bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Acoustic and optical biometry
Authors: Stachs Oliver
Published: January 2024

Ocular biometry is a diagnostic method in ophthalmology that uses various techniques to measure the different parts of the eye. It involves the use of instruments that can measure the axial length of the eye, corneal curvature, anterior chamber depth, and other parameters related to the eye's structure. Ocular biometry is crucial in diagnosing and monitoring various eye conditions, especially cataracts but also glaucoma, and myopia. One of the most important techniques used in ocular biometry is optical biometry. Optical biometry involves the use of specialized devices that use light to measure the length of the eye. This technique is very accurate and is the gold standard in measuring axial length, which is essential in determining the correct power of intraocular lenses for cataract surgery as myopia and macular degeneration. Another technique used in ocular biometry is acoustical biometry. This technique uses sound waves to measure the axial length of the eye. Today, acoustical biometry is less commonly used than optical biometry but is still an important tool in certain cases. For example, in eyes with dense cataracts, where the optical media is opaque, acoustical biometry may be the only option for accurate measurement. This talk summarizes the up‐to‐date techniques in ocular biometry is an essential tool in ophthalmology for accurate diagnosis, monitoring, as well as treatment of various eye conditions, and addresses pit and pitfalls.
Cell and animal models of age‐related macular degeneration: Focus on oxidative stress and protein aggregation
Authors: Koskela Ali
Published: January 2024

Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial disease with a long asymptomatic development period. Due to its multifactorial feature and slow development, disease modelling capturing all the elements becomes difficult if not impossible. The disease has a strong genetic background in form of certain polymorphisms in the complement system and ARMS2/HTRA1 genes providing tools for studies regarding genetics. However, AMD is much more than genetics. At least prolonged oxidative stress and subsequent protein accumulation and aggregation together with local inflammation developing to chronic in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are the key elements of the cellular pathogenesis of AMD. The RPE cells are quiescent and responsible for the wellbeing of the entire retina functioning as the link between choroidal vasculature and other layers of the retina providing necessary support for normal retinal functions. Therefore, disturbance on the cellular homeostasis of the RPE compromise the function of the entire retina. Despite being such an integral part of the retina responsible for the vision, the RPE cells withstand one the highest levels of oxidative stress throughout a lifetime of an individual. This sets certain demands for the antioxidant system's capacity to eliminate harmful oxidant molecules and prevent the spread of oxidative injury inside the cell leading to oxidative stress. However, constant oxidative challenge leads to damages on the protective system and becomes more deleterious over time. Proteins are especially prone to oxidative damage resulting increased levels of dysfunctional or aggregating proteins challenging the repair/degradative systems of the cell. Modification of oxidative status or protein degradation systems have been shown to simulate the disease state in the RPE cells and leading to a disease resembling phenotype. In vitro models are efficient tools studying certain cell specific molecular pathways such as oxidative stress, function of antioxidant defence system, and repair/degradative pathways and discovering potential druggable targets. In vivo animal models offer information how these pathways function in a native environment and how the in vitro results are translated to a functional living organism. Also, animal models offer information about the potential administration routes as well as important pharmacological data, for example. The use of most common animals in research, rodents, needs genetic engineering, for example, to achieve desired disease modelling phenotype often lacking some critical features of the disease. However, the use of these models has greatly increased the understanding of AMD pathogenesis, lead to new discoveries on disease development later confirmed in patient population, and offered new treatment strategies.
Treating corneal perforation related to neurotrophic keratitis
Authors: Nanavaty Mayank
Published: January 2024

Aim of this presentation: To present various scenarios of impending and actual perforation in the background of neurotrophic keratitis and its understanding of its aetiology and management.

Presentation: This will be aimed an intermediate and specialist level. The audience will gain insight into the aetiology of impending and actual perforation, history and diagnostics related to it. The audience will also learn about acute and long term management of this condition.
A nanotechnology‐based solution for epi‐on corneal cross‐linking
Authors: Pais Rita , Cidra João Pedro , Morgado Miguel , Ramalho Amílcar Lopes , Ambrósio António Francisco , Gil João , Francisco Vítor , Ferreira Lino , Quadrado Maria João , Campos Elisa Julião
Published: January 2024

Keratoconus (KC) is a bilateral progressive corneal ectasia resulting in irregular astigmatism and loss of visual function, in youth and children. Corneal cross‐linking (CXL) is the standard treatment to halt the progression of KC. The conventional protocol consists of removal of the corneal epithelium (epi‐off), followed by soaking of riboflavin and then irradiation with UVA light, leading to stiffening of the cornea. However, postoperative ocular adverse events related to epithelial removal, such as infectious keratitis and delayed visual recovery, have been described. Some alternative methodologies have been tested but pain, no control on corneal permeability, and high investment for set‐up acquisition are drawbacks. Accordingly, the treatment of KC is at an extremely exciting stage, and research on delivering riboflavin into the cornea without removing the epithelium is underway.

