bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design, synthesis, X‐ray crystal structure, and antifungal evaluation of new acetohydrazide derivatives containing a 4‐thioquinazoline moiety
Authors: Tian Guang‐Min , Yi Ming‐Yan , Yan Tai‐Sen , Liu Song‐Song , Huang Jian , Li Hong , Bao Xiao‐Ping
Published: December 2024

BACKGROUND

To find efficient agricultural fungicides, 29 new 4‐thioquinazoline‐containing acetohydrazide derivatives were prepared and tested for their fungicidal properties.

RESULTS

All of the target compounds were characterized by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance and high‐resolution mass spectrometry techniques, and the molecular structure of compound A2 was verified by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction measurement. The experimental results revealed that many compounds from this series had impressive inhibition efficacies in vitro against the tested fungi. For example, compound A25 was identified as the best fungicidal agent against Rhizoctonia solani with an EC50 (half‐maximal effective concentration) value of 0.66 μg mL−1, superior to those of the commercial fungicides chlorothalonil, carbendazim and boscalid. Additionally, this compound displayed favorable protection and curative activities in vivo against rice sheath blight caused by R. solani. Antifungal mechanistic studies on compound A25 indicated that this compound exerted its strong anti‐R. solani effects probably through an effective inhibition of fungal succinate dehydrogenase activity [half‐maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 4.88 μm] and the impairment of cell membrane integrity, based on the results from enzymatic bioassays, molecular docking studies, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy observations.

CONCLUSION

Acetohydrazide derivatives containing the 4‐thioquinazoline moiety had the potential to be employed as lead compounds for developing more efficient agricultural fungicides in the near future. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
Strong temperature falls as a cold frontal metric in Australian station observations, reanalyses and climate models
Authors: King Malcolm J. , Reeder Michael J. , Jakob Christian
Published: December 2024

Cold fronts are an important component of subtropical and midlatitude weather systems. While a range of objective front detection methods exist, these methods are only applicable to gridded data and generally require smoothing and threshold parameter changes with differing spatial resolution in order to obtain similar results. This precludes analyses using these methods from using point‐location data (such as station observations) or comparing datasets with different spatial resolutions. We present a method using daily maximum temperature changes as a way of identifying strong, dry cold fronts (that is, fronts without much associated rainfall) across a range of datasets. Frontal zones identified using this method are well correlated with cold‐front locations using an objective front scheme, and results do not change significantly as data resolution changes over the range from 0.25 to 2.25°. The method is applied to generate front climatologies in 41 global climate models from phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), showing these models overestimate the number of cold fronts in polar regions relative to the number over midlatitude land regions, and that there is a large intermodel spread in front occurrence. The method is also applied to southern Australian stations, showing that there are minimal trends in front occurrence for longer running stations, although an increase in front occurrence since 1950 is seen in the southeast of Australia. Interannual variability in strong front occurrence is connected to the state of both El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), with El Niño and negative SAM conditions both seeing increases in the occurrence of strong cold fronts in southeastern Australia.
An In vitro Caco2‐Based Model for Measuring Intestinal Bioadhesion Comparable to Ex vivo Models
Authors: Drori Eliyahu , Rahamim Valeria , Patel Dhaval , Anker Yamm , Meir Sivan , Uzan Gal , Somech Shira , Drori Chen , Tzadok Tal , Azagury Aharon
Published: December 2024

This study presents an in vitro model using Caco‐2 cells that can mimic the bioadhesion properties of the human intestinal epithelium, aiming to reduce the use of animal tissues, in line with the 3Rs principle—replacement, reduction, and refinement. Specifically, a texture analyzer was used to assess the bioadhesive strength of hydrogels (i.e., alginate (Alg), chitosan (Chit), and gelatin (Gel)) under various applied forces (20–200 mN) and contact times (120–420 s). The results demonstrate that the in vitro model effectively predicts the bioadhesive strength of the tested hydrogels to ex vivo tissues (i.e., from mice, sheep, and pigs), including the effects of applied force and contact time. Also provided is an analysis of the effect of microvilli morphology on bioadhesion where an inverse relationship was observed between microvilli linear density and bioadhesion strength, explaining the variability in results across animal models. This Caco‐2‐based model offers a practical, accessible, and cost‐effective alternative to current ex vivo methods used for measuring bioadhesion fracture strength. It can be integrated into standardized testing protocols, providing a more ethical and scientifically robust approach to advancing bioadhesive drug delivery system research.
Phylogenetics and morphological character evolution in the achyranthoid clade (Amaranthaceae): Evidence to re‐circumscribe the genera Achyranthes and Cyathula and to resurrect a third species of the former genus Sericocomopsis in East Africa
Authors: Di Vincenzo Vanessa , Berendsohn Walter , Wondafrash Melaku , Borsch Thomas
Published: December 2024

