bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Emergency medical service personnel' post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological detachment: The mediating role of presenteeism
Authors: Liao Dandan , Long Yanqiong , Yu Tao , Kang Xiaoyan , Liu Shulai , Yan Jin , Zhang AiDi
Published: March 2023

Background

Emergency medical service personnel are subjected to various stressors, which makes them more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Studies have shown that psychological detachment and presenteeism play a role at the level of post-traumatic stress disorder. There is no study to examine the relationship between psychological detachment, presenteeism, and post-traumatic stress disorder among emergency medical service personnel.

Objective

The main objective of the study is to investigate the effects of presenteeism in explaining the relationship between psychological detachment and post-traumatic stress disorder among emergency medical service personnel.

Design

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 836 emergency medical service personnel in 51 counties and cities in Hunan Province, China.

Methods

They were anonymously investigated by using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Stanford Presenteeism scale-6 (SPS-6), and the Psychological Detachment Scale. Statistic description, univariate analysis, pearson correlation, and structural equation model were adopted to analyze the data.

Results

The mean score of IES-R, SPS-6, and the psychological detachment scale were 22.44 ± 16.70, 15.13 ± 4.20, and 11.30 ± 4.24. Post-traumatic stress disorder was positively relevant with presenteeism (r = 0.381, p< 0.01), but negatively correlated with psychological detachment (r = −0.220, p < 0.01). And presenteeism partially mediated the association between psychological detachment and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Conclusions

The results show a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in EMS personnel, presenteeism can statistically significantly predict post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. If hospital management can reduce the presenteeism of emergency medical service personnel, this will help them reduce post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
Impact of the COVID pandemic on mental health and training opportunities of Public Health Residents from 4 European countries: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Failla Giovanna , Caminiti Marta , Chen-Xu José , Lo Moro Giuseppina , Berselli Nausicaa , Cabral Ferreira Madalena , Malcata Filipa , Peyre-Costa David , Croci Roberto , Soldà Giorgia , Capodici Angelo , Morcavallo Caterina , Traglia Francesco , Cedrone Fabrizio , Storti Ilaria , Jaquete Alfonso Alonso , Antinozzi Martina , Vasiliu Anca
Published: March 2023

Objectives

There is little evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Public Health Residents' (PHR) mental health (MH). This study aims at assessing prevalence and risk factors for depression, anxiety and stress in European PHR during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Between March and April 2021, an online survey was administered to PHR from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The survey assessed COVID-19 related changes in working conditions, training opportunities and evaluated MH outcomes using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Multivariable logistic regressions were applied to identify risk factors.

Results

Among the 443 respondents, many showed symptoms of depression (60.5%), anxiety (43.1%) and stress (61.2%). The main outcome predictors were: female gender for depression (adjOR = 1.59, 95%CI [1.05–2.42]), anxiety (adjOR = 2.03, 95%CI [1.33–3.08]), and stress (adjOR = 2.35, 95%CI [1.53–3.61]); loss of research opportunities for anxiety (adjOR = 1.94, 95%CI [1.28–2.93]) and stress (adjOR = 1.98, 95%CI [1.26–3.11]); and COVID-19 impact on training (adjOR = 1.78, 95%CI [1.12–2.80]) for depression.

Conclusions

The pandemic had a significant impact on PHR in terms of depression, anxiety and stress, especially for women and who lost work-related opportunities. Training programs should offer PHR appropriate MH support and training opportunities.
Research on the establishment of evaluation index system of the aging construction of the community
Authors: Li Kun , Mei Wen-Bing , Huang Yi-Zhe
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Constructing the evaluation index system for the community's aging-friendly construction can provide a decision-making basis for the overall investment and priority satisfaction strategy for the community's aging-friendly construction.

Methods

Through questionnaire survey and statistical analysis, this paper evaluates and analyzes the satisfaction level of various indicators of the community's aging-friendly construction.

Results

The results show that the community's humanistic care, public environment, and socio-economic criteria are significantly linearly linked to the overall construction satisfaction level. There are significant differences in the general satisfaction level of older adults in the variables of “age, educational background, residence duration, residence personnel, number of children, and marital status”.

Discussion

To this end, the article concludes with specific recommendations that improving older-adult care services for older adults with low age and high education, helping older adults in the community to familiarize themselves with the community environment as soon as possible, cultivating the professional abilities of community service personnel, reflecting the warmth of the community for older-adult care and improving social security capabilities are the core content of the future community building for aging.
Particulate matter exposure in construction sites is associated with health effects in workers
Authors: Sekhavati Eghbal , Yengejeh Reza Jalilzadeh
Published: March 2023

Background

Exposure to suspended particulate matters (PMs) at high concentrations, mainly observed in the construction workplace, is found to be a risk factor for major health outcomes. The present study was conducted to investigate the degree of exposure to suspended PMs in different stages of construction of the buildings and the health risk associated with the exposure in Lar, Fars, Iran.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, two construction sites were selected in Lar. Cancer and non-cancer health risks of exposure to PM2.5 and PM10 were assessed using the US Environmental Protection Agency method in three-dimensions: inhalation, digestion, and dermal absorption. The hazard quotient (HQ) and total cancer risk (TCR) were considered as parameters for risk analysis.

