bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Novel COVID-19-Related Drug Discovery Approach Based on Non-Equidimensional Data Clustering
Authors: Chen Bolin , Han Yourui , Shang Xuequn , Zhang Shenggui
Published: February 2022

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread all over the world. Since currently no effective antiviral treatment is available and those original inhibitors have no significant effect, the demand for the discovery of potential novel SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors has become more and more urgent. In view of the availability of the inhibitor-bound SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and PLpro crystal structure and a large amount of proteomics knowledge, we attempted using the existing coronavirus inhibitors to synthesize new ones, which combined the advantages of similar effective substructures for COVID-19 treatment. To achieve this, we first formulated this issue as a non-equidimensional inhibitor clustering and a following cluster center generating problem, where three essential challenges were carefully addressed, which are 1) how to define the distance between pairwise inhibitors with non-equidimensional molecular structure; 2) how to group inhibitors into clusters when the dimension is different; 3) how to generate the cluster center under this non-equidimensional condition. To be more specific, a novel matrix Kronecker product (p, m)-norm ⋅pm⊗ was first defined to induce the distance Dp(A, B) between two inhibitors. Then, the hierarchical clustering approach was conducted to find similar inhibitors, and a novel iterative algorithm–based Kronecker product (p, m)-norm was designed to generate individual cluster centers as the drug candidates. Numerical experiments showed that the proposed methods can find novel drug candidates efficiently for COVID-19, which has provided valuable predictions for further biological evaluations.
Apigenin, a Single Active Component of Herbal Extract, Alleviates Xerostomia via ERα-Mediated Upregulation of AQP5 Activation
Authors: Wei Wei , Cao Tingting , Pathak Janak L. , Liu Xintong , Mao Tianjiao , Watanabe Nobumoto , Li Xiaomeng , Zhang Manli , Li Jiang
Published: February 2022

Xerostomia is a common symptom in menopausal women, suggesting the role of sex steroids in disease development. Shreds of literature had reported the potential use of herbal extracts to relieve xerostomia. However, a cocktail of multiple components in herbal extract makes it difficult to understand the exact mechanism of action. Aquaporin5 (AQP5), the specific aquaporin expressed in salivary glands, plays an important role in salivary secretion as a downstream of estrogen signaling. In this study, we aimed to unravel a single active herbal component as a therapeutic for xerostomia and investigate its mechanism of action. The effects of apigenin (flavonoid), dauricine (alkaloids), protopine (alkaloids), and lentinan (polysaccharides) on AQP5 transcription were screened in vitro. Only apigenin robustly induced AQP5 transcription and expression, and this effect was even robust compared to the effect of estradiol (E2, a positive control). Overexpression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) in the human salivary gland cell line (HSG) upregulated the AQP5 transcription and expression and the knockdown ERα reversed this effect, suggesting the role of ERα signaling on AQP5 activation in HSG cells. Docking results showed apigenin-specific binding sites in ERα. We further analyzed the therapeutic effect of apigenin on ovariectomized mice as a xerostomia model. The saliva secretion in the xerostomia group was reduced to one-third of the sham group, whereas the apigenin or E2 treatment for 12 weeks reversed this effect. Meanwhile, the water consumption in the xerostomia group was augmented obviously compared to the sham group, whereas the water consumption in the apigenin and E2 group was declined to the level of the sham group. Immunohistochemistry of submandibular glands revealed the downregulation of AQP5 expression in xerostomia mice compared to control. Apigenin, or E2 treatment, upregulated AQP5 expression in xerostomia mice. In conclusion, apigenin, a single active component of herbal extract, upregulated AQP5 expression in HSG cells via activation of ERα signaling and restored saliva flow rates in OVX mice. These results revealed apigenin as a single active component of herbal extract with the potential to treat xerostomia.
Astragaloside IV Relieves Atherosclerosis and Hepatic Steatosis via MAPK/NF-κB Signaling Pathway in LDLR−/− Mice
Authors: Zhang Yifan , Du Min , Wang Jiarou , Liu Ping
Published: February 2022

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is the main active compound of Astragalus membranaceus. In this study, we investigated whether AS-IV could attenuate atherosclerosis and hepatic steatosis in LDLR−/−mice and its potential mechanisms. After 12 weeks of high fat diet, the LDLR−/−mice were randomly divided into four groups. Then, the mice were administrated with 0.9% saline or AS-IV (10 mg/kg) or atorvastatin (1.3 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. Serum lipid profiles and inflammatory cytokines were detected by ELISA, hepatic TC and TG by colorimetric enzymatic kits, gene expression by RT-qPCR, plaque sizes by H&E staining, Oil Red O, liver pathology by H&E staining, collagen content by Masson, α-SMA, caspase-3 and NF-κB p65 production by immunofluorescence staining. MAPK/NF-κB pathway and inflammation related proteins were detected by Western Blot. The results showed that AS-IV decreased the levels of serum lipids, reduced plaque area and increased plaque stability in HFD-induced LDLR−/− mice. AS-IV also decreased the levels of inflammatory cytokines in the serum, aortas and liver tissue, and NF-κB p65 in aortic roots. The phosphorylation of JNK, ERK1/2, p38 and NF-κB, and inflammatory proteins (iNOS, VCAM-1and IL-6) was inhibited in AS-IV-treated group. In summary, AS-IV inhibited inflammation to attenuate atherosclerosis and hepatic steatosis via MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway in LDLR−/− mice.
Albuca Bracteata Polysaccharides Attenuate AOM/DSS Induced Colon Tumorigenesis via Regulating Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Gut Microbiota in Mice
Authors: Qin Ziyan , Yuan Xinyu , Liu Jian , Shi Zhuqing , Cao Leipeng , Yang Lexuan , Wu Kai , Lou Yongliang , Tong Haibin , Jiang Lei , Du Jimei
Published: February 2022

