bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fragmentation of Cannabinoids by Flow Injection Analysis Tandem Mass Spectrometry (FIA–MS/MS)
Authors: Büttenbender Sabrina Laíz , Carvalho Ânderson Ramos , de Souza Barbosa Fábio , Scorsatto Ortiz Rafael , Limberger Renata Pereira , Mendez Andreas S L
Published: December 2021

Background

The analysis of plant material from Cannabis sativa L. has long been targeted on its main psychologically active metabolite, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In addition to the diverse plant composition and medicinal interest in several cannabinoids, these compounds may also be related to the different characteristics of samples sold illegally. Currently, it is indisputable that other cannabinoids should also be considered in cannabis assays. Mass spectrometry has been used to identify and characterize substances in the most different scenarios, and knowing the analyte fragmentation profile is essential for characterizing samples of diverse origin.

Objective

In this work, flow injection analysis–tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization (FIA–ESI-MS/MS) in positive and negative modes was used to evaluate the fragmentation profiles of eight cannabinoids commonly found in cannabis samples: THC, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabidiolic acid, cannabigerol, cannabigerolic acid and cannabinol.

Methods

By exploring the fragmentation data from mass spectrometry, the samples were classified using a chemometric model of partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA).

Results

When ESI in negative mode is used with adequate collision energies, it is possible to identify differences in the fragmentation of isomers. Based on that, chemometric tools were employed to classify different samples. The PLS-DA applied to FIA–ESI-MS/MS data yielded satisfactory classification.

Conclusion

Thus, the results presented can be applied as a preliminary tool in the analysis of unknown samples, guiding more accurate investigations in terms of chemical composition.

Highlights

This study of the cannabinoid fragmentation pattern by flow injection MS showed that cannabinoids can be distinguished by their fragmentation spectra after negative electrospray ionization. Multivariate data analysis (PLS-DA) allowed classification of different cannabis samples.
Introduction to the Supplement: Is Now the Time for the Future of Cancer Economics Research?
Authors: Halpern Michael T
Published: December 2021

The National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences hosted a virtual conference, The Future of Cancer Health Economics Research, in December 2020. This conference brought together a multidisciplinary group of researchers and other stakeholders interested in supporting and developing the field of cancer health economics research to help improve both patient outcomes and health-care systems. The introduction to the supplement describes the origins and planning for the conference and the conference sessions and presentations. The papers included in this supplement, arising from the conference sessions, help strengthened our understanding of what is cancer health economics research and how this field can provide even greater contributions in the future.
Outcome of ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplantation According to ABO Type of Transfused Plasma: Comparative Analysis Between “Universal” AB and Donor-Type Plasma
Authors: Kim Han Joo , Kim Jin Seok , Yang John Jeongseok , Chung Yousun , Kim Hyungsuk , Shin Sung , Kim Young Hoon , Hwang Sang-Hyun , Oh Heung-Bum , Han Duck-Jong , Kwon Hyunwook , Ko Dae-Hyun
Published: December 2021

Objective

We compared the clinical outcomes of recipients of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation (KT) according to the blood group of the plasma transfused.

Materials and Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the data of 60 recipients of ABOi-KT with blood type O and A or B donors. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between 2 groups of recipients: 1 group received AB plasma regardless of the donor’s blood type (n = 30), and the other group received donor-type plasma (n = 30).

Results

There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of demographic characteristics. Transfusion of donor-type plasma was noninferior to transfusion of type AB plasma in terms of both rejection-free survival and rejection rate (P = .455, P = .335).

Conclusion

There was no significant prognostic difference between the 2 groups. In terms of blood supply and inventory management, we suggest that the blood group of the plasma should match the donor’s type.
Calm Reflections Under Hot Demand: Do Single Women in China Have Reproductive Freedom?
Authors: Yang Peiru , Chen Xi
Published: December 2021

This article discusses what would happen if a single woman in China wants to have children but not to marry. The legal framework regarding the reproductive rights of single women and relevant judicial practice will be discussed. In China, domestic legislation fails to regulate the reproductive rights in a uniform and systematic way. Although reproductive freedom has been granted to women by law in principle, single women have been excluded by many specific provisions governing the realisation of reproductive rights. To be specific, unlike couples, single women in China have little access to the application of assisted reproduction technology or the maternity insurance benefits. This puts them in a difficult position while exercising their reproductive rights. Although the legal basis of single women’s reproductive rights has been emphasised by international and domestic legal instruments around the world, in China, ambiguous laws, inadequate supporting measures, and negative social opinions pose many legal and ethical obstacles that need to be overcome. This article puts forward some suggestions for improvement.
Declarative continuous reasoning in the cloud-IoT continuum
Authors: Forti Stefano , Bisicchia Giuseppe , Brogi Antonio
Published: December 2021