To address this clinical unmet need, we developed an advanced solution consisting of nanoparticle‐modified commercial soft contact lenses. Safety conditions were determined using ex vivo porcine eyes. The efficacy of our solution on corneal epithelial permeability to riboflavin was tested using in vivo rat eyes. Our nanotechnology‐based solution allows high spatial and temporal precision control of epithelial permeability to riboflavin. We aim to validate this innovative strategy as an epithelium‐on (epi‐on) protocol for the effective treatment of KC, with obvious advantages in terms of safety, patient comfort, and recovery time. Furthermore, our strategy is compatible with current equipment and riboflavin solutions, allowing to capitalize clinicians' expertise and the resources already existing in private clinics and public health services.

This project was financially supported by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal): Exploratory Research Project EXPL/BIA‐BQM/0042/2021, Strategic Projects UIDB/04539/2020, UIDP/04539/2020, and UID/NEU/04539/2019; and by COMPETE‐FEDER (POCI‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐007440).
Professor Khodadoust and his sign
Authors: Ghazi‐Nouri Seyed
Published: January 2024

Professor Ali Asghar Khodadoust was a pioneer and innovative corneal transplant surgeon with international reputation. He was born in Shiraz, Iran, in October 1935 where he later founded the Khodadoust eye hospital in 2003. He studied Medicine at Shiraz university and went to the United States of America (USA) in 1959 to continue his medical education. While in America, he did extensive research into corneal transplantation and rejection and was the first to describe the endothelial rejection sign which was named after him as the “Khodadoust line”. It separates the immunologically damaged endothelium from unaffected endothelium in cornea and represents transplant rejection. Dr Khodadoust completed his fellowship training at Wimer Eye Institute at Hopkins and was later involved in establishing an exchange program between Shiraz university in Iran and Hopkins university in the USA which ran between 1968 and 1979. He was a faculty member of Yale and John Hopkins universities in the USA. Dr Khodadoust was honoured as a national treasure to Iran in a ceremony organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Shiraz in 2015. He died in New York, USA, in March 2018 aged 82.

His life, works and achievements, will be presented in this lecture.
In vivo confocal microscopy of the cornea: State of the art and the potential of artificial intelligence
Authors: Ferrari Giulio
Published: January 2024

In vivo confocal microscopy of the cornea: state of the art and the potential of artificial intelligence.

Giulio Ferrari, MD PhD; Massimo De Micheli, MD.

Laser confocal microscopy of the cornea (IVCM) allows in vivo, real time imaging of the corneal histology. All the corneal layers can be imaged, without need of contrast agents. While morphological characteristics of multiple corneal and systemic diseases have been described, the use of IVCM in the clinic is principally indicated to reach an early diagnosis of acanthamoeba and fungal keratitis. Significant limitations include the need of highly experienced examinators, and inability to diagnose bacterial keratitis. Moreover, reaching a correct diagnosis is more complex in advanced cases, where coexisting inflammation substantially reduces corneal transparency. Artificial intelligence represents an attractive tool to overcome, at least in part, these shortcomings and has potential to substantially increase the specificity and sensitivity of IVCM.
The role of deep learning in the diagnosis of ocular diseases
Authors: Ghidoni Stefano
Published: January 2024

Deep Learning (DL) revolutionized a wide variety of research fields and applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the last years. Computer vision is among those fields that witnessed a stronger impact, especially in some tasks like image equalization, classification and segmentation, that have several applications in medical imaging. Such applications often focus on microscopy images, but they can be successfully extended to other fields, like the detection of diseases involving the ocular surface and the cornea.

One of the reasons of the success of deep learning applied to image processing relies in the end‐to‐end data‐driven approach. This means that the whole image processing and classification/segmentation pipeline can be adapted to the data being processed. This is particularly powerful when dealing with medical images, whose processing is often based on the detection of low‐ and mid‐level patterns that might be difficult to define in a formal manner. This means that deep learning has the chance to select and consider some image elements that would be nearly impossible to define using standard computer vision techniques. However, this becomes possible if large amounts of data are available for training the network, which became reality in the last years thanks to the wide digitalization of medical systems, including ophthalmology equipment.

Based on a substantial amount of literature that has rapidly grown in the last years, this talk will focus on the new perspectives of eye disease diagnosis that were opened by the advent of deep learning. At the same time, the limitations and risks that must be considered in the development of DL‐based medical systems, like overfitting and lack of generalization, will be highlighted and discussed. Keeping track of such limitations is crucial in order not to consider DL as a sort of magic box, but rather, as powerful image analysis and processing tool.

