bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Advanced epithelial lung and gut barrier models demonstrate passage of microplastic particles
Authors: Donkers Joanne M. , Höppener Elena M. , Grigoriev Ilya , Will Lena , Melgert Barbro N. , van der Zaan Bas , van de Steeg Evita , Kooter Ingeborg M.
Published: January 2022

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNP) can be found virtually everywhere around us in the biosphere and food chain, therefore humans are continuously exposed to MNP, mainly via inhalation and ingestion. Here, we have applied physiologically relevant human-based advanced in vitro models representing the lung (MucilAir™) and gut (InTESTine™ and Intestinal Explant Barrier Chip (IEBC)) to study membrane passage of various MNP and their potency to induce cytotoxic effects, barrier disturbances or pro-inflammatory cell activation. Selected MNP of various materials (polystyrene, polyethylene, nylon, car tire, and marine MNP collected from the ocean), shapes (spheres, fragments and fibers), sizes (0.05–100 μm), some of which were fluorescently labelled for tracking, were included. Without affecting cell viability, nylon fibers and (cleaned) HDPE (high density polyethylene) disrupted the MucilAir™ epithelial barrier. Luminal exposure to polystyrene particles (1 and 10 μm) and pristine HDPE fragments significantly decreased human colon tissue functionality. Furthermore, all polystyrene particles (0.05, 1 and 10 μm) affected tissue viability in porcine jejunum, ileum and colon tissue after 5 h exposure, and this was further confirmed in the IEBC after 24 h of exposure to 10 μm polystyrene particles and nylon fibers. Exposure to nylon fibers and its supernatant led to pro-inflammatory cell activation, as shown by increased IL-6 release in MucilAir™ and in human colon tissue after 96 or 24 h, respectively. Regarding transepithelial penetration of the MNP, permeability of 0.05 μm polystyrene spheres in the MucilAir™ lung cell model reached 3.6 ± 1.2% after 24 h. With 3.37 ± 0.46% after 5 h under static conditions and 5.5 ± 1.3% after 24 h under microfluidic conditions MNP permeability across intestinal tissue was highest for the largest (10 μm) polystyrene spheres. Confocal microscopy confirmed the translocation of MNP across the lung and intestinal epithelial barrier. In conclusion, we present a study revealing the passage of MNP over the epithelium of advanced in vitro models for the lung and intestine barrier. Furthermore, pro-inflammatory cell activation and disrupted barrier integrity were observed after exposure to several of the tested MNP. Future research is needed to further identify the effects of shape, size and material on these processes and subsequently the health effects of humans.
Neoadjuvant Atezolizumab With Gemcitabine and Cisplatin in Patients With Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Multicenter, Single-Arm, Phase II Trial
Authors: Funt Samuel A. , Lattanzi Michael , Whiting Karissa , Al-Ahmadie Hikmat , Quinlan Colleen , Teo Min Yuen , Lee Chung-Han , Aggen David , Zimmerman Danielle , McHugh Deaglan , Apollo Arlyn , Durdin Trey D. , Truong Hong , Kamradt Jeffrey , Khalil Maged , Lash Bradley , Ostrovnaya Irina , McCoy Asia S. , Hettich Grace , Regazzi Ashley , Jihad Marwah , Ratna Neha , Boswell Abigail , Francese Kaitlyn , Yang Yuanquan , Folefac Edmund , Herr Harry W. , Donat S. Machele , Pietzak Eugene , Cha Eugene K. , Donahue Timothy F. , Goh Alvin C. , Huang William C. , Bajorin Dean F. , Iyer Gopa , Bochner Bernard H. , Balar Arjun V. , Mortazavi Amir , Rosenberg Jonathan E.
Published: January 2022

PURPOSE

Neoadjuvant gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC) followed by radical cystectomy (RC) is standard for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). On the basis of the activity of atezolizumab (A) in metastatic BC, we tested neoadjuvant GC plus A for MIBC.

METHODS

Eligible patients with MIBC (cT2-T4aN0M0) received a dose of A, followed 2 weeks later by GC plus A every 21 days for four cycles followed 3 weeks later by a dose of A before RC. The primary end point was non–muscle-invasive downstaging to < pT2N0.

RESULTS

Of 44 enrolled patients, 39 were evaluable. The primary end point was met, with 27 of 39 patients (69%) < pT2N0, including 16 (41%) pT0N0. No patient with < pT2N0 relapsed and four (11%) with ≥ pT2N0 relapsed with a median follow-up of 16.5 months (range: 7.0-33.7 months). One patient refused RC and two developed metastatic disease before RC; all were considered nonresponders. The most common grade 3-4 adverse event (AE) was neutropenia (n = 16; 36%). Grade 3 immune-related AEs occurred in five (11%) patients with two (5%) requiring systemic steroids. The median time from last dose of chemotherapy to surgery was 7.8 weeks (range: 5.1-17 weeks), and no patient failed to undergo RC because of AEs. Four of 39 (10%) patients had programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive tumors and were all < pT2N0. Of the patients with PD-L1 low or negative tumors, 23 of 34 (68%) achieved < pT2N0 and 11 of 34 (32%) were ≥ pT2N0 ( P = .3 for association between PD-L1 and < pT2N0).

