bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kazakhstan’s universities: global challenges and local duties improving education quality
Authors: Nurgaliyeva Saniya , Zeinolla Saule , Aben Assel , Iskendirova Saule , Ismukhanova Gulnara
Published: November 2024

Over the years of independence, Kazakhstan has developed a higher education (HE) system that incorporates both national characteristics and international standards. However, the system still struggles to meet new challenges, and its scale, while comparable to global standards, does not yet reflect the growing requirements for quality education essential for ensuring competitiveness. The study aims to evaluate the extent of variability in Kazakhstan’s policies as they navigate between global challenges and local objectives in the pursuit of higher education quality. A quantitative method was utilized to collect and analyze the study data to identify relationships, test hypotheses, and draw generalizations. The study sample consists of a total of 1,200 educators from various universities. The study findings revealed that Kazakhstan is rapidly advancing to the third stage of HE internationalization, striking a balance between importing and aspiring to export HE. This study is important as it provides valuable insights into how Kazakhstan’s modern universities can effectively manage the intersection of global challenges and regional obligations to enhance the quality of HE.
Authentic assessment activities for oral Malay language skills in primary schools
Authors: Ramlan Norliza , Wan Mohammad Wan Muna Ruzanna , Mahamod Zamri
Published: November 2024

The quality of assessment conducted by teachers plays an important role in ensuring students’ mastery of Malay language skills, particularly oral skills. Assessment through direct activities can highlight students’ true potential and skills. Therefore, this study aims to explore the forms of authentic assessment activities for Malay language oral skills in primary schools in Malaysia. The study design is qualitative, using a case study method involving one case across multiple locations. This study involves five Malay language teachers as study participants from five primary schools located in five different states in Malaysia. The research methods used include interviews, observations, and document analysis. The study findings were analyzed thematically using Nvivo14 software. The results of the study identified seven forms of authentic assessment activities implemented by Malay language teachers: role-playing, storytelling, stimulus materials, questioning, edutainment, presentations, and language games. Interview interpretations are supported by observation and document analysis results, which prove that teachers conduct various forms of authentic assessment activities as the best alternative assessments for evaluating primary school students’ Malay language oral skills. Authentic assessment focuses on engaging and realistic activities to facilitate teachers in directly observing students' language development and skills.
Entrepreneurship education in vocational schools: an Indonesian model
Authors: Widodo Widodo , Baswedan Aliyah Rasyid , Suyata Pujiati , Eka Saputra Wahyu Nanda
Published: November 2024

Vocational education is crucial in bridging the gap between educational outcomes and labor market demands, significantly impacting employment rates and career prospects. The purpose of the study was to identify the acceptability of the entrepreneurship education model in Indonesian vocational schools. This paper explores the importance of vocational education in equipping individuals with job-ready skills, addressing challenges like long-term unemployment, and literacy skill disparities. It emphasizes the integration of entrepreneurship education to foster entrepreneurial intentions, competencies, and behaviors, crucial for sustainable economic growth, particularly in Indonesia. Utilizing a development model based on Borg and Gall, the study involves needs assessment, product development, and evaluation to craft an effective entrepreneurship education framework for vocational schools. Insights from vocational education experts, entrepreneurship practitioners or teachers, and entrepreneurs are integral to developing this model. The findings show that entrepreneurship education is acceptable to be implemented in Indonesian vocational schools. The proposed model focuses on characteristic Indonesian mindset formation, practical entrepreneurial skills, and active industry collaboration, aiming to prepare graduates for both employment and selfemployment. This research has implications for the transformation of vocational education in Indonesia by providing a strong framework that supports graduates’ transition to the world of work and encourages entrepreneurial efforts, thereby contributing to broader economic development and innovation.
Antônio Vieira o imperador do púlpito
Authors:   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Pécora Alcir , Hansen João Adolfo ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Castagna Paulo ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Alcides Sérgio Alcides Sérgio
Published: November 2024

Este volume da série Cadernos do IEB reúne quatro das nove conferências pronunciadas durante o curso de difusão cultural António Vieira: o imperador do púlpito (1697-1997), realizado pelo Instituto de Estudo Brasileiros da Universidade de São Paulo em 1997, por ocasião do terceiro centenário de morte do pregador jesuíta. O objetivo do evento foi agregar especialistas de áreas diversas (história, musicologia, filosofia e crítica literária) para discutir não só a obra vieiriana mas tam bém a sua época - além da leitura dramática do “Sermão da Quarta-Feira de Cinzas” por Fábio Weintraub. O leitor encontrará aqui abordagens inclusive conflitantes, refletindo as divergências que ainda mantêm acalorado o debate em torno dos escritos do “imperador da língua portuguesa” como diria Fernando Pessoa - e do século XVII luso-brasileiro. Nada mais adequado a essas obras, às quais talvez caiba aplicar a sentença do próprio Vieira: “estrelas que todos vêem, e m uito poucos as medem”.
Roadmap for Health Equity: Understanding the Importance of Community-Engaged Research
Authors: Boden-Albala Bernadette
Published: November 2024

