bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Onset Autoimmune Diseases after the Sputnik Vaccine
Authors: Vera-Lastra Olga , Mora Gabriela , Lucas-Hernández Abihai , Ordinola-Navarro Alberto , Rodríguez-Chávez Emmanuel , Peralta-Amaro Ana Lilia , Medina Gabriela , Cruz-Dominguez María Pilar , Jara Luis J. , Shoenfeld Yehuda
Published: July 2023

The vertiginous advance for identifying the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 allowed the development of a vaccine including mRNA-based vaccines, inactivated viruses, protein subunits, and adenoviral vaccines such as Sputnik. This study aims to report on autoimmune disease manifestations that occurred following COVID-19 Sputnik vaccination. Patients and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on patients with new-onset autoimmune diseases induced by a post-COVID-19 vaccine between March 2021 and December 2022, in two referral hospitals in Mexico City and Argentina. The study evaluated patients who received the Sputnik vaccine and developed recent-onset autoimmune diseases. Results: Twenty-eight patients developed recent-onset autoimmune diseases after Sputnik vaccine. The median age was 56.9 ± 21.7 years, with 14 females and 14 males. The autoimmune diseases observed were neurological in 13 patients (46%), hematological autoimmune manifestations occurred in 12 patients (42%), with thrombotic disease observed in 10 patients (28%), and autoimmune hemolytic anemia in two patients (7.1%). Rheumatological disorders were present in two patients (7.1%), and endocrine disorders in one patient (3.5%). Principio del formulario Conclusion: Although the COVID-19 Sputnik vaccine is generally safe, it can lead to adverse effects. Thrombosis and Guillain-Barre were the most frequent manifestations observed in our group of patients.
Is Spontaneous Preterm Prelabor of Membrane Rupture Irreversible? A Review of Potentially Curative Approaches
Authors: Danciu Bianca Mihaela , Oţelea Marina Ruxandra , Marincaş Marian Augustin , Niţescu Maria , Simionescu Anca Angela
Published: July 2023

There is still no curative treatment for the spontaneous preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (sPPROM), the main cause of premature birth. Here, we summarize the most recent methods and materials used for sealing membranes after sPPROM. A literature search was conducted between 2013 and 2023 on reported newborns after membranes were sealed or on animal or tissue culture models. Fourteen studies describing the outcomes after using an amniopatch, an immunologic sealant, or a mechanical cervical adapter were included. According to these studies, an increase in the volume of amniotic fluid and the lack of chorioamnionitis demonstrate a favorable neonatal outcome, with a lower incidence of respiratory distress syndrome and early neonatal sepsis, even if sealing is not complete and stable. In vivo and in vitro models demonstrated that amniotic stem cells, in combination with amniocytes, can spontaneously repair small defects; because of the heterogenicity of the data, it is too early to draw a thoughtful conclusion. Future therapies should focus on materials and methods for sealing fetal membranes that are biocompatible, absorbable, available, easy to apply, and easily adherent to the fetal membrane.
Application of the OECT-Based In Vivo Biosensor Bioristor in Fruit Tree Monitoring to Improve Agricultural Sustainability
Authors: Vurro Filippo , Marchetti Edoardo , Bettelli Manuele , Manfrini Luigi , Finco Adele , Sportolaro Carlo , Coppedè Nicola , Palermo Nadia , Tommasini Maria Grazia , Zappettini Andrea , Janni Michela
Published: July 2023

Water scarcity is a major concern in agriculture worldwide. Fruit trees are severely affected by water deprivation in terms of growth, fruit yield, and quality. Plant monitoring combined with efficient irrigation is pivotal to achieve good quality standards and improve agricultural sustainability. This study reports the use of in vivo sensing technology to monitor fruit tree species continuously, in real time and in vivo, through an Organic Electrochemical Transistor (OECT)-based biosensor called Bioristor. The sensor was applied to grapevines, apples, and kiwis, revealing its capability to trace the plant water status for the whole productive cycle. A correlation between the sensor response index (R) and environmental parameters such as air humidity and temperature were recorded for fruit species. The day/night oscillation of the ionic content in the transpiration stream varies during plant growth and fruit maturation and during severe drought stress. Bioristor promptly detected the occurrence of drought stress. The gate current (Igs) trend supports the reduction in the saturation of the system due to the lower water availability. The use of Bioristor-acquired indices can be used to improve precision irrigation techniques according to the real plant needs.
Applicability and Limitations of Fluorescence Intensity-Based Thermometry Using a Palette of Organelle Thermometers
Authors: Yamazaki Takeru , Liu Xiao , Chang Young-Tae , Arai Satoshi
Published: July 2023

