bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Iatrogenic Kaposi sarcoma of the small bowel in Crohn’s disease following short-term use of immunomodulators: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Wu Pei-Jui , Sun Chi-Shu , Kuo Hsing-Tao , Sheu Ming-Jen , Lin Cheng-Yi , Wang Su-Hung , Yang Chun-Chi , Chen Chi‐Hsing , Chuang Shih-Sung , Feng I-Che
Published: November 2022

Background

Kaposi sarcoma is a vascular tumor highly related to human herpesvirus-8 and Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus. Kaposi sarcoma usually manifests as skin or mucosal lesions; involvement in visceral organs such as the gastrointestinal tract is rare. Kaposi sarcoma can occur in immunocompromised patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy, in which case it is known as iatrogenic Kaposi sarcoma or drug-induced Kaposi sarcoma. Intestinal Kaposi sarcoma in patients with inflammatory bowel disease is extremely rare.

Case presentation

A 46-year-old East Asian male with recently diagnosed Crohn’s disease was administered azathioprine and prednisolone; however, the patient complained of persistent abdominal pain and diarrhea following treatment. Endoscopy revealed small bowel Kaposi sarcoma. The patient was treated with systemic chemotherapy successfully without relapse.

Conclusions

This is the fifth case of Kaposi sarcoma developed over the small intestine in a patient with Crohn’s disease following administration of immunomodulators. Additionally, this case indicated that even short-term immunomodulator use can induce Kaposi sarcoma in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, if symptoms are aggravated or do not abate after immunomodulators prescription, and before intending to upgrade immunomodulators, endoscopy should be considered. Finally, chemotherapy can also be considered if both medication withdrawal and surgical intervention are not feasible.
The LXRB-SREBP1 network regulates lipogenic homeostasis by controlling the synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids in goat mammary epithelial cells
Authors: Zhang Wenying , Zhang Changhui , Luo Jun , Xu Huifen , Liu Jianxin , Loor Juan J. , Shi Hengbo
Published: November 2022

Background

In rodents, research has revealed a role of liver X receptors (LXR) in controlling lipid homeostasis and regulating the synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Recent data suggest that LXRB is the predominant LXR subtype in ruminant mammary cells, but its role in lipid metabolism is unknown. It was hypothesized that LXRB plays a role in lipid homeostasis via altering the synthesis of PUFA in the ruminant mammary gland. We used overexpression and knockdown of LXRB in goat primary mammary epithelial cells (GMEC) to evaluate abundance of lipogenic enzymes, fatty acid profiles, content of lipid stores and activity of the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1) promoter.

Results

Overexpression of LXRB markedly upregulated the protein abundance of LXRB while incubation with siRNA targeting LXRB markedly decreased abundance of LXRB protein. Overexpression of LXRB plus T0901317 (T09, a ligand for LXR) dramatically upregulated SCD1 and elongation of very long chain fatty acid-like fatty acid elongases 5–7 (ELOVL 5–7), which are related to PUFA synthesis. Compared with the control, cells overexpressing LXRB and stimulated with T09 had greater concentrations of C16:0, 16:1, 18:1n7,18:1n9 and C18:2 as well as desaturation and elongation indices of C16:0. Furthermore, LXRB-overexpressing cells incubated with T09 had greater levels of triacylglycerol and cholesterol. Knockdown of LXRB in cells incubated with T09 led to downregulation of genes encoding elongases and desaturases. Knockdown of LXRB attenuated the increase in triacylglycerol and cholesterol that was induced by T09. In cells treated with dimethylsulfoxide, knockdown of LXRB increased the concentration of C16:0 at the expense of C18:0, while a significant decrease in C18:2 was observed in cells incubated with both siLXRB and T09. The abundance of sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 precursor (pSREBP1) and its mature fragment (nSREBP1) was upregulated by T09, but not LXRB overexpression. In the cells cultured with T09, knockdown of LXRB downregulated the abundance for pSREBP1 and nSREBP1. Luciferase reporter assays revealed that the activities of wild type SCD1 promoter or fragment with SREBP1 response element (SRE) mutation were decreased markedly when LXRB was knocked down. Activity of the SCD1 promoter that was induced by T09 was blocked when the SRE mutation was introduced.

Conclusion

The current study provides evidence of a physiological link between the LXRB and SREBP1 in the ruminant mammary cell. An important role was revealed for the LXRB-SREBP1 network in the synthesis of PUFA via the regulation of genes encoding elongases and desaturases. Thus, targeting this network might elicit broad effects on lipid homeostasis in ruminant mammary gland.
Fine-tuning genomic and pedigree inbreeding rates in equine population with a deep and reliable stud book: the case of the Pura Raza Española horse
Authors: Perdomo-González Davinia Isabel , Laseca Nora , Demyda-Peyrás Sebastián , Valera Mercedes , Cervantes Isabel , Molina Antonio
Published: November 2022

Background

Estimating inbreeding, which is omnipresent and inevitable in livestock populations, is a primary goal for management and animal breeding especially for those interested in mitigating the negative consequences of inbreeding. Inbreeding coefficients have been historically estimated by using pedigree information; however, over the last decade, genome-base inbreeding coefficients have come to the forefront in this field. The Pura Raza Española (PRE) horse is an autochthonous Spanish horse breed which has been recognised since 1912. The total PRE population (344,718 horses) was used to estimate Classical (F), Ballou’s ancestral, Kalinowski’s ancestral, Kalinowski’s new and the ancestral history coefficient values. In addition, genotypic data from a selected population of 805 PRE individuals was used to determine the individual inbreeding coefficient using SNP-by-SNP-based techniques (methods of moments -FHOM-, the diagonal elements of the genomic -FG-, and hybrid matrixes -FH-) and ROH measures (FRZ). The analyse of both pedigree and genomic based inbreeding coefficients in a large and robust population such as the PRE horse, with proven parenteral information for the last 40 years and a high degree of completeness (over 90% for the last 70 years) will allow us to understand PRE genetic variability better and the correlations between the estimations will give the data greater reliability.

