bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictors of intimate partner violence among women of reproductive age group from Rwanda
Authors: Kabir Russell , Hayhoe Richard , Syed Haniya Zehra , Bai Ancy Chandrababu Mercy , Sathian Brijesh , Mahmud Ilias , Sah Rajeeb Kumar , Vinnakota Divya
Published: October 2023

Background 

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is an important global health and human rights concern, with significant prevalence in Rwanda. This study aimed to identify predictors of IPV among women of reproductive age in Rwanda, providing essential insights for targeted interventions. 

Methods 

Data from the Rwanda Demographic Health and Survey 2019-20, a nationally representative survey, were analyzed. The study included 14,634 women aged 15-49. Descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis to check the experiences of IPV by background characteristics of the women and logistic regression were used to explore associations between background characteristics and IPV. 

Results 

The study revealed that women's educational status, wealth index, witnessing parental violence, husband or partner's drinking habit, and fear of husbands or partners were significantly associated with IPV. Women with higher education and those from wealthier households were less likely to experience IPV. In contrast, women whose partners consumed alcohol and those who feared their partners faced higher risks of IPV. 

Conclusion 

This study highlights the importance of addressing social determinants such as education, economic status, and alcohol consumption patterns in efforts to reduce IPV in Rwanda. The findings show up the urgency of comprehensive interventions and policies aimed at promoting gender equality and preventing intimate partner violence.
Lithuanian-Polish security cooperation in European Union (EU) Defence Programs
Authors: Piechowicz Michal , Palavenis Donatas
Published: October 2023

This article is part of a broad discussion concerning the deteriorating security environment in the European neighbourhood and the initiatives the European Union (EU) and its Member States (MS) took to intensify security and defence cooperation. The war in Ukraine put pressure on the entire regional security structure. Hence increased investments and more collaboration are necessary to jointly develop and use the military capabilities that the EU and Baltic region need. In this context, it is interesting how Lithuania and Poland – both Eastern EU members with grave concerns and engagement in regional security – perceive and utilize the potential that EU programs offer. This article will look deeper into the level of cooperation between Lithuania and Poland before the intensification of military operations in Ukraine in February 2022. Furthermore, the paper presents an overview of the regional cooperation concept, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and its funds, agencies, and instruments. The key elements of this study are the analysis of both countries’ involvement in the European Defence Fund (EDF) preparatory programs implemented since 2017.
Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence-Powered Facilitator in Enhancing Digital Competencies of Primary School Teachers
Authors: Nguyen Thi Hong Chuyen
Published: October 2023

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between teacher professional development, quality of lecture design, student engagement, teacher technical skills, pedagogical content knowledge and teacher satisfaction in using Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Powered Facilitator for designing lectures. The study used a non-random sample technique, and 208 participants answered a survey via Google Form after one semester, using a 5-point Likert scale to rate their responses. The structural equation model was used to analyze the data, and six factors were included in the study. The study confirmed hypotheses that teacher professional development, quality of lecture design, student engagement, and pedagogical content knowledge have a positive effect on teacher satisfaction. However, the study also revealed that teacher technical skills have a negative effect on teacher satisfaction, and pedagogical content knowledge has no significant effect. The proposed conceptual model explained 55.7% of the variance in teacher satisfaction Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed. These findings provide insights into the factors that contribute to teacher satisfaction in utilizing AI-Powered Facilitator for designing lectures and could inform the development of effective teacher training programs.
Innovative Teaching: A Bibliometric Analysis From 2013 to 2023
Authors: Kussainova Raisa Esenovna , Urazbayeva Gulsara Tundebayevna , Kaliyeva Assel Bolatovna , Denst-Garcia Edyta
Published: October 2023

This study sought to investigate the current state of innovative teaching research and identify emerging themes and trends in the field from 2013 to 2023. The Scopus database was searched for the term “innovative teaching,” resulting in 1005 documents. After manual screening, 903 articles were exported in the BibTeX format for further processing in Bibliometrix using three bibliometric analysis types: network analysis, science mapping, and performance analysis. Performance analysis revealed bursts in publication output in 2015 and 2021, with a moderate boost in 2018. Ten top-cited journal papers were identified. The citation rates were low between 2019 and 2021, but there has been an upturn since 2022. The top keywords included simulation and nursing education, and there was a shift in research topics from broad educational concepts to more specific approaches, such as e-learning. Innovative teaching has been predominantly investigated in higher education, particularly in nursing education, with themes like “teaching/learning strategies” suggesting an emphasis on enhancing teaching practices not just through technology infusion. This study can aid educators and researchers in staying current with innovative teaching developments and inform their teaching practices.
Throughput optimization in hybrid C-C+L-band elastic optical networks enabled by hybrid modulation and wavelength/modulation conversion
Authors: Xu Yuxin , Xing Hang , Chen Bin , Brandt-Pearce Maite
Published: October 2023

