bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Treatment Noncompliance Level Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Hospital Based Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh
Authors: Khan Ishtiakul Islam , Pulock Orindom Shing , Barua Biddhuth , Dola Taslima Ahmed , Chowdhury Pratik , Seal Tapan , Salekin Sanzida , Quader Md. Tarek Ul , Mitra Ambarish , Chowdhury M A Hassan , Siddiqui Sayeda Rumman Aktar
Published: January 2022

Introduction

The consequence of good diabetic treatment depends on the patient’s commitment to a large degree. Noncompliance leads to inadequacy of metabolic control, which strengthens the advancement and speeds up diabetic complications.

Methodology

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Medical Center Hospital, Chattogram, Bangladesh. The study included two hundred and fifty-nine patients with T2DM. Data regarding sociodemographic factors, patient’s characteristics, medication factors, physician-related factors, and noncompliance were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire. Treatment adherence was assessed by Morisky Medication Adherence Scales (MMAS-8). Data analyses were conducted on SPSS v23.0 Software. The study’s main goal was to assess the treatment noncompliance level among patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Bangladesh.

Result

The majority of the participants (56%) were in the 40-45 years of age group, followed by 32% in the older age group (≥60 years), and 62.5% of them were male. One hundred and sixty-eight (64.86%) patients were considered low adherent as per the response of the MMAS-8 scale (score <6), followed by 57 (22.0%) patients were regarded as high adherent (score 8) and 34 (13.13%) patients were considered medium adherent (score 6-7) to treatment. Observing the frequency distribution for noncompliance, financial concerns (32.3 %), forgetfulness (27.7%), a busy daily schedule (17.7%), and fear of antihyperglycemic drug side effects were all identified as significant explanations. On multivariate analysis, participants aged 60 years or more, monthly family incomes of <30,000BDT or 30,000 – 50,000 BDT, smoking, and uncontrolled glycemic status showed higher chances of noncompliance than their counterparts.

Conclusion

Patient counseling and awareness programs may enhance treatment adherence among people with T2DM. Our findings will help physicians and public health workers to develop targeted strategies to increase awareness of the same among their patients.

Highlights

One of the most preventable causes of treatment failure is noncompliance with treatment.

Age group, educational level, and monthly family income had a significant association with the compliance to treatment in diabetic patients

Majority of the respondents (64.86%) were low adherent to the medications as per MMA-8 scale.

Financial issues (32.3 percent), forgetfulness (27.7%), a hectic daily schedule (17.7%), and fear of antidiabetic medicine side effects were all cited as key causes for noncompliance with antidiabetic treatment.

Aged participants (≥ 60 years), monthly family income of (30,000-50,000) BDT, uncontrolled glycemic status and smokers portrayed higher frequency of noncompliance.
COVID infection severity in children under 5 years old before and after Omicron emergence in the US
Authors: Wang Lindsey , Berger Nathan A. , Kaelber David C. , Davis Pamela B. , Volkow Nora D. , Xu Rong
Published: January 2022

Importance

Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infections and hospitalizations are rising in the US and other countries after the emergence of Omicron variant. However data on disease severity from Omicron compared with Delta in children under 5 in the US is lacking.

Objectives

To compare severity of clinic outcomes in children under 5 who contracted COVID infection for the first time before and after the emergence of Omicron in the US.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This is a retrospective cohort study of electronic health record (EHR) data of 79,592 children under 5 who contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection for the first time, including 7,201 infected between 12/26/2021-1/6/2022 when the Omicron predominated (Omicron cohort), 63,203 infected between 9/1/2021-11/15/2021 when the Delta predominated (Delta cohort), and another 9,188 infected between 11/16/2021-11/30/2021 when the Delta predominated but immediately before the Omicron variant was detected in the US (Delta-2 cohort).

Exposures

First time infection of SARS-CoV-2.

Main Outcomes and Measures

After propensity-score matching, severity of COVID infections including emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and mechanical ventilation use in the 3-day time-window following SARS-CoV-2 infection were compared between Omicron and Delta cohorts, and between Delta-2 and Delta cohorts. Risk ratios, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.

Results

Among 7,201 infected children in the Omicron cohort (average age, 1.49 ± 1.42 years), 47.4% were female, 2.4% Asian, 26.1% Black, 13.7% Hispanic, and 44.0% White. Before propensity score matching, the Omicron cohort were younger than the Delta cohort (average age 1.49 vs 1.73 years), comprised of more Black children, and had fewer comorbidities. After propensity-score matching for demographics, socio-economic determinants of health, comorbidities and medications, risks for severe clinical outcomes in the Omicron cohort were significantly lower than those in the Delta cohort: ED visits: 18.83% vs. 26.67% (risk ratio or RR: 0.71 [0.66-0.75]); hospitalizations: 1.04% vs. 3.14% (RR: 0.33 [0.26-0.43]); ICU admissions: 0.14% vs. 0.43% (RR: 0.32 [0.16-0.66]); mechanical ventilation: 0.33% vs. 1.15% (RR: 0.29 [0.18-0.46]). Control studies comparing Delta-2 to Delta cohorts show no difference.

