bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self-supervised denoising for multimodal structured illumination microscopy enables long-term super-resolution live-cell imaging
Authors: Chen Xingye , Qiao Chang , Jiang Tao , Liu Jiahao , Meng Quan , Zeng Yunmin , Chen Haoyu , Qiao Hui , Li Dong , Wu Jiamin
Published: March 2024

Detection noise significantly degrades the quality of structured illumination microscopy (SIM) images, especially under low-light conditions. Although supervised learning based denoising methods have shown prominent advances in eliminating the noise-induced artifacts, the requirement of a large amount of high-quality training data severely limits their applications. Here we developed a pixel-realignment-based self-supervised denoising framework for SIM (PRS-SIM) that trains an SIM image denoiser with only noisy data and substantially removes the reconstruction artifacts. We demonstrated that PRS-SIM generates artifact-free images with 20-fold less fluorescence than ordinary imaging conditions while achieving comparable super-resolution capability to the ground truth (GT). Moreover, we developed an easy-to-use plugin that enables both training and implementation of PRS-SIM for multimodal SIM platforms including 2D/3D and linear/nonlinear SIM. With PRS-SIM, we achieved long-term super-resolution live-cell imaging of various vulnerable bioprocesses, revealing the clustered distribution of Clathrin-coated pits and detailed interaction dynamics of multiple organelles and the cytoskeleton.
Experimental study on long friction-type bolted joint combined with interference fit bolt
Authors: Chen Yu , Yamaguchi Takashi , Hayashi Gen , Yamauchi Motoshi , Ueno Keita
Published: March 2024

In recent years, high-strength bolts with friction-type joints have been lengthened to withstand increased traffic load. However, with increase in the joint length, the force able to be resisted by bolted joints has decreased owing to uneven distribution of the bolts within the joint. In addition, the proximity of secondary members to the joint has restricted the allowable size of the splice plates. It is therefore necessary to reduce the joint length while maintaining its design strength. In this study, interference fit bolts were assembled at both ends of a friction-type bolted joint to form a hybrid joint, and tensile tests were conducted to elucidate the load transmission mechanism, analyse the slip resistance, and verify whether the addition of the interference fit bolts improves the strength of the friction-type joint. It was concluded that despite a minor slip in the hybrid joint, the slip resistance was approximately 10% higher than that of the friction-type joint, and the overall load–deformation relationship maintained a quasi-linear behaviour up to 1.1 times the slip resistance of the friction-type joint. In addition, the hybrid joint had smaller data scattering than the friction-type joint, suggesting that the uneven load distribution and deformation in the joint was slightly improved by installing the interference fit bolts. The performance of hybrid joints is superior to that of the existing friction-type joints under the current slip limit specification.
Arachis hypogaea’s concentration effect on AISI 1020 carbon steel for corrosion protection
Authors: Ali Masalina Md , Shah Muhammad Amir Mat , Alias Siti Khadijah , Pahroraji Hazriel Faizal , Abdullah Bulan , Hairi Haryana Mohd , Shamsudin Azizul Hakim
Published: March 2024

The effects of inhibitor concentration on the corrosion rate and inhibition efficiency of AISI 1020 steel in an acidic and alkaline environment were investigated by means of weight loss measurement at an interval of 7 days and 14 days. To carry out this investigation, the Arachis hypogaea hull was extracted and concentrated in various weight percentages. The inhibition efficiency increased with the increased concentrations of AISI 1020 steel that were immersed in acidic and alkaline solution in the absence and presence of varying inhibitor concentrations of Arachis hypogaea hull extracts. The corrosion behavior, including the corrosion rate, is meticulously characterized through the corrosion rate analysis. The results showed that there is an increase in inhibition efficiency with an increase in inhibitor concentration and that there is a decrease in inhibition efficiency with an increase in immersion time. The organic inhibitor (Arachis hypogaea hull) produced the best inhibition efficiency of 96.4% at a 30% concentration. From the result obtained, Arachis hypogaea hull extracts revealed that it is best suited for inhibition of corrosion of mild steel in both acidic and alkaline environments. The goal of this research paper is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the corrosion inhibition and adsorption mechanisms associated with the implementation of the Arachis hypogaea hull as a natural corrosion inhibitor.
Experimental investigation on titanium alloys for machining of stepped circular holes using ultrasonic-assisted hybrid ECM
Authors: Pawar Ashish , Kamble Dinesh , Jadhav D. B.
Published: March 2024

In the recent development of high-performance gas turbine engine, there is a tendency to design the cooling holes in order to improve the heat transfer and cooling efficiency. Titanium alloy is the most preferred material for these blades. It is hard material, and hence, the traditional drilling is not appropriate for “Ti” alloy. This research presents the design and optimization required to manufacture contoured holes on a titanium-based superalloy using hybrid electrochemical machining (ECM) under different operating conditions. The circular holes are developed and are analyzed by ANOVA. The experimental results are further optimized using a Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. The voltage (V), feed rate (f1), and feed rate (f2) were identified as the most influencing factors which are further used for stepped circular hole machining. A design of the experiment is also optimized using the TOPSIS method. The obtained experimental results are verified using a SEM analysis to confirm the uniformity of the machined surfaces and the inverse relationship of the overcut with the increasing values of the voltages and feed rates. Optimal machining conditions for the stepped hole machining were determined for voltage 18 V, feed rate “f1” at 0.8 mm/min, and feed rate “f2” at 1.35 mm/min.

