bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modification effects of socioeconomic factors on associations between air pollutants and hand, foot, and mouth disease: A multicity time-series study based on heavily polluted areas in the basin area of Sichuan Province, China
Authors: Li Mengyao , Ma Yue , Luo Caiying , Lv Qiang , Liu Yaqiong , Zhang Tao , Yin Fei , Shui Tiejun
Published: November 2022

Background

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a serious threat among children in China. Some studies have found that air pollution is associated with HFMD incidence, but the results showed heterogeneity. In this study, we aimed to explore the heterogeneity of associations between air pollutants and the number of HFMD cases and to identify significant socioeconomic effect modifiers.

Methods

We collected daily surveillance data on HFMD cases in those aged less than 15 years, air pollution variables and meteorological variables from 2015 to 2017 in the basin area of Sichuan Province. We also collected socioeconomic indicator data. We conducted a two-stage multicity time-series analysis. In the first stage, we constructed a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to obtain cumulative exposure-response curves between each air pollutant and the numbers of HFMD cases for every city. In the second stage, we carried out a multivariable meta-regression to merge the estimations in the first stage and to identify significant socioeconomic effect modifiers.

Results

We found that PM10, NO2 and O3 concentrations were associated with the number of HFMD cases. An inverted V-shaped association between PM10 and the number of HFMD cases was observed. The overall NO2-HFMD association was a hockey-stick shape. For the relationships of PM10, SO2, NO2, O3 and CO with HFMD counts, approximately 58.5%, 48.4%, 51.0%, 55.6% and 52.5% of the heterogeneity could be explained, respectively. The proportion of primary school students, population density, urbanization rate, number of licensed physicians and number of hospital beds explained part of the heterogeneity and modified the relationships.

Conclusion

Our study explored the heterogeneity of associations between air pollutants and HFMD counts. The proportion of primary school students, population density, urbanization rate, number of licensed physicians and number of hospital beds could modify the relationships. The results can serve as a reference for relevant public health decision making.
Monoallelic variants resulting in substitutions of MAB21L1 Arg51 Cause Aniridia and microphthalmia
Authors: Hall Hildegard Nikki , Bengani Hemant , Hufnagel Robert B. , Damante Giuseppe , Ansari Morad , Marsh Joseph A. , Grimes Graeme R. , Kriegsheim Alex von , Moore David , McKie Lisa , Rahmat Jamalia , Mio Catia , Blyth Moira , Keng Wee Teik , Islam Lily , McEntargart Meriel , Mannens Marcel M. , Heyningen Veronica Van , Rainger Joe , Brooks Brian P. , FitzPatrick David R.
Published: November 2022

Classical aniridia is a congenital and progressive panocular disorder almost exclusively caused by heterozygous loss-of-function variants at the PAX6 locus. We report nine individuals from five families with severe aniridia and/or microphthalmia (with no detectable PAX6 mutation) with ultrarare monoallelic missense variants altering the Arg51 codon of MAB21L1. These mutations occurred de novo in 3/5 families, with the remaining families being compatible with autosomal dominant inheritance. Mice engineered to carry the p.Arg51Leu change showed a highly-penetrant optic disc anomaly in heterozygous animals with severe microphthalmia in homozygotes. Substitutions of the same codon (Arg51) in MAB21L2, a close homolog of MAB21L1, cause severe ocular and skeletal malformations in humans and mice. The predicted nucleotidyltransferase function of MAB21L1 could not be demonstrated using purified protein with a variety of nucleotide substrates and oligonucleotide activators. Induced expression of GFP-tagged wildtype and mutant MAB21L1 in human cells caused only modest transcriptional changes. Mass spectrometry of immunoprecipitated protein revealed that both mutant and wildtype MAB21L1 associate with transcription factors that are known regulators of PAX6 (MEIS1, MEIS2 and PBX1) and with poly(A) RNA binding proteins. Arg51 substitutions reduce the association of wild-type MAB21L1 with TBL1XR1, a component of the NCoR complex. We found limited evidence for mutation-specific interactions with MSI2/Musashi-2, an RNA-binding proteins with effects on many different developmental pathways. Given that biallelic loss-of-function variants in MAB21L1 result in a milder eye phenotype we suggest that Arg51-altering monoallelic variants most plausibly perturb eye development via a gain-of-function mechanism.
Targeting caveolae to pump bispecific antibody to TGF-β into diseased lungs enables ultra-low dose therapeutic efficacy
Authors: Kadam Anil H. , Kandasamy Kathirvel , Buss Tim , Cederstrom Brittany , Yang Chun , Narayanapillai Sreekanth , Rodriguez Juan , Levin Michael D. , Koziol Jim , Olenyuk Bogdan , Borok Zea , Chrastina Adrian , Schnitzer Jan E.
Published: November 2022