Conclusions and Relevance

For children under age 5, first time SARS-CoV-2 infections occurring when the Omicron predominated (prevalence >92%) was associated with significantly less severe outcomes than first-time infections in similar children when the Delta variant predominated.
MT-MAG: Accurate and interpretable machine learning for complete or partial taxonomic assignments of metagenome-assembled genomes
Authors: Li Wanxin , Kari Lila , Yu Yaoliang , Hug Laura A.
Published: January 2022

We propose MT-MAG, a novel machine learning-based software tool for the complete or partial hierarchically-structured taxonomic classification of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). MT-MAG is alignment-free, withk-mer frequencies being the only feature used to distinguish a DNA sequence from another (hereink= 7). MT-MAG is capable of classifying large and diverse metagenomic datasets: a total of 245.68 Gbp in the training sets, and 9.6 Gbp in the test sets analyzed in this study. In addition to complete classifications, MT-MAG offers a “partial classification” option, whereby a classification at a higher taxonomic level is provided for MAGs that cannot be classified to the Species level. MT-MAG outputs complete or partial classification paths, and interpretable numerical classification confidences of its classifications, at all taxonomic ranks. To assess the performance of MT-MAG, we define a “weighted classification accuracy,” with a weighting scheme reflecting the fact that partial classifications at different ranks are not equally informative. For the two benchmarking datasets analyzed (genomes from human gut microbiome species, and bacterial and archaeal genomes assembled from cow rumen metagenomic sequences), MT-MAG achieves an average of 87.32% in weighted classification accuracy. At the Species level, MT-MAG outperforms DeepMicrobes, the only other comparable software tool, by an average of 34.79% in weighted classification accuracy. In addition, MT-MAG is able to completely classify an average of 67.70% of the sequences at the Species level, compared with DeepMicrobes which only classifies 47.45%. Moreover, MT-MAG provides additional information for sequences that it could not classify at the Species level, resulting in the partial or complete classification of 95.13%, of the genomes in the datasets analyzed. Lastly, unlike other taxonomic assignment tools (e.g., GDTB-Tk), MT-MAG is an alignment-free and genetic marker-free tool, able to provide additional bioinformatics analysis to confirm existing or tentative taxonomic assignments.
Sex-specific evolution of a Drosophila sensory system via interacting cis- and trans-regulatory changes
Authors: Luecke David , Rice Gavin , Kopp Artyom
Published: January 2022

The evolution of gene expression via cis-regulatory changes is well established as a major driver of phenotypic evolution. However, relatively little is known about the influence of enhancer architecture and intergenic interactions on regulatory evolution. We address this question by examining chemosensory system evolution in Drosophila. D. prolongata males show a massively increased number of chemosensory bristles compared to females and males of sibling species. This increase is driven by sex-specific transformation of ancestrally mechanosensory organs. Consistent with this phenotype, the Pox neuro transcription factor (Poxn), which specifies chemosensory bristle identity, shows expanded expression in D. prolongata males. Poxn expression is controlled by non-additive interactions among widely dispersed enhancers. Although some D. prolongata Poxn enhancers show increased activity, the additive component of this increase is slight, suggesting most changes in Poxn expression are due to epistatic interactions between Poxn enhancers and trans-regulatory factors. Indeed, the expansion of D. prolongata Poxn enhancer activity is only observed in cells that express doublesex (dsx), the gene that controls sexual differentiation in Drosophila and also shows increased expression in D. prolongata males due to cis-regulatory changes. Although expanded dsx expression may contribute to increased activity of D. prolongata Poxn enhancers, this interaction is not sufficient to explain the full expansion of Poxn expression, suggesting that cis-trans interactions between Poxn, dsx, and additional unknown genes are necessary to produce the derived D. prolongata phenotype. Overall, our results demonstrate the importance of epistatic gene interactions for evolution, particularly when pivotal genes have complex regulatory architecture.

Research Highlights

In Drosophila prolongata males, many mechanosensory organs are transformed into chemosensory. This is due in part to interacting regulatory changes in Poxn, which controls chemosensory organ development, and dsx, which controls sexual differentiation.

