bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vertical versus horizontal Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNA): A processing advantage for the vertical dimension
Authors: Greenacre Luke , Garcia Jair E. , Chan Eugene , Howard Scarlett R. , Dyer Adrian G.
Published: August 2022

Humans have associations between numbers and physical space on both horizontal and vertical dimensions, called Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNAs). Several studies have considered the hypothesis of there being a dominant orientation by examining on which dimension people are more accurate and efficient at responding during various directional SNA tasks. However, these studies have difficulty differentiating between a person’s efficiency at accessing mental representations of numbers in space, and the efficiency at which they exercise motor control functions, particularly bilateral ones, when manifesting a response during an explicit directional SNA task. In this study we use a conflict test employing combined explicit magnitude and spatial directional processing in which pairs of numbers are placed along the diagonal axes and response accuracy/efficiency are considered across the horizontal and vertical dimensions simultaneously. Participants indicated which number in each pair was largest using a joystick that only required unilateral input. The experiment was run in English using Arabic numerals. Results showed that directional SNAs have a vertical rather than horizontal dominance. A moderating factor was also found during post-hoc analysis, where response efficiency, but not accuracy, is conditional on a person’s native language being oriented the same as the language of the experiment, left to right. The dominance of the vertical orientation suggests adopting more vertical display formats for numbers may provide situational advantages, particularly for explicit magnitude comparisons, with some domains like flight controls and the stock market already using these in some cases.
Factors associated with secondhand smoke exposure among non-smoking employees in the workplace: A cross-sectional study in Qingdao, China
Authors: Jia Xiaocen , Wang Rui , Qiu Xiaofei , Huang Yiqing , Wang Yani , Jia Xiaorong , Li Shanpeng , Wu Yibo , Qi Fei
Published: August 2022

Objective

This study was conducted to describe secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among non-smoking employees in the workplace, and identify factors related to SHS exposure in Qingdao.

Methods

The study participants covered key non-smoking places stipulated in the “Qingdao City Smoking Control Regulations,” which included three categories: restaurants, bars, and office buildings. Airborne nicotine concentration in the workplace and saliva cotinine concentration of employees were measured. The questionnaire included employees’ demographic factors, smoke-free measures in the workplace, employers’ tobacco hazard knowledge, and attitudes towards smoke-free policy.

Results

A total of 222 non-smoking employees and 46 non-smoking employers were included in the study. The median concentrations of airborne nicotine and salivary cotinine were 0.389 μg/m3 and 0.575 ng/mL, respectively. Educational status, average number of workplace smokers per day, exposure time to SHS in the workplace, and whether smoking and non-smoking areas were divided significantly related to airborne nicotine concentration. Age, educational status, exposure time to SHS in the workplace, tobacco control training and publicity, and whether the employers support the “Qingdao Tobacco Control Regulation” were significantly related to salivary cotinine concentration.

Conclusions

Despite the implementation of the “Qingdao Smoking Control Regulations” in 2013, the workplace remains an important location for SHS exposure. Interventions such as raising workers’ awareness of the risks associated with SHS exposure through health education and developing smoking prevention and cessation programs to reduce SHS exposure in the workplace are urgently needed.
Good recovery of immunization stress-related responses presenting as a cluster of stroke-like events following CoronaVac and ChAdOx1 vaccinations
Authors: Apiwattanakul Metha , Suanprasert Narupat , Rojana-Udomsart Arada , Termglinchan Thanes , Sinthuwong Chaichana , Tantirittisak Tasanee , Hanchaiphiboolkul Suchat , Angchaisuksiri Pantep , Srimahachota Suphot , Wongsawat Jurai , Stiudomkajorn Somjit , Kiertiburanakul Sasisopin , Techasaensiri Chonnamet , Laisuan Wannada , Manosuthi Weerawat , Doungngern Pawinee , Jaroenkunathum Wereyarmarst , Jivapaisarnpong Teeranart , Panjangampatthana Apinya , Chimmanee Jirapa , Chokephaibulkit Kulkanya
Published: August 2022

Background

Immunization stress-related responses presenting as stroke-like symptoms could develop following COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of immunization stress-related responses causing stroke-like events following COVID-19 vaccination in Thailand.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of the secondary data of reported adverse events after COVID-19 immunization that presented with neurologic manifestations. Between March 1 and July 31, 2021, we collected and analyzed the medical records of 221 patients diagnosed with stroke-like symptoms following immunization. Two majority types of vaccines were used at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, including CoronaVac (Sinovac) or ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca). Demographic and medical data included sex, age, vaccine type, sequence dose, time to event, laboratory data, and recovery status as defined by the modified Rankin score. The affected side was evaluated for associations with the injection site.