The achyranthoid clade constitutes the second most species‐rich lineage of the Amaranthaceae after the gomphrenoid clade. The Achyranthoids are mostly African, in contrast to the largely Neotropical Gomphrenoids, and comprise a large number of genera, many of which were revealed as non‐monophyletic. Here were focus on subclade II of the Achyranthoids with the so far accepted genera Achyranthes, Achyropsis, Centrostachys, Cyathula, Nelsia, Nototrichium, Pandiaka, Sericocomopsis, and Sericostachys. Building upon an earlier dataset, we extended taxon and character sampling, both for molecular and morphological characters. Our plastid and nuclear trees converge on several highly supported clades, one comprising most species of Cyathula, Nelsia, Pandiaka and two highly divergent lineages of plants hitherto identified as Sericocomopsis hildebrandtii. Morphologically, individuals within these lineages are similar, with one of them matching the type of Sericocomopsis meruensis. This name was formerly considered a synonym and is resurrected at species level. Cymous partial florescences are ancestral in this clade, which corresponds to the genus Cyathula as re‐circumscribed here. To the contrary, sterile flowers and bracteoles or tepals modified to hooks serving dispersal by animals appear multiple times within and outside this clade, indicating how their use as diagnostic characters for genera led to non‐monophyletic entities. For the phylogenetically isolated and morphologically distinct Cyathula orthacantha the new genus Sebsebea is described, and for Sericocomopsis pallida the new genus Evelynastra. The Achyranthes clade is characterized by solitary, fertile flowers including the genera Achyropsis and Nototrichium both of which are merged to make Achyranthes monophyletic. In addition to a treatment to establish all required nomenclatural changes and typifications, we also provide a taxonomic backbone with full synonymy for the achyranthoid subclade II.
Aluminum Product Surface Defect Detection Method Based on Improved CenterNet
Authors: Chen Zhihong , Huang Xuhong , Kang Ronghao , Huang Jianjun , Peng Junhan
Published: December 2024

In order to realize real‐time detection of aluminum defects during aluminum production, the target detection algorithm needs to be able to run on locally deployed hardware. Convolutional neural networks can effectively extract representative features from high‐dimensional data such as images and videos, and capture spatial information in the data, making it easier to locate aluminum defects. Moreover, running CNN model inference on local hardware has high real‐time performance. Due to the advantages of convolutional neural network in anomaly detection, an improved CenterNet aluminum surface defect detection method was proposed. The algorithm combines common convolution and depthwise separable convolution to design a lightweight convolution module. Then, the Convolutional Block Attention Module is added to the feature extraction network to make the network better capture the rich input feature information of the image. Ultimately, the α‐DIoU loss function is implemented to enhance the precision of bounding box predictions. The experimental findings demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves an average detection accuracy (mAP) of 86.02%, which is 5.95% higher than the average detection accuracy of the traditional algorithm, and has a good detection effect on aluminum surface defects. Furthermore, there is an 11.9% reduction in model parameters and a 15.2% decrease in floating‐point computations, which helps to promote the deployment of embedded device platforms. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Improving mathematics outcomes for multilingual learners in dual language programs through targeted teacher professional development
Authors: Bravo Marco A. , Mosqueda Eduardo , Téllez Kip
Published: December 2024

Providing instruction in a student's home language through bilingual education has proven to be academically beneficial for multilingual learners (MLLs). The present study contributes to this literature by examining the possibilities and limits of a professional development program (Mathematics and Language Literacy Integration [MALLI] in Dual Language settings) with dual language (Spanish/English) teachers and the impact on elementary grade MLLs' state mathematics and English language proficiency assessment outcomes. MALLI was a year‐long professional development project that included models for integrating language and literacy into Spanish‐language mathematics instruction using Lesson Study with Video Clubs. Coarsened exact matching was utilized to establish a treatment and unbiased comparison group. MLLs taught by MALLI teachers had state mathematics assessment average standardized scores of 0.374 standard deviation units higher than comparison students whose teachers did not participate in MALLI. These results were statistically significant, equivalent to moving the performance of an average MLL from the 50th percentile to the 64.6 percentile rank. However, the effect on State English language proficiency scores was small and not statistically significant. This study illustrates the potential impact of specially designed professional development to improve MLLs' mathematics outcomes.
Trends and complications in functional endoscopic sinus surgery and balloon sinuplasty: A TriNetX database analysis
Authors: Bitner Benjamin F. , Torabi Sina J. , Nguyen Theodore V. , Pang Jonathan C. , Kuan Edward C.
Published: December 2024

Objectives

Balloon sinuplasty (BSP) and functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) have undergone changes in utilization over time. This study investigates national trends in BSP and FESS and postoperative outcomes over the last decade as well as the impact of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19) on these trends.

Methods

The TriNetX database was queried for patients undergoing either FESS or BSP from 1/1/2011 to 5/4/2024. Data were collected on patient demographics, diagnoses, and postoperative outcomes.

