiaojing , Pan Zengfeng , Huang Shaowei , Yan Rong , Wang Qing , Zhou Lian , Luo Xia
Published: December 2022

To investigate the potential effects and mechanism of wogonin on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)‐induced colitis, 70 male mice were administered wogonin (12.5, 25, 50 mg·kg−1·d−1, i.g.) for 10 days, meanwhile, in order to induce colitis, the mice were free to drink 3% DSS for 6 days. We found that wogonin could obviously ameliorate DSS‐induced colitis, including preventing colon shortening and inhibiting pathological damage. In addition, wogonin could increase the expression of PPARγ, which not only restores intestinal epithelial hypoxia but also inhibits iNOS protein to reduce intestinal nitrite levels. All these effects facilitated a reduction in the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae in DSS‐induced colitis mice. Therefore, compared with the DSS group, the number of Enterobacteriaceae in the intestinal flora was significantly reduced after administration of wogonin or rosiglitazone by 16s rDNA technology. We also verified that wogonin could promote the expression of PPARγ mRNA and protein in Caco‐2 cells, and this effect disappeared when PPARγ signal was inhibited. In conclusion, our study suggested that wogonin can activate the PPARγ signal of the Intestinal epithelium to ameliorate the Intestinal inflammation caused by Enterobacteriaceae bacteria expansion.
Genomic imprinting in human placentation
Authors: Kobayashi Eri H. , Shibata Shun , Oike Akira , Kobayashi Norio , Hamada Hirotaka , Okae Hiroaki , Arima Takahiro
Published: December 2022

Background

Genomic imprinting (GI) is a mammalian‐specific epigenetic phenomenon that has been implicated in the evolution of the placenta in mammals.

Methods

Embryo transfer procedures and trophoblast stem (TS) cells were used to re‐examine mouse placenta‐specific GI genes. For the analysis of human GI genes, cytotrophoblast cells isolated from human placental tissues were used. Using human TS cells, the biological roles of human GI genes were examined.

Main findings

(1) Many previously identified mouse GI genes were likely to be falsely identified due to contaminating maternal cells. (2) Human placenta‐specific GI genes were comprehensively determined, highlighting incomplete erasure of germline DNA methylation in the human placenta. (3) Human TS cells retained normal GI patterns. (4) Complete hydatidiform mole‐derived TS cells were characterized by aberrant GI and enhanced trophoblastic proliferation. The maternally expressed imprinted gene p57KIP2 may be responsible for the enhanced proliferation. (5) The primate‐specific microRNA cluster on chromosome 19, which is a placenta‐specific GI gene, is essential for self‐renewal and differentiation of human TS cells.

Conclusion

Genomic imprinting plays diverse and important roles in human placentation. Experimental analyses using TS cells suggest that the GI maintenance is necessary for normal placental development in humans.
Point estimation for adaptive trial designs I: A methodological review
Authors: Robertson David S. , Choodari‐Oskooei Babak , Dimairo Munya , Flight Laura , Pallmann Philip , Jaki Thomas
Published: December 2022

Recent FDA guidance on adaptive clinical trial designs defines bias as “a systematic tendency for the estimate of treatment effect to deviate from its true value,” and states that it is desirable to obtain and report estimates of treatment effects that reduce or remove this bias. The conventional end‐of‐trial point estimates of the treatment effects are prone to bias in many adaptive designs, because they do not take into account the potential and realized trial adaptations. While much of the methodological developments on adaptive designs have tended to focus on control of type I error rates and power considerations, in contrast the question of biased estimation has received relatively less attention. This article is the first in a two‐part series that studies the issue of potential bias in point estimation for adaptive trials. Part I provides a comprehensive review of the methods to remove or reduce the potential bias in point estimation of treatment effects for adaptive designs, while part II illustrates how to implement these in practice and proposes a set of guidelines for trial statisticians. The methods reviewed in this article can be broadly classified into unbiased and bias‐reduced estimation, and we also provide a classification of estimators by the type of adaptive design. We compare the proposed methods, highlight available software and code, and discuss potential methodological gaps in the literature.
Mass spectrometry: A key tool in anti‐doping
Authors: Dhurjad Pooja , Jaiswal Pooja , Gupta Kajal , Wanjari Parita , Sonti Rajesh
Published: December 2022

