bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some lessons learned and still to be learned about the role of forests and urban green areas during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Bonanno Giuseppe , Veneziano Vincenzo
Published: December 2023

Forests and green areas proved to be crucial and unexpected allies in the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, urban and suburban green areas acted as propelling centers of public health during the most severe periods of lockdown. The exploitation of forested areas also contributed to mitigating the economic impact of job losses during the pandemic. This study specifically focused on the lessons that still need to be learned and suggested possible strategies for strengthening the lessons learned from COVID-19. Based on our investigation, we found that the use of urban green areas is significantly dependent on cultural and socioeconomic factors, and the increased interest in suburban green areas suggests a generally insufficient level of urban green spaces. Moreover, the exploitation of forests favored greater illegal deforestation in economically depressed countries, which led to biodiversity disruption and the further impoverishment of natural wood resources. First, as many citizens as possible, across different age, gender, cultural and socioeconomic conditions, should be encouraged to maintain the healthy habits that they developed during the pandemic. This may be accomplished by making cities more inclusive through the promotion of societal values, social cohesion and awareness campaigns. People should be encouraged to benefit from suburban green areas through increased connectivity between cities and their surrounding natural zones. Moreover, the promotion of the sustainable use of forested lands will contribute to not only ecological but also economic recovery through the creation of green jobs. Therefore, the greatest lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic is something that we have always known: equity is the guiding principle for a more resilient world.
Reporting or marketing? The discourse on technology in educational landscape reports
Authors: Heinsfeld Bruna Damiana , Marone Vittorio
Published: December 2023

Educational landscape reports have historically contributed to advocating for changes that would benefit learners, including recommendations for digital technologies and their use. The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably affected education, pushing institutions to quickly adapt to the emergency through the use of technology. This scenario has impacted the discourse on educational technologies and their implementation. Seeking to better understand this discourse and its potential impact on education, drawing from a range of scholarly literature—including discourse analysis, critical discourse studies, and studies on educational technology and change—this study focuses on how technology has been presented in a major yearly publication in 2020, 2021, and 2022. This study adds to the literature by presenting findings that show that technology corporations can play a crucial role in shaping educational technology discourses in landscape reports, including how technology should be adopted and the very future of higher education. Additionally, it reinforces the need for critical awareness of how different publications may push corporate agendas disguised as impartial expert guidance.
Roundtable discussion: progress of urban informatics in urban planning
Authors: Liu Chao , Ye Xinyue , Yuan Xiaoru , Long Ying , Zhang Wenwen , Guan Chenghe , Zhang Fan
Published: December 2023

With the rapid development of computer technology, urban informatics, as a new discipline in the field of urban planning, has gradually attracted academic attention. The rise of urban informatics puts new pressures on urban planning, but it also provides a new perspective of analysis. This paper is a summary of a panel discussion among scholars in urban informatics held at the 2020 International Association for China Planning(IACP).In this context, the panel outlines the definition of urban informatics, and the difference between urban informatics and urban analytic and computing, and found that urban informatics pays more attention to end user. This indicates that urban informatics has been more than a supporting role in urban planning or design, and is increasingly integrated with urban planning. The panel also discusses the connotation of urban informatics and its wide application in practice, and illustrates with examples. At the same time, the team identifies the difficulties of its development mainly reflected in the two aspects of resources and talents, and the learners of urban planning discipline have natural advantage in learning urban informatics. Finally, the panel discusses how to improve teaching, and concludes that the promotion of good cases, discipline integration, training data thinking rather than focusing too much on methods and other concepts. All in all, this panel's report contributes to the wider discussion about the role of urban informatics plays in urban planning.
Shoutings, Scoldings, Gossip, and Whispers: Mothers’ Responses to Armed Actors and Militarization in Two Caracas Barrios
Authors: Zubillaga Verónica , Hanson Rebecca
Published: December 2023

How do mothers deal with chronic violence and the constant presence of guns in their neighborhoods? How do they build situated meaning and discursive practices out of their experiences and relationships with armed actors? We compare the experiences of women in two poor and working-class neighborhoods in Caracas. Through this comparative ethnographic project, we aim to show how, in the midst of state-sponsored depredation and with an overwhelming presence of guns in their lives, women use their cultural roles as mothers to perform everyday forms of resistance vis-à-vis the different armed actors that impose their presence in the barrios. In the mothers’ daily struggles, dramatic discursive actions—from more openly oppositional ones, such as shouting, scolding, and talking, to more hidden ones, such as both “circulating gossip” and “captive gossip,” to more vulnerable ones, such as whispering—are main resources in the micropolitics of their neighborhoods. Our findings suggest that strategies are context dependent and most likely vary according to numerous factors, including the history of civic organizing, policing practices, and the type of armed actor with whom they cohabitate in their neighborhood.
The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey V: Cataloguing the sky at 1 367.5 MHz and the second data release of RACS-mid
Authors: Duchesne S. W. , Grundy J. A. , Heald George H. , Lenc Emil , Leung James K. , McConnell David , Murphy Tara , Pritchard Joshua , Rose Kovi , Thomson Alec J. M. , Wang Yuanming , Wang Ziteng , Whiting Matthew T.
Published: December 2023