Results

Overall, 221 patients were diagnosed with immunization stress-related responses (stroke-like symptoms) following CoronaVac (Sinovac) or ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) vaccinations. Most patients (83.7%) were women. The median (interquartile range) age of onset was 34 (28–42) years in patients receiving CoronaVac and 46 (33.5–60) years in those receiving ChAdOx1. The median interval between vaccination and symptom onset for each vaccine type was 60 (16–960) min and 30 (8.8–750) min, respectively. Sensory symptoms were the most common symptomology. Most patients (68.9%) developed symptoms on the left side of the body; 99.5% of the patients receiving CoronaVac and 100% of those receiving ChAdOx1 had a good outcome (modified Rankin scores ≤2, indicating slight or no disability).

Conclusions

Immunization stress-related responses presenting as stroke-like symptoms can develop after COVID-19 vaccination. Symptoms more likely to occur on the injection side are transient (i.e., without permanent pathological deficits). Public education and preparedness are important for administering successful COVID-19 vaccination programs.
Text mining in long-term care: Exploring the usefulness of artificial intelligence in a nursing home setting
Authors: Hacking Coen , Verbeek Hilde , Hamers Jan P. H. , Sion Katya , Aarts Sil
Published: August 2022

Objectives

In nursing homes, narrative data are collected to evaluate quality of care as perceived by residents or their family members. This results in a large amount of textual data. However, as the volume of data increases, it becomes beyond the capability of humans to analyze it. This study aims to explore the usefulness of text mining approaches regarding narrative data gathered in a nursing home setting.

Design

Exploratory study showing a variety of text mining approaches.

Setting and participants

Data has been collected as part of the project ‘Connecting Conversations’: assessing experienced quality of care by conducting individual interviews with residents of nursing homes (n = 39), family members (n = 37) and care professionals (n = 49).

Methods

Several pre-processing steps were applied. A variety of text mining analyses were conducted: individual word frequencies, bigram frequencies, a correlation analysis and a sentiment analysis. A survey was conducted to establish a sentiment analysis model tailored to text collected in long-term care for older adults.

Results

Residents, family members and care professionals uttered respectively 285, 362 and 549 words per interview. Word frequency analysis showed that words that occurred most frequently in the interviews are often positive. Despite some differences in word usage, correlation analysis displayed that similar words are used by all three groups to describe quality of care. Most interviews displayed a neutral sentiment. Care professionals expressed a more diverse sentiment compared to residents and family members. A topic clustering analysis showed a total of 12 topics including ‘relations’ and ‘care environment’.

Conclusions and implications

This study demonstrates the usefulness of text mining to extend our knowledge regarding quality of care in a nursing home setting. With the rise of textual (narrative) data, text mining can lead to valuable new insights for long-term care for older adults.
Survey data of public in Sindh Pakistan regarding willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination
Authors: Kumar Narendar , Sulaiman Syed Azhar Syed , Hashmi Furqan Khurshid , Qureshi Ali , Shaib Muhammad , Alam Shoaib , Hussain Mujahid
Published: August 2022

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected the world with its devastating effects, including Sindh, Pakistan. A massive vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is considered one of the effective ways to curtail the spread of the disease. However, the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine is based on the general population’s knowledge, attitude, perception and willingness for vaccination. Therefore, a survey among the public in Sindh, Pakistan, was done to evaluate their knowledge, attitude, perception and willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination.

Method

The online survey was conducted among the residents of Sindh, Pakistan, in July 2021 through a survey tool designed using Google Forms and sent to the population through various social media.

Results

Of 926 study participants, 59.0% were male, and 68.6% were aged between 18 and 31 years. Higher percentages of responses were recorded from the Hyderabad division (37.5%), and 60.0% of respondents were graduates, with 34.8% of them in the private sector. The results showed that 36.4% of respondents had good knowledge, and 30.3% had a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination. Almost 77% of respondents perceived that everyone should get vaccinated in the country and those health care workers on priority. A majority (80.8%) of respondents were willing to accept COVID-19 vaccination.

Conclusion

Despite having insufficient knowledge and a low percentage of positive attitude public in Sindh are willing to be vaccinated. Based on this finding, more effort has to be done to promote vaccination among the public, especially among the less educated population.
Predicting technological innovation in new energy vehicles based on an improved radial basis function neural network for policy synergy
Authors: Hao Ying , Guo Mingshun , Guo Yijing
Published: August 2022

Policy synergy is necessary to promote technological innovation and sustainable industrial development. A radial basis function (RBF) neural network model with an automatic coding machine and fractional momentum was proposed for the prediction of technological innovation. Policy keywords for China’s new energy vehicle policies issued over the years were quantified by the use of an Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model. The training of the neural network model was completed by using policy keywords, synergy was measured as the input layer, and the number of synchronous patent applications was measured as the output layer. The predictive efficacies of the traditional neural network model and the improved neural network model were compared again to verify the applicability and accuracy of the improved neural network. Finally, the influence of the degree of synergy on technological innovation was revealed by changing the intensity of policy measures. This study provides a basis for the relevant departments to formulate industrial policies and improve innovation performance by enterprises.
Genomic inbreeding and runs of homozygosity analysis of indigenous cattle populations in southern China
Authors: Liu Yuqiang , Zhao Guoyao , Lin Xiaojue , Zhang Jiahao , Hou Guanyu , Zhang Luepei , Liu Dewu , Li Yaokun , Li Junya , Xu Lingyang
Published: August 2022

