bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interventions to help patients withdraw from depression drugs: systematic review
Authors: Gøtzsche Peter C. , Demasi Maryanne
Published: March 2023

BACKGROUND

Depression drugs can be difficult to come off due to withdrawal symptoms. Gradual tapering with tapering support is needed to help patients withdraw safely. We reviewed the withdrawal success rates, using any intervention, and the effects on relapse/recurrence rates, symptom severity, quality of life, and withdrawal symptoms.

METHODS

Systematic review based on PubMed and Embase searches (last search 4 October 2022) of randomised trials with one or more treatment arms aimed at helping patients withdraw from a depression drug, regardless of indication for treatment. We calculated the mean and median success rates and the risk difference of depressive relapse when discontinuing or continuing depression drugs.

RESULTS

We included 13 studies (2085 participants). Three compared two withdrawal interventions and ten compared drug discontinuation vs. continuation. The success rates varied hugely between the trials (9% to 80%), with a weighted mean of 47% (95% confidence interval 38% to 57%) and a median of 50% (interquartile range 29% to 65%). A meta-regression showed that the length of taper was highly predictive for the risk of relapse (P = 0.00001). All the studies we reviewed confounded withdrawal symptoms with relapse; did not use hyperbolic tapering; withdrew the depression drug too fast in a linear fashion; and stopped it entirely when receptor occupancy was still high.

CONCLUSIONS

The true proportion of patients on depression drugs who can stop safely without relapse is likely considerably higher than the 50% we found.
Epidemiological evaluation and identification of the insect vector of soybean stay-green associated virus
Authors: Cheng Ruixiang , Yan Rong , Mei Ruoxin , Wang Yaodi , Niu Wei , Ai Hao , Qiao Sijing , Xu Mengjia , Yu Wei , Ye Wenwu , Wang Yuanchao , Tao Xiaorong , Zhou Xueping , Xu Yi
Published: March 2023

In recent years, the emergence of soybean stay-green syndrome (SGS), also referred to as “zhengqing”, in the Huang-Huai-Hai region of China has resulted in significant yield losses, with some areas experiencing a complete reduction in seed yield. SGS is a phenomenon characterized by the delayed senescence of soybean, resulting in stay-green leaves, flat pods, and stunted seed development at harvest. Our group was the first to identify a distinct geminivirus, named soybean stay-green associated geminivirus (SoSGV), as the causative agent of SGS by fulfilling Koch’s postulate. To further understand the epidemiology of SoSGV, in this study, we collected 368 stay-green samples from 17 regions in 8 provinces including the Huang-Huai-Hai region and surrounding areas of China. The results showed that 228 samples tested positive for SoSGV (61.96%), and 96.93% of these positive samples showed severe pod deflation. Our epidemiological assessment reveals SGS caused by the SoSGV is prevalent in the fields, and it is undergoing geographical expansion and genetic differentiation. Additionally, we determined the other natural hosts grown in the Huang-Huai-Hai region of China. By capturing insects in the field and conducting laboratory vector transmission tests, we confirmed that the common brown leafhopper (Orosius orientalis) is the transmitting vector of SoSGV. With a better understanding of the epidemiology of SoSGV and its transmission, we can develop more effective strategies for managing and mitigating its impact on soybean yields.
p75 neurotrophin receptor in pre-adolescent prefrontal PV interneurons promotes cognitive flexibility in adult mice
Authors: Chehrazi Pegah , Lee Karen Ka Yan , Lavertu-Jolin Marisol , Chattopadhyaya Bidisha , Cristo Graziella Di
Published: March 2023

Parvalbumin (PV)-positive GABAergic cells provide robust perisomatic inhibition to neighboring pyramidal neurons and regulate brain oscillations. Alterations in PV interneuron connectivity and function in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) have been consistently reported in psychiatric disorders associated with cognitive rigidity, suggesting that PV cell deficits could be a core cellular phenotype in these disorders. p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) regulates the time course of PV cell maturation in a cell-autonomous fashion. Whether p75NTR expression during postnatal development affects adult prefrontal PV cell connectivity and cognitive function is unknown. We generated transgenic mice with conditional knockout (cKO) of p75NTR in postnatal PV cells. We analysed PV cell connectivity and recruitment following a tail pinch, by immunolabeling and confocal imaging, in naïve mice or following p75NTR re-expression in pre- or post-adolescent mice using Cre-dependent viral vectors. Cognitive flexibility was evaluated using behavioral tests. PV cell-specific p75NTR deletion increased both PV cell synapse density and the number of PV cells surrounded by perineuronal nets, a marker of mature PV cells, in adult PFC but not visual cortex. Both phenotypes were rescued by viral-mediated re-introduction of p75NTR in pre-adolescent but not in post-adolescent PFC. Prefrontal cortical PV cells failed to upregulated c-Fos following a tail-pinch stimulation in adult cKO mice. Finally, cKO mice showed impaired fear memory extinction learning as well as deficits in a rule set-shifting task. These findings suggest that p75NTR expression in adolescent PV cells contributes to the finetuning of their connectivity and promotes cognitive flexibility in adulthood.
An experiment of collaborative, international, multi-disciplinary design studio – Erasmus+ CBHE TACEESM project Summer School
Authors: Zejnilovic Emina , Husukic Erna , Pignatti Lorenzo , Castellano Javier
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test an architectural studio pedagogy that originates from an experiment of a Summer School collaborative design studio, with participation of students, academicians and practicing architects, from seven Universities and five European countries.

