bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE ROLE OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES OF THE ENTERPRISE
Authors:   Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University (Vinnitsa), Buha Natalia , Tkachuk Svitlana ,   Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University (Vinnitsa)
Published: July 2023

The article examines the peculiarities of the use of Internet technologies as an innovative approach in the advertising activities of the enterprise. The main trends of their application are determined. The influence of information technologies on entrepreneurial activity is analyzed. The main innovative approaches to the use of Internet technologies are characterized. The tools of integrated marketing Internet communications are provided. The main advantages of using digital technologies are highlighted. Since the Internet is a new and unique medium for offering goods or services, it can use it as a new business activity to increase competitiveness and sustainability, as a means of disseminating advertising information, as a distribution channel, and to receive marketing information, forming the basis of interactive interaction subjects. In the modern world, in the conditions of fierce competition, maintaining a market niche, promoting the services of an enterprise, attracting new customers, and increasing competitiveness are becoming especially topical issues for all enterprises. The mechanisms of the real effective activity of all small and large enterprises in the market are well known and defined - marketing and its main tool – advertising. Increasingly large material resources and intellectual potential are being invested in the development of marketing and, as a result, advertising activities. The article also discusses ways to attract and maintain site visitors and convert them. An integrated approach consists in applying a whole set of ways of interacting with the consumer that affects his decision. The widespread use of Internet technologies in the activities of enterprises and the increase in advertising costs are due to an increase in the number of marketing tools and the expansion of their capabilities. These tools continue to reshape customer-enterprise interactions. As a result, with the help of Internet technologies, you can transfer funds, study, communicate, work, order food, get news and much more, so the introduction of Internet technologies is a necessary event.
THE ESSENCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INNOVATIONS IN AGRICULTURE
Authors:   Sumy National Agrarian University, Mohylna Liudmyla
Published: July 2023

The article analyses modern interpretations of scientists regarding the essence of agro-innovations, the author's definition of this definition is given. The main features of innovative activity in agriculture studied, because non-man-made products of nature – plants, animals, territory, climate, weather – considered the leading resources for the production of agricultural products. In connection with the special biological, natural-historical and socio-demographic nature of agriculture, innovative processes in the agrarian sphere manifest themselves in a specific way, which determines the uniqueness of the approaches and methods of managing innovative processes, the combination of different types of innovations, and the strengthening of the role of the state in stimulating innovations. It noted that the specifics of the agricultural sector is that the development of innovative technologies in the industry is slower. It emphasized that innovative activity in agriculture has a heterogeneous nature. This is due to the different economic and financial situation of the areas of agriculture and their different innovative potential. The process of innovative development is not linear and depends on various circumstances. It noted that an effective combination of internal and external incentives, which will increase the interest of business structures in the implementation of innovations, could be particularly significant motives for the active implementation of innovative activities. Moreover, the innovative way of development objectively requires significant investments. Therefore, identifying real factors that can hinder or promote innovative activity is an important direction in the study of innovative processes. It noted that the innovative path of development objectively requires significant investments, and therefore the state should support innovatively active agricultural producers in every possible way. The following mechanisms for the formation of financial resources for innovation proposed, such as postponement of tax payments for expenses for innovation purposes, preferential income taxation.
FORMATION OF A MARKETING SYSTEM FOR THE SALE OF PRODUCTS OF AN AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE
Authors:   Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, Bahorka Mariia , Kvasova Liudmila ,   Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, Kravets Olga ,   Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University
Published: July 2023

The article examines the essence, functions and components of the marketing system, provides its scientific justification, presents measures that ensure the marketing of agricultural enterprise products. A marketing promotion system is a process of facilitating stakeholders that include suppliers, farmers, market agents, processors, retailers and consumers. It was established that the purpose of an agro-industrial enterprise should correspond to the implementation of a set of marketing functions, the essence of which is as follows: firstly, market orientation, which involves the study of its objects and subjects, i.e. consumers, competitors, information about market conditions and products; secondly, influence on the market through its study and analysis, adaptation to market conditions; thirdly, the organization of the sales system of competitive products, the collection and processing of information; fourthly, orientation towards achieving long-term commercial success, which involves the subordination of short-term interests to the goals of long-term, stable market advantages. Distinctive features of the marketing system of agricultural production are determined by the specifics of markets in the agribusiness system, features of supply and demand, as well as prices for agricultural products. It is the marketing system that allows you to partially or fully solve the problems of promoting agricultural products, to form appropriate strategies that will contribute to increasing the efficiency of the enterprise and give a positive result. Step-by-step formation of the marketing system involves: carrying out analytical diagnostics of the agricultural enterprise and strategic forecasting (forecasting) of its development; development of a marketing complex; ensuring effective organization and effective marketing management. The components of the marketing system are established according to the differences in agricultural products: perishability, seasonal production, communication routes, storage conditions. The authors came to the conclusion that it is the distribution channels that are the key module of the functioning of the product promotion system of agrarian business enterprises, and the wholesale sales channel is separately highlighted.
The Drivers of Changes in the State of Agrobiodiversity
Authors:   National Agriculture Genetic Resources Center, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Khumaltar, Nepal.  Email: joshibalak@yahoo.com, Joshi Bal Krishna , Gauchan Devendra ,   Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Khumaltar, Nepal.  Email: d.gauchan@cgiar.org, Chaudhary Pashupati ,   Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Phyathai Bangkok 10400, Thailand.  Email: pashupati.nature@gmail.com, Aryal Kamal ,   International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Khumaltar, Nepal.  Email: kamal.aryal@icimod.org, Shrestha Ram Krishna ,   Crop Development and Agrobiodiversity Conservation Center, Kathmandu, Nepal.  Email: rksathi05@gmail.com
Published: July 2023

