bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Case Report: Simultaneous penetrating keratoplasty with autologous simple limbal epithelial transplantation as an alternative to keratoprosthesis
Authors: Sharma Supriya , Singh Swati , Shanbhag Swapna S.
Published: May 2023

Introduction and importance: This case report highlights the multidisciplinary approach required to achieve successful anatomical and functional outcomes, in an eye with total limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) associated with underlying corneal scarring and thinning.

Presentation of case: A 59-year-old gentleman had poor visual recovery in the right eye (RE) following accidental carbide blast, 1-year before presenting to us. The visual acuity was counting fingers and clinical examination revealed cicatricial entropion involving the upper eyelid, total LSCD, corneal scarring with a central descemetocele and cataract in the RE. Prior to ocular surface reconstruction, entropion correction was performed. Three months later, penetrating keratoplasty combined with cataract surgery and intraocular lens implantation (penetrating keratoplasty (PK) triple), with autologous simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET) was performed. The visual acuity was 20/100, 18 months after the surgery, with a clear well-epithelized corneal graft and stable ocular surface.

Discussion: LSCD is caused by a decrease in the population and /or function of the limbal epithelial stem cells. Limbal stem cell transplantation (LSCT) is warranted in eyes with total LSCD. In eyes with coexisting corneal scarring, LSCT alone may be inadequate to restore the vision. These eyes require simultaneous or sequential lamellar or full-thickness corneal transplantation for visual rehabilitation. Though, the existing literature favors a sequential approach, where LSCT is performed first followed by corneal transplantation, under certain circumstances such as a thin underlying cornea like in our case, corneal transplantation may have to be combined with LSCT to achieve optimal outcomes.

Conclusion: Combining autologous SLET with PK can be performed for visual rehabilitation in eyes with unilateral total LSCD and underlying corneal thinning. Corneal and limbal graft survival is prolonged if existing adnexal comorbidities are addressed before any surgical intervention is planned and adequate time interval is allowed for the surface inflammation to subside.
Case Report: Challenging diagnostic of an accessory spleen mimicking a retroperitoneal tumor: A case report and review of the literature
Authors: Zouaghi Alia , Miri Rim , Hadded Dhafer , Mesbahi Meryam , Zaafouri Haithem , Cherif Mona , Riahi Wassim , Benzarti Yazid , Mleyhi Sobhi , Ghedira Faker , Souli Aslam , Chamekhi Chiraz , Khanchel Fatma , Ben Maamer Aniss
Published: May 2023

Background: The accessory spleen is a congenital defect with an additional splenic tissue to the native spleen due to an incomplete fusion of splenic masses during the embryologic period. The preoperative diagnosis is usually mistaken for a retroperitoneal neoplasm. The aim of the present manuscript is to highlight the diagnostic difficulties of a retroperitoneal spleen.

Case presentation: A 41-year-old woman was admitted to the surgical department of Habib Thameur Hospital, Tunis, for an abdominal mass discovered by auto palpation associated with a left lower quadrant pain. The computed tomographic scan showed a heterogeneous and partially necrotic retroperitoneal mass located along the left primitive iliac vessels. Arterial supply to the mass arose from the aorta and the left iliac vessel. The spleen was normal. MRI examination showed a left retroperitoneal heterogeneous and necrotic mass, surrounding the iliac vessels extended from the aortic to the left iliac bifurcation, hyper vascularized at the arterial time with a peripheral capsule intensely enhanced, and there were two other lateroaortic vascularized masses. The patient had a laparotomy resection of the retroperitoneal mass. The result of the specimen examination was an accessory spleen. The postoperative outcome was uneventful.

Conclusion: An accessory spleen on the retroperitoneal position is extremely uncommon. Preoperative diagnosis is still challenging. The main misdiagnosis was neoplastic disease.
Application of halotolerant Azotobacter chroococcum W4ii isolated from technosoils to mitigate salt stress in wheat plant
Authors: Binod Kumar Sweta , Kalwasińska Agnieszka , Swiontek Brzezinska Maria , Wróbel Monika
Published: May 2023

Background: Technosoils are soils affected by human activities. One such soil, present in Inowrocław, central Poland, is characterized by increased salinity (ECe up to 70 dS/m) and has been influenced by a soda lime repository. Microorganisms retrieved from such environments that have naturally adapted to harsh environmental conditions, especially plant growth-promoting rhizospheric (PGPR) bacteria, can help degraded soils maintain their performance. This can contribute to increased plant biomass and protection against pathogens, resulting in a reduction of mineral fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture. The goal of this research was to obtain PGPR from degraded soil and implement them into the soil under laboratory and field conditions to improve the growth of wheat seedlings.

Methods: Azotobacter chroococcum W4ii was isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for its plant growth properties on wheat plants under salt stress.

Results: Wheat seeds co-inoculated with A. chroococcum W4ii under 200 mM salt stress showed significant improvement in various growth parameters such as plant height, shoot biomass, chlorophyll b content compared to un-inoculated ones. Bacterial inoculation decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), whereas it elevated the antioxidative enzymatic activities of peroxidase (POD). The test isolate also enhanced the level of defense enzymes like β-1, 3-glucanase, which can protect plants from the infection of pathogens. The bacterium could also successfully colonize the wheat plants.

