bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Microplastic sources, formation, toxicity and remediation: a review
Authors: Osman Ahmed I. , Hosny Mohamed , Eltaweil Abdelazeem S. , Omar Sara , Elgarahy Ahmed M. , Farghali Mohamed , Yap Pow-Seng , Wu Yuan-Seng , Nagandran Saraswathi , Batumalaie Kalaivani , Gopinath Subash C. B. , John Oliver Dean , Sekar Mahendran , Saikia Trideep , Karunanithi Puvanan , Hatta Mohd Hayrie Mohd , Akinyede Kolajo Adedamola
Published: April 2023

Microplastic pollution is becoming a major issue for human health due to the recent discovery of microplastics in most ecosystems. Here, we review the sources, formation, occurrence, toxicity and remediation methods of microplastics. We distinguish ocean-based and land-based sources of microplastics. Microplastics have been found in biological samples such as faeces, sputum, saliva, blood and placenta. Cancer, intestinal, pulmonary, cardiovascular, infectious and inflammatory diseases are induced or mediated by microplastics. Microplastic exposure during pregnancy and maternal period is also discussed. Remediation methods include coagulation, membrane bioreactors, sand filtration, adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, electrocoagulation and magnetic separation. Control strategies comprise reducing plastic usage, behavioural change, and using biodegradable plastics. Global plastic production has risen dramatically over the past 70 years to reach 359 million tonnes. China is the world's top producer, contributing 17.5% to global production, while Turkey generates the most plastic waste in the Mediterranean region, at 144 tonnes per day. Microplastics comprise 75% of marine waste, with land-based sources responsible for 80–90% of pollution, while ocean-based sources account for only 10–20%. Microplastics induce toxic effects on humans and animals, such as cytotoxicity, immune response, oxidative stress, barrier attributes, and genotoxicity, even at minimal dosages of 10 μg/mL. Ingestion of microplastics by marine animals results in alterations in gastrointestinal tract physiology, immune system depression, oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, differential gene expression, and growth inhibition. Furthermore, bioaccumulation of microplastics in the tissues of aquatic organisms can have adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem, with potential transmission of microplastics to humans and birds. Changing individual behaviours and governmental actions, such as implementing bans, taxes, or pricing on plastic carrier bags, has significantly reduced plastic consumption to 8–85% in various countries worldwide. The microplastic minimisation approach follows an upside-down pyramid, starting with prevention, followed by reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering, and ending with disposal as the least preferable option.
My studies of primates: Sex, affinity, and competition
Authors: Takahata Yukio
Published: April 2023

In this essay, I summarize my research career, with reference to the early days of the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology (LPA) at Kyoto University led by Kinji Imanishi and Junichiro Itani. When I started conducting research on the sexual behavior of Japanese macaques in 1975, I made some unexpected observations. High-ranking males did not obtain high mating success. Estrous females often rejected the courtships of high-ranking males and chose to mate with lower-ranking males. Some male–female dyads exhibited long-lasting affinitive relations, but they avoided mating. Females frequently showed ‘excessive’ sexuality. Clear explanations for some of these observations do not exist. After that, I changed my study subjects several times from chimpanzees, Yakushima macaques (a subspecies of Japanese macaque), and ringtailed lemurs. It is difficult to summarize my findings into a consistent story. Instead, I review my research and experiences. Throughout my career, I kept two things in mind. The first was established by Imanishi at the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology at Kyoto University: to explore the evolution of human society. Second, I tried to understand seemingly incomprehensible phenomena using evolutionary theory. Despite adhering to these foundational concepts, things did not always work out as planned.
The early impact of mixed canopies with Norway spruce, European beech and silver fir on a new forest floor
Authors: Špulák Ondřej , Kacálek Dušan , Bartoš Jan , Leugner Jan
Published: April 2023

The character of pure or mixed forest canopies and their litterfalls contribute to different forest-floor properties. These organic layers and also subjacent topsoil were studied at three study sites covered by mixed treatments such as beech–spruce, beech–fir, spruce–fir and two monospecific beech and spruce treatments. The age of the forest stands ranged from 11 to 15 years when sampled. All study sites were used as meadows when afforested; therefore, the forest floors were new, and the A-horizon topsoil properties were not influenced by older humus inherited from previous forest generations. The mineral soil was likely affected by different levels of former fertilization, which resulted in differences among the study sites. The early-developed forest floors showed differences between the treatments with beech and the others. The topsoil below beech with spruce had more nitrogen, oxidizable carbon and cations of exchangeable hydrogen as well as pH showing more acidic conditions and lower contents and saturation of base cations. Pure beech had more phosphorus. The nutrient pools did not differ among the treatments; significantly more matter was found below the oldest stands on the first afforested site, which also increased nutrient pools.
Second Order Two-Species Systems with Nonlocal Interactions: Existence and Large Damping Limits
Authors: Di Francesco Marco , Fagioli Simone , Iorio Valeria
Published: April 2023