Results

The highest level of non-cancer risk for workers in the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 particles in the drilling process were determined to be 2.97 × 10−1 and 8.52 × 10−2, respectively. In the cancer risk analysis, PM10 concentrations were estimated to be at the highest level (1.7 × 10−7) in the drilling process and the lowest level (4.29 × 10−8) in the facilities process. For suspended PM2.5, it was an unacceptable risk level in all processes, except for the implementation of facilities.

Conclusion

These results show that the construction industry, especially in developing countries such as Iran, needs better management to maintain the health of construction workers.
The impacts of public hospital comprehensive reform policies on hospital medicine cost, revenues and healthcare expenditures 2014–2019: An analysis of 103 tertiary public hospitals in China
Authors: Pan Lin , Xiao Kai , Zhu Huanhuan , Luo Li
Published: March 2023

Objective

To explore the impact of implementation of the comprehensive public hospital reform policy (CPHRP) on medicine costs, revenues and medical expenditures in tertiary public hospitals in China.

Methods

The data of this study was collected from local administrations to obtain operational data of healthcare institutions and medicine procurement data for 103 tertiary public hospitals from 2014 to 2019. The propensity matching score method and the difference-in-difference method were used jointly to assess the impact of reform policies on tertiary public hospitals.

Results

After the implementation of the policy, drug revenue in the intervention group decreased by ¥ 86.3 million (p = 0.076) compared to the control group; medical service revenue increased by ¥ 108.5 million (p < 0.001); government financial subsidies increased by ¥ 20.3 million (p = 0.085); the average medicine cost per outpatient and emergency visit decreased by ¥ 15.2 (p = 0.062); the average medicine cost per hospitalization decreased by ¥ 504 (p = 0.040); however, the medicine cost decreased by ¥ 38.2 million (p = 0.351), the average cost per visit for outpatient and emergency decreased by ¥ 0.562 (p = 0.966), the average cost per hospitalization decreased by ¥ 152 (p = 0.844), which are not significant.

Conclusions

The implementation of reform policies has changed the revenue structure of public hospitals; the proportion of drug revenue decreased, while the proportion of service income increased, especially in service income and government subsidies. Meanwhile, the average medicine cost of outpatient, emergency, and inpatient visits per time were all reduced, which played a certain role in reducing the disease burden of patients.
Wybrane problemy realizacji spółgłosek polskich w potoku
mowy w perspektywie dydaktycznej
Authors: Dróżdż-Łuszczyk Katarzyna
Published: March 2023

The article reports the most important phonetic changes which have taken place in the contemporary Polish language. The aim of the sketch is to answer the questions that arise when learning phonetics and pronunciation, especially in regard to sounds: [ś], [ź], [ć], [ӡ́] and [s΄], [z΄], [c΄], [ӡ’]. The author focuses on the phenomena associated with the withdrawal of palatalisation and presents the solutions adopted in academic textbooks. Finally, she presents her own suggestions for the articulation of the abovementioned sounds at the meeting point of morphemes.
Fonemy nosowe i ich realizacja w języku polskim. Wybrane problemy
dydaktyczne
Authors: Siudzińska Natalia
Published: March 2023

This article discusses the problems related to the sound realisation of the so-called nasal sounds, that is letters ą and ę, as well as the differences in the phonological interpretation of those realisations. The issue has been repeatedly raised by linguists (e.g. Zarembina 1963; Retz 1979ab; Dunaj 1991; Sawicka 1995; Nagórko 1998; Szpyra-Kozłowska 2002, and others), which proves its complexity and difficulty. The letters ą and ę can be pronounced in various ways depending on their neighbourhood (that is other letters that follow them), which causes problems in Polish language didactics and in the process of teaching of the correct Polish language pronunciation (especially when it comes to teaching Polish pronunciation to foreigners). The article mentions the methods and principles of the realisation of nasal sounds as well as inconsistencies in the phonological characteristics of the phenomenon. The article is an overview, as its aim is to compare different suggestions for the phonological interpretation.
Keywords: phonetics – phonological system – nasal vowels – nasal phonemes.
Analysis of Bacterial Pathogens Causing Complicating HAP in Patients with Secondary Peritonitis
Authors: Chudáček Josef , Špička Petr , Kolar Milan , Stašek Martin , Kolcún Štefan , Klos Dušan , Hricová Kristýna , Mlynarcik Patrik , Pudová Vendula , Klementová Olga , Horáček Rostislav
Published: March 2023