Conclusions: These results indicate that A. chroococcum isolated from the technosoil has potential to promote wheat growth under salt stress and can be further used as bioinoculant in the salt affected agricultural fields.
Dialysotherapy effect on the quality of life for renal patients
Authors: Kułakowska Aleksandra , Kuc Monika , Lepczyński Bartłomiej , Kłakowicz Philip , Lechowski Sebastian
Published: May 2023

The purpose of this essay is to examine how dialysis treatment affects patients' quality of life at the Department of Nephrology. The course of chronic renal disease and its management greatly influence the standard of living for dialysis patients. Renal insufficiency consequently results in numerous restrictions on patients' social, intellectual, and physical activities. Patients with chronic kidney disease have longer lifespans thanks to renal replacement therapy.
When Common Medications Trigger a Rare Reaction: A Review of Clinical Features, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options of DRESS Syndrome
Authors: Hajduk Aleksandra , Mrozek Łukasz , Klocek Konrad , Kostecki Bartosz , Jurek Aleksander , Zwolski Maciej , Szumlas Zuzanna , Puchalski Krzysztof
Published: May 2023

Introduction and purpose: Drug-induced reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) is a severe, life-threatening systemic drug reaction. The challenges in identifying DRESS syndrome result from its symptoms being variable, diverse, and unspecific. Due to the potentially lethal consequence, any clinician should be aware of the symptomatology and be prepared to initiate the appropriate steps. This review summarizes the clinical manifestations and provides essential information on the management of the illness.    
State of knowledge: DRESS appears to be a rare reaction that frequently remains undetected due to its atypical clinical presentation. Fever, skin rash, lymphadenopathy, eosinophilia, and organ involvement as well as other manifestations, may occur. The onset may be delayed by weeks after exposure to the offending drug. DRESS syndrome is classified as a type IV hypersensitivity. It is thought to be triggered by antiepileptic drugs and antibiotics although many other medications can cause the condition. Certain genetic factors may also predispose some individuals to develop DRESS. Combining clinical and laboratory findings can help confirm the diagnosis. Discontinuation of the offending drug is the fundamental component of treatment such as supportive care including the use of antihistamines and corticosteroids, but recent research has discovered additional promising therapy options.
Conclusions: Detecting DRESS syndrome early is crucial to ensure prompt treatment, prevent serious complications, and improve patient outcomes. Healthcare providers should be aware of the signs and symptoms of DRESS syndrome, especially in patients taking particular medications, and be prepared to investigate further if it is suspected.
An Interior Point–Inspired Algorithm for Linear Programs Arising in Discrete Optimal Transport
Authors: Zanetti Filippo , Gondzio Jacek
Published: May 2023

Discrete optimal transport problems give rise to very large linear programs (LPs) with a particular structure of the constraint matrix. In this paper, we present a hybrid algorithm that mixes an interior point method (IPM) and column generation, specialized for the LP originating from the Kantorovich optimal transport problem. Knowing that optimal solutions of such problems display a high degree of sparsity, we propose a column generation–like technique to force all intermediate iterates to be as sparse as possible. The algorithm is implemented nearly matrix-free. Indeed, most of the computations avoid forming the huge matrices involved and solve the Newton system using only a much smaller Schur complement of the normal equations. We prove theoretical results about the sparsity pattern of the optimal solution, exploiting the graph structure of the underlying problem. We use these results to mix iterative and direct linear solvers efficiently in a way that avoids producing preconditioners or factorizations with excessive fill-in and at the same time guaranteeing a low number of conjugate gradient iterations. We compare the proposed method with two state-of-the-art solvers and show that it can compete with the best network optimization tools in terms of computational time and memory use. We perform experiments with problems reaching more than four billion variables and demonstrate the robustness of the proposed method.

History: Accepted by Antonio Frangioni, Area Editor for Design & Analysis of Algorithms–Continuous.

Funding: F. Zanetti received funding from the University of Edinburgh, in the form of a PhD scholarship.

Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2022.0184 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2022.0184 ). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .
A ABORDAGEM DO OBJETO DIRETO ANAFÓRICO EM UM LIVRO DIDÁTICO DE LÍNGUA PORTUGUESA
Authors: Freire Shéren Salvo , Simioni Taíse
Published: May 2023

O livro didático (LD) se constitui como um dos principais recursos para o processo de ensino-aprendizagem em sala de aula. Por conta disso, é importante que sejam realizadas constantes análises para verificar a qualidade de seu conteúdo. Levando isto em consideração, este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar como é feita a abordagem de um aspecto morfossintático da gramática (objeto direto anafórico) em um LD de língua portuguesa destinado ao 7º ano do ensino fundamental. Para tal, as categorias de análise adotadas fundamentam-se nos três eixos para o ensino de gramática propostos por Vieira (2017, 2018): (i) gramática e reflexão; (ii) gramática e produção de sentidos; (iii) gramática e variação linguística. A análise dos resultados indica que o LD contempla, ainda que de forma parcial, os três eixos. Foi constatada uma oscilação entre uma abordagem tradicional e outra baseada em preceitos advindos de teorias linguísticas.
A LEITURA LITERÁRIA NA ESCOLA: DESAFIOS E ESTRATÉGIAS PARA A FORMAÇÃO DE LEITORES PROFICIENTES
Authors: Monteiro Angélica , Polydoro Fernandez Jenny Iglesias , Tedesco Maria Teresa
Published: May 2023