Achieving health equity in stroke prevention, treatment, and recovery has continued to be a significant challenge. This article highlights the significance of health equity and the role of community-engaged research in addressing stroke disparities, including concepts around health equity as the fair and just opportunity for everyone to attain their highest level of health and well-being. Social determinants impact stroke incidence, prevalence, morbidity, and mortality, which emphasizes the importance of intersectionality and social risk-informed care. A comprehensive roadmap for achieving health equity in stroke through the integration of community-engaged research is presented, including the necessity of community involvement in all aspects of research. Community is defined beyond geographic boundaries, highlighting the importance of shared identities and values. The process of developing targeted goals with communities toward social justice reform is reviewed, including an evolved community engagement framework, emphasizing the need for training to inform about issues and collaborative leadership models. Several stroke disparities intervention studies are highlighted, demonstrating the successful incorporation of community engagement into intervention design and intervention platforms. For enhanced engagement, the use of community health workers and better integration of community health worker models are essential. There may be a critical need for community engagement to optimize inclusion in clinical trials. Finally, acknowledging the complexities of research around decreasing stroke disparities in prevention, treatment, and recovery, this article delves into a framework for understanding the mechanisms by which interventions affect inequities and the need for multifaceted solutions with the community as a partner. Highlighting the roadmap to health equity, this research argues that community engagement is an integral component at all steps along the road to achieving optimum brain health through equitable stroke treatment, prevention, and recovery.
Genetic Programming-based Feature Selection for Symbolic Regression on Incomplete Data
Authors: Al-Helali Baligh , Chen Qi , Xue Bing , Zhang Mengjie
Published: November 2024

High-dimensionality is one of the serious real-world data challenges in symbolic regression and it is more challenging if the data are incomplete. Genetic programming has been successfully utilised for high-dimensional tasks due to its natural feature selection ability, but it is not directly applicable to incomplete data. Commonly, it needs to impute the missing values first and then perform genetic programming on the imputed complete data. However, in the case of having many irrelevant features being incomplete, intuitively, it is not necessary to perform costly imputations on such features. For this purpose, this work proposes a genetic programming-based approach to select features directly from incomplete high-dimensional data to improve symbolic regression performance. We extend the concept of identity/neutral elements from mathematics into the function operators of genetic programming, thus they can handle the missing values in incomplete data. Experiments have been conducted on a number of data sets considering different missingness ratios in high-dimensional symbolic regression tasks. The results show that the proposed method leads to better symbolic regression results when compared with state-of-the-art methods that can select features directly from incomplete data. Further results show that our approach not only leads to better symbolic regression accuracy but also selects a smaller number of relevant features, and consequently improves both the effectiveness and the efficiency of the learning process.
Interactive Machine Teaching by Labeling Rules and Instances
Authors: Karamanolakis Giannis , Hsu Daniel , Gravaano Luis
Published: November 2024

Weakly supervised learning aims to reduce the cost of labeling data by using expert-designed labeling rules. However, existing methods require experts to design effective rules in a single shot, which is difficult in the absence of proper guidance and tooling. Therefore, it is still an open question whether experts should spend their limited time writing rules or instead providing instance labels via active learning. In this paper, we investigate how to exploit an expert’s limited time to create effective supervision. First, to develop practical guidelines for rule creation, we conduct an exploratory analysis of diverse collections of existing expert-designed rules and find that rule precision is more important than coverage across datasets. Second, we compare rule creation to individual instance labeling via active learning and demonstrate the importance of both across 6 datasets. Third, we propose an interactive learning framework, INTERVAL, that achieves efficiency by automatically extracting candidate rules based on rich patterns (e.g., by prompting a language model), and effectiveness by soliciting expert feedback on both candidate rules and individual instances. Across 6 datasets, INTERVAL outperforms state-of-the-art weakly supervised approaches by 7% in F1. Furthermore, it requires as few as 10 queries for expert feedback to reach F1 values that existing active learning methods cannot match even with 100 queries.
FINCH: Prompt-guided Key-Value Cache Compression for Large Language Models
Authors: Corallo Giulio , Papotti Paolo
Published: November 2024

Recent large language model applications, such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation and chatbots, have led to an increased need to process longer input contexts. However, this requirement is hampered by inherent limitations. Architecturally, models are constrained by a context window defined during training. Additionally, processing extensive texts requires substantial GPU memory. We propose a novel approach, Finch, to compress the input context by leveraging the pre-trained model weights of the self-attention. Given a prompt and a long text, Finch iteratively identifies the most relevant Key (K) and Value (V) pairs over chunks of the text conditioned on the prompt. Only such pairs are stored in the KV cache, which, within the space constrained by the context window, ultimately contains a compressed version of the long text. Our proposal enables models to consume large inputs even with high compression (up to 93x) while preserving semantic integrity without the need for fine-tuning.
The monusco Force Intervention Brigade at 10 and the Quest for Fair UN Peacekeeping Involvement in Non-International Armed Conflicts
Authors: Longobardo Marco
Published: November 2024

