bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient Safety and Medical Error Disclosure: Evidence from aCross-Sectional Study at a Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alyaemni Asmaa
Published: July 2023

Background
Attention towards patient safety is growing worldwide, as reducing the incidence and cost of adverse events has become a priority. While international medical ethics laws encourage open communication with patients and their families, they do not guarantee that healthcare providers will disclose information about medical errors or take responsibility for what happened. In international studies, whether clinicians should self-report errors remains in question. Thus, this study aims to assess the knowledge and attitudes about medical error disclosure and explore the factors that facilitate or hinder the disclosure in Saudi tertiary hospitals.
Methods
One hundred internal medical residents completed the study questionnaire between April 2023 and May 2023. Of the participants, 74 were female, 75 were either in Year 1(R1) or Year 2 (R2) of their internal medicine residency programme, 45 spent over 80% of their time in direct patient care, and 100% provided inpatient services. The sample was selected from a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia through simple random sampling. Descriptive and bivariate analyses and chi-square tests were conducted to identify the factors associated with medical error disclosure and willingness to be open with patients.
Results
This study identified a gap between physicians’ hypothetical aptitude and their actual practices regarding disclosing medical errors to patients. A link was found between the underreporting of medical errors and physicians’ low training levels and time spent in providing direct patient care and inpatient services.
Conclusion
The findings of this study have important implications for patient safety. By understanding the factors that influence physicians' decisions to disclose errors, interventions can be undertaken to increase the rates of error disclosure. This can help prevent errors, improve patient outcomes, and build trust between patients and their physicians.
Challenges for Controlling Road Traffic Injuries in the Islamic Republic of Iran: a qualitative study
Authors: Sari Ali Akbari , Salari Hedayat , Motevalian Seyed Abbas , Arab Mohammad , Esfandiari Atefeh
Published: July 2023

Introduction:
Iran has one of the highest death rates due to road traffic Injuries in the world. The number of people died annually is estimated to be higher than the number died of the earthquake in Bam in 2005. This study aimed at exploring the challenges for the control of road traffic Injuries (RTI) in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Methods:
A qualitative study design was used to collect data from key informants working in the public sectors in Tehran, Iran. The key informants were interviewed using an interview guide and saturation was reached after interviewing 30 key informants. Content analysis was done after transcribing the responses and identifying thematic areas using MAXQDA 10 software.
Results:
This study explored that governance, evidence-based policy-making, proactive approach, information, challenges related to road and vehicles, and low use of helmets were among the reported challenges.
Conclusion:
A real leading agency with the required authority could play great role in the prevention of the identified and other related problems through developing a road map, integrating organizations, defining duties and etc.
Leveraging ecosystems responses to enhanced rock weathering in mitigation scenarios
Authors: Gaucher Yann , Tanaka Katsumasa , Johansson Daniel , Goll Daniel , Ciais Philippe
Published: July 2023

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is deemed necessary to attain the Paris Agreement's climate objectives. While bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has generated substantial attention, sustainability concerns have led to increased examination of alternative strategies, including enhanced rock weathering (EW). We analyse the role of EW under cost-effective mitigation pathways, by including the CDR potential of basalt applications from silicate weathering and enhanced ecosystem growth and carbon storage in response to phosphorus released by basalt. Using an integrated carbon cycle, climate and energy system model, we show that applying basalt to forests could triple the level of carbon sequestration induced by EW compared to an application restricted to croplands. EW reduces the costs of achieving the Paris Agreement targets, and alleviates the pressure on food prices by reducing the willingness to pay for bioenergy; however, it does not significantly reduce the use of BECCS, which remains a major cost-effective mitigation option. Further understanding requires improved knowledge of weathering rates through field testing.
Enantioselective Synthesis of Inherently Chiral Molecular Nanographenes
Authors: Martín Nazario , Buendía Manuel , Fernández-García Jesús M. , Perles Josefina , Filippone Salvatore
Published: July 2023

The introduction and precise control of stereogenic elements in chemical structures is always a challenging and highly demanding task. The vast majority of available asymmetric methods require the presence of a heteroatom in the starting substrates acting as an anchor point for the successful transfer of chiral information. This eventually emerges, typically, in the formation of a new stereogenic centre while the heteroatom remains in the product. For this reason, compounds constituted only by carbon atoms, such as optically active molecular nanographenes have, so far, been obtained as racemates followed by chiral chromatographic separations. Here, we report an enantioselective strategy which uses three pivotal stereocontrolled key synthetic steps to introduce and extend three different types of stereogenic elements, namely central, axial and helicoidal chirality, into a polycyclic aromatic Csp2-based structure. The resulting helicity of six ortho-fused rings embedded in the triindane-based nanographene ensures stereochemical stability and good chiroptic activity.
A microbial platform for recyclable plastics with customizable properties
Authors: Keasling Jay , Wang Zilong , Cheong Seokjung , Wang Hai , Demarteau Jeremy , Epstein Alexander , Bose Baishakhi , Zhao Mei , Ge Beibei , Nava Alberto , Kakumanu Ramu , Baidoo Edward , Chen Yan , Petzold Christopher , Guo Yifan , Baral Nawa , Vora Nemi , Liu Yuzhong , Ghanta Rithwik , Cruz-Morales Pablo , Yin Kevin , Haushalter Robert , Persson Kristin , Scown Corinne , Helms Brett
Published: July 2023

