bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Shot-to-shot flat-field correction at X-ray free-electron lasers
Authors: Buakor Khachiwan , Zhang Yuhe , Birnšteinová Šarlota , Bellucci Valerio , Sato Tokushi , Kirkwood Henry , Mancuso Adrian P. , Vagovic Patrik , Villanueva-Perez Pablo
Published: January 2022

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) provide high-brilliance pulses, which offer unique opportunities for coherent X-ray imaging techniques, such as in-line holography. One of the fundamental steps to process in-line holographic data is flat-field correction, which mitigates imaging artifacts and, in turn, enables phase reconstructions. However, conventional flat-field correction approaches cannot correct single XFEL pulses due to the stochastic nature of the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE), the mechanism responsible for the high brilliance of XFELs. Here, we demonstrate on simulated and megahertz imaging data, measured at the European XFEL, the possibility of overcoming such a limitation by using two different methods based on principal component analysis and deep learning. These methods retrieve flat-field corrected images from individual frames by separating the sample and flat-field signal contributions; thus, enabling advanced phase-retrieval reconstructions. We anticipate that the proposed methods can be implemented in a real-time processing pipeline, which will enable online data analysis and phase reconstructions of coherent full-field imaging techniques such as in-line holography at XFELs.
Ba0.75Al11O17.25:Cr3+ red-emitting ceramic phosphor with luminescence thermal stability
Authors: Long Tao , Yin Xiaomeng , Lin Hui , Zou Cheng , Zhang Dawei , Zhuang Songlin
Published: January 2022

Cr3+ doped Ba0.75Al11O17.25 red luminescent phosphors were synthesized and densified into ceramics by spark plasma sintering. Under the 405 nm excitation, the phosphors present a narrow band emission peaked at 704 nm and the highest emission intensity when the doping concentration of Cr3+ is 3%. When the temperature reaches 205 °C, the integrated emission intensity of the red emission can still reach 88% of the counterpart at room temperature, showing good luminescence thermal stability. The thermal conductivity of the ceramics is 4.87 W/(m·K) at room temperature, which is good for heat release under high power/high brightness excitations.
Maximizing transmittance in two-photon 3D printed materials for micro-optics in the visible
Authors: Hasan Mehedy , Blair Steve
Published: January 2022

We characterize three commercial resins suitable for three-dimensional
two-photon printing of mm3 volume micro-optical components
for visible light –IP-S, IP-n162, and IP-Visio– under
different print modes and post-processing conditions. Due to the
combination of cured resin absorption and bulk scattering, we find a
maximum total printed thickness of 4 mm (or greater) for at
least 50% transmittance of red light, up to 2 mm for
green light, and large maximum thickness variation for blue light (0.1
to 1 mm).
High-density and high-quality holographic storage in a multilayer glass-like photopolymer
Authors: Wang Jian , Pei YanBo , Shi Hongyan , Gao Bo , Luo Suhua
Published: January 2022

We reveal that polymerization degree is a significant factor that affects the holographic properties of glass-like photopolymer. By modulating polymerization degree, as well as changing the photosensitizer concentration, we fabricate multilayer PQ/PMMA photopolymer, exhibiting excellent performances in storage fidelity and reproduction resolution. A reflection geometry holographic disk system is established using the multilayer sample, in which a high storage density of 40.5GB/cm3 is realized. The reproduced images exhibit high quality with an average diffraction efficiency of 7.4 × 10−4 and average peak SNR of 27.4. This study provides a paradigm for the fabrication and holographic application of other photopolymers.
The NKCC1 ion transporter modulates microglial phenotype and inflammatory response to brain injury in a cell-autonomous manner
Authors: Tóth Krisztina , Lénárt Nikolett , Berki Péter , Fekete Rebeka , Szabadits Eszter , Pósfai Balázs , Cserép Csaba , Alatshan Ahmad , Benkő Szilvia , Kiss Dániel , Hübner Christian A. , Gulyás Attila , Kaila Kai , Környei Zsuzsanna , Dénes Ádám
Published: January 2022

The NKCC1 ion transporter contributes to the pathophysiology of common neurological disorders, but its function in microglia, the main inflammatory cells of the brain, has remained unclear to date. Therefore, we generated a novel transgenic mouse line in which microglial NKCC1 was deleted. We show that microglial NKCC1 shapes both baseline and reactive microglia morphology, process recruitment to the site of injury, and adaptation to changes in cellular volume in a cell-autonomous manner via regulating membrane conductance. In addition, microglial NKCC1 deficiency results in NLRP3 inflammasome priming and increased production of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), rendering microglia prone to exaggerated inflammatory responses. In line with this, central (intracortical) administration of the NKCC1 blocker, bumetanide, potentiated intracortical lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine levels. In contrast, systemic bumetanide application decreased inflammation in the brain. Microglial NKCC1 KO animals exposed to experimental stroke showed significantly increased brain injury, inflammation, cerebral edema and worse neurological outcome. Thus, NKCC1 emerges as an important player in controlling microglial ion homeostasis and inflammatory responses through which microglia modulate brain injury. The contribution of microglia to central NKCC1 actions is likely to be relevant for common neurological disorders.
Project-based learning course on metabolic network modelling in computational systems biology
Authors: Sauter Thomas , Bintener Tamara , Kishk Ali , Presta Luana , Prohaska Tessy , Guignard Daniel , Zeng Ni , Cipriani Claudia , Arshad Sundas , Pfau Thomas , Martins Conde Patricia , Pires Pacheco Maria
Published: January 2022

