bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Performance of Preclinical Medical Students in Traditional and Competency-Based Curricula: Menoufia University Experience
Authors: Abdou Asmaa Gaber , El-Dien Marwa Mohammed Serag , Elnasr Suzan Elsayed Abo , Abo-Zaid Nehad Ahmed , Ali Mohammed Essam , El-Haroun Hala , Awad Marwa Mahmoud , Elbermawy Manal Ibrahim
Published: December 2023

Background: Egypt's undergraduate medical students have been following a standard curriculum known as the 6+1 curriculum or the traditional curriculum for many years. However, five years ago, Egyptian universities adopted a new competency-based and integrated curriculum. The competency-based curriculum aims to develop professional competent physiciansequipped with knowledge and skills. Aim: This study aimed to compare the academic performance of Menoufia medical students during the preclinical phase in both traditional and competency-based curricula.
Methods: A retrospectivecohort study was conducted on two consecutive batches of medical students at Menoufia University. The first batch (411 students) followed the traditional curriculum, and the second batch (675 students) followed the competency-based curriculum.
Results: Students in the traditional curriculum achieved significantly greater GPA (p=0.010) and overall percentage (p=0.018) scores than didstudents in the competency-based curriculum.
Conclusions: The pooreracademic performance of students in the competency-based integrated curriculum compared to that in the traditional curriculum may be attributed to factors such as frequent examinations, limited time available for modules, and the fact that they were the first batch to experience this new system.
On the relation of CMIP6 GCMs errors at RCM driving boundary condition zones and inner domain for Central Europe region
Authors: Holtanová Eva , Belda Michal , Crespo Natália Machado , Halenka Tomáš
Published: December 2023

Global climate models (GCMs) are important tools for studying the climate system and climate change projections. Due to their coarse spatial resolution, downscaling is necessary on regional scale. Regional climate models (RCMs) represent a common solution for this issue. Nevertheless, outputs of RCMs are influenced by the boundary conditions provided by GCMs. This study evaluates CMIP6 GCMs regarding the variables relevant as RCM boundary conditions. Special focus is on the simulation of CNRM-ESM2-1, which is being used as a driving model for convection-permitting Aladin-Climate/CZ RCM, used as one source feeding new Czech climate change scenarios. The analysis is conducted over the boundaries and inside the RCM integration domain. Firstly, an evaluation of CFSR and ERA5 reanalyses against radiosondes is performed in order to choose an appropriate reference dataset for upper air variables. Revealed high correlation between both reanalysis and radiosondes slightly decreases at the most upper tropospheric levels. ERA5 is then chosen as the reference for the boundary analysis. Over the inner domain, simulated mean annual cycle of impact-relevant variables is validated against E-OBS. The CNRM-ESM2-1 performs well in terms of near-surface variables over the Czech Republic, but it exhibits larger errors along the boundaries, especially for air temperature and specific humidity. Weak statistical relationship between the GCM performance over the boundaries in the upper levels and over the inner domain suggests that the nested RCM simulation does not necessarily have to be influenced by the biases in the driving data.
Malignant Transformation of Primary Spinal Teratoma with Intracranial Metastasis: A Case Report and review of the literature
Authors: Yang Liu , Liu Bo , Tan Xuanyu , Shan Peilin , Feng Junjie , Yu Bo , xu Songbai
Published: December 2023

Primary spinal teratoma is a rare disease, and there have been no reported cases of malignant transformation in the literature. We present a case of a 66-year-old female patient who had been experiencing numbness in her right lower limb. The patient underwent surgical resection. The pathological report confirmed a mature teratoma. However, at the 7th month after the surgery, the patient's tumor has recurred, leading to a second surgery. Postoperative pathology revealed malignant transformation of the teratoma into squamous carcinoma. Four months after the second surgery, the patient developed symptoms such as dizziness and vomiting. Head magnetic resonance imaging indicated multiple intracranial metastases. By summarizing the reports on this case and relevant literature, the aim is to provide corresponding guidance for clinical physicians.
Does Full Waveform Inversion Benefit from Big Data?
Authors: Jin Peng , Feng Yinan , Feng Shihang , Wang Hanchen , Chen Yinpeng , Consolvo Benjamin , Liu Zicheng , Lin Youzuo
Published: December 2023

This paper investigates the impact of big data on deep learning models to help solve the full waveform inversion (FWI) problem. While it is well known that big data can boost the performance of deep learning models in many tasks, its effectiveness has not been validated for FWI. To address this gap, we present an empirical study that investigates how deep learning models in FWI behave when trained on OpenFWI, a collection of large-scale, multi-structural, synthetic datasets published recently. In particular, we train and evaluate the FWI models on a combination of 10 2D subsets in OpenFWI that contain 470K pairs of seismic data and velocity maps in total. Our experiments demonstrate that larger datasets lead to better performance and generalization of deep learning models for FWI. We further demonstrate that model capacity needs to scale in accordance with data size for optimal improvement.
Multi-indexed poly-Bernoulli numbers
Authors: Baba Yuna , Nakasuji Maki , Sakata Mika
Published: December 2023

