bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association between tea intake and hospitalized nephrolithiasis in Chinese adults: A case–control study
Authors: Liu Yingyu , Bi Shiyuan , Li Hexiao , Shi Jianxiu , Xia Yang , Niu Kaijun , Bai Song
Published: September 2022

Introduction and aim

Nephrolithiasis is one of the most common urological disorders worldwide. Tea is one of the most popular drinks worldwide. This study aimed to explore the association between tea intake and hospitalized nephrolithiasis in Chinese adults.

Methods

The patients and healthy participants were from the Shenyang sub-cohort of Tianjin Chronic Low-Grade Systemic Inflammation and Health Cohort Study. After selecting and matching by age (±1 year) and sex using the 1:2 ratio, 834 participants were included in this study. Of these, 278 patients had hospitalized nephrolithiasis and 556 were healthy controls. The tea intake was assessed using a validated self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between tea intake and hospitalized nephrolithiasis.

Results

After adjustment, a higher frequency of tea intake was found to be negatively associated with the risk of hospitalized nephrolithiasis. Compared with participants who never drank tea, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) [OR (95% CI)] for participants who drank ≥1 cup (180 mL) of tea per day was 0.418 (0.192–0.911) (P for trend = 0.013). Moreover, the adjusted OR (95% CI) for participants who drank ≥1 cup of green tea and black tea per day was 0.189 (0.069–0.520) (P for trend <0.001) and 1.248 (0.437–3.559) (P for trend = 0.654), respectively.

Conclusions

Increased tea intake was found to be associated with a lower risk of hospitalized nephrolithiasis among Chinese adults. This finding may assist in the prevention of hospitalized nephrolithiasis.
Chemical and nutritional characteristics, and microbial degradation of rapeseed meal recalcitrant carbohydrates: A review
Authors: Long Cheng , Qi Xiao-Long , Venema Koen
Published: September 2022

Approximately 35% of rapeseed meal (RSM) dry matter (DM) are carbohydrates, half of which are water-soluble carbohydrates. The cell wall of rapeseed meal contains arabinan, galactomannan, homogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan I, type II arabinogalactan, glucuronoxylan, XXGG-type and XXXG-type xyloglucan, and cellulose. Glycoside hydrolases including in the degradation of RSM carbohydrates are α-L-Arabinofuranosidases (EC 3.2.1.55), endo-α-1,5-L-arabinanases (EC 3.2.1.99), Endo-1,4-β-mannanase (EC 3.2.1.78), β-mannosidase (EC 3.2.1.25), α-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.22), reducing-end-disaccharide-lyase (pectate disaccharide-lyase) (EC 4.2.2.9), (1 → 4)-6-O-methyl-α-D-galacturonan lyase (pectin lyase) (EC 4.2.2.10), (1 → 4)-α-D-galacturonan reducing-end-trisaccharide-lyase (pectate trisaccharide-lyase) (EC 4.2.2.22), α-1,4-D-galacturonan lyase (pectate lyase) (EC 4.2.2.2), (1 → 4)-α-D-galacturonan glycanohydrolase (endo-polygalacturonase) (EC 3.2.1.15), Rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase, Rhamnogalacturonan lyase (EC 4.2.2.23), Exo-β-1,3-galactanase (EC 3.2.1.145), endo-β-1,6-galactanase (EC 3.2.1.164), Endo-β-1,4-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.4), α-xylosidase (EC 3.2.1.177), β-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21) endo-β-1,4-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.4), exo-β-1,4-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.91), and β-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21). In conclusion, this review summarizes the chemical and nutritional compositions of RSM, and the microbial degradation of RSM cell wall carbohydrates which are important to allow to develop strategies to improve recalcitrant RSM carbohydrate degradation by the gut microbiota, and eventually to improve animal feed digestibility, feed efficiency, and animal performance.
The successful combination of grapefruit juice and venetoclax in an unfit acute myeloid leukemia patient with adverse risk: A case report
Authors: Long Zhangbiao , Ruan Min , Wu Wei , Zeng Qingshu , Li Qingsheng , Huang Zhengqi
Published: September 2022

Venetoclax combined with hypomethylating agents such as azacitidine and decitabine is the standard regime for the elderly patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) unfit for intensive induction therapy. However, many patients struggle with finances and forgo treatments due to the high costs of venetoclax. In this study, we performed the regime with azacitidine, low-dose venetoclax, and grapefruit juice on an unfit AML patient with TP53 mutation. The peak venetoclax concentration (Cmax) and side effects on the patient were also monitored. The patient achieved complete remission with the venetoclax Cmax within the effective concentration range (1,000–3,000 ng/ml) and maintained durable remission until recently. Febrile neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and pneumonia appeared during the first cycle and were recovered by stimulating agents and antibiotic treatment. This improvement combination approach by drug-food interaction may enlighten other similarly patients with AML, especially those in low-middle income countries.
18F-FDG PET/CT radiomics nomogram for predicting occult lymph node metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Qiao Jianyi , Zhang Xin , Du Ming , Wang Pengyuan , Xin Jun
Published: September 2022