Graphical Abstract
Epigenetic dysregulation from chromosomal transit in micronuclei
Authors: Agustinus Albert , Raviram Ramya , Dameracharla Bhargavi , Luebeck Jens , Stransky Stephanie , Scipioni Lorenzo , Myers Robert M. , Bona Melody Di , Duran Mercedes , Weigelt Britta , Yomtoubian Shira , Toufektchan Eléonore , Mischel Paul S. , Mittal Vivek , Shah Sohrab , Maciejowski John , Gratton Enrico , Ly Peter , Bakhoum Mathieu F. , Landau Dan , Bafna Vineet , Sidoli Simone , David Yael , Bakhoum Samuel F.
Published: January 2022

Chromosomal instability (CIN) and epigenetic alterations are characteristics of advanced and metastatic cancers [1-4], yet whether they are mechanistically linked is unknown. Here we show that missegregation of mitotic chromosomes, their sequestration in micronuclei [5, 6], and subsequent micronuclear envelope rupture [7] profoundly disrupt normal histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), a phenomenon conserved across humans and mice as well as cancer and non-transformed cells. Some of the changes to histone PTMs occur due to micronuclear envelope rupture whereas others are inherited from mitotic abnormalities prior to micronucleus formation. Using orthogonal techniques, we show that micronuclei exhibit extensive differences in chromatin accessibility with a strong positional bias between promoters and distal or intergenic regions. Finally, we show that inducing CIN engenders widespread epigenetic dysregulation and that chromosomes which transit in micronuclei experience durable abnormalities in their accessibility long after they have been reincorporated into the primary nucleus. Thus, in addition to genomic copy number alterations, CIN can serve as a vehicle for epigenetic reprogramming and heterogeneity in cancer.
A Systematic, Complexity-Reduction Approach to Dissect Microbiome: the Kombucha Tea Microbiome as an Example
Authors: Huang Xiaoning , Xin Yongping , Lu Ting
Published: January 2022

One defining goal of microbiome research is to uncover mechanistic causation that dictates the emergence of structural and functional traits of microbiomes. However, the extraordinary degree of ecosystem complexity has hampered the realization of the goal. Here we developed a systematic, complexity-reducing strategy to mechanistically elucidate the compositional and metabolic characteristics of microbiome by using the kombucha tea microbiome as an example. The strategy centered around a two-species core that was abstracted from but recapitulated the native counterpart. The core was convergent in its composition, coordinated on temporal metabolic patterns, and capable for pellicle formation. Controlled fermentations uncovered the drivers of these characteristics, which were also demonstrated translatable to provide insights into the properties of communities with increased complexity and altered conditions. This work unravels the pattern and process underlying the kombucha tea microbiome, providing a potential conceptual framework for mechanistic investigation of microbiome behaviors.
Complement facilitates developmental microglial pruning of astrocyte and vascular networks
Authors: Gnanaguru Gopalan , Tabor Steven J. , Bonilla Gracia M. , Sadreyev Ruslan , Yuda Kentaro , Köhl Jörg , Connor Kip M.
Published: January 2022

Microglia, the resident immune cell of the central nervous system (CNS), play a pivotal role in facilitating neurovascular development through mechanisms that are not fully understood. This current work resolves a previously unknown role for microglia in facilitating the developmental pruning of the astrocytic template resulting in a spatially organized retinal superficial vascular bed. Mechanistically, our study identified that local microglial expression of complement (C)3 and C3aR is necessary for the regulation of astrocyte patterning and vascular growth during retinal development. Ablation of retinal microglia and deficiency of C3 or C3aR reduced developmental pruning and clearance of astrocytic bodies leading to increased astrocyte density, altered vascular patterning, and elevated gene expression levels of extracellular matrix proteins involved in vascular growth during retinal development. These data demonstrate that C3/C3aR signaling is an important checkpoint required for the finetuning of vascular density during neuroretinal development.
Optimal protein production by a synthetic microbial consortium: Coexistence, distribution of labor, and syntrophy
Authors: Martínez Carlos , Cinquemani Eugenio , Jong Hidde de , Gouzé Jean-Luc
Published: January 2022

The bacterium E. coli is widely used to produce recombinant proteins such as growth hormone and insulin. One inconvenience with E. coli cultures is the secretion of acetate through overflow metabolism. Acetate inhibits cell growth and represents a carbon diversion, which results in several negative effects on protein production. One way to over-come this problem is the use of a synthetic consortium of two different E. coli strains, one producing recombinant proteins and one reducing the acetate concentration. In this paper, we study a chemostat model of such a synthetic community where both strains are allowed to produce recombinant proteins. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a coexistence equilibrium and show that it is unique. Based on this equilibrium, we define a multi-objective optimization problem for the maximization of two important bioprocess performance metrics, process yield and productivity. Solving numerically this problem, we find the best available trade-offs between the metrics. Under optimal operation of the mixed community, both strains must produce the protein of interest, and not only one (distribution instead of division of labor). Moreover, in this regime acetate secretion by one strain is necessary for the survival of the other (syntrophy). The results thus illustrate how complex multi-level dynamics shape the optimal production of recombinant proteins by synthetic microbial consortia.
A neural network model of hippocampal contributions to category learning
Authors: Sučević Jelena , Schapiro Anna C.
Published: January 2022

