bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Trauma-Informed Training and Mindfulness-Based Social–Emotional Learning Program on Teacher Attitudes and Burnout: A Mixed-Methods Study
Authors: Kim Sue , Crooks Claire V. , Bax Karen , Shokoohi Mostafa
Published: January 2021

A trauma-informed approach can give teachers the strategies they need to help children affected by trauma reach their full potential in the classroom. Mindfulness-based social–emotional learning (SEL) programs equip teachers with essential tools to create a trauma-informed classroom, which in turn helps alleviate stress associated with supporting trauma-impacted children. Because existing research on SEL programs has predominantly focused on student well-being, there is a paucity of research examining teacher outcomes and the integration of a trauma-informed framework. The purpose of the study was to investigate the benefits of trauma-informed training and MindUP delivery on educator attitudes and burnout. Intervention educators received trauma-informed and MindUP training and implemented MindUP in their classrooms. Comparison educators did not participate in training and taught their usual curriculum. We compared trauma-informed attitudes and burnout levels among 112 educators (n = 71 intervention, n = 41 comparison) using the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Pre- and post-intervention quantitative data were augmented by qualitative focus group data. Results showed that educators in the intervention group reported significant decreases in emotional exhaustion, and significant improvements in the reactions subscale and overall scores on the ARTIC scale. Greatest improvements in self-efficacy and personal accomplishment were observed among educators who implemented MindUP for two consecutive years. These findings were supported by focus group data. Our results show that infusing trauma-informed training with an existing mindfulness-based SEL intervention may encourage teachers to embrace trauma-sensitive attitudes and reduce burnout.
Late Devonian (Famennian) to Carboniferous (Mississippian-Pennsylvanian) conodonts from the Anarak section, Central Iran
Authors: Sattari Elahe , Bahrami Ali , Königshof Peter , Vaziri-Moghaddam Hossein
Published: January 2021

A relatively complete conodont record from Famennian to the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary was investigated in the Anarak section, Central Iran. The studied interval belongs to the Bahram, Shishtu, Ghaleh and Absheni formations. The Famennian part of the section (Bahram Formation) ranges from the Palmatolepis triangularis Zone into the Bispathodus ultimus Zone. Not all conodont zones could be defined due to the lack of indicative species. Furthermore, it seems likely that a hiatus occurs around the Devonian/Carboniferous (D/C) boundary (most probably from the Siphonodella praesulcata to the ?Siphonodella sulcata–early Siphonodella crenulata conodont zones) based on the lack of stratigraphically important conodonts as well as on sedimentological criteria. The lack of representative siphonodellids and protognathodids at the base of the Mississippian prevents detailed stratigraphic position of the D/C boundary. Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) rocks are characterized by red nodular limestone which is unique in comparison with other studied sections of the same age in Central Iran. Within the studied section, we could define the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary. The mid-Carboniferous boundary was defined by the occurrence of Declinognathus noduliferus s.l. Conodont biofacies changes (Mississippian genera Gnathodus and Lochriea have been replaced by Pennsylvanian genera Declinognathus and Idiognathodus) are recognized in this section as well.
Characteristics of the Seismic Clusters Bounding the Ramu-Markham Fault Zone, Eastern Papua New Guinea
Authors: Noho George , Mukhopadhyay Manoj , Mukhopadhyay Basab , Sengupta Diptansu
Published: January 2021

The regionally extensive Ramu-Markham-Fault-Zone (RMFZ) in Papua-New-Guinea (PNG) passes through the seismically-active hinterland of the Bismarck subduction zone in SW-Pacific. The seismicity map for 400km segment of RMFZ shows that higher magnitude earthquakes mainly originate in four spatial clusters (I-IV), asymmetrically disposed from in-land to offshore on either side of RMFZ. The cluster III have produced the 2019 Bulolo- earthquake (Mw 7.1). The spatial and temporal characters for all four seismic clusters was estimated by: (i) b-value based on maximum-likelihood method; (ii) expected maximum magnitude (Mw) by Gumbel extreme value statistics and surface rupture length; and (iii) the Hurst coefficient (K) and Hurst plot. Hurst plots on sequential seismic moments in the clusters illustrate an alternating positive and negative sloping moment-release pattern over progressive time-period that corresponds to low and high b-values respectively. The regional stress pattern on north and south of RMFZ and for four seismic clusters are analysed by inversion of CMT focal-mechanism data. The result unravels a significant change in regional stress pattern across the RMFZ: (i) a pure-compressive stress regime corresponding to clusters I and II in the ‘PNG Highlands’ that gradually changes to transpressive in the off-shore cluster IV along north of RMFZ, and (ii) the regional stress pattern for earthquakes south of RMFZ including cluster III shows absence of any particular stress orientation and causative faults are randomly oriented. This leads to the presentation that RMFZ is a deep penetrative fault, rather than a crustal ramp fault restricted to 11-18km depth as advocated in literature.
High Ti-bearing Gabbros from Chalk Hills of Salem, Southern India: A Co-genetic Origin during Neoproterozoic Alaskan-type Evolution
Authors: Yellappa T.
Published: January 2021

