bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Over-prescription of short-acting β2-agonists for asthma in South Africa: Results from the SABINA III study
Authors: Smith C , Ambaram A , Mitha E , Abdullah I , Abdullah I A , Reddy J , Trokis J , Ramlachan P , Govind U , Lightfoot K , Moodley K , Smit R , Beekman M J H I
Published: December 2022

Background. Asthma medication prescription trends, including those of short-acting β2-agonists (SABAs), are not well documented for South Africa (SA).Objectives. To describe demographics, disease characteristics and asthma prescription patterns in the SA cohort of the SABA use IN Asthma (SABINA) III study.

Methods. An observational, cross-sectional study conducted at 12 sites across SA. Patients with asthma (aged ≥12 years) were classified by investigator-defined asthma severity, guided by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2017 recommendations, and practice type (primary/ specialist care). Data were collected using electronic case report forms.Results. Overall, 501 patients were analysed − mean (standard deviation) age, 48.4 (16.6) years; 68.3% female − of whom 70.6% and 29.4% were enrolled by primary care physicians and specialists, respectively. Most patients were classified with moderate-to-severe asthma (55.7%; GINA treatment steps 3 - 5), were overweight or obese (70.7%) and reported full healthcare reimbursement (55.5%). Asthma was partly controlled/uncontrolled in 60.3% of patients, with 46.1% experiencing ≥1 severe exacerbations in the 12 months before the study visit. Overall, 74.9% of patients were prescribed ≥3 SABA canisters in the previous 12 months (over-prescription); 56.5% were prescribed ≥10 SABA canisters. Additionally, 27.1% of patients reported purchasing SABA over-the-counter (OTC); among patients with both SABA purchase and prescriptions, 75.4% and 51.5% already received prescriptions for ≥3 and ≥10 SABA canisters, respectively, in the preceding 12 months.

Conclusion. SABA over-prescription and OTC purchase were common in SA, demonstrating an urgent need to align clinical practices with the latest evidence-based recommendations and regulate SABA OTC purchase to improve asthma outcomes.
Normalising lung ultrasound
Authors: Maasdorp S D
Published: December 2022

-
[2022: a year dedicated to groundwater under the slogan “making the invisible, visible”]
Authors: Lasagna Manuela , Da Pelo Stefania , Rusi Sergio
Published: December 2022

[In Italian]
Between Tyranny and Democracy: Political Exiles and the History of Heraclea Pontica
Authors: Loddo Rita Laura
Published: December 2022

In the surviving fragments of his treatise On Heraclea the historian Memnon assigns a central role to the exiles from Heraclea. As opponents of tyranny, they represented a destabilising element, a constant danger to the survival of the Clearchid regime. This article explores the events that led to the banishment of the exiles, reconstructs the politics of expulsion implemented by the tyrants, and clarifies the status of the exiles and their political orientation in the light of Memnon’s frequent juxtaposition of the exiles’ demand to return to their homeland and the restoration of democracy.
Remaking the American Dream
Authors: Mukhija Vinit
Published: December 2022

The redefinition of the single-family house, the urban landscape, and the American Dream.

Sitting squarely at the center of the American Dream, the detached single-family home has long been the basic building block of most US cities. In Remaking the American Dream, Vinit Mukhija considers how this is changing, in both the American psyche and the urban landscape.

In defiance of long-held norms and standards, single-family housing is slowly but significantly transforming through incremental additions of second and third units. Drawing on empirical evidence of informal and formal changes, Remaking the American Dream documents homeowners' quiet unpermitted modifications, conversions, and workarounds, as well as gradual institutional alterations to once-rigid local land-use regulations. Mukhija's primary case study is Los Angeles and the role played by the State of California—findings he contrasts with the experience of other cities including Santa Cruz, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, and Vancouver. In each instance, he shows how, and asks why, homeowners are adapting their homes and governments are changing the rules that regulate single-family housing to allow for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or second units.

Key to Mukhija's research is the question of why the idea of single-family living is changing and what this means for the future of US cities. The answer, this book suggests, heralds nothing less than a redefinition of American urbanism—and the American Dream.
Body mass index and childhood symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A within-family Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Hughes Amanda M , Sanderson Eleanor , Morris Tim , Ayorech Ziada , Tesli Martin , Ask Helga , Reichborn-Kjennerud Ted , Andreassen Ole A , Magnus Per , Helgeland Øyvind , Johansson Stefan , Njølstad Pål , Davey Smith George , Havdahl Alexandra , Howe Laura D , Davies Neil M
Published: December 2022

Background:

Higher BMI in childhood is associated with emotional and behavioural problems, but these associations may not be causal. Results of previous genetic studies imply causal effects but may reflect influence of demography and the family environment.

Methods:

This study used data on 40,949 8-year-old children and their parents from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN). We investigated the impact of BMI on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 8. We applied within-family Mendelian randomization, which accounts for familial effects by controlling for parental genotype.

