bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Accelerated carbonation of oil-well cement blended with pozzolans and latent hydraulic materials
Authors: Kuzielová Eva , Slaný Michal , Žemlička Matúš , Másilko Jiří
Published: August 2023

Accelerated carbonation of cement mixtures consisting of class G cement, silica fume, metakaolin, or blast furnace slag was studied by thermogravimetric, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared analyses for 1 year. Surface parts were fully carbonated during the first 7 days. Polymerization of amorphous hydrates due to their decalcification was observed together with the rising amount of calcium carbonates and reformation of gypsum from ettringite and monosulfate. Decalcification of clinker phases took place fast after the depletion of portlandite. Although portlandite was still present in unblended pastes, because of slower carbonation rate in the surface parts and higher C/S ratio of amorphous hydrates, the carbonation front moved inward during 3 months. Pozzolanic reactions in the samples with 30 mass% of additives depleted portlandite, however, higher amounts of C–(A)–S–H phases with lower C/S ratio, denser microstructure and faster carbonation of surface parts ensured their resistance against carbonation throughout the monitored period.
Evaluation of the simplified method of fulvic fractions extraction from peat and lignite
Authors: Huculak-Mączka Marta , Kaniewski Maciej , Marecka Kinga , Biegun Marcin , Tymoszewicz Magdalena , Klem-Marciniak Ewelina , Nieweś Dominik , Hoffmann Krystyna
Published: August 2023

Due to numerous and valuable properties of humic substances, preparations produced from alternative organic materials have been widely used in agriculture, bioremediations, dietary supplements and others. In addition to well-known humic acids, fulvic acids (FA) are a valuable product with a wide range of applications. The aim of performed examinations was to assess the thermal and physicochemical properties of FA obtained from lignite and peat using simplified conventional and ultrasound-assisted methods. DSC coupled with TG and MS, 13C NMR, FTIR spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry has been used to examine extracted FA. Depending on the source of FA and the extraction method applied, their structure and properties differ. Obtained FA fractions varied for both tested raw materials in terms of analyzed carbon structures, and the highest discrepancy was observed for carbonyl groups (20.2 pp) in fractions obtained by conventional extraction. The use of the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), in comparison with the traditional method, lowered the ratio of carbon in carbonyl groups by 8.4 pp and increased the ratio of aromatic and aliphatic carbon by 3.5 and 4.9 pp, respectively, for FA obtained from lignite. As for FA obtained from peat, the UAE effect appeared to be less impactful in terms of structural changes. Thermal analysis showed that the products were thermally stable up to 100 °C, and the simplified extraction resulted in the creation of mineral-organic structures that decomposed at unusually high temperatures. Simplifying the extraction process, by excluding inorganic purification and protonation of obtained FA fractions, greatly affects product quality and limits its possible application.
Rapid vegetation responses over the last seven decades revealed by an alpine ice core and land-cover patterns
Authors: Festi Daniela , Alessi Nicola , Wellstein Camilla , Zerbe Stefan , Oeggl Klaus
Published: August 2023

Context

Syntheses of vegetation responses over the last century are rare for the Alps, and limited in chronological and taxonomical resolution. We propose that pollen records from glaciers can be used to fill this gap.

Objectives

Our aim is to evaluate the reliability of glacier pollen records as historical archives of biodiversity to obtain plant diversity data and landscape changes. In detail, we aim at reconstructing taxa and vegetation trends in central sector of the Italian Alps over the last century integrating pollen-inferred vegetation trends with drifts in spatially explicit land-cover.

Methods

Our study area is the Lombardy region (Italy). We performed pollen analyses of Adamello glacier cores, and reconstructed trends of single taxa and main vegetation types since the 1950s. Pollen-inferred vegetation trends were calculated using pollen indicators obtained from a database of vegetation-plot observations. The reliability of these trends is evaluated by comparison with spatially explicit tendencies reconstructed with a time-series of land-cover maps.

Results

Pollen records well represent the natural vegetation types as the temperate and the riverine forests, and the anthropic vegetation as crops and alien species. From the 1980s a thermophilisation took place, and warm-demanding native and alien species expanded. The contraction of cultivated land since the 1970s, and the decline of the riverine forest appear driven by socio-economic factors.

Conclusions

We conclude that pollen-inferred vegetation trends from glaciers can be used to obtain large scale biodiversity information. This is relevant also for areas where biodiversity data are scarce but needed for landscape management planning.
Pharmacists in general practice: what do they do? A qualitative case study
Authors: Kempen Thomas Gerardus Hendrik , Koumi Rouzi , Sporrong Sofia Kälvemark
Published: August 2023

Background

Pharmacists working in general practice are a relatively new phenomenon in many European countries. Providing insight into what pharmacists do in general practice may support further implementation of general practice-based pharmacist roles and enhance their contribution to health care.

Aim

To explore the tasks performed by pharmacists in general practice in Sweden.

Method

A case study was conducted in 7 general practices in Uppsala County, Sweden, where pharmacists were employed. Activities performed by pharmacists were self-reported during March 2021. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews with pharmacists were conducted between October and November 2021. Self-reported activities were categorised and analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using conventional content analysis.