Plastics have played a crucial role in shaping the modern era. However, they are produced almost exclusively from non-renewable feedstocks and face considerable challenges in recycling, especially crosslinked polymers used in consumer electronics, building materials, automotive parts, and aerospace composites1–3. Here, we integrate computational materials design, polymer chemistry, synthetic biology, and systems analysis into a workflow to accelerate the design of biorenewable polydiketoenamines (bioPDKs) with tailored properties and circularity through molecular engineering of their monomers, which are derived from β-keto-δ-lactones (BKDLs). Our approach leverages the modular assembly of hybrid polyketide synthases (PKSs) to enable the biosynthesis of BKDLs with diverse substituents at the γ- and δ-positions with defined stereochemistry. We exploit these features to tailor bioPDK hydrophobicity and depolymerization temperature in aqueous acid, which would be nearly impossible to do at scale using synthetic chemistry. In specific designs, we observe increases in bioPDK acidolysis above thresholds for comparable PDK materials derived from petrochemicals, which has implications for mixed-plastic and composite recycling, solvent and chemical resistance, and degradation.
Negative CO2 emissions mitigate extremes of the terrestrial hydrological cycle via a vegetation physiological feedback
Authors: Kug Jong-Seong , Shin Jongsoo , Park So-Won , Park Chang-Kyun , Kam Jonghun , An Soon-Il , Oh Hyoeun , Yeh Sang-Wook , Jeong Sujong , Kim Jin-soo
Published: July 2023

Negative carbon emissions are certainly executed to mitigate global warming, including minimizing the detrimental effects of weather extremes in the future. Here we show that successful implementation of negative emissions significantly increases terrestrial precipitation. Although CO2 concentrations are reduced by negative emissions, total terrestrial precipitation exceeds ~ 70% more than for periods of the highest CO2 concentrations, when the atmosphere retains more moisture due to increased air temperatures. The physiological processes of terrestrial vegetation are found to play a critical role in this enhanced terrestrial precipitation and hydrological cycle. We found stomatal feedback-enhanced transpiration leads to increases in precipitation, which in turn increases vegetation growth and resultant transpiration, suggesting positive feedback in the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, despite the increase in total precipitation over land, the occurrences of extreme heavy rainfall events and droughts are significantly reduced globally, implying improved water availability and reduced damages from hydrological extremes in the negative emissions scenario.
Microbial communities’ response along degradation gradient in alpine meadows of the Qilian Mountains
Authors: wu yanru , yang wenquan , li qinyao , Qiao Qianluo , zhao shuai , zhang yangcan , yu yanghua , zhang shengxiang , li xilai , kou jiancun
Published: July 2023

Aims
Degradation of alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a major issue affecting both ecology and economy. Microorganisms play an important role in soil nutrient cycling and regulation of ecosystem function. This study aimed to investigate the species composition and diversity of microbial communities, and understand the response of microbial communities to changes in physicochemical properties resulting from meadow degradation.
Methods
In this study, the soil bacterial and fungal communities and diversity of alpine meadows of degradation gradient were sequenced by high-throughput sequencing. The function of microbial communities was predicted with Picrust2 and FUNGuild.
Results
As meadow degradation increased, there were 36 bacterial taxa and 28 fungal taxa showing significant differences. The relative abundance of meadow pathogenic fungi increased significantly (P < 0.05). Bacterial and fungal α- diversity mostly tended to decrease. Picrust2 analysis showed a decrease in synthesis-related functional gene abundance and an increase in metabolism-related functional gene abundance. FUNGuild analysis showed that symbiotic and saprophytic symbiotic nutrient fungi decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The pH and available nutrients were identified as the main drivers of changes in the structure, of microbial communities.
Conclusion
The degradation of meadows directly affects soil nutrient content, which in turn affects the diversity and function of soil microbial composition. The combined effect of soil nutrient reduction and microbial community changes reduces the stability of meadows. This work reveals the response and main environmental drivers of alpine meadow degradation in microbial communities, which provides theoretical support for the conservation and sustainable development of alpine meadows.
Prediction of disease recurrence in patients after complete pancreatic NET G2 resection
Authors: Olearska Helena , Sowa-Staszczak Anna , Morawiec-Sławek Karolina , Kurzyńska Anna , Kolasa Magdalena , Tkacz Edyta , Szumińska Małgorzata , Hubalewska-Dydejczyk Alicja , Opalińska Marta
Published: July 2023

Introduction

The number of detected pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) is increasing over the last decades. Surgical resection remains the only potentially curative treatment, yet the management is still controversial. This study aimed to compare patients after radical PanNET G2 resection to determine the most important predictive factors for relapse.

Material and methods

All patients with histologically confirmed PanNET G2 who underwent the successful surgery between 2006-2020 with intention of radical treatment were enrolled.

