bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Nebulized Inhaled Triptolide on Airway Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Asthma
Authors: Miao Yafang , Wei Li , Chen Hao , Zhang Zeming , Han Li
Published: August 2023

Inhalation of nebulized TP has received little attention in the past. Here, we intend to investigate the effect of nebulized inhaled TP on airway inflammation in a mouse model of asthma. 29 SPF BALB/c mice were divided into four groups: blank control (Blk, n = 5), normal saline (NS, n = 8), dexamethasone (Dex, n = 8), and TP (n = 8). During the process of sensitization, mice in the three intervention groups were treated with nebulized NS, an injection of Dex, and nebulized triptolide, respectively. Then bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), peripheral blood, and lung tissue were collected. Relevant cytokines, transcriptional factors, and CD4+Th17+ T cell proportions were assessed and compared. IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, and TGF-β1 demonstrated a significant difference between groups in the following order: Dex < TP < NS (

P
≤
0.001

), while IL-10 changed in the opposite direction (

P
<
0.001

). At the transcriptional level in lung tissue, the Ct value of IL-17 in the Dex group was significantly higher than in the NS and TP groups (

P
<
0.001

). Meanwhile, it was higher in the TP group than in the NS group (

P
<
0.001

). The Ct value of RORγt demonstrated a significant difference among three groups in the following order: Dex > TP > NS (

P
<
0.001

). An opposite trend of FoxP3 Ct value was revealed in the order: NS > TP > Dex. The proportion of CD4+Th17+ cells was 9.53 ± 2.74% in the NS group, 4.23 ± 2.26% in the Dex group, and 6.76 ± 2.99% in the TP group, which shows significant differences between the NS and Dex (

P
<
0.001

) or NS and TP groups (

P
<
0.05

). Inhalation of nebulized triptolide can play a role in suppressing airway inflammation with inflammatory cytokines and transcriptional factors reduced and CD4+Th17+ T cells dampened, also in a manner less than injected dexamethasone.
Investigation of Different Mechanisms to Detect Misbehaving Nodes in Vehicle Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs)
Authors: Nobahari Ainaz , Bakhshayeshi Avval Danial , Akhbari Abbas , Nobahary Solmaz
Published: August 2023

The vehicle ad-hoc network (VANET) is a crucial technology that will play a significant role in shaping the future of transition systems, which is widely used as a subset of ad-hoc networks. VANET aims to ensure driver safety by establishing independent communication with nearby vehicles. A key requirement for successful data transmission is cooperation among nodes, as factors such as high mobility, limited radio range, signal fading, and noise lead to packet loss. Security issues in vehicle ad-hoc networks have recently become a major concern. One factor that affects security is the presence of abusive nodes in the network. Like selfish nodes, they are reluctant to share their sources with their neighbors and try to keep their property. The misbehavior of malicious nodes includes dissemination of false traffic information, false location information, and redirection of packets to a wrong path, retransmission of packets, impersonation, so these nodes should be tracked down to ensure the operation of the network. This article provides a complete summary of various research works proposed to detect selfish and malicious nodes and isolate them from honest vehicles. This review article first describes the types of attacks. It then presents the methods proposed by researchers to deal with uncooperative nodes and compares their performance based on parameters such as the number of misbehaving nodes detected, overhead, throughput, layer involved in the attacks.
Graph-Based Recommendation System Enhanced by Community Detection
Authors: Shokrzadeh Zeinab , Feizi-Derakhshi Mohammad-Reza , Balafar Mohammad-Ali , Bagherzadeh Mohasefi Jamshid
Published: August 2023

Many researchers have used tag information to improve the performance of recommendation techniques in recommender systems. Examining the tags of users will help to get their interests and leads to more accuracy in the recommendations. Since user-defined tags are chosen freely and without any restrictions, problems arise in determining their exact meaning and the similarity of tags. However, using thesaurus and ontologies to find the meaning of tags is not very efficient due to their free definition by users and the use of different languages in many data sets. Therefore, this article uses mathematical and statistical methods to determine lexical similarity and co-occurrence tags solution to assign semantic similarity. On the other hand, due to the change of users’ interests over time this article has considered the time of tag assignments in co-occurrence tags for determining the similarity of tags. Then the graph is created based on similarity of tags. For modeling the interests of the users, the communities of tags are determined by using community detection methods. So, recommendations based on the communities of tags and similarity between resources are done. The performance of the proposed method has been evaluated using two criteria of precision and recall through evaluations on two public datasets. The evaluation results show that the precision and recall of the proposed method have significantly improved, compared to the other methods. According to the experimental results, the criteria of recall and precision have been improved, on average by 5% and 7%, respectively.
Combination of Chemically-Characterized Essential Oils from Eucalyptus polybractea, Ormenis mixta, and Lavandula burnatii: Optimization of a New Complete Antibacterial Formulation Using Simplex-Centroid Mixture Design
Authors: Jeddi Mohamed , El Hachlafi Naoufal , Fadil Mouhcine , Benkhaira Nesrine , Jeddi Samir , Benziane Ouaritini Zineb , Fikri-Benbrahim Kawtar
Published: August 2023