Results

A total of 1738 patients underwent BSP and 90,311 underwent FESS. A greater proportion of FESS patients had diabetes (p = 0.001), hypertension (p < 0.001), and chronic pulmonary disease, p = 0.001) compared to BSP whereas a similar proportion of patients for both cohorts had a history of ischemic heart disease (p = 0.73). Body mass index was higher for patients undergoing FESS (28.6 ± 6.5) compared to BSP (28.1 ± 6.578; p = 0.02). Overall postoperative complications were similar between BSP and FESS (odds ratio [OR] = 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.58–1.09) with similar rates of epistaxis (OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.53–1.12) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak (OR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.01–2.25). Overall revision rate was higher for FESS (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.21–0.57). Thirty‐day readmission (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.29–0.66) and Emergency Department visits (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.28–0.92) were less common in patients who received BSP. Surgical volume consistently increased over time for both cohorts but at a more rapid pace for BSP (425.64%) compared to FESS (274.19%) and a dramatic decrease in volume by 44.85% and 22.28%, respectively, at the onset of COVID‐19.

Conclusion

Overall, BSP and FESS surgical volume have steadily increased over time with a drastic reduction following the COVID‐19 pandemic. BSP and FESS carry different complication profiles emphasizing the importance of patient selection and preoperative counseling.

Level of Evidence

Level 4.
Academic productivity and industry trends of fellowship‐trained U.S. academic rhinologists
Authors: Warn Michael J. , Chan Daniella , Nguyen Theodore V. , Torabi Sina J. , Bitner Benjamin F. , Kuan Edward C.
Published: December 2024

Background

Academic productivity is believed to be correlated with years of experience and departmental rank, yet there is a paucity of granular academic data between rhinology faculty regarding departmental rank and industry engagement, and how these relate to experience.

Objective

To examine the interrelationships between experience, department rank and reputation, funding, industry engagement, and academic output of rhinology faculty.

Methods

Demographics, academic metrics (publications, citations, h‐index, National Institutes of Health [NIH] funding), program rankings, and industry compensation for academic U.S. rhinologists through June 2022 were collected and compared between academic rank and years of experience.

Results

A cohort of 278 rhinologists were included. Full professors had greater academic metrics (all p < 0.001) and industry compensation (all p < 0.05) than associate professors, assistant professors, and private practice rhinologists. Full professors were also more likely to receive NIH funding than other groups (p < 0.001). Years of experience and industry compensation positively correlated with each other and with academic metrics (all p < 0.001) with significant jumps between the 5th–9th and 10th–14th years of practice (p < 0.001). However, early career (≤8 years) rhinologists published more articles per year than later career (>8 years) rhinologists (p < 0.001). Rhinologists at Doximity top 10 and 25 residency programs by reputation and research output and top 50 U.S. News and World Report departments had significantly greater academic metrics and NIH funding compared to those who were not (p < 0.001). Top 10 and 25 reputations was associated with increased industry compensation (p = 0.024).

Conclusions

Although early career rhinologists published more frequently, ascending professorial rank, years of experience, and affiliation with top‐ranked departments were associated with total academic productivity. Industry engagement was linked to reputation and years of experience.
The Definition of RNA Age Related to RNA Sequence Changes
Authors: Xu Zhongneng , Asakawa Shuichi
Published: December 2024

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) undergoes dynamic changes in its structure and function under various intracellular and extracellular conditions over time. However, there is a lack of research on the concept of the RNA age to describe its diverse fates. This study proposes a definition of RNA age to address this issue. RNA age was defined as a sequence of numbers wherein the elements in the sequence were the nucleotide ages of the ribonucleotide residues in the RNA. Mean nucleotide age was used to represent RNA age. This definition describes the temporal properties of RNAs that have undergone diverse life histories and reflects the dynamic state of each ribonucleotide residue, which can be expressed mathematically. Notably, events (including base insertions, base deletions, and base substitutions) are likely to cause RNA to become younger or older when using mean nucleotide ages to represent the RNA age. Although information, including the presence of added markers in RNA, chemical modification structure of the RNA, and the excision of introns in the mRNA in cells, may provide a basis for identifying RNA age, little is known about determining the RNA age of extracellular RNA in the wild. Nonetheless, we believe that RNA age has an important relationship with the diverse biological properties of RNA under intracellular and extracellular conditions. Therefore, our proposed definition of RNA age offers new perspectives for studying dynamic changes in RNA function, RNA aging, ancient RNA, environmental RNA, and the ages of other biomolecules.
Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in Brazil’s Social Policies
Authors: Segatto Catarina Ianni
Published: December 2024

In Latin America, the prominence of the Catholic Church dates back to colonization in the 1500s. Most countries are still majoritarian Catholic, but there was a shift in its monopoly with the Evangelicals’ growth. This chapter discusses the intersections between religious and social policies in Brazil and the centrality of faith-based organizations in the country by analyzing their role in shaping poverty and family issues in social policies.
Future Challenges Facing Third Sector Research
Authors: Alves Mario Aquino , Bassi Andrea , Cordery Carolyn
Published: December 2024

