bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of dietary protein levels and some cold pressed oil supplementations on productive and reproductive performance and egg quality of laying Japanese quail
Authors: EL-HINDAWY MM , ALAGAWANY M , MOHAMED LA , SOOMRO J , AYASAN T
Published: November 2021

The present study was carried out to examine the effect of dietary protein levels (18, 20, and 22%) and addition of cold-pressed oils (no addition, 1 g thyme, 1 g oregano, and 0.5 g thyme + 0.5 g oregano /kg diet) on the productive and reproductive performance and egg quality of Japanese quail at the laying period. 324 mature ten-week-old Japanese quails (216 females and 108 males) were used. Quails were randomly distributed to 12 treatment groups, 27 in each group, with 3 replicates of 9 quails (6 females and 3 males) per group. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) significantly improved in the layers fed with the diets containing 20 or 22% CP in all experimental periods, except in 3- to 4-month-old birds. The diets supplemented with thyme only or interaction with oregano improved FCR significantly compared to the control or oregano -administered group in all experimental periods, except in 2- to 3-month-old birds. Dietary supplementation with thyme oil caused the egg number and egg mass to increase significantly in all experimental periods compared to the other dietary groups. Fertility percentages were significantly higher in the groups which had oregano than in the control group. Dietary supplementation with thyme oil significantly increased the egg number (P<0.05) and egg mass (P<0.01) in all experimental periods compared to other dietary groups. Fertility and hatchability percentages were not significantly affected due to varying dietary protein levels throughout the experiment. In conclusion, the quails fed with a diet containing 20 to 22% CP or supplemented with oregano or thyme oil exhibited an improved productive and reproductive performance without any detrimental impacts on the other parameters studied.
Is Tourette syndrome a rare condition?
Authors: Hartmann Andreas , Szejko Natalia , Mol Debes Nanette , Cavanna Andrea E. , Müller-Vahl Kirsten
Published: November 2021

Based on its prevalence, Tourette syndrome cannot be considered a rare condition. However, in this opinion article, we make the claim that it should nonetheless be considered as an orphan or neglected disease.
The CKD.QLD data linkage framework: chronic kidney disease and health services utilisation in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Zhang Jianzhen , Wang Zaimin , Cameron Anne , Sowa P Marcin , Diwan Vishal , Venuthurupalli Sree Krishna , Healy Helen G. , Connelly Luke B , Hoy Wendy E
Published: November 2021

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most common chronic diseases in the western world. In Australia, around 1.7 million Australians aged 18 years and over (about one in ten) have indicators of CKD, and 1.8 million hospitalisations were associated with CKD in 2017–18. There is currently very little understanding of the impact of CKD on health service utilisation and costs. Understanding the disease pathways of CKD and its effects on service utilisation and patient outcomes is essential to predicting the course of the disease in the future, its effects on health services utilisation and capacity to better manage the burden of premature deaths or the need for dialysis that results from CKD. We describe the establishment of a data linkage framework to study hospital admissions of CKD patients in the public renal services in the Australian state of Queensland, and its potential to advance understanding of their course and outcomes.

Seven years of retrospective data (2011–2018) on hospital-based health services utilisation were provided by Queensland Health for all 7,341 patients who enrolled in the CKD.QLD Registry up to Jan 2019. The data were supplied from three datasets: the Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection, the Queensland Registrar General deaths, and the Activity Based Funding Model Output data. In addition, data were supplied from two cohorts of de-identified patients admitted to hospital in the same interval (22,023 patients each), who were not in the CKD.QLD Registry, the first with CKD and the second without CKD as indicated by International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification.

The comprehensive and multifaceted data via the data linkage will enable us to identify opportunities for efficiencies in management of patients with CKD and for interventions that improve their outcomes.
Cancer Registry of Population in the City Ozyorsk: Structure of Malignant Neoplasms First Diagnosed in Period From 1948 to 2016
Authors: Okatenko P. , Fomin E. , Denisova E. , Kuznetsova I. , Sokolnikov M. , Koshurnikova N.
Published: November 2021

Purpose: The analysis of the structure of malignant neoplasms (MN) incidence among the population in the city Ozyorsk, located near Mayak Production Association, based on the information from the territorial cancer registry.

Materials and methods: There were 14681 first diagnosed cases of malignant neoplasms at the period from 1948 to 2016 in the territorial cancer registry of Ozyorsk. The diagnoses were verified by all available medical documents.

The structure of MN incidence, vital status of diseased people, age in a year of diagnostics, rank distribution of the basic localizations were studied.

Results: For 70 years period of follow-up there were 7676 cases from 14681 of MN incidence cases during the last 17 years (from 2000 to 2017) – as much as for the previous 51 years of follow-up from 1948 to 1999 (7005 cases). In the MN structure solid cancer constitutes 94.5 %, hemoblastoses – 5.5 %. As at December 31, 2016 23.3 % of the diseased people were alive, 75.2 % died from all causes, 1.5 % lost to follow-up. The cause of 80,6 % deaths was MN. Age in the year of diagnostics constitutes 61,7 years. 75.8 % diagnoses have morphological confirmation. During the entire period of follow-up first three places belong to lung cancer, gastric cancer and prostate cancer for males; breast cancer, gastric cancer and colon cancer for females in the MN structure.