This study aims to identify the volatile profile of three essential oils obtained from Eucalyptus polybractea cryptonifera (EPEO), Ormenis mixta (OMEO), and Lavandula burnatii briquet (LBEO) and to examine their combined antibacterial activity that affords the optimal inhibitory ability against S. aureus and E. coli using simplex-centroid mixture design and checkerboard assay. Essential oils (EOs) were isolated by hydrodistillation and characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography coupled with flame-ionization detector (GC-FID). The antibacterial activity was performed using disc diffusion and microdilution assays. The chemical analysis revealed that 1,8-cineole (23.75%), p-cymene (22.47%), and α-pinene (11.20%) and p-menthane-1,8-diol (18.19%), α-pinene (10.81%), and D-germacrene (9.17%) were the main components detected in E. polybractea and O. mixta EOs, respectively. However, L. burnatii EO was mainly represented by linalool (24.40%) and linalyl acetate (18.68%). The EPEO, LBEO, and OMEO had a strong antibacterial effect on S. aureus with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) values ranging from 0.25 to 0.5% (v/v). Furthermore, the combination of 1/2048 MICEPEO + 1/4 MICLBEO showed a synergistic antibacterial effect on S. aureus with a FIC index of 0.25, while the formulation of 1/4 MICEPEO + 1/4 MICOMEO demonstrated an antibacterial synergistic activity on E. coli with a FIC index of 0.5. Moreover, the simplex-centroid mixture design reported that the most effective combinations on E. coli and S. aureus correspond to 32%/28%/40% and 35%/30%/35% of E. polybractea, O. mixta, and L. burnatii, respectively. Presented information highlights the action of antibacterial formulations of these EOs and suggests their potential applications as alternatives to commercialized drugs to contract the development of bacteria causing serious infections and food deterioration.
Design, Synthesis, and Neurotrophic Effect of Arg-Glu-Arg-Met-Ser-(3,5)-Dimethyladamantan-1-Amine In Vitro Evaluations as a Potential NMDAR Antagonist
Authors: Wang Xiaozhen , Li Ze , Zhang Xiaoyi , Kang Meimei , Lv Caizhen , Zhang Xu , Zhao Zhiwei , Wu Yanchuan , Song Penghui , Wang Rong
Published: August 2023

Methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is an ionotropic glutamate receptor and plays an important role in neuronal degradation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). According to molecular modeling docking studies, we have designed the compound Arg-Glu-Arg-Met-Ser-(3,5)-dimethyladamantan-1-amine (RERMS-MEM), consisting of an AβPP 5-mer peptide (RERMS) and memantine (MEM). This compound could dock into the active sites of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor type 2B (NMDAR2B) with a −64.14 kcal/mol CDOCKER interaction energy. The stability of RERMS-MEM was evaluated through a 50 ns molecular dynamics simulation. The results revealed that the docked ligand-receptor complex was stable. Furthermore, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) revealed that the RERMS-MEM binding affinity to the NMDAR2B fragment exhibited over 15-fold enhancement compared to MEM. The SH-SY5Y cell assays showed that RERMS-MEM or RERMS at concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10, or 50 μM could enhance the metabolic rate, and MEM showed no difference compared to the control and indicated cytotoxic effects at 50 μM. RERMS-MEM at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, or 50 μM increased the number of viable cells and reduced the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). RERMS at concentrations of 10 or 50 μM was similar to RERMS-MEM for increasing viable cells, and MEM showed no difference compared to the control and decreased the number of viable cells at 50 μM. RERMS-MEM or RERMS at concentrations of 10 or 50 μM could antagonize Aβ25-35-induced cytotoxicity, and MEM at 50 μM strengthened the cytotoxicity effects. The results revealed that RERMS-MEM showed a strong NMDAR-blocking activity as a potential NMDAR antagonist, enhancing the neurotrophic effect and cellular growth in SH-SY5Y cells.
Perigastric Hematoma Masquerading as a Gastric Tumor
Authors: Yang Kevin , Hossein-Javaheri Nariman , Nallapeta Naren , Ismail Mayada
Published: August 2023

Perigastric and intramural gastric hematomas rarely occur, with most cases associated with trauma, coagulopathy, and peptic ulcer disease. Furthermore, hematomas in the upper gastrointestinal tract are commonly located in the esophagus and duodenum. In this case report, we describe a hematoma masquerading as a gastric tumor on esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in a 54-year-old male presenting with melena. Initial computed tomography (CT) imaging suggested gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) as the probable cause. We performed endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with findings consistent with a perigastric hematoma, which aligned with the patient’s diagnosis of splenic vein thrombosis (SVT) and numerous collateral vessels communicating with the hematoma. Interventional radiology (IR) was consulted for further management, although we ultimately chose a conservative approach.
Targeted Inhibition of lncRNA Malat1 Alters the Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Preclinical Syngeneic Mouse Models of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Authors: Adewunmi Oluwatoyosi , Shen Yichao , Zhang Xiang H.-F. , Rosen Jeffrey M.
Published: August 2023