As properties of poly-Bernoulli numbers, a number of formulas such as the duality formula, an explicit formula using the Stirling numbers of the second kind, and a periodicity for negative upper-index have been established.For the multi-indexed poly-Bernoulli numbers generalized by Kaneko-Tsumura, among such properties only the duality formula has been obtained. In this paper, we restrict the double-indexed poly-Bernoulli numbers and show an explicit formula using the Stirling numbers of the second kind and a periodicity for the negative upper-index for this restriction.Further, we define a variant of multi-indexed poly-Bernoulli numbers using the star-version of multiple polylogarithms and write this kind of double or triple-indexed poly-Bernoulli numbers in terms of original multi-indexed poly-Bernoulli numbers.
MSC Classification: 11M68
Discrete state-dependent profiles of increased CX3CL1 in cerebrospinal fluid and serum t-Tau elevations in migraine: results from a cross-sectional case-control study
Authors: Süße Marie , Kloetzer Christine , Strauß Sebastian , Ruhnau Johanna , Overweem Lucas Hendrik , Bendig Merle , Schulze Juliane , Reuter Uwe , Vogelgesang Antje , Fleischmann Robert
Published: December 2023

Background & Objectives: To date, migraine is diagnosed exclusively based on clinical criteria, but fluid biomarkers are desirable to gain insight into pathophysiological processes and inform clinical management. We investigated the state-dependent profile of fluid biomarkers for neuroaxonal damage and microglial activation as two potentially relevant aspects in human migraine pathophysiology.
Methods: This exploratory study included serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of patients with migraine during the headache phase (ictally) (n=23), between attacks (interictally) (n=16), and age/sex-matched controls (n=19). Total Tau (t-Tau) protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), and neurofilament light chain (NfL) were measured with the Neurology 4-plex kit on a Single Molecule Array SR-X Analyzer (Simoa® SR-X, Quanterix Corp., Lexington, MA). Markers of microglial activation, C-X3-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CX3CL1) and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (sTREM2), were assessed using an immunoassay.
Results: Concentrations of CX3CL1 but not sTREM2 were significantly increased both ictally and interictally in CSF but not in serum in comparison to the control cohort (p=0.039). ROC curve analysis provided an AUC of 0.699 (95% CI 0.563 to 0.813, p=0.007). T-Tau in serum but not in CSF was significantly increased in samples from patients taken during the headache phase, but not interictally (effect size: η²=0.121, p=0.038). ROC analysis of t-Tau protein in serum between ictal and interictal collected samples provided an AUC of 0.729 (95% CI 0.558 to 0.861, p=0.006). The other determined biomarkers for axonal damage were not significantly different between the cohorts in either serum or CSF.
Discussion: CX3CL1 in CSF is a novel potential fluid biomarker of migraine that is unrelated to the headache status. Serum t-Tau is linked to the headache phase but not interictal migraine. These data need to be confirmed in a larger hypothesis-driven prospective study.
Targeting tumor differentiation grade-related genes prognostic signature including COL5A1 based on single-cell RNA-seq in gastric cancer
Authors: Wei Jianming , Gao Xibo , Li Chuan , Liu Jian
Published: December 2023

Background
Tumor differentiation grade has been shown to be an independent prognostic factor in gastric cancer (GC). Here,we report a novel tumor differentiation grade-related genes signature to predict prognosis and provide new biomarkers in GC.
Methods
ScRNA-seq profiles of GC were analyzed by seurat package. Core modules and key genes related to tumor differentiation grade were identified through a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A prognostic signature associated with tumor differentiation grade module including COL5A1 was constructed in GC and validated.
Results
We identified the single-cell expression profiling and revealed the cell differentiation, cell clusters, marker genes in GC. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from cell transition trajectory were mainly enriched in neutrophil process. Integrating clinical factors in GC, WGCNA analysis indicated that tumor differentiation grade module was the most significant. We established and validated this signature based on ten tumor differentiation grade-related genes (TNFAIP2, MAGEA3, CXCR4, COL1A1, FN1, VCAN, PXDN, COL5A1, MUC13 and RGS2). Cox regression analysis showed that age, TNM stage and the risk score were significantly associated with prognosis. And then, these genes could predict prognosis in GC. Finally, the hub gene COL5A1 was a prognostic factor, and obviously correlated with B cells memory, dendritic cells activated, macrophages M0, macrophages M2, plasma cells, T cells follicular helper in GC.
Conclusions This study reveals a novel tumor differentiation grade-related genes signature predicting prognosis in GC, and COL5A1 represents a promising biomarker for GC immunotherapy.
Feasibility Test of Personalized (N-of-1) Trials for Increasing Middle-Aged and Older Adults’ Physical Activity
Authors: Friel EdD Ciarán P. , Goodwin Ashley M. , Robles MPH Patrick L. , Butler Mark J. , Pahlevan-Ibrekic Challace , Duer-Hefele Joan , Vicari Frank , Gordon MPH Samantha , Chandereng Thevaa , Cheung Ying Kuen (Ken) , Davidson
Published: December 2023