Inflammation is an important risk factor in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC). Accumulating evidence indicates that some phytochemicals have anti-cancer properties. Polysaccharides extracted from Albuca bracteata (AB) have been reported to possess anti-neoplastic activities on colorectal cancer (CRC) models. However, it is still unclear whether they exert therapeutic effects on colorectal cancer. In this study, we investigate the properties of polysaccharides of A. bracteate, named ABP. The average molecular weight of ABP was 18.3 kDa and ABP consisted of glucose, mannose, galactose, xylose, galacturonic acid, glucuronic acid at a molar ratio of 37.8:8:2.5:1.7:1:1. An Azoxymethane/Dextran sodium sulfate (AOM/DSS) induced CAC mouse model was established. The CAC mice treated with ABP showed smaller tumor size and lower tumor incidence than untreated ones. ABP increased anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, inhibited secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α), mitigated oxidative stress by increasing GSH and decreasing MDA levels, suppressed the activation of STAT3 and expressions of its related genes c-Myc and cyclin D1. Moreover, ABP treatment increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria (f_Ruminococcaceae, g_Roseburia, g_Odoribacter, g_Oscillospira, and g_Akkermansia) and the levels of fecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) in CAC model mice. In summary, our data suggest that ABP could be a potential therapeutic agent for treating CAC.
Introduction to the BioChemical Library (BCL): An Application-Based Open-Source Toolkit for Integrated Cheminformatics and Machine Learning in Computer-Aided Drug Discovery
Authors: Brown Benjamin P. , Vu Oanh , Geanes Alexander R. , Kothiwale Sandeepkumar , Butkiewicz Mariusz , Lowe Edward W. , Mueller Ralf , Pape Richard , Mendenhall Jeffrey , Meiler Jens
Published: February 2022

The BioChemical Library (BCL) cheminformatics toolkit is an application-based academic open-source software package designed to integrate traditional small molecule cheminformatics tools with machine learning-based quantitative structure-activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) modeling. In this pedagogical article we provide a detailed introduction to core BCL cheminformatics functionality, showing how traditional tasks (e.g., computing chemical properties, estimating druglikeness) can be readily combined with machine learning. In addition, we have included multiple examples covering areas of advanced use, such as reaction-based library design. We anticipate that this manuscript will be a valuable resource for researchers in computer-aided drug discovery looking to integrate modular cheminformatics and machine learning tools into their pipelines.
Cyclophosphamide Induces the Ferroptosis of Tumor Cells Through Heme Oxygenase-1
Authors: Shi Hezhan , Hou Bo , Li Huifeng , Zhou Hui , Du Bin
Published: February 2022

Ferroptosis has been implicated in the therapeutic responses of various types of tumors. Cyclophosphamide (CTX), one of the most successful antitumor agents, is widely used to treat both hematopoietic and solid tumors. In this study, we revealed the ferroptosis pathway targeted by CTX treatment in tumor cells and clarified its mechanisms. Cell viability was remarkably suppressed by CTX, accompanied by the accumulation of intracellular iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduced glutathione levels, deformed mitochondria and a loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential. These effects were impeded by the ferroptosis inhibitors ferrostatin-1 (Fer1) and deferoxamine (DFO). Moreover, CTX treatment obviously upregulated nuclear factor E2 related factor 2 (NRF2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX-1) expression. Additionally, the HMOX-1 inducer Hemin notably enhanced CTX-mediated tumor inhibition in vitro and in vivo through a mechanism that involved interfering with the ferroptosis process. Therefore, our findings indicated ferroptosis induction by CTX through the activation of the NRF2/HMOX-1 pathway, which might provide a potential strategy for tumor chemotherapy.
Lactoferrin: A Nutraceutical with Activity against Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Ramírez-Rico Gerardo , Drago-Serrano Maria Elisa , León-Sicairos Nidia , de la Garza Mireya
Published: February 2022