Graphical Abstract
Introduction to this special section: Imaging faults and fractures
Authors: Turko Molly , Horne Elizabeth , Bedle Heather
Published: March 2024

The exploration and management of subsurface reservoirs relies heavily on unraveling the intricate complexities of faults and fractures. In this special section, we present a collection of papers that, in the absence of world-class outcrop exposures such as that shown on this issue's cover, utilize various data sets and geophysical processing techniques to illuminate fault and fracture networks. The collected papers address a spectrum of fault- and fracture-related topics pertinent to scientists across disciplines, spanning hydrocarbon plays to geothermal systems and carbon storage sites.
Prediction of hydrocarbon accumulations using 2D basin and petroleum system modeling: Case studies from Abu Zenima and October fields in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt
Authors: Tarshan Ahmed
Published: March 2024

This work aims to elucidate the potential applications of 2D basin and petroleum system modeling (BPSM) software in the assessment of hydrocarbon accumulations. To demonstrate how much information can be inferred regarding the existence of hydrocarbons and their mechanisms of accumulation in the subsurface, 2D BPSM was applied to two seismic sections that were utilized as case studies. The faults and horizons were digitally represented throughout the modeling phase to create the 2D BPSM for both seismic sections. The 2D BPSM construction used the age and lithology of each layer of the model as inputs. The hybrid technique was used to simulate hydrocarbon migration paths. The simulation findings showed that when the depth decreases, the degree of maturity declines, as some parts are characterized by transformation ratios of up to 100%. For the Upper Cretaceous source rock in model ABZ88-18, the levels of vitrinite reflectance (Ro%) are in the maturity phase and provide oil with Ro% values ranging from 0.6% to 1.3%. Whereas, in model 370, the Ro% values range from 0.55% to 1.3%. Based on the results of the modeling, new prospective hydrocarbon accumulations were found. Model ABZ88-18's estimated total mass is 292.9 million bbl oil and 11.49 million m3 gas, compared to model 370's estimated total mass of 178.52 million bbl oil.
Chronic constipation in people with intellectual disabilities in the community: cross-sectional study
Authors: Laugharne Richard , Sawhney Indermeet , Perera Bhathika , Wainwright Delia , Bassett Paul , Caffrey Briony , O'Dwyer Maire , Lamb Kirsten , Wilcock Mike , Roy Ashok , Oak Katy , Eustice Sharon , Newton Nick , Sterritt James , Bishop Ruth , Shankar Rohit
Published: March 2024

Background

One-third to half of people with intellectual disabilities suffer from chronic constipation (defined as two or fewer bowel movements weekly or taking regular laxatives three or more times weekly), a cause of significant morbidity and premature mortality. Research on risk factors associated with constipation is limited.

Aims

To enumerate risk factors associated with constipation in this population.

Method

A questionnaire was developed on possible risk factors for constipation. The questionnaire was sent to carers of people with intellectual disabilities on the case-loads of four specialist intellectual disability services in England. Data analysis focused on descriptively summarising responses and comparing those reported with and without constipation.

Results

Of the 181 people with intellectual disabilities whose carers returned the questionnaire, 42% reported chronic constipation. Constipation was significantly associated with more severe intellectual disability, dysphagia, cerebral palsy, poor mobility, polypharmacy including antipsychotics and antiseizure medication, and the need for greater toileting support. There were no associations with age or gender.

Conclusions

People with intellectual disabilities may be more vulnerable to chronic constipation if they are more severely intellectually disabled. The associations of constipation with dysphagia, cerebral palsy, poor mobility and the need for greater toileting support suggests people with intellectual disabilities with significant physical disabilities are more at risk. People with the above disabilities need closer monitoring of their bowel health. Reducing medication to the minimum necessary may reduce the risk of constipation and is a modifiable risk factor that it is important to monitor. By screening patients using the constipation questionnaire, individualised bowel care plans could be implemented.
Prediction of Effectiveness and Toxicities of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Using Real-World Patient Data
Authors: Lippenszky Levente , Mittendorf Kathleen F. , Kiss Zoltán , LeNoue-Newton Michele L. , Napan-Molina Pablo , Rahman Protiva , Ye Cheng , Laczi Balázs , Csernai Eszter , Jain Neha M. , Holt Marilyn E. , Maxwell Christina N. , Ball Madeleine , Ma Yufang , Mitchell Margaret B. , Johnson Douglas B. , Smith David S. , Park Ben H. , Micheel Christine M. , Fabbri Daniel , Wolber Jan , Osterman Travis J.
Published: March 2024

PURPOSE

Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved outcomes in certain patients with cancer, they can also cause life-threatening immunotoxicities. Predicting immunotoxicity risks alongside response could provide a personalized risk-benefit profile, inform therapeutic decision making, and improve clinical trial cohort selection. We aimed to build a machine learning (ML) framework using routine electronic health record (EHR) data to predict hepatitis, colitis, pneumonitis, and 1-year overall survival.