Purpose

To investigate the ability of a PET/CT-based radiomics nomogram to predict occult lymph node metastasis in patients with clinical stage N0 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Materials and methods

This retrospective study included 228 patients with surgically confirmed NSCLC (training set, 159 patients; testing set, 69 patients). ITKsnap3.8.0 was used for image(CT and PET images) segmentation, AK version 3.2.0 was used for radiomics feature extraction, and Python3.7.0 was used for radiomics feature screening. A radiomics model for predicting occult lymph node metastasis was established using a logistic regression algorithm. A nomogram was constructed by combining radiomics scores with selected clinical predictors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to verify the performance of the radiomics model and nomogram in the training and testing sets.

Results

The radiomics nomogram comprising six selected features achieved good prediction efficiency, including radiomics characteristics and tumor location information (central or peripheral), which demonstrated good calibration and discrimination ability in the training (area under the ROC curve [AUC] = 0.884, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.826-0.941) and testing (AUC = 0.881, 95% CI: 0.8031-0.959) sets. Clinical decision curves demonstrated that the nomogram was clinically useful.

Conclusion

The PET/CT-based radiomics nomogram is a noninvasive tool for predicting occult lymph node metastasis in NSCLC.
Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 10, a deubiquitinating enzyme: Assessing its role in tumor prognosis and immune response
Authors: Ye Ziqi , Chen Jie , Huang Ping , Xuan Zixue , Zheng Shuilian
Published: September 2022

Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 10 (USP10) is a member of the ubiquitin-specific protease family that removes the ubiquitin chain from ubiquitin-conjugated protein substrates. We performed a literature search to evaluate the structure and biological activity of USP10, summarize its role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression, and discuss how USP10 may act as a tumor suppressor or a tumor-promoting gene depending on its mechanism of action. Subsequently, we elaborated further on these results through bioinformatics analysis. We demonstrated that abnormal expression of USP10 is related to tumorigenesis in various types of cancer, including liver, lung, ovarian, breast, prostate, and gastric cancers and acute myeloid leukemia. Meanwhile, in certain cancers, increased USP10 expression is associated with tumor suppression. USP10 was downregulated in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) and associated with reduced overall survival in patients with KIRC. In contrast, USP10 upregulation was associated with poor prognosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC). In addition, we elucidated the novel role of USP10 in the regulation of tumor immunity in KIRC and HNSC through bioinformatics analysis. We identified several signaling pathways to be significantly associated with USP10 expression, such as ferroptosis, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, TGF-β, and G2/M checkpoint. In summary, this review outlines the role of USP10 in various forms of cancer, discusses the relevance of USP10 inhibitors in anti-tumor therapies, and highlights the potential function of USP10 in regulating the immune responses of tumors.
Infantile-onset Pompe disease complicated by sickle cell anemia: Case report and management considerations
Authors: Starosta Rodrigo Tzovenos , Hou Ying-Chen Claire , Leestma Katelyn , Singh Prapti , Viehl Luke , Manwaring Linda , Granadillo Jorge Luis , Schroeder Molly C. , Colombo Jamie N. , Whitehead Halana , Dickson Patricia Irene , Hulbert Monica L. , Nguyen Hoanh Thi
Published: September 2022

Infantile-onset Pompe disease (IOPD) is a rare, severe disorder of lysosomal storage of glycogen that leads to progressive cardiac and skeletal myopathy. IOPD is a fatal disease in childhood unless treated with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) from an early age. Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a relatively common hemoglobinopathy caused by a specific variant in the hemoglobin beta-chain. Here we report a case of a male newborn of African ancestry diagnosed and treated for IOPD and SCA. Molecular testing confirmed two GAA variants, NM_000152.5: c.842G>C, p.(Arg281Pro) and NM_000152.5: c.2560C>T, p.(Arg854*) in trans, and homozygosity for the HBB variant causative of SCA, consistent with his diagnosis. An acute neonatal presentation of hypotonia and cardiomyopathy required ERT with alglucosidase alfa infusions preceded by immune tolerance induction (ITI), as well as chronic red blood cell transfusions and penicillin V potassium prophylaxis for treatment of IOPD and SCA. Clinical course was further complicated by multiple respiratory infections. We review the current guidelines and interventions taken to optimize his care and the pitfalls of those guidelines when treating patients with concomitant conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no other case reports of the concomitance of these two disorders was found. This report emphasizes the importance of newborn screening, early intervention, and treatment considerations for this complex patient presentation of IOPD and SCA.
Involvement of microRNA/cystine/glutamate transporter in cold-stressed gastric mucosa injury
Authors: Yin You-Cong , Li Xiao-hui , Rao Xuan , Li Yuan-Jian , Du Jie
Published: September 2022