Fluorescence thermometry is a microscopy technique in which a fluorescent temperature sensor records temperature changes as alterations of fluorescence signals. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is a promising method for quantitative analysis of intracellular temperature. Recently, we developed small-molecule thermometers, termed Organelle Thermo Greens, that target various organelles and achieved quantitative temperature mapping using FLIM. Despite its highly quantitative nature, FLIM-based thermometry cannot be used widely due to expensive instrumentation. Here, we investigated the applicability and limitations of fluorescence intensity (FI)-based analysis, which is more commonly used than FLIM-based thermometry. Temperature gradients generated by artificial heat sources and physiological heat produced by brown adipocytes were visualized using FI- and FLIM-based thermometry. By comparing the two thermometry techniques, we examined how the shapes of organelles and cells affect the accuracy of the temperature measurements. Based on the results, we concluded that FI-based thermometry could be used for “qualitative”, rather than quantitative, thermometry under the limited condition that the shape change and the dye leakage from the target organelle were not critical.
Changing Treatment Philosophy of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE) after Introduction of the Modified Dunn Procedure (MDP): Our Experience with MDP and Its Complications
Authors: Micciulli Enrico , Ruzzini Laura , Gorgolini Giulio , Costici Pier Francesco , De Maio Fernando , Ippolito Ernesto
Published: July 2023

Background. The modified Dunn procedure (MDP) has become popular during the last 16 years to treat severely displaced slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) while “in situ” pinning (ISP) has remained valid to treat mild to moderate SCFE, although the indication limit of the Southwick angle (SA) has not yet been established for either procedure. In this context, we reviewed two cohorts of patients with SCFE, one treated by ISP and the other by MDP. We also tried to better elucidate the etiopathogenesis of hip instability, a severe complication of MDP. Methods. Fifty-one consecutive patients with 62 hips affected by SCFE were treated by us from 2015 to 2019: 48 hips with a SA ≤ 40° had ISP while 14, with the SA > 40°, had MDP. The latter also had a CT scan to better investigate the SCFE morphology. Results were assessed using the Harris Hip Score. Results. The mean length of follow up of the two cohorts was 5.4 years (range: 3 to 8 years). Of the 35 hips operated by ISP with a full follow-up evaluation, 30 had an excellent or good result, 3, fair, and 2, poor. Of the 14 hips that underwent MDP, 11 had an excellent or good result, 1, fair, and 2, poor. A CT scan showed femoro-acetabular incongruency in two unstable hips following MDP. Conclusions. We performed ISP in chronic SCFE with the SA ≤ 40° and MDP in acute and chronic SCFE with the SA > 40°, with satisfactory results. In both acute-on-chronic and chronic long-lasting SCFE with severe displacement, planned for MDP, a CT scan should be carried out to evaluate possible femoro-acetabular incongruency that may cause hip instability.
PCID2 Subunit of the Drosophila TREX-2 Complex Has Two RNA-Binding Regions
Authors: Vdovina Yulia A. , Kurshakova Maria M. , Georgieva Sofia G. , Kopytova Daria V.
Published: July 2023

Drosophila PCID2 is a subunit of the TREX-2 mRNA nuclear export complex. Although the complex has long been studied in eukaryotes, it is still unclear how TREX-2 interacts with mRNA in multicellular organisms. Here, the interaction between Drosophila PCID2 and the ras2 RNA was studied by EMSA. We show that the C-terminal region of the WH domain of PCID2 specifically binds the 3′-noncoding region of the ras2 RNA. While the same region of PCID2 interacts with the Xmas-2 subunit of the TREX-2 complex, PCID2 interacts with RNA independently of Xmas-2. An additional RNA-binding region (M region) was identified in the N-terminal part of the PCI domain and found to bind RNA nonspecifically. Point mutations of evolutionarily conserved amino acid residues in this region completely abolish the PCID2–RNA interaction, while a deletion of the C-terminal domain only partly decreases it. Thus, the specific interaction of PCID2 with RNA requires nonspecific PCID2–RNA binding.
Use of Continuous Wavelet Transform to Generate Endurance Time Excitation Functions for Nonlinear Seismic Analysis of Structures
Authors: Mamaghani Mohammadhossein , Lui Eric M.
Published: July 2023

This paper presents the use of continuous wavelet transform (CWT) to capture the frequency contents, spectra of dominant frequencies and associated time durations of real earthquakes for generating artificial excitations to perform endurance time analysis (ETA) of structures. Applying CWT to three sets of forty earthquakes, the 90 percentile frequencies that span the ranges 0.08–18.41 Hz, 0.61–12.73 Hz, and 0.56–15.53 Hz; with associated time durations of 20, 15 and 16 s, respectively, for these earthquake sets are extracted. Artificial excitations that contain these ground motion characteristics are generated, progressively scaled up and applied to the target structure until failure. The scaling used is a block-shaped envelope that increases in size by a factor of 3/2 over time. Nonlinear seismic analyses of a steel frame and a concrete bridge bent using these artificial excitations have shown that the method not only successfully predicts the base shear–roof displacement responses of these structures, it also correctly identifies behavior such as weak story, concrete spalling, and core cracking. When compared with the increment dynamic analysis and time history analysis using multiple earthquakes, the proposed method is capable of producing comparable results with a significant reduction in computational time and a much smaller output file size.
Material and Technical Analysis as a Support for Art-Historical Characterization of Selected Mural Paintings in Austria around 1400
Authors: Kriznar Anabelle
Published: July 2023