METHODS

Real-world EHR data of more than 2,200 patients treated with ICI through December 31, 2018, were used to develop predictive models. Using a prediction time point of ICI initiation, a 1-year prediction time window was applied to create binary labels for the four outcomes for each patient. Feature engineering involved aggregating laboratory measurements over appropriate time windows (60-365 days). Patients were randomly partitioned into training (80%) and test (20%) sets. Random forest classifiers were developed using a rigorous model development framework.

RESULTS

The patient cohort had a median age of 63 years and was 61.8% male. Patients predominantly had melanoma (37.8%), lung cancer (27.3%), or genitourinary cancer (16.4%). They were treated with PD-1 (60.4%), PD-L1 (9.0%), and CTLA-4 (19.7%) ICIs. Our models demonstrate reasonably strong performance, with AUCs of 0.739, 0.729, 0.755, and 0.752 for the pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, and 1-year overall survival models, respectively. Each model relies on an outcome-specific feature set, though some features are shared among models.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this is the first ML solution that assesses individual ICI risk-benefit profiles based predominantly on routine structured EHR data. As such, use of our ML solution will not require additional data collection or documentation in the clinic.
Impact of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Treatment on Colorectal Cancer in a Large, Nationwide Cohort
Authors: Shah Shailja C. , Camargo M. Constanza , Lamm Mark , Bustamante Ranier , Roumie Christianne L. , Wilson Otis , Halvorson Alese E. , Greevy Robert , Liu Lin , Gupta Samir , Demb Joshua
Published: March 2024

PURPOSE

Helicobacter pylori is the most common cause of infection-associated cancer worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the impact of H. pylori infection and treatment on colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality.

PATIENTS

US Veterans who completed H. pylori testing between 1999 and 2018.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis among adults within the Veterans Health Administration who completed testing for H. pylori. The primary exposures were (1) H. pylori test result (positive/negative) and (2) H. pylori treatment (untreated/treated) among H. pylori–positive individuals. The primary outcomes were CRC incidence and mortality. Follow-up started at the first H. pylori testing and continued until the earliest of incident or fatal CRC, non-CRC death, or December 31, 2019.

RESULTS

Among 812,736 individuals tested for H. pylori, 205,178 (25.2%) tested positive. Being H. pylori–positive versus H. pylori–negative was associated with higher CRC incidence and mortality. H. pylori treatment versus no treatment was associated with lower CRC incidence and mortality (absolute risk reduction 0.23%-0.35%) through 15-year follow-up. Being H. pylori–positive versus H. pylori–negative was associated with an 18% (adjusted hazard ratio [adjusted HR], 1.18 [95% CI, 1.12 to 1.24]) and 12% (adjusted HR, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.03 to 1.21]) higher incident and fatal CRC risk, respectively. Individuals with untreated versus treated H. pylori infection had 23% (adjusted HR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.13 to 1.34]) and 40% (adjusted HR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.24 to 1.58]) higher incident and fatal CRC risk, respectively. The results were more pronounced in the analysis restricted to individuals with nonserologic testing.

CONCLUSION

H. pylori positivity may be associated with small but statistically significant higher CRC incidence and mortality; untreated individuals, especially those with confirmed active infection, appear to be most at risk.
Brazil as a Laboratory for Fascist Uprising
Authors: Amaral Augusto Jobim do
Published: March 2024

How can Brazil be understood as a global laboratory for fascist insurrection? Given the events of January 8, 2023, this essay intends to analyze, on the one hand, the manifestation of a global extreme right that tends to operate as a large-scale, long-lasting anti-institutional offensive force. On the other hand, there is also a global dynamic limited to liberal democracies of institutional reform that cowers in the face of radical demands, such as the end of national policing above all. Finally, the constant colonization of Brazilian politics by society's militarized operations urges us to reclaim the foundations of politics as potential for (im)possible futures through uprisings against our unbearable condition, in turn transforming the unsustainability of life into a collective venture for transformation.
Movements and Countermovements in Contemporary Brazil: Repression, Confrontation, and the Fight for Land
Authors: Tible Jean
Published: March 2024

