bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Qualitative Case Study on the Citizen’s Experience in Participating in University-community Cooperative Learning Programs
Authors:   The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, Kim Juyeon , Jo Ahra , Kim Sangmo , Lee younseon
Published: June 2023

The purpose of this study is to provide the program effectiveness and the possibility of university-region linkage according to the application of cooperative learning through the community-linked cooperative learning program conducted at D University in Gyeongbuk. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, interviews were conducted with 13 program participants. First, citizen participants preferred cooperative learning to lecture-type traditional learning, but class satisfaction was different depending on their liking for fellow participants. Second, participation in the program had a positive effect on the sense of belonging to the community and the formation of social networks. Third, the mutual feedback of cooperative learning was effective in strengthening activity participation and emotional bonding. Fourth, the experience of participating in the program helped change the perception of local universities. In short, the community connection program was a useful program for university and citizen participants, and cooperative learning acted as an effective learning method for all participants.
A Case Study on Liberal Arts Education in Smart Media Literacy: Discussion on the Ccase of
Authors:   The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, Cho Hyung-Rae
Published: June 2023

The purpose of this article is to report to the academic community on the case study of , a general elective course at Gwangju National University, and to present a model that can be applied in practice or widely referenced for convergent digital media literacy education in the university setting. As a subject that requires contemporary discussions on the cases of today's media platforms and contents, it will provide useful teaching models and data in the field of convergent media contents. In addition, it will help to improve the media literacy competence of learners to self-directly respond to and reflect on the moral and ethical problems caused by various smart media platforms and contents.
A Study on Changes in Hair Salon Use Before and after the Outbreak of COVID-19
Authors:   The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, Kim Mihye , Chon Hae Jung
Published: June 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in the use of hair salons after the outbreak of Corona 19, targeting people in their 20s to 50s, and the results are as follows. First, the frequency of visits before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 decreased from once a month to once every 6 months. Second, the type of use changed from a franchise to a one-person hair salon, and the location decreased in the city center and increased around residential areas. Third, the most frequently received procedure was a cut, and the cost of one time was reduced to less than 50,000 won. The results of this study indicate that the number of visits to the hair salon and the time in the hair salon have decreased due to the anxiety of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, hair salons should thoroughly implement quarantine and hygiene of the public health infection policy, and create a sustainable management form by generating sales in the face of the economic difficulties of the hair salon, which has been contracted due to COVID-19.
Perceptions on Korean Modern Scientists: The Characteristics of Undergraduate Students’ Narratives in Chronicles on Jeong Yak-yong, Charles Darwin, and Seok Ju-myeong
Authors:   The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, Park Jee-young
Published: June 2023

This study explores university students' understanding of two Korean modern scientists, Jeong Yak-jun and Seok Ju-myeong, in relation to the concept of species in biology. Participants wrote chronicles about three scientists, including Darwin, based on various possible materials including online websites. While the chronicles on Darwin showed details of research and colleagues interacted, those on Jeong Yak-jun and Seok Ju-myeong focused more on the ‘pain of the times’ and their personal lives. The study suggests that engaging in chronicle writing about Korean modern scientists can stimulate students' curiosity about other scientific enterprise of the same time period, as well as understanding of the nature of science. However, participants' alternative worldview performed as an obstacle in understanding and interpreting their scientific works.
A Study of Communicative Language Teaching of English for Vietnamese Learners
Authors:   The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, Kim Jooyun , Shim Jaehwang
Published: June 2023

This study identified the degree of interest in learning English among Vietnamese learners learning English in Korea. The survey data was based on the questionnaire on foreign language self-learning strategies and consisted of a total of 20 items to meet the communicative language teaching method. The SPSS 26.0 program was conducted to identify the total distribution, the difference in average between groups, the significance between genders, and the difference by learning period. The results show that students are generally more interested in reading and writing than in listening and speaking. In addition, there is a significant difference in the learning period rather than the difference between genders. The results of this study need to be used as reference materials for foreign learners learning liberal arts English at Korean universities.
User Expectations Experiences of Green Lifestyle Services for Carbon Neutrality: Focusing on Mobile Challenge App Services
Authors:   The Korean Society of Culture and Convergence, An Seongji , Pan Younghwan , Yoo Chaemoon
Published: June 2023

The purpose of this study is to provide basic data for future service development by examining app services for green life and identifying users' expected experiences. To this end, expected experience items were derived through a survey of challenge app service cases and carbon neutral-related user research documents, and interview verification by group was conducted according to the presence or absence of experience in using the app service. As a result, the two groups showed differences in education, communication, exploration of people's practice through entertainment, empathy and communication, and fun factors, and commonly denied carbon footprint calculations. This study is meaningful in that it investigated user expectation experiences in carbon neutral fields that lack existing user research, and the results can be used as basic data for the development of better green living services in the future.
The Sexological Content Matters in Chinese Culture
Authors: Pachankis Yang I.
Published: June 2023