We study the mathematical theory of second order systems with two species, arising in the dynamics of interacting particles subject to linear damping, to nonlocal forces and to external ones, and resulting into a nonlocal version of the compressible Euler system with linear damping. Our results are limited to the 1 space dimensional case but allow for initial data taken in a Wasserstein space of probability measures. We first consider the case of smooth nonlocal interaction potentials, not subject to any symmetry condition, and prove existence and uniqueness. The concept of solutions relies on a stickiness condition in case of collisions, in the spirit of previous works in the literature. The result uses concepts from classical Hilbert space theory of gradient flows (cf. Brezis, Operateurs maximaux monotones et semi-groupes de contractions dans les espaces de Hilbert, 1973) and a trick used in Brenier et al. (J. Math. Pures Appl. 99(5):577–617, 2013). We then consider a large-time and large-damping scaled version of our system and prove convergence to solutions to the corresponding first order system. Finally, we consider the case of Newtonian potentials - subject to symmetry of the cross-interaction potentials - and external convex potentials. After showing existence in the sticky particles framework in the spirit of Brenier et al. (J. Math. Pures Appl. 99(5):577–617, 2013), we prove convergence for large times towards Dirac delta solutions for the two densities. All the results share a common technical framework in that solutions are considered in a Lagrangian framework, which allows to estimate the behavior of solutions via $L^{2}$

L
2

estimates of the pseudo-inverse variables corresponding to the two densities. In particular, due to this technique, the large-damping result holds under a rather weak condition on the initial data, which does not require well-prepared initial velocities. We complement the results with numerical simulations.
Effects of a COVID-19 Public Health Lockdown on Drinking and Health Behavior Among Persons with HIV and with Unhealthy Alcohol use in Uganda
Authors: Beesiga Brian , Marson Kara , Fatch Robin , Emenyonu Nneka I. , Adong Julian , Kekibiina Allen , Puryear Sarah , Lodi Sara , McDonell Michael G. , Muyindike Winnie R. , Kamya Moses R. , Hahn Judith A. , Chamie Gabriel
Published: April 2023

To better understand the impact of Uganda’s initial COVID-19 lockdown on alcohol use, we conducted a cross-sectional survey (August 2020-September 2021) among persons with HIV (PWH) with unhealthy alcohol use (but not receiving an alcohol intervention), enrolled in a trial of incentives to reduce alcohol use and improve isoniazid preventive therapy. We examined associations between bar-based drinking and decreased alcohol use, and decreased alcohol use and health outcomes (antiretroviral therapy [ART] access, ART adherence, missed clinic visits, psychological stress and intimate partner violence), during lockdown. Of 178 adults surveyed whose data was analyzed, (67% male, median age: 40), 82% reported bar-based drinking at trial enrollment; 76% reported decreased alcohol use during lockdown. In a multivariate analysis, bar-based drinking was not associated with greater decreases in alcohol use during lockdown compared to non-bar-based drinking (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.31–2.11), adjusting for age and sex. There was a significant association between decreased alcohol use and increased stress during lockdown (adjusted β = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.07–3.11, P < 0.010), but not other health outcomes.
Effect of Gravity on Particle Clustering and Collisions in Decaying Turbulence
Authors: Nair Vishnu , Devenish Benjamin , van Reeuwijk Maarten
Published: April 2023

The preferential concentration of sedimenting particles in decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence is investigated using radial distribution functions (RDF). Direct numerical simulations of polydisperse distributions of non-sedimenting and sedimenting particles of radii 10–55 μm are performed. We see a power law behaviour for the RDF in decaying turbulence and the power-law relation derived by Chun et al. (J Fluid Mech 536:219–251, 2005) for the RDF of non-sedimenting particles holds for sedimenting particles as well. Empirical formulas are generated for the power-law coefficients which are shown to be functions of the Stokes number and the Taylor Reynolds number for sedimenting particles. An in-depth analysis of the turbulent kinematic collision kernel for both non-sedimenting and sedimenting collision kernels confirms that gravity enhances the collision kernel for unequal sized particles and decreases for same-sized particles. Models are created for both monodisperse and bidisperse RDFs which are combined with existing models for the conditional radial relative velocities of colliding particles to predict kinematic collision kernels for both non-sedimenting and sedimenting particles. The effect on the collision kernel due to turbulence is also explored and enhancement of factors of up to three is observed with respect to the gravitational collision kernel.
Ionospheric single crest events at different altitudes and activity levels observed by Swarm constellation
Authors: Hussien Fayrouz , Ghamry Essam , Mohammed Y. , Fathy Adel
Published: April 2023