Results

In total, 174 activities were self-reported by 8 pharmacists. Two pharmacists were observed for 2 days each, and 6 pharmacists were interviewed. Their main task was conducting medication reviews in older patients with polypharmacy. In addition, they handled a broad variety of drug-related questions and treatment follow-up. Pharmacists described working in a more efficient and needs-based manner over time. They stressed that working at the practice increased their accessibility to and their collaborative work with other healthcare professionals, and enabled them to meet patients face-to-face. Future challenges include defining tasks more clearly, assuming greater responsibility for patient care, and meeting the growing demand for pharmacists in general practice.

Conclusion

Pharmacists in general practice in Sweden perform a broad variety of tasks related to identifying, resolving and preventing drug-related problems, mainly in older patients with polypharmacy.
Drought conditioning of rhizosphere microbiome influences maize water use traits
Authors: Carter Kelsey R. , Nachtsheim Abigael C. , Dickman L. Turin , Moore Eric R. , Negi Sangeeta , Heneghan John P. , Sabella Anthony J. , Steadman Christina R. , Albright Michaeline B. N. , Anderson-Cook Christine M. , Comas Louise H. , Harris Rose J. , Heikoop Jeffrey M. , Lubbers Nicholas , Marina Oana C. , Musa Dea , Newman Brent D. , Perkins George B. , Twary Scott , Yeager Chris M. , Sevanto Sanna
Published: August 2023

Background and Aims

Beneficial plant–microbe interactions can improve plant performance under drought; however, we know less about how drought-induced shifts in microbial communities affect plant traits.

Methods

We cultivatedZea maysin fritted clay with soil microbiomes originating from contrasting environments (agriculture or forest) under two irrigation treatments (well-watered or water limited). Using this design, we investigated whether water conditioning was carried forward through the microbiome to affect a subsequent plant cohort that was subjected to either a well-watered or water limited treatment.

Results

Regardless of the microbiome-origin, plants inoculated with a microbiome from a water limited legacy had traits that allowed them to avoid stress but conserve water. They produced longer roots to explore soil, generated greater soil dissolved organic carbon, potentially stimulating the microbiome, and slower soil water content loss during drought. A well-watered legacy resulted in plants that delayed permanent stomatal closure and higher photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency. In plants with a forest-originated microbiome, a well-watered legacy and water treatment also resulted in higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance.

Conclusion

These results demonstrate that soil microbiomes can be developed to influence plant drought performance, impacting crop resilience, using short-term microbial conditioning.
Postcritical school leadership encounters
Authors: Magno Cathryn , Becker Anna
Published: August 2023

Establishing quality education as a human right, public undertaking, and common good representative of humanity and the planet through imagining a “new social contract for education” is an ambitious endeavor and crucial to (post)humanity’s myriad ways of knowing, living, and being. This article introduces postcritical educational leadership as an indispensable element in shaping the future of education by informing and implementing new social contracts within schools, the wider education system, and other potential spaces of response-ability and intra-action (Barad in Meeting the universe halfway: quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning, Duke University Press, Durham, 2007; Derrida Today 3(2):240–268, 2010). Within complex, rapidly changing, and self-generating systems, modes, models, and mechanisms of governance become re-territorialized, constantly forming new assemblages consisting of new structures, actors, and context-dependent educational landscapes. Dynamic and heterogeneous assemblages make a static understanding of governance not only superfluous; they make it impossible. We need to loosen power, stability, and neoliberal structures to generate new forms of participative leadership—particularly at the school level—characterized by cooperation, solidarity, trust, and justice. We therefore reframe educational leadership as becoming among all actors within multifaceted, rhizomatic (education) system(s) (Deleuze and Guattari in A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia, Minnesota University Press, Minneapolis, 1987). We argue for a multi-perspectival view of leadership that includes a focus on how school leaders perceive their own becoming (e.g., their needs, positionalities, emotions) and how this becoming intra-acts with increasing social, cultural, political, and ecological complexity. Deeper engagement through introspection, self-analysis, and a processing of self-in-context together with exploration of school leaders’ experiences with entanglements and assemblages will inform new governance arrangements and just and sustainable future-thinking and future-acting in education.
Is tax return information useful to equity investors?
Authors: Demeré Paul
Published: August 2023

I examine whether tax return information is useful to equity investors. I do so indirectly, by exploiting unique features of the syndicated loan market, as evidence shows that lenders obtain tax returns from borrowers and that lenders’ private information is transmitted to equity markets when institutional investors are part of a loan syndicate. I find significant increases in tax expense valuation and decreases in tax-related market anomalies following the issuance of institutional syndicated loans, suggesting that equity investors find information about firm performance in tax returns that is useful for their trading decisions. I also find evidence suggesting that institutional investors may determine their loan syndicate participation in part based on the value of tax return information. This study extends prior research and informs policy debates over public disclosure of corporate tax return information by providing evidence to support that tax returns can be useful to investor decision making.
The Discursive Construction of Antisemitism in Nazi Children’s Books: Elvira Bauer’s Trust No Fox (1936) and Ernst Hiemer’s The Poisonous Mushroom (1938)
Authors: Green Daniel
Published: August 2023