Introduction: The research adopts an intercultural heuristics in discussing lust and desire in social structures. It draws a correlation between moral objectivism and legal philosophy.Methods: The method takes an anthropological psychological approach to the linguistic arts and traditional Chinese culture. It uncovers the sex innuendo contents in the Chinese culture disguised in natural philosophy.Result: The research sheds light on the Chinese culture of censorship with the denial of the persons behind power in the Chinese way.Conclusions: Mass psychology is partially mass sexology. The diversity of desire by gender and sexuality is a positive sociological factor. The structural elements of the political problems are not without relevance to Gestalt psychology.
Pemeriksaan Kesehatan Lansia Dhuafa Binaan Pimpinan Wilayah Aisyiyah Provinsi Kalimantan Timur
Authors: Wahyuni Tri , Asriyadi Fitroh , Syamsu Andi Fatmawati
Published: June 2023

The poor elderly are people aged 60 years and over, who experience socio-economic problems so they do not carry out their health checks due to limitations. This community service aims to detect health problems early in elderly poor people who have difficulty accessing health facilities due to their limitations. This early detection of health is carried out free of charge with the aim of helping poor elderly people who cannot carry out health checks due to various obstacles, held at the Siti Khadijah Orphanage, Jalan Merdeka Samarinda, on September 24, 2022. Participants in the detection of health problems consisted of 51 elderly people, checking their blood pressure, weight, height, current blood sugar, uric acid, and cholesterol. From this examination, the highest number of participants were the elderly as much as 90.2%, the elderly who were detected to have high blood pressure as much as 60.8%, had diabetes mellitus as much as 21.6%, had high cholesterol levels based on sex as much as 35.3%, and who experienced hypercholesterolemia as much as 43.1%, and 45.1% who are obese.
Penyuluhan Kesehatan Reproduksi Remaja pada Bina Keluarga Remaja sebagai Upaya Pencegahan Stunting
Authors: Adyani Kartika , Realita Friska
Published: June 2023

Adolescents are an important target in efforts to prevent stunting. Prevention can be done with reproductive health education. Parental involvement is needed in stunting reduction interventions, not only to improve adolescent nutrition but also to optimize their growth and development environment. Therefore this service aims to increase the role of the family regarding adolescent reproductive health as a form of stunting prevention with the counseling method. Participants in this activity were members of Jurang Village Youth Family Development, namely parents who had teenagers, namely 17 people. This activity had the effect of increasing knowledge from 26.6% of participants who had good knowledge before counseling to 93.3%. It is hoped that this increased knowledge will increase the participation of parents in accompanying their children, especially in preparing balanced nutrition and parents can become the main source of information related to adolescent reproductive health.
Komunikasi Informasi Motivasi dan Edukasi tentang Stunting kepada Keluarga Berisiko Stunting dan Calon Tim Pendamping
Authors: Patimah Sitti , Sharief Suchi Avnalurini , Rahman Harpiana , Nukman Nukman
Published: June 2023

West Sulawesi Province is the second highest  the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia. Polman Regency has the highest in West Sulawesi (36%), so prevention efforts are needed through mentoring to groups at risk of stunting and and family support officers.This community service aims toassess the effectiveness of mentoring on knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy of families at risk of stunting and candidate for family mentoring in stunting prevention efforts. Mentoring was provided to young women, pregnant women and mothers with toddlers, and prospective family support team officers (28 people) using the communication, information, motivation and education (CIME) method regarding the problem of malnutrition and its impacts, midwifery care for at-risk groups, as well as perspectives Islam about the role of the family in creating children without stunting.Test was conducted before and after mentoring, then analyzed using the McNemar and wilcoxon test. There were 10.7% had never heard of stunting, and 89.3% of the participants knew the term stunting as a short child and experienced growth and development disorders. There was an increase of participants' knowledge scores by 2.25 points significanly (p=0.010), sufficient knowledge was 10.7% (p=0.549), positive attitudes by 3.5% (p=1,000), and high self-efficacy by 28.6% (p=0.008). It was concluded that mentoring on participants had a positive effect on improving knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy in stunting prevention.
Sosialisasi Modul Edukasi Suami Siaga (ESS) tentang Pencegahan Stunting pada Suami Ibu Hamil Primigravida
Authors: Marsia Marsia , Juniartati Erni , Sulistyawati Dwi
Published: June 2023