The current work makes use of eight years of electron density data observed by the Swarm constellation to study the characteristics of the equatorial ionospheric single crest phenomenon recorded at the altitudes of these satellites. The features of single crests have been investigated at different altitudes and geomagnetic activity levels. Results showed that the occurrence rate of a single crest was not significantly different between the lower and higher satellite altitudes. The relationship between the occurrence of single crests and the Kp index has shown a dramatic enhancement at high level activities. In addition, the occurrence of single crest has dramatically enhanced with the strength of both the interplanetary electric field and the north-south interplanetary magnetic field. Also, irrespective of season, the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region has always shown a large occurrence of single crest events compared to other longitudes. In addition, the occurrence of the events is always larger during equinoxes than during summer and winter solstices. The significant occurrence of single crest recorded during both equinoxes and the maximum phase of the solar cycle (F10.7 index) and those observed over the SSA region, suggests an alignment between the strength of electron density and the occurrence rate of single crests.
Best practices in the use and exchange of microorganism biological control genetic resources
Authors: Mason Peter G. , Hill Martin , Smith David , Silvestri Luciana C. , Weyl Philip , Brodeur Jacques , Diniz Vitorino Marcello
Published: April 2023

The Nagoya Protocol actions the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity and provides a framework to effectively implement the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources. This includes microorganisms used as biological control agents. Thus biological control practitioners must comply with access and benefit-sharing regulations that are implemented by countries providing microbial biological control agents. A review of best practices and guidance for the use and exchange of microorganisms used for biological control has been prepared by the IOBC Global Commission on Biological Control and Access and Benefit-Sharing to demonstrate commitment to comply with access and benefit-sharing requirements, and to reassure the international community that biological control is a very successful and environmentally safe pest management strategy that uses biological resources responsibly and sustainably. We propose that best practices include the following elements: collaboration to facilitate information exchange about the availability of microbial biological control agents and where they may be sourced; freely sharing available knowledge in databases about successes and failures; collaborative research with provider countries to develop capacity; and production technology transfer to provide economic opportunities. We recommend the use of model concept agreements for accessing microorganisms for scientific research and non-commercial release into nature where access and benefit-sharing regulations exist and where regulations are not restrictive or do not exist. We also recommend a model agreement for deposition of microbial biological control agents into culture collections.
Significant northern range extension of the non-native batillariid Zeacumantus subcarinatus in Australia, with observations of new habitat usage
Authors: Mesaglio Thomas , Travaglini Ben
Published: April 2023

The New Zealand batillariid gastropodZeacumantus subcarinatushas been recorded as an invasive species in Australia since at least 1924, with populations established in rocky shore habitats at multiple locations in Greater Sydney. We observed a large population (10,000+ individuals) ofZ. subcarinatusat an estuarine tidal mudflat on the New South Wales mid-north coast, representing a ~ 250 km northern range extension, and the first known record of this species in a sheltered, muddy habitat in Australia. We discuss the possible establishment means of this new population.
On a handshake: business-to-business trust in the biosecurity behaviours of the UK live plant trade
Authors: Pollard Chris R. J. , Marzano Mariella
Published: April 2023

The movement of plants through the ornamental plant trade presents a major source of risk for the introduction and spread of plant pests and pathogens. To minimise the likelihood of infested or infected plants moving through the value chain, individual businesses can adopt a range of biosecurity practices to prevent introduction on site, as well as detecting and then containing or eradicating any plant pests or pathogens present. However, a major additional source of risk is the arrival of unhealthy plants sourced from a supplier. Using the example of bacterial plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa which has a large host range and potentially devastating economic and environmental impacts, we highlight the importance of trust when businesses navigate the risks of sourcing plants. Through interviews and a survey with a range of plant businesses, we show (i) how two general types of risk—relational risk associated with suppliers acting in good faith, and performance risk associated with suppliers having the ability to perform as expected—can be applied to the challenge of sourcing healthy plants, (ii) how businesses respond to these risks through behaviours based on trust and control, and (iii) the potential outcomes of trust-based and control-based behaviours in the presence of a hard to detect pathogen such as Xylella fastidiosa. We conclude that trust is a significant component in decision-making in the live plant trade, and as such any behavioural interventions designed to encourage better biosecurity practices in the industry should capitalise on this understanding to strengthen responses and avoid undermining of effort.
Experimental investigation of microscale mechanisms during compressive loading of paperboard
Authors: Johansson Sara , Engqvist Jonas , Tryding Johan , Hall Stephen A.
Published: April 2023

Compression of paperboard is a common procedure during industrial package forming and better knowledge of the material response is needed to avoid defective packages and waste. To go beyond current modelling approaches, experimental identification of mechanisms underlying the macroscopic stress–strain responses is needed. In this study, in-situ uniaxial compression of paperboard is studied through synchrotron tomography at high spatiotemporal resolutions. Both the microstructural evolution of the fibre network and the actual boundary conditions of the loading were quantified and analysed. At the microscale, the loading equipment plates were not perfectly flat resulting in an increasing sample-equipment contact area with loading. This is, however, shown to only have a small effect on the form of the macroscopic stress–strain curves. The evolution of 3D strain fields showed that strain accumulated close to the sample surfaces in the early part of the compression process, whereafter the main deformation zone shifted to the out-of-plane centre. Both fibre walls and pore volumes were observed to decrease during loading (and recover partly after unloading). Regarding the pore volume, the main reduction mechanism was seen to be closure of layers between fibres. Even if the total pore volume reduction was seen to be the dominant deformation mechanism in a second stage of compression, the volumetric change of fibre walls was non-negligible. Fibre wall compression is not commonly considered in theoretical treatments of paperboard compression, but this work suggests that the stored elastic energy could be a driver for the elastic recovery of the fibre network during unloading.
Effects of seining effort on estimates of fish diversity in a sand-bed river
Authors: Archdeacon Thomas P. , Gonzales Eric J. , Reale Justin K. , Henry Eileen B. , Grant Joshua D.
Published: April 2023