Project-based learning (PBL) is a dynamic student-centred teaching method that encourages students to solve real-life problems while fostering engagement and critical thinking. Here, we report on a PBL course on metabolic network modelling that has been running for several years within the Master in Integrated Systems Biology (MISB) at the University of Luxembourg. This 2-week full-time block course comprises an introduction into the core concepts and methods of constraint-based modelling (CBM), applied to toy models and large-scale networks alongside the preparation of individual student projects in week 1 and, in week 2, the presentation and execution of these projects. We describe in detail the schedule and content of the course, exemplary student projects, and reflect on outcomes and lessons learned. PBL requires the full engagement of students and teachers and gives a rewarding teaching experience. The presented course can serve as a role model and inspiration for other similar courses.
Predictability and parallelism in the contemporary evolution of hybrid genomes
Authors: Langdon Quinn K. , Powell Daniel L. , Kim Bernard , Banerjee Shreya M. , Payne Cheyenne , Dodge Tristram O. , Moran Ben , Fascinetto-Zago Paola , Schumer Molly
Published: January 2022

Hybridization between species is widespread across the tree of life. As a result, many species, including our own, harbor regions of their genome derived from hybridization. Despite the recognition that this process is widespread, we understand little about how the genome stabilizes following hybridization, and whether the mechanisms driving this stabilization tend to be shared across species. Here, we dissect the drivers of variation in local ancestry across the genome in replicated hybridization events between two species pairs of swordtail fish: Xiphophorus birchmanni × X. cortezi and X. birchmanni × X. malinche. We find unexpectedly high levels of repeatability in local ancestry across the two types of hybrid populations. This repeatability is attributable in part to the fact that the recombination landscape and locations of functionally important elements play a major role in driving variation in local ancestry in both types of hybrid populations. Beyond these broad scale patterns, we identify dozens of regions of the genome where minor parent ancestry is unusually low or high across species pairs. Analysis of these regions points to shared sites under selection across species pairs, and in some cases, shared mechanisms of selection. We show that one such region is a previously unknown hybrid incompatibility that is shared across X. birchmanni × X. cortezi and X. birchmanni × X. malinche hybrid populations.
Eligibility for the use of ready-made spectacles among children in a school-based programme in Ghana
Authors: Asare Frederick Afum , Morjaria Priya
Published: January 2022

Ready-made spectacles are low-cost spectacles for correcting refractive errors in children who would otherwise have their refractive errors uncorrected due to lack of availability and affordability of conventional, expensive custom-made spectacles. Thus, this study seeks to estimate the proportion of children with uncorrected refractive errors eligible for ready-made spectacles in a school-based programme. A school-based descriptive cross-sectional study was employed to screen children aged 12–15 years in eighteen public junior high schools within the Bongo district of Ghana. Children who failed the 6/9 acuity test were refracted and given spectacles. Ready-made spectacle was prescribed when visual acuity improved by ≥2 lines in at least one eye with full correction (astigmatism of ≤0.75D); spherical equivalent corrected visual acuity to ≤1 line worse than best corrected visual acuity with full correction in the better eye; and there was ≤1.00D difference between the two eyes. A total of 1,705 school children were examined. Of this number, 30 (1.8%; 95% CI: 1.2–2.5%) met the criteria for refractive correction but none had any. Twenty-six (86.7%; 95% CI: 69.7–95.3%) were found to be eligible for ready-made spectacles (power range: -1.50D to +1.00D, mean spherical equivalent ± SD = -0.27D ± 0.79D) while 4 (13.3%; 95% CI: 4.7–30.3%) were not, hence, given custom-made spectacles. A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of being eligible for one type of spectacles was similar between males and females (OR: 1.1; 95% CI: 0.1–12.7; p = 0.93). A large proportion of students who met the criteria for spectacle correction could be corrected with ready-made spectacles. There is, therefore, the need for these spectacles to be considered an appropriate alternative for refractive error correction during school eye health programmes.
The relationship between lipoprotein A and other lipids with prostate cancer risk: A multivariable Mendelian randomisation study
Authors: Ioannidou Anna , Watts Eleanor L. , Perez-Cornago Aurora , Platz Elizabeth A. , Mills Ian G. , Key Timothy J. , Travis Ruth C. ,   The PRACTICAL consortium, CRUK, BPC3, CAPS, PEGASUS, Tsilidis Konstantinos K. , Zuber Verena
Published: January 2022

Background

Numerous epidemiological studies have investigated the role of blood lipids in prostate cancer (PCa) risk, though findings remain inconclusive to date. The ongoing research has mainly involved observational studies, which are often prone to confounding. This study aimed to identify the relationship between genetically predicted blood lipid concentrations and PCa.