Background: Diffuse peritonitis is an acute abdominal condition characterized by high mortality. The main treatment modality is surgery, requiring a subsequent prolonged hospital stay. These patients are, among other things, at risk of developing hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), which considerably worsens their treatment outcomes. This study aimed to extend the existing knowledge by providing more detailed microbiological characteristics of complicating HAP in patients with secondary peritonitis, including the identification of isolated bacterial pathogens and their potential sources. Methods: The 2015–2019 retrospective study comprised all patients with an intraoperatively confirmed diagnosis of secondary diffuse peritonitis who were classified in accordance with the quick Sepsis Related Organ Failure Assessment scoring system. Results: HAP developed in 15% of patients. The 90-day mortality rates were 53% and 24% in patients with and without HAP; respectively. The most frequent pathogens responsible for HAP were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae complex and Enterococcus faecalis. Multidrug resistance to antibiotics was found in 38% of bacterial pathogens. Clonal spread of these bacterial pathogens among patients was not detected. Rather, the endogenous characteristic of HAP was confirmed. Conclusions: The initial antibiotic therapy of complicating HAP in patients with secondary peritonitis must be effective mainly against enterobacteria, including strains with the production of ESBL and AmpC beta-lactamases, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis. The study further highlighted the importance of monitoring the respiratory tract bacterial microflora in patients with secondary peritonitis. The results should be used for initial antibiotic treatment of complicating HAP instances.
Active Disturbance Rejection Optimization Control for SOFCs in Offshore Wind Power
Authors: Pan Zhixuan , Liu Jia , Liu Jing , Ning Xiaoge , Qin Zheng , He Lulu
Published: March 2023

With the development of offshore wind power (OWP)-based hydrogen production technology, hydrogen fuel cells play a critical role in buffering the mismatch between energy supply and demand in OWP systems. Benefitting from high efficiency, cleanliness, and nontoxicity, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been extensively investigated. However, OWP-based SOFC systems are characterized by strong nonlinearity and uncertainty and are vulnerable to disturbance, which leads to appreciable fluctuations and even instability to the system output voltage. Since conventional PID control schemes cannot achieve favorable performance, a more advanced control method is imperative. In response, this paper proposes a linear active disturbance rejection control (LADRC) method to reduce the influence of disturbance and ensure the stability of SOFC systems. In addition, an improved firefly algorithm (IFA) was adopted to optimize LADRC parameters. A step inertia weight was introduced, and a random generation mechanism was adopted to replace 30% of individuals with low luminous degrees. Using optimized LADRC parameters, a series of Monte Carlo experiments were carried out to verify the system’s robustness. The experimental results show that the overshoot of the LADRC method optimized by the IFA can be reduced by 5.7% compared with the traditional PID controller, i.e., the influence of the voltage disturbance can be well suppressed.
Textual Feature Extraction Using Ant Colony Optimization for Hate Speech Classification
Authors: Gite Shilpa , Patil Shruti , Dharrao Deepak , Yadav Madhuri , Basak Sneha , Rajendran Arundarasi , Kotecha Ketan
Published: March 2023

Feature selection and feature extraction have always been of utmost importance owing to their capability to remove redundant and irrelevant features, reduce the vector space size, control the computational time, and improve performance for more accurate classification tasks, especially in text categorization. These feature engineering techniques can further be optimized using optimization algorithms. This paper proposes a similar framework by implementing one such optimization algorithm, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), incorporating different feature selection and feature extraction techniques on textual and numerical datasets using four machine learning (ML) models: Logistic Regression (LR), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD), and Random Forest (RF). The aim is to show the difference in the results achieved on both datasets with the help of comparative analysis. The proposed feature selection and feature extraction techniques assist in enhancing the performance of the machine learning model. This research article considers numerical and text-based datasets for stroke prediction and detecting hate speech, respectively. The text dataset is prepared by extracting tweets consisting of positive, negative, and neutral sentiments from Twitter API. A maximum improvement in accuracy of 10.07% is observed for Random Forest with the TF-IDF feature extraction technique on the application of ACO. Besides, this study also highlights the limitations of text data that inhibit the performance of machine learning models, justifying the difference of almost 18.43% in accuracy compared to that of numerical data.
Repurposing Benztropine, Natamycin, and Nitazoxanide Using Drug Combination and Characterization of Gastric Cancer Cell Lines
Authors: Ribeiro Eduarda , Araújo Diana , Pereira Mariana , Lopes Bruna , Sousa Patrícia , Sousa Ana Catarina , Coelho André , Rêma Alexandra , Alvites Rui , Faria Fátima , Oliveira Cláudia , Porto Beatriz , Maurício Ana Colette , Amorim Irina , Vale Nuno
Published: March 2023