CONCLUSION

Neoadjuvant GC plus A is a promising regimen for MIBC and warrants further study. Patients with < pT2N0 experienced improved relapse-free survival. The PD-L1 positivity rate was low compared with published data, which limits conclusions regarding PD-L1 as a predictive biomarker.
Heterogeneous pdgfrb+ cells regulate coronary vessel development and revascularization during heart regeneration
Authors: Kapuria Subir , Bai Haipeng , Fierros Juancarlos , Huang Ying , Ma Feiyang , Yoshida Tyler , Aguayo Antonio , Kok Fatma , Wiens Katie M. , Yip Joycelyn K. , McCain Megan L. , Pellegrini Matteo , Nagashima Mikiko , Hitchcock Peter F. , Mochizuki Naoki , Lawson Nathan D. , Harrison Michael M. R. , Lien Ching-Ling
Published: January 2022

Endothelial cells emerge from the atrioventricular canal to form coronary blood vessels in juvenile zebrafish hearts. We find that pdgfrb is first expressed in the epicardium around the atrioventricular canal and later becomes localized mainly in the mural cells. pdgfrb mutant fish show severe defects in mural cell recruitment and coronary vessel development. Single-cell RNA sequencing analyses identified pdgfrb+ cells as epicardium-derived cells (EPDCs) and mural cells. Mural cells associated with coronary arteries also express cxcl12b and smooth muscle cell markers. Interestingly, these mural cells remain associated with coronary arteries even in the absence of Pdgfrβ, although smooth muscle gene expression is downregulated. We find that pdgfrb expression dynamically changes in EPDCs of regenerating hearts. Differential gene expression analyses of pdgfrb+ EPDCs and mural cells suggest that they express genes that are important for regeneration after heart injuries. mdka was identified as a highly upregulated gene in pdgfrb+ cells during heart regeneration. However, pdgfrb but not mdka mutants show defects in heart regeneration after amputation. Our results demonstrate that heterogeneous pdgfrb+ cells are essential for coronary development and heart regeneration.
Centrosome maturation – in tune with the cell cycle
Authors: Blanco-Ameijeiras Jose , Lozano-Fernández Pilar , Martí Elisa
Published: January 2022

Centrosomes are the main microtubule-organizing centres, playing essential roles in the organization of the cytoskeleton during interphase, and in the mitotic spindle, which controls chromosome segregation, during cell division. Centrosomes also act as the basal body of cilia, regulating cilium length and affecting extracellular signal reception as well as the integration of intracellular signalling pathways. Centrosomes are self-replicative and duplicate once every cell cycle to generate two centrosomes. The core support structure of the centrosome consists of two molecularly distinct centrioles. The mother (mature) centriole exhibits accessory appendages and is surrounded by both pericentriolar material and centriolar satellites, structures that the daughter (immature) centriole lacks. In this Review, we discuss what is currently known about centrosome duplication, its dialogue with the cell cycle and the sequential acquisition of specific components during centriole maturation. We also describe our current understanding of the mature centriolar structures that are required to build a cilium. Altogether, the built-in centrosome asymmetries that stem from the two centrosomes inheriting molecularly different centrioles sets the foundation for cell division being an intrinsically asymmetric process.
Design of Dimeric Dinuclear Boron Complexes with Flexible Linkers: Aggregation-induced White-light Emission via Molecular Engineering
Authors: Ihara Megumi , Cui Luxia , Konishi Yuto , Hisaeda Yoshio , Ono Toshikazu
Published: January 2022

The aggregation state of two new covalently bonded dinuclear boron-based dye complexes was controlled to fabricate white-light-emitting materials. The materials exhibit blue and orange emission, with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 16% for one of the complexes in the solid state. This study highlights the importance of molecular engineering through the control of dye aggregation as a fundamental technology for creating novel functional materials with interesting optical properties.
Cu- or Fe-catalyzed Atom-Transfer Radical Reactions in Cyclizations
Authors: Matsumoto Junki , Nakashima Yusei , Nishikata Takashi
Published: January 2022

Herein, we report an efficient method using transition metal catalysts for controlling atom-transfer radical cyclization elimination (ATRCE) and atom-transfer radical cyclization (ATRC) in the reaction of α-bromocarbonyls possessing a styrene moiety. An iron salt efficiently catalyzed the ATRCE to produce cyclic compounds possessing a C-C double bond. On the other hand, the copper catalyst produced halogenated cyclic compounds.
Taxes and Turnout: When the Decisive Voter Stays at Home
Authors: Bierbrauer Felix , Tsyvinski Aleh , Werquin Nicolas
Published: January 2022

We develop a model of political competition with endogenous turnout and endogenous platforms. Parties trade off incentivizing their supporters to vote and discouraging the supporters of the competing party from voting. We show that the latter objective is particularly pronounced for a party with an edge in the political race. Thus, an increase in political support for a party may lead to the adoption of policies favoring its opponents so as to asymmetrically demobilize them. We study the implications for the political economy of redistributive taxation. Equilibrium tax policy is typically aligned with the interest of voters who are demobilized. (JEL D63, D72, H23, H24)
Consumer Information and the Limits to Competition
Authors: Armstrong Mark , Zhou Jidong
Published: January 2022

This paper studies competition between firms when consumers observe a private signal of their preferences over products. Within the class of signal structures that induce pure-strategy pricing equilibria, we derive signal structures that are optimal for firms and those that are optimal for consumers. The firm-optimal policy amplifies underlying product differentiation, thereby relaxing competition, while ensuring consumers purchase their preferred product, thereby maximizing total welfare. The consumer-optimal policy dampens differentiation, which intensifies competition, but induces some consumers to buy their less preferred product. Our analysis sheds light on the limits to competition when the information possessed by consumers can be designed flexibly. (JEL D11, D21, D43, D82, D83, L13)
Chipped stone industries from western Macedonia, Greece
Authors: Παπαδοπούλου Στυλιανή
Published: January 2022