The Chalk hills of Salem complex also called Salem mafic and ultramafic complex (SMUC), occurs in northern part of Cauvery suture zone (CSZ), southern granulite terrane (SGT), India with the lithological sequence of ultramafic cumulates, mafic intrusions of gabbros and amphibolites with quartzo-feldspathic veins and ultrapotassic dykes. Recently the complex has been described as Neoproterozoic Alaskan-type. The Ti-rich gabbros are in association with serpentinized dunites and pyroxenites in the form of several intrusions at various locations of the complex. The petrography of these gabbros shows sub-alkaline to alkaline in nature with mineralogy of two pyroxenes and plagioclases of calcic-sodic assemblages along with magnetite-titanomagnetite-ilmenite (Ti-spinels). The whole rock geochemistry indicates that they are tholeiitic in nature with enrichment of LILE (Rb, Ba, Th, Sr) and depletion of HFSE (Nb, Ta, Ti) with reference to N-MORB. The mineral chemistry of clinopyroxenes from these gabbros show slightly higher Mg# (0.68-0.80), TiO2 (0.40-0.73 wt%) with lower Al2O3 (4.4-5.5 wt%), Na2O (0.53-0.94 wt%) and Cr2O3 (0.1-0.17 wt%) contents. The orthopyroxenes also show low Al2O3 (1.4-2.3 wt%), Cr2O3 (up to 0.13 wt%), and relatively higher MgO (17.11-21.79 wt%). The Ti-bearing oxides (ilmenites) of these gabbros are characterized by higher contents of TiO2 (38-51 wt%) and FeO (46-56 wt%), similar to that of Ti-Fe rich Alaskan-type of mafic rocks. On various tectonic discrimination diagrams of whole rock and clinipyroxene mineral chemistry of these gabbros reveal that they are derived from subduction related components of arc magmas of titanium rich, evolved through the process of high degree of crystal fractionation. From the two-pyroxene thermometry, the temperature of formation of these gabbros are determined as 893-1014°C and the clinopyroxene barometry results variable pressures of 8-13 kbars. The tectonic setting with the available age relationships from the complex suggest these intrusions are syntectonic and co-genetic of late emplacements along with the ultramafics during Neoproterozoic subduction events. Such occurrences of high Ti-bearing gabbros are common in many Alaskan-type of complexes like Neoproterozoic Arabian Nubian Shield and other parts of the world.
A New Model to Evaluate Groundwater Vulnerability that Uses a Hybrid AHP-GIS Approach
Authors: Ma Shimin , Xu Xinyang , Chui Jian , Ni Jin , Ma Hongwei , Tian Hui
Published: January 2021

Parameters like aquifer depth, aquifer replenishment rate, aquifer medium, soil medium, percolation medium, and the coefficient of permeability are considered during the preparation of a groundwater vulnerability diagram. The analytic hierarchy process is used for evaluation, and expert scoring is used to analyze and establish the judgment matrix, and then new weights have been computed for each DRASTIC parameter, such that some subjectivity can be reduced to some extent and the weight value tends to be reasonable. Various spatially referenced digital data layers are overlaid to analyse with the partition diagram in GIS spatial analysis and a comprehensive simple and straight diagram is drawn. The study area is a plain of Naiman Banner, Inner Mongolia China, and covers an area of approximately 10,700km2. The areas of lower vulnerability are mainly located in the south. Slightly higher vulnerability areas are mainly located in the north, and the others have medium vulnerability.
Dynamic Coordination Games with Activation Costs
Authors: Ramirez Stefanny , Bauso Dario
Published: January 2021

Motivated by inventory control problems with set-up costs, we consider a coordination game where each player’s dynamics is an inventory model characterized by a controlled input and an uncontrolled output. An activation cost is shared among active players, namely players who control their dynamics at a given time. At each time, each player decides to be active or not depending on its inventory level. The main contribution of this paper is to show that strategies at a Nash equilibrium have a threshold structure on the number of active players. Furthermore, we provide an explicit expression for the lower and upper threshold is given both in the deterministic case, namely when the exogenous signal is known, and in the single-stage game. The relevance of the above results is discussed in the context of inventory control where Nash equilibrium reordering strategies imply that a single retailer reorders only if jointly with a number of other retailers and will reorder to restore a pre-assigned inventory level.
Constructions and bounds on quaternary linear codes with Hermitian hull dimension one
Authors: Mankean Todsapol , Jitman Somphong
Published: January 2021

Due to their practical applications, hulls of linear codes have been of interest and extensively studied. In this paper, we focus on constructions and bounds on quaternary linear codes with Hermitian hull dimension one. Optimal $$[n,2]_4$$

[
n
,
2
]

4

codes with Hermitian hull dimension one are constructed for all lengths $$n\ge 3$$

n
≥
3

, such that $$n \equiv 1,2,4 \ (\mathrm{mod}\ 5)$$

n
≡
1
,
2
,
4

(
mod

5
)

. For positive integers $$n \equiv 0,3 \ (\mathrm{mod}\ 5)$$

n
≡
0
,
3

(
mod

5
)

, good lower and upper bounds on the minimum weight of quaternary $$[n,2]_4$$

[
n
,
2
]

4

codes with Hermitian hull dimension one are given.
Sex-Specific Differences in Running Injuries: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression
Authors: Hollander Karsten , Rahlf Anna Lina , Wilke Jan , Edler Christopher , Steib Simon , Junge Astrid , Zech Astrid
Published: January 2021

Background

Running is a popular sport with high injury rates. Although risk factors have intensively been investigated, synthesized knowledge about the differences in injury rates of female and male runners is scarce.

