bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Single‐cell RNA sequencing of retina revealed novel transcriptional landscape in high myopia and underlying cell‐type‐specific mechanisms
Authors: Yao Yunqian , Chen Zhenhua , Wu Qingfeng , Lu Yi , Zhou Xingtao , Zhu Xiangjia
Published: September 2023

High myopia is a leading cause of blindness worldwide with increasing prevalence. Retina percepts visual information and triggers myopia development, but the underlying etiology is not fully understood because of cellular heterogeneity. In this study, single‐cell RNA sequencing analysis was performed on retinas of mouse highly myopic and control eyes to dissect the involvement of each cell type during high myopia progression. For highly myopic photoreceptors, Hk2 inhibition underlying metabolic remodeling from aerobic glycolysis toward oxidative phosphorylation and excessive oxidative stress was identified. Importantly, a novel Apoe+ rod subpopulation was specifically identified in highly myopic retina. In retinal neurons of highly myopic eyes, neurodegeneration was generally discovered, and the imbalanced ON/OFF signaling driven by cone‐bipolar cells and the downregulated dopamine receptors in amacrine cells were among the most predominant findings, indicating the aberrant light processing in highly myopic eyes. Besides, microglia exhibited elevated expression of cytokines and TGF‐β receptors, suggesting enhanced responses to inflammation and the growth‐promoting states involved in high myopia progression. Furthermore, cell–cell communication network revealed attenuated neuronal interactions and increased glial/vascular interactions in highly myopic retinas. In conclusion, this study outlines the transcriptional landscape of highly myopic retina, providing novel insights into high myopia development and prevention.
The extreme solutions for a σ‐Hessian equation with a nonlinear operator
Authors: Zhang Xinguang , Chen Peng , Wu Yonghong , Wiwatanapataphee Benchawan
Published: September 2023

The aim of this paper is to study the existence of extreme solutions and their properties for a general
‐Hessian equation involving a nonlinear operator. By introducing a suitable growth condition and developing a iterative technique, some new results on existence and asymptotic estimates of minimum and maximum solutions are derived. Moreover, we also establish the iterative sequences that converge uniformly to the extreme solutions.
TMM: A comprehensive CAD system for hepatic fibrosis 5‐grade METAVIR staging based on liver MRI
Authors: Liu Hui , Fu Yaqing , Guo Dongmei , Li Shuo , Jin Yilin , Zhang Aoran , Wu Chengjun
Published: September 2023

Background

Precise staging of hepatic fibrosis with MRI is necessary as it can assist precision medicine. Computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system with distinguishing radiomics features and radiologists domain knowledge is expected to obtain 5‐grade meta‐analysis of histological data in viral hepatitis (METAVIR) staging.

Purpose

This study aims to obtain the precise staging of hepatic fibrosis based on MRI as it predicts the risk of future liver‐related morbidity and the need for treatment, monitoring and surveillance. Based on METAVIR score, fibrosis can be divided into five stages. Most previous researches focus on binary classification, such as cirrhosis versus non‐cirrhosis, early versus advanced fibrosis, and substantial fibrosis or not. In this paper, a comprehensive CAD system TMM is proposed to precisely class hepatic fibrosis into five stages for precision medicine instead of the common binary classification.

Methods

We propose a novel hepatic fibrosis staging CAD system TMM which includes three modules, Two‐level Image Statistical Radiomics Feature (TISRF), Monotonic Error Correcting Output Codes (MECOC) and Monotone Multiclassification with Deep Forest (MMDF). TISRF extracts radiomics features for distinguishing different hepatic fibrosis stages. MECOC is proposed to encode monotonic multiclass by making full use of the progressive severity of hepatic fibrosis and increase the fault tolerance and error correction ability. MMDF combines multiple Deep Forest network to ensure the final five‐class classification, which can achieve more precise classification than the common binary classification. The performance of the proposed hepatic fibrosis CAD system is tested on the hepatic data collected from our rabbits models of fibrosis.

Results

A total of 140 regions of interest (ROI) are selected from MRI T1W of liver fibrosis models in 35 rabbits with F0(n = 16), F1(n = 28), F2(n = 29), F3(n = 44) and F4(n = 23). The performance is evaluated by five‐fold cross‐validation. TMM can achieve the highest total accuracy of 72.14% for five fibrosis stages compared with other popular classifications. To make a comprehensive comparison, a binary classification experiment have been carried out.

Conclusions

T1WI can obtain precise staging of hepatic fibrosis with the help of comprehensive CAD including radiomics features extraction inspired by radiologists, monotonic multiclass according to the severity of hepatic fibrosis, and deep learning classification.
Delays Starting Postoperative Radiotherapy Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis
Authors: Duckett Kelsey A. , Kassir Mohamed Faisal , Nguyen Shaun A. , Brennan Emily A. , Chera Bhishamjit S. , Sterba Katherine R. , Hughes Halbert Chanita , Hill Elizabeth G. , McCay Jessica , Puram Sidharth V. , Sandulache Vlad C. , Kahmke Russel , Ramadan Salma , Nussenbaum Brian , Alberg Anthony J. , Graboyes Evan M.
Published: September 2023

Objective

Initiating postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) within 6 weeks (42 days) of surgery is the first and only Commission on Cancer (CoC) approved quality metric for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). No study has systematically reviewed nor synthesized the literature to establish national benchmarks for delays in starting PORT.

