bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing effectiveness of nature-based solution with big earth data: 60 years mangrove plantation program in Bangladesh coast
Authors: Mahmood Riffat , Zhang Li , Li Guoqing
Published: April 2023

Background

In the climate change context, nature-based solution (NBS) is considered one of the effective tools to increase the resilience of socio-ecological system. The concept coincides with the government’s attempts of afforestation and reforestation programs that have been going on for 60 years in Bangladesh. This study, therefore, envisaged understanding how NBS (mangrove afforestation and reforestation) works to promote climate change resilience through the synthetization of remote sensing-based big earth data, statistical tools, and models. The study took the entire coast of Bangladesh except for Sundarbans Reserve Forest and rolled back to 1962 to work on 60 years’ time series data. Declassified CORONA satellite imagery along with Landsat satellite imagery was used, which is the first-ever attempt in the remote sensing-based ecosystem work in Bangladesh.

Results

The study's main innovation is to spatially establish the effectiveness of the NBS. The study critically assessed and estimated stable lands and their socio-economic benefits as part of the effectiveness of the NBS. As part of the NBS-derived benefits in the context of climate change, it estimated the sequestrated carbon in mangrove forests. A significant positive relationship was observed between the increase of mangroves and stable lands. Near about 448,011 ha of agricultural land was stabilized due to the NBS intervention whose economic value is 18,837 million USD. In addition, 29,755.71 kt of carbon have been sequestrated due to NBS program.

Conclusions

The concept of NBS is still in the development stage and very little or no work has been done so far in measuring and labeling the effectiveness of the NBS. Therefore, our study can innovatively contribute to the scientific community to show the effectiveness of the NBS in three domains (social, economic and ecological) in the changing climatic scenario.
Dietary bamboo leaf flavonoids improve quality and microstructure of broiler meat by changing untargeted metabolome
Authors: Cao Guangtian , Wang Huixian , Yu Yang , Tao Fei , Yang Huijuan , Yang Shenglan , Qian Ye , Li Hui , Yang Caimei
Published: April 2023

Background

Dietary bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLFs) are rarely used in poultry production, and it is unknown whether they influence meat texture profile, perceived color, or microstructure.

Results

A total of 720 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were supplemented with a basal diet with 20 mg bacitracin/kg, 50 mg BLFs/kg, or 250 mg BLFs/kg or without additions. Data showed that the dietary BLFs significantly (P < 0.05) changed growth performance and the texture profile. In particular, BLFs increased birds’ average daily gain and average daily feed intake, decreased the feed:gain ratio and mortality rate, improved elasticity of breast meat, enhanced the gumminess of breast and leg meat, and decreased the hardness of breast meat. Moreover, a significant (P < 0.05) increase in redness (a*) and chroma (c*) of breast meat and c* and water-holding capacity of leg meat was found in BLF-supplemented broilers compared with control broilers. In addition, BLFs supplementation significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the β-sheet ratio and serum malondialdehyde and increased the β-turn ratio of protein secondary structure, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase of breast meat and total antioxidant capacity and catalase of serum. Based on the analysis of untargeted metabolome, BLFs treatment considerably altered 14 metabolites of the breast meat, including flavonoids, amino acids, and organic acids, as well as phenolic and aromatic compounds.

Conclusions

Dietary BLFs supplementation could play a beneficial role in improving meat quality and sensory color in the poultry industry by changing protein secondary structures and modulating metabolites.
The efficacy and safety of high-dose nonsedating antihistamines in chronic spontaneous urticaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials
Authors: Xiao Xianjun , Xue Peiwen , Shi Yunzhou , Yao Junpeng , Cao Wei , Zhang Leixiao , Zou Zihao , Zhou Siyuan , Wang Chuan , Chen Mingling , Jin Rongjiang , Li Ying , Zheng Qianhua
Published: April 2023

Background

Standard doses of second-generation H1-antihistamines (sgAHs) as first-line treatment are not always effective in treating chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), and hence an increase in the dose of sgAHs is recommended. However, literature evaluating the efficacy and safety of this treatment remains inconclusive, highlighting the need for a systematic review and meta-analysis. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-dose sgAHs compared with standard-dose sgAHs in treating CSU.

Methods

A systematic literature search of double-blind, randomized controlled trials (RCT) utilizing multiple doses of sgAHs was performed by searching the electronic databases Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Cochrane databases, and Web of Science. Bibliographies were also manually searched. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for assessing risk of bias was used to assess the quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Two reviewers screened studies, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias independently. The response rate, the number of adverse events, somnolence, and withdrawal due to adverse events were extracted from each article. The data were combined and analyzed to quantify the safety and efficacy of the treatment. RevMan (V5.3) software was used for data synthesis.