Methods and findings

Data for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), apolipoprotein A (apoA) and B (apoB), lipoprotein A (Lp(a)), and PCa were acquired from genome-wide association studies in UK Biobank and the PRACTICAL consortium, respectively. We used a two-sample summary-level Mendelian randomisation (MR) approach with both univariable and multivariable (MVMR) models and utilised a variety of robust methods and sensitivity analyses to assess the possibility of MR assumptions violation. No association was observed between genetically predicted concentrations of HDL, TG, apoA and apoB, and PCa risk. Genetically predicted LDL concentration was positively associated with total PCa in the univariable analysis, but adjustment for HDL, TG, and Lp(a) led to a null association. Genetically predicted concentration of Lp(a) was associated with higher total PCa risk in the univariable (ORweighted median per standard deviation (SD) = 1.091; 95% CI 1.028 to 1.157; P = 0.004) and MVMR analyses after adjustment for the other lipid traits (ORIVW per SD = 1.068; 95% CI 1.005 to 1.134; P = 0.034). Genetically predicted Lp(a) was also associated with advanced (MVMR ORIVW per SD = 1.078; 95% CI 0.999 to 1.163; P = 0.055) and early age onset PCa (MVMR ORIVW per SD = 1.150; 95% CI 1.015,1.303; P = 0.028). Although multiple estimation methods were utilised to minimise the effect of pleiotropy, the presence of any unmeasured pleiotropy cannot be excluded and may limit our findings.

Conclusions

We observed that genetically predicted Lp(a) concentrations were associated with an increased PCa risk. Future studies are required to understand the underlying biological pathways of this finding, as it may inform PCa prevention through Lp(a)-lowering strategies.
Statistical potentials from the Gaussian scaling behaviour of chain fragments buried within protein globules
Authors: Zamuner Stefano , Seno Flavio , Trovato Antonio
Published: January 2022

Knowledge-based approaches use the statistics collected from protein data-bank structures to estimate effective interaction potentials between amino acid pairs. Empirical relations are typically employed that are based on the crucial choice of a reference state associated to the null interaction case. Despite their significant effectiveness, the physical interpretation of knowledge-based potentials has been repeatedly questioned, with no consensus on the choice of the reference state. Here we use the fact that the Flory theorem, originally derived for chains in a dense polymer melt, holds also for chain fragments within the core of globular proteins, if the average over buried fragments collected from different non-redundant native structures is considered. After verifying that the ensuing Gaussian statistics, a hallmark of effectively non-interacting polymer chains, holds for a wide range of fragment lengths, although with significant deviations at short spatial scales, we use it to define a ‘bona fide’ reference state. Notably, despite the latter does depend on fragment length, deviations from it do not. This allows to estimate an effective interaction potential which is not biased by the presence of correlations due to the connectivity of the protein chain. We show how different sequence-independent effective statistical potentials can be derived using this approach by coarse-graining the protein representation at varying levels. The possibility of defining sequence-dependent potentials is explored.
Effect of sustained high buprenorphine plasma concentrations on fentanyl-induced respiratory depression: A placebo-controlled crossover study in healthy volunteers and opioid-tolerant patients
Authors: Moss Laurence M. , Algera Marijke Hyke , Dobbins Robert , Gray Frank , Strafford Stephanie , Heath Amy , van Velzen Monique , Heuberger Jules A. A. C. , Niesters Marieke , Olofsen Erik , Laffont Celine M. , Dahan Albert , Groeneveld Geert Jan
Published: January 2022

Background

Opioid-induced respiratory depression driven by ligand binding to mu-opioid receptors is a leading cause of opioid-related fatalities. Buprenorphine, a partial agonist, binds with high affinity to mu-opioid receptors but displays partial respiratory depression effects. The authors examined whether sustained buprenorphine plasma concentrations similar to those achieved with some extended-release injections used to treat opioid use disorder could reduce the frequency and magnitude of fentanyl-induced respiratory depression.

Methods

In this two-period crossover, single-centre study, 14 healthy volunteers (single-blind, randomized) and eight opioid-tolerant patients taking daily opioid doses ≥90 mg oral morphine equivalents (open-label) received continuous intravenous buprenorphine or placebo for 360 minutes, targeting buprenorphine plasma concentrations of 0.2 or 0.5 ng/mL in healthy volunteers and 1.0, 2.0 or 5.0 ng/mL in opioid-tolerant patients. Upon reaching target concentrations, participants received up to four escalating intravenous doses of fentanyl. The primary endpoint was change in isohypercapnic minute ventilation (VE). Additionally, occurrence of apnea was recorded.