Design/methodology/approach

This pedagogical method follows recommended education for sustainable development (ESD) model, by linking formal and informal learning, and targeting development of the key competences needed for promoting sustainable progress: participation and collaboration, along with inter- and trans-disciplinarity. Combining active participant observation method with descriptive survey research, the paper evaluates the perspective of a small sample size of 27 participating students, who worked with 15 professors alternately, during a two-week design studio course.

Findings

The results indicate that such a form of non-formal education has positive impact on acquisition of targeted competences, confirming the strategic role that non-formal education has in reaching quality education learning outcomes, and advocating for the adjustments of existing curricula towards a more collaborative educational approach in architectural design.

Research limitations/implications

The modest sample size presents a limitation in reference to generalization of results, neverthless its data are valuable, particularly within the context of maximizing the development of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Originality/value

This endeavour was a part of an on-going Erasmus + CBHE (Capacity Building in Higher Education) project entitled transforming architectural and civil engineering education towards a sustainable model (TACEESM). Organized non-formal educational model is seen as a testing laboratory that blends a conventional methodology of a design studio with a highly collaborative, international and multi-disciplinary approach.
Steps and theories towards more effective business case processes within existing organisations: an inter-disciplinary systematic literature review
Authors: Appel-Meulenbroek Rianne , Danivska Vitalija
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Business case (BC) analyses are performed in many different business fields, to create a report on the feasibility and competitive advantage of an intervention within an existing organisation to secure commitment from management to invest. However, most BC research papers on decisions regarding internal funding are either based on anecdotal insights, on analyses of standards from practice, or focused on very specific BC calculations for a certain project, investment or field. A clear BC process method is missing.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to describe the results of a systematic literature review of 52 BC papers that report on further conceptualisation of what a BC process should behold.

Findings

Synthesis of the findings has led to a BC definition and composition of a 20 step BC process method. In addition, 29 relevant theories are identified to tackle the main challenges of BC analyses in future studies to make them more effective. This supports further theoretical development of academic BC research and provides a tool for BC processes in practice.

Originality/value

Although there is substantial scientific research on BCs, there was not much theoretical development nor a general stepwise method to perform the most optimal BC analysis.
The effect of increasing health disaster risk and public spending on economy conditions: a DSGE perspective
Authors: Keshavarzi Ali , Horry Hamid Reza
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The main motivation of the present study is to understand the severity of the effect of health shock on Iran's oil economy and analyze the role of government under these conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models can show the precise interactions between market decision-makers in the context of general equilibrium. Since the duration of the virus outbreak and its effect on the economy is not known, it is more appropriate to use these models.

Findings

The results of the survey of hands-on policies scenarios compared to the state of hands-off policy indicate that the effect of government expending shocks on the economy under pandemic disease conditions has much less feedback on macroeconomic variables.

Originality/value

As a proposed policy, it is recommended that the government play a stabilizing role under pandemic disease conditions.

Key messages

There is no study regarding health shock and its economic effects in Iran using DSGE models. Also, in foreign studies, the health shock in an oil economy has not been modeled.

The general idea in the present study is how the prevalence of a pandemic infectious disease affects the dynamics of macroeconomic variables.

In three different scenarios, according to the persistence of health disaster risk and the deterioration rate of health capital due to this shock, the model is simulated.

In modeling pandemic diseases, quarantine hours are considered as part of the total time of individuals.

According to the research findings, it is recommended that the government, as a policy-maker, play a stabilizing role under pandemic crises conditions.
Conviction and online purchase intention towards apparel in online environment
Authors: Prasad Shantanu , Prasad Saroj S.
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The purpose of the research paper is to examine customers' online purchase intention towards apparel in the online environment, with a focus on the role of conviction and brand reputation of the e-retailer.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses are based on an extensive literature review and tested using adapted existing scales for the constructs-social media usage for apparel, electronic word of mouth (EWOM), conviction, apparel e-retailer's brand reputation and online purchase intention towards apparel, and data are collected from 362 online customers of apparel brands in eight major cities across the country. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is applied to analyze data and test hypotheses because of multiple dependent variables.

Findings

The quantitative results indicate that impact of social media and EWOM on online purchase intention towards apparel is mediated by conviction. The results also explain the moderating effect of apparel e-retailer's brand reputation.