The diversity of agricultural genetic resources is decreasing over the years and sites across the world. With the objectives of determining the drivers and their impact on agrobiodiversity particularly in Nepal, different methods e.g., focus group discussion, transact walk, key informant survey, and literature survey were used. Among the 16 broad categories of drivers, the most 5 important drivers in terms of negative impact on agrobiodiversity were the: 1) advancements and innovations in science and technology, 2) changes in land and water use and management, 3) alternative business and information flow, 4) population growth and urbanization, and 5) markets and trade. The most important specific driver is exotic varieties and breeds among 90 specific drivers. The earthquake of 2015 was a major disaster having damaged much local agricultural diversity in more than 14 districts of Nepal. Expansion of area for agricultural production, the establishment of a new settlement and various types of developmental activities have caused a loss of many wild relatives of agricultural species and wild edible species. Threat to crop diversity is high in rice, banana, cucumber, and tomato due to replacement of old cultivars by modern varieties. Threat to rice bean, horse bean, and foxtail millet is due to low priority given by growers and consumers. Invasive alien species like Parthenium, Eupatorium spp. and Lantana camara have had a significant effect on diversity and ecosystem services. The least affected agrobiodiversity components are microbial genetic resources. The important drivers e.g., exotic genotypes, external inputs, monogenotype-based monoculture policy and climate changes, should be given due attention to control and manage for better management of agrobiodiversity.
Comparación de la velocidad de alineación entre la ortodoncia fija lingual versus labial. Revisión de literatura
Authors: Veloz Moncada Geraldine Karina , Cabrera Padrón María Isabel , Veloz Moncada Francisco Santiago
Published: July 2023

Introducción.  En la actualidad, los tratamientos ortodóncicos han evolucionado para cumplir objetivos tanto estéticos como funcionales, por medio del desarrollo tecnológico e industrial. Objetivo.  Comparar la velocidad entre la aparatología lingual y labial mediante una revisión bibliográfica de la literatura para conocer las diferencias y efectividades de estos dos tratamientos. Metodología.  En este estudio se realizó una revisión bibliográfica y documentada sobre la literatura de la ortodoncia lingual y labial y la relación con la velocidad, duración y tiempo de tratamiento. Resultados. Sobre la evaluación de la efectividad y el tiempo total de tratamiento entre aparatos labiales y linguales se demostró que los procedimientos de estas dos aparatologías se complementaron. Conclusión.  se pudo concluir que existe una disparidad de los resultados de los artículos analizados con relación a la velocidad y tiempo del tratamiento, tanto de la odontología lingual como labial. Razón por la cual, no se puede afirmar que exista diferencia en eficacia, velocidad, tiempo o duración entre estos dos tratamientos.
Calidad del agua de una playa del Pacífico de Panamá: condiciones fisicoquímicas y bacterias fecales
Authors: Vergara-Chen Carlos , Guevara Belén , Zúñiga Mabel , González Yarisel
Published: July 2023

Los ambientes marinos a menudo se ven afectados por la contaminación microbiana con implicaciones negativas para la salud humana y ambiental. El objetivo de este trabajo fue describir la calidad del agua de mar de la playa de Río Mar, San Carlos, provincia de Panamá Oeste. Se recolectaron muestras de agua de mar en cuatro (4) zonas de la playa en temporada seca  y temporada lluviosa. Se analizaron los parámetros hidrológicos (salinidad, pH, turbidez, sólidos totales disueltos y temperatura), nutrientes (nitrato, nitrito, amonio y fosfato) y BIF (coliformes totales, Escherichia coli y enterococos). Se registraron concentraciones mayores de BIF durante la temporada seca coincidiendo con la mayor afluencia de turistas y usuarios que podría estar causando un aumento en la carga bacteriana en las aguas costeras. Durante la temporada lluviosa las concentraciones bacterianas disminuyeron significativamente. Se encontró una correlación significativa entre la concentración de amonio, la salinidad y la concentración de enterococos, indicando que conforme disminuyó la salinidad aumentó la concentración de amonio y enterococos. Estos resultados deben ser considerados como un diagnóstico parcial, ya que la variabilidad natural ambiental y el incremento de las actividades antropogénicas pueden modificar la calidad de las aguas costeras.
A hybridized geoid model for Ashanti Region, Ghana
Authors:   Geomatic Engineering Department, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, Doku Ebenezer Tetteh , Asante Cosmas Yaw ,   Geomatic Engineering Department, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, Ayer John ,   Geomatic Engineering Department, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, Amoah Richard Clophy ,   Surveying and Mapping Division, Lands Commission, Accra, Ghana
Published: July 2023