Changes in species diversity can be an indicator of ecosystem disturbance, impairment, or recovery. Estimating sampling effort needed to adequately represent stream fish assemblages is necessary for informing conservation actions. Increased sampling intensity can increase species detection, affecting the accuracy and precision of biodiversity indices. Seining is commonly used in fish surveys in sand-bottomed streams of the western USA. Here, we sampled 20, 200-m long stream sites each with 40 consecutive seine hauls to determine how increased within-site effort affected measures of species diversity. An average of 10 seine hauls were required to collect 75% of species present at sites in 40 seine hauls, while 18 seine hauls were required to collect 100% of species observed at a site sampled with 40 hauls. Simpson’s diversity index was highly variable when fewer than 7 seine hauls were performed at each site but stabilized when effort was > 15 seine hauls per site. Total dissimilarity and β-diversity components were variable under low sampling effort and also stabilized when effort reached 15 seine hauls per site. However, sampling with more than 18–20 seine hauls per site yielded few additional species. In shallow, sand-bed streams, we suggest sampling with < 5 seine hauls per 200 m of stream can result in unreliable estimates of α-diversity and variation in β-diversity. Increased effort of 15–20 seine hauls per 200 m of stream captured nearly all species present in 40 hauls per 200 m and stabilized species evenness and β-diversity indices.
Association of Relative Telomere Length and LINE-1 Methylation with Autism but not with Severity
Authors: Salem Sohair , Ashaat Engy
Published: April 2023

Autism is associated with genomic instability, which is regulated by telomere length (TL) and index of global methylation (LINE-1). This study will determine relative TL (RTL) and LINE-1 methylation percentage for 69 patients and 33 control subjects to evaluate their potential role as biomarkers for autism. The results displayed a significant decrease of both RTL and LINE-1 methylation in autistic cases relative to controls (P < 0.001). Analysis of receiver operating characteristics curve revealed that both of RTL and LINE-1 methylation percentage have the ability to serve as autism biomarkers (area under the curve = 0.817 and 0.889, respectively). The statistical analysis revealed positive correlation between the two biomarkers (correlation coefficient = 0.439 and P < 0.001).
How to Age More Positively? Analyzing Determinants that Shape Attitudes Towards Aging
Authors: Manzi Claudia , Adorni Roberta , Giannella Valeria Amata , Steca Patrizia
Published: April 2023

A considerable amount of research has illustrated that negative attitudes toward one’s own aging can directly hinder mental and physical well-being or lead to maladjustment in later stages of life (Swift et al. in Social Issues Policy Rev 11(1):195–231, https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12031, 2017). Research so far has focused on the analysis of individual factors related to attitudes toward aging, often related to personality traits. Our study proposes and tests a model of positive contact with aging (PCA). It analyses both individual and social antecedents of attitudes towards one’s own aging, hypothesizing that individual health self-efficacy directly affects attitudes towards one’s own aging and that the quality and quantity of contact with older adults indirectly impacts on attitudes towards one’s own aging through attitudes towards older adults. The model was tested in a wide sample of the Italian population (N = 753) with a varied age range. The PCA model tested showed excellent fit to the data, explaining a moderate amount of variance in attitudes toward one’s own aging (12%). This model promises to offer implications for active policies that can improve attitudes towards one’s own aging, promoting educational strategies to increase intergenerational exchanges and foster health-related self-efficacy.
A single-beat algorithm to discriminate farfield from nearfield bipolar voltage electrograms from the pulmonary veins
Authors: Schlageter Vincent , Badertscher Patrick , Luca Adrian , Krisai Philipp , Spies Florian , Kueffer Thomas , Osswald Stefan , Vesin Jean-Marc , Kühne Michael , Sticherling Christian , Knecht Sven
Published: April 2023

Background

Superimposition of farfield (FF) and nearfield (NF) bipolar voltage electrograms (BVE) complicates the confirmation of pulmonary vein (PV) isolation after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation. Our aim was to develop an automatic algorithm based on a single-beat analysis to discriminate PV NF from atrial FF BVE from a circular mapping catheter during the cryoballoon PV isolation.

Methods

During freezing cycles in cryoablation PVI, local NF and distant FF signals were recorded, identified and labelled. BVEs were classified using four different machine learning algorithms based on four frequency domain (high-frequency power (PHF), low-frequency power (PLF), relative high power band, PHF ratio of neighbouring electrodes) and two time domain features (amplitude (Vmax), slew rate). The algorithm-based classification was compared to the true identification gained during the PVI and to a classification by cardiac electrophysiologists.