Results

A total of 13 studies were identified, seven of which met the eligibility criteria for the meta-analysis. Our pooled meta-analyses showed that high-dose sgAHs was associated with a significantly higher response rate than standard-dose (RR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.26; P = 0.02). Conversely, high doses of sgAHs were associated with significantly higher somnolence rates than standard dose (RD 0.05, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.09; P = 0.02). There was no significant difference in adverse events or withdrawal due to adverse events between standard- and high-dose treatments.

Conclusions

Our analyses showed that a high dose of sgAHs (up to two times the standard dose) might be more effective than a standard dose in CSU treatment. High-dose and standard-dose sgAHs showed similar adverse events, except for somnolence, where incidence was found to be dose-dependent in some studies. However, given the limited number of studies, our meta-analysis results should be interpreted with caution.
Reconstruction of historical hygrometric time series for the application of the European standard EN 15757:2010 and its comparison with current time series
Authors: Díaz-Arellano Ignacio , Zarzo Manuel , Aransay Cristina , González de Aspuru Hidalgo Sara , Laborda Jaime , Perles Angel
Published: April 2023

The quality and quantity of thermo-hygrometric data are essential to carry out an appropriate assessment of the microclimate from a preventive conservation standpoint in those spaces where the artefacts to be preserved are located. These analyses are fundamental for long-term preventive conservation plan to assess chemical, biological or fracture risks. However, many small and medium-sized museums as well as heritage buildings have only a limited amount of historical data, with various problems that hinder the evaluation of microclimatic conditions. Two of the most common problems are short monitoring time periods, usually less than one year, and low sampling rates of measurements. In many of these situations, guidelines such as the European standard EN 15757:2010 cannot be applied because they require a monitoring period of at least 13 months and a minimum sampling frequency of one measurement per hour. In addition to these issues, there are other drawbacks such as missing values or lack of regularity in data collection. This paper proposes a procedure for the reconstruction of historical thermo-hygrometric data using multivariate statistical methods. The methodology allows the arrangement of long historical series of sufficient quality, enabling museums to restore their datasets for further analysis regarding the application of guidelines for preventive conservation. The methodology has been validated on the basis of real data. The application of the European standard EN 15757:2010 is presented as a practical example of the procedure using historical data collected at a partner museum of the H2020 CollectionCare project, together with data currently being collected for some months by a set of wireless sensor nodes.
Weathering assessment approach for building sandstone using hyperspectral imaging technique
Authors: Yang Haiqing , Ni Jianghua , Chen Chiwei , Chen Ying
Published: April 2023

Weathering is one of the most common causes of building sandstone damage. The evolution of building sandstone in various weathering behaviors is critical for research. An intelligent assessment approach for classifying weathering degree of building sandstone in a humid environment is presented in this study. This synthesis method relates to three parts: microscopic observation of weathering characteristics, hyperspectral acquisition of weathered samples, and machine learning technology for a classification model. At first, weathering process is divided into initial weathered stage, accelerated weathered stage, and stable weathered stage according to the causes and mechanisms of weathering. Secondly, a novel classification method of weathering degree is proposed based on the weathering stage. Then, the mapping relationship between microscopic characteristics and hyperspectral image of shedding samples can be established in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges (400–1000 nm) according to the change law of spectral absorption feature. Next, the spectral data of building sandstone with different weathering degrees are classified using Random Forest model. Furthermore, the hyperparameters of Random Forest model are optimized by Gray Wolf Optimizer algorithm for better performance. The trained model is finally applied to evaluate the weathering degree of large-scale sandstone walls quantitatively. The whole weathering assessment process is worth recommending for diagnosing and monitoring the building sandstone.
Short-term effects of a classroom-based STEAM program using robotic kits on children in South Korea
Authors: Sung Jihyun , Lee Ji Young , Chun Hui Young
Published: April 2023

Background

Despite the recent emphasis on technology and engineering in early childhood education, the importance of teaching relevant concepts in early education has been underappreciated in South Korea. This study examined the feasibility and efficacy of a science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) program integrated into the national curriculum in a Korean early childhood education setting. Children aged 5–6 years (231 girls and 219 boys; treatment group: 334 children; control group: 116 children) were tested on computational thinking, vocabulary, numeracy, self-regulation, and social behavior before and after receiving STEAM curriculum that included robotics activities or an equivalent curriculum.

Results

Findings revealed that among the outcome measures, young children in the treatment group exhibited significant increases in computational thinking and expressive vocabulary. Moreover, gender demonstrated a significant interaction effect with the increase in computational thinking as measured by an assessment developed for a specific robotic material as well as in self-regulation and social behavior.