Developing and releasing multiservice applications rely upon a pipeline of automation tools known as Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. Among those tools, continuous reasoning is exploited by large companies to perform incremental static analyses on their code commits as soon as they are integrated into a shared codebase. In this article, we extend continuous reasoning towards the continuous QoS- and context-aware management of multiservice applications in Cloud-IoT scenarios. We propose a novel continuous reasoning methodology that supports runtime decision on service placement by reacting both to changes in the infrastructure and in the application requirements, and capable of suggesting migrations only for services affected by such changes. The methodology is prototyped in Prolog and assessed through simulations over a realistic use case and over a lifelike motivating scenario at increasing infrastructure sizes. Experimental results show that our approach brings considerable speed-up in comparison with an exhaustive search employing non-incremental reasoning.
Materialism and the Moral Status of Animals
Authors: Birch Jonathan
Published: December 2021

Consciousness has an important role in ethics: when a being consciously experiences the frustration or satisfaction of its interests, those interests deserve higher moral priority than those of a behaviourally similar but non-conscious being. I consider the relationship between this ethical role and an a posteriori (or ‘type-B’) materialist solution to the mind-body problem. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that, if type-B materialism is correct, then the reference of the concept Phenomenal Consciousness is radically indeterminate between a neuronal-level property that is distinctive to mammals and a high-level functional property that is much more widely shared. This would leave many non-mammalian animals (such as birds, fish, insects and octopuses) with indeterminate moral status. There are ways to manage this radical moral indeterminacy, but all of these ways lead to profoundly troubling consequences.
Pilot study of food-specific go/no-go training for overweight individuals: brain imaging data suggest inhibition shapes food evaluation
Authors: Yang Yingkai , Morys Filip , Wu Qian , Li Jiwen , Chen Hong
Published: December 2021

Food-specific go/no-go training might reduce overeating and facilitate weight loss. In this pilot study, we examined whether a food-specific go/no-go training over five weeks, as compared to a non-food-specific training, could produce changes in behavioral and neural responses to food images and body weight. Here, we used a sample of 51 overweight participants divided into training and control groups whose brain activity and food evaluation were measured before and after the training. Compared with the control group, in the training group we found significant reductions in high-calorie food evaluation. We also found lower activations in inhibitory control- and reward-related brain regions in response to high-calorie food images. Further, activation change of the mid-insula in response to the high-calorie food images was positively associated with change in the evaluation of those images. However, we found no evidence for a significant effect of food-specific go/no-go training on body weight change. Our findings highlight that food-specific go/no-go training in overweight individuals can reduce high-calorie food evaluation, but also neural activations in inhibitory control- and reward- related brain regions.
Second messengers mediating high-molecular-weight hyaluronan–induced antihyperalgesia in rats with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
Authors: Bonet Ivan J. M. , Staurengo-Ferrari Larissa , Araldi Dionéia , Green Paul G. , Levine Jon D.
Published: December 2021

High-molecular-weight hyaluronan (HMWH) is an agonist at cluster of differentiation (CD)44, the cognate hyaluronan receptor, on nociceptors, where it acts to induce antihyperalgesia in preclinical models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. In the present experiments, we studied the CD44 second messengers that mediate HMWH-induced attenuation of pain associated with oxaliplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). While HMWH attenuated CIPN only in male rats, after ovariectomy or intrathecal administration of an oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) antisense to G protein–coupled estrogen receptor (GPR30) mRNA, female rats were also sensitive to HMWH. Intrathecal administration of an ODN antisense to CD44 mRNA markedly attenuated HMWH-induced antihyperalgesia in male rats with CIPN induced by oxaliplatin or paclitaxel. Intradermal administration of inhibitors of CD44 second messengers, RhoA (member of the Rho family of GTPases), phospholipase C, and phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase gamma (PI3Kγ), attenuated HMWH-induced antihyperalgesia as does intrathecal administration of an ODN antisense to PI3Kγ. Our results demonstrated that HMWH induced antihyperalgesia in CIPN, mediated by its action at CD44 and downstream signaling by RhoA, phospholipase C, and PI3Kγ.
Large Cell Calcifying Sertoli Cell Tumor
Authors: Al-Obaidy Khaleel I. , Idrees Muhammad T. , Abdulfatah Eman , Kunju Lakshmi P. , Wu Angela , Ulbright Thomas M.
Published: December 2021