Homeostasis in the human body results from the tight regulation of several events, since too little inflammation disrupts the process of tissue repair and remodeling, whereas too much exerts a collateral effect by causing tissue damage with life-threatening consequences. In some clinical conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), inflammation functions as a double-edged sword by either enabling or inhibiting cancer development and progression. Generally, cancer develops through evasion mechanisms that regulate cell growth, causing a high rate of uncontrolled proliferation, and mechanisms for evading cell death, such as apoptosis. Moreover, chronic inflammation is a factor that contributes to colorectal cancer (CRC), as observed in individuals with IBD; all these conditions favor an increased rate of angiogenesis and eventual metastasis. Lactoferrin (Lf) is a mammalian iron-binding multifunctional glycoprotein regarded as a natural compound that up- and downregulates both humoral and cellular components of immunity involved in regulating the inflammatory response and maintaining gut homeostasis. Human and bovine Lf share high sequence homology and have very similar antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities. Bovine Lf from milk is considered a safe molecule and is commercially available in large quantities. This review mainly focuses on the regulatory effects of orally administered bovine Lf on the inflammatory response associated with CRC; this approach indicates that CRC is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers and affects the intestinal tract with high clinical and epidemiologic relevance. Thus, this review may provide foundations for the potential use of bovine Lf alone or as a natural adjunct agent to increase the effectiveness and reduce the side effects of anticancer chemotherapy.
An Attempt to Appreciate Climate Change Impacts From a Rank-Size Rule Perspective
Authors: Hayata Kazuya
Published: February 2022

For representative observational stations on the globe, rank-size analyses are made for vectors arising from sequences of the monthly distributions of temperatures and precipitations. The ranking method has been shown to be useful for revealing a statistical rule inherent in complex systems such as texts of natural languages. Climate change is detectable through the rotation angle between two 12-dimensional vectors. The rankings of the angle data for the entire station are obtained and compared between the former (from 1931 to 1980) and the latter (from 1951 to 2010) period. Independently of the period, the variation of the angles is found to show a long tail decay as a function of their ranks being aligned in descending order. Furthermore, it is shown that for the temperatures, nonlinearities in the angle-rank plane get stronger in the latter period, confirming that the so-called snow/ice-albedo feedback no doubt arises. In contrast to the temperatures, no sign of a feedback is found for the precipitations. Computed results for Japan show that the effect is consistent with the global counterpart.
Magnetic Properties and Pseudogap Formation in Infinite-Layer Nickelates: Insights From the Single-Band Hubbard Model
Authors: Klett Marcel , Hansmann Philipp , Schäfer Thomas
Published: February 2022

We study the magnetic and spectral properties of a single-band Hubbard model for the infinite-layer nickelate compound LaNiO2. As spatial correlations turn out to be the key ingredient for understanding its physics, we use two complementary extensions of the dynamical mean-field theory to take them into account: the cellular dynamical mean-field theory and the dynamical vertex approximation. Additionally to the systematic analysis of the doping dependence of the non-Curie-Weiss behavior of the uniform magnetic susceptibility, we provide insight into its relation to the formation of a pseudogap regime by the calculation of the one-particle spectral function and the magnetic correlation length. The latter is of the order of a few lattice spacings when the pseudogap opens, indicating a strong-coupling pseudogap formation in analogy to cuprates.
Cell-to-Cell Communications in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease
Authors: Osna Natalia A. , Eguchi Akiko , Feldstein Ariel E. , Tsukamoto Hidekazu , Dagur Raghubendra S. , Ganesan Murali , New-Aaron Moses , Arumugam Madan Kumar , Chava Srinivas , Ribeiro Marcelle , Szabo Gyongyi , Mueller Sebastian , Wang Shijin , Chen Cheng , Weinman Steven A. , Kharbanda Kusum K.
Published: February 2022

This review covers some important new aspects of the alcohol-induced communications between liver parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells leading to liver injury development. The information exchange between various cell types may promote end-stage liver disease progression and involves multiple mechanisms, such as direct cell-to-cell interactions, extracellular vesicles (EVs) or chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors contained in extracellular fluids/cell culture supernatants. Here, we highlighted the role of EVs derived from alcohol-exposed hepatocytes (HCs) in activation of non-parenchymal cells, liver macrophages (LM), and hepatic stellate cells (HSC). The review also concentrates on EV-mediated crosstalk between liver parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells in the settings of HIV- and alcohol co-exposure. In addition, we overviewed the literature on the crosstalk between cell death pathways and inflammasome activation in alcohol-activated HCs and macrophages. Furthermore, we covered highly clinically relevant studies on the role of non-inflammatory factors, sinusoidal pressure (SP), and hepatic arterialization in alcohol-induced hepatic fibrogenesis. We strongly believe that the review will disclose major mechanisms of cell-to-cell communications pertained to alcohol-induced liver injury progression and will identify therapeutically important targets, which can be used for alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) prevention.
The Amino Terminal Domain and Modulation of Connexin36 Gap Junction Channels by Intracellular Magnesium Ions
Authors: Kraujalis Tadas , Gudaitis Lukas , Kraujaliene Lina , Snipas Mindaugas , Palacios-Prado Nicolás , Verselis Vytas K.
Published: February 2022