The long-sought-after “magic bullet” in systemic therapy remains unrealized for disease targets existing inside most tissues, theoretically because vascular endothelium impedes passive tissue entry and full target engagement. We engineered the first “dual precision” bispecific antibody with one arm pair to precisely bind to lung endothelium and drive active delivery and the other to precisely block TGF-β effector function inside lung tissue. Targeting caveolae for transendothelial pumping proved essential for delivering most of the injected intravenous dose precisely into lungs within one hour and for enhancing therapeutic potency by >1000-fold in a rat pneumonitis model. Ultra-low doses (μg/kg) inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration, edema, lung tissue damage, disease biomarker expression and TGF-β signaling. The prodigious benefit of active vs passive transvascular delivery of a precision therapeutic unveils a new promising drug design, delivery and therapy paradigm ripe for expansion and clinical testing.
Toward developing a sustainability index for the Islamic Social Finance program: An empirical investigation
Authors: Widiastuti Tika , Prasetyo Arie , Robani Anidah , Mawardi Imron , Rosida Rida , Al Mustofa Muhammad Ubaidillah
Published: November 2022

Several previous studies state that the Islamic Social Finance program has not fully succeeded in creating prosperity, and there are no definite measurements to show the sustainability impact of the program. Thus, a measurement is needed to analyze various aspects in achieving the success and sustainability of Islamic social finance programs. This study developed an index for performance evaluation with an emphasis on the success and sustainability of the Islamic Social Finance program. The study used the Analytical Network Process to determine and analyze priority components. Furthermore, the Multistage Weighted Index method was used to calculate the final index score. The index was built by taking into consideration various factors, stakeholders, aspects, and indicators. This study indicates that aspects of funding contribution from donors (0.22), involvement of donors in giving advice (0.99), and controlling of supervisor (0.08) are priority aspects in the success and sustainability of the program. An empirical investigation was performed on three different programs in Indonesia: A, B, and C. Program A (0.81) and C (0.80) have succeeded in improving the beneficiaries’ quality of life to the level of economic resilience, although at a low level of sustainability (76–84.33). On the other hand, program B (0.73) is at the economic reinforcement and has not yet achieved sustainability. This index can be seen as a comprehensive tool for measuring the success and sustainability of the program at several levels.
What are the sleep characteristics among early kidney transplant recipients? An objective and subjective measurement from China
Authors: Zhang Zhihao , Liu Jia , Wu XiaoXia , Yan Jin
Published: November 2022

Objective

To evaluate the sleep quality by self-reported questionnaires and polysomnography (PSG) among early kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) and to further explore their correlation.

Design

This was a prospective and cross-sectional analysis of the sleep characteristics among early kidney transplant recipients through an objective and subjective measurement.

Participants

Patients with end stage renal disease on the transplant waiting list and after kidney transplantation were from a major organ transplantation center in Southern China (n = 83).

Primary and secondary outcome measurements

Objective outcomes: PSG, noise and light. Subjective outcomes: demographic and clinical questionnaires, self-reported pain and Richards Campbell sleep questionnaire (RCSQ). After agreement with the informed consent, participants first completed demographic and clinical questionnaires, then worn the PSG within 5–10 days after kidney transplantation. Both noise, light and self-reported pain were monitored during sleep. After completion of PSG, the RCSQs were filled out next morning.

Results

A total of 298 patients were recruited and 83 participants were finally analyzed. The total RCSQ mean score was 51.0±18.9mm. The prevalence of poor sleep quality among early KTRs was 45.1%. Most of PSG characteristics were significantly correlated with their corresponding RCSQ items. And the total RCSQ scores were significantly correlated with the number of awakenings, the N2 percentage and the total sleep time (r = 0.79, 0.47 and 0.40, P<0.05) respectively. Noise was a statistically significant factor affecting the subjective sleep quality.

Conclusions

The sleep quality in early KTRs measured by both PSG and RCSQ exhibits consistency with each other. Sleep disruption always remains a substantial problem and is affected by self-reported noise among early KTRs. The RCSQ is easily applicable and interpretable so that it can be used for future daily clinical practice.
Inequalities in successful tobacco cessation and tobacco cessation attempts: Evidence from eight Sub-Saharan African countries
Authors: Rossouw Laura , Filby Samantha
Published: November 2022

Background

Tobacco consumption is a contributing and modifiable risk factor for non-communicable diseases. In high-income countries, tobacco cessation attempts, and their success, are concentrated among the socio-economically advantaged, resulting in a skewed burden of disease. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the distribution of tobacco cessation in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective

The objective of this study is to measure and decompose wealth- and education-related inequalities in tobacco cessation in eight Sub-Saharan African countries.

Methodology

The study applies Erreygers’ corrected concentration indices and decomposition methods to the most recent Global Adult Tobacco Surveys in Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Findings

We find that across countries, successful tobacco cessation, as well as tobacco cessation attempts, are concentrated among wealthier and better-educated individuals. Differences in socio-economic status, urban or rural residence, and not knowing or believing that tobacco consumption leads to serious illness contributes to these inequalities

Conclusion

Governments in our sample of countries can do more to support socio-economically disadvantaged smokers in their efforts to quit smoking, including by making an effort to align each country’s smoking cessation strategy with the guidelines outlined in the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of PanbioTM Abbott SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test for the detection of COVID-19 from suspects attending ALERT center
Authors: Ashagre Wondimu , Atnafu Abay , Wassie Liya , Tschopp Rea , Fentahun Dessalegn , Assefa Gebeyehu , Wegayehu Teklu , Wondale Biniam , Mulu Andargachew , Miheret Adane , Bobosha Kidist
Published: November 2022

Background

The emergence and rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a potentially lethal disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is causing public health issues around the world. In resource-constrained nations, rapid Abbott SARS-CoV-2 antigen test kits are critical for addressing diagnostic gaps in health institutions and community screening. However, there is no evidence or proof of diagnostic performance in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of PanbioTM Abbott SARS-CoV-2antigen rapid test kit to the gold standard, RT-PCR, in COVID-19 patients with clinical symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

Method

A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2021 and April 2022, on 120 suspected patients recruited from outpatient, emergency, and intensive care units in one of the tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from suspected cases and were tested using the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 kit, a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and compared to the reference standard RT-PCR.