Results

We included 335 BVEs from 57 consecutive patients. Using a single feature, PHF with a cut-off at 150 Hz showed the best overall accuracy for classification (79.4%). By combining PHF with Vmax, overall accuracy was improved to 82.7% with a specificity of 89% and a sensitivity of 77%. The overall accuracy was highest for the right inferior PV (96.6%) and lowest for the left superior PV (76.9%). The algorithm showed comparable accuracy to the classification by the EP specialists.

Conclusions

An automated farfield-nearfield discrimination based on two simple features from a single-beat BVE is feasible with a high specificity and comparable accuracy to the assessment by experienced cardiac electrophysiologists.

Graphical Abstract
Providing Continuity in Infant Mental Health Services for Medically Fragile Infants and Their Families
Authors: Lakatos Patricia P. , Rodas Naomi V. , Matic Tamara , Williams Marian E. , Samora Laura L. , Carson Melissa C.
Published: April 2023

Having a baby who is prenatally or postnatally diagnosed with a medical condition places considerable stress on the parents, infants, and their developing relationship. Infant mental health (IMH) services offer an opportunity to address the challenges and support the parent-infant relationship. The present study outlined a continuum of care IMH program embedded within various medical settings of a large metropolitan children’s hospital. Applications of IMH principles within the fetal care center, neonatal intensive care unit, high risk infant follow-up clinic, and the patient’s home are described. Descriptive data about families served across settings and a case study are provided in order to illustrate the implementation of this unique IMH intervention model.
Estimation of Two Diuretics Using Fluorescent Nitrogen Doped Carbon Quantum Dots: Application to Spiked Human Plasma and Tablets
Authors: Abo Zaid Mona H. , El-Enany Nahed , Mostafa Aziza E. , Hadad Ghada M. , Belal Fathalla
Published: April 2023

Highly fluorescent nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) were prepared by a single-step method based on microwave heating of cane sugar and urea. The produced N-CQDs were applied as nano-sensors for the spectrofluorimetric determination of eplerenone and spironolactone. A strong emission band at 376 nm was obtained after excitation at 216 nm due to the produced N-CQDs. The native fluorescence of N-CQDs was obviously quenched upon adding increased concentrations of each drug. A strong correlation was found between the fluorescence quenching of N-CQDs and the concentration of each drug. The method was found to be linear over the range of 0.5 to 5.0 μg/mL for eplerenone and 0.5 to 6.0 μg/mL for spironolactone with LOQ of 0.383 μg/mL and 0.262 μg/mL. The developed method was further extended for determination of both drugs in their pharmaceutical tablets and spiked human plasma. The results obtained were statistically compared with those of reported methods. The mechanism of fluorescence quenching of N-CQDs by the two drugs was discussed.
Study of heat transfer and pressure drop for novel configurations of helical tube heat exchanger: a numerical and experimental approach
Authors: Marzouk S. A. , Abou Al-Sood M. M. , El-Said Emad M. S. , El-Fakharany Magda K. , Younes M. M.
Published: April 2023

In this study, several unique tube configurations are designed and modeled to examine the thermal and hydraulic performance of a helical tube heat exchanger (HTHE) experimentally and numerically. For cold and hot side tube designs, the numerical investigation is completed using three-dimensional modeling, and the findings are confirmed using experimental data with Reynolds numbers ranging from 16,000 to 25,000. Six configurations named HTHE1, HTHE2, HTHE3, HTHE4, HTHE5, and HTHE6 are tested. The findings showed that as compared to the uniform tube distribution, the new arrangements have a greater overall heat transfer coefficient. The overall heat transfer coefficient has the highest enhancement ratio (125–185%) in the HTHE6 setup with two pathways. Additionally, it is discovered that the pressure drop rises as the Reynolds number increases. The HTHE1 configuration has the highest pressure drop values, whereas configurations with only one pass result in a greater pressure loss when compared to setups with two paths. The values of the coefficient of performance for the HTHE6 are larger than those of other forms, and the coefficient of performance decreases as the Reynolds number increases. The exergy efficiency grows with the rise of Reynolds number where the HTHE6 has the maximum value of exergy efficiency compared to other shapes. The performance of heat transfer is dramatically improved by the novel tube arrangements, although variations in pressure drop and pumping power are only a little affected.
The application of thermomicroscopy to the temperature programmed reduction in metal oxides
Authors: Ashton Gage P. , Charsley Edward L. , Gillie Lisa J. , Harding Lindsay P. , Parkes Gareth M. B. , Watson Adam J.
Published: April 2023

Thermomicroscopy, or hot-stage microscopy, is primarily used in the analysis of organic materials such as pharmaceuticals and polymers. However, its potential application to the study of inorganic systems remains largely unexplored. A thermomicroscope was developed utilising red, green, blue (RGB) colour profiles and individual micrographs taken at fixed temperatures to follow temperature programmed reduction processes under a hydrogen atmosphere. The instrument was used for the study of the reduction in the oxides of silver, copper, lead, and cobalt. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that temperature programmed reduction processes have been followed using thermomicroscopy and our results suggest the presence of transient intermediate phases within the lead oxide and cobalt oxide systems.