Conclusions: During the period from 1948 to 2016 the growth of the first diagnosed MN cases among the population of Ozyorsk was a result of the population doubling and a fourfold increase of the citizens over the age of 50. Developed and supported cancer registry allows to analyze and partially control oncological situation in the closed cities of Rosatom.
Estimation of Radiotherapy Efficiency of Head-and-Neck Cancer Based
Authors: Sukhikh E. , Sukhikh L. , Sutygina Ya. , Izhevsky P. , Sheino I. , Stakhova O. , Klinovitskaya M.
Published: November 2021

Purpose: Evaluation of the expected effectiveness of radiation therapy based on models of the local tumor control probability (Tumor Control Probability – TCP) for the head-neck cancer.

Material and methods: The study used data from 11 patients with locally advanced head-neck cancer (larynx, oropharynx, and oral cavity). For each patient two dosimetric treatment plans have been prepared: SIB-VMAT (70 Gy per tumor, 50 Gy per lymph nodes, 25 fractions) and SEQ-VMAT (70 Gy per tumor, 50 Gy per lymph nodes, 35 fractions). The developed plans were analyzed using A. Niemierko's TCP model with parameters obtained by B. Maciejewski (TCD50 = 70.26 Gy with a 49-day total treatment time), taking into account the dose–volume histograms and the total treatment time.

Results: The developed plans ensured a high level of coverage (98–98 %) of the Clinical treatment volume (CTV) in all but one patient. The average TCP SIB-VMAT is 99.9 % due to the very short total treatment time. The average TCP for SEQ-VMAT is 61.0%. For one patient, both SIB-VMAT and SEQ-VMAT showed zero expected efficacy due to 95–95 % CTV coverage.

Conclusion: The use of TCP model allows analyzing personalized treatment plans for patients and developing adaptive treatment regimens with an increase in the total dose, dose per fraction, and a decrease in the total treatment time.
Formalism and Phenomenology in Vasily Sesemann’s Aesthetics
Authors: Jonkus Dalius
Published: November 2021

The purpose of this article is to analyze the connection between formalism and phenomenology in Vasily Sesemann’s aesthetics. In the articles “Aesthetic valuation in the history of art” (1922), “The nature of poetic image” (1925), “Art and culture” (1927), Seseman discusses the formalist concept of art. However, the most complete critique of the formalist idea of art is revealed in his Aesthetics (1970). In this book, he presented the most comprehensive conception of aesthetic structure. In this paper, I set out first to analyze the most important features of the formalist history of art, and then to explore how Sesemann transforms the concept of artistic form into a conception of aesthetic structure. I argue that formalistic analysis of art transforms the concept of artistic form into a style. This style is nothing less than the experience of being in the world. Sesemann abandons the dualistic separation of sensory material and intelligible form, and instead offers the concept of aesthetic structure. He reveals the relationship between the sensory structure of an aesthetic object and the perceiving subject. Aesthetic value can be revealed as meaningful only with the participation of a subject and with the necessary contemplative attitude. Analysis of art must cover not only individual structures of the object, but also a phenomenological analysis of perception. The combination of formalism and phenomenology is a peculiar characteristic of Sesemann’s aesthetics. The structural analysis reveals a systematic coherence among the artistic creator, work of art, and its perceiver.
The Enduring Importance of Roman Ingarden for Reception Theory
Authors: Raubach Michael
Published: November 2021

There have been few philosophers in the 20th century more creative and profound and yet more obscure than Roman Ingarden. He anticipated many of the major philosophical questions that would dominate literary theory in the 1960s and 70s in Germany, France, and the United States. In this paper, I argue that his primary contribution to literary theory is an ontology that arcs deftly between the poles of idealism and realism with a nuanced way of upholding both the formal reality of the literary work of art and the subjective assessment of aesthetic value, all the while preserving the fundamental meaning-making function of language. It was this philosophical foundation that proved to be a fertile ground for later philosophers, like Hans Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser, who wanted to push back on what they saw as analogous forces to idealism and realism in the rigidity of formalism and Marxist materialism and the ostensible epistemological nihilism of the psychological hermeneutics.
Closed cultures in health and social care services
Authors: Halliwell Amanda
Published: November 2021

Closed cultures can occur in any health or social care setting and have been shown to harm service users. In practice, risks are higher in services for people with learning disabilities and autism. Amanda Halliwell rounds up the Care Quality Commission's latest reporting in this area.
Synthesis, Characterization and in Vitro Antimicrobial Studies of Ternary Mn(II) Complexes with Isatinphenylhydrazone, Glycine and
8-hydroxyquinoline
Authors: Kumari Suman , Sharma Shobhana , Seema Seema , Yadav Poonam , Ranka Mamta
Published: November 2021

In our present research work, we have synthesized two ternary metal complexes of Mn(II), complex-I as [Mn(L)(Gly)(Cl)(H2O)] and complex-II as [Mn(L)(Q)(Cl)(H2O)]; where L is Isatinphenylhydrazone (IPH) as primary ligand, whereas glycine (Gly) and 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) as secondary ligand in complex-I and II respectively, in 1:1:1 (M : L : Gly or M : L : Q) molar ratios. Above synthesized complexes are employed for characterization using various analytical techniques including elemental analysis, melting point determination, magnetic moment measurements, molar conductance measurements, and spectral techniques (FTIR, UV, 1H NMR) etc. Further, their antimicrobial activities were evaluated against selected bacterial strains i.e., B. subtilis, S. aureus (Gram positive) and P. aeruginosa, E. coli (Gram negative) and fungal strains (T. reesei, A. niger, C. albicans) and found significantly active.
Analysis of New Piperidine Substituted Benzothiazole Crystalline Derivatives
Authors: Shafi S.Syed , Rajesh R. , Subaash R. , kumar S.Senthil
Published: November 2021