This article aims at assessing the fairness of peacekeeping involvement in non-international armed conflicts in light of ten years of practice of the monusco Force Intervention Brigade (2013–2023). The article posits that respect for the three principles of peacekeeping, namely non-use of armed force except for self-defence, neutrality/impartiality, and consent of the belligerents, can be used to measure the fairness of a peacekeeping mission. Reference to procedural fairness as legitimacy, following the work of Thomas Franck, is employed here. The article describes the mandate of the monusco Force Intervention Brigade in light of ten years of the UN Security Council’s resolutions and practice in the field to conclude that the mission does not comply with the principles of peacekeeping and, thus, it cannot be seen as a fair UN involvement in a non-international armed conflict.
3. Belief
Authors: Weatherson Brian
Published: November 2024

This chapter argues that belief is interest-relative for the following reason. A big part of what it is to believe that p is to be willing to use p as a starting point in inquiries. But for most people, for most of their beliefs, there will be some inquiry where they won’t start with that belief. For example, the inquiry into whether they might have made a mistake in forming that very belief. There is a tension here, and the best way to resolve it is to say that when they are going about ordinary life, they have the belief, but they lose it when they turn to more unusual inquiries about their own reliability.
7. Changes
Authors: Weatherson Brian
Published: November 2024

In this chapter I respond to the frequently voiced objection that interest-relative theories lead to implausible verdicts about pairs of situations where knowledge is lost or gained due to what looks like an irrelevant feature of a situation. I have two responses to these objections. First, I argue that the intuitions are about what makes it the case that a person does or doesn’t know something, and the arguments from these examples moves too quickly from a claim about modal variation to a claim about making. The second response is, I think, more compelling, and draws on unpublished work by Nilanjan Das. Objections like the ones I’m discussing here over-generate. Every theory of how to avoid Gettier-style cases leads to pairs of cases where a person gains or loses knowledge depending on factors that seem ‘irrelevant’. So it’s not an objection to my view that it has the same consequences as every plausible theory of knowledge.
8. Rationality
Authors: Weatherson Brian
Published: November 2024

This chapter goes over my theory of rational belief. Surprisingly, and in contrast to the view defended by Jeremy Fantl and Matthew McGrath, interests affect rational belief in a very different way to how they effect knowledge. On my view, but not theirs, someone who has mistaken, and irrational, beliefs about what practical situation they are facing can easily have a rational, true belief that is not knowledge.
A mechanism for erythrocyte‐mediated elevation of apparent viscosity by leukocytes in vivo without adhesion to the endothelium
Authors: Helmke Brian P. , Sugihara‐Seki Masako , Skalak Richard , Schmid‐Schönbein Geert W.
Published: November 2024

In spite of the relatively small number of leukocytes in the circulation, they have a significant influence on the perfusion of such organs as skeletal muscle or kidney. However, the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. In the current study a combined in vivo and computational approach is presented in which the interaction of individual freely flowing leukocytes with erythrocytes and its effect on apparent blood viscosity are explored. The skeletal muscle microcirculation was perfused with different cell suspensions with and without leukocytes or erythrocytes. We examined a three‐dimensional numerical model of low Reynolds number flow in a capillary with a train of erythrocytes (small spheres) in off‐axis positions and single larger leukocytes in axisymmetric positions. The results indicate that in order to match the slower axial velocity of leukocytes in capillaries, erythrocytes need to position themselves into an off‐axis position in the capillary. In such off‐axis positions at constant mean capillary velocity, erythrocyte axial velocity matches on average the axial velocity of the leukocytes, but the apparent viscosity is elevated, in agreement with the whole organ perfusion observations. Thus, leukocytes influence the whole organ resistance in skeletal muscle to a significant degree only in the presence of erythrocytes.
Intercellular Ca$^{2+}$ waves in mechanically stimulated articular chondrocytes
Authors: D’Andrea Paola , Calabrese Alessandra , Capozzi Ilaria , Grandolfo Micaela , Tonon Rossana , Vittur Franco
Published: November 2024