Result

The sensitivity and specificity of the RDT were 74.2% and 100%, respectively. A total of 62 samples (51.6%) were RT-PCR positive. Of these, 46 were Ag-RDT positive. Sensitivity among symptomatic patients was 79.4% (95% CI 68.3–90). The Abbot RDT and RT-PCR had a Kappa value of agreement of 0.735 (p < 0.001). These values were acceptable when compared to the WHO’s suggested thresholds.

Conclusion

The finding from this study support the use of the Abbot RDT as a diagnostic tool in COVID-19 suspects, mainly in those with higher viral loads.
Cancer metastasis is related to normal tissue stemness
Authors: Peng Xing Yue , Dong Bocun , Liu Xiaohui
Published: November 2022

The occurrence of cancer metastasis may be related to stem cells in normal tissues. We searched for patient IDs with both normal tissue stem cell values and TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) clinical data for pairing and obtained 639 sets of data (stemness index of normal tissue, stemness index of tumor tissue, cancer stage, distant metastasis, tumor size) and invasion, and lymph node involvement). However, clinical data on cancer metastasis are of only four stages (e.g., Stage I, II, III, and IV), which cannot show subtle changes continuously. We need to find an effective data mining method to transform this four-valued clinical description into a numerical curve. We data-mine this data through numericalization, sorting, and noise reduction filtering. The results showed that: as the normal tissue stemness value (NS) increased, the tumor tissue stemness value (TS) increased proportionally (1.26 times NS). When NS >0.5, the rate of change in TS decelerated (0.43 times NS), and tumor metastasis began to occur. Clinical indicators, such as cancer stage, distant metastasis, tumor size and invasion, and lymph node involvement, showed that tumor metastasis became more and more severe with the increase of NS. This study suggests that tumor metastasis is triggered when the NS in the patient’s body is more significant than 0.5.
Burnout syndrome among frontline doctors of secondary and tertiary care hospitals of Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Rashid Fahmida , Erfan Uddin Rabiul Alam Md. , Mehedi H. M. Hamidullah , Dhar Satyajit , Bhuiyan Nur Hossain , Sattar Md. Abdus , Chowdhury Shahanara
Published: November 2022

Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers had a high workload and were exposed to multiple psychosocial stressors. However, a knowledge gap exists about the levels of burnout among Bangladeshi frontline doctors during this COVID-19 pandemic. The study investigated burnout syndrome (BOS) among frontline doctors in two public secondary and tertiary care hospitals in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

Materials & methods

This cross-sectional study involved frontline doctors working at two hospitals treating COVID-19 and non-COVID patients from June to August 2020. A self-administered questionnaire that included Maslach Burnout Inventory for Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) was used to capture demographic and workplace environment information. ANOVA and t-test were used to determine the statistical differences in the mean values of the three dimensions of MBI-HSS. Scores for three domains of burnout: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) were calculated. Post-hoc analysis was done to identify the significant pair-wise differences when the ANOVA test result was significant. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the influence of factors associated with BOS.

Results

A total of 185 frontline doctors were invited to participate by convenience sampling, and 168 responded. The response rate was 90.81%. The overall prevalence of BOS was 55.4% (93/168) (95% CI: 47.5% to 63.0%). Moderate to high levels of EE was found in 95.8% of the participants. High DP and reduced PA were observed in 98.2% and 97% of participants. Younger age (25–29 years), being female, and working as a medical officer were independently associated with high levels of burnout in all three domains. EE was significantly higher in females (P = 0.011). DP was significantly higher in medical officers, those at earlier job periods, and those working more than 8 hours per day.

Conclusion

During the COVID-19 outbreak, BOS was common among Bangladeshi frontline doctors. Females, medical officers, and younger doctors tended to be more susceptible to BOS. Less BOS was experienced when working in the non-COVID ward than in the mixed ward.
Measuring the impact of climate change on potato production in Bangladesh using Bayesian Hierarchical Spatial-temporal modeling
Authors: Salan Md. Sifat Ar , Hossain Md. Moyazzem , Sumon Imran Hossain , Rahman Md. Mizanur , Kabir Mohammad Alamgir , Majumder Ajit Kumar
Published: November 2022

Background

Potato is a staple food and a main crop of Bangladesh. Climate plays an important role in different crop production all over the world. Potato production is influenced by climate change, which is occurring at a rapid pace according to time and space.