Conclusions

This study provides empirical and comprehensive evidence regarding the effectiveness of an integrated STEAM program with developmentally appropriate robotic kits for young children.
“Trustworthiness,” confidence in estimated effects, and confidently translating research into clinical practice
Authors: Riley Sean P. , Swanson Brian T. , Cook Chad E.
Published: April 2023

Trustworthy, preprocessed sources of evidence, such as systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines, are crucial for practicing clinicians. Confidence in estimated effects is related to how different the outcome data were between the two groups. Factors including the effect size, variability of the effect, research integrity, research methods, and selected outcome measures impact confidence in the estimated effect. The current evidence suggests that post-randomization biases cannot be ruled out with a high degree of certainty in published research, limiting the utility of preprocessed sources for clinicians. Research should be prospectively registered to improve this situation, and fidelity with prospective intent should be verified to minimize biases and strengthen confidence in estimated effects. Otherwise, discussions related to preprocessed literature, including P-values, point estimates of effect, confidence intervals, post-randomization biases, external and internal validity measures, and the confidence in estimated effects required to translate research into practice confidently, are all moot points.
Effective participation of wind turbines in frequency control of a two-area power system using coot optimization
Authors: El-Bahay Mahmoud Hussain , Lotfy Mohammed Elsayed , El-Hameed Mohamed A.
Published: April 2023

In this paper, load frequency control is performed for a two-area power system incorporating a high penetration of renewable energy sources. A droop controller for a type 3 wind turbine is used to extract the stored kinetic energy from the rotating masses during sudden load disturbances. An auxiliary storage controller is applied to achieve effective frequency response. The coot optimization algorithm (COA) is applied to allocate the optimum parameters of the fractional-order proportional integral derivative (FOPID), droop and auxiliary storage controllers. The fitness function is represented by the summation of integral square deviations in tie line power, and Areas 1 and 2 frequency errors. The robustness of the COA is proven by comparing the results with benchmarked optimizers including: atomic orbital search, honey badger algorithm, water cycle algorithm and particle swarm optimization. Performance assessment is confirmed in the following four scenarios: (i) optimization while including PID controllers; (ii) optimization while including FOPID controllers; (iii) validation of COA results under various load disturbances; and (iv) validation of the proposed controllers under varying weather conditions.
A review on the immunomodulatory properties of functional nutraceuticals as dietary interventions for children to combat COVID-19 related infections
Authors: Soni Swati , Paari Kuppusamy Alagesan
Published: April 2023

COVID-19 is a significant threat to humanity in the present day due to the rapid increase in the number of infections worldwide. While most children may be spared of the direct mortality effects of the disease, those with weak immune systems are prone to adverse effects. Child mortality increases due to the stress caused to the health care system that disrupts essential health care needs such as immunisation and antenatal care. The use of functional foods (FF) aids in disease-prevention as they are known to have protective effects against COVID-19 by boosting children’s cellular and humoral immunity. Plant components such as glycyrrhizin, epigallocatechin gallate, allicin, and fucoidan exhibit antiviral properties against various viruses, including SARS-CoV 2. Microbial foods that are made of probiotics, can enhance immunity against various respiratory viruses. Food enriched with additives such as lactoferrin, piperine, and zinc can boost immunity against COVID-19. With proper definitive drug therapy not available for treating COVID-19 and most of the disease management tools rely on symptoms and non-specific supportive care, developing a functional paediatric formulation will prevent further deterioration in infant health. It is wise to investigate the toxicological aspects of Functional Foods components especially when formulating for children. The safe limits of ingredients should be strictly followed during FFs formulation. Stronger regulations with advanced analytical techniques can help to formulate functional foods into the mainstream in child nutraceuticals. The purpose of this review is to compile collective information on the functional nutraceuticals specifically for infants and children up to the age of 10 years that could confer immunity against COVID-19 and other related viruses.

Graphical Abstract
Denoising distributed acoustic sensing data using unsupervised deep learning
Authors: Yang Liuqing , Fomel Sergey , Wang Shoudong , Chen Xiaohong , Chen Yangkang
Published: April 2023

Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technology has been widely used in seismic exploration to acquire high-quality data due to its noteworthy advantages, such as high coverage, high resolution, low cost, and strong environmental friendliness. However, the seismic signals acquired in DAS are often masked by various types of noise (e.g., high-frequency random, high-amplitude erratic, horizontal, and coupled noise), which seriously decreases the signal-to-noise ratio. We develop a fully connected neural network with dense and residual connections to attenuate various complex noises in real DAS data. The network is designed to learn the features of useful reflection signals and remove various noises in an unsupervised way, therefore enjoying the convenience of label-free processing. Our network uses several encoders and decoders to compress and reconstruct the abstract waveform features, respectively. Each encoder/decoder consists of one dense block with stacked fully connected blocks (FCBs). To transfer the shallow-level features to the deep level for reuse, we add the skip connections with one FCB between the corresponding encoders and decoders. Our method provides encouraging results when applied to synthetic and real DAS data sets. Compared with several traditional and advanced deep-learning methods, our method can more effectively attenuate strong noise and better extract hidden signals.
Effect of Peritumoral Infiltration of Local Anesthetic Before Surgery on Survival in Early Breast Cancer
Authors: Badwe Rajendra A. , Parmar Vani , Nair Nita , Joshi Shalaka , Hawaldar Rohini , Pawar Suraj , Kadayaprath Geeta , Borthakur Bibhuti B. , Rao Thammineedi Subramanyeshwar , Pandya Shashank , Balasubramanian Satheesan , Chitale Priyadarshan V. , Neve Rakesh , Harris Caleb , Srivastava Anurag , Siddique Shabina , Vanmali Vaibhav J. , Dewade Ashwini , Gaikwad Varsha , Gupta Sudeep
Published: April 2023

PURPOSE

Preventing metastases by using perioperative interventions has not been adequately explored. Local anesthesia blocks voltage-gated sodium channels and thereby prevents activation of prometastatic pathways. We conducted an open-label, multicenter randomized trial to test the impact of presurgical, peritumoral infiltration of local anesthesia on disease-free survival (DFS).

METHODS

Women with early breast cancer planned for upfront surgery without prior neoadjuvant treatment were randomly assigned to receive peritumoral injection of 0.5% lidocaine, 7-10 minutes before surgery (local anesthetics [LA] arm) or surgery without lidocaine (no LA arm). Random assignment was stratified by menopausal status, tumor size, and center. Participants received standard postoperative adjuvant treatment. Primary and secondary end points were DFS and overall survival (OS), respectively.

RESULTS

Excluding eligibility violations, 1,583 of 1,600 randomly assigned patients were included in this analysis (LA, 796; no LA, 804). At a median follow-up of 68 months, there were 255 DFS events (LA, 109; no LA, 146) and 189 deaths (LA, 79; no LA, 110). In LA and no LA arms, 5-year DFS rates were 86.6% and 82.6% (hazard ratio [HR], 0.74; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.95; P = .017) and 5-year OS rates were 90.1% and 86.4%, respectively (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.94; P = .019). The impact of LA was similar in subgroups defined by menopausal status, tumor size, nodal metastases, and hormone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status. Using competing risk analyses, in LA and no LA arms, 5-year cumulative incidence rates of locoregional recurrence were 3.4% and 4.5% (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.41 to 1.11), and distant recurrence rates were 8.5% and 11.6%, respectively (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.99). There were no adverse events because of lidocaine injection.

CONCLUSION

Peritumoral injection of lidocaine before breast cancer surgery significantly increases DFS and OS. Altering events at the time of surgery can prevent metastases in early breast cancer (CTRI/2014/11/005228). [Media: see text]
Therapy for Stage IV Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Without Driver Alterations: ASCO Living Guideline, Version 2023.1
Authors: Singh Navneet , Jaiyesimi Ishmael A. , Ismaila Nofisat , Leighl Natasha B. , Mamdani Hirva , Phillips Tanyanika , Owen Dwight H.
Published: April 2023

Living guidelines are developed for selected topic areas with rapidly evolving evidence that drives frequent change in recommended clinical practice. Living guidelines are updated on a regular schedule by a standing expert panel that systematically reviews the health literature on a continuous basis; as described in the ASCO Guidelines Methodology Manual . ASCO Living Guidelines follow the ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy Implementation for Clinical Practice Guidelines . Living Guidelines and updates are not intended to substitute for independent professional judgment of the treating provider and do not account for individual variation among patients. See appendix for disclaimers and other important information ( Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 ). Updates are published regularly and can be found at https://ascopubs.org/nsclc-non-da-living-guideline .
Contextuality and correlation loopholes are equivalent
Authors: López Álvaro G.
Published: April 2023

We show that contextual hidden variables including the effect of the measuring devices can be backward-propagated by means of the Green's function to initial Cauchy hidden data. If this data is uncorrelated in spacelike-disjoint sets, the CHSH-Bell inequality can be derived. However, the correlation loophole remains unclosed.
New Findings on Presentation and Outcome of Patients With Adrenocortical Cancer: Results From a National Cohort Study
Authors: Puglisi Soraya , Calabrese Anna , Ferraù Francesco , Violi Maria Antonia , Laganà Marta , Grisanti Salvatore , Ceccato Filippo , Scaroni Carla , Di Dalmazi Guido , Stigliano Antonio , Altieri Barbara , Canu Letizia , Loli Paola , Pivonello Rosario , Arvat Emanuela , Morelli Valentina , Perotti Paola , Basile Vittoria , Berchialla Paola , Urru Sara , Fiori Cristian , Porpiglia Francesco , Berruti Alfredo , Pia Anna , Reimondo Giuseppe , Cannavò Salvatore , Terzolo Massimo
Published: April 2023

Context

Because of the rarity of adrenocortical cancer (ACC), only a few population-based studies are available, and they reported limited details in the characterization of patients and their treatment.