Stunting or short stature is a major health problem in Indonesia. Stunting can cause cognitive development disorders in toddlers. Standby husband education (ESS) is one of the educational solutions offered to prevent stunting in babies carried by mothers during pregnancy. This community service aims to increase knowledge and develop attitudes in the working area of ​​the North Singkawang Health Center 1. The sample in this study was 40 Respondents of husband of a primigravida pregnant woman undergoing treatment at the Singkawang Utara I Public Health Center. This Community Service was carried out within a span of 10 months from the preparation of proposals, permits, field surveys, interventions, data analysis to the collection of reports. The implementation of community service is evaluated based on the level of knowledge and attitude in efforts to prevent stunting using a knowledge and attitude questionnaire. The results of the knowledge level of the respondents after being given socialization as big 65% with a good level of knowledge and 35% with a fairly good level of knowledge. The attitude of the respondents after being given socialization as big 100% with a positive attitude category. The expected results of this community service are as a reference for programs at the Public Health Center  / Health Office in an effort to prevent stunting.
Penerapan Upaya Peningkatan Kepercayaan Diri dan Kompetensi Mahasiswa Kebidanan dalam Keterampilan Klinis
Authors: Adnani Qorinah Estiningtyas Sakilah , Okinarum Giyawati Yulilania , Susanti Ari Indra , Gumilang Lani , Martini Neneng , Sari Ade Zayu Cempaka , Khaerani Ira Nufus
Published: June 2023

The midwife profession requires knowledge, competence, skills, and confidence so that they can provide professional services. The midwife profession requires knowledge, competence, skills, and confidence so that they can provide professional services. Competent and confident midwives can improve the quality of maternal and child health services. Mastery of competence and confidence possessed by prospective midwives in clinical practice is an important learning goal of the professional quality of graduates from health colleges, especially midwifery. The purpose of this activity is as an effort to increase the confidence of student midwives and midwives in carrying out their competencies. The method used is to hold a webinar and evaluate knowledge about the competence of midwives. This activity was held in 2 days with 740 registrants and the results showed that the average knowledge score of 317 participants increased by 0.74 from 4.82 to 5.56 with Pvalue=0.000. Midwifery Education Institutions and midwives can make the inosco instrument a measuring tool to determine the extent of the level of self-confidence possessed by prospective midwives and midwives to carry out their competence.
Stabilization of Bio-Oss® particulates using photocurable hydrogel to enhance bone regeneration by regulating macrophage polarization
Authors: Wang Jiajia , Qi Xuanyu , Zhou Yuqi , Wang Guifang , Yang Yuanmeng , Jiang Ting , Yu Lei , Wang Shaoyi , Zhang Wenjie
Published: June 2023

Bone substitutes are widely used in maxillofacial and oral surgeries. However, in clinical practice, bone substitutes with various forms, including separated particulates, powders, and blocks, have exhibited poor handling properties and space maintenance characteristics, resulting in long surgery procedures and unstable volume of the newly formed bone. Movable separated particulates with high stiffness have induced local inflammatory responses that hinder bone regeneration. The present study aimed to develop a new method to enhance the stability and operability of bone substitutes commonly used in dentistry by premixing with photocurable hydrogel GelMA. The GelMA-encapsulated particulate had a strong capacity to aggregate separated particulates and firmly attach to the host bone defect after photocuring compared to particulates alone. Additionally, macrophages at the surface of the GelMA-stabilized particulates tended to present a more M2-like phenotype than those at the surface of Bio-Oss®, leading to more MMR+ multinucleated giant cell formation and the induction of blood vessel invasion and new bone formation. In conclusion, this hydrogel-coated bone substitute strategy facilitates bone regeneration with increased operability, a stable volume of osteogenic space, and a favorable osteogenic microenvironment, indicating its potential value in the field of maxillofacial and oral surgeries when bone substitutes are needed.
The African continent should consider a harmonized consultative and collaborative effort towards coordinated policy and regulatory guidelines across the fields of biotechnology
Authors: Masehela Tlou Samuel , Barros Eugenia
Published: June 2023

The advances in the field of biotechnology (and bioengineering) over the past decades has allowed the precise development of new products across the agricultural, environmental, and pharmaceutical sectors. This has led to the need to evaluate the relevance and applicability of existing policies and frameworks that regulate the current transgenic technologies. On the African continent, there are delays in the development and implementation of biosafety policies and regulations. Most African countries formulate their policies, regulations, and frameworks by following The Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) guidelines. Although the CBD documents are continually evolving, this happens at a slower pace. It is becoming increasingly important for countries to deal swiftly with the advances in biotechnology in a manner thatbalancesthe regulatory complexities, while safeguarding thenet gainsfor human health, the environment, and the economy. For the African countries, some of thesenet gainsare similar, while concerns and perceived risks associated with the adoption and use of the technology are also common. Furthermore, the challenges relating to capacity, knowledge, and skills to address some of the regulatory complexities. In this article we explore the advancement of some African countries in the development and implementation of various biosafety policies and detail the challenges and constraints faced by those countries that are lagging behind. We conclude by outlining identified opportunities for neighbouring and regional countries to assist one another and work in a more organised and coordinated approach towards developing, implementing, and strengthening their respective biosafety policies, regulations, and frameworks.
Epigenetic modification in Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Song Hao , Chen Juanli , Huang Jin , Sun Peng , Liu Yanming , Xu Li , Wei Chuanfei , Mu Xin , Lu Xianjie , Wang Wei , Zhang Nan , Shang Miwei , Mo Mei , Zhang Wei , Zhao Hui , Han Fabin
Published: June 2023