Elastic optical networks (EONs) have been proposed to address the increasing needs of future communications, yet the capacity of these networks is expected to run out. Evolving the current C-band system to use the C+L-band is a costly and time-consuming solution. This paper presents a stopgap solution to meet the increasing communication needs in the short term by exploiting hybrid fused C- and L-band transmission before the full evolution is achieved. The proposed physical-layer-impairments-aware high spectral efficiency (PAHSE) algorithm jointly applies time domain hybrid modulation (TDHM) and modulation and wavelength conversion techniques and uses accurate models to estimate physical layer impairments for the C- and C+L-band links. The hybrid network scheme converts C-band signals to L-band at the regenerator nodes, which increases the system throughput. The proposed PAHSE algorithm assigns the highest spectral efficiency to each transparent segment of each traffic request while satisfying the quality of transmission requirements. Simulations are conducted on two network topologies, one of large diameter and the other highly connected, using several types of traffic that mimic demands expected in future communication scenarios. Compared to the benchmark, the proposed network system and algorithm result in much higher network throughput, up to a 120% increase in the sum bit rate in the NSFNET-24 topology, thus obviating the urgent need for full C+L deployment.
Relationship between machining accuracy and optical properties of convex blazed grating in ultra-precision cutting
Authors: Li Huang , Peng Xiaoqiang , Wang Yueming , Guan Chaoliang , Hu Hao , Xu Chao , Lai Tao , Liu Hao , Liu Junfeng
Published: October 2023

For ultra-precision machining of convex blazed grating elements there are inevitable machining errors, surface defects, and surface roughness, all of which can have an impact on their diffraction efficiency. In this paper, we use PCGrate software based on the integration method to establish the machining error model, surface defect model, and surface roughness model of convex spherical blazed grating with a curvature radius of 41.104 mm, a substrate diameter of 14 mm, a grating density of 53.97 line/mm and a blazed angle of 3.86° as the basic specification. To investigate the effect of base curvature radius error, grating period error, blazed angle error, grating ridge and valley passivation radius, Poisson burr height, and blaze surface roughness on their -1 order diffraction efficiency in the 0.95-2.5 µm spectral range. The results show that when the curvature radius error of the spherical base is less than ±80µm, the influence on diffraction efficiency can be ignored. Among the three groups of grating microstructure parameters, the influence of blazed angle on grating diffraction efficiency is the largest, followed by a grating period, and the influence of grating apex angle is the smallest, among which when the error of blazed angle is less than ±0.1° and the error of grating period is less than ±0.1µm, the influence on diffraction efficiency can be ignored. The effect of the passivation radius of the grating valley on the diffraction efficiency is smaller than that of the passivation radius of the grating ridge, and the maximum reduction of diffraction efficiency is 0.096 and 0.144 when the grating ridge and valley passivation radius are 50nm∼650 nm, respectively. The diffraction efficiency decreases significantly in the wavelength range of 1.9-2.5 µm with the increase of Poisson burr height and blaze surface roughness, and its effect on the diffraction efficiency can be neglected when the Poisson burr height is less than 0.5 µm and the blaze surface roughness value is less than RMS 1 nm. The machining error, surface defect, and surface roughness models of the convex blazed grating are optimized to provide a comprehensive machining accuracy basis for ultra-precision cutting of convex grating components.
Ultra-broad bandwidth array waveguide grating for high-speed backbone network transmission
Authors: Wang Liangliang , Zhang Jiashun , An Junming , Chen Jun , Sun Bingli , Zhou Tianhong , Yin Xiaojie , Wang Yue , Wu Yuanda
Published: October 2023

With the rapid development of the backbone network rates, there has been a gradual increase in channel spacing and bandwidth. The C&L band ultra-broad bandwidth array waveguide gratings (AWG) of 60-channel 100 GHz channel spacing are designed and fabricated based on silica waveguide. A new parabolic design is used to achieve ultra-broad bandwidth and good spectrum. For the C band ultra-broad bandwidth AWG, the peak insertion loss, uniformity, 0.5 dB bandwidth, 1 dB bandwidth and 3 dB bandwidth are 2.98 dB, 0.36 dB, 0.614 nm, 0.721 nm and 0.937 nm, respectively. For the L band ultra-broad bandwidth AWG, the peak insertion loss, uniformity, 0.5 dB bandwidth, 1 dB bandwidth and 3 dB bandwidth are 2.91 dB, 0.27 dB, 0.560 nm, 0.665 nm and 0.879 nm, respectively. To ensure ultra-broad bandwidth AWG operation at different temperatures, a temperature control circuit is integrated into the packaging design. It has been observed that the performances remain virtually unchanged within the temperature range of −15 to 65 degree. The ultra-broadband AWGs have been successfully tested to transmit 96 Gbaud signals and can be applied to 600 G/800 G backbone network transmission. By using the C&L ultra-broad bandwidth AWGs of 60-channel 100 GHz channel spacing, the total transmission speed over a single-mode fiber can reach 72Tbps/96Tbps.
Column coded scanning aperture hyperspectral imaging system
Authors: Shi Yingchao , Xiao Xingchen , Tong Geng , Zhang Luming , Chen Fei , Zhang Wei , Yu Yiting
Published: October 2023