Purpose
To test the feasibility of a remotely-delivered intervention to increase low-intensity physical activity (walking) in middle-aged and older adults.
Design
This study used a Personalized (N-of-1) trial design.
Setting
This study took place at a major healthcare system from November 2021 to February 2022.
Subjects
Sixty adults (45–75 years, 92% female, 80% white) were recruited.
Intervention
A 10-week study comprising a 2-week baseline, followed by four 2-week periods where 4 Behavior Change Techniques (BCTs) - self-monitoring, goal setting, action planning and feedback - were delivered one at a time in random order.
Measures
Activity was measured by a Fitbit, and intervention components delivered by email/text. Average daily steps were compared between baseline and intervention. Participants completed satisfaction items derived from the System Usability Scale and reported attitudes and opinions about personalized trials.
Results
Participants rated personalized trial components as feasible and acceptable. Changes in steps between baseline and intervention were not significant, but a large heterogeneity of treatment effects existed, suggesting some participants significantly increased walking while others significantly decreased.
Conclusions
Our intervention was well-accepted but use of BCTs delivered individually did not result in a significant increase in steps. Feasibility and heterogeneity of treatment effects support adopting a personalized trial approach to optimize intervention results.
PersianLLaMA: Towards Building First Persian Large Language Model
Authors: Abbasi Mohammad Amin , Ghafouri Arash , Firouzmandi Mahdi , Naderi Hassan , Bidgoli Behrouz Minaei
Published: December 2023

Despite the widespread use of the Persian language by millions globally, limited efforts have been made in natural language processing for this language. The use of large language models as effective tools in various natural language processing tasks typically requires extensive textual data and robust hardware resources. Consequently, the scarcity of Persian textual data and the unavailability of powerful hardware resources have hindered the development of large language models for Persian. This paper introduces the first large Persian language model, named PersianLLaMA, trained on a collection of Persian texts and datasets. This foundational model comes in two versions, with 7 and 13 billion parameters, trained on formal and colloquial Persian texts using two different approaches. PersianLLaMA has been evaluated for natural language generation tasks based on the latest evaluation methods, namely using larger language models, and for natural language understanding tasks based on automated machine metrics. The results indicate that PersianLLaMA significantly outperforms its competitors in both understanding and generating Persian text. PersianLLaMA marks an important step in the development of Persian natural language processing and can be a valuable resource for the Persian-speaking community. This large language model can be used for various natural language processing tasks, especially text generation like chatbots, question-answering, machine translation, and text summarization.
Octopus body language: body patterns of Abdopus capricornicus during social interactions.
Authors: Scata Gabriella , Marshall N Justin , Chung Wen-Sung
Published: December 2023

Octopus are well known for their rapidly changing and diverse body patterning achieved through combinations of chromatic, textural and postural components. The function of octopus body patterns includes camouflage for prey ambush and predator avoidance, aposematic display to startle intruders and predators and potentially intraspecific communication. However, as many octopus species are often solitary animals, body patterning during intraspecific social interactions are largely unexplored. Here we start addressing this gap in one diurnal reef-dwelling species, Abdopus capricornicus, by providing the first detailed description of the body patterns and associated components expressed during social interactions in captivity. Importantly, this is the first study aimed at disentangling the body patterns used for camouflage from those used for communication. This was achieved by staging dyadic interactions between octopus pairs under controlled conditions in a bare sand environment devoid of rocks or algae. Furthermore, while most studies on octopus interactions focus on reproductive behaviour, here we recorded the body patterns expressed during both intrasexual (e.g. male-male, female-female) and intersexual interactions. We revealed that some body patterns and components are specifically expressed when octopuses are interacting. Furthermore, A. capricornicus shows the richest body patterning repertoire among coastal octopuses studied so far, including 10 body patterns which comprise 27 chromatic, 8 postural and 10 locomotory components. In addition, 19 types of social encounters were identified. We suggest that the complexity of the reef habitat and of the visual stimuli experienced by A. capricornicus, including social cues deriving from frequent interactions, may contribute to its patterning richness.
A simple mechanism for UAV bioaerosol sampling in the lower atmosphere
Authors: Adkins Kevin A. , Li Kevin , Blasko Maximilian N. , Cabrera Jose L. , Neal Blake H. , James Timothy Y. , Hajian-Forooshani Zachary , Brines Shannon , Perfecto Ivette
Published: December 2023