Results

Fentanyl-induced changes in VEwere smaller at higher buprenorphine plasma concentrations. In healthy volunteers, at target buprenorphine concentration of 0.5 ng/mL, the first and second fentanyl boluses reduced VEby [LSmean (95% CI)] 26% (13–40%) and 47% (37–59%) compared to 51% (38–64%) and 79% (69–89%) during placebo infusion (p= 0.001 and < .001, respectively). Discontinuations for apnea limited treatment comparisons beyond the second fentanyl injection. In opioid-tolerant patients, fentanyl reduced VEup to 49% (21–76%) during buprenorphine infusion (all concentration groups combined) versus up to 100% (68–132%) during placebo infusion (p= 0.006). In opioid-tolerant patients, the risk of experiencing apnea requiring verbal stimulation following fentanyl boluses was lower with buprenorphine than with placebo (odds ratio: 0.07; 95% CI: 0.0 to 0.3;p= 0.001).

Interpretation

Results from this proof-of-principle study provide the first clinical evidence that high sustained plasma concentrations of buprenorphine may protect against respiratory depression induced by potent opioids like fentanyl.
Peer review analyze: A novel benchmark resource for computational analysis of peer reviews
Authors: Ghosal Tirthankar , Kumar Sandeep , Bharti Prabhat Kumar , Ekbal Asif
Published: January 2022

Peer Review is at the heart of scholarly communications and the cornerstone of scientific publishing. However, academia often criticizes the peer review system as non-transparent, biased, arbitrary, a flawed process at the heart of science, leading to researchers arguing with its reliability and quality. These problems could also be due to the lack of studies with the peer-review texts for various proprietary and confidentiality clauses. Peer review texts could serve as a rich source of Natural Language Processing (NLP) research on understanding the scholarly communication landscape, and thereby build systems towards mitigating those pertinent problems. In this work, we present a first of its kind multi-layered dataset of 1199 open peer review texts manually annotated at the sentence level (∼ 17k sentences) across the four layers, viz. Paper Section Correspondence, Paper Aspect Category, Review Functionality, and Review Significance. Given a text written by the reviewer, we annotate: to which sections (e.g., Methodology, Experiments, etc.), what aspects (e.g., Originality/Novelty, Empirical/Theoretical Soundness, etc.) of the paper does the review text correspond to, what is the role played by the review text (e.g., appreciation, criticism, summary, etc.), and the importance of the review statement (major, minor, general) within the review. We also annotate the sentiment of the reviewer (positive, negative, neutral) for the first two layers to judge the reviewer’s perspective on the different sections and aspects of the paper. We further introduce four novel tasks with this dataset, which could serve as an indicator of the exhaustiveness of a peer review and can be a step towards the automatic judgment of review quality. We also present baseline experiments and results for the different tasks for further investigations. We believe our dataset would provide a benchmark experimental testbed for automated systems to leverage on current NLP state-of-the-art techniques to address different issues with peer review quality, thereby ushering increased transparency and trust on the holy grail of scientific research validation. Our dataset and associated codes are available at https://www.iitp.ac.in/~ai-nlp-ml/resources.html#Peer-Review-Analyze.
Alarm of non-communicable disease in Iran: Kavar cohort profile, baseline and 18-month follow up results from a prospective population-based study in urban area
Authors: Safarpour Ali Reza , Fattahi Mohammad Reza , Niknam Ramin , Tarkesh Firoozeh , Mohammadkarimi Vahid , Boogar Shahrokh Sadeghi , Abbasi Elham , Abtahi Firoozeh , Sivandzadeh Gholam Reza , Ejtehadi Fardad , Afshar Mohammad , Shamsnia Seyed Ali , Niknejad Nasim
Published: January 2022

The PERSIAN Kavar cohort study (PKCS) aims to investigate the prevalence, trends, and relevant prognostic risk factors of non-communicable diseases in participants aged 35–70 years living in the urban area of Kavar County. Kavar County is located at the center of Fars province in the southwest of Iran. Overall, 5236 adults aged 35–70 years old were invited to participate in the PKCS. From whom, 4997 people comprising 2419 men and 2578 women met the inclusion criteria and were recruited in the study (participation rate: 95.4%). This study is aimed to follow participants for at least 10 years; it is designed to perform all procedures similar to the primary phase including biological sampling, laboratory tests, physical examinations, and collecting general, nutritional, and medical data at the 5th and 10th years of follow-up. In addition, participants are annually followed-up by phone to acquire data on the history of hospitalization, any major diagnosis or death. At the enrollment phase, trained interviewers were responsible for obtaining general, nutritional, and medical data utilizing a 482-item questionnaire. The results of the baseline phase of this study show that the overweight category was the most prevalent BMI category among the registered participants (n = 2005, 40.14%). Also, almost one-third of Kavar adult population suffered from metabolic syndrome at the baseline phase (n = 1664, 33.30%). The rate of eighteen-month follow-up response was 100% in the PKCS. Hypertension (n = 116, 2.32%), cardiovascular outcomes (n = 33, 0.66%), and diabetes (n = 32, 0.64%) were the most prevalent new-onset NCDs during eighteen months of follow-up in the participants.
Age-friendly neighbourhoods and physical activity of older Surinamese individuals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Authors: Jagroep Warsha , Cramm Jane M. , Denktaș Semiha , Nieboer Anna P.
Published: January 2022

