bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A comparative study on tensile strength of various thermoplastic polymers sheets following thermoforming on a pre-treatment and post-treatment maxillary model of a patient: An in vitro study
Authors: Nayak Ashwath S , HC Kiran Kumar
Published: October 2023

OBJECTIVES:
Thermoplastic polymers show alteration in their mechanical properties after thermoforming on a dental model. The purpose of this in-vitro study was to evaluate the tensile strength of different thermoplastic polymer sheets thermoformed on a pre-treatment (moderate crowding) and post-treatment (well-aligned) maxillary model of a patient.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Forty maxillary models (Twenty Pre-treatment & twenty Post-treatment of uniform dimension) were made by duplicating them using alginate. Samples were then divided into eight groups of 5 samples each. The thermoplastic sheets Imprelon® (Scheu-Dent), AVAC R® (Jaypee), Placa Crystal® (BioART), EZ-VAC® (3A Medes) - 1.0 mm thick were thermoformed on these models respectively. The sample was retrieved using ceramic bur mounted on a straight hand-piece and subjected for testing using TINIUS Olsen 10ST micro universal testing machine and recorded.
RESULTS:
There was no statistically significant difference (P > .05) in tensile strength of thermoformed thermoplastic polymer sheets between pre-treatment and post-treatment maxillary model. Tensile strength of EZ-VAC (3A Medes) showed higher variation between pre-treatment and post-treatment maxillary model though it was found to be statistically insignificant (P > .05). Significant difference (P < .05) was seen between groups when they were compared separately among pre-treatment and post-treatment models. Placa Crystal (BioART) among the pre-treatment group, EZ – VAC (3A Medes) among the post-treatment group, showed highest tensile strength.
CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
Results of the study highlights the necessity to test materials in conditions which stands in accordance with the clinical scenario to a considerable extent and also emphasizes the need for further study in aligner.
Exploring the Utility of Expanded Clinical Exome Sequencing in Cancer Patients with Pesticide Exposure: Insights from Blood Samples
Authors: Ribeiro Hemily Gonçalves , Barradas Miller Caldas , Godoy Fernanda Ribeiro , Carvalho Larissa Resende , Pedroso Thays Alves , Silva Vanessa Soares da , Lopes Laura de Sousa , Silva Daniela de Melo e , Porto Iane de Oliveira Pires
Published: October 2023

Brazil is a major pesticide consumer with evident problems in regulation and supervision of such products. Thus, evaluating the impact of pesticides on human health is pivotal to understanding their relationship with disease development and progression. In this context, we aimed to assess a panel of molecular pathways associated with cancer susceptibility, as well as the exposure and lifestyle profile of a group of Brazilian farmers occupationally exposed to pesticides. We performed a clinical exome sequencing in 31 farmers diagnosed with cancer presenting a history of pesticide exposure. Using the Emedgene software (Illumina), we categorized a compilation of candidate disease-related genes and evaluated them to discern crucial pathways associated with carcinogenesis. Consequently, we successfully pinpointed a group of genes that should be regarded as potential risk factors when exposed to a carcinogenic environment. Our analysis suggests an important role of extracellular matrix related pathways in cancer susceptibility, along with some classical findings such as genes related to DNA repair mechanisms. The tumor microenvironment emerges as a promising area of investigation and, future studies should consider its impact on cancer development and progression.
Choquet integral operator over random hypergraph and its application in multicriteria decision making
Authors: Rahman Saifur , Baro Nabajyoti , Kakati Pankaj
Published: October 2023

A hypergraph, which is a generalization of a graph, has a wide range of applications in various fields such as science, informatics, and management. It can effectively represent real-life decision-making situations. In this study, we define the Choquet integral operator on the hypergraph and propose a multicriteria decision-making method to determine the overall preference order of alternatives in practical decision-making problems.
2020 Mathematics Subject Classification: 05C85, 05C38, 05C05, 05C90
Factors associated with postpartum family planning use in Rwanda
Authors: Sylvain Muzungu Hirwa , Valens Rwema
Published: October 2023

Background: Resumption and initiation of contraceptive methods after delivery are of critical importance in ensuring the well-being of the mother and the newborn. However, evidence related with postpartum family planning in Rwanda are scanty. This study employed survival analysis techniques to study the time to resumption or initiation of contraceptive methods after childbirth in Rwandan women and the associated factors.
Methods: Data were collected from the 2020 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS). Descriptive statistics were obtained after adjusting for study design. Initial analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method, followed by univariate and multivariable Cox Hazard proportional models to study factors associated with the initiation of contraceptive use after delivery. Cox Model assumptions were tested using scaled Schoenfeld Residuals.
Results:5572 women who delivered in the five years preceding the survey were included in this research. The percentage of women who used modern contraceptives was 32%, 55%, 67%, and 79% at one month, six months, one year and two years respectively. Delivery by cesarean section, access to health insurance, and an increase in the number of children under five years of age were associated with increased chances of utilizing modern postpartum contraceptives after delivery. An increase in female age and in the ideal number of children and women with a history of terminated pregnancy were associated with reduced chances of using postpartum family planning. The influence of religion was highlighted, with Catholic women associated with high contraceptive use.
Conclusion: There is a need to strengthen postpartum family planning in Rwanda. Policy makers and clinicians should provide additional customized interventions for women with factors associated with low use.
Surface Roughness and Color Change of Gamma Irradiated Nanohybrid Resin Composite and Giomer Restorative Materials
Authors: Abaza Engy F. , Yassen Asmaa Aly
Published: October 2023