Graphical abstract
Content-aware QoE optimization in MEC-assisted Mobile video streaming
Authors: Rahman Waqas ur , Huh Eui-Nam
Published: April 2023

The traditional client-based HTTP adaptation strategies do not explicitly coordinate between the clients, servers, and cellular networks. A lack of coordination leads to suboptimal user experience. In addition to optimizing Quality of Experience (QoE), other challenges in adapting HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) to the cellular environment are overcoming unfair allocation of the video rate and inefficient utilization of the bandwidth under the high-dynamics cellular links. Furthermore, the majority of the adaptive strategies ignore important video content characteristics and HAS client information, such as segment duration, buffer size, and video duration, in the video quality selection process. In this paper, we present a content-aware hybrid multi-access edge computing (MEC)-assisted quality adaptation algorithm by taking advantage of the capabilities of edge cloud computing. The proposed algorithm exploits video content characteristics, HAS client settings, and application-layer information to jointly adapt the bitrates of multiple clients. We design separate strategies to optimize the performance of short and long duration videos. We then demonstrate the efficiency of our algorithm against client-based solutions as well as MEC-assisted algorithms. The proposed algorithm guarantees high QoE, equitably selects video rates for clients, and efficiently utilizes the bandwidth for both short and long duration videos. The results from our extensive experiments reveal that the proposed long video adaptation algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms, with improvements in average video rate, QoE, fairness, and bandwidth utilization of 0.4%–12.3%, 8%–65%, 3.3%–5.7%, and 60%–130%, respectively. Furthermore, when high bandwidth is available to competing clients, the proposed short video adaptation algorithm improves QoE by 11.1% compared to the long video adaptation algorithm.
Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Promise Anticancer and Antibacterial Activity in Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Mousa Ahmed Bakr , Moawad Raghda , Abdallah Yasmine , Abdel-Rasheed Mazen , Zaher Azza M. Abdel
Published: April 2023

Background

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal cancer in gynaecology. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are the most often used cancer-fighting strategies. Post-surgery infection is fairly prevalent, especially among people with insufficient immunity. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnOnps) have amazing biomedical features as anticancer and antibacterial agents.

Methods

We investigated the behaviour of ZnOnps synthesized by green methods on ovarian cancers using established human ovarian cancer cell lines, besides the antibacterial action toward models of gram + ve and gram -ve bacteria. The cytotoxic effect of ZnOnps was calculated using a Sulforhodamine B (SRB) trial. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) were tested as models for gram + ve and gram -ve bacteria. The selected bacteria were subjected to concentrations of 20, 40, 80, and 100 μg/ml.

Results

The synthesized ZnOnps induced 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) at a concentration of 27.45 μg/ml. The diameter of inhibition ranged between 20.16 ± 0.16 and 27 ± 0.57 mm for S. aureus and 25.66 ± 0.33 to 31 ± 0.33 mm for E. coli. ZnOnps antagonistic effect statistically differed with neomycin, cefaclor, and cefadroxil.

Conclusions

Green synthesis of ZnOnps is easily prepared, low cost, non-toxic, and eco-friendly. Their cytotoxic action on SKOV3 cells and their antibacterial characteristics pave the way to be an alternative therapy for ovarian cancer and S. aureus and E. coli infection.
Variational Tobit Gaussian Process Regression
Authors: Basson Marno , Louw Tobias M. , Smith Theresa R.
Published: April 2023

We propose a variational inference-based framework for training a Gaussian process regression model subject to censored observational data. Data censoring is a typical problem encountered during the data gathering procedure and requires specialized techniques to perform inference since the resulting probabilistic models are typically analytically intractable. In this article we exploit the variational sparse Gaussian process inducing variable framework and local variational methods to compute an analytically tractable lower bound on the true log marginal likelihood of the probabilistic model which can be used to perform Bayesian model training and inference. We demonstrate the proposed framework on synthetically-produced, noise-corrupted observational data, as well as on a real-world data set, subject to artificial censoring. The resulting predictions are comparable to existing methods to account for data censoring, but provides a significant reduction in computational cost.
A sparse matrix formulation of model-based ensemble Kalman filter
Authors: Gryvill Håkon , Tjelmeland Håkon
Published: April 2023

We introduce a computationally efficient variant of the model-based ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). We propose two changes to the original formulation. First, we phrase the setup in terms of precision matrices instead of covariance matrices, and introduce a new prior for the precision matrix which ensures it to be sparse. Second, we propose to split the state vector into several blocks and formulate an approximate updating procedure for each of these blocks. We study in a simulation example the computational speedup and the approximation error resulting from using the proposed approach. The speedup is substantial for high dimensional state vectors, allowing the proposed filter to be run on much larger problems than can be done with the original formulation. In the simulation example the approximation error resulting from using the introduced block updating is negligible compared to the Monte Carlo variability inherent in both the original and the proposed procedures.
Relationship between faecal egg count and health status in Nguni goats reared on semi-arid rangelands
Authors: Ndlela S. Z. , Mkwanazi M. V. , Chimonyo M.
Published: April 2023