Background

Age-friendly neighbourhoods seem to promote physical activity among older individuals. Physical activity is especially important for chronically ill individuals. In the Netherlands, older Surinamese individuals are more likely to have chronic diseases than are their native Dutch counterparts. This study examined relationships of neighbourhood characteristics with physical activity among older Surinamese individuals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Methods

Of 2749 potential participants, 697 (25%) community-dwelling older (age ≥ 70 years) Surinamese individuals living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, completed a questionnaire on personal and neighbourhood characteristics between March and June 2020. Correlation and multilevel regression analyses were performed to identify associations between missing neighbourhood characteristics for ageing in place and physical activity.

Results

Scores for the neighbourhood domains communication and information (r = -0.099, p ≤ 0.05), community support and health services (r = -0.139, p ≤ 0.001), and respect and social inclusion (r = -0.141, p ≤ 0.001), correlated negatively with participants’ PA. In the multilevel analysis, overall missing neighbourhood characteristics to age in place scores were associated negatively with physical activity (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion

This study showed the importance of age-friendly neighbourhoods for physical activity among older Surinamese individuals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Our findings suggest that the neighbourhood plays an important role in supporting older individuals’ leading of physically active lifestyles. Further research is needed to support the development of interventions to create age-friendly neighbourhoods.
Is there a link between endowment inequality and deception? – an analysis of students and chess players
Authors: Grüner Sven , Khassine Ilia
Published: January 2022

This paper investigates experimentally the relationship between inequality in endowment and deception. Our basic design is adopted from Gneezy (2005): two players interact in a deception game. It is common knowledge that player 1 has private information about the payoffs for both players of two alternative actions. Player 1 sends a message to player 2, indicating which alternative putatively will end up in a higher payoff for player 2. The message, which can either be true or false, does not affect the payoffs of the players. Player 2 has no information about the payoffs. However, player 2 selects one of the two alternatives A or B, which is payoff-relevant for both players. Our paper adds value to the literature by extending Gneezy (2005) in two ways. First, we systematically vary the initial endowment of players 1 and 2 (common knowledge to both of them). Second, we do not limit ourselves to the standard population of university students but also recruit chess players that are not enrolled in any degree program. Doing so, we want to find out if our results remain robust over a non-standard subject population which is known to be experienced to some extent in strategic interactions. Our main findings are: (i) non-students behave more honestly than students, (ii) students are more likely to trust the opponent’s message, and (iii) students and non-students behave differently to variation in initial endowment.
Development of cool and hot theory of mind and cool and hot inhibitory control abilities from 3.5 to 6.5 years of age
Authors: Draperi Manali , Aïte Ania , Cassotti Mathieu , Le Stanc Lorna , Houdé Olivier , Borst Grégoire
Published: January 2022

Attributing affectively neutral mental states such as thoughts (i.e., cool theory of mind, cool ToM) to others appears to be rooted in different processes than the ones involved in attributing affectively charged mental states such as emotions (i.e., hot ToM) to others. However, no study has investigated the developmental pattern of hot and cool ToM abilities using a similar task and the relative contribution of cool and hot inhibitory control (IC) to cool and hot ToM development. To do so, we tested 112 children aged 3.5 to 6.5 years on a cool and a hot version of a ToM task and on a cool and hot version of an IC task. We found that hot ToM abilities developed more rapidly than cool ToM. Importantly, we found that hot IC abilities mediated the relation between age and hot ToM abilities. Taken together, our results suggest that the ability to attribute emotions to others develops more rapidly than the ability to attribute thoughts and that the growing efficiency of hot ToM with age is specifically rooted in the growing efficiency of hot IC abilities.
Assessment of vaccination timeliness and associated factors among children in Toke Kutaye district, central Ethiopia: A Mixed study
Authors: Dirirsa Kuma , Makuria Mulugeta , Mulu Ermias , Deriba Berhanu Senbeta
Published: January 2022

Introduction

Age inappropriate vaccination of children increases the rate of mortality and morbidity. All studies conducted in some areas of Ethiopia were only quantitative in nature and focused on the main cities ignoring rural communities.

Objective

The objective of this study is to assess vaccination timeliness and associated factors among children in Toke Kutaye district, central Ethiopia.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study with quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used, for which simple random sampling was used to select 602 mothers/caregivers who have vaccinated children aged 12 to 23 months in the district. The collected data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariate analysis with a P-value of < 0.25 was used to select candidate variables for multivariate logistic regression. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI and p-value < 0.05 were used to declare a significant association. Qualitative data responses were classified and then organized by content with thematic analysis.