Background
This study evaluated the effect of gamma radiation on surface roughness and color change of nanohybrid composite and giomer restorative materials.
Methods
Twenty-four-disc shaped specimens (2×2mm) were fabricated; half of them were prepared from Filtek Z-350 nanocomposite while the other half were prepared from Beautiful II giomer restorative material. Each material was divided into two subgroups, control and gamma irradiated. Surface roughness was assessed for each group after 24 hrs. then after 6 months storage in artificial saliva using USB Digital microscope while color change was evaluated using a Reflective spectrophotometer at the same time intervals. Data showed parametric distribution and were analyzed using independent and paired t-test for analyzing independent and dependent variables respectively. Intergroup comparisons were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.
Results
For surface roughness, there was significant increase for both nanocomposite and giomer after 6 months storage. For color change assessments, at both time intervals, Giomer had significantly higher color change than composite (p < 0.05). For both materials, color change measured after 6 months was significantly higher than 24 hours value (p < 0.05). Exposure to gamma irradiation did not affect surface roughness of both materials while it affected their color change.
Conclusions
Time has a detrimental effect on surface roughness of resin composite and Giomer, while gamma radiation has the same effect but on the color change.
Flow mechanism study and geometrical parameters analysis of fluidic oscillators based on pressure-sensitive paint measurements and modal analysis
Authors: Song Jinsheng , Wang Shiqi , Qiu Zihao , Peng Di , Liu Yingzheng , Wen Xin
Published: October 2023

The present study optimized some novel fluidic oscillator designs, measured their internal-external fluid dynamics, and used modal analysis to reveal their underlying oscillation mechanisms. It also investigated the effects of structural parameters on their fluid dynamics. The time-resolved internal-external pressure fields of the oscillators were determined by using pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) measurement. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) were used for modal analysis and phase reconstruction. The time-averaged pressure-field and phase-reconstruction results reveal that recirculation bubbles inside the mixing chamber and the feedback flow have underpinned the mechanism of formation of internal and external continuous sweeping flows. The modal analysis results reveal the spatial modal structures and their time evolution, which dominated the internal-external flow pattern. The inlet-wedge width and feedback-channel inlet diameter were found to be the structural parameters affecting feedback flow and recirculation-bubble size, and thereby influenced flow characteristics such as jet oscillation frequency and divergence angle. Different Coandă surfaces altered the recirculation bubbles and feedback flow of the mainstream, thereby influencing the formation mechanism of the sweeping jet.
Influence of distraction factors on performance in laparoscopic Surgery in immersive Virtual Reality – a study protocol of a cross-over trial in medical students and residents - DisLapVR
Authors: Hanke Laura Isabel , Schulte Richard , Boedecker Christian , Huettl Florentine , Saalfeld Patrick , Chheang Vuthea , Wessels Marlene , von Castell Christoph , Hecht Heiko , Hansen Christian , Lang Hauke , Huber Tobias
Published: October 2023

Background Working in an operating room (OR) is physically and mentally challenging: the operation itself demands the surgeon’s full attention, while owing to time and cost efficiency constraints daily planning and emergency care keep interfering on different levels. Thus, multitasking becomes an integral surgical competence. This study aims to examine the effect of disruptions during surgery in highly immersive virtual reality (IVR) operation environment combined with a VR laparoscopy simulator.Methods An IVR environment was created using a high resolution, stereoscopic 360° video of the OR. Different distractions were identified, classified as auditory, visual or audio-visual and recorded accordingly. The surrounding was combined with a VR laparoscopic simulator. Participants - medical students and surgical residents - receive proficiency-based training in basic laparoscopic skills and are blinded to the aim of the experiment. Following a cross-over design, each participant receives a unique order of virtual distraction factors while performing tasks on the laparoscopic simulator. During the experiment, subjective passing of time, stress, heart rate and visually induced motion sickness are recorded. After the experiment, validated questionnaires for usability, immersion and stress are completed, as well as subjective evaluation of the distractions. Performance in the laparoscopic tasks in relation to the distractions will be evaluated. Subgroup analyses in regard of age, gender and expertise (medical students vs. surgical residents) are planned.Discussion We present a protocol for a study aiming to identify the impact of different disruptions in the OR during laparoscopic training in immersive VR. Hence, it may lead to an improved awareness of distractions and facilitate accommodations towards an improved work environment. Prior research leads to the hypothesis that the performance of a more experienced surgeon is less impacted by distractions, than the performance of inexperienced surgeons and medical students. Furthermore, we investigate which type of distraction has the largest impact on performance. With this knowledge, specific multitasking training can be devised, which may be particularly useful in medical education, for which VR might play a leading role.Trial registration This trial has been prospectively registered in the German Clinical Trials register with the registration number DRKS 00030033, registration confirmed 18th of August 2022, https://www.drks.de/drks_web/
Analysis of Virtual Reality Teaching Methods in Engineering Education: Assessing Educational Effectiveness and Understanding of 3D Structures
Authors: Ka Jonghyeon , Kim Jihyung , Kim Haryun , Kim Wooksung
Published: October 2023