We present a series of 18 (8 clinically benign, 8 clinically ambiguous [ie, lacking sufficient follow-up to determine behavior], and 2 clinically malignant) large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumors (LCCSCT) of the testis. The median patient age and size were 15.5 years and 1.9 cm for the benign tumors; 19 years and 1.6 cm for the ambiguous tumors; and 28.5 years and 2.3 cm for the malignant tumors. The most common presentation was a mass (n=12/18, 67%). Two patients (11%) had the Carney complex, and 2 had neurofibromatosis type 1. All tumors showed nodular growth with frequent lymphoid aggregates at the periphery. Within the nodules, there were nests and trabeculae of pale to eosinophilic epithelioid tumor cells with frequent cytoplasmic vacuolization interspersed with hypocellular, often myxoid stroma with conspicuous neutrophils. Spindled tumor cells were a minor component (<5%) in the clinically benign, ambiguous, and malignant tumors, except in 1 malignant tumor where they comprised 50% to 60% of the cellularity. Calcifications were noted in all but 2 benign tumors that were otherwise of typical appearance. Six tumors (3 in the clinically benign, 1 in the clinically ambiguous, and 2 in the malignant groups) were considered potentially malignant based on the presence of ≥1 adverse pathologic features previously recognized (see reference 1)—that is, size>4 cm, extratesticular growth, necrosis, significant atypia, vascular invasion, and >3 mitotic figures/10 HPFs. Of these, 3 tumors had ≥2 adverse features. One in a 7-year-old was clinically benign despite 5 “malignant” features; the remaining 2 in 27- and 30-year-olds, were clinically malignant, with both fulfilling previously suggested criteria for pathologically malignant tumors (age above 25 y and ≥2 adverse pathologic features). No clinically benign or ambiguous tumor met those same criteria. Of the adverse features, each of the 2 clinically malignant tumors showed tumor necrosis and lymphovascular invasion. All patients, except 1 with a clinically malignant tumor, were alive at a median follow-up of 33 months. In addition, in our literature review of 97 additional LCCSCTs, we identified 2 clinically malignant tumors in 42- and 45-year-old men that lacked any documented adverse pathologic criterion and 2 clinically malignant cases in patients with either the Carney complex or Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. In summary, our study and literature review support that all LCCSCTs in patients above 25 years old should be considered potentially malignant, and those in this age group with ≥2 adverse pathologic features warrant aggressive clinical management; furthermore, syndrome-associated cases are not uniformly benign. Tumor necrosis and lymphovascular invasion likely should receive greater adverse prognostic weight. LCCSCTs in young children may show benign outcomes despite several adverse pathologic features.
Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
Authors: Adler Rachel R. , Smith Randi N. , Fowler Kevin J. , Gates Jeffery , Jefferson Nichole M. , Adler Joel T. , Patzer Rachel E.
Published: December 2021

Disparities are well-documented across the continuum of surgical care. Counteracting such disparities requires new multidisciplinary approaches that utilize the expertise of affected individuals, such as community-based participatory research (CBPR). CBPR is an approach to research that is anchored in equitable, sustainable community-academic partnerships, and has been shown to improve intervention implementation and outcomes. In this article, community stakeholders and researchers outline the principles and benefits of CBPR, examples of CBPR in trauma and transplant, and future directions for CBPR within surgery.
Survival Outcomes and Clinicopathological Features in Inflammatory Bowel Disease-associated Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Lu Can , Schardey Josefine , Zhang Tao , Crispin Alexander , Wirth Ulrich , Karcz Konrad W. , Bazhin Alexandr V. , Andrassy Joachim , Werner Jens , Kühn Florian
Published: December 2021

Objective:

The aim of our study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the survival outcomes of IBD-associated and non-IBD-associated CRC.

Summary of Background Data:

Investigations comparing the prognosis in CRC patients with and without IBD have yielded conflicting results.

Methods:

PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library were searched for studies evaluating the prognostic outcomes between CRC patients with IBD and those without IBD. Estimates of survival-related outcomes and clinicopathological features in IBD-CRC and non-IBD CRC were pooled through random-effects or fix-effects models. The study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42021261513.

Results:

Of 12,768 records identified, twenty-five studies with 8034 IBD-CRC and 810,526 non-IBD CRC patients were included in the analysis. IBD-CRC patients have a significant worse overall survival (OS) with the hazard ratio (HR) of 1.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20–1.47] than those without IBD. Pooled estimates of cancer-specific survival demonstrated that IBD-CRC patients had a poorer cancer-specific survival than those without IBD with fixed-effect model (HR, 2.17; 95% CI: 1.68–2.78; P < 0.0001). Moreover, ulcerative colitis-associated CRC patients have favorable OS than Crohn’s disease-associated CRC (HR 0.79,95% CI: 0.72–0.87). Compared to non-IBD-CRC, patients with IBD-associated CRC are characterized by an increased rate of poor differentiation (OR 2.02, 95% CI: 1.57–2.61), mucinous or signet ring cell carcinoma (OR 2.43, 95% CI: 1.34–4.42), synchronous tumors (OR 3.18, 95% CI: 2.26–4.47), right-sided CRC (OR 1.62, 95%CI: 1.05–2.05), male patients (OR 1.10, 95% CI: 1.05–1.16), and a reduced rate of R0 resections (OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.44–0.82).