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) play an important role in gene regulation in both normal tissues and cancer. Targeting lncRNAs is a promising therapeutic approach that has become feasible through the development of gapmer antisense oligonucleotides (ASO). Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript (Malat1) is an abundant lncRNA whose expression is upregulated in several cancers. Although Malat1 increases the migratory and invasive properties of tumor cells, its role in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is still not well defined. We explored the connection between Malat1 and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) using several immune-competent preclinical syngeneic Tp53-null triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) mouse models that mimic the heterogeneity and immunosuppressive TME found in human breast cancer. Using a Malat1 ASO, we were able to knockdown Malat1 RNA expression resulting in a delay in primary tumor growth, decreased proliferation, and increased apoptosis. In addition, immunophenotyping of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes revealed that Malat1 inhibition altered the TIME, with a decrease in immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) as well as an increase in cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Malat1 depletion in tumor cells, TAMs, and MDSCs decreased immunosuppressive cytokine/chemokine secretion whereas Malat1 inhibition in T cells increased inflammatory secretions and T-cell proliferation. Combination of a Malat1 ASO with chemotherapy or immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) improved the treatment responses in a preclinical model. These studies highlight the immunostimulatory effects of Malat1 inhibition in TNBC, the benefit of a Malat1 ASO therapeutic, and its potential use in combination with chemotherapies and immunotherapies.
Deficient Immune Response following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Patients with Hepatobiliary Carcinoma: A Forgotten, Vulnerable Group of Patients
Authors: Monin Malte Benedikt , Baier Leona I. , Gorny Jens G. , Berger Moritz , Zhou Taotao , Mahn Robert , Sadeghlar Farsaneh , Möhring Christian , Boesecke Christoph , van Bremen Kathrin , Rockstroh Jürgen K. , Strassburg Christian P. , Eis-Hübinger Anna-Maria , Schmid Matthias , Gonzalez-Carmona Maria A.
Published: August 2023

Introduction: Data on immune response rates following vaccination for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in patients with hepatobiliary carcinoma (HBC) are rare. However, impaired immunogenicity must be expected due to the combination of chronic liver diseases (CLDs) with malignancy and anticancer treatment. Methods: In this prospective, longitudinal study, 101 patients were included, of whom 59 were patients with HBC under anticancer treatment. A cohort of patients with a past medical history of gastrointestinal cancer, of whom 28.6% had HBC without detectable active tumor disease having been off therapy for at least 12 months, served as control. Levels of SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG, surrogate neutralization antibodies (sNABs), and cellular immune responses were compared. In uni- and multivariable subgroup analyses, risk factors for impaired immunogenicity were regarded. Data on rates and clinical courses of SARS-CoV-2 infections were documented. Results: In patients with HBC under active treatment, levels of SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG were significantly lower (2.55 log10 BAU/mL; 95% CI: 2.33–2.76; p < 0.01) than in patients in follow-up care (3.02 log10 BAU/mL; 95% CI: 2.80–3.25) 4 weeks after two vaccinations. Antibody levels decreased over time, and differences between the groups diminished. However, titers of SARS-CoV-2 sNAB were for a longer time significantly lower in patients with HBC under treatment (64.19%; 95% CI: 55.90–72.48; p < 0.01) than in patients in follow-up care (84.13%; 95% CI: 76.95–91.31). Underlying CLD and/or liver cirrhosis Child-Pugh A or B (less than 8 points) did not seem to further impair immunogenicity. Conversely, chemotherapy and additional immunosuppression were found to significantly reduce antibody levels. After a third booster vaccination for SARS-CoV-2, levels of total and neutralization antibodies were equalized between the groups. Moreover, cellular response rates were balanced. Clinically, infection rates with SARS-CoV-2 were low, and no severe courses were observed. Conclusion: Patients with active HBC showed significantly impaired immune response rates to basic vaccinations for SARS-CoV-2, especially under chemotherapy, independent of underlying cirrhotic or non-cirrhotic CLD. Although booster vaccinations balanced differences, waning immunity was observed over time and should be monitored for further recommendations. Our data help clinicians decide on individual additional booster vaccinations and/or passive immunization or antiviral treatment in patients with HBC getting infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Rescue Analgesia for Opioid-Dependent Individuals on Opioid Agonist Treatment during Hospitalization: Adherence to Guideline Treatment
Authors: Arnet Isabelle , Dürsteler Kenneth M. , Jaiteh Christine , Grossmann Florian , Hersberger Kurt E.
Published: August 2023