The talk will also provide a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the diagnosis systems currently available that exploit DL and AI systems. The current and future impact of automatic image processing systems dedicated to ophthalmology will also be discussed. When automatic medical image analysis will be widely available, the patterns of medical diagnosis will need to change, taking advantage of the possibility to perform larger screenings that will be automatically processed.
Neuropathic ocular pain: What is it and what to do about it?
Authors: Galor Anat
Published: January 2024

Ocular surface pain (OSP) is a nonspecific symptom that can have a tremendous impact on quality of life. Individuals use various descriptors to characterize OSP including “dryness”, “burning”, “grittiness”,” shooting”, “discomfort”, “tenderness” and/or “aching”, to name a few. As feeling your eyes is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience”, these descriptors fit under the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of pain.” Oftentimes, OSP is chronic in nature, lasting >3 months, although the intensity of pain can wax and wane over time. Furthermore, OSP can occur spontaneously or be triggered by stimuli such as light, wind or temperature change. In the past, OSP was placed under the umbrella term “dry eye”, as tear film abnormalities are one cause of OSP. However, it is now understood that factors beyond tear and ocular surface abnormalities may drive OSP and it is necessary to identify and address all potential contributors to pain. In general, contributors can be split across two broad categories: nociceptive contributors, defined as pain that arises directly from tissue damage at the level of the ocular surface and neuropathic contributors, defined as pain caused by a lesion or disease within peripheral or central nerves that connect the ocular surface to the brain. Or, as is the case in many individuals, pain contributors can arise from a combination of these two entities. Given the multiple potential contributors to OSP, a standardized examination and multimodal approach is necessary. In this presentation, we discuss advances in the diagnosis and management of OSP, with a focus on the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathic ocular surface pain (NOP).
Conscious sensations and protective reflexes driven by eye surface nerves in health and disease
Authors: Acosta M. Carmen
Published: January 2024

The trigeminal primary sensory neurons that innervate the ocular surface, especially the cornea, have been classified in three functional types: polymodal nociceptors, mechano‐nociceptors and cold thermoreceptors. These sensory nerves are responsible for the conscious sensations evoked in response to ocular surface stimulation as well as for the regulation of tearing and blinking, and they are also involved in the trophic maintenance of the ocular tissues.

Depending on the transducing channels they express in their membrane, sensory nerves from the ocular surface respond to different types of stimulus and, after this information is processed by the CNS, different conscious sensations are evoked: corneal mechano‐nociceptors' activation led to pricking pain; polymodal nociceptors evoke burning irritation, and cold thermoreceptors' activation may evoke freshness/cold/dryness/pain depending on the subtype of cold thermoreceptor neuron activated by the stimulus. While reflex blinking and tearing are driven by the activation of polymodal nociceptors as the afferent arm of the reflex, basal blinking and tearing rate are under the control of cold thermoreceptors' activity.

During inflammation and after injury (such as UV‐induced keratitis, allergic keratoconjunctivitis, corneal surgery, tear‐deficient dry eye) the activity of corneal sensory nerves is modified in both eyes, even when inflammation or damage affects only one eye. The abnormal corneal sensory nerve activity constitutes the basis for the discomfort, dryness and pain sensations experienced under these conditions. Also, protective mechanisms depending on ocular nerve activity such as blinking and tearing become altered.

(Supported by PID2020‐115934RB‐I00 from DOI: MCIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103, and CIPROM/2021/48 from the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain)
Swedish cohort study found that half of the girls with shunted hydrocephalus had precocious or early puberty
Authors: Dahl Margareta , Proos Lemm A. , Arnell Kai , Gustafsson Jan
Published: January 2024

Aim

We aimed to evaluate the occurrence of, and risk factors for precocious and early puberty in a retrospective cohort study of girls with shunted infantile hydrocephalus.

Methods

The study population comprised 82 girls with infantile hydrocephalus, born between 1980 and 2002, and treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Data were available for 39 girls with myelomeningocele and 34 without. Medical records were analysed regarding clinical data and timing of puberty. Precocious and early puberty was defined as the appearance of pubertal signs before 8 years and 0 months and 8 years and 9 months, respectively.

Results

Median age at last admission was 15.8 years (range 10.0–18.0). In total, 15 girls (21%) had precocious puberty, and another 21 (29%) had early puberty. Three or more shunt revisions had been performed in 26/36 girls with early or precocious puberty and in 3/37 girls without (p = 0.01). The number of shunt revisions correlated negatively with age at the start of puberty in the girls with myelomeningocele (Spearman's correlation coefficient = −0.512, p = 0.001).