Runs of homozygosity (ROH) are continuous homozygous segments from the common ancestor of parents. Evaluating ROH pattern can help to understand inbreeding level and genetic basis of important traits. In this study, three representative cattle populations including Leiqiong cattle (LQC), Lufeng cattle (LFC) and Hainan cattle (HNC) were genotyped using the Illumina BovineHD SNPs array (770K) to assess ROH pattern at genome wide level. Totally, we identified 26,537 ROH with an average of 153 ROH per individual. The sizes of ROH ranged from 0.5 to 53.26Mb, and the average length was 1.03Mb. The average of FROH ranged from 0.10 (LQC) to 0.15 (HNC). Moreover, we identified 34 ROH islands (with frequency > 0.5) across genome. Based on these regions, we observed several breed-specific candidate genes related to adaptive traits. Several common genes related to immunity (TMEM173, MZB1 and SIL1), and heat stress (DNAJC18) were identified in all three populations. Three genes related to immunity (UGP2), development (PURA) and reproduction (VPS54) were detected in both HNC and LQC. Notably, we identified several breed-specific genes related to sperm development (BRDT and SPAG6) and heat stress (TAF7) in HNC, and immunity (CDC23 and NME5) and development (WNT87) in LFC. Our findings provided valuable insights into understanding the genomic homozygosity pattern and promoting the conservation of genetic resources of Chinese indigenous cattle.
Does intangible assets affect the financial performance and policy of commercial banks’ in the emerging market?
Authors: Abebe Zelalem Bayelign , Ali Abebe Ayalew
Published: August 2022

In a digital and knowledge based economy, intangible assets are predominant and their role along with age and knowledge has become key success factors for firms. However, a very little attention was given to the intangible assets in the banking sectors’ in Ethiopia and the effect still not studied yet. Therefore, the aim of this study is to empirically examine the effect of intangible assets on the financial performance and policy of 17 commercial banks in Ethiopia from the year 2017 to 2020. Return on asset and equity were used to measure the financial performance and debt as a measure of financial policy. The intangible asset is used as the main explanatory variable and asset size and liquidity as control variables. Random effect estimation technique for panel data was used. The result revealed that intangible asset has positive effect on the financial performance measured both by ROA and ROE at 5% significance level while, negative effect on the financial policy of commercial banks in Ethiopia at 1% significance level. Moreover, the study found asset size has significant and positive effect on ROA and ROE at 1% and 5% significance level respectively. Liquidity ratio has also significant positive effect on the financial performance measured both by ROA and ROE at 5% significance level. Finally, the finding revealed asset size and liquidity ratio has significant positive effect on the financial policy of commercial banks in Ethiopia at 10% and 1% significance level respectively. Therefore, the study concludes that financial performance and policy is achieved not only by using physical assets but also using intangible assets. Thus, the boards and mangers of commercial banks’ ought to plan and maintain the appropriate ratio of intangible assets to total assets for securing sustainable development in achieving the maximization of shareholders wealth and to have optimum debt.
Mutations in the TERC template sequence can be incorporated into the telomeres of human tumors
Authors: Sharaf Radwa , Frampton Garrett M. , Albacker Lee A.
Published: August 2022

Telomerase-mediated lengthening is a mechanism by which some cancer cells avoid senescence-mediated cell cycle arrest due to shortened telomeres. By reverse transcribing an RNA template, encoded by TERC, the enzyme telomerase synthesizes the elongation of telomeric DNA using the 3’ end of the chromosome as a primer. TERC harbors a highly conserved template region consisting of 11 nucleotides spanning hg19 coordinates chr3:169482793–169482803. In human cell lines, when TERC was mutated to alter its template region, telomerase generated the predicted mutant telomeric repeats. However, it is unknown if this can occur in human clinical samples. Here, we report on the rare occurrence of two tumor samples where TERC template mutations were reflected in telomeric repeats.
Quantitative bile and serum proteomics for the screening and differential diagnosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis
Authors: Holm Matilda , Joenväärä Sakari , Saraswat Mayank , Tohmola Tiialotta , Saarela Toni , Tenca Andrea , Arola Johanna , Renkonen Risto , Färkkilä Martti
Published: August 2022

Background

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic liver disease characterized by biliary strictures, cholestasis, and a markedly increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma. New markers for the screening and differential diagnosis of PSC are needed. In this pilot study, we have analyzed both the bile and serum proteomic profiles of 80 PSC patients and non-PSC controls (n = 6 for bile and n = 18 for serum).

Aim

The aim of this study was to discover candidates for new biomarkers for the differential diagnosis of PSC.