GNSS positioning techniques deliver accurate three dimensional coordinates in Easting, Northing and geometric heights. However, the use of the geometric heights for topographic mapping is limited due to the unavailability of accurate National geoid models for their conversion into used Normal-Orthometric height systems in Ghana. Though global gravimetric geoids such as EGM2008 are readily available, these are not suitable for direct conversion of geometric heights from GNSS into the useful normalorthometric height system used because local geoids are offset in an unpredictable way from such global geoids. In this investigation, a new hybrid geoid model for the Ashanti Region is developed and tested. The developed model incorporates the contribution of global geopotential models (GGMs) provided by EGM2008 together with GPS/Levelling using a remove and restore-like approach to develop a surface corrector model that separates the deterministic trend from the stochastic errors which then is separately modelled using the Gauss-Markov method. The main idea is thence to model the anomalies after comparing the gravimetric and quasi-geoid models from several collocated points. A Four-parameter Helmert transformation model have been applied to reduce data biases and provide a fitting quasi geoid heights obtained from the GGMs to those from GPS/levelling data. Whereas the gravimetric geoid alone has revealed that the vertical datum offset from the National height datum over Ashanti Region was at the level of 8cm up to 1.0m with a mean offset of 44cm. The Hybrid geoid model (ASHGeoid21) computed through the Remove-Compute-Restore (RCR) procedure resulted in geoid heights that are offset from Local geoid values at nineteen additional checkpoints for up to ± 50cm. with a standard deviation of ±10cm. It is recommended that, the hybrid residual height anomalies of a maximum of 50cm, could be further improved with the inclusion of more GPS/levelling points.
Statistical Analysis of Ultraviolet Radiation in The Museum of L'almoina in Valencia (Spain)
Authors:   1Department Applied Physics, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain, Moreno Juan-Carlos , Baró José Luis ,   Department of Architectural Composition, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain, Serrano María-Antonia ,   Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain, García-Diego Fernando-Juan ,   1Department Applied Physics, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Published: July 2023

The present work is an analysis and statistical association of distributions of experimental values of ultraviolet radiation attenuation through the skylight of a museum in the city of Valencia (Spain). The distributions of values were made in summer and winter at different times. Statistical analysis was obtained to detect the clustering of the measurement distributions, and the statistical association was carried out using the Q or Yule index, which means a dependency function between this parameter and the structure of the museum building. The basis of the aforementioned statistical index is a contingency matrix whose elements are subject to change depending on the season of the year and the shape of the skylight.
Statistical Analysis of Visible and Infrared Radiation in The Museum of L'Almoina in Valencia (Spain)
Authors:   1Department Applied Physics, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain, Moreno Juan-Carlos , Baró José Luis ,   Department of Architectural Composition, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain, Serrano María-Antonia ,   3 Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain, García-Diego Fernando-Juan ,   1Department Applied Physics, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Published: July 2023

The present work is an analysis and statistical association of distributions of experimental spectral values of visible and infrared radiation attenuation through the skylight of a museum in the city of Valencia (Spain). They have been statistically analyzed in summer and winter. This analysis allows detecting interrelation between data distributions. The spatial association of these distributions is also analyzed by applying the Yule index belonging to Spatial Statistics. The interest of the index is to establish a relationship of spatial association of distributions and the structure of the museum. That is, a contingency matrix is constructed whose value of the elements depends on the shape of the museum's skylight.
Discussion on the Application of Quality Education in Architectural Computer Rendering Course
Authors:   School of Construction, Shenzhen Polytechnic, China, Gao Yani , Wu Gang ,   School of Construction, Shenzhen Polytechnic, China
Published: July 2023

Quality education is an important part of the current curriculum teaching in Chinese universities, and its content needs to be integrated into the curriculum teaching. Objectives: this paper aims to find the proper way to combine teaching design of the course of architectural computer rendering and quality education. This paper find using teaching methods such as characteristic cases and competition can deepen students' understanding and recognition of China's excellent traditional culture, encouraging students to participate in competitions and obtain professional qualification certificates, as a measure of value-added evaluation, can develop students' rigorous professional quality. In general, proper teaching method and evaluation method are the key factors to improve college students’ professional quality and general quality
The Use of Isothermal Solution Calorimetry as a Promising Technique to Monitor Drug Release Kinetics
Authors:   Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), 49100-000 São Cristóvão-SE, Brazil, Vieira, Eunice F S , Araújo Ângelo Augusto ,   Clirevis, Rua Lagarto, 2137, Salgado Filho, 49020-290 Aracaju-SE, Brazil
Published: July 2023

