bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Breakthrough studies for the sorption of methylene blue dye from wastewater samples using activated carbon derived from waste banana peels
Authors: Ramutshatsha-Makhwedzha Denga , Munyengabe Alexis , Mavhungu Mapula Lucey , Mbaya Richard , Baloyi Jeffrey
Published: May 2023

In the current study, an activated carbon derived from waste banana peel using H2SO4 was applied for the first time in a packed-bed column for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from wastewater. The pore structure and surface of banana peel activated carbon (BPAC) were investigated using X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis to discover the mechanism of MB sorption. The produced BPAC by H2SO4 activation agent has surface area of 361.86 m2/g and exhibits good thermal stability. The extent of MB breakthrough performance was examined by optimizing flow rate, bed mass, and initial concentration at pH 9. The column’s dynamics revealed a strong dependence of breakthrough curves as a function of process conditions. The breakthrough time (tb), volume of liters processed (L), and adsorption exhaustion rate all increased as bed mass increased but decreased as flow rate and initial concentration increased. Applying linear regression to the experimental data, Yoon-Nelson and Thomas’ kinetic model was used to extract column characteristic parameters that could be used in process design. Using environmental water, the waste banana peel activated carbon material demonstrated effectiveness in removing MB to below acceptable levels by processing 1.16 L of water with an initial MB concentration of 40 mg/L using 8 g of sorbent. Nitric acid (3M) was able to regenerate the exhausted bed. Moreover, the sorbent was reused four times with no significant capacity loss. It can be concluded that waste banana peel activated carbon medium is an alternative solution to remediate MB-contaminated wastewater.
Discrete element simulation of the breakage behavior of porous granules utilizing bond models
Authors: Rotter Sonja , Dosta Maksym , Düster Alexander
Published: May 2023

In the development of ships, the aspect of collision safety plays a major role. In this paper, the approach to improve the crashworthiness of ships is to fill the already existing double hull with a granular material. For this purpose, the material used is to be investigated numerically. A discrete element approach is applied for this in the paper presented. Since the breakage behavior of the particles is of particular interest, the discrete element method is used together with a bonded particle method. This approach is extended by a model which is able to take into account the micro-cracks occurring in the material and the energy dissipation caused by them. Using this and other models of the bonded particle method, simulations are carried out and compared with corresponding experiments. A particular focus is on uniaxial compression tests with single particles and particle systems. The single-particle tests are used to determine various simulation parameters relevant to individual particles in terms of geometry and material. In addition, the multi-particle tests provide insight into the behavior of several particles, their interaction and dynamics. These simulations can be used to test the extent to which it is possible to represent porous particles and their fracture behavior by numerical means.
Analyzing international airtime top-up transfers for migration and mobility
Authors: Aydoğdu Bilgeçağ , Samad Hanif , Bai Shiqi , Abboud Sami , Gorantis Ilias , Salah Albert Ali
Published: May 2023

International airtime top-up transfers enable prepaid mobile phone users to send top-ups and data bundles to users in other countries, as well as make payments, in real time. These are heavily used by migrants to financially assist their families in their home countries and consequently could be a valuable source of information for migration and mobility analysis. However, top-up transfers are understudied as a form of money remittance in migration. In this paper, we explore the determinants and the potential of top-up transactions to complement remittance and migration statistics. Our results show that such data can provide insights into migrant groups, particularly for irregular migration and for estimating the real-time distribution of migrant groups for a given country.
Laser Ablation and Chemical Oxidation Synergistically Induced Micro/Nano Re-entrant Structures for Super-Oleophobic Surface with Cassie State
Authors: Chao Jiaqi , Chen Faze , Xia Lei , Cai Zexin , Wang Fujun , Tian Yanling , Zhang Dawei
Published: May 2023

Generally, re-entrant structures are a key part of fabricating superoleophobic surfaces, and this structure appears in almost all kinds of published research articles regarding superoleophobicity. However, the application of related fabrication methods is usually too complex and costly in real practice. In this paper, we present a simple method to generate micro-cauliflower structures, which work as re-entrant structures in microcone arrays, to promote the formation of superoleophobic surfaces. The heating process after alkali-assisted surface oxidation is the main reason for the appearance of a micro-ball structure, and the oxidation time can influence the size of the micro-ball. To the best of our knowledge, the influence of the heating process after alkali-assisted surface oxidation on the birth of the micro-ball structure is seldom researched. A low-surface-energy treatment was also analyzed in influencing the size of the re-entrant structure and its relative wettability. Droplets of 5 μl of n-decane show contact angles of 155 ± 1°on the as-prepared superoleophobic surface, and air pockets can be clearly seen underneath, indicating a stable Cassie contacting state and a promising application value in the near future.
Nickel nanoparticle–decorated reduced graphene oxide via one-step microwave-assisted synthesis and its lightweight and flexible composite with Polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene polymer for electromagnetic wave shielding application
Authors: Skoda David , Vilcakova Jarmila , Yadav Raghvendra Singh , Hanulikova Barbora , Capkova Tereza , Jurca Marek , Urbanek Michal , Machac Petr , Simonikova Lucie , Antos Jan , Kuritka Ivo
Published: May 2023