Methods

Bile and serum samples were processed and subsequently analyzed using ultra performance liquid chromatography-ultra definition mass spectrometry (UPLC-UDMSE). Further analysis included statistical analyses such as receiver operating characteristic curve analysis as well as pathway analysis using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis.

Results and conclusions

In bile, we discovered 64 proteins with significantly different levels between the groups, with fold changes of up to 129. In serum, we discovered 112 proteins with significantly different levels. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis found multiple proteins with high area under the curve values, up to 0.942, indicating that these serum proteins are of value as new non-invasive classifiers of PSC. Pathway analysis revealed multiple canonical pathways that were enriched in the dataset, which have roles in bile homeostasis and metabolism. We present several serum proteins that could serve as new blood-based markers for the diagnosis of PSC after further validation. The measurement of serum levels of these proteins could be of use in the screening of patients with suspected PSC.
Can the establishment of state-level urban agglomeration stimulate enterprise innovation?—Taking Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta as an example
Authors: Zhao Kai , Huang Huahua , Wu Wanshu
Published: August 2022

This study uses a quasi-experimental method, Geographic Regression Discontinuity Design (GRDD), to evaluate the actual effect of establishing Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations on enterprise innovation. GRDD is a design in which a geographic boundary splits the units into treated and control areas in an as-if random fashion, and the shortest distances from each enterprise’s location to the boundary of urban agglomeration calculated by ArcGIS are considered as the running variable. The actual effect can be identified by the probability of receiving treatment jumps discontinuously at the known cutoff. It is shown that the establishment of Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations can significantly improve the enterprise innovation, and this outcome is verified by rigorous robustness tests including the placebo test with pseudo-boundary, the bandwidth sensitivity test, the parametric test with different functional forms and the extreme value test. Further, the influence mechanisms of state-level urban agglomerations promoting enterprise innovation are explored by Staggered DID. It is confirmed that the urban agglomeration construction can promote enterprise innovation through financial support and regional coordination channels.
Brands, networks, communities: How brand names are wired in the mind
Authors: Kovács László , Bóta András , Hajdu László , Krész Miklós
Published: August 2022

Brands can be defined as psychological constructs residing in our minds. By analyzing brand associations, we can study the mental constructs around them. In this paper, we study brands as parts of an associative network based on a word association database. We explore the communities–closely-knit groups in the mind–around brand names in this structure using two community detection algorithms in the Hungarian word association database ConnectYourMind. We identify brand names inside the communities of a word association network and explain why these brand names are part of the community. Several detected communities contain brand names from the same product category, and the words in these categories were connected either to brands in the category or to words describing the product category. Based on our findings, we describe the mental position of brand names. We show that brand knowledge, product knowledge and real word knowledge interact with each other. We also show how the meaning of a product category arises and how this meaning is related to brand meaning. Our results suggest that words sharing the same community with brand names can be used in brand communication and brand positioning.
Effects of α2-adrenoceptor stimulation on luminal alkalinisation and net fluid flux in rat duodenum
Authors: Nylander Olof , Sjöblom Markus , Sedin John , Dahlgren David
Published: August 2022

The sympathetic nervous system is highly involved in the regulation of gastrointestinal functions such as luminal alkalinisation and fluid absorption. However, the exact mechanisms are not clear. This study aimed to delineate how α2-adrenergic receptor stimulation reduces duodenal luminal alkalinisation and induces net fluid absorption. This was tested by perfusing the duodenum of anesthetized rats with isotonic solutions devoid of Cl-and/or Na+, in the absence and presence of the α2-adrenoceptor agonist clonidine. The clonidine was also studied in rats treated with dimethylamiloride (a Na+/H+exchange inhibitor), vasoactive intestinal peptide, and the nicotinic receptor antagonist hexamethonium. Clonidine reduced luminal alkalinisation and induced net fluid absorption. The Cl--free solution decreased luminal alkalinisation and abolished net fluid absorption, but did not prevent clonidine from doing so. Both the Na+-free solution and luminal dimethylamiloride increased luminal alkalinisation and abolished net fluid absorption, effects counteracted by clonidine. The NaCl-free solution (D-mannitol) did not affect luminal alkalinisation, but reduced net fluid absorption. Clonidine reduced luminal alkalinisation and induced net fluid absorption in rats perfused luminally with mannitol. However, clonidine did not affect the vasoactive intestinal peptide-induced increase in luminal alkalinisation or fluid secretion. Pre-treatment with hexamethonium abolished the effects of clonidine on luminal alkalinisation and net fluid flux. In summary, ourin vivoexperiments showed that clonidine-induced reduction in luminal alkalinisation and induction of net fluid absorption was unrelated to luminal Na+and Cl-, or to apical Na+/H+or Cl-/HCO3-exchangers. Instead, clonidine seems to exert its effects via suppression of nicotinic receptor-activated acetylcholine secretomotor neurons.
A distinct four-value blood signature of pyrexia under combination therapy of malignant melanoma with dabrafenib and trametinib evidenced by an algorithm-defined pyrexia score
Authors: Schaefer Hannah , Rübben Albert , Esser André , Araujo Arturo , Persa Oana-Diana , Leijs Marike
Published: August 2022