Results

The mean values of the pedigree-based inbreeding coefficients ranged from 0.01 (F for the last 3 generations -F3-) to 0.44 (ancestral history coefficient) and the mean values of genomic-based inbreeding coefficients varied from 0.05 (FRZ for three generations, FH and FHOM) to 0.11 (FRZ for nine generations). Significant correlations were also found between pedigree and genomic inbreeding values, which ranged between 0.58 (F3 with FHOM) and 0.79 (F with FRZ). In addition, the correlations between FRZ estimated for the last 20 generations and the pedigree-based inbreeding highlight the fact that fewer generations of genomic data are required when comparing total inbreeding values, and the opposite when ancient values are calculated.

Conclusions

Ultimately, our results show that it is still useful to work with a deep and reliable pedigree in pedigree-based genetic studies with very large effective population sizes. Obtaining a satisfactory parameter will always be desirable, but the approximation obtained with a robust pedigree will allow us to work more efficiently and economically than with massive genotyping.
Assisted neuroscience knowledge extraction via machine learning applied to neural reconstruction metadata on NeuroMorpho.Org
Authors: Bijari Kayvan , Zoubi Yasmeen , Ascoli Giorgio A.
Published: November 2022

The amount of unstructured text produced daily in scholarly journals is enormous. Systematically identifying, sorting, and structuring information from such a volume of data is increasingly challenging for researchers even in delimited domains. Named entity recognition is a fundamental natural language processing tool that can be trained to annotate, structure, and extract information from scientific articles. Here, we harness state-of-the-art machine learning techniques and develop a smart neuroscience metadata suggestion system accessible by both humans through a user-friendly graphical interface and machines via Application Programming Interface. We demonstrate a practical application to the public repository of neural reconstructions, NeuroMorpho.Org, thus expanding the existing web-based metadata management system currently in use. Quantitative analysis indicates that the suggestion system reduces personnel labor by at least 50%. Moreover, our results show that larger training datasets with the same software architecture are unlikely to further improve performance without ad-hoc heuristics due to intrinsic ambiguities in neuroscience nomenclature. All components of this project are released open source for community enhancement and extensions to additional applications.
Value of multimodal MRI radiomics and machine learning in predicting staging liver fibrosis and grading inflammatory activity
Authors: Wei Huanhuan , Shao Zehua , Fu Fangfang , Yu Xuan , Wu Yaping , Bai Yan , Wei Wei , Meng Nan , Liu Kewei , Han Hui , Wang Meiyun
Published: November 2022

Objective:

To evaluate the value of radiomics models created based on non-contrast enhanced T  1 weighted (T  1W) and T  2W fat-saturated (T  2WFS) images for staging hepatic fibrosis (HF) and grading inflammatory activity.

Methods and materials:

Data of 280 patients with pathologically confirmed HF and 48 healthy volunteers were included. The participants were divided into the training set and the test set at the proportion of 4:1 by the random seed method. We used the Pyradiomics software to extract radiomics features, and then use the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator to select the optimal subset. Finally, we used the stochastic gradient descent classifier to build the prediction models. DeLong test was used to compare the diagnostic performance of the models. Receiver operating characteristics was used to evaluate the prediction ability of the models.

Results:

The diagnostic efficiency of the models based on T  1W & T  2WFS images were the highest (all p < 0.05). When discriminating significant fibrosis (≥ F2), there were significant differences in the AUCs between the machine learning models based on T  1W and T  2WFS images (p < 0.05), but there were no significant differences in area under the receiver operating characteristic curves between the two models in other groups (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion:

The radiomics models built on T  1W and T  2WFS images are effective in assessing HF and inflammatory activity.

Advances in knowledge:

Based on conventional MR sequences that are readily available in the clinic, namely unenhanced T  1W and T  2W images. Radiomics can be used for diagnosis and differential diagnosis of liver fibrosis staging and inflammatory activity grading.
Ανάλυση ανθεκτικότητας του ακάρεος Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) σε ακαρεοκτόνα και η ανάπτυξη εφαρμογών αντιμετώπισης, με χρήση βιοτεχνολογίας και βιοεντομοκτόνων
Authors: Βλογιαννίτης Σπυρίδων
Published: November 2022

Η μελισσοκομία αποτελεί σημαντικό παράγοντα οικονομικής και οικολογικής σταθερότητας παγκοσμίως. Η συνεισφορά της μελισσοκομίας στην οικονομία μέσω της επικονίασης των καλλιεργειών είναι μια «υπηρεσία» που κοστολογείται στα 215 δις ευρώ το χρόνο. Ωστόσο, η κατάρρευση των αποικιών των μελισσών βρίσκεται σε ανοδική πορεία και αποτελεί σημαντικότατο πρόβλημα παγκοσμίως. Η μόλυνση των αποικιών από τα ακάρεα Βαρρόα θεωρείται ότι είναι ένας από τους κυριότερους παράγοντες που οδηγεί στην κατάρρευση τους. Οι τρόποι αντιμετώπισης των Βαρρόα είναι περιορισμένοι και περιλαμβάνουν χημικές ουσίες, οι οποίες έχουν μειωμένη αποτελεσματικότητα εξαιτίας της ανάπτυξης ανθεκτικών πληθυσμών Βαρρόα. Η καταγραφή περιστατικών και η ανάλυση των μηχανισμών ανθεκτικότητας είναι σημαντική προϋπόθεση για τη διαχείρισή της. Η επιστήμη της βιοτεχνολογίας αλλά και οι εξελίξεις στην ανάπτυξη βιοεντομοκτόνων προσφέρουν δυνατότητες αντιμετώπισης του Βαρρόα με σύγχρονες μεθόδους, φιλικές προς το περιβάλλον. Στην παρούσα διατριβή, επιχειρείται η ανάλυση της ανθεκτικότητας του Βαρρόα στο σύνολο των συνθετικών ακαρεοκτόνων που χρησιμοποιούνται για τη καταπολέμηση του, με κλασσικές και σύγχρονες τεχνικές (βιοδοκιμές, μοριακές μεθόδους, ανάλυση μεταγραφώματος, βιοχημικές αναλύσεις κ.ά.). Παράλληλα, πραγματοποιείται η ανάπτυξη και αξιολόγηση εφαρμογών με βάση τη βιοτεχνολογία και τη χρήση βιοεντομοκτόνων για την αντιμετώπιση δυσεξόντοτων – ανθεκτικών πληθυσμών του παρασίτου.
Διερεύνηση των παραγόντων επιτυχίας της οικονομικής επίδοσης και ανάπτυξης των επιχειρήσεων σε ευρωπαϊκή κλίμακα
Authors: Χαραλαμπάκης Παναγιώτης
Published: November 2022

