bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study on the Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Haemonchus Contortus Infection in Small Ruminants in Mitto District, Silte Zone, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: mussa solomon musema
Published: September 2022

Background

This study will provide helpful information about status of H. contortus and essential risk factors in small ruminants. Thus, the study would contribute to design prevention and control of Haemonchosis in small ruminants and enhance awareness to the community. Moreover, veterinarians and other researcher will be benefited by getting such research information. The regional and national disease controllers can use these study findings in their policy making and planning activities during disease control programs.

Results

The present study revealed that the overall prevalence of H. contortus in small ruminants was 46.1%, which indicated a high prevalence of the parasite in the study area. Of the examined animals, 52.1% sheep and 33.1% goats were found positive showing a statistically significant difference in prevalence (P < 0.05). Similarly the prevalence of H. contortus between sexes and age groups showed significant difference (P < 0.05) 51.4% in females and 36.3% in males, between age 6 % in young and 35.5% in adult and 44.1% in old respectively. Meanwhile statically significant variation was recorded of the prevalence among the categories of BC, poor 81.6%, medium 33.3% and 16.3% good. Moreover, the prevalence of H. contortus showed significant variation (p < 0.05) among the kebeles of the study areas Seso 57.3%, Adeneba 52.1%, G/gogilo 40.6%, and G/shefode 34.4%.

Conclusions

In this study revealed that Haemonchosis is a prevalent gastrointestinal parasite of small ruminants in the study areas. Therefore, due to its important health problem and impact on production in the study area, emphasis should be given to the control and prevention of H. contortus infection with further studies on species identification and larval ecology.
Semiparametric Trend Analysis for Stratified Recurrent Gap Times under Weak Comparability Constraint
Authors: Liu Peng , Huang Yijian , Chan Kwun Chuen Gary , Chen Ying Qing
Published: September 2022

Recurrent event data are frequently encountered in many longitudinal studies where each individual may experience more than one event. [1] proposed a comparability constraint to estimate the time trend for the gap times, where the gap time pairs that satisfy the constraint have the same conditional distribution. However, the comparable paired gap times are also independent. Therefore, the comparable gap time pairs will be subject to a stronger constraint than needed for the estimation. Thus their procedure is subject to information loss. Under the accelerated failure time model, we propose a new comparability constraint that can overcome the drawback mentioned above. The gap time pairs being selected by the proposed comparability constraint will still have the same distribution, but they do not need to be independent of each other. We prove that the new estimator will still be unbiased. However, the variance will be smaller than [1]’s estimator. Thus our method is superior to [1]. Numerical studies also confirm the theoretical findings. We apply the proposed method to the HIV Prevention Trial Network 052 study.
Comparative Genomics Reveals New Insights into the Evolution of the IncA and IncC Family of Plasmids
Authors: Zhang Fengwei , Ye Xianwei , Yin Zhiqiu , Hu Mingda , Wang Boqian , Liu Wenting , Li Beiping , Ren Hongguang , Jin Yuan , Yue Junjie
Published: September 2022

Incompatibility groups IncA and IncC plasmids are of great concern due to their ability to disseminate antibiotic resistance in bacteria via conjugative transfer. A deep understanding of their genomic structures and evolutionary characteristics is of great significance for improving our knowledge about its multidrug-resistance evolution and dissemination. However, current knowledge of their backbone structure, features of core functional modules and the characteristics of variable regions is based on a few plasmids, which highlights the need for a comprehensive systematic study. The present study thoroughly compared and analysed 678 IncA and IncC plasmid genomes. We found that their core functional genes were occasionally deficient and sometimes existed as multiple functional copies/multiple families, which resulted in much diversity. The phylogeny of 13 core functional genes corresponded well to the plasmid subtypes. The conjugative transfer system gained diverse complexity and exhibited many previously unnoticed types with multiple combinations. The insertion of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in plasmids varied between types and was present in 4 hotspots in different types of plasmids with certain types of transposons, integrons and insertion sequences. The impact of gene duplication, deletion, the insertion of MGEs, genome rearrangement and recombination resulted in the complex dynamic variable backbone of IncA and IncC plasmids. And IncA and IncC plasmids were more complex than their closest relative SXT/R391 integrative conjugative elements (ICEs), which included nearly all of the diversity of SXT/R391 in key systems. Our work demonstrated a global and systematic view of the IncA and IncC plasmids and provides many new insights into their genome evolution. IMPORTANCE The incompatible plasmid groups IncA and IncC are of great concern for spread and dissemination of multi-drug resistant phenotypes among diverse bacterial species via conjugative transfer. A deep understanding of their genomic structures and evolutionary features based on large-scale plasmids sequences is of great significance for improving our knowledge about its multidrug-resistance evolution and dissemination. The present study showed their core functional genes and conjugative transfer system possess much diverse complexity than typical depicted. And the backbone of IncA and IncC plasmids were complex dynamic that were influenced by gene duplication and loss, the insertion of MGEs which varied between plasmids types and genomic hotspots, genome rearrangement and recombination. Compared to their closest relative SXT/R391 ICEs, IncA and IncC plasmids included nearly all of its diversity in key systems. Our work demonstrated a global and systematic view of the IncA and IncC plasmids and revealed many previously unknown features and diversity.
A lesson in humility: The added values of PET-MRI over PET-CT in detecting malignant hepatic lesions
Authors: Cohen Dan , Kesler Mikhail , Kurash Marina Muchnik , Even-Sapir Einat , Levine Charles
Published: September 2022