Electrical synapses between neurons in the mammalian CNS are predominantly formed of the connexin36 (Cx36) gap junction (GJ) channel protein. Unique among GJs formed of a number of other members of the Cx gene family, Cx36 GJs possess a high sensitivity to intracellular Mg2+ that can robustly act to modulate the strength of electrical synaptic transmission. Although a putative Mg2+ binding site was previously identified to reside in the aqueous pore in the first extracellular (E1) loop domain, the involvement of the N-terminal (NT) domain in the atypical response of Cx36 GJs to pH was shown to depend on intracellular levels of Mg2+. In this study, we examined the impact of amino acid substitutions in the NT domain on Mg2+ modulation of Cx36 GJs, focusing on positions predicted to line the pore funnel, which constitutes the cytoplasmic entrance of the channel pore. We find that charge substitutions at the 8th, 13th, and 18th positions had pronounced effects on Mg2+ sensitivity, particularly at position 13 at which an A13K substitution completely abolished sensitivity to Mg2+. To assess potential mechanisms of Mg2+ action, we constructed and tested a series of mathematical models that took into account gating of the component hemichannels in a Cx36 GJ channel as well as Mg2+ binding to each hemichannel in open and/or closed states. Simultaneous model fitting of measurements of junctional conductance, gj, and transjunctional Mg2+ fluxes using a fluorescent Mg2+ indicator suggested that the most viable mechanism for Cx36 regulation by Mg2+ entails the binding of Mg2+ to and subsequent stabilization of the closed state in each hemichannel. Reduced permeability to Mg2+ was also evident, particularly for the A13K substitution, but homology modeling of all charge-substituted NT variants showed only a moderate correlation between a reduction in the negative electrostatic potential and a reduction in the permeability to Mg2+ ions. Given the reported role of the E1 domain in Mg2+ binding together with the impact of NT substitutions on gating and the apparent state-dependence of Mg2+ binding, this study suggests that the NT domain can be an integral part of Mg2+ modulation of Cx36 GJs likely through the coupling of conformational changes between NT and E1 domains.
Exogenous Linoleic Acid Intervention Alters Hepatic Glucose Metabolism in an Avian Embryo Model
Authors: Zhang Xiufen , Wu Qilin , Zheng Wenxuan , Liu Chuang , Huang Liang , Zuo Xin , Xiao Wenquan , Han Xiaofeng , Ye Hui , Wang Wence , Zhu Yongwen , Yang Lin
Published: February 2022

In the present study, developmental changes of gluconeogenesis and glycolysis in an avian model were measured, and then the intervention effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) linoleic acid (LA) on hepatic glucose metabolism were evaluated. In Experiment 1, thirty fertilized eggs were sampled on embryonic days (E) of 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and thirty newly-hatched ducklings at hatch (E34 and E35). In Experiment 2, a total of 120 fertilized eggs (60 eggs for each group) were injected into the yolk sac with PBS as the control group and LA as the IOF LA group on E25. Twelve eggs were selected for sample collection on E28 and E31. Serum contents of glucose, pyruvate, and lactate increased ( p < 0.05) linearly or quadratically from E16 to hatch, as well as hepatic glycogen and pyruvate contents. Hepatic mRNA expression related to energy homeostasis, gluconeogenesis, and glycolysis increased ( p < 0.05) in embryogenesis, and the plateau period was presented on E25–E31. IOF LA decreased ( p < 0.05) serum contents of glucose, triacylglycerol, cholesterol, and hepatic oleic acid, unsaturated fatty acids on E28, as well as the gene expression relative to gluconeogenesis. IOF LA increased ( p < 0.05) pyruvate content in serum and liver, and hepatic gene expression relative to glycolysis on E31. In summary, hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycolysis were enhanced to meet the increasing energy demands of embryonic development during E25 – hatch. Exogenous LA intervention on E25 could inhibit hepatic gluconeogenesis and enhance glycolysis during the later developmental period, disrupting glucose embryonic homeostasis and energy status.
The Influence of Employee Emotion Fluctuation on Service Performance: An Experience Sampling Data Analysis
Authors: Zhang Biqian , Zhao Lei , Liu Xiaoyan , Bu Yinwei , Ren Yingwei
Published: February 2022

Research on the relationship between emotions and job performance is ubiquitous, yet few scholars have examined the combined effects of different emotions. Drawing on the broaden-and-build theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that employees’ daily emotion fluctuations (positive emotions vs. negative emotions) will affect their service performance in opposite directions. Furthermore, we propose these effects will be moderated by psychological [i.e., regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE)] and physiological (i.e., sleep quality) characteristics of the employees. Based on the experience sampling method (ESM), data (N = 810) obtained from 187 frontline employees of 35 bank branches over 18 consecutive days supports our hypotheses.
The Influence of Family Socioeconomic Status on Primary School Students’ Emotional Intelligence: The Mediating Effect of Parenting Styles and Regional Differences
Authors: Liu Zixiao , Wu Guohong
Published: February 2022