Results

A total of 590 respondents responded to the interviews, making a response rate of 98%. In this study, 23.9% (95% CI: 20.4–27.7) of children aged 12–23 months had received all vaccines in the recommended time intervals. Urban residence (AOR: 3.15, 95% CI: 1.56–6.4), participation of pregnant women in conferences (AOR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.2–4.57), institutional delivery (AOR: 2.5: 95% CI: 1.32–4.20), and sufficient knowledge of mothers (AOR: 3, 95% CI: 1.82–5.10) were significantly associated with the timeliness of childhood vaccination. Qualitative findings revealed that lack of knowledge and lack of information from mothers or caregivers, and inadequate communication with health workers hindered timely vaccination.

Conclusion

The overall timeliness of the child’s vaccination was low in this study. Residence, participation in a conference, place of delivery, and knowledge of the mothers were predictors of vaccination timeliness. Hence, promoting institutional delivery and increasing pregnant mothers awreness on vaccination timeliness through conference participation is compulsory.
Analysis of modified plug-in electric vehicle charger controller with grid support functionalities
Authors: R. B. Selvakumar , C. Vivekanandan
Published: January 2022

Power quality issues, which are mainly due to power electronic devices that are invariably used not only in domestic sector but also industries, still persist despite various mitigation strategies. The slow but steady invasion of Electric vehicles or Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) in recent years, in the automobile sector, adds woes to the power quality issues further. Majority of the charging systems presently available for charging PEVs are unidirectional and so supports Grid to Vehicle (G2V) mode only as the bidirectional integration of those vehicles into the grid is still a big challenge. However, Vehicle to Grid (V2G) support mode also deserves an equal importance as the PEV charger with V2G mode of operation is capable of supporting grid functionalities also, on need basis, which largely depends on the power circuit topology and controller topology it uses. Hence, in this work an improved controller topology has been designed and developed to alleviate the burdens on the grid. Support for active power demand, voltage swell and sag mitigation, in addition to catering its prime objective of charging the batteries are focused. A Second Order Generalized Integrator Phase Locked Loop (SOGI-PLL) based controller has been developed and implemented in the proposed work to improve the transient response, apart from controlling the steady-state oscillations of the grid to which it is connected to. A single phase non-isolated bidirectional PEV charger with proposed control topology has been simulated in MATLAB-Simulink for vehicle support and grid support mode of operations. The simulation proves the satisfactory operation of the proposed charger in the four quarters of active power and reactive power (PQ) plane, thus complies the design objectives of bidirectional power flow. The results obtained from the simulation show improved performance in terms of DC link voltage overshoot, steady-state oscillations, overall efficiency, voltage and current Total Harmonic Distortions (THD)
Experimental determination of Escherichia coli biomass composition for constraint-based metabolic modeling
Authors: Simensen Vetle , Schulz Christian , Karlsen Emil , Bråtelund Signe , Burgos Idun , Thorfinnsdottir Lilja Brekke , García-Calvo Laura , Bruheim Per , Almaas Eivind
Published: January 2022

Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) are mathematical representations of metabolism that allow for in silico simulation of metabolic phenotypes and capabilities. A prerequisite for these predictions is an accurate representation of the biomolecular composition of the cell necessary for replication and growth, implemented in GEMs as the so-called biomass objective function (BOF). The BOF contains the metabolic precursors required for synthesis of the cellular macro- and micromolecular constituents (e.g. protein, RNA, DNA), and its composition is highly dependent on the particular organism, strain, and growth condition. Despite its critical role, the BOF is rarely constructed using specific measurements of the modeled organism, drawing the validity of this approach into question. Thus, there is a need to establish robust and reliable protocols for experimental condition-specific biomass determination. Here, we address this challenge by presenting a general pipeline for biomass quantification, evaluating its performance on Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 sampled during balanced exponential growth under controlled conditions in a batch-fermentor set-up. We significantly improve both the coverage and molecular resolution compared to previously published workflows, quantifying 91.6% of the biomass. Our measurements display great correspondence with previously reported measurements, and we were also able to detect subtle characteristics specific to the particular E. coli strain. Using the modified E. coli GEM iML1515a, we compare the feasible flux ranges of our experimentally determined BOF with the original BOF, finding that the changes in BOF coefficients considerably affect the attainable fluxes at the genome-scale.
Sterilized human skin graft with a dose of 25 kGy provides a privileged immune and collagen microenvironment in the adhesion of Nude mice wounds
Authors: Tomaz de Miranda Jurandir , Bringel Fabiana de Andrade , Pereira Velosa Ana Paula , Protocevich Verônica , Fernezlian Sandra de Morais , Silva Pedro Leme , Capelozzi Vera Luiza , Mathor Monica Beatriz , Teodoro Walcy Rosolia
Published: January 2022