Este artigo objetiva refletir sobre alguns desafios enfrentados pela escola pública para garantir o acesso da leitura literária aos estudantes, em contexto de retorno às aulas presenciais após o período mais agudo da pandemia por Covid-19. Para tanto,  considera a utilização de estratégias de leitura que promovam a proficiência leitora, a partir de uma perspectiva sociointerativa-cognitivista do processo de leitura, respaldada por estudos teóricos de Solé (1998) e Tedesco (2012/2013). Para tecer considerações sobre a formação de hábitos de leitura, a pesquisa apresenta a análise de dados extraídos de um questionário aplicado entre março e abril de 2022 para 84 alunos, não identificados, de 6º ano de duas escolas da Rede Municipal de Ensino do Rio de Janeiro[1], fundamentando-se na pesquisa de Paulino e Cosson (2009/2020/2021) no que se refere ao conceito de letramento literário. Alguns dos resultados obtidos apontam para a necessidade de garantir maior frequência dos estudantes à Sala de Leitura, espaço de acesso a livros de diferentes gêneros nas escolas municipais do Rio de Janeiro, tendo em vista o diminuto acesso à leitura, ao longo do período de isolamento consequente da pandemia; também é preciso implementar práticas diárias de leitura, inseridas no currículo escolar, assegurando a diversidade e a qualidade estética das obras do acervo;  além de valorizar o papel dos professores que exercem significativa influência no desenvolvimento do gosto pela leitura dos alunos[1] Escola Municipal Camilo Castelo Branco e Escola Municipal Francisco Cabrita, pertencentes à 2ª CRE (Coordenadoria Regional de Educação- RJ).
Assessment of the Economic Potential and Investment Attractiveness of the Dnipropetrovsk Region
Authors:   Institute of Industrial Economics of the NAS of Ukraine, Osadcha N. , Zatyshniak V. ,   Dnipropetrovsk Regional Investment Agency
Published: May 2023

The article analyzes the directions for Ukrainian economic recovery after the war. The successes stories of the countries, that restored their economies after the war, were explored. As a result the best practices of Israel seem most suitable for Ukraine. The methods of assessing the regions investment attractiveness are also described and adopted to evaluate the investment potential of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Nowadays, Dnipropetrovsk region is still the leader among the other Ukrainian regions in the production of industrial products and less suffered from the war than the other regions. We propose to use the Rasch model for the assessment of the regions' investment attractiveness for investors. Such assessment of Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv regions was held within the framework of the study.
Directions of Research the Development of the Tourism and Recreational Sphere as an Object of State Administration
Authors:   Kyiv National University of Technology and Design, Boretska N. , Krapivina G. ,   Priazovsky State Technical University
Published: May 2023

The article is devoted to the possibilities of applying the cluster approach based on public-private partnership in the development of tourist and recreational areas during the period of restoration of the economic development of Ukraine. Although this approach has become widespread, today it requires a deep rethinking and justification of effective ways to apply it at all levels of government, taking into account the interests of business and the state in the special conditions that have developed in Ukraine. The article substantiates the resource prerequisites and the feasibility of creating a tourist and recreational cluster, its composition and characteristic features. The modern problems of formation and development of tourist and recreational clusters on the basis of public-private partnership are revealed and its structure is proposed, which includes three segments: a core consisting of tour operators and travel agents; the basis of the cluster, that is, enterprises serving tourists and recreants, related enterprises serving the cluster; cluster infrastructure. It is proved that in order to determine the optimal structure of the cluster, not only in terms of its components, but taking into account the spatial approach, it is necessary to study the tourist and recreational market of territories. No less important for justifying the development of tourist and recreational areas is the study of the free time of the population and the possibilities of the labor market to meet the needs of business structures.
Effects of home-based prehabilitation on pre- and postoperative outcomes following total hip and knee arthroplasty
Authors: De Klerk Talitha C. , Dounavi Despoina M. , Hamilton David F. , Clement Nick D. , Kaliarntas Konstantinos T.
Published: May 2023

Aims

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of home-based prehabilitation on pre- and postoperative outcomes in participants awaiting total knee (TKA) and hip arthroplasty (THA).

Methods

A systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of prehabilitation interventions for TKA and THA. MEDLINE, CINAHL, ProQuest, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched from inception to October 2022. Evidence was assessed by the PEDro scale and the Cochrane risk-of-bias (ROB2) tool.