Nickel nanoparticle–decorated reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (NiG) were prepared by a one-step microwave-assisted solvothermal method. The as-prepared NiG nanocomposite systems were further heated up to 800 °C under an inert atmosphere (named NiG-800) to modify their structural and electromagnetic properties. Thereafter, these developed NiG-800 nanocomposite systems of rGO and nickel nanoparticles (25 wt.%) were applied as nanofillers (50 wt.% and 70 wt.%) in a SEBS (Polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene) polymer matrix to create NiG-800(50)-SEBS and NiG-800(70)-SEBS nanocomposites. The addition of NiG-800 to SEBS led to an increase of Young’s modulus from 16 (SEBS) to 35 MPa (NiG-800(70)-SEBS) while the maximum elongation is still around 300%. The developed NiG-800(70)-SEBS nanocomposite exhibited high-performance electromagnetic wave absorption (minimum reflection loss RLmin ≈ –48.2 dB at 9.29 GHz) at a low thickness of 2.3 mm in the frequency range of 8.2−12.4 GHz. The prepared NiG-800(70)-SEBS nanocomposite has the potential of an electromagnetic wave absorber. The NiG-800(70)-SEBS nanocomposite reported here has total shielding efficiency > 10 dB at a thickness of 1 mm in the whole frequency range (X-band) with reflection ≈ 50% and absorption ≈ 40% which has the potential for electromagnetic wave absorber applications.
Preventing Bullying in Preschool-Age Children: Predictors of Defending Behaviour
Authors: Swit Cara S. , Blakely-McClure Sarah J. , Kamper-DeMarco Kimberley K. E.
Published: May 2023

Understanding the factors that motivate defending behaviour from an early age is crucial in informing effective intervention in bullying. However, relatively little is known about the social, emotional, and cognitive factors that predict young children’s involvement in defending behaviour. This study investigated the concurrent role of social (i.e. relational and physical aggression, prosocial behaviour, positive peer interactions, and peer rejection), emotional (i.e. anger, empathy), and cognitive (i.e. social withdrawal, inhibitory control, and attention) predictors of defending behaviour in early childhood (N = 87, M age = 46.74 months, SD = 10.13, 56% males). Children were recruited from kindergartens located in three diverse socio-economic communities in the South Island of New Zealand. The findings of a series of hierarchical regressions showed that, after controlling for age, lower levels of social withdrawal predicted higher levels of defending behaviour. For older children (≥ 46.7 months), empathy was a strong predictor of defending behaviour. Defending behaviour was positively associated with age; however, no differences were found in teacher reports of boys’ and girls’ use of defending. Implications for early prevention, intervention, and future research directions are discussed.
Metal–organic framework mediated Ni-deposition on MWCNTs for direct methanol fuel cell catalysis
Authors: Shams-Eldin Reham , Ali Aya A. , Hani Amal , Haikal Rana R. , Fahmy Hussein M. , El Nashar Rasha M. , Alkordi Mohamed H.
Published: May 2023

Herein, we present the utilization of Ni2+-doped, amine-functionalized, UiO-66-NH2 metal–organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles deposited onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a precursor to generate  electrocatalytically active catalyst towards methanol (MeOH) oxidation. The electrode material displayed an onset potential of 0.42 V (vs Hg/HgO) with maximum activity at 1 M MeOH concentration (143 mA/cm2 current density at 0.6 V vs Hg/HgO). The catalyst also demonstrated high stability, retaining 93.5% of its initial activity under continuous electrolysis for 1 h, and 84.1% after 10 h.
Enhanced Adsorption Of Humic Acid On Amino-Modified Bentonite
Authors: Jiang Lei , Sun Hongjuan , Peng Tongjiang , Du Juan , Xia Lingxi
Published: May 2023

Humic acid (HA) can cause environmental pollution, due to which, its removal from aqueous solutions has become an increasingly important issue. Although bentonite has an affinity for HA, the adsorption capacity of raw bentonite is still poor. As a commonly used organic modifier, 3-aminopropyltriethoxyorganosilane (APTES) exhibits excellent flocculation capability for HA. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the addition of 3-aminopropyltriethoxyorganosilane (APTES) to raw bentonite to increase the adsorption of HA from aqueous solution. The experimental results showed that, when the solid-to-liquid ratio was 1:1, the amino-modified bentonite exhibited the highest adsorption capacity (qmax = 272.23 mg g-1). The adsorption affinity of amino-modified bentonite was mainly determined by the number of amino groups loaded onto its surface. The adsorption of HA on amino-modified bentonite occurred through electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding. These findings demonstrate the excellent potential of amino-modified bentonite in effectively remediating HA pollution.
Evaluation of the Safety Profile of Direct-Acting Antivirals on Patients with Hepatitis C Virus: A Pharmacovigilance Study
Authors: El-Marakby Mai G. , Solayman Mohamed H. , Sabri Nagwa A.
Published: May 2023

Background

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the primary contributor to chronic hepatic diseases. A rapid change in the situation took place with the advent of oral direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). However, a comprehensive review of the adverse event (AE) profile of the DAAs is lacking. This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the reported Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) with DAA treatment using data from VigiBase, the WHO Individual Case Safety Report (ICSR) database.