Ο σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας είναι να μελετήσει πώς επηρεάστηκε η απόδοση των επιχειρήσεων των πέντε χωρών της Ευρωζώνης κατά τη δεκαετία 2008-2017, οπότε ξέσπασε και εξελίχθηκε η οικονομική ύφεση. Συγκεκριμένα θα μελετήσει πώς επηρεάζουν την Απόδοση των επιχειρήσεων (Performance) της Γαλλίας, της Ιταλίας, της Ισπανίας, της Πορτογαλίας και της Ελλάδας, παράγοντες όπως το Χρέος (Debt), οι Χρηματιστηριακοί Δείκτες (Market) και η Διεθνοποίηση των εργασιών τους (Internationalization). Με στοιχεία που ελήφθησαν από τη βάση δεδομένων Datastream, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν δείγματα επιχειρήσεων των πέντε χωρών, που αφορούσαν την περίοδο 2008-2017, περιλαμβάνοντας την έναρξη της πρόσφατης χρηματοοικονομικής κρίσης του 2008 και τον απόηχό της.Επιπλέον η έρευνα μελετάει εάν και με ποιον τρόπο ο παράγοντας «Χώρα» επηρεάζει τις αποδόσεις των επιχειρήσεων που μελετάμε.
Ιδεολογία και αισθητική στο μουσικοπαιδαγωγικό έργο του Μανώλη Καλομοίρη
Authors: Αυθεντοπούλου Δέσποινα
Published: November 2022

Ο Νέος Κατάλογος έργων Μανώλη Καλομοίρη περιέχει συνολικά 123 μουσικά και 14 μουσικοπαιδαγωγικά έργα. Τα μουσικοπαιδαγωγικά έργα, προορισμένα για χρήση στην ιδιωτική και τη δημόσια μουσική εκπαίδευση του τόπου, αποτελούν πολύτιμα τεκμήρια στην ιστορία της νεοελληνικής εκπαίδευσης και αδιαμφισβήτητους φορείς της ιδεολογίας και της αισθητικής του θεμελιωτή της Ελληνικής Εθνικής Σχολής, Μανώλη Καλομοίρη. Στα έργα αυτά ο συνθέτης επιλέγει τη γνώση την οποία θα διαμεσολαβήσει στις μετέπειτα γενιές, καθώς και τον τρόπο της εν λόγω διδακτικής διαμεσολάβησης, υπό έναν κοινό παρονομαστή: την «Ελληνική Μουσική Ιδέα». Η παρούσα διατριβή αποσκοπεί στην ανάδειξη των κυριότερων ιδεολογικών και αισθητικών τάσεων που διέπουν τη μουσική εκπαίδευση στην Ελλάδα του πρώτου μισού του 20ού αιώνα, όπως αυτές απορρέουν μέσα από την πολυδιάστατη ανάλυση του μουσικοπαιδαγωγικού έργου του Καλομοίρη, και σε συνδυασμό με τα άρθρα, τις διαλέξεις αλλά και τη γενικότερη δράση του συνθέτη σε εθνικό, πολιτικό και πολιτιστικό επίπεδο. Το μουσικοπαιδαγωγικό έργο αξιολογείται ενταγμένο στο κοινωνικό, ιστορικό και πολιτισμικό πλαίσιο της εποχής του, και σε άμεση συνάρτηση προς το εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο, στο οποίο χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως κατεξοχήν διδακτικό υλικό. Στο πρώτο μέρος της διατριβής εξετάζονται οι τρεις παιδαγωγικές λειτουργίες (γνωσιακή, διδακτική, μαθησιακή) που επιτελούν τα διδακτικά εγχειρίδια. H έρευνα εστιάζει στη μορφή, τη χρήση και την καταλληλότητα του περιεχομένου των εγχειριδίων, καθώς και στις διδακτικές τους προϋποθέσεις. Στο δεύτερο μέρος της διατριβής εξετάζεται η ιδεολογική και κοινωνικοποιητική λειτουργία των εγχειριδίων. Οι βασικές παραδοχές της κριτικής ανάλυσης λόγου συνοψίζονται στο γεγονός ότι οι ιδεολογίες «φυσικοποιούνται», ανάγονται δηλαδή περισσότερο στη φύση των πραγμάτων ή των ανθρώπων παρά στα συμφέροντα των τάξεων ή των ομάδων, και μετατρέπονται σε μέρος της «βάσης της γνώσης», η οποία ενεργοποιείται κατά την κοινωνική αλληλεπίδραση. Η πρωτοτυπία της παρούσας διατριβής έγκειται στην ολιστική αποτίμηση του μουσικοπαιδαγωγικού έργου του Καλομοίρη, μέσω της οποίας αναδύεται μια πλούσια τυπολογία του νεοελληνικού μουσικού εθνικισμού και οι επακόλουθες αισθητικές της προσεγγίσεις. Η διερεύνηση διαδικασιών πραγμοποίησης και νομιμοποίησης δύναται να αναδείξει ποικίλες ιδεολογικές κατασκευές, αξίες και κοινωνικές πρακτικές, οι οποίες είτε προβάλλονται, είτε διαβάλλονται, είτε παραβλέπονται στον χώρο της μουσικής εκπαίδευσης. Η εφαρμογή του εν λόγω εργαλείου ανάλυσης και κριτικής της ιδεολογίας στον εκπαιδευτικό χώρο αλλά και σε ένα ευρύτερο κοινωνικό πλαίσιο, συνιστά παράδειγμα κριτικού γραμματισμού.
Επιχειρηματολογία μαθητών πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης για το φαινόμενο της εξάτμισης
Authors: Αγγελούδη Αναστασία
Published: November 2022

