bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“We do it ourselves”: strengths and opportunities for improving the practice of harm reduction
Authors: Claborn Kasey , Samora Jake , McCormick Katie , Whittfield Quanisha , Courtois Frederic , Lozada Kyle , Sledge Daniel , Burwell Annie , Chavez Sandra , Bailey Jamie , Bailey Chris , Pederson Chelsea Dalton , Zagorski Claire , Hill Lucas , Conway Fiona N. , Steiker Lori Holleran , Cance Jessica , Potter Jennifer
Published: June 2023

Background

Unprecedented increases in substance-related overdose fatalities have been observed in Texas and the U.S. since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made clear there is considerable need to reduce harms associated with drug use. At the federal level, initiatives have called for widespread dissemination and implementation of evidence-based harm reduction practices to reduce overdose deaths. Implementation of harm reduction strategies is challenging in Texas. There is a paucity of literature on understanding current harm reduction practices in Texas. As such, this qualitative study aims to understand harm reduction practices among people who use drugs (PWUD), harm reductionists, and emergency responders across four counties in Texas. This work would inform future efforts to scale and spread harm reduction in Texas.

Methods

Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with N = 69 key stakeholders (25 harm reductionists; 24 PWUD; 20 emergency responders). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded for emergent themes, and analyzed using Applied Thematic Analysis with Nvivo 12. A community advisory board defined the research questions, reviewed the emergent themes, and assisted with interpretation of the data.

Results

Emergent themes highlighted barriers to harm reduction at micro and macro levels, from the individual experience of PWUD and harm reductionists to systemic issues in healthcare and the emergency medical response system. Specifically, (1) Texas has existing strengths in overdose prevention and response efforts on which to build, (2) PWUD are fearful of interacting with healthcare and 911 systems, (3) harm reductionists are in increasing need of support for reaching all PWUD communities, and (4) state-level policies may hinder widespread implementation and adoption of evidence-based harm reduction practices.

Conclusions

Perspectives from harm reduction stakeholders highlighted existing strengths, avenues for improvement, and specific barriers that currently exist to harm reduction practices in Texas.
Kinesin-5 inhibition improves neural regeneration in experimental autoimmune neuritis
Authors: Kohle Felix , Ackfeld Robin , Hommen Franziska , Klein Ines , Svačina Martin K. R. , Schneider Christian , Fink Gereon R. , Barham Mohammed , Vilchez David , Lehmann Helmar C.
Published: June 2023

Background

Autoimmune neuropathies can result in long-term disability and incomplete recovery, despite adequate first-line therapy. Kinesin-5 inhibition was shown to accelerate neurite outgrowth in different preclinical studies. Here, we evaluated the potential neuro-regenerative effects of the small molecule kinesin-5 inhibitor monastrol in a rodent model of acute autoimmune neuropathies, experimental autoimmune neuritis.

Methods

Experimental autoimmune neuritis was induced in Lewis rats with the neurogenic P2-peptide. At the beginning of the recovery phase at day 18, the animals were treated with 1 mg/kg monastrol or sham and observed until day 30 post-immunisation. Electrophysiological and histological analysis for markers of inflammation and remyelination of the sciatic nerve were performed. Neuromuscular junctions of the tibialis anterior muscles were analysed for reinnervation. We further treated human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived secondary motor neurons with monastrol in different concentrations and performed a neurite outgrowth assay.

Results

Treatment with monastrol enhanced functional and histological recovery in experimental autoimmune neuritis. Motor nerve conduction velocity at day 30 in the treated animals was comparable to pre-neuritis values. Monastrol-treated animals showed partially reinnervated or intact neuromuscular junctions. A significant and dose-dependent accelerated neurite outgrowth was observed after kinesin-5 inhibition as a possible mode of action.

Conclusion

Pharmacological kinesin-5 inhibition improves the functional outcome in experimental autoimmune neuritis through accelerated motor neurite outgrowth and histological recovery. This approach could be of interest to improve the outcome of autoimmune neuropathy patients.
Eye-tracking control of an adjustable electric bed: construction and validation by immobile patients with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Kopecek Martin , Kremlacek Jan
Published: June 2023

Background

In severe conditions of limited motor abilities, frequent position changes for work or passive and active rest are essential bedside activities to prevent further health complications. We aimed to develop a system using eye movements for bed positioning and to verify its functionality in a control group and a group of patients with significant motor limitation caused by multiple sclerosis.

Methods

The eye-tracking system utilized an innovative digital-to-analog converter module to control the positioning bed via a novel graphical user interface. We verified the ergonomics and usability of the system by performing a fixed sequence of positioning tasks, in which the leg and head support was repeatedly raised and then lowered. Fifteen women and eleven men aged 42.7 ± 15.9 years in the control group and nine women and eight men aged 60.3 ± 9.14 years in the patient group participated in the experiment. The degree of disability, according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), ranged from 7 to 9.5 points in the patients. We assessed the speed and efficiency of the bed control and the improvement during testing. In a questionnaire, we evaluated satisfaction with the system.

