bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its association with adverse obstetric outcomes among pregnant women in Uganda: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Reverzani Cristina , Zaake Daniel , Nansubuga Faridah , Ssempewo Herman , Manirakiza Leonard , Kayiira Anthony , Tumwine Gilbert
Published: January 2025

Objective

There is a dearth of published data on the vitamin D status of the Ugandan population; the objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women in Uganda and its associations with maternal characteristics and adverse foetal-maternal outcomes.

Study design and setting

We conducted a cross-sectional study on pregnant women admitted to a tertiary referral hospital in Kampala, Uganda for delivery during the study period from July to December 2023.

Participants

The study was conducted on 351 pregnant women aged ≥18 years who consented to participate in the study, who had a single intrauterine pregnancy and a gestational age greater than 26 weeks, and who delivered at St. Francis Hospital, Nsambya. We excluded pregnant women admitted to the hospital longer than 1 week before delivery; pregnant women with self-reported pre-existing kidney diseases, liver diseases, or gut or malabsorption disorders and pregnant women with severe pregnancy-unrelated comorbidities requiring intensive care unit admission before delivery.

Interventions

Maternal venous blood was collected at admission, and serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured by an electrochemiluminescence binding assay.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Maternal sociodemographic characteristics and obstetric-medical factors, and adverse maternal and foetal outcomes were captured by using a data collection form. The data were analysed by logistic regression analysis at the univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels.

Results

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, defined as a serum 25(OH)D concentration less than 20 ng/mL, was 40.2%. This was seen more among the Muslims (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.43, p value 0.004), members of the Banyankore tribe (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.02 to 4.36, p value 0.043) and primigravidae (OR 0.6 for women with parity of 1–4 compared with primigravidity, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.94, p value 0.028). Among adverse maternal outcomes, vitamin D deficiency was associated with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.16 to 4.10, p value <0.001), in particular gestational hypertension (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.21 to 4.94, p value 0.014), and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia/haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets syndrome (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.45 to 6.08, p value 0.003), with increased preterm birth (OR of 4.0, 95% CI 1.78 to 10.84, p value<0.001) and with delivery of babies with low birth weight (OR 4.2, 95% CI 2.63 to 13.62, p value 0.001).

Conclusions

The study found a high prevalence (40.2%) of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women delivering at St. Francis Hospital, Nsambya. Additionally, vitamin D deficiency was linked with adverse maternal and foetal outcomes such as hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, preterm birth and low birth weight.
Effective interventions to prevent youth vaping behaviours: a rapid review
Authors: Belon Ana Paula , Nieuwendyk Laura , Allen Tasha , Worrell Melissa , Nykiforuk Candace I J
Published: January 2025

Objective

To identify effective policies and non-policy interventions preventing youth vaping behaviour initiation and assess their effectiveness by the level of intrusiveness and subpopulations.

Design

This systematic rapid review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Data sources

Searches on MEDLINE and APA-PsycINFO for studies published between January 2019 and November 2023.

Eligibility criteria

Observational, intervention or mixed-method studies and quantitative systematic reviews/meta-analyses measuring the impact of interventions on youth (6–18 years) who never vaped or who had experimentally vaped.

Data extraction and synthesis

A predesigned form was used to extract data. To classify interventions by levels of intrusiveness, we used thePLACE Research Lab Intervention Ladder Policy Analysis Framework. We applied PROGRESS-Plus (Place of residence, Race/ethnicity/culture/language, Occupation,Gender/sex, Religion, Education, Socioeconomic status, Social capital, and additional context-specific factors) for an equity analysis. Methodological quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool.

Results

20 studies were included: 45% were experiments or quasiexperiments, 85% reported data from the USA, 65% were non-policy interventions and 40% and 35% measured susceptibility and attitudes and behaviours related to vaping, respectively. Considering the level of intrusiveness, 45% of the studies provided information and 25% eliminated choices. Overall, the certainty of evidence was low. The effectiveness of interventions regarding their level of intrusiveness varied by each outcome. No clear pattern was found between the level of intrusiveness and intervention effectiveness, suggesting that overall, the studied interventions positively changed youth vaping behaviours. Some interventions had positive effects on multiple outcomes. Equity-related findings suggested that younger youth may be less responsive to the interventions. Recommendations for action are provided.

Conclusions

We suggest that combining multiple interventions targeting different levels of intrusiveness and outcomes may be more effective in preventing youth vaping behaviours. Also important is to tailor programmes to younger youth to better meet their needs.
Improving sonographic visualisation of the appendix in a regional referral hospital
Authors: Chui Shyr , Phinney Carly , Hansen Karina , Danskin Deanna
Published: January 2025