Originality/value

Findings provide suggestions for the apparel business in an online environment that address the issue of breach of trust and implications for apparel e-retailers, managers and researchers. The study contributes to the existing retail literature by proposing concept of conviction and role of apparel e-retailer's brand reputation in this context.
Salute to service or salute to skepticism? An empirical analysis of military members’ perceptions of the NFL’s military campaign
Authors: Statz Keevan M. , Bogina Austin C. , Schmult Jennifer L. , Gordon Brian S.
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Sport organizations’ use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become commonplace. Similarly, academic inquiry into the CSR phenomenon has become almost as ubiquitous. However, this paper argues that a group has been forgotten about in the literature surrounding sport and CSR: the campaign beneficiary, especially in sport-based CSR research. After all, CSR campaigns are intended to support a certain group.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a social identity theory and social identity complexity qualitative framework, this paper analyzes the perceptions of the National Football League's (NFL) Salute to Service military campaign among service members, veterans and families.

Findings

After collecting data via a series of 16 interviews, while service members stated that the service members appreciated the campaign and appreciated what the NFL seeks to do through the campaign, this specific Salute to Service did not have a significant cognitive and behavioral impact for these military consumers.

Originality/value

This work builds on prior CSR beneficiary literature, providing an opportunity to further expand ways in which sport organizations can make sports organizations' CSR campaigns more impactful.
Founder or descendant CEOs, tax avoidance and firms' future risks: the Indonesian evidence
Authors: Sutrisno Paulina , Utama Sidharta , Hermawan Ancella Anitawati , Fatima Eliza
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of founder or descendant chief executive officers (CEOs) on the relationship between tax avoidance and firms' future risk. This issue is important because of an ongoing debate about founder and descendant CEOs' impacts, contributions and implications for firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a sample of publicly listed nonfinancial Indonesian firms in 2012–2019, most of which are family firms and adhere to a two-tier governance system that was understudied in previous studies. The authors use panel-random effect data regression for the statistical analysis.

Findings

The results demonstrate that founder or descendant CEOs do not affect the positive relationship between tax avoidance and firms' future risks.

Research limitations/implications

This research supports the upper-echelon theory, arguing that top management teams affect firms' strategic policies and outcomes.

Practical implications

CEOs play weaker roles in countries with a two-tier governance system than in a one-tier one. Additionally, in relation to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, Indonesia has collective and feminist characteristics that emphasize elements of togetherness and group so that firms reflect the firms' top management teams and not only CEOs.

Originality/value

This research fills a research gap on the role of founder and descendant CEOs in the relationship between tax avoidance and firms' future risks by analyzing firms in Indonesia, a country with a two-tier governance system and collective and feminine cultural characteristics.
Corruption suppression and domestic investment of emerging economies: BRICS and CIVETS groups – panel ARDL approach
Authors: Magableh Sohail , Hailat Mahmoud , Al-qalawi Usama , Al Qudah Anas
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effects of corruption control on domestic investment in the BRICS and CIVETS of emerging economies. This paper’s primary goal is to investigate how corruption has impacted domestic private investment in BRICS and CIVETS, empirically evaluate that impact and offer appropriate policy recommendations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses secondary panel data from the World Bank spanning the period 2000–2020. The data covered the BRICS and CIVETS countries between 2000 and 2020. This study used gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth, broad money as a percentage of GDP, real interest rate and corruption index as independent variables and domestic investment as a percentage of GDP as a dependent variable.

Findings

The significant results are presented using the panel, autoregressive distributed lag pooled mean group estimator. Growth in the per-capita GDP, money supply and the suppression of corruption all have long-term, positive and significant benefits on domestic investment. Comparatively, the real interest rate has a significant negative influence on investment, indicating that it may be necessary and beneficial to adopt anti-corruption measures to promote domestic investment. However, the country-specific analysis reveals that the long-term effects of corruption on investment tend to vary across countries, indicating that each country needs to research the issue of corruption independently. Finally, ensuring optimal levels of money supply and interest rates leaded by further control of corruption is necessary for strengthening the investment environment.

Originality/value

This study suggests several practical implications. For example, legislators and policymakers should pay more attention to anti-corruption policies. Central banks should put more effort into controlling the interest rate.
“Oh, happy day!” Examining the role of AI-powered voice assistants as a positive technology in the formation of brand loyalty
Authors: Huh Jennifer , Kim Hye-Young , Lee Garim
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This study examines how the locus of agency of brands' artificial intelligence (AI)–powered voice assistants (VAs) could lead to brand loyalty through perceived control, flow and consumer happiness under the moderating influences of brand image and voice congruity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a 2 (locus of agency: high vs. low) by 2 (brand image-voice congruity: congruent vs. incongruent) between-subjects experimental design. MANOVA, ANOVA and structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted to test the hypothesized model.

Findings

ANOVA results revealed that human-centric (vs. machine-centric) agency led to higher perceived control. The interaction effect was significant, indicating the importance of congruency between brand image and VAs' voices. SEM results confirmed that perceived control predicted brand loyalty fully mediated by flow experience and consumer happiness.