Results

The control group mastered the task in 40.2 s (median) with an interquartile interval from 34.5 to 45.5 s, and patients mastered the task in in 56.5 (median) with an interquartile interval from 46.5 to 64.9 s. The efficiency of solving the task (100% corresponds to an optimal performance) was 86.3 (81.6; 91.0) % for the control group and 72.1 (63.0; 75.2) % for the patient group. Throughout testing, the patients learned to communicate with the system, and their efficiency and task time improved. A correlation analysis showed a negative relationship (rho = − 0.587) between efficiency improvement and the degree of impairment (EDSS). In the control group, the learning was not significant. On the questionnaire survey, sixteen patients reported gaining confidence in bed control. Seven patients preferred the offered form of bed control, and in six cases, they would choose another form of interface.

Conclusions

The proposed system and communication through eye movements are reliable for positioning the bed in people affected by advanced multiple sclerosis. Seven of 17 patients indicated that they would choose this system for bed control and wished to extend it for another application.
Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic: a subset of the IMAgiNE EURO cross-sectional study
Authors: Artzi-Medvedik Rada , Mariani Ilaria , Valente Emanuelle Pessa , Lazzerini Marzia , Chertok Ilana Azulay
Published: June 2023

Background

Evidence has shown that restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected breastfeeding support and outcomes in hospitals in many countries. The aims of the study were to describe exclusive breastfeeding rates and identify factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge among women who gave birth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel.

Methods

A cross-sectional online anonymous survey based on WHO standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities was conducted among a sample of women who gave birth to a healthy singleton infant in Israel during the pandemic (between March 2020 and April 2022). The socio-ecological approach was employed to examine intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and community/society factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge according to women perspectives.

Results

Among the 235 Israeli participants, 68.1% exclusively breastfed, 27.7% partially breastfed, and 4.2% did not breastfeed at discharge. Results of the adjusted logistic regression model showed that factors significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding were the intrapersonal factor of multiparity (adjusted OR 2.09; 95% Confidence Interval 1.01,4.35) and the organizational factors of early breastfeeding in the first hour (aOR 2.17; 95% CI 1.06,4.45), and rooming-in (aOR 2.68; 95% CI 1.41,5.07).

Conclusions

Facilitating early breastfeeding initiation and supporting rooming-in are critical to promoting exclusive breastfeeding. These factors, reflecting hospital policies and practices, along with parity, are significantly associated with breastfeeding outcomes and highlight the influential role of the maternity environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maternity care in hospitals should follow evidence-based breastfeeding recommendations also during the pandemic, promoting early exclusive breastfeeding and rooming-in among all women, with particular attention to providing lactation support to primiparous women.

Trial registration

Clinical Trials NCT04847336.
Detection of Epstein–Barr virus infection in thymic epithelial tumors by nested PCR and Epstein–Barr-encoded RNA ISH
Authors: Zhao Li , Ding Jian-Yong , Tao Yun-Lan , Zhu Kun , Chen Gang
Published: June 2023

Background

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is well known to be associated with a lot of tumors, including lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, EBV-associated gastric carcinoma, and some other carcinomas with similar lymphoepithelioma-like features. However, the association between EBV and thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) is inconclusive as reports in this regard are not entirely consistent and the methods employed are of different sensitivity and specificity. The geographical difference of the patients is also one of the reasons for the different points of view.

Methods

In our study, we examined 72 thymomas, including 3 cases of type A thymomas, 27 cases of type AB, 6 cases of type B1, 26 cases of type B2 and 10 cases of type B3 thymomas, and 15 thymic carcinomas to detect the viral genome at both DNA and RNA levels. The genome DNA of fresh tissues was first screened by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which could be regarded as the most sensitive method to detect small amounts of DNA. Then all the tissue blocks were further submitted for viral localization by Epstein–Barr-encoded RNA (EBER) ISH. Group parameters were assessed using the chi-square test at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Results

Nested PCR results showed that none of type A, eight (29.6%) type AB, one (16.7%) type B1, fifteen (57.7%) type B2, and four (40.0%) type B3 were positive for EBV genome. However, none of them detected EBER expression except for one case of type B2 thymoma. Fourteen (93.3%) thymic carcinomas were positive for EBV by nested PCR, of which three displayed weak nuclear signals within the tumor cells by EBER ISH.