Stress ulcers are complicated by severe trauma and other critical diseases, the mechanism of which remains unclear. An increasing number of studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of stress responses such as hypoxia, abnormal temperature, and inflammation. The evidence indicates that miRNAs are also involved in regulating stress-induced ulcers. Recently, we demonstrated that gastric mucosal injury induced by aspirin is related to the reduction of glutamate levels by inhibition of cystine/glutamate transporter (xCT) activity. In the present study, the effect of a miRNA/xCT on gastric mucosal injury induced by cold stimulation was investigated. We found that cold stimulation induced gastric mucosa injury with a reduction in glutamate levels and xCT activity and upregulation of miR-143, miR-152, and miR-181 expression. Exogenous glutamate significantly alleviated gastric mucosa injury by cold stimulation. In vitro experiments demonstrated that treatment with miR-143, miR-152, or miR-181 mimics directly induced cell damage. The effects of these mimics were alleviated by exogenous glutamate. The present study suggests that miR-143, miR-152, and miR-181 are involved in cold stimulation-induced acute gastric mucosal injury. Furthermore, the regulatory effect of miRNAs on gastric mucosa injury induced by cold stimulation is related to a decrease in glutamate release by reduction of cystine/glutamate transporter activity.
Searches for long-lived particles at the future FCC-ee
Authors: Verhaaren C. B. , Alimena J. , Bauer M. , Azzi P. , Ruiz R. , Neubert M. , Mikulenko O. , Ovchynnikov M. , Drewes M. , Klaric J. , Blondel A. , Rizzi C. , Sfyrla A. , Sharma T. , Kulkarni S. , Thamm A. , Blondel A. , Suarez R. Gonzalez , Rygaard L.
Published: September 2022

The electron-positron stage of the Future Circular Collider, FCC-ee, is a frontier factory for Higgs, top, electroweak, and flavour physics. It is designed to operate in a 100 km circular tunnel built at CERN, and will serve as the first step towards ≥100 TeV proton-proton collisions. In addition to an essential and unique Higgs program, it offers powerful opportunities to discover direct or indirect evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model. Direct searches for long-lived particles at FCC-ee could be particularly fertile in the high-luminosityZrun, where 5 × 1012Zbosons are anticipated to be produced for the configuration with two interaction points. The high statistics of Higgs bosons,Wbosons and top quarks in very clean experimental conditions could offer additional opportunities at other collision energies. Three physics cases producing long-lived signatures at FCC-ee are highlighted and studied in this paper: heavy neutral leptons (HNLs), axion-like particles (ALPs), and exotic decays of the Higgs boson. These searches motivate out-of-the-box optimization of experimental conditions and analysis techniques, which could lead to improvements in other physics searches.
Differential modulation of lung aquaporins among other pathophysiological markers in acute (Cl2 gas) and chronic (carbon nanoparticles, cigarette smoke) respiratory toxicity mouse models
Authors: Bhattacharya Sukanta S. , Yadav Brijesh , Yadav Ekta , Hus Ariel , Yadav Niket , Kaur Perminder , Rosen Lauren , Jandarov Roman , Yadav Jagjit S.
Published: September 2022

Inhaled toxic chemicals and particulates are known to disrupt lung homeostasis causing pulmonary toxicity and tissue injury. However, biomarkers of such exposures and their underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, especially for emerging toxicants such as engineered nanoparticles and chemical threat agents such as chlorine gas (Cl2). Aquaporins (AQPs), commonly referred to as water channels, are known to play roles in lung homeostasis and pathophysiology. However, little is known on their regulation in toxicant-induced lung injuries. Here, we compared four lung toxicity models namely, acute chemical exposure (Cl2)-, chronic particulate exposure (carbon nanotubes/CNT)-, chronic chemical exposure (cigarette smoke extract/CSE)-, and a chronic co-exposure (CNT + CSE)- model, for modulation of lung aquaporins (AQPs 1, 3, 4, and 5) in relation to other pathophysiological endpoints. These included markers of compromised state of lung mucosal lining [mucin 5b (MUC5B) and surfactant protein A (SP-A)] and lung-blood barrier [protein content in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and, cell tight junction proteins occludin and zona-occludens]. The results showed toxicity model-specific regulation of AQPs measured in terms of mRNA abundance. A differential upregulation was observed for AQP1 in acute Cl2 exposure model (14.71-fold; p = 0.002) and AQP3 in chronic CNT exposure model (3.83-fold; p = 0.044). In contrast, AQP4 was downregulated in chronic CSE model whereas AQP5 showed no significant change in any of the models. SP-A and MUC5B expression showed a decreasing pattern across all toxicity models except the acute Cl2 toxicity model, which showed a highly significant upregulation of MUC5B (25.95-fold; p = 0.003). This was consistent with other significant pathophysiological changes observed in this acute model, particularly a compromised lung epithelial-endothelial barrier indicated by significantly increased protein infiltration and expression of tight junction proteins, and more severe histopathological (structural and immunological) changes. To our knowledge, this is the first report on lung AQPs as molecular targets of the study toxicants. The differentially regulated AQPs, AQP1 in acute Cl2 exposure versus AQP3 in chronic CNT nanoparticle exposure, in conjunction with the corresponding differentially impacted pathophysiological endpoints (particularly MUC5B) could potentially serve as predictive markers of toxicant type-specific pulmonary injury and as candidates for future investigation for clinical intervention.
Recent advancement in OMICS approaches to enhance abiotic stress tolerance in legumes
Authors: Ali Amjad , Altaf Muhammad Tanveer , Nadeem Muhammad Azhar , Karaköy Tolga , Shah Adnan Noor , Azeem Hajra , Baloch Faheem Shehzad , Baran Nurettin , Hussain Tajamul , Duangpan Saowapa , Aasim Muhammad , Boo Kyung-Hwan , Abdelsalam Nader R. , Hasan Mohamed E. , Chung Yong Suk
Published: September 2022

