bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The wilt pathogen induces different variations of root-associated microbiomes of plant
Authors: Tao Jiemeng , Yu Shizhou , Jin Jingjing , Lu Peng , Yang Zhixiao , Xu Yalong , Chen Qiansi , Li Zefeng , Cao Peijian
Published: September 2022

Root-associated compartments, including the rhizosphere, rhizoplane, and endosphere, live with diverse microbial communities which profoundly affect plant growth and health. However, a systematic understanding of the microbiome assembly across the rhizosphere, rhizoplane, and endosphere under pathogen invasion remains elusive. Using 16S high-throughput sequencing, we studied how bacterial wilt disease affected the variation and assembly of the three continuous root-associated microbiomes of tobacco. The results indicated that microorganisms were gradually filtered from the rhizosphere to the endosphere. With the pathogen invasion, the rhizosphere, rhizoplane and endosphere microbiomes selected and recruited different beneficial bacterial taxa. Some recruited bacteria were also identified as keystone members in networks (i.e., Bosea in the endosphere). The microbiomes of endosphere and rhizoplane were more sensitive to plant disease than the rhizosphere microbiome. Still, response strategies of the rhizoplane and endosphere to disease were obviously different. Microbial networks of the rhizoplane became complex in diseased samples and genes involved in sporulation formation and cell cycle were enriched. However, microbial networks of the diseased endosphere were disrupted, and functional genes related to nitrogen utilization and chemotaxis were significantly increased, indicating the importance of nitrogen resources supply of plants for the endosphere microbiome under pathogen invasion. Our results provide novel insights for understanding the different responses of the root-associated microbiomes to plant disease.
Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed the regulatory mechanism of sulfur application in grain yield and protein content in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
Authors: Liu Zhilian , Liu Dongcheng , Fu Xiaoyi , Du Xiong , Zhang Yuechen , Zhen Wenchao , Li Shan , Yang Haichuan , He Suqin , Li Ruiqi
Published: September 2022

Sulfur fertilizers play an important role in increasing the yield and improving the dough quality of bread wheat, but their regulatory mechanism remains unclear. In this study, 0 kg·ha−1 (S0) and 60 kg·ha−1 (S60) of sulfur were applied on the anthesis date; subsequently, immature wheat grains at 8, 13, and 18 days post-anthesis (DPA) were subjected to integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to investigate the changes in the gene/metabolite activity in a typical strong-gluten wheat, Gaoyou2018 (GY2018). Our data show that the S60 treatment could significantly increase the grain yield and grain protein content by 13.2 and 3.6%, respectively. The transcriptomic analysis revealed that 10,694 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were induced by S60 from 8 to 18 DPA when compared with their corresponding no-sulfur controls, and most DEGs were mainly involved in lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism pathways. Ninety-seven MYB transcription factors (TFs) were identified as responsive to the S60 treatment; of these, 66 showed significantly differential expression at 13 DPA, and MYB118 might participate in the process of sulfur metabolism by regulating glucosinolate synthesis. In total, 542 significantly enriched differentially expressed (DE) metabolites (DEMs) were identified following the S60 treatment, which mainly included secondary metabolites, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Several metabolites (e.g., glutathione, sucrose, GDP-alpha-D-glucose, and amino acids) exhibited altered abundances following the S60 treatment. The combination of transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses highlighted the important role of amino acid metabolism (especially cysteine, methionine, and glutathione metabolism) and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways after S60 application. Our results provide valuable information enhancing our understanding of the molecular mechanism of the response to sulfur and provide useful clues for grain protein quality formation and yield improvement in bread wheat.
Carbon isotope and soluble metabolites reflect physiological status among contrasting faba bean genotypes in response to water deficit
Authors: Muktadir Md Abdul , Merchant Andrew , Sadeque Abdus , Tanveer Mohsin , Adhikari Kedar Nath , Huang Liping
Published: September 2022

Identification and validation of biomarkers and bioindicators to select genotypes with superior tolerance to water deficit (WD) under field conditions are paramount to plant breeding programs. However, the co-occurrence of different abiotic stresses such as WD, heat, and radiation makes it difficult to develop generalized protocols to monitor the physiological health of the plant system. The study assessed the most abundant carbohydrates and sugar alcohols in five faba bean (Vicia faba) genotypes under field conditions and the abundance of naturally occurring carbon isotopes in bulk leaf material to predict water use efficiency (WUE). Plant water status and biomass accumulation were also assessed. Among the accumulated sugars, inter-specific variation in glucose was most prevalent and was found at a higher concentration (8.52 mg g−1 leaf) in rainfed trial. myo-Inositol concentrations followed that of glucose accumulation in that the rainfed trial had higher amounts compared to the irrigated trial. WUE calculated from carbon isotope abundance was consistently offset with measured WUE from measurements of leaf gas exchange. All genotypes demonstrated significant relationships between predicted and measured WUE (p < 0.05) apart from control variety PBA Warda. Thus, bulk leaf-level carbon isotope abundance can be used to calculate WUE and used as an effective selection criterion for improving WUE in faba bean breeding programs under field conditions.
Expanding relationship science to unpartnered singles: What predicts life satisfaction?
Authors: Walsh Lisa C. , Gonzales Ariana M. , Shen Lucy , Rodriguez Anthony , Kaufman Victor A.
Published: September 2022