Originality/value

This study provides evidence that the positive technology paradigm could carve out a new path in existing literature on AI-powered devices by showing the potential of a smart device as a tool for improving consumer–brand relationships and enriching consumers' well-being.
‘He who relies on relatives and friends die poor’: class closure and stratagems of civility in peri‐urban Kenya
Authors: Lockwood Peter
Published: March 2023

Africanist anthropology has tended to paint social relations on the continent in a positive light, giving the impression that a pro‐social relationality will provide the poor with economic assistance in moments of need. This article troubles these accounts by turning to Kenya, where a history of socioeconomic stratification has created a landscape of class closure. Rather than generously give, upwardly mobile families seek to distance themselves from potential requests for material assistance. Meanwhile, they valorize their own hard work as the source of their success, encouraging the poor to follow suit: to pursue economic independence. In this context, the article underscores the work of relation‐making as poor families attempt to keep social relationships with wealthy locals open by practising ‘civility’: hiding their anticipation of material support by concealing economic distress whilst outwardly performing their own success. Taking inspiration from F.G. Bailey's classic work on ‘stratagems and spoils’, the article emphasizes the interested, conscious effort of making relations as a means of combating economic exclusion in an unequal world.
SOFTLY: Comparison of outcomes of rigid versus soft collar during emergency department investigation for potential cervical spine injury in low‐risk blunt trauma patients – A pilot study
Authors: Baker Robert , Klim Sharon , Poonian Jasmine , Ritchie Peter , Ng Stephanie , Kelly Anne‐Maree
Published: March 2023

Objective

Blunt trauma patients with potential cervical spine injury are traditionally immobilised in rigid collars. Recently, this has been challenged. The present study's objective was comparison of the rate of patient‐oriented adverse events in stable, alert, low‐risk patients with potential cervical spine injuries immobilised in rigid versus soft collars.

Methods

Unblinded, prospective quasi‐randomised clinical trial of neurologically intact, adult, blunt trauma patients assessed as having potential cervical spine injury. Patients were randomised to collar type. All other aspects of care were unchanged. Primary outcome was patient‐reported discomfort related to neck immobilisation by collar type. Secondary outcomes included adverse neurological events, agitation and clinically important cervical spine injuries (clinical trial registration number: ACTRN12621000286842).

Results

A total of 137 patients were enrolled: 59 patients allocated to a rigid collar and 78 to a soft collar. Most injuries were from a fall <1 m (54%) or a motor vehicle crash (21.9%). Median neck pain score of collar immobilisation was lower in the soft collar group (3.0 [interquartile range 0–6.1] vs 6.0 [interquartile range 3–8.8], P < 0.001). The proportion of patients with clinician‐identified agitation was lower in the soft collar group (5% vs 17%, P = 0.04). There were four clinically important cervical spine injuries (two in each group). All were treated conservatively. There were no adverse neurological events.

Conclusions

Use of soft rather than rigid collar immobilisation for low‐risk blunt trauma patients with potential cervical spine injury is significantly less painful for patients and results in less agitation. A larger study is needed to determine the safety of this approach or whether collars are required at all.
Brassica rapa subsp. Chinensis juice enhances Bacillus subtilis selectively in leafy green production
Authors: Li Yingyue , Ten Michelle Mei Zhen , Tham Cliff An Ting , Lim Yan Xi , Lu Yuyun , Li Dan
Published: March 2023

Bacillus subtilis (BS) is a well‐known beneficial microorganism for plants but is not competitive in the plant rhizosphere microbiome. We report the selective support of Brassica rapa subsp. Chinensis (Xiao Bai Cai) juice (XBCJ) on BS both in hydroponic nutrient solution and the plant rhizosphere of lettuce. After 2 weeks of being inoculated in the lettuce rhizosphere, the Bacillus population was enumerated at 3.30 ± 0.07 log CFU/unit in the BS group and at 5.20 ± 0.39 log CFU/unit in the BS + XBCJ group (p < 0.05). Accordingly, lettuce crops from the BS + XBCJ group were significantly higher than the control group for all of the tested biomass‐related parameters (p < 0.05). The treatment did not significantly affect the texture, colour, moisture contents, total phenolic contents, or antioxidant activities of the lettuce crops (p > 0.05). Non‐target ultra‐performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS) suggested that phenolic compounds could be the key class of phytochemicals being responsible for the selectivity. High‐throughput RNA‐based 16S rRNA gene sequencing and analysis were performed to depict the influence of BS and XBCJ over the global microbiome compositions of plant rhizosphere.
Association between days alive without life support/out of hospital and health‐related quality of life
Authors: Granholm Anders , Schjørring Olav Lilleholt , Jensen Aksel Karl Georg , Kaas‐Hansen Benjamin Skov , Munch Marie Warrer , Klitgaard Thomas Lass , Crescioli Elena , Kjær Maj‐Brit Nørregaard , Strøm Thomas , Lange Theis , Perner Anders , Rasmussen Bodil Steen , Møller Morten Hylander
Published: March 2023

Background

Trials in critically ill patients increasingly focus on days alive without life support (DAWOLS) or days alive out of hospital (DAOOH) and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). DAWOLS and DAOOH convey more information than mortality and are simpler and faster to collect than HRQoL. However, whether these outcomes are associated with HRQoL is uncertain. We thus aimed to assess the associations between DAWOLS and DAOOH and long‐term HRQoL.