Results

A total of 22 RCTs (1,601 patients) were identified with good overall quality and low risk of bias. Prehabilitation significantly improved pain prior to TKA (mean difference (MD) -1.02: p = 0.001), with non-significant improvements for function before (MD -0.48; p = 0.06) and after TKA (MD -0.69; p = 0.25). Small preoperative improvements were observed for pain (MD -0.02; p = 0.87) and function (MD -0.18; p = 0.16) prior to THA, but no post THA effect was found for pain (MD 0.19; p = 0.44) and function (MD 0.14; p = 0.68). A trend favouring usual care for improving quality of life (QoL) prior to TKA (MD 0.61; p = 0.34), but no effect on QoL prior (MD 0.03; p = 0.87) or post THA (MD -0.05; p = 0.83) was found. Prehabilitation significantly reduced hospital length of stay (LOS) for TKA (MD -0.43 days; p < 0.001) but not for THA (MD, -0.24; p = 0.12). Compliance was only reported in 11 studies and was excellent with a mean value of 90.5% (SD 6.82).

Conclusion

Prehabilitation interventions improve pain and function prior to TKA and THA and reduce hospital LOS, though it is unclear if these effects enhance outcomes postoperatively.

Cite this article:Bone Jt Open 2023;4(5):315–328.
The abundance of Microcystis sp. on intensive shrimp ponds
Authors: Soeprapto Hayati , Ariadi Heri , Badrudin Ubad , Soedibya Petrus H.T
Published: May 2023

Microcytis sp is plankton species that is detrimental in shrimp pond ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to detect the abundance of plankton and the presence of Microcystis sp. in the waters of vaname shrimp (L. vannamei) aquaculture ponds. The research method used is descriptive quantitative and qualitative with added analysis of dynamic modeling systems. The results showed that pond water quality conditions were still good enough for shrimp farming activities with details of dissolved oxygen 4.01-6.17 mg/L, pH 7.7-7.9, salinity 20‰, temperature 27.050-28.250C, nitrate 0.01-0.15 mg/L, phosphate 0.05-0.20 mg/L, brightness 25-35 cm. For the classification of plankton found among them are from the Bacillariophyceae class, there are the genera Skeletonema sp., Cyclotella sp., Coscinodiscus sp., and Amphipora sp., from the Chlorophyceae class, there are the genera Chlorella sp., Oocystis sp., and Clamydomonas sp., from the Cyanophyceae class. the genus Oscillatoria sp., Microcystis sp., and Anabaenopsis sp. The plankton diversity index (H') was obtained between 0.01-0.33 and the uniformity index (E) was obtained between 0.10-0.50, meaning that the condition of the pond waters is still quite good and there are minimal indications of pollution. The abundance of Microcystis sp. obtained between 0.2x104-0.6x104 cell/ml. from the results of dynamic modeling analysis it is shown that the abundance of Microcystis sp. in pond waters is influenced by the value of the productivity level of the waters and the process of grazing organisms. The results of this study can be concluded that the plankton abundance rate found in ponds ranges from 0.4x104-1.9x104 cell/ml which consists of 10 genera and 3 classes of plankton. Then Microcystis sp. its presence was found in 3 ponds with abundance rate ranging from 0.2x104-0.6x104 cell/ml.Keywords:CultivationGenusGrazingModelWaters
Effect of water acidity on the growth performance, survival, and hematology condition of the barramundi fish Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) fingerling
Authors: Fitriana Mustika Marzah , Fadli Nur , Muchlisin Zainal Abidin
Published: May 2023

Global warming is caused by increased carbon emissions into the atmosphere resulting from burning oil, gas, and other fossil fuels. Subsequently, the carbon gas enters the waters through a diffusion process facilitated by the concentration of gases in the air, which is higher than in the waters. The outcome of this process is a decrease in water acidity, leading to a lower pH, which can disrupt the life of aquatic biotas. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of decreasing of pH on the growth, survival, and physiological conditions of barramundi (Lates calcarifer). To achieve this objective, seven pH levels were tested, namely pH of 7.24 (control), pH 6.74, pH 6.24, pH 5.74, pH 5.24, pH 4.74, and pH 4.24. Every treatment was performed with four replications, and the fish was reared for 30 days in the respective tested pH. The reared madia is sea water with a salinity of 22 ppt. The experiment was conducted in the laboratory of fish breeding Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Universitas Syiah. The results showed that a decreasing in pH had a significant effect on the growth performance and hematological condition of barramundi (P0.05), but its had no significant effect on survival (P0.05). The experimental fish could survive at pH 4.24, but their growth and hematological conditions were disrupted below 6.24. Therefore, it was concluded that the lower threshold value of pH for barramundi was 6.24.Keywords:Global warmingOcean aciditypHFisheries productionPhysiological disturbance
Evaluation feasibility and ecological gap in marine conservation area of Southeast Sulawesi Province
Authors: Imran Zulhamsyah , Wijayanto Cahyo , Yulianda Fredinan
Published: May 2023