Singles are an understudied yet growing segment of the adult population. The current study aims to expand the lens of relationship science by examining the well-being of unpartnered, single adults using latent profile analysis. We recruited singles (N = 4,835) closely matched to the United States census (ages 18-65; 57.5% female; 71.1% White; 14.5% Black; 13.8% Hispanic) for an exploratory cross-sectional survey using five variables that strongly predict well-being (friendship satisfaction, family satisfaction, self-esteem, neuroticism, and extraversion). All five variables significantly predicted life satisfaction for the full sample. Latent profile analyses detected 10 groups (or profiles) of singles. Half of the profiles were happy (above the full sample mean of life satisfaction) and half of the profiles were unhappy (below the mean). Each profile had its own unique patterns relating to personal relationships, self-esteem, and personality traits. The happiest profile had the best relationships, self-esteem, and personality, while the unhappiest profile had the worst relationships, self-esteem, and personality. The profiles in between these two extremes had more nuanced patterns. For example, one relatively happy profile in the middle had high friendship satisfaction but low family satisfaction, while an adjacent profile showed the opposite pattern. Overall, singles who had positive relationships—both with themselves and others—were happiest.
A test of the investment model among asexual individuals: The moderating role of attachment orientation
Authors: Brozowski Alexandra , Connor-Kuntz Hayden , Lewis Sanaye , Sinha Sania , Oh Jeewon , Weidmann Rebekka , Weaver Jonathan R. , Chopik William J.
Published: September 2022

Many asexual individuals are in long-term satisfying romantic relationships. However, the contributors to relational commitment among asexual individuals have received little attention. How do investment model characteristics and attachment orientations predict relationship commitment among asexual individuals? Our study looked at a sample of 485 self-identified asexual individuals currently in a romantic relationship (Mage = 25.61, SD = 6.24; MRelationshipLength = 4.42 years, SD = 4.74). Individuals reported on Investment Model characteristics (i.e., their relationship satisfaction, investment, alternatives, and commitment) and their attachment orientations. Satisfaction, investment, and fewer alternatives were associated with greater commitment. Attachment orientations only occasionally moderated the results: for people low in anxiety, satisfaction and investment were more strongly related to commitment compared to people high in anxiety. The current study provided an extension of the Investment Model to describe romantic relationships among asexual individuals.
Gain or loss? The well-being of women in self-employment
Authors: Xiu Lin , Ren Yufei
Published: September 2022

Using data from the Chinese Household Income Project survey, we find that self-employed women have lower levels of well-being compared with their male counterparts. When comparing individuals' well-being in self-employment and wage-employment, we discover that self-employed men have higher levels of health, the standard of living, satisfaction, and life satisfaction compared with wage-employed men, whereas self-employed women have lower levels of health and life satisfaction than their counterparts in wage-employment. Furthermore, if a given self-employed man or woman had been selected for wage employment, their well-being would not improve (controlling for individual characteristics that affect the likelihood to enter self-employment). Hence, self-employed women face a double challenge: lower well-being than both self-employed men and wage-employed women. The article discusses recommendations for future research and policy implications.
Wrist accelerometry for monitoring dementia agitation behaviour in clinical settings: A scoping review
Authors: Cheung James Chung-Wai , So Bryan Pak-Hei , Ho Ken Hok Man , Wong Duo Wai-Chi , Lam Alan Hiu-Fung , Cheung Daphne Sze Ki
Published: September 2022

Agitated behaviour among elderly people with dementia is a challenge in clinical management. Wrist accelerometry could be a versatile tool for making objective, quantitative, and long-term assessments. The objective of this review was to summarise the clinical application of wrist accelerometry to agitation assessments and ways of analysing the data. Two authors independently searched the electronic databases CINAHL, PubMed, PsycInfo, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Nine (n = 9) articles were eligible for a review. Our review found a significant association between the activity levels (frequency and entropy) measured by accelerometers and the benchmark instrument of agitated behaviour. However, the performance of wrist accelerometry in identifying the occurrence of agitation episodes was unsatisfactory. Elderly people with dementia have also been monitored in existing studies by investigating the at-risk time for their agitation episodes (daytime and evening). Consideration may be given in future studies on wrist accelerometry to unifying the parameters of interest and the cut-off and measurement periods, and to using a sampling window to standardise the protocol for assessing agitated behaviour through wrist accelerometry.
Effect of working place infection control practices on workers' psychological distress: A large-scale cohort study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
Authors: Kodama Toyohiko , Ishimaru Tomohiro , Tateishi Seiichiro , Hino Ayako , Tsuji Mayumi , Ogami Akira , Nagata Tomohisa , Matsuda Shinya , Fujino Yoshihisa
Published: September 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically transformed the work environment and practices worldwide. Long-term infection control practices may increase the psychological distress of workers, and, conversely, inadequate infection control practices in the working place may increase the fear of infection. This study aimed to determine the relationship between infection control practices in the working place and employee mental state during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Methods