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder caused by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. Recent advance in genomics and epigenetics have revealed epigenetic mechanisms in PD. These epigenetic modifications include DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and RNA-based mechanisms, which regulate cellular functions in almost all cells. Epigenetic alterations are involved in multiple aspects of neuronal development and neurodegeneration in PD. In this review, we discuss current understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression and neural degeneration and then highlight emerging epigenetic targets and diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for treating or preventing PD.
The effect of cardioplegic supplementation with sildenafil on cardiac energetics in a piglet model of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic arrest with warm or cold cardioplegia
Authors: Skeffington Katie L. , Mohamed Ahmed Eltayeb , Rapetto Filippo , Chanoit Guillaume , Bond Andrew R. , Vardeu Antonella , Ghorbel Mohamed T. , Suleiman M-Saadeh , Caputo Massimo
Published: June 2023

Cardioplegic cardioprotection strategies used during paediatric open-heart surgery remain suboptimal. Sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, has been shown to be cardioprotective against ischemia/reperfusion injury in a variety of experimental models and this study therefore tested the efficacy of supplementation of cardioplegia with sildenafil in a piglet model of cardiopulmonary bypass and arrest, using both cold and warm cardioplegia protocols. Piglets were anaesthetized and placed on coronary pulmonary bypass (CPB), the aorta cross-clamped and the hearts arrested for 60 min with cardioplegia with or without sildenafil (10 nM). Twenty minutes after removal of cross clamp (reperfusion), attempts were made to wean the pigs from CPB. Termination was carried out after 60 min reperfusion. Throughout the protocol blood and left ventricular tissue samples were taken for analysis of selected metabolites (using HPLC) and troponin I. In both the cold and warm cardioplegia protocols there was evidence that sildenafil supplementation resulted in faster recovery of ATP levels, improved energy charge (a measure of metabolic flux) and altered release of hypoxanthine and inosine, two purine catabolites. There was no effect on troponin release within the studied short timeframe. In conclusion, sildenafil supplementation of cardioplegia resulted in improved cardiac energetics in a translational animal model of paediatric CPB surgery.
Investigations into the failure mechanisms of coal bursts based on a real burst event in the Tangshan coal mine
Authors: Jia Dongxu , Zhi Zengzhu , Cao Chen , Zhang Ming
Published: June 2023

To investigate the failure mechanisms of coal bursts in the longwalls of underground coal mines, a case study based on the real coal burst in the Tangshan coal mine occurring on 2 August 2019 was carried out to analyze the cause and basic theories of the coal burst and, thus, propose approaches and methods to mitigate the damage. The coal burst occurred mainly due to the sliding of coal from the longwall ribs and the simultaneous uplifting of the floor. As a result of the longwall retraction, the roof above the coal seam was too stable to collapse, forming a long hanging roof behind the longwall. Because the longwall acted as a fulcrum, the hanging roof acted like a saw, exerting massive loads on the longwall. As a result, the roof in front of the longwall tended to slope upward, leaving the underlying coal seam unconfined. Due to the horizontal stresses, the longwall ribs collapsed into the longwall, causing the coal seam to break out. These findings could help improve the fundamental understanding of the failure mechanisms of coal breakouts and, thus, aid in the development of measures to prevent such occurrences.
A SVM-based method for identifying fracture modes of rock using WVD spectrogram features of AE signals
Authors: Qin Zixiu , Chen Xianjie , Yan Yuanfang , Liu Zonghui , Wang Zhengfu
Published: June 2023

In order to achieve the highly efficient and accurate identification of fracture modes including tension or shear fractures during rock failure, an intelligent identification method based on Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) spectrogram features of acoustic emission (AE) signals was proposed. This method was mainly constructed by the following steps: Firstly, AE hits corre-sponding to tension and shear fractures were obtained through conducting the Brazilian disc test (tension fracture) and direct shear test (shear fracture) of limestone. Secondly, the WVD spectro-grams of these tensile-type and shear-type AE hits were respectively extracted and then trans-formed into the image features of relatively low-dimension as the sample set based on the gray-level cooccurrence matrix (GLCM) and histogram of oriented gradient (HOG). Finally, on the basis of the processed and classified sample set of the WVD spectrogram features, an identifica-tion model of rock fracture modes was established by a support vector machine (SVM) learning algorithm. To verify this method, the fracture modes of limestone subjected to biaxial compres-sion were identified by the method. The results showed that the method not only can greatly re-veal the fracture modes change from tension-dominated to shear-dominated fractures, but also has advantages over the RA-AF value method, such as applicability, accuracy and practicality.
Lipids, lipid-lowering agents, and inflammatory bowel disease: a Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Tao Heqing , Yu Zhou , Dong Yongqiang , Liu Ligang , Peng Liang , Chen Xueqing
Published: June 2023

Background

To assess the causal role of lipid traits and lipid-lowering agents in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods

Univariable mendelian randomization (MR) and multivariable MR (MVMR) analyses were conducted to evaluate the causal association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and IBD. Drug-targeted MR analyzed the effects of lipid-lowering drugs on IBD, and network MR was used to analyze potential mediation effects.