Objective

To systematically investigate the differences in injury rates and characteristics between female and male runners.

Methods

Database searches (PubMed, Web of Science, PEDro, SPORTDiscus) were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines using the keywords “running AND injur*”. Prospective studies reporting running related injury rates for both sexes were included. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool the risk ratios (RR) for the occurrence of injuries in female vs. male runners. Potential moderators (effect modifiers) were analysed using meta-regression.

Results

After removal of duplicates, 12,215 articles were screened. Thirty-eight studies were included and the OR of 31 could be pooled in the quantitative analysis. The overall injury rate was 20.8 (95% CI 19.9–21.7) injuries per 100 female runners and 20.4 (95% CI 19.7–21.1) injuries per 100 male runners. Meta-analysis revealed no differences between sexes for overall injuries reported per 100 runners (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.90–1.10,n = 24) and per hours or athlete exposure (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69–1.27,n = 6). Female sex was associated with a more frequent occurrence of bone stress injury (RR (for males) 0.52, 95% CI 0.36–0.76,n = 5) while male runners had higher risk for Achilles tendinopathies (RR 1. 86, 95% CI 1.25–2.79,n = 2). Meta-regression showed an association between a higher injury risk and competition distances of 10 km and shorter in female runners (RR 1.08, 95% CI 1.00–1.69).

Conclusion

Differences between female and male runners in specific injury diagnoses should be considered in the development of individualised and sex-specific prevention and rehabilitation strategies to manage running-related injuries.
A loop enhancement strategy for network robustness
Authors: Chujyo Masaki , Hayashi Yukio
Published: January 2021

Many real systems are extremely vulnerable against attacks, since they are scale-free networks as commonly existing topological structure in them. Thus, in order to improve the robustness of connectivity, several edge rewiring methods have been so far proposed by enhancing degree–degree correlations. In fact, onion-like structures with positive degree–degree correlations are optimally robust against attacks. On the other hand, recent studies suggest that the robustness and loops are strongly related to each other. Therefore, we focus on enhancing loops as a new approach for improving the robustness. In this work, we propose edge rewiring methods and evaluate the effect on the robustness by applying to real networks. Our proposed methods are two types of rewirings in preserving degrees or not for investigating the effect of the degree modification on the robustness. Numerical results show that our proposed methods improve the robustness to the level as same or more than the state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, our work shows that the following two points are more important for further improving the robustness. First, the robustness is strongly related to loops more than degree–degree correlations. Second, it significantly improves the robustness by reducing the gap between the maximum and minimum degrees.
Spatio-temporal distribution of reactive nitrogen species in relation to wheat cultivation in Bangladesh
Authors: Biswas J. C. , Hossain M. B. , Maniruzzaman M. , Haque M. M. , Akhter S. , Naher U. A. , Rahman M. M. , Adhya T. K. , Sutton M. A.
Published: January 2021

Farmers generally use more nitrogen fertilizer than others for crop production in Bangladesh because of its visible growth symptoms. Such practice is responsible for extra reactive N (Nr) load to the environment, but data are not available. Nitrous oxide (N2O) data were collected from a field trial following static closed-chamber technique, which were used for calibration and validation of DeNitrification and DeComposition model along with soil clay fraction, pH, bulk density and organic carbon contents. The model was well fitted and estimated about 364 g N2O–N ha−1emission in Rajshahi region and only 15 g N2O–N ha−1in Barisal region. District-wise N2O–N emissions varied from < 1–15.96 t season−1. In 2011–2016, N2O–N emissions from wheat fields were about 103–129 t yr−1in Bangladesh. The model estimated nitric oxide (NO), ammonia (NH3) and nitrate (NO3) fluxes varied from 0.012 to 0.447, 7 to 12.5 and 0 to 4.7 kg N ha−1, respectively, under ambient temperature condition. In about 79% yield variabilities were explainable by N2O emission. In dominant wheat growing areas, if sowing is started from 15 to 30 November, N2O emission could be reduced by 8–40% with 5–13% reduction in yields compared to 10 November sowing. In similar areas and same sowing date with 1.5 °C temperature rise, N2O emission may increase by 8–45% and wheat yield might reduce by about 4–8%. Time of seeding and other cultural management in wheat cultivation would be the main avenue for reducing Nr loads to the environment.
Optimization of critical angle, distance and flow rate of secondary fuel injection in DI diesel engine using computational fluid dynamics
Authors: Sonachalam M. , Manieniyan V.
Published: January 2021

This study presents the optimization of the intake manifold and the optimized flow rate of the acetylene gas which acts as a low reactivity fuel to achieve the superior performance and emission characteristics used in the Reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engine. Intake manifold is one of the engine components which are an important factor in determining the quality of combustion. A very recent evolution of the RCCI engine using the low temperature combustion technique requires a low reactivity fuel which is injected through the secondary fuel injector. The secondary fuel injector must be designed and optimized to allow the acetylene gas to maximize the engine performance and the amount of acetylene gas in liters per minute required for better combustion. If the secondary fuel injector is mounted apart from the critical point, then the performance of the RCCI engine may be poor and also if the acetylene gas is not supplied properly, there is a risk of poor combustion and also if the acetylene gas is supplied excessively, there is a risk of knocking along with the backfire due to the excess fuel charge accumulation during the combustion process. Physical testing of the secondary fuel injector in the intake manifold with different angles, distance and flow rate of supply of acetylene gas is time and cost consuming process. To mitigate this issue optimization is done through computational fluid dynamics principles comes in handy to minimize time and money. In our study, ANSYS-FLUENT software is used for simulation purposes. Optimization of acetylene gas injector distance is carried out by analyzing the pressure contours at the entrance of the combustion chamber. The optimized flow rate of acetylene gas and the injector inclination is found by analyzing the flow contours of turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation rate.
A study into crack initiation and growth in peroxide-cured silica-filled polybutadiene rubber vulcanisate under a cyclic loading condition
Authors: Farooq Muhammad , Ansarifar Ali , Bao Xujin
Published: January 2021