Results

There was forty-four patients eligible for the analysis. The average follow-up was 8.39±4.5 years. The disease recurrence was observed in 16 (36.36%) patients. The dominant location of the primary tumor was the tail of the pancreas (43.18%), especially in the subgroup with the disease recurrence (56.25%). The relationship between the largest dimension of the tumor with a division of <4 cm vs >4 cm and the relapse was close to statistical significance (p=0.077). Recurrence was associated with a larger tumor size (p=0.018). There was a statistically significant relationship and a weak correlation between Ki-67 (p=0,036, V Cramer=0,371) and disease relapse.

Conclusion

The most important predictive factors of the NET G2 recurrence after radical surgery were Ki67 over 5% and the largest dimension of tumor over 4cm.
Task-dependent brain activity in generalized anxiety disorder determined by Bayesian spatiotemporal single case model
Authors: Ghamsari Fereshteh Sadat Hosseinian , Rasekhi Aliakbar , Faghihzadeh Elham , Farrahi Hassan
Published: July 2023

Background
Data obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have a complex structure. Considering the special features of this type of data in analyses is of particular importance. Previous studies on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as a prevalent mental disorder using functional neuroimaging have had conflicting results.
Results
In this study, we apply a Bayesian spatiotemporal model to this type of data that considers both spatial and temporal dependence among regions, which is one of the most essential features to consider. In this single-subject study, we analyzed data from a patient with GAD and a healthy participant. Both participants are 24-year-old women who are assigned an emotion reactivity task (matching neutral and negative facial expressions) inside a scanner. The spatial Bayesian variable selection method is used to detect blood oxygen level-dependent activation in fMRI data. Activation areas in neutral and negative facial expressions are provided for both participants by a posterior probability map. The results of our study show a greater level of activity in the GAD participant in comparison to the healthy participant in responding to the negative matching task.
Conclusion
The GAD patient showed more neural activity in response to negative facial expressions than the healthy participant in brain regions related to emotional response in the areas of the frontal pole, middle frontal gyrus, insular cortex, and frontal orbital cortex. Moreover, the inferior frontal gyrus in the patient with GAD showed more reaction to negative emotional stimuli.
Novel vegan and sugar-substituted chocolates. Part I: physical-chemical characterization
Authors: Torregrossa Federica , Cinquanta Luciano , Corona Onofrio , Albanese Donatella , Cuomo Francesca , Librici Calogero , Meo Paolo Lo , Conte Pellegrino
Published: July 2023

The confectionery industry is increasingly adopting new solutions and possible formulations to expand the ranges of chocolate products that support food styles linked to either cultural or health choices. The chemical-physical characteristics of chocolates (dark and milk) produced with traditional formulations or intended for vegan or demanding less simple sugars consumers (with a 10% reduction in calorific value), were analysed. The effects of the substitution of milk with coconut copra, almond and isolated soy proteins, and the replacement of sucrose with coconut sugars, stevia and erythritol, have been accounted for by analysing texture, rheology and water activity, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fast field cycling (FFC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. The plant-based sample showed lower values for hardness and adhesiveness in the texture analysis, and a larger peak in the melting behaviour at the DSC. Moreover, the substitution of milk powder caused more than a halving of the yield stress and a similar decrease in apparent and Casson viscosity. The crystallisation of cocoa butter in the substituted-sugar sample involved the β V form, the most desirable crystal form in high-quality chocolate. Results by FFC NMR relaxometry allowed identification of differently sized aggregates whose chemical nature is discussed. FFC NMR relaxometry data confirm those by rheological and DSC investigations.
Molecular detection of some zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks collected from camels (Camelus dromedarius) as hosts and wild rodents as potential reservoirs
Authors: Yousery Ayat M. , Soliman Doaa E. , Samy Ayman A. , Allam Ahmad M. , Shaalan Mona G , hamid Amira E. Abdel
Published: July 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Cultivar resistance of wart causative agents and late blight pathogen in potato breeding in Lithuania
Authors: Asakaviciute R. , Zelya Avrelia , Kacergius Audrius , Andriychuk Tatiana , Zelya Herrhii , Skoreyko Alla , Razukas Almantas
Published: July 2023

There were chosen 6 potato varieties of Lithuanian breeding: ‘VB Venta’, ‘Goda’, ‘VB Liepa’, ‘VB Meda’, ‘VB Rasа’ and ‘VB Aista’ by the research results during 2020-2021. Three potato varieties ‘VB Goda’, ‘VB Liepa’ and ‘VB Meda’ chose with high resistance degree to Phytophthora infenstans (Mont) de Bary. These potato varieties are recommended for use as parent forms for crossing and for implementation in potato disease sources.
Microsatellite simple repetitive sequence (PPS) markers are commonly used in various breeding and genetic studies because of their abundance, repetition, and extensive genome coverage. According to the results, it can be stated that the Lithuanian potato varieties have sufficient genetic differences. This also leads to different agro-morphological characteristics; however, greater genetic variation should be sought to broaden the range of breed characteristics.
A model of why women work harder than men
Authors: Kovaleva Irina , Taylor Leon
Published: July 2023