Performance enhancement drugs build muscle mass and increase stamina in athletes, making them a potential candidate for abuse in sports competitions. World Anti‐Doping Agency is an international organization responsible for developing standard guidelines, listing agents prohibited for usage in all athletic events, and taking stringent actions for any discrepancies. Sophisticated analytical instruments and statistical tools are regularly used for the chemical fingerprinting of doping agents in different biological matrices. There is an ever‐increasing demand for developing novel and sensitive mass spectrometry methods for detecting new substances of abuse. This review focuses on applying hyphenated chromatographic techniques, emphasizing advanced mass spectrometric methods to analyze different classes of prohibited substances listed by the World Anti‐Doping Agency.
Post‐pancreatitis diabetes mellitus is common in chronic pancreatitis and is associated with adverse outcomes
Authors: Dugic Ana , Hagström Hannes , Dahlman Ingrid , Rutkowski Wiktor , Daou Diana , Kulinski Paula , Löhr J.‐Matthias , Vujasinovic Miroslav
Published: December 2022

Background

Post‐pancreatitis diabetes mellitus (PPDM) is a common consequence of chronic pancreatitis (CP). We aimed to determine the incidence and predictors of PPDM after CP onset, as well as complications and antidiabetic therapy requirements, in a high‐volume tertiary center.

Methods

We did a cohort study with retrospectively collected data from patients with definite CP seen at the Karolinska University Hospital between January 1999 and December 2020. Cause‐specific Cox regression analysis was used to assess PPDM predictors. To estimate risk of complications and need for therapy the Fine‐Gray subdistribution hazard model was employed, accounting for death as a competing risk.

Results

We identified 481 patients with CP. The cumulative incidence of PPDM was 5.1%, 13.2%, 27.5% and 38.9% at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years, respectively. Compared to CP patients without diabetes, patients with PPDM were predominantly male (55% vs. 75%), had more frequently alcoholic etiology (44% vs. 62%) and previous acute pancreatitis. The only independent predictor of PPDM was presence of pancreatic calcifications (aHR = 2.45, 95% CI 1.30–4.63). Patients with PPDM had higher rates of microangiopathy (aSHR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.02–2.52) and infection (aSHR = 4.53, 95% CI 2.60–9.09) compared to CP patients who had type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The rate of insulin use was three‐fold higher, whereas metformin use rate was two‐fold higher in the same comparison.

Conclusions

Patients with PPDM have a higher frequency of clinically significant complications and were more commonly prescribed insulin and metformin, suggesting a more aggressive phenotype than that of T2DM. Greater PPDM awareness is needed to optimize disease management.
Non-Territorial Autonomy and Minority Rights: Impact of the Self-Governing National Communities on Minority Protection in Slovenia
Authors: Djordjević Ljubica
Published: December 2022

Slovenia’s highly developed system of national minority protection has several distinctive features, one of which is the existence of self-governing national communities (SGNCs) for the Italian and Hungarian communities. The model combines personal and territorial elements in an interesting way: self-governing communities can only be established on ‘ethnically mixed territories’, but they are elected solely by persons registered as belonging to the respective community. There is also a second tier: regional SGNCs, with indirectly elected members representing local SGNCs. Most of their competences (on both levels) fall under the category of ‘shared rule’, i.e. they participate in managing institutions (schools, for instance) or in decision-making by providing consent or opinion, while no state powers (for example, in education or culture) are entirely delegated to these bodies.