Crack initiation and propagation in a peroxide-cured polybutadiene rubber reinforced with silanised silica nanofiller were studied under a cyclic loading condition. The fatigue properties of the semi-transparent rubber samples were tested at a constant strain amplitude, test frequency and temperature. Initiation and subsequent growth of cracks in the rubber samples were observed using an optical microscope as a function of the number of cycles until the rubber samples failed, indicating that there are two distinct stages in the fatigue failure of the rubber vulcanisate. The cracks were initiated after the rubber was flexed for about 2817 cycles and then the cracks grew from 500 μm and reached to a critical length of 4.6 mm and followed a further 897 cycles, leading to a catastrophic failure of the rubber samples. Correlation between the rate of crack growth, dc/dn, and the strain energy release rate, T, was investigated using the power law index, and a new expression for the measurement of the cyclic fatigue life of the rubber vulcanisate was proposed.
Question Answering Over Knowledge Base: A Scheme for Integrating Subject and the Identified Relation to Answer Simple Questions
Authors: Buzaaba Happy , Amagasa Toshiyuki
Published: January 2021

Answering natural language question over a knowledge base is an important and challenging task with a wide range of application in natural language processing and information retrieval. Several existing knowledge-based question answering systems exploit complex end-to-end neural network approaches that are computationally expensive and take long to execute when training the neural network. More importantly, such an end-to-end approach makes it difficult to examine the process of query processing. In this study, we decompose the question answering problem in a three-step pipeline of entity detection, entity linking, and relation prediction, and solve each component separately. We explore basic neural network and non-neural network methods for entity detection and relation prediction plus a few heuristics for entity linking. We also introduce a method to identify ambiguity in the data and show that ambiguity in the data bounds the performance of the question answering system. The experiment on the SimpleQuestions benchmark data set shows that a combination of basic LSTMs, GRUs, and non-neural network techniques achieve reasonable performance while providing an opportunity to understand the question answering problem structure.
Effect of Mitochondrial Antioxidant (Mito-TEMPO) on Burn-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction
Authors: Wen Jake J. , Williams Taylor P. , Cummins Claire B. , Colvill Kayla M. , Radhakrishnan Geetha L. , Radhakrishnan Ravi S.
Published: January 2021

BACKGROUND:

Imbalance of oxidants/antioxidants results in heart failure, contributing to mortality after burn injury. Cardiac mitochondria are a prime source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and a mitochondrial-specific antioxidant may improve burn-induced cardiomyopathy. We hypothesize that the mitochondrial-specific antioxidant, Triphenylphosphonium chloride (Mito-TEMPO), could protect cardiac function after burn.

STUDY DESIGN:

Male rats had a 60% total body surface area (TBSA) scald burn injury and were treated with/without Mito-TEMPO (7 mg/kg-1, intraperitoneal) and harvested at 24 hours post-burn. Echocardiography (ECHO) was used for measurement of heart function. Masson Trichrome and hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining were used for cardiac fibrosis and immune response. Qualitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for mitochondrial DNA replication and gene expression.

RESULTS:

Burn-induced cardiac dysfunction, fibrosis, and mitochondrial damage were assessed by measurement of mitochondrial function, DNA replication, and DNA-encoded electron transport chain-related gene expression. Mito-TEMPO partially improved the abnormal parameters. Burn-induced cardiac dysfunction was associated with crosstalk between the NFE2L2-ARE pathway, PDE5A-PKG pathway, PARP1-POLG-mtDNA replication pathway, and mitochondrial SIRT signaling.

CONCLUSIONS:

Mito-TEMPO reversed burn-induced cardiac dysfunction by rescuing cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria-targeted antioxidants may be an effective therapy for burn-induced cardiac dysfunction.
Margin Positivity and Survival Outcomes: A Review of 14,471 Patients with 1-cm to 4-cm Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Authors: Khan Zahra F. , Kutlu Onur , Picado Omar , Lew John I.
Published: January 2021

BACKGROUND:

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) comprises the majority of thyroid malignancy, but it is associated with excellent long-term survival. Highly prevalent, with increasing incidence, the optimal operative management for patients with 1- to 4-cm PTC remains unclear. This study determined factors that affect clinical outcomes, including survival, in this patient population.

STUDY DESIGN:

Patients with 1- to 4-cm PTC, who underwent thyroidectomy between 2004 and 2016, were identified in the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Factors affecting survival, including margin status, extent of resection, operative volume, and institution type, were studied. Outcomes were estimated by Kaplan-Meier and log rank tests. Cox proportional hazard and binary logistic regression analyses identified factors affecting survival as well as margin positivity.