This article examines the relationship between marital living arrangements, cultural attitudes, and the allocation of household work in Kyrqyzstan, focusing on the patrilocality hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that women living with their husband's family are compelled to work harder than men. The study uses econometrics to test this hypothesis and explores the role of gender theory, resource theory, and bargaining theory in understanding household work allocation. Empirical results provide mixed evidence of the patrilocality and voluntary-marriage hypotheses. Contrary to the patrilocality hypothesis, women living with their husband's family do not earn lower outside wages. However, women who perform more household work have lower outside wages. The findings also suggest that love marriages may induce women to work more hours outside the home. Furthermore, cultural factors, such as religious devotion and decision-making power within the household, impact the division of household duties. The article concludes that while living arrangements and cultural attitudes affect the allocation of household work, they have limited explanatory power. Other factors, such as education and location, have stronger influences on women's outside wages, which, in turn, affect the division of household duties. The complex dynamics of family relationships and societal factors make it challenging to attribute household work allocation solely to one hypothesis or theory.
Enhancement of private schools for collaboration to address gender equity gap of STEM education:
Case study of Mbeya city of Tanzania
Authors: Kibona Isack E.
Published: July 2023

Investment in education to guarantee gender equity in most developing countries has focused on modern teaching pedagogy, teaching and learning facilities, cultural issues and the likes. However, performance in private schools do set learnable examples of which if not ignored, a nation in question may take lessons and improve gender equity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Private secondary schools may serve as on way to enrich girls' enrolment in STEM for future career opportunities by scoring qualified grades in STEM subjects, provided that education investment environment not only favours public schools but also be in favour of private schools. In the study conducted in Mbeya city of Tanzania, the author investigated 58 secondary schools of which 32 were private schools. From these schools 7959 candidates sat for Certificate of Secondary School Examination (CSEE) of 2022 in Mbeya city. 2255 candidates were from private schools. The analysis indicated that more girls with a potential to enter into STEM education came from private schools, and it is about twice the number of girls from public schools.
Chi-square testing of pass in STEM subjects between boys and girls verified that performance in private schools had closed the gender equity gap between boys and girls. On the other hand, boys outperformed girls in public schools.
Moreover, an estimation of 2202 candidates of which 999 were girls had at least a minimum pass in basic mathematics. Private schools contributed 626 (63%) of passes in basic mathematics.
Thus, appropriate collaboration with private schools might revamp not only girls’ enrolment but also clear gender equity gap in performance of STEM subjects if policy makers in education investment can do more improvement in the environment for education investment through private schools.
Spatial distribution and factors of ideal number of children among Ethiopian women: The Case of Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey
Authors: Mengist Addisalem , Asmare Samson
Published: July 2023

Background
Fertility is one of the important subjects in public health studies which affects populationgrowth.Ideal number of children is one of the main indexes showing the fertility preferences of couples. The main objective of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution and factors of an ideal number of children among Ethiopian women using the multilevel count regression model.
Methods
The study design was a cross sectional study. About 14003 women’s ages of 15–49 who fulfill the inclusion criterion were considered in this study. The study was evaluated based on different statistical model such as NB regression model and cross level interaction between level-2 and level-1 predictors (model5). In the meantime, a model with the best fit of the data using AIC and BIC was found to be a Multilevel Negative Binomial regression model.
Results
From this study, 33% of the women had need more INC and the variance of the INC was higher than its mean, this indicates that there is over dispersion so NB regression models were considered to select the best fit for the data. The LRT suggested that, INC visits vary among zones Furthermore, the Ideal number of children was spatial clustered (Global Moran’s I = 0.1439, p < 0.00043). Significant hotspot clusters were found in the Somali region such as in Afder, Shabelle, Korahe, Doolo zone.
Conclusion
Our study investigated the spatial heterogeneity of an ideal number of children, and its association with women’s age, region, place of residence, women's education, contraception use, religion, family size, spatial variable (Si) and age at first birth were significant predictors of the ideal number of children by women at reproductive age. Significant hotspot clusters were found in the Somali region such as in Afder, Shabelle, Korahe, Doolo zone. Therefore, Spatial distribution of INC different across each zone of Ethiopia.
Hypergraph Reinforced Graph Collaborative Learning for Session-based Recommendation
Authors: ZHANG Jingwei , ZHANG Jingai , ZHANG Wenxiang , YANG Qing , HU Shiyan
Published: July 2023

Session-based recommendation(SBR) aims to provide more accurate recommendations to users based on anonymous behavior sequences. Almost all the existing graph neural networks for SBR models only focus on converting session sequences into a single type of graph, which can not provide effective and comprehensive item transformation relationships to improve the performance of capturing user preferences. In this paper, we propose a Hypergraph Reinforced Graph Collaborative Learning (HGL-SR) to compensate for the shortcomings of a single type in graph modeling. HGL-SR learns two levels of item embeddings from session graphs and hypergraphs. Specifically, we design a session graph channel and a hypergraph channel. In the session graph channel, we capture the low-order transition information of items using the contextual relationships in the session sequence. And for cross-session potential sequence aspects, we view each session as a collection of items, construct hypergraphs and learn higher-order transition information between items. To make the hypergraph learning results better for reinforcing session graph learning, we design a collaborative learning module to capture more accurate user preferences through item information. Extensive experiments conducted on two real datasets show that HGL-SR outperforms the state-of-the-art session-based recommendation methods consistently.
Integrating Deep Learning Algorithms with Satellite Images: Revolutionizing Earth Observation
Authors: Neyigapula Bheema Shanker
Published: July 2023