The world is facing rapid climate change and a fast-growing global population. It is believed that the world population will be 9.7 billion in 2050. However, recent agriculture production is not enough to feed the current population of 7.9 billion people, which is causing a huge hunger problem. Therefore, feeding the 9.7 billion population in 2050 will be a huge target. Climate change is becoming a huge threat to global agricultural production, and it is expected to become the worst threat to it in the upcoming years. Keeping this in view, it is very important to breed climate-resilient plants. Legumes are considered an important pillar of the agriculture production system and a great source of high-quality protein, minerals, and vitamins. During the last two decades, advancements in OMICs technology revolutionized plant breeding and emerged as a crop-saving tool in wake of the climate change. Various OMICs approaches like Next-Generation sequencing (NGS), Transcriptomics, Proteomics, and Metabolomics have been used in legumes under abiotic stresses. The scientific community successfully utilized these platforms and investigated the Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), linked markers through genome-wide association studies, and developed KASP markers that can be helpful for the marker-assisted breeding of legumes. Gene-editing techniques have been successfully proven for soybean, cowpea, chickpea, and model legumes such as Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus. A number of efforts have been made to perform gene editing in legumes. Moreover, the scientific community did a great job of identifying various genes involved in the metabolic pathways and utilizing the resulted information in the development of climate-resilient legume cultivars at a rapid pace. Keeping in view, this review highlights the contribution of OMICs approaches to abiotic stresses in legumes. We envisage that the presented information will be helpful for the scientific community to develop climate-resilient legume cultivars.
Detection method of wheat spike improved YOLOv5s based on the attention mechanism
Authors: Zang Hecang , Wang Yanjing , Ru Linyuan , Zhou Meng , Chen Dandan , Zhao Qing , Zhang Jie , Li Guoqiang , Zheng Guoqing
Published: September 2022

In wheat breeding, spike number is a key indicator for evaluating wheat yield, and the timely and accurate acquisition of wheat spike number is of great practical significance for yield prediction. In actual production; the method of using an artificial field survey to count wheat spikes is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, this paper proposes a method based on YOLOv5s with an improved attention mechanism, which can accurately detect the number of small-scale wheat spikes and better solve the problems of occlusion and cross-overlapping of the wheat spikes. This method introduces an efficient channel attention module (ECA) in the C3 module of the backbone structure of the YOLOv5s network model; at the same time, the global attention mechanism module (GAM) is inserted between the neck structure and the head structure; the attention mechanism can be more Effectively extract feature information and suppress useless information. The result shows that the accuracy of the improved YOLOv5s model reached 71.61% in the task of wheat spike number, which was 4.95% higher than that of the standard YOLOv5s model and had higher counting accuracy. The improved YOLOv5s and YOLOv5m have similar parameters, while RMSE and MEA are reduced by 7.62 and 6.47, respectively, and the performance is better than YOLOv5l. Therefore, the improved YOLOv5s method improves its applicability in complex field environments and provides a technical reference for the automatic identification of wheat spike numbers and yield estimation. Labeled images, source code, and trained models are available at: https://github.com/228384274/improved-yolov5.
We cannot empathize with what we do not recognize: Perceptions of structural versus interpersonal racism in South Africa
Authors: Fourie Melike M. , Moore-Berg Samantha L.
Published: September 2022