Purpose: The recent introduction of integrated PET-MRI systems into practice seems promising in oncologic imaging. Efforts are made to specify the added-values of this modality. The current study evaluates the added-values of PET-MRI over PET-CT in detecting active malignant hepatic lesions.
Methods: As part of an ongoing prospective study in our institution that assesses the added-values of PET-MRI over PET-CT, subjects undergo whole-body PET-CT and subsequent dedicated PET-MRI after single radiotracer injection. The current study included 97 consecutive paired [18F]FDG PET-CT and liver PET-MRI scans (of 61 patients) interpreted as showing active malignant hepatic involvement. Primary malignancies were of colorectal/biliary/pancreatic/breast/other origins in 19/9/9/7/17 patients. Eighty-six paired scans were performed for monitoring response to therapy. When PET-MRI detected additional malignant lesions over PET-CT, lesions size, the main advantage PET-MRI offered, and the influence on the final report were recorded.
Results: In 37/97 (38.1%) cases, a total of 78 malignant lesions were reported based on PET-MRI data only. The improved detectability on PET-MRI was evident in three groups of lesions: (1) [18F]FDG-avid lesions seen on PET of PET-MRI but not on PET of PET-CT (11 cases, 19 lesions); (2) small lesions (≤0.8cm) identified by MRI only (14 cases, 37 lesions); (3) lesions >0.8cm with low/no [18F]FDG-uptake categorized as viable based on MRI (12 cases, 22 lesions). These lesions caused major effect on final reports in 11/97 (11.3%) cases, changing reported response assessment category (10/86 cases) or defining malignant hepatic disease on staging/restaging scans (1/11 cases).
Conclusion: PET-MRI offers several advantages over PET-CT in assessing the extent and response to therapy of malignant hepatic involvement. Additional malignant lesions are detected by PET-MRI due to better PET performance, greater spatial resolution provided by MRI, and improved multi-parametric viability assessment of lesions. In around one-tenth of cases, such findings significantly change the final report's conclusion.
PRM-based quantitative proteomics analysis of altered HSPs expression in villi and decidua of early missed abortion patients
Authors: Chen Xiao-Fang , Chen Xiao-Qing , Luo Hai-Lian , Xia Li-Na , Huang Shu-hui
Published: September 2022

Objective: In this study，we aimed to identify differentially expressed heat shock proteins (HSPs) profile in the villi and decidua from early missed abortion(EMA) patients.
Methods: By using high-throughput and high-precision Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM)-based targeted proteomics technique, this study studied the expressions of HSPs in villi and decidua of 10 EMA patients and 10 controls. Meanwhile, the expressions of 3 HSPs in villi of another 22 EMA patients and 22 controls were verified with Western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC).
Results:Compared with the control group, there were potential differences in the expressions of 16 HSPs and 42 polypeptides in human villi and decidua. Among them, HSP90AB1, HSPD1 and HSPA13 were down-regulated in expressions in villi of EMA patients, with a statistically significant difference, which was consistent with the verification results of Western blot and IHC.
Conclusion: Using PRM- based targeted proteomics technique, this study for the first time screens and quantitatively analyzes the expression profile of HSPs in villi and decidua of patients with EMA. The significant down-regulated expressions of HSP90AB1, HSPD1 and HSPA13 are discovered to have a potentially intimate association with the occurrence of EMA. Findings in our study may provide novel potential research targets related to HSPs for the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of EMA.
Stepwise requirements for Polymerases δ and θ in Theta-mediated end joining
Authors: Ramsden Dale , Stroik Susanna , Carvajal-Garcia Juan , Gupta Dipika , Luthman Adam , Wyatt David , Feng Wanjuan , Kunkel Thomas , Gupta Gaorav , Rothenberg Eli
Published: September 2022

Timely repair of chromosomal double strand breaks is required for genome integrity and cellular viability. The Polymerase Theta-mediated End Joining pathway has an important role in resolving these breaks and is essential in cancers defective in other DNA repair pathways, thus is an emerging therapeutic target. It requires annealing of 2-6 nucleotides of complementary sequence – microhomologies – that are adjacent to the broken ends, followed by initiation of end-bridging DNA synthesis by Polymerase theta. However, the other pathway steps remain inadequately defined, and the enzymes required for them are unknown. Here we demonstrate additional requirements for exonucleolytic digestion of unpaired 3’ tails before Polymerase theta can initiate synthesis, then a switch to a more accurate, processive, and strand-displacing polymerase to complete repair. We show the replicative polymerase, Polymerase delta, is required for both steps; its 3’ to 5’ exonuclease activity for flap trimming, then its polymerase activity for extension and completion of repair. The enzymatic steps that are essential and specific to this pathway are mediated by two separate, sequential engagements of the two polymerases. We show the requisite coupling of these steps together is facilitated by physical association of the two polymerases. This pairing of Polymerase Delta with a polymerase capable of end-bridging synthesis, Polymerase theta, may explain why the normally high-fidelity Polymerase delta participates in genome de-stabilizing processes like mitotic DNA synthesis and microhomology-mediated break induced replication.
Surface Energy Driven Grain Growth Model: FePt L10 Nanoparticles
Authors: Skelland Connor , Hrkac Gino
Published: September 2022