The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) has surveyed the sky at multiple frequencies as part of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS). The first two RACS observing epochs, at 887.5 (RACS-low) and 1 367.5 (RACS-mid) MHz, have been released (McConnell, et al. 2020, PASA, 37, e048; Duchesne, et al. 2023, PASA, 40, e034). A catalogue of radio sources from RACS-low has also been released, covering the sky south of declination

$+30^{\circ}$

(Hale, et al., 2021, PASA, 38, e058). With this paper, we describe and release the first set of catalogues from RACS-mid, covering the sky below declination

$+49^{\circ}$

. The catalogues are created in a similar manner to the RACS-low catalogue, and we discuss this process and highlight additional changes. The general purpose primary catalogue covering 36 200 deg

$^2$

features a variable angular resolution to maximise sensitivity and sky coverage across the catalogued area, with a median angular resolution of

$11.2^{\prime\prime} \times 9.3^{\prime\prime}$

. The primary catalogue comprises 3 105 668 radio sources, including those in the Galactic Plane (2 861 923 excluding Galactic latitudes of

$|b|<5^{\circ}$

), and we estimate the catalogue to be 95% complete for sources above 2 mJy. With the primary catalogue, we also provide two auxiliary catalogues. The first is a fixed-resolution, 25-arcsec catalogue approximately matching the sky coverage of the RACS-low catalogue. This 25-arcsec catalogue is constructed identically to the primary catalogue, except images are convolved to a less-sensitive 25-arcsec angular resolution. The second auxiliary catalogue is designed for time-domain science and is the concatenation of source lists from the original RACS-mid images with no additional convolution, mosaicking, or de-duplication of source entries to avoid losing time-variable signals. All three RACS-mid catalogues, and all RACS data products, are available through the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (https://research.csiro.au/casda/).
Dietary inclusion of Clostridium butyricum cultures alleviated impacts of high-carbohydrate diets in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
Authors: Tao Jiajie , Gong Ye , Chen Shiwen , Li Wenfei , Xie Ruitao , Zhang Haitao , Chen Naisong , Huang Xuxiong , Li Songlin
Published: December 2023

A 60-d feeding trial was conducted to explore the potential regulatory effects of dietary Clostridium butyricum cultures (CBC) supplementation in high-carbohydrate diet (HCD) on carbohydrate utilisation, antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota of largemouth bass. Triplicate groups of largemouth bass (average weight 35·03 ± 0·04 g), with a destiny of twenty-eight individuals per tank, were fed low-carbohydrate diet and HCD supplemented with different concentration of CBC (0 %, 0·25 %, 0·50 % and 1·00 %). The results showed that dietary CBC inclusion alleviated the hepatic glycogen accumulation induced by HCD intake. Additionally, the expression of hepatic ampkα1 and insulin signaling pathway-related genes (ira, irb, irs, p13kr1 and akt1) increased linearly with dietary CBC inclusion, which might be associated with the activation of glycolysis-related genes (gk, pfkl and pk). Meanwhile, the expression of intestinal SCFA transport-related genes (ffar3 and mct1) was significantly increased with dietary CBC inclusion. In addition, the hepatic antioxidant capacity was improved with dietary CBC supplementation, as evidenced by linear decrease in malondialdehyde concentration and expression of keap1, and linear increase in antioxidant enzyme activities (total antioxidative capacity, total superoxide dismutase and catalase) and expression of antioxidant enzyme-related genes (nrf2, sod1, sod2 and cat). The analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA V3–4 region indicated that dietary CBC inclusion significantly reduced the enrichment of Firmicutes and potential pathogenic bacteria genus Mycoplasma but significantly elevated the relative abundance of Fusobacteria and Cetobacterium. In summary, dietary CBC inclusion improved carbohydrate utilization, antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota of largemouth bass fed HCD.
Medieval Meaning Makers: Addressing Historical Challenges and Rejuvenating Ritual through Allegorical Interpretation of the Liturgy
Authors: Even-Ezra Ayelet
Published: December 2023

This article studies the act of suggesting symbolic meanings for Christian divine office in medieval Europe. Twentieth-century anthropology placed great emphasis on the anthropologist as an interpreter of symbolic meanings of ritual, but while using indigenous explanations, it did not address explication as a social practice. The phenomenon of systematic symbolical explanation in medieval Europe, I propose, invites a shift in research questions from “what does ritual signify?” to “who proposes symbolic values for ritual, from which position, to whom, when, and why?” The first part of the article analyzes the ninth-century pioneering work of Amalar of Metz, while the second part turns to the heyday of the allegorical enterprise in the twelfth century, in the work of authors such as Rupert of Deutz and Honorius Augustudinensis. Applied to liturgy, the allegorical practice is shown to function as a sophisticated tool to address diversity and historical change, and as a contemplative means to rejuvenate ritual and afford delight in light of contemporary challenges.
Guess Who's Coming to Church: The Chicago Defender, the Federal Council of Churches, and Rethinking Shared Faith in Interracial Religious Practice
Authors: Stell William
Published: December 2023