Context. Understanding the movement of bioaerosols, such as spores and pollen, through the atmosphere is important for a broad spectrum of landscape research, including agricultural fungal outbreaks and pollen threats to public health. As spores and pollen can be transported in the air over large distances, the use of aircraft has historically played a role in detecting and mapping their presence in the lower atmosphere.Objectives. We present a lower-cost alternative to costly and specialized aircraft and associated equipment that are typically used in the study of spores and pollen in the atmosphere.Methods. We use 3D printable components and common lab supplies mounted on an uncrewed aircraft (UA). Conveniently, this setup does not require additional electronic components to control collection during flight, using the UA landing gear mechanism instead.Results. We demonstrate that this apparatus can collect fungal spores in the atmosphere and describe potential impacts for the environment and experimental protocol on collection efficiency. These include the effects of: 1) competing airflows from UA rotors, flight trajectories, and wind, 2) flight altitude, and 3) agar concentration of the collection medium.Conclusions. Complex biological mechanisms and atmospheric dynamics dictate the release, transport and deposition of bioaerosols. Economical methods to sample bioaerosols in the lower atmosphere can increase the amount and type of data collected and unlock new understanding. The methodology presented here provides an economical method to sample bioaerosols that can help improve landscape-level understanding of the dispersal of bioaerosols.
Procrastination Behaviour and Academic Satisfaction among University Students: The Mediating Role of Self-regulated Learning
Authors: HUANG XIAO , RUSDI FAIRUZ A'DILAH BINTI , YIN JULIA TAN YIN
Published: December 2023

This study examines the impact of procrastination on academic satisfaction, with a specific focus on the intermediate influence of self-regulated learning. Three hundred nine undergraduate students at a Chinese university were assessed in this study using a questionnaire. The survey evaluated levels of procrastination, self-regulated learning, and academic satisfaction. The results indicated a strong inverse relationship between procrastination, self-regulated learning, and academic satisfaction. Moreover, the tendency of students to delay tasks was found to be a significant predictor of their ability to govern their learning, which in turn predicted their academic satisfaction. The Bootstrap analysis approach confirmed that self-regulated learning partially mediates the association between procrastination and academic satisfaction. This study offers empirical evidence for the influential mechanisms and internal structural connections between procrastination and academic satisfaction. Furthermore, the findings provide more precise recommendations for teachers and students to improve academic satisfaction.
Combined studies on glazed ceramic bodies from the Middle and Neo Elamite periods (1500-539 BCE)
Authors: Aarab Ali , Cormier Laurent , Firoozmandi Bahman , Gérard Martine
Published: December 2023

Elam is the name for a civilization that was closely related to Mesopotamia. Elamites have chosen specialized names for different types of ceramics, which indicates the specialization of the production of ceramic materials during the Elam era. The Elamites were the first people to use glazed ceramics on the Iranian Plateau. In the present study, 34 samples of glazed ceramic bodies from the Middle Elam and New Elam periods were selected for investigation. The purpose of these analyses, obtained from the first glazed ceramic bodies in Iran, was to compare ceramic bodies with each other since this approach can be useful for understanding the types of production techniques used by Elamites in the Middle Elamite and New Elamite periods. For this purpose, ceramic bodies were first studied through X-ray diffraction. Then, according to the mineralogical characteristics, twelve samples were selected for petrographic study. As the chemical composition of the samples is an important parameter for characterizing these materials, EPMA was also performed on the samples. Based on the experimental data, the samples can be divided into four different groups. What seemed important in this categorization is the variety of Neo-Elamite samples. The diversity of the ceramic bodies of Neo-Elam was due to two main reasons. First, the technique of making glazed ceramic bodies was more diverse during the Neo-Elam period than during the Middle Elam period; second, the trade and import of glazed ceramics from other regions to the southwest of Iran were more frequent during the Neo-Elamite period than during the Middle Elam period. In the Middle Elam era, only quartz-based ceramic bodies were mentioned, which was different from the case for other samples.
Extended Weil representations: the finite field cases
Authors: Wang Chun-Hui
Published: December 2023

It is well-known(cf. Weil, Gerardin's works) that there are two different Weil representations of a symplectic group over an odd finite field. By a twisted action, we show that one can reorganize them as a representation of a projective symplectic similitude group. We also discussed the even field case by following Genestier-Lysenko and Gurevich-Hadani's works on geometric Weil representations in characteristic two. As a result, we approach some of their results from the lattice model, which is inspired by MVW, Prasad and Takeda's works.
RETRACTED: Investigation of Mitophagy Relation Genes Expression in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet and Exercised
Authors: Durak Sermin , Sezgin Saadet Busra Aksoyer , Celik Faruk , Yilmazer Yasemin , Cevik Aydin , Kucukhuseyin Ozlem , Yaylim Ilhan , Zeybek Umit
Published: December 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Spatiotemporal distribution of Anopheles stephensi in different eco-epidemiological settings in Ethiopia
Authors: Ashine Temesgen , Eyasu Adane , Asmamaw Yehenew , Simma Eba , Zemene Endalew , Epstein Adrienne , Brown Rebecca , Negash Nigatu , Kochora Abena , Reynolds Alison M. , Bulto Mikiyas Gebremichael , Tafesse Temesgen , Dagne Alemayehu , Lukus Biniyam , Esayas Endashaw , Behaksra Sinknesh Wolde , Woldekidan Kidist , Dillu Dereje , Assefa Gudissa , Solomon Hiwot , Zeynudin Ahmed , Massebo Fekadu , Sedda Luigi , Donnelly Martin James , Wilson Anne L. , Weetman David , Gadisa Endalamaw , Yewhalaw Delenasaw
Published: December 2023