Earth observation using satellite images is a critical component of understanding our planet’s dynamics and monitoring environmental changes. The integration of deep learning algorithms with satellite images has revolutionized the field by enabling the extraction of valuable insights from these vast datasets. This research paper specifically focuses on the application of Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) in earth observation. GCNs provide a powerful framework for analyzing satellite images by leveraging the inherent spatial relationships among pixels. We explore the fundamentals of GCNs, their advantages in image analysis, and their applications in land cover classification, object detection, urban development monitoring, weather prediction, and climate modeling. Additionally, we discuss the challenges and limitations associated with integrating GCNs with satellite images and propose future research directions to enhance their performance and efficiency. The findings of this research highlight the transformative potential of GCNs in revolutionizing earth observation and offer new avenues for improving our understanding of the planet’s dynamics.
Predicting Mortality Risk in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: An Early Model Utilizing Clinical Symptoms
Authors: Hai Cong Nguyen , Duc Thanh Bui , Minh The Nguyen , Duc Loi Trinh , Quang Lich Ngo , Tung Son Luong Cao , Quy Sy Duong
Published: July 2023

Background: Despite global efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of new viral strains continues to pose a significant threat. Accurate patient stratification, optimized resource allocation, and appropriate treatment are crucial in managing COVID-19 cases. To address this, a simple and accurate prognostic tool capable of rapidly identifying individuals at high risk of mortality is urgently needed. Early prognosis facilitates predicting treatment outcomes and enables effective patient management. The aim of this study was to develop an early predictive model for assessing mortality risk in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, utilizing baseline clinical factors.
Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study involving a cohort of 375 COVID-19 patients admitted and treated at the COVID-19 Patient Treatment Center in Military Hospital 175 from October 2021 to December 2022.
Results: Among the 375 patients, 246 and 129 patients were categorized into the survival and mortality groups, respectively. Our findings revealed six clinical factors that demonstrated independent predictive value for mortality in COVID-19 patients. These factors included age greater than 50 years, presence of multiple underlying diseases, dyspnea, acute confusion, oxygen saturation below 94%, and oxygen demand exceeding 5 liters per minute. We integrated these factors to develop the Military Hospital 175 scale (MH175), a prognostic scale demonstrating significant discriminatory ability with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.87. The optimal cutoff value for predicting mortality risk using the MH175 score was determined to be ≥ 3 points, resulting in a sensitivity of 96.1%, specificity of 63.4%, positive predictive value of 58%, and negative predictive value of 96.9%.
Conclusions: The MH175 scale demonstrated a robust predictive capacity for assessing mortality risk in patients with COVID-19. Implementation of the MH175 scale in clinical settings can aid in patient stratification and facilitate the application of appropriate treatment strategies, ultimately reducing the risk of death. Therefore, the utilization of the MH175 scale holds significant potential to improve clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
Trial registration: The participants were registered.
Association between echocardiography utilization and prognosis in patients with cardiac arrest: A retrospective study based on the MIMIC-IV database
Authors: Zhang Nan , Lin Qingting , Zhu Huadong
Published: July 2023

Background
Cardiac arrest is one of the main causes of adult mortality worldwide. However, the impact of the application of echocardiography on the prognosis of cardiac arrest patients is still lacking sufficient research.
Objectives
We aimed to explore the association between the echocardiography utilization and the prognosis of patients with cardiac arrest, which can offer some evidence to Improving the quality of diagnosis and treatment for patients with cardiac arrest.
Methods
This study was a retrospective study including adult patients aged over 18 with cardiac arrest diagnosis and hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV). Patients were grouped according to whether echocardiography was performed during the hospitalization, analysis models including dual robust estimation were used to evaluate the association between the application of echocardiography and the prognosis of patients with cardiac arrest.
Results
Compared with the control group without echocardiography, patients receiving echocardiography showed better outcomes in both hospitalization survival (Odds ratio = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90–0.98, p = 0.007) and 28-day survival (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
In patients with cardiac arrest, the use of echocardiography was associated with a reduction in mortality rate.
Do Marketing Ethics Matter in formulating Consumer’s Purchase Intention? Evidence From the Sultanate of Oman
Authors: Abdelfattah Fadi , AlAlawi Abrar , Balushi Nabeela Imam Bakhsh AL , Salah Mohammed , AlWashahi Maryam
Published: July 2023

This study investigates the factors that affect customers’ purchasing intention to adopt shopping platforms in Oman. A conceptual model was developed after extensively reviewing related literature. An adapted questionnaire was developed and used to collect data from customers who have experience using digital platforms. One hundred and twelve responses were received through a convenient sampling method. The Partial Least Square (PLS) software analysed and validated the data. The findings showed that unethical marketing practices significantly affect the perceived risk of product scarcity and the intention to adopt digital platforms. As a result, several recommendations were made to the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion, to understand and explore the aspects of deception that digital platforms use and develop and pass legislation in line with and ensure fair competition.
The effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism on severity and death rate of COVID-19 in Iranian patients
Authors: Samet Mohammad , Yazdi Mehran , Tajamolian Masoud , Beygi Mahdi , Sheikhha Mohammad Hasan , Hoseini Seyed Mehdi
Published: July 2023