Conclusions

These results showed that nested PCR was a sensitive method for screening the EBV genome in thymic epithelial tumors. As the malignancy of thymoma increases, the rate of EBV infection became higher. Thymic carcinomas were well associated with the Epstein–Barr virus.There was significant association between the EBV infection rate and thymoma type (p < 0.05). We further analyzed the association between EBV infection and myasthenia gravis. However, it showed no significant difference(p = 0.2754), although the EBV infection rate was higher in the thymomas with myasthenia gravis.
ProfhEX: AI-based platform for small molecules liability profiling
Authors: Lunghini Filippo , Fava Anna , Pisapia Vincenzo , Sacco Francesco , Iaconis Daniela , Beccari Andrea Rosario
Published: June 2023

Off-target drug interactions are a major reason for candidate failure in the drug discovery process. Anticipating potential drug’s adverse effects in the early stages is necessary to minimize health risks to patients, animal testing, and economical costs. With the constantly increasing size of virtual screening libraries, AI-driven methods can be exploited as first-tier screening tools to provide liability estimation for drug candidates. In this work we present ProfhEX, an AI-driven suite of 46 OECD-compliant machine learning models that can profile small molecules on 7 relevant liability groups: cardiovascular, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, endocrine, renal, pulmonary and immune system toxicities. Experimental affinity data was collected from public and commercial data sources. The entire chemical space comprised 289′202 activity data for a total of 210′116 unique compounds, spanning over 46 targets with dataset sizes ranging from 819 to 18896. Gradient boosting and random forest algorithms were initially employed and ensembled for the selection of a champion model. Models were validated according to the OECD principles, including robust internal (cross validation, bootstrap, y-scrambling) and external validation. Champion models achieved an average Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.84 (SD of 0.05), an R2 determination coefficient of 0.68 (SD = 0.1) and a root mean squared error of 0.69 (SD of 0.08). All liability groups showed good hit-detection power with an average enrichment factor at 5% of 13.1 (SD of 4.5) and AUC of 0.92 (SD of 0.05). Benchmarking against already existing tools demonstrated the predictive power of ProfhEX models for large-scale liability profiling. This platform will be further expanded with the inclusion of new targets and through complementary modelling approaches, such as structure and pharmacophore-based models. ProfhEX is freely accessible at the following address: https://profhex.exscalate.eu/.
CSI-based human behavior segmentation and recognition using commodity Wi-Fi
Authors: Yang Xiaolong , Cheng Jinglong , Tang Xinxing , Xie Liangbo
Published: June 2023

In recent years, the behavior recognition technology based on Wi-Fi devices has been favored by many researchers. Existing Wi-Fi-based human behavior recognition technology mainly uses classification algorithms to construct classification models, which has problems such as inaccurate behavior segmentation, failure to extract deep-level features from the original data and design classification models matching the proposed features in the process of behavior recognition. In order to solve above problems, this paper proposes a window variance comparison method by combining the adaptive thresholds calculated to achieve effective segmentation of multiple discontinuous human behaviors, then uses the short-time Fourier algorithm to extract time-frequency features of individual behavior, and extracts the graph structure data from the autocorrelation matrix of time-frequency features and the features themselves. A graph neural network is built for behavior recognition. The experimental results show that the segmentation accuracy of the behavior segmentation method in the two scenes is 0.964 and 0.993, which is better than the existing threshold-based behavior segmentation methods. In addition, this paper extracts graph structure data by spectral energy change method and builds behavior recognition model by using graph neural network, and the recognition accuracy is significantly improved compared with the traditional classification algorithm.
On some investigations of alpha-conformable Ostrowski–Trapezoid–Grüss dynamic inequalities on time scales
Authors: El-Deeb Ahmed A.
Published: June 2023

We prove new Ostrowski-type α-conformable dynamic inequalities and its companion inequalities on time scales by using the integration-by-parts formula on time scales associated with two parameters for functions with bounded second delta derivatives. When $\alpha =1$
α
=
1
, we obtain some well-known time-scale inequalities due to Ostrowski. As particular cases, we obtain new continuous and discrete inequalities.
A novel method for identifying fine-scale bottom-use in a benthic-foraging pinniped
Authors: Angelakis Nathan , Goldsworthy Simon D. , Connell Sean D. , Durante Leonardo M.
Published: June 2023

Background

For diving, marine predators, accelerometer and magnetometer data provides critical information on sub-surface foraging behaviours that cannot be identified from location or time-depth data. By measuring head movement and body orientation, accelerometers and magnetometers can help identify broad shifts in foraging movements, fine-scale habitat use and energy expenditure of terrestrial and marine species. Here, we use accelerometer and magnetometer data from tagged Australian sea lions and provide a new method to identify key benthic foraging areas. As Australian sea lions are listed as endangered by the IUCN and Australian legislation, identifying key areas for the species is vital to support targeted management of populations.

Methods

Firstly, tri-axial magnetometer and accelerometer data from adult female Australian sea lions is used in conjunction with GPS and dive data to dead-reckon their three-dimensional foraging paths. We then isolate all benthic phases from their foraging trips and calculate a range of dive metrics to characterise their bottom usage. Finally, k-means cluster analysis is used to identify core benthic areas utilised by sea lions. Backwards stepwise regressions are then iteratively performed to identify the most parsimonious model for describing bottom usage and its included predictor variables.

Results

Our results show distinct spatial partitioning in benthic habitat-use by Australian sea lions. This method has also identified individual differences in benthic habitat-use. Here, the application of high-resolution magnetometer/accelerometer data has helped reveal the tortuous foraging movements Australian sea lions use to exploit key benthic marine habitats and features.