We developed a grain growth model that is based on the energy minimisation of surfaces with respect to the volume energy and the grain's environment. We used the well known FePt L10 system to discover the physical factors that drive the shape and size of FePt grains. It was found that the preferred growth directions are along symmetry planes that are determined by the basic crystal and driven by surface energy minimisation. The model developed here can be used to predict a grain's growth and shape as a function of atomic number and composition. This means that by tailoring a grain's surface and grain boundaries the shape of the magnetic grains can be manipulated.
Immunization with matrix-, nucleoprotein and neuraminidase protects against H3N2 influenza challenge in pH1N1 pre-exposed pigs
Authors: Vatzia Eleni , Feest Katherine , McNee Adam , Manjegowda Tanuja , Carr B Veronica , Pauday Basu , Chrun Tiphany , Maze Emmanuel , Morris Susan , Everett Helen , MacLoughlin Ronan , Salguero Francisco , Lambe Teresa , Gilbert Sarah , Tchilian Elma
Published: September 2022

There is an urgent need for influenza vaccines providing broader protection that may decrease the need for annual immunization. We investigated the efficacy of heterologous prime boost immunization with chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAdOx2) and modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vectored vaccines, expressing conserved influenza virus nucleoprotein (NP), matrix protein 1 (M1) and neuraminidase (NA) in H1N1pdm09 pre-exposed pigs. We compared the efficacy of intra-nasal, aerosol and intra-muscular vaccine delivery against H3N2 influenza challenge. Aerosol prime boost immunization induced strong local lung T cell and antibody responses and abrogated viral shedding and lung pathology following H3N2 challenge. In contrast, intramuscular immunization induced powerful systemic responses and weak local lung responses but also abolished lung pathology and reduced viral shedding. These results provide valuable insights into the development of a broadly protective influenza vaccine in a highly relevant large animal model and will inform future vaccine and clinical trial design.
Characterization of a novel Escherichia coli recombineering selection/counterselection cassette
Authors: Zhang Guoyi , Zhang Qiong , Wang Junyu , Zhang Jiao , Shang Guangdong
Published: September 2022

Recombineering is a highly efficient DNA cloning and modification technique by using the recombinase-mediated homologous recombination. Selection/counterselection cassette is often used in chromosomal DNA or large episomal DNA manipulation, in which the selection marker is used for the first step cassette selection, while the counterselection marker is used for the second step replacement of the cassette by the target gene. A variety of selection/counterselection cassettes are reported, however, they suffer from the shortcomings of the requirement of pre-engineered strain or specific culture medium. Herein, we report a novel S-tetR-ptetA-ccdB-aacC1-S selection/counterselection cassette that sidesteps the shortcomings. As a proof-of-concept, one-step gene cloning (0.7 kb, 1.7 kb, and 4.2 kb) and two-step Escherichia coli chromosomal gene knock-in (0.7 kb and 4.2 kb) were performed. The gene cloning and gene knock-in efficiencies are high up to 90%. The cassette adds a powerful tool to the recombineering repertoire.
HIV-Sero-prevalence trend among blood donors in Federal Area of Pakistan in 2022
Authors:   Marina Panezai1
Published: September 2022

Although blood transfusion is one of the known therapeutic interventions that cuts across a number of clinical disciplines. It is necessary to test all intending blood donors for HIV infection before donation. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV among blood donors at PIMS Blood Bank, Islamabad,Pakistan. A retrospective study was conducted in PIMS Blood Bank through the year 2022. Sera from blood donors were tested for the detection of Anti HIV by using Abott ELISA. Data were abstracted from records and analyzed using Microsoft Excel sheet. From the total of 18500 screened blood samples collected, the prevalence of HIV in blood donors in the blood bank was 0.001% in the 2022 from January to July. The age groups 16-23 and 33-41 were the highest prevalence and the age group 45-54 was the lowest prevalence of HIV infection. The prevalence of HIV among male was higher than in female donors . The trend of HIV infection was decreasing for both male and female blood donors.The prevalence of HIV infections among blood donors is still high in this study setting, and needs constant monitoring to evaluate prevention and control strategies to reduce the burden of transfusion-transmissible HIV infections.
Federated learning for 5G-enabled infrastructure inspection with UAVs
Authors: Lekidis Alexios
Published: September 2022