On the cover page of the September 23, 1922, issue of the Chicago Defender, editor Robert S. Abbott announced Go-to-a-White-Church Sunday. Less than a month later, the Federal Council of Churches announced its inaugural Race Relations Sunday. Through a comparative analysis of these two events, this article reconsiders historians’ tendency to assume and emphasize a shared faith across racial lines when discussing interracial religious practice in various historical contexts. Go-to-a-White-Church Sunday was intended both to introduce white churchgoers to black respectability and to provide moral guidance to white churchgoers, whose racism rendered their faith something other than true Christianity. Notwithstanding ceremonial nods to interracial religious brotherhood, Abbott's campaign hinged more so on shared understandings of respectability than on shared Christian faith. While the FCC's Race Relations Sunday differed in its valorization of white Christianity, with proclamations that interracial religious brotherhood was sufficient to solve “the race problem,” both events displayed a shared faith in the power of interracial proximity in itself to accomplish their respective ends. Historians have replicated this problematic faith in interracial proximity by using language of racial transcendence and writing as if interracial religious practice is egalitarian unless proven otherwise. This article calls for more critical, contextually mindful approaches.
CYBER OPERATIONS AND THE STATUS OF DUE DILIGENCE OBLIGATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
Authors: Kenny Jack
Published: December 2023

This article adopts a critical approach towards scholarship seeking to identify binding due diligence obligations for States in cyberspace. The article demonstrates that due diligence obligations are anchored in specific primary rules and are not a universal standalone source from which it is possible to derive binding obligations for all areas of activity. The consensus position of States in United Nations fora clearly determines that due diligence in cyberspace is a voluntary, non-binding norm of responsible State behaviour, and there is currently insufficient State practice and opinio juris to support the development of a customary rule containing binding due diligence obligations in cyberspace. Consequently, the article concludes that attempts to establish binding due diligence obligations in cyberspace constitute lex ferenda that may be understood as an interventionist attempt by scholars to fill what they perceive to be dangerous legal gaps.
Calcium and vitamin D homoeostasis in male fertility
Authors: Yahyavi Sam Kafai , Boisen Ida Marie , Cui Zhihui , Jorsal Mads Joon , Kooij Ireen , Holt Rune , Juul Anders , Blomberg Jensen Martin
Published: December 2023

Calcium and vitamin D have well-established roles in maintaining calcium balance and bone health. Decades of research in human subjects and animals have revealed that calcium and vitamin D also have effects on many other organs including male reproductive organs. The presence of calcium-sensing receptor, vitamin D receptor, vitamin D activating and inactivating enzymes and calcium channels in the testes, male reproductive tract and human spermatozoa suggests that vitamin D and calcium may modify male reproductive function. Functional animal models have shown that vitamin D deficiency in male rodents leads to a decrease in successful mating and fewer pregnancies, often caused by impaired sperm motility and poor sperm morphology. Human studies have to a lesser extent validated these findings; however, newer studies suggest a positive effect of vitamin D supplementation on semen quality in cases with vitamin D deficiency, which highlights the need for initiatives to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Calcium channels in male reproductive organs and spermatozoa contribute to the regulation of sperm motility and capacitation, both essential for successful fertilisation, which supports a need to avoid calcium deficiency. Studies have demonstrated that vitamin D, as a regulator of calcium homoeostasis, influences calcium influx in the testis and spermatozoa. Emerging evidence suggests a potential link between vitamin D deficiency and male infertility, although further investigation is needed to establish a definitive causal relationship. Understanding the interplay between vitamin D, calcium and male reproductive health may open new avenues for improving fertility outcomes in men.
Overcoming hybridisation in global welfare regime classifications: lessons from a single case study
Authors: Mumtaz Zahid , Roumpakis Antonios , Sumarto Mulyadi
Published: December 2023

The hybridisation of welfare regimes is a critical issue in social policy literature due to the lack of a uniform dependent variable and the comparative, international scope of social policy analysis, and data availability. We argue that what is presented in the global welfare regime literature as an analytical problem of classification or transitioning could also, in fact, be treated as a methodological issue. Based on this, we aim to establish a criterion for determining the membership of a welfare regime by capturing the presence of hybridisation of welfare regimes in a given country at a particular time. We present a novel methodological approach based on multistage sampling to capture the hybridisation of distinct welfare regimes and determine the most populous cluster in Pakistan. Establishing criteria for capturing and determining welfare regime membership can improve the understanding of welfare regime dynamics and factors that contribute to hybridisation. Ultimately, this knowledge can inform policy decisions and contribute to the development of more effective welfare systems for diverse populations.
Azerbaijani Higher Education to implement mass English Medium Instruction (EMI) policies
Authors: Mammadova Tamilla
Published: December 2023