This study was conducted in December 2020 and February 2021. The participants had undergone a preliminary survey, which revealed that they were in a good mental state. Their psychological distress was investigated via a second survey, and the factors associated with distress were studied using a logistic model.

Results

The results of the second survey indicated that 15.3% of participants demonstrated psychological distress. This was associated with leave-of-absence instructions, instructions for shortening business hours, and requests to avoid the working place in case of any symptoms.

Conclusion

The study found that while some infection control practices reduce workers' distress, others worsen it. Employers need to consider infection control practices as well as the worsening mental state of employees following a decrease in income caused by such measures. Follow-up studies may be necessary to clarify the long-term effects on workers' mental states.
Feasibility and efficacy of an acceptance and mindfulness-based group intervention for young people with early psychosis (Feel-Good group)
Authors: von Hardenberg Laura , Leopold Karolina , Stenzel Nikola , Kallenbach Michèle , Aliakbari Navid , Bechdolf Andreas , Mehl Stephanie
Published: September 2022

Background

Over the last decade, researchers have sought for alternative interventions that have better treatment effects than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) when treating psychotic symptoms. Mindfulness-based interventions have been a proposed alternative to CBT, yet research regarding its feasibility, acceptance and effectiveness is lacking when treating individuals with early psychosis in inpatient settings.

Objective

Before conducting a large-scale randomized-controlled trial (RCT), this pilot study evaluated the feasibility and the potential efficacy of a mindfulness-based inpatient group intervention that targets emotion regulation in patients with early psychosis, and thus indirectly improving psychotic symptoms.

Methods

A pre–post study was performed. Thirty-six patients with early psychosis treated at the specialized inpatient treatment “Frühinterventions- und Therapiezentrum; FRITZ” (early intervention and therapy center) received eight group therapy sessions. Assessments were performed at baseline, after 8 weeks post treatment and at follow-up after 16 weeks.

Results

Rates of patients who participated in the study suggests that a mindfulness-based group therapy is highly accepted and feasible for patients with early psychosis being treated in an inpatient ward. Friedman analyses revealed significant changes in the primary outcomes of emotional goal attainment (Goal 1: W = 0.79; Goal 2: W = 0.71) and psychotic symptoms (PANSS-T: W = 0.74). Significant, albeit small, effect sizes were found in patients’ self-perception of emotion regulation skills (ERSQ: W = 0.23).

Discussion

We found favorable findings regarding the feasibility and acceptance of the Feel-Good mindfulness-based intervention. Results of the study provide a basis for an estimation of an adequate sample size for a fully powered RCT that needs to be conducted to test whether Feel-Good is effective in the inpatient treatment of psychotic symptoms for individuals with early psychosis.

Clinical trial registration

[https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04592042], identifier [NCT04592042].
Syphilis response policies and their assessments: A scoping review
Authors: Almeida Milena C. D. , Cordeiro António M. R. , Cunha-Oliveira Aliete , Barros Daniele M. S. , Santos Diana G. S. M. , Lima Thaísa S. , Valentim Ricardo A. M.
Published: September 2022

Syphilis is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) worldwide and has shown a rising trend in recent years, according to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021. Given this problem, the present study aims to develop a scoping review of what has been done in the world after the publication of the global strategy for the elimination of STIs, with a specific focus on syphilis. Thus, we searched for papers on health policies in response to syphilis in Pubmed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and EBSCO by CINAHL, as well as in official documents from international health organizations. The period from January 1, 2016, to August 14, 2022 was considered. Our search returned 880 papers addressing “Syphilis,” “Health Policy,” and “Health Policies” combined. Twenty-three papers fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria according to two research questions set out for this scoping review. Our findings suggest that Brazil and Peru presented the greatest adequacy of the strategies provided by WHO in 2016 and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 2017, aiming tothe goals set out in the UN's 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Among the studies found, six countries (Cuba, Thailand, Belarus, Armenia, Moldova, and Puerto Rico) reported the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of syphilis, but the most recent data are from 2016. Furthermore, it is essential to mention that no country has been found that has presented a comprehensive response to syphilis, noting the control or elimination of the disease in all key populations. Thus, it is necessary to constantly monitor national policies based on in-depth studies on the quality of the response, the challenges, and the national, regional, and global perspectives for the control of the disease until 2030, the year in which the SDGs will be reviewed.