Several medieval mural cycles in Austria were studied from the material and technical point of view, aiming to confirm (or reject) the art-historical hypothesis of their stylistic and workshop connection. These paintings can be found in the churches of Rust (“Fischerkirche”), Marz (Virgin’s Coronation parish church), Kobenz (St. Ruprecht parish church), Ofenbach (St. Veid parish church), and St. Johann am Steinfelde (St. John parish church). They were carried out around 1400 in the International Gothic style. Their workshop connections based on the style are doubtful, therefore, a material and technical study was carried out. Results showed different plaster composition, similar pigment palette, and diverse painting procedures. The murals in Marz, St. Johann, and the older register in Rust reveal important similarities such as plaster composition, predominant a fresco painting technique, the use of natural inorganic pigments, as well as many aspects of the painting procedure and modeling. On the contrary, those in Kobenz, Ofenbach, and the younger register in Rust differ considerably. The second group reveals lower quality in plaster composition, larger a secco parts, addition of synthetic pigments (Kobenz), and a rougher color modeling, indicating less skilled artists. The lower quality also results in a worse conservation state of these murals. The obtained results confirm the same workshop, but different artists in the first group, while in the second group no clear workshop/artist connection could be established.
Production of Resveratrol Glucosides and Its Cosmetic Activities
Authors: Thapa Samir Bahadur , Jeon Juhee , Park Byung Gyu , Shim Dabin , Lee Chang Seok , Sohng Jae Kyung
Published: July 2023

A biocatalytic system that could produce bioactive resveratrol poly-glucosides, using sucrose as a low-cost source of UDP-glucose donors and amylosucrase DgAS from Deinococcus geothermalis, was developed in this study. This system boasts several advantages, including the rapid and direct conversion of substrates to products, thermostability, regio-stereospecificity, and effectiveness, both in vitro and in vivo, at 40 °C. The results showed that the optimal reaction condition of the production of resveratrol glucosides was obtained by 2.0 µg/mL DgAS and 100 mM sucrose at pH 7.0, incubated at 40 °C for 5 h. With a success rate of around 97.0% in vitro and 95.0% in vivo in a short period of time, resveratrol-O-glucosides showed exciting outcomes in cosmetic applications, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and whitening effects when tested with Raw 264.7, B16, and HS68 cell lines. DgAS is recognized as an important biocatalyst due to its high thermostability, effectiveness, and specificity among all known amylosucrases (ASases) in the production of poly-glucosides in a chain of polyphenols, such as resveratrol, making it an ideal candidate for industrial use in the cost-effective production of cosmetic items.
Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitors as a Powerful Cardioprotective and Renoprotective Tool: Overview of Clinical Trials and Mechanisms
Authors: Belančić Andrej , Klobučar Sanja
Published: July 2023

Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been linked to beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, blood pressure, body weight, and lipid profile, according to a substantial body of literature. Significant cardiac and renal benefits with the use of SGLT2 inhibitors have been shown in patients with type 2 diabetes, as well as in those with heart failure and/or chronic kidney disease (CKD), regardless of diabetes status, in subsequent large cardiovascular outcome trials. Thus, SGLT2 inhibitors have become a mainstay of therapy for type 2 diabetes in patients with established cardiovascular disease and CKD due to their benefits for the heart and kidneys. Based on data from randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses, this article attempts to present a thorough review of the mechanism of action, as well as the benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors for cardiac and renal protection. On the basis of a growing body of literature on diabetes and other conditions, clinical practice guidelines have been updated to suggest the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in specific patient populations. These modifications will also be concisely described, based on evidence-based medicine principles.
Quantum Simulation of the Shortcut to the Adiabatic Passage Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Authors: Liu Xin-Chang , Kong Xiang-Yu
Published: July 2023

Quantum adiabatic shortcut technology provides a technique to accelerate the quantum adiabatic process and has been widely used in various fields of quantum information processing. In this work, we proposed a two-level quantum shortcut adiabatic passage model. Then, exploiting the nuclear magnetic resonance, we experimentally simulated the dynamics of quantum shortcut adiabatic passage using the water molecules.
Contour Information-Guided Multi-Scale Feature Detection Method for Visible-Infrared Pedestrian Detection
Authors: Xu Xiaoyu , Zhan Weida , Zhu Depeng , Jiang Yichun , Chen Yu , Guo Jinxin
Published: July 2023