Background
Malaria is a major public health concern in Ethiopia, and its incidence could worsen following the invasion of Anopheles stephensi. This study aimed to provide updates on the distribution of An. stephensi and likely household exposure in Ethiopia.
Methods
Entomological surveillance was performed in 26 urban settings from 2021 to 2023. A kilometer-by-kilometer quadrant was set per town and approximately 20 structures per quadrant were surveyed every three months. More intensive sampling was conducted in 50 randomly selected structures in 4 urban centers in 2022 and 2023 to assess household exposure to An. stephensi. Prokopack aspirators, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Light Traps (CDC LTs) were used to collect adult mosquitoes and standard dippers were used to collect immatures. Morphological keys and molecular methods were used for species identification. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to assess Plasmodium infection and mosquito blood meal source.
Results
Catches of adult An. stephensi were generally low (0.15 per trap), and the species was detected in 8 of the 26 study sites, including Assosa: the first collection in this area of western Ethiopia. Anopheles stephensi was the predominant species in 4 of the 8 positive sites, with 75–100% relative abundance. Household-level exposure, defined as the percentage of houses with a peridomestic infestation with An. stephensi, ranged from 18% in Metehara to 30% in Danan. At most collection sites, An. arabiensis was the predominant species, which accounted for 42.9–100% of the Anopheles catches in 20 of the 26 study sites. The bovine blood index (BBI), ovine blood index (OBI), and human blood index (HBI) for An. stephensi was 69.2%, 32.3%, and 24.6%, respectively, and for An. arabiensis 65.4%, 46.7%, and 35.8%, respectively. None of the 194 An. stephensi were positive for Plasmodium, whilst of 1434 An. arabiensis, 62 were positive, 10 for P. falciparum and 52 for P. vivax.
Conclusions
Anopheles stephensi showed widespread distribution across Ethiopia. Strongly zoophagic behavior coupled with low adult catches, might explain the absence of Plasmodium infection. Level of household exposure varied across positive sites. Further research is needed to better understand its bionomics and contribution for malaria transmission.
Energy-Aware Drone Path Finding with a Fixed-Trajectory Ground Vehicle
Authors: Diller Jonathan , Han Qi
Published: December 2023

Rotary-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (commonly referred to as drones) are a versatile platform that can be used for many data collection applications including emergency response, environmental monitoring, surveillance, and many others. In this work, we investigate how to plan efficient paths that minimize mission completion time for drone data collection where the drone must rendezvous with a moving ground vehicle that cannot stop and wait for the drone. More importantly, we address the limited onboard energy storage issue by adapting drone speed. We propose a mixed-integer nonlinear program solution to solve this problem optimally and provide various alternative solutions. We evaluate these approaches in extensive simulations using real drone characteristics to highlight their trade-offs. We show that our proposed solutions can greatly reduce mission completion time when compared to other baseline approaches and demonstrate the importance of drone speed adaptation in path finding for drones. We also prototype our solution on a physical drone testbed to show how the problem setup can be applied practically.
BantuLM: Enhancing Cross-Lingual Learning in the Bantu Language Family
Authors: Mohamed Naira Abdou , Benelallam Imade , Bahafid Abdessalam , Erraji Zakarya
Published: December 2023

This paper outlines methods for improving Bantu languages through the application of Natural Language Processing techniques. We trained a Large Language Model known as Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers for the understanding of 18 Bantu languages. More precisely, we pre-trained the model using an unsupervised corpus obtained using pseudo-labeling. This pre-training task aims to comprehend the latent structures of these languages owing to an attention mechanism that enables a deeper understanding of the context. We then conducted various experiments on five downstream tasks: Language Identification, Sentiment Analysis, News Classification, Named Entity Recognition and Text Summarization. Finally, we proposed to test the effectiveness of using multilingualism in a few closely related languages instead of leveraging a vast amount of data and multiple languages that are not necessarily related. In fact, we conducted experiments on unseen languages belonging to the Bantu family and we found that the model demonstrates better ability understanding them due to their similarities to the languages used for pre-training.
Inhibition of Dark Septate Endophyte Fungus Metabolites Against Oil Palm Basal Stem Rot Disease Caused by Ganoderma boninense.
Authors: Purba Fransiska Natalia , Nawangsih Abdjad Asih , Surono Surono , Tondok Efi Toding , Syabana Mohamad Ana , Lestari Mirta Adi
Published: December 2023