Results

The levels of HDL-C had an inverse relationship with the risk of Crohn’s disease (CD, OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.73-0.98, P = 0.024). In MVMR, the inverse relationships were found in all three outcomes. Drug-targeted MR analyses showed that with one-SD LDL-C decrease predicted by variants at or near proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), the OR values of people diagnosed with IBD, ulcerative colitis (UC) and CD were 1.75 (95%CI: 1.13-2.69, P = 0.011), 2.1 (95%CI: 1.28-3.42, P = 0.003) and 2.24 (95%CI: 1.11-4.5, P = 0.024), respectively. With one-SD LDL-C decrease predicted by variants at or near cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), the OR value of people diagnosed with CD was 0.12 (95%CI: 0.03-0.51, P = 0.004). Network-MR showed that HDL-C mediated the causal pathway from variants at or near CETP to CD.

Conclusion

Our study suggested a causal association between HDL-C and IBD, UC and CD. Genetically proxied inhibition of PCSK9 increased the risk of IBD, UC and CD, while inhibition of CETP decreased the risk of CD. Further studies are needed to clarify the long-term effect of lipid-lowering drugs on the gastrointestinal disorders.
Central role of lung macrophages in SARS-CoV-2 physiopathology: a cross-model single-cell RNA-seq perspective
Authors: Olivier Thibaut , Blomet Joël , Desmecht Daniel
Published: June 2023

Cytokine storms are considered a driving factor in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. However, the triggering and resolution of this cytokine production, as well as the link between this phenomenon and infected cells, are still poorly understood. In this study, a cross-species scRNA-seq analysis showed that cytokine-producing macrophages together with pneumocytes were found to be the main contributors of viral transcripts in both Syrian hamsters and African green monkeys. Whatever the cell type, viral read-bearing cells show an apoptotic phenotype. A comparison of SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor candidates showed that Fc receptors are better correlated with infected cells than ACE2, NRP1, or AXL. Although both species show similar interferon responses, differences in adaptive immunity were highlighted. Lastly, Fc receptor and cytokine upregulation in M1 macrophages was found to correlate with a comprehensive interferon response. Based on these results, we propose a model in which lung macrophages play a central role in COVID-19 severity through antibody-dependent enhancement.
Mitochondrial ROS and base excision repair steps leading to DNA nick formation drive ultraviolet induced-NETosis
Authors: Azzouz Dhia , Palaniyar Nades
Published: June 2023

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is essential for neutrophil extracellular trap formation (NETosis), and generated either by NADPH oxidases (e.g., during infections) or mitochondria (e.g., sterile injury) in neutrophils. We recently showed that ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a sterile injury-inducing agent, dose-dependently induced mitochondrial ROS generation, and increasing levels of ROS shifted the neutrophil death from apoptosis to NETosis. Nevertheless, how ROS executes UV-induced NETosis is unknown. In this study, we first confirmed that UV doses used in our experiments generated mitochondrial ROS, and the inhibition of mitochondrial ROS suppressed NETosis (Mitosox, SYTOX, immunocytochemistry, imaging). Next, we showed that UV irradiation extensively oxidized DNA, by confocal imaging of 8-oxyguanine (8-oxoG) in NETs. Immunofluorescence microscopy further showed that a DNA repair protein, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, was widely distributed throughout the DNA, indicating that the DNA repair machinery was active throughout the genome during UV-induced NETosis. Inhibition of specific steps of base excision repair (BER) pathway showed that steps leading up to DNA nick formation, but not the later steps, suppressed UV-induced NETosis. In summary, this study shows that (i) high levels of mitochondrial ROS produced following UV irradiation induces extensive oxidative DNA damage, and (ii) early steps of the BER pathway leading to DNA nicking results in chromatin decondensation and NETosis. Collectively, these findings reveal how ROS induces NOX-independent NETosis, and also a novel biological mechanism for UV irradiation- and -mitochondrial ROS-mediated NETosis.
Visual disability in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders: prognostic prediction models
Authors: Luo Wenqin , Kong Lingyao , Chen Hongxi , Wang Xiaofei , Du Qin , Shi Ziyan , Zhou Hongyu
Published: June 2023

Background and objectives

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system characterized by simultaneous or consecutive episodes of acute optic neuritis and transverse myelitis. Attacks of NMOSD can result in the accrual of severe visual disability over time. This study aimed to develop and validate prognostic models for visual disability risk within 1, 3, and 5 years.