Traditional teaching methods that use 2D videos or 3D simulators may have limitations in engineering education when covering complex concepts or complicated 3D structures. To address this problem, virtual reality (VR) has been introduced as a highly immersive teaching method that can increase students’ learning and understanding of 3D structures from multiple perspectives. The purpose of this study was to quantify how teaching methods that use VR can increase learning efficiency and comprehension of 3D structures. We used quiz and 3D reconstruction to assess the quantitative learning effects of VR and 2D videos on a total of 40 students. Training that used VR yielded a 12% improvement in post-test quiz scores and a 13% improvement in 3D reconstruction test scores compared to the traditional method. User evaluations confirmed that VR increased engagement by 11.9%, immersion by 18.6%, motivation by 10.3%, cognitive benefits by 9.3%, and perceived learning effectiveness by 8.7%. These results confirm that VR is more effective than traditional learning methods to aid general memorization and understanding, and specific comprehension of 3D structures.
Evaluation of approaches to internal validation of multinomial Logit models: the case of personal travel mode choice
Authors: Parmar Janak , Site Paolo Delle
Published: October 2023

The prediction validity of discrete choice models is key for policy making in the transportation sector. For internal validation, i.e., when the population used to estimate and validate the model is the same, different approaches exist. Each approach is characterised in terms of sampling strategy and accuracy metric. The former includes in-sample, also referred to as apparent, split-sample, cross-validation, and bootstrapping. The latter include McFadden rho-squared, percentage of right classification, McFadden proportion of right predictions, Brier Score, polytomous discrimination index, and hypervolume under ROC manifold. It is widely recognised that in-sample strategies are overly optimistic, because the model is optimized for performance in the sample in which it is estimated. Evaluation of performance of approaches to internal validation has been carried out in the clinical epidemiology area with logistic regression models. This paper evaluates approaches to internal validation using synthetic and real datasets related to personal travel mode choices modelled using multinomial Logit. The performance of each approach is evaluated against the apparent performance in the full population. With both synthetic and real data, cross-validation produces the lowest bias with most metrics. The metric with lowest bias is data-specific. Lowest variability is produced by bootstrapping.
Cyberbullying victimization and depression among children: Self-perceived social competence as a mediator and optimism as a moderator
Authors: Song Kuai , Zhou Feng-Juan , Niu Geng-Feng , Fan Cui-Ying , Zhou Zong-Kui
Published: October 2023

Cyberbullying victimization is becoming more prevalent and adversely affects mental health. It is essential to explore the relationship between the two variables and the underlying mechanism, especially for children, as the impact of mental health in childhood might last a lifetime. Thus, the current research focused on the relationship and the underlying mechanism. Primary school students (N = 344; Mage = 9.90; 43.90% girls) completed self-report questionnaires regarding cyberbullying victimization, self-perceived social competence, optimism, and depression at school. Gender and grade were controlled as covariates. Depression was positively predicted by cyberbullying victimization. Besides, self-perceived social competence played a partially mediating role. In addition, optimism directly and indirectly moderated the effects of cyberbullying victimization on depression. Specifically, the effects were stronger for children with low levels of optimism. Therefore, efforts to enhance children's self-perceived social competence and optimism may beneficial to reduce children’s depression resulted by cyberbullying victimization.
Assessment of Soil Erosion Risk in a sub-watershed of Thrissur district of Kerala, India using RUSLE Model
Authors: J AKASH P , F Mary Regina , V Divya Vijayan , Dhanapal Resmi
Published: October 2023