Select 180 primary school students from a city primary school in Shanghai, a developed area in eastern China, and 146 primary school students from a rural primary school in Jingzhou, a centrally underdeveloped area, as subjects. The method of scale is used to explore the influence of family socioeconomic status on the emotional intelligence of primary school students, and the mediating role of parenting styles in this influence and the difference in this effect in the two regions. The results show that: (1) The socioeconomic status and emotional intelligence of primary school students in Jingzhou are significantly lower than those of primary school students in Shanghai. In terms of parenting style, the emotional warmth and understanding of the fathers and mothers of Jingzhou’s primary school students are both significantly lower than those of Shanghai’s primary school students; (2) the socioeconomic status and emotional intelligence of the primary school students in Jingzhou are significantly and positively correlated with the parents’ emotional warmth and understanding parenting styles, while the socioeconomic status and emotional intelligence of the primary school students in Shanghai are only significantly positively correlated with the father’s emotional warmth and understanding parenting style; and (3) parenting style has a mediating effect between family socioeconomic status and emotional intelligence, but this effect has regional differences. The specific performance is as follows: The parents’ emotional warmth and understanding parenting styles of the primary school students in Jingzhou play a partial mediating effect between the family socioeconomic status and emotional intelligence, while the Shanghai primary school students’ fathers’ emotional warmth and understanding parenting style plays a complete mediating effect in family socioeconomic status and emotional intelligence.
Changes in Native Sentence Processing Related to Bilingualism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Román Patricia , Gómez-Gómez Irene
Published: February 2022

The native language changes as a result of contact with a second language, and the pattern and degree of such change depend on a variety of factors like the bilingual experience or the linguistic level. Here, we present a systematic review and meta-analysis of works that explore variations in native sentence comprehension and production by comparing monolinguals and bilinguals. Fourteen studies in the meta-analysis provided information regarding the bilingual experience and differences at the morphosyntactic level using behavioral methods. Overall, we observed that first language processing is subject to small transformations in bilinguals that occur in sentence comprehension and production. The magnitude of the changes depended on bilingual experiences, but only length of residence in an L2 setting predicted the degree of change, where shorter length of residence was associated with larger changes. Results are discussed and related to the cognitive processes that potentially cause the transformations in the first language. The present work reveals some limitations in the field that should be addressed in future studies to better understand the mechanisms behind language attrition.
Differences in the Course of Physiological Functions and in Subjective Evaluations in Connection With Listening to the Sound of a Chainsaw and to the Sounds of a Forest
Authors: Fiľo Petr , Janoušek Oto
Published: February 2022

We explored differences in the course of physiological functions and in the subjective evaluations in response to listening to a 7-min recording of the sound of a chainsaw and to the sounds of a forest. A Biofeedback 2000x-pert apparatus was used for continual recording of the following physiological functions in 50 examined persons: abdominal and thoracic respiration and their amplitude and frequency, electrodermal activity (skin conductance level), finger skin temperature, heart rate (pulse, blood volume pulse and blood volume pulse amplitude) and heart rate variability (HRV). The group of 25 subjects listening to the sound of a chainsaw exhibited significantly lower values of blood volume pulse amplitude, lower values in peak alpha frequency HRV and higher values in peak high-frequency HRV. In the time interval from 80 s to 209 s, in which the two groups showed the greatest differences, lower values of blood volume pulse were also recorded while listening to the sound of a chainsaw. Listening to the sound of a chainsaw is associated with a greater feeling of fatigue and higher tension, while listening to the sounds of a forest is even considered to elicit feelings of improved learning abilities. The assumption that listening to the sound of a chainsaw results in higher defense arousal was confirmed. The greater variability which is exhibited by a majority of physiological functions while listening to the forest sounds may also be an innovative finding. It seems that there are two types of arousal (sympathetic and parasympathetic) following from correlations between physiological functions and subjective assessment. Low values of blood volume pulse amplitude are especially important from the health perspective. They correspond to the amount of vasoconstriction which occurs in the endothelial dysfunction related to increased mortality, incidence of myocardial infarction, leg atherosclerosis and topically to COVID-19.
Past Negative Consequences of Unnecessary Delay as a Marker of Procrastination
Authors: Svartdal Frode , Nemtcan Efim
Published: February 2022

Standard definitions of procrastination underscore the irrational nature of this habit, a critical criterion being that the procrastinating individual delays despite expecting to be worse off for the delay. However, an examination of more than 175 items in 18 procrastination scales reveals that they do not address such a forward-looking criterion. Consequently, scales run the risk of not separating maladaptive and irrational delays from other forms of delay. We propose that forward-looking considerations may not be the best way of operationalizing the irrationality involved in procrastination and argue that scales should instead focus on past negative consequences of unnecessary delay. We suggest a new scale to measure such procrastination-related negative consequences and demonstrate that this scale, used separately or combined with established procrastination scales, performs better in predicting negative states and correlates to procrastination than established scales. The new scale seems to be helpful in separating trivial forms of unnecessary delay from maladaptive forms and hence represents a potentially valuable tool in research and clinical/applied efforts.
Impact of Organizational Dehumanization on Employee Knowledge Hiding
Authors: Rubbab Um E. , Khattak Sana Aroos , Shahab Hina , Akhter Naveed
Published: February 2022