This study aimed to report the effects of different doses of ionizing radiation on inflammatory and repair stage of human skin graft adherence in Nude mice wounds. Animals were divided into transplanted with irradiated human skin grafts (IHSG) at 25 and 50 kGy (IHSG 25 kGy; IHSG 50 kGy) and non-IHSG and euthanized on the 3rd, 7th and 21st days after the surgery, by gross and microscopic changes, immunostaining for human type I collagen (Col I) and mouse Col I and Col III and inflammatory cells. We found an effectiveness of human split-thickness graft adherence in mice transplanted with IHSG 25 kGy, as well decrease in dermo-epidermal necrosis and neutrophils, lower loss of skin thickness, epithelization and neo-vascularization. Day 21 post-transplantation with IHSG 25 kGy was observed a well-preserved human skin in the border of the graft, a prominent granulation tissue in an organization by proliferated fibroblasts, Col III deposition and increased B-cells and macrophages. A complete adherence of human skin graft occurred with IHSG 25 kGy. We suggest that the ionizing radiation at 25 kGy mediates inflammation and the repair stage of human skin graft adherence in murine model, thus emerging as a potential tool in healing cutaneous wounds.
Clinical outcomes of immunomodulatory therapies in the management of COVID-19: A tertiary-care experience from Pakistan
Authors: Nasir Noreen , Tajuddin Salma , Khaskheli Sarah , Khan Naveera , Niamatullah Hammad , Nasir Nosheen
Published: January 2022

The pharmacological management of COVID-19 has evolved significantly and various immunomodulatory agents have been repurposed. However, the clinical efficacy has been variable and a search for cure for COVID-19 continues. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 916 patients hospitalized with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 between February 2020 and October 2020 at a tertiary care academic medical center in Karachi, Pakistan. The median age was 57 years (interquartile range (IQR) 46–66 years). The most common medications administered were Methylprednisolone (65.83%), Azithromycin (50.66%), and Dexamethasone (46.6%). Majority of the patients (70%) had at least two or more medications used in combination and the most frequent combination was methylprednisolone with azithromycin. Overall in-hospital mortality was 13.65% of patients. Mortality was found to be independently associated with age greater than or equal to 60 years (OR = 4.98; 95%CI: 2.78–8.91), critical illness on admission (OR = 13.75; 95%CI: 7.27–25.99), use of hydrocortisone (OR = 12.56; 95%CI: 6.93–22.7), Ferritin> = 1500(OR = 2.07; 95%CI: 1.18–3.62), Creatinine(OR = 2.33; 95%CI: 1.31–4.14) and D-Dimer> = 1.5 (OR = 2.27; 95%CI: 1.26–4.07). None of the medications whether used as monotherapy or in combination were found to have a mortality benefit. Our study highlights the desperate need for an effective drug for the management of critical COVID-19 which necessitates usage of multiple drug combinations in patients particularly Azithromycin which has long term implications for antibiotic resistance particularly in low-middle income countries.
Dining with liberals and conservatives: The social underpinnings of food neophobia
Authors: Guidetti Margherita , Carraro Luciana , Cavazza Nicoletta
Published: January 2022

Although food and politics seem to be distant domains, socio-political ideology and food neophobia (i.e., reluctance to eat unfamiliar food) may be related. Conservatives’ high threat sensitivity and the inherently threatening nature of novel foods (the existential explanation), along with conservatives’ negative attitudes toward minority outgroups (e.g., foreigners) and the role of the latter in introducing novel foods to a culture (the social explanation), led us to expect that socio-political ideology would predict food neophobia over and above their common roots. Across two correlational and two experimental studies (N = 627), socio-political ideology emerged as a strong predictor of food neophobia. In addition, the findings did not support the existential explanation, while confirming the social explanation of the ideology–food neophobia link: Conservatives seem more neophobic than liberals not because of their higher threat sensitivity but rather because they hold more negative attitudes toward foreigners who are associated with those foods.
Effects of tDCS on the attentional blink revisited: A statistical evaluation of a replication attempt
Authors: Reteig Leon C. , Newman Lionel A. , Ridderinkhof K. Richard , Slagter Heleen A.
Published: January 2022

The attentional blink (AB) phenomenon reveals a bottleneck of human information processing: the second of two targets is often missed when they are presented in rapid succession among distractors. In our previous work, we showed that the size of the AB can be changed by applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) (London & Slagter,Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,33, 756–68, 2021). Although AB size at the group level remained unchanged, the effects of anodal and cathodal tDCS were negatively correlated: if a given individual’s AB size decreased from baseline during anodal tDCS, their AB size would increase during cathodal tDCS, and vice versa. Here, we attempted to replicate this finding. We found no group effects of tDCS, as in the original study, but we no longer found a significant negative correlation. We present a series of statistical measures of replication success, all of which confirm that both studies are not in agreement. First, the correlation here is significantly smaller than a conservative estimate of the original correlation. Second, the difference between the correlations is greater than expected due to sampling error, and our data are more consistent with a zero-effect than with the original estimate. Finally, the overall effect when combining both studies is small and not significant. Our findings thus indicate that the effects of lDPLFC-tDCS on the AB are less substantial than observed in our initial study. Although this should be quite a common scenario, null findings can be difficult to interpret and are still under-represented in the brain stimulation and cognitive neuroscience literatures. An important auxiliary goal of this paper is therefore to provide a tutorial for other researchers, to maximize the evidential value from null findings.
Multiple Criteria Optimization (MCO): A gene selection deterministic tool in RStudio
Authors: Narváez-Bandera Isis , Suárez-Gómez Deiver , Isaza Clara E. , Cabrera-Ríos Mauricio
Published: January 2022