Introduction: Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) is the first-line treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). Simultaneously, opioids are essential medicines in acute pain management. The literature is scarce on acute pain management in individuals with OUD, and guidelines are controversial for patients on OAT. We aimed at analyzing rescue analgesia in opioid-dependent individuals on OAT during hospitalization in the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland. Methods: Patient hospital records were extracted from the database over 6 months (Jan-Jun) in 2015 and 2018. Of the 3,216 extracted patient records, we identified 255 cases on OAT with full datasets. Rescue analgesia was defined according to established principles of acute pain management, e.g., i) the analgesic agent is identical to the OAT medication, and ii) the opioid agent is dosed above 1/6th morphine equivalent dose of the OAT medication. Results: The patients were on average 51.3 ± 10.5 years old (range: 22–79 years), of which 64% were men. The most frequent OAT agents were methadone and morphine (34.9% and 34.5%). Rescue analgesia was not documented in 14 cases. Guideline-concordant rescue analgesia was observed in 186 cases (72.9%) and consisted mostly of NSAIDs, including paracetamol (80 cases), and identical agents such as the OAT opioid (70 cases). Guideline-divergent rescue analgesia was observed in 69 (27.1%) cases, predominantly due to an underdosed opioid agent (32 cases), another agent other than the OAT (18 cases), or contraindicated agents (10 cases). Discussion: Our analysis suggests that rescue analgesia in hospitalized OAT patients was predominantly concordant with guidelines, while divergent prescriptions seemed to follow common principles of pain medicine. Clear guidelines are needed to appropriately treat acute pain in hospitalized OAT patients.
Preliminary Experience with a Four-Lead Implantable Pulse Generator for Deep Brain Stimulation
Authors: Rusheen Aaron Elliott , Jensen Michael A. , Gregg Nicholas M. , Kaufmann Timothy J. , VanGompel Jamie J , Lee Kendall H. , Klassen Bryan T , Miller Kai Joshua
Published: August 2023

Background: Implantable pulse generators (IPGs) store energy and deliver electrical impulses for deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. IPGs have evolved over time to meet the demands of expanding clinical indications and more nuanced therapeutic approaches. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the workflow of the first 4-lead IPG for DBS in patients with complex disease. Method: The engineering capabilities, clinical use cases, and surgical technique are described in a cohort of 12 patients with epilepsy, essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, mixed tremor, and Tourette’s syndrome with comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder between July 2021 and July 2022. Results: This system is a rechargeable 32-channel, 4-port system with independent current control that can be connected to 8 contact linear or directionally segmented leads. The system is ideal for patients with mixed disease or those with multiple severe symptoms amenable to >2 lead implantations. A multidisciplinary team including neurologists, radiologists, and neurosurgeons is necessary to safely plan the procedure. There were no serious intraoperative or postoperative adverse events. One patient required revision surgery for bowstringing. Conclusions: This new 4-lead IPG represents an important new tool for DBS surgery with the ability to expand lead implantation paradigms for patients with complex disease.
Teoria e prática: as aulas remotas na pandemia
Authors: Colombo Macri , Carvalho Denize Piccolotto , Silva Karina Goncalves Teixeira da , Varela Ulysses Nascimento
Published: August 2023

Este artigo relata a experiência de ministrar aulas remotas, durante o período da pandemia de covid-19, no Curso de Comunicação Social de uma faculdade particular em Manaus (AM), para mostrar o confronto entre a priorização da teoria ou da prática no âmbito do ensino superior, em um momento em que o mundo se viu obrigado a viver em isolamento social parcial ou total – o que nos leva, antes de tudo, a compreender a problemática entre teoria e prática antes da pandemia. A pesquisa tem como métodos e técnicas: a etnografia, a pesquisa de campo com observação participativa e entrevistas, com base em Morin, Bauman e outros. Os resultados apontam para que, apesar dos esforços para a continuidade do ensino teórico e prático, não existe ainda uma resposta definitiva para essa problemática, com ou sem a pandemia.
Global South in pursuance of the Global North: case of rural South African education and the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Authors: Uleanya Chinaza , Yassim Kathija
Published: August 2023

Nations in the global South tend to embrace ideas, practices, and trends from the global North as the standard. This is in many instances at the expense of their suitability in the current situation and environment of the global South. For instance, issues revolving around the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a typical example. In recent times, the adjustments in the education and other sectors in the Global North to accommodate practices of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are beginning to flood the Global South where many basic and necessary infrastructures are lacking. Issues such as curricular review are being raised and considered, while conferences, workshops, seminars, amongst others are being organized to ensure that learning institutions are positioned to suit the demand of Fourth Industrial Revolution. For instance, coding is fast becoming a major subject to be considered even from primary schools, though not necessarily meeting the local demands.
Manifesto: um filme sobre manifestos políticos e artísticos do século XIX ao século XXI
Authors: Magno Maria Ignês Carlos , Ferraraz Rogério
Published: August 2023

A resenha é sobre o filme Manifesto, de Julian Rosefeldt, que apresenta treze segmentos construídos em cima de manifestos históricos dos séculos XIX, XX e XXI protagonizados pela atriz Cate Blanchett. O filme parte do primeiro manifesto moderno, o Manifesto comunista (1848), passa pelas vanguardas do século XX e chega até a arte conceitual dos dias atuais. Apesar de os manifestos artísticos e políticos dos séculos passados serem muito estudados e conhecidos, o interesse do filme está na forma como se apropria deles e torna visíveis as palavras manifestas em imagens cinematográficas conduzidas por um monólogo interior performatizado por Blanchett. Outro aspecto que nos levou a indicar o filme é gerar uma reflexão sobre as múltiplas possibilidades da arte da atuação.
Abbas Kiarostami, uma poética da incerteza
Authors: Rebechi Junior Arlindo
Published: August 2023