Conclusions:

IBD-CRC patients have a significant worse OS than patients with non-IBD CRC, which may be attributed to more aggressive histological characteristics and a lower rate of R0 resections at the primary tumor site. Optimized therapeutic standards and tailored follow-up strategies might improve the prognosis of IBD-CRC patients.
Alkalibacter mobilis sp. nov., an anaerobic bacterium isolated from a coastal lake
Authors: Khomyakova Maria , Merkel Alexander , Novikov Andrei , Klyukina Alexandra , Slobodkin Alexander
Published: December 2021

A novel anaerobic chemoorganotrophic, facultatively alkaliphilic bacterium (strain M17 DMBT) was isolated from a coastal lake (Golubitsckoe, Taman Peninsula, Russia). Cells were motile rods, 1.6–2.1 µm long and 0.45 µm in diameter. The temperature range for growth was 14–42 °C, with an optimum at 30 °C. The pH range for growth was pH 5.5–10.0, with an optimum at pH 8.0–8.5. Growth of strain M17 DMBT was observed at NaCl concentrations of 1–12 % (w/v) with optimum growth at 1.5–2.0 %. Strain M17 MBTutilized glucose, fructose, sucrose, ribose, mannose, raffinose, arabinose, dextrin, yeast extract, peptone, carbon monoxide, vanillic acid and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid. The end products from glucose fermentation were acetate and ethanol. The DNA G+C content of strain M17 DMBT was 39.1 mol%. The closest phylogenetic relative of strain M17 DMBT was

Alkalibacter saccharofermentans

with 97.8 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. The OrthoANI value between M17 DMBT and

A. saccharofermentans

was 70.4 %. Based on the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics of the isolate, strain M17 DMBT is considered to represent a novel species of the genus

Alkalibacter

for which the name Alkalibacter mobilis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Alkalibacter mobilis is M17 DMBT (=KCTC 15920T=VKM B-3408T).
Roseococcus microcysteis sp. nov., isolated from a Microcystis aeruginosa culture sample
Authors: Kim Wonjae , Kim Minkyung , Park Woojun
Published: December 2021

Strain NIBR12T (=KACC 22094T=HAMBI 3739T), a novel Gram-stain-negative, obligate aerobic, non-spore-forming, non-motile and coccobacillus-shaped bacterium, was isolated from a cyanobacterial sample culture (Microcysitis aeruginosa NIBRCYC000000452). The newly identified bacterial strain grew optimally in modified Reasoner's 2A medium under the following conditions: 0 % (w/v) NaCl, pH 7.5 and 35 °C. Phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene sequence confirmed that strain NIBR12T belongs to the genus

Roseococcus

, with its closest neighbours being

Roseococcus suduntuyensis

SHETT (98.8%),

Roseococcus thiosulfatophilus

RB-3T (97.7%), “Sediminicoccus rosea” R-30T (95.7 %) and

Rubritepida flocculans

H-8T (95.0 %). Genomic comparison of strain NIBR12T with type species in the genus

Roseococcus

was conducted using digital DNA–DNA hybridization, average nucleotide identity and average amino acid identity analyses, resulting in values of ≤53.7, ≤93.7 and ≤96.1 %, respectively. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain NIBR12T was 70.9 mol%. The major fatty acids of strain NIBR12T were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 
ω7c and/or C18:1
ω6c) and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1
ω6c/C16 : 1
ω7c). Q-9 was its major respiratory quinone. Moreover, the major polar lipids of strain NIBR12T were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. Based on our chemotaxonomic, genotypic and phenotype analyses, strain NIBR12T is identified as represeting a novel species of the genus

Roseococcus

, for which the name Roseococcus microcysteis sp. nov. is proposed.
Multimodal Classification of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Reveals Local Coupling Between Structural and Functional Connectomes
Authors: Peddada Ajay , Holly Kevin S. , Sudhakar Tejaswi D. , Ledbetter Christina , Talbot Christopher E. , Valdivia Daniel , Kalakoti Piyush , Ginalis Elizabeth , Quinoa Travis , Barker Benjamin J. , Murcia Derrick , Daggett Rebekah , Holly Phillip , Phan Tina , Ross Robert C. , Gonzalez-Toledo Eduardo , Biswal Bharat , Sun Hai
Published: December 2021

Background

Following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) compromised white matter structural integrity can result in alterations in functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks and may manifest in functional deficit including cognitive dysfunction. Advanced magnetic resonance neuroimaging techniques, specifically diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), have demonstrated an increased sensitivity for detecting microstructural changes associated with mTBI. Identification of novel imaging biomarkers can facilitate early detection of these changes for effective treatment. In this study, we hypothesize that feature selection combining both structural and functional connectivity increases classification accuracy.

Methods

16 subjects with mTBI and 20 healthy controls underwent both DTI and resting state functional imaging. Structural connectivity matrices were generated from white matter tractography from DTI sequences. Functional connectivity was measured through pairwise correlations of rs-fMRI between brain regions. Features from both DTI and rs-fMRI were selected by identifying five brain regions with the largest group differences and were used to classify the generated functional and structural connectivity matrices, respectively. Classification was performed using linear support vector machines and validated with leave-one-out cross validation.

Results

Group comparisons revealed increased functional connectivity in the temporal lobe and cerebellum as well as decreased structural connectivity in the temporal lobe. After training on structural connections only, a maximum classification accuracy of 78% was achieved when structural connections were selected based on their corresponding functional connectivity group differences. After training on functional connections only, a maximum classification accuracy of 69% was achieved when functional connections were selected based on their structural connectivity group differences. After training on both structural and functional connections, a maximum classification accuracy of 69% was achieved when connections were selected based on their structural connectivity.