Methods

All ICSRs reported to VigiBase with sofosbuvir (SOF), daclatasvir (DCV), sofosbuvir /ledipasvir (SOF/LDV) and ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (OBV/PTV/r) in Egypt were extracted. Descriptive analysis was performed to summarize patients’ and reactions’ characteristics. Information components (ICs) and proportional reporting ratios (PRRs) for all reported ADRs were calculated to identify signals of disproportionate reporting. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the DAAs association with serious events of concern while adjusting for age, gender, pre-existing cirrhosis, and ribavirin use.

Results

Out of 2925 reports, 1131 (38.6%) were serious. The most commonly reported reactions; anaemia (21.3%), HCV relapse (14.5%) and headache (14%). For the disproportionality signals; HCV relapse was reported with SOF/DCV (IC 3.65, 95% CrI 3.47–3.79) and SOF/RBV (IC 3.69, 95% CrI 3.37–3.92), while anaemia (IC 2.85, 95% CrI 2.26–3.27) and renal impairment (IC 2.12, 95% CrI 0.7–3.03) were reported with OBV/PTV/r.

Conclusion

The highest severity index and seriousness were reported with SOF/RBV regimen. A significant association was found for OBV/PTV/r with renal impairment and anaemia although being the superior regimen in terms of efficacy. The study findings call for further population-based studies for clinical validation.
Transition to a Sustainable Circular Society: More than Just Resource Efficiency
Authors: Calisto Friant Martin , Vermeulen Walter J. V. , Salomone Roberta
Published: May 2023

While the conceptual underpinnings of the circular economy (CE) date back to the 1970s, the concept has recently become a major discourse in contemporary sustainability debates. The idea of CE, as it is now understood, is thus rather new and remains in conceptual development. Moreover, it is a contested concept with many different circular visions competing in the discursive sphere. Many researchers have evidenced that dominant CE propositions focus on technocentric solutions and do not address crucial social, political, and ecological implications. This opinion paper seeks to help address this gap by going to the root of the CE metaphor and asking: What do circles, cycles, and flows mean for an economy and a society? To answer this question, this article unpacks the idea of cycles, loops, and flows by analysing what socio-ecological cycles are most relevant for sustainability and circularity. It thus finds a set of seven cycles that are key to better understanding CE and its relation to human and planetary well-being (biogeochemical, ecosystem, resource, power, wealth, knowledge, and care cycles). This article then analyses how and whether dominant CE discourses currently address these cycles. This paper proposes the idea of a circular society as an umbrella concept that can help us better address the critical ecological, social, and political implications of a circularity transition. Moreover, this article develops a set of interrelated strategies to operationalise the circular society concept. This paper thus hopes to contribute to expanding the imaginary regarding the concept of circularity that can help the cross-pollination of ideas, solutions, and approaches to face the manyfold socio-ecological challenges of the twenty-first century.
Pregnancy, childbirth and neonatal outcomes associated with adolescent pregnancy
Authors: Ranjbar Amene , Shirzadfard Jahromi Maliheh , Boujarzadeh Banafsheh , Roozbeh Nasibeh , Mehrnoush Vahid , Darsareh Fatemeh
Published: May 2023

Objective

To assess the obstetric and neonatal outcomes associated with adolescent pregnancy in Iran.

Methods

We retrospectively assessed women who gave birth between January 1st, 2020, and January 1st, 2022. These pregnant women were separated into two groups: (1) women aged 19 and younger; (2) women aged 20–34 years. Main outcome measures include preterm birth, maternal comorbidities, preeclampsia, eclampsia, low birth weight (LBW), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), placenta abnormalities, placenta abruption, chorioamnionitis, meconium fluid, fetal distress, methods of delivery, rate of cesarean section (CS), perineal lacerations, postpartum hemorrhage, childbirth trauma, shoulder dystocia, congenital malformation, and unfavorable maternal and neonatal outcome. Logistic regression models were used to determine the influence of teenage pregnancy on adverse pregnancy and childbirth outcomes.

Results

Of 7033 deliveries, 92.4% of women were adults, and 7.6% were adolescents. Adolescents residing in rural districts were more common than adults (42.3% vs. 33.7%). However, access to prenatal facility care was the same as the majority of women had 6-10 prenatal care visits during their pregnancy. There was no difference in the risk of preeclampsia, placenta abruption, placenta previa, fetal distress, preterm labor, shoulder dystocia, perineal lacerations, childbirth trauma, congenital malformation, postpartum hemorrhage, intensive care unit admission, maternal death, and unfavorable neonatal outcome including stillbirth, neonatal intensive care unit admission, neonatal death in adolescent pregnancies compared to adults. Adolescents had a significantly higher risk of LBW (OR: 1.47, 95%CI: 1.01–2.73), IUGR (OR: 1.96, 95%CI: 1.31–2.45), and meconium fluid (OR: 1.74, 95%CI: 1.41–2.32), however, there was no statistically significant difference after adjusting the confounding factors. Compared with adults, adolescents had a significantly lower risk of CS (aRR: 0.67, 95%CI: 0.51–0.77) and a lower risk of gestational diabetes (aRR: 0.78, 95%CI: 0.51–0.95).