Este artigo tematiza alguns aspectos da poesia do artista e intelectual iraniano Abbas Kiarostami. Além de ser poeta, representante de uma longa tradição poética persa, ele também foi cineasta e fotógrafo, havendo forte vínculo e diálogo entre sua poesia escrita e as demais artes que produzia. Um tema central parece ser de grande interesse do poeta Kiarostami: a representação da paisagem natural e o jogo de incertezas que a natureza proporciona para a reflexão da própria modernidade.
Abordagens pedagógicas no combate à desinformação: uma análise de planos de aulas compartilhados na internet
Authors: Alencar Ana Paula , Brisola Anna Cristina
Published: August 2023

Este artigo parte da perspectiva da função determinante da educação no enfrentamento da desordem informacional contemporânea para analisar as abordagens pedagógicas e seus impactos nos planos de aula relativos ao combate à desinformação criados pelo Programa EducaMídia e por professores no Portal do Professor. Usam-se como referencial teórico as dimensões que conceituam as abordagens pedagógicas e a escala da Taxonomia de Bloom. Analisa-se um conjunto de oito planos de aula que tratam de objetos de conhecimento relativos à notícia. Observa-se que a maioria apresenta combinações de elementos das dimensões técnica, cognitiva e sociocultural e tem suas estruturas referenciadas nas etapas cognitivas de Bloom. Sob a perspectiva freiriana, verifica-se uma reduzida atividade de produção e criticidade, fundamentais para uma formação crítica.
Educação para a prática publicitária libertadora: extensão universitária e formação cidadã na graduação em Publicidade
Authors: Craveiro Pâmela Saunders Uchôa , Toledo Thiago de Freitas
Published: August 2023

Este artigo apresenta análise sobre a contribuição de projetos de extensão de universidades públicas brasileiras para uma formação crítica e cidadã na graduação em Publicidade. Para tanto, analisa as percepções de discentes acerca de suas experiências em quatro projetos de extensão que desenvolvem ações de apropriação crítica da comunicação publicitária nos estados do Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Ceará e Mato Grosso. Como estratégia metodológica foi adotada a abordagem qualitativa, com uso de questionário e entrevista estruturada como técnicas de produção de dados. O estudo demonstrou de que modo ações de literacia publicitária desenvolvidas na extensão universitária podem contribuir para a educação para a prática publicitária libertadora, possibilitando uma formação autônoma, fomentadora de curiosidade, motivadora da tomada de consciência, problematizadora, crítica e implicada com a transformação social.
Selection and Interpretation of Molecular Diagnostics in Heart Transplantation
Authors: Goldberg Jason F. , Truby Lauren K. , Agbor-Enoh Sean , Jackson Annette M. , deFilippi Christopher R. , Khush Kiran K. , Shah Palak
Published: August 2023

The number of heart transplants performed annually in the United States and worldwide continues to increase, but there has been little change in graft longevity and patient survival over the past 2 decades. The reference standard for diagnosis of acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejection includes histologic and immunofluorescence evaluation of endomyocardial biopsy samples, despite invasiveness and high interrater variability for grading histologic rejection. Circulating biomarkers and molecular diagnostics have shown substantial predictive value in rejection monitoring, and emerging data support their use in diagnosing other posttransplant complications. The use of genomic (cell-free DNA), transcriptomic (mRNA and microRNA profiling), and proteomic (protein expression quantitation) methodologies in diagnosis of these posttransplant outcomes has been evaluated with varying levels of evidence. In parallel, growing knowledge about the genetically mediated immune response leading to rejection (immunogenetics) has enhanced understanding of antibody-mediated rejection, associated graft dysfunction, and death. Antibodies to donor human leukocyte antigens and the technology available to evaluate these antibodies continues to evolve. This review aims to provide an overview of biomarker and immunologic tests used to diagnose posttransplant complications. This includes a discussion of pediatric heart transplantation and the disparate rates of rejection and death experienced by Black patients receiving a heart transplant. This review describes diagnostic modalities that are available and used after transplant and the landscape of future investigations needed to enhance patient outcomes after heart transplantation.
A new replacement name for Allium denticulatum Brullo & Salmeri (Amaryllidaceae)
Authors: ZHANG ZHIYONG , IDREES MUHAMMAD
Published: August 2023

Allium Linnaeus (1753: 294) (Amaryllidaceae: Allioideae) is one of the largest monocot genera with more than 1063 species (Govaerts et al. 2023) and is naturally distributed throughout the northern hemisphere (Stearn 1992, Jiemei & Kamelin 2000, Fritsch & Friesen 2002). The major centers of diversity are located in southwestern and central Asia and the Mediterranean region (Choi & Oh 2011); a smaller center is in western North America (Friesen et al. 2006). Turkey has approximately 225 Allium taxa, classified into 15 sections, and one-third of these ones are endemic (Özhatay & Koçyiğit 2019). This genus is characterized by bulbs enclosed in membranous, fibrous or reticulate tunics, terminal umbel, free or basally connate, 1-veined tepals, often subgynobasic style, and loculicidal capsules with one or two seeds per loculus (Kollmann 1984, Fırat et al. 2018).
Camellia renshanxiangiae, a synonym of C. punctata (Theaceae)
Authors: ZHANG YA-LI , YU XIANG-QIN , JIANG YIN-ZI , WU YIN , YANG SHI-XIONG
Published: August 2023