The line scanning hyperspectral imaging system (LS-HIS), which relies on a mechanical slit or spatial light modulation device for single channel spatial scanning, is widely used in various fields such as biomedical imaging and remote sensing. However, in scenes that require low light illumination, a decrease in luminous flux will increase exposure time, leading to a significant decrease in scanning efficiency and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). To address this issue, we present a flexible column coded scanning aperture hyperspectral imaging system (CCSA-HIS) using a spatial light modulator digital micromirror device (DMD). By introducing the concept of multiplex and constructing a multiplexing encoding matrix, we form a one-dimensional multi-column coded scanning aperture, which greatly improves scanning efficiency. Experimental comparisons demonstrate that this approach achieves higher SNR and equivalent spatial and spectral resolution in significantly less sampling time compared to LS-HIS. In short, our scheme provides a new imaging technology for the field of hyperspectral imaging with good theoretical value and engineering significance.
A Multi-Depth Focused Laser Differential Interferometer Based on Chromatic Aberration
Authors: Webber Nicholas , Constantin Rachel , Edwards Sophia , Gragston Mark
Published: October 2023

A modified version of a focused laser differential interferometer is demonstrated with adjacent beam pairs distributed along the optical axis. This feature is accomplished using two different wavelengths of light in the interferometer and accounting for the chromatic aberration of the lenses in the optical setup. It is demonstrated that ray trace calculations can be modified to predict the focal points of each of the two different colored beams and experiments using a tube jet and a laser-induced blast wave show the instrument still has the expected features of FLDI and capability for velocimetry. This modification allows FLDI to be used for the analysis of three-dimensional flows, especially if combined with other multi-point variations and targeting high-frequency flow content.
Optical Microresonators feature issue introduction
Authors: Xiao Yun-Feng , Srinivasan Kartik , Del’Haye Pascal , Yu Mengjie
Published: October 2023

We give an introduction to the feature issue composed of twelve articles on Optical Microresonators.
Constructing and interpreting a large-scale variant effect map for an ultrarare disease gene: Comprehensive prediction of the functional impact of PSAT1 genotypes
Authors: Xie Michael J. , Cromie Gareth A. , Owens Katherine , Timour Martin S. , Tang Michelle , Kutz J. Nathan , El-Hattab Ayman W. , McLaughlin Richard N. , Dudley Aimée M.
Published: October 2023

Reduced activity of the enzymes encoded byPHGDH,PSAT1, andPSPHcauses a set of ultrarare, autosomal recessive diseases known as serine biosynthesis defects. These diseases present in a broad phenotypic spectrum: at the severe end is Neu–Laxova syndrome, in the intermediate range are infantile serine biosynthesis defects with severe neurological manifestations and growth deficiency, and at the mild end is childhood disease with intellectual disability. However, L-serine supplementation, especially if started early, can ameliorate and in some cases even prevent symptoms. Therefore, knowledge of pathogenic variants can improve clinical outcomes. Here, we use a yeast-based assay to individually measure the functional impact of 1,914 SNV-accessible amino acid substitutions in PSAT. Results of our assay agree well with clinical interpretations and protein structure-function relationships, supporting the inclusion of our data as functional evidence as part of the ACMG variant interpretation guidelines. We use existing ClinVar variants, disease alleles reported in the literature and variants present as homozygotes in the primAD database to define assay ranges that could aid clinical variant interpretation for up to 98% of the tested variants. In addition to measuring the functional impact of individual variants in yeast haploid cells, we also assay pairwise combinations ofPSAT1alleles that recapitulate human genotypes, including compound heterozygotes, in yeast diploids. Results from our diploid assay successfully distinguish the genotypes of affected individuals from those of healthy carriers and agree well with disease severity. Finally, we present a linear model that uses individual allele measurements to predict the biallelic function of ~1.8 million allele combinations corresponding to potential human genotypes. Taken together, our work provides an example of how large-scale functional assays in model systems can be powerfully applied to the study of ultrarare diseases.
Preferences for oral PrEP dosing among adolescent boys and young men in three sub-Saharan African countries
Authors: Kakande Ayoub , Ssemata Andrew Sentoogo , Muhumuza Richard , Atujuna Millicent , Abaasa Andrew , Ndekezi Denis , Tshabalala Gugulethu , Nematadzira Teacler , Hornschuh Stefanie , Nomvuyo Mangxilana , Ahmed Nadia , Maluadzi Mamakiri , Anne Weiss Helen , Webb Emily , Stranix-Chibanda Lynda , Janine Dietrich Janan , Seeley Janet , Fox Julie
Published: October 2023