Conclusions

This study has illustrated how magnetometer and accelerometer data can provide a fine-scale description of the underwater movement of diving species, beyond GPS and depth data alone, For endangered species like Australian sea lions, management of populations must be spatially targeted. Here, this method demonstrates a fine-scale analysis of benthic habitat-use which can help identify key areas for both marine and terrestrial species. Future integration of this method with concurrent habitat and prey data would further augment its power as a tool for understanding the foraging behaviours of species.
New distributed-topsis approach for multi-criteria decision-making problems in a big data context
Authors: Lamrini Loubna , Abounaima Mohammed Chaouki , Talibi Alaoui Mohammed
Published: June 2023

Nowadays, the online environment is extra information-rich and allows companies to offer and receive more and more options and opportunities in multiple areas. Thus, decision-makers have abundantly available alternatives to choose from the best one or rank from the most to the least preferred. However, in the multicriteria decision-making field, most tools support a limited number of alternatives with as narrow criteria as possible. Decision-makers are forced to apply a screening or filtering method to reduce the size of the problem, which will slow down the process and eliminate some potential alternatives from the rest of the decision-making process. Implementing MCDM methods in high-performance parallel and distributed computing environments becomes crucial to ensure the scalability of multicriteria decision-making solutions in Big Data contexts, where one can consider a vast number of alternatives, each being described on the basis of a number of criteria.

In this context, we consider TOPSIS one of the most widely used MCDM methods. We present a parallel implementation of TOPSIS based on the MapReduce paradigm. This solution will reduce the response time of the decision-making process and facilitate the analysis of the robustness and sensitivity of the method in a high-dimension problem at a reasonable response time.

Three multicriteria analysis problems were evaluated to show the proposed approach's computational efficiency and performance. All experiments are carried out within GCP's Dataproc, a service allowing the execution of Apache Hadoop and Spark tasks in Google Cloud. The results of the tests obtained are very significant and promising.
Finding the fragments: community-based epidemic surveillance in Sudan
Authors: Ibrahim Mona , Abdelmagid Nada , AbuKoura Rahaf , Khogali Alhadi , Osama Tasnime , Ahmed Aljaile , Alabdeen Israa Zain , Ahmed Salma A. E. , Dahab Maysoon
Published: June 2023

Sudan faces inter-sectional health risks posed by escalating violent conflict, natural hazards and epidemics. Epidemics are frequent and overlapping, particularly resurgent seasonal outbreaks of diseases such as malaria, cholera. To improve response, the Sudanese Ministry of Health manages multiple disease surveillance systems, however, these systems are fragmented, under resourced, and disconnected from epidemic response efforts. Inversely, civic and informal community-led systems have often organically led outbreak responses, despite having limited access to data and resources from formal outbreak detection and response systems. Leveraging a communal sense of moral obligation, such informal epidemic responses can play an important role in reaching affected populations. While effective, localised, and organised—they cannot currently access national surveillance data, or formal outbreak prevention and response technical and financial resources. This paper calls for urgent and coordinated recognition and support of community-led outbreak responses, to strengthen, diversify, and scale up epidemic surveillance for both national epidemic preparedness and regional health security.
Deep-learning-based sferics recognition for audio magnetotelluric data processing in the dead band
Authors: Jiang Enhua , Chen Rujun , Wu Xinming , Liu Jianxin , Zhu Debing , Liu Weiqiang , Pitiya Regean , Xiao Qingling
Published: June 2023

In audio magnetotelluric (AMT) sounding data processing, the absence of sferic signals in some time ranges results in a lack of energy in the AMT dead band, causing unreliable resistivity estimations. To address this issue, we develop a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to automatically recognize sferic signals from redundantly recorded data over a long time range and use these sferic signals to accurately estimate resistivity. The CNN is trained using field time-series data with different signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns) acquired from different regions of mainland China. To solve the potential overfitting due to the limited number of sferic labels, we develop a training strategy that randomly generates training samples with random data augmentations while optimizing the CNN model parameters. The training process and data generation are stopped when the training loss converges. In addition, we use a weighted binary cross-entropy loss function to solve the sample imbalance problem to optimize the network better, use multiple reasonable metrics to evaluate the network performance, and perform ablation experiments to optimize the model hyperparameters. Extensive field data applications indicate that our trained CNN can robustly recognize sferic signals from noisy time series for subsequent impedance estimation. The results indicate that our method can significantly improve the S/Ns and effectively solve the lack of energy in the dead band. Compared with the traditional processing method, our method can generate smoother and more reasonable apparent resistivity-phase curves and depolarized phase tensors, correct the estimation error of the sudden drop in high-frequency apparent resistivity and abnormal behavior of phase reversal, and better estimate the real shallow resistivity structure.
Safety and efficacy of osimertinib plus bevacizumab as first-line treatment in EGFR-mutated NSCLC with brain metastasis instructed by dynamic monitoring circulating tumor DNA of paired cerebrospinal fluid and plasma.
Authors: Wei Fang , An Juan , Hua Yichun , Wang Kuanyu , Ding Xiaosheng , Zhou Lili , Zheng Xixi , Sun Shibin , Li Xiaoyan
Published: June 2023