This article deals with the construction and performance of antisemitism in Nazi children’s books. It provides an explorative discourse analysis ofTrust No Foxas reported (Bauer, Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud bei seinem Eid! Ein Bilderbuch für Gross und Klein, Stürmer-Verlag, Nuremberg, 1936) andThe Poisonous Mushroomas reported (Hiemer, Der Giftpilz—ein Stürmerbuch für Jung u. Alt, Stürmer-Verlag, Nuremberg, 1938) through the lens of Critical applied legal linguistics (CrALL). It seeks to elucidate how ‘Jewishness’ is constructed in the two books, with a view to enhancing our understanding of the intertextual and interdiscursive embeddedness of anti-Semitic rhetoric generally and nomination and predication strategies specifically. To this end, a specialised corpus of 10,002 tokens, 2,345 types and 43 illustrations was compiled. Subsequently XML annotation was applied with the data being parsed into headings, sentences and/or lines. It was found that the books follow a Jewish/non-Jewish dichotomy, consistently referring to breaches of custom, morality, religion and law. Both works purport to provide descriptive accounts of ‘Jews as they are,’ when, in fact, they generate the normative illusion of ‘Jews as they ought to be’ according to Nazi ideology. It is suggested to use the insights gained into the anti-Semitic rhetoric of children’s books to detect, describe and critique patterns of anti-Semitic rhetoric today.
The role of academic context-related factors and problematic social media use in academic procrastination: A cross-sectional study of students in elementary, secondary, and tertiary education
Authors: Touloupis Thanos , Campbell Marilyn
Published: August 2023

The present study investigated students’ academic procrastination in elementary, secondary, and tertiary education cross-sectionally, by simultaneously examining the predictive role of perceived academic context-related factors and problematic social media use (PSMU) in the manifestation of procrastination. Students from elementary (N = 532), secondary (N = 561) and tertiary education (N = 519) from randomly selected Greek schools and university departments completed a self-report questionnaire, which included scales on academic procrastination, academic engagement, academic connectedness, and PSMU. The results showed that elementary and secondary school students procrastinate more than university students, who perceive procrastination as a problem and desire to reduce it to a greater extent. No gender differences were found regarding students’ procrastination. Furthermore, the path analyses revealed similarities and differences in the explanatory models of procrastination for the three student-groups. Generally, academic engagement and connectedness negatively predicted academic procrastination, while PSMU negatively mediated this relationship. Nevertheless, among the three path models, different dimensions of the predictive variables involved contributed to procrastination in elementary, secondary, and tertiary education. The findings imply that in each level of education specific academic context-related psychological states could be enhanced along with the promotion of safe social media use to effectively prevent students’ academic procrastination.
Home range and habitat use of vervet monkeys in the urban forest mosaic landscape of Durban, eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Authors: Pillay Kerushka R. , Streicher Jarryd P. , Downs Colleen T.
Published: August 2023

Generally, urbanisation affects biodiversity negatively; however, some species thrive in urban areas. One mammalian species thriving in the urban forest mosaic landscape is the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), particularly in Durban, eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Vervet monkeys’ spatial use can provide important ecological information to understand their behavioural plasticity in an urban forest mosaic landscape. We, therefore, captured and collared vervet monkeys with Global Positioning System (GPS)-Ultra High Frequency (UHF) transmitters in two sites of varying degrees of urban and natural land-use types within eThekwini. Three home range methods Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP), Kernel Density Estimator (KDE), and Local Convex Hull (LoCoH) were used to determine individual home range size and core area use. Home range (30.7 ha 95% KDE) and core area (6.5 ha 50% KDE) estimates were relatively small for these vervet monkeys. Forest and thicket, and built-up habitat types were most used by vervet monkeys across the urban forest mosaic landscape. Overall, individuals in this study showed that the vervet monkeys, regardless of the environment, can successfully exist across the urban forest mosaic landscape. The spatial ecology of urban vervet monkeys provides valuable information for future education and management interventions, especially where there are negative human-monkey interactions amongst urban communities.
The engage taxonomy: SDT-based measurable engagement indicators for MOOCs and their evaluation
Authors: Cristea Alexandra I. , Alamri Ahmed , Alshehri Mohammed , Pereira Filipe Dwan , Toda Armando M. , de Oliveira Elaine Harada T. , Stewart Craig
Published: August 2023

Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) platforms are considered a distinctive way to deliver a modern educational experience, open to a worldwide public. However, student engagement in MOOCs is a less explored area, although it is known that MOOCs suffer from one of the highest dropout rates within learning environments in general, and in e-learning in particular. A special challenge in this area is finding early, measurable indicators of engagement. This paper tackles this issue with a unique blend of data analytics and NLP and machine learning techniques together with a solid foundation in psychological theories. Importantly, we show for the first time how Self-Determination Theory (SDT) can be mapped onto concrete features extracted from tracking student behaviour on MOOCs. We map the dimensions of Autonomy, Relatedness and Competence, leading to methods to characterise engaged and disengaged MOOC student behaviours, and exploring what triggers and promotes MOOC students’ interest and engagement. The paper further contributes by building the Engage Taxonomy, the first taxonomy of MOOC engagement tracking parameters, mapped over 4 engagement theories: SDT, Drive, ET, Process of Engagement. Moreover, we define and analyse students’ engagement tracking, with a larger than usual body of content (6 MOOC courses from two different universities with 26 runs spanning between 2013 and 2018) and students (initially around 218.235). Importantly, the paper also serves as the first large-scale evaluation of the SDT theory itself, providing a blueprint for large-scale theory evaluation. It also provides for the first-time metrics for measurable engagement in MOOCs, including specific measures for Autonomy, Relatedness and Competence; it evaluates these based on existing (and expanded) measures of success in MOOCs: Completion rate, Correct Answer ratio and Reply ratio. In addition, to further illustrate the use of the proposed SDT metrics, this study is the first to use SDT constructs extracted from the first week, to predict active and non-active students in the following week.
Adversarial Coreset Selection for Efficient Robust Training
Authors: Dolatabadi Hadi M. , Erfani Sarah M. , Leckie Christopher
Published: August 2023

It has been shown that neural networks are vulnerable to adversarial attacks: adding well-crafted, imperceptible perturbations to their input can modify their output. Adversarial training is one of the most effective approaches to training robust models against such attacks. Unfortunately, this method is much slower than vanilla training of neural networks since it needs to construct adversarial examples for the entire training data at every iteration. By leveraging the theory of coreset selection, we show how selecting a small subset of training data provides a principled approach to reducing the time complexity of robust training. To this end, we first provide convergence guarantees for adversarial coreset selection. In particular, we show that the convergence bound is directly related to how well our coresets can approximate the gradient computed over the entire training data. Motivated by our theoretical analysis, we propose using this gradient approximation error as our adversarial coreset selection objective to reduce the training set size effectively. Once built, we run adversarial training over this subset of the training data. Unlike existing methods, our approach can be adapted to a wide variety of training objectives, including TRADES, $$\ell _p$$

ℓ
p

-PGD, and Perceptual Adversarial Training. We conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate that our approach speeds up adversarial training by 2–3 times while experiencing a slight degradation in the clean and robust accuracy.
Does It Make Sense to Professionalize and Institutionalize Citizen Science?
Authors: Mahr Dana
Published: August 2023

In this article, I share an anecdote about citizen science and use it to reflect on this rapidly growing field of scientific activity, its funding, and its governance. The paper focuses particularly on the epistemic and social challenges that accompany increasing demands for professionalization and institutionalization of the Citizen Sciences.
Cancer survivorship programs for patients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds: a scoping review
Authors: Kasherman Lawrence , Yoon Won-Hee , Tan Sim Yee , Malalasekera Ashanya , Shaw Joanne , Vardy Janette
Published: August 2023

Purpose

People of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds face disparities in cancer care. This scoping review aims to identify the breadth of international literature focused on cancer survivorship programs/interventions specific to CALD populations, and barriers and facilitators to program participation.

Methods

Scoping review included studies focused on interventions for CALD cancer survivors after curative-intent treatment. Electronic databases: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo and Scopus were searched, for original research articles from database inception to April 2022.

Results

710 references were screened with 26 included: 14 randomized (54%), 6 mixed-method (23%), 4 non-randomized experimental (15%), 2 qualitative studies (8%). Most were United States-based (85%), in breast cancer survivors (88%; Table 1), of Hispanic/Latinx (54%) and Chinese (27%) backgrounds. Patient-reported outcome measures were frequently incorporated as primary endpoints (65%), or secondary endpoints (15%). 81% used multi-modal interventions with most encompassing domains of managing psychosocial (85%) or physical (77%) effects from cancer, and most were developed through community-based participatory methods (46%) or informed by earlier work by the same research groups (35%). Interventions were usually delivered by bilingual staff (88%). 17 studies (77%) met their primary endpoints, such as meeting feasibility targets or improvements in quality of life or psychological outcomes. Barriers and facilitators included cultural sensitivity, health literacy, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and access.

Conclusions

Positive outcomes were associated with cancer survivorship programs/interventions for CALD populations. As we identified only 26 studies over the last 14 years in this field, gaps surrounding provision of cancer survivorship care in CALD populations remain.

Implications for cancer survivors

Ensuring culturally sensitive and specific delivery of cancer survivorship programs and interventions is paramount in providing optimal care for survivors from CALD backgrounds.
The Effect and Mechanism of POSTN and Its Alternative Splicing on the Apoptosis of Myocardial Cells in Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Study in Vitro
Authors: Liu Xuemei , Tuerxusssn Zulikaier , Balati Yumaierjiang , Gong Pengfei , Zhang Ze , Bao Zhen , Yang Yuchun , He Pengyi , Muhuyati
Published: August 2023