Pyrexia is a frequent adverse event of BRAF/MEK-inhibitor combination therapy in patients with metastasized malignant melanoma (MM). The study’s objective was to identify laboratory changes which might correlate with the appearance of pyrexia. Initially, data of 38 MM patients treated with dabrafenib plus trametinib, of which 14 patients developed pyrexia, were analysed retrospectively. Graphical visualization of time series of laboratory values suggested that a rise in C-reactive-protein, in parallel with a fall of leukocytes and thrombocytes, were indicative of pyrexia. Additionally, statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and pyrexia. An algorithm based on these observations was designed using a deductive and heuristic approach in order to calculate a pyrexia score (PS) for each laboratory assessment in treated patients. A second independent data set of 28 MM patients, 8 with pyrexia, was used for the validation of the algorithm. PS based on the four parameters CRP, LDH, leukocyte and thrombocyte numbers, were statistically significantly higher in pyrexia patients, differentiated between groups (F = 20.8; p = <0.0001) and showed a significant predictive value for the diagnosis of pyrexia (F = 6.24; p = 0.013). We provide first evidence that pyrexia in patients treated with BRAF/MEK-blockade can be identified by an algorithm that calculates a score.
Deep transfer learning with multimodal embedding to tackle cold-start and sparsity issues in recommendation system
Authors: Jafri Syed Irteza Hussain , Ghazali Rozaida , Javid Irfan , Mahmood Zahid , Hassan Abdullahi Abdi Abubakar
Published: August 2022

Recommender systems (RSs) have become increasingly vital in the modern information era and connected economy. They play a key role in business operations by generating personalized suggestions and minimizing information overload. However, the performance of traditional RSs is limited by data sparseness and cold-start issues. Though deep learning-based recommender systems (DLRSs) are very popular, they underperform when considering rating matrices with sparse entries. Despite their performance improvements, DLRSs also suffer from data sparsity, cold start, serendipity, and generalizability issues. We propose a multistage model that uses multimodal data embedding and deep transfer learning for effective and personalized product recommendations, and is designed to overcome data sparsity and cold-start issues. The proposed model includes two phases. In the first—offline—phase, a deep learning technique is implemented to learn hidden features from a large image dataset (targeting new item cold start), and a multimodal data embedding is used to produce dense user feature and item feature vectors (targeting user cold start). This phase produces three different similarity matrices that are used as inputs for the second—online—phase to generate a list of top-n relevant items for a target user. We analyzed the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed model against the existing baseline RSs using a Brazilian E-commerce dataset. The results show that our model scored 0.5882 for MAE and 0.4011 for RMSE which is lower than baseline RSs which indicates that the model achieved an improved accuracy and was able to minimize the typical cold start and data sparseness issues during the recommendation process.
The antimicrobial peptide DGL13K is active against drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria and sub-inhibitory concentrations stimulate bacterial growth without causing resistance
Authors: Gorr Sven-Ulrik , Brigman Hunter V. , Anderson Jadyn C. , Hirsch Elizabeth B.
Published: August 2022

Antimicrobial peptides may be alternatives to traditional antibiotics with reduced bacterial resistance. The antimicrobial peptide GL13K was derived from the salivary protein BPIFA2. This study determined the relative activity of the L-and D-enantiomers of GL13K to wild-type and drug-resistant strains of three gram-negative species and againstPseudomonas aeruginosabiofilms. DGL13K displayed in vitro activity against extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing andKlebsiella pneumoniaecarbapenemase (KPC)-producingKlebsiella pneumoniae(MICs 16–32 μg/ml), MDR and XDRP.aeruginosa, and XDRAcinetobacter baumanniicarrying metallo-beta-lactamases (MICs 8–32 μg/ml).P.aeruginosashowed low inherent resistance to DGL13K and the increased metabolic activity and growth caused by sub-MIC concentrations of GL13K peptides did not result in acquired bacterial resistance. Daily treatment for approximately two weeks did not increase the MIC of DGL13K or cause cross-resistance between LGL13K and DGL13K. These data suggest that DGL13K is a promising antimicrobial peptide candidate for further development.
Experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic as a healthcare provider in rural Dhanbad, India: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Authors: Konduru Laalithya , Das Nishant , Kothari-Speakman Gargi , Behura Ajit Kumar
Published: August 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing widespread morbidity and mortality. It has led to a myriad of mental health problems, particularly in health care providers (HCPs). To strengthen the fight against COVID-19, it is essential to investigate the mental health challenges being faced by the HCPs, their emotional responses, and coping strategies.