Articular cartilage is a tissue designed to withstand compression during joint movement and, in vivo, is subjected to a wide range of mechanical loading forces. Mechanosensitivity has been demonstrated to influence chondrocyte metabolism and cartilage homeostasis, but the mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction in these cells are poorly understood. In many cell types mechanical stimulation induces increases of the cytosolic Ca $^{2+}$ concentration that propagates from cell to cell as an intercellular Ca $^{2+}$ wave. Cell‐to‐cell communication through gap junctions underlies tissue co‐ordination of metabolism and sensitivity to extracellular stimuli: gap junctional permeability to intracellular second messengers allows signal transduction pathways to be shared among several cells, ultimately resulting in co‐ordinated tissue responses. Mechanically‐induced Ca $^{2+}$ signalling was investigated with digital fluorescence video imaging in primary cultures of rabbit articular chondrocytes. Mechanical stimulation of a single cell, obtained by briefly distorting the plasmamembrane with a micropipette, induced a wave of increased Ca $^{2+}$ that was communicated to surrounding cells. Intercellular Ca $^{2+}$ spreading was inhibited by 18α‐glycyrrhetinic acid, suggesting the involvement of gap junctions in signal propagation. The functional expression of gap junctions was assessed, in confluent chondrocyte cultures, by the intercellular transfer of Lucifer yellow dye in microinjection experiments while the expression of connexin 43 could be detected in Western blots. A series of pharmacological tools known to interfere with the cell calcium handling capacity were employed to investigate the mechanism of mechanically‐induced Ca $^{2+}$ signalling. In the absence of extracellular Ca $^{2+}$ mechanical stimulation induced communicated Ca $^{2+}$ waves similar to controls. Mechanical stress induced Ca $^{2+}$ influx both in the stimulated chondrocyte but not in the adjacent cells, as assessed by the Mn $^{2+}$ quenching technique. Cells treatment with thapsigargin and with the phospholipase C inhibitor U73122 blocked mechanically‐induced signal propagation. These results provide evidence that in chondrocytes mechanical stimulation activates phospholipase C, thus leading to an increase of intracellular inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate. The second messenger, by permeating gap junctions, stimulates intracellular Ca $^{2+}$ release in neighbouring cells. Intercellular Ca $^{2+}$ waves may provide a mechanism to co‐ordinate tissue responses in cartilage physiology.
Aggregation behavior of red blood cells in shear flow. A theoretical interpretation of simultaneous rheo‐optical and viscometric measurements
Authors: Berli Claudio L.A. , Quemada Daniel
Published: November 2024

A theoretical interpretation of simultaneous viscosity measurements and light backscattering experiments is carried out in the framework of the structural model for concentrated dispersions proposed previously by one of the authors. The work is mainly focused on erythrocyte aggregation, hence spherical as well as linear aggregates (rouleaux) were considered in the modeling. A connection between the structural parameters provided by each technique is established, in particular the characteristic shear rates for break up of aggregates. Theoretical predictions were then applied to experimental data of human blood collected from patients with different diseases in a hospital data bank. Finally, we conclude that the structural modeling proposed permits a reasonably good correlation between experimental data of viscometry and light backscattering from blood samples, leading to new perspectives in the analysis of the red blood cell aggregation phenomena.
Time‐accurate, parallel, multi‐zone, multi‐block solver to study the human cardio‐vascular system
Authors: Tadjfar Mehran , Himeno Ryutaro
Published: November 2024

A parallel, time‐accurate flow solver is devised to study the human cardio‐vascular system. The solver is capable of dealing with moving boundaries and moving grids. It is designed to handle complex, three‐dimensional vascular systems. The computational domain is divided into multiple block subdomains. At each cross section the plane is divided into twelve sub‐zones to allow flexibility for handling complex geometries and, if needed, appropriate parallel data partitioning. The unsteady, three‐dimensional, incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are solved numerically. A second‐order in time and third‐order upwind finite volume method for solving time‐accurate incompressible flows based on pseudo‐compressibility and dual time‐stepping technique is used. For parallel execution, the flow domain is partitioned. Communication between the subdomains of the flow on Riken's VPP/700E supercomputer is implemented using MPI message‐passing library. A series of numerical simulations of biologically relevant flows is used to validate this code.
Elasticity of the human red blood cell skeleton
Authors: Lenormand G. , Hénon S. , Richert A. , Siméon J. , Gallet F.
Published: November 2024

We have measured by optical tweezers micromanipulations the area expansion and the shear moduli of spectrin skeletons freshly extracted from human red blood cells, in different controlled salinity conditions. At medium osmolarity (150 mOsm/kg), we measure KC=9.7±3.4 μN/m, μC=5.7±2.3 μN/m, KC/μC=2.1±0.7. When decreasing the osmolarity, both KC and μC decrease, while KC/μC is nearly constant and equal to about 2. This result is consistent with the predictions made when modeling the spectrin skeleton by a two‐dimensional triangular lattice of springs. From the measured elastic moduli we estimate the persistence length of a spectrin filament: ξ∼2.5 nm at 150 mOsm/kg.
Force-mediated dissociation of proteoglycan aggregate in articular cartilage
Authors: Liu Xuhui , Sun Jian Q. , Heggeness Michael H. , Yeh Ming-Long , Luo Zong-Ping
Published: November 2024