Η επιχειρηματολογία αποτελεί μία πολύ σημαντική πρακτική στον χώρο της εκπαίδευσης των Φυσικών Επιστημών. Παρόλο που έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί πολλές έρευνες για τη μελέτη της επιχειρηματολογίας των μαθητών, οι σχετικές έρευνες που επικεντρώνονται στη μελέτη της συμβολής διδακτικών παρεμβάσεων στις δεξιότητες επιχειρηματολογίας των μαθητών είναι ιδιαίτερα περιορισμένες. Σκοπός της παρούσας διατριβής είναι η μελέτη της επίδρασης μιας διδακτικής παρέμβασης, που περιλαμβάνει τόσο τη διδασκαλία της σωματιδιακής θεωρίας όσο και τη ρητή διδασκαλία της επιχειρηματολογίας, στις δεξιότητες επιχειρηματολογίας μαθητών της Ε’ τάξης του Δημοτικού Σχολείου ως προς το φαινόμενο της εξάτμισης και τους παράγοντες που την επηρεάζουν. Η διεξαγωγή της έρευνας, ανάλογα με τους επιμέρους στόχους, βασίστηκε σε ένα προ-πειραματικό σχέδιο μίας πειραματικής ομάδας και σε δύο οιονεί πειραματικά σχέδια. Η συλλογή των δεδομένων έγινε μέσα από τη συμπλήρωση δύο γραπτών δοκιμασιών, μία για την αξιολόγηση της δεξιότητας κατανόησης των επιχειρημάτων και μία για την αξιολόγηση της δεξιότητας παραγωγής επιχειρημάτων από τους μαθητές. Οι γραπτές δοκιμασίες συμπληρώθηκαν από 117 μαθητές, πριν και μετά τη διδακτική παρέμβαση, ενώ επιπλέον δεδομένα συλλέχθηκαν μέσα από τη διεξαγωγή ημιδομημένων συνεντεύξεων σε 36 μαθητές. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων έδειξε ότι μέσα από την εφαρμογή της συγκεκριμένης διδακτικής παρέμβασης είναι εφικτή η βελτίωση των δεξιοτήτων επιχειρηματολογίας των μαθητών σχετικά με την εξάτμιση και τους παράγοντες που την επηρεάζουν. Η βελτίωση αυτή αφορά κυρίως τον ισχυρισμό και τα αποδεικτικά στοιχεία, ενώ η διδασκαλία της σωματιδιακής θεωρίας φαίνεται πως συνεισφέρει ακόμη περισσότερο σε αυτήν τη βελτίωση, καθώς επίσης και στη βελτίωση του συλλογισμού. Επιπλέον, με τη ρητή διδασκαλία της έννοιας της επιχειρηματολογίας κατέστη δυνατή η βελτίωση σε ακόμη μεγαλύτερο βαθμό των αποδεικτικών στοιχείων και του συλλογισμού, ενώ σημειώθηκε πρόοδος και στο στοιχείο της αντίκρουσης.
Ανάπτυξη και χαρακτηρισμός νανοδομημένων μαγνητικών υλικών
Authors: Ανυφαντής Δημήτριος
Published: November 2022