The extensification of oil palm plantations in Indonesia has been accompanied by an increase in the occurrence of Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease caused by Ganoderma boninense. Biological control is one of the alternative efforts to suppress G. boninense infection by the application of biological control agents such as Dark Septate Endophyte (DSE) fungus. This research aimed to assess the potential of three DSE fungi metabolites to control G. boninense in oil palm trees and to detect the active ingredients contained therein. The abilities of filtrates from three DSE fungi, i.e. Cladophialophora nyingchiensis S5.1, Exophiala pisciphila S1.4, and Diaporthe pandanicola TM.1.1 were evaluated in vitro for their suppression to G. boninense at concentrations of 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, and 75% (v/v). Filtrates were also evaluated in vivo using oil palm seedlings with treatments consisting of positive and negative controls, once and/or twice applications of DSE filtrate with concentrations of 27% and 75%. At the end of the experiment, the seedlings were disassembled to evaluate the severity of internal symptoms. C. nyingchiensis S5.1 incubated in Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) medium for two weeks produced most effective filtrate (code: S5.1) with IC55 value was the lowest, i.e. up to 43.78%. The filtrate of S5.1 at concentration of 75% caused the highest colony inhibition of G. boninense up to 88.63%. Twice applications with 75% of S5.1 filtrate significantly increase plant height and stem diameter. Filtrate isolate S5.1 contains metabolite compounds Linolein and 5- Oxoproline which can act as antifungals that play a role in inhibiting the growth of Ganoderma boninense.
Assessing Job Accessibility and Equity by Public Transport in the Four Largest Cities of Ohio
Authors: Tabassum Nusrat Jahan , Alam Md Saiful
Published: December 2023

Accessibility is the ease of reaching opportunities that have become a critical indicator and common goal in many transportation plans. Improving job accessibility can increase the probability of reducing unemployment and commutes of private vehicles. Therefore, this study aims to measure the job accessibility of Ohio's four largest cities (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo) within 30- and 45-min time thresholds and identifies the job accessibility condition among the vulnerable census tracts as they are the deprival groups who need good access to avail their jobs. Therefore, it also evaluates the vertical equity among the four cities. The results found that public transportation provides uneven distribution of job accessibility among four cities. All four cities can only meet around 27% of the population's job accessibility demand using public transport. If the travel time increases, job accessibility conditions improve using public transportation. However, most census tracts with high employment accessibility are located near the downtown areas of the four cities. Though Columbus is the largest city in Ohio, 47% of the population does not get good job accessibility using public transport and also cannot meet the demand of vulnerable census tracts. Furthermore, the equity gap is also high for Columbus. The study found inequality among the cities, and most of the city's Gini values are close to 1. It indicates that access to services (jobs) using public transport is not distributed properly, and disadvantaged people are not benefited. The study suggests that the improvement of public transit facilities is essential in the cities. Hence, the transportation authorities and other relevant organizations should focus on providing an equitable distribution of public transit facilities for availing services.
GLN27GLU POLYMORPHISM IN THE Β2-ADRENORECEPTOR GENE IN PATIENTS WITH ASTHMA WITH REGARD TO THE AGE OF ONSET
Authors: Kachkovska Vladyslava , Kovchun Anna , Dudchenko Iryna , Prystupa Liudmyla
Published: December 2023

Aim: The study aimed to assess the frequency of the Gln27Glu polymorphic variant in the β2-AR gene among patients with early and late-onset asthma and assess asthma risks depending on the disease phenotype.
Materials and Methods: Our study included a total of 553 asthma patients who consented to participate in the study. Asthma was diagnosed according to the 2016 GINA recommendations and its later versions. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Medical Institute of Sumy State University. The analysis for determining genetic polymorphism (designated as rs1042714) was conducted through the use of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Statistical analysis of obtained results was performed using SPSS–17 program.
Results: It was found that there is a significant difference in the distribution of alleles and genotypes in people with early-onset asthma compared to those with late-onset asthma; the statistical analysis showed a χ2 value of 41.75 and p-value of 0.001 for early-onset asthma, and a χ2 value of 44.24 and p-value of 0.001 for late-onset asthma. We did not observe a significant increase in the early-onset asthma risk with an account of different inheritance models connected to the studied polymorphism. Research that took into account the risk of late-onset asthma discovered statistically significant results regarding the dominant (p = 0.001), super-dominant (p = 0.001), and additive (p = 0.001) models of inheritance.
Conclusions: Based on the data collected, it was found that individuals carrying the minor allele (both homozygotes and heterozygotes) were at a greater risk of developing asthma later in life. However, no such correlation was observed in patients with early-onset asthma.
Microorganisms inhabiting the endo- and rhizosphere of Hedysarum zundukii (Fabaceae) endemic to the Baikal region
Authors: Vasilev I. A. , Krivenko D. A. , Petrushin I. S. , Kondratov I. G. , Ogarkov O. B. , Markova Yu. A.
Published: December 2023

Bacteria provide plants with additional resistance to adverse environmental factors, such as the lack of soil nutrients, anthropogenic pollution, the presence of phytopathogens, etc. The search for valuable biotechnological strains should be conducted among microorganisms associated with plants growing under unfavorable conditions. The present study aims to isolate and characterize microorganisms inhabiting the endo- and rhizosphere of Hedysarum zundukii, a local endemic of the Olkhon region (Olkhonsky District, Irkutsk Oblast). A total of 88 microbial strains were isolated, with Gram-positive microorganisms predominating in both the rhizo- and endosphere. In the rhizosphere, the vast majority of strains were found to belong to actinomycetes. Of the 25 identified isolates, four belong to the Rhizobiaceae family. The Phyllobacterium zundukense rhizobacterium was previously described as part of the microbiome of root nodules in Oxytropis triphylla also growing in this region. Its detection in the rhizosphere soil of H. zundukii suggests that this microorganism is associated with different legume species rather than with a single host. Of particular interest are the strains of Actinomycetia, as well as Lysobacter sp. and Variovorax paradoxus, which are promising for further study as producers of biologically active compounds, stimulators of plant growth and development, or pollutant degraders. Thus, isolates from both the rhizosphere and endosphere of H. Zundukii may possess traits useful for biotechnology and require further study.
Effect of endophytic bacteria Bacillus subtilison metabolic processes in potato tubers during storage
Authors: Pusenkova L. I. , Garipova S. R. , Lastochkina O. V. , Shpirnaya I. A. , Valieva V. A.
Published: December 2023