In addition to its critical role in encoding individual episodes, the hippocampus is capable of extracting regularities across experiences. This ability is central to category learning, and a growing literature indicates that the hippocampus indeed makes important contributions to this form of learning. Using a neural network model that mirrors the anatomy of the hippocampus, we investigated the mechanisms by which the hippocampus may support novel category learning. We simulated three category learning paradigms and evaluated the network’s ability to categorize and to recognize specific exemplars in each. We found that the trisynaptic pathway within the hippocampus—connecting entorhinal cortex to dentate gyrus, CA3, and CA1—was critical for remembering exemplar-specific information, reflecting the rapid binding and pattern separation capabilities of this circuit. The monosynaptic pathway from entorhinal cortex to CA1, in contrast, specialized in detecting the regularities that define category structure across exemplars, supported by the use of distributed representations and a relatively slower learning rate. Together, the simulations provide an account of how the hippocampus and its constituent pathways support novel category learning.
Real time, in vivo measurement of neuronal and peripheral clocks in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Johnstone Peter S. , Ogueta Maite , Top Inan , Syed Sheyum , Stanewsky Ralf , Top Deniz
Published: January 2022

Circadian clocks are highly conserved transcriptional regulators that control 24-hour oscillations in gene expression, physiological function, and behavior. Circadian clocks exist in almost every tissue and are thought to control tissue-specific gene expression and function, synchronized by the brain clock. Many disease states are associated with loss of circadian regulation. How and when circadian clocks fail during pathogenesis remains largely unknown because it is currently difficult to monitor tissue-specific clock function in intact organisms. Here, we developed a method to directly measure the transcriptional oscillation of distinct neuronal and peripheral clocks in live, intact Drosophila, which we term Locally Activatable BioLuminescence or LABL. Using this method, we observed that specific neuronal and peripheral clocks exhibit distinct transcription properties. Loss of the receptor for PDF, a circadian neurotransmitter critical for the function of the brain clock, disrupts circadian locomotor activity but not all tissue-specific circadian clocks; we found that, while peripheral clocks in non-neuronal tissues were less stable after the loss of PDF signaling, they continued to oscillate. This result suggests that the presumed dominance of the brain clock in regulating peripheral clocks needs to be re-examined. This result further demonstrates that LABL allows rapid, affordable, and direct real-time monitoring of clocks in vivo.
The Mechanisms of GPR55 Receptor Functonal Selectivity
Authors: Akimov Mikhail G. , Gretskaya Natalia M. , Dudina Polina V. , Sherstyanykh Galina D. , Zinchenko Galina N. , Serova Oksana V. , Degtyaryova Ksenia O. , Deyev Igor E. , Bezuglov Vladimir V.
Published: January 2022

The objective of the study was to establish the mechanisms of multidirectional signal transmission through the same G-protein coupled receptor GPR55. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, clones of the MDA-MB-231 line knockout for the GPR55, CB1, CB2, GPR18, and TRPV1 receptor genes were obtained. On clones of the MDA-MB-231 line with a knockout CB2 receptor, the cytotoxic activity of the pro-apoptotic ligand docosahexaenoyldopamine (DHA-DA) did not change or slightly increased, while the pro-proliferative activity of the most active synthetic ligand of the GPR55 receptor (ML-184) completely disappeared. On the original line MDA-MB-231, the stimulatory effect of ML-184 is removed by the CB2 receptor blocker, but not by GPR55. At the same time, the stimulating effect of ML-184 is practically not manifested on cell lines knockout at the GPR55 receptor. Thus, it can be confidently assumed that when proliferation is stimulated with the participation of the GPR55 receptor, a signal is transmitted from the CB2 receptor to the GPR55 receptor due to the formation of a heterodimer. GPR18 and TRPV1 receptors are additionally involved in the implementation of the cytotoxic effect of DHA-DA, while the CB1 receptor is not involved. In the implementation of the cytotoxic action of DHA-DA, the predominant participation of one of the Gα subunits was not found, but the Gα13 subunit plays a decisive role in the implementation of the proproliferative action.
Scalable in situ single-cell profiling by electrophoretic capture of mRNA
Authors: Borm Lars E. , Albiach Alejandro Mossi , Mannens Camiel C.A. , Janusauskas Jokubas , Özgün Ceren , Fernández-García David , Hodge Rebecca , Lein Ed S. , Codeluppi Simone , Linnarsson Sten
Published: January 2022