Ultrasound is a first-line and often preferred imaging modality in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. When the appendix is not visualised during a dedicated appendix ultrasound study, patients may require a CT study, which uses ionising radiation, or undergo conservative clinical observation with the inherent risk of clinical deterioration, perforation and sepsis. Median baseline data, at our hospital imaging department, revealed a rate of combined normal and abnormal appendix visualisation of 34.5% which is below the reported visualisation rates in the North American literature and well below the rates reported in the global literature. We embarked on a formal quality improvement (QI) project to improve the rates of appendix visualisation in our hospital ultrasound department. Using the Model of Improvement framework and a team approach, we generated and trialled multiple plan-do-study-act interventions over a project term of 12 months. In the second half of the project term, we saw a sustained rise in appendix visualisation exceeding our original stretch goal of 75% visualisation which was sustained 6 months after the formal project end (p<0.001). This rise was accompanied by a commensurate increase in sonographer confidence in appendix visualisation. In our case, the Model of Improvement methodology proved successful in solving our complex problem of sonographic appendix under-visualisation. The learnings of this QI project have been widely shared and spread according to the ethos of QI.
Translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the Achilles Tendon Total Rupture Score (ATRS) into Spanish: a study protocol
Authors: Calleja-Rodríguez Armando , Ruiz-Ruiz Beatriz , González-de-la-Flor Ángel , García Arrabé María
Published: January 2025

The Achilles tendon is the strongest and largest tendon in the human body, yet it is also the most frequently ruptured. The incidence of Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) is increasing due to an ageing population, rising obesity rates and greater sports participation. The Achilles Tendon Total Rupture Score (ATRS) is a validated patient-reported outcome measure widely used to assess clinical and functional outcomes after ATR. However, there is no culturally adapted and validated Spanish version of this tool, limiting its applicability in Spanish-speaking populations. The aim is to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Spanish version of the ATRS following international guidelines and to analyse its psychometric properties for assessing clinical and functional outcomes in patients with ATR. This study protocol outlines a cross-sectional design adhering to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology and Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys guidelines for observational studies and online surveys. The ATRS will be translated and culturally adapted, psychometric analysis will follow COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments standards, including reliability, validity and sensitivity assessments. Participants will include patients treated surgically for ATR in hospitals across Madrid and healthy controls recruited through social media. Sociodemographic, clinical and functional data will also be collected to support the validation process. This study protocol was approved by the Universidad Europea de Madrid Institutional Board (Approval ID: CI 2024/897) prior to data collection based one the Declaration of Helsinki. The study’s findings will be distributed to athletes, physicians and academics via peer-reviewed publications and national/international conferences.
Pharmacological preventions and treatments for pericardial complications after open heart surgeries
Authors: Malektojari Alireza , Tahmasebipour Rosa , Fadaeihosein Maedeh , Ghazizadeh Sara , Ardali Fatemeh , Haghighat Bahareh , Keshavarz Fatemeh , Azari Yalda Yousefi , Javdan Fatemeh , Shahsavari Elahe , Ersi Mohammad Hamed , Abbaszadeh Shahin , Al-Jafar Rami , Dehghan Abbas , Pitre Tyler
Published: January 2025

Background

Pericardial complications following cardiac surgery are common and debilitating, significantly impacting patients’ survival. We performed this network meta-analysis to identify the most effective and safest preventions and treatments for pericardial complications following cardiac surgery.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL from inception to 22 January 2024. Pairs of reviewers screened eligible studies. They included randomised controlled trials that enrolled adults undergoing major cardiac surgeries and reported postpericardiotomy syndrome, pericardial effusion and pericarditis as primary or secondary outcomes. We summarised the effects of interventions using relative risks and corresponding 95% CIs. We performed a frequentist random-effects network meta-analysis using the restricted maximum likelihood estimator.

Results

We included 39 trials that enrolled a total of 6419 participants. Our network meta-analysis demonstrates colchicine reduces the risk of postpericardiotomy syndrome (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.73). Beta-blockers probably prevent atrial fibrillation with a large magnitude of effect (RR 0.4, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.81) and may prevent postoperative pericarditis (RR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.97) compared with control. Fish oil (RR 0.28, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.90), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.59) and colchicine (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.59) may reduce the risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation. We found no evidence of a difference in the risk of pleural effusion, all-cause mortality, serious adverse events or postoperative ICU stay.

Conclusions

The results of our study highly recommend colchicine use to reduce the risk of the postpericardiotomy syndrome and beta-blocker use to reduce postoperative atrial fibrillation. Additionally, our study suggests that further research is needed to investigate other interventions and to evaluate newly proposed interventions in large, high-quality trials, as the current evidence for some interventions is relatively weak.
Factors associated with high-intensity physical activity and sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Lee Hyun-Jung , Gwak Seo-Yeon , Kim Kyu , Cho Iksung , Shim Chi Young , Ha Jong-Won , Hong Geu-Ru
Published: January 2025

Background

High-intensity physical activity has traditionally been discouraged in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy due to concerns about triggering sudden cardiac death. However, current guidelines adopt a more liberal stance, and evidence on risk factors for exercise-related sudden cardiac death remains limited. This study investigated the clinical, morphological and genetic factors associated with high-intensity physical activity-related sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Methods

This retrospective study included 75 patients with documented sudden cardiac death events from a cohort of 2619 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy evaluated between 2005 and 2023. Physical activity levels at the time of the sudden cardiac death event were classified as high-intensity (≥6 metabolic equivalents) or low-intensity to moderate-intensity. Clinical and imaging characteristics, cardiopulmonary exercise test findings and genetic data were compared between the groups.