Data Sources

Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses guidelines, we performed a systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL.

Review Methods

Studies that described time‐to‐PORT or PORT delays in patients with HNSCC treated in the United States after 2003 were included. Meta‐analysis of proportions and continuous measures was performed on nonoverlapping datasets to examine the pooled frequency of PORT delays and time‐to‐PORT.

Results

Thirty‐six studies were included in the systematic review and 14 in the meta‐analysis. Most studies utilized single‐institution (n = 17; 47.2%) or cancer registry (n = 16; 44.4%) data. Twenty‐five studies (69.4%) defined PORT delay as >6 weeks after surgery (the definition utilized by the CoC and National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines), whereas 4 (11.1%) defined PORT delay as a time interval other than >6 weeks, and 7 (19.4%) characterized time‐to‐PORT without defining delay. Meta‐analysis revealed that 48.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 41.4‐55.9) of patients started PORT > 6 weeks after surgery. Median and mean time‐to‐PORT were 45.8 (95% CI, 42.4‐51.4 days) and 47.4 days (95% CI, 43.4‐51.4 days), respectively.

Conclusion

Delays in initiating guideline‐adherent PORT occur in approximately half of patients with HNSCC. These meta‐analytic data can be used to set national benchmarks and assess progress in reducing delays.
Body image dissatisfaction and academic buoyancy in adolescents: The mediating roles of social anxiety and basic psychological needs satisfaction
Authors: Zhao Dan , Bai Baoyu , Bai Chengzhi
Published: September 2023

Academic buoyancy has a significant and stable effect on adolescent academic achievement. Thus, it is vital to examine the antecedent variables of academic buoyancy. However, little research has examined the effect of body image dissatisfaction on academic buoyancy. This study investigates the link between body image dissatisfaction and academic buoyancy in Chinese adolescents, focusing on the mediating roles of social anxiety and basic psychological needs satisfaction. Using the Negative Physical Self Scale, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale, and the Academic Buoyancy Scale, questionnaires were administered to 516 high school students in Henan and Hunan provinces in China. The results revealed that: (1) basic psychological needs satisfaction mediated the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and academic buoyancy among Chinese adolescents; (2) social anxiety and basic psychological needs satisfaction had a serial mediating role between body image dissatisfaction and academic buoyancy among Chinese adolescents. This research provides a pioneering exploration of the effect of body image dissatisfaction on academic buoyancy and its mechanisms. Implications for secondary school education practices and directions for future research are discussed.
Automated hanging water column for characterizing water retention and hysteresis of coarse‐textured porous media
Authors: Dixon Chihiro , Blakeslee Adam , Mills Melanie , Sheng Wenyi , Jones Scott B.
Published: September 2023

Modeling and characterizing hysteretic water retention is critical for predicting hydrodynamic behavior in porous media. This is especially true in coarse‐textured media used in geotechnical engineering, greenhouse, and landscape industries, where subtle changes in water status may lead to plant stress. However, based on the traditional hanging water column method, water retention measurements are laborious and time consuming because of the stepwise manual water potential adjustments and wait‐time requirements for equilibrium conditions to develop. Therefore, we designed and fabricated an automated system to collect wetting‐ and drying‐water retention data from coarse porous media. The basic system consisted of (1) a compound pressure transducer (± 70‐cm range) providing both the porous medium's volumetric water content (θ) and matric potential (h) determinations, (2) a 70‐cm linear actuator to vertically position a 50‐mL burette, and (3) a diffuse laser distance sensor positioned by a 10‐cm linear actuator to monitor the burette's vertical position relative to the sample position. This automated system determined the initial drying process beginning with a fully saturated sample (h = 0 cm) and determined subsequent wetting‐ and drying‐water retention curves. Our automated water retention measurements in quartz sand (ASTM C778‐21) exhibited maximum‐ and minimum‐standard deviation in θ of 0.013 and 0.00044 cm3 cm−3, respectively. Parameters of the hysteretic water retention model of quartz sand were characterized using repeated measurements. Results of this research included the creation of an automated water retention system and the well‐characterized hydraulic parameters for the original well‐graded and narrowly sieved particle sizes of quartz sand.
Base station location generation algorithm for satellite‐terrestrial co‐existence studies
Authors: Singh Bhadouria Vijay , Chakraborty Sucharita , Buch Saket D. , Chandra Bera Subhash
Published: September 2023