Camellia renshanxiangiae is the first reported camellias with hairy anthers, which is a feature that has been ignored by previous scholars, and which also occurs in C. punctata. Since no substantial differences between C. renshanxiangiae and C. punctata were found, the former was reduced into the latter as a heterotypic synonym. In addition, the name Thea punctata is lectotypified here.
A morphological review of the jellyfish genus Nausithoe Kölliker, 1853 (Nausithoideae, Coronatae, Scyphozoa, Cnidaria)
Authors: MOLINARI CLARISSA G. , COLLINS ALLEN G. , MORANDINI ANDRÉ C.
Published: August 2023

In this study we address the diversity of the scyphozoan jellyfish genus Nausithoe Kölliker, 1853 (Nausithoidae, Coronatae), questioning the feasibility of using some characters of the medusa stage to identify species and filling in gaps concerning species of the genus and their distributions. Like most scyphozoans, the vast majority of the 21 Nausithoe species have a metagenetic life cycle, but similarity of most polyps within the genus highlights the need for studying morphology of the medusa stage. By analyzing morphological features on preserved and live specimens (polyps and medusae) and comparing these data with the original descriptions, we were able to validate twenty species of the group, providing new information for some of them.
Relationships and taxonomy of the genus Diponthus Stål (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Romaleidae)
Authors: POCCO MARTINA E. , LANGE CARLOS E. , CIGLIANO MARÍA MARTA
Published: August 2023

Diponthus Stål, one of the most diversified and widely distributed Romaleinae genera, is endemic to southern South America. This colorful grasshopper genus is placed within Romaleini and currently includes 16 valid species from a total of 22 nominal ones, most of them only known from their original descriptions. The aims of this study were to propose a morphology-based phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships among the species of Diponthus, and to conduct a taxonomic revision, including the description of four previously unknown species. Parsimony analysis of 79 morphological characters strongly recovered the monophyly of genus Diponthus, and Gurneyacris as its sister group. Internal clades within Diponthus were supported by external morphology and coloration patterns, while characters from male genitalia were shown to be more useful for species differentiation. Based on the results of the taxonomic review, Diponthus is constituted by 16 valid species, with the following nomenclatural changes proposed: Diponthus nigroconspersus (Stål) is considered a valid name; D. invidus Carl and D. bilineatus Rehn are synonymized under D. virgatus (Gerstaecker); Diponthus clarazianus Pictet & Saussure is synonymized under D. cribratus (Serville); D. paulista Rehn is synonymized under D. porphyreus (Gerstaecker); D. maculiferus (Walker) is synonymized under D. electus (Serville). New names are proposed for four undescribed species from Bolivia (D. colorbellus sp. nov. and D. dilatatus sp. nov.), Argentina (D. paranaensis sp. nov.) and Brazil (D. salvadorii sp. nov.).
Unexpected mitotype diversity of Simplimorpha promissa (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) in Ukraine and Armenia revealing a possible cryptic taxon
Authors: ORLOVSKYTĖ SVETLANA , DOBRYNINA VIKTORIJA , STONIS JONAS R.
Published: August 2023

In this paper, the results of a recent molecular study of the Cotinus-feeding, leaf-mining Simplimorpha promissa (Staudinger) (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) are discussed for the first time on the basis of samples collected in Ukraine and Armenia. Newly obtained mtDNA CO1-5' sequences from these countries were compared with previously known sequences from France, Italy, Croatia and Greece. A mitotype network and a Neighbor-Joining tree of twenty-two specimens of S. promissa are provided. They show that the studied specimens from Ukraine and the rest of the European countries are genetically closer to each other than to the examined specimens from Armenia, thereby suggesting the Armenian specimens could represent a sister taxon to the European S. promissa. The study also revealed a significantly large genetic diversity of S. promissa in Ukraine.
A new species of the genus Naddia Fauvel, 1867 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae) from southern China
Authors: HE LIANG , HUANG TIAN , SCHILLHAMMER HARALD , ZHOU HONG-ZHANG
Published: August 2023

This study describes a new rove beetle species, Naddia flavipes sp. nov. from southern China and provides additional morphological knowledge on Naddia hainanensis Yang & Zhou 2010. Line drawings and color illustrations of adult structures and genitalia are provided for both species.
Description of the puparium of Hermetia teevani Curran (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) reared from roots of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)
Authors: PUJOL-LUZ JOSÉ ROBERTO , GODOI FABIO SIQUEIRA PITALUGA DE , OLIVEIRA CHARLES MARTINS DE , BARROS-CORDEIRO KARINE BRENDA , MOUSINHO LUCAS PESSANHA
Published: August 2023

The puparium of Hermetia teevani Curran is described, based on 173 specimens reared from cassava roots (Manihot esculenta), in laboratory under controlled conditions until the emergence of the adults. Hermetia teevani is the ninth species with immature stage known for Hermetia, in addition to being recorded for the first time for the Distrito Federal and State of Goiás.
A new species of Anisophya (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) from Argentina, its ultrasound male-female communication, life history and ecology
Authors: DELALOYE MICHELLE , BRAUN HOLGER
Published: August 2023