Background

HIV remains a leading contributor to the disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa, with adolescents and young people disproportionately affected. Optimising pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake has predominantly focused on women and adult men who have sex with men. We explore adolescent boys and young men’s PrEP uptake preferences in South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Methods

A cross-sectional sequential exploratory mixed-methods study amongst males aged 13–24 years was conducted between April and September 2019 as part of the CHAPS trial. Group discussions (GDs) and In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) focused on motivations and hindrances for HIV testing, PrEP preference, and reasons for the uptake of PrEP. A thematic approach was used to analyse the qualitative data. A quantitative survey following the qualitative work covered questions on demographics, HIV risk and PrEP preferences (on-demand vs. daily). For quantitative analysis, we fitted logistic regression models to determine factors associated with on-demand vs daily PrEP preference.

Results

Overall, 647 adolescent boys and young men (median age 20, IQR: 17–22) were enrolled. Of these, 422 (65.22%) preferred on-demand PrEP (South Africa 45.45%, Uganda 76.80%, Zimbabwe 70.35%; p<0.001). Factors independently associated with on-demand PrEP included country (South Africa, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.19 [95%CI:0.1–0.3] compared to Uganda) and advanced planning of sex [>24 hours in advance aOR = 1.4 (0.9–2.3) compared to <2 hours]. Qualitatively, participants commonly believed they were not at risk of HIV acquisition most of the time and thought that on-demand PrEP would be suitable as they tend to plan sexual activity in advance.

Conclusion

Preference for on-demand PrEP is high in young males. The qualitative data support a preference for on-demand PrEP in those who plan sex in advance. HIV intervention programs should offer both on-demand and daily PrEP to engage more adolescent boys and young men in HIV prevention practices.
Assessment of potential drug-related problems (PDRP) and clinical outcomes in bacterial meningitis patients admitted to tertiary care hospitals
Authors: Ali Muhammad , Shoaib Muhammad Harris , Nesar Shagufta , Akhtar Hira , Shahnaz Saira , Khan Quratulain , Imran Javaria
Published: October 2023

Meningitis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adults. Its treatment strategy varies with age and gender. To assess potential drug-related problems (PDRP) and clinical outcomes in bacterial meningitis patients, a multicenter, clinical, descriptive, cross-sectional prospective observational study in 120 patients admitted to different tertiary care hospitals in Karachi was conducted. It includes both males 48% and females 52% belonging from all age groups i.e. peadiatrics (01 to 12 years), adults (18 to 65 years), and geriatrics (66 to 75 years). Out of these 72 patients were admitted in the public sector and 48 patients were admitted in private sector hospitals. Nosocomial infections were developed in 41% of patients during their stay at the hospital. Potentially nephrotoxic drugs were administered to all BM patients, these drugs should be administered carefully. Majorly Ceftriaxone was administered to 86% of patients, Vancomycin 71%, and meropenem 73% whereas 68% of patients were administered piperacillin-tazobactam. Organisms involved as causative agents in the majority of patients are Neisseria meningitides, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and, Streptococcus pneumoniae. DRPs impacted patient clinical outcomes in presence of many other factors like comorbidities, DDIs, Nis, administration of potentially nephrotoxic drugs, and administration of watch group and reserve group antibiotics without having culture sensitivity test, even after having CST no principles of de-escalation for antibiotics were done, which is a very important factor for hospitalized patients having IV antibiotics. The mortality rate among BM patients was 66%. The majority of patients (87%) stay at the hospital was 1–10 days. The present study helped in the identification of DRPs along with some other factors affecting the clinical outcomes in patients suffering from bacterial meningitis. Healthcare professionals should receive awareness and education on the importance of CST before initiating antibiotic therapy. Pharmacist-led medication review is necessary and should be followed to avoid negative outcomes and serious consequences related to DRPs.
The relationship between explicit and implicit personality: Evidence from the Big Five and trait emotional intelligence
Authors: Hasan Nasser N. , Petrides Konstantinos V. , Hull Laura
Published: October 2023

The main aim of this study is to introduce an implicit personality assessment method (e.g., implicit association test) to Kuwait. We adapted an existing personality-related implicit association test (IAT; Big Five IAT), while also constructed the first trait EI IAT based on Petrides’ four-factor model. We investigated the psychometric properties of the implicit association test through assessing the reliability of scores and also their relationship with their corresponding explicit measures. The measures were administered to 1458 university students in Kuwait. The zero-order correlations showed that the explicit and implicit measurement approaches led to non-converging constructs in the case of both trait EI and the Big Five. Lastly, we believe that we were successfully able to introduce the concept of personality-related implicit association tests to the Kuwaiti sample. Subsequently, the IATs presented in our study will allow researchers to study a relatively new personality field, that is the implicit personality.
RNAinsecta: A tool for prediction of precursor microRNA in insects and search for their target in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Nath Adhiraj , Bora Utpal
Published: October 2023

Introduction and background

Pre-MicroRNAs are the hairpin loops from which microRNAs are produced that have been found to negatively regulate gene expression in several organisms. In insects, microRNAs participate in several biological processes including metamorphosis, reproduction, immune response, etc. Numerous tools have been designed in recent years to predict novel pre-microRNA using binary machine learning classifiers where prediction models are trained with true and pseudo pre-microRNA hairpin loops. Currently, there are no existing tool that is exclusively designed for insect pre-microRNA detection.