Recent research suggests holding a structural, rather than interpersonal, understanding of racism is associated with greater impetus to address racial disparities. We believe greater acknowledgment of structural racism also functions to mitigate against empathic failures in response to structural injustices. Given South Africa’s situatedness as a country characterized by historical racialized oppression and continuing unjust legacies, it is appropriate to examine these ideas there. Across three studies, we tested the hypotheses that members of advantaged groups’ perspective taking and empathic concern may be compromised in response to people challenging the unequal status quo, and that a priori perceptions about the impact of structural (vs interpersonal) racism may mitigate or exacerbate such empathic failures. In Study 1, a national sample of White South Africans (n = 195) endorsed perceptions of interpersonal racism more readily than perceptions of structural racism, and expressed high levels of competitive victimhood for perceived anti-White structural racism. Studies 2 (n = 138) and 3 (n = 85) showed that White participants at a historically White university responded with impaired perspective taking and intergroup empathy bias in response to people challenging structural disparities. Finally, reduced recognition of continuing structural racism predicted greater intergroup empathy bias, which, in turn, was associated with reduced willingness to engage in intergroup discussions about past harm (Study 3). We propose that greater acknowledgment of structural racism is necessary not only to surmount intergroup empathic failures, but also to transcend the socioeconomically unequal legacies of apartheid and beyond.
Post-COVID-19 investor psychology and individual investment decision: A moderating role of information availability
Authors: Jan Naveed , Jain Vipin , Li Zeyun , Sattar Javeria , Tongkachok Korakod
Published: September 2022

This study aims to investigate the influence of psychological biases on the investment decision of Chinese individual investors after the pandemic of COVID-19 with a moderating role of information availability. A cross-sectional method with a quantitative research approach was employed to investigate the hypothesized relationships among variables. The snowball sampling technique was applied to collect the data through a survey questionnaire from individual investors investing in the Chinese stock market. Smart-PLS statistical software was used to analyze the data and for the estimation of hypotheses. Results indicated that overconfidence, representative bias, and anchoring bias have a significant and positive influence on investment decisions during the post-Covid-19 pandemic; however, the availability bias has insignificant and negative effects on the investment decision during the post-COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, findings indicated that information availability has a significant moderating role in the relationship of psychological biases with the investment decision during the post-COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding behavior finance, psychological biases, and investment decision in emerging stock markets. The findings of the present study improve the understanding that how investors’ psychology affects their investment decisions.
Research on the influence of sports participation on school bullying among college students—Chain mediating analysis of emotional intelligence and self-esteem
Authors: Yiyi Ouyang , Jie Peng , Jiong Luo , Jinsheng Teng , Kun Wang , Jing Li
Published: September 2022

Purposes

This paper aims to discuss the relationship between college students’ sports participation, school bullying, emotional intelligence and self-esteem. At the same time, it explores the intrinsic mechanisms of school bullying, in order to provide a reference for reducing bullying phenomenon among college students, and pave the way for college students to lead happy, healthy and confident lives.

Methods

A total of 1,317 students (725 male students, 592 female students, 21.31 ± 3.28 years old) from four universities in Southwest China were selected as subjects for this survey. They were selected by stratified random sampling, and the data needed was obtained using a structured questionnaire. The data was subsequently processed with statistical software SPSS19.0 and AMOS21.0.

Results

(1) Sports participation has a significant and positive correlation with emotional intelligence and self-esteem, likewise, it has a significant negative correlation with school bullying. Emotional intelligence has a marked positive correlation with self-esteem, at the same time it has a significant negative correlation with school bullying. In addition, self-esteem is strongly negative correlated with school bullying. (2) Sports participation has a direct effect on school bullying (ES = −0.271). Emotional intelligence (ES = −0.144) and self-esteem (ES = −0.065) also play a significant mediating role between sports participation and school bullying, and the chain mediating force of emotional intelligence—self-esteem also reaches a significant level (ES = −0.016).

Conclusion

Sports participation affects school bullying among college students not only directly but also indirectly, such as through emotional intelligence, the mediating role of self-esteem, and the chain mediating role of emotional intelligence to self-esteem. Apart from sports participation, emotional intelligence is another key factor that affects college students’ school bullying. Therefore, while attaching great importance to college students’ sport participation, schools should also provide courses aimed at developing students’ emotional intelligence.
Economic burden of private tutoring at higher secondary level in Pakistan: An analysis through Hurder and Linear regression model
Authors: Parveen Khalida , Alghamdi Abdulelah A. , Javed Iqbal , Din Imad U
Published: September 2022

Economic burden of private supplementary tutoring is increasing around the world. Demand for private supplementary tutoring, contributing factors, and their effects are investigated in the study. For this purpose, data were collected through questionnaire, and multistage non-probability technique was used. Hurder model was used to find the factors affecting demand for private supplementary tutoring at the higher secondary level. Linear regression model was used to find the economic burden of family and factors affecting the demand for private tutoring. The findings showed that several factors have a significant effect on the demand for private supplementary tutoring, and some of them significantly impact on the economic burden. The study recommends regulating the market of shadow education because of differentiated tuition fee in different tuition centers to cut down the burden of private tutoring for households.
Impact of ambient air pollution on outdoor employees’ performance: Mediating role of anxiety
Authors: Bari Muhammad Waseem , Saleem Shaham , Bashir Mohsin , Ahmad Bashir
Published: September 2022