Results:

Within-family Mendelian randomization estimates using genetic variants associated with BMI in adults suggested that a child’s own BMI increased their depressive symptoms (per 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI, beta = 0.26 S.D., CI = −0.01,0.52, p=0.06) and ADHD symptoms (beta = 0.38 S.D., CI = 0.09,0.63, p=0.009). These estimates also suggested maternal BMI, or related factors, may independently affect a child’s depressive symptoms (per 5 kg/m2 increase in maternal BMI, beta = 0.11 S.D., CI:0.02,0.09, p=0.01). However, within-family Mendelian randomization using genetic variants associated with retrospectively-reported childhood body size did not support an impact of BMI on these outcomes. There was little evidence from any estimate that the parents’ BMI affected the child’s ADHD symptoms, or that the child’s or parents’ BMI affected the child’s anxiety symptoms.

Conclusions:

We found inconsistent evidence that a child’s BMI affected their depressive and ADHD symptoms, and little evidence that a child’s BMI affected their anxiety symptoms. There was limited evidence of an influence of parents’ BMI. Genetic studies in samples of unrelated individuals, or using genetic variants associated with adult BMI, may have overestimated the causal effects of a child’s own BMI.

Funding:

This research was funded by the Health Foundation. It is part of the HARVEST collaboration, supported by the Research Council of Norway. Individual co-author funding: the European Research Council, the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, the Research Council of Norway, Helse Vest, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the University of Bergen, the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, the Trond Mohn Foundation, the Western Norway Regional Health Authority, the Norwegian Diabetes Association, the UK Medical Research Council. The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the University of Bristol support the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit.
Personality traits are consistently associated with blood mitochondrial DNA copy number estimated from genome sequences in two genetic cohort studies
Authors: Oppong Richard F , Terracciano Antonio , Picard Martin , Qian Yong , Butler Thomas J , Tanaka Toshiko , Moore Ann Zenobia , Simonsick Eleanor M , Opsahl-Ong Krista , Coletta Christopher , Sutin Angelina R , Gorospe Myriam , Resnick Susan M , Cucca Francesco , Scholz Sonja W , Traynor Bryan J , Schlessinger David , Ferrucci Luigi , Ding Jun
Published: December 2022

Background:

Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in tissues and blood can be altered in conditions like diabetes and major depression and may play a role in aging and longevity. However, little is known about the association between mtDNAcn and personality traits linked to emotional states, metabolic health, and longevity. This study tests the hypothesis that blood mtDNAcn is related to personality traits and mediates the association between personality and mortality.

Methods:

We assessed the big five personality domains and facets using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), assessed depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), estimated mtDNAcn levels from whole-genome sequencing, and tracked mortality in participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Results were replicated in the SardiNIA Project.

Results:

We found that mtDNAcn was negatively associated with the Neuroticism domain and its facets and positively associated with facets from the other four domains. The direction and size of the effects were replicated in the SardiNIA cohort and were robust to adjustment for potential confounders in both samples. Consistent with the Neuroticism finding, higher depressive symptoms were associated with lower mtDNAcn. Finally, mtDNAcn mediated the association between personality and mortality risk.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, this is the first study to show a replicable association between mtDNAcn and personality. Furthermore, the results support our hypothesis that mtDNAcn is a biomarker of the biological process that explains part of the association between personality and mortality.

Funding:

Support for this work was provided by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging (Z01-AG000693, Z01-AG000970, and Z01-AG000949) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health. AT was also supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health Grant R01AG068093.
Neurovascular anatomy of dwarf dinosaur implies precociality in sauropods
Authors: Schade Marco , Knötschke Nils , Hörnig Marie K , Paetzel Carina , Stumpf Sebastian
Published: December 2022

Macronaria, a group of mostly colossal sauropod dinosaurs, comprised the largest terrestrial vertebrates of Earth’s history. However, some of the smallest sauropods belong to this group as well. The Late Jurassic macronarian island dwarfEuropasaurus holgeriis one of the most peculiar and best-studied sauropods worldwide. So far, the braincase material of this taxon from Germany pended greater attention. With the aid of micro-computed tomography (microCT), we report on the neuroanatomy of the nearly complete braincase of an adult individual, as well as the inner ears (endosseous labyrinths) of one other adult and several juveniles (the latter also containing novel vascular cavities). The presence of large and morphologically adult inner ears in juvenile material suggests precociality. Our findings add to the diversity of neurovascular anatomy in sauropod braincases and buttress the perception of sauropods as fast-growing and autonomous giants with manifold facets of reproductive and social behaviour. This suggests that – apart from sheer size – little separatedEuropasaurusfrom its large-bodied relatives.
Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and classification using deep learning techniques
Authors: Al Shehri Waleed
Published: December 2022

Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects brain memory mainly in aged people. Alzheimer’s disease occurs worldwide and mainly affects people aged older than 65 years. Early diagnosis for accurate detection is needed for this disease. Manual diagnosis by health specialists is error prone and time consuming due to the large number of patients presenting with the disease. Various techniques have been applied to the diagnosis and classification of Alzheimer’s disease but there is a need for more accuracy in early diagnosis solutions. The model proposed in this research suggests a deep learning-based solution using DenseNet-169 and ResNet-50 CNN architectures for the diagnosis and classification of Alzheimer’s disease. The proposed model classifies Alzheimer’s disease into Non-Dementia, Very Mild Dementia, Mild Dementia, and Moderate Dementia. The DenseNet-169 architecture outperformed in the training and testing phases. The training and testing accuracy values for DenseNet-169 are 0.977 and 0.8382, while the accuracy values for ResNet-50 were 0.8870 and 0.8192. The proposed model is usable for real-time analysis and classification of Alzheimer’s disease.
Direito autoral de criações feitas por inteligência artificial: diferentes percepções para o mesmo dilema
Authors: Santo Alex do Espirito , Marques Thiago Domingos , Leite Breno Ricardo de Araújo , Frey Irineu Afonso Frey
Published: December 2022

A Inteligência Artificial (IA) tem possibilitado grandes avanços em diversos campos da ciência e atividades do cotidiano da sociedade, principalmente pela capacidade de realizar tarefas de forma mais rápida e mais eficaz em comparação ao desempenho humano, entretanto existe um dilema acerca da autoria de uma criação feita por IA. Para esclarecer esta questão, este trabalho foi idealizado com o objetivo de identificar as diferentes percepções sobre o tratamento dado ao direito autoral de criações de IA, do ponto de vista de estudiosos do campo da Propriedade Intelectual, cortes judiciais e o poder legislativo de alguns países e as disposições legais brasileiras atualmente disponíveis para solucionar esse impasse no Brasil. A metodologia utilizada no trabalho foi a pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, para coletar artigos científicos e documentos governamentais que tratassem da temática. Os resultados demonstraram que existem quatro posicionamentos distintos para o autor: o criador da IA, o usuário da IA, o criador do banco de dados que alimentou a IA e ninguém, ou seja, a obra fará parte do domínio público, sendo esta a opção que mais obteve registros na pesquisa realizada em dez países pesquisados.
Protective Role of Hypericum perforatum L. and Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra against Inflammatory Diseases: Evidence from In vitro and In vivo Studies
Authors: Kmail Abdalsalam
Published: December 2022

More than 500 species of Hypericum are located throughout Europe, North America, North Africa, and Asia. These plants have a long history of employment in folk medicine as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral medicines, as well as for the treatment of burns, gastrointestinal problems, and depression. The most significant species of this genus are Hypericum perforatum L. and Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra because of their pharmacological activities. Hypericum perforatum L. and Hypericum triquetrifolium are widely known for their efficacy in reducing inflammation and improving wound healing. The main reason these plants have been used for treatment of mild to moderate depression. Nevertheless, some similar species are also utilized in conventional medicine and have been previously analyzed for their biological activity and phytochemical composition. The main classes of active substances are found in Hypericum species, including naphthodianthrones (such as hypericin and pseudohyperricin), phloroglucinols (such as hyperforin), flavonoids (such as rutin, hyperoside, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, and amentoflavone), and phenylpropanoids (chlorogenic acid). This review's objective is to provide a summary of the most recent research on potential medicinal uses for Hypericum perforatum L., and Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra.
Effect of Halal Certification on Logistic Performance and Financial Performance
Authors: Santosa Calvin William , Fahma Fakhrina , Damayanti Retno Wulan
Published: December 2022

Amid increasingly fierce competition in the food business, halal certification is a source of excellence. Halal certification is now a step businesses can take to increase their successful business performance. This study aims to provide business actors with a deeper understanding of the impact of halal certification on company performance by analyzing the effect of halal certification on logistic performance and financial performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based on processed meat and cowhide in Surakarta. This study is based on a purposive sampling survey of SMEs producing processed meat and cowhide in Surakarta that has obtained halal certification. The PLS-SEM method was used to process the data. This research shows that halal certification has a good and significant impact on the logistical and financial performance of SMEs producing processed meat and cowhide in Surakarta. This founding indicates that halal certification has an impact and may be considered by business actors who have yet to go through the process.
Machine Learning models for the Cognitive Stress Detection Using Heart Rate Variability Signals
Authors: Izzah Nailul , Sutarto Auditya Purwandini , Hariyadi Mohamad
Published: December 2022