Gastric cancer (GC) ranked as the fifth most incident cancer in 2020 and the third leading cause of cancer mortality. Surgical prevention and radio/chemotherapy are the main approaches used in GC treatment, and there is an urgent need to explore and discover innovative and effective drugs to better treat this disease. A new strategy arises with the use of repurposed drugs. Drug repurposing coupled with drug combination schemes has been gaining interest in the scientific community. The main objective of this project was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of alternative drugs in GC. For that, three GC cell lines (AGS, MKN28, and MKN45) were used and characterized. Cell viability assays were performed with the reference drug 5-fluororacil (5-FU) and three repurposed drugs: natamycin, nitazoxanide, and benztropine. Nitazoxanide displayed the best results, being active in all GC cells. Further, 5-FU and nitazoxanide in combination were tested in MKN28 GC cells, and the results obtained showed that nitazoxanide alone was the most promising drug for GC therapy. This work demonstrated that the repurposing of drugs as single agents has the ability to decrease GC cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner.
Exosomal MicroRNA Levels Associated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Ivanova Elizaveta , Asadullina Dilara , Gilyazova Gulshat , Rakhimov Radmir , Izmailov Adel , Pavlov Valentin , Khusnutdinova Elza , Gilyazova Irina
Published: March 2023

Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has shown high efficiency in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) treatment. However, the response to therapy among patients varies greatly. Modern studies demonstrate the high potential of exosomal miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic markers in oncopathology. This study aimed to evaluate exosomal miRNA expression profiles of miRNAs-144, -146a, -149, -126, and -155 in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The study included 35 patients whose venous blood samples were taken before and after ICI therapy. Expression analysis was performed using real-time quantitative PCR. It was demonstrated that the level of microRNA-146a increased after therapy (median(IQR) 12.92(4.06–18.90)) compared with the level before it (median(IQR) 7.15(1.90–10.50); p-value = 0.006). On the contrary, microRNA-126 was reduced after therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (median(IQR) 0.85(0.55–1.03) vs. 0.48(0.15–0.68) before and after therapy, respectively; p-value = 0.0001). In addition, miRNA-146a expression was shown to be reduced in patients with a higher grade of immune-related adverse events (p-value = 0.020). The AUC value for the miRNA-146a and miRNA-126 combination was 0.752 (95% CI 0.585–0.918), with the sensitivity at 64.3% and the specificity at 78.9%. Thus, while it can be assumed that miRNA-146a and miRNA-126 can be used as predictors for ICI therapy effectiveness, additional in-depth studies are required.
Radiomics in Hypopharyngeal Cancer Management: A State-of-the-Art Review
Authors: Chiesa-Estomba Carlos M. , Mayo-Yanez Miguel , Guntinas-Lichius Orlando , Vander-Poorten Vincent , Takes Robert P. , de Bree Remco , Halmos Gyorgy B. , Saba Nabil F. , Nuyts Sandra , Ferlito Alfio
Published: March 2023

(1) Background: Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas usually present with locally advanced disease and a correspondingly poor prognosis. Currently, efforts are being made to improve tumor characterization and provide insightful information for outcome prediction. Radiomics is an emerging area of study that involves the conversion of medical images into mineable data; these data are then used to extract quantitative features based on shape, intensity, texture, and other parameters; (2) Methods: A systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature was conducted; (3) Results: A total of 437 manuscripts were identified. Fifteen manuscripts met the inclusion criteria. The main targets described were the evaluation of textural features to determine tumor-programmed death-ligand 1 expression; a surrogate for microvessel density and heterogeneity of perfusion; patient stratification into groups at high and low risk of progression; prediction of early recurrence, 1-year locoregional failure and survival outcome, including progression-free survival and overall survival, in patients with locally advanced HPSCC; thyroid cartilage invasion, early disease progression, recurrence, induction chemotherapy response, treatment response, and prognosis; and (4) Conclusions: our findings suggest that radiomics represents a potentially useful tool in the diagnostic workup as well as during the treatment and follow-up of patients with HPSCC. Large prospective studies are essential to validate this technology in these patients.
Hyperlipidemia and Cardiovascular Risk in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Mainieri Francesca , La Bella Saverio , Chiarelli Francesco
Published: March 2023

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) represents the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The onset of the atherosclerosis process occurs during childhood and adolescence, subsequently leading to the onset of cardiovascular disease as young adults. Several cardiovascular risk factors can be identified in children and adolescents; however, hyperlipidemia, in conjunction with the global obesity epidemic, has emerged as the most prevalent, playing a key role in the development of ASCVD. Therefore, screening for hyperlipidemia is strongly recommended to detect high-risk children presenting with these disorders, as these patients deserve more intensive investigation and intervention. Treatment should be initiated as early as possible in order to reduce the risk of future ASCVD. In this review, we will discuss lipid metabolism and hyperlipidemia, focusing on correlations with cardiovascular risk and screening and therapeutic management to reduce or almost completely avoid the development of ASCVD.
Treatment Patterns and Outcomes of Patients with Grade 4 Glioma Treated with Radiation during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Chahal Manik , Aljawi Ghufran , Harrison Rebecca , Nichol Alan , Thiessen Brian
Published: March 2023

