bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(butylene succinate adipate) (PBSA) films with Micro fibrillated cellulose (MFC) and cardanol for packaging applications
Authors: Apicella Annalisa , Molinari Giovanna , Gigante Vito , Pietrosanto Arianna , Incarnato Loredana , Aliotta Laura , Lazzeri Andrea
Published: August 2024

Micro Fibrillated Cellulose (MFC) has emerged as a promising component in film formulations due to its unique barrier prope.rties. In this study, to best of our knowledge, cardanol, a biobased plasticizer derived from cashew processing, was employed for the first time, as a dispersing aid for MFC, during a liquid assisted extrusion technique with a Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/Poly(butylene succinate adipate) (PBSA) blend. The aim of the work is the production of PLA/PBSA/MFC films for packaging applications. The addition of different MFC amount was investigated (added at 0.5, 0.75 and 1 wt.% concentrations). The results obtained are very interesting, in fact from one hand Cardanol improved the compatibility between PLA and PBSA and avoided the MFC agglomeration. On the other hand, micro fibrillated cellulose ensured a stable film blowing and the achievement of enhanced barrier properties, seal ability and mechanical resistance. In particular, the best result was obtained with an MFC content of 0.75 wt.% for which a good compromise in terms of films ductility, barrier properties and seal ability was achieved.
How do Ivorian Cyberfraudsters Manage Their Criminal Proceeds?
Authors: Cretu-Adatte Cristina , Zbinden Renaud , Brunoni Luca , Bunning Hazel , Azi Josselin Wilfred , Beaudet-Labrecque Olivier
Published: August 2024

This article delves into the intricacies of managing illicit financial gains among Ivorian cyberfraudsters, shedding light on the findings of a field study conducted in Côte d’Ivoire by Swiss and Ivorian research teams. The study involved interviews with cybercriminals, law enforcement officials, and subject matter experts, in order to answer a specific question: What strategies do Ivorian cyberfraudsters use to manage and launder the criminal proceeds originating from romance scams and sextortion? The results explore the tactics employed by cyberfraudsters to obfuscate the illicit financial flows, their organizational structures, and the strategies they employ in managing and using their gains. It confirms certain elements from the scientific literature, in addition to introducing new insights for a better understanding of the processes of money laundering and the use of illicit funds. The article also unravels the multifaceted challenges encountered within the anti-money laundering framework in the context of cybercrime and raises avenues for further reflection and future work to enhance the fight against this scourge.
Instabilities of black holes in Einstein-scalar–Gauss–Bonnet theories
Authors: Blázquez-Salcedo Jose Luis , Kleihaus Burkhard , Kunz Jutta
Published: August 2024

Black holes represent an ideal laboratory to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity and alternative theories of gravity. Among the latter, Einstein-scalar–Gauss–Bonnet Theories have received much attention in recent years. Depending on the coupling function of the scalar field, the resulting black holes may then differ significantly from their counterparts in general relativity. Focusing on the lowest modes, linear mode stability of the black holes is addressed for several types of coupling functions. When in addition to the coupling to the Gauss–Bonnet term a cosmologically motivated further term with coupling to the curvature scalar is included, a new set of instabilities arises: quadrupole and hexadecupole instabilities of spherically symmetric scalarized black holes, that are stable under radial perturbations.
A multi-centre randomised controlled trial comparing megestrol acetate to levonorgestrel-intrauterine system in fertility sparing treatment of atypical endometrial hyperplasia
Authors: Goh Charissa Shu Ying , Loh Michelle Jia Min , Lim Whui Whui , Ang Joella Xiahong , Nadarajah Ravichandran , Yong Tze Tein , Tong Pearl , Yeo Yen Ching , Phoon Jessie Wai Leng
Published: August 2024

Purpose

The objective of the trial was to compare the regression rate of atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) in patients treated with megestrol acetate (MA) vs. levonorgestrel-intrauterine device (LNG-IUS). We also aimed to assess the fertility and pregnancy outcomes in these patients.

Methods

The study was a phase II multi-centre randomised controlled trial on the use of MA compared to LNG-IUS in the treatment of AEH conducted from January 2020 to January 2024 in Singapore. Women who were diagnosed with AEH and between 21 and 40 years old were included. The patients were randomised to receive either MA (160 mg orally daily) or LNG-IUS. The primary outcomes assessed were the regression rates at 3 months, 6 months and 9 months of treatment. The secondary outcomes assessed were the side effects, patient acceptability and fertility outcomes.

Results

Thirty-six patients completed the trial. The overall regression rate was 88.9% by 9 months. There was no statistically significant difference in the 9-month complete regression rate between MA vs. LNG-IUS. There was also no significant difference in side effects and weight change between both arms. Nineteen patients were actively pursuing fertility after complete regression. There were 8 pregnancies achieved, with resultant 4 live births and 4 miscarriages.

Conclusion

Our study confirms a high regression rate of AH with medical treatment. LNG-IUS is a non-inferior treatment compared to megestrol acetate. Successful pregnancy outcomes can be achieved after regression of AEH. Long-term studies of sufficient sample-size are needed to assess for fertility and pregnancy outcomes, risk of recurrence and long-term risk of malignancy.