In the last decade, Azerbaijani universities’ upward implementation of English-medium instruction (EMI) policy has spread among most of the country's universities, public and private. Students are no longer enthusiastic about getting an education in their native language, neither they see Russian as a medium of instruction that used to be a vehicle for a brighter future. Research suggests that the rapid implementation of EMI policy is primarily motivated by the pursuit of internationalization (Williams, 2023), participation in international projects (Mammadova, 2020), and international academic mobility (Mammadova, 2023). As a result, attributed to the mass abandoning of the country by young early career specialists who have recently graduated from Higher Educational Institutions (HEI), the country annually loses a high number of qualified personnel (see Figure 1) who heavily resort to their linguistic competencies and go after a ‘better life’. Figure 1 demonstrates the average value for Azerbaijan to leave the country during the period between 2015 and 2022. With an average of 4.74 points out of 10, the minimum 4 index point was observed in 2016 and a maximum of 4.4 index points in 2022. In turn, the UN Migrant Stocks (2021) reports that by mid-2020 Azerbaijan had an emigration rate of 10.6 percent of its entire population. According to Chaikhana Media (2022), ‘there's a brain drain in Azerbaijan, highly-skilled people do leave their country even though they have had a high salary in Azerbaijan.’
Circular RNA hsa_circ_0001846 facilitates the malignant behaviors of pancreatic cancer by sponging miR-204-3p and upregulating KRAS expression
Authors: Ma Xiaolei , Zhang Haocheng , Wang Luning , Cheng Mengxing , Jia Yanxin , Feng Di , Lei Yating , Li Xinyu , Ba Lina , Song Na , Yang Xinxia , Bai Lidan , Zhang Ruipu , Xu Wenxiao , Qiao Guofen
Published: December 2023

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is mainly derived from the exocrine pancreatic ductal epithelial cells, and it is strongly aggressive malignant tumor. Due to its insidious onset and the lack of effective diagnostic biomarkers, PC currently remains one of the main causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Recent studies have found that hsa_circ_0001846 is involved in the progression of multiple cancers and has the potential to become biomarkers, but its function and mechanism in PC remains unclear. We found by qRT-PCR experiments that hsa_circ_0001846 was upregulated in PC cells and tissues, while circBase, Sanger sequencing, agarose gel electrophoresis and FISH experiments identified the splicing site, ring structure and cellular localization of hsa_circ_0001846. Various functional experiments by using the construction of small interfering RNA targeting hsa_circ_0001846 and overexpression plasmid demonstrated that hsa_circ_0001846 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of PC cells. Moreover, the tumor weight and volume of nude mice were significantly reduced after the stable knockdown of hsa_circ_0001846. In the mechanism exploration, RNA pull-down experiments and dual-luciferase experiments helped us to determine that hsa_circ_0001846 regulated the KRAS expression by sponging miR-204-3p in PC, thus playing a pro-cancer role. In this study, the effect of miR-204-3p on PC was also explored for the first time, and we found that knockdown of miR-204-3p reversed the tumor suppressive effect caused by silencing hsa_circ_0001846, and silencing KRAS also rescued the pro-cancer effect caused by overexpression of hsa_circ_0001846. In conclusion, our study revealed the pro-cancer role of hsa_circ_0001846 in PC, and for the first time identified the mechanism that hsa_circ_0001846 regulated KRAS by sponging miR-204-3p to promote PC progression and had the potential to become a cancer biomarker.
Dynamical flexible inference of nonlinear latent factors and structures in neural population activity
Authors: Abbaspourazad Hamidreza , Erturk Eray , Pesaran Bijan , Shanechi Maryam M.
Published: December 2023

Modelling the spatiotemporal dynamics in the activity of neural populations while also enabling their flexible inference is hindered by the complexity and noisiness of neural observations. Here we show that the lower-dimensional nonlinear latent factors and latent structures can be computationally modelled in a manner that allows for flexible inference causally, non-causally and in the presence of missing neural observations. To enable flexible inference, we developed a neural network that separates the model into jointly trained manifold and dynamic latent factors such that nonlinearity is captured through the manifold factors and the dynamics can be modelled in tractable linear form on this nonlinear manifold. We show that the model, which we named ‘DFINE’ (for ‘dynamical flexible inference for nonlinear embeddings’) achieves flexible inference in simulations of nonlinear dynamics and across neural datasets representing a diversity of brain regions and behaviours. Compared with earlier neural-network models, DFINE enables flexible inference, better predicts neural activity and behaviour, and better captures the latent neural manifold structure. DFINE may advance the development of neurotechnology and investigations in neuroscience.
Affective temperaments show stronger association with infertility treatment success compared to somatic factors, highlighting the role of personality focused interventions
Authors: Szabo Georgina , Szigeti F. Judit , Sipos Miklos , Varbiro Szabolcs , Gonda Xenia
Published: December 2023

Infertility has a multifactorial background, where, besides somatic factors, psychological contributors also play a role in development and outcome. While affective temperaments have been associated with development, course, and outcome as well as treatment success in various somatic conditions, their association with infertility and its treatment has not been investigated so far. The purpose of our retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the influence of affective temperaments on fertility treatment outcomes. Among 578 women who underwent infertility treatment in an Assisted Reproduction Centre in Budapest, Hungary, treatment success, detailed medical history, and demographic parameters were recorded, and the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A) was administered. Possible predictors of assisted reproduction outcome were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression models, followed by a receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis in order to define ideal affective temperament cut-off values for clinical applicability. Aside from age, BMI, and previous miscarriage, cyclothymic scores > 4 (OR = 0.51 CI 0.35–0.74, p < 0.001), depressive scores > 9 (OR = 0.59 CI 0.4–0.87, p = 0.009) and anxious scores > 9 (OR = 0.45 CI 0.31–0.66, p < 0.001) significantly decreased the odds of clinical pregnancy by 49%, 41% and 55%, respectively. Irritable and hyperthymic temperaments, as well as other somatic and socio-economic factors had no effect on infertility treatment outcomes. The results suggest that affective temperaments may be related to the outcome of infertility treatments. Thus, screening for affective temperaments may help identify high-risk patient groups and offer patient-tailored treatment, which may increase the chances of a successful pregnancy and live birth for women undergoing IVF treatment.
Numerical investigation of a typhoid disease model in fuzzy environment
Authors: Dayan Fazal , Ahmed Nauman , Ali Ali Hasan , Rafiq Muhammad , Raza Ali
Published: December 2023