Objectives

We aimed to explore the lived experiences of frontline HCPs in rural India during the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Through purposive heterogenous snowball sampling, five HCPs in rural Dhanbad were recruited and one-on-one double-blind unstructured interviews were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and master themes and subthemes were extracted by interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results

Six master themes and 23 subthemes were identified. Our findings demonstrate that the participants were under mental duress due to heavy workloads, fear of getting infected and transmitting the infection, urban–rural disparities in access to medical supplies and peer support, and negative social perception of HCPs during the pandemic. Most HCPs have not yet processed the psychological effects of being at the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in a resource-poor setting; however, spirituality seems to be an important coping mechanism that helps them get through the day.

Conclusions

This study is unique in the sense that not many studies have been conducted to evaluate the psychological issues of Indian HCPs during this pandemic. Much less is known about the mental health of HCPs in rural settings. Moreover, novel findings such as negative social perception of HCPs during the pandemic and HCPs resorting to spirituality as a coping strategy against stress, open a plethora of research opportunities wherein the results of this qualitative study, along with the existing literature and findings of future quantitative studies, can establish better understanding of the impact of the pandemic on HCPs.
A multi-center study of left ventricular assist device (LVAD)-related gastrointestinal bleeding
Authors: J Dailey , LH Nguyen , A Kohli , JB Ha , MB Russell , R Dhingra , MS Kiernan , MF Thomas , EC Coglianese , MJ Sterling , RF Yacavone , N Natov , JM Richter
Published: August 2022

BACKGROUND:

Continuous left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) offer hemodynamic support in advanced and decompensated heart failure but are often complicated by gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in medically fragile patients.

METHODS:

We performed a retrospective analysis of 475 consecutive patients who underwent LVAD implantation at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Tufts Medical Center from 2008 to 2019 and identified 128 patients with clinically significant GI bleeding. Clinical characteristics of each bleeding event, including procedures and interventions, were recorded. We examined LVAD patients with overt and occult presentations to determine diagnostic endoscopic yield and analyzed predictors of recurrent GI bleeding.

RESULTS:

We identified 128 unique patients with LVAD implantation complicated by GI bleeding. No significant difference was observed based on study center, underlying cardiomyopathy, race/ethnicity, or serum indices, and medications used. Overt bleeders presented more commonly during LVAD implantation admission (P =0.001) than occult bleeders. Occult bleed presentations had only 1 lower and no middle GI bleed source identified, despite similar workups to overt bleeds. Destination therapy (e.g., among non-transplant candidates) LVAD implantation (odds ratio 2.38, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-5.58) and a prior history of GI bleeding (odds ratio 3.85, 95% confidence interval: 1.29-12.7) were independently associated with an increased risk for recurrent GI bleeding-related hospitalization.

CONCLUSION:

Our findings confirm a high rate of GI bleeding especially in destination LVAD patients and show a low diagnostic yield for colonoscopy and middle GI bleed assessments in LVAD patients with occult bleeds. Overt bleeding was more common and associated with vascular malformations. Though endoscopic interventions stopped active hemorrhage, GI bleeding often recurred.
Antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli from Animals, Food and Humans
Authors: Hrustemović Elma , Čaklovica Faruk , Đeđibegović Jasmina , Čaklovica Kenan
Published: August 2022

Antibiotic resistance is considered a global public health problem and is related to the problem of resistance of bacteria in human and veterinary medicine that are transmitted directly and through the food chain. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics in veterinary practice is a special danger for the development of antibiotic resistance. The problem of public health, human and veterinary is the acquired resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. Of particular importance is the emergence of multidrug resistance to Escherichia coli, which is becoming more common in the world, both in human and veterinary medicine, and the possible transmission of resistant Escherichia coli between animals and humans. The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of the rational use of antibiotics in animals and humans to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance. Escherichia coli is an intestinal bacterium of all mammals, widespread in the environment and often present in food of animal origin. Today, a pluripotent bacterium and a carrier of antibiotic resistance genes due to anthropogenic factors, and genes are transmitted through animal bacteria, food bacteria to bacteria of human origin.
Challenging efforts to find African Swine Fever vaccine
Authors: Tarigan Simson
Published: August 2022

African swine fever (ASF) has been endemic in Indonesia and neighbouring countries. So far, the only reliable measure to eradicate the disease has been the application of strict biosecurity and culling of all infected pigs. This method is not feasible in Indonesia because most pig farms are small with a deficient level of biosecurity. Vaccination would be the most practical control measure, but no vaccine has been available for ASF. The difficulties encountered in developing the ASF vaccine lie in the fact that the ASF virus is very complex, with a sophisticated ability to paralyze the host immune system. ASF virus infects monocytes and macrophages, causing the cells to lose their functions to mount immune responses, further complicating vaccine development. Killed vaccines, even those containing complete structural and non-structural proteins of the virus and fortified with potent adjuvants for both humoral and cellular immune responses, were practically incapable of inducing protective immunity. Subunit vaccines containing recombinant viral proteins have also been developed, but none have provided satisfactory protection even though the vaccine indicates neutralizing antibodies. Live vaccines prepared from naturally low virulent viral strains or by repeated attenuation in cell cultures provided more satisfactory protective immunities than the inactive or subunit vaccines. However, their use in the field had caused severe side effects because the mutant still had residual virulence. Live vaccines prepared by deleting genes that play a role in virulence have been the most promising approach. Several mutants that were no longer virulent but capable of inducing protective immunity have been identified; however, lengthy safety testing is still needed before this vaccine is commercially available.
Magnetic Barkhausen Noise Measurements on Rocks
Authors: Neyra Astudillo Miriam Rocío , López-Pumarega María Isabel , Evangelina-Geuna Silvana , Gómez Martin
Published: August 2022