Objective

The main objective of this research is to observe the variation in potato production based on the discrepancy of the variability in the spatial and temporal domains. The research is based on secondary data on potato production from different parts of Bangladesh and five major climate variables for the last 17 years ending with 2020.

Methods

Bayesian Spatial-temporal modelling for linear, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and auto-Regressive models were used to find the best-fitted model compared with the independent Error Bayesian model. The Watanabe-Akaike information criterion (WAIC) and Deviance Information Criterion (DIC) were used as the model choice criteria and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method was implemented to generate information about the prior and posterior realizations.

Results

Findings revealed that the ANOVA model under the Spatial-temporal framework was the best model for all model choice and validation criteria. Results depict that there is a significant impact of spatial and temporal variation on potato yield rate. Besides, the windspeed does not show any influence on potato production, however, temperature, humidity, rainfall, and sunshine are important components of potato yield rate in Bangladesh.

Conclusion

It is evident that there is a potential impact of climate change on potato production in Bangladesh. Therefore, the authors believed that the findings will be helpful to the policymakers or farmers in developing potato varieties that are resilient to climate change to ensure the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger.
Prevalence of efflux pump and heavy metal tolerance encoding genes among Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis strains from diverse sources in Brazil
Authors: Vilela Felipe Pinheiro , Rodrigues Dália dos Prazeres , Allard Marc William , Falcão Juliana Pfrimer
Published: November 2022

Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Infantis (S. Infantis) is a non-typhoid, zoonotic and foodborne serovar with worldwide distribution, and often associated with increasing antimicrobial resistance. Efflux pumps are antimicrobial resistance mechanisms able to promote and increase resistance levels to multiple distinct drug classes. Heavy metal tolerance genes have been demonstrated to promote resistance against these compounds and act in the co-selection of antimicrobial resistant strains. Despite the relevance of S. Infantis in clinical and non-clinical fields, few studies worldwide have investigated the occurrence of such genes in strains from diverse sources. Therefore, the present study aimed at determining the prevalence of antimicrobial efflux pump and heavy metal tolerance genes and their genomic relatedness through core-genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) of 80 S. Infantis strains isolated from food, environmental, human and animal sources from 2013 to 2018 in Brazil. Twenty efflux pump encoding genes were detected, with 17 of these (acrA, acrB, baeR, crp, emrB, emrR, hns, kdpE, kpnF, marA, marR, mdtK, msbA, rsmA, sdiA, soxR and soxS) detected in all strains studied, golS in 98.75%, mdfA in 58.75% and tet(A) in 37.5%. Tolerance genes to arsenic (arsR) were detected in 100% of the strains, gold (golS and golT) in 98.75%, silver (silABCDEFPRS) in 36.25% and mercury (merR and merT) in 1.25%. cgMLST demonstrated a closer genetic relationship among strains harboring similar profiles of heavy metal and efflux pump encoding genes, despite their origin. In conclusion, the high prevalence of some efflux pump and heavy metal tolerance encoding genes alert us about the importance of strong surveillance measures to monitor resistance and the transmission of S. Infantis among diverse sources in Brazil.
Behavioral, cognitive, emotional and social engagement in mathematics learning during COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Joshi Dirgha Raj , Adhikari Krishna Prasad , Khanal Bishnu , Khadka Jiban , Belbase Shashidhar
Published: November 2022

A meaningful engagement of learners is critical in the quality teaching and learning of mathematics at school level. Learner engagement has been an ongoing issue in mathematics classrooms in Nepal and elsewhere. In this context, this study aimed to examine the level of engagement (behavioral, social, emotional, and cognitive activities) and their association with learning mathematics through the virtual mode of instruction during the pandemic. The cross-sectional online survey design was employed among 402 secondary-level mathematics teachers in Nepal. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and structural equation modeling were the major statistical techniques used in research. The findings indicate that the level of behavioral, social, emotional, and cognitive engagement of students was found to be high in the online mode of instruction. Additionally, cognitive engagement has significant highest impact on social, behavior, and emotional engagement.
The social values of newly arrived immigrants in Sweden
Authors: Tibajev Andrey , Vartanova Irina , Puthoopparambil Soorej , Essén Birgitta , Strimling Pontus
Published: November 2022

Concerns have been raised that immigrants coming to Europe bring fundamentally different social values, affecting the more liberal receiving societies negatively. However, the topic of immigrants’ social values is understudied, and much research studies only one issue at a time, lacking a systematic approach to compare immigrants and native-born across issues. We study the social values of immigrants in Sweden using a large sample of newly arrived immigrants and their opinions on 35 different moral issues. Our results indicate a large heterogeneity across different issues, with, on average, a general tendency towards liberal social values among immigrants. We find that individual characteristics are more important than characteristics of the country of origin in explaining variation of social values between immigrants. Religiosity has the largest effect, with more religious individuals having more conservative stances. Using external data sources, we compare immigrants with native-born regarding both average positions on different issues, and the correlation between issue positions. Compared with the native-born, immigrants have, on average, somewhat more conservative values, but the underlying values structure is the same.
Real-World Practice of Gastric Cancer Prevention and Screening Calls for Practical Prediction Models
Authors: He Siyi , Sun Dianqin , Li He , Cao Maomao , Yu Xinyang , Lei Lin , Peng Ji , Li Jiang , Li Ni , Chen Wanqing
Published: November 2022

INTRODUCTION:

Some gastric cancer prediction models have been published. Still, the value of these models for application in real-world practice remains unclear. We aim to summarize and appraise modeling studies for gastric cancer risk prediction and identify potential barriers to real-world use.