Infrared pedestrian target detection is affected by factors such as the low resolution and contrast of infrared pedestrian images, as well as the complexity of the background and the presence of multiple targets occluding each other, resulting in indistinct target features. To address these issues, this paper proposes a method to enhance the accuracy of pedestrian target detection by employing contour information to guide multi-scale feature detection. This involves analyzing the shapes and edges of the targets in infrared images at different scales to more accurately identify and differentiate them from the background and other targets. First, we propose a preprocessing method to suppress background interference and extract color information from visible images. Second, we propose an information fusion residual block combining a U-shaped structure and residual connection to form a feature extraction network. Then, we propose an attention mechanism based on a contour information-guided approach to guide the network to extract the depth features of pedestrian targets. Finally, we use the clustering method of mIoU to generate anchor frame sizes applicable to the KAIST pedestrian dataset and propose a hybrid loss function to enhance the network’s adaptability to pedestrian targets. The extensive experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper outperforms other comparative algorithms in pedestrian detection, proving its superiority.
When School Wasn’t “School”: Developing Culturally Responsive Practice during the COVID-19 Lockdowns
Authors: Baize Jonathan
Published: July 2023

This article emerged from my study of three alternative-certification teachers, or teacher learners as they tried to enact culturally responsive practices while navigating their first year of teaching and taking graduate courses for initial certification. These teacher learners worked to develop their understanding and capacities to enact a culturally responsive pedagogy but found that standardization of content and conceptions of what constitutes “good students”, appropriate classroom conduct, and micro-managed professional learning communities all created environments hostile to their attempts to develop as equity-minded educators and culturally responsive practitioners. However, their experiences changed once the COVID-19 pandemic closed these teacher learners’ schools to in-person instruction and sent them home to instruct online for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester. Free from the constrictive macro-structures and socio-political contexts in their physical workplaces, their planning showed them employing more culturally responsive practices and considering those practices more deeply. Once outside the cultures of practice, formed around neoliberal conceptions of success and measuring learning, these teacher learners became the sole mediators of the conflicting knowledge sources of their jobs and their university methods courses. On their own they began to confront the ways educational institutions stubbornly cling to hegemonic concepts of their communities and valorize work centered on concepts of knowledge and ways of knowing that bear little resemblance to society’s current reality. Away from the wider cultures of their schools during the COVID-19 lockdown and aided in mediating their own development using a dialogically structured lesson planning template inspired by—the Heuristic for Thinking About Culturally Responsive Teaching (HiTCRiT)—the teacher learners focused their instruction on their students making both their students’ learning and their own conceptions of CRP more real and their students’ learning more equitable.
A Cross-Domain Generative Data Augmentation Framework for Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis
Authors: Xue Jiawei , Li Yanhong , Li Zixuan , Cui Yue , Zhang Shaoqiang , Wang Shuqin
Published: July 2023

Aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA) is a crucial fine-grained sentiment analysis task that aims to determine sentiment polarity in a specific aspect term. Recent research has advanced prediction accuracy by pre-training models on ABSA tasks. However, due to the lack of fine-grained data, those models cannot be trained effectively. In this paper, we propose the cross-domain generative data augmentation framework (CDGDA) that utilizes a generation model to produce in-domain, fine-grained sentences by learning from similar, coarse-grained datasets out-of-domain. To generate fine-grained sentences, we guide the generation model using two prompt methods: the aspect replacement and the aspect–sentiment pair replacement. We also refine the quality of generated sentences by an entropy minimization filter. Experimental results on three public datasets show that our framework outperforms most baseline methods and other data augmentation methods, thereby demonstrating its efficacy.
A Resilient LoRa-Based Solution to Support Pervasive Sensing
Authors: Manzoni Pietro , Merzougui Salah Eddine , Palazzi Claudio Enrico , Pozzan Paolo
Published: July 2023

Today, billions of small devices that can sense things are connected, creating the Internet of Things (IoT). This major technological step has led to ideas like smart cities, smart factories, and smart countries. One important use of this technology is pervasive sensing, which could benefit from a network that covers a wide area but does not use much power. This paper looks closely at the advantages and disadvantages of using LoRa—a network technology that can reach long distances with limited energy use—in situations like this. To this aim, we have created a holistic solution to manage the considered network enabling synchronization, routing, and reliability. In particular, we have even developed an adaptive spreading factor mechanism, simple and effective in allowing the network to cope better when the connection is not very good.
Evaluation of the Maturity of Urban Energy Internet Development Based on AHP-Entropy Weight Method and Improved TOPSIS
Authors: Wang Yongli , Zhou Xiangyi , Liu Hao , Chen Xichang , Yan Zixin , Li Dexin , Liu Chang , Wang Jiarui
Published: July 2023