Results

Among the 75 patients, 15 (20%) experienced sudden cardiac death events during high-intensity activity. These patients were younger than those with events during low-intensity or moderate-intensity activity (median age: 25 (IQR 16–43) years vs 56 (48–64) years, p<0.001). High-intensity activity-related events were associated with higher European Society of Cardiology sudden cardiac death risk scores (median 4.9 vs 2.4, p=0.023) and fewer ventricular arrhythmias during exercise testing. However, there were no differences in the degree of left ventricular hypertrophy, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, left ventricular systolic or diastolic function or genetic findings between groups. In multivariable analysis, younger age was the only independent risk factor of high-intensity activity-related sudden cardiac death events. Recurrent events in patients who survived initial high-intensity activity-related sudden cardiac death were triggered by subsequent high-intensity activity.

Conclusions

High-intensity physical activity-related sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is associated with younger age; however, in this small cohort, no associations were found with traditional risk factors, including left ventricular hypertrophy or obstructive physiology.
Bridging thrombolysis with tenecteplase versus endovascular thrombectomy alone for large-vessel anterior circulation stroke: a target trial emulation analysis
Authors: Altersberger Valerian L , Kaesmacher Johannes , Churilov Leonid , Yogendrakumar Vignan , Gralla Jan , Strbian Daniel , Seiffge David J , Mitchell Peter J , Kleinig Timothy J , Campbell Bruce CV , Fischer Urs
Published: January 2025

Background

Whether bridging thrombolysis with tenecteplase is beneficial compared with thrombectomy alone in patients who had a stroke with large-vessel occlusion remains unclear.

Methods

This is a causal inference study of observational data from the trials SWIFT DIRECT and EXTEND-IA TNK Parts 1 and 2 applying target trial emulation. We compared patients receiving thrombectomy alone to patients receiving tenecteplase 0.25 mg/kg or 0.40 mg/kg before thrombectomy. The primary outcome was functional independence (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) of 0–2) at 90 days. Secondary outcomes included improvement over the full ordinal mRS scale, freedom of disability (mRS 0–1), mortality and occurrence of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. The average causal treatment effect was estimated via inverse probability of treatment weighting and G-Computation. We calculated standardised risk differences (SRDs) and adjusted (common) ORs (a(c)ORs).

Results

Of 377 patients included in the target trial, 187 received thrombectomy alone and 190 tenecteplase before thrombectomy. Tenecteplase before thrombectomy did not increase the probability of patients achieving functional independence (SRD 0.04 (95% CI –0.06 to 0.13)) but resulted in a significant improvement in the mRS overall (acOR 1.56 (95% CI 1.07 to 2.23)) and in a higher probability of freedom from disability (SRD 0.10 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.20)). The probability for improvement of functional outcomes was further increased in patients treated within 140 min after onset (ordinal mRS acOR 1.63 (95% CI 1.04 to 2.56)). No significant differences in safety outcomes were observed between the two groups.

Conclusion

Tenecteplase before thrombectomy compared with thrombectomy alone did not increase the probability of functional independence but resulted in significant improvement over the full mRS scale. This improvement was most evident in patients treated early.
Sexual practices and risk behaviours towards human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among Ecuadorian university students: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Roman Juan , Hernandez Isabel , Sanchez Mabel , Perez Nilda , Andrade Silvana , Cepeda Verónica , Chedraui Peter , Flores Mercedes , Galarza Cristian , Guerron Maribel , Munoz Maura , Ortega Héctor , Ortiz-Prado Esteban , Perez Jhonny , Perez Fabricio , Romero Patricio , Ron Álvaro , Suing Abel , Acosta-Acuna Ximena , Teran Enrique
Published: January 2025

Objective

To describe the sexual practices and behaviour towards HIV infection among Ecuadorian university students.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out between February 2019 and August 2020 among university students from all over the country. Students aged 18 years and older of each participating institution were contacted by an official email account and invited to fill out a survey through Google Forms.

Results

Data from a total of 5677 sexually active participants were analysed. The majority were female (57.1%), 48.7% corresponded to the age range 18–20 years and nearly half studied in the field of health. Only 28.5% (n=1612) mentioned having ever been tested for HIV at least once. Regarding sexual behaviour, the vast majority reported having only one partner in the last 2 months. Condom use during the ‘last’ sexual contact was significantly lower in the never tested group (33.5% vs 43.3%, p<0.0001, respectively). Having a higher number of ever or current sexual partners (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.13) and not using a condom (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.82) were significantly related to having an HIV test performed. More than half of the participants indicated that they took the HIV test as part of their routine control, and nearly half mentioned not taking it because they felt sure they were free of HIV.