Objective

To describe in a nationwide cohort the presentation of patients with ACC, treatment strategies, and potential prognostic factors.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of 512 patients with ACC, diagnosed in 12 referral centers in Italy from January 1990 to June 2018.

Results

ACC diagnosed as incidentalomas accounted for overall 38.1% of cases, with a frequency that increases with age and with less aggressive pathological features than symptomatic tumors. Women (60.2%) were younger than men and had smaller tumors, which more frequently secreted hormones. Surgery was mainly done with an open approach (72%), and after surgical resection, 62.7% of patients started adjuvant mitotane therapy. Recurrence after tumor resection occurred in 56.2% of patients. In patients with localized disease, cortisol secretion, ENSAT stage III, Ki67%, and Weiss score were associated with an increased risk of recurrence, whereas margin-free resection, open surgery, and adjuvant mitotane treatment were associated with reduced risk. Death occurred in 38.1% of patients and recurrence-free survival (RFS) predicted overall survival (OS). In localized disease, age, cortisol secretion, Ki67%, ENSAT stage III, and recurrence were associated with increased risk of mortality. ACCs presenting as adrenal incidentalomas showed prolonged RFS and OS.

Conclusion

Our study shows that ACC is a sex-related disease and demonstrates that an incidental presentation is associated with a better outcome. Given the correlation between RFS and OS, RFS may be used as a surrogate endpoint in clinical studies.
Moving Closer for the Grandchild? Fertility and the Geographical Proximity of a Mother and Her Adult Daughter in a Dynamic Perspective
Authors: Rutigliano Roberta , Schnor Christine , Zilincikova Zuzana
Published: April 2023

Recent research has analyzed how the geographical distance between mothers and adult daughters influenced the daughters' fertility transitions. The inverse relationship has received less attention: that is, whether a daughter's fertility—her pregnancies and the ages and number of her children—is affected by her geographical proximity to her mother. The current study helps to close this gap by considering moves by either adult daughters or mothers that lead them to live nearby again. We use Belgian register data on a cohort of 16,742 firstborn girls aged 15 at the beginning of 1991 and their mothers who lived apart at least once during the observed period (1991–2015). Estimating event-history models for recurrent events, we analyzed whether an adult daughter's pregnancies and the ages and number of her children affected the likelihood that she was again living close to her mother and, if so, whether the daughter's or the mother's move enabled this close living arrangement. The results show that daughters were more likely to move closer to their mothers during their first pregnancy and that mothers were more likely to move closer to their daughters when the daughters' children were older than 2.5 years. This study contributes to the growing literature investigating how family ties shape (im)mobility.
Criss-crossing the Sahara: New dangers to the ambitions of West African migrants
Authors: Adesanya Olusegun Paul , Olominu Oluwatomilade , Idowu Olusegun O.
Published: April 2023

Background: This study investigates new dangers that West African migrants travelling through the Sahara Desert to Europe contend with. COVID-19 has left an unprecedented impact on all aspects of global politics, migration inclusive. In turn, limitations to migration have drastically increased, especially the stricter visa application measures set by European countries. This intensified attempts at crisscrossing the desert to Europe. In turn, several migrants used the Sahara as the highway to Europe. While some persons successfully travelled through the desert-scape, several others were unsuccessful. Notwithstanding the negative experiences of previous migrants, several other nationals across the region have plans to travel through the desert to Europe.

Methods: As a descriptive study, mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approaches to data gathering and analysis were employed. Primary data for the study were gathered through key informants’ interviews with some emigrants, and electronic copies of an open-ended questionnaire were administered to the staffers of certain international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) that are focused on migration. In addition, the chain-referral sampling technique was employed. Through this, certain former migrants who were interviewed suggested other persons with whom interview sessions were conducted, in all 15 persons were interviewed while 85 persons responded to the questionnaire for the study.

Results: The findings of the study indicated that there are new dangers to the lives of the migrants travelling through the Sahara Desert. Interesting however is the fact that migrants prefer being in harm’s way in their attempts to access European states illicitly through the Sahara Desert than to remain safe in their home countries in West Africa.

Conclusions: The study holds that there are new dangers to the aspirations of West Africans travelling to Europe through the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea.
The psychological and health benefits of using a continuous glucose monitor for a person with type 1 diabetes: A South African higher education context
Authors: Wells Rossano , Knowles Anria
Published: April 2023

Background: There has been an increasing focus on the unique health needs and experiences of people with chronic health problems, given health disparities between these groups and the wider population. The focus of this study is on understanding the psychological and health benefits of using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) by people with type 1 diabetes (T1D)  and to present findings from interviews on their experiences. All interviewees were subsequently invited for intervention at an Open Distance Learning institution in South Africa.