e21182

Background: The management of brain metastases in lung cancer was always a global challenge. Studies have shown that erlotinib combined with bevacizumab could bring progression-free survival benefit for NSCLC. Osimertinib is a third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor with higher CNS penetration. This study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of osimertinib plus bevacizumab as the first-line treatment for patients with EGFR-positive NSCLC and brain metatases, and reveal the molecular characteristics of intracranial progression by matching plasma and CSF ctDNA. Methods: Patients with EGFR-positive NSCLC and brain metatases were treated with osimertinib (80mg, daily) plus bevacizumab (5mg/kg, every 4 week) as the first-line treatment. CSF and paird plasma ctDNA were collected before osimertinib and at the time of disease stable, intracranial progression and systematic progression, using the next-generation sequencing (NGS) to explore the dynamic changes between them. The primary end point was median CNS progression-free survival (PFS), CNS objective response rate (ORR). The second end point was to explore the molecular mechanism of CNS progression. Results: As the time of data cutoff (Jan 31, 2023), 15 patients were enrolled. 3 patients (20%) progressed in lung, 2 patients (13.3%) progressed in brain, and 1 patient (6.7%) progressed in leptomeningeal and bone, 2 of them still received oral osimertinib (80mg, daily). 9 patients (60%) were in partial or complete reponse and 8 of them continued to receive the original treatment. The median osimertinib exposure time was 16.8 months. The median bevacizumab exposure time was 9.1 months. The median CNS progression-free survival was 15.5 months (6.8 months to not reached). The CNS objective response rate was 93.33%. Six patients received gamma knife radiotherapy before Osimertinib, the median CNS progression-free survival was 14 months (6.8 months to not reached), the CNS objective response rate was 100%. After progression on Osimertinib, paired CSF and plasma ctDNA were analyzed and EGFR C797S, TP53, CDKN2A and etc could be found as resistanct mechanism. Adverse events of grade 3 or worse were observed in 1 patients (6.7%): severe ulcerative colitis, leading to the suspension of osimertinib. 2 patients (13.3%) stopped bevacizumab because of bleeding. Conclusions: This is a mid-term report with immature data. By the end of follow-up, we expected that osimertinib plus bevacizumab could better reduce the risk of intracranial progression and prolong the progression-free survival compared with osimertinib monotherapy. Clinical trial information: KY2021-155-02.
Diagnostic Efficacy of FNA-Tg in DTC Cervical LN Metastasis and its Impact Factors: A Large Retrospective Study
Authors: Liu Qianhui , Mao Li , Zhang Ziwei , Li Guixing , Song Haolan
Published: June 2023

Context

Thyroglobulin in needle washout fluid (FNA-Tg) has the advantage of compensating for the low sensitivity of cytological analysis (FNAC) in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) lymph node (LN) metastasis. However, studies of large data sets to support this view and identify the best cutoff of FNA-Tg are lacking.

Objective

Our study aimed to determine the best cutoff of FNA-Tg and explore the impact factors of FNA-Tg.

Method

A total of 1106 suspicious LNs from patients treated at West China Hospital from October 2019 to August 2021 were included. Parameters were compared between metastatic and benign LNs, and the best cutoff value of FNA-Tg was identified by ROC curves. The impact factors of FNA-Tg were analyzed.

Results

In the nonsurgery group, after correcting for the effect of age and short diameter of LN, FNA-Tg was the independent risk factor for cervical LN metastasis of DTC (odds ratio [OR]: 1.048; 95% CI, 1.032-1.065). In the surgery group, after correcting for the effects of serum thyrotropin, serum Tg, long diameter of LN, and short diameter of LN, FNA-Tg was the independent risk factor for cervical LN metastasis of DTC (OR: 1.019; 95% CI, 1.006-1.033). The best cutoff value of FNA-Tg was 25.17 μg/L, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 0.944, 0.847, 0.978, 0.982, 0.819, and 0.902, respectively. FNA-Tg highly correlated with FNA-TgAb (P < .01; Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.559), but FNA-TgAb positivity did not undermine the diagnostic efficacy of FNA-Tg for DTC LN metastasis.

Conclusion

The best cutoff value of FNA-Tg was 25.17 μg/L in diagnosing DTC cervical LN metastasis. FNA-Tg highly correlated with FNA-TgAb, but FNA-TgAb had no influence on the diagnostic efficacy of FNA-Tg.
Metreleptin Robustly Increases Resting-state Brain Connectivity in Treatment-naïve Female Patients With Lipodystrophy
Authors: Schlögl Haiko , Villringer Arno , Miehle Konstanze , Fasshauer Mathias , Stumvoll Michael , Mueller Karsten
Published: June 2023

Context

Research in lipodystrophy (LD) and its treatment with metreleptin has not only helped patients with LD but has opened new directions in investigating leptin's role in metabolism and the regulation of eating behavior. Previously, in a study with patients with LD undergoing metreleptin treatment using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we found significantly increased resting-state brain connectivity in 3 brain areas including the hypothalamus.