Conclusions

Behaviour towards testing for HIV in university students was related to their risky sexual practices and behaviour. Prevention campaigns focused on the general population as well as at-risk populations, including university students, are needed to curb the escalating incidence of HIV in Ecuador.
The effect of baffles on the re-distribution of dynamic forces in rectangular water tanks
Authors: Amirsardari Sina , Rouzbahani Alireza , Khosravi Shayan , Goudarzi Mohammad Ali
Published: January 2025

Old water tanks often have internal walls for operational purposes like emergency management, cleaning, and fluid flow control during filling and emptying. However, these walls are rarely considered for their role in reducing seismic loads on the main tank walls. This study explored the impact of internal vertical baffles on the base shear of the main tank walls through numerical simulations and experimental models. The findings show that the height of internal baffles relative to fluid height and tank dimensions significantly affects hydrodynamic forces on the tank walls. Incorporating vertical baffles as independent structural elements with their own foundation significantly reduces the seismic demand by decreasing the hydrodynamic pressure on tank walls by 20%–70%, without adding extra forces to the main tank structure. This cost-effective approach offers a practical alternative to traditional methods, such as increasing wall thickness or strengthening foundations.
On the $$\mathcal {N}=3$$ and $$\mathcal {N}=4$$ superconformal holographic dictionary
Authors: Özer H. T. , Filiz Aytül
Published: January 2025

This study presents comprehensive examples of

$$\mathfrak {osp}(\mathcal {N}|2)$$

osp
(
N
|
2
)

Chern–Simons supergravity on

$$AdS_3$$

A
d

S
3

for

$$\mathcal {N}>2$$

N
>
2

. These formulations, which include the most general boundary conditions, represent extensions of previously discovered works (Ozer and Filiz in Eur Phys J C 82:472, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10422-w) for

$$\mathcal {N}<3$$

N
<
3

. In our work, we show that under the loosest set of boundary conditions, the asymptotic symmetry algebras consist of two copies of the

$$\mathfrak {osp}(3|2)_k$$

osp

(
3
|
2
)

k

and

$$\mathfrak {osp}(4|2)_k$$

osp

(
4
|
2
)

k

algebras. We subsequently restrict the gauge fields upon the boundary conditions to achieve supersymmetric extensions of the Brown–Henneaux boundary conditions. Based on these results, we finally find that the asymptotic symmetry algebras are two copies of the

$$\mathcal {N}=3$$

N
=
3

and

$$\mathcal {N}=4$$

N
=
4

superconformal algebras for

$$\mathcal {N}=(3,3)$$

N
=
(
3
,
3
)

and

$$\mathcal {N}=(4,4)$$

N
=
(
4
,
4
)

extended higher-spin supergravity theory in

$$AdS_3$$

A
d

S
3

.
Stability and Hopf Bifurcation Analysis of Fractional Double-Delay Prey–Predator Model under PDα Control
Authors: Zhou Yan , Cui Zhuang , Li Ruimei , Liu Yu
Published: January 2025

A fractional-order proportional-derivative controller is designed to address bifurcation issues in a dual-time-delay fractional-order predator–prey model, achieving anti-control of Hopf bifurcation at equilibrium of the system. By selecting different delays as bifurcation parameters, the stability and Hopf bifurcation conditions of the controlled system are derived. The results show that the fractional-order, delays and control parameters play an important role in determining the stability and Hopf bifurcation of the system. By selecting reasonable system parameters (fractional-order, delays, and control parameters), effective system control strategies can be devised. Finally, the key findings of this study are verified through numerical examples. The research in this paper has potential application value for the management of natural ecosystems.
On harmonic index of trees with a given total domination number
Authors: Du Jianwei , Sun Xiaoling , Mei Yinzhen , Fan Mengyuan
Published: January 2025

Harmonic index is one of the variants of the well-known Randić index. For a graph [Formula: see text], the harmonic index of [Formula: see text] is defined by the sum of weights [Formula: see text] over all edges [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] stands for the degree of vertex [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text]. In this paper, an upper bound on the harmonic index of trees with a given order and total domination number is determined and the corresponding extremal trees are characterized. Moreover, our conclusions correct the results presented by Hasni et al., Sharp upper bound for harmonic index of trees with given total domination number, Ars Combin. 159 (2024) 179–186.
Correlation analysis of carbon price and coal price based on wavelet coherence
Authors: Long Huidian , Yan Guangle , Zhang Qian
Published: January 2025

The correlation of carbon price and coal price is a hot issue in the domestic and international academic communities. By performing cross-wavelet analysis on the two time series, extracting the energy spectrum, condensed spectrum and phase spectrum and displaying the relevant details of the two signals in the time–frequency domain at multiple scales, the mutual influence of the two signals can be accurately distinguished at multiple periods and scales. The experimental results show that: (1) the two signals have a statistically significant correlation; (2) the carbon price is positively correlated with the coal price in the low-frequency domain, with the coal price leading the carbon price; and (3) the carbon price is negatively correlated with the coal price in the high-frequency domain for a given period, with the carbon price leading the domestic coal price and lagging the imported coal price. The experimental results support the results of our theoretical analysis both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Accessible Sound: Aural Information Literacy for Technical Communication Design
Authors: Gallagher Philip B. , Gallagher Marci J
Published: January 2025