Electricity infrastructures include assets that require frequent maintenance, as they are exposed into heavy use, in order to produce energy that satisfies customer demands. Such maintenance is currently performed by specialized personnel that is scaffolding to spot damages or malfunctioning equipment. Scaffolding is time-consuming and incurs accident risks. To tackle this challenges, grid operators are gradually using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). UAV trajectories are observed by a centralized operation center engineers for identifying electrical assets. Moreover, asset identification can be further automated through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. However, centralized training of AI models with UAV images may cause inspection delays when the network is overloaded and requires Cloud environments with enough processing power for model training on the operation center. This imposes privacy concerns as sensitive data is stored and processed externally from the infrastructure facility. This article proposes a federated learning method for UAV-based inspection that leverages a Multi-access Edge Computing platform installed in edge nodes to train UAV data and improve the overall inspection autonomy. The method is applied for the inspection of the Public Power Corporation's Innovation Hub. Experiments are performed with the proposed method as well as with a centralized AI inspection method and demonstrate the federated learning benefits in reliability, AI model processing time and privacy conservation.
Decentralized Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning: A Competitive-Game Perspective
Authors: Longa Marc Espinós , Tsourdos Antonios , Gokhan Inalhan
Published: September 2022

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has been widely studied in single agent learning but require further development and understanding in the multi-agent field. As one of the most complex swarming settings, competitive learning evaluates the performance of multiple teams of agents cooperating to achieve certain goals while surpassing the rest of group candidates. Such dynamical complexity makes the multi-agent problem hard to solve even for niche DRL methods. Within a competitive framework, we study state-of-the-art actor-critic and Q algorithms and analyze in depth their variants (e.g., prioritization, dual networks, etc.) in terms of performance and convergence. For completeness of discussion, we present and assess an asynchronous and prioritized version of proximal policy optimization actor-critic technique (P3O) against the other benchmarks. Results prove that Q-based approaches are more robust and reliable than actor-critic configurations for the given setting. In addition, we suggest incorporating local team communication and combining DRL with direct search optimization to improve learning, especially in challenging scenarios with partial observations.
Does Endorsement from Political Elites Affect Tweeting Behaviour? Studying the Effects of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Tweets in 2019
Authors: Neyazi Taberez Ahmed , Ee Tan Khai , Haque Mohammad Amaan
Published: September 2022

Does interactivity on Twitter by political elites yield dividends either in terms of a direct outcome (winning elections) or an indirect outcome (political mobilizations)? We answer this question using a unique dataset of Twitter users (N=27,640) who were among those thanked for their support by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweets on 16thMarch, 2019 during his campaigning for the general election. We extracted tweets (tweets, retweets and replies) from these users from 10thJanuary (beginning of the campaign) to 19th May 2019 (the day the election ended), which yielded a total of 36.62 million tweets, and proceeded to classify these users based on their activeness on Twitter, for a comprehensive analysis of their Twitter activity over a period of 18 weeks to understand the impact of Modi’s intervention. A controlled intervention analysis using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models was carried out with a control group comprising a similar set of Twitter users (N=27,610) supporting Modi's campaign, but were not mentioned by Modi. Our results suggest that, on average, the aggregate number of tweets shared by users had increased after mentions by Modi. However, our findings do not provide any evidence for the prominence of the activation behavior among less active Twitter users. We discuss the implications of our findings for the use of Twitter by political elites during electoral campaigns. Inferences about political activity on Twitter may also offer important insights into overall political activeness outside Twitter, as evidenced by the use of Twitter activity to capture social trends validated by other studies.
White Blood Cells and Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Mendelian Randomization Study
Authors: Pongdee Thanai , Bielinski Suzette J , Decker Paul A , Kita Hirohito , Larson Nicholas B
Published: September 2022

Background
Risk factors for the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) remain largely undetermined, which is likely due to the heterogeneity of the disease. White blood cell counts have been largely unexplored as a risk factor for CRS even though different types of white blood cells are involved in the inflammatory process of CRS.
Objective
To investigate causal associations between different types of white blood cells on risk of CRS utilizing a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.
Methods
A two-sample MR analysis was performed using respective GWAS summary statistics for the exposure traits (neutrophil count, eosinophil count, basophil count, lymphocyte count, and monocyte count) and outcome trait (CRS). For the exposure traits, the European Bioinformatics Institute database of complete GWAS summary data was used. For the outcome trait, summary statistics for CRS GWAS were obtained from FinnGen. Primary analysis for MR was performed using inverse-variance weighted two-sample MR. Sensitivity analyses included weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO (raw and outlier-corrected).
Results
Eosinophils were associated with CRS (OR = 1.55 [95%CI 1.38,1.73]; p = 4.3E-14). Eosinophil results were similar across additional MR methods. MR results did not demonstrate significant causal relationships between neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, or basophils with CRS. No significant pleiotropic bias was observed.
Conclusions
In a two-sample MR analysis, a potential causal link between blood eosinophil counts and CRS has been demonstrated. In addition, causal relationships between blood counts among other white blood cell types and CRS were not found. Further studies involving genetic variation in CRS are needed to corroborate genetic causal effects for CRS.
Effects of Climate Change on Temperature and Precipitation in the Lake Toba Region Based on ERA5-Land Data with Quantile Mapping Bias Correction
Authors: Irwandi Hendri , Rosid Mohammad Syamsu , Mart Terry
Published: September 2022