Aquatic Tourism Park (ATP) of the Southeast Sulawesi Province has significant contribution to achieve the total targeted of 30 million of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Indonesia. The conservation area is located in 3 coastal districts of Konawe, South Konawe, and Kendari City Districts. The time-consuming process of legalizing the conservation area has driven the need to re-evaluate the ecological conditions from 2012 to 2020. The objective of this study is to this aims to determine the status, gaps and ecological feasibility of conservation areas in the Southeast Sulawesi region. One of the noticeable gaps is the change of ecological conditions in the reservation area.  The gap could be identified by comparing ecological conditions before and after the area was reserved for a conservation area. Ecosystem suitability was measured by using ecological criteria, such as number of protected fish species, mangrove density, seagrass coverage, coral coverage, and naturalness. The score of suitability assessment was 31, which showed that the reserved location was suitable for a Marine Conservation Area.  However, gap analysis results showed 10% decline in coral coverage and 17% decrease in seagrass coverage, while mangrove density decreased as much as 102 trees/ha during that period. Evaluation on the ecosystem condition was conducted by applying suitability analysis of the modified E-KKP3K dan Sambah et al. (2020) methods, resulting a status of suitable or conservation area allocation (score 31). Criteria used were chosen based on its contribution in facilitating important ecological processes and as ecosystem buffer system in the area. This study will give the implementation on MPA management optimalisation and it can be contributed on fisheries management.Keywords:Conservation areaFeasibility areaGapSoutheast Sulawesi
Digital holographic measurement of electron temperature and density of laser-produced plasmas with an ultrashort laser pulse
Authors: Li Xin-Yan , Yuan Peng , Liu Wei , Tan Wei-Qiang , Liu Yao-Yuan , Zheng Jian
Published: May 2023

Holography, which can provide the information of phase as well as amplitude of a laser probe, could be a powerful method to diagnose the electron density and temperature of a plasma simultaneously. In this paper, digital holography with an ultrashort laser pulse is applied to diagnose laser-produced aluminum plasmas. Detailed analyses show that the reconstruction of the wave amplitude could be profoundly affected by the difference between the phase and group velocity of the ultrashort laser pulse in the plasma, which makes it a challenge to accurately reconstruct the amplitude in the case when ultrashort laser pulses are utilized for high-temporal resolution of holography.
Gold film effect on temperature compensation of a POF sensor with different structures
Authors: Hu Yanjun , Hou Yulong , Zhang Junsheng
Published: May 2023

In this paper, temperature
compensation of plastic optical fiber (POF) is studied and gold
absorbability is utilized. Gold film is modified on the surface of POF
by magnetron sputtering. The temperature output characteristics of
different structures such as ordinary (POF-N), side-polished (POF-SP),
U-shaped (POF-U), and narrow groove structure (POF-NGS) are tested,
and the effects of gold film thickness, polishing area, and sputtering
sequence on the temperature output characteristics are also
investigated. The power change of the sensor at different temperatures
is recorded. The experimental results show that when the temperature
is between 25°C and 50°C and the sputtering gold film thickness is
50 nm, the temperature stabilities of POF-N, POF-U, POF-SP, and
POF-NGS are 1.02 µW/°C, 0.77 µW/°C, 0.18 µW/°C,
and 0.35 µW/°C, respectively. The compensation effect is
enhanced as the gold film thickness increases. When the thickness is
100 nm, the temperature stability of POF-NGS is
0.06 µW/°C. The proposed temperature compensation method is
competitive and straightforward.
Numerical investigation of gas-filled multipass cells in the enhanced dispersion regime for clean spectral broadening and pulse compression
Authors: Segundo Staels V. W. , Conejero Jarque E. , Carlson D. , Hemmer M. , Kapteyn H. C. , Murnane M. M. , San Roman J.
Published: May 2023

We show via numerical simulations that the regime of enhanced frequency chirp can be achieved in gas-filled multipass cells. Our results demonstrate that there exists a region of pulse and cell parameters for which a broad and flat spectrum with a smooth parabolic-like phase can be generated. This spectrum is compatible with clean ultrashort pulses, whose secondary structures are always below the 0.5% of its peak intensity such that the energy ratio (the energy contained within the main peak of the pulse) is above 98%. This regime makes multipass cell post-compression one of the most versatile schemes to sculpt a clean intense ultrashort optical pulse.
Predicting nutritional status for women of childbearing age from their economic, health, and demographic features: A supervised machine learning approach
Authors: Khudri Md. Mohsan , Rhee Kang Keun , Hasan Mohammad Shabbir , Ahsan Karar Zunaid
Published: May 2023

Background

Malnutrition imposes enormous costs resulting from lost investments in human capital and increased healthcare expenditures. There is a dearth of research focusing on the prediction of women’s body mass index (BMI) and malnutrition outcomes (underweight, overweight, and obesity) in developing countries. This paper attempts to fill out this knowledge gap by predicting the BMI and the risks of malnutrition outcomes for Bangladeshi women of childbearing age from their economic, health, and demographic features.

Methods

Data from the 2017–18 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey and a series of supervised machine learning (SML) techniques are used. Additionally, this study circumvents the imbalanced distribution problem in obesity classification by utilizing an oversampling approach.