This article confronts challenges faced by users of technical information with hearing impairments. The increase in digital documents since 2000 has led to multimodal technical multimedia that features aural information (i.e., meaningful sound). However, there is little effort to train technical communication professionals to make audio more accessible. Herein, we share how to use descriptions, captions and subtitles, transcription, and sign language to make sound an accessible part of today's digital life. We explain using four accessible design elements to address challenges faced by users of digital documentation who cannot hear the information. Ultimately, we support technical communicators seeking aural information justice for all.
The Digital "Good Life": The Limits of Applying an Ethics of Care to a Company "Running with Scissors."
Authors: Karr Danielle Feldman , Holmes Steve , Colton Jared S. , Walwema Josephine
Published: January 2025

This article explores the challenge of implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion literacies in popular buyer persona platforms such as HubSpot and FlowMapp. Drawing on a practitioner interview with a public relations and marketing director, Dr. Danielle Feldman Karr, this article contextualizes Feldman Karr's efforts to revise her design team's internal buyer persona construction process to better engage DEI issues. This article considers the successes and challenges of applying an ethics of care informed by Graham's Black feminist ethics in order to analyze how designers think about "the good life" (flourishing) in persona redesign.
Writing in the "Twilight Zone" and Lessons for Inclusive Design
Authors: Tofteland-Trampe Rachel
Published: January 2025

Digital life for older women seeking employment includes several hurdles. Their stories and experiences illuminate the range of pressures they're experiencing (e.g., societal, economic) and the negative emotions that accompany those. Their challenges illustrate why some of their digital tools are hard to work with and how they can have a negative impact on them. Two women also named internal dialogues that may also influence their experience with digital tools and may prevent them from having the confidence or desire to develop their digital literacies further.
Building Empathy through Classroom and Community Integration in a Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Program
Authors: Atherton Rachel , Brackin Patricia
Published: January 2025

In this experience report, we share our strategies for scaffolding and supporting instruction in empathy in a first-year Engineering Design studio course. Empathy is a key component of UX and design, but as Tham argued, it is a difficult skill that requires practice and critical application. Community engagement scholars have long argued that community-engaged projects help foster that empathy. Our teaching case will show how emphasizing content knowledge about user groups and creating an empathetic classroom environment impacts student designers' ability to empathize in the design process.
Localizing Labor-Based Contract Grading for a Community-Engaged UX Course
Authors: Gomes Mathew
Published: January 2025

Despite scholarly alignments between user experience (UX) principles and contract grading, further accounts and studies of grading in UX courses are needed. My self-study of a UX course found that labor-based contract grading helped de-center instructor and peer evaluation and foreground user, client, and stakeholder priorities in community-engaged work, and that it supported engagement in a process of connected UX activities. However, I was also challenged to accommodate flexible UX processes and develop a course engagement model that maximized access to UX process opportunities. I conclude with a heuristic to guide the design of grading models for UX courses.
An Experience Report on the Opportunities and Challenges of a Community-Engaged User Experience (CEUX) Pedagogy for a Masters-Level Course
Authors: Patcha Sidouane , Read Sarah
Published: January 2025

In this experience report, we share our approach to a Community-Engaged User Experience (CEUX) (Lee et al., 2023) pedagogy for a graduate-level technical writing research methods course in a traditional English department at Portland State University. We narrate the institutional context and history of the course and two sections of the course with different community partners: the Spring 2022 collaboration with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) focused on the state's COVID-19 response websites and the Spring 2023 collaboration with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) focused on OHSU's main website and its Spanish and Russian microsites. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of each instance of the course and of our variation of a "one-to-many" model for CEUX.
17 Students, 1 Project: Design Thinking Pedagogy for a Large-Scale UX Community/Classroom Partnership
Authors: Smith Allegra W. , Ray Courtney D.
Published: January 2025

This teaching case applies design thinking to a large-scale client project in a technical and professional communication (TPC) class. Using the 5-step design thinking process ("empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test") over 8 weeks, the students in an upper-division TPC course developed social media content and strategy for a statewide public relations campaign. The two authors, the instructing faculty and a senior student who served as project manager, illuminate how iterative design thinking, as a UX pedagogical practice, can help students set boundaries around ill-defined problems; mirror workplace collaboration to contribute to professional development; and build a toolkit for exercising agency and creativity as researchers, writers, and designers.
LLM-based Conversational AI Therapist for Daily Functioning Screening and Psychotherapeutic Intervention via Everyday Smart Devices
Authors: Nie Jingping , Shao Hanya (Vera) , Fan Yuang , Shao Qijia , You Haoxuan , Preindl Matthias , Jiang Xiaofan
Published: January 2025

