bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A injustificável taxa básica de juros brasileira e a captura do Banco Central pelo mercado financeiro
Authors: Luperi Mauricio Martinelli
Published: July 2024

Se observamos as discussões sobre a alta taxa de juros SELIC nos dias de hoje, perceberemos que a crítica a manutenção de um patamar tão elevado dessa taxa no Brasil ganha corpo em relação à momentos históricos anteriores.  Isso ocorre porque o mundo atual apresenta características específicas, como um alto nível de inflação, que provém de um choque de petróleo e de um pós-período pandêmico. Dentro desse contexto, a inflação brasileira se apresentou menor e em queda em relação a muitas economias avançadas, como, por exemplo, os EUA. E mesmo assim nosso Banco Central brasileiro manteve uma taxa de juros real de aproximadamente 9%. É importante destacar que por trás da manutenção dessa taxa se encontra a opção do país em crescer com poupança externa definida pelo professor Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira e que encontra amparo em grupos de interesse que se unem em torno de um ganho rentista.
Ideologia importa? Uma análise dos pareceres emitidos pelos tribunais de contas brasileiros
Authors: Martins Gislene Daiana , Lima Filho Saulo Silva , Portulhak Henrique , Severo Peixe Blênio Cezar
Published: July 2024

O estudo investigou a associação entre os pareceres prévios emitidos pelos Tribunais de Contas brasileiros àsideologias político-partidárias. O levantamento teve como base o interstício entre 1995 e 2022, perfazendo sete ciclos políticos, em todos os estados brasileiros, o Distrito Federal, além das contas da União. Foram categorizados os partidos políticos em coalizões ideológicas e segmentados os resultados dos pareceres, para realizar testes de independência entre grupos e Análise de Correspondência Múltipla. Não foram observadas distinções nos pareceres prévios emitidos em relação às linhas ideológicas das coalizões nos ciclos eleitorais analisados. Dada a literatura recente que indica a influência político-partidária na atuação dos Tribunais de Contas brasileiros e a baixa quantidade de pareceres desfavoráveis emitidos para os estados, este achado traz novos elementos ao debate acerca das características e explicações para essa influência.
Resposta das escolas à pandemia de COVID-19: uma análise da rede estadual de Minas Gerais
Authors: Dias Queiroz Melissa , Lazzarotti Diniz Costa Bruno
Published: July 2024

Além dos efeitos sanitários e econômicos, a pandemia de Covid-19 representou um choque nos sistemas educacionais, com o fechamento das escolas. Em Minas Gerais, foi adotado o Regime Especial de Atividades Não Presenciais (Reanp), seguido por estratégias e resultadosheterogêneos em cada escola. Diante disso, o presente artigo busca compreender e analisar a forma pela qual se deu a resposta das escolas públicas mineiras à pandemia em 2020 e 2021, quanto às principais estratégias adotadas para a continuidade das atividades e aos seus possíveis efeitos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, de naturezaqualitativa, baseada em pesquisa documental e na realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os resultados encontrados demonstram a validade das estratégias oficiais, mas também sinalizam suas limitações e críticas quanto a seus conteúdos e aplicabilidade. Ainda, perdas de aprendizagem e impactos referentes à saúde, à socialização e ao engajamento nos estudos foram constatados, influenciados pelos contextos socioeconômicos das comunidades escolares.
SEISMIC HAZARD ASSESSMENT IN THE NORTH AEGEAN TROUGH BASED ON A NEW SEISMOGENIC ZONATION
Authors: Stylianou E , Maravas G , Kouskouna V , Papoulia J
Published: July 2024