The enormous growth of mobile broadband traffic is a catalyst for expanding terrestrial communication systems and their integration with satellite communication systems. This results in sharing frequencies allocated to satellite communication systems with terrestrial systems. As this can lead to interference between the incumbent and the upcoming service, coexistence studies are conducted. In the case of sharing satellite uplink frequencies with terrestrial communication systems, interference from base stations (BSs) is dominant. While there are methods to estimate the number of BSs that may be deployed, it is unclear where the BSs will be located. The BS locations play a pivotal role in interference calculation, as the values of link budget parameters are highly dependent on the longitude and latitude of interfering transmitters. This article presents an intelligent method which balances network capacity and coverage for simulating base stations (BSs) in coexistence studies. A realistic BS distribution is generated using weighted K‐means clustering (WKMC) algorithm and incorporating population density along with Haversine distance. The paper provides a case study of co‐frequency, co‐coverage interference in the satellite uplink in the C‐band to demonstrate the impact of BS distribution on the results of coexistence studies. This paper will find applications in upcoming frequency sharing and coexistence studies and the design of integrated satellite‐terrestrial communication networks.
Gain insight into managing challenges involving fraternities, sororities
Authors: McCarthy Claudine
Published: September 2023

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA — Hazing, defamation claims, due process, Title IX, and new state laws make for a complicated legal relationship between higher education institutions and fraternities and sororities. That's according to Micah E. Kamrass, Esq., Partner at Manley Burke, LPA, and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Louisville and Vanderbilt University, who discussed best practices for managing this challenging area during his presentation at Stetson University's National Conference on Law and Higher Education.
Did court dismiss Title IX erroneous outcome claim?
Authors: Lyerly Eric
Published: September 2023

John Doe was a Stonehill College football player. While at the college, John Doe developed a friendship with a female student, Jane Roe. On three separate occasions, John Doe and Jane Roe engaged in consensual sexual contact.
Pre‐trained language models: What do they know?
Authors: Guimarães Nuno , Campos Ricardo , Jorge Alípio
Published: September 2023

Large language models (LLMs) have substantially pushed artificial intelligence (AI) research and applications in the last few years. They are currently able to achieve high effectiveness in different natural language processing (NLP) tasks, such as machine translation, named entity recognition, text classification, question answering, or text summarization. Recently, significant attention has been drawn to OpenAI's GPT models' capabilities and extremely accessible interface. LLMs are nowadays routinely used and studied for downstream tasks and specific applications with great success, pushing forward the state of the art in almost all of them. However, they also exhibit impressive inference capabilities when used off the shelf without further training. In this paper, we aim to study the behavior of pre‐trained language models (PLMs) in some inference tasks they were not initially trained for. Therefore, we focus our attention on very recent research works related to the inference capabilities of PLMs in some selected tasks such as factual probing and common‐sense reasoning. We highlight relevant achievements made by these models, as well as some of their current limitations that open opportunities for further research.

This article is categorized under:

Fundamental Concepts of Data and Knowledge > Key Design Issues in Data Mining

Technologies > Artificial Intelligence
Pediatric Malignancies
Authors: Nadel Helen , Shulkin Barry , Bar-Sever Zvi , Giammarile Francesco
Published: September 2023

The most common childhood malignancy is leukemia (30%), followed by brain tumors (20%), lymphomas, both Hodgkin’s (HL) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) (14%), neuroblastoma (7%), soft tissue sarcoma (7%), Wilms’ tumor (6%), bone tumors (5%), germ cell tumors (3%), melanoma (3%), and hepatic tumors (1%). Their incidence varies according to patient age. Less common pediatric malignancies include head and neck cancer, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), germ cell tumors, neurofibromatosis type 1 with suspected malignant transformation, adrenocortical carcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, carcinoid, insulinoma, and pheochromocytoma (Steliarova-Foucher et al., Lancet Oncol 18(6):719–731, 2017; Institute, NC. https://nccrexplorer.ccdi.cancer.gov/). Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid tumor in young children. It is a NET derived from the primitive neural crest. Although currently MIBG is embedded and required by international therapy protocols for patients with neuroblastoma and has a large body of evidence proving its validity and usefulness, PET tracers such as FDOPA, FDG, and 68Ga-peptides are increasingly used in imaging of neuroblastoma (Pai Panandiker et al., Clin Nucl Med 40(9):737–739, 2015). Additional pediatric NETs include ganglioneuroma, bronchial carcinoid (most common primary malignant pulmonary tumor in children), abdominal carcinoid (rare), pheochromocytoma, and PPGL. Approximately 75% of juvenile nasopharyngeal carcinomas also express surface membrane SSTRs. FDG-PET/CT is the scintigraphic study of choice for the assessment of lymphoma and sarcoma.
QCD axion-mediated dark matter
Authors: Dror Jeff A. , Gori Stefania , Munbodh Pankaj
Published: September 2023

Abstract

A QCD axion with a decay constant below 1011 GeV is a strongly-motivated extension to the Standard Model, though its relic abundance from the misalignment mechanism or decay of cosmic defects is insufficient to explain the origin of dark matter. Nevertheless, such an axion may still play an important role in setting the dark matter density if it mediates a force between the SM and the dark sector. In this work, we explore QCD axion-mediated freeze-out and freeze-in scenarios, finding that the axion can play a critical role for setting the dark matter density. Assuming the axion solves the strong CP problem makes this framework highly predictive, and we comment on experimental targets.
AdS7 black holes from rotating M5-branes
Authors: Bobev Nikolay , David Marina , Hong Junho , Mouland Rishi
Published: September 2023