RESULTS:

Of 14,471 patients with 1- to 4-cm PTC, 2,269 (15.7%) exhibited lymphovascular invasion, 6,925 (47.9%) had multifocality, 14,235 (98.3%) underwent total thyroidectomy, and 2,212 (15.3%) had microscopic margin positivity, which conferred lower survival (hazard ratio [HR] 1.464, p < 0.05), with 30-day and 90-day mortality of 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Operative volume (odds ratio [OR] 0.979, p < 0.01) and thyroid surgery at an academic center (OR 0.623, p < 0.001) were associated with lower odds of margin positivity.

CONCLUSIONS:

In patients with 1- to 4-cm PTC, margin positivity confers lower survival. Factors associated with lower rate of margin positivity are higher operative volume and referral for treatment at academic center. Because margin positivity is a modifiable risk factor, referral of patients with aggressive features of PTC to high volume academic centers may improve survival.
Conference report: 19th TRIBO–Pprime workshop – run this year in a virtual environment
Authors: Atkinson Simon
Published: January 2021

The 19th TRIBO-Pprime workshop was held on 15 October 2020, with all authors, this year, presenting their papers online. Here, we provide a review of the event based on a brief report submitted to Sealing Technology by Institut Pprime's Noël Brunetière.
Social Concertation in Times of Austerity
Authors: Afonso Alexandre
Published: January 2021

A term specifically found in European politics, social concertation refers to cooperation between trade unions, governments and employers in public policy-making. 'Social Concertation in Times of Austerity' investigates the political underpinnings of social concertation in the context of European integration. Alexandre Afonso focuses on the regulation of labor mobility and unemployment protection in Austria and Switzerland, two of Europe's most prosperous countries, and he looks at nonpartisan policymaking as a strategy for compromise. With this smart, new study, Afonso powerfully enters the debate on the need for a shared social agenda in post-crisis Western Europe.
Diverse floodplain deposits of reworked loess in a monsoon climate (Hanzhong Basin, central China)
Authors: Vandenberghe Jef , Yang Xun , Wang Xianyan , Wang Shejiang , Lu Huayu
Published: January 2021

This paper describes an assemblage of diverse floodplain facies of reworked loess (facies b, c) in a Middle Pleistocene monsoonal setting of the Hanzhong Basin, central China. The vertical and lateral sedimentary sequences show changing energy conditions. Apart from the highest energy in the channel facies (facies a), a relatively high energy floodplain environment (facies b) prevailed in waterlogged conditions, with small, laterally migrating (sub)channels. Facies b generally interfingers with aggrading horizontal sheets of overbank deposits in alluvial pools and swamps in a floodplain with much lower energy (facies c), in which phases of stability (soil formation) occasionally interrupted overbank deposition. Reworked loess forms the main part of the floodplain deposits. The paleosols are considered to have been formed under low hydrodynamic conditions in an interglacial environment. These interglacial conditions follow the commonly assumed glacial conditions of channel facies a. The sedimentary successions in the floodplain show a recurrent composition and cyclicity between wet and dry floodplain sedimentation terminated by stability with soil formation. The cyclic rhythm of stacked high- and low-energy floodplain sediments is attributed to varied intensity of different hydrodynamic flooding events that may have been due to changing monsoonal rainfall or simple intrinsic fluvial behavior.
The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns: a review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments
Authors: Prati Gabriele , Mancini Anthony D.
Published: January 2021

Lockdowns to control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have had profound effects on everyday life worldwide, but their effect on mental health remains unclear because available meta-analyses and reviews rely mostly on cross-sectional studies. We conducted a rapid review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments investigating the relationship between COVID-19 lockdowns and mental health. A total of 25 studies involving 72 004 participants and 58 effect sizes were analyzed. Using a random effects model, we found that lockdowns had small effects on mental health symptoms, g = 0.17, s.e. = 0.05, 95% CI (0.06–0.24), p = 0.001, but the effects on positive psychological functioning, g = −0.12, s.e. = 0.11, 95% CI (−0.33 to 0.09), p = 0.27, were not significant. Multivariate analysis of effect sizes revealed significant and relatively small effect sizes for anxiety and depression, while those for social support, loneliness, general distress, negative affect, and suicide risk were not significant. The results indicated substantial heterogeneity among studies, but meta-regression analyses found no significant moderation effects for mean age, gender, continent, COVID-19 death rate, days of lockdown, publication status or study design. The psychological impact of COVID-19 lockdowns is small in magnitude and highly heterogeneous, suggesting that lockdowns do not have uniformly detrimental effects on mental health and that most people are psychologically resilient to their effects.
Food neophobia in Lebanese children: scale validation and correlates
Authors: El Mouallem Rayane , Malaeb Diana , Akel Marwan , Hallit Souheil , Fadous Khalife Marie-Claude
Published: January 2021

Objective:

To validate the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) and determine factors associated with the presence of food neophobia (FN) in a sample of Lebanese children.

Design:

Cross-sectional study conducted between July and December 2019.

Setting:

All Lebanese governorates.

Participants:

Parents of Lebanese children aged 2 to 10 years.