Conclusion

Girls with shunted infantile hydrocephalus have a high risk of precocious or early puberty. Repeated shunt revisions seemed to be associated with early puberty.
Study on the multi‐scale online fatigue crack deformation and growth behaviors under overload in Q&P steel
Authors: Gao Hongli , Zhan Jingsong , Li Weirong , Shang Hongbin , Lin Zhiyuan
Published: January 2024

The multi‐scale online fatigue crack deformation and growth behaviors under single overload (SOL) and periodic overload (POL) case in Quenching and Partitioning (Q&P) steel were studied using two micro cameras and sub‐image stitching and matching digital image correlation (DIC) method. Firstly, the microscopic crack tip speckle images and crack images on both sides of the compact tension (CT) specimen during the fatigue crack growth (FCG) process were collected under different overload parameters. Then, the FCG overload retardation, crack tip closing and blunting behaviors, and the crack tip strain distribution and evolution, overload retardation mechanism were analyzed. In addition, the corresponding multi‐scale FCG morphological characteristics and material microstructure under overload case were observed. The results indicate that the overload ratio and interval affect the overload retardation effect of Q&P steel seriously; the overload crack tip blunting and plastic zone are the major factors inducing the overload retardation effect in Q&P steel.
Climate‐related performance and stock price crash risk
Authors: Kosmidou Kyriaki , Kousenidis Dimitrios , Ladas Anestis , Negkakis Christos
Published: January 2024

We examine how environmental performance affects future stock price crash risk. Previous literature shows that legitimacy threats, stemming from environmental risk, lead firms to be particularly sensitive about environmental disclosure and performance. However, we hypothesise and find that under specific conditions, relating to lower operating performance, firms that have higher environmental performance also have higher future stock price crash risk. Further analysis shows that such firms may also have lower readability and more confident tone in their 10‐K annual reports. We attribute these findings to impression management utilising environmental performance along with disclosure misdirection practices, where managers of firms with negative news, attempt in some cases to draw the attention of the users of financial reports by obfuscating annual reports for bad news hoarding purposes. Even though in the current year such practices may have a negative effect for stock price crash risk, future stock price crash risk increases due to the dissemination of the negative news in the market. Overall, our results show that environmental disclosure may be used, under certain conditions, as a tool for impression management, which along with financial reporting distraction practices, leads to higher future stock price crash risk.
TLR2 agonist prevents the progression of periapical lesions in mice by reducing osteoclast activity and regulating the frequency of Tregs
Authors: Almeida Lana Kei Yamamoto , Battaglino Ricardo Anibal , Araujo Lisa Danielly Curcino , Lucisano Marília Pacífico , Massoni Vivian Vicentin , da Silva Léa Assed Bezerra , Nelson‐Filho Paulo , Morse Leslie Rae , da Silva Raquel Assed Bezerra
Published: January 2024

Aim

To evaluate the role of regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) in the presence or absence of the synthetic ligand Pam3Cys during the progression of periapical lesion in wild‐type (WT) and toll‐like receptor 2 knockout (TLR2KO) mice.

Methodology.

A total of 130 C57BL/6 male WT and TLR2KO mice were allocated into control (n = 5) and experimental (periapical lesion induction) (n = 10) groups. In specific groups (WT+Pam3cys and TLR2KO+Pam3cys), the synthetic ligand Pam3cys was administered intraperitoneally every 7 days, according to the experimental period (14, 21 and 42 days). At the end of those periods, the animals were euthanized, and the mandible and the spleen were submitted to histotechnical processing. Mandible histological sections were analysed by haematoxylin and eosin, TRAP histoenzymology and immunohistochemistry (FOXP3, RANK, RANKL and OPG). Spleen sections were analysed by immunohistochemistry (FOXP3).

Results

The inflammatory infiltrate and bone resorption were more intense in the TLR2KO group compared to the WT group. The animals that received the Pam3cys had smaller periapical lesions when compared to the animals that did not receive the ligand (p < .05). TLR2KO animals showed a significant increase in the number of osteoclasts when compared to TLR2KO+Pam3cys group (p < .05). At 21 days, the WT+Pam3cys group had a lower number of osteoclasts when compared to the WT animals (p = .02). FOXP3 expression was more intense in the WT+Pam3cys groups when compared to the WT animals in the 42 days (p = .03). In the spleen analysis, the WT+Pam3cys group also had a higher expression of FOXP3 when compared to the WT animals at 14 and 42 days (p = .02). Concerning RANKL, there was a reduction in staining in the KOTLR2+Pam3cys groups at 21 and 42 days (p = .03) and a higher binding ratio between RANK/RANKL in animals that did not receive the ligand.

Conclusion

Administration of the Pam3cys increased the proliferation of Tregs, showed by FOXP3 expression and prevented the progression of the periapical lesion in WT mice. On the other hand, in the TLR2KO animals, Treg expression was lower with larger areas of periapical lesions. Finally, systemic administration of the Pam3cys in KO animals was able to limit the deleterious effects of the absence of the TLR2 receptor.
A model for the involvement of service users as instructors into the psychiatric nursing curriculum in Korea: A qualitative study on participation experience
Authors: Ahn Suyoun , Shin Soyoung , Joung Jaewon
Published: January 2024