The quantification of uncertainties and choise of the seismogenic zonation are crucial points in the probabilistic assessment of seismic hazard. This study followed the structure of a "logic tree" of 16 branches, in order to quantify uncertainties. It consists of two seismogenic zonations - one specifically developed for the North Aegean Trough based on recent swath mapping, geophysical and seismotectonic data, and the regional zonation used in the seismic hazard map of Greece. Two different approaches for the seismicity model definition and four attenuation relationships valid for Greece were used. The assessment of seismic hazard was obtained using the CRISIS software. All seismic hazard maps refer to the horizontal peak ground acceleration (PGA) with 475 years return period. Using the new developed zonation, maximum PGA values of 300 Gal are associated with the North Sporades area and the deepest part of the North Sporades basin. Results obtained by the regional seismogenic zonation of Greece shift maximum PGA values northeast of Athos peninsula. We conclude that the new zonation produces results that better address the seismotectonic regime of the North Aegean area.
Communities, organizations and collective entrepreneurship
Authors: Γεωργίου Ανδρέας
Published: July 2024

Οι κοινότητες και οι κοινοτικές επιχειρήσεις έχουν γίνει συχνά αντικείμενο συζήτησης σε μελέτες οργάνωσης, διοίκησης και επιχειρηματικότητας. Θεωρείται ότι αντιπροσωπεύουν έναν εναλλακτικό τρόπο οργάνωσης και επιδίωξης οικονομικών, κοινωνικών και πολιτιστικών στόχων, καθώς και ότι ενσαρκώνουν μια θεσμική λογική, η οποία είναι γνωστή ως η κοινοτική λογική. Στην εποχή της παγκοσμιοποίησης και των κοινωνικών μετασχηματισμών, όμως, δεν μπορεί να θεωρηθεί δεδομένο ότι αυτές οι ομάδες ανθρώπων και επιχειρήσεις δεν αντιμετωπίζουν εντάσεις και είναι αφοσιωμένοι σε μια θεσμική λογική. Η διατριβή αυτή εξετάζει αυτή την υπόθεση και ερευνά το εξής: Πώς οι κοινότητες και οι κοινοτικές επιχειρήσεις οργανώνονται και συνδέονται με την κοινοτική λογική, καθώς και άλλες λογικές; Μετά από ένα σύντομο εισαγωγικό κεφάλαιο, το δεύτερο κεφάλαιο πραγματοποιεί μια βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση στις κοινότητες και αναλύει τις θεμελιώδεις αρχές οργάνωσης διαφορετικών τύπων κοινοτήτων. Το τρίτο κεφάλαιο δείχνει το ρόλο της ύλης στις θεσμικές διαδικασίες και το πώς τα μέλη της τοπικής κοινότητας επιχειρούν να διατηρήσουν θεσμούς από γενιά σε γενιά. Το τέταρτο κεφάλαιο εμβαθύνει σε μια κοινοτική επιχείρηση και αναλύει πώς ανταποκρίνεται στη θεσμική πολυπλοκότητα και πώς διασφαλίζει την αφοσίωση των μελών της τοπικής κοινότητας στο κοινό εγχείρημα. Τα τρία κύρια κεφάλαια, συνολικά, δείχνουν ότι οι κοινότητες και οι κοινοτικές επιχειρήσεις εμπλέκονται σε μεγάλο βαθμό σε θεσμικές διαδικασίες, βρίσκουν καινοτόμους τρόπους να αντιμετωπίσουν τη θεσμική πολυπλοκότητα και εργάζονται με στόχο τη θεσμική διατήρηση, αλλά επίσης δημιουργούν παραλλαγές λογικών και αλλάζουν. Η θεσμική προσέγγιση στις κοινότητες προσφέρει χρήσιμα ευρήματα σε θέματα κοινοτικής οργάνωσης και επιχειρηματικότητας, σχέσεων κοινότητας και οργανισμών και οργανωσιακής θεωρίας πιο ευρύτερα.
O Βορειοηπειρωτικός Αγώνας (1913–1974)
Authors: Πέπονας Εμμανουήλ
Published: July 2024