Trial registration number

The study was registered with the Health Science Authority (HSA) (License No.: CTA1900087) on September 5, 2019: https://eservice.hsa.gov.sg/prism/ct_r/enquiry.do?action=loadSpecificDetail.

The trial was registered retrospectively on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT05492487) on April 7, 2022: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05492487.
The Quality of Society and Happiness: Fairness, Trust, and Community in China
Authors: Knight John , Gunatilaka Ramani
Published: August 2024

Adam Smith argued that ‘moral sentiments’ – the norms, customs and conventions of society - provide a benefit, improving both economic efficiency and well-being. Three important moral sentiments are a perception of fairness, a willingness to trust people, and a sense of community. We analyse representative national socioeconomic surveys of the China Household Income Project (CHIP), containing information that is used to create scores of happiness, fairness, trust, and community for each respondent. Three main hypotheses are tested: that higher reported fairness, higher reported trust, and greater sense of community each raises happiness. Evidence is found for each hypothesis, as well as for related questions, Attempts are made to ascertain whether the associations are causal; some support is found. The evidence is generally consistent with the broader argument that an informal social contract constrains antisocial behaviour and improves wellbeing in ways little studied by economists.
The Role of Resilience in Fostering Late Adolescents’ Meaning-Making Process: A Latent Profile Analysis
Authors: Zambelli Michela , Ellena Adriano Mauro , Tagliabue Semira , Pozzi Maura , Marta Elena
Published: August 2024

The study presents an application of Latent Profile Analysis to sustain the existence of different profiles of meaning-making (i.e., the process of searching and finding meaning in life) within the late adolescent’s population, and to investigate the role of resilience in predicting profiles’ belonginess. 943 Italian senior high-school students (52% females) were clustered into two adaptive profiles, highly-engaged (high presence, average search) and balanced (average presence and search), and two maladaptive profiles, frustrated (average presence, high search) and disengaged (low presence and search). A multinomial logistic regression revealed that adolescents with robust resilience skills were more likely to show adaptive profiles, and less likely to fall into the disengaged group, suggesting that individuals with higher resilience are more prone to engage in search for meaning even when they perceive a lack of presence of meaning. Findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of meaning-making, calling the development of personalized interventions to foster adolescents’ ability to navigate life challenges during their transition toward adulthood.
Description and Performance of the COSINUS remoTES Design
Authors: Zema V. , Shera K. , Angloher G. , Bharadwaj M. R. , Cababie M. R. , Dafinei I. , Di Marco N. , Einfalt L. , Ferroni F. , Fichtinger S. , Filipponi A. , Frank T. , Friedl M. , Ge Z. , Heikinheimo M. , Hughes M. N. , Huitu K. , Kellermann M. , Maji R. , Mancuso M. , Pagnanini L. , Petricca F. , Pirro S. , Pröbst F. , Profeta G. , Puiu A. , Reindl F. , Schäffner K. , Schieck J. , Schmiedmayer D. , Schreiner P. R. , Schwertner C. , Stahlberg M. , Stendahl A. , Stukel M. , Tresca C. , Wagner F. , Yue S. , Zhu Y.
Published: August 2024

COSINUS is a new cryogenic observatory for rare event searches located in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. COSINUS’s first goal is to clarify whether the signal detected by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment originates from dark matter particle interactions or has a different nature. To this aim, sodium iodide (NaI) cryogenic scintillating calorimeters read out by transition edge sensors (TESs) are developed. To preserve the NaI crystal from the TES fabrication process, COSINUS implemented a novel design, the remoTES, where the TES is deposited on a separate wafer and coupled to the absorber through a Au-bonding wire and a Au-phonon collector. This design has reached baseline resolutions below 100 eV for Si, 200 eV for $$\hbox {TeO}_2$$

TeO
2

and 400 eV for NaI absorbers. These results show that the remoTES not only brings COSINUS close to its performance goal of 1 keV energy threshold, but also offers the possibility to employ delicate crystals previously excluded for cryogenic applications as absorbers and to avoid the exposure of the absorbers to the TES fabrication process. It therefore extends the choice of target materials of the rare event searches using TES. In this work, we will provide a detailed description of the remoTES design and present the results of the latest prototypes.
Investigating the impact of Accessible Pedagogies on the experiences and engagement of students with language and/or attentional difficulties
Authors: Tancredi Haley , Graham Linda J. , Killingly Callula , Sweller Naomi
Published: August 2024