For many years, attempts have been made to incorporate service users into psychiatric nursing education, particularly in European countries and Australia. In Asian countries, however, concrete examples of this are notably scarce, and the limited instances of implementation lack the necessary systematic organisation and long‐term sustainability. This study systematically planned and implemented a psychiatric nursing curriculum that integrated service users in Korea. It explored the experiences of 14 nursing students and four service users (who participated as instructors) who participated in these classes. Content analysis was performed on the results of focus group interviews with the participants. Owing to the participation of service users in the programme, students focused more on the patients as human beings, with the contexts of their individual lives, rather than on their diseases. The process facilitated a deeper grasp of person‐centred psychiatric nursing and heightened student engagement in the learning process. The service users' experiences as instructors breathed new meaning into their psychiatric distress as an opportunity for new possibilities and helped them view themselves in a positive light, as members of society with self‐esteem. They made great efforts to perform well in their role as instructors. These findings provide substantial evidence to support the expanded and sustained implementation of service user participation in future psychiatric nursing education. Establishing a national consortium to foster and support service user instructors could greatly improve psychiatric nursing education and related outcomes.
Warm‐season turfgrass species genotype‐by‐environment interaction for turfgrass quality under drought
Authors: Tome Gouveia Beatriz , Chandra Ambika , Kenworthy Kevin E. , Raymer Paul L. , Schwartz Brian M. , Wu Yanqi Q. , Milla‐Lewis Susana R.
Published: January 2024

One of the biggest challenges the turfgrass industry is currently facing is limitations of available water for irrigation of turfgrass areas. Efforts on breeding for drought resistance have increased over the past several years across the United States. Thus, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the performance of bermudagrass (Cynodon spp. Rich.), St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walter) Kuntze), seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz) and zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp. Willd.) breeding lines from five different breeding programs under drought and estimate genetic parameters in order to increase selection efficiency for drought resistance improvement in these breeding programs. The germplasm sources were bermudagrass from Oklahoma State University and University of Georgia (UGA); St. Augustinegrass from North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) and University of Florida (UF); zoysiagrass from UF and TAMUS; seashore paspalum from UGA. Field trials were conducted from 2016 to 2019 at research facilities in Citra, FL and Dallas, TX. The response variables evaluated were per cent living ground cover (%GC), and turfgrass quality under normal or non‐drought (TQND) and drought conditions (TQD). The genetic variance was significant for TQND and TQD in bermudagrass, TQD in St. Augustinegrass and all traits in zoysiagrass. The heritability estimates were higher for TQD than for TQND in bermudagrass and St. Augustinegrass. Genetic correlation estimates showed that indirect selection can be effective to select drought‐resistant genotypes. Several genotypes performed better than all commercial cultivars in both St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass.
‘There is no justice in nursing school’: A qualitative analysis of nursing students' experiences of discrimination shared on Reddit
Authors: Slemon Allie , Dhari Shivinder , Christie Tanya , Aubrey Gavin
Published: January 2024

Aim

To explore nursing students' experiences of stigma and discrimination within nursing programmes as shared on Reddit, and how other Reddit users offer support and guidance.

Design

Qualitative interpretive description.

Methods

Through a critical social theory lens, this study draws on students' posts from three nursing subreddits: r/studentnurse, r/nursingstudent and r/nursing. Data were collected from March 2013 to March 2023. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to generate broad themes of nursing students' experiences of stigma and discrimination, and how other Reddit users offered support and guidance.

Results

A total of 43 posts with 1412 associated comments were included in this analysis, which generated three predominant themes of nursing students' experiences. Nursing students faced stigma and discrimination across contexts, including from peers, nurses and other healthcare providers working in clinical practicum sites, and patients. Nursing students' posts described navigating the impacts and consequences of such experiences, including on well‐being, and programme and career success. In contexts where students were often alone in their experiences of stigma and discrimination within their programmes and with few identified supports, Reddit users sought support and community through Reddit. While many comments offered validation and support, challenges of this social media platform included conflicting advice and unhelpful, judgmental messages.

Conclusions

Despite widely articulated social justice commitments in the profession, nursing students continue to experience stigma and discrimination across contexts within their nursing programmes.

Implications for Profession

Nurses and nurse educators have a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible such experiences, and take direct action to prevent and remediate stigma and discrimination within nursing education.

Impact

This research contributes to the growing empirical evidence that nursing students' experience stigma and discrimination within nursing programmes and the healthcare system.

Reporting Method

Adherence to COREQ guidelines was maintained.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.
Procrastination and Precrastination from the Perspective of Self‐Control
Authors: Adachi Miki , Adachi Keisuke
Published: January 2024