Climate change is a serious problem that can cause global variations in temperature and rainfall patterns. This global variation can affect the water availability of lakes. In this study, trends in temperature and rainfall in the Lake Toba area for 40 years (1981–2020) were analyzed using ERA5-Land data corrected with observation station data utilizing the quantile mapping bias correction method. Corrected ERA5-Land data were used in this study to show spatial patterns and trends. The Mann-Kendall and Sen slope tests were carried out to see the magnitude of the trend. A comparison of temperature and rainfall against their baseline period (1951–1980) was also investigated. The results of this study show that climate change has affected the trend of increasing temperature and rainfall in the Lake Toba area, with an increase in temperature of 0.006°C per year and an average rainfall of 0.71 mm per year. In general, significant changes in the increase of temperature and rainfall occurred in the last decade, with an increase in temperature of 0.24°C and rainfall of 22%. The study of the impact of climate change expected to be useful for policymakers in managing water resources in the Lake Toba area.
Cross-validation of correlation networks using modular structure
Authors: Neuman Magnus , Jonsson Viktor , Calatayud Joaquín , Rosvall Martin
Published: September 2022

Correlation networks derived from multivariate data appear in many applications across the sciences. These networks are usually dense and require sparsification to detect meaningful structure. However, current methods for sparsifying correlation networks struggle with balancing overfitting and underfitting. We propose a module-based cross-validation procedure to threshold these networks, making modular structure an integral part of the thresholding. We illustrate our approach using synthetic and real data and find that its ability to recover a planted partition has a step-like dependence on the number of data samples. The reward for sampling more varies non-linearly with the number of samples, with minimal gains after a critical point. A comparison with the well-established WGCNA method shows that our approach allows for revealing more modular structure in the data used here.
Improving quality of life post-tumor craniotomy using personalized, parcel-guided TMS: safety and proof of concept
Authors: Tang Si Jie , Holle Jonas , Lesslar Olivia , Teo Charles , Sughrue Michael , Yeung Jacky
Published: September 2022

Purpose
Deficits in neuro-cognitive function is not uncommon for patients who have undergone surgical removal of brain tumors. Our goal is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) as a non-invasive tool for the treatment of neuro-cognitive dysfunction following craniotomy.
Methods
We present a retrospective review of individualized rTMS in twelve patients from Cingulum Health from December 2019 to July 2021 who presented with new onset neuro-cognitive deficits following craniotomy. Multiple cortical targets were selected based on the patient’s neurological disorder, associated networks, and anomalies in the functional connectivity of the brain as determined by machine-learning. TMS treatment was performed for 5 consecutive days. EuroQol quality of life (EQ-5D), functional extremity scales, and neuropsychiatric questionnaires related to the patient’s deficit were assessed prior to, after, and during two-month follow-up of rTMS treatment.
Results
Nine patients had unilateral functional deficits in either upper, lower, or both limbs. One patient reported post-operative depression, another experienced short term memory difficulties, and a third reported hypobulia. All twelve patients reported significantly improved EQ5D after rTMS treatment and during follow-up. More than half of the patients with lower and upper functional deficits had a 9-point improvement during follow-up. In the patient who developed depression, an 88% reduction in depressive symptoms based on the Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) was observed during follow-up. No adverse events, such as seizures, occurred.
Conclusion
The personalized functional connectivity approach to rTMS treatment may be effective and safe for patients with post-craniotomy neuro-cognitive dysfunction.
Terahertz Channel Performance in Emulated Falling Rain
Authors: Li Peian , Wang Jianchen , Zhao Liangbin , Ma Jianjun , Sun Houjun , Bu Xiangyuan , An Jianping
Published: September 2022

The ever-increasing capacity demand (up to Tbps) in wireless connectivity is supposed can be satisfied by using terahertz frequency band ranging from 100 GHz to 10 THz. This has been proved over short channel distances in laboratory with high order modulation schemes (such as QPSK, QAM) employed. However, in outdoor adverse weathers, investigations on channel performance are not enough due to difficulties in outdoor measurements, and then more concentrations are still required. In this article, we report performance of terahertz channels in emulated falling rain in our lab by utilizing a broadband-pulsed terahertz channel and a 16-QAM modulated data stream. We observe that, the variability of raindrop size distribution is a major source of uncertainty in theoretical precipitation. We also find that the channel degradation in falling rain is mainly due to power attenuation, instead of phase dispersion which is negligible in our measurement.
Machine learning prediction and statistical analysis of redox modifications in proteins
Authors:   , Keßler Marcus D.
Published: September 2022

Sprache Englisch Reactive oxygen species are a class of naturally occurring, highly reactive molecules that change the structure and function of macromolecules. This can often lead to irreversible intracellular damage. Conversely, they can also cause reversible changes through post-translational modification of proteins which are utilized in the cell for signaling. Most of these modifications occur on specific cysteines. Which structural and physicochemical features contribute to the sensitivity of cysteines to redox modification is currently unclear. Here, I investigated the in uence of protein structural and sequence features on the modifiability of proteins and specific cysteines therein using statistical and machine learning methods. I found several strong structural predictors for redox modification, such as a higher accessibility to the cytosol and a high number of positively charged amino acids in the close vicinity. I detected a high frequency of other post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation and ubiquitination, near modified cysteines. Distribution of secondary structure elements appears to play a major role in the modifiability of proteins. Utilizing these features, I created models to predict the presence of redox modifiable cysteines in proteins, including human mitochondrial complex I, NKG2E natural killer cell receptors and proximal tubule cell proteins, and compared some of these predictions to earlier experimental results.
Mobile banking behavioral usage intention among South African Generation Y consumers
Authors: van Deventer Marko
Published: September 2022