Our study aimed to investigate key molecular targets in the pathogenesis of AMI, and provide new strategy for the treatment. In this work, the myocardial ischemia and hypoxia model was constructed by using HL-1 mouse cardiomyocytes. The over-expressing POSTN wild-type, mutant and negative control lentiviruses (GV492-POSTNWT,GV492-POSTN-MUT, GV492-NC) was conducted and transfected. Cardiomyocytes were examined for cell proliferation and apoptosis to explore the effects of POSTN and its alternative splicing. The endoplasmic reticulum stess-related apoptosis proteins were selected and detected. We found that POSTN could promote the proliferation of normal and hypoxic cardiomyocytes and inhibit their apoptosis. The mechanism by which POSTN inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis may be through inhibiting the GRP78-eIF2α-ATF4-CHOP pathway of endoplasmic reticulum stress. Alternative splicing of POSTN could inhibit the apoptosis of ischemic and hypoxic cardiomyocytes, and its mechanism needs to be confirmed by further studies. We drawed the conclusion that POSTN might be a potential therapeutic target for AMI.
Steroidogenic activity of liposomal methylated resveratrol analog 3,4,5,4′-tetramethoxystilbene (DMU-212) in human luteinized granulosa cells in a primary three-dimensional in vitro model
Authors: Józkowiak Małgorzata , Kobylarek Dominik , Bryja Artur , Gogola-Mruk Justyna , Czajkowski Mikołaj , Skupin-Mrugalska Paulina , Kempisty Bartosz , Spaczyński Robert Z. , Piotrowska-Kempisty Hanna
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Steroid hormone secretion is one of the key functions of granulosa cells (GCs). Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol, known for its beneficial health effects, such as improving reproductive health. However, its application is limited due to poor bioavailability. The methoxy derivative of resveratrol (DMU-212) was demonstrated to be more lipophilic, and therefore of greater bioavailability. However, since the addition of methoxy groups to the stilbene scaffold was found to make the molecule insoluble in water, DMU-212 was loaded into liposomes. This study aimed to evaluate how the liposomal formulation of DMU-212 (lipDMU-212) alters estradiol and progesterone secretion of human ovarian GCs in a primary three-dimensional cell culture model.

Methods

DMU-212-loaded liposomes were prepared by thin film hydration followed by extrusion. Cell viability was measured after exposure of GCs spheroids to the liposomal formulation of DMU-212 using CellTiter-Glo® 3D Cell Viability Assay. The secretion of estradiol and progesterone was determined using commercial ELISA kits. RT-qPCR was conducted to analyze the expression of steroidogenesis-related genes. Finally, the western blot technique was used to analyze the effect of lipDMU-212 and FSH treatments on CYP11A1 and HSD3B1 protein levels.

Results

lipDMU-212 was found to significantly increase estradiol and progesterone secretion in a dose-dependent manner by enhancing the expression of CYP11A1, HSD3B1, StAR, CYP17A1, CYP19A1, and HSD17B1 genes. We have also shown that lipDMU-212, used alone and in combination with FSH, significantly increased the expression of the HSD3B1 and CYP11A1 proteins in GCs. Furthermore, our study suggests that lipDMU-212 increases FSH activity.

Conclusions

This is the first study to describe the steroidogenic activity of liposomal formulation of DMU-212, possibly through increasing the StAR and CYP19A1 expression. These findings suggest that lipDMU-212 might have a beneficial effect in the treatment of disorders related to estrogen deficiency and hyperandrogenism, such as PCOS.
Clustering systems of phylogenetic networks
Authors: Hellmuth Marc , Schaller David , Stadler Peter F.
Published: August 2023

Rooted acyclic graphs appear naturally when the phylogenetic relationship of a set X of taxa involves not only speciations but also recombination, horizontal transfer, or hybridization that cannot be captured by trees. A variety of classes of such networks have been discussed in the literature, including phylogenetic, level-1, tree-child, tree-based, galled tree, regular, or normal networks as models of different types of evolutionary processes. Clusters arise in models of phylogeny as the sets $${{\,\mathrm{\texttt{C}}\,}}(v)$$

C

(
v
)

of descendant taxa of a vertex v. The clustering system $$\mathscr {C}_N$$

C
N

comprising the clusters of a network N conveys key information on N itself. In the special case of rooted phylogenetic trees, T is uniquely determined by its clustering system $$\mathscr {C}_T$$

C
T

. Although this is no longer true for networks in general, it is of interest to relate properties of N and $$\mathscr {C}_N$$

C
N

. Here, we systematically investigate the relationships of several well-studied classes of networks and their clustering systems. The main results are correspondences of classes of networks and clustering systems of the following form: If N is a network of type $$\mathbb {X}$$
X
, then $$\mathscr {C}_N$$

C
N

satisfies $$\mathbb {Y}$$
Y
, and conversely if $$\mathscr {C}$$
C
is a clustering system satisfying $$\mathbb {Y},$$

Y
,

then there is network N of type $$\mathbb {X}$$
X
such that $$\mathscr {C}\subseteq \mathscr {C}_N$$

C
⊆

C
N

.This, in turn, allows us to investigate the mutual dependencies between the distinct types of networks in much detail.
Trade and the government underfunding of environmental innovation
Authors: Zhang Muzhou
Published: August 2023