The study was designed to assess the association of ACE I/D polymorphism with the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 in Iranian population. Hence, 186 adult patients were categorized into three clinical groups based on the severity of COVID-19: 1) Outpatients or mild symptomatic patients as control; 2) Hospitalized patients or severe symptomatic cases; 3) Inpatients led to ICU/death or critically ill patients needed mechanical ventilation. The possible association of ACE I/D polymorphism with the risk of comorbidities and serum level of C-reactive protein was evaluated in two severe cases. The results showed that the frequency of D and I alleles are 69.35% and 30.65%, respectively, in total population. The analysis of allelic frequencies via Fisher's exact test confirmed significantly higher frequency of D allele in both severe groups than that in the mild one, 78.31% in Hospitalized patients (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.22 to 0.68; p-value = 0.0011) and 74.19% in Inpatients led to ICU/death (OR = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.29 to 0.82; p-value = 0.0094) compared to 58.45% in Outpatients. The results of genotype proportions displayed an association between COVID-19 severity and DD genotype. Altogether, our findings in Iranian patients and other reports from different population lead us to the conclusion that despite the undoubted role of the DD genotype in the severity of the disease, the protective effect of the I allele is highly depended on the genetic pool of ethnicities.
Porphyrin based Ni/Co metal-organic framework: Preparation, characterization and photodegradation of 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene
Authors: Bokaei Forough , Rahim Rahmatollah , Rabbani Mahboubeh
Published: July 2023

In this study, mixed-metal metal-organic frameworks (MM-MOFs) containing metal-based porphyrin moieties will be synthesized and characterized. Then, efficiency of MOFs with Co and Ni alone and Co/Ni together in the different molar ratios as nodes with Mn-TCPP and H2TCPP as a linker in the structure of bimetallic-MOFs were investigated for photodegradation of DHN to Juglone. Also, different effecting factors on photocatalytic activity containing solvent, oxidant, time, and type of lamp, were further optimized for the best MM-MOF. According to the results, Ni50%/Co50% TCPP-Mn with the molar ratio of 1:1 of Ni:Co shows the highest efficiency in the photocatalytic process which was up to 66.3% under xenon lamp irradiation with blowing of O2 as the source of oxidant. Therefore, the presence both of nickel and cobalt in the structure led to a synergistic effect in enhancement of photocatalytic activity application.
The synergic interplay between entropy, predictability, and informational efficiency of the Shanghai sectoral index
Authors: Fernandes Leonardo H S , de Araujo Fernando Henrique Antunes , Silva José W. L. , Filho Marcos C. M. , Tabak Benjamin
Published: July 2023

We explore the synergic interplay between entropy (disorder), predictability, and informational efficiency of the daily closing price time series of 13 sectoral economics components of the Shanghai index letter considering three non-overlapping periods (before and during COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war). Our findings reveal that the telecom services, financials, and consumer discretionary sectors are marked by higher informational efficiency. Otherwise, the industrials, utilities, and transportation sectors exhibit lower informational efficiency. These insights are relevant for financial agents to make informed decisions, manage risk, and seek opportunities in an ever-changing market environment.
Inklusive Campuspläne: Anforderungen, State of the Art und Umsetzungsmöglichkeiten
Authors: Mateen Saba , Voß-Nakkour Sarah , Grimminger Sanja , Rustemeier Linda
Published: July 2023

Die Teilnahme am Bildungsalltag beginnt damit, dass man sich am Campus orientieren kann. Unter einem inklusiven Campusplan wird im Rahmen dieses Beitrags ein interaktiver und barrierefreier Online-Campusplan verstanden, der auf physische Barrieren hinweist und inklusive Angebote der Universität hervorhebt. Zu diesen Angeboten zählen beispielsweise Informationen zu barrierefreien Zugängen, Standorten von Beratungsstellen, Wickeltischen sowie (All-Gender-) Toiletten. Zudem muss der Plan in der Bedienung barrierefrei sein, sodass Nutzende von assistiven Technologien, wie z.B. einem Screenreader, einen gleichwertigen Zugang haben wie ihre Kommiliton*innen bzw. Kolleg*innen. Ein Ziel ist es, eine nachhaltige Lösung zur Umsetzung eines inklusiven Campusplans zu finden. Eine Untersuchung des State of the Art von barrierefreien Campusplänen gibt einen Überblick über die möglichen inhaltlichen Merkmale sowie die technischen Umsetzungen. Anschließend werden Problemstellungen und Lösungsansätze diskutiert, sodass dieser Beitrag eine Grundlage für die Umsetzung eines inklusiven Campusplans bietet.
Flächendeckende Realisierbarkeit von barrierefreien Videos mithilfe automatisierter Untertitel
Authors: Grimminger Sanja , Voß-Nakkour Sarah , Rustemeier Linda , Mateen Saba
Published: July 2023