This paper aims to examine the direct and indirect impact of ambient air pollution (AAP) on employees’ performance. This study has used cross sectional survey design to collect the data from the outdoor employees of the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. The data were collected in time lags from 299. Partial least squares- structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was applied to analyze the data. The results show that AAP has a significant negative impact on the employees’ performance, and anxiety partially mediates the association between AAP and employees’ performance. This study reveals that AAP brings anxiety among outdoor employees, which in turn decreases their working performance. The implications, limitations, and future research directions are presented in the last section of this study.
The impact of different age-friendly smart home interface styles on the interaction behavior of elderly users
Authors: Zhou Chengmin , Qian Yawen , Huang Ting , Kaner Jake , Zhang Yurong
Published: September 2022

Smart homes create a beneficial environment for the lives of elderly people and enhance the quality of their home lives. This study aims to explore the design of age-friendly interfaces that can meet the emotional needs of self-care elderly people from the perspective of functional realization of the operating interface. Sixteen elderly users aged fifty-five and above were selected as subjects with healthy eyes and no excessive drooping eyelids to obscure them. Four representative age-friendly applications with different interface designs were selected from the Android application market as the stimulus material for the experiment, and a total of fifteen pages were browsed independently. During the experiment, the ErgoLAB human-computer environment synchronization cloud platform was used to monitor and record the subjects' multidimensional physiological indicators of eye movements, skin electricity, and heart rate variability when using different styles of mobile application interfaces. Combined with the post-experimental PAD emotion scale data, the preferences of emotional interface design elements of the self-care elderly were analyzed to guide the subsequent design practice. The results show that: on the layout characteristics of the home page, a simple and intuitive multi-column layout or card layout combined with a bottom navigation bar type main navigation is used; on the choice of the main color, a single color with low saturation is used as the main color, with high saturation color accents to play a role in highlighting key information; on the information density of the home page, a moderate proportion of graphics and text is adopted, with low information density; on the arrangement of the page content, they try to give priority to information content with high user relevance.
Lifestyles of Spanish elders from supervened SARS-CoV-2 variant onwards: A correlational research on life satisfaction and social-relational praxes
Authors: Díaz-García Orlanda , Herranz Aguayo Inmaculada , Fernández de Castro Patricia , Ramos José Luis Gómez
Published: September 2022

Objective

This study aimed to analyze the influence and measurement of the relationship and interaction between the elderly lifestyles after the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 variant and the factors analyzed comprised life satisfaction levels, social relationships, and daily-life activities.

Methods

The study population was ≥ 65 in Castile-La Mancha (N = 390,221). The research design was quantitative and arose from primary data collected via an ad hoc survey carried out through the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview system by randomly stratified sampling. The sample size was made up of 1,065 cases, and the participants were selected through a random sampling stratified by gender quotas (55.40% women; 44.60% men), age (x¯ = 76.56), province, and habitat size.

Results

The results obtained revealed two main lifestyles, from which a notable behavioral change in personal relationships led to infer toward alternative lifestyles.

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the variation in lifestyles of the elderly after the pandemic, certain relationships remained unaltered. Thus, from the analyzed variables, relatives and friends relationships were scarcely influenced by the supervened incident.
Game-related assessments for personnel selection: A systematic review
Authors: Ramos-Villagrasa Pedro J. , Fernández-del-Río Elena , Castro Ángel
Published: September 2022

Industrial development in recent decades has led to using information and communication technologies (ICT) to support personnel selection processes. One of the most notable examples is game-related assessments (GRA), supposedly as accurate as conventional tests but which generate better applicant reactions and reduce the likelihood of adverse impact and faking. However, such claims still lack scientific support. Given practitioners’ increasing use of GRA, this article reviews the scientific literature on gamification applied to personnel selection to determine whether the current state of the art supports their use in professional practice and identify specific aspects on which future research should focus. Following the PRISMA model, a search was carried out in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, identifying 34 valid articles, of which 85.3% are empirical studies that analyze five areas: (1) validity; (2) applicant reactions; (3) design of GRA; (4) personal characteristics and GRA; and (5) adverse impact and faking. Together, these studies show that GRA can be used in personnel selection but that the supposed advantages of GRA over conventional tests are fewer than imagined. The results also suggest several aspects on which research should focus (e.g., construct validity, differences depending on the type of game, prediction of different job performance dimensions), which could help define the situations in which the use of GRA may be recommended.
Configuration of prosocial motivations to enhance employees’ innovation behaviors: From the perspective of coupling of basic and applied research
Authors: Lu Yuting , Zheng Linlin , Zhang Binghua , Li Wenzhuo
Published: September 2022