Recently, heterocyclic compounds play important role in drug industries. The benzothiazole (BTA) is a bicyclic compound in heterocyclic because of their biological properties. In this paper the synthesis and characterization of benzothiazole were reported. The chemical structures of synthesized compounds were established based on spectral data of 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and IR. The mass of the novel compounds was established with the help of the LCMS test. The formation of the crystal was confirmed by powder XRD and the sharp peaks show the purity and crystalline nature of the samples. The photoluminescence spectra explain the optical property of the compound. The biological studies of synthesized compounds show that compound 5c possesses good antibacterial activity and compound 5d has good antifungal activity.
Pupil steering holographic display for pre-operative vision screening of cataracts
Authors: Kavaklı Koray , Aydındoğan Güneş , Ulusoy Erdem , Kesim Cem , Hasanreisoğlu Murat , Şahin Afsun , Urey Hakan
Published: November 2021

Cataract is the most common cause of preventable blindness and vision loss where the only treatment is surgical replacement of the natural lens with an intraocular lens. Computer-generated holography (CGH) enables to control phase, size, and shape of the light beam entering through the eye-pupil. We developed a holographic vision simulator to assess visual acuity for patients to experience the postoperative corrected vision before going through surgery. A holographically shaped light beam is directed onto the retina using small non-cataractous regions of the lens with the help of a pupil tracker. A Snellen chart hologram is shown to subjects at desired depth with myopia and hyperopia correction. Tests with 13 patients demonstrated substantial improvements in visual acuity and the simulator results are consistent with the post-operative vision tests. Holographic simulator overperforms the existing vision simulators, which are limited to static pinhole exit pupils and incapable of correcting aberrations.
Manipulating geometric and optical properties of laser-inscribed nanogratings with a conical phase front
Authors: Alimohammadian Ehsan , Lammers Kim , Alberucci Alessandro , Djogo Gligor , Jisha Chandroth P. , Nolte Stefan , Herman Peter R.
Published: November 2021

The formation of volumetric nanogratings in fused silica by femtosecond laser pulses are shown to afford new opportunities for manipulating the physical shape and tailoring the optical properties of the modification zone by harnessing unconventional beam shapes. The nanograting assembly was observed to rigorously follow the beam elongation effects induced with conical-shaped phase fronts, permitting a scaling up of the writing volume. Detailed optical characterization of birefringence, dichroism, and scattering loss pointed to flexible new ways to tune the macroscopic optical properties, with advantages in decoupling the induced phase retardation from the modification thickness by controlling the conical phase front angle. Further insights into an unexpected asymmetric response from Gaussian beams modified with concave and convex phase fronts have been provided by nonlinear propagation simulations of the shaped-laser light.
Investigation of the low-complexity Hilbert FIR filter enhanced 112-Gbit/s SSB 16-QAM transmission with parallelized Kramers-Kronig reception over 1440-km SSMF
Authors: Liu Yuyang , Li Yan , Song Jingwei , Luo Ming , He Zhixue , Yang Chao , Lv Jianxin , Qiu Jifang , Hong Xiaobin , Guo Hongxiang , Wu Jian
Published: November 2021

The Hilbert transform links the log-magnitude and the phase of the field modulated signals as long as the minimum phase condition is satisfied in the Kramer-Kronig (KK) receiver. In discrete-time signal processing, the Hilbert transform is generally replaced by a finite impulse response (FIR) filter to reduce the computational complexity, that is the so-called Hilbert transform FIR (HT-FIR) filter. The performance of the HT-FIR filter is extremely important, as the in-band flatness, the ripple, the group delay, the Gibbs phenomenon, and the edge effect, which indeed impair the phase retrieval. Hence, we investigate four different HT-FIR filter schemes that are in the form of type III and type IV based on the frequency-domain (FD) sampling approach and the time-domain (TD) windowing function approach. Also, we analyze the performance for each filter under different digital upsampling scenarios and conclude that a trade-off between the reduced inter-symbol-interference (ISI) and the Gibbs phenomenon is essential to obtain an optimal sampling rate and an improved KK performance when the HT-FIR filter with a short length is adopted. The results show that the FD-based HT-FIR filter can relax the upsampling requirement while having a better in-band flatness and a lower edge effect. The experiment is conducted in the parallelized block-wise KK reception-based 112-Gbit/s SSB 16-QAM optical transmission system over a 1920-km cascaded Raman fiber amplifier (RFA) link to investigate the limit transmission performance of the practical KK receiver. The experimental results show that when the transmission distance is up to 1440-km, the BER of the FD-based HT-FIR filter can be lower than the soft decision-forward error correction (SD-FEC) threshold of 2 × 10−2 with only 3 samples per symbol (3-SPS) upsampling rate and 8 non-integer tap coefficients are used, while other TD-based HT-FIR filter schemes with a BER lower than the SD-FEC threshold require at least 4-SPS upsampling rate.
Cavity-enhanced polarization rotation measurements for low-disturbance probing of atoms
Authors: Mazzinghi Chiara , Benedicto Orenes Daniel , Gomez Pau , Lucivero Vito G. , Aybar Enes , Gugnani Stuti , Mitchell Morgan W.
Published: November 2021