Abstract

We construct a general asymptotically locally AdS7 stationary black hole solution of 7d maximal gauged supergravity with three angular momenta and two electric charges. When embedded in 11d supergravity the black hole describes the backreaction of N coincident rotating M5-branes. We study the thermodynamic properties of the black hole and present explicit expressions for its entropy, energy, electric charges, and angular momenta. We show that in the supersymmetric limit of the solution its entropy and on-shell action precisely agree with the result for the path integral of the holographically dual 6d $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= (2, 0) SCFT on S1× S5 to leading order in the large N limit.
Reduction of tumor volume during radiotherapy in patients with small-cell lung cancer and its prognostic significance
Authors: Kandler Christian , Elsayad Khaled , Evers Georg , Siats Jan , Kittel Christopher , Scobioala Sergiu , Bleckmann Annalen , Eich Hans Theodor
Published: September 2023

Background

Several studies have reported the potential prognostic significance of tumor volume reduction ratio (VRR) induced by radiotherapy (RT) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. However, there are no data yet on the prognostic significance of volumetric shrinkage in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). This study aimed to demonstrate the correlation between tumor volume reduction ratio and treatment outcomes.

Materials and methods

The study included 61 patients with SCLC treated with fractionated RT of the primary tumor at our institution between 2013 and 2020. The relationship between volumetric changes in gross tumor volume (GTV) during radiotherapy and outcomes were analyzed and reported.

Results

The median radiation dose was 59.4 Gy (median fraction dose was 1.8 Gy). The median GTV before radiotherapy was 74 cm3, with a median GTV reduction of 48%. There was a higher VRR in patients receiving concurrent radiochemotherapy (p = 0.05). No volumetric parameters were identified as relevant predictors of outcome in the entire cohort. In multivariate analysis, only age had an impact on survival, while prophylactic whole-brain radiation influenced the progression-free survival significantly.

Conclusion

Concurrent chemotherapy was associated with a higher VRR than sequential chemotherapy. No significant impact of VRR on patients’ outcome or survival was detected.
Effect of applied standard wood machining fluid on colour and chemical composition of the machined wood surface
Authors: Chuchala Daniel , Sommer Agata , Orlowski Kazimierz A. , Staroszczyk Hanna , Mania Szymon , Sandak Jakub
Published: September 2023

Appropriate monitoring of wood machining processes is a key issue to ensure the expected quality of the processed wood, expected efficiency and minimize energy consumption of production processes. A new trend is the design of environmentally friendly machining fluids. In this paper, as a preliminary study in this field, the effect of applied standard wood machining fluid on changes in the colour and chemical composition of the machined wood surface is presented. Scots pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) was used for this research. Colour measurements were carried out based on the three-axis CIELab system test in time intervals and coefficients such as: colour chroma (Cab*), colour saturation (Sab*), colour hue (h°), and total colour changes (ΔE*). Changes in chemical composition were analysed on the Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR). The results confirmed that standard machining fluids cause a significant change in the colour of the treated pine surface, which decreases over time but is still present even after 24 h. For the spectral analysis, no chemical changes were observed between the machining fluid and the wood. However, the fluid particles remained in the wood after 24 h. In order to reduce the effect of the machining fluid on the colour of the wood, its composition should be changed to allow and/or accelerate the evaporation of their components from the treated wood surface.
Neurosurgical treatment of pediatric brain tumors - results from a single center multidisciplinary setup
Authors: Schaumann A. , Hammar C. , Alsleben S. , Schulz M. , Grün A. , Lankes E. , Tietze A. , Koch Arend , Hernáiz Driever P. , Thomale U.-W.
Published: September 2023

Objective

The challenge of pediatric brain tumor surgery is given due to a relative low prevalence but high heterogeneity in age, localization, and pathology. Improvements of long-term overall survival rates were achieved during the past decades stressing the importance of a multidisciplinary decision process guided by a national treatment protocol. We reviewed the entire spectrum of pediatric brain tumor surgeries from the perspective of an interdisciplinary pediatric neuro-oncology center in Germany.

Methods

Every patient who underwent brain tumor surgery from January 2010 to June 2017 in our Pediatric Neurosurgery department was retrospectively included and evaluated regarding the course of treatment. Perioperative data such as tumor localization, timing of surgery, extent of resection, neuropathological diagnosis, transfusion rates, oncologic and radiation therapy, and neurological follow-up including morbidity and mortality were evaluated.