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή επιχειρεί να απαντήσει σε μια σειρά ερωτημάτων σχετικά με το τί θα μπορούσε να οριστεί ως Βόρειος Ήπειρος, πώς γεννήθηκε το Βορειοηπειρωτικό Ζήτημα, πού οφειλόταν η σύγκρουση του Βενιζέλου με τον βασιλιά Κωνσταντίνο στα πλαίσια του τελευταίου, με ποιον τρόπο επηρέασε το Μικρασιατικό Ζήτημα, η μεσοπολεμική ελληνοϊταλική φιλία και το Έπος του ‘40 τις εξελίξεις στην περιοχή, καθώς επίσης το ποια υπήρξε η ισχύς των σωματείων των απόδημων Βορειοηπειρωτών στην Αθήνα κατά τις πρώτες μεταπολεμικές δεκαετίες και ποια η σχέση του Βορειοηπειρωτικού με το Κυπριακό από τις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1950 έως το 1974. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, επικεντρώνεται στην εξέταση τριών εκ των κύριων όψεων που καθόρισαν το μέλλον της Βορείου Ηπείρου, δηλαδή του ανορθοδόξου πολέμου, της πολιτικής και της μνήμης.
Το ιδίωμα της νήσου Λέρου (Δωδεκανήσου)
Authors: Κωνσταντινίδου Μαγδαληνή
Published: July 2024

This paper offers a description of the dialect of Leros, on the levels of phonology, morphology and syntax, accompanied by diachronic and comparative cross-dialectal data for all major phenomena.
Όψεις του διαλεκτικού λεξιλογίου γύρω από την ψυχονοητική μειονεξία
Authors: Παπαδοπούλου Ελένη
Published: July 2024

The present paper examines the dialectal vocabulary related to psycho-mental retardation, which is of particular interest in relation to its semantic, morphological, and pragmatic features. The dialectal material on which the study was based derives from the printed volumes of the Historical Dictionary of Modern Greek (ΙΛΝΕ) and the Archive of the Research Centre for Modern Greek Dialects (ΚΕΝΔΙ) of the Academy of Athens. The papaer initially raises the question regarding the semantic vagueness and fluidity of relevant terms both in Modern Greek and in dialects, which reveals the embarrassment of the average speaker and their difficulty in approaching the disorders in question. Next, it explores the pragmatic parameters that have to do with the use of the aforementioned vocabulary and studies the morphological mechanisms related to its productivity. Lastly, in the context of Cognitive Semantics, using the tool of conceptual metaphor, it categorises the corpus under study based on individual "concept fields" at form sources for the verbal expression of the specific disorders.
Διαλεκτική λεξικογραφία: ελληνική βιβλιογραφία (II)
Authors: Κατσούδα Γεωργία
Published: July 2024

Supplement to the Modern Greek dialectal bibliography provided in the previous volume (Katsouda 2012).
Λεξικογραφική προσέγγιση της σημασίας. Η θέση του ΙΛΝΕ
Authors: Μπασέα-Μπεζαντάκου Χριστίνα
Published: July 2024

The present paper investigates various lexicographical and metalexicographical issues concerning the study and the description of the semantic potential of a lexeme. These issues are approached within the framework of international lexicographic research, with special focus on the Modern Greek language and its representation in the Historical Dictionary of Modern Greek (ILNE) of the Academy of Athens.
Η χρήση των λογοτεχνικών παραδειγμάτων στα λεξικά: η περίπτωση του ΙΛΝΕ
Authors: Καραντζή Χρυσούλα
Published: July 2024

The aim of this paper is to examine the question of the use of literary examples and quotations in dictionaries with special emphasis on the Historical Dictionary of Modern Greek (Academy of Athens). The whole issue is related to the broader issues of choice of examples for lexicographic use, the interrelation of common language, literary language and local dialects, as well as a number of individual issues of linguistic, literary, dialectological and lexicographical nature, which will be analysed in this article.
The prevalence and prevention strategies of pediatric obesity: a narrative review
Authors: Lee Mi Seon
Published: July 2024