Anisophya arreguii sp. nov. is added as third species of the genus in Buenos Aires Province. A population living in humid meadows near La Plata, regularly observed during the last five years, was found to be different from A. punctinervis. It appears in two distinct annual generations. The male produces a continuous ultrasound calling song, to which the female responds with short signals after particular syllables. The verification of all Anisophya observations from Argentina on iNaturalist helped clarifying the distinctiveness of the new species. Some ecological aspects are briefly discussed, such as a vulnerable population in the city of La Plata.
Evaluation of Ensemble Snowfall Forecasts Using Operationally Used Snow-to-Liquid Ratios in Five Winter Storms
Authors: Rosenow Andrew A. , Reeves Heather D. , Tripp Daniel D.
Published: August 2023

The prediction of snow accumulation remains a forecasting challenge. While the adoption of ensemble numerical weather prediction has enabled the development of probabilistic guidance, the challenges associated with snow accumulation, particularly snow-to-liquid ratio (SLR), still remain when building snow-accumulation tools. In operations, SLR is generally assumed to either fit a simple mathematical relationship or conform to a historic average. In this paper, the impacts of the choice of SLR on ensemble snow forecasts are tested. Ensemble forecasts from the nine-member High-Resolution Rapid Refresh Ensemble (HRRRE) were used to create 24-h snowfall forecasts for five snowfall events associated with winter cyclones. These snowfall forecasts were derived from model liquid precipitation forecasts using five SLR relationships. These forecasts were evaluated against daily new snowfall observations from the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow network. The results of this analysis show that the forecast error associated with individual members is similar to the error associated with choice of SLR. The SLR with the lowest forecast error showed regional agreement across nearby observations. This suggests that, while there is no one SLR that works best everywhere, it may be possible to improve ensemble snow forecasts if regions where SLRs perform best can be determined ahead of time. The implications of these findings for future ensemble snowfall tools will be discussed.

Significance Statement

Snowfall prediction remains a challenge. Computer models are used to address the inherent uncertainty in forecasts. This uncertainty includes aspects like the location and rate of snowfall. Meteorologists run multiple similar computer models to understand the range of possible weather outcomes. One aspect of uncertainty is the snow-to-liquid ratio, or the ratio of snow depth to the amount of liquid water it melts into. This study tests how common predictions of snow-to-liquid ratio impact snowfall forecasts. The results show that snow-to-liquid ratio choices are as impactful as the models’ differing snow rate or snow location forecasts, and that no particular snow-to-liquid ratio is most accurate. These results underscore the importance of better snow-to-liquid ratio prediction to improve snowfall forecasts.
Evaluation and Comparison of Trade Relations Between Ethiopia–China and Ethiopia–India: Gravity Model
Authors: Addis Amsalu K. , Yu Yang , Zuping Zhu
Published: August 2023

This study evaluates the trade relations between Ethiopia and China as well as Ethiopia and India, and then compares the bilateral trade volume between them. It also examines the nexus between international trade and economic growth. Panel data were adopted to estimate the impact of China’s and India’s bilateral trade with Ethiopia for the 25 years duration (1990–2015). The gravity model has been employed in order to evaluate and compare the bilateral trade between Ethiopia–China and Ethiopia–India. To examine the collected data SPSS has been employed. The study also outlined three different hypotheses and examined them based on the consistency of the statistical empirical result of the study as well as the positive unconditional coherence with previous academic literature. The result demonstrates the bilateral trade between Ethiopia–China, 0.321, was found to be higher than Ethiopia–India, 0.136. The study’s empirical result also highlights that the influence of geographical proximity alone cannot be a determinant effect on bilateral trade, and discovers a significant linear relationship between a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) and a partner country’s economic size.
Study of the influence of vulcanization process parameters on the adhesion strength of textile-reinforced conveyor belts
Authors: Lemmi Tsegaye Sh. , Barburski Marcin , Kabzinski Adam , Frukacz Krzysztof
Published: August 2023

In this work, the impact of vulcanization parameters on the adhesion strength of conveyor belts was investigated. Multi-ply textile-reinforced conveyor belts were produced at different vulcanization temperatures and times. The glass transition and melting temperature of fibers in the textile carcasses and the trend in vulcanization parameters adopted at conveyor belt-producing companies were considered in determining the vulcanization parameters. Post-vulcanization, the adhesion strength between the plies of the conveyor belt was thoroughly investigated. The study revealed that the adhesion strength of the conveyor belt relies on the vulcanization temperature and time. For the experiment conducted in this work, the optimum adhesion strength of the conveyor belt was found to be 9.9 N/mm at a vulcanization temperature of 160°C for 35 minutes.
The Rebel and the Politician: Developing a Typology of Insurgent Civil–Military Relations
Authors: Worsnop Alec
Published: August 2023

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought returned focus to civil–military relations in complex, fluid, and “asymmetric” environments. The close integration of politics and violence has led to renewed calls for more careful civilian control and involvement in strategy-making and operational design. While scholars and practitioners have struggled with this pressing task, so have the insurgent organizations that the United States and others have been fighting against. And, in some ways, rebels have been more successful in harmonizing military and political efforts. Yet, there is little research into the form and implications of their civil–military balance. This article constructs a typology of rebel civil–military relations that maps the overlap of an intensive form of civilian control, political integration, and the degree of military professionalization. The typology is developed by categorizing a range of prominent organizations operative in contemporary and past civil wars and considering how these patterns might influence insurgents’ pursuit of intricately intertwined political and military goals. This theory development exercise—intended for hypothesis generation to inform future avenues of research—has implications for how we understand insurgency and state-based civil–military relations in unstable environments.
Medical applications of generative adversarial network: a visualization analysis
Authors: Zhang Fan , Wang Luyao , Zhao Jiayin , Zhang Xinhong
Published: August 2023

Background

Deep learning (DL) is one of the latest approaches to artificial intelligence. As an unsupervised DL method, a generative adversarial network (GAN) can be used to synthesize new data.