With the rapid development of communication technology and information processing technology, the construction of the Urban Energy Internet (UEI) has become one of the important construction elements of the new power system, and it is necessary to assess and analyse its development status and potential. However, the results of the current assessment of the maturity of UEI development are relatively rare, and the transformation path of urban smart energy construction needs to be studied in depth. On this basis, this study aims to propose an improved and comprehensive evaluation model for the maturity of UEI development. This study first considers the dynamic development process of the UEI and proposes an evaluation index system for the maturity of UEI development that includes three dimensions of development status, development benefits and development prospects. Secondly, a comprehensive evaluation model based on GRA-KL-TOPSIS is constructed by using the AHP-entropy weighting method to calculate the combined weights of indicators and considering the Kulla back-Leibler distance to replace the Euclidean distance in the traditional evaluation method. Finally, the maturity of Energy Internet development is calculated for five typical first-tier cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Shenyang), and the final ranking of the five cities is Shanghai > Beijing > Guangzhou > Tianjin > Shenyang. The results of the study prove the scientific validity of the model. Compared to the unimproved Topsis method, the evaluation results calculated based on the improved Topsis evaluation model are more objective and realistic in reflecting the score and rating of the cities. The analysis of the empirical results shows that cities at different stages of development should make up for their shortcomings and increase their investment in infrastructure development, technological innovation and the introduction of talents in order to accelerate the digital and intelligent development of energy.
Exploring the Impact of Vehicle Lightweighting in Terms of Energy Consumption: Analysis and Simulation
Authors: Sandrini Giulia , Gadola Marco , Chindamo Daniel , Candela Andrea , Magri Paolo
Published: July 2023

Nowadays, the topic of reducing vehicles’ energy consumption is very important. In particular, for electric vehicles, the reduction of energy consumption is necessary to remedy the most critical problems associated with this type of vehicle: the problem of the limited range of the electric traction, also associated with the long recharging times of the battery packs. To reduce use-phase impacts and energy consumptions of vehicles, it is useful to reduce the vehicle mass (lightweighting). The aim of this work is to analyze the parameters of a vehicle which influence the results of lightweighting, in order to provide guidelines for the creation of a vehicle model suitable for studying the effects of lightweighting. This study was carried out through two borderline case models, a compact car and an N1 vehicle, and simulating these through a consolidated vehicle simulation tool useful for consumption estimations. This study shows that the parameters that most influence the outcome of lightweighting are the rolling resistance, the battery pack characteristics, the aerodynamic coefficients, and the transmission efficiency, while the inertia contributions can be considered negligible. An analysis was also carried out with the variation of the driving cycle considered.
Optimal Sizing of a Photovoltaic/Battery Energy Storage System to Supply Electric Substation Auxiliary Systems under Contingency
Authors: Gonçalves Ailton , Cavalcanti Gustavo O. , Feitosa Marcílio A. F. , Dias Filho Roberto F. , Pereira Alex C. , Jatobá Eduardo B. , de Melo Filho José Bione , Marinho Manoel H. N. , Converti Attilio , Gómez-Malagón Luis A.
Published: July 2023

Electric substations (ESS) are important facilities that must operate even under contingency to guarantee the electrical system’s performance. To achieve this goal, the Brazilian national electricity system operator establishes that alternating current (AC) auxiliary systems of ESS must have, at least, two power supplies, and in the case of failure of these sources, an emergency generator (EG) must at least supply energy to the essential loads. In order to improve the availability of auxiliary systems, a microgrid with other sources, such as photovoltaic (PV) systems and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), can be an alternative. In this case, an economical optimization of the PV/BESS system must be addressed considering the costs associated with the installation and maintenance of equipment, and the gains from the credits generated by the photovoltaic system in the net metering scheme. In this paper, the size of the BESS system was determined to supply energy to the load of auxiliary systems of an ESS, as well as a PV system to achieve a null total cost. Furthermore, multi-objective optimization using the genetic algorithm technique was employed to optimize the size of the hybrid PV/BESS to minimize the investment cost and time when the demand was not met. Simulations under different scenarios of contingency were allowed to obtain the Pareto frontier for the optimal sizing of a PV/BESS system to supply energy to AC auxiliary systems in an ESS under contingency.
Searching for Phase-Locked Variations of the Emission-Line Profiles in Binary Be Stars
Authors: Miroshnichenko Anatoly S. , Chari Raghav , Danford Stephen , Prendergast Peter , Aarnio Alicia N. , Andronov Ivan L. , Chinarova Lidiia L. , Lytle Aidan , Amantayeva Ainash , Gabitova Ilfa A. , Vaidman Nadezhda L. , Baktybayev Sayat S. , Khokhlov Serik A.
Published: July 2023