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic there was a global disruption in the provision of healthcare. Grade 4 gliomas are rapidly progressive tumors, and these patients are at risk of poorer outcomes due to delays in diagnosis or treatment. We retrospectively evaluated the impact of the pandemic on treatment patterns and outcomes of patients with grade 4 gliomas in British Columbia. We identified a cohort of 85 patients treated with radiotherapy between March 2020–2021 (COVID era) and compared baseline characteristics, treatments, and outcomes with a control cohort of 79 patients treated between March 2018–2019 (pre-COVID era). There were fewer patients treated with radiotherapy over age 65 in the COVID era compared to the pre-COVID era (p = 0.037). Significantly more patients were managed with biopsy relative to partial or gross total resection during the COVID era compared to the pre-COVID era (p = 0.04), but there were no other significant differences in time to assessment, time to treatment, or administration of adjuvant therapy. There was no difference in overall survival between eras (p = 0.189). In this assessment of outcomes of grade 4 gliomas during the pandemic, we found that despite less aggressive surgical intervention during the COVID era, outcomes were similar between eras.
Collision-Free 4D Dynamic Path Planning for Multiple UAVs Based on Dynamic Priority RRT* and Artificial Potential Field
Authors: Guo Yicong , Liu Xiaoxiong , Jiang Wei , Zhang Weiguo
Published: March 2023

In this paper, a four-dimensional (4D) dynamic cooperative path planning algorithm for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is proposed, in which the cooperative time variables of UAVs, as well as conflict and threat avoidance, are considered. The algorithm proposed in this paper uses a hierarchical framework that is divided into a 4D cooperative planning layer and a local threat avoidance planning layer. In the cooperative planning layer, the proposed algorithm, named dynamic priority rapidly exploring random trees (DPRRT*), would be used for the 4D cooperative path planning of all UAVs involved in a given task. We first designed a heuristic prioritization strategy in the DPRRT* algorithm to rank all UAVs to improve the efficiency of cooperative planning. Then, the improved RRT* algorithm with the 4D coordination cost function was used to plan the 4D coordination path for each UAV. Whenever the environment changes dynamically (i.e., sudden static or moving threats), the proposed heuristic artificial potential field algorithm (HAPF) in the local threat avoidance planning layer is used to plan the local collision avoidance path. After completing local obstacle avoidance planning, the DPRRT* of the 4D cooperative planning layer is again called upon for path replanning to finally realize 4D cooperative path planning for all UAVs. The simulation and comparison experiments prove the feasibility, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed algorithm.
Chlorine Adsorption on TiO2(110)/Water Interface: Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics Simulations for Photocatalytic Water Splitting
Authors: Lin Yin-Pai , Bocharov Dmitry , Isakoviča Inta , Pankratov Vladimir , Popov Aleksandr A. , Popov Anatoli I. , Piskunov Sergei
Published: March 2023

Chloride is one of the most abundant ions in sea water, which is more available than fresh water. Due to lack of H2O adsorbate states near the valence band maximum (VBM) edge, the difficulty of water dissociation incidents has been reported on the rutile TiO2 surface as the excitation energy is around the band gap energy of TiO2. It is interesting whether the extra chloride can be a benefit to the water dissociation or not. In this study, the models of chlorine adatoms placed on the rutile TiO2 (110)/water interface are constructed using ab initio methods. The time-dependent spatial charges, bond-lengths of water molecules, and Hirshfeld charges are calculated by real-time time-dependent density functional theory and the Ehrenfest dynamics theory for investigating the excited state nonadiabatic dynamics of water dissociation. This study presents two photoinduced water-splitting pathways related to chlorine and analyzes the photogenerated hole along the reactions. The first step of water dissociation relies on the localized competition of oxygen charges between the dissociated water and the bridge site of TiO2 for transforming the water into hydroxyl and hydrogen by photoinduced driving force.
A Comprehensive Review of the Bidirectional Converter Topologies for the Vehicle-to-Grid System
Authors: Panchanathan Suresh , Vishnuram Pradeep , Rajamanickam Narayanamoorthi , Bajaj Mohit , Blazek Vojtech , Prokop Lukas , Misak Stanislav
Published: March 2023