Mobile technology developments have altered the traditional financial services and retail banking sectors. Mobile banking is a popular and robust service delivery model, allowing consumers access to banking from anywhere and anytime. Irrespective of the benefits, usage intentions determine mobile banking success. As such, this paper attempts to test a structural model of the factors influencing mobile banking behavioral usage intention among a growing and essential segment of banking consumers, namely Generation Y. To this end, data were collected from a convenience sample of 334 South African Generation Y mobile banking consumers using a survey questionnaire. Using analysis of moment structures, the path analysis results indicated that perceived self-efficacy, behavioral control, structural assurance and trust have a statistically significant favorable influence on the target population’s mobile banking attitude, which, in turn, has a statistically significant positive effect on their mobile banking behavioral usage intention. In addition, all the model fit indices of this original and unique structural model were indicative of acceptable fit (IFI, TLI, CFI and NFI > 0.90). South African retail banks can use the study’s findings to add value to their mobile banking offering, especially when targeting the Generation Y banking cohort, which is believed to drive digital channels such as mobile banking.
AVALIAÇÃO DA ADUBAÇÃO NITROGENADA E INFLUÊNCIA DE LÂMINAS DE IRRIGAÇÃO NAS CARACTERÍSTICAS AGRONÔMICAS E PRODUTIVIDADE DO MILHO SAFRINHA
Authors: Biancho Lucas Estevam , De Souza Raquel Nogueira , De Carvalho Jaqueline Bonfim , Donatoni Kaique Augusto Poltronieri , Souza Higor Nogueira de , Nakao Allan Hisashi
Published: September 2022

O milho é um cereal que necessita de grandes quantidades de nutrientes principalmente o nitrogênio. Assim, o trabalho objetivou avaliar as características agronômicas e produtividade do milho safrinha, com épocas de aplicações de nitrogênio e lâminas de água. Foi conduzido no Núcleo de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (NEPE) / UNIFUNEC. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados, com 4 repetições, em um esquema fatorial 4x4 totalizando 16 tratamentos. O primeiro fator avaliado foi diferentes épocas de aplicação da ureia (14, 7, 1 dias antes da aplicação da lâmina de água e 1 dia após aplicação da lâmina de água). O segundo fator avaliado consistiu em quatro diferentes lâminas de irrigação (5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm e 20 mm). Avaliaram-se as características agronômicas (Altura da planta e inserção da primeira espiga; diâmetro do colmo; massa de 100 grãos), estande de plantas, diâmetro e comprimento de espiga, número de grãos e fileiras por espiga e produtividade. Os dados foram submetidos à ANOVA pelo teste de F, com médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. A aplicação de diferentes épocas de utilização de nitrogênio não alterou as características agronômicas, massa de cem grãos e produtividade do milho. Diferenças significativas foram observadas para as lâminas de água na variável produtividade, ajustando-se em modelo matemático do tipo quadrático. Assim, melhores resultados para a produtividade foram observados pela lâmina de 13,39 mm. Esses resultados sugerem a adoção da lâmina de água a partir da referida quantidade, podem promover incremento na produtividade.
A VULNERABILIDADE DOS POVOS INDÍGENAS DO NORTE PERANTE AO GARIMPO ILEGAL: UMA ANÁLISE SOCIOAMBIENTAL DOS EFEITOS DO GARIMPO NA VIDA DOS POVOS YANOMAMI.
Authors: Fontes Yago Magalhães
Published: September 2022

Perante aos recentes eventos políticos ocorridos, tanto a recessão econômica quanto a pandemia de COVID19, uma questão tem se agravado sem nenhuma interferência relevante ou que impedisse o empiorar da situação, sendo essa questão a vulnerabilidade dos povos indígenas decorrente da flexibilização das políticas ambientais e ausência de aplicação de políticas de saúde e segurança, resultando em consequências para a integridade física e cultural desses mesmos povos. Especificamente se tratando dos povos Yanomami localizados em sua maioria no estado de Roraima na região do norte brasileiro, a ação do garimpo tem sido extremamente prejudicial tanto para a vivência desses povos quanto para o meio ambiente em si, onde já foram relatados casos de perda de território e envenenamento por mercúrio por conta dos resíduos de garimpo na água. Tendo em vista todos esses fatores esse estudo de caso possui como objetivo demonstrar em um primeiro instante os riscos do garimpo para o meio ambiente, posteriormente, os riscos para os povos indígenas e por fim quais foram as medidas que foram responsáveis pelo agravamento da situação.
A FORÇA MAREMOTRIZ: UMA VIA ALTERNATIVA PARA A CAPTAÇÃO DE ENERGIA NO BRASIL PERANTE AS AMEAÇAS DE CRISES HÍDRICAS.
Authors: Fontes Yago Magalhães
Published: September 2022