We propose and demonstrate cavity-enhanced polarization-rotation measurement as a means to detect magnetic effects in transparent media with greater sensitivity at equal optical disturbance to the medium. Using the Jones calculus, we compute the effective polarization rotation effect in a Fabry-Perot cavity containing a magnetic medium, including losses due to enclosure windows or other sources. The results show that when measuring polarization rotation, collecting the transmitted light has advantages in simplicity and linearity relative to collecting the reflected light. We demonstrate the technique by measuring Faraday rotation in a 87Rb atomic ensemble in the single-pass and cavity-enhanced geometries, and observe enhancement in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also demonstrate shot-noise-limited operation of the enhanced rotation scheme in the small-angle regime.
Plug&Play subcarrier wave quantum key distribution with deep modulation
Authors: Bannik Oleg I. , Moiseev E. S.
Published: November 2021

We report a quantum key distribution using subcarrier wave encoding in Plug&Play configuration. Our detailed study shows how subcarrier encoding operates in a presence of Rayleigh back-scattering, chromatic dispersion and other experimental negative factors that occur in Plug&Play configuration. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel regime for the subcarrier wave encoding, where simultaneous detection of two logical states in a single basis is combined with robustness and simplicity of the original protocol. This deep modulation regime shows reliable quantum communication with losses up to 20 dB and promises a twice increase in secret key generation rate in comparison with the original subcarrier wave quantum key distribution in one-way or Plug&Play configurations.
Vector bending sensor based on an edge-core cladding-type fiber Bragg grating
Authors: Chen Fengyi , Li Xingyong , Bao Weijia , Wang Ruohui , Qiao Xueguang
Published: November 2021

A two-dimensional vector bending sensor that is both compact and simple is proposed and demonstrated, based on an edge-core cladding-type fiber Bragg grating (ECLFBG) inscribed in an edge-core. The ECLFBG is written parallel to the edge-core using a femtosecond laser point-by-point technique. The reflection spectrum of this ECLFBG varies significantly depending on the magnitude and direction of the fiber’s bend. Combining the trend and sensitivity of the wavelength shift and reflection intensity variations of the ECLFBG, the bending magnitude and direction can be measured simultaneously.
Simultaneous frequency response measurement of electro-absorption modulation transceivers based on a self-referenced pilot operation
Authors: Wang Mengke , Zhang Shangjian , He Yutong , Xu Ying , Liu Zhao , Zhang Yali , Zhang Zhiyao , Li Heping , Liu Yong
Published: November 2021

An electro-optic method based on a self-referenced pilot operation is proposed for simultaneously characterizing electro-absorption modulation optoelectronic transceivers with a shared setup. Through inserting and extracting the self-referenced pilot, the frequency responses of electro-absorption modulated lasers (EMLs) and photodetectors (PDs) are independently obtained in a single measurement, and any extra optical-to-electrical or electrical-to-optical calibration is avoided. Specifically, the relative frequency response of the EML at fm is determined through the extracted difference-frequency pilot at fp (close to DC), realizing the low-frequency analysis for an EML. The relative frequency response of PD at 2fm+fp is obtained from the amplitude ratio of the extracted sum- and difference-frequency pilots at 2fm+fp and fp under the microwave driving signal at fm, verifying the doubled measuring frequency range. In the proof-of-concept demonstration, the frequency response of an electro-absorption modulation transceiver is measured up to 40 GHz. Thereinto, the frequency response of the EML is obtained by detecting the fixed low-frequency pilot of 10 kHz, and the frequency response of the PD is extracted with frequency-swept modulation to 20 GHz. The experiment results are compared with those obtained with the electro-optic frequency sweeping method to check for accuracy.
Saturable absorption and self-defocusing response of 2D monoelemental germanium nanosheets in broadband spectra
Authors: Zhou Li , Wang Yingwei , Wang Yiduo , Xiao Si , He Jun
Published: November 2021

Germanium has caused a research boom in recent years due to its high carrier mobility and good stability. Although germanium has been proven to have application potential in photodetectors and other fields, its nonlinear optical properties are rarely reported. Herein, we prepared 2D germanium nanosheets by liquid phase-exfoliation (LPE) method and studied its third-order nonlinear optical response. It is found that the germanium nanosheets exhibit a broadband nonlinear optical response such as it has a large nonlinear absorption coefficient αNL ≈ −0.87 cm GW−1 and a negative nonlinear refractive index n2 ≈ −6.30 × 10−13 cm2 W−1 at 1064 nm wavelength. The experimental results show the excellent nonlinear optical performance of germanium nanosheets and indicate that 2D germanium nanosheets have promising potential in a wide range of photonics device applications.
Scan-free end-to-end new approach for snapshot camera spectral sensitivity estimation
Authors: Zhou Mingwei , Chen Wenjing , He Tianyue , Zhang Qican , Shen Junfei
Published: November 2021