Gastrointestinal parasitism is a major constraint to goat productivity, particularly in resource-limited production systems. The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between faecal egg count and the health status of different classes of Nguni goats. Body condition score (BCS), packed cell volume (PCV), FAMACHA score, and faecal egg count (FEC) were measured in 120 goats of different classes (weaners, does and bucks) across seasons. The identified gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) wereStrongyloides(30 %),Haemonchus contortus(28 %),Trichostrongylussp. (23 %),Oesophagostomumsp. (17 %) andOstertagia(2 %), which showed higher prevalence at the hot-wet season compared to other seasons. An interaction (P<0.05) between class and season on BCS was observed. Lower PCV were observed in weaners (24.6 ± 0.79) in the post-rainy season, whereas does 27.4 ± 0.86 and bucks (29.3±1.03) had the highest PCV in the same season. Higher FAMACHA scores were observed in the hot seasons for all goat classes, while lower in the cool-dry season. Linear relationships between FAMACHA scores and FEC were observed in all seasons. The rate of change in FAMACHA score was higher in the post-rainy season (P<0.01) than in other seasons as FEC increased in weaners and does. Bucks had a higher rate of change in FAMACHA in the hot-wet season (P<0.0001) as FEC increased. The rate of BCS decline was higher in the post-rainy season in weaners and does (P<0.01) and bucks (P<0.05) than in other seasons. The decline in PCV was faster during the wet than in the dry seasons. It can be concluded that class and season affected BCS, FAMACHA, and PCV. A linear relationship between FEC and FAMACHA score suggests that FAMACHA could be a good indicator of GIN burden.
Data to decision-making: how elementary students use their Community and Citizen Science project to reimagine their school campus
Authors: Bird Erin Bridges , Ballard Heidi L. , Harte Margaret
Published: April 2023

Youth-focused Community and Citizen Science (CCS) projects are contexts in which youth can contribute to the entire “data lifecycle”––from data-collection to decision-making with their scientific findings. But data alone does not contain the answers for what action to take and how. Using the educational context of an afterschool CCS bird monitoring program for 4th and 5th graders, this ethnographic study investigates the different ways youth identified and understood environmental issues on their school campus. We use a theoretical framework of framing, youth identity and agency to understand youth perspectives of their CCS project purpose or goals, their goal-aligned actions (real or imagined), and their CCS practices. We situate these findings within the instructional context of youth’s bird monitoring project and provide instructional recommendations for CCS projects which position youth as knowledge producers, such as how to support youth in developing rigorous intellectual criteria for evaluating their environmental decisions.
The carbon footprint of common vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals in Portugal: an estimate, comparison, and analysis
Authors: Mesquita Carolina , Carvalho Miguel
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Vegetarian diets have been suggested as one way to reduce the carbon footprint of individuals, when compared to standard Western diets, given the latter’s inclusion of high-carbon footprint animal foods. However, it is unclear if, within usually consumed meals, the average vegetarian meals have a significantly lower carbon footprint than non-vegetarian meals. Often consumed meals were designated as “common” in this research and obtained from real consumers’ food diaries. The purpose of this research is to find out if, in Portugal, common vegetarian meals have a lower carbon footprint than common non-vegetarian meals; and, to communicate the results in a format that might lead consumers in Portugal to reduce this food carbon footprint of theirs.

Methods

We conducted a novel analysis for Portugal, namely due to three factors: (1) its focus on meals, rather than ingredients; (2) the inclusion of national food consumption, rather than food production; and (3) presenting the results in a traffic light system. It was also tested how non-vegetarian meals’ carbon footprint would change if animal protein was replaced by plant protein.

Results

The carbon footprint of common non-vegetarian meals in Portugal is 5.5 times higher than that of common vegetarian meals in Portugal. There is a wide range of carbon footprint values for vegetarian meals in Portugal, specifically, the 5th percentile is 8.5 times smaller than the 95th percentile. Moreover, the common non-vegetarian meals in Portugal when “made” vegetarian have a carbon footprint about 6.4 times lower than the common non-vegetarian meals in Portugal.