This research paper utilizes the RUSLE Model to assess soil erosion risk regions within a sub-watershed and classify the entire area based on erosion rate severity. The study was conducted in a sub-watershed of the Karuvannur river basin located in the Thrissur district of Kerala, India. The RUSLE soil erosion model is employed to estimate the annual soil loss values and evaluate the severity of soil erosion. The ArcGIS software is utilized to apply the RUSLE variables, including the Rainfall erosivity factor (R), Soil erodibility factor (K), Slope length steepness factor (LS), Cover management factor (C), and Practice factor (P), for soil erosion estimation. Subsequently, the soil erosion risk map is generated within the ArcGIS environment by analysing the RUSLE parameters R, K, LS, C, and P. Conversion of the maps to raster format using a raster calculator allows for the merging of maps to create the soil erosion model. The soil loss values within the Kurumali watershed range from 0 to 70.26 t h − 1 y − 1, with an average estimated soil erosion rate between 0 to 1 t h − 1 y − 1 and a standard deviation of 1.24.
Polyaniline structure on common carbon supports to improve the performance of low-platinum-based ORR electrocatalysts
Authors: Wen Bo , Wang Chen , Liang Yilli , Bai RuiBin , Xie Zhiyong , Gao Ziteng , Ouyang Xiaoping
Published: October 2023

Currently, the preparation of many ORR catalysts is intricate and difficult to control, or they lack stability in reaction, leading to increased costs for practical applications. In this paper, the commonly used carbon supports are combined with conductive PANI to facilely synthesized Pt-based catalysts, ensuring the stability of the catalyst. Experiments explicitly reveal the ORR activity of 40Pt/PANI-Carbon supports catalysts are enhanced signiﬁcantly in comparison to the Commercial 40Pt/C-JM catalyst. Especially, ECSA of 40Pt/PANI-GO (194.4m2gPt-1) is 4.88 times than that of 40Pt/C-JM. Moreover, the integrated area of hydrogen adsorption almost keep constant after ADT, whereas that of 40Pt/C-JM reduced very significantly. Furthermore, the single cell tests definitely confirming the superiority of 40Pt/PANI-GO in activity, which the maximum power output was 2.2 times better than that of the 40Pt/C-JM catalyst. This indicates its broad application prospects and suitability for further exploration in PEMFC.
Bad days build better days: mental health improvement after the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with psychosocial distress
Authors: Reutter Mario , Hutterer Katharina , Gründahl Marthe , Gall Dominik , Dannlowski Udo , Domschke Katharina , Leehr Elisabeth , Lonsdorf Tina , Lueken Ulrike , Reif Andreas , Schiele Miriam , Zwanzger Peter , Pauli Paul , Hein Grit , Gamer Matthias
Published: October 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated countermeasures had an immensely disruptive impact on people’s lives. Due to the lack of systematic pre-pandemic data, however, it is still unclear how individuals’ psychosocial health has been affected across this incisive event. In this study, we analyze longitudinal data from two healthy samples (N = 307) to provide insight into the full trajectory of psychosocial burden before (baseline), during the first peak, and at a relative downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data indicated a medium rise in psychosocial strain from baseline to the first peak of the pandemic (d = 0.40). Surprisingly, this was overcompensated by a large decrease of perceived burden until downturn (d = − 0.93), resulting in a positive overall effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health (d = 0.44). Accounting for this paradoxical positive effect, our results reveal that the postpandemic increase in mental health is driven by individuals that were already facing psychosocial challenges before the pandemic. These findings suggest that coping with acute challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic can stabilize previously impaired mental health through reframing processes.
Challenges of antiviral therapy on clinical outcomes and 30-day survival benefits in hospitalized multiple sclerosis patients with COVID-19
Authors: Maghbooli Zhila , Kasaeian Amir , Fattahi Mohammad Reza , Varzandi Tarlan , Hamtaeigashi Sara , Mohammadnabi Sara , Sahraian Mohammad Ali.
Published: October 2023

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety concerns of remdesivir and type 1 interferons (INFs) on the clinical outcomes of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Methods: Using electronic health records systems, this is a cross-sectional study of two years of hospital admissions in terms of COVID-19 in Iran from March 2019 to August 2021. The severities of COVID-19 outcomes were ICU admission, hospitalization days, and 30-day mortality rates.
Results: Nine hundred ninety-nine hospitalized MS patients with a definite diagnosis of COVID-19 based on PCR were recorded in the electronic health systems. Almost half of the patients were under treatment with an anti-CD-20 agent (rituximab or ocrelizumab) at the time of hospital admission (50.3%), with higher mortality rates, needing ICU admission, and longer hospitalization (p<0.05).
There was a significant association between taking IFN alone (adjusted IRR=1.21, 95% CI 1.32 to 1.42) or in combination with RDV (adjusted IRR=1.30, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.5042) and longer hospitalization.
There were no significant associations between antiviral treatment (RDV alone, IFNβ1 alone, and IFNβ1 plus RDV) and ICU admission (p>0.2), in-hospital mortality rate (p>0.2), or 30-day survival rate (p>0.2). The results were similar in patients who did or did not receive anti-CD-20 agents.
Conclusion: Our data reveal that RDV, IFN, or a combination of IFN and RDV administration has no benefit in the treatment of hospitalized MS patients with COVID-19.
Organizational Resilience in Nursing: A Concept Analysis Using Rodgers' Evolutionary Approach
Authors: Peng Ying , Huang Huanhuan , Ou Yangli , Wang Chunni , Xiao Mingzhao , Zhao Qinghua
Published: October 2023