O cenário atual de captação de energia no Brasil possui uma grande dependência da fonte de energia hidrelétrica, sendo um país tão extenso e podendo explorar diversas formas de energia alternativa, é visível possibilidade de mudança desse cenário tornando o país mais autossustentável. Tal fragilidade e dependência de somente uma forma de captação de energia demonstra riscos graves que podem afetar tanto a qualidade de vida dos cidadãos quanto a própria economia do país somente com uma crise hídrica. Por essa razão, o atual estudo propõe uma visão de como seria o uso da energia maremotriz para que seja diminuída a dependência do uso da energia hidrelétrica para o sustento do país, onde primeiramente serão apresentados as qualidades e defeitos do uso dessa forma de energia, como ela ocorre, e posteriormente como poderia ser aplicada com maior relevância no cenário elétrico do Brasil.
DIÁRIO DE ESTÁGIO NA DISCIPLINA DE ENFERMAGEM EM SAÚDE DA CRIANÇA E DO ADOLESCENTE
Authors: Macedo Luis Fernando Reis , Fernandes Maria Neyze Martins , Albuquerque Thais Rodrigues de , Alves Cicera Clareliz Gomes , Oliveira Cicera Rejane Tavares de , Silva Darly Suyane Felix , Alves Luana de Souza
Published: September 2022

RESUMO: Os estágios curriculares em programas de enfermagem são atividades nas quais os alunos podem desenvolver as habilidades científicas e práticas, aperfeiçoando suas técnicas ao longo de sua graduação. Este estudo busca relatar as atividades desenvolvidas em campus de estágio da disciplina de enfermagem em saúde da criança e do adolescente. As atividades de estágio foram desenvolvidas em 5 campus: Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Infantil- CAPSi (cidade de Barbalha, Ceará), Unidade Estratégia Saúde da Família Dr. Fábio Pinheiro Esmeraldo (cidade de Crato, Ceará), Hospital e Maternidade São Lucas (cidade de Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará), Hospital São Camilo (cidade de Crato), Unidade Estratégia Saúde da Família Vila Lobo (cidade de Crato, Ceará). Cada campus de estágio estava subdividido em áreas distintas que envolvem a saúde da criança, como: saúde mental pediátrica, internação pediátrica, puericultura, sala de vacinação, neonatologia, urgência pediátrica e internação pediátrica. Cada subárea foi supervisionada por um professor da disciplina, totalizando cinco docentes da Universidade Regional do Cariri. As práticas da disciplina de Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente, possibilitaram o desenvolvimento técnico e científico dos futuros profissionais enfermeiros. O estágio curricular foi uma oportunidade de conhecimento de diversos campus de atuação da classe, com atividades desenvolvidas na assistência de enfermagem, concretizando o que foi passado na teoria em sala de aula. É importante ressaltar que a prática do cuidado à criança no curso de enfermagem é uma ação fundamental nas grades curriculares e que merece ser fomentada de forma obrigatória para o fortalecimento técnico e científico dessa classe.
ENERGIA EM ALTO MAR: CONSIDERAÇÕES SOBRE A IMPLANTAÇÃO DE USINAS SOLARES OFFSHORE E SEUS EFEITOS
Authors: Fontes Yago Magalhães
Published: September 2022

Dentre os avanços tecnológicos relacionados ao setor de captação de energia ditas sustentáveis, as usinas solares offshore demonstram uma maior capacidade de captação por obter mais espaço para implantação das placas além de oferecer menor poluição visual. No entanto sua implantação ainda carrega outras consequências de usinas solares terrestres além de poder afetar pontos relacionados ao meio ambiente marítimo. Esse artigo demonstra o que é a captação de energia solar offshore, sua implantação e seus efeitos para seu entorno, mais precisamente sua implantação no Brasil motivada pelo Projeto de Lei n° 576, de 2021, projeto esse que prevê a práticas das usinas de energia offshore na costa brasileira.
PERSONAGEM REPÓRTER: A NARRATIVA E O PROTAGONISMO NOS "BASTIDORES DA NOTÍCIA" DE PROFISSÃO REPÓRTER
Authors: Souza Táttyla , Aquino Davidson , Padilha David Camilo , Moraes Lauro
Published: September 2022

Este artigo analisa o programa Profissão Repórter (Rede Globo) na perspectiva da autorreferenciação, identificando como “o fazer autoral” do repórter ganha contornos diferentes se comparado à formatação da notícia tradicional em televisão. Tem-se que as narrativas jornalísticas, a partir de ações e capacidade de interferência do repórter no acontecimento, geram esses “novos modos de fazer”, dando ao repórter um lugar de protagonismo. Metodologicamente essa pesquisa trabalha através da análise de conteúdo embasada numa revisão bibliográfica, tendo, em dois recortes realizados em duas reportagens do programa, referências para a proposta de identificação. O que se constata numa perspectiva positiva é a possibilidade de outras formas de narrar no telejornalístico atual a partir das experiências de Profissão Repórter.
The Oil Factor in Relations between the Azerbaijan Republic and the RSFSR
Authors:   National Museum of History of Azerbaijan, Jabbarov Farhad R. oglu
Published: September 2022