Students with disability tend to report lower levels of school engagement. To date, research has focused on building students’ extrinsic motivation and self-regulation with limited consideration of the impact of instructional barriers. In this mixed-methods study, we investigated the effect of teachers’ participation in the Accessible Pedagogies™ Program of Learning on the classroom experiences and engagement of 56 Year 10 students with disabilities impacting language and information processing. When asked in interviews what their teacher did to help them pay attention and to understand, students described teachers’ increased use of practices that were the focus of the program. Self-report questionnaire data revealed a positive, statistically significant increase in cognitive engagement for students whose teachers participated in Accessible Pedagogies™. No increase was observed for a Comparison Group. Findings suggest that the reduction of extraneous language and cognitive load through teachers’ use of Accessible Pedagogies™ may have helped students deploy available mental effort to engage in learning, rather than expend that effort to overcome unnecessary instructional barriers. Future research will investigate the impact of Accessible Pedagogies™ with larger samples and a wider range of students.
Preservice Biology Teachers’ Beliefs About Evidence-Based Medicine and Alternative Medicine
Authors: Schmidt Elvira , Zeyer Albert , Kremer Kerstin
Published: August 2024

Health-related discussions in society and the media—specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic—showed that individuals are confronted with Alternative Medicine and Evidence-Based Medicine. When making reflective decisions about these treatments, both knowledge and beliefs are important. Previous research with preservice biology teachers has shown that they commonly use Alternative Medicine, although they have little knowledge about it. To date, systematic studies on preservice biology teachers’ beliefs about Alternative Medicine and Evidence-Based Medicine are lacking. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the present study elicited German (N = 40) preservice biology teachers’ beliefs about these treatments via an open-ended questionnaire. Behavioral, normative, and control beliefs were categorized using qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the participants mentioned the efficacy, scientificity, and safety of treatments as important beliefs. For Alternative Medicine, beliefs were related to scientific evidence for its efficacy, naturalness and mild effects. These beliefs indicate that some preservice biology teachers do not have a clear understanding of Evidence-Based Medicine and Alternative Medicine, which can influence their decision-making. The results highlight the need to incorporate Alternative Medicine and Evidence-Based Medicine into health-related decision-making within biology education and biology teacher education and provide a basis for further research.
Association between self-reported difficulty in chewing or swallowing and frailty in older adults: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Sato So , Sasabuchi Yusuke , Okada Akira , Yasunaga Hideo
Published: August 2024

Oral frailty can contribute to physical and mental health disorders. Previous research has shown an association between frailty and self-reported difficulty in chewing or swallowing. However, their combined assessment has obscured their specific impact on frailty-related outcomes. To investigate the independent associations between difficulty in chewing or swallowing and 1-year frailty outcomes, while also examining their interactions. This retrospective cohort study utilized the DeSC database to identify older adults aged ≥ 75 years who underwent health checkups between April 2014 and November 2022. Multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between self-reported difficulty in chewing or swallowing and outcomes, including hospitalization due to aspiration pneumonia, all-cause hospitalization, and all-cause mortality within 1 year. Interactions between chewing and swallowing difficulties were also evaluated. Among 359,111 older adults, 39.0% reported oral function difficulties. Swallowing difficulty alone lacked significant outcome association. However, chewing difficulty alone was significantly associated with higher risks of hospitalization due to aspiration pneumonia (hazard ratio (HR), 1.35; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15–1.58; P < 0.001), all-cause hospitalization (HR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.05–1.11; P < 0.001), and all-cause mortality (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.14–1.44; P < 0.001) compared with no self-reported difficulty. A significant positive interaction between self-reported difficulty in chewing and swallowing was observed for all-cause mortality (P = 0.009). Self-reported difficulty in chewing was significantly associated with higher risks of hospitalization due to aspiration pneumonia, all-cause hospitalization, and all-cause mortality among older adults. Chewing and swallowing difficulties showed a synergistic effect, significantly increasing all-cause mortality risk.
The relations between soil hydrophobicity and vegetation in abandoned arable fields on sandy soil
Authors: Hewelke Edyta , Zaniewski Piotr T. , Pędziwiatr Artur , Gozdowski Dariusz , Górska Ewa B.
Published: August 2024

The study aimed to find the significant relations between the dominant plant species of secondary succession of lasting abandonment of agricultural fields on sandy soil in central Poland, and soil water repellency strength. The critical soil moisture content for hydrophobicity for individual sites ranged from 10.7 to 16.7%, and the differences were not statistically significant. After periods of prolonged drought, all abandonment agriculture fields indicated lower soil moisture content than critical threshold (10.7–16.7%) for soil water repellency. The soil water repellency was assessed as extreme class based on Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) test. The relationship between the main dominant species cover and WDPT test was diverse, with Agrostis gigantea agg. and Avena sativa as a species reaching highest cover within low values of WDPT. Inexpertly Betula pendula agg. (unexpectely) and Pinus sylvestris dominated sites with the highest values of WDPT test. The conducted research indicates that due to climate change, leaving sandy soils in warm temperate climate without an alternative management plan may pose a significant environmental risk.
Vascular anatomy of the lateral meniscus with special focus on the joint capsule
Authors: Natsuyama Yutaro , Mitsuya Yuka , Kuramasu Miyuki , Kawata Shinichi , Yakura Tomiko , Li Zhong-Lian , Yi Shuang-Qin , Itoh Masahiro
Published: August 2024