Methods to spatially profile the transcriptome are dominated by a trade-off between resolution and throughput. Here, we developed a method named EEL FISH that can rapidly process large tissue samples without compromising spatial resolution. By electrophoretically transferring RNA from a tissue section onto a capture surface, EEL speeds up data acquisition by reducing the amount of imaging needed, while ensuring that RNA molecules move straight down towards the surface, preserving single-cell resolution. We applied EEL on eight entire sagittal sections of the mouse brain and measured the expression patterns of up to 440 genes to reveal complex tissue organisation. Moreover, EEL enabled the study of challenging human samples by removing autofluorescent lipofuscin, so that we could study the spatial transcriptome of the human visual cortex. We provide full hardware specification, all protocols and complete software for instrument control, image processing, data analysis and visualization.
Cisplatin neurotoxicity targets specific subpopulations and K+ channels in tyrosine-hydroxylase positive dorsal root ganglia neurons
Authors: Finno Carrie J. , Chen Yingying , Park Seojin , Lee Jeong H. , Perez-Flores Cristina M. , Yamoah Ebenezer N.
Published: January 2022

Among the features of cisplatin chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy are chronic pain and innocuous mechanical hypersensitivity. The complete etiology of the latter remains unknown. Here, we show that cisplatin targets a heterogeneous population of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive (TH+) primary afferent dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRGNs) within the primary afferent dorsal root ganglia in mice, determined using single-cell transcriptome and electrophysiological analyses. TH+ DRGNs regulate innocuous mechanical sensation through C-low threshold mechanoreceptors. A differential assessment of wild-type and vitamin E deficient TH+ DRGNs revealed heterogeneity and specific functional phenotypes. The TH+ DRGNs comprise; fast-adapting eliciting one action potential (AP; 1-AP), moderately-adapting (≥ 2-APs), in responses to square-pulse current injection, and spontaneously firing (SF). Cisplatin increased the input resistance and AP frequency but reduced the temporal coding feature of 1-AP and ≥ 2-APs neurons. By contrast, cisplatin has no measurable effect on the SF neurons. Vitamin E reduced the cisplatin-mediated increased excitability, but did not improve the TH+ neuron temporal coding properties. Cisplatin mediates its effect by targeting outward K+ current, likely carried by through K2P18.1 (Kcnk18), discovered through the differential transcriptome studies and heterologous expression. Studies show a potential new cellular target for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and implicate the possible neuroprotective effects of vitamin E in cisplatin chemotherapy.
Flexible cue anchoring strategies enable stable head direction coding in both sighted and blind animals
Authors: Asumbisa Kadjita , Peyrache Adrien , Trenholm Stuart
Published: January 2022

Vision plays a crucial role in instructing the brain’s spatial navigation systems. However, little is known about how vision loss affects the neuronal encoding of spatial information. Here, recording from head direction (HD) cells in the anterior dorsal nucleus of the thalamus in mice, we find stable and robust HD tuning in blind animals. In contrast, placing sighted animals in darkness significantly impairs HD cell tuning. We find that blind mice use olfactory cues to maintain stable HD tuning and that prior visual experience leads to refined HD cell tuning in blind adult mice compared to congenitally blind animals. Finally, in the absence of both visual and olfactory cues, the HD attractor network remains intact but the preferred firing direction of HD cells continuously drifts over time. We thus demonstrate remarkable flexibility in how the brain uses diverse sensory information to generate a stable directional representation of space.

Highlights

Head direction (HD) cell tuning in ADn is robust in blind animals, but unstable in sighted animals placed in the dark

Blind mice use olfaction to stabilize HD cell tuning

Prior visual experience leads to refined HD cell tuning in blind adult mice

In the absence of both vision and olfaction, the HD attractor network in ADn remains intact but the preferred firing direction of HD cells continuously drifts
Semi-field evaluations of three botanically derived repellents against the blacklegged tick,Ixodes scapularis(Acari: Ixodidae)
Authors: Lee Xia , Wong Colin , Coats Joel , Paskewitz Susan
Published: January 2022

Three compounds derived from botanicals sources, ethyl perillyl carbonate, geranyl isovalerate, and citronellyl cyclobutane carboxylate, were tested for repellent activity againstIxodes scapularisSay in a semi-field trial. Tick drags were treated with the compounds or with N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) at high (0.25mg/cm2) or low (0.15mg/cm2) concentrations. Negative controls included untreated drags and drags treated with acetone, the carrier for all repellents. Freshly treated drags (within 20 minutes) were used to collectI. scapularisticks at a county park in Wisconsin. To assess effectiveness, we measured tick encounter rates, detachment rate, and time to detachment. None of the repellent treatments resulted in significantly fewer encounters compared to both control treatments. However, the percentage of ticks that detached within 3 min was significantly higher on drags treated with repellents compared to controls. DEET was the most effective, repelling 69.7 - 87% of ticks by 3 min, but the effectiveness of the three test compounds was still high, ranging from 42% to 87% of ticks detaching by 3 min. For time to detachment, there were no significant differences between DEET and the three test compounds. We conclude that these botanically-derived repellents were effective againstI. scapularisin a semi-field trial and could be viable alternatives to DEET.
Large-scale cross-sectional seroepidemiologic study of COVID-19 in Japan: Acquisition of herd immunity and the vaccines’ efficacy
Authors: Ren Zhenxiao , Nishimura Mitsuhiro , Tjan Lidya Handayani , Furukawa Koichi , Kurahashi Yukiya , Sutandhio Silvia , Aoki Kaito , Hasegawa Natsumi , Arii Jun , Uto Kenichi , Matsui Keiji , Sato Itsuko , Saegusa Jun , Godai Nonoka , Takeshita Kohei , Yamamoto Masaki , Nagashima Tatsuya , Mori Yasuko
Published: January 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic situation has been changing drastically worldwide due to the continuous appearance of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the roll-out of mass vaccination. Periodic cross-sectional studies during the surge of COVID-19 cases is essential to elucidate the pandemic situation.