Over the past decade, there has been a great interest in the changeover from cars powered by gasoline to electric vehicles, both within the automotive industry and among customers. The electric vehicle–grid (V2G) technology is a noteworthy innovation that enables the battery of an electric vehicle during idling conditions or parked can function as an energy source that can store or release energy whenever required. This results in energy exchange between the grid and EV batteries. This article reviews various bidirectional converter topologies used in the V2G system. Additionally, it can reduce the cost of charging for electric utilities, thus increasing profits for EV owners. Normally electric grid and the battery of an electric vehicle can be connected through power electronic converters, especially a bidirectional converter, which allows power to flow in both directions. The majority of research work is carried out over the converters for V2G applications and concerns utilizing two conversion stages, such as the AC-DC conversion stage used for correcting the power factor and the DC-DC conversion stage for matching the terminal voltage. Furthermore, a bidirectional conversion can be made for an active power transfer between grid–vehicle (G2V) and V2G effectively. This review explores and examines several topologies of bidirectional converters which make it possible for active power flow between the grid and the vehicle and vice versa. Moreover, different types of charging and discharging systems, such as integrated/non-integrated and on/off board, etc., which have been used for electric vehicle applications, are also discussed. A comparison study is carried out based on several other factors that have been suggested. The utilization of semiconductors in power converters and non-conventional resources in charging and discharging applications are the two improving technologies for electric vehicles.
A New Approach for Long-Term Stability Estimation Based on Voltage Profile Assessment for a Power Grid
Authors: Pourdaryaei Alireza , Shahriari Amidaddin , Mohammadi Mohammad , Aghamohammadi Mohammad Reza , Karimi Mazaher , Kauhaniemi Kimmo
Published: March 2023

Load flow solutions refer to the steady-state stability of power systems and have a crucial role in the design and planning of slow-changing elements; e.g., in online tab changing actions, automatic generation control, over-excitation limiters and the power recovery characteristics of a load. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to show the connectivity between load flow analysis and long-term voltage stability using a generator model by introducing a novel voltage stability assessment based on the multi-machine dynamic model along with the load flow study for a power grid. The Euclidean distance (ED) was used to introduce a new voltage stability index based on the voltage phasor profile for real-time monitoring purposes. The effects of reactive power compensation, in addition to load-generation patterns and network topology changes in the system behavior, could be seen clearly on the voltage profiles of the buses. Thus, the increased values for the EDs of the buses’ voltage amplitudes—from 0 to around 1.5 (p.u.)—implied that the system was approaching the voltage collapse point, corresponding to the Jacobian matrix singularity of the load flow equation. Moreover, the weakest load bus with respect to any system change was also identified. Indeed, the criticality of any network interruption was in direct proportion to this voltage stability index. The proposed method was validated using the IEEE 118-bus test system.
Inclusive Economic Growth: Relationship between Energy and Governance Efficiency
Authors: Kwilinski Aleksy , Lyulyov Oleksii , Pimonenko Tetyana
Published: March 2023

The ambitious goal of the European Union (EU) countries is to achieve carbon neutrality by providing inclusive economic growth, which requires the development of relevant incentives and initiatives. Furthermore, such incentives and initiatives should guarantee the achievement of the declared goals. Energy sectors are the core determinant of inclusive economic growth. Traditional energy resources (coal oriented) have a higher negative impact on nature and people’s well-being than on economic and social benefits. However, the transition to renewable energy raises new issues in achieving goals of inclusive economic growth: affordable and clean energy, responsible energy consumption, and energy infrastructure. The analysis of the theoretical framework found that the digitalization of government could be a core instrument for handling the abovementioned issues. The paper aims to justify the role of green energy in achieving inclusive economic growth empirically. The study applies the following methods: fully modified Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and canonical cointegrating regression. The findings allow concluding that institutional quality passively affects inclusive economic growth and that the digitalization of government has a U-shaped impact on inclusive economic growth. In this case, countries should boost the digital transformation of public services and continuously increase the quality of institutions.
On Long-Range Characteristic Length Scales of Shell Structures
Authors: Hakula Harri
Published: March 2023

Shell structures have a rich family of boundary layers including internal layers. Each layer has its own characteristic length scale, which depends on the thickness of the shell. Some of these length scales are long, something that is not commonly considered in the literature. In this work, three types of long-range layers are demonstrated over an extensive set of simulations. The observed asymptotic behavior is consistent with theoretical predictions. These layers are shown to also appear on perforated structures underlying the fact these features are properties of the elasticity equations and not dependent on effective material parameters. The simulations are performed using a high-order finite element method implementation of the Naghdi-type dimensionally reduced shell model. Additionally, the effect of the perforations on the first eigenmodes is discussed. One possible model for buckling analysis is outlined.
G-Fractional Diffusion on Bounded Domains in Rd
Authors: Angelani Luca , Garra Roberto
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we study g-fractional diffusion on bounded domains in Rd with absorbing boundary conditions. A new general and explicit representation of the solution is obtained. We study the first-passage time distribution, showing the dependence on the particular choice of the function g. Then, we specialize the analysis to the interesting case of a rectangular domain. Finally, we briefly discuss the connection of this general theory with the physical application to the so-called fractional Dodson diffusion model, recently discussed in the literature.
Participatory Design Workshops: Interdisciplinary Encounters within a Collaborative Digital Heritage Project
Authors: Nofal Eslam
Published: March 2023