Salmonella Typhi, a bacteria, is responsible for typhoid fever, a potentially dangerous infection. Typhoid fever affects a large number of people each year, estimated to be between 11 and 20 million, resulting in a high mortality rate of 128,000 to 161,000 deaths. This research investigates a robust numerical analytic strategy for typhoid fever that takes infection protection into consideration and incorporates fuzzy parameters. The use of fuzzy parameters acknowledges the variation in parameter values among individuals in the population, which leads to uncertainties. Because of their diverse histories, different age groups within this community may exhibit distinct customs, habits, and levels of resistance. Fuzzy theory appears as the most appropriate instrument for dealing with these uncertainty. With this in mind, a model of typhoid fever featuring fuzzy parameters is thoroughly examined. Two numerical techniques are developed within a fuzzy framework to address this model. We employ the non-standard finite difference (NSFD) scheme, which ensures the preservation of essential properties like dynamic consistency and positivity. Additionally, we conduct numerical simulations to illustrate the practical applicability of the developed technique. In contrast to many classical methods commonly found in the literature, the proposed approach exhibits unconditional convergence, solidifying its status as a dependable tool for investigating the dynamics of typhoid disease.
An α-chain modification rivals the effect of fetal hemoglobin in retarding the rate of sickle cell fiber formation
Authors: Worth Eli H. , Fugate Mark K. , Grasty Kimberly C. , Loll Patrick J. , Bishop Marilyn F. , Ferrone Frank A.
Published: December 2023

Adults with sickle cell disease bear a mutation in the β-globin gene, leading to the expression of sickle hemoglobin (HbS; α2βS2). Adults also possess the gene for γ-globin, which is a component of fetal hemoglobin (HbF, α2γ2); however, γ-chain expression normally ceases after birth. As HbF does not form the fibers that cause the disease, pharmacological and gene-modifying interventions have attempted to either reactivate expression of the γ chain or introduce a gene encoding a modified β chain having γ-like character. Here, we show that a single-site modification on the α chain, αPro114Arg, retards fiber formation as effectively as HbF. Because this addition to the repertoire of anti-sickling approaches acts independently of other modifications, it could be coupled with other therapies to significantly enhance their effectiveness.
Dietary seaweed (Saccharina latissima) supplementation in pigs induces localized immunomodulatory effects and minor gut microbiota changes during intestinal helminth infection
Authors: Bonde Charlotte Smith , Mejer Helena , Myhill Laura J. , Zhu Ling , Jensen Penille , Büdeyri Gökgöz Nilay , Krych Lukasz , Nielsen Dennis Sandris , Skovgaard Kerstin , Thamsborg Stig Milan , Williams Andrew R.
Published: December 2023

Brown seaweeds have a rich bioactive content known to modulate biological processes, including the mucosal immune response and microbiota function, and may therefore have the potential to control enteric pathogens. Here, we tested if dietary seaweed (Saccharina latissima) supplementation could modulate pig gut health with a specific focus on parasitic helminth burdens, gut microbiota composition, and host immune response during a five week feeding period in pigs co-infected with the helminths Ascaris suum and Oesophagostomum dentatum. We found that inclusion of fermented S. latissima (Fer-SL) at 8% of the diet increased gut microbiota α-diversity with higher relative abundances of Firmicutes, Tenericutes, Verrucomicrobia, Spirochaetes and Elusimicrobia, and lower abundance of Prevotella copri. In the absence of helminth infection, transcription of immune-related genes in the intestine was only moderately influenced by dietary seaweed. However, Fer-SL modulated the transcriptional response to infection in a site-specific manner in the gut, with an attenuation of infection-induced gene expression in the jejunum and an amplification of gene expression in the colon. Effects on systemic immune parameters (e.g. blood lymphocyte populations) were limited, indicating the effects of Fer-SL were mainly localized to the intestinal tissues. Despite previously documented in vitro anti-parasitic activity against pig helminths, Fer-SL inclusion did not significantly affect parasite egg excretion or worm establishment. Collectively, our results show that although Fer-SL inclusion did not reduce parasite burdens, it may modify the gut environment during enteric parasite infection, which encourages continued investigations into the use of seaweeds or related products as novel tools to improve gut health.
Understanding the association between county-level unemployment and health stratified by education and income in the southwestern United States
Authors: Majeed Hamnah , Baumann Shyon , Majeed Haris
Published: December 2023