The objective of the present article is to emphasize that isothermal solution calorimetry (ISC) can be used to determine kinetics of reactions of interest in biotechnology. The major advantage of this technique is that it enables to characterize drug release profiles in real time noninvasively. Here ISC was used to monitor pyrimethamine release incorporated in hydrogels of oxidized alginate, ADA, and oxidized alginate blended with chitosan, ADA-Chit. The mechanism of pyrimethamine release was analysed using the semi-empirical equation so-called power law. From plots of cumulative heats concerning drug release, Qrel(t), versus time, values of apparent rate release, k, and diffusion exponent, n, were determined. The values of n were found to be 1.22 for ADA and 1.09 for ADA-Chit, indicating that the drug release is controlled by polymer relaxation.
Hypoxia exacerbates heat stress effects on the porcine intestinal epithelium in vitro
Authors: Pearce S. C. , Gabler N. K.
Published: July 2023

Heat stress (HS) negatively impacts human health, as well as animal agriculture. The mechanisms underlying HS-induced intestinal dysfunction in vivo are still not fully elucidated. However, HS has been shown to cause intestinal ischemia/hypoxia, which contributes to reduced barrier integrity. The objective of this study was to examine hypoxia alone, HS alone, and a combination using IPEC-J2 cells. We hypothesized that hypoxia is a critical factor and important step in the pathway to HS-induced barrier dysfunction. Porcine IPEC-J2 cells were grown in Transwell™ plates and then treated either under thermal neutral (TN; 38°C) or heat stress (HS; 42°C) and either normoxia (NX; ~21% O2) or hypoxia (HX; 1% O2) conditions for 24 h. Transepithelial electrical resistance, paracellular permeability marker, FITC-dextran, media interleukin 8, cell HSP70 and 90, CLDN4, ZO-1, and EEA1 were all analyzed. Results showed that HS did not increase intestinal permeability in this model and elicited a reduction in IL-8 while still exhibiting a robust HSP response. In this model, hypoxia was required to induce intestinal barrier dysfunction and TJ redistribution. The combination of HS and hypoxia caused even more severe tight junction disruption. This was accompanied by the absence of an IL-8 response under HS.
Knowledge, attitude, and proficiency of healthcare providers in cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a public primary healthcare setting in Qatar
Authors: Veettil Shajitha Thekke , Anodiyil Mohamed Shaheen , Khudadad Hanan , Kalathingal Mohamed Ali , Hamza Abdul Hakeem , Ummer Femina Purakaloth , Alnuaimi Ahmed Sameer
Published: July 2023

Introduction

Early and effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) increases both survival rate and post–cardiac arrest quality of life. This study aims to assess the current knowledge and ability of physicians and nurses in health centers (HCs) operated by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) in Doha, Qatar, to perform CPR.

Methodology

This study consists of two parts. The first part is a descriptive cross-sectional survey using an online form targeting physicians and nurses working in all HCs to assess their CPR knowledge and attitude. The second part is a direct observation of CPR drills to evaluate the skills and competencies of code blue team members in a convenient sample of 14 HCs. A multivariate model was employed to test the independent effect of explanatory variables on the total knowledge score.

Results

A total of 569 physicians and nurses responded to the survey. Only one-half (48.7%) formally received training on basic life support within the last year. Furthermore, 62.7% have tried to revive a dying person with no pulse. All the participants recognize the importance of knowing how to revive a dying adult or child as part of their job. The study showed that being a nurse was the most important predictor of a higher knowledge score in both components. Attending more resuscitation courses (3–6 courses in the last 3 years) ranked second in importance, and a longer experience in clinical practice (5–10 and >10 years) ranked third in predictive power. In addition, the direct observation of CPR drill performance revealed a satisfactory outcome.

Conclusion

The level of CPR knowledge and skills practice among healthcare providers in PHCC is deemed satisfactory as most providers reported having performed CPR in the past. Considering that PHCC is the first step to people’s healthcare in Qatar, clinical staff should be certified and assessed regularly to ensure retention of resuscitation knowledge and skills.
Current and future sinkhole susceptibility in karst and pseudokarst areas of the conterminous United States
Authors: Wood Nathan J. , Doctor Daniel H. , Alder Jay , Jones Jeanne
Published: July 2023

Sinkholes in karst and pseudokarst regions threaten infrastructure, property, and lives. We mapped closed depressions in karst and pseudokarst regions of the conterminous United States (U.S.) from 10-m-resolution elevation data using high-performance computing, and then created a heuristic additive model of sinkhole susceptibility that also included nationally consistent data for factors related to geology, soils, precipitation extremes, and development. Maps identify potential sinkhole hotspots based on current conditions and projections for 50 years into the future (the years 2070–2079) based on climate change and urban development scenarios. Areas characterized as having either high or very high sinkhole susceptibility contain 94%–99% of known or probable sinkhole locations from three U.S. state databases. States and counties with the highest amounts and percentages of land in zones of highest sinkhole susceptibility are identified. Projected changes in extreme precipitation and development did not substantially change current hotspots of highest sinkhole susceptibility. Results provide a uniform index of sinkhole potential that can support national planning, instead of existing assessments produced through various methods within individual states or smaller areas.
Ear canal pressure sensor for food intake detection
Authors: Hossain Delwar , Ghosh Tonmoy , Haider Imtiaz Masudul , Sazonov Edward
Published: July 2023