The realm of societal advancement is multifaceted, involving a balance of public and private attention. Yet, nestled within this framework lies the Third Sector, a constantly evolving and dynamic entity. Comprising non-profit organizations, charities, voluntary groups, and social enterprises, the Third Sector is crucial in fostering social change, community empowerment, and humanitarian efforts. To comprehend the forthcoming hurdles that Third Sector research must overcome, it is essential to delve into its historical origins, scholarly underpinnings, research infrastructure, and emerging trends that shape its trajectory.
Commentary on Part I - Theory of the Third Sector
Authors: Young Dennis R.
Published: December 2024

In this book, my distinguished colleagues have taken on the daunting task of summarizing the development of theory of the Third Sector over the past half century and suggesting how this body of theory can usefully be extended and modified to address the changing character of the contemporary third sector. In this chapter, I critique their work, by pointing out misconceptions about early economic theory of the sector, noting that this theory also helps explain the behavior as well as existence of nonprofit organizations, highlighting where early economic theory of the sector continues to be relevant, questioning the efficacy of social origins theory, and arguing that an expanded theory should encompass the phenomenon of social enterprise.
In Search of a Positive, Historical and Experimentalist Definition of Civil Society
Authors: Andion Carolina
Published: December 2024

Definitions are not only conceptual constructs, they emerge from practice, investigations and academic discourses what are embedded in history, institutional frames, political cultures and social realities. This observation makes even more sense when we discuss civil society, an interdisciplinary field whose demarcation change in time throughout theoretical debate in multiple disciplines and definitions assumes different contours in every country and social reality in which it operates. In this sense, we observe the importance of broadening definitions, in order to consider the plurality of types and ecologies of civil society world while. With this in mind, this chapter sets out to (re) discuss the definitions of civil society in social and political sciences. To this end, we begin by problematizing the classical conceptualizations of civil society, showing the similarities in the meanings historically attributed to this concept and highlighting a “positive” definition of civil society conceived more recently and its consequences, exploring the challenges on civil society definitions nowadays. Positivity here does not express a judgment in the sense of being “good” or “better” than others, but rather it centers on exploring the particularities of the phenomenon, defining it based on what civil society is and characterizing it, rather than solely by what it is not (negative) or how it complements or differs. Given this genealogy of the concept and the development of the debate on civil society, we argue to consider definitions and conceptualizations that are more open to the multiple organizational configurations, forms of action and patterns of social-state interactions that have been built up in civil societies historically and coexist in the fields of practice. With the trajectory, changes and challenges of this concept in mind we defend a research agenda that reinforces the coproduction of definitions for civil societies that are less normative and “modelling” and more experimental, capable of supporting investigations and empirical research that help advance the understanding of this complex, interdisciplinary and multifaceted phenomenon that is extremely relevant to strengthening democracy, social justice and sustainability.
Consistency conditions for O-plane unsmearing from second-order perturbation theory
Authors: Emelin Maxim
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Scale-separated AdS compactifications of string theory can be constructed at the two-derivative supergravity level in the presence of smeared orientifold planes. The unsmearing corrections are known to leading order in the large volume, weak coupling limit. However, first-order perturbative approximations of non-linear problems can often produce spurious solutions, which are only weeded out by additional consistency conditions imposed at higher orders. In this work, we revisit the unsmearing procedure and present consistency conditions obtained from the second order warp factor and dilaton equations. This requires proper treatment of the near-source singularities. The resulting conditions appear as integral constraints on various non-linear combinations of the first order corrections, which we argue can generally be satisfied by appropriate choice of integration constants of the leading-order solutions. This provides a non-trivial consistency check for the perturbative unsmearing procedure and supports the existence of scale-separated AdS vacua in string theory.
ETS-NOCV description of chemical bonding: from covalent bonds to non-covalent interactions
Authors: Kukułka Mercedes , Żurowska Olga , Mitoraj Mariusz , Michalak Artur
Published: December 2024

Context

The interpretation of ETS-NOCV for typical covalent and dative-covalent chemical bonds is presented and compared with that for halogen bonds. Possible tuning of the strength of halogen bonding is considered, first by applying an electric field (modeled by the point charges or the electric field vector), and then by constructing a model transition-metal complex with enhanced strength of halogen bonding. For all the systems, the ETS-NOCV picture is supplemented by the analysis of the deformation in molecular electrostatic potential (ΔMEP). The results demonstrate important characteristic features of the analysis based on NOCV: (i) this approach is based on pairs of orbitals with antibonding and bonding character and, thus, allows us to “extract” the “diatomic-like” picture of chemical bonding; (ii) the NOCV-pair contributions to the deformation density often correspond to donation (AB) and back-donation (AB) of electron density between the fragments. The results for halogen bonding demonstrate that it is possible to tune their strength by an electric field in the molecular environment; the halogen-bond energy can reach the order of magnitude typical of dative-covalent bonds. However, the nature of halogen bonds still differs from that of dative-covalent interactions, as the accumulation of electron density between fragments is of significantly lower magnitude. The main effect of the electric field is an increase in the polarization of the fragments, which is clearly manifested by the deformation in the MEP.