Η παρούσα διατριβή εστιάζει στη μελέτη των λιθοτεχνιών πελεκημένου λίθου της Δυτικής Μακεδονίας κατά τη Νεολιθική περίοδο, χρησιμοποιώντας ως μελέτη περίπτωσης το πλούσιο υλικό που προέκυψε από τη σωστική ανασκαφή του Νεολιθικού λιμναίου οικισμού Ανάργυροι ΙΧβ, στην περιοχή του Αμυνταίου. Ερευνάται η οργάνωση της λιθοτεχνικής παραγωγής, με στόχο την προσέγγιση των στρατηγικών που ακολουθήθηκαν από την προϊστορική κοινότητα κατά τη Νεότερη Νεολιθική έως και τις αρχές της Τελικής Νεολιθικής περιόδου (τέλος της 6ης χιλιετίας έως το τέλος της 5ης χιλιετίας π.Χ.). Η τεχνο-μορφολογική ανάλυση του λίθινου υλικού, ακολουθώντας τη μεθοδολογία της εγχειρηματικής αλυσίδας, επέτρεψε τη διερεύνηση ποικίλων διαστάσεων της λιθοτεχνικής παραγωγής, όπως η προμήθεια και η χρήση των πρώτων υλών, οι τεχνολογικές επιλογές, η χρήση των εργαλείων και οι δραστηριότητες που σχετίζονται με αυτά. Η σύγκριση της λιθοτεχνίας από τον οικισμό Ανάργυροι ΙΧβ με τις δημοσιευμένες λιθοτεχνίες άλλων οικισμών της Β. Ελλάδας, υποδεικνύει ομοιότητες στην περιοχή της Δυτικής Μακεδονίας, όπου οι οικισμοί βασίζονται σε καλής ποιότητας πρώτες ύλες για την κατασκευή των εργαλείων τους. Ο οικισμός Ανάργυροι ΙΧβ συμμετείχε τόσο σε τοπικά δίκτυα επικοινωνίας και ανταλλαγών, όσο και σε ευρύτερα δίκτυα σχετιζόμενα με τη διακίνηση εξωτικών πρώτων υλών (π.χ. οψιανού). Η διαχρονική εξέταση του υλικού παραπέμπει σε αλλαγές στην οργάνωση της λιθοτεχνικής παραγωγής κατά την Τελική Νεολιθική περίοδο, που πιθανόν να σχετίζονται με διάφορους κοινωνικοοικονομικούς παράγοντες.
Η επίδραση μίας παρέμβασης εικονικής πραγματικότητας πλήρους εμβύθισης στις αντιληπτικές ικανότητες παιδιών ηλικίας 8-10 ετών στην πετοσφαίριση
Authors: Αμπράση Ευαγγελία
Published: January 2022

Οι Εκπαιδευτικοί Φυσικής Αγωγής (ΕΦΑ) και οι προπονητές προσπαθούν να βρουν τις κατάλληλες μεθόδους, που να είναι ευχάριστες, δημοφιλείς και αποδοτικές ώστε να αναπτύξουν/ βελτιώσουν τις Αντιληπτικές Ικανότητες (ΑΙ) των αθλητών τους. Η Εικονική Πραγματικότητα Πλήρους Εμβύθισης αποτελεί ένα καινοτόμο εργαλείο, το οποίο παρέχει τη δυνατότητα στο χρήστη να εξασκείται σε προκαθορισμένες και μεμονωμένες φάσεις στον αθλητισμό μέσα σε ένα ασφαλές και ελεγχόμενο περιβάλλον. Ο σκοπός αυτής της έρευνας ήταν η εφαρμογή του θεωρητικού πλαισίου της Θεωρίας Δυναμικών Συστημάτων (ΘΔΣ) προκειμένου να εξεταστεί η επίδραση τριών διαφορετικών παρεμβατικών προγραμμάτων εξάσκησης στην ανάπτυξη/ βελτίωση των ΑΙ σε κορίτσια 8-10 ετών: ένα πρόγραμμα βασισμένο σε Πλήρη Εμβυθιστικά Εικονικά Περιβάλλοντα (ΠΕΕΠ), ένα πρόγραμμα με Τυπικές Δραστηριότητες (ΤΔ) στο γήπεδο και ένα μη δομημένο πρόγραμμα εξάσκησης. Επιπλέον, να αξιολογήσει την αυτό –παρουσία, την εμπειρία διάθεσης, την απόλαυση, τις στάσεις και τη μελλοντική συμπεριφορική πρόθεση των παιδιών προς τα παιχνίδια ΠΕΕΠ και τις ΤΔ στην τελική μέτρηση. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν συνολικά 48 αθλήτριες πετοσφαίρισης ηλικίας 8-10 ετών (9.36±0.77). Για τον σκοπό της έρευνας χωρίστηκαν τυχαία σε τρεις ισάριθμες ομάδες των δεκαέξι (16) ατόμων, μία Ομάδα Ελέγχου (ΟΕ) και δύο Πειραματικές Ομάδες (ΠΟ). Όλες οι ομάδες πραγματοποίησαν μία αρχική μέτρηση όπου αξιολογήθηκαν οι ΑΙ. Έπειτα ακολούθησε το πρόγραμμα παρέμβασης για 8 εβδομάδες Χ 2 φορές την εβδομάδα, στο οποίο συμμετείχαν όλες οι ομάδες. Η ομάδα ΠΕΕΠ εξασκήθηκε παίζοντας με το Playstation VR, η ομάδα ΤΔ μέσω συγκεκριμένου ασκησιολογίου στο γήπεδο, ενώ η ΟΕ δεν ακολούθησε κάποιο δομημένο πρόγραμμα εξάσκησης. Στη συνέχεια ακολουθήθηκε η τελική μέτρηση όπου αξιολογήθηκαν οι ΑΙ και οι ΠΟ συμπλήρωσαν το ερωτηματολόγιο ΑΔΑΣΠΜΕ. Ένα μήνα μετά πραγματοποιήθηκε η μέτρηση διατήρησης όπου αξιολογήθηκαν οι ΑΙ. Για την ανάλυση των δεδομένων χρησιμοποιήθηκε η Two-Way ANOVA Repeated Measures για να προσδιοριστεί η επίδραση των τριών ομάδων και των μετρήσεων για την αξιολόγηση των ΑΙ. Τέλος, χρησιμοποιήθηκε το independent T-Test για να προσδιοριστεί η επίδραση των ΠΟ στην επίδοση στην κλίμακα ΑΔΑΣΠΜΕ. Από τα αποτελέσματα φάνηκε ότι όλες οι ΑΙ βελτιώθηκαν εκτός του Χρόνου Αντίδρασης Διάκρισης και της Ικανότητας Σύμπτωσης στα 5m/h. Επιπλέον και οι δύο ομάδες σημείωσαν τις ίδιες θετικές αποδόσεις στις μεταβλητές του ερωτηματολογίου ΑΔΑΣΠΜΕ εκτός της πρόθεσης για μελλοντική ενασχόληση, όπου η ομάδα ΤΔ παρουσίασε θετικότερες αποδόσεις σε σχέση με την ομάδα ΠΕΕΠ, εκφράζοντας την επιθυμία του για μελλοντική ενασχόληση με τις ΤΔ. Η ΕΠ, επομένως, δύναται να συμβάλλει στην περαιτέρω ανάπτυξη των ΑΙ, αποτελώντας ένα χρήσιμο εργαλείο στα χέρια των ΕΦΑ και προπονητών, για να βελτιώσουν τις ΑΙ των αθλητών.
Probabilistic slope stability analysis via deterministic finite elements
Authors: Δεληβέρης Αλέξανδρος
Published: January 2022

Στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή αναπτύσσεται αρχικά μία μεθοδολογία πιθανοτικής ανάλυσης για την αξιολόγηση των τοπικών επιπέδων αξιοπιστίας σε προβλήματα ευστάθειας πρανών, για προκαθορισμένο μηχανισμό αστοχίας πρανούς ορύγματος. Για τον προσδιορισμό της κρίσιμης επιφάνειας ολίσθησης, κατά μήκος της οποίας πραγματοποιούνται οι πιθανοτικοί υπολογισμοί, χρησιμοποιείται η μέθοδος απομείωσης διατμητικής αντοχής. Οι πιθανοτικές αναλύσεις πραγματοποιούνται μέσω συνδυασμού της μεθόδου σημειακής εκτίμησης και προσομοιωμάτων πεπερασμένων στοιχείων. Οι παράμετροι της διατμητικής αντοχής του εδάφους προσομοιώνονται ως τυχαίες μεταβλητές κανονικής κατανομής και σταθερής χωρικής μεταβλητότητας. Μέσω της μεθοδολογίας διερευνάται το ενδεχόμενο εμφάνισης τοπικής αστοχίας προσδιορίζοντας την πιθανότητα τοπικής αστοχίας στην περιοχή του πόδα, ακόμα και σε περιπτώσεις που συμβατικές αναλύσεις υποδεικνύουν συνθήκες γενικής ευστάθειας. Στη συνέχεια, αναπτύσσεται ένα πλαίσιο για τη στοχαστική προσομοίωση της προοδευτικής αστοχίας πρανών. Η προοδευτική αστοχία περιγράφεται ως μία διαδικασία μετάδοσης τοπικής αστοχίας που εξελίσσεται κατά μήκος ξεχωριστών τμημάτων εντός κρίσιμης επιφάνειας ολίσθησης. Οι πιθανότητες προοδευτικής αστοχίας νοούνται ως πιθανότητες μετάβασης μέσω στοχαστικών Μαρκοβιανών διαδικασιών. Ο υπολογισμός των τοπικών καθώς και των τμηματικών συντελεστών ασφαλείας κατά τη μετάδοση της τοπικής αστοχίας, πραγματοποιείται μέσω ελαστοπλαστικών προσομοιωμάτων πεπερασμένων στοιχείων. Η ευθεία ενσωμάτωση της γεωτεχνικής μεταβλητότητας στους υπολογισμούς πραγματοποιείται με τη μέθοδο σημειακής εκτίμησης. Για τις διάφορες καταστάσεις εξέλιξης της προοδευτικής αστοχίας, οι πιθανότητες προοδευτικής αστοχίας δηλώνονται μέσω ενός μητρώου πιθανοτήτων μετάβασης. Η επίδραση ορισμένων παραγόντων στην πιθανότητα προοδευτικής αστοχίας, όπως η αλληλεξάρτηση των παραμέτρων διατμητικής αντοχής του εδάφους, η στατιστική κατανομή της συνάρτησης συμπεριφοράς, καθώς και ο συντελεστής ωθήσεων σε ηρεμία, διερευνώνται και συζητούνται διεξοδικά.
Factors associated with research productivity in higher education institutions in Africa: a systematic review
Authors: Uwizeye Dieudonne , Karimi Florah , Thiong'o Caroline , Syonguvi Jackline , Ochieng Vollan , Kiroro Francis , Gateri Alex , Khisa Anne M. , Wao Hesborn
Published: January 2022

Background: There are low levels of research productivity among Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Africa, a situation that is likely to compromise the development agenda of the continent if not addressed. We conducted a systematic literature review to synthesize evidence of the factors associated with research productivity in HEIs in Africa and the researchers’ motives for research.

Methods: We identified 838 publications related to research productivity in HEIs in Africa from various databases, from which we included 28 papers for review. The inclusion criteria were that (i) the paper’s primary focus was on factors associated with research productivity, and motivations of doing research among faculty members in Africa; (ii) the setting was the HEIs in Africa; (iii) the type of publication was peer-reviewed papers and book chapters based on primary or secondary data analysis; and (iv) the language was English or French. Essays, opinions, blogs, editorials, reviews, and commentaries were excluded.

Results: Most of the studies operationalized research productivity as either journal publications or conference proceedings. Both institutional and individual factors are associated with the level of research productivity in HEIs in Africa. Institutional factors include the availability of research funding, level of institutional networking, and the degree of research collaborations, while individual factors include personal motivation, academic qualifications, and research self-efficacy.