The SGNCs are deeply entrenched in the Slovenian system of minority protection, but are often taken for granted and are rarely assessed with regard to their real impact. There is no systematic monitoring of their performance, and evidence-tracking of their work is scarce and scattered. Against this background, this paper is based on an analysis of the implementation monitoring of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) in Slovenia, and focuses on the issues pertinent to the SGNCs that have appeared in the monitoring so far. The general finding is that, while the institutional position and the formal role of the SGNCs have been acknowledged, their concrete contribution and impact on the implementation of minority rights as indirectly stipulated in the FCNM have been addressed in a rather superficial way. Nevertheless, the monitoring documents offer a valuable insight into the issues pertinent to the functioning of the SGNCs that have attracted attention in almost 25 years of monitoring practice. This paper offers a brief overview of the most striking issues relevant to the functioning of the SGNCs and the implementation of minority rights, as documented in the FCNM monitoring.
Can Non-Territorial Autonomy Help to Enforce the Linguistic, Cultural and Educational Rights of the Roma?
Authors: Shikova Natalija , Limonero Immaculada Colomina
Published: December 2022

Racist and discriminatory policies against the Roma persist in both eastern and western Europe. Methods of repression have varied over time, but it is striking that strategies of open or tacit discrimination and expulsion of the Roma are still found in some contemporary policies of the older and transitional democracies, in EU Member States and countries that are candidates for EU membership. Of major concern is the fact that xenophobic statements and actions against the Roma often come from leading politicians or from national governments. Additionally, despite various international and regional human rights instruments, the ongoing structural discrimination that the Roma face has not yet been addressed within the existing legal framework. Many of the measures that have been proposed to address social exclusion and marginalisation are largely unenforceable; they tend to overlook the harsh living conditions, lack of access to public services, low level of education and embedded prejudice against the Roma. This paper addresses the human rights violability of cultures commonly marginalised in society. In many cases, although human rights protection regimes are enacted for certain cultures, the measures do not encompass groups that are non-dominant and territorially dispersed. The case of the Roma exemplifies not only this situation in respect of their language, cultural and educational rights in Spain and in North Macedonia, but also how the establishment and implementation of possible non-territorial autonomy (NTA) arrangements can help to overcome lasting discrimination. There is no unique model of NTA since it is applied differently in different contexts and circumstances. However, in essence, NTA arrangements can help minorities to enjoy cultural or other activities without territorial limitation. NTA can thus support the protection of territorially dispersed cultures and alleviate some of the harsh practices that they face.
The Role of Law and Non-Territorial Autonomy Arrangements in the Implementation of Linguistic Rights: A Comparative Perspective
Authors: Đurić Vladimir , Marković Vasilije
Published: December 2022

This paper offers a comparative overview and analysis of legal frameworks governing the role of non-territorial autonomy (NTA) arrangements in the implementation of linguistic rights. In many countries where institutionalised NTA arrangements exist, NTA bodies have public powers and a recognised role, inter alia, in the implementations of those rights. Therefore, the paper will first analyse the normative framework of public powers of such bodies. Bearing in mind that the scope of public powers in the field of exercising linguistic rights is variable, the focus of this paper will be on the analysis of comparative compliance and the scope that NTA arrangements can achieve in the implementation of linguistic rights. Some of the powers in the field of language rights that will be analysed in this context refer to the role of the NTA arrangements in terms of determining the name of the language of a community represented by such arrangements, its standardisation and official use. In that sense, particular focus will be put on the analysis of the distinctive role of the councils of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia in terms of determining the traditional names of settlements. This unique form of public power of the NTA arrangement is somewhat contradictory in the Serbian legal system, since it is, on the one hand, set as a very extensive and authoritative power, and on the other hand, under the threat of transferring its exercise to the government, it is limited by short deadlines.
‘Living the Same Full Life’? A Critical Assessment of Non-Territorial Autonomy Practice in the Vojvodina and Sápmi Contexts
Authors: Smith David J.
Published: December 2022

Political theorists frequently hail non-territorial autonomy (NTA) as a modality of governance that allows national minorities and indigenous peoples substantive rights to cultural self-determination without linking this to authority over a given territory. What, though, does the actual practice tell us about the possibilities for ‘deterritorialisation’ of minority identities as well as the ability of NTA to ensure their protection and longer-term reproduction? This paper addresses these questions by critically analysing two forms of contemporary NTA that are frequently portrayed as good practice examples—the Hungarian National Minority Council (HNMC) in Vojvodina, northern Serbia, and the Sámi parliaments established in the Nordic countries. Although the contexts in which these two NTA arrangements were established are very different, I argue that they highlight common issues and challenges that call into question some of the core assumptions surrounding NTA.