Results:

Out of 850 questionnaires, 194 were excluded. The mean age of children was 5·34 ± 2·20 years (50·8 % females); 238 (36·4 %) had low neophobia scores (≤37), whereas 219 (33·5 %) and 197 (30·1 %) had, respectively, moderate (between 38 and 41) and severe neophobia scores (≥42). All items of the FNS were extracted except item 8 and yielded a two-factor solution with Eigenvalues > 1 (variance explained = 51·64 %; Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test = 0·746; Bartlett’s sphericity test P < 0·001; αCronbach = 0·739). Children who refused initially to eat vegetables (β = 5·51), fish (β = 4·57), fruits (β = 4·75) or eggs (β = 2·99) and higher parents’ instrumental feeding scores (β = 0·3) were significantly associated with higher neophobia scores, whereas higher parents’ encouragement scores (β = -0·21) were significantly associated with lower neophobia scores in children.

Conclusion:

FN is common in children. Neophobic children tend to have lower variety in their diets. One of the ways to lower the levels of neophobia is the use of encouragement by the parents. In contrast, offering a reward to children for them to eat a certain food was associated with more signs of avoidance. More studies should be conducted to evaluate awareness levels concerning FN.
Fertile soil for intrapreneurship: impartial institutions and human capital
Authors: Ljunge Martin , Stenkula Mikael
Published: January 2021

Intrapreneurs, entrepreneurial employees, constitute an important force behind innovations in the economy. Yet, what factors that promote intrapreneurship at the country level are an underdeveloped research area. This paper provides an important contribution regarding the methodological approach and the broad set of potential explanatory factors studied. Based on machine-learning techniques (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA)), we investigate the influence of over 60 factors capturing institutional, demographic, cultural, and developmental factors. We find that the quality of government measured as impartiality, i.e. that the public institutions treat the citizens in a non-discriminatory fashion and do not favor some groups or individuals, and the level of human capital, measured as the average years of schooling, are the most important factors predicting the level of intrapreneurship across countries. Instrumental variable results support a causal interpretation. The findings emphasize the importance of policy to establish well-functioning and impartial institutions as well as to promote higher education.
Simulation of Colloid Transport and Retention Using a Pore‐Network Model With Roughness and Chemical Heterogeneity on Pore Surfaces
Authors: Lin Dantong , Hu Liming , Bradford Scott Alan , Zhang Xinghao , Lo Irene M.C.
Published: January 2021

Colloid transport and retention in porous media is a common phenomenon in both nature and industry. However, many questions remain on how to obtain colloid transport and retention parameters. Previous work usually assumed constant transport parameters in a medium under a given physicochemical condition. In this study, pore‐network modeling is employed to upscale colloid transport and retention from the pore‐scale to the macro‐scale. The pore‐scale transport parameters including the collection efficiency (η), the sticking efficiency (α), and the fraction of the solid‐water interface that contributes to the colloid attachment (Sf) are obtained using numerical simulation and probability analysis for each pore throat. The influence of roughness and charge heterogeneity on the distribution of pore‐scale parameters is discussed. Breakthrough curves and the retention profiles under different roughness and charge heterogeneity conditions are also analyzed. Results show that pore‐scale parameters η, α, and Sf have various distributions in porous media that may not be accurately described using single‐valued effective parameters. The value of η decreases with velocity and exhibits a wide distribution under low‐velocity conditions. The parameter α tends to decrease with the colloid size and the pore water velocity and increased with the charge heterogeneity fraction. Nanoscale roughness alters α in a non‐monotonic fashion but tends to increase for lower roughness fractions and zeta potential. Microscopic roughness increases values of α for colloids that would otherwise be susceptible to hydrodynamic removal. Breakthrough curves and retention profiles show that more retention occurs for smaller particles, which reflects the influence of blocking.
Cape Cod: Shipwrecks, Dune Shacks, and Shifting Sands
Authors: Morton Mary
Published: January 2021

Living in Geologic Time: How long will the cape keep its fist raised against the waves?
FAM83B inhibits ovarian cancer cisplatin resistance through inhibiting Wnt pathway
Authors: He Shanyang , Wang Wei , Wan Zhiyong , Shen Hongwei , Zhao Yunhe , You Zeshan , Liu Jun , Zhu Liwen
Published: January 2021

Cisplatin resistance is frequently occurred in ovarian cancer therapy, understanding its regulatory mechanisms is critical for developing novel treatment methods and drugs. Here, we found ovarian cancer patients with low FAM83B levels had shorter survival time, tissues with cisplatin resistance also had low FAM83B levels, suggesting FAM83B might inhibit cisplatin resistance. FAM83B overexpression inhibits cisplatin resistance showed in increased ovarian cancer cell proliferation and growth rate, and reduced apoptosis rate, while FAM83B knockdown promotes cisplatin resistance. Mechanism analysis showed FAM83B interacted with APC to inhibit Wnt pathway activity, causing ovarian cancer cisplatin resistance. We also found FAM83B levels were negative with Wnt pathway activity in clinic samples, confirming FAM83B inhibited Wnt pathway activity. In summary, we found FAM83B inhibits ovarian cancer cisplatin resistance through inhibiting Wnt pathway, providing a new target for ovarian cancer therapy.
Human leukocyte antigen class II quantification by targeted mass spectrometry in dendritic-like cell lines and monocyte-derived dendritic cells
Authors: Casasola-LaMacchia A. , Ritorto M. S. , Seward R. J. , Ahyi-Amendah N. , Ciarla A. , Hickling T. P. , Neubert H.
Published: January 2021