Previous studies have reported that the lateral meniscus (LM) has two regions, the popliteal hiatus area (PH) with a scarce blood supply and the roots with an abundant one. However, the description of its vascular anatomy remains insufficient. We hypothesized that the difference in the width of the meniscus hilum (MH) affects the scarcity and abundance of blood supply to the LM. The MH is a concept proposed by us and is the only site of entrance or exit of blood vessels and nerves associated with the meniscus. The purpose of this study was to provide a structural explanation for the disparity of blood supply to the LM using the concept of MH. Sixteen knees were examined to investigate the blood supply to LM. In most areas, the femoral joint capsule (FJC) and tibial joint capsule (TJC) continued to the cranial and caudal edges of the LM, respectively. In the roots, the FJC and TJC covered the femoral and the outer-femoral surfaces. In contrast, the FJC in the PH did not attach to the cranial edge and only the TJC there did to the caudal edge of the LM. Histochemical examination showed that the blood vessels enter the LM via the MH. In the PH, the MH at the caudal edge was extremely narrow; and in the roots, the MH on the outer-femoral surfaces was wide. The results suggest that the difference in the width of the MH affected the scarcity and abundance of blood supply to the LM.
Comparison of self-reported and device-based measured physical activity—a replication study
Authors: Fiedler Janis , Woll Alexander , Wunsch Kathrin
Published: August 2024

Comparing adherence to physical activity (PA) guidelines can be challenging due to the varying types of measurement and analysis methods used to quantify PA. Therefore, previous results of test–retest reliability, validity, and stability for self-reported (i.e., questionnaire and diary) and device-based measured (i.e., accelerometry with 10/60 s epochs) PA were replicated in 43 adults and 50 children from the SMARTFAMILY2.0 trial. Data were collected throughout two independent measurement weeks and descriptive values were reported and visualized. The relationships among and between all variables included during both measurement weeks for each quality criterion were analyzed using Spearman correlations, stratified by children and adults. This was done to illustrate the quality criteria, namely test–retest reliability, validity, and stability. Descriptive results showed the highest moderate and vigorous PA values for questionnaires and accelerometry showed the second highest results in moderate PA, while in vigorous PA the estimations by the diary were higher than those of accelerometry. As before, only accelerometry demonstrated preliminary evidence for reliable, valid, and stable results for both epoch lengths. Contrary to our previous findings, the diary showed higher correlation coefficients for the quality criteria than the questionnaire. Additionally, correlation coefficients were higher in moderate than in vigorous PA, and the patterns of significance differed partially between children and adults. The present results reinforce the findings and conclusions presented in the previous study and add information about PA questionnaire results in children. Comparing both studies, discrepancies exist in estimating vigorous PA in healthy adults by the Global and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire.
The formation, development and classification of rail corrugation: a survey on Chinese metro
Authors: Wang Yang , Xiao Hong , Zhang Zhihai , Cui Xuhao , Chi Yihao , Nadakatti Mahantesh M.
Published: August 2024

Investigations into rail corrugation within metro systems have traditionally focused on specific mechanisms, thereby limiting the generalizability of proposed theories. Understanding the commonalities in rail corrugation across diverse metro lines remains pivotal for elucidating its underlying mechanisms. The present study conducted extensive field surveys and tracking tests across 14 Chinese metro lines. By employing t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) for dimensional reduction and employing the unsupervised clustering algorithm DBSCAN, the research redefines the classification of metro rail corrugation based on characteristic information. The analysis encompassed spatial distribution and temporal evolution of this phenomenon. Findings revealed that floating slab tracks exhibited the highest proportion of rail corrugation at 47%. Notably, ordinary monolithic bed tracks employing damping fasteners were more prone to inducing rail corrugation. Corrugation primarily manifested in curve sections with radii between 300 and 500 m, featuring ordinary monolithic bed track and steel-spring floating slab track structures, with wavelengths typically between 30 and 120 mm. Stick–slip vibrations of the wheel–rail system maybe led to short-wavelength corrugations (40–60 mm), while longer wavelengths (200–300 mm) exhibited distinct fatigue damage characteristics, mainly observed in steel-spring floating slab tracks and small-radius curve sections of ordinary monolithic bed tracks and ladder sleeper tracks. A classification system comprising 57 correlated features categorized metro rail corrugation into four distinct types. These research outcomes serve as critical benchmarks for validating various theories pertaining to rail corrugation formation.
Barite septarian concretions in the Albian (Cretaceous) of the Subbetic (Southern Spain)
Authors: Molina J. M. , Reolid M.
Published: August 2024

This works analyses the Albian barite septarian concretions of the Fardes Formation located in the Geopark of Granada within the Subbetic (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain) from a stratigraphic, textural, mineralogical and geochemical point of view. The early diagenetic conditions that favoured the development of the concretions and their septaria are interpreted, taking into account the importance of the organic-rich clay facies (black shales) in which they are found as well as the interruptions in the sedimentation rate. The barite concretions formed in different stages: (1) Sedimentation of black shales containing Ba of organic origin and deposited in low oxygen environments; (2) diffusion of seawater interstitial solutions containing Ba2+ mainly from organic matter and sulfate originating from the decomposition of organic matter by bacterial reduction; (3) crystallization of barite on nucleation sites and rapid growth of concretion at the water–sediment interface when the depth of the barite front stabilized at a few meters depth due to a very low or no sedimentation rate; (4) rapid growth of the concretions and sediment load favoured the formation of septarian cracks that were filled first with Sr-rich barite crystals and finally by calcite. The association of barite concretions and stratigraphic discontinuities can be very useful for the recognition of depositional hiatuses in thick monotonous clayey or marly sequences.
Variability of Winter Frosts in Central South America: Quantifying Mechanisms with Decision Trees
Authors: Collazo Soledad , García-Herrera Ricardo
Published: August 2024