Methods

Medical records of NMOSD patients were retrospectively analyzed. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression algorithm and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to select predictors of visual disability. Two models predicting the probability of visual disability in 1, 3, and 5 years were developed based on different selections and displayed as nomograms. Risk scores were calculated for every patient, and a cut-off point was obtained to recognize patients at high risk.

Results

In total, 161 (25.2%) patients developed visual disabilities during the follow-up period. Four visual disability-related factors were selected using LASSO regression: optic neuritis (ON) onset, higher annual relapse rate (ARR) before maintenance therapy, no maintenance immune suppression therapy (IST), and initial severe attack. Three additional predictors were determined using multivariate Cox regression: male sex, age at first onset, and positive AQP4-IgG serology. Discrimination and calibration were satisfied, with concordance indexes (C-index) close to 0.9 in both models. Decision curve analysis showed good clinical usefulness in both models, and Kaplan-Meier curves showed satisfactory discrimination between patients with high risk and low risk by the cut-off points.

Conclusion

This study reported predictors of visual disability and generated nomograms. High-risk patients need more active treatment and management to avoid unfavorable outcomes.
Mechanical and energy absorption properties of 3D-printed honeycomb structures with Voronoi tessellations
Authors: Ahmed Abdelrahman Mohamed Ragab M. , Mahdi Elsadig , Oosterhuis Kas , Dean Aamir , Cabibihan John-John
Published: June 2023

3D printing technology is the new frontier in building construction. It is especially useful for making small structures within a short period. Full construction, including interior partitions and exterior façades, can be achieved with this technology. This paper proposes a parametric Voronoi tessellations model for quickly generating and fabricating 3D-printed hexagonal honeycomb partitions for interior design. Comprehensive experimental testing was conducted to characterize the mechanical properties and investigate the energy absorption characteristics of the proposed 3D-printed hexagonal honeycomb while comparing it to alternative hexagonal honeycomb structures. The tests included tensile testing (ASTM-D638) of the printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) material, especially with the almost total absence of conducted research that reported mechanical properties for 3D printed material with low infill percentages such as 10%. In addition, an in-plane quasi-static axial compression testing of the lightweight honeycomb structures was also conducted on the printed structure with the same low infill percentage. Compared to non-Voronoi honeycomb structures, the Voronoi honeycomb resulted in superior mechanical and energy absorption properties with energy absorption values ranging from 350 to 435 J and crash force efficiency being 1.42 to 1.65.
CatWalk XT gait parameters: a review of reported parameters in pre-clinical studies of multiple central nervous system and peripheral nervous system disease models
Authors: Timotius Ivanna K. , Roelofs Reinko F. , Richmond-Hacham Bar , Noldus Lucas P. J. J. , von Hörsten Stephan , Bikovski Lior
Published: June 2023

Automated gait assessment tests are used in studies of disorders characterized by gait impairment. CatWalk XT is one of the first commercially available automated systems for analyzing the gait of rodents and is currently the most used system in peer-reviewed publications. This automated gait analysis system can generate a large number of gait parameters. However, this creates a new challenge in selecting relevant parameters that describe the changes within a particular disease model. Here, for the first time, we performed a multi-disorder review on published CatWalk XT data. We identify commonly reported CatWalk XT gait parameters derived from 91 peer-reviewed experimental studies in mice, covering six disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The disorders modeled in mice were traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, sciatic nerve injury (SNI), spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and ataxia. Our review consisted of parameter selection, clustering, categorization, statistical evaluation, and data visualization. It suggests that certain gait parameters serve as potential indicators of gait dysfunction across multiple disease models, while others are specific to particular models. The findings also suggest that the more site-specific the injury is, the fewer parameters are reported to characterize its gait abnormalities. This study strives to present a clearly organized picture of gait parameters used in each one of the different mouse models, potentially helping novel CatWalk XT users to apply this information to similar or related mouse models they are working on.
Information-theoretic analysis of Hierarchical Temporal Memory-Spatial Pooler algorithm with a new upper bound for the standard information bottleneck method
Authors: Sanati Shiva , Rouhani Modjtaba , Hodtani Ghosheh Abed
Published: June 2023

Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM) is an unsupervised algorithm in machine learning. It models several fundamental neocortical computational principles. Spatial Pooler (SP) is one of the main components of the HTM, which continuously encodes streams of binary input from various layers and regions into sparse distributed representations. In this paper, the goal is to evaluate the sparsification in the SP algorithm from the perspective of information theory by the information bottleneck (IB), Cramer-Rao lower bound, and Fisher information matrix. This paper makes two main contributions. First, we introduce a new upper bound for the standard information bottleneck relation, which we refer to as modified-IB in this paper. This measure is used to evaluate the performance of the SP algorithm in different sparsity levels and various amounts of noise. The MNIST, Fashion-MNIST and NYC-Taxi datasets were fed to the SP algorithm separately. The SP algorithm with learning was found to be resistant to noise. Adding up to 40% noise to the input resulted in no discernible change in the output. Using the probabilistic mapping method and Hidden Markov Model, the sparse SP output representation was reconstructed in the input space. In the modified-IB relation, it is numerically calculated that a lower noise level and a higher sparsity level in the SP algorithm lead to a more effective reconstruction and SP with 2% sparsity produces the best results. Our second contribution is to prove mathematically that more sparsity leads to better performance of the SP algorithm. The data distribution was considered the Cauchy distribution, and the Cramer–Rao lower bound was analyzed to estimate SP’s output at different sparsity levels.
Branch-site occlusion sign predicts the embolic origin of acute ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis
Authors: Jiang Xinzhao , Shi Zongjie , Wang Peng , Wang Xu , Liu Fang
Published: June 2023

Objective

The study aimed to investigate whether branch-site occlusion (BSO) sign could predict the etiology of acute intracranial large artery occlusion (ILVO) and the stentriever (SR) response.

Methods

We systematically reviewed studies that evaluated the predictive role of BSO for the etiology of ILVO-AIS or EVT outcome between 1 January 2000 and 31 August 2022 from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science.

Results

The sensitivity and specificity of BSO sign predicting etiology of ILVO-AIS were 0.87 (95% CI 0.81–0.91) and 0.64 (95% CI 0.33–0.87), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of BSO sign predicting stentriever response were 0.84 (95% CI 0.63–0.94) and 0.61 (95% CI 0.18–0.92), respectively.

Conclusion

The BSO sign could be a valid and precise imaging marker to predict embolism caused ILVO-AIS and recanalization success by SR without rescue therapy.
A study on the immediate effects of enhanced external counterpulsation on physiological coupling
Authors: Liu Hongyun , Liang Hui , Yu Xiaohua , Han Yi , Wang Guojing , Yan Muyang , Wang Weidong , Li Shijun
Published: June 2023

Introduction

Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is a non-invasive assisted circulation technique for its clinical application in the rehabilitation and management of ischemic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which has complex physiological and hemodynamic effects. However, the effects of EECP on the coupling of physiological systems are still unclear. We aimed to investigate the immediate effects of EECP on the coupling between integrated physiological systems such as cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Methods

Based on a random sham-controlled design, simultaneous electrocardiography, photoplethysmography, bio-electrical impedance, and continuous hemodynamic data were recorded before, during and after two consecutive 30 min EECP in 41 healthy adults. Physiological coupling strength quantified by phase synchronization indexes (PSI), hemodynamic measurements and heart rate variability indices of 22 subjects (female/male: 10/12; age: 22.6 ± 2.1 years) receiving active EECP were calculated and compared with those of 19 sham control subjects (female/male: 7/12; age: 23.6 ± 2.5 years).

Results

Immediately after the two consecutive EECP interventions, the physiological coupling between respiratory and cardiovascular systems PSIRES–PTT (0.34 ± 0.14 vs. 0.49 ± 0.17, P = 0.002), the physiological coupling between cardiac and cardiovascular systems PSIIBI–PTT (0.41 ± 0.14 vs. 0.52 ± 0.16, P = 0.006) and the total physiological coupling PSItotal (1.21 ± 0.35 vs. 1.57 ± 0.49, P = 0.005) in the EECP group were significantly lower than those before the EECP intervention, while the physiological coupling indexes in the control group did not change significantly (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

Our study provides evidence that the PSI is altered by immediate EECP intervention. We speculate that the reduced PSI induced by EECP may be a marker of disturbed physiological coupling. This study provides a new method for exploring the mechanism of EECP action and may help to further optimize the EECP technique.
Unraveling multi-fixel microstructure with tractography and angular weighting
Authors: Delinte Nicolas , Dricot Laurence , Macq Benoit , Gosse Claire , Van Reybroeck Marie , Rensonnet Gaetan
Published: June 2023