METHODS:

This systematic review included studies that developed or validated gastric cancer prediction models in the general population.

RESULTS:

A total of 4,223 studies were screened. We included 18 development studies for diagnostic models, 10 for prognostic models, and 1 external validation study. Diagnostic models commonly included biomarkers, such as Helicobacter pylori infection indicator, pepsinogen, hormone, and microRNA. Age, sex, smoking, body mass index, and family history of gastric cancer were frequently used in prognostic models. Most of the models were not validated. Only 25% of models evaluated the calibration. All studies had a high risk of bias, but over half had acceptable applicability. Besides, most studies failed to clearly report the application scenarios of prediction models.

DISCUSSION:

Most gastric cancer prediction models showed common shortcomings in methods, validation, and reports. Model developers should further minimize the risk of bias, improve models’ applicability, and report targeting application scenarios to promote real-world use.
Bacterial Quorum-Sensing Molecules in Serum: A Potential Tool for Crohn's Disease Management
Authors: O'Connor Gregory , Quintero Maria A. , Deo Sapna K. , Abreu Maria T. , Daunert Sylvia
Published: November 2022

Crohn's disease (CD) is an idiopathic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract with the primary method of diagnosis and follow-up being colonoscopy. A disturbed host-microbiome interaction, including the presence of pathobionts, is implicated in initiation and perpetuation of inflammation. As such, we hypothesized that bacterial quorum-sensing (QS) molecules (QSMs), small molecules bacteria generate to regulate gene expression, would be elevated in patients with CD. We collected serum at the time of colonoscopy from patients with CD and healthy controls, determining through biosensors for QSMs that patients with CD had significantly elevated levels of QSMs in serum. Expansion of these studies may allow for QSM levels in serum to serve as a biomarker for intestinal inflammation in patients with CD.
How can impact strategies be developed that better support universities to address twenty-first-century challenges?
Authors: Reed Mark S. , Gent Saskia , Seballos Fran , Glass Jayne , Hansda Regina , Fischer-Møller Mads
Published: November 2022

To better address twenty-first-century challenges, research institutions often develop and publish research impact strategies, but as a tool, impact strategies are poorly understood. This study provides the first formal analysis of impact strategies from the UK, Canada, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand and Hong Kong, China, and from independent research institutes. Two types of strategy emerged. First, ‘achieving impact’ strategies tended to be bottom-up and co-productive, with a strong emphasis on partnerships and engagement, but they were more likely to target specific beneficiaries with structured implementation plans, use boundary organisations to co-produce research and impact, and recognise impact with less reliance on extrinsic incentives. Second, ‘enabling impact’ strategies were more top-down and incentive-driven, developed to build impact capacity and culture across an institution, faculty or centre, with a strong focus on partnerships and engagement, and they invested in dedicated impact teams and academic impact roles, supported by extrinsic incentives including promotion criteria. This typology offers a new way to categorise, analyse and understand research impact strategies, alongside insights that may be used by practitioners to guide the design of future strategies, considering the limitations of top-down, incentive-driven approaches versus more bottom-up, co-productive approaches.
Modelo Antropogógico de Extensión Agropecuaria: sensibilidad del retorno social de la inversión
Authors: Aguilar-Marín Vanessa , Guacaneme-Barrera Carmen Milena , Rodríguez-Espinosa Holmes , Cerón-Muñoz Mario Fernando
Published: November 2022

Introduction / objective: the scarcity of resources for social investments requires strategies that increase the availability of information for decision-making. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a tool used for impact measurement and makes it possible to economically assess the effects of an intervention and identify the amount of change generated by each monetary unit invested. This index admits sensitivity analysis to recognize the aspects with the greatest influence on the impact of a project, so the objective of this work was to study the sensitivity of the SROI in the cocoa Territorial Laboratories of the University of Antioquia. Methodology: Through graphs, each of the changes was related to the SROI, identifying the highest levels of sensitivity in those whose values were located in quadrants 1 and 3 and whose trend line had an ascending performance. Results: The most sensitive variables were: the projection of income for 20 years, the increase in cocoa production, production above the break-even point, the satisfaction of basic and social needs, informal agreements for the succession of the production system, the initiation of soil conservation practices, the definition of activities to achieve the dream farm, and the implementation of the anthropogogical model of agricultural extension. Conclusions: Interrelationships were found between most of these variables and it was concluded that integral initiatives are the key to achieve greater social changes.
Physiological discrimination and correlation between olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in long‐term COVID‐19
Authors: Mazzatenta Andrea
Published: November 2022