Agricultural production in Central South America (CSA) is substantially influenced by frost events. This study characterises and quantifies the physical processes leading to frost conditions in CSA from 1979 to 2022, focusing on three innovative aspects: regional frost properties, a novel multi-parametric upper-level jet description, and the quantification of underlying mechanisms through decision trees (DTs). The regionalisation analysis identifies five homogeneous frost regions in CSA. In all regions, the events tend to occur more frequently during the La Niña phase. Moreover, a significant increase in the frequency of widespread frost events has been observed in the Argentinean Pampas during the study period, primarily due to negative trends in minimum temperatures. Furthermore, the synoptic mechanisms triggering frosts, such as cold fronts and post-frontal anticyclones enhanced by subsidence near the subtropical jet (STJ) entrance, have not shown major long-term changes. To describe the jets, we compute six parameters for the STJ and seven for the polar front jet, including latitude, intensity, height, tilting, longitudinal extent, and branch number. DTs are used to identify key jet parameters linked to frost events, such as the latitude, longitudinal extent, and tilt of the Atlantic STJ. Frost likelihood increases when the STJ is north of 31°S, and the extension of the Atlantic STJ is longer than 35° and has a negative tilt. Finally, DTs focused on the onset and end of events highlight geopotential height anomalies and STJ extension as critical variables. These DTs provide concise and accessible information for agricultural decision-makers in CSA.
Interpretable Representation and Customizable Retrieval of Traffic Congestion Patterns Using Causal Graph-Based Feature Associations
Authors: Nguyen Tin T. , Calvert Simeon C. , Li Guopeng , van Lint Hans
Published: August 2024

The substantial increase in traffic data offers new opportunities to inspect traffic congestion dynamics from different perspectives. This paper presents a novel framework for the interpretable representation and customizable retrieval of traffic congestion patterns using causal relation graphs, which harnesses many of these opportunities. By integrating domain knowledge with innovative data management techniques, we address the challenges of effectively handling and retrieving the growing volume of traffic data for diverse analytical purposes. The framework leverages causal graphs to encode traffic congestion patterns, capturing fundamental phenomena and their spatiotemporal relationships, thus facilitating an interpretable high-level view of traffic dynamics. Moreover, a customizable similarity measurement function is introduced based on inexact graph matching, allowing users to tailor the retrieval process to specific requirements. This framework’s capability to retrieve customizable and interpretable congestion patterns is demonstrated through extensive experiments with real-world highway traffic data in the Netherlands, highlighting its value in supporting diverse data-driven studies and applications.
IT Service Well-being, in the Higher Education Ecosystem
Authors: Heidari Maryam , Torrisi-Steele Geraldine , Binnewies Sebastian
Published: August 2024

The holistic and systematic comprehension of service well-being is garnering increasing attention among scholars. The holistic understanding of Service well-being is significant since it helps to clarify the multi-actor and multi-level nature of complex services, such as IT services. The majority of research conducted in the IT service field primarily examines individual and micro-level interactions, neglecting the significance of a comprehensive and systemic perspective on service well-being. The study discussed in this article aims to overcome these constraints by examining the well-being of IT services from a “service ecosystem” standpoint. The research used an interpretative approach to construct a middle-range theory using a case study and grounded theory methodology within a higher education institution. The results uncover the factors that contribute to well-being and the effects on several levels of the IT service ecosystem (Micro, Meso and Macro) including Service encounter, Service facilitation, and Service integration levels. This study enhances the existing research on well-being in the IT service context by presenting a holistic framework for service ecosystem well-being which has significant theoretical and practical contributions.
Impacts of sarcopenia with or without obesity on patients with gastric cancer
Authors: Wu Hao-Fan , Zhang Xian-Zhong , Zhang Feng-Min , Zhuang Cheng-Le
Published: August 2024

Background

Obesity and sarcopenia are both viewed as pathological body composition issues and indicators of compromised nutritional status. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of sarcopenic obesity on short- and long-term clinical outcomes.

Methods

The clinical data of patients who underwent radical gastrectomy between 2013 and 2019 were prospectively collected. Sarcopenia is defined by European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) and obesity is defined by the body mass index (BMI). To identify the independent predictors of postoperative complications and overall survival, we performed univariate and multivariate logistic and Cox regression analyses.