The article examines the effect produced by the preplant inoculation of potato tubers with Bacillus subtilis on biochemical processes occurring in the tubers of a new crop during the postharvest period at different storage periods. The content of malondialdehyde in tubers treated with strains 10-4 and 26D decreased by 15.5 and 35.5% and by 14.9 and 13.6% relative to the control after one and six months, respectively. The proline content in tubers pretreated with strain 10-4 differed insignificantly from the control in both storage periods, while in the case of strain 26D, it was lower than the control by 14.7 and 26.3%. First, the activity of protective proteins in treated tubers decreased relative to the control; then, the activity of trypsin inhibitors in tubers was found to significantly exceed that in tubers stored for a short time. The protein content of pretreated tubers was initially higher than that of the control; then, it was either at the same level (strain 26D) or 15% lower than the control (strain 10-4). The content of ascorbic acid in tubers pretreated with strain 10-4 exceeded that of the control by 16.1 and 17.9% after one and six months of storage, respectively, whereas in the case of strain 26D, no difference from the control was noted. The amount of reducing sugars was 39.4% lower than the control after one and six months of storage (strain 10-4) and 35.6% after six months of storage (strain 26D). The pretreatment with strains 10-4 and 26D positively affected the main biochemical parameters of tubers during long-term storage, providing a protective effect and preserving the biological value of produce.
Sürdürülebilir Turizm Ekseninde Birleşmiş Milletler 2030 Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedeflerinin Bibliyometrik Analizi (Bibliometric Analysis of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals on the Axis of Sustainable Tourism)
Authors: TANKUŞ Emre , SÖKMEN Alptekin , GÜZEL ŞAHİN Neriman Gonca
Published: December 2023

2015 yılında Birleşmiş Milletler sürdürülebilir kalkınmayı teşvik etmek amacıyla 17 Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedefini kabul etmiştir. Devletler, Birleşmiş Milletler Dünya Turizm Örgütü ve turizm sektörü bu hedeflere kayıtsız kalmamakta ve sürdürülebilir turizmin teşvik edilmesi için çeşitli çalışmalar gerçekleştirmektedir. Bu çabalar turizm sektörünün sürdürülebilir bir şekilde büyümesini sağlamayı, toplumların refahını artırmayı ve doğal kaynakların korunmasını hedeflemektedir. Sürdürülebilir turizmi teşvik etmek ve uygulamalarını desteklemek için dünya genelinde yürütülen çalışmaların akademik alandaki karşılığının ise bilimsel yayınlar olduğu bilinmektedir. Ortaya konulan çalışma tam olarak bu fikri odak noktasına almakta ve akademik literatürde sürdürülebilir turizmin 17 hedefle olan bağlantısını tespit etmeye çalışmaktadır. Bunun için belirli bir konu ve disiplin kapsamında üretilen yayınların, yılları, miktarı, yazarları, atıf sayıları, bağları ve diğer metrikleri analiz edilerek mevcut durum değerlendirilmiştir. Bu çabaya yönelik oluşturulan sorular için Web of Science (WoS) veri tabanından alınan veri kullanılmıştır. Bibliyometrik haritalama yapılmasına olanak sağlamak için ise VOSviewer programından faydalanılmıştır. Elde edilen bilgiler neticesinde özellikle sürdürülebilir turizm kavramı ile birlikte öne çıkması beklenen belirli hedeflere araştırmacılar tarafından yeterli ilginin gösterilmediği tespit edilmiştir. Çalışmanın sürdürülebilir turizm konusunda çalışacak araştırmacılara etkili kaynak seçimine yönelik katkı sunacağı düşünülmektedir.
International tax competition as an element of the country’s marketing strategy
Authors: Tiutiunyk Inna , Taranenko Viktoriia , Mazurenko Oleksiy , Artyukhov Artem , Yehorova Yuliia
Published: December 2023