There is growing evidence that many Be stars are parts of binary systems. As the B-type primaries are very fast rotators and their spectral lines may be distorted by the circumstellar material, it is not easy to measure their radial velocity directly from the spectral lines. It has been shown that some Be binaries exhibit peak intensity variations consisting of double-peaked Hα lines that are phase-locked with orbital periods. We searched for such variations in the spectra of 12 Be stars, including several known and suspected binaries. Our results include confirmation of the orbital periods in ν Geminorum, ϵ Capricorni, κ Draconis, 60 Cygni, and V2119 Cygni, its refinement in o Puppis, as well as suggesting hints for binarity in o Aquarii, BK Camelopardalis, and 10 Cassiopeae. Monitoring of the Hα line profile variations in β Canis Minoris for over the last 10 years gives further support to the existence of a 182.5-day period found earlier in a smaller set of data. A similar but still preliminary period (179.6 days) was found in the Hα line profile variations in ψ Persei. It is shown for the first time that ν Geminorum exhibits phase-locked variations in the Hα emission peak intensity ratio and, therefore, is a part of the inner binary in this triple system. Our results show that the mentioned phase-locked peak intensity variations are observed in more Be binary systems than previously known and can be used to search for binarity of Be stars when application of other methods is inconclusive.
Guiding Post-Hospital Recovery by ‘What Matters:’ Implementation of Patient Priorities Identification in a VA Community Living Center
Authors: Ritchey Katherine C. , Solberg Laurence M. , Citty Sandra Wolfe , Kiefer Lea , Martinez Erica , Gray Caroline , Naik Aanand D.
Published: July 2023

Background: Patient priorities care (PPC) is an effective age-friendly health systems (AFHS) approach to aligning care with goals derived from ‘what matters’. The purpose of this quality improvement program was to evaluate the fidelity and feasibility of the health priorities identification (HPI) process in VA Community Living Centers (CLC). Methods: PPC experts worked with local CLC staff to guide the integration of HPI into the CLC and utilized a Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) model for this quality improvement project. PPC experts reviewed health priorities identification (HPI) encounters and interdisciplinary team (IDT) meetings for fidelity to the HPI process of PPC. Qualitative interviews with local CLC staff determined the appropriateness of the health priorities identification process in the CLC. Results: Over 8 months, nine facilitators completed twenty HPI encounters. Development of a Patient Health Priorities note template, staff education and PPC facilitator training improved fidelity and documentation of HPI encounters in the electronic health record. Facilitator interviews suggested that PPC is appropriate in this setting, not burdensome to staff and fostered a person-centered approach to AFHS. Conclusions: The HPI process is an acceptable and feasible approach to ask the ‘what matters’ component of AFHS in a CLC setting.
Utilizing Design Thinking for Effective Multidisciplinary Diabetes Management
Authors: Hsieh Ming-Chen , Kuo Yu-Ming , Kuo Yu-Lun
Published: July 2023

(1) Background: Design thinking, as a human-centered design method, represents a unique framework to support the planning, testing, and evaluation of new clinical spaces for diabetic care throughout all phases of construction. This approach prioritizes the needs and experiences of diabetic patients to create innovative and effective healthcare environments. By applying design-thinking principles, healthcare facilities can optimize the design and functionality of their clinical spaces, ensuring a patient-centered approach to diabetic care. This holistic and personalized approach can ultimately enhance the overall quality of diabetic care provided to patients. (2) Methods: The study used the action research method and progressively explored diabetes patients’ needs and preferences for care, subsequently developing creative solutions to achieve the goals. There were six doctors, seven nursing staffs, four case managers and three family members who participated in the design-thinking workshop. (3) Results: The participating trainees in this study developed unique and innovative solutions during the iterative process of “divergent thinking” and “focused thinking”, including diabetes dietary guidelines for food ordering and delivery platforms, and the design of accompanying health-education picture books to enable patients to learn the care process and precautions before, during, and after discharge. (4) Conclusions: This continuing education model promoted sharing among participants, improved collaboration and mutual learning, and increased motivation through goal setting.
Development of the Japanese Version of Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire—Revised-2: Measurement and Psychometric Properties
Authors: Shirabe Ritsuko , Okada Hiroko , Okuhara Tsuyoshi , Yokota Rie , Kiuchi Takahiro
Published: July 2023

Tools to evaluate pregnancy-specific anxiety are lacking in Japan. This study aimed to develop a Japanese version of the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire—Revised-2. After scale translation and cognitive interviews, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 120 ≥18-year-old, singleton (pregnant with one baby) Japanese women before 15 weeks of pregnancy, recruited from four facilities. A total of 112 women completed the questionnaires. We tested the internal consistency, measurement error and reliability, structural validity, measurement invariance across nulliparous and parous women, construct validity by calculating omega, standard error of measurement (SEM), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), multigroup CFA, multitrait-scaling analysis, correlational analyses with other measurements, and t-test to compare nulliparous and parous groups. Omega was 0.90 for the total score. SEM was 3.4 and ICC was 0.76. The CFA revealed an optimal fit for the three-factor model based on the original scale. Multigroup CFA supported measurement invariance across the nulliparous and parous groups, and multitrait-scaling analysis revealed 100% scaling success. The correlation coefficients with other scales of childbirth anxiety and general anxiety were 0.70 and 0.24. The mean total score of the nulliparous women was higher than that of the parous women (34.5 vs. 30.3, p = 0.001). Therefore, the scale was determined to have good validity and reliability.
Exploring the Correlation between Streetscape and Economic Vitality Using Machine Learning: A Case Study in the Old Urban District of Xuzhou, China
Authors: Li Keran , Lin Yan
Published: July 2023