Methods

Secondary analysis of the COVID STEROID 2 trial including adults with COVID‐19 and severe hypoxaemia and the Handling Oxygenation Targets in the Intensive Care Unit (HOT‐ICU) trial including adult intensive care unit patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure. Associations between DAWOLS and DAOOH at day 28 and 90 and long‐term HRQoL (after 6 or 12 months) using the EuroQol 5‐dimension 5‐level survey (EQ VAS and EQ‐5D‐5L index values) were assessed using flexible models and evaluated using measures of fit and prediction adequacy in both datasets (comprising internal performance and external validation), non‐parametric correlation coefficients and graphical presentations.

Results

We found no strong associations between DAWOLS or DAOOH and HRQoL in survivors at HRQoL‐follow‐up (615 and 1476 patients, respectively). There was substantial variability in outcomes, and predictions from the best fitted models were poor both internally and externally in the other trial dataset, which also showed inadequate calibration. Moderate associations were found when including non‐survivors, although predictions remained uncertain and calibration inadequate.

Conclusion

DAWOLS and DAOOH were poorly associated with HRQoL in adult survivors of severe or critical illness included in the COVID STEROID 2 and HOT‐ICU trials.
Under the sun or stars: how a dune ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) community is shaped along the day and night
Authors: Guimarães Pedro Henrique , Sobrinho Tathiana Guerra , Cristiano Maykon Passos , Cardoso Danon Clemes
Published: March 2023

Atlantic Forest (AF) is a threatened megadiverse biome distributed from north to south along the ocean of South America and is considered a hotspot of biodiversity. Currently, over 3000 ant taxa are known to occur in AF ecosystems, and many more are expected but may never be acknowledged. The patterns and processes structuring AF ant communities are not well known, urging such studies. Temperature is a fundamental environmental condition that modulates ant species occurrences at different local and regional scales. Global warming may deeply impact species occurrence, dynamics and interactions, and efforts to amplify our understanding of AF biodiversity are urgent. Ants are widely distributed in the dunes, and many species are sensitive to local changes in temperature as some species are considered thermophilic. In open areas such as dunes, the temperature varies considerably over 24 h, with great changes mainly between day and night. In this study, we sought to answer whether the foredune ant community of the Restinga, one of the habitats of the AF, is structured by temperature from day and night. For this, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) temperature influences ant diversity; (ii) in warmer periods, there is a decrease in richness, with an increase in abundance; and (iii) ant species composition varies throughout the day and, consequently, at different temperatures. We arbitrarily drew a parallel transect to the ocean composed of 15 pitfall trap units spaced every 30 m. Traps were changed in five sampling periods: T1 (9:10–13:10 h), T2 (13:40–18:40 h), T3 (19:00–23:00 h), T4 (23:00–03:00 h) and T5 (03:00–07:00 h). In each period, we recorded the ambient temperature and relative humidity. We recovered 11 ant species on the foredunes. Our results showed that the richness and abundance of ants in the daytime period was higher than in the night‐time period, suggesting that temperature positively affected these two parameters of the studied community. The species composition also changed over the sampling periods. Considering that our aim was to describe the species diversity across 24 h of sampling, this ‘quick‐shot’ of the ant community allowed us to determine that temperature and humidity shape their occurrence and activity. These results indicate that there is an interplay between these factors that are correlated and play an important role in structuring ant communities in Restinga foredunes.
Genetic diversity of a cichlid fish population after 100 years of isolation
Authors: Ndiwa Titus Chemandwa , Nyingi Dorothy Wanja , Agnèse Jean‐François
Published: March 2023

High rates of species radiation have been recorded in Cichlids of East African lakes. The current study focused on a population of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) found in a crater lake (Lake Crocodile) that occurs within the Central Island of Lake Turkana. The population separated from Lake Turkana about 100 years ago and has since then existed in isolation. This study aimed at assessing the existence of genetic differences between the Lake Crocodile Nile tilapia population and other closely related Nile tilapia populations from Lake Turkana, Lake Baringo and River Suguta. Genetic differences between the populations were evaluated using two mtDNA markers, and 16 microsatellite markers. Significant genetic differences (p > 0.05) were observed between the Lake Crocodile population and the other studied populations within the region. Despite the shared ancestry between Lake Crocodile and Lake Turkana, genetic differences were observed between the two populations. This can mostly be attributed to the lack of gene flow and environmental differences between the two populations.
Attitudes, intentions and procreative responsibility in current and future assisted reproduction
Authors: Battisti Davide
Published: March 2023