Prosocial motivation refers to the employees’ willingness to invest for the sake of helping others. It improves basic and applied research behaviors of employees and the interaction between them. Employees’ innovation behavior depends on prosocial motivation because the motivation to protect the interests of others may promote knowledge sharing and knowledge coupling. However, there is a research gap in solving the optimal solution of prosocial motivations that facilitates different types of innovation behaviors based on the combination of prosocial motivations. We perform a qualitative comparative study on the effect of the motivation configurations on innovation behaviors. We find that highly basic and highly applied research behaviors share in common collectivism-based, principlism-based, contextual, and situational motivations which work in all configurations. But the core conditions between the two are different, which are principlism-based and situational motivations, respectively. In addition, both highly basic-to-applied and highly applied-to-basic transformation behaviors share the same core condition and the same secondary conditions with highly basic and highly applied research behaviors, respectively. Moreover, the behaviors of non-highly basic research and non-highly basic-to-applied transformation share the severe absence of egoism-based motivation as the core condition in common. Non-highly behaviors of applied research and applied-to-basic transformation have a common point of the severe absence of the pressure-based type as the key. Finally, we also analyze active and passive prosocial degrees of all types of high/non-high innovation behaviors. Our study deepens the academics’ thinking on multi-dimensional prosocial motivation and the classification management of coupling innovation behavior and provides implications for practice.
Keep it positive: Exploring the relationship between stress, positive affect, wellbeing, and success of entrepreneurs
Authors: Drnovšek Mateja , Slavec Gomezel Alenka
Published: September 2022

Entrepreneurs’ wellbeing is of unprecedented importance given their crucial role in national economies in terms of job creation and innovation. In this research, we used a mixed methods approach to investigate the direct and indirect mechanisms by which entrepreneurs’ wellbeing mediates the effects of stress on perceived entrepreneurial success. We theorize that entrepreneurs experience work-related stress and that the level of perceived wellbeing mediates the relationship between the entrepreneurs’ stress and perceived success. We also hypothesize moderation effects by dispositional positive affect. We find that stress has direct negative effects on entrepreneurs’ wellbeing and perceived success. However, an experience of positive affect significantly weakens the negative effects of stress by broadening and building entrepreneurs’ cognitions. Drawing from our theoretical and empirical findings, we discuss implications for theory and practice in the domain of entrepreneurs’ wellbeing.
Research hotspots and trends analysis of user experience: Knowledge maps visualization and theoretical framework construction
Authors: Song Ning , He Xuemei , Kuang Yin
Published: September 2022

This study focuses on user experience from the perspective of big data to complete the aggregation, clustering, and visual presentation of knowledge. Using a combination of sample literature review, visualization technologies, knowledge map analysis, Carrot2 clustering, and other methodologies, this study intends to examine user experience from three perspectives: research state, hotspots, and trends. First, based on the double-map overlay, core institutions, core countries, core authors, core journals, and core references distribution research, the knowledge flow, research power, and research subjects of user experience are analyzed. Secondly, through keyword clustering analysis, this research intuitively presents the research topics of user experience and reveals the research hotspots and the evolution path of research methods. Finally, with the help of the subject clustering algorithm, the emerging trends of user experience research are predicted: the immersive experience upgrade of multi-scenario integration, the innovative design of multi-role collaboration, and the cross-disciplinary interactive exploration of multi-discipline. Following this, the user experience knowledge map is constructed, providing a global view and macro-cognition for subsequent research.
Evaluating the role of SARS-CoV-2 target genes based on two nucleic acid assay kits
Authors: Zhu Xuetong , Zhou Fengyan , Zhou Qi , Xu Jiancheng
Published: September 2022

Background

Effective isolation and early treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relies on rapid, accurate, and straightforward diagnostic tools. In response to the rapidly increasing number of cases, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays for multiple target genes have become widely available in the market.

Methods

In total, 236 COVID-19 patients with positive results in both RT-qPCR and rapid antigen diagnosis (Ag-RDT) were enrolled in the study. The cycle threshold (Ct) was compared with different onset times and target genes. Comparison between groups was evaluated with the Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn test. The correlation between target genes was analyzed by Spearman.

Results

In samples of Ct ≤ 21, Ct was different for the nucleocapsid (N), open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab), and envelope (E) genes (P < 0.05). Mild COVID-19 patients within 7 days of onset accounted for 67.80% of all enrolled patients. At the above stage, all target genes reached the trough of Ct, and N genes showed lower values than the other target genes. The Ct of the ORF1ab and N gene in asymptomatic patients differed from those of mild patients within 7 days and more than 14 days of onset. The kits used in the study showed strong consistency among target genes, with all correlation coefficients >0.870.