Identifying genes with the largest expression changes (gene selection) to characterize a given condition is a popular first step to drive exploration into molecular mechanisms and is, therefore, paramount for therapeutic development. Reproducibility in the sciences makes it necessary to emphasize objectivity and systematic repeatability in biological and informatics analyses, including gene selection. With these two characteristics in mind, in previous works our research team has proposed using multiple criteria optimization (MCO) in gene selection to analyze microarray datasets. The result of this effort is the MCO algorithm, which selects genes with the largest expression changes without user manipulation of neither informatics nor statistical parameters. Furthermore, the user is not required to choose either a preference structure among multiple measures or a predetermined quantity of genes to be deemed significant a priori. This implies that using the same datasets and performance measures (PMs), the method will converge to the same set of selected differentially expressed genes (repeatability) despite who carries out the analysis (objectivity). The present work describes the development of an open-source tool in RStudio to enable both: (1) individual analysis of single datasets with two or three PMs and (2) meta-analysis with up to five microarray datasets, using one PM from each dataset. The capabilities afforded by the code include license-free portability and the possibility to carry out analyses via modest computer hardware, such as personal laptops. The code provides affordable, repeatable, and objective detection of differentially expressed genes from microarrays. It can be used to analyze other experiments with similar experimental comparative layouts, such as microRNA arrays and protein arrays, among others. As a demonstration of the capabilities of the code, the analysis of four publicly-available microarray datasets related to Parkinson´s Disease (PD) is presented here, treating each dataset individually or as a four-way meta-analysis. These MCO-supported analyses made it possible to identify MMP9 and TUBB2A as potential PD genetic biomarkers based on their persistent appearance across each of the case studies. A literature search confirmed the importance of these genes in PD and indeed as PD biomarkers, which evidences the code´s potential.
A grounded theory approach to understanding in-game goods purchase
Authors: Cai Xiaowei , Cebollada Javier , Cortiñas Mónica
Published: January 2022

Video game companies are increasingly diversifying their profit models. Rather than relying exclusively on the sale of video game titles or the subscription model, video game companies are maximising the revenues and extending the lifecycle of their games by means of a strategy based on the sale of in-game goods. This study contributes to the theory on in-game goods purchases by explaining why and how video game players purchase different types of in-game goods. We used an inductive approach involving qualitative data analysis based on grounded theory. Six types of in-game goods are grouped into three categories: functional-based goods, probability-based goods, and ornamental-based goods. After acknowledging the heterogeneity of the categories, a conceptual framework is developed by conducting 21 in-depth interviews, from which it emerges that players purchase functional-based goods, probability-based goods, and ornamental-based goods for different motives and through the different behavioural processes. First, the purchase of functional-based goods is a strategy for entering the flow experience. Second, the purchase of probability-based goods is a compromise for purchase restrictions. Third, the purchase of ornamental goods is driven by the synergism of intrinsic motivations and exposure in the virtual world. Therefore, video game researchers should not treat in-game goods as a homogeneous concept. The findings also suggest that it is critically important for video game developers to strike a balance between the challenges of the gameplay and the skills of players because excessively raising (or lowering) the level of difficulty could pose a threat to the company’s sustainable profit.
Health locus of control in cancer patient and oncologist decision-making: An exploratory qualitative study
Authors: Dopelt Keren , Bashkin Osnat , Asna Noam , Davidovitch Nadav
Published: January 2022

Objective

To investigate how cancer patients’ and family members’ perspective and health locus of control are presented in clinical encounter decision-making.

Methods

Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with 16 cancer patients and 6 family members living in Israel (n = 22). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results

Following the health locus of control model, the findings were divided into an external and internal locus of control themes, and we added a theme regarding shared decision-making. Internal locus of control sub-themes included asking for a second opinion, negotiating with the doctor, asking questions, looking for information, and fighting for their rights. External locus of control sub-themes included powerful others, oncologists, and fate. The dominant approach of most of the interviewees was an external locus of control. Women demonstrated more external locus of control than men. On the direct question of who should decide on treatment—the doctor, the patient, or both jointly—the answers ranged from only the doctor (n = 8) to together (n = 7) to only the patient (n = 8).

Conclusions

This study provides insights into different aspects of locus of control in the clinical encounter involving cancer patients. The findings reflect the need to devote comprehensive attention to cancer patients’ perceptions and experiences in the clinical encounter. A patient-centered care approach and a personalized framework for decision-making in cancer care are essential to achieving better treatment outcomes. Further research can engage in the development and validation of an up-to-date health locus of control questionnaire for cancer patients based on the findings of this study.