How can we make sense of the current rise and strength of the far right in Brazil? This article aims to address this question by providing an analysis of Brazilian politics in recent years, exploring both its institutional aspects and factors exceeding this framework. It examines the past decade of protests beginning with those in June 2013, and the strained relationship between the leftist government and the communities involved in these demonstrations. Furthermore, the article seeks to understand the resurgence of the far right within its historical context as a reactionary movement. It highlights how the events of 2013 foreshadowed unresolved issues pertaining to justice and, consequently, approaches to political struggle in Brazil.
Untitled (Notes on Fascism This Time)
Authors: Ferreira da Silva Denise
Published: March 2024

This is a short commentary on the relevance of Jair Bolsonaro for the critical theorizing of the political. It considers the resurfacing of fascism in the past decade or as the manifestation of a political form which is consistent with the mode of thinking that nourishes the liberal political architecture. It does so by discussing key philosophical, critical, and anticolonial formulations which indicate as present the elements that allow for the kind of binding of the State with its citizens that supports fascism, both in the past and in the present.
The Asiatic and the Anti-Asian Pandemic
Authors: Patterson Christopher B.
Published: March 2024

Chapter 2 explores the game Paradise Killer as a vehicle to revisit and reshape the term Asiatic, a troubled term that the author attempted to reanimate in his previous book as “a style rather than substance, a technology rather than an essence,” and a politically charged aesthetic. The author examines this term within its unexpected capacity to spread across disciplines during the reemergence of yellow peril anti-Asian racism within the COVID-19 pandemic. Is Asiatic appropriate only to games? How is the term divided from orientalism? Is the Asiatic always queer and/or nonserious and/or racist? Paradise Killer offers a sideways gaze into these inquiries that allows the author to explore these questions lowly, as in, to voice how this term emerged from particular circumstances and experiences and has continued to grow in the present.
Asian, Adjacent
Authors: Rivera Takeo
Published: March 2024

Chapter 3 examines the video game Disco Elysium with respect to “Asian adjacency,” the strategic utilization of tangential Asianness to negotiate political futurity. Principally, this essay focuses attention on the game’s deuteragonist, an Asian diasporic man named Kim Kitsuragi, a figure marked by hypercompetence but aggressively assimilationist in his diasporic outlook. What Kitsuragi provides is less a yellow perilist counterpoint to white interiority and more a semipermeable model minoritarian sounding board on which the player can gauge DuBois’s emotional progress. Moreover, Asian adjacency appears throughout Disco Elysium through other means: the ambiguous racialization of the game’s father of socialism, and the psychedelic presence of the game’s cryptid. Although deeply flawed in its racial politics, Disco Elysium nevertheless presents a racialized dialectic that yearns for a liberatory, postcapitalist futurity to resolve its stark contradictions.
Hip-Hop and Fighting Games
Authors: Dominguez Anthony
Published: March 2024

Chapter 13 develops a brief historical overview of the development of the Black nerd (Blerd) as an identity during the last twenty years. Using the author’s own firsthand experience as a Blerd born and raised in New York City as a framework, this essay examines New York City’s fighting-game community (FGC) as it was nurtured by the physical space of Manhattan’s Chinatown Fair Arcade and, after its shuttering, the Next Level arcade in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, as well as the NYC-based Twitch channel “Team Spooky.” The chapter ultimately argues that a specific brand of the Blerd as an identity was formed by the combination of New York City’s local hip-hop culture and the Japanese otaku as a consumer of video games and anime.
Situation Critical
Authors: Cavitch Max , Connolly Brian
Published: March 2024

The contributors to Situation Critical argue for the continued importance of critique to early American studies, pushing back against both reductivist neo-empiricism and so-called postcritique. Bringing together essays by a diverse group of historians and literary scholars, editors Max Cavitch and Brian Connolly demonstrate that critique is about acknowledging that we are never simply writing better or worse accounts of the past, but accounts of the present as well. The contributors examine topics ranging from the indeterminacy of knowledge and history to Black speculative writing and nineteenth-century epistemology, the role of the unconscious in settler colonialism, and early American writing about masturbation, repression, religion, and secularism and their respective influence on morality. The contributors also offer vital new interpretations of major lines of thought in the history of critique—especially those relating to Freud and Foucault—that will be valuable both for scholars of early American studies and for scholars of the humanities and interpretive social sciences more broadly.

Contributors. Max Cavitch, Brian Connolly, Matthew Crow, John J. Garcia, Christopher Looby, Michael Meranze, Mark J. Miller, Justine S. Murison, Britt Rusert, Ana Schwartz, Joan W. Scott, Jordan Alexander Stein
Introduction
Authors: Cavitch Max , Connolly Brian
Published: March 2024

This introduction makes an argument for the vitality of critique and theory for Early American Studies and the value of the archive and texts from Early America for critically engaging the present. It demonstrates the specific contributions to historical thinking that derive from critique and have often been marginalized in the study of Early America. It attends to the current configuration of critique in academia, including attempts to diminish its purview in the form of what has been called postcritique. In addition, the introduction surveys the place of critique and theory in the history of Early American Studies in order to excavate a submerged strain of thought in the field that bears on the work in the present volume.
Psychoanalysis and the Indeterminacy of History
Authors: Scott Joan W.
Published: March 2024