Aim

Application of machine learning algorithms to develop an open source tool for prediction of novel precursor microRNA in insects and search for their miRNA targets in the model insect organism, Drosophila melanogaster.

Methods

Machine learning algorithms such as Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, Logistic Regression and K-Nearest Neighbours were used to train insect true and false pre-microRNA features with 10-fold Cross Validation on SMOTE and Near-Miss datasets. miRNA targets IDs were collected from miRTarbase and their corresponding transcripts were collected from FlyBase. We used miRanda algorithm for the target searching.

Results

In our experiment, SMOTE performed significantly better than Near-Miss for which it was used for modelling. We kept the best performing parameters after obtaining initial mean accuracy scores >90% of Cross Validation. The trained models on Support Vector Machine achieved accuracy of 92.19% while the Random Forest attained an accuracy of 80.28% on our validation dataset. These models are hosted online as web application called RNAinsecta. Further, searching target for the predicted pre-microRNA in Drosophila melanogaster has been provided in RNAinsecta.
Psychophysiological responses of shame in young children: A thermal imaging study
Authors: Ohigashi Sho , Sakata Chifumi , Kuroshima Hika , Moriguchi Yusuke
Published: October 2023

Shame can be defined as the emotional response to one’s violations of rules being exposed to others. However, it is difficult to objectively measure this concept. This study examined the psychophysiological indicators of shame in young children using behavioral methods and thermography, which measures facial temperatures that reflect blood flow changes related to emotions. Four- to six-year-old children participated in an “animal guessing game,” in which they lied about having violated a rule. They were assigned to either the exposure or the non-exposure group. In the exposure group, participants’ lies were exposed by the experimenter, whereas in the non-exposure group, their lies were not. Results showed that at the behavioral level, participants in the exposure group expressed characteristic behaviors of shame (e.g., embarrassed smiles) more often than those in the non-exposure group. Moreover, the nasal temperatures of participants in the exposure group were higher than those of participants in the other group after the lie was exposed. These results suggest that participants’ lies being exposed induced psychophysiological responses and consequently raised their nasal temperature. This finding indicates that psychophysiological responses can enable us to objectively measure higher-order emotions in young children.
Wrist motion is distinct between touch screen and manual or digital devices
Authors: Lopez Mandi J. , Takawira Catherine , Fox Mary P. , Wang Pengju , Boatwright Evan , Lucak Thomas , Liu Chin-Chi , Fugarino Bryce
Published: October 2023

Background

Restricted motion during touch screen device use may contribute to wrist overuse injuries. Wrist radioulnar deviation and extension while using touch screen devices and digital or manual counterparts in male and female medical professional dominant and non-dominant hands were quantified to test the hypothesis that mobile touch screen device use reduces wrist motion.

Methods

An active motion detection system was used to record wrist motion of 12 participants while: tablet swiping and turning book pages; raising a cell and traditional phone to the ear; texting and typing; and entering numbers on a cell phone and manual calculator. Medial and lateral wrist surface range of motion (ROM) and minimum and maximum wrist radial-ulnar deviation and flexion-extension were quantified.

Results

Device, sex and handedness effects were determined (P<0.05). Maximum medial radial deviation and ROM were greater using a cell versus traditional phone. Maximum medial radial deviation was higher in the nondominant wrist during backward tablet swiping and while backward page turning versus tablet swiping. Maximum and minimum medial extension angles and ROM were greater while typing versus texting. Female nondominant hand maximum lateral extension and ROM were greater for typing versus texting and maximum medial extension and lateral extension ROM greater during manual versus cell phone calculator use with handedness combined. Maximum lateral extension and ROM were greater in females versus males using manual calculators.

Conclusions

Sex and handedness should instruct touch screen, digital and manual device design and use for optimal performance and injury prevention.
Dyslipidemia and its predictors among adult workers in eastern Ethiopia: An institution-based cross-sectional study
Authors: Motuma Aboma , Shiferaw Kasiye , Gobena Tesfaye , Teji Roba Kedir , Berhane Yemane , Worku Alemayehu
Published: October 2023

Introduction

Dyslipidemia is a modifiable major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Although, the prevalence of dyslipidemia in high-income countries has been well documented, there is dearth of information about the dyslipidemia among working adults in sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude of dyslipidemia and its associated factors among Haramaya University employees, in Eastern Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,200 university employees aged 20 to 60 years. Study participants were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data were collected face-to-face interview using a semi-structured questionnaire. Dyslipidemia was defined as unhealthy levels of one or more lipid profile such as high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides or total cholesterol. Data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using STATA version 16.1 software. Modified Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (APR) with its 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was declared at P-value < 0.05.