Results

In a total of 508 cases, 372 (73.2%) cases were diagnosed with non-sarcopenia, 112 (22.0%) with non-obese sarcopenia, and 24 (4.7%) with sarcopenic obesity. In the multivariate logistic regression, both of non-obese sarcopenia (OR = 2.305, 95% CI = 1.444–3.679, P < 0.001) and sarcopenic obesity (OR = 2.589, 95% CI = 1.088–6.156, P = 0.031) were independent risk factors for postoperative complications. In the multivariate Cox analysis, only non-obese sarcopenia (HR = 2.614, 95% CI = 1.882–3.631, P < 0.001) was independent risk factor for overall survival.

Conclusions

Sarcopenic obesity serves as an independent risk factor for postoperative complications, but not for overall survival.
A lily heat-inducible multi-protein bridging factor, LlMBF1c, plays a crucial role in plant thermotolerance
Authors: Xiang Jun , Wu Ze , Ding Liping , Zhang Yinyi , Teng Nianjun
Published: August 2024

Lily (Lilium spp.) is popular for its colorful flowers and exquisite scents. Nonetheless, high temperatures often severely reduce its yield production and quality. The implementation of biotechnological approaches to manipulate the expression of key heat-resistant genes is an effective way to improve the thermotolerance of plants. Here, we isolated a gene encoding for a multi-protein bridging factor 1c (MBF1c) from L. longiflorum 'White Heaven' (LlMBF1c), which was highly similar to MBF1c from Elaeis guineensis (EgMBF1c). LlMBF1c harbors conserved MBF1 and helix-turn-helix (HTH) domains. Moreover, the expression of LlMBF1c and its promoter activity were enhanced under high-temperature conditions. Further analysis indicated that LlMBF1c is a transcriptional repressor in both yeast and Nicotiana benthamiana. Its protein was located in the nucleus and cytoplasm of N. benthamiana leaf cells. Overexpression of LlMBF1c in lily and Arabidopsis resulted in enhanced thermotolerance in these plants. By contrast, silencing LlMBF1c reduced the thermotolerance of lily. Our results identified an important candidate gene that can be utilized to develop thermotolerant lily germplasm.
Urgent MRI: when, what, and why—a single Italian center experience
Authors: De Lucia Diletta , D’Apolito Gabriella , Grimaldi Alessandro , Calandrelli Rosalinda , Gaudino Simona
Published: August 2024

Purpose

The aim of our study is to provide a list of clinical situations that might justify the performance of an urgent MRI (uMRI) based on clinical relevance, correlating the MRI findings with the clinical indications and the urgent management of patients.

Methods

We reviewed all uMRI scans of brain (buMRI) and spine (suMRI) performed in our Department from August 2020 to February 2024. We analyzed the main clinical indications, the neuroradiological findings, and the relevance of these results in the therapeutic decisions.

Results

The main indication for buMRI was the evaluation of ischemic stroke detected at preliminary CT scan followed by coma, status epilepticus, suspected acute inflammatory diseases, trauma, suspicious of infective diseases, and pre-surgical evaluation of cerebral tumors. The main findings were: ischemia, acute inflammatory conditions, post-traumatic and post-ictal alterations, venous thrombosis, infective diseases, and cerebral tumors. 65% of patients underwent an urgent therapeutic intervention. The main indications for suMRI were clinical suspicion of myelopathy and radiculopathy including cauda equina syndrome secondary to trauma, neoplasms, inflammatory and infective diseases, degenerative changes, surgery, and vascular diseases. The main findings were: post-traumatic, degenerative and neoplastic myelopathy or radiculopathy, inflammatory and infective changes of the spinal cord, post-surgical fluid collections, and vascular diseases. About 77% of suMRI was followed by an urgent surgery.

Conclusions

Our study showed an overall good correlation between buMRI-suMRI findings and the clinical indications for the examinations. Also, uMRI affected the urgent management in a good percentage of patients, proving the significance of uMRI findings.
Christianity in Hitler's Ideology
Authors: Nilsson Mikael
Published: August 2024

How did Hitler's personal religious beliefs help to shape the development of National Socialism? Through close analysis of primary sources, Mikael Nilsson argues that Hitler's admiration of Jesus was central in both his public and private life, playing a key role throughout his entire political career. Christianity in Hitler's Ideology reexamines the roots of National Socialism, exploring how antisemitic forms of Christian nationalism de-Judaized Jesus and rendered him as an Aryan. In turn, the study analyses how Hitler's religious and ideological teachers such as Völkisch-Christian writers Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Dietrich Eckart weaponised these ideas. Nilsson challenges the established understanding that Hitler only used religion as a tool of propaganda. Instead, it is argued that religious faith and deeply held convictions were at the core of National Socialism, its racism, the Second World War, and the Holocaust.
What is the Church?—VI
Authors: McCabe Herbert
Published: August 2024

In the last article I suggested that the sacraments of penance and the anointing of the sick could be seen as parallel paths of return to the eucharist. Each of them belongs to the situation in which a man is prevented from taking part in the eucharist; penance has to do with the obstacles created by sin, anointing with the obstacle of sickness. This is not the most widespread view of the anointing of the sick but there can be very little doubt that it was the ancient view of the Church. For most Catholics ‘extreme unction’ is associated with the deathbed, not with healing; the very name suggests the last moments of life. It is commonly regarded as a preparation for death, and its effect is believed to be primarily an invisible one though it is conceded that an improvement of health may also follow by way of a bonus.
St Augustine on the Trinity—VI
Authors: Hill Edmund
Published: August 2024