Conclusions

Although we found no serious consequences of adolescent pregnancy, more research is needed to reach a more accurate conclusion about teenage pregnancy.
Histo-morphometric vicissitudes in diet-controlled diabetic placenta: A quantitative stereological model
Authors: Arshad Rabia , Amir Erum , Pahore Asra Khan , Mustansar Tazeen
Published: May 2023

Background

An affordable approach accepted worldwide to successfully treat mild maternal hyperglycemia in gestational diabetes (GDM), is diet-controlled therapy. As no elaborate research was available, this study was crafted to investigate morphometric stereological details and to determine the mean placental oxygen diffusion capacity for patients who were kept on diet therapy for mild gestational hyperglycemia.

Methods

A clinical trial (NCT04907708) was conducted from January 2018 to February 2019. A total of 70 women completed the study, out of which 35 served as healthy controls as Group A and 35 were diagnosed as mild gestational diabetics according to WHO criteria (Group B). These patients were kept on a restricted calorie diet with light exercise during gestation and were followed regularly during gestation. Soon after delivery, conserved placentas underwent complete gross, microscopic, and stereological investigations with the point and intersection -counting methods.

Results

Significant differences were observed for placental width and syncytial knots (p< ​0.010 and 0.025 respectively) between the groups on gross and light microscopy. Most of the parameters were non-significant, though numerically more in the GDM group. On stereological details, mean placental volume, mean placental components volumes (villi, inter-villous space, fetal capillary, and fetal connective tissue), mean villi and mean fetal capillary diameter, mean villi and capillary surface density and mean morphometric diffusing capacity of placenta showed non-significant results between the groups.

Conclusion

Minimal changes were observed in gross, microscopy, and morphometric stereological details in the placentae of GDM patients managed with nutritional therapy during gestation compared with the healthy controls.
Orthographic Traditions and the Sub-elite in the Roman Empire
Authors: Zair Nicholas
Published: May 2023

This book makes use of digital corpora to give in-depth details of the history and development of the spelling of Latin. It focusses on sub-elite texts in the Roman empire, and reveals that sophisticated education in this area was not restricted to those at the top of society. Nicholas Zair studies the history of particular orthographic features and traces their usage in a range of texts which give insight into everyday writers of Latin: including scribes and soldiers at Vindolanda, slaves at Pompeii, members of the Praetorian Guard, and writers of curse tablets. In doing so, he problematises the use of 'old-fashioned' spelling in dating inscriptions, provides important new information on sound-change in Latin, and shows how much can be gained from a detailed sociolinguistic analysis of ancient texts.
Understanding the Rise of Complexity at Cahokia: Evidence of Nonlocal Caddo Ceramic Specialists in the East St. Louis Precinct
Authors: Lambert Shawn P. , Ford Paige A.
Published: May 2023

This article investigates the rise of social complexity of Cahokia's multiethnic city through a robust stylistic grammar analysis of early Caddo fine ware vessels at Cahokia's East St. Louis Precinct. We explore ceramic production and distribution to shed light on whether Caddo-like fine wares were produced by Caddo potters who lived and crafted at Cahokia, were produced by local Cahokia potters who copied Caddo motifs, or were imported to Cahokia from the southern Caddo area. This investigation helps us better understand the nature of Caddo connections at the beginning of Cahokia's development and provides a means of identifying and interpreting new levels of social interactions between the Caddo world and Cahokia. The stylistic grammar results show that the majority of the Caddo-like vessels at Cahokia have identical stylistic grammar as vessels from the Caddo world. This strongly suggests that Caddo craft specialists migrated to, lived, and crafted their homeland vessels at Cahokia and thus were key social actors in its development.
Large-scale impacts of small-scale ocean topography
Authors: Mashayek A.
Published: May 2023

While large-scale seafloor features (e.g. continental slopes, mid-ocean ridges) help shape the broad patterns of ocean circulation, small-scale rough topography (e.g. seamounts, abyssal hills) can also impact the large-scale dynamics in two significant ways. First, they impact the momentum budget through flow steering, flow blocking and drag force, non-local momentum transfer via the generation of radiating internal waves and momentum dissipation by topographically induced turbulence. Second, they impact the density budget. Turbulence induced by flow–topography interactions facilitates ocean overturning circulation by upwelling dense, deep waters which form in polar oceans and sink to the abyss. Rough topography and its associated dynamics are of subgrid scale in Earth systems models (ESMs) and need parameterization for the foreseeable future. A parameterization of the intertwined impacts of flow–topography interactions on momentum and density budgets is currently non-existent, although its importance is well established. Radko (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 961, 2023, A24) provides a novel analytical model for representing the impact of rough seafloor on larger-scale flows, spanning slow to fast flow-speed regimes in homogeneous and multilayer models. The proposed ‘closure’ is in remarkable agreement with high-resolution numerical simulations and provides a crucial step forward in parameterizing the impact of rough topography in coarse-resolution ocean models. Extending the model to the full Navier–Stokes equations, linking it to the density budget and considering more realistic ocean topography are three critical future steps towards implementing Radko's theory in operational ESMs.
Missouri Citizen Perceptions: Giving Second Amendment Preservation Legislation a Second Look
Authors: Raissian Kerri M. , Dineen Jennifer , Doucette Mitchell , Grasso Damion , Devaney Cassandra
Published: May 2023