Results

Of 1,164 participants, 59.6% participants had at least one lipid abnormality (i.e., 57.9% among men and 61.5% among women). Of which, 36.8% had high total cholesterol (TC), 21.6% had low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), 22.4% had high low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), and 32.6% had high triglyceride (TG). We found that overweight/obesity, sedentary behavior, alcohol consumption, having hypertension and age 45 and above years were significant predictors of dyslipidemia. However, those who served fruit and vegetables more than five per day had significantly reduced prevalence ratio of dyslipidemia.

Conclusions

The high prevalent dyslipidemia among university employees is an important public health problem. Hence, tailored interventions to reduce overweight/obesity, hypertension, alcohol consumption and low fruit and vegetable intake have paramount importance to tackle dyslipidemia particularly among older age.
Emergency entity relationship extraction for water diversion project based on pre-trained model and multi-featured graph convolutional network
Authors: Wang Li Hu , Liu Xue Mei , Liu Yang , Li Hai Rui , Liu Jia QI , Yang Li Bo
Published: October 2023

Using information technology to extract emergency decision-making knowledge from emergency plan documents is an essential means to enhance the efficiency and capacity of emergency management. To address the problems of numerous terminologies and complex relationships faced by emergency knowledge extraction of water diversion project, a multi-feature graph convolutional network (PTM-MFGCN) based on pre-trained model is proposed. Initially, through the utilization of random masking of domain-specific terminologies during pre-training, the model’s comprehension of the meaning and application of such terminologies within specific fields is enhanced, thereby augmenting the network’s proficiency in extracting professional terminologies. Furthermore, by introducing a multi-feature adjacency matrix to capture a broader range of neighboring node information, thereby enhancing the network’s ability to handle complex relationships. Lastly, we utilize the PTM-MFGCN to achieve the extraction of emergency entity relationships in water diversion project, thus constructing a knowledge graph for water diversion emergency management. The experimental results demonstrate that PTM-MFGCN exhibits improvements of 2.84% in accuracy, 4.87% in recall, and 5.18% in F1 score, compared to the baseline model. Relevant studies can effectively enhance the efficiency and capability of emergency management, mitigating the impact of unforeseen events on engineering safety.
Individual differences of limitation to extract beat from Kuramoto coupled oscillators: Transition from beat-based tapping to frequent tapping with weaker coupling
Authors: Lem Nolan , Fujioka Takako
Published: October 2023

Musical performers synchronize to each other despite differences in sound-onset timings which reflect each musician’s sense of the beat. A dynamical system of Kuramoto oscillators can simulate this spread of onsets at varying levels of temporal alignment with a variety of tempo and sound densities which also influence individual abilities for beat extraction. Here, we examined how people’s sense of beat emerges when tapping with Kuramoto oscillators of varying coupling strengths which distribute onsets around periodic moments in time. We hypothesized that people tap regularly close to the sound onset density peaks when coupling is strong. When weaker coupling produces multiple inter-onset intervals that are more widely spread, people may interpret their variety and distributions differently in order to form a sense of beat. Experiment 1 with a small in-person cohort indeed showed a few individuals who responded with high frequency tapping to slightly weak coupled stimuli although the rest found regular beats. Experiment 2 with a larger on-line cohort revealed three groups based on characteristics of inter-tap-intervals analyzed by k-means clustering, namely a Regular group (about 1/3 of the final sample) with the most robust beat extraction, Fast group (1/6) who maintained frequent tapping except for the strongest coupling, and Hybrid group (1/2) who maintained beats except for the weakest coupling. Furthermore, the adaptation time course of tap interval variability was slowest in Regular group. We suggest that people’s internal criterion for forming beats may involve different perceptual timescales where multiple stimulus intervals could be integrated or processed sequentially as is, and that the highly frequent tapping may reflect their approach in actively seeking synchronization. Our study provides the first documentation of the novel limits of sensorimotor synchronization and individual differences using coupled oscillator dynamics as a generative model of collective behavior.
Differentially expressed genes in the testes from early to mature development of banana shrimp (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis)
Authors: Saetan Uraipan , Chotigeat Wilaiwan
Published: October 2023