Context: The magnetic properties of rocks may reflect the modal abundance, composition, and microstructure of the magnetic grains contained within them, usually in a very small proportion. Magnetic Barkhausen Noise (MBN) is a non-destructive technique applied to magnetic materials, and it is very sensitive to microstructure and residual stresses. In this work, measurements of MBN in samples of rocks extracted from nature and containing varying proportions of magnetite were studied and analyzed.
Method: Measurements were taken by magnetically exciting the cylindrical samples, using a magnetic yoke and measuring the induced field inside the rock as a consequence of the excitation. For the detection, a sensor coil placed on the excited surface on one of the flat faces of each cylinder was used. The signals obtained from the MBN were digitized, and a digital 5-200 kHz Butterworth filter was applied, calculating the root mean square (RMS) values.
Results: The linear fit of the MBN RMS values with the increasing percentage of ferromagnetic minerals showed an increasing trend with a moderate correlation. A correlation between coercive force and the MBN RMS values was observed only for samples with abundant magnetite (> 25 vol%).
Conclusions: An increasing variation of the RMS values of the MBN signals was observed in relation with coercive force for abundant magnetite samples. This may be related to the geological processes involved in magnetite genesis.
Method: The measurements were made exciting magnetically the samples (cylindrical shapes), using a magnetic yoke and measuring the induced field inside the rock as a result of the excitation. For the detection, a sensor coil placed on the excited surface on one of the flat faces of each cylinder was used. The signals obtained from MBN were digitized. A digital 5-200 kHz Butterworth filter was applied and the RMS (Root Mean Square) values were calculated.
Results: The linear fit of the MBN RMS values with the increasing percentage of ferromagnetic minerals showed an increasing trend with moderate correlation. A correlation between coercive force and MBN RMS was observed only for samples with abundant magnetite (> 25 vol%).
Conclusions: A variation of the RMS values of the MBN signals was observed in relation with coercive force for massive magnetite samples. This can be related to geological processes involved in magnetite genesis.
 
Keywords: Rocks, Magnetization, Barkhausen Magnetic Noise, Non-Destructive Test.
Medición de parámetros en líneas de transmisión con sistemas embebidos
Authors: Herrera-Rubio Jorge Enrique , Soto-Vergel Angelo Joseph , Cardozo-Sarmiento Darwin Orlando
Published: August 2022

Contexto: Las líneas de transmisión son estructuras construidas de material uniforme, dispuestas como un arreglo de pares de conductores o semiconductores, que guían las ondas electromagnéticas que transportan la energía de radiofrecuencia entre un dispositivo emisor y otro receptor. Su importancia en las comunicaciones radica en el conocimiento de sus parámetros fundamentales, para lo cual se requiere de equipos de medida especializados e instrumentos de laboratorio que proporcionen información para tomar decisiones de importancia en el acople de tecnologías en los sistemas de transmisión de datos.
Objetivo: Explicar el funcionamiento de un sistema de medición de parámetros de líneas de transmisión como propuesta de bajo costo y automatizada para su caracterización, implementado mediante sistemas embebidos.
Metodología: Para ello, se creó e implementó una arquitectura de hardware y software, con el uso de entradas análogas para medir tanto la atenuación e interrupciones digitales y temporizadas, como el retardo entre las ondas incidente y transmitida. Con estos datos se calculó la impedancia característica, constante de atenuación, constante de fase, velocidad de propagación, resistencia, conductancia, capacitancia e inductancia, mediante ecuaciones experimentales. Se realizaron cuatro experimentos utilizando 305 metros de cable coaxial; se comprobaron los datos obtenidos con los teóricos del fabricante, los cuales se validaron con medidas de equipos de instrumentación electrónica especializados, como el generador de funciones y el osciloscopio digital, con el objetivo de conocer el error de la herramienta diseñada frente a instrumentos avanzados.
Resultados: Se construyó un dispositivo que calcula los parámetros básicos de una línea de transmisión con un error entre 3 % y 9 % en las mediciones.
Conclusiones: La herramienta desarrollada entrega resultados cercanos a los valores teóricos y, al compararse con los instrumentos (osciloscopio digital y generador de funciones), mide de forma exacta la impedancia característica; presenta un error porcentual del 3,7 % cuando mide la constante de fase; y registra un error porcentual menor del 9 % cuando calcula constante de atenuación, retardo, velocidad de propagación, resistencia, conductancia, capacitancia e inductancia. Esto determina que el error máximo de las mediciones es 8,98 %, y así se demuestra que el dispositivo desarrollado es adecuado para la medición de los parámetros de las líneas de transmisión.
Financiamiento: Universidad de Pamplona.
Biecheleriopsis adriatica (Dinophyceae: Suessiaceae): the first record from the Eastern Pacific Ocean
Authors: Ruiz-de la Torre Mary Carmen , Núñez Resendiz María Luisa , Dreckmann Kurt M. , Sentíes Abel , Zamudio-Resendiz María Eugenia , Escarcega-Bata Alexis
Published: August 2022