Conclusions: Deliberate efforts in HEIs in Africa that addressed both individual and institutional barriers to research productivity are promising. This study recommends that the leadership of HEIs in Africa prioritizes the funding of research to enable researchers to contribute to the development agenda of the continent. Moreover, HEIs should build institutional support to research through the provision of research enabling environment, policies and incentives; strengthening of researchers’ capabilities through relevant training courses, mentorship and coaching; and embracing networking and collaboration opportunities.
Knowledge, attitude, and practices associated with avian influenza among undergraduate university students of East Java Indonesia: A cross-sectional survey
Authors: Rehman Saifur , Rantam Fedik Abdul , Batool Khadija , Rahman Attaur , Effendi Mustofa Helmi , Rahmahani Jola , Jamal Muhsin
Published: January 2022

Background: Several public health strategic actions are required for effective avian influenza (AI) prevention and control, as well as the development of a communication plan to keep undergraduate students sufficiently informed on how to avoid or reduce exposure. The aim of the survey was to measure the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) toward AI among undergraduate university students in East Java, Indonesia, and observe the correlation between KAPs and the factors associated with the control and prevention of AI.

 Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate students to collect information about AI-related KAPs. Students were selected from three faculties of Universitas Airlangga Surabaya Indonesia (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine, and Faculty of Science and Technology). Students voluntarily responded to a pre-designed questionnaire.

Results: A total of 425 students (222 female; and 203 male), of ages ranging from 18 years (n=240) to 20-30 years (n=185), responded to the survey. This cohort consisted of 157 students from the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine, 149 from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and 119 from the Faculty of Science and Technology. The results indicated that appropriate knowledge was obtained by 76.94% of students; significantly higher levels were seen in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine students as compared to the other two faculties (p<0.05). 72.89% of students documented positive attitudes; veterinary medicine students had significantly more positive attitudes than other faculties (p<0.05). Proactive behaviors were observed in 56.90% of students. The aggregate scores for KAPs were 6.93 ± 0.77 (range: 0-9) for knowledge, 7.6 ± 1.25 (range: 0-10) for attitude, and 9.1 ± 1.5 (range: 0-12) for practice.
Knowledge on hypertension in Myanmar: levels and groups at risk
Authors: Pardoel Zinzi E. , Lensink Robert , Postma Maarten , Win Hla Hla , Swe Khin Hnin , Stein Claire , Febrinasari Ratih , My Hanh Hoang , Koot Jaap A.R. , Landsman Johanna A. , Reijneveld Sijmen A.
Published: January 2022

Background: Non-communicable diseases, specifically the burden of hypertension, have become a major public health threat to low- and middle-income countries, such as Myanmar. Inadequate knowledge of hypertension and its management among people may hinder its effective prevention and treatment with some groups at particular increased risks, but evidence on this is lacking for Myanmar. The aims of this study were therefore to assess the level of knowledge of risk factors, symptoms and complications of hypertension, by hypertension treatment status, community group-membership, and sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors in Myanmar.

Methods: Data was collected through structured questionnaires in 2020 on a random sample of 660 participants, stratified by region and existence of community groups. Knowledge of hypertension was measured with the ‘Knowledge’ part of a validated ‘Knowledge, Attitude and Practice’ survey questionnaire and categorised into ill-informed and reasonably to well-informed about hypertension. Results: The majority of respondents were reasonably to well-informed about risk factors, symptoms and complications of hypertension. This did not vary by hypertension treatment status and community group membership. People with jobs (B=0.96; 95%-confidence interval 0.343 to 1.572) and higher education (B=1.96; 0.060 to 3.868) had more hypertension knowledge than people without jobs or low education. Adherence to treatment among hypertensive people was low.

Conclusion: This study shows a majority of participants in Myanmar to be reasonably to well-informed, with no differences by hypertension status, treatment status, and community group-membership. People without jobs and low education have less hypertension knowledge and almost half of the hypertensive patients did not take their medicines, making them priority groups for tailored education on health care level as well as community level, lowering the burden of hypertension. Therefore, adherence to treatment of hypertension should be an important element for future health education.
Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the doublesex (dsx) gene splice sites and relevance for its alternative splicing in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae
Authors: Djihinto Oswald , Saizonou Helga D.M. , Djogbenou Luc S.
Published: January 2022

Background: The malaria burden continues to be significant in tropical regions, and conventional vector control methods are faced with challenges such as insecticide resistance. To overcome these challenges, additional vector control interventions are vital and include modern genetic approaches as well as classical methods like the sterile insect technique (SIT). In the major human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, a candidate gene favourable for sterility induction is the doublesex (dsx) gene, encoding somatic sexually dimorphic traits in mosquitoes. However, the mechanism that regulates the expression of this gene in anopheline mosquitoes is poorly understood. This study aimed to screen the An. gambiae dsx gene splice site sequences for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that could be critical to its alternative splicing.

Methods: Variant annotation data from Ag1000G project phase 2 was analysed, in order to identify splice-relevant SNPs within acceptor and donor splice sites of the An. gambiae dsx gene (Agdsx).

Results: SNPs were found in both donor and acceptor sites of the Agdsx. No splice-relevant SNPs were identified in the female-specific intron 4 acceptor site and the corresponding region in males. Two SNPs (rs48712947, rs48712962) were found in the female-specific donor site of exon 5. They were not specific to either males or females as the rs48712947 was found in female mosquitoes from Cameroon, and in both males and females from Burkina Faso. In the other splice sites, the intron 3 acceptor site carried the greatest abundance of SNPs.  