Past research on the relationship between unemployment rates and population health has produced mixed findings. The relationship can be influenced by the kinds of health outcomes observed, time frame, level of geographic aggregation, and other factors. Given these mixed findings, there is a need to add to our knowledge about how unemployment rates and population health are related. There is limited research that examines the association of unemployment rates with both physical and mental health, while simultaneously stratifying populations by income and education levels. Using survey-based self-reported data, this first population-based study examined the association between unemployment rates and physically and mentally unhealthy days in the southwestern United States, by county-level stratification of income (high and low) as well as education (high and low), from 2015 to 2019. After controlling for covariates, associations were modelled using negative binomial regression, with autocorrelative residuals, and were reported as rate ratios (RR). Overall, we found that a 1% rise in unemployment rates was significantly associated with an increase in physically unhealthy days [adjusted RR 1.007; 95% CI, 1.004–1.011, P < 0.001] and mentally unhealthy days [RR 1.006; 95% CI, 1.003–1.009, P  < 0.001]. Upon stratification, a significant risk was found among the high education and high income category [RR 1.035; 95% CI, 1.021–1.049, P  < 0.001], as well as for the high education and low income category [RR 1.026; 95% CI, 1.013–1.040, P  < 0.001]. A better understanding of how unemployment is associated with the health of communities with different education and income levels could help reduce the burden on society through tailored interventions and social policies not only in the United States, but also in other developed nations.
Temporal stability and correlation of EEG markers and depression questionnaires scores in healthy people
Authors: Põld Toomas , Päeske Laura , Hinrikus Hiie , Lass Jaanus , Bachmann Maie
Published: December 2023

Mental disorders, especially depression, have become a rising problem in modern society. The development of methods and markers for the early detection of mental disorders is an actual problem. Psychological questionnaires are the only tools for evaluating the symptoms of mental disorders in clinical practice today. The electroencephalography (EEG) based non-invasive and cost-effective method seems feasible for the early detection of depression in occupational and family medicine centers and personal monitoring. The reliability of the EEG markers in the early detection of depression assumes their high temporal stability and correlation with the scores of depression questionnaires. The study was been performed on 17 healthy people over three years. Two hypotheses have been evaluated in the current study: first, the temporal stability of EEG markers is close to the stability of the scores of depression questionnaires, and second, EEG markers and depression questionnaires’ scores are not correlated in healthy people. The results of the performed study support both hypotheses: the temporal stability of EEG markers is high and close to the stability of depression questionnaires scores and the correlation between the EEG markers and depression questionnaires scores is not detected in healthy people. The results of the current study contribute to the interpretation of results in depression EEG studies and to the feasibility of EEG markers in the detection of depression.
Development and evaluation of a colorimetric LAMP-based biosensor for rapid detection of a nosocomial infection agent, Citrobacter freundii
Authors: Mollasalehi Hamidreza , Esmaili Faezeh , Minai-Tehrani Dariush
Published: December 2023

Simple and fast diagnosis of Citrobacter freundii which is an important cause of nosocomial infection in human is crucial to achieve early treatment. We have developed and evaluated an optical LAMP-based biosensor for the visual detection of C. freundii for the first time. The efficiency of the assay was investigated and compared to PCR method. The selectivity and specificity of the biosensor were analyzed using Morganella morganii, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Yersinia enterocolitica, Shigella sonnei, Serratia marcescens, Burkholderia cepacia and Klebsiella pneumoniae and a mixed-culture medium. Endpoint analysis using hydroxy naphthol blue was applied, and the color change to sky blue and no color change from violet indicated positive and negative results, respectively. The absorption at 650 nm was measured 0.39 for the positive sample, while the mean absorption of the test samples, including water, was 0.23. The specificity of the method was equal to that of PCR. However, the sensitivity was determined as 12.24 fg/µL of the genomic content of C. freundii, higher than PCR assay. The developed LAMP-based method provided a rapid and accurate technique for molecular diagnostics of C. freundii, making it a suitable technique for point-of-care diagnostics in cases of urgent situations.
Label-free electrochemical cancer cell detection leveraging hemoglobin-encapsulated silver nanoclusters and Cu-MOF nanohybrids on a graphene-assisted dual-modal probe
Authors: Zare Ali-Akbar , Naderi-Manesh Hossein , Naghib Seyed Morteza , Shamsipur Mojtaba , Molaabasi Fatemeh
Published: December 2023