In June 2021, Missouri passed the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” (SAPA). Though SAPA passed easily and had gubernatorial support, many Missouri law enforcement agencies, including the Missouri Sheriff’s Association, oppose it. Missing from this policy conversation, and deserving of analysis, is the voice of Missouri citizens. Using qualitative interview data and survey data, we explored what if anything Missouri gun owners knew about SAPA and what they perceived its effects would be on gun-related murders, suicides, gun thefts, and mass shootings. Most Missouri gun owners had not heard about SAPA and were ambivalent about its potential effect on gun safety outcomes. Our findings also indicate that respondents’ attitudes toward SAPA and the impact of such policy on safety is driven by gun ownership (i.e., primary versus living in a household with firearms), partisan identification, and attitudes toward government firearm regulation.
Gender and Stand Your Ground Laws: A Critical Appraisal of Existing Research
Authors: Light Caroline , Thomas Janae , Yakubovich Alexa
Published: May 2023

This paper evaluates the existing research on Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws in terms of the extent to which it has accounted for gender. In particular, we address (a) what the available evidence suggests are the gender-based impacts of SYG laws and (b) where, how, and why considerations of gender may be missing in available studies.
Integrating Health Technology Assessment and the Right to Health in South Africa: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Substantive Values in Landmark Judicial Decisions
Authors: DiStefano Michael J. , Karim Safura Abdool , Krubiner Carleigh B. , Hofman Karen J.
Published: May 2023

The World Health Assembly has encouraged WHO member-states to establish capacity in health technology assessment (HTA) as a support for achieving universal health coverage (UHC). Simultaneously, the WHO has stated that UHC is “a practical expression of the concern for health equity and the right to health.” This has prompted questions about potential tensions between priority-setting efforts and the right to health on the road to UHC. South Africa (SA) is an ideal setting in which to explore how the priority-setting work of an HTA body may be integrated with an existing rights framework.
Do Physicians Have a Duty to Discuss Expanded Access to Investigational Drugs with their Patients? A Normative Analysis
Authors: Vermeulen Stefan F. , Hordijk Marjolijn , Visser Ruben J. , Bunnik Eline M.
Published: May 2023

Drawing on ethical and legal frameworks in the Netherlands, the United States and France, we examine whether physicians are expected to inform patients about potentially relevant opportunities for expanded access to investigational drugs. While we found no definitive legal obligation, we argue that physicians have a moral obligation to discuss opportunities for expanded access with patients who have run out of treatment options to prevent inequality, to promote autonomy, and to achieve beneficence.
How long-term orientation affects corporate entrepreneurship: The role of entrepreneurs' prior experience
Authors: Zhou Dan , Liao Mingqing , Dai Weiqi
Published: May 2023

Despite the prevalence of corporate entrepreneurship, our understanding of its temporal horizon remains undeveloped. This study fills this gap by using stewardship theory to elaborate on how an entrepreneur's prior experience moderates the association between a firm's long-term orientation and corporate entrepreneurship. Using data based on a large-scale survey of private small and medium-sized firms in China, we find that long-term orientation plays a positive role in the corporate entrepreneurship of small and medium-sized firms. The evidence shows that the link between long-term orientation and corporate entrepreneurship is enhanced within firms where entrepreneurs have prior experience in the government or the military. However, the strength of this link is weakened within firms where entrepreneurs have overseas experience. This study contributes a fine-grained understanding of the temporal horizon and stewardship tendency that firms integrate when implementing entrepreneurial activities.
Family SMEs and managerial approaches to sustainability in the blue economy
Authors: Valenza Giuseppe , Zoppelletto Alessia , Fazio Gioacchino
Published: May 2023

This study investigates the managerial approaches family SMEs adopt to address sustainability in the context of the Blue Economy. Using a qualitative methodology, we conduct nine case studies of family firms operating in Sicily's COSVAP Fishing District area. The data are collected via semi-structured interviews with the founders/managers and analyzed using the Gioia method. The results reveal that family SMEs approach sustainability by adopting three managerial approaches. In the first approach, SME managers conceive sustainability as a threat to the economic sustainability of their firms. The second approach implies that sustainability must undergo specific compromises. The third approach considers sustainability as an opportunity whereby social, environmental, and economic sustainability goals are balanced. Regarding the theoretical implications, our work provides a comprehensive account of managerial approaches of family SMEs toward sustainability. The study offers insights for practitioners and policymakers concerning how to facilitate the transition of family SMEs – and, specifically, fisheries – toward sustainability.
Effects of dietary lipid level and environmental temperature on lipid metabolism in the intestine and liver, and choline requirement in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L) parr
Authors: Siciliani Daphne , Kortner Trond M. , Berge Gerd M. , Hansen Anne Kristine , Krogdahl Åshild
Published: May 2023