Systematic review registration

https://osf.io/x9er5/?view_only=0cc0062222ec45dcb2f4d41484d285b6, identifier: 10.17605/OSF.IO/X9ER5.
The impact of COVID-19 on cultural industries: An empirical research based on stock market returns
Authors: Zhang Rong , Ji Hao , Pang Yu , Suo Lingling
Published: September 2022

The COVID-19 virus has challenged the development of the cultural industries seriously, so far, however few studies have used empirical methods to analyze the impact of the pandemic on the overall cultural industries. Based on the panel data of listed companies, this paper explores the impact of COVID-19 on cultural industries from the perspective of stock market returns. The empirical results show that the pandemic has a significant negative impact on the stock market returns of cultural industries, but the degrees of impact on various creative sub-sectors are significantly different. The findings also indicate that digitalization can effectively reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 on cultural companies, and the epidemic has bigger negative impacts on small and newly-established cultural companies. Moreover, we find that the stock market returns of cultural industries have an inverted U-shaped relationship with the daily growth in total confirmed cases and in total cases of death caused by COVID-19, indicating that the negative marginal impact of COVID-19 on the cultural industries increases firstly and then gradually decreases. Finally, implications for companies and governments are presented respectively based on the findings.
The impact of health insurance on self-protection of Chinese rural residents
Authors: Li Yao , Li Lei , Liu Junxia
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Health insurance lowers the price of medical services, which reduces the insured's demand for self-protection (such as, live a healthy lifestyle or invest in disease prevention) that could help reduce the probability of getting sick, then ex ante moral hazard happens. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact and its heterogeneity of health insurance on the self-protection of Chinese rural residents.

Method

This study firstly builds a theoretical model of health insurance and self-protection. Then, based on the data from the 2004 to 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), we adopt ordinary least squares model (OLS), probit model, and instrumental variable (IV) method to empirically investigate the impact of health insurance on Chinese rural residents' self-protection.

Results

After addressing the endogeneity problem, the study finds that participating in health insurance exerts a significant negative impact on the demand for self-protection. Specifically, health insurance participation not only increases residents' tendency toward drinking liquor by 3.4%, and that of having general obesity by 3.7%, but also reduces residents' preventive medical expenditure (PME) by 1.057%, increasing Body Mass Index (BMI) by 0.784 kg/m2. Further analysis shows that there is heterogeneity between groups, as health insurance participation reduces PME of people who are female, younger, and high-educated, and increases the tendency toward drinking liquor of people who are younger and low-educated.

Conclusions

To reduce the impact of ex ante moral hazard induced by health insurance, our findings suggest that it is necessary to improve the disease prevention function of health insurance and introduce a risk adjustment mechanism into the premium or co-payment design of health insurance.
Behavioral compliance with preventive health measures for students with and without hearing disability during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Yang Ying , Liu Yulu , Xiao Yanan , Qu Chengyi , Jen Philip H.-S.
Published: September 2022

Background

Hearing loss affects over 1.5 billion individuals worldwide. Their disability and limited access to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic information make them suffer a greater degree than ordinary people. However, the quantitative studies on the implementation of behavior compliance with preventive health measures for vulnerable groups such as people with hearing disability were limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the compliance with pandemic-related protective health measures among people with hearing disability.

Design

A cross-sectional survey, population-based cohort study of students aged 12–26 years with and without hearing disability was conducted. Behavioral compliance with preventive health measures was collected from the general education institutions and special education schools using an online questionnaire. Logistic regression and structural equation model were used to determine the associations among the demographic variables, different degrees of mental health status and psychological impacts, and preventive health behaviors.

Results

Among 1,589 participants, 485 (30.5%) students are with hearing disability (SHD), and 1,104 (69.5%) students with normal hearing (SNH). The SHD has a significantly lower degree of behavioral compliance with the preventive health measures than SNH has. Hearing disability and anxiety [odds ratio (OR) = 1.54–1.76, p < 0.05] are risk factors for avoiding sharing of utensils during mealtime. Hearing disability, male sex, father's education level, mother's profession, bedtime after 11:00 p.m., anxiety, and depression (OR = 1.45–2.95, p < 0.05) are risk factors for hand hygiene. Male sex (OR = 2.13, p < 0.001) is risk factor and being aged below 18 years old (OR = 0.62, p = 0.03) is protective factor for wearing masks. Exercise (OR = 0.32–0.70, p < 0.01) is the most protective factor for preventive health behaviors. Mediating effect of mental health status and psychological impacts between hearing level and the compliance with the preventive health measures was −0.044 (95% CI: −0.068 to −0.027).