This chapter explores the limits and uses of psychoanalysis for the practice of critical history. The argument is that Freud’s insistence on the ultimate indeterminacy of our knowledge is the best guarantee we have of practicing critique. Freud suggested that the pursuit of knowledge was illusory—the quest for positive knowledge (hard facts as they are called now) was a disguise that concealed the primary processes—the drives—which were the true motivation for the quest. Psychoanalysis is “suspicious” of any account that stops with the production of positive knowledge; the cure has nothing to do with the discovery of “the facts.” This skepticism about the status of positive knowledge and the insistence that the pursuit is ongoing—and itself needs interpretation—enables the kind of critical work that, by constantly interrogating normative concepts, keeps future possibilities open.
George Whitefield's Sexual Character
Authors: Miller Mark J.
Published: March 2024

The Reverend George Whitefield (1714–1770) may have been the first person to write, print, and sell an autobiographical narrative naming and describing Onanistic practice and inclination. This chapter uses book history, performance studies, and literary histories of sexuality to consider Whitefield’s contributions to Onanism’s public sphere development as a prototype of sexuality or sexual personhood. It reads a series of 1739–41 editions of Whitefield’s narrative—including his original rough manuscript, the London print edition, and the best-selling colonial American print editions—alongside earlier sermons, diaries, and extracts. By incorporating Onanism and theatricality into Protestant print confessional traditions thematizing relapse and authorizing penitential publicity, Whitefield developed himself as a “sexual character” for whom individual bodily acts, including Onanism, writing, and publishing, were spiritually and socially significant performances.
No Matter
Authors: Rusert Britt
Published: March 2024

This chapter charts a genealogy of rationalist engagements with science in black antebellum culture and thinks about the purchase of nonempirical thinking for enslaved and nominally free people in the age of slavery. It begins with the complicated status of reason amid transformations in science and religion in the early nineteenth century. It then turns to fascinating moments in The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) and Martin Delany’s Blake; or the Huts of America (1859), where rationalist theories of mind come to the fore. It considers how black women’s antebellum manuscript cultures challenge the individual mind’s power through forms of collaboration and writing that foreground a distributed black intellect and collective genius. It ends by imagining an early American studies less beholden to historicist approaches and that takes seriously Black studies’ challenge to divisions between sense and reason, empiricism and speculation, what Fred Moten calls the “mysticism of the flesh.”
Novel RNA molecular bioengineering technology efficiently produces functional miRNA agents
Authors: Traber Gavin M. , Yi Colleen , Batra Neelu , Tu Meijuan , Yu Aiming
Published: March 2024

Genome-derived microRNAs (miRNA or miR) govern posttranscriptional gene regulation and play important roles in various cellular processes and disease progression. While chemo-engineered miRNA mimics or biosimilars made in vitro are widely available and used, miRNA agents produced in vivo are emerging to closely recapitulate natural miRNA species for research. Our recent works have demonstrated the success of high-yield, in vivo production of recombinant miRNAs by using human tRNA (htRNA) fused precursor miRNA (pre-miR) carriers. In this study, we aim to compare the production of bioengineered RNA (BioRNA) molecules with glycyl versus leucyl htRNA fused hsa-pre-miR-34a carriers, namely BioRNAGlyand BioRNALeu, respectively, and perform initial functional assessment. We designed, cloned, overexpressed, and purified a total of 48 new BioRNA/miRNAs, and overall expression levels, final yields, and purities were revealed to be comparable between BioRNAGlyand BioRNALeumolecules. Meanwhile, the two versions of BioRNA/miRNAs showed similar activities to inhibit non-small cell lung cancer cell viability. Interestingly, functional analyses using model BioRNA/miR-7-5p demonstrated that BioRNAGly/miR-7-5p exhibited greater efficiency to regulate a known target gene expression (EGFR) than BioRNALeu/miR-7-5p, consistent with miR-7-5p levels released in cells. Moreover, BioRNAGly/miR-7-5p showed comparable or slightly greater activities to modulate MRP1 and VDAC1 expression, compared with miRCURY LNA miR-7-5p mimic. Computational modeling illustrated overall comparable 3D structures for exemplary BioRNA/miRNAs with noticeable differences in htRNA species and payload miRNAs. These findings support the utility of hybrid htRNA/hsa-pre-miR-34a as reliable carriers for RNA molecular bioengineering, and the resultant BioRNAs serve as functional biologic RNAs for research and development.
Digital twin enhanced agile design of ship pipeline systems
Authors: Wang Xin , Shan Xiaofen , Cui Kang , Zhang Zhinan
Published: March 2024