The streetscapes of old urban districts record the changes in urban space and the vitality of socio-economic entities like storefronts. However, prior studies of urban vitality have preferred the demand end of crowd agglomeration to the supply end of commercial businesses, while the refined application of street-view images (SVIs) and the spatial heterogeneity resulting from sectional differences among elements deserve further research. Under this context, this paper took both the alive and the closed storefronts as the objects and developed an analytical framework based on machine learning and SVIs to analyze the characteristics of the streetscape and the economic vitality, followed by a regression analysis between them with a multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model. Our findings comprise three aspects: (1) despite the sum of the storefronts being more often used, combining the alive and the closed businesses is beneficial to reflect the real economic vitality; (2) as a reflection of the spatial heterogeneity and sectional differences of elements, the asymmetric streetscape has a significant influence on the economic vitality; and (3) although different factors from the streetscape can influence economic vitality differently, based on varied proxies of the vitality, three factors, namely, higher difference value of the signboards, higher sum of glass interfaces, and lower difference value of the glass interfaces, can benefit the economic vitality. This research can support urban physical examination and the regeneration of old urban districts for urban planners, designers, and decision-makers, and provide new perspectives and proxies as well as a more fine-grained analysis among the traditional studies on economic vitality.
A Web GIS Platform to Modeling, Simulate and Analyze Flood Events: The RiverCure Portal
Authors: Rodrigues da Silva Alberto , Estima Jacinto , Marques Jorge , Gamito Ivo , Serra Alexandre , Moura Leonardo , Ricardo Ana , Mendes Luís , Ferreira Rui
Published: July 2023

Flood events are becoming more severe, causing significant problems to human communities, including physical, psychological, and material damage. For both flood forecasting in emergency response situations and flood mapping, georeferencing and data curation are paramount in the context of prevention or preparedness. Hence, data display, data management, and articulation with numerical simulation results must occur on GIS platforms. Our research is motivated by recent advances in Web and GIS technologies, social sensing and high-performance computing, and an envisaged wider availability of remote sensing data. This paper presents and discusses an innovative Web GIS platform named “RiverCure Portal” or “RCP” for short. This platform combines observations and hydrodynamic modelling tools to support various stages of the flood risk management cycle, including operational response, emergency preparedness, and risk assessment. RCP is a multi-organization, multi-context digital platform with flexible configuration features to define and support multiple sensor types and modelling options, satisfying the various needs of different organizations and stakeholders. In addition, this paper discusses the RiverCure Approach, which encompasses the following tasks directly supported by the RCP platform: defining the context and involved geometries, associating sensors to the context, pre-processing and generating the context mesh, defining the simulation event, running the simulation event, and analyzing the results from the simulation event. Thus, the RCP streamlines and simplifies data analysis and simulation procedures to meet decision-makers’ needs. The novelties discussed in this paper include the design and discussion of a Web GIS platform that allows (i) to manage flood data and results of simulations at several contextual levels by different stakeholders such as domain experts, decision-makers, researchers, or students; (ii) to process and curate sensed data obtained from physical and social sensors; and (iii) update the state and values of the parameters of simulation tools through continuous data assimilation techniques for forecasting purposes. Finally, this paper supports the explanation and discussion with a running example, “Águeda 2016 flood” event, which dataset is publicly available for further study and experimentation.
Cryopreservation of Ovarian and Testicular Tissue and the Influence on Epigenetic Pattern
Authors: Trapphoff Tom , Dieterle Stefan
Published: July 2023

Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) or testicular tissue cryopreservation (TTC) are effective and often the only options for fertility preservation in female or male patients due to oncological, medical, or social aspects. While TTC and resumption of spermatogenesis, either in vivo or in vitro, has still be considered an experimental approach in humans, OTC and autotransplantation has been applied increasingly to preserve fertility, with more than 200 live births worldwide. However, the cryopreservation of reproductive cells followed by the resumption of gametogenesis, either in vivo or in vitro, may interfere with sensitive and highly regulated cellular processes. In particular, the epigenetic profile, which includes not just reversible modifications of the DNA itself but also post-translational histone modifications, small non-coding RNAs, gene expression and availability, and storage of related proteins or transcripts, have to be considered in this context. Due to complex reprogramming and maintenance mechanisms of the epigenome in germ cells, growing embryos, and offspring, OTC and TTC are carried out at very critical moments early in the life cycle. Given this background, the safety of OTC and TTC, taking into account the epigenetic profile, has to be clarified. Cryopreservation of mature germ cells (including metaphase II oocytes and mature spermatozoa collected via ejaculation or more invasively after testicular biopsy) or embryos has been used successfully for many years in medically assisted reproduction (MAR). However, tissue freezing followed by in vitro or in vivo gametogenesis has become more attractive in the past, while few human studies have analysed the epigenetic effects, with most data deriving from animal studies. In this review, we highlight the potential influence of the cryopreservation of immature germ cells and subsequent in vivo or in vitro growth and differentiation on the epigenetic profile (including DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, and the abundance and availability of relevant transcripts and proteins) in humans and animals.
Dectin-1-Independent Macrophage Phagocytosis of Mycobacterium abscessus
Authors: Ochoa Alma E. , Congel Jack H. , Corley Jodi M. , Janssen William J. , Nick Jerry A. , Malcolm Kenneth C. , Hisert Katherine B.
Published: July 2023