The spread of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus produces a new disease termed COVID‐19, the underlying physiological mechanisms of which are still being understood. Characteristic of the infection is the compromising of taste and smell. There is a persistent need to discriminate the dysfunctions and correlation between taste and smell, which are probably epiphenomena of other concealed conditions. Anosmic and ageusic long‐term COVID‐19 patients were re‐evaluated after 1 year using a Volabolomic approach with an e‐nose recording system coupled with olfactometric and gustometric tests. Here a range of sensory arrangements was found, from normal taste and smell to complete losses. The following patterns of olfactory threshold (OT)‐taste threshold‐olfactory uni‐ and cross‐modal perception were found anosmia‐severe hypogeusia‐anosmia; hyposmia‐hypogeusia‐severe hyposmia; normosmia‐ageusia‐hyposmia; severe hyposmia ‐normogeusia‐normosmia. There is a strong correlation between OT and olfactory uni‐ and cross‐modal perception, a moderate correlation between olfactory and taste threshold and no correlation between OT and taste threshold. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for the feasibility of testing the chemical senses to directly objectify function in order to discriminate taste from olfactory impairment. Furthermore, it allows to hypothesize a long‐term effect of the virus due to neuroinvasion through, probably, the olfactory system with injury in the related multisensory areas of taste and smell.
The Patentability of Second and Subsequent Medical Uses in Asia’s Patent Legislation
Authors: Adachi Kiyoshi
Published: November 2022

This study examines, from a comparative law perspective, how jurisdictions across East, Southeast and South Asia deal with the issue of the patentability of second/subsequent medical uses. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of subsequent medical uses of known medical compositions, as a number of medicines that are being used to treat Covid-19 were originally developed for other illnesses. The decision whether second/subsequent medical uses of pharmaceuticals are patentable in any given jurisdiction is, however, a policy decision to the extent that it is one of the main exclusions available to countries as a ‘flexibility’ under the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement). The results of this study show that there is a wide variation in Asia regarding the patentability of second/subsequent uses, and examines the possible reasons for this variation. The paper concludes with recommendations for countries in the region.
Age Structured Mathematical Modeling Studies on COVID-19 with respect to Combined Vaccination and Medical Treatment Strategies
Authors: Chhetri Bishal , Vamsi D. K. K. , Prakash D. Bhanu , Balasubramanian S. , Sanjeevi Carani B.
Published: November 2022

In this study, we develop a mathematical model incorporating age-specific transmission dynamics of COVID-19 to evaluate the role of vaccination and treatment strategies in reducing the size of COVID-19 burden. Initially, we establish the positivity and boundedness of the solutions of the non controlled model and calculate the basic reproduction number and do the stability analysis. We then formulate an optimal control problem with vaccination and treatment as control variables and study the same. Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle is used to obtain the optimal vaccination and treatment rates. Optimal vaccination and treatment policies are analysed for different values of the weight constant associated with the cost of vaccination and different efficacy levels of vaccine. Findings from these suggested that the combined strategies (vaccination and treatment) worked best in minimizing the infection and disease induced mortality. In order to reduce COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 induced deaths to maximum, it was observed that optimal control strategy should be prioritized to the population with age greater than 40 years. Varying the cost of vaccination it was found that sufficient implementation of vaccines (more than 77 %) reduces the size of COVID-19 infections and number of deaths. The infection curves varying the efficacies of the vaccines against infection were also analysed and it was found that higher efficacy of the vaccine resulted in lesser number of infections and COVID induced deaths. The findings would help policymakers to plan effective strategies to contain the size of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uniqueness of compact ancient solutions to the higher-dimensional Ricci flow
Authors: Brendle Simon , Daskalopoulos Panagiota , Naff Keaton , Sesum Natasa
Published: November 2022

In dimensions

n
≥
4

{n\geq 4}

, an ancient κ-solution is a nonflat, complete, ancient solution of the Ricci flow that is uniformly PIC and weakly PIC2; has bounded curvature; and is κ-noncollapsed. In this paper, we study the classification of ancient κ-solutions to n-dimensional Ricci flow on

S
n

{S^{n}}

, extending the result in [S. Brendle, P. Daskalopoulos and N. Sesum,
Uniqueness of compact ancient solutions to three-dimensional Ricci flow,
Invent. Math. 226 2021, 2, 579–651] to higher dimensions. We prove that such a solution is either isometric to a family of shrinking round spheres, or the Type II ancient solution constructed by Perelman.
Layers of Memory in Kuznetsov’s and Trubakov’s Babi Yar Narratives
Authors: Ionescu Arleen
Published: November 2022

This article examines two memoirs of authors who indirectly witnessed the horrendous crimes committed by Nazi Einsatzgruppen squads in Babi Yar where more than 33,000 of the Jewish inhabitants of Kiev were brutally murdered on 29–30 September 1941: Anatoli Kuznetsov’s Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel and Ziama Trubakov’s The Riddle of Babi Yar: The True Story Told by a Survivor of the Mass Murders in Kiev, 1941–1943. Starting from Kuznetsov’s final remarks on the power of memory that will never fade even if only few witnesses or survivors remained to tell the story, I will show what types of witnessing occur in both memoirs: the two narrators use both “ear-witnessing” (Susan Vice’s term), eye-witnessing, and “flesh-witnessing” (Yuval Noah Harari’s term) in the structure of their books and, following Amos Goldberg’s model for first-person Holocaust memoirs and diaries, I will show how these three types of witnessing unfold the story of Babi Yar.
On Normal-Laplace Stochastic Volatility Model
Authors: Kavungal Shiji , Thekkedath Rahul
Published: November 2022