We left St Augustine at the end of our last article and of book x of the De Trinitate with his image of the divine Trinity in the mind now completely delineated, and comprised in the mind's acts of remembering, understanding, and willing itself. A question, however, remained outstanding: whether there is any real distinction between the mind's memory and understanding of itself or only the verbal one. St Augustine is quite capable of showing the reality of the distinction by an effort of sheer mental introspection, and in fact he will do so in book XIV. But for the moment he is going to illustrate it by observing the lesser trinities the lower levels of human cognition, in sensation, imagination, and mental knowledge of the external, temporal world.
The Trinity and our Society
Authors: Dawson Clare
Published: August 2024

To say that the being of God is the basis of human society may seem to anyone who believes in the procession of creatures from the divine, mind, conceived by his thought, made actual by his will, a statement of the obvious; indeed any theist would be likely to agree that since nature of ultimate truth must be the source of all truth and being, whatever theory of creation is held, it is from God that the shape of what concerns human destiny must descend. Any real belief in God affects our ideas about man and human society, but the Christian belief in the Trinity most profoundly tempers the structure of our thought.

The idea of society (as an unspecified notion, not tied down to this society or that, in one age or another), and of man's life in common is closely related to the mystery of divine society. It could hardly be otherwise since the fundamental doctrine of Christianity shows God knowing and loving, having within his essential unity true interchange and the mutual give-and-take indispensable to the concept of community or society.
War, Love and Justice
Authors: Windass G. A.
Published: August 2024

Justice and charity often seem to us to be opposites. Charity means generosity without calculation—‘Greater love hath no man than this’…; unending patience—‘Charity is patient and kind’; the forgiveness of injuries, and the renunciation of self-regarding rights. Justice, on the other hand, seems to make opposite claims. It requires us to regulate our generosity by reasonable calculation; it puts an end to patience when rights are threatened; it balances crime against punishment. Above all, it seems to be concerned with the assertion of rights, which is foreign to the spirit of charity.
The Place of the Father in Religious Education
Authors: Pratt Oliver , Pratt Ianthe
Published: August 2024

‘You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvellous light’ (I Pet. 2.9). This priesthood of all the faithful is the basis of the lay apostolate. Parents have a particular apostolic responsibility and need to understand the nature of their priesthood if they are fruitfully to fulfill their role.

Throughout the scriptures the role of a priest is to offer a gift to God in an effort to get into a right relation to him. The gift that is offered may take the form of Old Testament ritual sacrifices, of the spiritual sacrifice of a holy life, or of the sharing in the one effective sacrifice ot Christ through baptism and the eucharist.
St Augustine on the Trinity—VII
Authors: Hill Edmund
Published: August 2024

In this concluding article on St Augustine's great masterpiece, as well as seeing how he finally completes the many subtle patterns of his thought, we must also recapitulate and try to get a comprehensive view of the work as a whole. In his closing book, xv, he himself provides the reader with a recapitulation of the earlier books. But first we must see how in books XIII and XIV he finishes what we can almost call the history of the divine image in man which he began in book XII. In so doing he also brings to a conclusion the analysis of this image which he had begun much earlier in book IX.
Newman’s Sanctity: The Recent ‘Life’
Authors: Hodge Robert
Published: August 2024

Those of us who have heard Elgar's ‘Overture to the Dream of Gerontius’ will not have forgotten its awesome atmosphere of religious mystery. God is calling a Christ-dedicated soul home to complete union with himself; but first there must be a pilgrimage of purification, since only holiness can abide even the veiled presence of the All-Holy.
Four Ancient Reviews of the Wisdom of Solomon
Authors: Atkins Anselm
Published: August 2024

You are a cosmopolitan citizen of the Mediterranean world (winter apartment in Alexandria) during the middle of the first century B.C. Your interests go as far as religion—scientifically considered, of course—and philosophy. Last year, in partial fulfillment of your curiosity's requirement, you walked down Crocodile Street to the Temple Beth-El bazaar and bought a handsome copy of The Wisdom of Solomon. It is there on your shelf now, but you haven't read it. Only the reviews. You had to confess that they left you—uncorseted, shall we say. For one thing, you didn't understand what Riphath ben Gomer meant by ‘midrash’ (though you had been reading midrashic pieces all through your Hebrew Great Books course). Secondly, the last thing you needed was a kosher potpourri.
Experience and Expression in Christian Education
Authors: Haughton Rosemary
Published: August 2024

It is necessary nowadays for Christians to re-think all manner of things that were formerly taken for granted. ’Our world is a world in a continuous state of becoming, a state in which everything is questioned’, writes Cardinal Suenens in a book bulging with new insights and ideas. ‘We no longer live in an age where daily lives were solidly framed in tradition, and institutions were there to safeguard values that were never called in question’.