Untertitel manuell zu erstellen, erfordert zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt viel Zeit und personelle Ressourcen. Für Einzelne ist es mühsam ein geeignetes Tool zu finden und einen guten Workflow zu erarbeiten, geschweige denn die schnell steigende Anzahl an Videos zu bearbeiten. Bedingt durch die Corona-Pandemie und das damit einhergehende Arbeiten im digitalen Lehrbetrieb ist die Anzahl der Videos noch einmal immens gestiegen. Zu untertiteln sind nicht nur aufgenommene Vorlesungen, sondern beispielsweise auch Informationsvideos auf einer Homepage, Erklärfilme, aber auch digitale Live-Veranstaltungen. Dies sprengt die begrenzten Ressourcen, die den Hochschulen zur Verfügung stehen. Im Beitrag wird untersucht, inwieweit automatische Untertitel die Lösung dieses Problems sein können. Dafür werden vier Tools auf ihre funktionellen Unterschiede und die Qualität ihrer Ergebnisse untersucht. Anschließend wird erarbeitet, welche dieser Kriterien für Hochschulen relevant sind, um eine flächendeckende Untertitelung in allen Videos gewährleisten zu können. Die Erkenntnisse basieren auf den praktischen Erfahrungen von studiumdigitale, der zentralen eLearning-Einrichtung der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, mit dem Einsatz verschiedener Tools in Projekten sowie aus dem Erfahrungsaustausch mit anderen Hochschulmitarbeiter*innen im Rahmen des Verbundprojekts HessenHub. Das Ziel dabei ist, einen schlanken Workflow im Sinne einer Lean Media Production, d.h. eine innovative Herangehensweise, die möglichst ressourcenschonend und perspektivisch nachhaltig ist, zu erarbeiten.
Videokonferenzen – Wie kann digitale Barrierefreiheit bestmöglich umgesetzt und erforscht werden?
Authors: Rogalla Irmhild
Published: July 2023

Videokonferenzsysteme haben sich in den letzten Jahren als Tools für die unterschiedlichsten Veranstaltungsformate etabliert. Leider ist keines dieser Tools so barrierefrei, dass inklusive Veranstaltungen mit Menschen mit unterschiedlichen Beeinträchtigungen und Behinderungen möglich sind. Dies gilt auch für Open-Source-Systeme (z.B. BigBlueButton, Jitsi), die aufgrund von Sicherheits- und Datenschutzanforderungen gerade an (Hoch-)Schulen bevorzugt eingesetzt werden. Warum sind gerade Open-Source-Videokonferenzsysteme nicht barrierefrei? Ließe sich das ändern und wenn ja: wie? Bisher gibt es keine Standards für die Barrierefreiheit von Videokonferenzsystemen. Gleichzeitig sind diese Systeme sehr komplex und die Anforderungen an sie sehr vielfältig. Änderungen können nur im Rahmen von Entwicklungsprozessen in den entsprechenden Open-Source-Communitys erfolgen. Ihre Rahmenbedingungen müssen berücksichtigt werden. Allerdings sind in vielen Open-Source-Communitys Usability- und Accessibility-Anforderungen eher unbekannt, auch weil in den Communitys kaum Menschen mit Einschränkungen mitwirken. Basierend auf eigenen Erfahrungen der Autor*innen systematisiert dieser Beitrag daher Anforderungen an die Barrierefreiheit von Videokonferenzen und entsprechenden Systemen in drei Dimensionen. Daraus ergeben sich zunächst Forschungsfragen hinsichtlich der Verbesserung der Systeme, der Kommunikation und der Open-Source-Entwicklungsprozesse. Als nachhaltiger, integrierter Ansatz ist ein Accessibility-by-Design-Vorgehensmodell denkbar, das noch der Forschung und Entwicklung bedarf.
Barrierefrei studieren? Linktipps des Deutschen Bildungsservers
Authors: Tilgner Renate , Massar Tamara , Schulte Gwendolyn
Published: July 2023

Der Deutsche Bildungsserver ist der zentrale Internet-Wegweiser zum Bildungssystem in Deutschland. Als von Bund und Ländern getragenes, nationales Webportal stellt er allen mit Bildungsthemen befassten Professionen sowie einer breiten Öffentlichkeit qualitativ hochwertige, redaktionell gepflegte Informationsangebote zur Verfügung. Die Linkempfehlungen beim Deutschen Bildungsserver greifen das Thema „digitale Barrierefreiheit weiterdenken“ auf und liefern Hintergründe sowie weiterführende Informationen. Sie gliedern sich in drei Teile, die von Barrierefreiheit allgemein über Online-Lehre bis zu Inklusion im Hochschulalltag reichen. Zunächst werden übergreifende Informationen zu Barrierefreiheit sowie deren Rechtsgrundlagen gegeben. Es wird Bezug auf die Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinie zu Barrierefreiheitsanforderungen für Produkte und Dienstleistungen (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz) sowie auf die Barrierefreie- Informationstechnik-Verordnung genommen. Ziel ist die gleichberechtigte und diskriminierungsfreie Teilhabe von Menschen mit Einschränkungen. Anschließend wird auf Anlaufstellen verwiesen, zu deren Aufgaben die Beratung zur Umsetzung von Barrierefreiheit gehört. Außerdem werden Einrichtungen und Projekte genannt, die Unterstützungstechnologien für barrierefreie Kommunikation fördern oder dazu forschen. Digitale Bildung eröffnet weitergehende Möglichkeiten der Inklusion auch an Hochschulen. Im zweiten Abschnitt wird ein Blick auf politische Hintergründe geworfen sowie auf die Rolle, die Digitalisierung, Inklusion und Diversität in hochschulpolitischen Diskussionen spielen. Es folgen Projekte und Aktivitäten an Hochschulen, die sich der Umsetzung praktischer Maßnahmen widmen. Schwerpunkt ist die barrierefreie Online-Lehre und die Entwicklung entsprechender Tools. Die Tipps und Hinweise sollen helfen, die Gestaltung digitaler Barrierefreiheit in der Hochschulbildung zu erleichtern. Den Abschluss bilden Praxisbeispiele zur digitalen Inklusion im (Hochschul-)Alltag. Vorgestellt werden Maßnahmen und Projekte, die es Studierenden erleichtern sollen, sich zurechtzufinden, sowie deren persönliche Erfahrungen. Verwendung finden verschiedene Formate, z.B. Audiobeiträge und Podcasts.
How Have We Always Been Posthuman?
Authors: Krstić Predrag
Published: July 2023