This paper analyses a stochastic volatility model generated by first order normal-Laplace autoregressive process. The model parameters are estimated by the generalized method of moments. A simulation experiment is carried out to check the performance of the estimates. Finally, a real data analysis is provided to illustrate the practical utility of the proposed model and show that it captures the stylized factors of the financial return series.
Performance evaluation of adaptive based model predictive control for ethylene glycol production from dimethyl oxide hydrogenation
Authors: Rohman Fakhrony Sholahudin , Sulaiman Muhammad Syafiq , Murat Muhamad Nazri , Aziz Norashid
Published: November 2022

Advance process control is a proven control and optimization technology delivering measurable and sustainable improvements in production yield, coupled with the added value of energy savings. In this work, an adaptive based model predictive control (aMPC) is developed and implemented to control the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxide to ethylene glycol (EG) in a plug flow reactor. The aMPC is compared with 3 other control schemes; proportional-integral (PI), decoupled PI (dPI) and linear model predictive control. The aim is to determine the reliability of aMPC in controlling the production rate and reactor temperature for an optimized hydrogenation reactor. The aspects compared include set point tracking, disturbance rejection and robustness test. The analysis concludes that the aMPC offers the best overall performance compared to the other control schemes.
Efficient removal of dextran in sugar juice by immobilized α-dextranase from Chaetomium gracile
Authors: Zhang Zedong , Wang Sheng , Wei Longhan , Liao Yanfang , Li Dongming , Wu Guoqiang , Wang Wenjun
Published: November 2022

Dextran problem restricts the development of the sugar industry. Although the enzymatic treatment based on α-dextranase from Chaetomium gracile (α-dextranase (CG)) has been effective in solving this issue, the lack of immobilization products hinder its industrial applications. This research described a novel and suitable method to immobilize α-dextranase (CG). The purified α-dextranase (CG) was immobilized via cross-linking using modified chitosan as carriers. In addition, this study used a deep eutectic solvent that greatly improved the enzymatic properties of immobilized α-dextranase (CG). α-dextranase (CG) was immobilized by adding deep eutectic solvent (DES-IM-α-dextranase (CG)) showed better temperature tolerance and storage properties than free and ordinary immobilized counterparts. It can eliminate dextran by 59.71% in mixed sugarcane juice and 38.71% in clarified sugarcane juice. The achieved results were considerably better than those obtained using free and other immobilized enzymes. Altogether, these findings confirmed that DES-IM-α-dextranase (CG) displayed great potential in solving the dextran problem.
Prenatal care in the era of economic collapse
Authors: Kesrouani Assaad , Hatoum Inaam , Yared Georges , Atallah David , Daou Linda , Finan Ramzi
Published: November 2022

Objectives

To describe the effect of economic collapse on prenatal care.

Methods

This is an observational study aiming to depict the changes that occur in prenatal care in the case of an economic collapse. Biochemical screening and ultrasound examinations, as well as medical emigration and private-public sector activity, are discussed.

Results

Starting October 2019, Lebanon experienced significant and unprecedented economic degradation leading to 81% degradation of the local currency, 85% inflation, and socio-economic suffering, and the situation is currently still deteriorating. The impact on the medical infrastructure has been global and hit all areas. The crisis is multifaceted, varied in the way it played out across public and private sectors, and did not affect them equally. Some were better prepared than others to cope with severe fiscal pressure mainly through the support of non-governmental organizations. All aspects of prenatal care are affected by the crisis.

Conclusions

Given the multiple strains on the Lebanese health care system today, the plight of antenatal care providers needs assistance to ensure adequate follow-up of pregnancies.
Monitoring hypertensive disorders in pregnancy to prevent preeclampsia in pregnant women of advanced maternal age: Trial mimicking with retrospective data
Authors: Deng Yali , She Lifei , Li Xiaoye , Lai Weisi , Yu Ling , Zhang Wen , Nie Yanting , Xiao Songyuan , Liu Hongyu , Zhou Yang , Luo Ting , Deng Wen , Liu Jinyu , Zhou Xihong , Wen Ying , Zhong Yanhong , Xiao Lingyi , Ding Yiling , Peng Mei
Published: November 2022