The major histocompatibility complex II (HLA-II) facilitates the presentation of antigen-derived peptides to CD4+ T-cells. Antigen presentation is not only affected by peptide processing and intracellular trafficking, but also by mechanisms that govern HLA-II abundance such as gene expression, biosynthesis and degradation. Herein we describe a mass spectrometry (MS) based HLA-II-protein quantification method, applied to dendritic-like cells (KG-1 and MUTZ-3) and human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs). This method monitors the proteotypic peptides VEHWGLDKPLLK, VEHWGLDQPLLK and VEHWGLDEPLLK, mapping to the α-chains HLA-DQA1, -DPA1 and -DRA1/DQA2, respectively. Total HLA-II was detected at 176 and 248 fmol per million unstimulated KG-1 and MUTZ-3 cells, respectively. In contrast, TNF- and LPS-induced MUTZ-3 cells showed a 50- and 200-fold increase, respectively, of total α-chain as measured by MS. HLA-II protein levels in unstimulated DCs varied significantly between donors ranging from ~ 4 to ~ 50 pmol per million DCs. Cell surface HLA-DR levels detected by flow cytometry increased 2- to 3-fold after DC activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in contrast to a decrease or no change in total HLA α-chain as determined by MS. HLA-DRA1 was detected as the predominant variant, representing > 90% of total α-chain, followed by DPA1 and DQA1 at 3–7% and ≤ 1%, respectively.
Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
Authors: Shanmugam Sanjutha , Jenkins Sasha N. , Mickan Bede S. , Jaafar Noraini Md , Mathes Falko , Solaiman Zakaria M. , Abbott Lynette K.
Published: January 2021

Co-application of biochar and biosolids to soil has potential to mitigate N leaching due to physical and chemical properties of biochar. Changes in N cycling pathways in soil induced by co-application of biological amendments could further mitigate N loss, but this is largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine whether co-application of a biochar and a modified biosolids product to three pasture soils differing in texture could alter the relative abundance of N cycling genes in soil sown with subterranean clover. The biosolids product contained lime and clay and increased subterranean clover shoot biomass in parallel with increases in soil pH and soil nitrate. Its co-application with biochar similarly increased plant growth and soil pH with a marked reduction in nitrate in two coarse textured soils but not in a clayey soil. While application of the biosolids product altered in silico predicted N cycling functional genes, there was no additional change when applied to soil in combination with biochar. This supports the conclusion that co-application of the biochar and biosolids product used here has potential to mitigate loss of N in coarse textured soils due to N adsoption by the biochar and independently of microbial N pathways.
Tannic acid-functionalized HEPA filter materials for influenza virus capture
Authors: Kim Subin , Chung Jinhyo , Lee Sang Hyun , Yoon Jeong Hyeon , Kweon Dae-Hyuk , Chung Woo-Jae
Published: January 2021

Influenza, one of the most contagious and infectious diseases, is predominantly transmitted through aerosols, leading to the development of filter-based protective equipment. Though the currently available filters are effective at removing submicron-sized particulates, filter materials with enhanced virus-capture efficiency are still in demand. Coating or chemically modifying filters with molecules capable of binding influenza viruses has received attention as a promising approach for the production of virus-capturing filters. For this purpose, tannic acid (TA), a plant-derived polyphenol, is a promising molecule for filter functionalization because of its antiviral activities and ability to serve as a cost-efficient adhesive for various materials. This study demonstrates the facile preparation of TA-functionalized high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter materials and their efficiency in influenza virus capture. Polypropylene HEPA filter fabrics were coated with TA via a dipping/washing process. The TA-functionalized HEPA filter (TA-HF) exhibits a high in-solution virus capture efficiency of up to 2,723 pfu/mm2 within 10 min, which is almost two orders of magnitude higher than that of non-functionalized filters. This result suggests that the TA-HF is a potent anti-influenza filter that can be used in protective equipment to prevent the spread of pathogenic viruses.
Thermal conductivity of an ultracold Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover
Authors: Zhou Hang , Ma Yongli
Published: January 2021

Recent experiments on sound waves in a unitary Fermi gas reveal many transport properties about strongly interacting fermions. Sound propagates through the coupling of momentum and heat transport, and attenuates strongly with the presence of a phase transition. In this work, focusing on the temperature regimes near and below the superfluid critical temperature $$T_c$$

T
c

in the BCS-BEC crossover, we present a Kubo-based microscopic calculation of thermal conductivity $$\kappa$$
κ
, which has not attracted much attention compared to the shear viscosity. Our approach primarily addresses the contributions of the fermionic quasiparticles to thermal transport and our results return to the kinetic descriptions at high temperatures. $$\kappa$$
κ
drops upon crossing the pseudogap temperature $$T^*$$

T
∗

, and its temperature dependence changes below $$T_c$$

T
c

. The drops become more pronounced on the weakly coupled BCS side, where the Pauli blocking causes the upturn of $$\kappa$$
κ
above $$T^*$$

T
∗

. Our calculations fit well with the sound measurement on the damping rate.
Investigation of membrane fouling mechanism of intracellular organic matter during ultrafiltration
Authors: Huang Weiwei , Zhu Yuanhong , Dong Bingzhi , Lv Weiwei , Yuan Quan , Zhou Wenzong , Lv Weiguang
Published: January 2021