Cognitive domains play a critical role in daily functioning. The prediction of cognitive stress state is important to better monitor work performance. This study aims to explore machine learning models to detect cognitive load or state using heart rate variability (HRV) signals. HRV data were recorded from thirty subjects during rest, two cognitive tasks (d2 Attention and Featuring Switcher task), and recovery. Seven HRV indexes from both time and frequency domains, extracted from raw R-R intervals, were used to identify whether subjects performed cognitive tasks or not. Five classifier models: linear support vector machine (LSVM), kernel SVM radial basis function, k-nearest neighbor (KNN), and random forest (RF), were trained and evaluated using a leave-one-out cross-validation approach. The accuracies and F1-score range from 0.54 to 0.62, with LSVM, showing the best. These acceptable performances indicate the machine learning approach could be used to further distinguish between rest and cognitive state. With the ubiquity of non-invasive and low-cost wearable devices, this finding offers insight to be incorporated into personal work performance monitoring in the digital age.
Prospecção Tecnológica do Setor Moveleiro: panorama dos depósitos de registros de desenho industrial de móveis no Brasil
Authors: Teixeira Paulo Cesar dos Santos , Machado da Rocha Carlos Alberto
Published: December 2022

A indústria moveleira brasileira tem um papel de destaque no cenário mundial, apresentando números importantes de produção e de exportação. Contudo, quanto dessa produção nacional é protegida por registro de Desenho Industrial? Para analisar esse panorama, o presente trabalho de pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar os dados de pedidos de registro de Desenho Industrial de móveis no Brasil. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foi realizado um levantamento de pedidos de depósitos de registro de Desenho Industrial, no Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) entre os anos de 1996 a 2021, utilizando como termo de busca “mobiliário” e somente as subclasses de 06-01 a 06-06. Com isso, foram encontrados 125 pedidos de registro de Desenho Industrial. Embora o resultado obtido esteja relacionado apenas ao recorte abordado nesse levantamento, ele sugere que há a necessidade de criar e fomentar políticas públicas de incentivo à inovação e proteção desses ativos tecnológicos em nosso país.
Pessoas trans e educação:
Authors: Salvador Nayara Rios Cunha , Franco Niel
Published: December 2022

Seguindo o rastro de outras pesquisas bibliográficas, este estudo apresenta uma revisão sistematizada sobre a relação entre pessoas trans e educação, tendo como recorte o período de 2014 a 2018. A partir de buscas nos sites SciELO, Google Acadêmico e Google, bem como em páginas de eventos sobre gênero e sexualidade, foram encontradas 41 publicações em diferentes formatos – textos em anais de eventos, artigos em periódicos, dissertações e teses. O material foi analisado à luz das teorias pós-críticas e a partir de uma abordagem qualitativa. Como resultado, evidenciou-se um maior número de trabalhos sobre pessoas trans na categoria de artigos e capítulos, a prevalência de pesquisas na região Sul do país e produções em menor número no que se refere à região Centro-Oeste e Norte. Considerando estudos anteriores, constatou-se que houve um aumento de produções em todos os cenários de publicação. Este artigo destaca, ainda, que grande parte dos estudos encontrados teve como foco mulheres transexuais e travestis, sendo reduzido o número de trabalhos sobre homens trans e/ou transmasculinidades.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Pessoas trans. Escola. Transfobia. Exclusão.
Discurso de ódio homofóbico nas redes sociais:
Authors: Lopes Marluce Moura , Castro Roney Polato de
Published: December 2022

Este trabalho tem por objetivo problematizar discursos de ódio que têm circulado nas redes sociais, especialmente desde o período eleitoral de 2018, proferidos pelo então candidato e hoje presidente, Jair Messias Bolsonaro. Ensaia-se as possibilidades de análise sobre como o discurso de ódio contra pessoas LGBTQIA+ se dissemina, encontra apoiadores/as e pode estar relacionado aos casos de violências que vêm ocorrendo fora do espaço virtual, como as violências verbal e física. As motivações para esta escrita emergem de nossa atenção a esses discursos, tendo em vista nosso vínculo com um curso de especialização em relações de gênero e sexualidades de uma universidade pública federal e com os estudos de gênero e sexualidade sob perspectivas construcionistas e pós-críticas. Problematizamos as falas públicas do político como estratégias de poder para legitimar privilégios e reiterar na linguagem – enquanto produtora do mundo e das subjetividades preconceitos e violências direcionadas a sujeitos dissidentes da cisheteronormatividade. Para tanto, recorremos a um levantamento de vídeos, postagens e comentários no Facebook do então candidato à presidência, à época de sua candidatura, e, eventualmente, de seus filhos: o senador Flávio Bolsonaro, o deputado federal Eduardo Bolsonaro e o vereador Carlos Bolsonaro.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Discurso de ódio. Pessoas LGBTQIA+. Rede social. Família Bolsonaro. Homofobia.
Comparison of US Firearm-Related Deaths Among Children and Adolescents by Race and Ethnicity, 1999-2020
Authors: Mariño-Ramírez Leonardo , Jordan I. King , Nápoles Anna María , Pérez-Stable Eliseo J.
Published: December 2022

This study assesses racial and ethnic differences in overall burden of firearm-related mortality and in change in firearm-related mortality among youths from 1999 to 2020.
Effect of Pessary vs Surgery on Patient-Reported Improvement in Patients With Symptomatic Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Authors: van der Vaart Lisa R. , Vollebregt Astrid , Milani Alfredo L. , Lagro-Janssen Antoine L. , Duijnhoven Ruben G. , Roovers Jan-Paul W. R. , van der Vaart Carl H.
Published: December 2022

Importance

Pelvic organ prolapse is a prevalent condition among women that negatively affects their quality of life. With increasing life expectancy, the global need for cost-effective care for women with pelvic organ prolapse will continue to increase.