Conclusions

Our multimodal approach to ROI selection achieves at highest, a classification accuracy of 78%. Our results also implicate the temporal lobe in the pathophysiology of mTBI. Our findings suggest that white matter tractography can serve as a robust biomarker for mTBI when used in tandem with resting state functional connectivity.
Survey of extracellular communication of systemic and organ-specific inflammatory responses through cell free messenger RNA profiling in mice
Authors: Zhuang Jiali , Ibarra Arkaitz , Acosta Alexander , Karns Amy P. , Aballi Jonathan , Nerenberg Michael , Quake Stephen R. , Toden Shusuke
Published: December 2021

Inflammatory and immune responses are essential and dynamic biological processes that protect the body against acute and chronic adverse stimuli. While conventional protein markers have been used to evaluate systemic inflammatory response, the immunological response to stimulation is complex and involves modulation of a large set of genes and interacting signaling pathways of innate and adaptive immune systems. Therefore, there is a need for a non-invasive tool that can comprehensively evaluate and monitor molecular dysregulations associated with inflammatory and immune responses. Here we utilized cell-free messenger RNA (cf-mRNA) RNA-Seq whole transcriptome profiling to assess lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced and JAK inhibitor modulated inflammatory and immune responses in mouse plasma samples. Considering that, both organspecific recruitment of immune cells and organ resident bespoke immune cells contributes to restoration of organ homeostasis, we also examined LPS-induced gene-expression dysregulation of multiple organs to shed light on organ crosstalk. Cf-mRNA profiling displayed a pattern of systemic immune responses elicited by LPS and dysregulation of associated pathways. Moreover, attenuation of several inflammatory pathways, including STAT and interferon pathways, were observed following the treatment of JAK inhibitor. Lastly, we identified the dysregulation of liverspecific transcripts in cf-mRNA which reflected changes in the gene-expression pattern in this biological compartment. Collectively, using a preclinical model, we demonstrated the potential of plasma cf-mRNA profiling for systemic and organ-specific characterization of drug-induced molecular alterations that are associated with inflammatory and immune responses.

Abstract Figure
Assessment of twenty-two SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests against SARS-CoV-2: A laboratory evaluation study
Authors: Deerain Joshua M , Tran Thomas , Batty Mitch , Yoga Yano , Druce Julian , Mackenzie Charlene , Taiaroa George , Taouk Mona , Chea Socheata , Zhang Bowen , Prestedge Jacqueline , Ninan Marilyn , Carville Kylie , Fielding James , Catton Mike , Williamson Deborah A
Published: December 2021

Background

Rapid antigen testing is widely used as a way of scaling up population-level testing. To better inform antigen test deployment in Australia, we evaluated 22 commercially available antigen tests against the currently circulating delta variant, including an assessment of culture infectivity.

Methods

Analytical sensitivity was evaluated against SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta), reported as TCID50/mL, cycle threshold (Ct) and viral load (RNA copies/mL). Specificity was assessed against non-SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Clinical sensitivity and correlation with cell culture infectivity was assessed using the Abbott PanBio™ COVID-19 Ag test.

Results

Nineteen kits consistently detected SARS-CoV-2 antigen equivalent to 1.3 × 106 copies/mL (5.8 × 103 TCID50 /mL). Specificity for all kits was 100%. Compared to RT-PCR the Abbott PanBio™ COVID-19 Ag test was 52.6% (95% CI, 41.6% to 63.3%) concordant, with a 50% detection probability for infectious cell culture at 5.9 log10 RNA copies/mL (95% CI, 5.3 to 6.5 log10 copies/mL). Antigen test concordance was 97.6% (95% CI, 86.3% to 100.0%) compared to cell culture positivity.

Conclusions

Antigen test positivity correlated with positive viral culture, suggesting antigen test results may determine SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk. Analytical sensitivity varied considerably between kits highlighting the need for ongoing systematic post-market evaluation to inform test selection and deployment.
Identification of Intimate Partner Violence from Free Text Descriptions in Social Media
Authors: Ha Phan Trinh , D’Silva Rhea , Chen Ethan , Koyutürk Mehmet , Karakurt Günnur
Published: December 2021

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem that adversely affects the well-being of victims. IPV is often under-reported and non-physical forms of violence may not be recognized as IPV, even by victims. With the increasing popularity of social media and due to the anonymity provided by some of these platforms, people feel comfortable sharing descriptions of their relationship problems in social media. The content generated in these platforms can be useful in identifying IPV and characterizing the prevalence, causes, consequences, and correlates of IPV in broad populations. However, these descriptions are in the form of free text and no corpus of labeled data is available to perform large-scale computational and statistical analyses.