Introduction: This paper presents a novel Ear Canal Pressure Sensor (ECPS) for objective detection of food intake, chew counting, and food image capture in both controlled and free-living conditions. The contribution of this study is threefold: 1) Development and validation of a novel wearable sensor that uses changes in ear canal pressure and the device’s acceleration as an indicator of food intake, 2) A method to identify chewing segments and count the number of chews in each eating episode, and 3) Facilitation of egocentric image capture only during eating by triggering camera from sensor detection thus reducing power consumption, privacy concerns, as well as storage and computational cost.

Methods: To validate the device, data were collected from 10 volunteers in a controlled environment and three volunteers in a free-living environment. During the controlled activities, each participant wore the device for approximately 1 h, and during the free living for approximately 12 h. The food intake of the participants was not restricted in any way in both part of the experiment. Subject-independent Support Vector Machine classifiers were trained to identify periods of food intake from the features of both the pressure sensor and accelerometer, and features only from the pressure sensor.

Results: Results from leave-one-out cross-validation showed an average 5 sec-epoch classification F-score of 87.6% using only pressure sensor features and 88.6% using features from both pressure sensor and accelerometer in the controlled environment. For the free-living environment, both classifiers accurately detected all eating episodes. The wearable sensor achieves 95.5% accuracy in counting the number of chews with respect to manual annotation from the videos of the eating episodes using a pressure sensor classifier in the controlled environment.

Discussion: The manual review of the images found that only 3.7% of captured images belonged to the detected eating episodes, suggesting that sensor-triggered camera capture may facilitate reducing the number of captured images and power consumption of the sensor.
FWAlgaeDB, an integrated genome database of freshwater algae
Authors: Lai Juan , Liang Qiting , Zhang Xin , Liu Yongfeng , Wang Miao , Yang Wei , Sun Taotao , Li Yan , Jin Huan , Liu Ying , Li Wei , Wu Shenhao , Xie Zixin , Zhou Letian , Luo Mingjie , Zeng Lidong , Yan Qin , Feng Jie , Sun Lei
Published: July 2023

Algal genomics research contributes to a deeper understanding of algal evolution and provides useful genomics inferences correlated with various functions. Published algal genome sequences are very limited owing to genome assembly challenges. Because genome data of freshwater algae are rapidly increasing with the recent boom in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics, an interface to store, interlink, and display these data is needed. To provide a substantial genomic resource specifically for freshwater algae, we developed the Freshwater Algae Database (FWAlgaeDB), a user-friendly, constantly updated online repository for integrating genomic data and annotation information. This database, which includes information on 204 freshwater algae, allows easy access to gene repertoires and gene clusters of interest and facilitates potential applications. Three functional modules are integrated into FWAlgaeDB: a Basic Local Alignment Search Tool tool for similarity analyses, a Search tool for rapid data retrieval, and a Download function for data downloads. This database tool is freely available at http://www.fwalagedb.com/#/home. To demonstrate the utility of FWAlgaeDB, we also individually mapped metagenomic sequencing reads of 10 water samples to FWAlgaeDB and Nt algae databases we constructed to obtain taxonomic composition information. According to the mapping results, FWAlgaeDB may be a better choice for identifying algal species in freshwater samples, with fewer potential false positives because of its focus on freshwater algal species. FWAlgaeDB can therefore serve as an open-access, sustained platform to provide genomic data and molecular analysis tools specifically for freshwater algae.
Evaluating the effectiveness and robustness of machine learning models with varied geo-environmental factors for determining vulnerability to water flow-induced gully erosion
Authors: Aboutaib Fatima , Krimissa Samira , Pradhan Biswajeet , Elaloui Abdenbi , Ismaili Maryem , Abdelrahman Kamal , Eloudi Hasna , Ouayah Mustapha , Ourribane Malika , Namous Mustapha
Published: July 2023

Assessing and mapping the vulnerability of gully erosion in mountainous and semi-arid areas is a crucial field of research due to the significant environmental degradation observed in such regions. In order to tackle this problem, the present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of three commonly used machine learning models: Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and Logistic Regression. Several geographic and environmental factors including topographic, geomorphological, environmental, and hydrologic factors that can contribute to gully erosion were considered as predictor variables of gully erosion susceptibility. Based on an existing differential GPS survey inventory of gully erosion, a total of 191 eroded gullies were spatially randomly split in a 70:30 ratio for use in model calibration and validation, respectively. The models’ performance was assessed by calculating the area under the ROC curve (AUC). The findings indicate that the RF model exhibited the highest performance (AUC = 89%), followed by the SVM (AUC = 87%) and LR (AUC = 87%) models. Furthermore, the results highlight those factors such as NDVI, lithology, drainage, and density were the most influential, as determined by the RF, SVM, and LR methods. This study provides a valuable tool for enhancing the mapping of soil erosion and identifying the most important influencing factors that primarily cause soil deterioration in mountainous and semi-arid regions.
Prevalence of chronic kidney disease and associated factors among patients with underlying chronic disease at Dessie Referral Hospital, East Amhara Region, Ethiopia
Authors: Ali Ahmed , Mulatu Kebadnew , Feleke Sefineh Fenta , Wassie Gizachew Tadesse
Published: July 2023