Pediatric obesity has rapidly increased globally over the past few decades, including in Korea. We aimed to discuss trends in the prevalence of pediatric obesity and effective prevention strategies. Its prevalence has markedly increased in most high-income nations. According to recent reports, this increase has slowed in developed countries, but the levels remain alarmingly high. In Korea, the rate of pediatric obesity has surged notably since the 1990s; however, since the 2000s, this increase has become more gradual. According to recently published 2017 growth charts, the prevalence of pediatric obesity in Korea varies slightly depending on the data source. The National School Health Examination data showed that pediatric obesity gradually increase from 11.5% in 2014 to 15.1% in 2019, and after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, it sharply increased to 19% in 2021. Based on data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of pediatric obesity gradually increased from 10.8% in 2017 to 13.6% in 2019. This trend, which accelerated sharply to 15.9% in 2020 and 19.3% in 2021, was especially severe in boys and older children. Pediatric obesity not only affects health during childhood but also increases the risk of developing obesity and associated health conditions in adulthood. Despite ongoing research on treatment options, obesity prevention and control remain challenging. Hence, prioritizing early intervention and prevention of pediatric obesity through healthy eating habits and lifestyles is crucial. This requires intervention at the individual, family, school, and community levels.
New urban governance as a way of building city resilience to pandemic-caused stress (COVID-19)
Authors: Mierzejewska Lidia , Kamila Sikorska-Podyma  , Marta Szejnfeld  , Magdalena Wdowicka  , Bogusz Modrzewski  , Ewa Lechowska
Published: July 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed by governing powers, aimed at limiting the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, have resulted in high social and economic costs and lead to an elevated level of chronic stress, particularly in cities. The study aims to demonstrate an original new urban governance conception and to indicate the possible role of such governance in building city resilience to stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research proves that new urban governance should primarily include building stronger and more flexible forms of cooperation, engaging highly qualified, interdisciplinary experts to planning and city governing and applying smart technologies in communication and urban governance. What has been also emphasized is different mechanisms of new urban governance when the impact of the pandemic has to be suddenly mitigated and during a long-term reconstruction of the city system towards a stress-resilient city. The study is theoretical in nature and is based on a comprehensive review of the extensive literature on the subject.
Vitamin D Deficiency. The place of calcifediol in the treatment of vitamin D deficiency - literature review
Authors: Gmitrzuk Julita , Malinka Zuzanna , Wiśniewska Katarzyna , Jachymek Anna , Opatowska Martyna , Jakubiec Joanna , Kucharski Tomasz , Piotrowska Marta
Published: July 2024

Introduction:
Vitamin D plays a very important role in the human body. It affects bone health, immune system function, and is responsible for overall well-being. Vitamin D deficiency is a common worldwide. It contributes to the development of osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune disorders and many others. This article reviews the current state of knowledge about vitamin D deficiency, its causes, health consequences, diagnostic methods, and treatment options, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of calcifediol in treating this deficiency.
Aim of the Study:
The aim of this study was to summarize the current state of knowledge about vitamin D, vitamin D deficiency, its causes of health consequences, diagnostic methods, and treatment options, with a particular focus on the efficacy of calcifediol.
Materials and Methods:
The literature available in the PubMed database was reviewed using the following keywords: "vitamin D deficiency", "calcifediol treatment", "vitamin D metabolism", "epidemiology of vitamin D deficiency", "vitamin D diagnostic criteria", "calcifediol".
Conclusions: Vitamin D plays an important role in maintaining bone health, supporting the immune system and regulating various physiological processes. However, despite its importance, vitamin D deficiency is widespread, affecting populations around the world due to factors such as limited sun exposure, dietary habits and certain health conditions. Calcifediol has become particularly effective treatment of vitamin D deficiency due to its higher bioavailability and faster performance compared to other forms, such as cholecalciferol.
Advance Selling to Ease Financial Distress
Authors: Papanastasiou Yiangos , Xiao Shuang , Yang S. Alex
Published: July 2024