Relations between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Soviet Republic of Russia can be conditionally divided into two stages. The first stage covers the period from the declaration of independence of Azerbaijan in May 1918 to moving of the national government to Baku in September 1918, and the second — from September 1918 to the fall of the Azerbaijan Republic in April 1920. At both stages, the oil was often the key factor in relations between the two states. Although the Soviet Russia did not recognize the Azerbaijan Republic, ruling circles in Baku were in favor of establishing relations with Moscow. This desire was primarily due to economic reasons, since the Russian market was the main consumer of Baku oil. By the beginning of 1920, the Red Army had defeated Denikin and approached the borders of the South Caucasus countries. Under such circumstances, the Moscow made an attempt to involve Azerbaijan in the civil war in the south. Simultaneously, the Bolsheviks power combined this policy with the establishment of the first economic contacts. Thus, it was in 1920 that negotiations were held in Baku for the export of oil products to Astrakhan. The Azerbaijani government agreed to maintain economic contacts with the Soviet Russia without establishing diplomatic relations. However, subsequent events showed that all these negotiations and missions were a tactical maneuver by Soviet Russia aimed at lulling the vigilance of the Azerbaijani government and creating an impression of the absence of aggressive intentions.
The End of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
Authors:   Kobe University, Fujisawa Jun ,   Chelyabinsk State University
Published: September 2022

This paper analyzes the negotiations within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance during the final years of its existence, focusing on the Soviet reform proposals and M. S. Gorbachev’s vision of the “Common European Home” as well as on Eastern European reaction to them. In the second half of the 1980s, Gorbachev tried to found a “unified market” for the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance by introducing a market-oriented reform of the organization. However, this attempt did not materialize because of the East German and Romanian objections. After the collapse of Eastern European socialist regimes in 1989, the Soviet leadership urged the member-states to accelerate the reform of this international organization, hoping to achieve the pan-European economic integration through close cooperation between the totally reformed Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the European Community. Although the Central European countries, namely Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland, aspired to join the EC individually, they agreed to participate in a successor organization of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance because the EC was not ready to accept them. Accordingly, by the beginning of 1991, all the member-states agreed to establish a consultative organization, which would be named the Organization for International Economic Cooperation). However, as the Soviet Union failed to sustain trade with the Central European countries, the three countries lost interest in the project. As a result, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was disbanded without any successor organization. In other words, it did not collapse automatically after 1989 but came to an end as a result of various factors, such as rapidly declining trade between the member-states, Western disinterest in the cooperation with it, and the Central European policy changes.
Crisis resilient strategy: Lessons from the pandemic
Authors:   Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kobylko Aleksander A.
Published: September 2022

Some managers argue that the need for a long-term planning in enterprises is decreasing due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis. The analysis of the strategic planning theory does not provide precise recommendations how to counter such a phenomenon. The research is aims at the analysis of existing approaches to the formation of a strategy resistant to long-term risk factors such as a pandemic and taking specific measures to form a sustainable strategy. The format of the strategy has an important role in solving this problem: the formulation of the key indicators of this document. Modern Russian surveys show that modern strategy is a constantly changing document. A strategy format depends on the size of the company. The classical strategic theory is typical of large corporations. However, small companies treat strategy as a vision. The study provides solutions to resilient strategy based on the size of the enterprise such as the transition from a limited strategy to a termless strategy. This document will include a set of strategic decisions on business diversification, cooperation with partners and competitors, etc.
Macro talent management: Literature review
Authors:   St. Petersburg State University, Kuleshov Nikita A. , Latukha Marina O. ,   St. Petersburg State University
Published: September 2022

This literature review is devoted to the analysis of the existing empirical studies in areas related to Macro Talent Management and its research directions. The study presents a systematic literature review of 150 empirical papers in peer-reviewed journals for the period from 2011 to 2021. Macro Talent Management is a complex phenomenon that combines different interrelated processes at country and organization levels. Socio-economic and cultural macro factors have a significant impact on human capital mobility, which can be represented as talent attraction and retention processes and, therefore, as a component of Macro Talent Management. At the same time, human capital mobility itself influences the indicators of countries and regions’ development at macro level. At country level, talent development requires joint actions of state institutions and organizations, while Macro Talent Management system can affect the countries’ economic indicators. However, it can be concluded that the literature lacks a sufficiently detailed consideration of the implementation of Macro Talent Management system; the impact of characteristics of political regimes and cultural characteristics on formation of Macro Talent Management in different countries is not fully described, as well as the influence of Macro Talent Management on innovative development at macro level is studied generally. This review allows researchers to clarify issues related to the subject of Macro Talent Management and the existing gaps in the literature. As a result of the analysis, we identified several areas for further research. First, it is important to study the mechanisms of inter-level interaction in talent management both in terms of human capital mobility and talent development within a country. It is also necessary to study in detail the influence of political and cultural characteristics in countries as conditions for the implementation of these activities by agents. Finally, the impact of talent management on innovation development at macro level has been studied rather generally, without considering the impact of specific processes on innovation activity of particular countries.