Results

Two hundred ninety-three pediatric brain tumor patients were applicable (age: 8.28 ± 5.62 years, 1.22:1.0 m:f). A total of 531 tumor surgical interventions was performed within these patients (457 tumor resections, 74 tumor biopsies; mean interventions per patient 1.8 ± 1.2). Due to a critical neurologic status, 32 operations (6%) were performed on the day of admission. In 65.2% of all cases, tumor were approached supratentorially. Most frequent diagnoses of the cases were glial tumors (47.8%) and embryonal tumors (17.6%). Preoperative planned extent of resection was achieved in 92.7%. Pre- and postoperative neurologic deficits resolved completely in 30.7%, whereas symptom regressed in 28.6% of surgical interventions. New postoperative neurologic deficit was observed in 10.7%, which resolved or improved in 80% of these cases during 30 days. The mortality rate was 1%.

Conclusion

We outlined the center perspective of a specialized pediatric neuro-oncological center describing the heterogeneous distribution of cases regarding age-related prevalence, tumor localization, and biology, which requires a high multidisciplinary expertise. The study contributes to define challenges in treating pediatric brain tumors and to develop quality indicators for pediatric neuro-oncological surgery. We assume that an adequate volume load of patients within a interdisciplinary infrastructure is warranted to aim for effective treatment and decent quality of life for the majority of long-term surviving pediatric tumor patients.
The application of lasers in vital pulp therapy: a review of histological effects
Authors: Afkhami Farzaneh , Rostami Golriz , Xu Chun , Walsh Laurence J. , Peters Ove A.
Published: September 2023

Vital pulp therapy (VPT) is primarily intended to preserve the vitality of pulp tissues, which have been exposed for any reason. Various materials and techniques have been proposed to improve treatment outcomes, including the use of lasers. This study aimed to review the histological results of different dental lasers including low-level lasers, carbon dioxide (CO2), erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser (Er:YAG), neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG), erbium, chromium:yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) lasers, and diode lasers for VPT. This focused review included a comprehensive electronic search of Scopus, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases from 2000 to 2022 by two independent investigators. Different combinations of keywords were used, and reference mining of related papers was done. The review included studies related to histologic evaluation of laser-assisted vital pulp therapy that stated the laser parameters that were used. Articles with radiographic or clinical assessments or articles lacking necessary data were excluded. Non-English articles were excluded unless their abstract was in English and encompassed the necessary data. Most studies indicated the efficacy of lasers for reduction of inflammation, acceleration of healing, and increasing the thickness of dentinal bridge. According to the evidence, lasers used in combination with pulp capping agents are beneficial to enhance the success rate of VPT.
Dipeptidyl-peptidase 3 and IL-6: potential biomarkers for diagnostics in COVID-19 and association with pulmonary infiltrates
Authors: Staudner Stephan T. , Leininger Simon B. , Vogel Manuel J. , Mustroph Julian , Hubauer Ute , Meindl Christine , Wallner Stefan , Lehn Petra , Burkhardt Ralph , Hanses Frank , Zimmermann Markus , Scharf Gregor , Hamer Okka W. , Maier Lars S. , Hupf Julian , Jungbauer Carsten G.
Published: September 2023

Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spread worldwide, causing a respiratory disease known as COVID-19. The aim of the present study was to examine whether Dipeptidyl-peptidase 3 (DPP3) and the inflammatory biomarkers IL-6, CRP, and leucocytes are associated with COVID-19 and able to predict the severity of pulmonary infiltrates in COVID-19 patients versus non-COVID-19 patients. 114 COVID-19 patients and 35 patients with respiratory infections other than SARS-CoV-2 were included in our prospective observational study. Blood samples were collected at presentation to the emergency department. 102 COVID-19 patients and 28 non-COVID-19 patients received CT imaging (19 outpatients did not receive CT imaging). If CT imaging was available, artificial intelligence software (CT Pneumonia Analysis) was used to quantify pulmonary infiltrates. According to the median of infiltrate (14.45%), patients who obtained quantitative CT analysis were divided into two groups (> median: 55 COVID-19 and nine non-COVID-19, ≤ median: 47 COVID-19 and 19 non-COVID-19). DPP3 was significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients (median 20.85 ng/ml, 95% CI 18.34–24.40 ng/ml), as opposed to those without SARS-CoV-2 (median 13.80 ng/ml, 95% CI 11.30–17.65 ng/ml; p < 0.001, AUC = 0.72), opposite to IL-6, CRP (each p = n.s.) and leucocytes (p < 0.05, but lower levels in COVID-19 patients). Regarding binary logistic regression analysis, higher DPP3 concentrations (OR = 1.12, p < 0.001) and lower leucocytes counts (OR = 0.76, p < 0.001) were identified as significant and independent predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection, as opposed to IL-6 and CRP (each p = n.s.). IL-6 was significantly increased in patients with infiltrate above the median compared to infiltrate below the median both in COVID-19 (p < 0.001, AUC = 0.78) and in non-COVID-19 (p < 0.05, AUC = 0.81). CRP, DPP3, and leucocytes were increased in COVID-19 patients with infiltrate above median (each p < 0.05, AUC: CRP 0.82, DPP3 0.70, leucocytes 0.67) compared to infiltrate below median, opposite to non-COVID-19 (each p = n.s.). Regarding multiple linear regression analysis in COVID-19, CRP, IL-6, and leucocytes (each p < 0.05) were associated with the degree of pulmonary infiltrates, as opposed to DPP3 (p = n.s.). DPP3 showed the potential to be a COVID-19-specific biomarker. IL-6 might serve as a prognostic marker to assess the extent of pulmonary infiltrates in respiratory patients.
The lost historical archives of the City of Szczecin
Authors: Gut Paweł , Gaziński Radosław
Published: September 2023