Methods

All calculations were performed using the ADF/AMS package. The BLYP exchange–correlation functional was employed with Grimme’s dispersion correction (D3 version) and Becke-Johnson damping, using TZP basis sets. The deformation in the MEP was determined as

$$\Delta V\left(r\right)={V}^{AB}\left(r\right)- {V}^{A}\left(r\right)- {V}^{B}\left(r\right),$$

Δ
V

r

=

V

AB

r

-

V

A

r

-

V

B

r

,

with the same fragment definition as in the ETS-NOCV method.
Cone Beam Computed Tomography Image-Quality Improvement Using “One-Shot” Super-resolution
Authors: Tsuji Takumasa , Yoshida Soichiro , Hommyo Mitsuki , Oyama Asuka , Kumagai Shinobu , Shiraishi Kenshiro , Kotoku Jun’ichi
Published: December 2024

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images are convenient representations for obtaining information about patients’ internal organs, but their lower image quality than those of treatment planning CT images constitutes an important shortcoming. Several proposed CBCT image-quality improvement methods based on deep learning require large amounts of training data. Our newly developed model using a super-resolution method, “one-shot” super-resolution (OSSR) based on the “zero-shot” super-resolution method, requires only small amounts of training data to improve CBCT image quality using only the target CBCT image and the paired treatment planning CT image. For this study, pelvic CBCT images and treatment planning CT images of 30 prostate cancer patients were used. We calculated the root mean squared error (RMSE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and structural similarity (SSIM) to evaluate image-quality improvement and normalized mutual information (NMI) as a quantitative evaluation of positional accuracy. Our proposed method can improve CBCT image quality without requiring large amounts of training data. After applying our proposed method, the resulting RMSE, PSNR, SSIM, and NMI between the CBCT images and the treatment planning CT images were as much as 0.86, 1.05, 1.03, and 1.31 times better than those obtained without using our proposed method. By comparison, CycleGAN exhibited values of 0.91, 1.03, 1.02, and 1.16. The proposed method achieved performance equivalent to that of CycleGAN, which requires images from approximately 30 patients for training. Findings demonstrated improvement of CBCT image quality using only the target CBCT images and the paired treatment planning CT images.
Agricultural innovations for sustainability? Diverse pathways and plural perspectives on rice seeds in Odisha, India
Authors: Arora Saurabh , Narayanarao Bhuvana , Mittal Nimisha , Vadekkal Rasheed Sulaiman
Published: December 2024

We focus on alternative innovation pathways for addressing agricultural sustainability challenges in Odisha, India. The first pathway that we term as industrial, is focused on breeding new seed varieties in modern laboratories and test fields, ostensibly for climate resilience. It is driven by public scientific institutions and private corporations. The second pathway that we call agroecological, is grounded in saving and sharing of diverse local varieties, largely by Indigenous (Adivasi) smallholders and their allies in civil society. Using the pathways’ descriptions as bases, we present perspectives of different professional groups who appraise how effectively each pathway addresses a range of sustainability issues. While all participants appraise the agroecological pathway to be clearly better performing for addressing agricultural biodiversity and cultural uses of rice, appraisals for issues of the economy, seed accessibility, stress tolerance, and nutrition diverged from each other. An overall picture in support of one pathway did not emerge. Embracing such ambiguities and uncertainties associated with appraisals, we argue for balancing political support between diverse pathways. Greater support for structurally marginalised agroecological pathways may be crucial to meet sustainability goals. This support can include the restitution of lands and other socio-ecological resources for marginalised pathways as well as guaranteeing autonomy of Adivasi (Indigenous) communities among whom the pathways thrive.
Generative AI model privacy: a survey
Authors: Liu Yihao , Huang Jinhe , Li Yanjie , Wang Dong , Xiao Bin
Published: December 2024

The rapid progress of generative AI models has yielded substantial breakthroughs in AI, facilitating the generation of realistic synthetic data across various modalities. However, these advancements also introduce significant privacy risks, as the models may inadvertently expose sensitive information from their training data. Currently, there is no comprehensive survey work investigating privacy issues, e.g., attacking and defending privacy in generative AI models. We strive to identify existing attack techniques and mitigation strategies and to offer a summary of the current research landscape. Our survey encompasses a wide array of generative AI models, including language models, Generative Adversarial Networks, diffusion models, and their multi-modal counterparts. It indicates the critical need for continued research and development in privacy-preserving techniques for generative AI models. Furthermore, we offer insights into the challenges and discuss the open problems in the intersection of privacy and generative AI models.
Melatonin ameliorates inflammation and improves outcomes of ischemia/reperfusion injury in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery: a randomized placebo-controlled study
Authors: Casper Eman Ahmed , Wakeel Lamia El , Sabri Nagwa A. , Khorshid Ramy , Gamal Mohamed A. , Fahmy Sarah F.
Published: December 2024