Background

Chronic kidney disease is defined as a reduction in glomerular filtration rate below 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 and presence of albuminuria over a period of time. Globally, 10%–15% of populations are affected by chronic kidney disease. Studies conducted in Jimma, Addis Ababa, and the Tigray region were conducted on a single chronic disease and did not include human immune viruses. In addition, there has been no such study conducted in the Amhara region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the magnitude and associated factors of chronic kidney disease among chronic patients who are followed up at an outpatient department.

Methods

An institutional-based cross-sectional study of 480 chronic patients was conducted at Dessie Referral Hospital, Dessie, Ethiopia between 15 March and 16 April 2020. Data were entered into Epidata and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Binary logistic regression models were performed to identify factors associated with chronic kidney disease. The variables with a p-value ≤0.25 were considered to be a candidate for multivariable logistic regression. A p-value ≤0.05 was considered a statistically significant association.

Results

The magnitude of chronic kidney disease among the study participants was 21.3%. Variables such as hypertension [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.6, 95% CI: 1.58–4.27], use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (AOR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.41–3.97), smoking (AOR: 4.4, 95% CI: 2.65–7.34), routine physical activity (AOR: 0.6, 95% CI: 0.35–0.94), and obesity (AOR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.76–5.05) were significantly associated with the chronic kidney disease.

Conclusion

This study found that the magnitude of chronic kidney disease in the study area was high. Hypertension, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, smoking, routine physical activity, and obesity were found to be significant factors for chronic kidney disease.
Abundance and ecological footprint of Pseudoalteromonas phage vB_PhoS_XC in the Ulva prolifera green tide
Authors: Sun Jianhua , Zhang Xinran , Liang Yantao , Zheng Kaiyang , Kennedy Fraser , Han Meiaoxue , Liu Gang , Liu Yundan , Wang Ziyue , Chen Xuechao , Sung Yeong Yik , Mok Wen Jye , Wong Li Lian , McMinn Andrew , Wang Min
Published: July 2023

Pseudoalteromonas is a ubiquitous and abundant genus of marine bacteria commonly associated with algae. In this study, a novel siphoviral-morphological bacteriophage, vB_PhoS_XC, was isolated from the coastal seawaters of Qingdao (China) during a bloom of the Ulva prolifera (U. prolifera) green tide. The morphology of this phage (icosahedron head 51 ± 1 nm in diameter; a tail length of 86 ± 1 nm) was characterized through transmission electron microscope. The biological properties of this virus showed a short latent period (45 minutes), a large burst size (241 virions per cell) and a relatively wide range of temperatures/pH level tolerance (-20°C to 45°C and pH 4 to pH 10, respectively). The vB_PhoS_XC has a 46,490-bp double-stranded DNA genome with a G+C content of 40.0%, and encodes 72 open reading frames (ORFs). Thirty-five of these ORFs were assigned into known functions based on BLAST-based algorithm against NR database of GenBank. In addition, eco-genomic analysis provides the evidence of vB_PhoS_XC accompanied by bloom of U. prolifera, and confirmed the high expression of two phosphatase-metabolism-related auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs). This study provides new insights into the functional and ecological roles of the Pseudoalteromonas phage vB_PhoS_XC, shedding light on the virological study approach combined with traditional isolation and meta-omics data.
Burnout syndrome and work engagement in nursing staff: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Vargas-Benítez Miguel Ángel , Izquierdo-Espín Francisco José , Castro-Martínez Nuria , Gómez-Urquiza José L. , Albendín-García Luis , Velando-Soriano Almudena , Cañadas-De la Fuente Guillermo A.
Published: July 2023

Background

A difficult and demanding work environment, such as that often experienced in healthcare, can provoke fatigue, anxiety, distress, and discomfort. This study considers factors that may influence levels of burnout and work engagement among nurses and seeks to determine the relationship between these conditions.

Method

A systematic scoping review was performed, in accordance with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews, based on data obtained from a search of the PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases carried out in 2022 using the search equation: “work engagement AND nurs* AND burnout.” This search identified nine quantitative primary studies suitable for inclusion in our analysis.

Results

Work overload, type of shift worked, and/or area of hospital service, among other elements, are all relevant to the development of burnout. This syndrome can be countered by social support and appropriate personal resources and values, which are all positively associated with work engagement. Our analysis revealed a significant correlation between work engagement and the different domains of burnout. The correlation effect size between burnout and work engagement was −0.46 (95% CI −0.58, −0.31), with p < 0.001.