Choline was recently established as an essential nutrient for Atlantic salmon at all life stages. Choline deficiency is manifested as an excessive accumulation of dietary fat within the intestinal enterocytes, a condition known as steatosis. Most of today's plant-based salmon feeds will be choline-deficient unless choline is supplemented. Choline's role in lipid transport suggests that choline requirement may depend on factors such as dietary lipid level and environmental temperature. The present study was therefore conducted to investigate whether lipid level and water temperature can affect steatosis symptoms, and thereby choline requirement in Atlantic salmon. Four choline-deficient plant-based diets were formulated differing in lipid level of 16, 20, 25 and 28 % and fed to salmon of 25 g initial weight in duplicate tanks per diet at two different environmental temperatures: 8 and 15 °C. After 8 weeks of feeding, samples of blood, tissue and gut content from six fish per tank were collected, for analyses of histomorphological, biochemical and molecular biomarkers of steatosis and choline requirement. Increasing lipid level did not affect growth rate but increased relative weight and lipid content of the pyloric caeca and histological symptoms of intestinal steatosis and decreased fish yield. Elevation of the water temperature from 8 to 15 °C, increased growth rate, relative weight of the pyloric caeca, and the histological symptoms of steatosis seemed to become more severe. We conclude that dietary lipid level, as well as environmental temperature, affect choline requirement to a magnitude of importance for fish biology and health, and for fish yield.
‘Power is in the Streets’: Protest and Militancy in France, Italy and West Germany, 1968–1979
Authors: Provenzano Luca
Published: May 2023

This article explores cultures of militancy in public space among currents of the revolutionary left in France, Italy and West Germany during the ‘red decade’. It shows how radicals embraced convergent strategic perspectives, discourses on violence and insubordinate practices for confronting the police. However, patterns of militancy subsequently diverged along national lines in the face of different experiences of neo-fascist violence, domestic social conflict, and legacies of armed resistance and civil war. In particular, the relatively frequent use of lethal force by Italian police in defence of public order motivated a current of the Italian revolutionary left to endorse the use of firearms during protests. Across national experiences, domestic protest policing conditioned the use of force by protestors and the transformation – or not – of protestors into terrorists.
Sibling oocytes cultured in a time-lapse versus benchtop incubator: how time-lapse incubators improve blastocyst development and euploid rate
Authors: Nobrega N. G. , Abdala A. , El-Damen A. , Arnanz A. , Bayram A. , Elkhatib I. , Lawrenz B. , Fatemi H. , De Munck N.
Published: May 2023

The aim was to study whether a limited exposure of embryos outside the incubator has an effect on embryo development, blastocyst quality and euploid outcomes. This retrospective study was performed at ART Fertility Clinics, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) between March 2018 and April 2020 and included 796 mature sibling oocytes that were split randomly between two incubators after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI): an EmbryoScope™ (ES) incubator and a benchtop incubator, G185 K-SYSTEMS (KS). The fertilization, cleavage, embryo/blastocyst qualities, useable blastocyst and euploid rates were assessed to evaluate the incubator performance. In total, 503 (63.2%) mature oocytes were cultured in the EmbryoScope and 293 (36.8%) in the K-SYSTEMS. No differences were observed in fertilization rate (79.3% vs 78.8%, P = 0.932), cleavage rate (98.5% vs 99.1%, P = 0.676) and embryo quality on Day 3 (P = 0.543) between both incubators, respectively. Embryos cultured in the EmbryoScope, had a significantly higher chance of being biopsied (64.8% vs 49.6%, P < 0.001). Moreover, a significantly higher blastocyst biopsy rate was observed on Day 5 in the EmbryoScope (67.8% vs 57.0%, P = 0.037), with a highly significant increased euploid rate (63.5% vs 37.4%, P = 0.001) and improved blastocyst quality (P = 0.008). We found that exposure of embryos outside the incubator may negatively affect the in vitro blastocyst development and euploid rate on Day 5.
Left and right ventricular function by echocardiography, tissue doppler imaging, carotid intima media thickness, and asymmetric dimethylarginine levels in female adolescents with vitamin D deficiency
Authors: Aslan Eyup , Sert Ahmet , Buyukinan Muammer , Pirgon Mustafa Ozgur , Kurku Huseyin , Yılmaz Hakan , Odabas Dursun
Published: May 2023

Background:

The aim of our study was to assess left and right ventricle systolic and diastolic functions in female adolescents with vitamin D deficiency using conventional echocardiography and pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging and to investigate carotid intima media thickness and asymmetric dimethylarginine levels.

Methods:

Sixty-six female adolescents were enrolled in this study. The female adolescents were divided into a vitamin D deficiency group (n: 34) and a control group (n: 32). All subjects underwent laboratory blood tests, including asymmetric dimethyl arginine, complete two-dimensional, pulse, and tissue Doppler echocardiography, and measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness.

Results:

The vitamin D-deficient female adolescent group had normal left and right ventricle systolic and diastolic functions and normal global systolic and diastolic myocardial performance. In the patients with vitamin D deficiency, the carotid intima-media thickness was higher than that in the controls. In the patients within the vitamin D deficiency group, vitamin D was found to be positively correlated with magnesium and negatively correlated with phosphorus and left atrial dimension.

Conclusions:

The results of this study demonstrate that vitamin D deficiency in female adolescence is associated with normal myocardial geometry and function. Although it has been associated with normal levels of asymmetric dimethyl arginine concentration, high measured carotid intima-media thickness may reflect endothelial dysfunction.
Association of dietary fibre intake with subsequent fasting glucose levels and indicators of adiposity in school-age Japanese children
Authors: Wada Keiko , Nagata Chisato , Yamakawa Michiyo , Nakashima Yuma , Koda Sachi , Uji Takahiro , Tsuji Michiko , Nagai Hideshi , Itakura Naoko , Harada Kou , Takahara Osamu , Yamanaka Hiromichi
Published: May 2023

Objective:

To evaluate the relationships of fibre intake with subsequent BMI sd-score, waist-to-height ratio and serum fasting glucose levels among school-age Japanese children.