Biecheleriopsis adriatica is a brittle dinoflagellate first described from the Adriatic Sea. In the present study, not only the presence of this species, but also the order Suessiales, is recorded for the first time in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, specifically in Todos Santos Bay, northwestern Mexico. The specimens found were collected at three sampling stations in November 2020. A molecular analysis was carried out based on the amplification of the 28 s rDNA gene, and cell morphology was examined using light microscopy. The analyses confirmed the identity and the first record of Biecheleriopsis adriatica in the area. Phylogenetically, the sequences formed a monophyletic group with those from GenBank for the Adriatic Sea and the Indo-Pacific; the morphology was consistent with the original and later descriptions. These results suggest that the diversity of the Suessiales in Mexico had been underestimated and the potential presence of a greater number of species of this group in the region.
Single‐molecule imaging reveals Tau trapping at nanometer‐sized dynamic hot spots near the plasma membrane that persists after microtubule perturbation and cholesterol depletion
Authors: Padmanabhan Pranesh , Kneynsberg Andrew , Cruz Esteban , Amor Rumelo , Sibarita Jean‐Baptiste , Götz Jürgen
Published: August 2022

Accumulation of aggregates of the microtubule‐binding protein Tau is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. While Tau is thought to primarily associate with microtubules, it also interacts with and localizes to the plasma membrane. However, little is known about how Tau behaves and organizes at the plasma membrane of live cells. Using quantitative, single‐molecule imaging, we show that Tau exhibits spatial and kinetic heterogeneity near the plasma membrane of live cells, resulting in the formation of nanometer‐sized hot spots. The hot spots lasted tens of seconds, much longer than the short dwell time (∼ 40 ms) of Tau on microtubules. Pharmacological and biochemical disruption of Tau/microtubule interactions did not prevent hot spot formation, suggesting that these are different from the reported Tau condensation on microtubules. Although cholesterol removal has been shown to reduce Tau pathology, its acute depletion did not affect Tau hot spot dynamics. Our study identifies an intrinsic dynamic property of Tau near the plasma membrane that may facilitate the formation of assembly sites for Tau to assume its physiological and pathological functions.
Acrodysostosis and pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP): adaptation of Japanese patients with a newly proposed classification and expanding the phenotypic spectrum of variants
Authors: Matsuura Nobuo , Kaname Tadashi , Niikawa Norio , Ooyama Yoshihide , Shinohara Osamu , Yokota Yukifumi , Ohtsu Shigeyuki , Takubo Noriyuki , Kitsuda Kazuteru , Shibayama Keiko , Takada Fumio , Koike Akemi , Sano Hitomi , Ito Yoshiya , Ishikura Kenji
Published: August 2022

Objective

This study aimed to report on 15 Japanese patients with acrodysostosis and pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) and analyze them using the newly proposed classification of the EuroPHP network to determine whether this classification system is suitable for Japanese patients.

Design

We divided the patients into three groups based on hormone resistance, the number of fingers with short metacarpals, the existence of cone-shaped epiphyses and gene defects.

Methods

We carried out clinical, radiological and genetic evaluations of two patients in group A (iPPSD5), six patients in group B (iPPDS4) and seven patients in group C (iPPSD2).

Results

Group A consisted of two siblings without hormone resistance who had the most severe bone and physical developmental delays. PDE4D gene defects were detected in both cases. Group B consisted of six patients who showed hormone resistance without hypocalcemia. Short metacarpal bones with corn-shaped epiphyses were observed in all patients. In two cases, PRKAR1A gene defects were detected; however, their clinical and radiological features were not identical. The facial dysmorphism and developmental delay were less severe and PRKAR1A gene defects were detected in case B-3. Severe facial dysmorphism and deformity of metacarpal bones were observed, but no gene defect was detected in case B-1. Group C consisted of seven patients with PHP1a, four of whom had maternally inherited heterozygous inactivating mutations in one of the GNAS genes. The clinical and radiological features of the patients in group C were not identical either.

Conclusions

The newly proposed classification is suitable for Japanese patients; however, heterogeneities still existed within groups B and C.