Conclusion

Well-targeted interventions in the healthcare work environment can reduce burnout levels, strengthen work engagement, and enhance the quality of healthcare.
Physiotherapists’ ethical behavior in professional practice: a qualitative study
Authors: Mármol-López María Isabel , Marques-Sule Elena , Naamanka Kati , Arnal-Gómez Anna , Cortés-Amador Sara , Durante Ángela , Tejada-Garrido Clara Isabel , Navas-Echazarreta Noelia , Juárez-Vela Raúl , Gea Vicente
Published: July 2023

Background

In health professions, ethics is considered a fundamental competence. The increase in clinical autonomy in the field of physiotherapy is associated with an increase in ethical situations in their clinical practice.

Objective

To explore the ethics of the clinical relationship between physiotherapists and patients, the ethics training received by physiotherapists, and if in the clinical context, physiotherapists identify the necessary attitudes and apply the ethical recommendations of the profession for the ethical situations they experience.

Methods

A qualitative exploratory and descriptive study was performed with physiotherapists. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using content analysis, as proposed by Krippendorf. The study protocol was approved by the University of Valencia Ethics Committee of Human Research.

Results

This study included 15 physiotherapists (66.66% women, average age = 42.2 years), which was sufficient to reach data saturation. We identified four categories: (i) Ethics of the clinical relationship (ethical values, principles, and norms; type of clinical relationship), (ii) Ethics training received (during the physiotherapy studies; current training of students; low importance of ethics in the curriculum), (iii) Necessary attitudes for professional ethical practice (main attitudes were identified: personal attitudes and professional attitudes); (iv) Experiences from professional practice (general; public sector vs. private sector).

Conclusion

The ethics of the clinical relationship between physiotherapists and patients is determined by the attitudes of the practitioner, which are the result of his or her values and previous experiences; and are very centered on ethics of indication (founded mainly on the principles of Beneficence and Non-Maleficence). It is necessary to improve the ethical training received by physiotherapists, which is poorly focused on professional attitudes.
The value of multimodal ultrasonography in evaluating therapeutic response of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis to anti-tuberculosis drugs
Authors: Yu Tianzhuo , Zhang Lin , Xu Jianping , Meng Jun , Yu Xiulei , Zhang Ying
Published: July 2023

Purpose

In order to research the value of multimodal ultrasonography in evaluating therapeutic response of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis to anti-tuberculosis drugs.

Materials and methods

Sixty-one patients with cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis were enrolled in this study. Ultrasound examination was performed before systemic standard anti-tuberculosis treatment and within 1–2 months after treatment, and the patients were divided into effective group and ineffective group according to the follow-up at the sixth month. The multimodal ultrasound signs of the two groups were compared and analyzed.

Results

In the effective group, there were significant differences in the maximum diameter of lymph nodes, the echo of the surrounding tissue and the enlargement of the contrast area before and after treatment (p < 0.05). At 1–2 months after treatment, there were significant differences in the maximum diameter, pus changes, CDFI, elasticity scores, echo of surrounding tissues, changes in enlarged and non-enhanced areas after contrast enhancement between the effective group and the ineffective group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The multimodal ultrasound signs of the appearance of internal pus or non-enhancement area enlargement, enhanced echo of the surrounding tissue and enlargement after CEUS are related to poor prognosis, and may be used to evaluate the response of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy when the size change of lymph node is not obvious in individual treatment.
Anopheline mosquito saliva contains bacteria that are transferred to a mammalian host through blood feeding
Authors: Accoti Anastasia , Damiani Claudia , Nunzi Emilia , Cappelli Alessia , Iacomelli Gloria , Monacchia Giulia , Turco Antonella , D’Alò Francesco , Peirce Matthew J. , Favia Guido , Spaccapelo Roberta
Published: July 2023

Introduction

Malaria transmission occurs when Plasmodium sporozoites are transferred from the salivary glands of anopheline mosquitoes to a human host through the injection of saliva. The need for better understanding, as well as novel modes of inhibiting, this key event in transmission has driven intense study of the protein and miRNA content of saliva. Until now the possibility that mosquito saliva may also contain bacteria has remained an open question despite the well documented presence of a rich microbiome in salivary glands.

Methods

Using both 16S rRNA sequencing and MALDI-TOF approaches, we characterized the composition of the saliva microbiome of An. gambiae and An. stephensi mosquitoes which respectively represent two of the most important vectors for the major malaria-causing parasites P. falciparum and P. vivax.

Results

To eliminate the possible detection of non-mosquito-derived bacteria, we used a transgenic, fluorescent strain of one of the identified bacteria, Serratiamarcescens, to infect mosquitoes and detect its presence in mosquito salivary glands as well as its transfer to, and colonization of, mammalian host tissues following a mosquito bite. We also showed that Plasmodium infection modified the mosquito microbiota, increasing the presence of Serratia while diminishing the presence of Elizabethkingia and that both P. berghei and Serratia were transferred to, and colonized mammalian tissues.