Conclusions: There were no gender association between the identified SNPs and the random distribution of these SNPs in mosquito populations. The SNPs in Agdsx splice sites are not critical for the alternative splicing. Other molecular mechanisms should be considered and investigated.
La debida diligencia del inversionista extranjero. Un concepto bidimensional
Authors: Rivas-Ramírez Daniel
Published: January 2022

Una de las características propias del derecho internacional de las inversiones es la forma en la que, a partir de su lenguaje, su estructura y su funcionamiento, está pensado para ofrecer mayores herramientas para los inversionistas extranjeros. De allí que en realidad, las relaciones que de él se derivan sean asimétricas, beneficiando en buena medida a los particulares y dejando con pocas herramientas a los Estados; en particular, en el marco de los arbitrajes internacionales de inversión. Ahora bien, un concepto que ha sido utilizado en algunas oportunidades y que ha servido como herramienta para la defensa de los Estados es el de la debida diligencia de los inversionistas. No obstante, se trata de una noción disímil y en buena medida indeterminada. Este artículo propone, a partir de un estudio teórico, doctrinario y “jurisprudencial”,  definir la debida diligencia –de los inversionistas- como un concepto híbrido multinivel del que se derivan obligaciones claras y exigibles para los inversionistas respecto de sí mismos, los Estados receptores y los individuos a los que afectan con sus inversiones.
Joint Learning and Optimization for Multi-Product Pricing (and Ranking) Under a General Cascade Click Model
Authors: Gao Xiangyu , Jasin Stefanus , Najafi Sajjad , Zhang Huanan
Published: January 2022

We consider joint learning and optimization problems under a general Cascade Click model. Under this model, customers examine the products in a decreasing order of display, from the top to (potentially) the bottom of the list. At each step, customers can decide to either purchase the current product, forego the current product and continue examining the next product, or simply terminate the search without purchasing any product. We first consider the core pricing problem, where the display position (ranking) of each product is fixed and the only decision that the firm needs to make is pricing. We then consider an extension to the problem of joint ranking and pricing in the presence of filtering options, which the customers can use to filter out some undesirable products. For both problems, we develop Upper Confidence Bound (UCB)-based joint learning and optimization algorithms with theoretical performance guarantees. The key challenge here is in constructing a UCB algorithm that exploits the structure of the Cascade Click model while at the same time taking into account all of the historical click and purchase information. Our numerical results yield three key insights. First, naively applying a standard black box UCB algorithm without adapting it to the Cascade structure is very inefficient and results in a huge loss in total revenues during a finite horizon. Second, applying a learning algorithm by assuming a mis-specified model that ignores the Cascade behavior may result in a highly suboptimal solution. Third, jointly optimizing ranking and pricing can significantly improve performance. Thus, although in practice these decisions are sometimes made separately due to organizational structure, our results suggest that a significant benefit can be realized when the two decisions are more closely coordinated.

This paper was accepted by J. George Shanthikumar, big data analytics.
Distributionally Robust Chance Constrained Geometric Optimization
Authors: Liu Jia , Lisser Abdel , Chen Zhiping
Published: January 2022

This paper discusses distributionally robust geometric programs with individual or joint chance constraints. Several groups of uncertainty sets are considered: uncertainty sets with first two order moments information; uncertainty sets with known first order or first two order moments information under nonnegative support; uncertainty sets constrained by the Kullback–Leibler divergence with a normal or discrete reference distribution; uncertainty sets constrained by the Wasserstein distance under discrete, full, or nonnegative real-space support; and joint uncertainty sets for the product of random variables. Under each group of uncertainty sets, we find deterministic reformulations of the distributionally robust geometric programs with individual or joint chance constraints. Convexity, solution methods, and relationships of the reformulation programs are discussed. Finally, numerical tests are carried out on a shape optimization problem.
Parvovirus Infection Triggering Still’s Disease
Authors: Altuzarra-Ranedo Yaiza , Gómez-Ramírez Daniel , Rodríguez-Laguna María , Lois-Bermejo Pía Mercedes , López-Pelaez Blanca , Lorenzo-Villalba Noel , Méndez-Bailón Manuel
Published: January 2022

We present the case of a 59-year-old man with acute B19 parvovirus infection who developed a systemic inflammatory reaction similar to adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD). We discuss the clinical challenge due to overlapping symptoms to distinguish between a primary B19 viral infection and the autoimmune disease it can trigger.
A new year and new ways of working
Authors: Ruscoe Lucy
Published: January 2022

Lucy Ruscoe offers an update from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Specialist Nurse Association (UKMSSNA). Including the new co-chairs, policy advisor and plans for the new year ahead.
Update on NHS Reset and Reform achievements in 2021
Authors: Thomas Sue , Giovannoni Gavin
Published: January 2022

In 2021, the UK Reset and Reform report highlighted areas of improvement within the NHS. Sue Thomas and Gavin Giovannoni evaluate the impact of the report over the last year.
Managing respiratory dysfunction in people with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Barber Jody
Published: January 2022

There are many aspects of multiple sclerosis that require careful monitoring; among them is respiratory support. Jody Barber elaborates on what can be done to optimise respiratory health for patients.
The Reformation of Welfare
Authors: Boland Tom , Griffin Ray
Published: January 2022

Contemporary welfare states attempt to govern unemployment using active labour market policies to reconnect jobseekers with the labour market. Critics suggest these reflect a punitive turn in social policy and are ineffective in any case, leading to debates over the evidence-bases and ideological underpinnings of social policy. Here, we investigate the deeper cultural codes which inform how the state governs the unemployed and how individuals interpret their experiences of work and jobseeking in the labour market. Specifically, we argue that there are unrecognised theological models which animate the contemporary scene – explored through an approach which combines cultural sociology and governmentality studies, a historicisation of the present which we term ‘Archaic Anthropology’. We draw together Nietzsche’s genealogy of the revaluation of suffering, Weber’s thesis on the Protestant work-ethic, Foucault’s analysis of pastoral power and Agamben’s work on how the economy is given a providential meaning in modernity. Through empirical analyses of interviews, ethnographies and social policy we add to this an analysis of the ‘economic theology’ of the welfare state; specifically, we identify a Purgatorial inspiration for workhouses and welfare offices, job-seeking as a form of Pilgrimage, and CVs as confessional declarations of faith. Effectively, the state is dedicated to ‘reform’ – of policies and of individuals, in an almost endless attempt to transform people through purifying suffering. Yet there are alternatives, more forgiving, charitable and generous cultural resources within society.
Reform: Policies and the Polity
Authors: Boland Tom , Griffin Ray
Published: January 2022