Objective

To investigate whether treatment with a pessary is noninferior to surgery among patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse.

Design, Setting, and Participants

The PEOPLE project was a noninferiority randomized clinical trial conducted in 21 participating hospitals in the Netherlands. A total of 1605 women with symptomatic stage 2 or greater pelvic organ prolapse were requested to participate between March 2015 through November 2019; 440 gave informed consent. Final 24-month follow-up ended at June 30, 2022.

Interventions

Two hundred eighteen participants were randomized to receive pessary treatment and 222 to surgery.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was subjective patient-reported improvement at 24 months, measured with the Patient Global Impression of Improvement scale, a 7-point Likert scale ranging fromvery much bettertovery much worse. This scale was dichotomized as successful, defined asmuch betterorvery much better, vs nonsuccessful treatment. The noninferiority margin was set at 10 percentage points risk difference. Data of crossover between therapies and adverse events were captured.

Results

Among 440 patients who were randomized (mean [SD] age, 64.7 [9.29] years), 173 (79.3%) in the pessary group and 162 (73.3%) in the surgery group completed the trial at 24 months. In the population, analyzed as randomized, subjective improvement was reported by 132 of 173 (76.3%) in the pessary group vs 132 of 162 (81.5%) in the surgery group (risk difference, −6.1% [1-sided 95% CI, −12.7 to ∞];Pvalue for noninferiority, .16). The per-protocol analysis showed a similar result for subjective improvement with 52 of 74 (70.3%) in the pessary group vs 125 of 150 (83.3%) in the surgery group (risk difference, −13.1% [1-sided 95% CI, −23.0 to ∞];Pvalue for noninferiority, .69). Crossover from pessary to surgery occurred among 118 of 218 (54.1%) participants. The most common adverse event among pessary users was discomfort (42.7%) vs urinary tract infection (9%) following surgery.

Conclusions and Relevance

Among patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse, an initial strategy of pessary therapy, compared with surgery, did not meet criteria for noninferiority with regard to patient-reported improvement at 24 months. Interpretation is limited by loss to follow-up and the large amount of participant crossover from pessary therapy to surgery.

Trial Registration

Netherlands Trial Register Identifier:NTR4883
Trends and Disparities in Glycemic Control and Severe Hyperglycemia Among US Adults With Diabetes Using Insulin, 1988-2020
Authors: Venkatraman Siddharth , Echouffo-Tcheugui Justin B. , Selvin Elizabeth , Fang Michael
Published: December 2022

Importance

There have been major advances in insulin delivery and formulations over the past several decades. It is unclear whether these changes have resulted in improved glycemic control for patients with diabetes.

Objective

To characterize trends and disparities in glycemic control and severe hyperglycemia in US adults with diabetes using insulin.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This serial population-based cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1988-1994 and 1999-2020. Participants were nonpregnant US adults aged 20 years or older who had a diagnosis of diabetes and were currently using insulin.

Exposures

Diabetes diagnosis and use of insulin.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Trends in glycemic control (glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] level <7%) and severe hyperglycemia (HbA1c level >10%; to convert percentage of total hemoglobin to proportion of total hemoglobin, multiply by 0.01; to convert to millimoles per mole, multiply by 10.93 and subtract by 23.50) overall and by age, race and ethnicity, and indicators of socioeconomic status were evaluated using logistic regression. Analyses incorporated sample weights to account for oversampling of certain populations and survey nonresponse.

Results

There were 2482 participants with diabetes using insulin included in the analyses (mean [SD] age, 59.8 [0.4] years); 51.3% were men, 7.0% were Mexican American individuals, 17.9% were non-Hispanic Black individuals, and 65.2% were non-Hispanic White individuals. From 1988-1994 to 2013-2020, the proportion of patients with diabetes who received insulin and achieved glycemic control did not significantly change, from 29.2% (95% CI, 22.6%-36.8%) to 27.5% (95% CI, 21.7%-34.2%). Mexican American adults who received insulin were less likely than non-Hispanic White adults to achieve glycemic control, and disparities increased during the study period. The proportion of adults with severe hyperglycemia did not significantly change and was 14.6% (95% CI, 12.0-17.5) in 2013-2020. Adults who were Mexican American or non-Hispanic Black, were uninsured, or had low family income had the highest prevalence of severe hyperglycemia.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this population-based cross-sectional study of NHANES data over the past 3 decades, glycemic control stagnated and racial and ethnic disparities increased among US adults with diabetes who received insulin. Efforts to improve access to insulin may optimize glycemic control and reduce disparities in this population.
Composite adaptive finite‐time fuzzy control for switched nonlinear systems with preassigned performance
Authors: Sun Peng , Song Xiaona , Song Shuai , Stojanovic Vladimir
Published: December 2022