How does trade affect the making and implementation of environmental policies? I extend our understanding about this broad research question with an understudied case: government support for environmental innovation. As the foremost channel wherein cross-border technology transfer occurs, trade materializes the positive externality of technology investment. With this in mind, countries may tend to strategically underfund environmental technologies—particularly when their trade partners enlarge that spending—to have more money to use otherwise and to avoid politically awkward innovation failures. To substantiate this crowding-out argument, I perform spatial regression with data from 32 OECD countries, 1982–2017, and find that government spending on environmental R&D in one country is negatively correlated with that of the country’s trade partners in environmental goods. My research contributes to the literature by adding new to our understanding about the international trade-environmental policy nexus, depicting a new scenario wherein states underprovide global public goods, and showing the strategic calculus underlying the use of technology-push strategy in addressing climate change.
Regenerative Strategies in Treatment of Peripheral Nerve Injuries in Different Animal Models
Authors: Khaled Mona M , Ibrahium Asmaa M , Abdelgalil Ahmed I , El-Saied Mohamed A. , El-Bably Samah H
Published: August 2023

BACKGROUND:

Peripheral nerve damage mainly resulted from traumatic or infectious causes; the main signs of a damaged nerve are the loss of sensory and/or motor functions. The injured nerve has limited regenerative capacity and is recovered by the body itself, the recovery process depends on the severity of damage to the nerve, nowadays the use of stem cells is one of the new and advanced methods for treatment of these problems.

METHOD:

Following our review, data are collected from different databases "Google scholar, Springer, Elsevier, Egyptian Knowledge Bank, and PubMed" using different keywords such as Peripheral nerve damage, Radial Nerve, Sciatic Nerve, Animals, Nerve regeneration, and Stem cell to investigate the different methods taken in consideration for regeneration of PNI.

RESULT:

This review contains tables illustrating all forms and types of regenerative medicine used in treatment of peripheral nerve injuries (PNI) including different types of stem cells " adipose-derived stem cells, bone marrow stem cells, Human umbilical cord stem cells, embryonic stem cells" and their effect on re-constitution and functional recovery of the damaged nerve which evaluated by physical, histological, Immuno-histochemical, biochemical evaluation, and the review illuminated the best regenerative strategies help in rapid peripheral nerve regeneration in different animal models included horse, dog, cat, sheep, monkey, pig, mice and rat.

CONCLUSION:

Old surgical attempts such as neurorrhaphy, autogenic nerve transplantation, and Schwann cell implantation have a limited power of recovery in cases of large nerve defects. Stem cell therapy including mesenchymal stromal cells has a high potential differentiation capacity to renew and form a new nerve and also restore its function.
Evaluation of the clinical relevance of the Biofire© FilmArray pneumonia panel among hospitalized patients
Authors: Søgaard Kirstine K. , Hinic Vladimira , Goldenberger Daniel , Gensch Alexander , Schweitzer Michael , Bättig Veronika , Siegemund Martin , Bassetti Stefano , Bingisser Roland , Tamm Michael , Battegay Manuel , Weisser Maja , Stolz Daiana , Khanna Nina , Egli Adrian
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Panel PCR tests provide rapid pathogen identification. However, their diagnostic performance is unclear. We assessed the performance of the Biofire© FilmArray pneumonia (PN)-panel against standard culture in broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) samples.

Methods

Setting: University Hospital Basel (February 2019 to July 2020), including hospitalized patients with a BAL (± pneumonia). We determined sensitivity and specificity of the PN-panel against standard culture. Using univariate logistic regression, we calculated odds ratios (OR) for pneumonia according to PN-panel and culture status, stratifying by chronic pulmonary disease. We calculated ORs for pneumonia for different pathogens to estimate the clinical relevance.

Results

We included 840 adult patients, 60% were males, median age was 68 years, 35% had chronic pulmonary disease, 21% had pneumonia, and 36% had recent antibiotic use. In 1078 BAL samples, bacterial pathogens were detected in 36% and 16% with PN-panel and culture, respectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the PN-panel was high, whereas the positive predictive value was low. The OR of pneumonia was 1.1 (95% CI 0.7–1.6) for PN-panel-positive only; 2.6 (95% CI 1.3–5.3) for culture-positive only, and 1.6 (95% CI 1.0–2.4) for PN-panel and culture-positive. The detection rate of Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Moraxella catarrhalis in the PN-panel was high but not associated with pneumonia.

Conclusion

While sensitivity and specificity of PN-panel are high compared to culture, pathogen detection did not correlate well with a pneumonia diagnosis. Patients with culture-positive BAL had the highest OR for pneumonia—thus the impact of the PN-panel on clinical management needs further evaluation in randomized controlled trials.
Trends in mortality after a sepsis hospitalization: a nationwide prospective registry study from 2008 to 2021
Authors: Skei Nina Vibeche , Nilsen Tom Ivar Lund , Mohus Randi Marie , Prescott Hallie C. , Lydersen Stian , Solligård Erik , Damås Jan Kristian , Gustad Lise Tuset
Published: August 2023

Background

Few studies have reported on mortality beyond one year after sepsis. We aim to describe trends in short- and long-term mortality among patients admitted with sepsis, and to describe the association between clinical characteristics and mortality for improved monitoring, treatment and prognosis.