Objective

In this study, we aimed to reproduce our functional MRI findings in an independent sample and compare results to healthy participants.

Design

Measurements in 4 female patients with LD undergoing metreleptin treatment and 3 healthy untreated controls were performed at 4 different time points over 12 weeks. To identify treatment-related brain connectivity alterations, eigenvector centrality was computed from resting-state functional MRI data for each patient and each session. Thereafter, analysis aimed at detecting consistent brain connectivity changes over time across all patients.

Results

In parallel to metreleptin treatment of the patients with LD, we found a significant brain connectivity increase in the hypothalamus and bilaterally in posterior cingulate gyrus. Using a 3-factorial model, a significant interaction between group and time was found in the hypothalamus.

Conclusions

Investigating brain connectivity alterations with metreleptin treatment using an independent sample of patients with LD, we have reproduced an increase of brain connectivity in hedonic and homeostatic central nervous networks observed previously with metreleptin treatment. These results are an important contribution to ascertain brain leptin action and help build a foundation for further research of central nervous effects of this important metabolic hormone.
Staying Backward with the History of Camptown Trans Sex Work
Authors: Kim Sooyoung
Published: June 2023

Yangssaekshi (Western bride), Yanggongju (Western princess), and Yangggalbo (Western whore), also translated as “Camptown sex worker,” are the terms for South Korean women who provided sexual and service labor to the US soldiers during and after the Korean War. Yet buried here is a trans sex worker's history. What did it take for the contemporary South Korean trans community and trans studies globally to become detached from Camptown sex workers' knowledge and sociality? How has a certain universalized understanding of transness in trans studies alienated scholarship from Camptown sex workers' knowledge and blocked us South Koreans from positioning ourselves in the conventional trans genealogy? How has our omission preconditioned trans studies? Guided by decolonial trans scholarship, this essay thinks of the temporal narrativization of trans discourse, one that includes critical trans studies, that has formulated its own discursive territory through trans as a geopolitical marker of modernity.
Diphthongs
Authors: Avesani Tatiana
Published: June 2023

This contribution takes a look at diphthongs, which the author calls an oddly trans problem of language. Borrowed from their linguistic function, diphthongs may point to a trans methodology. On a page, diphthongs seem to be the crystallized image of a transition. Yet, as elements of a sentence or a word, they are not necessarily read as a unit. Depending on the context and the function that they serve at the moment they appear, diphthongs take on many different forms. This piece considers the ways in which a diphthong may be viewed as a metaphor for multiplicity within a single body and the implications it may have in the future of trans studies.
Materialist Girl
Authors: Peeples Alex
Published: June 2023

Beginning to reconcile the meaning of the contradiction at the heart of trans historiography requires two methodological insights. The first is a qualified recommitment to trans studies' partial global turn with a fervently anticolonial edge that recognizes the basic coloniality of trans as category. The second is a practice of historical political economy that can situate contemporary transness within longue durée colonial histories of class formation, social relation, and capital accumulation. Taken in tandem, these approaches demonstrate the need for scholarship that denaturalizes the category of trans and reinterrogates its economic and scholarly value if trans studies is to find a future that addresses its much-critiqued Eurocentrism and whiteness.
Trans Life and the Critique of Political Economy
Authors: Giardini Jo Aurelio
Published: June 2023

Thirty years have passed since Leslie Feinberg published hir pamphlet Transgender Liberation, a “Marxist view of when and why transgender oppression arose.” Since then, considerations of trans studies in relationship to the critique of political economy have developed unevenly, but a variety of recent scholarship enables routes for interrogating processes of gendering in relationship to labor, global economic development, and routinized immiseration. This short article surveys some of this work in order to mark how it might orient future trans scholarship. A renewed attention to Marxist critique can provide tools for charting the flourishing of trans life and the forces that work to dispossess it.
The Path of Friction
Authors: Zurn Perry
Published: June 2023

This article takes the twenty-five-year anniversary of C. Jacob Hale's “Suggested Rules for Non-transsexuals Writing about Transsexuals, Transsexuality, Transsexualism, and Trans___” (1997) to reflect on the nature of accountability to and within trans communities. Against the backdrop of interviews with Hale and his thought partners for the piece (e.g., Talia Bettcher, Jack Halberstam, and Naomi Scheman), Zurn draws out the historical context of the “Rules,” but also the affective, theoretical, and political frictions (and intimacies) that underlie them. Generated in the late 1990s scene of trans theory and activism, Hale's “Rules” were more than a corrective to cis-centric “positions” on trans people circulating at the time (esp. by Bernice Hausman); they were also a testament to friendship, as well as to the philosophical insights of María Lugones, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Sandy Stone. Although written for non-trans writers, it was Hale's intention that the “Rules” also apply in trans-trans contexts. Indeed, in a world today where trans people are in fact leading trans studies, Hale's injunctions to humility in our approach to trans* peoples and to faith in the existing wisdom of trans life is prescient. So is his invitation to theorize on the rough ground of living and struggling together.
Introduction
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