Knowledge hiding has become an alarming issue for the organizations. Knowledge hiding is an employee’s intentional attempt to conceal knowledge requested by others at the workplace. Employee knowledge hiding significantly influences an organization’s effective functioning. This research is an attempt to extend previous work on antecedents of knowledge hiding. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, it is proposed that receiving poor treatment by organizations in the form of organizational dehumanization creates psychological distress among employees toward the organization. Distress among workers in turn intervenes the path and increases the likelihood of engaging in knowledge hiding behaviors. An employee’s felt obligation for constructive change (FOCC) may moderate the relationship between organizational dehumanization and employee psychological distress. Data for the current study were collected from 245 employees of the telecommunication sector in three-time lags. The results support the direct and indirect effect of organizational dehumanization on employee knowledge hiding behaviors through the mediation of psychological distress. The results also support the moderation of FOCC between organizational dehumanization and psychological distress. Furthermore, the findings of the study may help organizational practitioners and managers about the value of effective organizational climate and practices for better organizational functioning through knowledge sharing and providing insight into undesirable repercussions of organizational dehumanization. Implications for organizations and practitioners are discussed.
Catering to Inclusion and Diversity With Universal Design for Learning in Asynchronous Online Education: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
Authors: Ismailov Murod , Chiu Thomas K. F.
Published: February 2022

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines were extensively studied to understand inclusive learning and teaching in higher education. However, to date, there have been few studies that approached UDL-based asynchronous university courses from the needs satisfaction perspective in self-determination theory (SDT). To address this gap, researchers designed and implemented two 15-week asynchronous online courses based on UDL. They then tested their effectiveness with college freshmen (N = 225) by adopting a sequential explanatory mixed method. The study aimed to examine (i) whether asynchronous instruction based on UDL catered to inclusion and diversity across gender and academic background and (ii) whether the instructional design supported learner engagement and needs satisfaction. The findings showed that both male and female students as well as Arts and Sciences students equally engaged in the courses and perceived the needs support from the course design. However, the study also found that although universal design supported autonomy and competence, it nonetheless failed to fully satisfy learners’ relatedness needs. The researchers concluded by discussing empirical and theoretical implications.
Vocabulary Demands of Informal Spoken English Revisited: What Does It Take to Understand Movies, TV Programs, and Soap Operas?
Authors: Ha Hung Tan
Published: February 2022

The article presents a methodological update on the lexical profile of informal spoken English with the emphasis on movies, television programs, and soap operas. The study analyzed Mark Davies’s mega-corpora with data containing approximately 625 million words and employed Paul Nation’s comprehensive and up-to-date British National Corpus/Corpus of Contemporary American English (BNC/COCA) wordlists. Data from the analyses showed that viewers would need a vocabulary knowledge at 3,000 and 5,000 words frequency levels to understand 95 and 98% of the words in scripted dialogs, respectively. Soap operas were found to be less lexically demanding compared to TV programs and movies. Findings are expected to fill in the methodological gaps between vocabulary assessment and vocabulary profiling research.
RETRACTED: Revamping of Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Authors: Zeng Ling-Hui , Hussain Musaddique , Syed Shahzada Khurram , Saadullah Malik , Jamil Qurratulain , Alqahtani Ali M. , Alqahtani Taha , Akram Nadia , Khan Imran Ahmad , Parveen Sajida , Fayyaz Tehreem , Fatima Mobeen , Shaukat Saira , Shabbir Najia , Fatima Mehwish , Kanwal Aisha , Barkat Muhammad Qasim , Wu Ximei
Published: February 2022

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) endure an asymmetrically high burden of worldwide disease and death caused by chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), i.e., asthma, emphysema, bronchiectasis, and post-tuberculosis lung disease (PTLD). CRDs are firmly related with indigence, infectious diseases, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and add to complex multi-disease with great impact on the lives and livelihood of those affected. The pertinence of CRDs to health and demographic wellbeing is relied upon to increment in the long time ahead, as expectations of life rise and the contending dangers of right on time youth mortality and irresistible infections level. The WHO has distinguished the counteraction and control of NCDs as an earnest improvement issue and crucial for the sustainable development goals (SDSs) by 2030. In this review, we center on CRDs in LMICs. We examine the early life roots of CRDs, challenges in their avoidance, identification and administration in LMICs, and the pathways to resolve for accomplish valid widespread wellbeing inclusion.
HPV Vaccine Hesitancy Among Medical Students in China: A Multicenter Survey
Authors: Zhou Liangru , Wang Jian , Cheng Pengxin , Li Yue , Liu Guoxiang , Zhang Xin
Published: February 2022

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common genital tract virus infection and can cause genital warts and cervical cancer. This multicenter study examined HPV information sources, vaccine hesitancy, and the association between the two variables. An online survey of HPV information sources and vaccine hesitancy was conducted among Chinese medical students. The World Health Organization (WHO) Vaccine Hesitancy 3Cs model was used to evaluate reasons for respondents' vaccine hesitancy. A probit model was used to investigate the association between vaccine information sources and vaccine hesitancy. The reported rate of vaccine hesitancy was 62.36%. Convenience was the primary factor for vaccine hesitancy in medical students, and 19% used a single source to obtain vaccine information. A multivariate analysis revealed that master degree and above were 33% less likely to be hesitant about the HPV vaccine than first grade students. Respondents receiving HPV information through doctor were 8% less likely to report vaccine hesitancy than those receiving information from other information channels. HPV vaccine hesitancy requires more attention. Future studies could examine whether increasing vaccination locations and dissemination of information about the safety and effectiveness of HPV vaccines as well as using Internet media would help reduce medical students' vaccine hesitancy and expand HPV vaccine coverage.
Tobacco Taxation Influences the Smoking Habits of Adult Smokers Attending Smoking Cessation Clinic in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Altowiher Najeeb Saud S. , Bustami Rami , Alwadey Ali M. , Alqahtani Mansour
Published: February 2022

Objectives

To determine whether the increased tobacco price due to tax implementation on tobacco products (including cigarettes) has a significant effect on smoking cessation among Saudi Arabian adult smokers.