Despite the global mental health crisis, access to screenings, professionals, and treatments remains high. In collaboration with licensed psychotherapists, we propose a
C
onversational
AI
T
herapist with psychotherapeutic
I
nterventions (CaiTI), a platform that leverages large language models (LLM)s and smart devices to enable better mental health self-care. CaiTI can screen the day-to-day functioning using natural and psychotherapeutic conversations. CaiTI leverages reinforcement learning to provide personalized conversation flow. CaiTI can accurately understand and interpret user responses. When the user needs further attention during the conversation, CaiTI can provide conversational psychotherapeutic interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI). Leveraging the datasets prepared by the licensed psychotherapists, we experiment and microbenchmark various LLMs’ performance in tasks along CaiTI's conversation flow and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. With the psychotherapists, we implement CaiTI and conduct 14-day and 24-week studies. The study results, validated by therapists, demonstrate that CaiTI can converse with users naturally, accurately understand and interpret user responses, and provide psychotherapeutic interventions appropriately and effectively. We showcase the potential of CaiTI LLMs to assist the mental therapy diagnosis and treatment and improve day-to-day functioning screening and precautionary psychotherapeutic intervention systems.
Stacking Factorizing Partitioned Expressions in Hybrid Bayesian Network Models
Authors: Lin Peng , Neil Martin , Fenton Norman
Published: January 2025

Hybrid Bayesian networks (HBN) contain complex conditional probability distributions (CPD) specified as partitioned expressions over discrete and continuous variables. The size of these CPDs grows exponentially with the number of parent nodes, and when using discrete inference methods, it results in significant execution time and space inefficiency. To reduce the CPD size, a binary factorization (BF) algorithm can be used to decompose the statistical or arithmetic functions in the CPD by factorizing the number of connected parent nodes into sets of size two. However, the BF algorithm was not designed to handle partitioned expressions. Therefore, we propose a new stacking factorization (SF) algorithm to decompose partitioned expressions. The SF algorithm creates intermediate nodes to incrementally reconstruct the conditional densities in the original partitioned expression, ensuring that no more than two continuous parent nodes are connected to each child node in the resulting HBN. It generally applies to both discrete and continuous child nodes with complex partitioned expressions. When we combine SF with a dynamic discretization (DD) inference algorithm, we achieve a significant improvement in inference efficiency. Experimental results demonstrate that the combination of SF and DD can effectively manage HBNs with complex CPDs that may challenge other algorithms, which also outperform competing inference algorithms in accuracy.
Impacts of Immigration Policies on Families
Authors: Abrego Leisy J. , León Lucia
Published: January 2025

US immigration policies have profound impacts on immigrant families. In a robust field of study across disciplines, scholars have documented how the multi-layered, complex immigration regime opens and closes doors to opportunity, health, education, safety, and peace. With a rise in harsh and unpredictable enforcement practices, immigrant families—including undocumented, liminally legal, and US citizen members—navigate the contradictory laws at the federal, state, and local levels to thrive as best as they can. In our review, we encourage scholars to extend their analysis to what happens during the migrant journey and at the border, as these experiences are also impacted by US immigration policies and potentially impact families long after they settle in the United States. The ever-changing labyrinthine legal landscape and its expansive reach provide fertile ground for further research, and we urge scholars to center ethics in their work with immigrant families made vulnerable through immigration laws.
Lessons Learned in Emergency Pelvic and First-Trimester US: Focus on Cognitive Biases
Authors: Tannenbaum Melissa F. , Lee Karen S. , Yoon Se-Young , Levenson Robin B.
Published: January 2025

Familiarity with common and uncommon pelvic US findings in nonpregnant and first-trimester pregnant patients with recognition of cognitive biases can facilitate accurate diagnosis and reduce diagnostic errors.
Intratumoral or Subcutaneous MK-2118, a Noncyclic Dinucleotide STING Agonist, with or without Pembrolizumab, for Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors or Lymphomas
Authors: Luke Jason J. , Sweis Randy F. , Hecht J. Randolph , Schneider Reva , Stein Mark N. , Golan Talia , Yap Timothy A. , Khilnani Anuradha , Huang Mo , Zhao Runchen , Jemielita Thomas , Patel Sandip Pravin
Published: January 2025

Purpose:

We evaluated the noncyclic dinucleotide stimulator of IFN genes agonist MK-2118 ± pembrolizumab in participants with advanced solid tumors or lymphomas.

Patients and Methods:

This first-in-human study (NCT03249792) enrolled participants with refractory, advanced solid tumors or lymphomas. Participants received intratumoral (IT) MK-2118 100 to 20,000 μg (arm 1), IT MK-2118 900 to 15,000 μg plus intravenous (IV) pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks (arm 2), or subcutaneous (SC) MK-2118 5,000 to 150,000 μg plus IV pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks (arm 4); arm 3 (visceral injection of MK-2118) was not pursued. IT dosing used an accelerated titration design and modified toxicity probability interval method; SC dosing (arm 4) was started subsequent to arms 1 and 2. The primary objectives were safety/tolerability. MK-2118 pharmacokinetics was a secondary endpoint; objective responses and biomarkers were exploratory endpoints.

Results:

A total of 140 participants were enrolled (arm 1, n = 27; arm 2, n = 57; arm 4, n = 56). Grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 22%, 23%, and 11% of participants, respectively, but no maximum tolerated dose was identified up to MK-2118 20,000, 15,000, and 150,000 μg across the three arms. Dose-dependent increases in MK-2118 systemic exposure were observed following IT and subcutaneous administration. Objective responses were seen in 0%, 6%, and 4% of participants, respectively. IT MK-2118 led to dose-dependent changes in stimulator of interferon genes–based blood RNA expression levels, IFNγ, IFNγ-induced protein 10, and IL6; SC MK-2118 did not generate dose-related immune responses.