Results

Study findings demonstrate that the support vector machine and k-nearest neighbor are the two best-performing methods in BMI prediction based on the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE). The combined predictor algorithms consistently yield top specificity, Cohen’s kappa, F1-score, and AUC in classifying the malnutrition status, and their performance is robust to alternative standards. The feature importance ranking based on several nonparametric and combined predictors indicates that socioeconomic status, women’s age, and breastfeeding status are the most important features in predicting women’s nutritional outcomes. Furthermore, the conditional inference trees corroborate that those three features, along with the partner’s educational attainment and employment status, significantly predict malnutrition risks.

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that predicts BMI and one of the pioneer studies to classify all three malnutrition outcomes for women of childbearing age in Bangladesh, let alone in any lower-middle income country, using SML techniques. Moreover, in the context of Bangladesh, this paper is the first to identify and rank features that are critical in predicting nutritional outcomes using several feature selection algorithms. The estimators from this study predict the outcomes of interest most accurately and efficiently compared to other existing studies in the relevant literature. Therefore, study findings can aid policymakers in designing policy and programmatic approaches to address the double burden of malnutrition among Bangladeshi women, thereby reducing the country’s economic burden.
On the optimal presence strategies for workplace during pandemics: A COVID-19 inspired probabilistic model
Authors: Davoodi Mansoor , Senapati Abhishek , Mertel Adam , Schlechte-Welnicz Weronika , M. Calabrese Justin
Published: May 2023

During pandemics like COVID-19, both the quality and quantity of services offered by businesses and organizations have been severely impacted. They often have applied a hybrid home office setup to overcome this problem, although in some situations, working from home lowers employee productivity. So, increasing the rate of presence in the office is frequently desired from the manager’s standpoint. On the other hand, as the virus spreads through interpersonal contact, the risk of infection increases when workplace occupancy rises. Motivated by this trade-off, in this paper, we model this problem as a bi-objective optimization problem and propose a practical approach to find the trade-off solutions. We present a new probabilistic framework to compute the expected number of infected employees for a setting of the influential parameters, such as the incidence level in the neighborhood of the company, transmission rate of the virus, number of employees, rate of vaccination, testing frequency, and rate of contacts among the employees. The results show a wide range of trade-offs between the expected number of infections and productivity, for example, from 1 to 6 weekly infections in 100 employees and a productivity level of 65% to 85%. This depends on the configuration of influential parameters and the occupancy level. We implement the model and the algorithm and perform several experiments with different settings of the parameters. Moreover, we developed an online application based on the result in this paper which can be used as a recommender for the optimal rate of occupancy in companies/workplaces.
A simple method to isolate fatty acids and fatty alcohols from wax esters in a wax-ester rich marine oil
Authors: Schots Pauke Carlijn , Edvinsen Guro Kristine , Olsen Ragnar Ludvig
Published: May 2023

Calanus finmarchicus is one of the most important zooplankton species in the North Atlantic. The zooplankton is currently being harvested and industrially processed to a marine oil product for human consumption as a marine nutraceutical containing long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This oil is very rich in wax esters, a lipid class where fatty acids are esterified to long chain fatty alcohols. In this paper we describe a simple method to 1) isolate the wax esters from the other lipid classes present in the oil, 2) hydrolyze the wax esters, and 3) separate the fatty acids from the fatty alcohol, all by means of solid phase extraction. Starting with an average of 322 mg Calanus oil, we obtained 75 mg fatty alcohols and 63 mg fatty acids. Contrary to previously described techniques, our method neither oxidize the fatty alcohols to fatty acids, nor are the fatty acids methylated, allowing the native, unesterified fatty acids and fatty alcohols to be used for further studies, such as in cell culture experiments to study the metabolic effects of these specific lipid fractions rather than the intact oil or wax esters.
Arginine concentration in arterial vs venous blood in a bleomycin-induced lung inflammation model in mice
Authors: Tepic Slobodan , Arens Daniel , Buchholz Tim , Nehrbass Dirk , Cvetkovic Olivera , Stoddart Martin J. , Richards R. G. , Zeiter Stephan
Published: May 2023

Pneumonia, always a major malady, became the main public health and economic disaster of historical proportions with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was based on a premise that pathology of lung metabolism in inflammation may have features invariant to the nature of the underlying cause. Amino acid uptake by the lungs was measured from plasma samples collected pre-terminally from a carotid artery and vena cava in mice with bleomycin-induced lung inflammation (N = 10) and compared to controls treated with saline instillation (N = 6). In the control group, the difference in concentrations between the arterial and venous blood of the 19 amino acids measured reached the level of statistical significance only for arginine (-10.7%, p = 0.0372) and phenylalanine (+5.5%, p = 0.0266). In the bleomycin group, 11 amino acids had significantly lower concentrations in the arterial blood. Arginine concentration was decreased by 21.1% (p<0.0001) and only that of citrulline was significantly increased (by 20.1%, p = 0.0002). Global Arginine Bioavailability Ratio was decreased in arterial blood by 19.5% (p = 0.0305) in the saline group and by 30.4% (p<0.0001) in the bleomycin group. Production of nitric oxide (NO) and citrulline from arginine by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is greatly increased in the immune system’s response to lung injury. Deprived of arginine, the endothelial cells downstream may fail to provide enough NO to prevent the activation of thrombocytes. Thrombotic-related vascular dysfunction is a defining characteristic of pneumonia, including COVID-19. This experiment lends further support to arginine replacement as adjuvant therapy in pneumonia.
Upregulation of LAG3 modulates the immune imbalance of CD4+ T-cell subsets and exacerbates disease progression in patients with alveolar echinococcosis and a mouse model
Authors: Li Dewei , Ainiwaer Abidan , Zheng Xuran , Wang Maolin , Shi Yang , Rousu Zibigu , Hou Xinling , Kang Xuejiao , Maimaiti Muesier , Wang Hui , Li Jing , Zhang Chuanshan
Published: May 2023