Spectral sensitivity is largely related to sensor imaging, which has drawn widespread attention in computer vision. Accurate estimation becomes increasingly urgent because manufacturers rarely disclose it. In this Letter, we present a novel, compact, inexpensive, and real-time computational system for snapshot spectral sensitivity estimation. A multi-scale camera based on the multi-scale convolutional neural network is first proposed, to the best of our knowledge, to automatically extract multiplexing features of an input image by multiscale deep learning, which is vital to solving the inverse problem in sensitivity estimation. Our network is flexible and can be designed with different convolutional kernel sizes for a given application. We build a dataset with 10,500 raw images and generate an excellent pre-trained model. Commercial cameras are adopted to test model validity; the results show that our system can achieve estimation accuracy as high as 91.35%. We provide a method for system design, propose a deep learning network, build a dataset, demonstrate training process, and present experimental results with high precision. This simple and effective method provides an accurate approach for precise estimation of spectral sensitivity and is suitable for computational applications such as pathological digital stain, virtual/augmented reality display, and high-quality image acquisition.
Spatial subsidies drive sweet spots of tropical marine biomass production
Authors: Morais Renato A. , Siqueira Alexandre C. , Smallhorn-West Patrick F. , Bellwood David R.
Published: November 2021

Spatial subsidies increase local productivity and boost consumer abundance beyond the limits imposed by local resources. In marine ecosystems, deeper water and open ocean subsidies promote animal aggregations and enhance biomass that is critical for human harvesting. However, the scale of this phenomenon in tropical marine systems remains unknown. Here, we integrate a detailed assessment of biomass production in 3 key locations, spanning a major biodiversity and abundance gradient, with an ocean-scale dataset of fish counts to predict the extent and magnitude of plankton subsidies to fishes on coral reefs. We show that planktivorous fish-mediated spatial subsidies are widespread across the Indian and Pacific oceans and drive local spikes in biomass production that can lead to extreme productivity, up to 30 kg ha−1 day−1. Plankton subsidies form the basis of productivity “sweet spots” where planktivores provide more than 50% of the total fish production, more than all other trophic groups combined. These sweet spots operate at regional, site, and smaller local scales. By harvesting oceanic productivity, planktivores bypass spatial constraints imposed by local primary productivity, creating “oases” of tropical fish biomass that are accessible to humans.
Network-based protein-protein interaction prediction method maps perturbations of cancer interactome
Authors: Qiu Jiajun , Chen Kui , Zhong Chunlong , Zhu Sihao , Ma Xiao
Published: November 2021

The perturbations of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were found to be the main cause of cancer. Previous PPI prediction methods which were trained with non-disease general PPI data were not compatible to map the PPI network in cancer. Therefore, we established a novel cancer specific PPI prediction method dubbed NECARE, which was based on relational graph convolutional network (R-GCN) with knowledge-based features. It achieved the best performance with a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) = 0.84±0.03 and an F1 = 91±2% compared with other methods. With NECARE, we mapped the cancer interactome atlas and revealed that the perturbations of PPIs were enriched on 1362 genes, which were named cancer hub genes. Those genes were found to over-represent with mutations occurring at protein-macromolecules binding interfaces. Furthermore, over 56% of cancer treatment-related genes belonged to hub genes and they were significantly related to the prognosis of 32 types of cancers. Finally, by coimmunoprecipitation, we confirmed that the NECARE prediction method was highly reliable with a 90% accuracy. Overall, we provided the novel network-based cancer protein-protein interaction prediction method and mapped the perturbation of cancer interactome. NECARE is available at: https://github.com/JiajunQiu/NECARE.
Evaluation of antigen-detecting and antibody-detecting diagnostic test combinations for diagnosing melioidosis
Authors: Amornchai Premjit , Hantrakun Viriya , Wongsuvan Gumphol , Wuthiekanun Vanaporn , Wongratanacheewin Surasakdi , Teparrakkul Prapit , West T. Eoin , AuCoin David P. , Day Nicholas P. J. , Brett Paul J. , Burtnick Mary N. , Chantratitra Narisara , Limmathurotsakul Direk
Published: November 2021

Background

Melioidosis, an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is endemic in many tropical developing countries and has a high mortality. Here we evaluated combinations of a lateral flow immunoassay (LFI) detecting B. pseudomallei capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) detecting antibodies against hemolysin co-regulated protein (Hcp1) or O-polysaccharide (OPS) for diagnosing melioidosis.

Methodology/Principal findings

We conducted a cohort-based case-control study. Both cases and controls were derived from a prospective observational study of patients presenting with community-acquired infections and sepsis in northeast Thailand (Ubon-sepsis). Cases included 192 patients with a clinical specimen culture positive for B. pseudomallei. Controls included 502 patients who were blood culture positive for Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae or were polymerase chain reaction assay positive for malaria or dengue. Serum samples collected within 24 hours of admission were stored and tested using a CPS-LFI, Hcp1-ELISA and OPS-ELISA. When assessing diagnostic tests in combination, results were considered positive if either test was positive. We selected ELISA cut-offs corresponding to a specificity of 95%. Using a positive cut-off OD of 2.912 for Hcp1-ELISA, the combination of the CPS-LFI and Hcp1-ELISA had a sensitivity of 67.7% (130/192 case patients) and a specificity of 95.0% (477/502 control patients). The sensitivity of the combination (67.7%) was higher than that of the CPS-LFI alone (31.3%, p<0.001) and that of Hcp1-ELISA alone (53.6%, p<0.001). A similar phenomenon was also observed for the combination of CPS-LFI and OPS-ELISA. In case patients, positivity of the CPS-LFI was associated with a short duration of symptoms, high modified Sequential (sepsis-related) Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, bacteraemia and mortality outcome, while positivity of Hcp1-ELISA was associated with a longer duration of symptoms, low modified SOFA score, non-bacteraemia and survival outcome.