Conclusion

RT-qPCR confirmed that the N gene performed well in Ct ≤ 21 and samples within 7 days of onset. Ag-RDT was discriminatory for patients within 7 days of onset. This study facilitated early identification and control of COVID-19 prevalence among patients.
Collectivism reduces objective mobility trends to public areas during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Dang Junhua , Xiao Shanshan
Published: September 2022

In order to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, staying at home and avoiding going outside have been either strongly recommended or stringently enforced by governments all over the globe. Previous studies found that people with more collectivist orientation were more willing to comply with governmental guidelines and engage in preventive behaviors such as social distancing. However, these studies were based on self-report data within a short period. The current study aims to overcome these limitations by using objective mobility data generated by Google users all over the world during the past two years, thus providing a stronger test for the predictive effect of collectivism on preventive measures in response to the pandemic. We found consistent results at both the US state level (n = 50) and the country/territory level (n = 133), such that people in more collectivistic regions reduced their visits to and length of stay at certain public areas such as parks during the past two years. Our findings emphasize the importance of cultural values in face of global crises.
Multi-expert synthesis for versatile locomotion and manipulation skills
Authors: Yuan Kai , Li Zhibin
Published: September 2022

This work focuses on generating multiple coordinated motor skills for intelligent systems and studies a Multi-Expert Synthesis (MES) approach to achieve versatile robotic skills for locomotion and manipulation. MES embeds and uses expert skills to solve new composite tasks, and is able to synthesise and coordinate different and multiple skills smoothly. We proposed essential and effective design guidelines for training successful MES policies in simulation, which were deployed on both floating- and fixed-base robots. We formulated new algorithms to systematically determine task-relevant state variables for each individual experts which improved robustness and learning efficiency, and an explicit enforcement objective to diversify skills among different experts. The capabilities of MES policies were validated in both simulation and real experiments for locomotion and bi-manual manipulation. We demonstrated that the MES policies achieved robust locomotion on the quadruped ANYmal by fusing the gait recovery and trotting skills. For object manipulation, the MES policies learned to first reconfigure an object in an ungraspable pose and then grasp it through cooperative dual-arm manipulation.
Rapid qualitative health research from the Global South: Reflections and learnings from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Eguiluz Itzel , Sy Anahi , Brage Eugenia , González-Agüero Marcela
Published: September 2022

The objective of this paper is to provide insights into our experiences undertaking qualitative rapid research in Latin American contexts based on fieldwork from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. We focus on the insights and learning processes that emerged from our research teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research projects are part of an international collaboration led by the Rapid Research Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL) to explore the experiences of COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers. The analyzed experiences not only rely on the local studies but also on our reflections as a group of Latin American researchers collaborating along with an international team. Qualitative research has an important and long-lasting tradition in Latin America. However, healthcare professionals are still reluctant to use these methods. We highlight tensions and dilemmas that have emerged from our own empirical experience: First, the time for research ethics committees to evaluate the protocols; second, the difficulties in accessing funding to undertake research due to the lack of financial opportunities; third, having to decide the language of our publications. That is just the tip of the iceberg that allows us to show inequalities in the conditions under which scientific knowledge is produced between the North and the Global South. Following these points, our text explores the tension between the urgency to conduct rapid research and the multiple difficulties when undertaking it during the pandemic. It is important to point out that the problems we faced already existed before the sanitary emergency, being magnified by the former. At last, our conclusions delve into the reflexive process we, as a team of female researchers, undertook to explore the differences and similarities of our experiences. This analysis allowed us to solve obstacles and dilemmas when doing research. The winding road we describe here serves as an example for other research teams when planning and undertaking rapid qualitative research during future pandemics.
Finding food in the hunger season: A mixed methods approach to understanding wild plant foods in relation to food security and dietary diversity in southeastern Madagascar
Authors: Moore Maya , Alpaugh Mattie , Razafindrina Kimmerling , Trubek Amy B. , Niles Meredith T.
Published: September 2022

In many rural farming societies, wild plant foods (WPFs) continue to play an important role in everyday diets as well as in coping with hunger during food shortages. However, WPF collection and consumption may pose challenges to biodiversity conservation efforts (e.g., in protected areas), and some “famine foods,” foods not typically eaten under normal conditions, may have deleterious health impacts. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 328 smallholder farmers and fisherfolk living in 15 villages surrounding Manombo Special Reserve on the southeastern coast of Madagascar, we examine the relationship between food security, dietary diversity, and consumption of WPFs, specifically giant aquatic arrowhead or via (Typhonodorum lindleyanum) and Polynesian arrowroot or tavolo (Tacca leontopetaloides), during the region's main lean season. We complement survey findings with focus group interviews to document traditional ecological knowledge and perceptions of these WPFs, including how tavolo and via are rendered edible, as well as human health effects from collecting, preparing, and eating them. Using multilevel logistic regression modeling, we found that consumption of these WPFs were significantly associated with inadequate nutrition among farmers. Wealthier households were less likely to consume these WPFs as a coping strategy during food insecure periods, while larger and more food insecure households were more likely to consume them. These findings reaffirm the importance of access to natural areas and support the design of protected area conservation strategies that honor local foodways and consider WPFs that serve as food safety nets for more vulnerable populations.