This study investigated the ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling mechanism of intracellular organic matter (IOM) from Chlorella vulgaris (CV) and Microcystis aeruginosa (MA). Both CV- and MA-IOM caused severe membrane fouling during UF; however, there were significant differences in the membrane fouling by these two materials. Neutral hydrophilic (N-HPI) compounds were the organics that caused the most severe membrane fouling during CV-IOM filtration, whereas the MA-IOM membrane fouling was induced by mainly hydrophobic (HPO) organics. From an analysis based on Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory, it was found that the interaction energy between the membrane and foulants in the later stage of filtration was the major factor determining the efficiency of filtration for both CV-IOM and MA-IOM. The TPI organics in CV-IOM fouled the membrane to a more severe degree during the initial filtration flux; however, when the membrane surface was covered with CV-IOM foulants, the N-HPI fraction of CV-IOM caused the most severe membrane fouling because its attractive energy with the membrane was the highest. For MA-IOM, regardless of the initial filtration flux or the late stage of filtration, the HPO organics fouled the membrane to the greatest extent. An analysis of modified filtration models revealed that cake layer formation played a more important role than other fouling mechanisms during the filtration of CV-IOM and MA-IOM. This study provides a significant understanding of the membrane fouling mechanism of IOM and is beneficial for developing some strategies for membrane fouling control when treating MA and CV algae-laden waters.
Suprabasin-derived bioactive peptides identified by plasma peptidomics
Authors: Taguchi Tomomi , Kodera Yoshio , Oba Kazuhito , Saito Tatsuya , Nakagawa Yuzuru , Kawashima Yusuke , Shichiri Masayoshi
Published: January 2021

Identification of low-abundance, low-molecular-weight native peptides using non-tryptic plasma has long remained an unmet challenge, leaving potential bioactive/biomarker peptides undiscovered. We have succeeded in efficiently removing high-abundance plasma proteins to enrich and comprehensively identify low-molecular-weight native peptides using mass spectrometry. Native peptide sequences were chemically synthesized and subsequent functional analyses resulted in the discovery of three novel bioactive polypeptides derived from an epidermal differentiation marker protein, suprabasin. SBSN_HUMAN[279–295] potently suppressed food/water intake and induced locomotor activity when injected intraperitoneally, while SBSN_HUMAN[225–237] and SBSN_HUMAN[243–259] stimulated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines via activation of NF-κB signaling in vascular cells. SBSN_HUMAN[225–237] and SBSN_HUMAN[279–295] immunoreactivities were present in almost all human organs analyzed, while immunoreactive SBSN_HUMAN[243–259] was abundant in the liver and pancreas. Human macrophages expressed the three suprabasin-derived peptides. This study illustrates a new approach for discovering unknown bioactive peptides in plasma via the generation of peptide libraries using a novel peptidomic strategy.
Tailored co-localization analysis of intracellular microbes and punctum-distributed phagosome–lysosome pathway proteins using ImageJ plugin EzColocalization
Authors: Wu Kang , Yan Bo , Lowrie Douglas B. , Li Tao , Fan Xiao-Yong
Published: January 2021

Immunofluorescence is indispensable to monitor redistribution of proteins involved in phagosome–lysosome association pathway-relevant (P–LApr) proteins. The software digitizing the signals of these proteins in an unbiased and automated manner is generally costly and not widely available. The open-source ImageJ plugin EzColocalization, which is for co-localization analysis of reporters in cells, was not straightforward and sufficient for such analysis. We describe here the input of custom Java code in a novel tailored protocol using EzColocalization to digitize the signals of punctum-distributed P–LApr proteins co-localized with phagosomes and to calculate percentages of phagosomes engaged. We showed that SYBR Gold nucleic acid dye could visualize intracellular mycobacteria that did not express a fluorescent protein. This protocol was validated by showing that IFN-γ enhanced the co-localization of a punctum-distributed P–LApr protein (LC3) with Mycobacterium bovis BCG in the monocyte/macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells and that there was greater co-localization of LC3 with BCG than with M. tuberculosis H37Rv in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Although BCG and a derived strain (rBCG-PA) showed a similarly high degree co-localization with LC3 in BMDMs, in RAW264.7 cells BCG showed much less co-localization with LC3 than rBCG-PA indicating the need for caution in interpreting biological significance from studies in cell lines.
Mechanism of action and potential applications of selective inhibition of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1-mediated PGE2 biosynthesis by sonlicromanol’s metabolite KH176m
Authors: Jiang X. , Renkema H. , Pennings B. , Pecheritsyna S. , Schoeman J. C. , Hankemeier T. , Smeitink J. , Beyrath J.
Published: January 2021

Increased prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels were detected in mitochondrial disease patient cells harboring nuclear gene mutations in structural subunits of complex I, using a metabolomics screening approach. The increased levels of this principal inflammation mediator normalized following exposure of KH176m, an active redox-modulator metabolite of sonlicromanol (KH176). We next demonstrated that KH176m selectively inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced PGE2 production in control skin fibroblasts. Comparable results were obtained in the mouse macrophage-like cell line RAW264.7. KH176m selectively inhibited mPGES-1 activity, as well as the inflammation-induced expression of mPGES-1. Finally, we showed that the effect of KH176m on mPGES-1 expression is due to the inhibition of a PGE2-driven positive feedback control-loop of mPGES-1 transcriptional regulation. Based on the results obtained we discuss potential new therapeutic applications of KH176m and its clinical stage parent drug candidate sonlicromanol in mitochondrial disease and beyond.