Procreative obligations are often discussed by evaluating only the consequences of reproductive actions or omissions; less attention is paid to the moral role of intentions and attitudes. In this paper, I assess whether intentions and attitudes can contribute to defining our moral obligations with regard to assisted reproductive technologies already available, such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and those that may be available in future, such as reproductive genome editing and ectogenesis, in a way compatible with person‐affecting constraints. I propose the parent–child relationship argument, which is based on the moral distinction between creating and parenting a child. Hence, I first argue that intentions and attitudes can play a role in defining our moral obligations in reproductive decisions involving PGD. Second, I maintain that if we accept this and recognize reproductive genome editing and ectogenesis as person‐affecting procedures, we should be committed to arguing that prospective parents may have moral reasons to prefer reproduction via such techniques than via sexual intercourse. In both cases, I observe an extension of our procreative responsibility beyond what is proposed by the consequentialist person‐affecting morality.
Analytics‐supported reflective assessment for 6th graders' knowledge building and data science practices: An exploratory study
Authors: Yang Yuqin , Zheng Zhizi , Zhu Gaoxia , Salas‐Pilco Sdenka Zobeida
Published: March 2023

Preparing data‐literate citizens and supporting future generations to effectively work with data is challenging. Engaging students in Knowledge Building (KB) may be a promising way to respond to this challenge because it requires students to reflect on and direct their inquiry with the support of data. Informed by previous studies, this research explored how an analytics‐supported reflective assessment (AsRA)‐enhanced KB design influenced 6th graders' KB and data science practices in a science education setting. One intact class with 56 students participated in this study. The analysis of students' Knowledge Forum discourse showed the positive influences of the AsRA‐enhanced KB design on students' development of KB and data science practices. Further analysis of different‐performing groups revealed that the AsRA‐enhanced KB design was accessible to all performing groups. These findings have important implications for teachers and researchers who aim to develop students' KB and data science practices, and general high‐level collaborative inquiry skills.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

Data use becomes increasingly important in the K‐12 educational context.

Little is known about how to scaffold students to develop data science practices.

Knowledge Building (KB) and learning analytics‐supported reflective assessment (AsRA) show premises in developing these practices.

What this paper adds

AsRA‐enhanced KB can help students improve KB and data science practices over time.

AsRA‐enhanced KB design benefits students of different‐performing groups.

AsRA‐enhanced KB is accessible to elementary school students in science education.

Implications for practice and/or policy

Developing a collaborative and reflective culture helps students engage in collaborative inquiry.

Pedagogical approaches and analytic tools can be developed to support students' data‐driven decision‐making in inquiry learning.
Perspectives on cutting‐edge nanoparticulate drug delivery technologies based on lipids and their applications
Authors: Maddiboyina Balaji , Ramaiah  , Nakkala Ramya Krishna , Roy Harekrishna
Published: March 2023

Numerous nanotech arenas in therapeutic biology have recently provided a scientific platform to manufacture a considerable swath of unique chemical entities focusing on drugs. Recently, nanoparticulate drug delivery systems have emerged to deliver a specific drug to a specified site. Among all other carriers, lipids possess features exclusive to nanostructured dosage forms. The bioavailability of orally administered drugs is typically negatively affected by their poor water solubility, resulting from the unique chemical moieties introduced. Because of their unique advantages, lipid nanoparticles must become increasingly predictable as a robust delivery mechanism. The enhanced biopharmaceutical properties and significance of lipid‐based targeting technologies such as liposomes, niosomes, solid lipid nanoparticles and micelles are highlighted in this review. Pharmaceutical implications of lipid nanocarriers for the transport and distribution of various therapeutic agents, such as biotechnological products and small pharmaceutical molecules, is a booming topic. Lipid nanoparticles as drug delivery systems have many appealing properties, including high biocompatibility, ease of preparation, tissue specificity, avoidance of reticuloendothelial systems, delayed drug release, scale‐up feasibility, nontoxicity and targeted delivery. The use of lipid nanoparticles to enhance the transport of biopharmaceuticals is currently considered state‐of‐the‐art. Similarly, we critically examine the upcoming guidelines that therapeutic scientists should handle.
Adult spinal cord tissue transplantation combined with local tacrolimus sustained‐release collagen hydrogel promotes complete spinal cord injury repair
Authors: Zhao Xinhao , Gu Rui , Zhao Yannan , Wei Feng , Gao Xu , Zhuang Yan , Xiao Zhifeng , Shen He , Dai Jianwu
Published: March 2023