This study investigated the implication of monitoring hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) to prevent preeclampsia (PE) in pregnant women of advanced maternal age. Between January 2016 and April 2021, 262 consecutive pregnant women aged ≥40 years were recruited. Extensive monitoring of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, including blood hypercoagulability screening and subsequent interventions, was performed in 129 pregnant women in our university hospital. The remaining 133 patients from other centres, who did not receive antenatal maternal pregnancy screening and preventive intervention during the same period, constituted the non-intervention group enabling comparison to mimic a trial. The incidences of hypertensive disorders, mild and severe PE, eclampsia, and chronic hypertension complicated by PE in the intervention group were significantly lower than in the non-intervention group (10.08 versus 20.30%, 8.52 versus 18.80%, 7.75 versus 21.05%, 0 versus 3.01%, and 3.86 versus 15.04%, respectively; P < 0.05). Premature birth, low birth weight, and foetal loss were significantly rarer in the intervention group than in the non-intervention group (6.98 versus 24.81%, 7.75 versus 21.80%, and 0.78 versus 14.29% respectively; P < 0.001). The comparison of MP with routine blood coagulation biochemical examination found that the MP detection system of Beijing Yes Medical Devices Co., Ltd., had similar sensitivity as thromboelastogram. Still, it was significantly better than the routine biochemical indicators (P < 0.01). Based on MP parameters, early anticoagulant treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin or low-dose aspirin in pregnant women with hypercoagulability can effectively prevent the occurrence of PE and significantly improve the prognosis of both mothers and infants.
SETD1A promotes the proliferation and glycolysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway
Authors: Huang Jianyi , Fang Jinshu , Xu Xiao , Qian Xueshen , Zhang Xia
Published: November 2022

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is one of the common malignant tumors that the pathogenesis has not yet been completely defined. SETD1A (histone lysine methyltransferase SET domain-containing 1A) is related to the occurrence of various cancers. However, the role of SETD1A in nasopharyngeal carcinoma remains unclear. The SETD1A overexpression vector, si-NC, si-SETD1A#1, and si-SETD1A#2 were transfected into nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells to overexpress or knockdown SETD1A expression. The assay of biofunction was used to explore the role of SETD1A in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. The assay of glucose uptake, lactate release, ATP level, western blot, cell proliferation, and cellular apoptosis analysis were performed to investigate the potential mechanism of SETD1A regulation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This study was the first to show that SETD1A was upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and the overexpression of SETD1A significantly promoted the cell proliferation and glycolysis and suppressed the cellular apoptosis. Moreover, SETD1A enhances aerobic glycolysis and cell biological function of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. SETD1A induced PI3K/AKT activation and subsequently prevented cellular apoptosis. In conclusion, this study identified overexpressed SETD1A as a positive regulator of proliferation that induced nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells’ aerobic glycolysis via PI3K/AKT signaling activation in vitro. This study laid a strong foundation for unveiling the precise anticancer mechanism of SETD1A. The SETD1A may become a novel biomarker for further inhibitor design to obstruct the PI3K/AKT-dependent nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression.
Legalbewährung ehemaliger Maßregelvollzugs-patienten nach einer Verhältnismäßigkeits-erledigung gem. § 67 d Abs. 6 Strafgesetzbuch
Authors: Querengässer Jan , Hein Nora , Schiffer Boris
Published: November 2022

2016 erfolgte eine Novellierung des Rechts der Unterbringung in einem psychiatrischen Krankenhaus. Dabei wurden die Voraussetzungen für eine Erledigung der Maßregel gem. § 63 StGB aus Gründen der Unverhältnismäßigkeit explizit geregelt. Seither kam es gerade in Nordrhein-Westfalen zu zahlreichen Entlassungen, die auf dieser Grundlage erfolgten. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht anhand von Bundeszentralregisterauszügen die Legalbewährung aller in diesem Bundesland zwischen August 2016 und Juli 2018 entsprechend entlassenen Patienten in einem mittleren Beobachtungszeitraum von knapp 4 Jahren. Verglichen wird diese Gruppe einerseits mit bewährungsentlassenen Patienten derselben Entlasskohorte und andererseits mit einer gematchten Gruppe aus entlassenen Patienten früherer Jahre. Das Matching dieser Zwillingsgruppe erfolgte u. a. hinsichtlich der Delikt- und Diagnosenverteilung. Während von den Bewährungsentlassenen lediglich 9 % erneute Eintragungen im BZR aufwiesen, liegt diese Quote bei den »Erledigern« mit 28 % knapp dreimal so hoch. Fast dasselbe Verhältnis ergibt sich im direkten Zwillingsgruppenvergleich. Entsprechende Diskrepanzen in den Überlebenszeitanalysen zeigen sich auch auf allen anderen erhobenen Parametern (einschlägige, Gewalt- und Sexualdelikte sowie unterschiedliche Sanktionsformen als Schätzer der Deliktschwere). Da die Zwillingsgruppenvergleiche diese Befunde bestätigen, scheinen die Unterschiede nicht ausschließlich durch Selektionseffekte erklärbar zu sein. Eine Verhältnismäßigkeitserledigung bzw. deren strukturell-systemische Implikationen scheinen somit aus anderen Gründen einen Risikofaktor für eine ungünstige Legalbewährung darzustellen.
Adieu Wegwerfwirtschaft – Nachhaltige Produktkreisläufe in der Cloud organisieren
Authors: Rollenmüller Jens
Published: November 2022

Egal ob Dekarbonisierung oder die Umstellung auf eine Kreislaufwirtschaft, die erfolgreiche Umsetzung von Nachhaltigkeitszielen erfordert detaillierte und stets aktuelle Einblicke in Produktlebenszyklen. Eine moderne, cloudbasierte und damit anpassungsfähige Software für das Product Lifecycle Management liefert genau diese. Das Ziel ist eine digitale Überwachung und Steuerung des Produktkreislaufs vom Rohmaterial bis zum Recycling.