Conclusions/Significance

A combination of antigen-antibody diagnostic tests increased the sensitivity of melioidosis diagnosis over individual tests while preserving high specificity. Point-of-care tests for melioidosis based on the use of combination assays should be further developed and evaluated.
Mining the Protein Data Bank to improve prediction of changes in protein-protein binding
Authors: Flores Samuel Coulbourn , Alexiou Athanasios , Glaros Anastasios
Published: November 2021

Predicting the effect of mutations on protein-protein interactions is important for relating structure to function, as well as for in silico affinity maturation. The effect of mutations on protein-protein binding energy (ΔΔG) can be predicted by a variety of atomic simulation methods involving full or limited flexibility, and explicit or implicit solvent. Methods which consider only limited flexibility are naturally more economical, and many of them are quite accurate, however results are dependent on the atomic coordinate set used. In this work we perform a sequence and structure based search of the Protein Data Bank to find additional coordinate sets and repeat the calculation on each. The method increases precision and Positive Predictive Value, and decreases Root Mean Square Error, compared to using single structures. Given the ongoing growth of near-redundant structures in the Protein Data Bank, our method will only increase in applicability and accuracy.
Change of human mobility during COVID-19: A United States case study
Authors: Elarde Justin , Kim Joon-Seok , Kavak Hamdi , Züfle Andreas , Anderson Taylor
Published: November 2021

With the onset of COVID-19 and the resulting shelter in place guidelines combined with remote working practices, human mobility in 2020 has been dramatically impacted. Existing studies typically examine whether mobility in specific localities increases or decreases at specific points in time and relate these changes to certain pandemic and policy events. However, a more comprehensive analysis of mobility change over time is needed. In this paper, we study mobility change in the US through a five-step process using mobility footprint data. (Step 1) Propose the Delta Time Spent in Public Places (ΔTSPP) as a measure to quantify daily changes in mobility for each US county from 2019-2020. (Step 2) Conduct Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce the ΔTSPP time series of each county to lower-dimensional latent components of change in mobility. (Step 3) Conduct clustering analysis to find counties that exhibit similar latent components. (Step 4) Investigate local and global spatial autocorrelation for each component. (Step 5) Conduct correlation analysis to investigate how various population characteristics and behavior correlate with mobility patterns. Results show that by describing each county as a linear combination of the three latent components, we can explain 59% of the variation in mobility trends across all US counties. Specifically, change in mobility in 2020 for US counties can be explained as a combination of three latent components: 1) long-term reduction in mobility, 2) no change in mobility, and 3) short-term reduction in mobility. Furthermore, we find that US counties that are geographically close are more likely to exhibit a similar change in mobility. Finally, we observe significant correlations between the three latent components of mobility change and various population characteristics, including political leaning, population, COVID-19 cases and deaths, and unemployment. We find that our analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of mobility change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anxiety and depression among medical doctors in Catalonia, Italy, and the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Quintana-Domeque Climent , Lee Ines , Zhang Anwen , Proto Eugenio , Battisti Michele , Ho Antonia
Published: November 2021

Healthcare workers have had the longest and most direct exposure to COVID-19 and consequently may suffer from poor mental health. We conducted one of the first repeated multi-country analysis of the mental wellbeing of medical doctors (n = 5,275) at two timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020 and November/December 2020) to understand the prevalence of anxiety and depression, as well as associated risk factors. Rates of anxiety and depression were highest in Italy (24.6% and 20.1%, June 2020), second highest in Catalonia (15.9% and 17.4%, June 2020), and lowest in the UK (11.7% and 13.7%, June 2020). Across all countries, higher risk of anxiety and depression symptoms were found among women, individuals below 60 years old, those feeling vulnerable/exposed at work, and those reporting normal/below-normal health. We did not find systematic differences in mental health measures between the two rounds of data collection, hence we cannot discard that the mental health repercussions of the pandemic are persistent.
Femoral head collapse after hip intra-articular corticosteroid injection: An institutional response to improve practice and increase patient safety
Authors: Kelly Brandon J. , Williams Benjamin R. , Gravely Amy A. , Schwanz Kersten , Sechriest V. Franklin
Published: November 2021

Introduction

Femoral head collapse (FHC) is a rarely reported complication of hip intra-articular corticosteroid injection (IACSI). Upon observing a high rate of FHC after hip IACSI, we sought to (1) describe how we addressed the problem through a systematic evaluation of clinical data and institutional care practices followed by process improvement efforts; and (2) report our results.

Methods

Patients receiving hip IACSI during a 27-month period underwent retrospective review to determine the rate of FHC and to identify associated patient factors or practice shortfalls. Findings led to institution-wide interventions: (1) to improve patient/provider awareness of this association; and (2) to develop/implement practice guidelines. Rates of FHC after hip IACSI and practice patterns among providers before and after intervention were compared.