Methods

An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from adult Saudi smokers and recent quitters attending smoking cessation clinics between January 2018 and September 2019. The responses of the participants were summarized and analyzed.

Results

In total, 660 participants were interviewed, of which 98% were men who resided in the western region (33%). Taxation had no effect on smoking in 387 participants [58.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 54.9, 62.4], some effect in 220 participants (33.3%; 95% CI: 29.7, 36.9), and a substantial effect in 50 participants (7.6%; 95% CI: 5.6, 9.6). Strategies adopted to cope with the tax implementation included cutting down on the number of cigarettes smoked (302; 45.8%), changing to a cheaper brand of cigarette (151; 22.9%), purchasing in bulk (105; 15.9%), attempting to quit (453; 68.6%), and doing nothing (108; 16.4%). The rate of quitting smoking after attending the clinic was 20.7% (95% CI: 17.7, 23.9). Occupation (P = 0.003), education (P = 0.03), and current smoking habit (P = 0.07) were significantly associated with the impact of tobacco taxation. The strategies adopted in response to tax implementation on cigarettes were significantly associated with occupation (χ2 = 30, degrees of freedom = 12, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Tobacco taxation influenced 40% of the participants. Their attempts to opt for alternatives should be recognized in evaluating policies to reduce adverse health impacts caused by tobacco abuse.
Heat Adaptive Capacity: What Causes the Differences Between Residents of Xiamen Island and Other Areas?
Authors: Wu Chaowei , Shui Wei , Yang Haifeng , Ma Meiqi , Zhu Sufeng , Liu Yuanmeng , Li Hui , Wu Furong , Wu Kexin , Sun Xiang
Published: February 2022

Extreme heat events caused by climate change have serious adverse effects on residents' health in many coastal metropolises in southeast China. Adaptive capacity (AC) is crucial to reduce heat vulnerability in the human-environment system. However, it is unclear whether changes in individual characteristics and socioeconomic conditions likely amplify or attenuate the impacts of residents' heat adaptive capacity (HAC) changes. Moreover, which public policies can be implemented by the authorities to improve the HAC of vulnerable groups remains unknown. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 630 residents of Xiamen, a typical coastal metropolis, in 2018. The effects of individual and household characteristics, and government actions on the residents' HAC were examined by using ordinal logistic regression analysis. Results show that the majority (48.10%) of Xiamen residents had a “medium” HAC level, followed by a “high” level (37.14%). On Xiamen Island, residents who settled locally for one–three years and spent less than one hour outdoors might report weaker HAC, and their HAC would not improve with increased air conditioning units in household. In other areas of Xiamen, residents with more rooms in their households, no educational experience, and building areas <50 m2 might report better HAC. Further, vulnerable groups, such as local residents and outdoor workers on Xiamen Island, people lacking educational experience and renters in other areas of Xiamen, showed better AC to hot weather than those in previous studies. Low-income groups should be given more attention by local governments and community groups as monthly household income played a positive role in improving Xiamen residents' HAC. Rational green spaces planning and cooling services, such as street sprinkling operations, provided by municipal departments can effectively bring benefits to Xiamen residents. Identification of basic conditions of AC has significant implications for practical promoting targeted measures or policies to reduce health damages and livelihood losses of urban residents during extreme heat events.
Influence Analysis of Digital Financial Risk in China's Economically Developed Regions Under COVID-19: Based on the Skew-Normal Panel Data Model
Authors: Ye Rendao , Xie Yichen , An Na , Lin Ya
Published: February 2022

The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide makes an uncertain impact on the development of digital finance in China. In this background, the measurement of digital financial risk and analysis of influence factor become the focus of the financial field. Therefore, this article builds the indicator system of digital financial risk and uses the Lagrange multiplier method to obtain the optimal comprehensive weight of AHP and entropy weight. Then, this article measures the digital financial risk indexes of China's major regions with high-level economic development from 2013 to 2020. Furthermore, the maximum likelihood estimates of the unknown parameters of skew-normal panel data model are obtained based on the EM algorithm, and the comparative study of the normal and skew-normal panel data models is conducted under AIC and BIC. Finally, based on the result of the model, the influence factors of digital financial risk of China's economically developed regions under COVID-19 are analyzed to provide data support for the prevention and governance of digital financial risk.
Assessment of Combination of Automated Pupillometry and Heart Rate Variability to Detect Driving Fatigue
Authors: Shi Lin , Zheng Leilei , Jin Danni , Lin Zheng , Zhang Qiaoling , Zhang Mao
Published: February 2022

Objectives

Approximately 20~30% of all traffic accidents are caused by fatigue driving. However, limited practicability remains a barrier for the real application of available techniques to detect driving fatigue. Use of pupillary light reflex (PLR) may be potentially effective for driving fatigue detection.