In attempting to understand what has happened and what the happenings mean for us, one historical fact takes on importance for all concerned with Christian education. In the disintegration of traditional ideas the way people lived Christian ideas and the forms in which these ideas were expressed fell apart.
Liturgy and Culture
Authors: Wicker Brian
Published: August 2024

It may be worthwhile in conclusion to recapitulate briefly my main train of thought. Because the Church is a human society directly gathered together by God, and since the liturgical assembly is what makes this society encounterable in the world, it follows that we must take the liturgical assembly as the prototype, or model, for any human organization which is to approximate itself to Christian ideals. For a Christian, the society brought into organic community by God must take precedence over any purely human and secular model. But what has tended in the past to obscure this insight has been the monolithic and institutional appearance of the Church.
American Convert Work
Authors: McGinn John T.
Published: August 2024

EACH year in the United States 150,000 converts enter the Catholic Church. Considered by itself, this is a rather impressive figure. But when we consider that ours is a nation of some 170 million people (well over 100 million of them still outside the Church) and when we remember that there are some 40 million potential Catholic apostles, these convert statistics leave us little cause for complacency. The trial balance is even less encouraging when we recall that a considerable number of Catholics lapse from the Church every year. ‘But as far as conversions are concerned', says Fr Sheerin in The Catholic World, ‘Catholicism and Protestantism in America are like two great forces that have reached a stalemate in competing for the minds of Americans. Neither side is making any great gains.'

But the prospect of a nation's conversion must go beyond mere statistics. The mysterious workings of God's grace must be taken into account.
St Augustine's Geography of Conversion
Authors: Hill Edmund
Published: August 2024

I Suppose the thing that strikes one most forcibly about St Augustine's Confessions is the astonishing power of introspection which they reveal. Rarely can there have been a man aware of himself and his experience with such ruthless clarity. The result is that all Augustine's theological thought is an experience-theology. it is never abstract, uncommitted, or impersonal. But this is not to say that his mind remained enclosed in his own personal world. He was not only a person of unusual self-awareness, he was also, if we can so put it, an unusually public person, Because he could look at himself so shrewdly and objectively, he was able to develop his experience into ideas of universal validity. It is with such a development of his experience of conversion that we are here concerned; not with the personal voyage of discovery described in the Confessions’, but with the geographical charts which came of that voyage, and which he unfolds in his De Tnnitate.
The Conversion of Charles De Foucauld
Authors: Six Jean-Fr
Published: August 2024

In a jotting he made in 1821J. H. Newman wrote: ‘I speak of conversion with great diffidence, being obliged to adopt the language of books. For my feelings, as far as I remember, were so different from any account I have ever read, that I dare not go by what may be an individual case.'

The abbé Huvelin, who was to be God's principal instrument in the conversion of Charles de Foucauld, felt the same difficulty. 'The story of a conversion', he wrote, ‘even of one's own, is something that can never be fully understood. You can see the stages that have led up to it, but that is all. Our Lord acts in such a variety of ways.’ In this article we will sketch the story of such stages, and investigate as delicately as possible their convergence on the focal-point which constitutes de Foucauld's conversion.
Psychology of Humility, Basis of All True Spiritual and Mental Health
Authors: O'Brien Terence
Published: August 2024

Christianity has produced without any doubt men and women who have fulfilled in themselves the greatest potentiality of the human personality. In all the centuries of the Christian era there stand out men and women, and no small number of them, whom everyone felt were fully developed and integrated and whom mankind could take as patterns of the mature and develped personality. This has been more so than in any other period of history.

It is very true that it is the triumph of the life of Christ in these men and women that has brought them to holiness, maturity and integration; but in the process their psychological development has taken place. The life of grace does not by-pass nature but adds to it, and lifts it on to another plane.
Hope–The Advent Virtue
Authors: McDermott Timothy
Published: August 2024

Occasionally in books of art reproductions you will come across a large picture of a nose, or waving hand, or something similar; and perhaps you will be taken aback by the peculiar choice of subject until you glance at the caption: ‘Detail from somebody or other's Adoration of the Magi'. And then if you turn back a few pages you will find the full picture of the Adoration of the Magi and be able to spend several exciting minutes identifying which particular nose has been magnified on the later page. For the first time you will understand why the nose is pointed in the direction it is, why it is painted such a peculiar colour: for you will see it in its context.

A theological article on hope is like that nose. Since it is to be theological it cannot be about hope, it must be about God.
Living Parables
Authors: Walls Ronald
Published: August 2024

MAX THURIAN is a member of a Protestant religious community, and his book Marriage and Celibacy is his second contribution to the series which the S.C.M. Press is publishing under the general title of Studies in Ministry and Worship. His first book in the series was entitled, Confession. The greater part of the book now under review is concerned with celibacy, and it is clear that the author is by no means the kind of Protestant who assumes that because something is found in the Catholic Church it is therefore bound to be wrong or even wicked. On the contrary, we find that most of what he says about marriage and celibacy agree with Catholic doctrine. The apparently small divergence from Catholic doctrine is, however, most significant; it is like a wedge which with the greatest ease opens up a wide chasm between his whole manner of thought and that of a Catholic theologian.