Procrastination is defined as postponing a task, anticipating adverse consequences in the future. In contrast, D. A. Rosenbaum and colleagues introduced the concept of “precrastination” in 2014, defining it as people doing a task early even when involving physical cost because they desire to minimize their cognitive load. This study aimed to organize and expand the new concept and advance understanding of precrastination in everyday situations and of the associations between precrastination and self‐control. Using the scenario assumption method, we examined whether people would precrastinate or procrastinate a task to remove cognitive load and clear their mind even if there was physical cost/burden (Study 1), and whether they would precrastinate or procrastinate a painful event to remove emotional load stemming from a fear of pain (Study 2). The results showed that (a) people start tasks early in order to remove cognitive and emotional load; (b) people do not start tasks early when they involve physical cost, burden, or fear; (c) people with high self‐control start tasks early to remove cognitive load even when involving physical cost; and (d) people with high self‐control and low fear start tasks earlier to remove emotional load.
Clonal spread of fluconazole‐resistant C. parapsilosis in patients admitted to a referral hospital located in Burgos, Spain, during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Authors: Mantecón‐Vallejo María de los Ángeles , Mesquida Aina , Ortiz María de Valle , Buzón‐Martín Luis , Ossa‐Echeverri Sergio , Fisac‐Cuadrado Lourdes , Megías‐Lobón Gregoria , Ortega‐Lafont María Pilar , Muñoz Patricia , Escribano Pilar , Guinea Jesús
Published: January 2024

Background

Fluconazole‐resistant Candida parapsilosis (FRCP) is a matter of concern in Spain.

Objectives

We here report a FRCP spread across a 777‐bed referral hospital located in Burgos, Spain, during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Patients/Methods

In April 2021, an FRCP isolate (MIC = 64 mg/L, E‐test®) from a hospitalised patient was detected. Up to June 2022, all C. parapsilosis isolates (n = 35) from hospitalised patients (n = 32) were stored and genotyped using microsatellite markers, and their antifungal susceptibilities were studied (EUCAST); FRCP isolates were molecularly characterised.

Results

We detected 26 FRCP isolates collected between 2021 (n = 8) and 2022 (n = 18); isolates were susceptible to amphotericin B, echinocandins and ibrexafungerp. FRCP isolates were grouped into three genotypes: CP‐707 and CP‐708 involved isolates harbouring the Y132F + R398I ERG11p substitutions (n = 24) and were clonally related; the remaining CP‐675 genotype involved isolates harbouring the G458S ERG11p substitution (n = 2). FRCP genotypes were genetically related to the FRCP genotypes found in Madrid and were unrelated to fluconazole‐susceptible ones. Patients harbouring FRCP were mainly (n = 22/23) admitted to intensive care units. Most patients had received broad‐spectrum antibiotics (n = 22/23), and/or antifungal therapy with azoles (n = 14/23) within the 30 days prior to FRCP isolation. Thirteen patients were colonised, 10 of whom were infected and presented candidaemia (n = 8/10), endovascular infection (n = 1/10) or complicated urinary infection (n = 1/10). Overall nonattributable 30‐day mortality was 17% (n = 4/23).

Conclusions

We report an outbreak caused by FRCP affecting patients admitted to the ICU of a referral hospital located in Burgos. Patients harbouring FRCP had a higher fluconazole use than those carrying susceptible isolates.
A Self‐Designed Endobutton Installation Device for Coracoclavicular Stabilization in Acute Rockwood Type III Acromioclavicular Joint Dislocation
Authors: Jie Ma , Yang Tang , Xiang Wang
Published: January 2024

Objective

Endobutton technique could provide flexible coracoclavicular (CC) stabilization for acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) dislocation and achieved good clinical outcomes. However, the difficult part of this technique was placement of the Endobutton to the coracoid base. In this study, we designed an Endobutton installation device to place the Endobutton at the coracoid base. And we examined the clinical and radiographic outcomes of patients with acute Rockwood type III ACJ dislocation repaired with Endobutton using this device.

Methods

We designed an Endobutton installation device to place the Endobutton at the coracoid base to achieve CC stabilization. We retrospectively reviewed 42 patients with acute Rockwood type III ACJ dislocation who underwent CC stabilization with Endobuttons placed either using this novel device (group I, n = 19) or the traditional technique (CC stabilization without using special device, group II, n = 23) from January 2015 to April 2020. The two groups were compared regarding the operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and clinical and radiologic outcomes at final follow‐up. The operation‐related complications were also evaluated. The Student's t test and the Mann–Whitney U‐test were used to compare differences in continuous variables. Differences in categorical variables were assessed with either the Pearson's chi‐squared test or Fisher's exact test.

Results

Forty‐two patients were clinically followed up for a minimum of 12 months. Compared with group II, group I had a significantly shorter mean operative time (56.05 ± 7.82 min vs. 65.87 ± 7.43 min, p < 0.01) and significantly lesser mean intraoperative blood loss (67.89 ± 14.75 mL vs. 94.78 ± 25.01 mL, p < 0.01). At final follow‐up, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the visual analog scale score for pain, Oxford Shoulder Score, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score, and postoperative CC distance of the affected side. Loss of reduction occurred in four patients in group I and three patients in group II (p = 0.68); there were no other operation‐related complications in either group.