Infection with the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis (E. multilocularis) causes alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a tumor-like disease predominantly affecting the liver but able to spread to any organ. T cells develop functional defects during chronic E. multilocularis infection, mostly due to upregulation of inhibitory receptors such as T-cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif domains (TIGIT) and programmed death-1 (PD-1). However, the role of lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG3), an inhibitory receptor, in AE infection remains to be determined. Here, we discovered that high expression of LAG3 was mainly found in CD4+ T cells and induced regulatory T cells (iTregs) in close liver tissue (CLT) from AE patients. In a mouse model of E. multilocularis infection, LAG3 expression was predominantly found in T helper 2 (Th2) and Treg subsets, which secreted significantly more IL-4 and IL-10, resulting in host immune tolerance and disease progression at a late stage. Furthermore, LAG3 deficiency was found to drive the development of effector memory CD4+ T cells and enhance the type 1 CD4+ T-cell immune response, thus inhibiting metacestode growth in vivo. In addition, CD4+ T cells from LAG3-deficient mice produced more IFN-γ and less IL-4 when stimulated by E. multilocularis protoscoleces (EmP) antigen in vitro. Finally, adoptive transfer experiments showed that LAG3-knockout (KO) CD4+ T cells were more likely to develop into Th1 cells and less likely to develop into Tregs in recipient mice. Our work reveals that high expression of LAG3 accelerates AE disease progression by modulating the immune imbalance of CD4+ T-cell subsets. These findings may provide a novel immunotherapeutic strategy against E. multilocularis infection.
O Centro de Estudos de Química Nuclear e Radioquímica no florescimento da investigação em Química na Universidade de Coimbra
Authors: Cardoso Augusto Correia
Published: May 2023

Na origem dos novos caminhos, para o desenvolvimento da investigação na área da Química, na Universidade de Coimbra, está o Centro de Estudos de Química Nuclear e Radioquímica, planeado pelo director do Laboratório Chimico, Rui Gustavo Couceiro da Costa, para estudos nucleares. Edificado, em 1955, no espaço ajardinado, entre o então Hospital da Universidade de Coimbra e a entrada lateral do Laboratorio Chimico. Aqui irão despontar, início dos anos 60, os grupos de investigação, promovidos e incentivados por Fernando Pinto Coelho, responsável pelo Centro de Química Nuclear e Radioquímica e pela cadeira de Química-Física, nomeadamente, Radioquímica, Espectroscopia de Ressonância Paramagnética Electrónica, Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética Nuclear, Termodifusão, Espectroscopia de Raman e Química Quântica e Fotoquímica e Química da Atmosfera. Se, durante uma ou duas décadas, com a estratégia desenvolvida, se possibilitou a criação de um Departamento forte em Química, embora, com pouca sobreposição nas áreas científicas dos diferentes grupos e, consequentemente, pouca competição científica interna, a evolução das estruturas sociológicas da ciência passou a exigir uma maior concentração em temas comuns e, inevitavelmente, o desenvolvimento de complementaridades e pontos de intersecção entre os diferentes grupos de investigação que projetaram, em termos de I&D, a Química, na Universidade de Coimbra, para níveis de qualidade e dimensão que veio a desfrutar no panorama nacional e internacional.
MODEL OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL SOCIAL SUPPORT OF LIFE ACTIVITIES OF ELDERLY PEOPLE IN GERONTOLOGICAL CENTERS
Authors: Kokoreva Marina E.
Published: May 2023

Geriatric care plays an important role in promoting health and solving complex socio-psychological problems of older people. Its recipients are a particularly vulnerable category of citizens who need comprehensive professional support that ensures daily social activity, communication and, as a result, a proper quality of life. Nevertheless, real experience shows that the principles of working with older people are still not fully declared, are of a limited nature, especially in those countries where gerontology as a scientic discipline is still under development. In accordance with the traditional model of geriatric care, adopted as a basis in modern Russia, care for the elderly is carried out, primarily based on their «main complaint». is article aims to form a holistic view of the role of geriatric centers in providing social support for the life of the elderly, to summarize the main aspects and principles of providing geriatric care, considering its multidimensional nature, based on the systematization of the experience of several foreign countries. e proposed structure of the model of multidimensional social support for the life of the elderly living in geriatric centers consists of the following blocks: social networks; social exchange; social activity (involvement); social capital. e theoretical underpinning of the proposed model is potentially useful for guiding future practice, research, and policy in this area. e social environment that can be built through the implementation of these four blocks can become one of the most important and most valuable tools in ensuring the comprehensive social and psychological well-being of older people. is study was aimed primarily at lling a gap in the Russian scientic literature, helping to comprehend the concept and model of social support for the elderly in the setting of geriatric centers. All this is essential to provide optimal assistance in response to the needs and needs of the older generation.
COMPONENTS AND CRITERIA FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY OF EDUCATION
Authors: Khudyakova Tatyana L. , Klepach Yulia V. , Arpentieva Mariam R.
Published: May 2023