The article is devoted to the historical archives of the city of Szczecin (Stettin), lost at the end of World War II. The authors try to recreate the circumstances of the disappearance of the Szczecin records, their internal structure, as well as indicate the limitations that the loss of these materials poses for contemporary historians. The paper also shows the process of shaping the municipal archives in Szczecin, as well as the reasons and conditions in which the municipal authorities transferred their historical records to the State Archives in Szczecin. The issue is considered against the background of changes taking place in Prussian archival science in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and taking into account the history of other selected municipal archives in Germany. The most important achievement of the presented material is the description of the lost historical archive of Szczecin.
Optimizing process flow diagrams to guide implementation of a colorectal cancer screening intervention in new settings
Authors: O’Leary Meghan C. , Hassmiller Lich Kristen , Reuland Daniel S. , Brenner Alison T. , Moore Alexis A. , Ratner Shana , Birken Sarah A. , Wheeler Stephanie B.
Published: September 2023

Purpose

The goal of this study was to assess acceptability of using process flow diagrams (or process maps) depicting a previously implemented evidence-based intervention (EBI) to inform the implementation of similar interventions in new settings.

Methods

We developed three different versions of process maps, each visualizing the implementation of the same multicomponent colorectal cancer (CRC) screening EBI in community health centers but including varying levels of detail about how it was implemented. Interviews with community health professionals and practitioners at other sites not affiliated with this intervention were conducted. We assessed their preferences related to the map designs, their potential utility for guiding EBI implementation, and the feasibility of implementing a similar intervention in their local setting given the information available in the process maps.

Results

Eleven community health representatives were interviewed. Participants were able to understand how the intervention was implemented and engage in discussions around the feasibility of implementing this type of complex intervention in their local system. Potential uses of the maps for supporting implementation included staff training, role delineation, monitoring and quality control, and adapting the components and implementation activities of the existing intervention.

Conclusion

Process maps can potentially support decision-making about the adoption, implementation, and adaptation of existing EBIs in new contexts. Given the complexities involved in deciding whether and how to implement EBIs, these diagrams serve as visual, easily understood tools to inform potential future adopters of the EBI about the activities, resources, and staffing needed for implementation.
The Emotionally Sensitive Child-Adverse Parenting Experiences-Allostatic (Over)Load (ESCAPE-AL) Model for the Development of Secondary Psychopathic Traits
Authors: Kimonis Eva R.
Published: September 2023

Understanding and treatment of antisocial behavior have improved through efforts to subtype individuals based on similar risk factors and outcomes. In particular, the presence of psychopathic traits is associated with distinct etiological factors and antisocial behavior that begins early in life, is aggressive, persistent, and less likely to normalize with traditional treatments, relative to individuals low on psychopathy or its childhood precursor, callous-unemotional (CU) traits. However, important distinctions can be made within individuals with CU/psychopathic traits according to the presence of elevated anxiety symptoms and/or adverse childhood experiences, known as secondary psychopathy/CU traits. This paper provides a broad and brief overview of theory and empirical literature supporting the existence of secondary psychopathy/CU variants as a distinct subtype of childhood antisocial behavior. It outlines the Emotionally Sensitive Child-Adverse Parenting Experiences-Allostatic (Over)Load (ESCAPE-AL) model for the developmental psychopathology of secondary psychopathic/CU traits and discusses research and theory supporting this perspective. Future research directions for testing this conceptual model and its implications for assessing and treating high-risk individuals with secondary CU/psychopathic traits are discussed.
Employing animation-based TE to activate Chinese children’ cognitive-involvement in L2 feature acquisition
Authors: Zhou Xiongjun , Xiao Yunxia , Zheng Mengxue , Liang Zhijie , Sun Bo , Yang Juan
Published: September 2023

A substantial amount of literature has shown that the input flooding and enhancement (Textual enhancement, TE) technique helps learners to perceive and acquire target features implicitly. Previous studies explored the efficacy of computer-assisted TE interventions in Second Language Acquisition with diverse techniques, but animation has not yet been sufficiently taken into consideration. In this paper, we developed an animation-based TE intervention to promote the primary school children’ acquisition of the linguistic features of English question sentences. The results suggested that learners in experimental group improved their performances in producing questions and statements with a large effect size, as they were found to spontaneously put extra efforts in exploring the related knowledge of the visually enhanced forms. The study presumed that the animation-based TE intervention would stimulate participants’ awareness and curiosity of the target forms, which consequently led to improved performance in tasks both involving precursor knowledge and newly acquired knowledge.
Impact of ICT and social networks on students: An analysis of gender-based attitudinal profiles
Authors: Mulero-Henríquez Itahisa , Pérez-Solís Rocío , Falcon Samuel
Published: September 2023