Η παρούσα Διδακτορική Διατριβή πραγματεύεται την ανάπτυξη και τον χαρακτηρισμό προηγμένων νανοδομημένων μαγνητικών υλικών κατάλληλα για εφαρμογές σε νανοδιατάξεις. Ο μαγνητικός χαρακτηρισμός υλικών υπό μορφή λεπτών και πολυστρωματικών υμενίων, ανοίγει τις πόρτες σε νέες ιδιότητες με εξαιρετικά μεγάλο τεχνολογικό ενδιαφέρον. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, πραγματοποιήθηκε ανάπτυξη νανοδομημένων μαγνητικών υλικών πολυστρωματικών υμενίων τύπου μεταβατικών μετάλλων-οξειδίου μετάλλου με φυσική οξείδωση χρησιμοποιώντας την τεχνική της ιοντοβολής (sputtering) και μελέτη των μαγνητικών ιδιοτήτων τόσο σε θερμοκρασία δωματίου όσο και σε χαμηλές και σχετικά υψηλές θερμοκρασίες. Συνοπτικά, μελετήθηκαν οι δομικές και μαγνητικές ιδιότητες μαγνητικών πολυστρωματικών υμενίων i) με βάση το νικέλιο (Ni/NiO), ii) με βάση το κοβάλτιο (Co/CoO) και iii) η επίδραση των ευγενών μετάλλων πλατίνας σε Co/CoO και πλατίνας και παλλαδίου σε πολυστρωματικά συστήματα Ni/NiO. Πειράματα με ηλεκτρονική μικροσκοπία ΤΕΜ και περίθλασης-ανακλαστικότητας ακτίνων Χ, XRD-XRR έδειξαν πως τα δείγματα έχουν εξαιρετική ποιότητα διαστρωμάτωσης και επαναληψιμότητα παραγωγής. Τα κυριότερα αποτελέσματα μαγνητικών μετρήσεων με το μαγνητόμετρα ΜΟΚΕ συνοψίζονται στην ενίσχυση της κάθετης μαγνητικής ανισοτροπίας μετά από μέτρια ανόπτηση στο σύστημα πολυστρωματικών υμενίων με βάση το Ni. Πειράματα σε χαμηλές θερμοκρασίες και με ψύξη υπό πεδίο με το μαγνητόμετρο SQUID κατέδειξαν σημαντικά φαινόμενα, όπως τη μετάβαση επαναπροσανατολισμού των σπιν SRT, τη μεγάλη τιμή πόλωσης ανταλλαγής EB και την ισχυρή ενίσχυση του συνεκτικού πεδίου HC σε ορισμένα συστήματα. Όσον αφορά στα πολυστρωματικά υμένια Co/CoO, παρουσίασαν συχνά ανάστροφους βρόχους υστέρησης, στους οποίους πραγματοποιήθηκε επιτυχημένη θεωρητική προσπάθεια αναπαραγωγής τους, ενώ τα συστήματα Co/CoO/Pt παρουσίασαν ισχυρή PMA ακόμα και σε θερμοκρασία δωματίου, με μεγάλες τιμές πόλωσης ανταλλαγής σε θερμοκρασίες 4 – 10 Κ. Συχνά στις μέρες μας, όταν τέτοια συστήματα εμφανίζουν κάθετη μαγνητική ανισοτροπία βρίσκουν πληθώρα εφαρμογών όπως είναι η εγγραφή πληροφορίας σε μαγνητικούς και μαγνητο-οπτικούς δίσκους, ως υποψήφια υλικά σε κεφαλές ανάγνωσης και αισθητήρες, στη σπιντρονική.
Effects of concomitant benzodiazepines and antidepressants long-term use on perspective-taking
Authors: Gonçalves Ana R. , Soares Márcia , Garcez Helena , Fernandes Carina , Pereira Mariana R. , Silveira Celeste , Marques-Teixeira João , Barbosa Fernando
Published: November 2022

Background: Benzodiazepines and antidepressants are known to alter responses to empathic pain when used alone, however the effects of their combined use on the perspective-taking facet of empathy are unknown. In order to examine the effects of concomitant benzodiazepines and antidepressants long-term use on perspective-taking, we analyzed behavioral and neural changes on perspective-taking ability using event-related potentials.

Methods: To this purpose, 13 long-term concomitant benzodiazepines and antidepressants users and 13 healthy controls performed a task designed to assess affective perspective-taking with simultaneous EEG recording.

Results: The behavioral results revealed similar performance between groups. The neural results showed no significant differences between groups for the N170 and late positive potential (LPP) components. These results seem to suggest that long-term use of benzodiazepines and antidepressants together does not affect perspective-taking abilities nor the processing of related information.

Conclusions: The concomitant benzodiazepines and antidepressants long-term use seem to preserve the perspective-taking ability of social cognition.
Professional qualifications of medical affairs pharmaceutical physicians and other internal stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry
Authors: Jandhyala Ravi
Published: November 2022

Background: Medical affairs pharmaceutical physicians (MAPPs) have unique value to pharmaceutical companies due to their accountability for activities that benefit regulators, payors, prescribers and patients. This study assessed whether MAPPs’ specialist training and education in pharmaceutical medicine could account for this level of value by determining whether there was significant variation in education and training between MAPPs and other internal stakeholders of pharmaceutical companies.

Methods: A systematic search of LinkedIn profiles from the 10 pharmaceutical companies by revenue was conducted between June and October 2021. Job title and type and year of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications were extracted. A one-sided Mann-Whitney test assessed for differences in the total number of qualifications between MAPPs and other internal stakeholders involved in medical affairs using MAPPs as the reference group. Other internal stakeholders included medical affairs pharmacists (MAPharm), other medical affairs professionals (MAOth), and market access (MAcc), commercial (COmm) and sales professionals. Sub-group analysis determined differences in undergraduate and postgraduate education.

Results: In total, 524 profiles were included. Compared to all other internal stakeholders, MAPPs had a significantly higher number of undergraduate (p < 0.001) and postgraduate (MAPharm, p = 0.003; MAOth, p = 0.004; MAcc, COmm and Sales, p < 0.001) qualifications. Additionally, MAPPs had a significantly longer time to industry than other internal stakeholders apart from MAPharm. Of those with clinical qualifications, MAPPs were almost twice as likely to have business qualifications.

Conclusions: Of all internal stakeholders, MAPPs had the highest number of qualifications and the best match between expertise and the contextual demands of decision-makers in the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical companies in the UK can use these findings to clarify role boundaries and decision-making power based on the nature and level of expertise of each internal stakeholder.
The Specifi cs of Assessing the Investment Attractiveness of Shares of a Public Company by Investors. Part 1
Authors: Gribina E. , Savchenko E.
Published: November 2022

Th e article is devoted to the peculiarities of assessing the investment attractiveness of companies by private investors on the example of a fairly popular among investors (more than 50% of the company’s shares are in free fl oat) French transnational company LVMH. Th e work uses the approach of Benjamin Graham, based on fundamental analysis, while during the calculations it was found that there are some restrictions on its use, which required some modifi cation and the introduction of a number of new indicators.
Digital Transformation of Customs Clearance and Customs Control Technologies
Authors: Glazkova G. , Suhareva I.
Published: November 2022

The article discusses the results of the introduction of modern digital technologies in the process of customs control.
About Methods and Means of Assessing the Business Reputation of Counterparty Companies
Authors: Krioni A.
Published: November 2022