Proteoglycan aggregate is the primary component in articular cartilage responsible for resisting compressive loading. It consists of a core molecule of hyaluronan and a number of side chains of aggrecan bound to hyaluronan non-covalently. The loss of aggrecan from articular cartilage is considered to be a major factor in the development of osteoarthritis. Though enzymatic digestion of aggrecan is believed to be responsible for the release of aggrecan from osteoarthritic cartilage, other mechanisms, such as direct force-mediated detachment of aggrecan from hyaluronan may also be involved. In this study, the rupture force of the single bond between hyaluronan and aggrecan in articular cartilage was directly quantified using experimental measurement and Monte Carlo simulation. Low rupture force of this bond, as determined in this study suggested a possible direct force-mediated detachment of aggrecan from proteoglycan aggregate in osteoarthritic cartilage.
Subchondral bone and ligament changes precede cartilage degradation in guinea pig osteoarthritis
Authors: Quasnichka Helen L. , Anderson-MacKenzie Janet M. , Bailey Allen J.
Published: November 2024

There is increasing recognition that osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex disease involving the whole synovial joint, rather than the articular cartilage alone, however its aetiology and pathogenesis is not understood. Our initial studies revealed elevated turnover of bone and ligament collagen in human and mouse OA, respectively. To investigate the relative appearance of pathology in cartilage, bone and ligament, we studied the progression of spontaneous OA in the Dunkin–Hartley (DH) guinea pig knee, and compared with age-matched control Bristol Strain 2 (BS2) knees. The classical radiographic OA score of the DH knees compared to BS2 knees was 2-fold higher at 24 weeks of age. The patella perimeter and subchondral bone density was significantly greater in the DHs at 24 and 36 weeks compared to BS2. The femoral intercondylar notch width was found to be significantly lower in the DHs at 24 and 36 weeks, compared to BS2, indicating bone remodelling at the cruciate ligament (CL) insertion site. We found significantly greater laxity of the DH anterior CL at 12, 16 and 20 weeks compared to BS2. This elevated laxity was associated with increased remodelling of the CLs, based on markers of collagen turnover, and occurred prior to bone and cartilage pathology. We propose that the laxity of the CL leads to remodelling of the subchondral bone, and intercondylar notch, due to a change in load through the joint. Remodelling of the CLs and bone occurs prior to and concomitant with histopathological changes in the articular cartilage respectively, demonstrating the fundamental role of the ligament and subchondral bone in the aetiology of knee OA.
Determination of linear viscoelastic behavior of abdominal aortic aneurysm thrombus
Authors: van Dam Evelyne A. , Dams Susanne D. , Peters Gerrit W.M. , Rutten Marcel C.M. , Schurink Geert Willem H. , Buth Jaap , van de Vosse Frans N.
Published: November 2024

The objective of this study is to determine whether the linear viscoelastic properties of an abdominal aortic aneurysm thrombus can be determined by rheometry. Although large strains occur in the in vivo situation, in this work only linear behavior is studied to show the applicability of the described methods. A thrombus exists of several layers that vary in composition, structure and mechanical properties. Two types of thrombus are described. In discrete transition thrombi the layers are not or at most weakly attached to each other and the structure of each layer is different. Continuous transition thrombi consist of strongly attached layers whose structure changes gradually throughout the thickness of the thrombus. Shear experiments are performed on samples from both types of thrombus on a rotational rheometer using a parallel plate geometry. In the discrete type the storage modulus G′ cannot be assumed equal for the different layers. In the continuous thrombus, G′, changes gradually throughout the layered structure. In both types the loss modulus, G″, does not vary throughout the thrombus. Furthermore, it was found that Time–Temperature Superposition is applicable to thrombus tissue. Since results were reproducible it can be concluded that the method we used to determine the viscoelastic properties is applicable to thrombus tissue.
A fractional derivative model to describe arterial viscoelasticity
Authors: Craiem Damian , Armentano Ricardo L.
Published: November 2024

Arterial viscoelasticity can be described with a complex modulus (E*) in the frequency domain. In arteries, E* presents a power-law response with a plateau for higher frequencies. Constitutive models based on a combination of purely elastic and viscous elements can be represented with integer order differential equations but show several limitations. Recently, fractional derivative models with fewer parameters have proven to be efficient in describing rheological tissues. A new element, called “spring-pot”, that interpolates between springs and dashpots is incorporated. Starting with a Voigt model, we proposed two fractional alternative models with one and two spring-pots. The three models were tested in an anesthetized sheep in a control state and during smooth muscle activation. A least squares method was used to fit E*. Local activation induced a vascular constriction with no pressure changes. The E* results confirmed the steep increase from static to dynamic values and a plateau in the range 2–30 Hz, coherent with fractional model predictions. Activation increased E*, affecting its real and imaginary parts separately. Only the model with two spring-pots correctly followed this behavior with the best performance in terms of least squares errors. In a context where activation separately modifies E*, this alternative model should be considered in describing arterial viscoelasticity in vivo.
KDM6B-Mediated HADHA Demethylation/Lactylation Regulates Cementogenesis
Authors: Yang Z. , Wang H. , Xiao J. , Yang Q. , Sun J. , Liu H. , Ma L. , Huang X. , Wang C. , Wang X. , Cao Z.
Published: November 2024