Conclusions:

IT MK-2118 ± pembrolizumab and SC MK-2118 plus pembrolizumab had manageable toxicity and limited antitumor activity. IT but not SC administration demonstrated systemic immune effects.
Supplementary Table S4 from Phosphocreatine Promotes Epigenetic Reprogramming to Facilitate Glioblastoma Growth Through Stabilizing BRD2
Authors: Chen Lishu , Qi Qinghui , Jiang Xiaoqing , Wu Jin , Li Yuanyuan , Liu Zhaodan , Cai Yan , Ran Haowen , Zhang Songyang , Zhang Cheng , Wu Huiran , Cao Shuailiang , Mi Lanjuan , Xiao Dake , Huang Haohao , Jiang Shuai , Wu Jiaqi , Li Bohan , Xie Jiong , Qi Ji , Li Fangye , Liang Panpan , Han Qiuying , Wu Min , Zhou Wenchao , Wang Chenhui , Zhang Weina , Jiang Xin , Zhang Kun , Li Huiyan , Zhang Xuemin , Li Ailing , Zhou Tao , Man Jianghong
Published: January 2025

Supplementary Table S4 shows PCr and BRD2 IHC staining scores in the serial sections of human glioma microarrays.
Supplementary Data Table T5 from Clinical Proteomics Reveals Vulnerabilities in Noninvasive Breast Ductal Carcinoma and Drives Personalized Treatment Strategies
Authors: Mitsa Georgia , Florianova Livia , Lafleur Josiane , Aguilar-Mahecha Adriana , Zahedi Rene P. , del Rincon Sonia V. , Basik Mark , Borchers Christoph H. , Batist Gerald
Published: January 2025

PRM data DCIS vs IDC
Supplementary Data Table T1 from Clinical Proteomics Reveals Vulnerabilities in Noninvasive Breast Ductal Carcinoma and Drives Personalized Treatment Strategies
Authors: Mitsa Georgia , Florianova Livia , Lafleur Josiane , Aguilar-Mahecha Adriana , Zahedi Rene P. , del Rincon Sonia V. , Basik Mark , Borchers Christoph H. , Batist Gerald
Published: January 2025

Anonymized Clinical Data
Figure 3 from Clinical Proteomics Reveals Vulnerabilities in Noninvasive Breast Ductal Carcinoma and Drives Personalized Treatment Strategies
Authors: Mitsa Georgia , Florianova Livia , Lafleur Josiane , Aguilar-Mahecha Adriana , Zahedi Rene P. , del Rincon Sonia V. , Basik Mark , Borchers Christoph H. , Batist Gerald
Published: January 2025

Differential expression analysis reflects loss of basal membrane stability, inflammatory processes, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition as key events toward DCIS to IDC progression. A, Volcano plot of the proteome of IDC compared with DCIS lesions showing 388 DEPs (unpaired t test with post hoc Benjamini–Krieger analysis P < 0.01, absolute log2 FC >2). B, Volcano plot of the proteome of paired IDC lesions compared with paired DCIS lesions showing 10 DEPs (unpaired t test with post hoc Benjamini–Krieger analysis P < 0.05, absolute log2 FC >2). C, Molecular networks representing up/downregulated pathways in IDC compared with DCIS lesions. adj, adjusted; EMT, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition; UPR, unfolded protein response.
Figure 2 from Clinical Proteomics Reveals Vulnerabilities in Noninvasive Breast Ductal Carcinoma and Drives Personalized Treatment Strategies
Authors: Mitsa Georgia , Florianova Livia , Lafleur Josiane , Aguilar-Mahecha Adriana , Zahedi Rene P. , del Rincon Sonia V. , Basik Mark , Borchers Christoph H. , Batist Gerald
Published: January 2025

Data quality and evaluation of variability. A, Dynamic range of ∼2,860 proteins quantified in ductal breast cancer, at a 1% FDR. All −log10 values were based on NSAF values, which were used to normalize the spectral count (25). High NSAF values represent a high level of expression. Six orders of magnitude of the DCIS/IDC proteome are covered using ∼1% of the total sample and a standard data-dependent acquisition method without fractionation. B, Sparse partial least squares regression for discrimination analysis showing good clustering of the two study groups. The oval shape represents 95% confidence intervals. IQR and Robust regression and outlier removal methods identified no outlier samples. C and D, Loading plots of the sparse partial least squares regression for discrimination analysis showing proteins/genes that drive the variability and clustering between DCIS and IDC. The right x-axis shows expression levels of these drivers in the DCIS/IDC samples. NSAF, normalized spectral abundance factor.
Association of early nutrition with bronchopulmonary dysplasia severity and MRI lung characteristics in preterm infants
Authors: Dianova Ekaterina , Higano Nara S. , McNelis Kera M. , Ehrlich Shelley R. , Liu Chunyan , Woods Jason C. , Kingma Paul S.
Published: January 2025