Conclusions

To reduce the risk of contraction, update pandemic information, essential communication services, extra assistance, and support should be provided to these disabled persons who are more susceptible to a public health emergency.
A more than four-fold sex-specific difference of autism spectrum disorders and the possible contribution of pesticide usage in China 1990–2030
Authors: Hai Yang , Leng Guodong
Published: September 2022

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are prevalent in children and adolescents and disproportionately affect males, and the main contributing factors underlying male vulnerability remain widely unknown. Pesticide use is widely reported to be associated with ASD risk, and the cases of pesticide poisoning incidence in rural areas are remarkably higher than those in the urban areas while the prevalence of ASDs in rural areas was higher than that in urban areas and the rate of male pesticide poisoning was significantly higher than female. Thus, pesticide usage may be an important contributing factor for causing sex-specific differences of ASD incidence. ASD burden was analyzed by using the data of ASD number, ASD rate (ASD cases per 100,000 persons) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2019. The changes from 1990 to 2030 were predicted using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) in time series forecasting based on the small values of Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion. Finally, the relationship between ASD rate and pesticide usage risk index (PURI) was analyzed via Pearson's correlation coefficient. ASD number, ASD rate and DALYs will be reduced by 45.5% ± 8.2% (t = 9.100 and p = 0.0119), 56.6% ± 10.2% (t = 9.111 and p = 0.0118), and 44.9% ± 7.0% (t = 20.90 and p = 0.0023) from 1990 to 2030 in China. PURI has a strong relationship with ASD rate (rho = 0.953 to 0.988 and p < 0.0001). Pesticide poisoning incidence in males is up to 2-fold higher than that in females. ASD number and DALYs in males are 4-fold higher than those in females. Furthermore, there is growing evidence supporting that males are more susceptible than females to pesticides with sex differences in neurotoxicogenetics. Therefore, pesticide poisoning may be a contributing factor for causing the sex differences of ASD. Much work still needs to be done to confirm that.
Understanding spatiotemporal symptom onset risk of Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and hamster-related Delta AY.127
Authors: Tong Chengzhuo , Shi Wenzhong , Siu Gilman Kit-Hang , Zhang Anshu , Shi Zhicheng
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Investigation of the community-level symptomatic onset risk regarding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern, is crucial to the pandemic control in the new normal.

Methods

Investigated in this study is the spatiotemporal symptom onset risk with Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and hamster-related Delta AY.127 by a joint analysis of community-based human mobility, virus genomes, and vaccinations in Hong Kong.

Results

The spatial spread of Omicron BA.2 was found to be 2.91 times and 2.56 times faster than that of Omicron BA.1 and Delta AY.127. Identified has been an early spatial invasion process in which spatiotemporal symptom onset risk was associated with intercommunity and cross-community human mobility of a dominant source location, especially regarding enhancement of the effects of the increased intrinsic transmissibility of Omicron BA.2. Further explored is the spread of Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and Delta AY.127 under different full and booster vaccination rate levels. An increase in full vaccination rates has primarily contributed to the reduction in areas within lower onset risk. An increase in the booster vaccination rate can promote a reduction in those areas within higher onset risk.

Conclusions

This study has provided a comprehensive investigation concerning the spatiotemporal symptom onset risk of Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and hamster-related Delta AY.127, and as such can contribute some help to countries and regions regarding the prevention of the emergence of such as these variants, on a strategic basis. Moreover, this study provides scientifically derived findings on the impact of full and booster vaccination campaigns working in the area of the reduction of symptomatic infections.
Use of algae as food ingredient: sensory acceptance and commercial products
Authors: Matos Ângelo Paggi , Novelli Enrico , Tribuzi Giustino
Published: September 2022

Algal biomass or algae extracts can be used as food ingredients, meeting the needs of the consumers for nutritious, sustainable, and healthy food. Microalgae and macroalgae (seaweed) are rich in proteins, soluble fibers and polysaccharides, lipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids, pigments, vitamins, and minerals. However, one of the main challenges of using algae in food systems is related to the palatability of algae in terms of sensory as biomass may contain several odor-active volatile chemical compounds, which can be undesirable for certain algal-food product. This mini-review aim to provide an overview of nutritional compounds extracted from algae, while briefly discussing the main flavor compounds that directly affect the sensorial properties of algal biomass. Examples of new and sophisticated foods enriched with algal biomass such as plant-based fish, meat, and dairy analogues and innovative ingredients are also presented, elevating algae’s credibility as a potential source for novel food development.
Coding and educational robotics with peers: The C0D1NC experience to foster inclusion
Authors: Ponticorvo Michela , Rubinacci Franco , Dell’Aquila Elena , Marocco Davide
Published: September 2022

In the present paper, the experience of the C0D1NC project (Coding for inclusion) is described. In this project an innovative methodology based on peer-education is the core of the educational approach. High school students become “teachers” as they are trained to teach coding and robotics to younger students. This approach favors inclusion and digital inclusion. To affirm this, we evaluated different aspects: relations between peers, perceived self-efficacy, and attitude towards technology at the beginning of activities (pre-test) and the end (post-test). Results indicate that this approach can be effective to favor personal growth, improved relations between peers, and increased self-efficacy too.
The epidemiology of oral cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Italy: Incidence, survival, prevalence
Authors: Mangone Lucia , Mancuso Pamela , Bisceglia Isabella , Setti Giacomo , Malaguti Giuliano , Giorgi Rossi Paolo
Published: September 2022