Cementum, a bone-like tissue, is an essential component of periodontium, and periodontitis can lead to degenerative changes in the cementum, eventually resulting in tooth loss. The therapeutic strategy for advanced periodontitis is to achieve periodontal regeneration, of which cementum regeneration is a key criterion. Cementoblasts are responsible for cementogenesis, and their mineralization counts in cementum regeneration. However, research is still limited. Thus, novel treatment targets are required. The expression levels of lysine (K)–specific demethylase 6B (KDM6B), fatty acid oxidation (FAO), and cementogenic markers were detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemical assays. FAO levels were analyzed by assay kit. In vivo, injection of GSK-J4 into mice detected the influence of KDM6B on cementum formation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, transcriptomic RNA sequencing, subsequent chromatin immunoprecipitation–quantitative polymerase chain reaction and overexpression of HADHA (hydroxyacyl-coA dehydrogenase trifunctional multienzyme complex subunit alpha) elucidated the KDM6B- Hadha axis. Global lactylation was detected by Western blot. Lactylation proteomics clarified the modified sites of HADHA. Mutating these sites and applying coimmunoprecipitation confirmed their significance. Knockdown of Kdm6b was utilized to assess its regulation on the lactylation of HADHA, FAO, and mineralization levels. FAO and KDM6B expression was elevated during cementoblast mineralization. KDM6B targeted Hadha and activated its transcription, thereby increasing FAO levels and promoting mineralization. Lactylation occurred in the process of mineralization, and KDM6B could regulate the lactylation of HADHA to promote FAO and mineralization. Overexpression of Hadha and the addition of lactate sodium could rescue the inhibition of mineralization by knockdown of Kdm6b. In summary, during cementoblast mineralization, KDM6B regulates HADHA by mediating histone demethylation and lactylation, thereby upregulating FAO and thus promoting mineralization.
The state of robotic surgery in Spain: Results of a national survey on robotic surgery
Authors: Azcárraga Aranegui Gonzalo , Campos Sañudo Jose Antonio , Benejam Cual Joan , Ballestero Diego Roberto
Published: November 2024

Background and aims

To assess the present state of robotic surgery and the surgical approaches employed by urology departments utilizing robotic systems in Spain.

Methods and results

An email invitation was sent to heads of urology departments in public and private hospitals with surgical robots. A 78-question online questionnaire was distributed, and data were collected over 3 months. Of 82 invitations, 57.31% responded, mostly male (95.7%) urologists over 50 years old, with 77.8% having more than 20 years of practice. About 45.7% worked in both public and private settings. Most units use robots 1–3 days per week, with 56.1% of these units having 1–3 surgeons trained. 92.3% of respondents had laparoscopic experience, and 71.1% received robotic surgery training from the robot company. Radical prostatectomy, pyeloplasty, and cystectomy are mainly performed robotically, while other surgeries vary in approach.

Conclusion

Robotic surgery has been firmly established in Spain, although the percentage of surgeries in robotic units remains low. Radical prostatectomy, pyeloplasty, and radical cystectomy with diversion are the most commonly performed techniques using robotic approaches.
Chinese guardian mothers in Thailand: Cultural constraints, societal obstacles and tactical changes
Authors: Zhu Jinsheng (Jason) , Liu Zitao , Shen Xiaoping
Published: November 2024

This study examines the growing trend of Chinese guardian mothers relocating to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for their children’s early childhood education. Through semi-structured interviews conducted from January 2019 to June 2023, involving 18 Chinese guardian mothers in Chiang Mai, the findings reveal three main factors. China’s increasing national prosperity has fueled a desire for early childhood education in globalized settings with English-medium instruction. Thailand’s migrant-friendly environment and cultural diversity contribute to its appeal as a destination. The mothers adopt a unique approach, combining their Chinese identity with intercultural dynamics.
Kinematic issues in 6R cuspidal robots, guidelines for path planning and deciding cuspidality
Authors: Salunkhe Durgesh Haribhau , Marauli Tobias , Müller Andreas , Chablat Damien , Wenger Philippe
Published: November 2024

A cuspidal serial robot can change inverse kinematic solutions (IKS) without crossing singularities because it has multiple IKS in a singularity-free region. This property of robots has been researched for over thirty years but has not been taken seriously when designing new robots. The presented work points out issues related to nonsingular change of IKS and path planning specific to the cuspidal robots present in existing commercial robots used in various applications. The multiple IKS at the initial end-effector pose allows the user to choose an initial IKS that may lead to a continuous and repeatable path. We analyze in detail how the initial IKS choice affects the prescribed path’s feasibility and repeatability. Cuspidal robots can be used safely if the workspace is analyzed, considering the cuspidality property. For these reasons, we propose a path testing and planning methodology that considers different path scenarios. Given the rise of unconventional designs in 6R robots, the identification of cuspidal properties in the design phase of a robot is of paramount importance. We recall all the known criteria for cuspidality and propose new methods to decide if a given 6R robot is cuspidal. Accordingly, a practical guideline is proposed for deciding the cuspidality of a generic 6R robot.
The Greenwich pensioners and Britain's naval workforce, 1764–1869
Authors: Easton Callum
Published: November 2024