Results

Initial FHC rate after hip IACSI was 20.4%. Patient-related factors included body mass index (p = 0.025), history of cancer therapy (p = 0.012), Vitamin D level (p = 0.030), and multiple injections (p = 0.004). Volume/dose of injectate and post-injection surveillance methods varied widely. Quality improvement (QI) intervention resulted in fewer treatment referrals (from 851 to 436), fewer repeat injections (mean = 1.61 to 1.37; p = 0.0006), and a 5% lower FHC rate (p = 0.1292). Variation in practice patterns persisted, so a systems-based Clinical Pathway was established.

Discussion

When a high rate of FHC after hip IACSI was found to be associated with certain patient and practice factors, introduction of education materials and treatment guidelines decreased number of referrals, number of injections per patient, and FHC rate. In the absence of the systems-based Pathway, the type, dose, and volume of injectate and post-procedure follow-up remained variable.
Writing inclusive and diverse children’s television: Transgender representation in ABC Australia’s First Day
Authors: Krikowa Natalie
Published: November 2021

This article presents a case study of the Australian children’s television programme, First Day (ABC Australia 2020–present), which depicts a young transgender girl’s experiences beginning high school. The article explores the screenwriting process involved in creating inclusive and diverse children’s television, drawing on an original interview with Julie Kalceff, the show’s screenwriter and director. Kalceff discusses her screenwriting process writing for and about children who occupy liminal and marginal spaces and the research, writing and consultation processes undertaken to create her pioneering work with trans characters as lead protagonists. The resulting series explores the universal experience of starting the high school journey, while allowing for a normalizing of gender diversity on-screen – hopefully the first of many of its type in the future. By foregrounding historically marginalized characters, screenwriters can explore universal social, psychological and physical trials, and in the process, break down stigmas surrounding LGBTQ people.
Evolución de la dispensación de especialidades farmacéuticas estupefacientes desde el año 2000 al 2020 en la oficina de farmacia situada en la plaza del Mercado Chico de la ciudad de Ávila
Authors: Pérez Jiménez Carlos , Carvajal Gallardo Paloma , García Martín Carmen
Published: November 2021

Se registraron año por año todas las dispensaciones de especialidades farmacéuticas estupefacientes, sin discernir entre ellas, desde el año 2000 al 2020 en la farmacia de la plaza del Mercado Chico, 10, de Ávila. El objeto de este estudio es comprobar si existe alguna variación en cuanto a la dispensación de estas a lo largo de los años y de qué tipo es esa variación.

Se realizó el conteo y agrupación de los datos gracias a la declaración anual de estupefacientes de cada año, proporcionada por la farmacia y el correspondiente análisis de estos datos a través del programa informático Microsoft Excel.

Gracias a los resultados obtenidos se llegó a la conclusión de que realmente sí existía una variación en la dispensación de especialidades estupefacientes. Concretamente, hay una tendencia creciente en la dispensación de estas a medida que han ido pasando los años desde el 2000 al 2020.
Terapia antiplaquetaria en cáncer
Authors: Torices Alfonso , Guerrero Carmen
Published: November 2021

Las plaquetas contienen en su interior gránulos con sustancias proangiogénicas y antiangiogénicas. En el microambiente tumoral las plaquetas interaccionan con las células neoplásicas, las cuales liberan agonistas que inducen la activación y la agregación plaquetaria, así como la secreción de factores proangiogénicos que favorecen la vascularización y el crecimiento tumoral. Además, las plaquetas protegen a las células tumorales del sistema inmune y promueven la transición epitelio-mesenquimal, aumentando su capacidad invasiva y favoreciendo la aparición de metástasis. Existen numerosos estudios que muestran el beneficio de la terapia antiplaquetaria en la reducción de metástasis. De hecho, la aparición de tromboembolismos durante el desarrollo neoplásico es un factor de mal pronóstico. En este trabajo, hemos comparado la progresión tumoral de pacientes con cáncer colorrectal (CCR) tratados con terapia antiplaquetaria con pacientes con la misma neoplasia pero sin tratamiento antiplaquetario. Nuestros resultados mostraron que el 90?% de los pacientes de CCR tratados con antiplaquetarios no desarrollaron metástasis, frente al 59,8?% de los pacientes sin dicha terapia. El análisis estadístico de los datos indicó una correlación significativa entre un alto recuento plaquetario y el desarrollo de metástasis. Por tanto, la terapia antiplaquetaria en cáncer podría ser beneficiosa y complementar la terapia antineoplásica convencional.
Adaptación de la PFK1 en células nerviosas de ratón en cultivo primario a las concentraciones fisiológicas de oxígeno
Authors: Martínez Luna María , Fernández Sánchez Emilio
Published: November 2021

La glucolisis enlaza la necesidad de obtención de energía con el metabolismo, además, es la vía metabólica previa para que la mitocondria produzca la energía necesaria. La principal enzima reguladora de la glucolisis es la fosfofructoquinasa-1 (PFK1), cuya regulación es compleja. Esta enzima presenta tres isoformas: PFK1-L, PFK1-M y PFK1-C, cuyo nivel de expresión es específico de cada tejido. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar el efecto que las concentraciones fisiológicas de O2, que son del 5%, tienen sobre la actividad máxima y la cantidad total de la PFK1 como enzima reguladora de la glucolisis. Para ello se emplearon cultivos de neuronas y astrocitos en monocultivo y en cocultivo con concentraciones de O2 del 21?% y el 5?%. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los astrocitos presentan una actividad entre 4-5 veces mayor que las neuronas tanto en los monocultivos como en los cocultivos, además, su presencia provoca una mayor actividad en las neuronas tanto al 21?% como al 5?% de O2. El aumento de actividad en los monocultivos de las neuronas está relacionado con una mayor expresión de la PFK1-L, mientras que el de los cocultivos puede deberse al aumento de la expresión de la PFK1-L y la PFK1-M.
A sokoldalú kutató és a hiányzó kutatásmenedzser - Érvek a háromszintű kutatásmenedzsment-oktatás mellett
Authors: Szívós Mihály
Published: November 2021