The strategy of replacing a completely damaged spinal cord with allogenic adult spinal cord tissues (aSCs) can potentially repair complete spinal cord injury (SCI) in combination with immunosuppressive drugs, such as tacrolimus (Tac), which suppress transplant rejection and improve graft survival. However, daily systemic administration of immunosuppressive agents may cause harsh side effects. Herein, a localized, sustained Tac‐release collagen hydrogel (Col/Tac) was developed to maximize the immune regulatory efficacy but minimize the side effects of Tac after aSC transplantation in complete SCI recipients. Thoracic aSCs of rat donors were transplanted into the complete thoracic spinal cord transection rat recipients, after which Col/Tac hydrogel was implanted. The Tac‐encapsulated collagen hydrogel exhibited suitable mechanical properties and long‐term sustained Tac release behaviour. After Col/Tac hydrogel implantation in SCI rats with aSC transplantation, the recipients' survival rate significantly improved and the side effects on tissues were reduced compared with those with conventional Tac medication. Moreover, treatment with the Col/Tac hydrogel exhibited similarly reduced immune rejection levels by regulating immune responses and promoted neurogenesis compared to daily Tac injections, and thus improved functional restoration. Localized delivery of immunosuppressive agents by the Col/Tac hydrogel may be a promising strategy for overcoming immune rejection of transplants, with significant potential for clinical application in the future.
Betting against pandemics: Ethical implications of the “COVID Claimania” in Taiwan, 2020‐2022
Authors: Yeh Ming‐Jui , Liao Yi‐Zheng
Published: March 2023

Among measures tackling the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the selling of private insurance policies covering individual infection is overlooked by the ethics literature. To record the “COVID Claimania” in Taiwan and to assess its ethical implications, we collected 38 policies from 10 insurers sold between January 2020 and May 2022 and found that their risk calculation of the COVID‐19 prevalence ranged from 0.5% to 11.08%. In reality, the prevalence by the end of 2022 was 37% in Taiwan. Selling private insurance policies is ethically problematic in three ways. First, it represents the insurance industry's irresponsible risk‐taking profit‐seeking behaviors. Second, it would jeopardize the effectiveness of the disease‐prevention measures by inducing uncontrollable moral hazards. Third, it would expose the insurance companies to unbearable financial risks and cause substantial negative external impacts. The government should intervene in the private insurance market in preparation for future public health emergencies.
Parent‐led massage and sleep EEG for term‐born infants: A randomized controlled parallel‐group study
Authors: Ventura Soraia , Mathieson Sean R. , O'Sullivan Marc P. , O'Toole John M. , Livingstone Vicki , Pressler Ronit M. , Dempsey Eugene M. , Murray Deirdre M. , Boylan Geraldine B.
Published: March 2023

Aim

To examine the impact of parent‐led massage on the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) features of typically developing term‐born infants at 4 months.

Method

Infants recruited at birth were randomized to intervention (routine parent‐led massage) and control groups. Infants had a daytime sleep EEG at 4 months and were assessed using the Griffiths Scales of Child Development, Third Edition at 4 and 18 months. Comparative analysis between groups and subgroup analysis between regularly massaged and never‐massaged infants were performed. Groups were compared for sleep stage, sleep spindles, quantitative EEG (primary analysis), and Griffiths using the Mann–Whitney U test.

Results

In total, 179 out of 182 infants (intervention: 83 out of 84; control: 96 out of 98) had a normal sleep EEG. Median (interquartile range) sleep duration was 49.8 minutes (39.1–71.4) (n = 156). A complete first sleep cycle was seen in 67 out of 83 (81%) and 72 out of 96 (75%) in the intervention and control groups respectively. Groups did not differ in sleep stage durations, latencies to sleep and to rapid eye movement sleep. Sleep spindle spectral power was greater in the intervention group in main and subgroup analyses. The intervention group showed greater EEG magnitudes, and lower interhemispherical coherence on subgroup analyses. Griffiths assessments at 4 months (n = 179) and 18 months (n = 173) showed no group differences in the main and subgroup analyses.

Interpretation

Routine massage is associated with distinct functional brain changes at 4 months.

What this paper adds

Routine massage of infants is associated with differences in sleep electroencephalogram biomarkers at 4 months.

Massaged infants had higher sleep spindle spectral power, greater sleep EEG magnitudes, and lower interhemispherical coherence.

No differences between groups were observed in total nap duration or first cycle macrostructure.
Autochthonous production sustains food webs in large perialpine lakes, independent of trophic status: Evidence from amino acid stable isotopes
Authors: Saboret Grégoire , Stalder Dominique , Matthews Blake , Brodersen Jakob , Schubert Carsten Johnny
Published: March 2023

Lakes are recipients of allochthonous organic matter and nutrients. However, the importance of these subsidies for food webs and how they vary with lake trophic status remains unclear, especially for large lakes.

We assessed the source and fate of organic matter and nutrients in seven perialpine lakes across a gradient of trophic status. We measured carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of amino acids of lake‐residing Atlantic trout, Salmo trutta, to determine the source of primary production (i.e., how carbon is fixed in the ecosystem) and how it is transferred through food webs, respectively. Based on essential amino acid carbon fingerprinting, we estimated the probability of organic carbon originating from autochthonous (algal), allochthonous (terrestrial plant), and recycled (bacterial) sources. In addition, we used amino acid δ15N to track how this primary production is transferred to consumers in general, and by using different trophic amino acids (glutamic acid and alanine), identify the trophic pathways involving either metazoan or protozoans.