Modern methods and techniques for assessing the experience and business reputation of counterparty companies used by detectives and private detectives in their practice are considered. Summarizing the practical experience of detectives in terms of the methods they use to assess the business reputation of counterparty companies will allow the scientific community to approach this issue in detail, use their experience and extend it to other areas of activity.
THE USE OF PREFERENTIAL CONDITIONS OF KOSTROMA REGION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SEED POTATOES
Authors: Khomutova Lyudmila , Isaeva Lyubov
Published: November 2022

The research was carried out in 1990-2020 in order to analyze the state and level of potato growing sub-sector development in the Russian Federation and in Kostroma region with further identification of priority areas for improving its efficiency for the production of high-quality seed potatoes. Over the past three decades, the potato industry of the country has undergone serious changes. During the period from 1990 to 2020, the area of potato planting in the Russian Federation decreased by 1935.4 thousand hectares, or by 62%, the gross harvest decreased by 11240.8 thousand tons, or by 36.4%.In 2020 the level of self-sufficiency in potatoes, defined as the ratio of products produced in the country to its domestic consumption, amounted to 89.2%, which is lower than the indicator established by the Food Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation by 5.8 percentage points. In Russia, leading agricultural organizations have appeared, working on innovative technologies of world standards and reaching record yields of 45...50 t/ ha. However, the average potato yield in the country remains one of the lowest in Europe – at the level of 17 t/ha. A significant factor in obtaining high potato yields is the use of high-quality seed material of the best varieties. Potato seed production is effective only in optimal soil and climatic conditions with the use of reliable methods of accelerated reproduction of virus-free material and prevention of re-infection with diseases. This problem is successfully solved by organizing special protected areas with favorable climatic and phytosanitary conditions for growing healthy seed potatoes. The Kostroma region, subject to the effective use of its geographical location, favorable soil, climatic and phytosanitary conditions, can take a leading position in the production of high-quality potato seeds.
Social frustration of students in departmental educational organizations of the system of the mia of russia
Authors: Maltseva Tatyana , Kravtsova Yulia , Sobolev Nikolay
Published: November 2022

The article deals with the problem of social frustration on the example of students of a departmental educational organization of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia; the factors contributing to its occurrence are analyzed. It has been estab-lished that more than two thirds of the respondents are in a state of frustration of vary-ing severity. A correlation was found between the level of social frustration and the level of emotional expansiveness of the respondents. It was assumed that a significant number of respondents in a state of varying degrees of frustration may be associated with the exit from the distance learning mode, which caused various unfavorable con-ditions for students. The article concludes about the need for a comprehensive psycho-logical study and psychological and pedagogical impact on the part of all subjects of the educational process on students of universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in order to prevent and prevent the escalation of their negative emotional states.
Some aspects of instrumentalization Procedures for assessing educational achievements In the format of competencies
Authors: Semchenko Aleksandr
Published: November 2022

The article discusses one of the key issues of the organization and the implementation of the educational process is a question of the effectiveness of the control system of educational achievements of students. Its consideration is proposed in the context of the competence approach. One of the problems raised by the author is that, often, the teacher checks only knowledge without taking into account the elements of practical assimilation of the material by students. This is, in principle, understandable, since traditional assessment does not provide a complete picture for analyzing the development of integral personal characteristics, which include "competence" and which the modern education system should operate with. To solve this problem, the article clarifies and systematizes by levels and types the primary indicators for assessing the quality of educational achievements of students, a set of evaluation scales is proposed. The conclusion is made about the inadmissibility of poor-quality assessment of educational achievements as a key element of the specialist training system.
Management culture as a condition for the efficiency of personnel policy implementation of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation
Authors: COFTINA Julia , Zaychuk Irina
Published: November 2022

Relevance: in modern conditions of a rapidly changing social environment, inevitable changes are taking place within the system of internal affairs bodies, first of all, changes relate to managerial culture. It is impossible to ignore the fact that an active process of generational change is taking place in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia: people who have value attitudes in relation to their professional activities, which are strikingly different from the worldview attitudes of their predecessors, come to serve in the internal affairs bodies. Accordingly, for the competent implementation of personnel policy, it is necessary, among other things, to rethink the managerial culture in the system of internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation.

Misunderstanding of the problem of transformation of managerial culture, based on the wrong belief in its insignificance, can ultimately lead to dysfunction of the internal affairs bodies, and, consequently, to the ineffectiveness of fulfilling the tasks facing the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, including the protection of public order and the fight against crime .
Biskup krakowski Jan Grotowic (ok. 1280–1347)
Authors: Żywczak Dorota
Published: November 2022

The book constitutes a biography of a 14th-century Polish bishop – one of the most intriguing and controversial representatives of the Polish episcopacy of that time. Born to an influential family, Jan Grotowic gradually developed his ecclesiastical career to finally become the second most important hierarch among Polish bishops, as well as a royal representative at the papal court in Avignon, thus becoming the most prominent member of the Rawicz family throughout the whole period of the Middle Ages. In this publication the author aimed at gathering all scattered pieces of information concerning Jan Grotowic, as well as at presenting possibly the most comprehensive picture of his life and career, but also at revisiting some widely accepted yet not verified data and beliefs concerning his biography. The source material of this book covers not only the hierarch’s lifetime, but also a few centuries after his death, following the growth and development of his posthumous cult, which flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Chylous Ascites as the Main Clinical Symptom of a Strongyloides stercoralis Infection in an Immigrant from Bosnia-Herzegovina
Authors: Antonitsch Lukas , Penz Daniela , Ferlitsch Arnulf
Published: November 2022