Despite novel treatment approaches, oral cancer survival has not improved significantly and the disease often presents a disabling path for patients. The aim of this work was to describe the epidemiological data of oral cancers in a province of northern Italy. Incident cases in the period 1996–2020 and EU population standardized rates were reported for Oral Cavity cancer (OC) and OroPharyngeal cancer (OP). Annual percent changes (APC) were estimated with joint point analysis. The 5-year survival was calculated in three different periods: 1996–2000, 2001–2010 and 2011–2015. From 1996 to 2020, 771 cases of oral cancers (442 OC and 329 OP) were recorded with the age-standardized incidence rate 7.28 (10.74 in males and 3.97 in females): 3.82 for OC and 3.47 for OP. In males there is a significant increase in the incidence of OP up to 2017 (APC 11; 95% CI, 4.9–17.5), which then decreases; in females the rates are constant. In 2020 (the era of Covid-19), we did not see a decline in incidence compared to 2019. The 5-year survival (for cases diagnosed in 2011–2015) was 55.6%, 56.5% and 56% for OC, OP and OC + OP, respectively; it was somewhat higher in females and was undergoing some changes over the course of years. The number of prevalent cases as of 1 January 2021 is 314 (175 OC, 139 OP). The study showed a decline in cancers in men, particularly for OP; survival shows improvement in the long-term examined; Covid-19 had no negative impact on 2020 diagnoses.
Algorithmic harms and digital ageism in the use of surveillance technologies in nursing homes
Authors: Berridge Clara , Grigorovich Alisa
Published: September 2022

Ageism has not been centered in scholarship on AI or algorithmic harms despite the ways in which older adults are both digitally marginalized and positioned as targets for surveillance technology and risk mitigation. In this translation paper, we put gerontology into conversation with scholarship on information and data technologies within critical disability, race, and feminist studies and explore algorithmic harms of surveillance technologies on older adults and care workers within nursing homes in the United States and Canada. We start by identifying the limitations of emerging scholarship and public discourse on “digital ageism” that is occupied with the inclusion and representation of older adults in AI or machine learning at the expense of more pressing questions. Focusing on the investment in these technologies in the context of COVID-19 in nursing homes, we draw from critical scholarship on information and data technologies to deeply understand how ageism is implicated in the systemic harms experienced by residents and workers when surveillance technologies are positioned as solutions. We then suggest generative pathways and point to various possible research agendas that could illuminate emergent algorithmic harms and their animating force within nursing homes. In the tradition of critical gerontology, ours is a project of bringing insights from gerontology and age studies to bear on broader work on automation and algorithmic decision-making systems for marginalized groups, and to bring that work to bear on gerontology. This paper illustrates specific ways in which important insights from critical race, disability and feminist studies helps us draw out the power of ageism as a rhetorical and analytical tool. We demonstrate why such engagement is necessary to realize gerontology's capacity to contribute to timely discourse on algorithmic harms and to elevate the issue of ageism for serious engagement across fields concerned with social and economic justice. We begin with nursing homes because they are an understudied, yet socially significant and timely setting in which to understand algorithmic harms. We hope this will contribute to broader efforts to understand and redress harms across sectors and marginalized collectives.
Waiting for markets to change me—High-stakeholders' views of antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in pig production in Brazil
Authors: Albernaz-Gonçalves Rita , Olmos Antillón Gabriela , Hötzel Maria José
Published: September 2022