Here, we use data from established questionnaires that are used to collect self-report data on IPV to train machine learning models to predict IPV from free text. Using Universal Sentence Encoder (USE) along with multiple machine learning algorithms (Random Forest, SVM, Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes), we develop DetectIPV, a tool for detecting IPV in free text. Using DetectIPV, we comprehensively characterize the predictability of different types of violence (Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Sexual Abuse) from free text. Our results show that a general model that is trained using examples of all violence types can identify IPV from free text with area under the ROC curve (AUROC) 89%. We also train type-specific models and observe that Physical Abuse can be identified with greatest accuracy (AUROC 98%), while Sexual Abuse can be identified with high precision but relatively low recall. While our results indicate that the prediction of Emotional Abuse is the most challenging, DetectIPV can identify Emotional Abuse with AUROC above 80%. These results establish DetectIPV as a tool that can be used to reliably detect IPV in the context of various applications, ranging from flagging social media posts to detecting IPV in large text corpuses for research purposes. DetectIPV is available as a web service at https://ipvlab.case.edu/ipvdetect/.
Contraception in breast cancer survivors from the FEERIC case-control study (performed on behalf of the Seintinelles research network)
Authors: Sebbag Clara , Rousset-Jablonski Christine , Coussy Florence , Ray-Coquard Isabelle , Garin Clémentine , Evrevin Clémence , Toussaint Aullène , Cessot Marion , Labrosse Julie , Laot Lucie , Darrigues Lauren , Bobrie Angélique , Jacot William , Sénéchal-Davin Claire , Espié Marc , Giacchetti Sylvie , Charveriat Patrick , Plu-Bureau Geneviève , Maitrot-Mantelet Lorraine , Gompel Anne , Chapron Charles , Santulli Pietro , Asselain Bernard , Hotton Judicaël , Coutant Charles , Guerin Julien , Decanter Christine , Mailliez Audrey , Delrieu Lidia , Dumas Elise , Sablone Laura ,   Research Network Seintinelles, Reyal Fabien , Hamy Anne-Sophie
Published: December 2021

Objective

To compare the prevalence of contraception in breast cancer (BC) patients at risk of unintentional pregnancy (i.e. not currently pregnant or trying to get pregnant) and matched controls.

Design

The FEERIC study (Fertility, Pregnancy, Contraception after BC in France) is a prospective, multicenter case-control study. Data were collected through online questionnaires completed on the Seintinelles* research platform.

Setting

Not applicable

Patient(s)

BC patients aged 18-43 years, matched for age and parity to cancer-free volunteer controls in a 1:2 ratio.

Intervention(s)

None

Results

In a population of 1278 women at risk of unintentional pregnancy, the prevalence of contraception at study inclusion did not differ significantly between cases (340/431, 78.9%) and controls (666/847, 78.6%, p=0.97). However, the contraceptive methods used were significantly different, with a higher proportion of copper IUD use in BC survivors (59.5% versus 25.0% in controls p<0.001). For patients at risk of unintentional pregnancy, receiving information about chemotherapy-induced ovary damage at BC diagnosis (OR= 2.47 95%CI [1.39 - 4.37] and anti-HER2 treatment (OR=2.46, 95% CI [1.14 - 6.16]) were significantly associated with the use of a contraception in multivariate analysis.

Discussion

In this large French study, BC survivors had a prevalence of contraception use similar to that for matched controls, though almost one in five women at risk of unintentional pregnancy did not use contraception. Dedicated consultations at cancer care centers could further improve access to information and contraception counseling.
Differential Impact of rhamnolipids and TWEEN80 on composition and functionality of the gut microbiota in the SHIME system
Authors: Miclotte Lisa , De Paepe Ellen , Li Qiqiong , Van Camp John , Raikovic Andreja , Van de Wiele Tom
Published: December 2021

Dietary emulsifiers have been shown to affect the composition and function of the gut microbial community, both in vivo and in vitro. Yet, several knowledge gaps remain to be addressed: the impact from a longer timeframe exposure on the gut microbiota, interindividual variability in microbiome response and the putative impact from novel clean label alternatives for current food emulsifiers.

In the present study, the impact of one conventional dietary emulsifier, TWEEN80, and one potential novel alternative, rhamnolipids, on the human gut microbiota was investigated using the Mucosal Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (M-SHIME). The faecal microbiota from two human donors, with high and low responsiveness to the emulsifiers, were exposed to 0,05 m% and 0,5 m% of the emulsifiers for 7 days.

The results confirmed previous observations that the effects on the composition and functionality are both emulsifier- and donor dependent. The effects reached an equilibrium after about 3 days of exposure. Overall, TWEEN80 and rhamnolipids displayed opposite effects: TWEEN80 increased cell counts, reduced propionate concentration, increased butyrate levels, increased a.o. Faecalibacterium, Blautia and Hungatella abundance, while rhamnolipids did the opposite. Rhamnolipids also sharply increased the abundance of unclassified Lachnospiraceae. On the other hand, both emulsifiers increased the relative abundance of unclassified Enterobacteriaceae. Both emulsifiers also altered the microbial metabolome in different ways and a pathway enrichment analysis tool revealed that the metabolome alterations could be reminiscent of gut issues and obesity.