The wealth of personal information recorded in the admissions books of Greenwich Hospital offers one of the most detailed portraits available of Britain's essential naval workforce. This article uses a quinquennial sample of the men admitted to Greenwich Hospital between 1764 and 1864 to reconstruct the evolving composition of the Greenwich pensioners across this pivotal period of British naval ascendancy. Over this time, the prevailing features of the different cohorts of pensioners varied significantly, with differences between years of peace and war a driving factor. The characteristics of the admitted pensioners reflected the shifting fortunes and challenges encountered by the Royal Navy, and thereby offer a new perspective on important debates, such as the naval manning problem and the overall composition of naval manpower across this long period. The Greenwich Hospital population was far from static and its residents – experienced seamen – were among the decisive sinews of British power.
Incidence of Thrombocytopenia With Different Continuous Renal Replacement Systems and Modalities in a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Brumit Jessica C. , Caputo Ryan A. , Chucta Sheila M. , Smith Rachel M. , Warren Samantha , Kissling Kevin T.
Published: November 2024

Background: Thrombocytopenia is due to multifactorial causes in critically ill patients. One etiology is continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT); however, it is unknown if different modalities impact the incidence. Objectives: To compare the incidence of thrombocytopenia with the NxStage CRRT system using continuous venovenous hemodialysis (CVVHD) compared to the Prismaflex system using continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF). Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study at a large academic medical center in the United States. Individuals aged 18 or older admitted to the cardiovascular ICU between June 1, 2016 and September 30, 2022, and received CRRT for at least 48 hours were identified. Results: One hundred and forty-seven patients met inclusion criteria. Sixty-one patients received CVVHD with the NxStage system, while 86 received CVVHDF with the Prismaflex system. Thrombocytopenia occurred in 57.4% of patients treated with NxStage vs 19.8% treated with Prismaflex (OR 5.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.62-11.39). These results were consistent in an adjusted model (OR 5.57; 95% CI, 2.34-13.28). There was no difference in the time to thrombocytopenia between groups. Patients treated with the NxStage system had lower platelet nadirs, more heparin-induced thrombocytopenia testing, more direct thrombin inhibitor use, and more blood transfusions. Conclusions: A greater incidence of thrombocytopenia occurred in cardiovascular ICU patients treated with CVVHD using the NxStage system vs CVVHDF with the Prismaflex system.
Assessment of ternary blend ratio of diesel/mahua biodiesel with n-heptane/fusel alcohol on CI engine characteristics – an experimental and statistical approach
Authors: Muniyappan Sinnappadass , Krishnaiah Ravi
Published: November 2024

In this study, optimised ternary fuel blend for diesel, mahua biodiesel, n-heptane/fusel alcohol and engine load are established for improved performance, combustion and emission parameters on a compression ignition (CI) engine by experimental and statistical approach. The diesel-biodiesel blend (30%) with either n-heptane (5%, 10% and 15%) or fusel alcohol (5% and 10%) were studied at engine loads (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%). From L27 engine experiments, predictions and optimisation were done using desirability-based response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal engine parameters were found to be 9.5% n-heptane or 8.4% fusel alcohol along with M30 biodiesel blend at 78.6% and 80.2% load, respectively. The best engine's output parameters generated by considering due weightages based on the implication are peak CP: 71.30 bar, HRR:65.10 J/°CA, BTE :32.71%, BSFC: 0.2383 kg/kWh, CO: 0.0754%, CO2: 8.9%, HC: 63.11 ppm, smoke: 11.43 N, and NOx: 921.54 ppm for 9.5% n-heptane with M30 blend. Validation of the numerical data has been done through actual engine experimental trials. The results suggest that ternary blends will serve as a feasible alternative for CI engines.
A descriptive analysis of Aboriginal adolescents admitted to a regional inpatient mental health unit: Was culture considered?
Authors: Watt Hilary , Morgan (Kamilaroi) Kali , Stanley (Gunggari Umbie) Donna , Luscombe Georgina , Srikanth Radha
Published: November 2024

Objectives

To describe the characteristics of Aboriginal adolescents admitted to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) inpatient unit and assess if cultural identity was acknowledged, and what proportion received cultural support.

Method

A retrospective chart review of adolescents who identified as Aboriginal and were admitted to a regional CAMH Unit over 10 years. Medical records were reviewed for demographics, diagnosis, details of admission, acknowledgement of Aboriginal identity, cultural information and cultural support provided.