Taking issue with Anthropocene, deep ecology, and technological determinism, the introduction lays out this work's framework composed of the Marxist ecological notions of metabolic rift, the romantic legacy, and the Frankfurt School's critical ecology. Under capitalism, the metabolic rift manifests in the alienation of nature and of labor. The system of accumulation and profit, bent on the domination of nature and labor, is the major source of ecological crises. The introduction addresses alternative modes of production where ecological bonds between humans and nature are maintained through embodied and ecological labor. Through technology and associated labor, humans can regulate and control metabolism between ourselves and nature and among ourselves, changing environments while changing ourselves.
Chapter Two: Lu Xun's Mytho-ecological Refutation of Technocrats
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

Primarily thought of as a critic of Chinese tradition, Lu Xun is less understood as a critic of technoscientific rationality. Walter Benjamin invoked the utopian reconciliation of humans and nature from premodern culture in critiques of modernity. In the same vein, Lu Xun recovered images of the ancient world where rural folks lived in intimacy with nature, worshiped supernatural beings, and observed time-honored rituals. Linking the myth of progress and technology to a chorus of “malevolent voices” by a “hypocrite gentry,” Lu Xun urged that we should rid of ourselves of this hypocrite gentry and retain mytho-ecological beliefs. Examining Lu Xun's stories from Old Tales Retold, this chapter explores the Chinese writer's recovery of the mythical and ecological images from the past in his critique of technocratic modernity. Confronted with the myth of progress, technological fetishism, and the rise of a technocratic elite, Lu Xun sought to uncover and redeem primordial images from archaic traditions.
Chapter Four: We Are the Dragon King
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

Rather than a war against nature, a genuine production is premised on the humanization of nature by producing use values while changing human inner nature. Socialist production strives to achieve an ecologically sound economy whereby labor on nature is in sync with the realization of human inner potentials. In the two-part film Young People in Our Village, young people of a small village modify the natural environment, channel water resources, and solve the perennial scourge of water shortage. Rather than being at the mercy of drought, the young villagers launch into a water project. Instead of a conquest of nature, their enterprise represents a necessary life-affirming and life-saving production to modify nature by exercising their sovereignty, intelligence, technoscientific knowledge, and productive skills.
Chapter Seven: Art and Labor in Han Song's Regenerated Bricks
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

The romantic and ecological legacy of Homo faber sheds light on Han Song's Regenerated Bricks. In that novella the victims of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, guided by an architect, produce bricks by using debris, straw, and corpses. Regenerating lives and hopes of the victims and furnishing building material, the brick testifies to a practice that combines labor and art and a biological rebirth associated with the fertility of the earth. The brick is not only useful but also aesthetically resonant. Working closely with the workers in the fields and workshops rather than from urban offices, the elite architect transforms into a “barefoot architect.” On the other hand, the culture market, neoliberal ideology, and digital media quickly turn the brick into a simulacrum and a consumer icon, alienating the brick and the creators from their vital connection with nature and the earth.
Chapter Ten: Critical Ecotopia in Hao Jingfang's Vagabonds
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

“Ecotopia” describes the social ecology of a world whose socioeconomic institutions are premised on the utopian dream of the reconciliation of the human and nature. The Mars Republic of Hao Jingfang's novel Vagabonds is built through advanced technologies that allow humans to terraform the planet and adapt to the arid environment along with the construction of an ecologically sound social and economic system. But the visions of ecotopia are challenged and interrogated by cultural and political clashes and differences between environmentally degraded Earth and utopian Mars. Through planetary travels, exchange, and conflict between the two planets, Vagabonds tells a story of mutual shocks and critiques among interplanetary travelers, capitalists, artists, and Martian youth. In their personal growth, the Martian youths question and explore their identity, belonging, and the balance between society and nature.
Epilogue
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

Ecocriticism offers a broader horizon than the concept of world literature. Instead of treating culturally bonded beings and political events of a zeitgeist, ecocriticism sees human history and lifeworlds as only one trajectory among myriad evolutions of species and the earth. The Anthropocene, with its focus on post-natural universals such as “man as geological agent,” obscures the fatal contradictions within capitalism, which has inherent eco-destructive tendencies. As a mode of production aimed at robbing the worker and robbing the soil, capitalism is destined to pursue capital accumulation, profit, and growth to the destruction of ecospheres and human communities. Alternatively, eco-socialism sees humans as an organism integral to nature but believes that human production must protect human lives and community from nature's blind forces in order to survive and to thrive. The utopian dream resonates with the myths of the goddess and ideas of substantial rationality imbued with aesthetic aura and ecological bonds with nature and the earth. This present work seeks to recover the utopian dream of the reconciliation of humans and nature.
The Pressure Is Rising: Evaluation and Treatment of Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome
Authors: Malik G. Ross , Vyas Krina A.
Published: June 2023