Methods

Sera of 1,000 individuals who underwent a health check-up in Hyogo Prefecture Health Promotion Association clinics in Japan were collected in August and December 2021. Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 N and S antigens were detected in the sera by an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. The sera’s neutralization activities for the conventional SARS-CoV-2 (D614G), Delta, and Omicron variants were measured.

Results

The seropositive rates for the antibody against N antigen were 2.1% and 3.9% in August and December 2021 respectively, demonstrating a Delta variant endemic during that time; the actual infection rate was approximately twofold higher than the rate estimated based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnosis. The anti-S seropositive rate was 38.7% in August and it reached 90.8% in December, in concordance with the vaccination rate in Japan. In the December cohort, 78.7% of the sera showed neutralizing activity against the Delta variant, whereas that against the Omicron was much lower at 36.6%.

Conclusions

These analyses revealed that herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 including the Delta variant was established in December 2021, leading to convergence of the variants. The low neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant suggests the need for the further promotion of the prompt three-dose vaccination to overcome this variant’s imminent 6th wave in Japan.

Seroepidemiologic study of COVID-19 on December 2021 in Japan showed neutralizing antibodies for Delta were 78.7%, indicating the acquisition of herd immunity by mass vaccination leading to convergence while those for Omicron were only 36.6%, indicating need of booster vaccination.
Psychological consumer behavior and sustainable green food purchase
Authors: Mazhar Waqas , Jalees Tariq , Asim Muhammad , Alam Syed Hasnain , Zaman Syed Imran
Published: January 2022

Purpose

The study aims to examine the role of consumer psychological attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control and pro-environmental self-identity on green food purchase intention. Also, it examines the effect of ecological conscious consumers' behavior (ECCB) on green intention and behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

The study has focused on the upper-middle-class segment of Karachi. The authors have used area sampling for collecting the data. Six recruited enumerators distributed 450 questionnaires in five areas of Karachi and received 423 filled-in questionnaires. The study has used the Smart PLS version for data analysis.

Findings

The study found that biospheric egoistic and hedonic values affect attitudes toward green products, and altruistic values have no effect on attitude. Also, the authors did not find any association between attitude and green purchase intention, but found that attitude stimulates ECCB. Subjective norms and perceived behavior control strongly affect green purchase intention and ECCB. The results also suggest that pro-environment self-identity and ECCB are significant predictors of green purchase intention. The authors also found that green purchase intention stimulates green food behavior.

Originality/value

The authors have taken a holistic approach by investigating 13relationships. The authors also examined the association between hedonic values and green purchase intentions, which in the past studies have contradictory results.
Remote reading: a shelf list analysis of an academic library’s juvenile collection
Authors: Cohn Sarah B.
Published: January 2022

Purpose

This study aims to detail an analysis project of a juvenile collection within an academic library. The analysis became a starting point for the development of a coherent collection policy, and for charting a path toward a better maintained, more used, more diverse, inclusive and representative collection.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis was done by using a catalog-generated shelf list, which revealed specific details about the aged state of the collection and brought to light the lack of attention the collection has been getting in recent years.

Findings

The analysis of a collection of children’s books in an academic library revealed a collection long out of date and unable to serve the needs of our user population.

Research limitations/implications

This analysis is specific to academic institutions that have collections of children’s material.

Originality/value

The literature on juvenile collections in academic libraries is relatively sparse. This research details a social justice approach to building and maintaining juvenile collections in academic libraries.
Does sustainability matter for Fintech firms? Evidence from United States firms
Authors: Najaf Khakan , Haj Khalifa Ali , Obaid Shaher Mohammad , Rashidi Abdulla Al , Ataya Ahmed
Published: January 2022

Purpose

This study aims to look at how financial technology (FinTech) companies adhere to sustainable standards in contrast to their counterparts. Following the validation of its new sustainability index, this study looks into the impact of sustainability on the stock performance of FinTech companies.