Extraintestinal strongyloidiasis is rare in patients without immunosuppression. We describe the first case of chylous ascites as a result of strongyloidiasis. Alcohol cessation, diuretic therapy and repeated paracentesis did not lead to improvement of refractory chylous ascites with positive nucleic acid amplification test indicative of Strongyloides stercoralis infection. Only after therapy with ivermectin, could diuretics be withdrawn. Although direct proof of S. stercoralis was not possible by microscopy, successfully treated strongyloidiasis was confirmed in this patient by the positive and negative nucleic acid amplification tests from ascites before and after treatment together with the clinical improvement only after antiparasitic therapy.
Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors in 2022: mechanisms of cardiorenal benefit
Authors: Egers Max , Hynes Marijane
Published: November 2022

The use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors has evolved over the past decade, from their initial indication as an adjunctive oral medication to treat hyperglycaemia in diabetics, to becoming part of guideline-directed therapy for the treatment of chronic kidney disease, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. This transition was driven by data from large cardiovascular and renal outcome trials, which repeatedly demonstrated that SGLT2 inhibitors improve important endpoints in chronic kidney disease and heart failure. In chronic kidney disease, SGLT2 inhibition reduces decline in glomerular filtration rate, risk of progression to end-stage renal disease and death from renal causes. With respect to their use in heart failure, SGLT2 inhibitors decrease risk of major adverse cardiac events, hospitalisation for heart failure and death from cardiovascular causes. While the benefits of these medications have been demonstrated, the mechanisms by which they are conferred are less clear. Extensive investigation into potential mechanisms of benefits has been pursued internationally and current hypotheses include increased natriuresis and osmotic diuresis, improved glomerular haemodynamic, reduced body mass and reduced adipose tissue mediated inflammation, in addition to others. This review discusses the physiology underlying the therapeutic benefit of SGLT2 inhibition in chronic kidney disease and heart failure.
How will the cost-of-living crisis impact home haemodialysis?
Authors: Wood Eleri , Bevin Amanda , Loud Fiona , Jenkins Karen
Published: November 2022

What is the current state of home haemodialysis in UK, and what might be the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis? In this two-part article, Eleri Wood and Amanda Bevin draw together opinions from patients and professionals about home haemodialysis in the summer of 2022, and Fiona Loud and Karen Jenkins explain the challenges presented by rising utility costs and why people dialysing at home should have their costs covered
Daptomycin
Authors: Rees Sharon
Published: November 2022

In this column, Sharon Rees aims to refresh knowledge and interest in some of the commonly used drugs in a series of tweets. This month she is talking about #daptomycin
Polypharmacy and the older adult
Authors: Robertson Deborah
Published: November 2022

Deborah Robertson provides an overview of recently published articles that may be of interest to non-medical prescribers. Should you wish to look at any of the papers in more detail, a full reference is provided
Factors associated with never‐use of long‐acting reversible contraception among adult reproductive‐aged women in Ohio
Authors: Chakraborty Payal , Chettri Shibani , Gallo Maria F. , Smith Mikaela H. , Hood Robert B. , Bessett Danielle , Casterline John B. , Norris Alison H. , Turner Abigail Norris
Published: November 2022

Background

The number of women using long‐acting reversible contraception (LARC)—intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants—is increasing and 14% of contraceptive users in the United States adopt LARC. We examined correlates of LARC never‐use in a population‐based survey of reproductive‐aged women in Ohio.

Methods

We analyzed data from the 2018‐19 Ohio Survey of Women. We examined the prevalence of LARC never‐use and reasons for never‐use among ever users of contraception (N = 2388). Using Poisson regression to generate prevalence ratios (PRs), we examined associations between selected correlates (demographic factors, healthcare access/quality measures, and religious/political views) and LARC never‐use.

Results

Most Ohio women (74%) had never used LARC. Commonly reported reasons for not using an IUD or an implant were preferring a different method (46% and 45%, respectively), not wanting an object inside their body (45% and 43%), side effect concerns (39% and 33%), insertion/removal concerns (31% and 25%), and unfamiliarity (13% and 20%). Conservative political views (PR: 1.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04–1.22), pro‐life affiliation (PR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.02–1.20), placing high importance on religion in daily life (PR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.06–1.26), and being non‐Hispanic white as compared to non‐Hispanic Black (PR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.02–1.41) were significantly associated with LARC never‐use. Findings were generally similar for models analyzing IUD and implant never‐use separately.

Conclusions

Among ever‐users of contraception, LARC never‐use was associated with having conservative political views, being religious, and having a pro‐life affiliation. Except for race/ethnicity, demographic and healthcare measures were not associated with LARC never‐use among women in Ohio.
Analysis of infrared nanojets with self-focusing nonlinearities
Authors: Rafi Ragib S. , Salandrino Alessandro
Published: November 2022

We present a numerical study of the linear and nonlinear diffraction and focusing properties of dielectric metasurfaces consisting of silicon microcylinder arrays resting on a silicon substrate. Upon diffraction, such structures lead to the formation of near-field intensity profiles that are reminiscent of photonic nanojets and propagate in a similar fashion. The generation and propagation of these photonic jets were analyzed under high intensity mid-infrared illumination conditions for which the third-order optical nonlinearity of silicon leads to pronounced self-focusing effects. The illumination wavelength of 3388 nm was selected to be below the two-photon absorption edge. Our results indicate that the Kerr nonlinear effect enhances light concentration throughout the generated photonic jet with an increase in intensity of about 20% compared to the linear regime for the power levels considered in this work. In all cases, the transverse beamwidth remains subwavelength, and the nonlinear effect reduces the full width half maximum size by 100 nm for both electric field intensity and the longitudinal Poynting vector.
Fabrication of tapered waveguides by i-line UV lithography for flexible coupling control
Authors: Wang Pei-Hsun , Lee Tien-Hsiang , Huang Wei-Hao
Published: November 2022