A tanulmány érveket sorol fel amellett, hogy mind a reálgazdaság különböző szféráiban, mind a felsőoktatásban, mind pedig a közigazgatásban már jelenleg is, de a jövőben még inkább nagy szükség van jól képzett kutatásmenedzserekre. Különösen akkor válik láthatóvá az e területeken szükséges, célszerűen és magas szinten képzett munkaerő hiánya, ha figyelembe vesszük azokat az uniós és tagországi közép- és hosszú távú terveket, amelyek az innováció minden fajtájának, de kiváltképpen a gazdasági és felsőoktatási formáinak felfuttatását irányozzák elő. A mostani és a közeli jövőbeli szükségletek háromszintű vagy háromciklusú kutatásmenedzsment-oktatást tesznek szükségessé. A szakirodalmi kutatás mellett a tanulmány arra a mintegy százhúsz felsőoktatási és kutatóintézeti közép- és felső vezetőkkel készült interjú feldolgozására épül, amelyek két OKTK- és egy OTKA-kutatás keretében, valamint a jelenlegi MTA kutatócsoporti ciklus munkálatainak keretében készültek el.
Esélyegyenlőség - érték vagy illúzió? - Diszkrimináció a munkahelyen
Authors: Bencsik Andrea , Machová Renáta
Published: November 2021

A tanulmány célja a diszkrimináció, ezen belül is a munkahelyi diszkrimináció vizsgálata. A témakör elméleti hátterének rövid bemutatása után egy vállalati példa szolgáltatja az alapot a valóságos történések megítélésére. A szerzők tanulmányukban felvázolták a hátrányos munkahelyi megkülönböztetés megnyilvánulásainak negatív hatásait a munkatársak viselkedésére, munkahelyi teljesítményére, egyúttal a vállalati sikerre. Az elméleti alapok bemutatása után egy kiválasztott vállalat teljes munkatársi állományát kérdezték meg kérdőív segítségével arról, hogy ők maguk hogyan érzékelik a hátrányos megkülönböztetés megnyilvánulásait, és mit tesznek vagy nem tesznek a probléma kezelése érdekében. A tanulmány a vizsgálat eredményeit összegzi.
DEMENTIA PREVENTION BY DISEASE-MODIFICATION THROUGH NUTRITION
Authors: Smith A.D. , Refsum H.
Published: November 2021

It is agreed that disease-modification is the most desirable approach to tackling dementia (1), but we are often told that it is not yet feasible and that “no disease modifying therapy has proven effective in clinical trials” (2). The purpose of our Editorial is to show that disease-modification is not only feasible but that there is good evidence that it has already been achieved in subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
Artificial Landscape: in search of publicness through urban spectacle in Hong Kong
Authors: Leung Isaac , Buchanan Andy
Published: November 2021

Screen technologies increasingly permeate the experience of public space in Hong Kong. Large media walls have occupied the façades of many buildings, rendering a cityscape with dynamic information visible as a new urban skin. This article is a case study on Artificial Landscape, a site-specific media art project located on Asia Pacific’s largest LED outdoor screen. The case sets an example of how a public screen can serve as a mediating agent. It provides an opportunity for artists to provoke absent ideas in the public space and explore subversive potential, including critical reflection on issues surrounding surveillance, consumerism and rapid urban growth. The case also exemplifies how a public screen can mediate the public to experience an alternative context through artistic intervention, where negotiations of perceptions and subjectivities are made possible. This article provides insights into a public screen’s mode of spectatorship, quality of public space and curatorial strategies in an urban context. This is achieved by illustrating how various artworks extend the notion of publicness and remediate the mutually constitutive relationship among the built environment, media technologies, artists, public and everyday encounters.
Spectral Probability Distribution of Closed Connected Water and Remote Sensing Statistical Inference for Yellow Substance
Authors: Zhu Weining , Zhang Zeliang , Yang Zaiqiao , Pang Shuna , Chen Jiang , Cheng Qian
Published: November 2021

Unlike traditional remote sensing inversion, this study proposes a new distribution–distribution scheme, which uses statistical inferences to estimate the probability distribution of in-water components based on the probability distribution of the observed spectra. The distribution–distribution
scheme has the advantages that it rapidly gives the statistical information of the water of interest, assists the traditional scheme in improving models, and provides more valuable information for water classification and aquatic environment analysis. In this study, based on Landsat-8 images,
we analyzed the spectral probability distributions of 688 global waters and found that many of them were normal, log normal, and exponential distributions with diverse patterns in distribution parameters such as the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. Using simulated and field-measured
data, we propose a bootstrap-based distribution–distribution scheme and develop some simple remote sensing statistical inference models to estimate the distribution parameters of yellow substance in water.