Design/methodology/approach

To efficiently test the hypotheses, sample has been collected from the Bloomberg of all FinTech and non-FinTech companies from the USA. The final sample comprises 1,712 company-year observations over the investigation period 2010–2019. The methodology entails ordinary least squares regressions and generalized panel methods of moments (GMM).

Findings

The results suggest that the developed sustainability index is a valid proxy for sustainability measures and directly relates to stock performance. Besides, the evidence indicates that non-FinTech companies display superior sustainability and stock performance compared to FinTech companies. The present results corroborate with stakeholder theory, which implies that quality sustainability performance will alleviate the agency issue and safeguard the shareholders’ interest.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the fact that it presents the limitation of not considering other dimensions of financial performance, this research is important as it highlights the sustainability practices by the FinTech and non-FinTech companies, offering insights to researchers, policymakers, regulators, financial reports users, investors, environmental union, employees, clients and society.

Originality/value

This paper is novel because it is unique in evaluating the sustainability practices in FinTech and non-FinTech firms.
Toward a definition of digital object reuse
Authors: Kenfield Ayla Stein , Woolcott Liz , Thompson Santi , Kelly Elizabeth Joan , Shiri Ali , Muglia Caroline , Masood Kinza , Chapman Joyce , Jefferson Derrick , Morales Myrna E.
Published: January 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present conceptual definitions for digital object use and reuse. Typically, assessment of digital repository content struggles to go beyond traditional usage metrics such as clicks, views or downloads. This is problematic for galleries, libraries, archives, museums and repositories (GLAMR) practitioners because use assessment does not tell a nuanced story of how users engage with digital content and objects.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews prior research and literature aimed at defining use and reuse of digital content in GLAMR contexts and builds off of this group’s previous research to devise a new model for defining use and reuse called the use-reuse matrix.

Findings

This paper presents the use-reuse matrix, which visually represents eight categories and numerous examples of use and reuse. Additionally, the paper explores the concept of “permeability” and its bearing on the matrix. It concludes with the next steps for future research and application in the development of the Digital Content Reuse Assessment Framework Toolkit (D-CRAFT).

Practical implications

The authors developed this model and definitions to inform D-CRAFT, an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant project. This toolkit is being developed to help practitioners assess reuse at their own institutions.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first to propose distinct definitions that describe and differentiate between digital object use and reuse in the context of assessing digital collections and data.
Altmetrics and their relationship with citation counts: a case of journal articles in physics
Authors: Shrivastava Rishabh , Mahajan Preeti
Published: January 2022

Purpose

The first purpose of the present study is to investigate the coverage of journal articles in Physics in various sources of altmetrics. Secondly, the study investigates the relationship between altmetrics and citations. Finally, the study also investigates whether the relationship between citations and altmetrics was stronger or weaker for those articles that had been mentioned at least once in the sources of altmetrics.

Design/methodology/approach

The journal articles in Physics having at least one author from an Indian Institution and published during 2014–2018 in sources of altmetrics have been investigated. Altmetric.com was used for collecting altmetrics data. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (ρ) has been used as the data found to be skewed.

Findings

The highest coverage was found on Twitter (22.68%), followed by Facebook (3.62%) and blogs (2.18%). The coverage in the rest of the sources was less than 1%. The average Twitter mentions for journal articles tweeted at least once was found to be 4 (3.99) and for Facebook mentions, it was found to be 1.48. Correlations between Twitter mentions–citations and Facebook mentions–citation were found to be statistically significant but low to weak positive.

Research limitations/implications

The study concludes that due to the low coverage of journal articles, altmetrics should be used cautiously for research evaluation keeping in mind the disciplinary differences. The study also suggests that altmetrics can function as complementary to citation-based metrics.

Originality/value

The study is one of the first large scale altmetrics studies dealing with research in Physics. Also, Indian research has not been attended to in the altmetrics literature and the present study shall fill that void.
The role of green HRM in driving hotels' green creativity
Authors: Muisyo Paul Kivinda , Su Qin , Hashmi Hammad Bin Azam , Ho Thu Hau , Julius Mercy Muthoni
Published: January 2022

Purpose

Employee green behavior can lead to a firm's green performance. However, green management research has not accorded adequate attention to the mechanism underlying green creativity. This study aims to investigate the influence of green human resource management (GHRM) practices on green creativity at both individual and collective levels.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a multisource, multiwave survey data obtained from employees of 3- to 5-star hotels in Kenya, the present study investigates how GHRM practices influence individual and collective green creativity. For the data analysis, we employed multilevel structural equation modeling using MPlus 7.2.

Findings

The study findings show that GHRM practices influence individual and collective green creativity. The proposed mediating role of the enablers of green culture (EGC) in these relationships was confirmed. Moreover, environmentally specific servant leadership moderated the relationships between GHRM and individual and collective green creativity.