This article investigates the composite adaptive fuzzy finite‐time prescribed performance control issue of switched nonlinear systems subject to the unknown external disturbance and performance requirement. First, by utilizing the compensation and prediction errors, the piecewise switched composite parameter update law is employed to improve the approximation accuracy of the unknown nonlinearity. Then, the improved fractional‐order filter and error compensation signal are introduced to cope with the influences caused by the explosive calculation and filter error, respectively. Meanwhile, the effect of the compound disturbances consisting of the unknown disturbances and approximation errors is reduced appropriately by designing the piecewise switched nonlinear disturbance observer. Moreover, stability analysis results prove that the proposed preassigned performance control scheme not only ensures that all states of the closed‐loop system are practical finite‐time bounded, but also that the tracking error converges to a preassigned area with a finite time. Ultimately, the simulation examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
Molten Salt Strategy for Reproducible Evaporation of Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells
Authors: Li Hang , Tan Liguo , Jiang Chaofan , Li Minghao , Zhou Junjie , Ye Yiran , Liu Yue , Yi Chenyi
Published: December 2022

Vacuum evaporation is promising for the scalable fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Nevertheless, the poor thermal conductivity of metal halide powder leads to unfavorable temperature inhomogeneity, which destabilizes the evaporation rate, posing a major challenge to the reproducible deposition of perovskite films, particularly by coevaporation. Herein, a molten salt strategy is reported for sequentially vacuum evaporation of PSCs. The molten salt increases the thermal conductivity of metal halides and greatly homogenizes the temperature, which stabilizes the evaporation rate and the composition of the resulting perovskite films. The PSCs yield power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of ≈24% with exceptional reproducibility. The unencapsulated PSCs maintain 85% of the initial PCE after 3600 h of maximum power point tracking and maintain 85% of the initial PCE after being heated at 60 °C for 3000 h. The molten salt strategy opens a new avenue for the application of evaporation in perovskite optoelectronics.
Delivering mRNA to Secondary Lymphoid Tissues by Phosphatidylserine‐Loaded Lipid Nanoparticles
Authors: Gomi Masaki , Sakurai Yu , Sato Minami , Tanaka Hiroki , Miyatake Yumi , Fujiwara Koichi , Watanabe Mizuki , Shuto Satoshi , Nakai Yuta , Tange Kota , Hatakeyama Hiroto , Akita Hidetaka
Published: December 2022

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are one of the most successful technologies in messenger RNA (mRNA) delivery. While the liver is the most frequent target for LNP delivery of mRNA, technologies for delivering mRNA molecules to extrahepatic tissues are also important. Herein, it is reported on the development of an LNP that targets secondary lymphoid tissues. New types of alcohol‐soluble phosphatidylserine (PS) derivatives are designed as materials that target immune cells and then incorporated into LNPs using a microfluidic technique with a high degree of scalability and reproducibility. The resulting LNP that contained the synthesized PS delivered mRNA to the spleen much more efficiently compared to a control LNP. A sub‐organ analysis revealed that the PS‐loaded LNP is extensively taken up by tissue‐resident macrophages in the red pulp and the marginal zone of the spleen. Thus, the PS‐loaded LNP reported in this study will be a promising strategy for clinical applications that involve delivering mRNA to the spleen.
Perspectives of 2D MXene Tribology
Authors: Rosenkranz Andreas , Righi Maria Clelia , Sumant Anirudha V. , Anasori Babak , Mochalin Vadym N.
Published: December 2022

The large and rapidly growing family of 2D early transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides (MXenes) raises significant interest in the materials science and chemistry of materials communities. Discovered a little more than a decade ago, MXenes have already demonstrated outstanding potential in various applications ranging from energy storage to biology and medicine. The past two years have witnessed increased experimental and theoretical efforts toward studying MXenes’ mechanical and tribological properties when used as lubricant additives, reinforcement phases in composites, or solid lubricant coatings. Although research on the understanding of the friction and wear performance of MXenes under dry and lubricated conditions is still in its early stages, it has experienced rapid growth due to the excellent mechanical properties and chemical reactivities offered by MXenes that make them adaptable to being combined with other materials, thus boosting their tribological performance. In this perspective, the most promising results in the area of MXene tribology are summarized, future important problems to be pursued further are outlined, and methodological recommendations that could be useful for experts as well as newcomers to MXenes research, in particular, to the emerging area of MXene tribology, are provided.
Anisotropic Nanoparticle Arrays Guided by Ordered Nanowire Films Enhance Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering
Authors: Sheng Si‐Zhe , Zheng Shi‐Qiao , Feng Xue‐Fei , Zhou Ling‐Ran , Tao Zhen‐Chao , Liu Jian‐Wei
Published: December 2022