Breast cancer detection at an early stage significantly increases the chances of successful treatment and survival. This study presents an electrochemical biosensor for detecting breast cancer cells, utilizing silver nanoclusters encapsulated by hemoglobin and Cu (II)-porphyrin-metal organic framework (BioMOF) in a graphene-incorporated nanohybrid probe. This Hb-AgNCs@MOF-G probe demonstrates high electrochemical activity, superior dispersity, porosity, and a large surface area for effective functionalization. Using a green ultrasonic-assisted stirring method, we fabricate ultra-small 5 nm particles that readily immobilize on a glassy carbon electrode, generating a detection signal when interacting with ferricyanide/ferrocyanide redox probes. The resulting immunosensor detects as few as 2 cells/mL using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) “signal on” and 16 cells/mL via Square Wave Voltammetry (SWV) “signal off”, within a broad range of cell concentrations (102–5 × 104 cells/mL). Our designed sensor shows improved selectivity (5- to 16-fold) and robust detection in human blood with a recovery efficiency between 94.8–106% (EIS method) and 95.4–111% (SWV method). This sensor could streamline early cancer diagnosis and monitor patient treatment without requiring labelling or signal amplification. As a pioneering endeavor, we've utilized integrated porous MOFs with Hb-encapsulated silver nanoclusters in cancer detection, where these components collectively enhance the overall functionality.
Unexpected impairment of INa underpins reentrant arrhythmias in a knock-in swine model of Timothy syndrome
Authors: Porta-Sánchez Andreu , Mazzanti Andrea , Tarifa Carmen , Kukavica Deni , Trancuccio Alessandro , Mohsin Muhammad , Zanfrini Elisa , Perota Andrea , Duchi Roberto , Hernandez-Lopez Kevin , Jáuregui-Abularach Miguel Eduardo , Pergola Valerio , Fernandez Eugenio , Bongianino Rossana , Tavazzani Elisa , Gambelli Patrick , Memmi Mirella , Scacchi Simone , Pavarino Luca F. , Franzone Piero Colli , Lentini Giovanni , Filgueiras-Rama David , Galli Cesare , Santiago Demetrio Julián , Priori Silvia G.
Published: December 2023

Timothy syndrome 1 (TS1) is a multi-organ form of long QT syndrome associated with life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, the organ-level dynamics of which remain unclear. In this study, we developed and characterized a novel porcine model of TS1 carrying the causative p.Gly406Arg mutation in CACNA1C, known to impair CaV1.2 channel inactivation. Our model fully recapitulated the human disease with prolonged QT interval and arrhythmic mortality. Electroanatomical mapping revealed the presence of a functional substrate vulnerable to reentry, stemming from an unforeseen constitutional slowing of cardiac activation. This signature substrate of TS1 was reliably identified using the reentry vulnerability index, which, we further demonstrate, can be used as a benchmark for assessing treatment efficacy, as shown by testing of multiple clinical and preclinical anti-arrhythmic compounds. Notably, in vitro experiments showed that TS1 cardiomyocytes display Ca2+ overload and decreased peak INa current, providing a rationale for the arrhythmogenic slowing of impulse propagation in vivo.
High density electron doping in boron-doped twisted bilayer graphene: a ladder to extended flat-band
Authors: Tanwar Khagesh , Wu Xi , Tan Xin , Smith Sean C. , Li Jia , Chen Ying (Ian)
Published: December 2023

Realizing Von Hove singularity (VHS) and extended flat bands of graphene near the Fermi level (EF) to explore many-body interactions with a high tendency towards superconductivity.
Optimizing Bi active sites by Ce doping for boosting formate production in a wide potential window
Authors: Wang Yi-Cheng , Sui Peng-Fei , Xu Chenyu , Zhu Meng-Nan , Feng Renfei , Ma Hongtao , Zeng Hongbo , Wang Xiaolei , Luo Jing-Li
Published: December 2023

CexBi1−x@C NRs were obtained by the pyrolysis method. Catalysts show desirable faradaic efficiencies of over 90% towards formate formation in a wide potential window from −0.9 to −1.9 Vvs. RHE, with the maximum value of 96.1%.
H/F substitution activating tunable dimensions and dielectric–optical properties in organic lead-bromide hybrids
Authors: Long Lipeng , Huang Ziwen , Xu Zhe-Kun , Gan Tian , Qin Yan , Chen Zhengwang , Wang Zhong-Xia
Published: December 2023

H/F substitution has been successfully applied to achieve structural dimension tailoring at the molecular level coupled with tunable dielectric and optical properties in organic lead-bromide hybrids.
Synthesis of 2-acyl benzofurans and indoles based on nucleophile-intercepted Meyer–Schuster rearrangement of o-hydroxyphenyl and o-aminophenyl propargylic alcohols
Authors: Li Zhao-Zhao , Jiang Si-Jing , He Shu-Yun , Gao Yu-Ning , Bian Ming , Chen Hui-Yu , Liu Zhen-Jiang
Published: December 2023

A new type of nucleophile-intercepted Meyer–Schuster rearrangement mediated by pyridine N-oxide under metal-free conditions using a catalytic amount of acid is disclosed. It enables synthesis of 2-acyl benzofurans and indoles in 56–>99% yields.
Ni-catalyzed regioselective C–C bond formation of 1,1-disubstituted allenes with aldehydes
Authors: Kim Seoyeon , Kim Jinyoung , Tambe Shrikant D. , Cho Eun Jin
Published: December 2023

A regio- and stereoselective coupling process between allenes and aldehydes has been developed to obtain a linear homoallylic secondary alcohols by photoredox/Ni dual catalysis.
Enhancing PV distributed generator planning in medium‐voltage DC distribution networks: A multi‐design techno‐economic analysis with load demand response
Authors: Zellagui Mohamed , Belbachir Nasreddine , Lasmari Adel , Molu Reagan Jean Jacques , Kamel Salah
Published: December 2023