Research limitations/implications

The study recommends that hotel management should embrace GHRM practices to nurture green creativity at the employee and team levels. The hotels management is further persuaded by the findings of this study to pay attention to the four EGC (leadership emphasis, message credibility, peer involvement and employee empowerment) which play a key role in enhancing green creativity among hotel employees.

Practical implications

The study recommends that hotel management should embrace GHRM practices to nurture green creativity at the employee and team levels. The hotels' management is further persuaded by the findings of this study to pay attention to the four EGC (leadership emphasis, message credibility, peer involvement and employee empowerment) which play a key role in enhancing green creativity among hotel employees.

Originality/value

We develop and propose an integrated conceptual framework by which hotels can deploy to nurture green creativity at individual and team levels. We anticipate that our study findings will elicit further research into the mechanisms that reveal the nexus between GHRM and other employee green performance outcomes in the hotel sector.
A lightweight and flexible mutual authentication and key agreement protocol for wearable sensing devices in WBAN
Authors: Thota Sandeep Kumar Reddy , Mala C. , Krishnan Geetha
Published: January 2022

Purpose

A wireless body area network (WBAN) is a collection of sensing devices attached to a person’s body that is typically used during health care to track their physical state. This paper aims to study the security challenges and various attacks that occurred while transferring a person’s sensitive medical diagnosis information in WBAN.

Design/methodology/approach

This technology has significantly gained prominence in the medical field. These wearable sensors are transferring information to doctors, and there are numerous possibilities for an intruder to pose as a doctor and obtain information about the patient’s vital information. As a result, mutual authentication and session key negotiations are critical security challenges for wearable sensing devices in WBAN. This work proposes an improved mutual authentication and key agreement protocol for wearable sensing devices in WBAN. The existing related schemes require more computational and storage requirements, but the proposed method provides a flexible solution with less complexity.

Findings

As sensor devices are resource-constrained, proposed approach only makes use of cryptographic hash-functions and bit-wise XOR operations, hence it is lightweight and flexible. The protocol’s security is validated using the AVISPA tool, and it will withstand various security attacks. The proposed protocol’s simulation and performance analysis are compared to current relevant schemes and show that it produces efficient outcomes.

Originality/value

This technology has significantly gained prominence in the medical sector. These sensing devises transmit information to doctors, and there are possibilities for an intruder to pose as a doctor and obtain information about the patient’s vital information. Hence, this paper proposes a lightweight and flexible protocol for mutual authentication and key agreement for wearable sensing devices in WBAN only makes use of cryptographic hash-functions and bit-wise XOR operations. The proposed protocol is simulated using AVISPA tool and its performance is better compared to the existing methods. This paper proposes a novel improved mutual authentication and key-agreement protocol for wearable sensing devices in WBAN.
Research on lubrication and friction characteristics of oil seal with isosceles triangle texture and micro concave lip
Authors: Zhang Fuying , Zhang Yuanhao
Published: January 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to study the effect of isosceles triangle micro concave texture with different parameters on the performance of oil seal to obtain a reasonable combination of parameters.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theory of elastohydrodynamic lubrication, a numerical model is established by coupling the texture parameters of isosceles triangle with concave lip with the two-dimensional average Reynolds equation considering surface roughness.

Findings

The results show that there is an optimal combination of parameters to improve the performance of the oil seal. When hp = 5µm-6.5 µm, a = 110°−130°, O = 1.4, C = 1.6 mm-2.2 mm, the oil seal with isosceles triangle micro concave texture can show good lubrication characteristics, friction characteristics and sealing ability.

Originality/value

The model provides a new idea for the design of new oil seal products and provides a theoretical support for the application of surface texture technology in the sealing field in the future.
Numerical and experimental investigations on the wear behavior of water-lubricated bearings with different materials
Authors: Wang Liwu , Han Yanfeng , Tang Dongxing , Cai Jianlin
Published: January 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify the effectiveness of the proposed transient mixed lubrication and wear coupling model [mixed lubrication and wear (MLW) coupling model] under water lubricated conditions by comparing with the experimental results.

Design/methodology/approach

Water lubricated bearings are the key parts of the transmission system of an underwater vehicle and some surface ships. In this study, the friction and wear behaviors of rubber, nylon and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) samples with stainless steel underwater lubrication were compared by using ring-block contact structure on multifunctional friction and wear test bench-5000 friction and wear tester.

Findings

The results show that the transient wear depth and wear amount of PEEK, nylon and rubber samples under water lubrication are in good agreement with the calculated results of the theoretical model, which verifies the rationality and scientific nature of the MLW coupling model. Thus, the numerical model is applicable for the wear prediction of the journal bearing under water-lubricated conditions. Furthermore, numerical and experimental results reveal that the anti-wear performance among three water-lubricated materials can be ranked by: PEEK > nylon > rubber.

Originality/value

It is expected that this study can provide more information for experimental and numerical research of water-lubricated bearings under water-lubricated conditions.