Introduction: Restricted fetal and neonatal growth is a known risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in premature infants. However, the impact of nutrition and infant growth specifically on lung growth in BPD in unknown. Moreover, whether all lung growth in BPD is beneficial is unclear. We hypothesized that lung growth and development and severity of BPD directly relate to caloric and protein intake, weight gain, and linear growth of premature neonates.
Methods: In this retrospective study, caloric and protein intake for the first four weeks of life, growth parameters along with lung volume, mass, density, and BPD severity obtained by ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI, were analyzed.
Results: The cohort included 95 neonates with mean GA 26.1 weeks and BW 790 g. Infants with Grade 2 and 3 BPD had less caloric and protein intake during first 4 weeks of life vs Grade 1 BPD (96/98 vs 106 kcal/kg/d; 3.79/3.75 vs 3.99 g protein/kg/d; p< 0.05). UTE MRI showed that lung mass per body surface area increased with increasing BPD severity (237, 311, 384 g/m2 for Grade 1, 2, and 3, respectively, p< 0.05). Increased caloric intake was associated with decreased lung mass (p=0.02) and improved BPD score on MRI (p=0.04)
Discussion/Conclusion: Decreased nutritional intake during the first four weeks of life appears to be associated with more severe BPD, increased lung mass and more severe lung disease on MRI.
Gut Microbiota Alterations in Patients With Kawasaki Disease
Authors: Jena Prasant K. , Arditi Moshe , Noval Rivas Magali
Published: January 2025

The intestinal microbiota influences many host biological processes, including metabolism, intestinal barrier functions, and immune responses in the gut and distant organs. Alterations in its composition have been associated with the development of inflammatory disorders and cardiovascular diseases, including Kawasaki disease (KD). KD is an acute pediatric vasculitis of unknown etiology and the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in the United States. The presence of gastrointestinal symptoms in the acute phase of KD has been associated with an increased risk of treatment resistance and the development of coronary artery aneurysms. Studies report alterations in fecal bacterial communities of patients with KD, characterized by the blooming of pathogenic bacteria and decreased relative abundance of short-chain fatty acid–producing bacteria. However, causality and functionality cannot be established from these observational patient cohorts of KD. This highlights the need for more advanced and rigorous studies to establish causality and functionality in both experimental models of KD vasculitis and patient cohorts. Here, we review the evidence linking an altered gut microbiota composition to the development of KD, assess the potential mechanisms involved in this process, and discuss the potential therapeutic value of these observations.
Art Communities at Risk: Tbilisi
Authors: Córdova Kim
Published: January 2025

This article examines the precarious state of art communities in Tbilisi, Georgia, amid mounting political, economic, and security pressures. Through extensive interviews with artists, curators, educators, and cultural administrators, Córdova documents how Georgian artists face three primary threats: repressive legislation by the ruling Georgian Dream party, economic instability, and security threats from Russia. The article analyzes how recent laws targeting foreign-funded organizations and LGBTQ+ expression, combined with the Ministry of Culture's systematic defunding of museums and cultural institutions, are creating an increasingly hostile environment for artists and arts organizations.

The piece explores how Georgia's position as a strategic battleground between Russia and the West has made its cultural sector particularly vulnerable, while also highlighting how artists and collectives are finding creative ways to resist through education initiatives, collaborative platforms, and grassroots organizing. Special attention is paid to how the spillover effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine have impacted Georgia's art scene, both through massive immigration and heightened geopolitical tensions. The article concludes by examining the implications of Georgia's contested 2024 parliamentary elections and subsequent political crisis for the future of its artistic community.
Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me: Security Guarantees, Commitment Problems and the Problem of Peace through Victory in Ukraine
Authors: D’Anieri Paul
Published: January 2025

A considerable debate focuses on whether Ukraine and its allies should pursue an end to the Russo-Ukrainian war via negotiation or by pursuing victory. By focusing on the commitment problem, this article shifts the focus by asking what kind of peace is most likely to endure. Peace agreements depend on promises about future behavior, but such commitments are often not credible, because changes in circumstances can make it irrational to honor them. Guarantees by external actors are essential to solving commitment problems, but these external guarantees encounter their own credibility problems. Is it possible to construct a set of arrangements that leaves both Ukraine and Russia supporting a post-war status quo rather than seeking to revise it? The central finding is that, while concessions to Russia are more likely to yield peace in the short term, peace through victory is more likely to endure.
China’s Covid-19 Aid Diplomacy in 2020: Patterns and Motivations
Authors: Aubié Hermann , Paltemaa Lauri , Sookari Tommi
Published: January 2025

This article investigates the determinants underlying the Chinese Covid-19 global humanitarian aid campaign in 2020 by statistical analysis on a novel author-made dataset that tracks Chinese aid across the globe in 2020. The results show that many existing Chinese humanitarian aid practices first followed a policy of near universalism of aid, but then resumed more traditional forms of Chinese humanitarian aid targeting the Global South on a bilateral basis in the latter half of the campaign. Aid was allocated based on mixed motives that included humanitarian calculations, but also a more short-term diplomatic calculus typical of disaster diplomacy and other non-humanitarian factors. Chinese humanitarian aid needs to be considered as an important public diplomacy tool as it can be used to reward closer partnerships with China and penalise their absence.