This article aims to investigate how participatory design influences interdisciplinary relationships in digital heritage projects. In particular, the article reflects on opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary encounters in participatory design, with the cross-border project “Terra Mosana” as a case study, which aims to investigate, digitalize, and communicate the shared heritage of the Meuse–Rhine Euregion (EMR). Terra Mosana is a collaboration between multiple partners from municipalities, museums, cultural heritage sites, and universities in different EMR cities. Partners of the project have different backgrounds that vary from archaeologists, historians, and heritage professionals to computer scientists, developers, and communication specialists. My role in this project focused on designing and organizing several participatory design workshops with citizens of the EMR, aiming to empower and enable them to share their views about their shared history, and what they want from museums and other cultural institutions. Those workshops play a crucial role in the project by creating meaningful connections across the different disciplines involved in the project. In this article, I focus on the negotiation processes between the partners involved: What challenges were they confronted with? How did they arrive at creative solutions, and which issues remained unresolved? My analysis does not draw only on my participatory observation of workshops, but also on a focus group discussion that invited the partners to reflect on and assess the collaborative process.
Influence of Hospital Environmental Variables on Thermometric Measurements and Level of Concordance: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study
Authors: Díaz-González Candelaria de la Merced , Mateos-López Noa , De la Rosa-Hormiga Milagros , Carballo-Hernández Gloria
Published: March 2023

During a pandemic, and given the need to quickly screen febrile and non-febrile humans, it is necessary to know the concordance between different thermometers (TMs) and understand how environmental factors influence the measurements made by these instruments. Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the potential influence of environmental factors on the measurements made by four different TMs and the concordance between these instruments in a hospital setting. Method: The study employed a cross-sectional observational methodology. The participants were patients who had been hospitalised in the traumatology unit. The variables were body temperature, room temperature, room relative humidity, light, and noise. The instruments used were a Non Contract Infrared TM, Axillary Electronic TM, Gallium TM, and Tympanic TM. A lux meter, a sound level meter, and a thermohygrometer measured the ambient variables. Results: The study sample included 288 participants. Weak significant relationships were found between noise and body temperature measured with Tympanic Infrared TM, r = −0.146 (p < 0.01) and likewise between environmental temperature and this same TM, r = 0.133 (p < 0.05). The concordance between the measurements made by the four different TMs showed an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.479. Conclusions: The concordance between the four TMs was considered “fair”.
Movement Behavior and Health Outcomes among Sedentary Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Arippa Federico , Nguyen Athena , Pau Massimiliano , Harris-Adamson Carisa
Published: March 2023

Background: Sedentary behavior, which is highly prevalent among office workers, is associated with multiple health disorders, including those of the musculoskeletal and cardiometabolic systems. Although prior studies looked at postures or physical activity during work or leisure time, few analyzed both posture and movement throughout the entire day. Objective: This cross-sectional pilot study examined the movement behavior of sedentary office workers during both work and leisure time to explore its association with musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) and cardiometabolic health indicators. Methods: Twenty-six participants completed a survey and wore a thigh-based inertial measuring unit (IMU) to quantify the time spent in different postures, the number of transitions between postures, and the step count during work and leisure time. A heart rate monitor and ambulatory blood pressure cuff were worn to quantify cardiometabolic measures. The associations between movement behavior, MSD, and cardiometabolic health indicators were evaluated. Results: The number of transitions differed significantly between those with and without MSD. Correlations were found between MSD, time spent sitting, and posture transitions. Posture transitions had negative correlations with body mass index and heart rate. Conclusions: Although no single behavior was highly correlated with health outcomes, these correlations suggest that a combination of increasing standing time, walking time, and the number of transitions between postures during both work and leisure time was associated with positive musculoskeletal and cardiometabolic health indicators among sedentary office workers and should be considered in future research.
Virtual Oral Health across Canada: A Critical Comparative Analysis of Clinical Practice Guidances during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Kengne Talla Pascaline , Makansi Nora , Michaud Pierre-Luc , Durand Robert , Allison Paul J. , Emami Elham
Published: March 2023