Conclusions

There are known limitations in this research, besides the unknown ones, such as using only one environmental impact indicator, namely the carbon footprint (rather than the ecological footprint, other, or even none of these); the limited breadth of studies selected, to obtain the food items’ carbon footprint (reviews, meta-studies, and local studies); and the narrow LCA boundaries and characteristics included in those and subsequent analysis (of the food items’ bioavailability and nutritional functional unit, among others). However, within the scope of this research, the three general hypotheses of this research have been confirmed. It can be concluded that vegetarian food is a potential solution for food’s environmental sustainability in Portugal.
The Nation’s First Publicly Recognized Overdose Prevention Centers: Lessons Learned in New York City
Authors: Giglio Rebecca E. , Mantha Shivani , Harocopos Alex , Saha Nilova , Reilly Jacqueline , Cipriano Chelsea , Kennelly Maura , Landau Lisa , McRae Michael , Chokshi Dave A.
Published: April 2023

In November of 2021, multiple factors converged to create a window of opportunity to open overdose prevention centers (OPCs) at two existing syringe service programs (SSPs) in New York City (NYC). Political will exists in NYC, particularly toward the end of the de Blasio administration’s term, and the NYC Health Department worked to garner additional support from local and state elected officials given the dire need to address the overdose crisis. This coincided with readiness on the part of one of the NYC SSP providers, OnPoint NYC, to open and operate OPC services. Legal risks were assessed by both the city and the provider. This case study outlines the sequence of events that resulted in NYC supporting OnPoint to open the first two publicly recognized OPCs in the nation, including lessons learned to inform other jurisdictions considering offering such services.
A Study of Using Synthetic Data for Effective Association Knowledge Learning
Authors: Liu Yuchi , Wang Zhongdao , Zhou Xiangxin , Zheng Liang
Published: April 2023

Association, aiming to link bounding boxes of the same identity in a video sequence, is a central component in multi-object tracking (MOT). To train association modules, e.g., parametric networks, real video data are usually used. However, annotating person tracks in consecutive video frames is expensive, and such real data, due to its inflexibility, offer us limited opportunities to evaluate the system performance w.r.t. changing tracking scenarios. In this paper, we study whether 3D synthetic data can replace real-world videos for association training. Specifically, we introduce a large-scale synthetic data engine named MOTX, where the motion characteristics of cameras and objects are manually configured to be similar to those of real-world datasets. We show that, compared with real data, association knowledge obtained from synthetic data can achieve very similar performance on real-world test sets without domain adaption techniques. Our intriguing observation is credited to two factors. First and foremost, 3D engines can well simulate motion factors such as camera movement, camera view, and object movement so that the simulated videos can provide association modules with effective motion features. Second, the experimental results show that the appearance domain gap hardly harms the learning of association knowledge. In addition, the strong customization ability of MOTX allows us to quantitatively assess the impact of motion factors on MOT, which brings new insights to the community.
Herman Boerhaave’s Clinical Teaching: A Story of Partial Historiography
Authors: Fiddes Patrick J. , Komesaroff Paul A.
Published: April 2023

Gerrit Lindeboom’s biography, Herman Boerhaave: The Man and His Work, presents a heroic account of Herman Boerhaave’s life and his many contributions to medicine and medical education. He is portrayed as an outstanding eighteenth century educator who introduced into Leiden’s Medical School a novel method of clinical teaching that was to be widely adopted and today remains at the centre of medical student instruction. Lindeboom’s historiography induced a resurgence of interest in Boerhaave, a renewal of the myth concerning Boerhaave’s innovative teaching and the publication of many acclamatory articles and false epithets, and several critical analyses. Such varying responses prompted this critical examination of the extant Boerhaavian literature, an appraisal of Lindeboom’s objectivity and an assessment of his representations of Boerhaave’s clinical teaching. In doing so, the moral nature of his historiography and that of those who were to sustain his assertions will be established, and the myth that surrounds the novelty and excellence of Boerhaave’s clinical teaching will be evident.
Incidence of Kidney Stones After Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery—Data from the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Registry
Authors: Laurenius Anna , Sundbom Magnus , Ottosson Johan , Näslund Erik , Stenberg Erik
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Obesity is associated with increased incidence of kidney stones, a risk further increased by metabolic and bariatric surgery, particularly after procedures with a malabsorptive component. However, there is a paucity in reports on baseline risk factor and on larger population-based cohorts. The objective was to evaluate incidence and risk factors for kidney stones after bariatric surgery by comparing them to an age-, sex-, and geographically matched cohort from the normal population.

Material and Methods

Patients operated with primary Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG), or biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS) from 2007 until 2017 within the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery registry were matched 1:10 to controls from the normal population. Hospital admission or outpatient visits due to kidney stones registered in the National Patient Registry were considered as endpoint.

Results

The study included 58,366 surgical patients (mean age 41.0±11.1, BMI 42.0±5.68, 76% women) with median follow-up time 5.0 [IQR 2.9–7.0] years and 583,660 controls. All surgical procedures were associated with a significantly increased risk for kidney stones (RYGB, HR 6.16, [95% CI 5.37–7.06]; SG, HR 6.33, [95% CI 3.57–11.25]; BPD/DS, HR 10.16, [95% CI 2.94–35.09]). Higher age, type 2 diabetes hypertension at baseline, and a preoperative history of kidney stones were risk factors for having a postoperative diagnosis of kidney stones.

Conclusion

Primary RYGB, SG, and BPD/DS were all associated with a more than sixfold increased risk for postoperative kidney stones. The risk increased with advancing age, two common obesity-related conditions, and among patients with preoperative history of kidney stones.

Graphical Abstract