Methods: Data were collected using an online semi-structured questionnaire to gather information influencing the study participant’s decision to use CGM during the context of COVID-19. An invitation was sent via Facebook group ‘Type 1 Diabetics South Africa’ and attracted 30 responses.  The final study comprised of 10 respondents whose returned questionnaires met the inclusion criteria and took part in the in-depth interviews for analysis using Atlas.ti9 software. 

Results: The results suggest that T1D participants benefited from using CGM in combating chronic medical and psychological (psychosocial) conditions. Many reported improvements in health and psychological factors; in time monitoring of glucose levels, low events of hypoglycaemia, improved self-confidence, improved concentration span, diminished numbers of hospitalization.  Some reported improved socialization, relief from finger pricking pains and better control of life. Graphical representations of the different results will be depicted in tables  and figures.

Conclusions: The 4th industrial revolution is technology-based and continuous glucose monitoring is a form of artificial intelligence enabling people living with T1 diabetes to make smarter choices more often and at a faster pace with more information. If people with diabetes are unable to access this intelligent technology, they will be at increased risk of complications, hypoglycaemia, reducing their quality of life. The use of CGM by T1D, with complementary psychotherapy, indicated improved health related quality of life.
Doing things: reconstructing hominin cognitive evolution from the archeological record
Authors: Seitz Fabian
Published: April 2023

Following Pain’s (2021) critical assessment of the prospects of minimal capacity inferences within cognitive archeology based on ‘classical’ cognitive science, I elaborate on the chances of these inferences within so-called embodied, embedded, extended, and enacted (4E) frameworks. Cognitive archeologists infer the cognitive abilities of past hominins from the remains found in the archeological record. Here they face the problem of choosing a theory from the cognitive sciences. Results vary considerably, depending on one’s cognitive theory, so choice matters. Where classical views conceive cognition as mainly involving representations and computing, more recent 4E approaches focus on interactions between environment, body, and brain: hence the same trace, like a stone tool, might require capacities like a mental ‘blueprint’ according to the former, but only environmentally guided perception according to the latter. Given this crucial choice of theory, what are the prospects of 4E then? I present a model of cognitive hominin evolution based on 4E and niche construction theory. Based on this model, I argue that we should be guardedly optimistic: contrary to first impressions, minimal capacity inferences work well within the 4E framework, and adopting 4E might give us a methodological advantage, too.
Healthcare workers’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators to referral and recruitment to diabetes prevention programmes: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Haseldine Clair , O'Donoghue Gráinne , Kearney Patricia M , Riordan Fiona , Cotterill Sarah , McHugh Sheena
Published: April 2023

Background: Diabetes is a growing global health problem. International guidelines recommend identification, screening, and referral to behavioural programmes for those at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Diabetes prevention programmes (DPPs) can prevent type 2 diabetes in those at high risk, however many eligible participants are not referred to these programmes. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are pivotal to the referral and recruitment processes. This study aims to identify, appraise and synthesise the evidence on barriers and facilitators to referral and recruitment to DPPs from the perspective of HCWs.

Methods: A “best fit” framework synthesis method will synthesise qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods evidence on factors that affect HCWs referral and recruitment to DPPs, with the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) as the a priori framework. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Web of Science and Scopus will be searched for primary studies published in English. Year of publication will be restricted to the last 25 years (1997–2022). Quality will be assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A mix of deductive coding using the TDF and inductive coding of data that does not fit the TDF will be synthesised into themes representing the whole dataset. The relationships between the final set of themes will be explored to create a new model to understand HCWs’ perspectives on referral and recruitment to DPPs. Sensitivity analysis will be carried out this conceptual model. Confidence in the synthesised findings will be assessed using the GRADE-CERQual approach. One author will screen, extract, appraise the literature while a second author will independently verify a 20% sample at each stage.