Distributed generators have grown in significance for the technical and financial operation of electric power systems in recent years. The integration of these generators into the electrical distribution network (EDN) has experienced rapid growth, primarily driven by advancements in renewable energy sources (RESs), particularly photovoltaic distributed generators (PVDGs). With the increasing implementation of solar energy as a RES, designing the optimal integration of PVDGs into medium voltage direct current (MVDC) networks is crucial to comprehensively analyzing technical and economic factors. To address this issue, a new multiple objective function (MOF) is proposed, which combines various techno‐economic parameters such as total active power loss (APL), voltage deviation (VD), and the investment cost of PVDGs (ICPVDG) installed in the test system. The objective is to minimize the MOF simultaneously to achieve the optimal incorporation of PVDGs. This study aims to solve the allocation problems related to the location and size of PVDG units in the modified MVDC test systems IEEE 27 and 33‐bus. Simulation results demonstrate the superior accuracy and effectiveness of the equilibrium optimization algorithm (EOA) in achieving the minimum MOF. The utilization of multiple PVDG units reduces overall active power losses and improves voltage profiles across all buses.
Improving the performance of high‐sensitivity surface plasmon resonance biosensor with 2D nanomaterial coating (BP‐WS2) based on hybrid structure: Theoretical analysis
Authors: Didar Rita Fatanat , Vahed Hamid
Published: December 2023

The authors theoretically designed a highly sensitive SPR biosensor with a hybrid structure using two‐dimensional nanomaterials (BP‐WS2). Using the transfer matrix method (TMM), the performance of the sensor in terms of reflection, sensitivity, detection accuracy, and quality factor is investigated, and by changing the structural parameters of the sensor, the obtained results are further analysed so that an optimal structure with optimal performance can be achieved. The sensor was optimised with four layers of BP and a single layer of WS2. This composite structure is placed on a 50 nm thick gold layer and concluded with a maximum sensitivity of 234 deg/RIU with a FOM of 26.53 RIU−1. This biosensor is designed by considering the advantages and characteristics of biosensors in their resistance and high electrical properties, as well as the ability to detect diseases quickly.
Bearing‐only motion analysis of target based on low‐quality bearing‐time recordings map
Authors: Zhang Yanhou , Wang Chao , Zhang Qi , Da Lianglong , Jiang Zhaozhen
Published: December 2023

Accurate bearing‐time recordings play a crucial role in hydroacoustic target motion analysis and situation estimation. The target bearing estimated by vector hydrophone in the interference environment suffers from poor display and low signal‐to‐noise ratio. To solve this problem, a two‐stage bearing‐only motion analysis method is proposed. Firstly, the bearing peak information and bearing dispersion are extracted for each sampling moment of the bearing‐time recording. Custom constraint regions and adaptive parameters are then set based on this information. The order truncate average algorithm is improved to enhance the quality of the low‐quality bearing‐time recording map. Secondly, a bearing‐only target motion model is established based on the bearing‐time recording distribution features, and a bearing‐time recording trust interval is constructed. Then a modified pseudo‐linear estimation algorithm is proposed to solve the target motion situation information, including target abeam time, target abeam bearing, target course, velocity‐to‐initial‐distance ratio, and so forth. Finally, by comparing the solved values of the sea trial data with the automatic identification system calculation results, the enhancement effect of the target bearing‐time recording map is significant and the solving error of the target motion elements meets the needs of engineering applications.
Selectable Fractional-order Controller for Industrial Control Designs
Authors: Walia Mandeep Singh , Garg Roopali , Goyal Parveen
Published: December 2023

Differential Equation (DE) of fractional-order specifically gives clear view of fractional-order systems. Since genuine processes are typically or most anticipated to be fractional, employing fractional-order’s concept might be results to take us closer to the actual world. A lot of recent publications concentrate on employing fractional-order dynamics is to describe actual physical processes. In this paper, fractional calculus is applied in the field of control systems. Fractional-order controller also known as FOC has been proposed in numerous studies. The fundamental benefit of a FOC is that it gives the control mechanism of greater flexibility of time and frequency responses, enabling better and more reliable functioning of the system. The industrialization of fractional-order control has practical benefits of better solutions for control problems. The industrial controller has the requirement of different gains and orders of fractionalorder controllers. The selectable improved design is proposed, and an optimal and efficient controller is suggested with fractional-order approach. The results show that the best controller is selected from different controllers for water tank and bio-reactor systems. It is found in the results that the Mod FPID controller has the least overshoot of 4.31% and the fastest settling time of 76.5 s for water tank system and fractional-order controller (PID)n is selected for bio-reactor control systems.
Welding Fume Mitigation
Authors: Shinde Vishal , Rodge Someshwar , Vethekar Abhijit
Published: December 2023

In order to maintain a healthy and safe work environment the global occupational exposure limits for manganese were reviewed and initiative to reduce welding fume concentrations initiated [1].

There are different techniques available to capture welding fumes, At source weld fume capture is one of the technics used in One of the John Deere Factory, Welding torch equipped with the fume absorption system to capture the fumes generated during welding. For implementation detail study of the existing robot cell infrastructure was done [2]. It results in 80% of fume filtration and 2.79 MT (Table.2) of welding harmful gases filtered and recirculated in the atmosphere [3].