Methods

A 90 min monotonous simulated driving task was utilized to induce driving fatigue. During the task, PLR measurements were performed at baseline and at an interval of 30 min. Subjective rating scales, heart rate variability (HRV) were monitored simultaneously.

Results

Thirty-two healthy volunteers in China participated in our study. Based on the results of subjective evaluation and behavioral performances, driving fatigue was verified to be successfully induced by a simulated driving task. Significant variations of PLR and HRV parameters were observed, which also showed significant relevance with the change in Karolinska Sleepiness Scale at several timepoints (|r| = 0.55 ~ 0.72, P < 0.001). Furthermore, PLR variations had excellent ability to detect driving fatigue with high sensitivity and specificity, of which maximum constriction velocity variations achieved a sensitivity of 85.00% and specificity of 72.34% for driving fatigue detection, vs. 82.50 and 78.72% with a combination of HRV variations, a nonsignificant difference (AUC = 0.835, 0.872, P > 0.05).

Conclusions

Pupillary light reflex variation may be a potential indicator in the detection of driving fatigue, achieving a comparative performance compared with the combination with heart rate variability. Further work may be involved in developing a commercialized driving fatigue detection system based on pupillary parameters.
Bike Share Usage and the Built Environment: A Review
Authors: Guo Yuanyuan , Yang Linchuan , Chen Yang
Published: February 2022

Bike share engages riders in physical activity, beneficial to health. In addition, it promotes green mobility and contributes to carbon neutrality. An understanding of the association between bike share usage and the built environment is essential for system operation/management and urban/transportation planning. Limited reviews of the existing literature exist now. Therefore, we review previous studies to decipher the complex relationship between bike share usage and the built environment. We focus on a few built environment dimensions (e.g., land use, transportation system, and urban design) and find that many attributes affect bike share usage differently across mobility cultures, between docked and dockless bike share, and between arrival and departure usage patterns. The effects of several attributes (e.g., proximity to a park or university and metro station density) on bike share usage also vary between weekdays and weekends and across trip purposes. The findings of this paper advance knowledge on the connection between bike share usage and the built environment.
Single Shot Corrective CNN for Anatomically Correct 3D Hand Pose Estimation
Authors: Isaac Joseph H. R. , Manivannan Muniyandi , Ravindran Balaraman
Published: February 2022

Hand pose estimation in 3D from depth images is a highly complex task. Current state-of-the-art 3D hand pose estimators focus only on the accuracy of the model as measured by how closely it matches the ground truth hand pose but overlook the resulting hand pose's anatomical correctness. In this paper, we present the Single Shot Corrective CNN (SSC-CNN) to tackle the problem of enforcing anatomical correctness at the architecture level. In contrast to previous works which use post-facto pose filters, SSC-CNN predicts the hand pose that conforms to the human hand's biomechanical bounds and rules in a single forward pass. The model was trained and tested on the HANDS2017 and MSRA datasets. Experiments show that our proposed model shows comparable accuracy to the state-of-the-art models as measured by the ground truth pose. However, the previous methods have high anatomical errors, whereas our model is free from such errors. Experiments show that our proposed model shows zero anatomical errors along with comparable accuracy to the state-of-the-art models as measured by the ground truth pose. The previous methods have high anatomical errors, whereas our model is free from such errors. Surprisingly even the ground truth provided in the existing datasets suffers from anatomical errors, and therefore Anatomical Error Free (AEF) versions of the datasets, namely AEF-HANDS2017 and AEF-MSRA, were created.
The Potential Use of Actinomycetes as Microbial Inoculants and Biopesticides in Agriculture
Authors: Silva Guilherme da Cruz , Kitano Isabella Takahashi , Ribeiro Iron Amoreli de Figueiredo , Lacava Paulo Teixeira
Published: February 2022

The use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides promotes significant improvements in crop development, but some problems and risks associated with them limit their application. An alternative is using biological inputs based on microorganisms, increasing production while combining efficiency and sustainability. Actinomycetes are a group of bacteria belonging to the phylum Actinobacteria, recently re-named Actinobacteriota. They represent important microbial communities in the soils with increasing agricultural applications, especially in the biological control of insect-pest and plant disease and in plant growth promotion. Studies report their promising use as microbiological inoculants by exploring mechanisms to improve plant development, such as biological nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, production of phytohormones, and other biocompounds. In addition, many species produce metabolic pathways that generate high-value antibiotics, extracellular enzymes and secondary metabolites other than antimicrobials, with potential in the control of phytopathogenic fungi, insects, and nematodes. These actinomycetes could be used to formulate novel bioinoculants composed of spores and/or mycelium. Considering that the research in this field is up-and-coming, with significant economic and environmental impacts in the future, this review aims to group the most relevant works that explore the biodiversity of actinomycetes, helping to develop inoculants and biodefensives for more productive and conscious agriculture.