Methods

Patients ≥ 18 years admitted to all Norwegian hospitals (2008–2021) with a first sepsis episode were identified using Norwegian Patient Registry and International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision codes. Sepsis was classified as implicit (known infection site plus organ dysfunction), explicit (unknown infection site), or COVID-19-related sepsis. The outcome was all-cause mortality. We describe age-standardized 30-day, 90-day, 1-, 5- and 10-year mortality for each admission year and estimated the annual percentage change with 95% confidence interval (CI). The association between clinical characteristics and all-cause mortality is reported as hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for age, sex and calendar year in Cox regression.

Results

The study included 222,832 patients, of whom 127,059 (57.1%) had implicit, 92,928 (41.7%) had explicit, and 2,845 (1.3%) had COVID-19-related sepsis (data from 2020 and 2021). Trends in overall age-standardized 30-day, 90-day, 1- and 5-year mortality decreased by 0.29 (95% CI − 0.39 to − 0.19), 0.43 (95% CI − 0.56 to − 0.29), 0.61 (95% CI − 0.73 to − 0.49) and 0.66 (95% CI − 0.84 to − 0.48) percent per year, respectively. The decrease was observed for all infections sites but was largest among patients with respiratory tract infections. Implicit, explicit and COVID-19-related sepsis had largely similar overall mortality, with explicit sepsis having an adjusted HR of 0.980 (95% CI 0.969 to 0.991) and COVID-19-related sepsis an adjusted HR of 0.916 (95% CI 0.836 to 1.003) compared to implicit sepsis. Patients with respiratory tract infections have somewhat higher mortality than those with other infection sites. Number of comorbidities was positively associated with mortality, but mortality varied considerably between different comorbidities. Similarly, number of acute organ dysfunctions was strongly associated with mortality, whereas the risk varied for each type of organ dysfunction.

Conclusion

Overall mortality has declined over the past 14 years among patients with a first sepsis admission. Comorbidity, site of infection, and acute organ dysfunction are patient characteristics that are associated with mortality. This could inform health care workers and raise the awareness toward subgroups of patients that needs particular attention to improve long-term mortality.
Social wellbeing, values, and identity among Caiçara small-scale fishers in southeastern Brazil
Authors: Leite Marta C. F. , Johnson Derek Stephen , Ross Helen , Seixas Cristiana Simão
Published: August 2023

Although much in the lives of members of the Caiçara small-scale fishing communities of Lázaro and Saco da Ribeira in Ubatuba, southeastern Brazil would suggest hardship, that population expresses a surprising degree of satisfaction with life. In this paper, we use a social wellbeing lens as applied through an ethnographic, mixed methods approach to reflect on this overall sense that lives rooted in small-scale fishing are well worth living despite their many challenges. We see the classic maritime anthropology theme of identity at the heart of meaning and life satisfaction. Identity provides core aspects of how people engage with their realities and anchors values that are reference points in work and social relations. With reference to the relational nuances revealed by the social wellbeing perspective, however, we show that Caiçara and small-scale fishing identities are not monolithic, but reflect gender and other social positions, and personal and familial experiences. These experiences include grappling with the complex effects of economic, social, political, and environmental changes. We conclude by arguing that fisheries policy that seeks to prioritize human wellbeing would benefit by adopting a social wellbeing perspective. Fisheries policy could thereby take into account identity, values, and relational elements of social life that give meaning and a sense of belonging to small-scale fishers, while also recognizing the cross-cutting and often contradictory variations in human experience that arise from social and economic differences. This social fabric of small-scale fishers’ lives shapes their intentions and actions and is thus a necessary complication to the practice of fisheries management that its proponents need to consider.
A cross-sectional study on the nutritional status, dietary diversity, and small fish consumption patterns in coastal fishing communities of Ghana
Authors: Janananda Bhagya , Ansong Richard Stephen , Hatløy Anne , Atter Amy , Andersen Peter , Aakre Inger , Annan Theophilus , Peget Frank , Agyei-Mensah Yaw Opoku , Steiner-Asiedu Matilda , Kjellevold Marian
Published: August 2023

Fish is readily available to fishing communities. Given the high nutritional value of fish, these communities are expected to have better nutritional status, compared to non-fishing communities. However, this assumption is not well studied across coastal fishing communities in Ghana. Hence, this cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the nutritional status, dietary patterns, and fish consumption of children living in coastal fishing communities in Ghana. Nutritional status of 384 randomly selected children was assessed using the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. MUAC less than 12.5 cm was used as the cutoff to identify malnourished children. Food and fish consumption patterns were assessed using an adopted and pretested food frequency questionnaire. The findings showed a prevalence of 0.5% wasting among surveyed children. The mean dietary diversity score (DDS) of the study participants was 4.3 ± 1.2. The mean DDS of the children of fisher mothers was less than that of the children of the female caregivers who are involved in other occupations. However, no significant difference was observed in the DDS across the coastal regions. Seventy eight percent of the children who participated in the study consumed an adequately diversified diet, and more than 40 different small fish species were consumed across the four coastal regions. The average median weekly fish intake among the children in the study sample was 213 (64–468) g. Considering that one-third of the employed respondents were fisherfolk, coupled with the availability of a great diversity of small fish in the communities, the findings of our study suggest that there is great potential to incorporate small fish into strategic interventions aimed at improving nutrition, food security, and achieving economic sustainability in these communities.
Where Does Blood Flow Restriction Fit in the Toolbox of Athletic Development? A Narrative Review of the Proposed Mechanisms and Potential Applications
Authors: Davids Charlie J. , Roberts Llion A. , Bjørnsen Thomas , Peake Jonathan M. , Coombes Jeff S. , Raastad Truls
Published: August 2023