Chronic exertional compartment syndrome is a condition that typically affects athletic/active individuals. Chronic exertional compartment syndrome predominantly affects the lower leg; however, there are cases involving the hand, forearm, foot, and thigh. The signs and symptoms of chronic exertional compartment syndrome are severe pain, tightness, cramping, muscle weakness, and paresthesias during participation in exercise. Dynamic intramuscular compartmental pressure (preexertion and postexertion) is the standard diagnostic test. Although other imaging modalities, such as radiography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging are typically incorporated to rule out other pathologies. In addition, these modalities are being utilized to limit invasiveness of the diagnostic experience. Initial care commonly involves conservative treatment, such as physical therapy, modifications of patient's exercise technique, foot orthoses, and various procedures over a period of 3 to 6 months. Recalcitrant cases may be referred for surgical intervention (fasciotomy), which has inconclusive head-to-head data with conservative management with regard to return to prior sport and specific activity level.
ANALYSIS OF THE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF ASPHALT CONCRETE PAVEMENT SAMPLES AND DETERMINATION OF THEIR OWN RESONANT CHARACTERISTICS
Authors: Gorbachev A. A. , Vorobyov A. A. , Pokrovskaya O. D. , Kukushkina Ya. V.
Published: June 2023

Background. This article presents an analysis of the physical qualities of asphalt concrete pavement samples and their own resonant characteristics affecting the reliability and durability of the roadway. The relevance and practical significance of the issue considered in the article is determined by the fact that the analysis of the spectral resonance of asphalt concrete can answer the question of the cause of the cause of the destruction of the road and help to make a decision on the repair or replacement of the roadway.

Materials and/or methods. Methods of experiment, system analysis, comparison were used. Asphalt concrete samples of road surfaces with various fillers, which are widely used for paving, were taken as the material. A resonant frequency receiver and a camera were used as the research equipment.

Results. The paper presents an analysis of the physical properties of various asphalt concrete pavement compositions and their own resonant characteristics can be used for express diagnostics of the condition of the roadway in order to make a decision on its repair or replacement.

Conclusion. The article defines the main elements of the asphalt mixture and evaluates the quality of the asphalt mixture at the manufacturing stage and determines the main physical indicators.
THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS ON RUSSIAN RAILWAYS TO CONTROL CURRENT COLLECTORS OF TRAINS
Authors: Yazinin V. S. , Baranovskiy A. M. , Vorobyev A. A. , Romanova I. Yu.
Published: June 2023

Background. This article presents the results of the analysis of the mechanism of artificial neural networks on Russian railways for the control of current collectors of trains. A critical assessment of the situation was carried out and a forecast of the further development of neural network technologies in railway transport was given.

Materials and/or research methods. Methods of mathematical modeling, system analysis, data analysis, comparison, systems theory, as well as architecture and mathematical model of neural network and information standards were used.

Results. A model of the information system for monitoring the characteristics of current collectors has been developed, the algorithm of its operation and the functionality of the software package of the model of the system for monitoring the characteristics of current collectors of rolling stock have been described. The algorithm of neural network operation for determining the characteristics of electric rolling stock current collectors is presented. The analysis of the prospects for the use of artificial neural networks in the field of railway transport has been carried out, and a simulation model of an information system for monitoring the characteristics of current collectors of electric rolling stock of railway transport has been created.

Conclusion. The article examines the positive experience of JSC “Russian Railways” on the introduction of neural network technologies in technological processes and further prospects for the use of neural network technologies on Russian railways. The necessity of intensifying the development and implementation of neurotechnologies to solve a wide range of tasks, including tasks to optimize the organization of maintenance and repair of rolling stock, is noted. The effectiveness and relevance of the use of artificial neural networks in various fields of activity, especially on Russian railways, is shown, and a model of an information system in the field of monitoring the characteristics of current collectors is proposed.
ABOUT DIAGNOSTICS OF AUTOMOTIVE HYBRID POWER PLANTS ON STANDS WITH RUNNING DRUMS
Authors: Fedotov Alexander I. , Yankov Oleg S. , Kiselev Pavel A. , Uhvatov Dmitry O.
Published: June 2023

The authors of the article provide a detailed description and analysis of the basic layouts of hybrid power plants (GSU) of wheeled vehicles (CTS), describe the principle of their operation and provide the main diagnostic parameters. The analysis of the functioning of the GSU in various modes of movement of the CTS is presented. Diagnostic methods on power and inertial stands with running drums are considered.

The purpose is to consider methods of diagnostics of CTS with GSU on power and inertial stands with running drums.

The method of the work – the article used statistical methods of analysis.

Results – it is proved that in order to ensure highly informative and stable test modes of functioning of the CTS with GSU in the process of their diagnosis, it is necessary to use hybrid stands.

Scope of application of the results – it is advisable to apply the results obtained in the diagnosis of CTS with GSU on stands with running drums.