Discussion: Participation in DPPs is key for programme impact. HCWs typically identify those at risk and refer them to DPPs. Understanding HCWs’ perspectives of the barriers and facilitators to referral and recruitment will inform future implementation of DPPs.
The genome sequence of the Sulphur Tubic, Esperia sulphurella (Fabricius, 1775)
Authors: Holland Peter W.H. ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life programme,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: DNA Pipelines collective,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: April 2023

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Esperia sulphurella (the Sulphur Tubic; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Oecophoridae). The genome sequence is 453.2 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 30 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the assembled Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.2 kilobases in length.
The Sensitivity of the Healthy Life Years Indicator: Approaches for Dealing with Age-Specific Prevalence Data
Authors: Di Lego Vanessa , Sauerberg Markus
Published: April 2023

The Healthy Life Years (HLY) indicator is the official European Union indicator and a cornerstone of many health policies used in over 15 countries in the EU region to set national health plans and monitor targets. It is also used to investigate trends over time in the proportion of total life years spent in good or poor health, socioeconomic inequalities in health and mortality and the male-female health survival paradox. Based on the Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) included in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), a great amount of effort has been directed at harmonising and making HLY comparable across countries. Nonetheless, the characteristics of the age-specific prevalence distribution are still rarely accounted for, regardless of the fact that patterns of prevalence often fluctuate considerably by age. In addition, the impact of assumptions used at very young ages on HLY estimates are seldom discussed, despite the fact that the majority of policies and initiatives at the EU level use HLY at birth, while data on health is only available after age 16. In this paper, we assess whether smoothing the age-specific prevalence distributions by different methods, extrapolating to older ages and changing assumptions at younger ages affect HLY estimates. Overall, assumptions made before age 15 are the most important and affect women and men differently, thus affecting HLY at birth for some countries. Estimates at age 65 are very slightly impacted. Generalised linear models (GAMs) seem promising for harmonising and extrapolating to older ages, while using polynomials or aggregating into 5-year age groups seem best for younger ages. As most EU policies use HLY at birth and by sex for developing and monitoring health policies, caution is needed when estimating HLY at birth.

* This article belongs to a special issue on “Levels and Trends of Health Expectancy: Understanding its Measurement and Estimation Sensitivity”.
Improving the evaluation of change requests using past cases
Authors: Da Cruz Mello Otávio , Manzoni Fontoura Lisandra
Published: April 2023

As one of the leading causes of project failures, requirements changes are inevitable in any software project. Hence, we propose an intelligent approach to facilitate the risk analysis of a change request by providing information about past cases found in similar change requests, the solutions adopted, and a support tool. The proposed approach uses case-based reasoning to retrieve previous cases similar to the current case. This approach also uses association rules to analyze patterns in the dataset and calculate the probability of risks associated with change requests. We prepared a case study to validate the proposal by analyzing the most frequent challenges in change management and considering how it can solve or minimize such problems. Results show that the proposed approach successfully assists decision-making, predicts potential risks, and suggests coherent solutions to the user. We have developed a support tool to evaluate this approach in practice with experts and obtained four different outcomes. Only a small set of cases failed to provide relevant results to the user. The use of case-based reasoning and association rules has proven to be advantageous in change management despite validity threats associated with the small number of test cases and experts involved.
Frontiers: Which Firms Gain from Digital Advertising? Evidence from a Field Experiment
Authors: Dai Weijia , Kim Hyunjin , Luca Michael
Published: April 2023

This paper runs a large-scale field experiment on restaurants to understand which types of businesses gain more from digital advertising.
Design Thinking as a Co-Creation Methodology in Higher Education. A Perspective on the Development of Teamwork and Skill Cultivation
Authors: Vardakosta Eirini , Priniotakis Georgios , Papoutsidakis Michail , Sigala Marisa , Tsikritsis Antonios , Nikolopoulos Dimitrios
Published: April 2023

Graduates of higher education need, in addition to knowledge, skills such as cooperation, communication, and problem-solving to cope with their working life. Collaborative learning environments like co-creation, are gaining attention for their ability to cultivate these essential skills. This study aims to investigate the understanding and efficacy of co-creation from the perspective of 145 undergraduate students enrolled in a physics course, using a questionnaire. Design thinking, using the double-diamond model, is applied as the co-creation methodology. The study examines the effects of co-creation and design thinking on teamwork and the development of skills. The study also discusses the differences in co-creation, design thinking, teamwork, and skill development among various demographics, previous co-creation experiences, and teaching methods. The findings demonstrate that the majority of students understand the concepts of co-creation and design thinking, and that their co-creation teams functioned satisfactorily, leading to the development of necessary skills. However, increasing age seems to be an inhibiting factor. Finally, the study shows that students who prefer co-creation as a teaching method or have previous co-creation experiences are more receptive to this approach.
Let 'Flippity' Speak: Using Online Board Game to Improve Speaking Skills Among Elementary Pupils
Authors: Wong Catherine Hui Tiing , Yunus Melor Md
Published: April 2023