High levels of Internet usage are prevalent among young people. Alongside this increased use, dangerous attitudes and practices among students have been observed. This study aimed to analyse the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among high school students, their attitudes, and the relationship with gender. A sample of 869 participants aged 11 to 18 was selected, and we developed the Internet Use and Attitudes Scale for Virtual Social Networks (VSN). This scale comprises subscales assessing VSN dependence, parental control, enhancement of social relationships, and engagement in violent behaviour and consumption of inappropriate content. After validating this scale, we employed latent profile analysis to discern unique behavioural and attitudinal profiles among the students. The analysis yielded three distinct groups. The majority (66%) fell into the “Positive Attitude” group (52% female, 48% male). The “Negative Attitude” group represented 29% (49.5% female, 50.5% male), and the “Dangerous Attitude” group comprised 5% (28.3% female, 71.7% male). The “Dangerous Attitude” profile exhibited the highest levels of VSN dependency, violence, and inappropriate content consumption. Males were overrepresented in this category. These findings provide greater insight into problematic Internet use among students, revealing gender disparities. Males were more likely to engage in dangerous online activities like cyberbullying and accessing inappropriate content. Targeted interventions addressing negative attitudes and violent cyberbehaviours are needed, especially for male students. This research enriches our understanding of youth’s online habits, attitudes, and risks.
Online or not online: the impact of business owner’s risk preference on the adoption of e-business
Authors: Yang Wei , Wang Le , Zhang Xian
Published: September 2023

The significant growth of internet users has driven businesses to develop their capacity in e-commerce and meet the increasing demand for e-consumption, e-services, and e-business. To gain the benefits of e-business, firms may choose to extend or transit their offline-operated businesses to online or hybrid modes. Opportunities are accompanied by risks in this process. Therefore, it is important to understand how business owners’ financial risk preferences affect their choice of business operation models, namely, online and offline operations. Using data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) in 2017 and 2019, this study examined the impacts of business owners’ risk preferences on e-business adoption, considering social insurance as a moderator on the relationship between risk effect and online business operation. In addition, we used heterogeneity examination to test for regional differences between rural and urban areas. Our results show that, compared to high-risk takers, low-risk takers are less likely to choose online or hybrid businesses; and having social insurance reduces the effect of risk preference on adopting e-business. This finding indicates social insurance may provide financial security to business owners with low-risk preferences and makes them more likely to adopt online business, whilst it may distort adoption incentives for high- and medium-risk groups. Results of the heterogeneity examination suggest a discrepancy in the risk preference effect on the adoption of e-business between the rural and urban areas: the impact of risk preference is found to be significantly higher on businesses in the rural area than those in the urban area.
Spatial distribution of major and trace elements in artificial lakes in Serbia: health risk indices and suitability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes
Authors: Marković Goran , Kostić Aleksandar Ž. , Pantelić Nebojša Đ. , Maletić Radojka , Štrbački Jana , Cakić Jovan , Kaluđerović Lazar , Dojčinović Biljana P. , Giuffrè Angelo Maria , Popović-Djordjević Jelena B.
Published: September 2023

Lakes and reservoirs are the main water resources for household, irrigation, and industrial use. Hence, it is necessary to control water pollution and have reliable information on water quality, which refers to its suitability for a particular purpose. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes from ten artificial lakes on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The physicochemical parameters were determined using standard analytical methods, whereas the optical emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma, ICP-OES, was used to determine the concentrations of 23 macro-, micro-, and trace elements in water. Health risk indices of drinking water and its suitability for irrigation purposes were evaluated. The results of physicochemical parameters, except for total organic matter, indicated that most samples were within the recommended values. Among analyzed elements, the concentration of Mg was elevated in the water of the lakes Srebrno and Prvonek. The results of health risk assessment clearly showed that there was no acute health risk (HQA < 1), whereas long-term risk (HQL) in the studied lakes was observed with respect to As (lakes Grlište and Srebrno), Mn (lakes Srebrno and Prvonek), Ni (Lake Vrutci), and Sr (Lake Grlište). The irrigation criteria indicated that the water from the examined lakes had satisfactory quality for this purpose, except for residual sodium carbonates (RSC). This criterion indicated low quality or unsuitability of the water in 7 lakes. The main outcomes provided valuable information on the suitability of water from the artificial lakes for intended uses.
The effect of riparian forest on landscape connectivity for the EPT community across European regions
Authors: Peredo Arce Andrés , Kail Jochem , Tasser Erich , Feio Maria João , Palt Martin , Schletterer Martin
Published: September 2023

Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera are three orders of freshwater macroinvertebrates with a short terrestrial adult life-stage that they use to disperse by flying upstream. This aerial dispersal can be assisted by native riparian forest, but regional variation has not yet been empirically tested. In this study we compared the EPT community of 153 sampling sites located in freshwater streams in four European regions (Central Plains, Central Highlands, Alps, Iberia). In each site, we assessed the EPT community dispersal ability using the Species Flying Propensity index. We also calculated the native deciduous forest cover in the riparian buffer and several environmental stressors such as saprobic pollution or catchment anthropization. Finally, we tested which of these parameters have a significant effect on the EPT community. In the Central Highlands and in Iberia, the share of weak dispersers increased with native deciduous forest cover, indicating a positive effect on dispersal of EPTs. In the Central Plains and the Alps, no such effect was found. We conclude that the effect of native deciduous forest depends on regional landscape characteristics and the regional species pool, but considering the dispersal of the regional EPT communities is needed to create effective river management policies.
Electrochemical sensor based on ZrO2/ionic liquid for ultrasensitive simultaneous determination of metoclopramide and paracetamol in biological fluids
Authors: Sawan Haya S. , Merey Hanan A. , Mahmoud Amr M. , Atty Shimaa A.
Published: September 2023

A novel electrode, carbon paste electrode modified with a nanocomposite of zirconium dioxide nanoparticles and ionic liquid (ZrO2NP/IL/CPE), has been fabricated and used to determine both the paracetamol (PAR) and metoclopramide (MCP) mixture in bulk powder, pharmaceutical formulations, and biological fluids. Furthermore, it is the first reported method to determine the paracetamol in presence of its toxic impurities (i.e., p-aminophenol and p-chloroacetanilide) simultaneously. Square wave (SWV) and cyclic voltammetric (CV) techniques were used to investigate the effect of scan rate, concentration, and pH in order to optimize sensor’s response. The calibration curves were obtained in both low and wide concentration ranges from (0.1–200 nM) to (3.0–100.0 µM) for both drugs with limit of detection (LOD) as low as 28 and 29 pM and limit of quantification (LOQ) 93 and 97 pM for PAR and MCP, respectively. The proposed sensor was used to assess PAR, MCP, and paracetamol toxic impurities in human plasma, urine samples, and pharmaceutical formulations with satisfactory results showing a broad dynamic linear range from 100 pM to 100 µM with high sensitivity and good reproducibility.

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“I Don’t have a Pile of Money to Take Care of Things”: Financial Stress and Housing Insecurity Among Low-Income Hispanic/Latinx Immigrant Families During COVID-19
Authors: Westbrook Marisa
Published: September 2023

Housing, the single largest expense for low-income individuals, is inherently tied to economic security. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hispanic/Latinx and Black communities experienced the highest rates of income loss, basic needs insecurity, and COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality. As part of an ethnographic case study, I conducted serial interviews over two years with 35 predominantly low-income Hispanic/Latinx immigrant families in one Denver, Colorado neighborhood during the COVID-19 pandemic. These interviews revealed that very few of these individuals were able to access governmental financial support as a result of limited dissemination despite facing unemployment, underemployment and rising rents. Although governmental financial support forestalled poor outcomes for many US families, these financial interventions were inaccessible for low-income Hispanic/Latinx immigrant families because of their documentation status and/or language barriers. Given no other options, families coped with their increasing economic insecurity by cutting back on non-essential items, doubling-up housing with other families, and relying on nonprofit emergency food assistance in order to maintain stable housing. These experiences highlight the need for further dissemination of information about supportive interventions, which can increase economic security among low-income immigrant families and non-English speaking communities. In tandem, policy efforts related to economic security are needed to mitigate the burden of wealth inequities through poverty-reduction programs, pathways to citizenship, and access to basic needs security – including safe and affordable housing, food security, health-promoting resources, and living wage work.
Tumor-microenvironment responsive nano-carrier system for therapy of prostate cancer
Authors: Li Lujing , Li Renjie , Li Jiachun , Yao Jiyi , Zhang Qingyuan , Ji Qiao , Xu Zuofeng
Published: September 2023

Poor selectivity, low bioavailability and serious systemic side-effects have limited the application of traditional chemotherapy method for treatment of prostate cancer. Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems for chemotherapy are mainly based on the unique characteristics of tumor microenvironment. In this study, the GSH-sensitive poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs (DTX-loaded poly-Tetraethylene glycol nanoparticles) were designed and synthesized, which were characterized with nanosized diameter (92.8 ± 2.5 nm) and negatively charged surface charge (−24.7 ± 5.56 mV). Experiments in vitro showed that poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs had good compatibility to healthy cells and strong anti-tumor effect because of rapid and sustained drug release of DTX from poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs under the tumor-microenvironment condition. The cellular activity remained greater than 90% when the concentration of poly-TTG-SS NPs reached as high as 100 µg/mL treated on healthy cells. The killing effect of DTX loading NPs group on C4-2 cells was stronger than that of free anti-tumor drug and free DTX combined with the blank nano-carrier (25.21% vs 19.93% vs 20.96%). In conclusion, poly-TTG-SS@DTX NPs may provide a new therapeutic strategy for the chemotherapy of prostate cancer.

Graphical Abstract