The shipbuilding industry plays a pivotal role in national strategic security and economic development, and one critical challenge is the pipeline layout design problem. It predominantly relies on designers’ subjective experience, and it is marked by a lack of efficient knowledge sharing and the absence of smart pipe routing algorithms. This paper proposes an agile design system, which integrates ship pipeline design knowledge management, semi-automatic design that involves frequent interaction with human designers, and automatic rule checking. The framework is refined by digital twin concepts, facilitating close collaboration between physical and digital systems. The paradigm shift holds the potential to substantially enhance the efficiency of ship pipeline layout design, while concurrently reducing the reliance on manual labor.
Antioxidant of the putat air (barringtonia racemosa) as a herbal remedy to improve sperm quality due to cigarette smoke in rats
Authors: Dahril Dahril , Badiri San Winata , Dasrul Dasrul , Mutiawati Vivi Keumala , Khalilullah Said Alfin
Published: March 2024

Background The objective of this study is to analyse the antioxidant in putat air (barringtonia racemosa) as an herbal to improve sperm quality due to cigarette smoke. Methods An experimental study was conducted at animal laboratory, Faculty Veteriner University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. This study were analyed by one-way ANOVA. A total of 30 male rats (Rattus norvegicus) were divided into 5 treatment groups. Group 1 as a negative control (N) were not exposed to cigarette smoke. Group 2 as a positive control (P) were exposed to cigarette smoke. Group 3 as treatment 1 (P1) were exposed to cigarette smoke and 100 mg/kg BW/day of the barringtonia racemosa seed extract. Group 4 as treatment 2 (P2) were exposed to cigarette smoke and given 150mg/kg BW/day of the barringtonia racemosa seed extract. Group 5 as treatment 3 (P3) were exposed to cigarette smoke and given 200 mg/kg BW/day of the barringtonia racemosa seed extract. The cigarette smoke exposure was carried out in a smoking chamber for a total of 1 hour/rat, and the barringtonia racemosa seed extract is given orally once a day for 30 days. Results This study shows that the sperm quality improved after administration of barringtonia racemosa seed extract in the treatment group (P1-3) compared with the positive control group (P) with statistically significant (p <0.05). Further analysis with the Duncan test showed that administration of barringtonia racemosa seed extract at a dose of 150 mg/kgBW/day (P2) had a statistically significant improvement in sperm quality (P <0.05) compared with a dose of 100 mg/kg/day (P1) and 200 mg/kgBW/day (P3) Conclusions Antioxidants from barringtonia racemosa can improve sperm quality due to cigarette smoke.
Prayers for Sickness: What do people pray for and how do they deal with unanswered prayer?
Authors: Dein Simon , Brown Candy Gunther
Published: March 2024

Background This paper focuses upon prayer for sickness. What do individuals suffering from illness, their families and the wider community pray for? How do they deal with unanswered prayer? Do they pray for cure, to guide medical professionals or to cope with their sickness? What rationalisations do they proffer for unanswered prayer? Methods Based on a critical literature review and deploying secondary data from the Twenty First Century Evangelical research programme, the data suggest that prayers for guiding medical professionals and coping are more common than for cure, at least in Global North countries such as the UK and US. But why do those who believe in miracles not ask God for divine healing? Furthermore, unanswered prayer can conflict with Christian views of God as omnipotent and all loving. Results Respondents use a number of theodical rationalisations to resolve this conflict. Conclusions The results are discussed in relation to cognitive dissonance theory, learned helplessness, the need to conserve a relationship with the Divine, and desire to manage risk of disappointment and reduce consequent emotional pain.
The frailty among suburban elderly population in Indonesia after one-year COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Zein Ahmad Fariz Malvi Zamzam , Pratiwi Witri , Dohana Naswidi
Published: March 2024

Abstract* Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant impacts worldwide, especially among older adults. Frailty is a determinant of susceptibility to morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 in the elderly. This study aimed to determine frailty status and identify factors associated with the suburban elderly population in Cirebon Regency, Indonesia, after the one-year COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional study of community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 60 years was conducted in Klangenan, Cirebon Regency, Indonesia, from March to June 2021. A questionnaire was used to determine the baseline characteristics of participants, healthcare access, comorbidity, and frailty status. The Ina-FRAIL scale was used to determine the frailty status (frail/non-frail). The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to determine the association between independent variables and frailty. Results A total of 383 participants were recruited, with a median age of 67 (64-73) years. The prevalence of frailty in the present study was 10.2%. Multivariate analysis showed that age (OR 2.72; 95%CI 1.21-6.12), multimorbidity (OR 7.86; 95% CI 3.00-20.57) and financial dependence (OR 13.39, 95% CI 5.66-31.73) were significantly associated with frailty. Conclusion One-year COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on frailty among the suburban elderly population in Indonesia. The factors associated with frailty were age, multimorbidity, and financial dependence.
Developing a framework for understanding policy decision-making behaviors in the transition of a HIV prevention program towards sustainability: a case study from Zambia’s voluntary medical male circumcision program
Authors: Gantayat Nishan , Baer James , Gangaramany Alok , Kretschmer Steve , Surana Rasi , Samona Alick , Mukamba Njekwa , Jere Bright , Chinsenga Tina , Prasad Ram , Goetschius Stephen , Sharma Saransh
Published: March 2024