Mycobacterium abscessus, a species of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), is an opportunistic pathogen that is readily cleared by healthy lungs but can cause pulmonary infections in people with chronic airway diseases. Although knowledge pertaining to molecular mechanisms of host defense against NTM is increasing, macrophage receptors that recognize M. abscessus remain poorly defined. Dectin-1, a C-type lectin receptor identified as a fungal receptor, has been shown to be a pathogen recognition receptor (PRR) for both M. tuberculosis and NTM. To better understand the role of Dectin-1 in host defense against M. abscessus, we tested whether blocking Dectin-1 impaired the uptake of M. abscessus by human macrophages, and we compared M. abscessus pulmonary infection in Dectin-1-deficient and wild-type mice. Blocking antibody for Dectin-1 did not reduce macrophage phagocytosis of M. abscessus, but did reduce the ingestion of the fungal antigen zymosan. Laminarin, a glucan that blocks Dectin-1 and other PRRs, caused decreased phagocytosis of both M. abscessus and zymosan. Dectin-1−/− mice exhibited no defects in the control of M. abscessus infection, and no differences were detected in immune cell populations between wild type and Dectin-1−/− mice. These data demonstrate that murine defense against M. abscessus pulmonary infection, as well as ingestion of M. abscessus by human macrophages, can occur independent of Dectin-1. Thus, additional PRR(s) recognized by laminarin participate in macrophage phagocytosis of M. abscessus.
Antimicrobial Effect of Ocimum gratissimum L. Essential Oil on Shewanella putrefaciens: Insights Based on the Cell Membrane and External Structure
Authors: Xie Yao , Zhang Chi , Mei Jun , Xie Jing
Published: July 2023

The main objective of this study was to assess the in vitro antibacterial effectiveness of Ocimum gratissimum L. essential oil (OGEO) against Shewanella putrefaciens. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of OGEO acting on S. putrefaciens were both 0.1% and OGEO could inhibit the growth of S. putrefaciens in a dose-dependent manner. The restraint of the biofilm growth of S. putrefaciens was found in the crystal violet attachment assay and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The disruption of cell membranes and exudation of contents in S. putrefaciens with OGEO treatment were observed by scanning electron microscopy, hemolysis and ATPase activity. The results demonstrated that OGEO had a positive inhibitory effect on the growth of S. putrefaciens, which primarily developed its antibacterial function against S. putrefaciens by disrupting the formation of biofilms and cell membranes. This study could provide a new method of inhibiting the spoilage of food in which the dominant spoilage bacteria are S. putrefaciens.
Establishment of a Rapid Detection Method for Yeast-like Symbionts in Brown Planthopper Based on Droplet Digital PCR Technology
Authors: Zhang Jun , Lai Chengling , Shentu Xuping , Hao Peiying , Pang Kun , Yu Xiaoping
Published: July 2023

The brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (BPH) is a typical monophagous sucking rice pest. Over the course of their evolution, BPH and its symbionts have established an interdependent and mutually beneficial relationship, with the symbionts being important to the growth, development, reproduction, and variation in virulence of BPH. Yeast-like symbionts (YLS), harbored in the abdomen fat body cells of BPH, are vital to the growth and reproduction of the host. In recent research, the symbionts in BPH have mainly been detected using blood cell counting, PCR, real-time quantitative PCR, and other methods. These methods are vulnerable to external interference, cumbersome, time consuming and laborious. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) does not need a standard curve, can achieve absolute quantification, does not rely on Cq values, and is more useful for analyzing copy number variation, gene mutations, and relative gene expression. A rapid detection method for the YLS of BPH based on ddPCR was established and optimized in this study. The results showed that the method’s limits of detection for the two species of YLS (Ascomycetes symbionts and Pichia guilliermondii) were 1.3 copies/μL and 1.2 copies/μL, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the sample repetition was less than 5%; therefore, the ddPCR method established in this study had good sensitivity, specificity, and repeatability. It can be used to detect the YLS of BPH rapidly and accurately.