Results

A total of 172 patients who identified as Aboriginal were admitted during this period, comprising a total of 266 admissions. Most frequent admission reason was suicidal ideation or self-harm (66%), then psychosis (14%) and 49% were admitted involuntarily. Most frequent discharge diagnosis was a stress-related disorder (23%) followed by post-traumatic stress disorder (18%). A referral for Aboriginal clinician cultural support was made for 30%. Thirty patients (23%) had any detail regarding cultural identity documented.

Conclusions

Amongst young Aboriginal people admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit, the minority had cultural identity acknowledged or were provided cultural support. There is a need for increased access to Aboriginal Mental Health Clinicians and improved training for the broader workforce in the provision of culturally considered care.
Optimal placement of thin piezoelectric patches for maximum modal coupling
Authors: Lossouarn Boris
Published: November 2024

The aim of this paper is to present an innovative approach for optimal placement of piezoelectric patches in the context of vibration control or energy harvesting applications. Targeting a specific mode shape and assuming that the addition of thin surface-bonded piezoelectric layers has a sufficiently weak influence, the analysis of the stress or strain fields over the bare structure directly provides the best areas for maximized piezoelectric coupling. The area extension of a patch is then optimized based on the modal electromechanical coupling factor. The whole process only requires a standard finite element model, without the need of any piezoelectric elements. Three criteria of increasing complexity are proposed and numerically validated on a benchmark structure which offers a non-standard geometry. Such criteria and methods may have a strong interest in an industrial context where coupled models or specific expertise in piezoelectric coupling are not always available.
Sowing Life in Place of Death: The Grief Activism of Relatives of Disappeared Migrants
Authors: McLean Lisa
Published: November 2024

Drawing upon ethnographic research with Central American relatives of disappeared migrants, this article elaborates on the concept of ‘grief activism,’ contributing to a growing body of literature on the mobilization of personal grief in social justice movements. Through ethnographic detail and semi-structured interviewing, the article explores the formation of local, regional, and transnational movements of relatives of disappeared migrants, focusing on their efforts to prevent future disappearances and thereby protect other families from experiencing the same loss. The first-person testimonies of these families reveal how shared grief provides an avenue for building solidarity and advancing liberatory calls for justice, while activism serves a meaning making function for those grieving ambiguous loss. This article contributes to theoretical knowledge about the connections between injustice, grief, and activism, while highlighting the important role played by grieving families in advocating for social change.
Infusing Taoist Principles into Early Literacy Professional Learning
Authors: Zhang Chenyi
Published: November 2024

Taoism, one of the oldest Eastern religious systems, has significantly influenced Chinese culture and society. Taoism centers around “The Tao” or “The Way,” considered the ultimate source from which everything—both physical and non-physical, living and non-living—originates. It emphasizes inner self-cultivation through reflective and critical thinking, guiding individuals to recognize and connect with the Tao in daily activities. This strength-based perspective, which values diverse learning and development, aligns with contemporary professional learning (PL) and literacy research that emphasizes learner agency and sociocultural significance. Taoism advocates focusing on the natural process of instruction, accommodating diverse learning needs rather than rigidly adhering to predetermined goals. This article explores Taoist values related to individual growth, as articulated in Taoist texts, and presents two literacy PL programs that illustrate the feasibility and benefits of integrating Taoist principles into PL design and implementation. These programs have also fostered authentic, collaborative partnerships between researchers and teachers.
Maintaining health-related quality of life and sense of belonging for pediatric patients with chronic illnesses by using a telepresence robot
Authors: Zillner Clarissa , Rockenbauer Gerda , Turner Agnes , Röhsner Martin , Klebermass-Schrehof Katrin , Pletschko Thomas
Published: November 2024

Children with chronic illnesses often miss school, leading to negative outcomes like diminished health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and sense of belonging. Telepresence robots are suggested to keep these children connected to peers and education, yet little research has explored their impact. This study assessed effects of a telepresence system on HRQoL and sense of belonging in 29 patients with chronic illnesses aged 6 to 18 years, who were absent from school. Using a one-group pre-posttest design, participants completed questionnaires before and 6 months after receiving the robot. It was expected that HRQoL and sense of belonging would remain stable due to the robot. Wilcoxon tests indicated no decline in HRQoL (Z = −.958, 95% CI [–3.1, 8.3]) or sense of belonging (Z = −1.409, 95% CI [–0.3, 0.8]). Spearman correlations revealed a significant correlation between age and changes in school (rs = 0.621, 95% CI [0.200, 0.848]) and friends’ subscales (rs = 0.579, 95% CI [–0.136, 829]), suggesting adolescents benefit particularly from the robot. Consistent with prior research, this study shows no change in psychosocial factors, indicating a stabilizing effect of telepresence robots and contributing to sustainable psychosocial care for pediatric patients.