Contemporary states incessantly pursue welfare reform: This chapter traces how welfare has been conceptualised from early twentieth century models of social insurance, through the ILO definition of unemployment to the post-war welfare state, the spread of active labour market policies unto the responses to the Great Financial Crash in the Global Jobs Pact and EU-wide Youth Guarantee. From amidst this thicket of policy initiatives we identify the animus for ‘reform’, of social policies and of individuals. Through scrutiny, tests and trials, individuals are to be reformed, even experience conversion, transformed from being unemployed to active jobseekers, ardent careerists and willing workers. Key Christian texts, from the Epistles to Augustine’s Confessions articulated and promoted the idea of the self as malleable, always choosing, prone to error and sin, yet reformable through pastoral intervention, a model and process which has become embedded in modern institutions and the welfare state.
Conclusion: Parables of Welfare
Authors: Boland Tom , Griffin Ray
Published: January 2022

Revisiting the EU-wide tensions of the sovereign debt crisis of 2010, this chapter identifies the religious roots of the demand for fiscal rectitude in ordo-liberal and puritan demands for frugal self-discipline. Yet, beyond the different religious histories across Europe, we identify the impulse towards welfare reformation within Ireland, despite being a late-comer to activation policy. Briefly restating the arguments of the book, we argue that welfare reform seeks to transform individuals by subjecting them to trials and tests, with the market as judge of their worth – based on long-standing theological impulses. However, here we also identify counter tendencies, the urge to alleviate suffering and the refusal of judgement in a charitable view – not just giving support generously, as the word charity also means love, care, understanding, a relationship of respect for individual circumstances and choices. Rebalancing the welfare state simply requires unconditional payments, neither a revolutionary nor reformist logic, just a return to the spirit of generosity.
Estimation of the effective wavenumber for a collimated beam in an interferometer, case study for FG5/X absolute gravimeters
Authors: Křen Petr , Pálinkáš Vojtech
Published: January 2022

The paper describes an improved method for the estimation of the effective wavenumber in optical interferometers previously published by the authors, which allows reaching accuracy better than one part per billion. The method is based on analyses of spatial intensity profiles of a laser beam and its propagation at different distances, when images are captured by a digital camera. The method has been used for the evaluation of the so-called diffraction correction for FG5 and FG5X absolute gravimeters, which represents one of the most important contributions in the uncertainty budget of these gravimeters. We show that the commonly used estimates tend to systematically underestimate the correction.
PVA/Tween 20 thin-film-based fiber optic humidity sensor with enhanced sensing performance
Authors: Zhao Ziming , Lai Min , Yang Yang , Li Jinze , Song Huatang , He Jixiang , Zhang Hengheng , Mao Yaya , Ma Yan , Liu Bo
Published: January 2022

A fiber optic humidity sensor based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/Tween 20 film has been fabricated by modulating the intensity of light transmitted in optical fiber. PVA/Tween 20 film was used as the cladding and humidity-sensitive material of optical fiber. The logarithmic of output light intensity exhibited a linear increase with the increase of humidity (22%–82%RH). With the addition of Tween 20 in the formation of film, average sensitivity increased by 13-fold. Fast equilibrium on adsorption and desorption of water molecules were also achieved on the film. The response and recovery times were determined to be 11 s and 9 s, respectively. Moreover, the sensor possesses good repeatability. The sensing mechanism was probably based on the swelling of PVA after adsorbing water molecules, which affected scattering of evanescent waves in the cladding. The output light intensity varied with the decay of evanescent waves.
Analysis of polarized diffraction images of human red blood cells: a numerical study
Authors: Wang Wenjin , Min Li , Tian Peng , Wu Chao , Liu Jing , Hu Xin-Hua
Published: January 2022

We carried out a systematic study on cross-polarized diffraction image (p-DI) pairs of 3098 mature red blood cells (RBCs) using optical cell models with varied morphology, refractive index (RI), and orientation. The influence of cell rotation on texture features of p-DI pairs characterized by the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) algorithm was quantitatively analyzed. Correlations between the transverse diameters of RBCs with different RI values and scattering efficiency ratios of s- and p-polarized light were also investigated. The correlations remain strong even for RBCs with significant orientation variations. In addition, we applied a minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) algorithm to improve the performance of support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. It was demonstrated that a set of selected GLCM parameters allowed for an efficient solution of classification problems of RBCs based on morphology. For 1598 RBCs with varied shapes corresponding to normal or pathological cases, the accuracy of the SVM based classifications increased from 83.8% to 96.8% with the aid of mRMR. These results indicate the strong potential of p-DI data for rapid and accurate screening examinations of RGC shapes in routine clinical tests.
Feature matching for texture-less endoscopy images via superpixel vector field consistency
Authors: Liu Shiyuan , Fan Jingfan , Ai Danni , Song Hong , Fu Tianyu , Wang Yongtian , Yang Jian
Published: January 2022