A tapered bus-waveguide is demonstrated to enhance the waveguide-to-cavity coupling by mass-productive, cost-effective i-line UV lithography. Through enlarging the overlap between the evanescent wave and waveguide resonator, we experimentally show that the coupling strength of silicon nitride waveguides can be 7 times stronger than the conventional coupling of a uniform, straight bus-waveguide. For the first time, strong over-coupling is identified at a 400 nm gap and quality factor ≈ 105 without elongating the coupling length. This design relieves the fabrication limits and provides the flexibility for coupling control, especially in the strongly over-coupled regime with i-line UV lithography.
Perfect optical absorption in a single array of folded graphene ribbons
Authors: Zhang Rui , Wang Weihua
Published: November 2022

Due to its one atom thickness, optical absorption (OA) in graphene is a fundamental and challenging issue. Practically, the patterned graphene-dielectric-metal structure is commonly used to achieve perfect OA (POA). In this work, we propose a novel scenario to solve this issue, in which POA is obtained by using free-standing folded graphene ribbons (FGRs). We show several local resonances, e.g. a dipole state (Mode-I) and a bound state in continuum (BIC, Mode-II), will cause very efficient OA. At normal incidence, by choosing appropriate folding angle θ, 50% absorptance by the two states is easily achieved; at oblique incidence, the two states will result in roughly 98% absorptance as incidence angle

φ
≈

40
∘

. It is also interesting to see that the system has asymmetric OA spectra, e.g. POA of the former (latter) state existing in reverse (forward) incidence, respectively. Besides the angles θ and φ, POA here can also be actively tuned by electrostatic gating. As increasing Fermi level, POA of Mode-I will undergo a gradual blueshift, while that of Mode-II will experience a rapid blueshift and then be divided into three branches, due to Fano coupling to two guided modes. In reality, the achieved POA is well maintained even the dielectric substrates are used to support FGRs. Our work offers a remarkable scenario to achieve POA, and thus enhance light-matter interaction in graphene, which can build an alternative platform to study novel optical effects in general two-dimensional (2D) materials. The folding, mechanical operation in out-of-plane direction, may emerge as a new degree of freedom for optoelectronic device applications based on 2D materials.
Ultra-thin deep ultraviolet perfect absorber using an Al/TiO2/AlN system
Authors: Takashima Yuusuke , Nagamatsu Kentaro , Haraguchi Masanobu , Naoi Yoshiki
Published: November 2022

An ultra-thin perfect absorber for deep ultraviolet light was realized using an Al/TiO2/AlN system. The TiO2 thickness was optimized using the Fresnel phasor diagram in complex space to achieve perfect light absorption. As a result of the calculation almost perfect absorption into the TiO2 film was found, despite the film being much thinner than the wavelength. An optimized Al/TiO2/AlN system was fabricated, and an average absorption greater than 97% was experimentally demonstrated at wavelengths of approximately 255–280 nm at normal light incidence. Our structure does not require nanopatterning processes, and this is advantageous for low-cost and large-area manufacturing.
Linear optical elements based on cooperative subwavelength emitter arrays
Authors: Baßler Nico S. , Reitz Michael , Schmidt Kai Phillip , Genes Claudiu
Published: November 2022

We describe applications of two-dimensional subwavelength quantum emitter arrays as efficient optical elements in the linear regime. For normally incident light, the cooperative optical response, stemming from emitter-emitter dipole exchanges, allows the control of the array’s transmission, its resonance frequency, and bandwidth. Operations on fully polarized incident light, such as generic linear and circular polarizers as well as phase retarders can be engineered and described in terms of Jones matrices. Our analytical approach and accompanying numerical simulations identify optimal regimes for such operations and reveal the importance of adjusting the array geometry and of the careful tuning of the external magnetic fields amplitude and direction.
Probabilistic program inference in network-based epidemiological simulations
Authors: Smedemark-Margulies Niklas , Walters Robin , Zimmermann Heiko , Laird Lucas , van der Loo Christian , Kaushik Neela , Caceres Rajmonda , van de Meent Jan-Willem
Published: November 2022

Accurate epidemiological models require parameter estimates that account for mobility patterns and social network structure. We demonstrate the effectiveness of probabilistic programming for parameter inference in these models. We consider an agent-based simulation that represents mobility networks as degree-corrected stochastic block models, whose parameters we estimate from cell phone co-location data. We then use probabilistic program inference methods to approximate the distribution over disease transmission parameters conditioned on reported cases and deaths. Our experiments demonstrate that the resulting models improve the quality of fit in multiple geographies relative to baselines that do not model network topology.
Aging and sperm signals alter DNA break formation and repair in the C. elegans germline
Authors: Toraason Erik , Adler Victoria L. , Libuda Diana E.
Published: November 2022

Female reproductive aging is associated with decreased oocyte quality and fertility. The nematodeCaenorhabditis elegansis a powerful system for understanding the biology of aging and exhibits age-related reproductive defects that are analogous to those observed in many mammals, including dysregulation of DNA repair.C.elegansgermline function is influenced simultaneously by both reproductive aging and signals triggered by limited supplies of sperm, which are depleted over chronological time. To delineate the causes of DNA repair defects in agedC.elegansgermlines, we assessed both DNA double strand break (DSB) induction and repair during meiotic prophase I progression in aged germlines which were depleted of self-sperm, mated, or never exposed to sperm. We find that germline DSB induction is dramatically reduced only in hermaphrodites which have exhausted their endogenous sperm, suggesting that a signal due specifically to sperm depletion downregulates DSB formation. We also find that DSB repair is delayed in aged germlines regardless of whether hermaphrodites had either a reduction in sperm supply or an inability to endogenously produce sperm. These results demonstrate that in contrast to DSB induction, DSB repair defects are a feature ofC.elegansreproductive aging independent of sperm presence. Finally, we demonstrate that the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme variant UEV-2 is required for efficient DSB repair specifically in young germlines, implicating UEV-2 in the regulation of DNA repair during reproductive aging. In summary, our study demonstrates that DNA repair defects are a feature ofC.elegansreproductive aging and uncovers parallel mechanisms regulating efficient DSB formation in the germline.