Overall, the impact from the rhamnolipids was larger than that of TWEEN80 at similar concentrations, indicating that the former may not necessarily be a safer alternative for the latter. The microbiota’s response also depended on its original composition and the sensitivity status for which the faecal donors were selected, was preserved. Whether the same donor-diversity and longitudinal impact can be expected in the human colon as well and what impact this has on the host will have to be further investigated.
Identifying target sites for placental therapeutics through the comparison of normal term pregnancies and intrauterine growth restricted proteomes
Authors: Bowman A. , Brockway H. , Jones H.
Published: December 2021

A variety of pathologies, including intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), have been linked to placental insufficiencies as important causal factors, however, little has been done to develop therapeutics that may improve placental development, structure and function. The placenta offers the opportunity to manipulate the in-utero environment without directly intervening with the fetus, accessible from the maternal circulation, a vital but temporary organ, the placenta is no longer required after birth. Developing therapeutics must involve multiple aspects of targeting and safety to ensure no off-target impact on the pregnant person or fetus as well as enhance efficiency of delivery. In addition to our studies on nanoparticle delivery to the placenta [1] we are developing targeting strategies to allow peripheral delivery via the maternal circulation. In this study we have performed the isolation of the microvillous membrane from human placental syncytiotrophoblast (the targeting cell) and via proteomic analysis identified potential targeting moieties, we have then compared this to publicly available data from pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction to ensure that we do not identify targets which would be reduced in FGR, resulting in less efficient targeting.

Highlights

Proteomic analysis detected key genes, proteins, and pathways present in the syncytiotrophoblast membrane of normal placentas.

Specific membrane proteins identified show promise for future characterization of placental pathologies, such as IUGR.

Proteomes of normal and diseased placentas require further study to better understand the etiology of certain conditions.
Assessing stakeholder satisfaction in PPP transport projects in developing countries: evidence from Vietnam
Authors: Van Du Nguyen , Thuc Le Dinh , Tran Huu-Bang
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model still contains the obstacle in partnership, which can lead to different satisfaction between project participants. Therefore, project managers need to consider stakeholder satisfaction to ensure success in PPP implementation. However, this problem is limited in the previous studies in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to evaluate stakeholder satisfaction of PPP transport projects in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 15 satisfaction factors were identified and four main groupings were introduced by a review of the literature and expert interview rounds, including satisfaction of general public, satisfaction of private sector, satisfaction of government and satisfaction of end-users. A PPP expressway project in Vietnam was used to illustrate for this analysis. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey with 31 validated responses. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation method was then applied to evaluate satisfaction index for the stakeholder satisfaction of PPP transport projects in Vietnam as a developing country.

Findings

The analyzed result showed that the project participants are basically satisfied with gained outcomes of the experimental project with the satisfaction index = 3.46. Specifically, the general public expressed that they are “satisfied” with satisfaction index = 4.08. Meanwhile, end-users, government and private sector are “basically satisfied” with the project outcome (the satisfaction index of 3.31, 3.16 and 3.04, respectively).

Originality/value

This study provides more depth understanding of the satisfaction factor with transport infrastructure service in developing countries through PPP procurement. In addition, the decision-makers might utilize this evaluation model for rating the stakeholder satisfaction of real PPP projects to ensure project success.
Policies and initiatives/programs that promote health and self-care in asylum seekers living in high income countries: a narrative review
Authors: Nkhoma Gloria , Lim Chiao Xin , Kennedy Gerard , Stupans Ieva
Published: December 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to identify health-care entitlements that exist for asylum seekers with chronic non-communicable disease (CNCD) that promote their health and self-care, and to explore health policies, initiatives and programmes with the potential to foster self-care in this populace.

Design/methodology/approach

Narrative review of literature conducted by searching EMBASE, CINAHL, WEB OF SCIENCE and PSYCINFO databases for articles published from 2010 to 2021. Included articles focussed on policies, programmes or initiatives with the potential to promote health in adult asylum seekers residing in high-income countries. Studies inclusive of other migrant groups such as undocumented migrants and those with mental health conditions were excluded. Eleven studies fitting the inclusion criteria were assessed against the study objectives.

Findings

Free access to health-care services and pharmaceutical products, free access to food banks and supermarket model food banks, English and cooking lessons, community integration training sessions and culturally competent health-care workers were found to promote health and self-care. There is little research on self-care and health promotion in adult asylum seekers with CNCD. CNCDs represent high burden of disease in asylum seekers but have a low priority in reported research.

Originality/value

This narrative review is the first to explicitly focus on asylum seekers in high-income countries with CNCD, excluding mental health conditions, and to explore initiatives, programmes and policies that enhance health promotion to facilitate self-care in this populace.
Understanding Ant Forest continuance: effects of user experience, personal attributes and motivational factors
Authors: Ashfaq Muhammad , Zhang Qingyu , Zafar Abaid Ullah , Malik Mehwish , Waheed Abdul
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Technology has emerged as a leading tool to address concerns regarding climate change in the recent era. As a result, the green mobile application – Ant Forest – was developed, and it has considerable potential to reduce negative environmental impacts by encouraging its users to become involved in eco-friendly activities. Ant Forest is a novel unexplored green mobile gaming phenomenon. To address this gap, this study explores the influence of user experience (cognitive experience and affective experience), personal attributes (affection and altruism) and motivational factors in game play (reward for activities and self-promotion) on the continuation intention toward Ant Forest.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors assessed the data using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for understanding users' continuation intention toward Ant Forest.