To investigate the protective role of high dose melatonin concerning myocardial I/R injury and inflammation in patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery by evaluating IR/inflammatory biomarkers and clinical outcomes. This was a prospective; randomized; single-blinded placebo-controlled study conducted at cardio-thoracic surgery department of the Academy of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Ain Shams University. Eligible patients were randomly allocated to; melatonin-treated group (MTG) or placebo-treated group (PTG). The MTG (n = 17) received 60 mg/day melatonin capsules daily starting 5 days before surgery in addition to the standard of care. PTG (n = 17) received placebo also 5 days before surgery plus standard of care. The levels of nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-κb) (primary outcome), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), cardiac troponins I, and IL-6 levels were all assessed for both groups at five time points: baseline before melatonin or placebo administration (T0), before cross-clamp application(T1), 5 min after cross-clamp removal(T2), 6 h after cross-clamp removal(T3) and 24 h after cross-clamp removal(T4). Blood pressure was assessed at baseline, pre-operative and 24-hours post-operative. The Quality of recovery-40 score (QOR-40) was assessed for both groups on day 4 after surgery. TNF-α levels decreased in the MTG at T1(p = 0.034) versus PTG. At T2(p = 0.005), and T3(p = 0.04), TNF-α significantly increased in PTG versus MTG. Troponins significantly increased in PTG at T3 (p = 0.04) versus MTG. NF-κB levels declined at T1 (p = 0.013) and T2 (p = 0.0001) in MTG compared to PTG. IL-6 significantly increased in PTG versus MTG at T3 (p = 0.04). The QOR-40 score significantly decreased in MTG versus PTG. MTG had statistically significant decrease in DBP compared to the placebo group (p = 0.024). MTG had a statistically significant shorter intubation time than did the placebo group (p = 0.03). Melatonin 60 mg was well-tolerated without any reported side effects. Our findings suggested that melatonin could ameliorate myocardial I/R injury after on-pump CABG and that this outcome was essentially correlated to its antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registration number NCT05552586, 9/2022.
Prevalence of SPOP and IDH Gene Mutations in Prostate Cancer in a Jordanian Population
Authors: Alorjani Mohammed S. , Al Bashir Samir , Al-Zaareer Basmah , Al-Khatib Sohaib , Al-Zoubi Raed M. , Al-Trad Bahaa , AbuAlarja Manal , Alzu’bi Ayman , Al-Hamad Mohammad , Al-Batayneh Khalid , Al-Zoubi Mazhar S.
Published: December 2024

Speckle-type POZ (SPOP) is described as an essential tumor suppressor factor in gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer (PCa). SPOP gene mutations were reported in primary human PCa. Isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) oncogene mutations were detected in gliomas, acute myeloid leukemia, some benign and malignant cartilaginous tumors, and only 1% of PCa. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of mutations of SPOP and IDH1 genes in PCa in the Jordanian population. One hundred formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples were collected from patients diagnosed with prostate adenocarcinoma. The obtained specimens were subjected to genomic DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and direct sequencing of exons 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the SPOP gene and exon 6 of the IDH1 gene. SPOP gene mutations were found in 17% of PCa cases, while no mutation was detected in the screened exon 6 of the IDH1 gene. Clinicopathological data demonstrated a strong correlation between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and both Gleason score (GS) and the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade group (GG). There was no significant correlation between PSA levels and age (p = 0.816) nor there were significant associations for SPOP mutational status with age (p = 0.659), PSA levels (p = 0.395), GS (p = 0.259), and ISUP GG (p = 0.424) in the tested population. The study found a strong correlation between PSA levels and both GS and ISUP GG. It also identified a high frequency (17%) of SPOP gene mutations in Jordanian Arab PCa patients, mainly in exon 7. No IDH1 mutations were detected in exon 6.
A hidden barrier surface complementary to the zero velocity surface in the circular restricted three-body problem
Authors: Oshima Kenta
Published: December 2024

The zero velocity surface has been one of the most fundamental structures in many dynamical systems. It plays the role of a barrier placing bounds on the motion and separating the regions of possible and impossible motion. The present paper identifies another barrier surface in addition to the zero velocity surface in the circular restricted three-body problem. We highlight the feature of the new surface in bounding trajectories complementary to that of the zero velocity surface.
Depression Symptoms are Associated with Frequency of Cognitive Distortions in Psychotherapy Transcripts
Authors: Lalk Christopher , Steinbrenner Tobias , Pena Juan S. , Kania Weronika , Schaffrath Jana , Eberhardt Steffen , Schwartz Brian , Lutz Wolfgang , Rubel Julian
Published: December 2024

Background

Based on previous work on the identification of cognitive distortions in language data, we aim to predict patient depression symptoms by identifying cognitive distortions in their psychotherapy transcripts. Further, using explainable AI we want to create a machine learning model that can be used to identify important distortions, allowing us to assess the most important distortions across the whole dataset and for individual patients.