Designing high‐efficiency surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates has attracted explosive attention in recent decades for their novel and potential applications. Great achievements have been made to optimize the intrinsic activity of nanomaterial in SERS substrates, while little attention has been paid to the unique structural design of the nanomaterial building blocks. Herein, a new strategy is provided for assembling Au nanoparticles into well‐defined ordered structures by using a highly ordered arrangement nanowires template to explore the ordering effect on the SERS performance. The highly ordered Au nanoparticle arrays show a detection limit of 10−9 m that exceeds disordered Au particles by two orders of magnitude, as well as over treble enhancement factor at the same detection concentration. Importantly, this novel scientific discovery can be further confirmed in various probed molecules or nanoparticles with different diameters, which means SERS substrate design can be pushed forward further combined with traditional intrinsic activity design.
Precisely Confined AIEgens in Giant Imidazolium–Terpyridinyl Cuboctahedra with Enhanced Fluorescence for Single Supramolecule
Authors: Yu Min‐Ya , Guan Yu‐Ming , Bai Qixia , Su Peiyang , Wang Pingshan , Xie Ting‐Zheng
Published: December 2022

To study the fluorescent behavior of quantitatively confined aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) molecules in a giant cavity, herein a new type of coordination‐driven cuboctahedron cage is presented, with 12 AIE molecules anchored endohedrally linked with different‐length alkyl chains. The cage with confined tetraphenylethylene molecules shows strong fluorescence in highly diluted conditions (4 × 10−7 m). The fluorescence quantum yield can be altered from 3.23% up to 81.37%, upon prolonging the length of alkyl chains to C16. The study shows a great potential application in biology mimic and fluorescent microscopes utilizing confined or isolated fluorescent methods.
Data‐Driven Intelligent Manipulation of Particles in Microfluidics
Authors: Fang Wen‐Zhen , Xiong Tongzhao , Pak On Shun , Zhu Lailai
Published: December 2022

Automated manipulation of small particles using external (e.g., magnetic, electric and acoustic) fields has been an emerging technique widely used in different areas. The manipulation typically necessitates a reduced‐order physical model characterizing the field‐driven motion of particles in a complex environment. Such models are available only for highly idealized settings but are absent for a general scenario of particle manipulation typically involving complex nonlinear processes, which has limited its application. In this work, the authors present a data‐driven architecture for controlling particles in microfluidics based on hydrodynamic manipulation. The architecture replaces the difficult‐to‐derive model by a generally trainable artificial neural network to describe the kinematics of particles, and subsequently identifies the optimal operations to manipulate particles. The authors successfully demonstrate a diverse set of particle manipulations in a numerically emulated microfluidic chamber, including targeted assembly of particles and subsequent navigation of the assembled cluster, simultaneous path planning for multiple particles, and steering one particle through obstacles. The approach achieves both spatial and temporal controllability of high precision for these settings. This achievement revolutionizes automated particle manipulation, showing the potential of data‐driven approaches and machine learning in improving microfluidic technologies for enhanced flexibility and intelligence.
Electro‐Powerless Balloon Soft Actuator with Manually Driven Fluidic Circuit
Authors: Matsuda Ryosuke , Song Zihao , Ota Hiroki
Published: December 2022

Balloon‐type actuators have attracted scientific attention because they allow easy control of the output intensity and a high degree‐of‐freedom regarding shape and movement. However, they require bulky external pumps and electric power suppliers. This makes miniaturization and wearable device fabrication difficult. Herein, a balloon soft actuator that does not require a pneumatic pump or electric power supplier, and that uses a finger‐operated pump based on a fluidic circuit and catalytic reaction, is proposed. This device can be driven without electric power multiple times by applying a vent valve system to exhaust the generated gas. Further, it is applied to two different types of applications—soft robots and wearable devices—by optimizing their structure and material. In conclusion, the proposed device is expected to lead to the development of a broad range of soft actuators for stand‐alone robots and wearable devices in the future.
“Faces on a screen”: A qualitative study of the virtual and in‐person conference experience
Authors: Gottlieb Michael , Sebok‐Syer Stefanie S. , Bawden Abigail , Shah Meeta , Jordan Jaime
Published: December 2022

Introduction

The strengths and weaknesses of virtual and in‐person formats within continuing professional development (CPD) are incompletely understood. This study sought to explore attendees' perspectives across multiple specialties regarding benefits and limitations of conference formats and strategies for successful virtual and hybrid (i.e., in‐person conferences with a virtual option) conferences.

Methods

From December 2020 to January 2021, semistructured interviews were conducted with participants who attended both virtual and in‐person CPD conferences. Purposive sampling was utilized to ensure diverse representation of gender, years in practice, location, academic rank, specialty, and practice type. Multiple specialties were intentionally sought to better understand the broader experience among physicians in general, rather than among a specific specialty. Using modified grounded theory approach with a constructivist–interpretivist paradigm, two investigators independently analyzed all interview transcripts. Discrepancies were resolved by in‐depth discussion and negotiated consensus.