Banana shrimp (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis) is an economically important species in Thailand owing to the high value of globally exported frozen brine shrimps. However, the regulatory mechanisms governing spermatogenesis and testicular development in this species are poorly understood. High-throughput RNA sequencing was used to investigate the mechanisms and regulated genes involved in testis development using transcriptome profiling of juvenile and adult banana shrimp testes. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in these two libraries were identified and quantified to confirm gene expression. DEGs were found in 7,347 genes, with 4,465 upregulated and 2,882 downregulated. Some of these genes were designated as candidate genes, and six specific DEGs, including PRM1, SPATA20, Sry, SSRF, Sxl, and Tra-2c, were selected to confirm the reliability of the RNA-seq data using qPCR. Moreover, six non-DEGs were chosen based on testis-specific and regulatory genes that support a specific function in spermatogenesis and testis development in this species, including Dsx, Gfra2, IAG, Sox9, Sox13, and Sox14A. Furthermore, Sry, Sox14A, Sox14B and SPATA20 were identified in early stages (nauplius-postlarvae) of shrimp development to provide more information involving testes formation and development. The transcript data from this study could differentiate a group of genes required at the early and late stages of testis development and both sets of testis development. Therefore, this information would help in manipulating each stage of testicular development.
HMC: Hybrid model compression method based on layer sensitivity grouping
Authors: Yang Guoliang , Yu Shuaiying , Yang Hao , Nie Ziling , Wang Jixiang
Published: October 2023

Previous studies have shown that deep models are often over-parameterized, and this parameter redundancy makes deep compression possible. The redundancy of model weight is often manifested as low rank and sparsity. Ignoring any part of the two or the different distributions of these two characteristics in the model will lead to low accuracy and a low compression rate of deep compression. To make full use of the difference between low-rank and sparsity, a unified framework combining low-rank tensor decomposition and structured pruning is proposed: a hybrid model compression method based on sensitivity grouping (HMC). This framework unifies the existing additive hybrid compression method (AHC) and the non-additive hybrid compression method (NaHC) proposed by us into one model. The latter group the network according to the sensitivity difference of the convolutional layer to different compression methods, which can better integrate the low rank and sparsity of the model compared with the former. Experiments show that our approach achieves a better trade-off between test accuracy and compression ratio when compressing the ResNet family of models than other recent compression methods using a single strategy or additive hybrid compression.
Loss of Otopetrin 1 affects thermoregulation during fasting in mice
Authors: Tu Yu-Hsiang , Liu Naili , Xiao Cuiying , Gavrilova Oksana , Reitman Marc L.
Published: October 2023

Objective

Otopetrin 1 (OTOP1) is a proton channel that is highly expressed in brown adipose tissue. We examined the physiology of Otop1-/- mice, which lack functional OTOP1.

Methods

Mice were studied by indirect calorimetry and telemetric ambulatory body temperature monitoring. Mitochondrial function was measured as oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification.

Results

Otop1-/- mice had similar body temperatures as control mice at baseline and in response to cold and hot ambient temperatures. However, in response to fasting the Otop1-/- mice exhibited an exaggerated hypothermia and hypometabolism. Similarly, in ex vivo tests of Otop1-/- brown adipose tissue mitochondrial function, there was no change in baseline oxygen consumption, but the oxygen consumption was reduced after maximal uncoupling with FCCP and increased upon stimulation with the β3-adrenergic agonist CL316243. Mast cells also express Otop1, and Otop1-/- mice had intact, possibly greater hypothermia in response to mast cell activation by the adenosine A3 receptor agonist MRS5698. No increase in insulin resistance was observed in the Otop1-/- mice.

Conclusions

Loss of OTOP1 does not change basal function of brown adipose tissue but affects stimulated responses.
A bibliometric study of organizational storytelling/narrative research
Authors: Farzin Abdehgah Ehsan , Rastgooyan Sayedeh Babooneh , Khadivi Mohammadjavad
Published: October 2023

Organizational storytelling/narrative was largely ignored in the academic literature before the 1970s. Today, however, with the spread of ‘storytelling thinking’, this concept has been explored across disciplines including sociology, psychology, anthropology and philosophy. Although much research has emerged in the field of organizational narrative/storytelling, no study has addressed the bibliography of this subject quantitatively. This article is a bibliometric study of organizational storytelling/narration that aims to fill this gap. The data came from the Web of Science (WoS), which includes 441 documents between 1955 and January 2022. VOSviewer software was used to draw charts and create tables. The findings show that most documents have been published in this area in the last two decades, mainly in the United States. This bibliographic study offers two key findings for the field of organization storytelling. First, co-citation analysis provides four clusters, namely Cluster 1: healthcare, Cluster 2: stories of a darker side, Cluster 3: collective centring and collective sensemaking to express organizational culture and Cluster 4: identity and knowledge, shows in which topics the researchers of organizational storytelling/narrative have been most active. Second, co-occurrence analysis presents six clusters, Cluster 1: identification, Cluster 2: systems, Cluster 3: evolution, Cluster 4: performance, Cluster 5: power and Cluster 6: self, which are placed in a logical path related to the maturity levels of the organization and illustrate the topics that correspond to each organizational maturity level. Given the nature of the narrative/story, future researchers are likely to focus more on qualitative analysis and other aspects of quantitative analysis, including citations. Future research should focus on quantitative and qualitative analysis of the existing models of storytelling/narrative.
Comparative Studies of GFRP Composites Using Pulsed Thermography and Transmission Terahertz Non-Destructive Testing Methods
Authors: Świderski Waldemar , Strąg Martyna
Published: October 2023