Faced with declining donor funding for HIV, low- and middle-income countries must identify efficient and cost-effective ways to integrate HIV prevention programs into public health systems for long-term sustainability. In Zambia, donor support to the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) program, which previously funded non-governmental organizations as implementing partners, is increasingly being directed through government structures instead. We developed a framework to understand how the behaviors of individual decision-makers within the government could be barriers to this transition. We interviewed key stakeholders from the national, provincial, and district levels of the Ministry of Health, and from donors and partners funding and implementing Zambia’s VMMC program, exploring the decisions required to attain a sustainable VMMC program and the behavioral dynamics involved at personal and institutional levels. Using pattern identification and theme matching to analyze the content of the responses, we derived three core decision-making phases in the transition to a sustainable VMMC program: 1) developing an alternative funding strategy, 2) developing a policy for early-infant (0-2 months) and early-adolescent (15-17 years) male circumcision, which is crucial to sustainable HIV prevention; and 3) identifying integrated and efficient implementation models. We formulated a framework showing how, in each phase, a range of behavioral dynamics can form barriers that hinder effective decision-making among stakeholders at the same level (e.g., national ministries and donors) or across levels (e.g., national, provincial and district). Our research methodology and the resulting framework offer a systematic approach for in-depth investigations into organizational decision-making in public health programs, as well as development programs beyond VMMC and HIV prevention. It provides the insights necessary to map organizational development and policy-making transition plans to sustainability, by explaining tangible factors such as organizational processes and systems, as well as intangibles such as the behaviors of policymakers and institutional actors.
Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design
Authors: Karhulahti Veli-Matti
Published: March 2024

For decades, research on technology use and mental health has been based on the assumption that identifiable structures of ‘design’ are psychologically relevant for their users. This has been central especially for the nosological emergence of ‘behavioural addictions’, which currently involve two formal diagnoses involving technology: problems related to playing gambling games (gambling disorder) and videogames (gaming disorder). Alas, the research on identifying ‘addictive’ design structures has suffered from major construct validity issues. To make progress across those issues, I draw from the history of ‘vitality affects’ in psychiatry and introduce vitality structures as a design-phenomenological framework that can help researchers conceptualise clinically (and non-clinically) relevant ‘bonds’ between entities of game design and corresponding player phenomenology. Vitality structures are not natural kinds to be discovered but pragmatic constructs to be created and used: they are useful as long as they communicate what is both identifiable and empirically prevalent. As a demonstration of practice, I propose working conceptualizations of three vitality structures, which surface in videogames that have been prevalent sources of self-identified problems among gaming treatment-seekers. Systematic programs of research for identifying relevant vitality structures across technological, psychological, and psychiatric contexts can lead to construct-valid and replicable design effects.
Project Soothe: A pilot study evaluating the mood effects of soothing images collected using a citizen science approach
Authors: MacLennan Keren , Schwannauer Matthias , McLaughlin Angela L. , Allan Stephanie , Blackwell Simon E. , Ashworth Fiona , Chan Stella W. Y.
Published: March 2024

Background Mentally-generated soothing imagery is a therapeutic technique to support mental wellbeing, but some individuals may require support using externally presented stimuli. Project Soothe was launched to collect soothing images using a citizen science approach. This online pilot study evaluated the first 575 soothing images collected, examining: 1) if the images were perceived to be soothing; 2) if viewing the images had a positive impact on mood; and 3) if mood effects were influenced by individual differences in age, gender and depressive symptoms. Methods We recruited 1152 participants (13 – 79 years, M = 35.62, SD = 14.60; 77% female). Participants were randomly allocated to one of 23 sets, each containing 25 images (n = 50 per set) and asked to rate their emotional response (soothed, excited, and anxious) to each image. Participants also reported their mood states pre- and post-viewing the images (using the International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule – Short Form). Results Project Soothe images were rated to be significantly more soothing than anxiety- or excitement-inducing. Further, viewing 25 images was significantly associated with an increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect. These effects were associated with age and depressive symptoms, with older individuals and those with lower depressive symptoms being associated with more positive changes in mood. Conclusions This pilot study provides preliminary evidence that these soothing images can promote positive mood changes. Further work can now replicate these findings in larger-scale studies with comparison groups and extended outcome variables. The images and associated data have been made available in a data repository (OSF) as a free resource for researchers and practitioners. It is hoped that these images can be developed into useful therapeutic resources.
Migration policies versus public health – the ethics of Covid-19 related movement restrictions for asylum seekers in reception centers in Greece in 2020
Authors: Makris George
Published: March 2024