This paper problematises the justification of ‘postist’ revisions of humanism. In the first part of the paper, a line of thought that persistently marks the self-perception of man is presented. It stretches from Plato, through Pico della Mirandola and Kant, all the way to existentialism and philosophical anthropology in the twentieth century. In it, man is understood as chronically deficient in their own ‘nature’ or ‘essence’, and his privileged status is built from this rootlessness. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the relationship of transhumanism and critical posthumanism to humanism. Transhumanism is found to harmoniously continue and/or radicalise the humanist project of self-creating and self-transcending man, while critical posthumanism advocates a rethinking and redescription of man in view of what are considered to have been the disastrous consequences of humanism: a transgression in relation to everything different from man by anthropomorphising it and anthropocentrically measuring it against himself. The concluding part of the paper detects a certain arbitrariness in the understanding of humanism by its critics, reminds that even within such a broadly understood humanism, critical moments have been inherited as its own content and corrective, and that announcements of radical cuts and ruptures with the humanistic tradition are perhaps redundant. It is also noted that something non-negligible has changed with the contemporary challenges of technoscience – artificial intelligence, informatics, robotics –but it is contested that this change in social history requires a cardinal rejection, change or neglect of the intellectual heritage that enables responses to it and/or a rational dispute about it. A synoptic overview of humanist landmarks and their post-humanist condemnations is suggested, which would respect the heritage of humanist thought and the right or even the obligation built into it of its critical review.
Visual Methodological Approaches between Sociology and Anthropology: Photo-elicitation and Photovoice
Authors: Zvijer Nemanja
Published: July 2023

This paper gives a concise overview of two specific methods – photo-elicitation and photovoice – which originated in anthropology, but found an application in sociology as well, mostly because of the closeness of these two disciplines on the theoretical and methodological level, as well as on the institutional. This closeness is, among other things, noticeable in the highly specific academic directions of these disciplines, such as those oriented towards the visual sphere, like visual anthropology and visual sociology. The specificity of the two mentioned methods is reflected in the fact that they are based on the visual and visual materials in general, and their use is, to a large extent, legitimated by a specific social context characterised by the predominance of the visual in many aspects (representational, communicative, political, urban to mention just a few) at both the global and local levels. Despite this situation, the mentioned methods, as well as those similar to them, are still used quite ‘shyly’ in research approaches to contemporary society. This paper discusses the central features and epistemological potential of photo-elicitation and photovoice, as well as their different formal variations, especially in the case of photo-elicitation. Basically, both methods are based in traditional research approaches like classic interviews and focus group discussions. Despite this, their use represents a visible and certainly significant expansion of the methodological range. In that sense, special attention is paid to the possible advantages of these methods which separate them in a certain way from other methodological practices. In order to prevent their uncritical glorification, the limitations and disadvantages of these methods are also discussed, which should offer a more nuanced methodological picture.
EFFECT OF DIESEL-BIODIESEL-ETHANOL MIXTURES ON CORROSION RATE OF VARIOUS METALS IN THE PRESENCE OF TERT-BUTYLHYDROQUINONE (TBHQ)
Authors: Joumaa Chaza , Saad Ibtissam , Younes Ghassan
Published: July 2023

For many years, the goal of transitioning from conventional to renewable fuels (bioethanol and biodiesel) has been encouraged by government entities. However, due to the hygroscopicity of ethanol, ethanol/biodiesel blends can accelerate corrosion in metallurgy. Therefore, inhibitors can be added to mitigate corrosion. This research studied the effect of adding ethanol to diesel/biodiesel blends and measured the rate of corrosion on various metals (aluminum, copper, and 304 stainless steel) by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method. The results indicated the corrosion rate increased with increasing the percentage of ethanol in the blends, and the corrosion inhibition efficiency of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) decreased upon the addition of ethanol. TBHQ was most effective as a corrosion inhibitor in the B15E5 blend. The inhibition efficiency of TBHQ decrease with the increase of the temperature. The adsorption process and the electrochemical parameters were calculated and discussed.