Composites are materials that have replaced traditional construction materials in numerous applications in various fields. Due to the possibility of creating the required material properties, fiber-reinforced composites are most often used. Despite competition from carbon and aramid fibers, the earliest glass fibers produced are used in many applications. One of the areas where glass fiber reinforced composites (GFRP) make a significant contribution to structural applications is aviation. Because both during production and operation, composites are exposed to damage, which often occurs in the internal structure of the composite, works are being carried out to develop the most effective method of non-destructive testing to detect such damage. The article presents a comparison of the results of non-destructive testing of glass fiber-reinforced composite samples. A comparison of the results of the possibility of detecting defects in the form of milled holes of different diameters and depths inside the samples was made. These damages are not optically visible on both surfaces of the samples. In non-destructive testing, infrared thermography and transmission terahertz methods were used. The obtained results indicate a great possibility of using terahertz radiation, especially in thicker structures of the GFRP composite, where thermographic methods are not as effective as in thin ones.
Cistos mucosos, pólipos e mucoceles do seio maxilar: diagnóstico e condutas clínicas
Authors: Consolaro Alberto , Santos Stenio Roberto , Consolaro Ingrid Araújo Oliveira
Published: October 2023

Frequentes, os “cistos mucosos do seio maxilar” são importantes clinicamente, pois podem induzir apreensão nos pacientes e inquietação nos profissionais, aos quais cabe esclarecer e conscientizar os pacientes e, quando for o caso, tratá-los. Entre essas lesões estão: o cisto de retenção mucosa sem ou com extravasamento (roto ou rompido), pólipo do seio maxilar e sua variante pseudocisto, mucocele do seio maxilar e a sua variante mucocele pós-cirúrgica do seio maxilar. Os cistos de retenção mucosa sem ou com extravasamento e os pólipos do seio maxilar se autorresolvem e não requerem tratamento, apenas orientação; muito embora, em alguns casos que não são diagnosticados com precisão, acabam sendo cirurgicamente tratados de forma equivocada. As mucoceles do seio maxilar, por sua vez, são lesões muito importantes, pelos danos induzidos por si sós, e pelas dificuldades de identificação clínica, que podem levar a diagnósticos equivocados e tratamentos mutilantes.
Tratamento multidisciplinar da reabsorção cervical externa: relato de caso
Authors: Miyazato Anderson Seitiro , Emidio Andrey Gonçalves , Melo e Silva Vitória Fraga Fogaça , Berger Sandrine Bittencourt
Published: October 2023

Introdução: A reabsorção cervical externa (RCE) tem um padrão complexo e invasivo, e sua etiologia ainda é pouco conhecida. Possui uma natureza agressiva, resultando em perda significativa da estrutura dentária. Alguns fatores predisponentes têm sido observados como desencadeadores do processo de reabsorção, entre eles, o traumatismo dentário, clareamento interno e tratamento ortodôntico. Objetivo: O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de relatar o tratamento multidisciplinar de um caso clínico de RCE. Relato de caso: Paciente com 26 anos de idade, sexo feminino, apresentando queixa principal de inflamação gengival na região distal do dente #11 e insatisfação com a forma e a cor dos dentes. Após anamnese, exame clínico e exame radiográfico periapical, chegou-se ao diagnóstico de RCE. Devido à extensão da lesão, o tratamento realizado foi exodontia do dente #11 e, posteriormente, a instalação de implante, preenchimento dos gaps com enxerto de tecido ósseo e conjuntivo, reabilitação com prótese fixa unitária e troca das restaurações dos dentes #12 e #21. Conclusão: A abordagem interdisciplinar resultou em um tratamento satisfatório, no qual foi possível restabelecer a estética, mantendo a função, além de ter uma maior previsibilidade clínica.
Versi Estética e Função
Authors: Decurcio Rafael , Monteiro Lúcio , Cardoso Paula de Carvalho
Published: October 2023

Em um universo de ambientes semelhantes e padronização de resultados, a elaboração de ideias e projetos exclusivos torna-se um desafio criativo, que demanda esforço intelectual, interpretação de desejos praticamente intangíveis e um desenho conceitual que seduza. Nesse duelo entre o subjetivo e o objetivo, a arquiteta Maisa Saud e a designer de interiores Ana Paula Meirelles deram luz ao Estúdio Versi - Estética e Função — dos sócios Paula Cardoso, Lúcio Monteiro e Rafael Decurcio —, criando ambientes amplos e conceituais, conjugando a estética dos detalhes e o conforto de espaços funcionais. Distanciando-se da obviedade de estruturas clínicas, o tradicional se fez presente na sutileza de um conceito “boutique”, conferindo uma energia exclusiva e elegante, em que a experiência seja percebida em detalhes, e os sentidos, estimulados desde o lounge de entrada, e continuando com as cores distintas de cada sala de atendimento clínico.