Aim
To differentiate, clarify, and identify the development, concept, attributes, types, prerequisites, and consequences of organizational resilience, ultimately to contribute improve strategies.
Design:
Rodgers and Knafl’s evolutionary concept was applied.
Methods
Five databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase) were searched from 1973 to 2023 to identify relevant sources. Thematic analysis was used to form the conceptual connotation of organizational resilience.
Results
A total of 45 articles were included for synthesis. Six antecedents of organizational resilience were identified, that is robustness, redundancy, rapidity, and resourcefulness. Nine attributes of organizational resilience include robustness, redundancy, rapidity, resourcefulness, diversity, adaption, self-regulation, flexibility, and recoverability, and the consequence was explored.
Conclusions
The overall direction for what Organizational resilience involves and its overall qualities could assist an organization with focusing on its activities and systems inside its unique circumstance and arrive at its strength objective, accordingly healthcare system to continue to adapt and evolve in the face of stress and change. Our conceptual analysis of organizational resilience gives a complete comprehension of this phenomenon and a rationale for instrument development, future research and intervention.
Impact:
This study defines the concept, antecedents, attributes and consequences of organizational resilience. Strengthening resilience could improve the overall adaptability and sustainability of organizations. This study helps to provide guidance and recommendations for health organizations to enhance their resilience and meet future challenges.
Navigating the stages of objective memory impairment (SOMI) through the Papez circuit: hippocampal brain reserve, white matter microstructure, and structural network topology along the Alzheimer’s continuum
Authors: Matziorinis Anna Maria , Leemans Alexander , Skouras Stavros , Koelsch Stefan
Published: October 2023

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) unfolds across a spectrum of neurodegeneration, known as the AD continuum, starting several decades before presenting clinical symptoms. The Stages of Objective Memory Impairment (SOMI) is a method used to classify cognitive decline, ranging from negligible impairment to levels indicative of dementia. Identifying individuals at risk for developing AD dementia is crucial for early intervention and potential prevention of cognitive decline.
Aim:This study uses SOMI staging to correlate neural indicators of neurodegeneration by analyzing neuropsychological tests and hippocampal-based brain reserve. We novelly assessed the link between SOMI staging and diffusion-based white matter microstructure metrics and network analytic graph theoretical metrics to examine topological network alterations across the AD continuum.
Methods: 91 participants from the Alzheimer's and music therapy (ALMUTH) study were categorized from SOMI stages 0 through 4. Region-of-interest analyses focused on the Papez circuit, a limbic circuit focused on cognitive processing linked to AD-related neurodegeneration. SOMI stages were associated with neuropsychological measurements, hippocampal-based brain reserve using volumetric analysis, white matter microstructure (fractional anisotropy, FA, and mean diffusivity, MD) in the Papez circuit, and structural network analyses.
Results: SOMI stages significantly correlated with most neuropsychological measures, hippocampal-based brain reserve, FA and MD differences across the Papez circuit, and altered network topological features locally and globally.
Conclusion:Our findings offer new insights into early and progressive alterations of brain function associated with cognitive processing in AD, emphasizing the potential utility of translating these neural indicators for identifying at-risk individuals using non-invasive SOMI staging methods as aids in developing targeted interventions to slow or prevent disease progression.
Trial Registration: Norsk Forskningsråd (NFR) funded. Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC-WEST: reference number 2018/206). Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03444181 (registered retrospectively 23 February 2018).
Effects of Innovative Reinforced Concrete Slit Shaft Configuration on Seismic Performance of Elevated Water Tanks
Authors: Gurkalo Filip , Poutos Konstantinos , He Na
Published: October 2023

Elevated water tanks are considered crucial infrastructure due to their significant role in supporting essential services. A strong ground motion may result in a failure or significant damage to a reinforced concrete shaft of an elevated water tank because a formation of plastic hinges is limited to the base of the shaft, while the nonlinear properties of the rest of the shaft remain underutilised. A modification was made to a reinforced concrete shaft to enhance the seismic resistance of elevated water tanks by introducing slit zones at regular intervals that partitioned the shaft into four segments interconnected by foundation and short linked beams positioned at 5 m intervals. The slit zones were intended to increase the shaft's ductility, reduce stress concentration in the lower part of the shaft, and provide uniform stress distribution throughout the shaft's height. The comparative nonlinear dynamic study between several three-dimensional models of elevated water tanks with slit and solid reinforced concrete shafts was conducted using SAP2000 software. The research findings showed that during a seismic event, reinforced concrete shafts with slits significantly reduce seismic response values at the shaft's base of elevated water tanks with tall and slender shafts compared to short and broad shafts.
Nano- based composite - A successful treatment and preventive measure for coccidiosis in chickens
Authors: Mukherjee Riya , Yu Wei-Lung , Pandey Ramendra Pati , Chang Chung-Ming
Published: October 2023