Feature matching is an important technology to obtain the surface morphology of soft tissues in intraoperative endoscopy images. The extraction of features from clinical endoscopy images is a difficult problem, especially for texture-less images. The reduction of surface details makes the problem more challenging. We proposed an adaptive gradient-preserving method to improve the visual feature of texture-less images. For feature matching, we first constructed a spatial motion field by using the superpixel blocks and estimated its information entropy matching with the motion consistency algorithm to obtain the initial outlier feature screening. Second, we extended the superpixel spatial motion field to the vector field and constrained it with the vector feature to optimize the confidence of the initial matching set. Evaluations were implemented on public and undisclosed datasets. Our method increased by an order of magnitude in the three feature point extraction methods than the original image. In the public dataset, the accuracy and F1-score increased to 92.6% and 91.5%. The matching score was improved by 1.92%. In the undisclosed dataset, the reconstructed surface integrity of the proposed method was improved from 30% to 85%. Furthermore, we also presented the surface reconstruction result of differently sized images to validate the robustness of our method, which showed high-quality feature matching results. Overall, the experiment results proved the effectiveness of the proposed matching method. This demonstrates its capability to extract sufficient visual feature points and generate reliable feature matches for 3D reconstruction and meaningful applications in clinical.
Optical curvature sensor with high resolution based on in-line fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer and microwave photonic filter
Authors: Xiao Dongrui , Wang Guoqing , Yu Feihong , Liu Shuaiqi , Xu Weijie , Shao Liyang , Wang Chao , Fu Hongyan , Fu Songnian , Shum Perry Ping , Ye Tao , Song Zhangqi , Wang Weizhi
Published: January 2022

Curvature measurement plays an important role in structural health monitoring, robot-pose measuring, etc. High-resolution curvature measurement is highly demanded. In this paper, an optical curvature sensor with high resolution based on in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and microwave photonic filter (MPF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The in-fiber MZI is constructed with a ring-core fiber (RCF) which is fusion spliced between two coreless fibers (CLFs). The structure of CLF-RCF-CLF is then sandwiched between two segments of single-mode fiber (SMF), making the whole interferometer structure of SMF-CLF-RCF-CLF-SMF. The operating principle is that different curvatures will cause the variations of the interference spectrum of MZI due to elastic-optic effect, and then the variations are converted into the frequency-shift of the MPF. The factors affecting the visibility of the interference spectrum are researched. A preliminary exploration of the multiplexing demodulation for the in-fiber-MZIs is also investigated and discussed, which is for the first time to the best of our knowledge, holding great potential to pave the way for constructing the sensing network composed of interferometric sensors. The curvature measurement sensitivity is -147.634 MHz/m-1, and the resolution is 6.774 × 10−6 m-1 which is the highest value up to now.
Compact and versatile neutron imaging detector with sub-4μm spatial resolution based on a single-crystal thin-film scintillator
Authors: Tengattini Alessandro , Kardjilov Nikolay , Helfen Lukas , Douissard Paul-Antoine , Lenoir Nicolas , Markötter Henning , Hilger Andrè , Arlt Tobias , Paulisch Melanie , Turek Thomas , Manke Ingo
Published: January 2022

A large and increasing number of scientific domains pushes for high neutron imaging resolution achieved in reasonable times. Here we present the principle, design and performance of a detector based on infinity corrected optics combined with a crystalline Gd3Ga5O12 : Eu scintillator, which provides an isotropic sub-4 µm true resolution. The exposure times are only of a few minutes per image. This is made possible also by the uniquely intense cold neutron flux available at the imaging beamline NeXT-Grenoble. These comparatively rapid acquisitions are compatible with multiple high quality tomographic acquisitions, opening new venues for in-operando testing, as briefly exemplified here.
Electromagnetic-acoustic biphysical cloak designed through topology optimization
Authors: Fujii Garuda , Akimoto Youhei
Published: January 2022

Various strategies have been proposed to achieve invisibility cloaking, but usually only one phenomenon is controlled by each device. Cloaking an object from two different waves, such as electromagnetic and acoustic waves, is a challenging problem, if not impossible, to be achieved using transformation theory and metamaterials, which are the major approaches in physics. Here, by developing topology optimization for controlling both electromagnetic and acoustic waves, we present a multidisciplinary attempt for designing biphysical cloaks with triple-wave cloaking capabilities, specifically for E
z
- and H
z
-polarized waves and acoustic wave. The topology-optimized biphysical cloak cancels the scattering of the three waves and reproduces the original propagating waves as if nothing is present, thus instilling the desired cloaking capability. In addition, we describe cloaking structures for multiple incident directions of the three waves and structures that work for both electromagnetic waves and sound waves of different wavelengths.
Study of deterministic surface micro-texture generation in ultra-precision grinding considering wheel oscillation
Authors: Chen Shanshan , Yang Shuming , Liao Zhirong , Cheung Chi Fai , Jiang Zhuangde , Zhang Feihu
Published: January 2022

Ultra-precision grinding is crucial for manufacturing high-end optics and molds, while the unbalanced wheel vibration is inevitable and becomes even more critical in surface generation, which resulted in undesired waviness and micro-texture on the ground surface. In this paper, to understand and control the micro-texture generation, a theoretical model has been developed to predict the deterministic surface micro-texture generation resulted from unbalanced tool vibration in ultra-precision grinding, in which the overlap trajectories of grinding wheel with an arc cutting edge were analyzed and calculated. The simulation work was performed and a double phase mechanism involved in deterministic textural pattern and structure has been revealed. Both theoretical and experimental results proved that phase shift is an important factor to determine micro-texture evolution in the ultra-precision grinding process. On this basis, a novel tool path strategy has been proposed to fabricate deterministic micro-structure by coordinating oscillation motion of the grinding wheel and phase shift control, in which a rhombus-shaped micro-structure array can be generated. A small adjustment for the phase shift was conducted and it was found that the more complex micro-texture with different textural patterns and micro-structure can be machined. The results indicated that the phase control for the tool path planning is an effective method to fabricate flexible and tunable micro-texture surfaces in ultra-precision grinding.