Discussion

These data thus document the presence of bacteria in mosquito saliva, their transfer to, and growth in a mammalian host as well as possible interactions with Plasmodium transmission. Together they raise the possible role of mosquitoes as vectors of bacterial infection and the utility of commensal mosquito bacteria for the development of transmission-blocking strategies within a mammalian host.
Flint corn silage management: influence of maturity stage, inoculation with Lentilactobacillus buchneri, and storage time on fermentation pattern, aerobic stability, and nutritional characteristics
Authors: Rossi Luis G. , Andrade Marina E. B. , Rabelo Carlos H. S. , Siqueira Gustavo R. , Vicente Eduardo F. , Silva Wilton L. , Silva Matheus M. , Reis Ricardo A.
Published: July 2023

Introduction

High quality corn silage depends on factors such as corn type, stage of crop development at harvest time, fermentation time, in addition to use or not of inoculants. This study aimed to investigate the impact of maturity stage, bacterial inoculation, and storage time on fermentation, aerobic stability, and nutritional characteristics of flint corn silage and their implications for corn silage management.

Methods

A flint corn hybrid was harvested very early, early, and medium (at 250, 300 and 350 g dry matter (DM)/kg as fed, respectively) and ensiled in mini-silos without (control) or with Lentilactobacillus buchneri CNCM I-4323 at 1 × 105 cfu/g for 120, 240 and 360 d to investigate how these factors interact with each other.

Results and discussion

There was only a small increase (7 g/kg starch; p = 0.003) in starch digestibility (starch-D) in the silages stored for 360 d when compared to that stored for 240 d, but with no difference for 120 d. Despite the reduced starch-D (526 vs. 694 g/kg starch; p < 0.001), silages produced from medium harvest had higher (p < 0.001) starch content (317 vs. 137 g/kg DM) and higher amount of digestible starch (169 vs. 98.5 g/kg DM; p < 0.001) compared to very early harvest. The 2-way interactions (inoculation × storage time and maturity × storage time) showed that inoculation of corn silage with L. buchneri increased (p < 0.001) the aerobic stability, and that more mature crop silage had higher aerobic stability (140 h; p = 0.036) than the others (118 and 48.5 h for those silages from very early and early harvest).

Conclusion

The storage for a longer time (>120 d) with the goal of increasing silage digestibility did not occur. Harvesting whole-crop flint corn with 300 to 350 g/kg DM is desirable to have higher DM yield and starch accumulation. Inoculation with L. buchneri is recommended to preserve the silage against aerobic deterioration. This study has shown the importance of harvesting flint corn at the right time, and the need for inoculation with L. buchneri to ensure greater yield, starch accumulation, and silage preservation, if 120 days of storage are not exceeded.
Formation of low- and high-spatial frequency laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) in ALD-deposited MoS2
Authors: Becher Malte J. M. J. , Jagosz Julia , Bock Claudia , Ostendorf Andreas , Gurevich Evgeny L.
Published: July 2023

The formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) on the atomic layer-deposited (ALD) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) upon femtosecond laser processing is studied experimentally. Laser-processing parameters such as average laser power and the scan speed at which the formation of the periodic nanostructures takes place are identified. Optical and scanning electron microscopy are applied to identify the parameter regions for the different LIPSS formations and transitions between them. High- and low-spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL and LSFL) with two distinct periods λLSFL ≈ 1.1 μm and λHSFL ≈ 83 nm can be observed. The HSFL are dominating at higher and the LSFL at lower laser average powers. Formation of LIPSS is found to inhibit laser ablation at lower scan speeds.
E-YOLOv4-tiny: a traffic sign detection algorithm for urban road scenarios
Authors: Xiao Yanqiu , Yin Shiao , Cui Guangzhen , Zhang Weili , Yao Lei , Fang Zhanpeng
Published: July 2023

Introduction

In urban road scenes, due to the small size of traffic signs and the large amount of surrounding interference information, current methods are difficult to achieve good detection results in the field of unmanned driving.

Methods

To address the aforementioned challenges, this paper proposes an improved E-YOLOv4-tiny based on the YOLOv4-tiny. Firstly, this article constructs an efficient layer aggregation lightweight block with deep separable convolutions to enhance the feature extraction ability of the backbone. Secondly, this paper presents a feature fusion refinement module aimed at fully integrating multi-scale features. Moreover, this module incorporates our proposed efficient coordinate attention for refining interference information during feature transfer. Finally, this article proposes an improved S-RFB to add contextual feature information to the network, further enhancing the accuracy of traffic sign detection.

Results and discussion

The method in this paper is tested on the CCTSDB dataset and the Tsinghua-Tencent 100K dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the original YOLOv4-tiny in traffic sign detection with 3.76% and 7.37% improvement in mAP, respectively, and 21% reduction in the number of parameters. Compared with other advanced methods, the method proposed in this paper achieves a better balance between accuracy, real-time performance, and the number of model parameters, which has better application value.