Conclusions

The Endobutton installation device makes placement of the Endobutton at the coracoid base easier and achieves satisfactory clinical and radiologic outcomes without additional complications in acute Rockwood type III ACJ dislocation.
Leaf anatomy affects optical properties and enhances photosynthetic performance under oblique light
Authors: Nikolopoulos Dimosthenis , Bresta Panagiota , Daliani Vassiliki , Haghiou Vassiliki , Darra Nikoleta , Liati Maria , Mavrogianni Evita , Papanastasiou Antonia , Porfyraki Theodora , Psaroudi Varvara , Karabourniotis George , Liakopoulos Georgios
Published: January 2024

Photosynthesis under oblique illumination has not been studied extensively despite being the prevailing light regime under natural conditions. We studied how photosynthetic rate (An) is affected by the geometrical arrangement between leaf lamina and light rays, in conjunction with key anatomical features; studied plant species selected based on the absence (homobaric) or the occurrence of bundle sheath extensions (BSEs; heterobaric) and the arrangement of these structures, that is, parallel (monocots) or reticulated (dicots). The direction of light ray affected leaf absorptance (Abs) and An; both were maximal when the angle of incidence of light on leaf surface (polar angle, θ) was 90°. For any lower θ, both Abs and An were higher when the angle between the leaf axis and the light rays (azimuthal angle, φ) was zero. The dependence of Abs and An from φ was only evident in monocots and, especially, in heterobaric compared to homobaric leaves. In some species, An was substantially higher than predicted from calculated photon flux density of oblique light. The occurrence of BSEs, especially in monocots, significantly alters leaf optical properties, resulting in more efficient photosynthesis under oblique illumination conditions.
The role of protein globule in firefly luciferase catalysis
Authors: Ugarova Natalia N. , Lomakina Galina Yu.
Published: January 2024

The important role of the dynamic structure of firefly luciferase in enzyme functioning is a subject of this literature review. Due to the domain alternation, the optimal configuration of the active site is created for each stage of the luciferin oxidation. The diversity of bioluminescence spectra is explained by the combined emission of several coexisting forms of electronically excited oxyluciferin. The superposition of two or three emitter forms recorded in the bioluminescence spectra indicates that different luciferase conformers coexist in the reaction medium in dynamic equilibrium. The relationship between the thermal stability of the protein globule and the bioluminescence spectra is also discussed
From everyday participation to ways of life: Development of Yurakare children in Bolivia's Amazonian area
Authors: Siekiera Natalia , Białek Arkadiusz
Published: January 2024

Children's participation in the social structure from the first stages of life shapes not only their development but also how they learn to become well‐adjusted members of their cultural environment. In the presented study, using focal‐follow and participatory observation, we depict the reality in early and middle childhood (N = 23; ages 2–7) of Yurakare children living in Bolivia's Amazonian area. We attempt to determine whether the facets of the LOPI model (Learning by Observing and Pitching in) proposed by Rogoff are represented in the everyday way of life of Yurakare children. This is the first systematic, quantitative study of children's social environment and practice in this Indigenous community. The results show that the practices of the Yurakare people are based on two things: (1) inclusion of all ages in community life, which cultivates children to engage in useful activities even while having fun; (2) the primacy of mature activities, which is in line with the LOPI model.
Thermodynamic Analysis of Comprehensive Performance of Carbon Dioxide(R744) and Its Mixture With Ethane(R170) Used in Refrigeration and Heating System at Low Evaporation Temperature
Authors: Sun Dahan , Liu Zhongyan , Zhang Hao , Zhang Xin , Qin Jiang
Published: January 2024

In this paper, the system performance of R744 and R744/R170 mixed refrigerants used in a single-stage compression transcritical cycle at low evaporation temperature was studied by simulation method, and the effect of evaporation temperature, outlet temperature of gas cooler, R170 ratio on coefficient of performance (COP), discharge temperature, optimal pressure, and compression ratio were analyzed. The results show that Popt increases and decreases with the increase of outlet temperature and evaporation temperature of gas cooler and increases first and then decreases with the increase of R170 proportion. In the heating system, the maximum and minimum Popt of R744/R170 (25/75) were 1.35 MPa, 3.6 MPa, and 2.6 MPa and 1.23 MPa, 2.93 MPa, and 1.87 MPa lower than that of R170 (0%, 22.4%, and 50%); compared to pure R744, the system pressure of the mixed R744/R170 is lower. The COPe and COPh increase with the increase of evaporation temperature and decrease with the increase of outlet temperature of the gas cooler. With the increase of R170 proportion, they first decrease and then increase; the maximum COPe and COPh of R744 were 22.4%, 29.6%, and 21.2% and 10.3%, 13.8%, and 10.8% higher than those of R170 at 22.4%, 50% and 75%, respectively.
Utilizing synthetic training data for the supervised classification of rat ultrasonic vocalizations
Authors: Scott K. Jack , Speers Lucinda J. , Bilkey David K.
Published: January 2024