Results

Twenty‐six individuals across 16 different specialties were interviewed. We identified three overarching concepts: motivations to attend conferences, benefits and limitations of different conference formats, and strategies to optimize virtual and hybrid conferences. Specific motivators included both professional and personal factors. Benefits of in person included networking/community, immersion, and wellness, while the major limitation was integration with personal life. Benefits of virtual were flexibility, accessibility, and incorporation of technology, while limitations included technical challenges, distractions, limitations for tactile learning, and communication/connection. Benefits of hybrid included more options for access, while limitations included challenges with synchrony of formats and dilution of experiences. Strategies to improve virtual/hybrid conferences included optimizing technology/production, facilitating networking and engagement, and deliberate selection of content.

Conclusions

This study identified several benefits and limitations of each medium as well as strategies to optimize virtual and hybrid CPD conferences. This may help inform future CPD conference planning for both attendees and conference planners alike.
Limbic Predominant Age‐related TDP‐43 Encephalopathy Neuropathological Change (LATE‐NC) is Associated with Lower Diffusion Anisotropy in Medial Temporal Lobe White Matter
Authors: Tazwar Mahir , Evia Arnold M , Tamhane Ashish A , Ridwan Abdur Raquib , Bennett David A , Schneider Julie A , Arfanakis Konstantinos
Published: December 2022

Background

Limbic predominant age‐related TDP‐43 encephalopathy neuropathological change (LATE‐NC) is now recognized as a common neuropathological disorder of the aging brain and is associated with accelerated cognitive decline. However, the MRI signature of LATE‐NC has not been fully determined. In this work, we hypothesized that abnormalities in white matter (WM) structural integrity caused by LATE‐NC may be detected by means of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

Method

This study included 148 individuals participating in Rush Memory and Aging Project, and Religious Orders Study (Fig.1). Ex‐vivo DTI images were acquired using 3T scanners, followed by detailed histopathologic examination by a board‐certified neuropathologist (Fig.2). As a post‐processing step, fractional anisotropy (FA) maps generated from DTI images were aligned to an ex‐vivo FA template and projected onto the corresponding WM skeleton.

Voxel‐wise analysis was performed on the WM skeleton to investigate the association of FA with LATE‐NC, controlling for Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy bodies, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, cerebral infarcts, atherosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, age at death, sex, years of education, postmortem interval to fixation and imaging, total white matter hyperintensity volume, and scanner. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Using the voxels that showed significance in this analysis, (1) probable WM connections passing through them were extracted, (2) FA values were compared between LATE‐NC stages 1, 2, 3 and stage 0 (after adjusting for covariates).

Result

Voxel‐wise analysis revealed lower FA for greater LATE‐NC burden in medial temporal lobe WM (Fig.3). The connections traversing this WM region included fibers connecting amygdala, temporal pole, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, fusiform, insula, and putamen (Fig.4). No voxel showed positive association between FA and LATE‐NC. Comparison of adjusted FA values in medial temporal lobe WM across LATE‐NC stages revealed significant FA anomalies between stages 0 and 3 (ΔFA=‐0.06, FDR‐corrected p<10‐6) (Fig.5).

Conclusion

The present study in autopsied brains of community‐based older adults showed lower diffusion anisotropy with greater LATE‐NC burden involving WM connections between regions consistent with the known distribution of LATE‐NC. Overall, this pattern may potentially contribute towards the development of an in‐vivo tool for the prediction of this devastating, recently recognized disease entity.
Three‐stage classification of Alzheimer's disease in MRI in clinical records of the Mass General Brigham Health Care System
Authors: Leming Matthew , Das Sudeshna , Im Hyungsoon
Published: December 2022

Background

Diagnostic deep learning has frequently been applied to diagnosis of Alzheimer's and Mild Cognitive Impairment in brain MRIs collected in a controlled research setting, but due to the presence of confounding factors, similar methods have rarely been applied post‐hoc to clinical MRI. Data matching, or the matching of datasets across different classes with respect to a number of confounds, is a method of finding subsets of an overall dataset, that can be used to mitigate the confounding factor problem.

Method

467,464 multimodal clinical MRIs of the brain from 37,311 patients in the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Healthcare System were either excluded (based on presence of neoplasms or head trauma) or labeled as AD, MCI, or control, based on a previous prescription of rivastigmine, galantamine, or donepezil (MCI), or memantine (AD), or the lack of a history of central nervous system medications. A data matching algorithm was applied to 18 technical and demographic confounding factors to isolate an unconfounded matched dataset set to train an ensemble of five 3D ResNet‐50 deep learning models. Across the ensemble, the test set totaled 287,367 files. See Figure 1.

Result

In distinguishing controls from AD/MCI on a per‐patient basis, an AUROC of 0.82 was achieved, though with lower performance in distinguishing between AD and MCI. Variations in performance were seen with MRI modality, with MPRAGE having the highest performance overall (0.859 AUROC). See Figure 2.

Conclusion

When carefully accounting for confounds, the use of deep learning models is feasible in the analysis of highly‐confounded clinical MRI.