Design:

This is a prospective study of school-age Japanese children. Participants were followed from 6–7 to 9–10 years of age (follow-up rate: 92·0 %). Fibre intake was assessed using a validated FFQ. Serum fasting glucose was measured by a hexokinase enzymatic method. Using a general linear model, the associations between dietary fibre intake at baseline and BMI sd-score, waist-to-height ratio, and serum levels of fasting glucose at follow-up were evaluated after considering potential confounding factors.

Setting:

Public elementary schools in a city in Japan

Participants:

A total of 2784 students.

Results:

The estimated means for fasting glucose at 9–10 years of age were 86·45, 85·68, 85·88 and 85·58 mg/dl in the lowest, second, third and highest quartile of fibre intake at 6–7 years of age, respectively (P = 0·033, trend P = 0·018). Higher fibre intake at 6–7 years of age was associated with lower waist-to-height ratio at 9–10 years of age (trend P = 0·023). The change in fibre intake was inversely associated with concurrent change of BMI sd-score (trend P = 0·044).

Conclusion:

These results suggest that dietary fibre intake may be potentially effective to limit excess weight gain and lower glucose levels during childhood.
Reduced Order Probabilistic Emulation for Physics‐Based Thermosphere Models
Authors: Licata Richard J. , Mehta Piyush M.
Published: May 2023

The geospace environment is volatile and highly driven. Space weather has effects on Earth's magnetosphere that cause a dynamic and enigmatic response in the thermosphere, particularly on the evolution of neutral mass density. Many models exist that use space weather drivers to produce a density response, but these models are typically computationally expensive or inaccurate for certain space weather conditions. In response, this work aims to employ a probabilistic machine learning (ML) method to create an efficient surrogate for the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE‐GCM), a physics‐based thermosphere model. Our method leverages principal component analysis to reduce the dimensionality of TIE‐GCM and recurrent neural networks to model the dynamic behavior of the thermosphere much quicker than the numerical model. The newly developed reduced order probabilistic emulator (ROPE) uses Long‐Short Term Memory neural networks to perform time‐series forecasting in the reduced state and provide distributions for future density. We show that across the available data, TIE‐GCM ROPE has similar error to previous linear approaches while improving storm‐time modeling. We also conduct a satellite propagation study for the significant November 2003 storm which shows that TIE‐GCM ROPE can capture the position resulting from TIE‐GCM density with <5 km bias. Simultaneously, linear approaches provide point estimates that can result in biases of 7–18 km.
Comparative acute effects of mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study in healthy participants
Authors: Ley Laura , Holze Friederike , Arikci Denis , Becker Anna M. , Straumann Isabelle , Klaiber Aaron , Coviello Fabio , Dierbach Sophie , Thomann Jan , Duthaler Urs , Luethi Dino , Varghese Nimmy , Eckert Anne , Liechti Matthias E.
Published: May 2023

Mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and psilocybin are classic serotonergic psychedelics. A valid, direct comparison of the effects of these substances is lacking. The main goal of the present study was to investigate potential pharmacological, physiological and phenomenological differences at psychoactive-equivalent doses of mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin. The present study used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design to compare the acute subjective effects, autonomic effects, and pharmacokinetics of typically used, moderate to high doses of mescaline (300 and 500 mg), LSD (100 µg), and psilocybin (20 mg) in 32 healthy participants. A mescaline dose of 300 mg was used in the first 16 participants and 500 mg was used in the subsequent 16 participants. Acute subjective effects of 500 mg mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin were comparable across various psychometric scales. Autonomic effects of 500 mg mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin were moderate, with psilocybin causing a higher increase in diastolic blood pressure compared with LSD, and LSD showing a trend toward an increase in heart rate compared with psilocybin. The tolerability of mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin was comparable, with mescaline at both doses inducing slightly more subacute adverse effects (12–24 h) than LSD and psilocybin. Clear distinctions were seen in the duration of action between the three substances. Mescaline had the longest effect duration (mean: 11.1 h), followed by LSD (mean: 8.2 h), and psilocybin (mean: 4.9 h). Plasma elimination half-lives of mescaline and LSD were similar (approximately 3.5 h). The longer effect duration of mescaline compared with LSD was due to the longer time to reach maximal plasma concentrations and related peak effects. Mescaline and LSD, but not psilocybin, enhanced circulating oxytocin. None of the substances altered plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations. In conclusion, the present study found no evidence of qualitative differences in altered states of consciousness that were induced by equally strong doses of mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin. The results indicate that any differences in the pharmacological profiles of mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin do not translate into relevant differences in the subjective experience. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04227756.
Pathophysiological mechanisms and therapeutic approaches in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
Authors: Lv Renjun , Liu Xueying , Zhang Yue , Dong Na , Wang Xiao , He Yao , Yue Hongmei , Yin Qingqing
Published: May 2023