Methods

We identified 14 cognitive distortions by modifying lists of representative n-grams created by Bathina et al. (Nat Hum Behav 5(4):458–466, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01050-7). Based on these n-grams, the relative frequency of the distortions was calculated across 552 transcripts of 124 patients and employed to predict patient depression symptoms. Further, we joined all distortions in an exploratory explainable AI model, combining various machine learning algorithms in a nested cross-validation framework for the prediction of depression symptoms.

Results

Depression severity and occurrence were predicted by the distortions personalizing ($$r=.13)$$

r
=
.
13
)

, dichotomous thinking ($$r=.11)$$

r
=
.
11
)

, and overgeneralizing ($$r=.10)$$

r
=
.
10
)

, while occurrence was additionally predicted by mental filtering. The joined machine learning model achieved a moderate performance of $$r=.29$$

r
=
.
29

. Using explainable AI, we identified the distortions with the highest feature impact in the combined model (i.e., dichotomous reasoning, minimization, personalizing, mindreading, and mental filtering) and were able to explain the prediction for individual transcripts.

Conclusions

This approach illustrates how language-based measures can identify relevant processes that predict depression symptoms. This may improve our understanding of the effects of cognitive distortions and may be utilized to create feedback to therapists. Limitations prevail due to small effect sizes and the exploratory approach of this study.
Sand tiger shark Carcharias taurus mating season in the northwest Atlantic Ocean inferred from wound healing dynamics
Authors: Wyffels Jennifer T. , Riter Joshua , Price Carol S. , Poelzl Kate , Young Brenda , Handsel Tim , Edsberg Laura E.
Published: December 2024

All sharks and rays reproduce using internal fertilization. This necessitates males and females to be coupled tightly during copulation, and as a result, bite wounds associated with mating occur. The appearance of these bite wounds can be used to gauge the timeframe of mating activity without direct observation of copulation. A wound staging system was developed for the sand tiger shark Carcharias taurus through longitudinal observations of an aquarium-housed female that sustained a full-thickness mating wound, an injury that extends through the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, exposing underlying muscle. Four wound stages were established: (1) full-thickness, (2) healing, (3) closure, and (4) scar revision. The female’s stage 1 (full thickness) wound transitioned to stage 2 (healing) 2 weeks post-injury. Stage 3 (wound closure) was observed 3–6 weeks post-injury and stage 4 (scar revision) followed and persisted for the duration of the study, 35 weeks post-injury. The staging system was used to characterize the incidence, severity, and etiology of wounds for in situ sharks aggregating at North Carolina shipwreck sites from digital images contributed to the Spot A Shark USA database. There was a significant association between wound stage and its location or zone on the body as well as season of the year for males and females. Mating wounds on females corroborate a late spring and early summer mating season. The presence of stages 1 and 2 mating wounds on sand tiger sharks in North Carolina suggests the area is used for mating while females with stages 3 and 4 mating wounds provide evidence that the area also serves as gestation habitat for this species. This research highlights minimally invasive methodology that leverages citizen science divers to further characterize the reproductive life history of sand tiger sharks.
Alcohol consumption trajectories and risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women: a Danish cohort study
Authors: Antoniussen Christian S. , Proust-Lima Cécile , Ibsen Daniel B. , Olsen Anja , Overvad Kim , Tjønneland Anne , Ferrari Pietro , Dahm Christina C.
Published: December 2024

Alcohol consumption is a risk factor for breast cancer (BC), yet little is known about longitudinal alcohol consumption patterns and risk of BC. This study aimed to investigate whether trajectory profiles of alcohol consumption across adulthood were associated with risk of first primary malignant BC in postmenopausal women. At baseline, 28,720 pre-and postmenopausal women aged 50–65 years from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort reported their average alcohol intake over the past 12 months and their average alcohol intake at the ages of 20, 30, 40, and 50 years. Alcohol consumption trajectories were estimated using latent class mixed models. BC cases were identified through record linkage to the Danish Cancer Registry. To examine associations between alcohol consumption trajectories and BC, we fitted a proportional hazard model adjusted for potential confounding factors using data from 24,543 postmenopausal women without missing covariate information. We identified 4 alcohol consumption trajectory profiles. During a median follow-up of 16.5 years, 1,591 cases of BC occurred. A mean alcohol consumption trajectory of > 10 g/day was associated with higher risk of BC (HR: 1.65, 95%CI: 1.35–2.03) compared to a mean alcohol consumption trajectory of < 6 g/day. We found no association between trajectory profiles characterized by lower alcohol intakes in early adulthood followed by increasing consumption of alcohol in adulthood compared to a consistently low intake of alcohol. Postmenopausal women drinking consistently high amounts of alcohol throughout adulthood had a higher risk of BC compared to women with a consistently low intake of alcohol.
Abundance of fecal indicator bacteria and diversity of Escherichia coli associated with poultry farms and pasture land cover in streams of northwestern South Carolina
Authors: Britt Virginia H. , Liao Min-Ken , Lewis Gregory P.
Published: December 2024