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teledentistry was suggested as a cost-effective and promising approach to improve access to oral health care. In response, Canadian provincial and territorial dental regulatory authorities (DRAs) published teledentistry-related clinical practice guidances (TCPGs). However, an in-depth comparison between them is needed to understand their gaps and commonalities so as to inform research, practice, and policy. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of TCPGs published by Canadian DRAs during the pandemic. A critical comparative analysis of these TCPGs published between March 2020 and September 2022 was conducted. Two members of the review team screened the official websites of dental regulatory authorities (DRAs) to identify TCPGs and performed data extraction. Among Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, only four TCPGs were published during the relevant time period. There were some similarities and differences in these TCPGs, and we identified gaps pertaining to communication tools and platforms, and measures to safeguard patients’ privacy and confidentiality. The insights from this critical comparative analysis and the unified workflow on teledentistry can aid DRAs in their development of new or an improvement to existing TCPGs or the development of nationwide TCP guidelines on teledentistry.
COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Health Effects on Emergency Service Nursing Workers via a Qualitative Approach
Authors: Vianna Elaine Cristine da Conceição , Baptista Raquel Veiga , Gomes Raquel Silva , Pereira Gabrielle Silva , Guimarães Giovanna Costa , Faria Magda Guimarães de Araujo , Silva-Junior João Silvestre , Oliveira Marcelia Cristina de , Pestana Luana Cardoso , Lourenção Daniela Campos de Andrade , Almeida Mirian Cristina dos Santos , Mininel Vivian Aline , Silva Silmar Maria da , Sé Aline Coutinho Sento , Gallasch Cristiane Helena
Published: March 2023

During the COVID-19 pandemic, longstanding issues involving nursing work, which has always involved significant risks of illness and infection, were intensified. It is necessary to acknowledge the risks and nurses’ perceptions about the risks qualitatively during the period of the health crisis. The aim of this study was to examine the health repercussions perceived by nursing workers in emergency services during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. This was a qualitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study. The settings of the study were emergency services with a national scope; the participants were nursing workers. Data were collected via face-to-face virtual calling interviews and analyzed via a content analysis technique, which was supported by IRAMUTEQ software. The formation of textual classes pointed in three thematic directions, from which three categories emerged: nursing workers’ exposure, due to a lack of protective equipment, to the risk of being contaminated with, falling ill from, and transmitting the COVID-19 virus; changes in work environments, processes, and relations in response to the pandemic; and physical, mental, and psychosocial alterations perceived by emergency service nursing workers. The exposure to the virus, risk of contamination, and changes in the work environment and relations all resulted in health repercussions, which were perceived as physical, mental, and psychosocial alterations that were described as dietary disturbances, physical fatigue, burnout, increased smoking, anxiety, sleep alterations, fear, exhaustion, stress, social isolation, loneliness, distancing from relatives, and social stigma.
Antibacterial Activity of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) against Shigella flexneri
Authors: Zhang Yini , Zhang Yeyue , Ma Ruiqing , Sun Wanting , Ji Zheng
Published: March 2023

Shigella flexneri (S. flexneri), a major intestinal pathogen, is a global public health concern. The biofilms formed by S. flexneri threaten environmental safety, since they could promote the danger of environmental contamination and strengthen the disease-causing properties of bacteria. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is an important catechin in tea, which has a high antibacterial activity. However, its antibacterial mechanism is still unclear. This research aims to quantify the antibacterial function and investigate the possible mechanism of EGCG inhibition of S. flexneri. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of EGCG against planktonic S. flexneri in the investigation was measured to be 400 μg/mL. Besides, SDS-PAGE and field emission scanning electron microscopy showed that EGCG interfered with protein synthesis and changed bacteria morphology. Through controlling the expression of the mdoH gene, EGCG was found to be able to prevent an S. flexneri biofilm extracellular polysaccharide from forming, according to experiments utilizing the real-time PCR test. Additional research revealed that EGCG might stimulate the response of S. flexneri to oxidative stress and prevent bacterial growth. These findings suggest that EGCG, a natural compound, may play a substantial role in S. flexneri growth inhibition.
Freshwater Management Discourses in the Northern Peruvian Andes: The Watershed-Scale Complexity for Integrating Mining, Rural, and Urban Stakeholders
Authors: Mercado-Garcia Daniel , Block Thomas , Horna Cotrina Jheni Thalis , Deza Arroyo Nilton , Forio Marie Anne Eurie , Wyseure Guido , Goethals Peter
Published: March 2023

The Peruvian environmental action plan seeks headwaters protection as one of its integrated watershed management objectives. However, heterogeneous social and environmental conditions shape this freshwater management challenge at subnational scales. We have noticed different interpretations of this challenge. To map the debate, understand the diverse interpretations, and frame political choices, we conducted semi-structured interviews with institutional and non-institutional stakeholders for performing discourse analysis in an Andean watershed where mountaintop gold mining, midstream farmers, and the downstream Cajamarca city coexist. One discourse dominates the debate on protecting the freshwater supply and argues the importance of river impoundment, municipal storage capacity, and institutional leadership. The other two discourses revolve around protecting the mountain aquifer. The second discourse does so with a fatalistic view of headwaters protection and rural support. The third discourse partially shifts the debate towards the need for improving rural capacity building and (ground)water inventories. To understand evolutions in society, it is crucial to understand these three discourses, including the types of knowledge that actors present as legitimate, the attributed roles to all stakeholders, and the kinds of worldviews informing each discourse. The interaction among discourses could hinder integrated watershed management at worst or, at best, help inspire multi-stakeholder collaboration.