Purpose

To explore GAN applications in medicine and point out the significance of its existence for clinical medical research, as well as to provide a visual bibliometric analysis of GAN applications in the medical field in combination with the scientometric software Citespace and statistical analysis methods.

Material and Methods

PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched to identify studies of GAN in medical applications between 2017 and 2022. This study was performed and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Citespace was used to analyze the number of publications, authors, institutions, and keywords of articles related to GAN in medical applications.

Results

The applications of GAN in medicine are not limited to medical image processing, but will also penetrate wider and more complex fields, or may be applied to clinical medicine. Eligibility criteria were the full texts of peer-reviewed journals reporting the application of GANs in medicine. Research selections included material published in English between 1 January 2017 and 1 December 2022.

Conclusion

GAN has been fully applied to the medical field and will be more deeply and widely used in clinical medicine, especially in the field of privacy protection and medical diagnosis. However, clinical applications of GAN require consideration of ethical and legal issues. GAN-based applications should be well validated by expert radiologists.
Close relatives’ perspectives of everyday activities at home for older adults repeatedly readmitted to hospital: A qualitative study
Authors: Jönsson Marie , Holmefur Marie , Appelros Peter , Fredriksson Carin
Published: August 2023

Introduction:

Relatives are important when older adults return home after a hospital stay. The aim of this study was to describe close relatives’ perspectives of the everyday activities of older adults who are repeatedly readmitted to hospital and discharged to home.

Methods:

A semi-structured interview was performed to collect data from twenty relatives (aged 45–82 years). Data were analysed using a deductive qualitative content analysis based on the results of a previous study within this field.

Results:

The overall theme ‘In need of support to manage an unpredictable everyday life’ shows that the older adults often needed support in everyday activities. In the two categories ‘Difficulties in dealing with an unstable day’ and ‘Managing an unstable day’ and the 10 subcategories, close relatives described that the older adults needed support in various ways from relatives or other individuals. Close contact was important for how everyday activities worked at home and in maintaining social contacts and contact with healthcare.

Conclusion:

It was found that social needs, such as social contacts/activities, are just as important to assess at discharge as medical and functional needs.
A hybrid model based on LSTM neural networks with attention mechanism for short-term wind power forecasting
Authors: Marulanda Geovanny , Cifuentes Jenny , Bello Antonio , Reneses Javier
Published: August 2023

Wind power plants have gained prominence in recent decades owing to their positive environmental and economic impact. However, the unpredictability of wind resources poses significant challenges to the secure and stable operation of the power grid. To address this challenge, numerous computational and statistical methods have been proposed in the literature to forecast short-term wind power generation. However, the demand for more accurate and reliable methodologies to tackle this problem remains. In this context, this paper proposes a new hybrid framework that combines a statistical pre-processing stage with an attention-based deep learning approach to overcome the shortcomings of existing forecasting strategies in accurately predicting multi-seasonal wind power time series. The proposed ensemble model involves a data transformation stage that normalizes the data distribution, along with modeling and removing multiple seasonal patterns from the historical time-series. Considering these results, the proposed model further incorporates an LSTM Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) model with an attention mechanism, for each month of the year, to better capture the relevant temporal dependencies in the input residuals sequence. The model was trained and evaluated on hourly wind power data obtained from the Spanish electricity market, spanning the period from 2008 to 2019. Experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms well-established DL-based models, achieving lower error metrics. These findings have potential applications in energy trading, grid planning, and renewable energy management.
The Allure of Transactional Intimacy in Sugar Dating
Authors: Gunnarsson Lena
Published: August 2023

The proliferation of “sugar dating” websites, facilitating transactional relationships between a “sugar baby” and a “sugar daddy,” raises new questions about the reconfigured relationship between intimacy and economy in the contemporary Global North. By encouraging people to approach sex and intimacy through a logic of exchange, sugar dating has been claimed to represent the culmination of a broader trend towards a ”marketization” of intimacy. Based on semi-structured interviews, this article analyzes Swedish “sugar babies”’ investment in a transactional approach to intimate interactions with men, focusing on the emotional rewards that they associate with the transactional setup of sugar dating. While the participants’ transactional approach to intimacy is bolstered by the cultural dispersal of a neoliberal rationality into ever more domains of life, I argue that its deeper roots need to be sought in the precarious conditions of contemporary intimacy. Drawing in particular on the work of Eva Illouz, I claim that the women’s embracement of a transactional approach to heterosexual sex and intimacy may be read as a defensive tactic of seeking to gain control over the flows of intimate interaction in light of the (gendered) insecurities and vulnerabilities of the contemporary market of intimacy.