Livestock can contribute fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) to waterbodies. However, few studies have examined the relationship between watershed land use or land cover involving livestock production and the genetic diversity of Escherichia coli in freshwater ecosystems. Our major goal was to determine if FIB abundance and E. coli phylogenetic group distributions in headwater streams are related to livestock production in rural watersheds in South Carolina. In both 2017 and 2018, grab samples were collected from streams at summer baseflow. In 2017, we collected samples from watersheds with or without poultry rearing facilities (PRFs). In 2018, we collected samples from streams draining watersheds with mixed forest and pasture cover and from streams in mostly forested watersheds. In both summers, we measured concentrations of total coliforms, E. coli, and Enterococcus. We also categorized E. coli isolates into one of four phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2, D). Streams with PRFs in their watersheds had significantly higher concentrations of Enterococcus but not total coliforms or E. coli than streams in watersheds without PRFs. Also, B2 isolates were less frequent and B1 isolates were more frequent in watersheds with PRFs than in those without. Streams draining mixed forest/pasture watersheds had significantly higher concentrations of total coliforms and E. coli but not Enterococcus, as well as higher frequencies of B1 isolates, than streams in mostly forested watersheds. Overall, the most frequent E. coli phylogenetic groups in watersheds with animal production appeared consistent with the phylogenetic groups that are especially abundant in poultry or mammalian livestock feces.
Institutional constraints to higher education datafication: an English case study
Authors: Brooks Rachel , Timms Jill
Published: December 2024

Strong claims are made by both higher education policymakers and institutional leaders about the advantages that can be brought about through ‘datafication’ (i.e. the quantification of human activities through digital means). Nevertheless, we know relatively little about how university cultures and processes may impinge on the rolling out of data practices, particularly in relation to administrative data (rather than that collected through learning analytics and other forms of user-generated data). This article draws on a particular case study—of attempts to widen participation to ‘sandwich courses’ in English higher education institutions—to argue that, in some areas of activity at least, institutional constraints serve to limit datafication substantially, including insufficient time and infrastructure, the prioritisation of data required for other purposes (typically national assessment exercises) and the role of institutional cultures. Cognisant of various problems associated with quantification, the article nevertheless contends that the barriers to the effective use of metrics identified in this research may have a direct impact on institutions’ capacity to recognise and address social inequalities.
Classification of human- and AI-generated texts for different languages and domains
Authors: Schaaff Kristina , Schlippe Tim , Mindner Lorenz
Published: December 2024

Chatbots based on large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are available to the wide public. These tools can for instance be used by students to generate essays or whole theses from scratch or by rephrasing an existing text. But how does for instance a teacher know whether a text is written by a student or an AI? In this paper, we investigate perplexity, semantic, list lookup, document, error-based, readability, AI feedback and text vector features to classify human-generated and AI-generated texts from the educational domain as well as news articles. We analyze two scenarios: (1) The detection of text generated by AI from scratch, and (2) the detection of text rephrased by AI. Since we assumed that classification is more difficult when the AI has been prompted to create or rephrase the text in a way that a human would not recognize that it was generated or rephrased by an AI, we also investigate this advanced prompting scenario. To train, fine-tune and test the classifiers, we created the Multilingual Human-AI-Generated Text Corpus which contains human-generated, AI-generated and AI-rephrased texts from the educational domain in English, French, German, and Spanish and English texts from the news domain. We demonstrate that the same features can be used for the detection of AI-generated and AI-rephrased texts from the educational domain in all languages and the detection of AI-generated and AI-rephrased news texts. Our best systems significantly outperform GPTZero and ZeroGPT—state-of-the-art systems for the detection of AI-generated text. Our best text rephrasing detection system even outperforms GPTZero by 181.3% relative in F1-score.
Gender Diversity, Gender Dysphoria/Incongruence, and the Intersection with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Updated Scoping Review
Authors: Rea Hannah M. , Øien Roald A. , Webb Sara Jane , Bansal Shivam , Strang John F. , Nordahl-Hansen Anders
Published: December 2024

In several ways, 2018 represents a global pivot point in research and care related to the intersection of gender diversity and autism, reflected by the increase in the number of studies on the intersection and broadening of topics. We conducted a scoping review of the literature published between September 2018 and January 2024 to summarize recent research in the field. We compared and contrasted research trends post September 2018 to research that was summarized in previous scoping reviews (Nordahl-Hansen et al. in J Autism Develop Disord 49:1745–1748, 2019; Øien et al. J Autism Develop Disord 48(12):4028–4037, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3843-z). We also summarized systematic reviews and meta-analyses published after 2018. Compared to previous reviews, we included more comprehensive search terms to focus on gender diversity broadly, rather than just gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder, and we included more detailed coding categories to uniquely identify shifts and continuities in research priorities over time. A total of 99 empirical research studies were published after August 2018 (the end of the search in the previous review) and through January 2024 on autism, gender diversity, and related topics were reviewed. There has been growth in the quantity and quality of studies on the intersection of autism and gender diversity, although methodological improvements are still needed and described in the current review. Future research should include more collaborations with stakeholders to set research priorities that are reflective of the communities being described.