The parasitic Eimeria species are very harmful to chickens. The chicken sector suffers enormous financial losses as a result of these parasites, primarily due to reduced production efficiency and increased control costs. Clinical coccidiosis is caused by high levels of Eimeriainfection, which is a serious hazard to chicken welfare and a contributing factor in necrotic enteritis. Controlling Eimeria parasites and coccidiosis is thus a critical endeavor; several methods have been developed, and they are frequently used in tandem. Because of their enormous surface area to volume ratio and rapid absorption in the body, nanoparticles can be introduced to feed and provide a good platform for incorporating in diverse chemicals, such as vitamin supplements. We investigate the current state of formula product utilization as a chicken feed additive, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of nano-feed. The major goal of this experiment is to examine whether the attack of cecal coccidia (E. tenella) isolated in the wild in Taiwan has been prevented by adding the nano silica composite as additives into the daily edible feed and drinking water of chickens, as described in the experimental design. The prevention and treatment outcomes will serve as a resource for relevant practitioners.
An online training program was effective on improving physical performance and body composition in U20 soccer players during the COVID-19 quarantine
Authors: Veeck Filipe , Grazioli Rafael , Oliveira Gabriel S. , Baroni Bruno Manfredini , Cadore Eduardo Lusa , Pinto Ronei Silveira
Published: October 2023

Background
Online physical training programs emerged as an innovative approach to avoid the detraining-induced physical fitness impairments during the COVID-19 quarantine period in athletes. However, there is conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of such training programs in soccer players.
Aim
This study aimed to verify the effects of a 15-week online training intervention during a pandemic quarantine in body composition and physical capacity of highly trained soccer players.
Methods
Sixteen male under-20 soccer players were assessed after the first period of COVID-19 quarantine (March 2020 to September 2020; 170 days), and after the second period of COVID-19 quarantine (November 2020 to February 2021, 107 days). Body composition, vertical jump height, hamstring maximum strength and aerobic capacity were assessed. The online training program was performed during the second lockdown.
Results
In comparison with first pre assessments, results showed that fat mass (-0.95 ± 1.27), free fat mass (1.22 ± 1.19), squat jump height (5.36 ± 1.99) and counter movement jump (3.19 ± 3.77) were significantly improved (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant changes in total body mass, hamstring eccentric strength, and Yo-Yo IR1 after online training (p > 0.05).
Conclusion
In summary, the findings of this study highlight the importance of carrying out an online training program during a period of absence from traditional soccer training, in order to maintain the level of physical capacities of youth soccer players.
A Systematic Review of High Impact CpG Sites and Regions for MGMT Methylation in Glioblastoma [A Systematic Review of MGMT Methylation in GBM]
Authors: Gibson David , Lambing Hannah , Bhattacharya Prithanjan , Vo Anh Huan , Tahir Peggy , Chehab Farid , Butowski Nicholas
Published: October 2023

Background
MGMT (O 6 -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase) promoter methylation is a commonly assessed prognostic marker in glioblastoma (GBM). Epigenetic silencing of the MGMT gene by promoter methylation is associated with greater overall and progression free survival with alkylating agent regimens. To date, there is marked heterogeneity in how MGMT promoter methylation is tested and which CpG sites are interrogated.
Methods
To further elucidate which MGMT promoter CpG sites are of greatest interest, we performed comprehensive searches in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase and reviewed 2,365 article abstracts. We followed the GRADE scoring system to Assess risk of bias and the quality of the studies we included.
Results
We included articles on adult glioblastoma that examined significant sites or regions within MGMT promoter for the outcomes: overall survival, progression free survival, and/or MGMT expression. We excluded systemic reviews and articles on lower grade glioma. Nine articles met inclusion criteria with variable overlap in laboratory and statistical methods employed, as well as CpG sites interrogated. Pyrosequencing or BeadChip arrays were the most popular methods utilized, and CpG sites between CpG’s 70–90 were most frequently investigated. Overall, there was moderate concordance between the CpG sites that the studies reported to be highly predictive of prognosis. Combinations or means of sites between CpG’s 73–89 were associated with improved OS and PFS. Four studies identified CpG sites associated with prognosis that were closer to the transcription start site: CpG’s 8, 19, 22, 25, 27, 32, and 38.
Conclusion
The following systematic review details a comprehensive investigation of the current literature and highlights several potential key CpG sites that demonstrate significant association with OS, PFS, and MGMT expression. However, there were several limitations within the studies such as smaller sample sizes, variance between methylation testing methods, and differences in the various statistical methods to test for association to outcome.
Pilot implementation of group-based psychotherapy led by nonspecialists for lung cancer patients with depression at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital
Authors: Do Mai Tuyet , Linh Linh Thi Thuy , Nguyen Tam Thanh , Tran Huong Thi Thanh
Published: October 2023