We found a high likelihood of autochthonous origin of organic carbon (86 ± 9%) in trout that contrasted with allochthonous origins of particulate organic matter and some sediments. We showed that those estimates are good proxies of source reliance. Our results also highlighted the importance of bacterial origin of organic carbon in fish (12%). The likely autochthonous origin of this carbon was supported by trophic markers (Ala δ15N) that suggest the role of protists in transferring recycled organic carbon up the food web. While the sources of nitrogen sustaining food webs varied among lakes, we found a conserved carbon fingerprinting of fish. Overall, this suggests an uncoupling between the source of nutrients and organic carbon in large perialpine lakes.

Across a wide range of trophic status (c. 2 orders of magnitude range of phosphorus concentration), several lines of evidence suggested that perialpine lake food webs shared a common reliance on autochthonous and bacterial production.

Our study is the first to quantify the dependence on allochthonous organic carbon in lake food webs based on new amino acid stable isotope markers (carbon fingerprinting and Ala δ15N) and shows promise for estimating the source of carbon fixation in ecosystems. Our results support previous suggestions that terrestrial organic carbon is a relatively minor source for aquatic consumers despite contributing to the pool of organic matter, and more importantly, its contribution does not vary substantially with trophic status in perialpine lakes.
Optimal admission and queuing control with reneging behavior under premature discharge decisions
Authors: Yang Feifei , Li Quan‐Lin , Zhang Chi , Wang Chengliang
Published: March 2023

Queues or waiting lines are a common phenomenon in healthcare facilities. The increasing number of admissions to hospital emergency departments (EDs) has resulted in overcrowded EDs and decreased quality of care. Patients may renege with dissatisfaction while waiting, prolonged hospital stays, or the cancelation of surgeries, especially for those with acute diseases. This paper studies patient admission and queuing control policies, considering premature discharge decisions and reneging behavior. First, we formulate this problem as an infinite‐horizon total discounted cost Markov decision process to balance bed utility and experiences of patients waiting for admission to minimize the total expected cost for the hospital. Then, we characterize an optimal admission threshold policy by analyzing the structural properties of the optimal value function. Numerical experiments are employed to discuss how the optimal dynamic policy depends on some key parameters of the system. Finally, the performance of the optimal policy is discussed through comparison with the benchmark: A myopic rule (first come, first served) mimicking the decision‐making in practice under different scenarios. The numerical results show that the reneging behavior can affect the superiority of the optimal policy compared to the benchmark, and the optimal policy can significantly reduce the number of waiting patients without increasing the total expected cost when the system is overloaded.
Influence of cyclin D1 splicing variants expression on breast cancer chemoresistance via CDK4/CyclinD1‐pRB‐E2F1 pathway
Authors: Wang Jing , Zhang Jiaxin , Ma Qinglong , Zhang Shasha , Ma Fengdie , Su Wei , Zhang Taotao , Xie Xiaodong , Di Cuixia
Published: March 2023

Cyclin D1 (CCND1), a mediator of cell cycle control, has a G870A polymorphism which results in the formation of two splicing variants: full‐length CCND1 (CCND1a) and C‐terminally truncated CCND1 species (CCND1b). However, the role of CCND1a and CCND1b variants in cancer chemoresistance remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the molecular mechanism of alternative splicing of CCND1 in breast cancer (BC) chemoresistance. To address the contribution of G870A polymorphism to the production of CCND1 variants in BC chemoresistance, we sequenced the G870A polymorphism and analysed the expressions of CCND1a and CCND1b in MCF‐7 and MCF‐7/ADM cells. In comparison with MCF‐7 cells, MCF‐7/ADM cells with the A allele could enhance alternative splicing with the increase of SC‐35, upregulate the ratio of CCND1b/a at both mRNA and protein levels, and activate the CDK4/CyclinD1‐pRB‐E2F1 pathway. Furthermore, CCND1b expression and the downstream signalling pathway were analysed through Western blotting and cell cycle in MCF‐7/ADM cells with knockdown of CCND1b. Knockdown of CCND1b downregulated the ratio of CCND1b/a, demoted cell proliferation, decelerated cell cycle progression, inhibited the CDK4/CyclinD1‐pRB‐E2F1 pathway and thereby decreased the chemoresistance of MCF‐7/ADM cells. Finally, CCND1 G870A polymorphism, the alternative splicing of CCDN1 was detected through Sequenom Mass ARRAY platform, Sanger sequencing, semi‐quantitative RT‐PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry in clinical BC specimens. The increase of the ratio of CCND1b/a caused by G870A polymorphism was involved in BC chemoresistance. Thus, these findings revealed that CCND1b/a ratio caused by the polymorphism is involved in BC chemoresistance via CDK4/CyclinD1‐pRB‐E2F1 pathway.