Blood flow-restricted exercise is currently used as a low-intensity time-efficient approach to reap many of the benefits of typical high-intensity training. Evidence continues to lend support to the notion that even highly trained individuals, such as athletes, still benefit from this mode of training. Both resistance and endurance exercise may be combined with blood flow restriction to provide a spectrum of adaptations in skeletal muscle, spanning from myofibrillar to mitochondrial adjustments. Such diverse adaptations would benefit both muscular strength and endurance qualities concurrently, which are demanded in athletic performance, most notably in team sports. Moreover, recent work indicates that when traditional high-load resistance training is supplemented with low-load, blood flow-restricted exercise, either in the same session or as a separate training block in a periodised programme, a synergistic and complementary effect on training adaptations may occur. Transient reductions in mechanical loading of tissues afforded by low-load, blood flow-restricted exercise may also serve a purpose during de-loading, tapering or rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injury. This narrative review aims to expand on the current scientific and practical understanding of how blood flow restriction methods may be applied by coaches and practitioners to enhance current athletic development models.
Sensory Systems for Sugar-Induced Cephalic Phase Insulin Release
Authors: Yoshida Ryusuke
Published: August 2023

Purpose of Review

This review aims to discuss and summarize the peripheral sensory mechanisms involved in the induction of the early phase of insulin release, known as cephalic phase insulin release (CPIR), triggered by stimuli related to food, particularly sugars.

Recent Findings

At least, two distinct systems on the tongue are responsible for detecting oral sugars. The first system involves the G-protein-coupled receptor Tas1r2/Tas1r3, which can detect not only sugars but also artificial sweeteners and sweet proteins. The second system relies on glucose transporters, specifically recognize and transport monosaccharides. The Tas1r2/Tas1r3 receptor utilizes a signal transduction pathway involving gustducin, phospholipase β2, and transient receptor potential channel M5 to depolarize taste cells. On the other hand, glucose transporters facilitate the transport of monosaccharides into cells, where their degradation produces ATP. This ATP inhibits the metabolic sensor KATP channel, ultimately leading to cell depolarization. Recent studies in mice have demonstrated that glucose transporters and KATP channels, rather than the Tas1r2/Tas1r3 receptor, are essential for the induction of CPIR.

The detection of sugars in the oral cavity relies on two essential mechanisms: the Tas1r2/Tas1r3 receptor and glucose transporters. Notably, oral glucose transporters are likely to play a significant role in the induction of sugar-induced CPIR. As a result, these two sugar detection systems may have distinct roles in maintaining energy homeostasis within the body.
Evolutionary game dynamics of multi-agent systems using local information considering hide right
Authors: Dong Yida , Liu Xuesong , Li Tieshan , Chen C. L. Philip
Published: August 2023

Promoting cooperation in the network has always been a focus of evolutionary game dynamics research. In this paper, a three-strategy local decision model is designed to promote cooperative behavior between agents. The hide right is introduced to accurately describe the agents which tend to choose conservative strategy to achieve stable payoffs. Agents only consider their own and non-defective neighbors’ payoffs information to make their decisions for next move. According to the adaptive dynamics, the equilibrium states under different conditions have been studied. It is found that the introduction of hide strategy helps to reduce the occurrence of defection. The conclusion of this paper will provide a reference for the cooperation promotion mechanism of selfish agents that are closer to the actual situation.
Three-way decision based on ITARA and public weights DEA under picture fuzzy environment and its application in new energy vehicles selection
Authors: Wu Meiqin , Song Jiawen , Fan Jianping
Published: August 2023

Petroleum is the main power of automobiles, yet the environmental pollution it brings has caused globally. The promotion of new energy vehicles (NEVs) is effective. Even though the governments have introduced various supports for the popularization of NEVs, many enterprises and individuals continue to drive gas vehicles as they are poorly informed about them and cannot choose the right products. This paper proposes a categorization and ranking model of NEVs over three-way decisions (TWD) to tackle the problem. Picture fuzzy sets serve as a valid tool to describe uncertainty and fuzziness information. At first, the attribute weights are ascertained with the indifference threshold-based attribute ratio analysis (ITARA) method improved by the picture fuzzy distance. Then, the public weight picture fuzzy data envelopment analysis (DEA) which is enhanced by the picture fuzzy aggregation operator is employed for the conditional probability of decision units. Third, updated picture fuzzy TWD is utilized for the categorization and ranking. Fourth, the enterprise NEVs selection case is tested for the model. Later, comparative analysis with the classical methods illustrates that the proposed method yields accurate and reliable decisions. Finally, the robustness of the model is demonstrated by sensitivity analysis.