Murine rodents generate ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) with frequencies that extend to around 120 kHz. These calls are important in social behaviour, and so their analysis can provide insights into the function of vocal communication, and its dysfunction. The manual identification of USVs, and subsequent classification into different subcategories is time consuming. Although machine learning approaches for identification and classification can lead to enormous efficiency gains, the time and effort required to generate training data can be high, and the accuracy of current approaches can be problematic. Here, we compare the detection and classification performance of a trained human against two convolutional neural networks (CNNs), DeepSqueak (DS) and VocalMat (VM), on audio containing rat USVs. Furthermore, we test the effect of inserting synthetic USVs into the training data of the VM CNN as a means of reducing the workload associated with generating a training set. Our results indicate that VM outperformed the DS CNN on measures of call identification, and classification. Additionally, we found that the augmentation of training data with synthetic images resulted in a further improvement in accuracy, such that it was sufficiently close to human performance to allow for the use of this software in laboratory conditions.
Multi-target direction-of-arrival estimation of deep models with frame-level permutation invariant training in marine acoustic environment
Authors: Nie Weihang , Yang Zehui , Ye Lingxuan , Xu Ji
Published: January 2024

Direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation is an important part in sonar signal processing, providing a reliable foundation for tasks, such as underwater object detection and tracking. Although the deep learning model has powerful data fitting capabilities, accurately estimating the orientation of multiple targets with a single model remains a challenging task. To address this challenge, we enhance the permutation invariant training (PIT) technique and propose two different types of methods: multi-group classification with PIT (MC-PIT) and multi-group regression with PIT (MR-PIT). These two frame-level PIT schemes utilize a single model for both training and testing in multi-target scenarios. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of MR-PIT and MC-PIT with different network backbones and demonstrate that the frame-level PIT has excellent portability. Compared with the model trained with the general multi-label strategy, simulation experiments show that our proposed methods have better multi-target DoA estimation performance. Finally, when the array configuration of simulated and recorded data are consistent, the model with frame-level PIT can achieve good performance on recorded data even only trained on simulation data.
Sparse Bayesian learning based on spatio-temporal structure-aware for matched field processing
Authors: Wang Jia , Zhang Lanyue , Hu Bo , Wu Di , Hu Xueru
Published: January 2024

In the application of the matched field processing (MFP) algorithm for underwater acoustic source localization, the measurements at each time step are conventionally processed independently. This study incorporates the prior information about the continuous spatial changes of the source over time under realistic conditions, a factor anticipated to improve localization performance. In this paper, a sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) algorithm based on the spatio-temporal structure-aware is described. We exploit a structure prior for sparse coefficients to capture the continuous spatial structure between adjacent time steps. Moreover, the sparse coefficient can automatically select the update method, utilizing the statistical information from adjacent neighbors or updating independently. The hidden variables in the hierarchical Bayesian framework are inferred via variational Bayesian inference (VBI). Additionally, we extend the proposed method to the multi-frequency case. This method inherits the advantages of the SBL and further reduces position estimation errors. Compared to other approaches, the construction of an accurate motion model is not required. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through simulation examples and an analysis of the SWellEx-96 experimental data.
Foundations of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation for models of cochlear mechanics in 1- and 2-D
Authors: Frost Brian L.
Published: January 2024

The Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation is frequently used to explore the mechanics of the cochlea. As opposed to numerical strategies, the WKB approximation facilitates analysis of model results through interpretable closed-form equations and can be implemented with relative ease. As a result, it has maintained relevance in the study of cochlear mechanics for half of a century. Over this time, it has been employed to study a variety of phenomena, including the limits of frequency tuning, active displacement amplification within the organ of Corti, feedforward mechanisms in the cochlea, and otoacoustic emissions. Despite this ubiquity, it is challenging to find rigorous exposition of the WKB approximation's formulation, derivation, and implementation in cochlear mechanics literature. In this tutorial, the foundations of the WKB approximation are discussed in application to models of one- and two-dimensional cochlear macromechanics. This includes mathematical background, rigorous derivation and details of its implementation in software.
Barriers and Facilitators to Participation in Vigorous Lifestyle Physical Activity in Adults Aged 55–75 Years: A Scoping Review
Authors: Pang Bingyan , Moullin Joanna C. , Thompson Craig , Thøgersen-Ntoumani Cecilie , Stamatakis Emmanual , McVeigh Joanne A.
Published: January 2024

Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, less than half of adults aged 55–75 years participate in sufficient physical activity. Short bouts of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) accumulated throughout the day can contribute toward the recommended volume of physical activity. A rich characterization of the barriers and facilitators to participation in VILPA is needed to develop targeted interventions. This scoping review aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to participation in different components of VILPA in adults aged 55–75 years, and to map barriers and facilitators to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Within the 18 eligible studies, the most prevalent barriers were related to a person’s skills, environmental context, and social influences. Most facilitators were related to a person’s goals, social influences, and environmental context. Interventions to promote VILPA should test the effectiveness of behavioral change measures related to the unique barriers and facilitators in this age group.