The significance of speaking English has been emphasized in Malaysia education. However, speaking problems such as lack of enthusiasm and poor speaking performance emerge among ESL pupils. To resolve this, an online board game “Flippity” is implemented in online speaking lessons. This paper aims to explore the usefulness of the online board game “Flippity” to improve speaking skills among elementary pupils who are in Year 5 as well as to investigate pupils’ perceptions towards the use of the online board game “Flippity”. The study employed a quasi-experimental mixed method design to collect data from thirty Year 5 pupils from a Chinese primary school. Data was collected through speaking pre-test and post-test, semi-structured interview and questionnaire. The results indicated a significant improvement in pupils’ speaking skills in terms of accuracy, fluency, range, interaction and coherence. Pupils also displayed preferences and positive attitude in learning to speak while playing “Flippity”. Further studies are recommended to be done on how “Flippity” could be exploited when learning other language skills such as listening, reading, writing and grammar.
A Review: Growing Rice in the Controlled Environments
Authors: Al-hashimi Abdulrahman M.
Published: April 2023

ABSTRACT: Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple crop. Rice is a source of essential vitamins such as vitamin C and B6, carbohydrates and other nutrients such as selenium and phosphorous. About 90% of world’s rice are cultivated in Asia and Africa. China is the leading producer. It fulfills 70% income and nutrition needs of Asian population. Rice can be the potential solution to hunger and malnutrition, especially in poor, developing countries. The methods of rice growth are transplanting and cultivation media, grow in hydroponic condition and grow in soil. The production of rice is impacted by biotic stressors, which are present in a wide range of agro-climatic conditions around the world. Multiple diseases can be brought on by biotic pressures caused by climate change. To mitigate the impact of climate change and enhance rice cultivation unique germplasms are being cultivated. This review presents unique germplasm of rice and their cultivators, methods of rice cultivation, disadvantages of rice cultivation for research purpose and diseases that affect rice.
Advances in the CD40-mediated Manipulation Strategies
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Syamdas
Published: April 2023

ABSTRACT: Immune homeostasis is crucial in a normal physiological, diseased, or pathogenic state and is mediated by numerous biological molecules. Certain pairs of costimulatory molecules, such as CD40-CD154 play major roles in many different situations. The functions of CD40-CD154 are pivotal for the maintenance of the immune system, cancer prevention, promotion of autoimmune disorders, and fighting against many pathogens. Since the discovery of CD40-CD154, numerous approaches have been taken to dissect this pathway favoring the interest of the host. Ranging from generating small peptides to mutated CD40L to agonistic or antagonistic antibodies have been tested in different models with varying levels of success. This review focuses on the various strategies that have been employed to manipulate CD40-CD154 dyad. Comprehensive knowledge of the understanding of different manipulation strategies of the CD40-CD154 pathway could be important for therapeutic purposes.
Nanotechnology in Plastic Degradation
Authors: Chandran R Rameshwar , Thomson Benjamin Isaac , Natishah A. J , Mary Jennita , Nachiyar Valli
Published: April 2023

Plastics pose a huge threat to the environment. Plastic accumulation in the land and the seas is now the world’s most terrorising problem, mainly because of its non-degrading character. Plastic degradation has always been a next to impossible concept in the field of science, but nanotechnology provides a revolutionary and modern way to solve the problem of plastic accumulation in the environment. One of the great advantages of nanoparticles is that we can increase and decrease the rate of biodegradation depending on our needs. Nanoparticles enhance the polythene degradation capacity of the microorganisms by altering their metabolic cycles. Numerous studies showed conclusively that the incorporation of nanotechnology enhances the ability of microorganisms to degrade polythene materials. Even though bio degradable plastics are nowadays produced in large quantities to substitute polythene materials, they fail to match the brittleness of plastics. Biodegradable plastics have poor thermal, mechanical and low gas barrier qualities, which are their main drawbacks. To overcome this, nanoparticles are incorporated into the biopolymers. If an appropriate balance between nanotechnology, microbiology and biotechnology is found, plastic degradation can be done economically and feasibly in all the areas.
Nondestructive Evaluation of Moisture Content for Spinach Leaf Powder Using Complex Impedance Spectroscopy
Authors: Shekhar Shubhra , Prasad Kamlesh
Published: April 2023

Highlights

Complex impedance spectroscopy (CIS) is applied as a nondestructive tool.

Impedance and capacitance approaches have been explored to predict the moisture content.

The logarithmic function of impedance to capacitance predicts the moisture content precisely.

Abstract. Complex impedance spectroscopy (CIS) is a powerful, nondestructive method to study the electrical properties of biomaterials. The electrical properties of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) leaf powder was used to investigate the moisture content using the nondestructive approach. Frequency-dependent relationships of impedance and capacitance with moisture content in various combinations have been explored to predict the moisture content precisely. It was found that the logarithmic function of impedance to capacitance could be used to predict the moisture content precisely in the under-investigated frequency range (1–10 MHz) with the highest accuracy, as confirmed by the found statistical support. Keywords: Complex impedance spectroscopy, Moisture estimation, Nondestructive testing, Spinach.