Background The emergency context of the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the use of national and international public health measures of unprecedented scale to minimize mortality and morbidity, often in conflict with other principles and rights, such as the autonomy of individuals. Concerns have been voiced that for populations facing precarity, such as migrants, a disproportionate and unfair application of restrictive measures, deficient application of protective measures, and even enforcement of restrictive migration policies under the pretext of the pandemic has occurred. Methods Various principles have been proposed as moral foundations of public health interventions. The author used two public health ethics frameworks to examine the acceptability of movement restrictions on asylum seekers residing in refugee camps in Greece from March 2020 to October 2020. Results Most of the principles described in the frameworks for the ethical application of movement restrictions were not adhered to. Main concerns include that, measures were prolonged despite lack of evidence about their effectiveness to reduce morbidity and mortality, while posing severe and disproportionate burdens for this population. Conclusions An ethically acceptable public health response to Covid-19 is incompatible with certain living conditions of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants. The question of whether and if so the extent to which the discipline of public health inherently has the role of rectifying existing injustices and social inequalities when these can be convincingly related to health outcomes, is central to the design of public health interventions for these populations. The answer can exemplify the need to address moral and political determinants of health. It is essential for public health professionals to be aware of the moral theorizations that underpin their work, so as to ensure that their policies are aligned with those and to contribute to the debate that shapes these determinants.
Translating the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v.1 to other languages: the approach used in European Portuguese (BCTTv1-PT)
Authors: Félix Isa Brito , Silva Carolina C. , Guerreiro Mara Pereira , Henriques Helga Rafael , Michie Susan , Henriques Maria Adriana , Marques Marta M.
Published: March 2024

Background The Behaviour Change Techniques Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) is the most widely used classification of behaviour change techniques (BCTs), contributing to the accurate report and evaluation of behaviour change interventions and accumulation of evidence. This study reports a structured approach to adapt the BCTTv1 into European Portuguese (BCTTv1-PT). Methods A collaborative and iterative approach was used. The translation process encompassed four phases: (1) independent forward translation by two native Portuguese speakers proficient in English, (2) forward translation reconciliation, (3) expert consultation by involving seven experts in behaviour change to collect feedback on the draft version of the taxonomy through a structured online form; and (4) feedback analysis and improvement of the BCTTv1-PT. Results Independent forward translations and a reconciled version of the BCTTv1-PT were produced. All experts agreed with the groupings designation (100%). Recommendations were made to improve BCTs labels, definitions and/or examples in all groupings, except for Feedback and monitoring. Experts disagreed with the translated definitions in 40.9% of the BCTs (38/93), with examples in 21.5% (20/93) and with labels in 11.8% (11/93). Recommendations were made for all instances where there was disagreement (n = 69) and were enacted entirety, yielding the final version (BCTTv1-PT). Conclusions Researchers, educators, students and health and other professionals will be able to standardise terminology and have a common language, contributing to the impact of the BCTTv1-PT. This study presents a systematic and rigorous approach for the adaptation of the BCTTv1 and similar taxonomies, which may guide others.
Dying, dependency and death: Exploring palliative care access gaps for children
Authors: Lamb Christina
Published: March 2024

Death has become a medicalized event. As such, end-of-life care has become entrenched in an over-reliance on individual patient autonomy to guide ethical decision making. Subsequently, the process of dying and the event of death are not primarily valued as life events – that is, as life-affirming phases of living. Rather, dying and death are viewed through the lens of medical options of when and how to die versus why dying and death are meaningful. This presents a problem for addressing the pediatric palliative care access gap and the Global Common Good. Specifically, in the context of important life events, one of which is death, we need space to be dependent on our inter-personal relationships to make crucial life decisions that affect our well-being. Recognizing dependency and inter-personalism is particularly important for pediatric populations. Children are uniquely placed to draw on their families and caregivers to make affirming life decisions in end-of-life care. This is particularly challenging to do in the Canadian context when Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care is not equitably available but options such as assisted death may soon be. Importantly, the meaning of death and dying is largely unexplored for this population. To advance ethical care at the end-of-life, more emphasis needs to be placed on the meaning that end of life events hold for Canadian children. In this paper I will outline the relevance of dependency and inter-personalism to attend to dying and death as meaningful phases of living for Canadian children and in relation to the pediatric palliative care access gap, the Global Common Good and Global Health Bioethics.
The genome sequence of a hoverfly, Cheilosia scutellata (Fallén, 1817)
Authors: Falk Steven , Woodcock Katie J ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: March 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Cheilosia scutellata (hoverfly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Syrphidae). The genome sequence is 471.0 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 6 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the X and Y sex chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.22 kilobases in length.
The genome sequence of great wood-rush, Luzula sylvatica (Huds) Gaudin
Authors: Goodwin Zoë A. , Bell David , Hart Michelle L. , Hollingsworth Peter M. ,   Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Genome Acquisition Lab,   Plant Genome Sizing collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: March 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual specimen of Luzula sylvatica (great wood-rush; Tracheophyta; Magnoliopsida; Poales; Juncaceae). The genome sequence is 444.5 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 6 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial and plastid genome assemblies have lengths of 633.36 kilobases and 201.32 kilobases in length, respectively.