Aim: The prevalence of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is high, with an increasing global disease burden. This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of group-based psychotherapy in patients with NSCLC and depression in Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A non-randomized controlled intervention study was conducted on 40 depressed adult patients with NSCLC at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital (VNCH) from August 2021 to August 2022. Depression was screened for and followed up using the Patient Health Questionnaire, nine items (PHQ-9) with a cutoff 8. The virtual group intervention consisted of eight weekly sessions with the facilitation of two trained non-specialists under the supervision of a specialist. Quantitative data from 16 participants in each arm were analyzed using proper statistics, with a statistical significance 0.05.
Results: Depression remission was observed in both groups. The decrease in the median PHQ-9 score of the intervention group (from 10.5 to 7) was higher than that of the control group (from 10.5 to 9 score). However, this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The intervention reduced the risk of depression by 29% compared with the control group (RR=0.71, p<0.05). In the intervention group, five subjects who remained depressed participated in fewer sessions than the control group’s figure (1.4 vs 5.1 average) with p < 0.05.
Conclusion: The group psychological intervention led by non-specialists is a promising approach to managing mental health problems in cancer patients, especially in online formats with low cost to adapt to limited-resource contexts.
Attention-based Multimodal learning framework for Generalized Audio- Visual Deepfake Detection
Authors: Masood Momina , Javed Ali , Irtaza Aun
Published: October 2023

Deepfake media proliferated on the internet has major societal consequences for politicians, celebrities, and even common people. Recent advancements in deepfake videos include the creation of realistic talking faces and the usage of synthetic human voices. Numerous deepfake detection approaches have been proposed in response to the potential harm caused by deepfakes. However, the majority of deepfake detection methods process audio and video modality independently and have low identification accuracy. In this work, we propose an ensemble multimodal deepfake detection method that can identify both auditory and facial manipulations by exploiting correspondence between audio-visual modalities. The proposed framework comprises unimodal and cross-modal learning networks to exploit intra- and inter-modality inconsistencies introduced as a result of manipulation. The suggested multimodal approach employs an ensemble of deep convolutional neural-network based on an attention mechanism that extracts representative features and effectively determines if a video is fake or real. We evaluated the proposed approach on several benchmark multimodal deepfake datasets including FakeAVCeleb, DFDC-p, and DF-TIMIT. Experimental results demonstrate that an ensemble of deep learners based on unimodal and cross-modal network mechanisms exploit highly semantic information between audio and visual signals and outperforms independently trained audio and visual classifiers. Moreover, it can effectively identify different unseen types of deepfakes as well as robust under various post-processing attacks. The results confirm that our approach outperforms existing unimodal/multimodal classifiers for audio-visual manipulated video identification.
Mining Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics of Rapeseed Production Layout Based on Big Data Visualization
Authors: Keyi Liu , Yunpeng Cui
Published: October 2023

As one of China's important oilseed crops, the optimization of rapeseed production layout holds significant importance for the restructuring of the country's agricultural industry. This study employs a large-scale data mining and analysis model to quantify the evolution of rapeseed production centroid in both the entire nation and Hubei Province. Leveraging the visualization tool Qlik Sense for thematic design, two themes emerge: "Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics of National Rapeseed Production Layout" and "Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics of Rapeseed Production Layout in Hubei Province". These visualization themes feature robust interactive effects, enabling a flexible presentation of the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the rapeseed production layout. By examining the migration paths, magnitudes, and directions of production centroids, a quantitative exploration of the dynamic spatiotemporal evolution patterns of rapeseed production on both national and provincial scales is conducted, providing foundational support for decision-making concerning the spatial layout of rapeseed production.
Performance evaluation of seasonal precipitation forecasting using NMME over West Africa
Authors: Tchinda Armand Feudjio , Tanessong Roméo Stève , Nonki Rodric Mérimé , Mamadou Ossénatou , Yepdo Zephirin Djomou
Published: October 2023

In West Africa (WA) in recent years, users in agriculture, hydrology, disaster risk management, health and many other sectors have expressed a growing demand for high-resolution seasonal forecasts with a sufficient lead time for response planning. We present a regional evaluation of precipitation forecasts from 14 North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) seasonal forecast models, using Global precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) and Africain Rainfall Climatology Version 2 (ARC2) as a reference over the June-September (JJAS) season. We first assessed the quality of the forecasts in reproducing the climatology, then the quality of each individual model as well as the ensemble model in predicting the quality of forecasts in WA at a 0–5 month lead time. The results show that NMME models capture the seasonal rainfall climatology of the JJAS season over the central, and southeastern parts of WA around 11 mm/day. We found that, in most cases, precipitation skill was highest during the first lead time (i.e. the initialization month's forecasts) and declined rapidly thereafter. The performance of each model in forecasting seasonal precipitation for the JJAS season shows a high ability to predict normal conditions, and appears not to predict below- and above-normal seasons well (Probability of Detection (POD) of less than 40%). Overall, the performance of the NMME ensemble mean (MME) was not consistently better than that of a single individual model, underlining the need for more advanced weight-based averaging schemes. The NMME forecasting system offers a promising skill set for forecasting seasonal precipitation over WA during the JJAS season at first lead time.
Wildlife target detection based on improved YOLOX-s network
Authors: XiaoAn Bao , LinQing Zhou , XiaoMei Tu , Biao Wu , QingQi Zhang , YuTing Jin , Na Zhang
Published: October 2023