The problem of the psychological safety of education in the last decades of the life of Russia is becoming more and more practically and theoretically relevant: qualitative and quantitative transformations of situations and types of violations of the psychological safety of education require systematic, generalizing research and practical developments in the field of its preservation and restoration. Our research is an attempt at a systematic understanding of the problems of the psychological safety of education – a step towards the creation of an integrative theory of this phenomenon. The aim of the research is to analyze the problems of psychological safety of education. The research method is an integrative theoretical analysis of the problems of the psychological safety of education. The work contributes to the creation of a systemic model of the psychological safety of education. The problem of psychological safety of education includes the problems of personal, interpersonal, educational, professional and organizational safety, it is closely related to the issues of innovations and reforms in higher, secondary and primary education, including the problems of resistance to innovations and changes in the educational environment, the problems of innovation stress, and also issues of prevention and correction of pediogeny and mathetogeny. The indicators of the psychological safety of a person in the conditions of an educational institution of education are: 1) the safety of a person as a person; 2) the safety of a person as a partner; 3) the safety of a person as a student and a professional. The research contributes to the development of an integrative model of the psychological safety of education and the search for new, integrative ways to achieve, maintain and restore it.
SECURITY PROBLEMS AS A SUBJECT OF SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION
Authors: Shinkevich Vladimir E.
Published: May 2023

The article is devoted to the results of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference "Sociology, philosophy, law in the system of ensuring national security, dedicated to the memory of Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor D.D. Nevirko". It presents a content analysis of the reports and introductions announced by the participants of the scientific forum, reflects the main content of the abstracts of reports and speeches, socially significant problems that are subject to research by modern humanitarian science, primarily philosophy, sociology, law.
THE CULTURE OF EVERYDAY LIFE: TRENDS OF CHANGE
Authors: Sytykh Olga L.
Published: May 2023

Society is the most dynamic structure of being. Determining the direction of its changes is the way to success in planning and implementing any social initiatives and projects. Everyday life is an area where changes underlie many social changes that determine the dynamics of social development. Identifying trends in the culture of everyday life opens up opportunities for scientific planning of the development of society, improving the quality of life and meeting the needs of individuals, that underlines the main relevance of the study. The main purpose of the study is to identify trends in the changing culture of everyday life at the present stage of the development of Russian society. The dialectical method and the system-structural approach allowed us to determine how people's daily communication has changed due to the introduction of information technologies and digitalization into life, how the "visual turn" determines people's interests and their daily contacts, how following the social stratification of Russian society associated with the country's transition to the capitalist path of development, the daily life of people has become diverse. Social groups that differ in the way and style of everyday life have been formed. All of these phenomena have prospects for further development and act as major trends in changing the culture of everyday life, and the scientific novelty and value of the study consists in their identification, analysis and a systematization. The practical significance of this article is seen in the use of its results in the context of the organization of both everyday events and in the planning of further transformations of Russian society, taking into account the changes occurring in the culture of everyday life: digitalization, visualization, the formation of diverse styles of behavior and lifestyles. The use of a historical approach and the reliance on sociological material from VTSIOM made it possible to show that the newly emerged trends exist on a par with the cultural traditions of Russians, with their interest in reading, visiting theaters, exhibitions, museums, which also constitute an important part of their lives. Thus, innovations in the culture of everyday life are combined with traditions of everyday life-such a conclusion derives from this study.
Does planets’ position in zodiac constellations drive the occurrence of human wars? A retrospective test of non-natal astrology
Authors: Bozzo Jordi
Published: May 2023

The lack of descriptive and predictive effectiveness of natal astrology revealed thus far does not rule out the possibility that the position of planets in specific areas of the background sky influences human behavior regardless of birth date. This study compiled a list of war events that occurred throughout the twentieth century, which were used as proxies for a state of violence in the global human community at particular moments in time. Ecliptic longitude values of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon at the beginning day of each war were distributed across 12 sections of the ecliptic of 30º span each. East longitude boundary of Aries was set starting at 23° from the vernal equinox in agreement with sidereal astrology. A total of 210 war events were collected for the analysis. The observed and expected war counts when planets were transiting through each zodiacal constellation were statistically similar in all cases (P values from 0.076 to 0.658). In addition, the occurrence of wars when two planets were in conjunction in specific zodiac constellations was in agreement with their expected positions according to regular planetary movement. Independently of astrology beliefs and planetary dynamics, wars showed a weak trend, though significant, towards occurring more frequently later than earlier in a year (slope: 0.78 [95% CI: 0.12, 1.48]; r
2=0.408; P=0.025). In conclusion, even though the study design favored the astrological theses, no relationship between war triggering and the positions of planets transiting through zodiacal constellations was found.