In the conditions of permanent capital outflow and business registration by residents in other jurisdictions, the issue of developing a country’s marketing strategies for doing business and identifying the most effective mechanisms for increasing international tax attractiveness is urgent. The prerequisite of these processes should be the determination of the level of international tax competitiveness followed by identifying the most significant factors of its growth. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of international tax competitiveness as an element of marketing strategies of Ukraine and some EU countries during 2011–2021. The methodological tools are correlation-regression analysis, the Fisher method, and the multiplicative convolution method. The paper assessed the level of international tax competitiveness as a comprehensive indicator that considers procedural, institutional, moral-ethical, and economic components. The calculations showed that the most competitive are the tax systems of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Finland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Based on hierarchical and non-hierarchical (k-means method) clustering, 3 clusters of regions were identified. For each of them, based on an analysis of the features of the tax system construction and the comparison of marginal and average values, the criteria for the identification of competing countries and those with common development trends were formed. This makes it possible to determine the most effective mechanisms for the implementation of marketing strategies reforming tax policy from the point of view of increasing its international tax attractiveness.
AcknowledgmentThe study is funded by the EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under the project No. 09I03-03-V01-00042.The authors are grateful to the participants of projects “National security of Ukraine through the prevention of financial fraud and money laundering: war and post-war challenges” (2023–2025, state registration number: 0123U101945) and “De-shadowing and regulatory efficiency of environmental taxation: optimization modelling to ensure national security and rational use of nature” (2022–2024, registration number 0122U000777) for numerous discussions and comments.
Methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization (using the example of the Amur region)
Authors: Vasilieva A. V.
Published: December 2023

Purpose of the study. The paper presents the author’s methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization. The formation of a statistical set of competing regions is one of the stages of the methodology for managing the competitiveness of a region. The selection of competing regions precedes the stage of assessing the region’s competitiveness and identifying its competitive advantages. Ignoring the stage of selecting competing regions in the study of regional competitiveness leads to leveling out the differences between the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in socio-economic conditions of development and reduces the possibility of making effective management decisions to increase the competitiveness of the country’s regions. The purpose of the paper is to improve the methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization.

Materials and methods. In the process of achieving the goal, statistical methods of analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and the main array method were used. Calculations were made in SPSS Statistics and Excel programs. The paper used statistical data from Rosstat. To perform the calculations, GVA was considered in the Russian National Classifier of Types of Economic Activity2 structure for 2020.

Results.The article improves the methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization. The method under consideration contains 7 stages. Its difference from the previous methodology is the addition of two stages: extracting factors of GVA shares or localization coefficients by type of economic activity of regions using factor analysis and clustering of regions based on selected factors. To test the methodology, localization coefficients were calculated by type of economic activity of the regions of the Russian Federation for 2020. Their descriptive statistics are presented. A set of competing regions has been formed for the Amur region. The region’s competitors are 11 regions of the country, in which “mining” and “construction” predominate.

Conclusion. Solving the problem of forming a statistical set of competing regions is an important condition for the objectivity and reliability of the results of assessing the competitiveness of regions. The paper shows that the selection of competing regions must be carried out taking into account the specialization of the region, which is an expression of the level of socio-economic development of the region and its specifics. Dividing the totality of the country’s regions into homogeneous groups in accordance with their specialization allows for a qualitative analysis of the competitiveness of the regions within each individual group. The presented technique is universal, because its information base can be both the sectoral structure of the economy of the regions of the Russian Federation and the localization coefficients calculated on its basis, characterizing the specialization of the regions.
Microbubbles: Revolutionizing Biomedical Applications with Tailored
Therapeutic Precision
Authors: Kumar Mohit , Kumar Devesh , Chopra Shruti , Mahmood Syed , Bhatia Amit
Published: December 2023

Background:

Over the past ten years, tremendous progress has been made in microbubble-based research
for a variety of biological applications. Microbubbles emerged as a compelling and dynamic tool in
modern drug delivery systems. They are employed to deliver drugs or genes to targeted regions of interest, and
then ultrasound is used to burst the microbubbles, causing site-specific delivery of the bioactive materials.

Objective:

The objective of this article is to review the microbubble compositions and physiochemical characteristics
in relation to the development of innovative biomedical applications, with a focus on molecular imaging
and targeted drug/gene delivery.

Methods:

The microbubbles are prepared by using various methods, which include cross-linking polymerization,
emulsion solvent evaporation, atomization, and reconstitution. In cross-linking polymerization, a fine
foam of the polymer is formed, which serves as a bubble coating agent and colloidal stabilizer, resulting from
the vigorous stirring of a polymeric solution. In the case of emulsion solvent evaporation, there are two solutions
utilized in the production of microbubbles. In atomization and reconstitution, porous spheres are created
by atomising a surfactant solution into a hot gas. They are encapsulated in primary modifier gas. After the addition
of the second gas or gas osmotic agent, the package is placed into a vial and sealed after reconstituting
with sterile saline solution.

Results:

Microbubble-based drug delivery is an innovative approach in the field of drug delivery that utilizes
microbubbles, which are tiny gas-filled bubbles, act as carriers for therapeutic agents. These microbubbles can
be loaded with drugs, imaging agents, or genes and then guided to specific target sites.

Conclusion:

The potential utility of microbubbles in biomedical applications is continually growing as novel
formulations and methods. The versatility of microbubbles allows for customization, tailoring the delivery system
to various medical applications, including cancer therapy, cardiovascular treatments, and gene therapy.