Addresses the problem of poor detection accuracy or even false detection of wildlife caused by rainy environment at night. In this paper, a wildlife target detection algorithm based on improved YOLOX-s network is proposed. The algorithm improves the accuracy of wildlife detection at night, rainy day and reduces the probability of false detection of wildlife in this complex environment. Firstly, the MobileViT-Pooling module is proposed based on the MobileViT attention mechanism, which uses a spatial pooling operator with no parameters as a token mixer module to reduce the number of network parameters. This module performs feature extraction on three feature layers of the backbone network output respectively, senses the global information and strengthens the weight of the effective information. Secondly, the Dynamic Head module is used on the downstream task of network detection, which fuses the information of scale sensing, spatial sensing, and task sensing and improves the representation ability of the target detection head. Finally, the Focal idea is utilized to improve the IoU loss function, which balances the learning of high and low quality IoU for the network. The wildlife dataset used in this paper is from a provincial nature reserve in Zhejiang Province。Experimental results show that the improved YOLOX-s network achieves an mAP@0.5 of 87.8%, an increase of 7.9%, and an mAP@0.5:0.95 of 62.0%, a 5.3% improvement.
Single Cell Multiome Atlas of the Human Developing Retina
Authors: Chen Rui , Zuo Zhen , Cheng Xuesen , Ferdous Salma , Shao Jianming , Li Jin , Liu Jiaxiong , Jacobo Antonio , Li Yumei , Moshiri Ala
Published: October 2023

Development of retina is under tight temporal and spatial control. To gain insights of the molecular underpinning of this process, we generated a single-nuclei multiome atlas of the human developing retina with approximately 300,000 nuclei from 12 donors aged between 10 and 23 weeks post-conception with matched macula and peripheral regions from each donor. This atlas captures all major cell classes and over 50 cell types in the retina along with a large proportion of progenitors and cell-type-specific precursors. Cell trajectory analysis reveals a transition from continuous progression in early progenitor cells to a hierarchical development during the later stages of cell type specification. Both known and novel candidate transcription factors, along with gene regulatory networks that drive the transitions of various cell fates, are identified. Comparisons between macular and peripheral retina indicate a largely consistent yet distinct developmental pattern. In particular, the retinoic acid pathway emerges as a potential key driver for retinal patterning. This multiome developing retina atlas offers unparalleled resolution into the transcriptional and chromatin accessibility landscape during development, presenting an invaluable resource for deeper insights into retinal development and associated diseases.
Macrophages reside in the muscle spindle to control sensorimotor function at millisecond timescale
Authors: Giovanni Simone Di , Yan Yuyang , Vargas Irene , Xu Luyang , Antolin Nuria , Kong Guiping , Palmisano Ilaria , Yi Yang , Chadwick Jessica , Mueller Franziska , Bull Anthony , Celso Cristina Lo , Primiano Guido , Servidei Serenella , Bellardita Carmelo
Published: October 2023

The stretch reflex is a fundamental component of the motor system that orchestrates the coordinated muscle contractions underlying movement. At the heart of this process lie the muscle spindles (MS), specialized receptors finely attuned to fluctuations in tension within intrafusal muscle fibers. The tension variation in the MS triggers a series of neuronal events; an initial depolarization of sensory type Ia afferents that subsequently causes the activation of a motoneurons within the spinal cord. This neuronal cascade culminates in the execution of muscle contraction, underscoring a presumed closed-loop mechanism between the musculoskeletal and nervous systems.
In contrast, surprisingly here we report the discovery of a new population of macrophages with exclusive molecular and functional signatures within the muscle spindle that express the machinery for synthesizing and releasing glutamate. Using mouse intersectional genetics with optogenetics and electrophysiology, we show that activation of muscle spindle macrophages (MSMP) drives proprioceptive sensory neuron firing at a millisecond timescale. This subsequently activates spinal circuits, motor neurons, and muscles via a glutamate-dependent mechanism. Additionally, we found that MSMP can also respond to the activation of the stretch reflex circuitry by increasing the expression of glutaminase, enabling them to convert the glutamine released by myocytes during muscle contraction into glutamate.
Our results have identified a new cellular component, the MSMP, that directly regulates neural activity and muscle contraction. The glutamate-mediated signalling of MSMP and their dynamic response to sensory cues introduces a novel dimension to our understanding of sensation and motor action, potentially offering innovative therapeutic approaches in conditions that affect sensorimotor function.