Overuse of veterinary antibiotics is a risk factor for antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is a global public health emergency. More than 70% of the antibiotics consumed worldwide are used in farm animals, mainly in poultry and pig herds. Brazil is the fourth largest pork producer globally and the second-largest user of antibiotics in animals. Qualitative research can help understand the complexities around antibiotic use (AMU) in Brazilian pig herds and identify stakeholders' attitudes concerning the rational AMU and AMR in the production chain. This study aimed to explore the knowledge and attitudes of high-level professionals in the animal production chain about AMU and AMR in pig farming, the relationship with pig welfare and AMU in Brazil. We conducted 32 in-depth interviews with individuals active in the pig industry. The majority of the participants considered AMU excessive and inappropriate in pig farms in Brazil. However, attitudes toward a restrictive AMU scenario in Brazilian pig farms were predominantly negative, justified by economic, sanitary and social barriers. These included unsatisfactory management and biosecurity conditions in pig farms that, in their opinion, justify AMU to prevent diseases; issues surrounding prescription and acquisition of veterinary drugs; and employment and income relationships arising from the sale of antibiotics. The views of high-level professionals in the Brazilian livestock chain reveal antibiotics as a structural element that enables pig production. Antibiotics were viewed as essential resources for producing cheap food. Foreign markets were considered the most relevant driver of change in AMU practices rather than pressure from Brazilian consumers. A common belief expressed was that AMR is more associated with the inappropriate AMU in human medicine than in the livestock sector. Resistance to change in these stakeholders may hinder the implementation of future public policies to restrict the use of antibiotics in Brazil. Our findings suggest that successful measures to deal with the AMU/AMR challenges in the pig chain shall not be rooted in personal behavior change. Instead, honest interdisciplinary dialogues and structural changes are needed to define common grounds and a way forward to break the cycle perpetuating antibiotics as structural commodities.
Taurine ameliorates volatile organic compounds-induced cognitive impairment in young rats via suppressing oxidative stress, regulating neurotransmitter and activating NMDA receptor
Authors: Gao Yongchao , Sun Chao , Gao Ting , Liu Zhiyong , Yang Zhao , Deng Hui , Fan Peng , Gao Junhong
Published: September 2022

Long-term exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in children leads to intellectual and cognitive impairment. Taurine is an essential nutritional amino acid for children, which can improve neurological development in children. However, the neuroprotective effect of taurine on VOCs-induced cognitive impairment in children remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of taurine on VOCs-induced cognitive impairment in young rats. The rats were nose-only exposed to VOCs for a period of 4 weeks to create a model of cognitive impairment, and 0.5% and 1% taurine in tap water were administered throughout the trial period, respectively. Our results showed that young rats adjusted the recovery of their physiological functions by voluntarily increasing the intake of taurine in tap water when exposed to excessive VOCs by inhalation. In addition, taurine enhanced grasp, shortened the latency period of escape, and improved the learning and memory function of young rats. Moreover, taurine decreased malondialdehyde (MDA), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Urea, Creatinine (CREA) and injury biomarker level, enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH) and glutamic acid (Glu) activities, up-regulated the protein expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and N-Methyl-d-aspartate receptor 1 (NMDAR1) in model rats, and in most of cases 1% but not 0.5%, ameliorated the defects induced by VOCs. Collectively, these findings suggested that taurine protected against VOCs-induced cognitive-behavioral impairment in young rats through inhibiting oxidative stress and regulating neurotransmitter homeostasis. In addition, taurine were capable of restoring abilities of learning and memory in young rats exposed to VOCs by activating the N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. The findings suggest taurine as a potential novel drug for the treatment of cognitive behavioral disorders in children.
Sorting motifs target the movement protein of ourmia melon virus to the trans-Golgi network and plasmodesmata
Authors: Ozber Natali , Margaria Paolo , Anderson Charles T. , Turina Massimo , Rosa Cristina
Published: September 2022

Plants have a highly sophisticated endomembrane system targeted by plant viruses for cell-to-cell movement. The movement protein (MP) of ourmia melon virus (OuMV) is delivered to plasmodesmata (PD) and forms tubules to facilitate cell-to-cell movement. In our previous work, we identified the sites of OuMV for correct subcellular localization; however, the pathways involved in PD-targeting of OuMV MP are largely unclear, and their identification was the aim of this work. In this study, we demonstrate that OuMV MP localizes to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) but not to the multivesicular body/prevacuolar compartment or Golgi, and carries two putative sorting motifs, a tyrosine (Y) and a dileucine (LL) motif, near its N-terminus. Substitutions in these motifs result in loss of OuMV infectivity in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis. Live cell imaging of GFP-labeled sorting motif mutants reveals that both motifs are required for targeting OuMV MP to PD and for efficient systemic infection but show differences in functionality. Moreover, co-immunoprecipitation assays coupled with mass spectrometry identified a series of host factors that could interact with the OuMV MP and link the MP with various pathways, in particular vesicle trafficking and membrane lipids. Our findings delineate the trafficking route of OuMV MP for PD-targeting and elucidate host factors potentially recruited by OuMV MP that could be modified to impair OuMV infection.
“It Works for Me”: Pseudotherapy Use is Associated With Trust in Their Efficacy Rather Than Belief in Their Scientific Validity
Authors: Segovia Gregorio , Sanz-Barbero Belén
Published: September 2022

Objectives:To identify how perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs towards pseudotherapies, health, medicine, and the public health system influence the pseudotherapy use in Spain.

Methods:We carried out a cross-sectional study using the Survey of Social Perception of Science and Technology-2018 (5,200 interviews). Dependent variable: ever use of pseudotherapies. Covariables: attitude towards medicine, health and public health system; perceived health; assessment of the scientific character of homeopathy/acupuncture. The association was estimated using prevalence ratios obtained by Poisson regression models. The model was adjusted for age and socioeconomic variables.