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common breathing disorder in sleep in which the airways narrow or collapse during sleep, causing obstructive sleep apnea. The prevalence of OSAS continues to rise worldwide, particularly in middle-aged and elderly individuals. The mechanism of upper airway collapse is incompletely understood but is associated with several factors, including obesity, craniofacial changes, altered muscle function in the upper airway, pharyngeal neuropathy, and fluid shifts to the neck. The main characteristics of OSAS are recurrent pauses in respiration, which lead to intermittent hypoxia (IH) and hypercapnia, accompanied by blood oxygen desaturation and arousal during sleep, which sharply increases the risk of several diseases. This paper first briefly describes the epidemiology, incidence, and pathophysiological mechanisms of OSAS. Next, the alterations in relevant signaling pathways induced by IH are systematically reviewed and discussed. For example, IH can induce gut microbiota (GM) dysbiosis, impair the intestinal barrier, and alter intestinal metabolites. These mechanisms ultimately lead to secondary oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and sympathetic activation. We then summarize the effects of IH on disease pathogenesis, including cardiocerebrovascular disorders, neurological disorders, metabolic diseases, cancer, reproductive disorders, and COVID-19. Finally, different therapeutic strategies for OSAS caused by different causes are proposed. Multidisciplinary approaches and shared decision-making are necessary for the successful treatment of OSAS in the future, but more randomized controlled trials are needed for further evaluation to define what treatments are best for specific OSAS patients.
αCGRP deficiency aggravates pulmonary fibrosis by activating the PPARγ signaling pathway
Authors: Lv Xiaoting , Chen Qingquan , Zhang Zewei , Du Kaili , Huang Yaping , Li Xingzhe , Zeng Yiming
Published: May 2023

In order to explore whether αCGRP (Calca) deficiency aggravates pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Clinical data from patients with PF (n = 52) were retrospectively analyzed. Lung tissue from a bleomycin (BLM)-induced rat model was compared with that of Calca-knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) using immunohistochemistry, RNA-seq, and UPLC-MS/MS metabolomic analyses. The results showed that decreased αCGRP expression and activation of the type 2 immune response were detected in patients with PF. In BLM-induced and Calca-KO rats, αCGRP deficiency potentiated apoptosis of AECs and induced M2 macrophages. RNA-seq identified enrichment of pathways involved in nuclear translocation and immune system disorders in Calca-KO rats compared to WT. Mass spectrometry of lung tissue from Calca-KO rats showed abnormal lipid metabolism, including increased levels of LTB4, PDX, 1-HETE. PPAR pathway signaling was significantly induced in both transcriptomic and metabolomic datasets in Calca-KO rats, and immunofluorescence analysis confirmed that the nuclear translocation of PPARγ in BLM-treated and Calca-KO rats was synchronized with STAT6 localization in the cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions. In conclusion, αCGRP is protective against PF, and αCGRP deficiency promotes M2 polarization of macrophages, probably by activating the PPARγ pathway, which leads to activation of the type 2 immune response and accelerates PF development.
Cryogenic electron ptychographic single particle analysis with wide bandwidth information transfer
Authors: Pei Xudong , Zhou Liqi , Huang Chen , Boyce Mark , Kim Judy S. , Liberti Emanuela , Hu Yiming , Sasaki Takeo , Nellist Peter D. , Zhang Peijun , Stuart David I. , Kirkland Angus I. , Wang Peng
Published: May 2023

Advances in cryogenic transmission electron microscopy have revolutionised the determination of many macromolecular structures at atomic or near-atomic resolution. This method is based on conventional defocused phase contrast imaging. However, it has limitations of weaker contrast for small biological molecules embedded in vitreous ice, in comparison with cryo-ptychography, which shows increased contrast. Here we report a single-particle analysis based on the use of ptychographic reconstruction data, demonstrating that three dimensional reconstructions with a wide information transfer bandwidth can be recovered by Fourier domain synthesis. Our work suggests future applications in otherwise challenging single particle analyses, including small macromolecules and heterogeneous or flexible particles. In addition structure determination in situ within cells without the requirement for protein purification and expression may be possible.
Robust encoding of natural stimuli by neuronal response sequences in monkey visual cortex
Authors: Yiling Yang , Shapcott Katharine , Peter Alina , Klon-Lipok Johanna , Xuhui Huang , Lazar Andreea , Singer Wolf
Published: May 2023

Parallel multisite recordings in the visual cortex of trained monkeys revealed that the responses of spatially distributed neurons to natural scenes are ordered in sequences. The rank order of these sequences is stimulus-specific and maintained even if the absolute timing of the responses is modified by manipulating stimulus parameters. The stimulus specificity of these sequences was highest when they were evoked by natural stimuli and deteriorated for stimulus versions in which certain statistical regularities were removed. This suggests that the response sequences result from a matching operation between sensory evidence and priors stored in the cortical network. Decoders trained on sequence order performed as well as decoders trained on rate vectors but the former could decode stimulus identity from considerably shorter response intervals than the latter. A simulated recurrent network reproduced similarly structured stimulus-specific response sequences, particularly once it was familiarized with the stimuli through non-supervised Hebbian learning. We propose that recurrent processing transforms signals from stationary visual scenes into sequential responses whose rank order is the result of a Bayesian matching operation. If this temporal code were used by the visual system it would allow for ultrafast processing of visual scenes.