Findings

Through a survey of 337 Ant Forest users, the results reveal that cognitive and affective experiences substantially affect Ant Forest continuation intention. Personal attributes and motivational factors also stimulate users to continue using Ant Forest.

Originality/value

The authors build and confirm a conceptual framework to understand users' continuation intention toward a novel unexplored Ant Forest phenomenon.
Research on the integrated manipulator of point cloud measurement and precise cutting for waste nuclear tank
Authors: Qi Ruolong , Liang Wenfeng
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Nuclear waste tanks need to be cut into pieces before they can be safely disposed of, but the cutting process produces a large amount of aerosols with radiation, which is very harmful to the health of the operator. The purpose of this paper is to establish an intelligent strategy for an integrated robot designed for measurement and cutting, which can accurately identify and cut unknown nuclear waste tanks and realize autonomous precise processing.

Design/methodology/approach

A robot system integrating point cloud measurement and plasma cutting is designed in this paper. First, accurate calibration methods for the robot, tool and hand-eye system are established. Second, for eliminating the extremely scattered point cloud caused by metal surface refraction, an omnidirectional octree data structure with 26 vectors is proposed to extract the point cloud model more accurately. Then, a minimum bounding box is calculated for limiting the local area to be cut, the local three-dimensional shape of the nuclear tank is fitted within the bounding box, in which the cutting trajectories and normal vectors are planned accurately.

Findings

The cutting precision is verified by changing the tool into a dial indicator in the simulation and the experiment process. The octree data structure with omnidirectional pointing vectors can effectively improve the filtering accuracy of the scattered point cloud. The point cloud filter algorithm combined with the structure calibration methods for the integrated measurement and processing system can ensure the final machining accuracy of the robot.

Originality/value

Aiming at the problems of large measurement noise interference, complex transformations between coordinate systems and difficult accuracy guarantee, this paper proposes structure calibration, point cloud filtering and point cloud-based planning algorithm, which can greatly improve the reliability and accuracy of the system. Simulation and experiment verify the final cutting accuracy of the whole system.
Iranian communities e-business challenges and value proposition design
Authors: Emami Amir , Farshad Bakhshayesh Elahe , Rexhepi Gadaf
Published: December 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to identify and examine the internal and external factors that e-business communities in Iran grapple with within value proposition design.

Design/methodology/approach

Although the world and global economy have been vastly affected by the financial crisis and the competitive market, most businesses and trade lines are growing significantly by the power of online marketing and e-trades. However, this process is somehow different in the Iranian market. Using literature review and combining it with the casual-comparative method, this study first reviews the literature on the business model and value proposition design and then shows the main challenges Iranian entrepreneurs face in starting their e-business, especially at the time of severe economic, political sanction.

Findings

This paper attests to two categories of external and internal obstacles to entrepreneurs in the country. Some internal challenges point to obstacles and problems such as poor infrastructure in technology and network equipment, the security of personal data exchanges, improper infrastructure, including the speed of the internet and its bandwidth limit and lack of programming expertise. In the case of external barriers, this paper addresses the economic sanctions and restrictions that have been imposed on internet businesses.

Originality/value

In this study, the authors intend to identify the challenges of internet businesses in Iran and provide effective solutions for creating new value propositions resulting in rapid and sustainable economic growth.
Claims in construction projects: how causes are linked to effects?
Authors: Kikwasi Geraldine John
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Claims are increasingly becoming a norm in construction projects and thus an area that is attracting interventions through researches. This paper aims to establish causes–effects relationship of claims in construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

This is correlation study type of study that attempts to establish causes–effects relationship of claims in construction projects. Significant causes and effects of construction claims were determined using one-sample t-test. To establish the relationship, the significant causes and effects of construction claims were correlated using bivariate correlation analysis.

Findings

Among the significant causes, variations, change of scope of the project and delay in completion of works have high level of significant positive relationship with five to six other causes and positive relationship with multiple effects ranging from five to six. Besides, among significant effects, delay in completion and delivering of construction projects, poor contractual relationship among parties and extension of time have significant positive relationship with multiple causes.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are limited to causes-causes relationship and causes–effects relationship of claims in construction projects. This means effects–effects relationship was not covered that could be an important area to investigate as some of causes and effects are at times termed interchangeably.

Practical implications

With reference to previous studies which have focused on determining the causes and effects of construction claims, the findings of the current study have specific contribution on claims management as it divulges the causes of constructions claims that have multiplier effects to the project as a result of their linkage.

Originality/value

The paper unveils causes of claims with multiplier effects to construction projects for project participants to devise strategies to minimize and consequently eliminate them.