Results:Pseudotherapy use was higher in women (24.9%) than in men (14.2%) (p< 0.001). The probability of use in men (p< 0.001) and women (p< 0.001) increases with the belief in pseudotherapies’ usefulness. Among men, a proactive attitude (reference: passive) towards medicine and health (RP:1.3), and a negative (reference: positive) assessment of the quality of the public health system increased use-probability (RP:1.2). For women, poor health perceived (referencie: good) increased likelihood of use (RP:1.2).

Conclusion:Pseudotherapy use in Spain was associated with confidence in its usefulness irrespective of users’ assessment of its scientific validity.
Numerical Aeroelastic Analysis of a High-Aspect-Ratio Wing Considering Skin Flexibility
Authors: Yang Zhao , Li Jie
Published: September 2022

Aeroelastic deformation of the high-aspect-ratio wing from a solar-powered UAV will definitely lead to the difference of its performance between design and actual flight. In the present study, the numerical fluid–structural coupling analysis of a wing with skin flexibility is performed by a loosely coupled partitioned approach. The bidirectional coupling framework is established by combining an in-house developed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code with a computational structural dynamics (CSD) analysis solver and a time-adaptive coupling strategy is integrated in it to improve the computational stability and efficiency of the process. With the proposed method, the fluid–structure interactions between the wing and fluid are simulated, and the results are compared between the deformed wing and its rigid counterpart regarding the aerodynamic coefficients, transition location, and flow structures at large angles of attack. It can be observed that after deformation, the laminar transition on the upper surface is triggered earlier at small angles of attack and the stall characteristic becomes worse. The calculated difference in aerodynamic performance between the deformed and the designed rigid wing can help designers better understand the wing’s real performance in the preliminary stage of design.
Clustering Federated Learning for Bearing Fault Diagnosis in Aerospace Applications with a Self-Attention Mechanism
Authors: Li Weihua , Yang Wansheng , Jin Gang , Chen Junbin , Li Jipu , Huang Ruyi , Chen Zhuyun
Published: September 2022

Bearings, as the key mechanical components of rotary machinery, are widely used in modern aerospace equipment, such as helicopters and aero-engines. Intelligent fault diagnosis, as the main function of prognostic health management systems, plays a critical role in maintaining equipment safety in aerospace applications. Recently, data-driven intelligent diagnosis approaches have achieved great success due to the availability of large-scale, high-quality, and complete labeled data. However, in a real application, labeled data is often scarce because it requires manual labeling, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Meanwhile, health monitoring data are usually scattered in different regions or equipment in the form of data islands. Traditional fault diagnosis techniques fail to gather enough data for model training due to data security, economic conflict, relative laws, and other reasons. Therefore, it is a challenge to effectively combine the data advantages of different equipment to develop an intelligent diagnosis model with better performance. To address this issue, a novel clustering federated learning (CFL) method with a self-attention mechanism is proposed for bearing fault diagnosis. Firstly, a deep neural network with a self-attention mechanism is developed in a convolutional pipe for feature extraction, which can capture local and global information from raw input. Then, the CFL is further constructed to gather the data from different equipment with similar data distribution in an unsupervised manner. Finally, the CFL-based diagnosis model can be well trained by fully utilizing the distributed data, while ensuring data privacy safety. Experiments are carried out with three different bearing datasets in aerospace applications. The effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed method have been validated compared with other popular fault diagnosis schemes.
A Modified Location-Weighted Landscape Index to Evaluate Nutrient Retention in Agricultural Wetlands: A Case Study of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces World Heritage Site
Authors: Jiao Yuanmei , Zha Zhiqin , Xu Qiue
Published: September 2022

Understanding the influence of landscape patterns on the water quality of agricultural wetlands is critically important for their management and related decision-making. However, the question of how to quantify this objectively remains a challenge in the relevant scientific fields. In this study, the location-weighted landscape index (LWLI), a process-oriented indicator that integrates ecological processes with landscape patterns based on the source and sink theory, was modified into the SLWLI by assigning nutrient-based weights in the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces World Heritage Site (HHRT). The results indicate that the five watersheds are dominated by sink landscapes, representing 64 percent of the total area. Rice terraced fields were a composite “source–sink” landscape, and their areas in the five watersheds ranged from 4.82 to 20.40%. The nutrient retention function of the sink landscapes of total nitrogen (TN) ranged from 0.64 to 0.86, whereas the total phosphorus (TP) ranged from 0.72 to 0.82, showing good retention function in regard to both nutrients. The contribution rates of forest land and rice terraces to TN and TP retention were greater than 47.07 and 17.07%, respectively, which indicates their key regulation of the nutrient retention function, reducing the risk of water eutrophication and leading to optimized conservation. The vertical pattern of the HHRT plays an important role in nutrient retention function. The SLWLI is an effective index that can be used to assess nutrient retention function and to identify sink landscapes for regulating water pollution in agricultural wetlands.