Recent advances in MRI technology have enabled richer multi-shell sequences to be implemented in diffusion MRI, allowing the investigation of both the microscopic and macroscopic organization of the brain white matter and its complex network of neural fibers. The emergence of advanced diffusion models has enabled a more detailed analysis of brain microstructure by estimating the signal received from a voxel as the combination of responses from multiple fiber populations. However, disentangling the individual microstructural properties of different macroscopic white matter tracts where those pathways intersect remains a challenge. Several approaches have been developed to assign microstructural properties to macroscopic streamlines, but often present shortcomings. ROI-based heuristics rely on averages that are not tract-specific. Global methods solve a computationally-intensive global optimization but prevent the use of microstructural properties not included in the model and often require restrictive hypotheses. Other methods use atlases that might not be adequate in population studies where the shape of white matter tracts varies significantly between patients. We introduce UNRAVEL, a framework combining the microscopic and macroscopic scales to unravel multi-fixel microstructure by utilizing tractography. The framework includes commonly-used heuristics as well as a new algorithm, estimating the microstructure of a specific white matter tract with angular weighting. Our framework grants considerable freedom as the inputs required, a set of streamlines defining a tract and a multi-fixel diffusion model estimated in each voxel, can be defined by the user. We validate our approach on synthetic data and in vivo data, including a repeated scan of a subject and a population study of children with dyslexia. In each case, we compare the estimation of microstructural properties obtained with angular weighting to other commonly-used approaches. Our framework provides estimations of the microstructure at the streamline level, volumetric maps for visualization and mean microstructural values for the whole tract. The angular weighting algorithm shows increased accuracy, robustness to uncertainties in its inputs and maintains similar or better reproducibility compared to commonly-used analysis approaches. UNRAVEL will provide researchers with a flexible and open-source tool enabling them to study the microstructure of specific white matter pathways with their diffusion model of choice.
Effect of perception of sustainability in local food experiences on healthy eating tendency: mediator and moderator effects
Authors: Aksakallı Bayraktar Zühal , Oral Serhan , Bulut Samuray Hakan , Bayraktar Yusuf
Published: June 2023

Tourists who favor local food typically care about healthy food choices. Their view of locally produced food as healthy is related to perceptions of sustainability. This relationship can be explained by tourists' personality traits and tendency to eat local food. This study aimed to establish the effect of tourists' perceptions of sustainability in the context of local food experiences on healthy eating tendencies. In addition, we aimed to determine the role of tourists' personality traits and local eating tendencies and elucidate the moderating role of searching online for information on food choices. An online questionnaire (via e-mail and WhatsApp) was used to obtain data from 379 research participants, recruited using a non-probabilistic sampling technique. A research model and hypotheses were formed based on Hayes PROCESS Macro models 90 and 6, and moderator and mediator effects were analyzed using these models. Healthy eating was well-explained by the model, and the perception of social and environmental sustainability in local food experiences (LFE-SES) positively affected food-related personality traits (FRPT), local food eating tendencies (LFET), and healthy eating (HE). While food-related personality traits did not mediate the relationship between the perception of sustainability and healthy eating, local food eating tended to mediate this relationship. In addition, when food-related personality traits and local food eating tendencies were evaluated together, they had a mediating role between the perception of sustainability and healthy eating. Searching online for information had an insignificant moderating effect. These findings help promote an understanding of healthy eating tendencies. Within the context of local food, they suggest critical theoretical and practical implications for the relationship between the perception of sustainability, food-related personality traits, local food eating tendencies, and healthy eating.
Anti-HPV16 oncoproteins siRNA therapy for cervical cancer using a novel transdermal peptide PKU12
Authors: Deng Yan , Song Yi , Du Quan , Wang Chi Chiu , Li Hu , Sui Yi , Zhang Yuying , Tang Tao
Published: June 2023

In this study, an innovative transdermal peptide, #PKU12, was developed based on transdermal peptide TD-1, and the anti-tumor effect of PKU12-based siRNA against HPV was investigated in vivo. Furthermore, transcriptome differences between PKU12 + siRNA treatment and control groups were compared to assess treatment effects. The top five upregulated and downregulated genes identified by RNA sequencing were further subjected to survival analysis. The present study, for the first time, showed that this novel peptide could enhance the transdermal delivery of the siRNA targeting HPV16 L1, E6, and E7. PKU12-based siRNA delivery significantly repressed the mRNA expression levels of HPV16 L1, E6, and E7 in the SiHa xenograft tumors and attenuated tumor growth as well. The RNA-sequencing results showed that a total of 586 DEGs were detected in the PKU12 + siRNA-treated tumor tissues compared to the control tumor tissues. The GSEA analysis revealed that DEGs were inversely associated with the HIF-1 signaling pathway, the TNF signaling pathway, the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, the NF-kappa B signaling pathway, ferroptosis, the IL-17 signaling pathway, ovarian steroidogenesis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Further functional enrichment analysis revealed that DEGs were significantly enriched in several key pathways, including cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction, the TNF signaling pathway, and the IL-17 signaling pathway. High expression of MYH1, MYH4, FGG, DEPP1, and ZBTB16 was associated with shorter overall survival of patients with cervical cancer; high expression of SULT1E1, RAB3C, CXCR3, and PROX2 was associated with longer overall survival of patients with cervical cancer. In conclusion, the transdermal peptide PKU12 is potentially a good candidate for a siRNA delivery vehicle for the treatment of cervical cancer.