Left unable to provide service during the COVID-19 pandemic, many small businesses have experimented with alternative ways of generating income. One approach that has gained traction is the use of advance selling, whereby the firm asks consumers in its local community to support the business by paying in advance for consumption at a future date. In this paper, we develop a game theoretic model to investigate whether and how advance selling schemes can be successfully implemented by firms facing financial distress. In cases of high distress (i.e., where obtaining bank financing is infeasible given the firm’s financial need), we show that advance selling in its classic implementation can help the firm secure its survival in some scenarios but may suffer from significant inefficiencies associated with strategic consumer behavior and firm moral hazard. We demonstrate that two modifications of the classic scheme currently observed in practice—namely, (i) the introduction of an “all-or-nothing” clause and (ii) selling future discount coupons as opposed to the full service—can expand the set of scenarios in which survival is ensured while also allowing the firm to extract higher profit. In cases of moderate financial distress (i.e., where bank financing is a feasible but inefficient option), we find that simple advance selling schemes typically fail to make an impact. However, we show that a more complex scheme, combining both of the aforementioned modifications simultaneously, can be used in conjunction with bank financing to generate a substantial improvement in firm profit.

This paper was accepted by Jeannette Song, operations management.

Funding: The work of author S. Xiao was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 71901221].
Dynamic Allocation of Reusable Resources: Logarithmic Regret in Overloaded Networks
Authors: Xie Xinchang , Gurvich Itai , Küçükyavuz Simge
Published: July 2024

How to dynamically allocate limited capacity to service requests?

The problem studied in this paper is common in service applications, such as hotels, car rentals, and consulting services. These applications have limited capacity that must be allocated among incoming service requests. Different requests may require resources for varying durations, and some requests might yield higher rewards than others when fulfilled. The decision maker, who controls this capacity, must decide upon each request’s arrival whether to accept it (thus committing resources for a certain period) or reject it in order to reserve capacity for potentially more valuable future requests. This paper expands our understanding of such resource allocation problems by developing an appealingly simple dynamic allocation algorithm with proven effectiveness. In an appropriate operating regime, the suboptimal gap of this algorithm is at most logarithmic in the maximum achievable reward. In other words, for large-scale systems, the suboptimality translates to a negligible percentage deviation from optimal performance.

Paper’s Title: Dynamic Allocation of Reusable Resources: Logarithmic Regret in Overloaded Networks
Exact and Heuristic Methods for the Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem
Authors: Gamst Mette , Lusby Richard Martin , Ropke Stefan
Published: July 2024

This paper describes an exact branch-and-cut (B&C) algorithm for the split delivery vehicle routing problem. The underlying model is based on a previously proposed two-index vehicle flow formulation that models a relaxation of the problem. We dynamically separate two well-known classes of valid inequalities, namely capacity and connectivity cuts, and use an in-out algorithm to improve the convergence of the cutting phase. We generate no-good cuts from feasible integer solutions to the relaxation using a recently proposed single-commodity flow formulation in the literature. The exact methodology is complemented by a very effective adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) heuristic that provides high-quality upper bounds to initiate the B&C algorithm. Key ingredients in the design of the heuristic include the use of a tailored construction algorithm, which can exploit the situation in which the ratio of the number of customers to the minimum number of vehicles needed is low, and the use of a route-based formulation to improve the solutions found before, during, and after the ALNS procedure. An earlier version of this work was submitted to the DIMACS (Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science) implementation challenge, where it placed third. On sets of well-known benchmark instances for limited and unlimited fleet variants of the problem, we demonstrate that the heuristic provides very competitive solutions, with respective average gaps of 0.19% and 0.18% from best-known values. Furthermore, the exact B&C framework is also highly competitive with state-of-the-art methods, providing solutions with an average optimality gap of 1.82%.

History: This paper has been accepted for the Transportation Science Special Section on DIMACS Implementation Challenge: Vehicle Routing Problems.

Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2022.0353 .
The importance of sleep for support workers
Authors: Peate Ian
Published: July 2024

Just like food and water, sleep is essential. This article discusses the importance of sleep, and the critical role that sleep plays in the lives of healthcare assistants and assistant practitioners (HCAs and APs). The article will explore why sleep is not just a luxury but an absolute necessity for the physical and mental health of those people who provide care and support to others. By understanding the profound impact of sleep on HCAs and APs, this can help to enhance patient care, improve staff wellbeing and pave the way for a healthier, more resilient workforce.
Wellbeing, quality of life and satisfaction of patients with hard-to-heal wounds: a descriptive study
Authors: Natarajan Jansirani , Joseph Mickael Antoine , Alawi Rashid Al , Bulushi Taimoor Al , Alawi Ibrahim Al , Junaibi Suad Moosa Al , Thanka Anitha Nesa , Balushi Laila Darwish Al , Ismaili Issa Sulaiman Al , Shumma Moath , Nabhani Sultan Saif Thani Al
Published: July 2024

Objective:

A hard-to-heal wound is defined as a wound that failed to proceed through the normal phases of wound healing in an orderly and timely manner. The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of hard-to-heal wounds on the wellbeing, quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction with QoL of patients in Oman with hard-to-heal wounds.

Method:

A descriptive cross-sectional study of patients with hard-to-heal wounds attending three tertiary care hospitals using a self-reported questionnaire was conducted.

Results:

A total of 275 patients took part in the study. Patients reported a low wellbeing score (67.06±19.72), moderate QoL score (52.18±25.07) and moderate satisfaction scores (68.91±23.88). Significant mean differences were reported with age, sex, educational level, monthly income and type of wound all at p<0.05.

Conclusion:

The findings of this study demonstrated that hard-to-heal wounds could influence the wellbeing, QoL and overall satisfaction with QoL of patients.

Declaration of interest:

Funding was received through an internal grant of the Sultan Qaboos University to conduct the research conducting the research (IG/CON/FACN/20/01). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Hounsfield units in assessing bone mineral density in ankylosing spondylitis patients with cervical fracture-dislocation
Authors: Gao Zhong-Ya , Peng Wei-Lin , Li Yang , Lu Xu-Hua
Published: July 2024

BACKGROUND

Cervical spine fracture-dislocations in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are mostly unstable and require surgery. However, osteoporosis, one of the comorbidities for AS, could lead to detrimental prognoses. There are few accurate assessments of bone mineral density in AS patients.

AIM

To analyze Hounsfield units (HUs) for assessing bone mineral density in AS patients with cervical fracture-dislocation.

METHODS

The HUs from C2 to C7 of 51 patients obtained from computed tomography (CT) scans and three-dimensional reconstruction of the cervical spine were independently assessed by two trained spinal surgeons and statistically analyzed. Inter-reader reliability and agreement were assessed by interclass correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

The HUs decreased gradually from C2 to C7. The mean values of the left and right levels were significantly higher than those in the middle. Among the 51 patients, 25 patients (49.02%) may be diagnosed with osteoporosis, and 16 patients (31.37%) may be diagnosed with osteopenia.

CONCLUSION

The HUs obtained by cervical spine CT are feasible for assessing bone mineral density with excellent agreement in AS patients with cervical fracture-dislocation.
Fatal multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency caused by ETFDH gene mutation: A case report
Authors: Li Xue-Xia , Yang Xiao-Nan , Pan Hu-Dan , Liu Liang
Published: July 2024

BACKGROUND

Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) is a disease of rare autosomal recessive disorder. There are three types of MADD. Type I is a neonatal-onset form with congenital anomalies. Type II is a neonatal-onset form without congenital anomalies. Type III is considered to a milder form and usually responds to riboflavin. However, late-onset form could also be fatal and not responsive to treatments.

CASE SUMMARY

We report a severe case of a young man with onset type III MADD induced by drugs and strenuous exercise characterized by rhabdomyolysis and liver dysfunction. Urine analysis indicated 12 out of 70 kinds of organic acids like glutaric acid-2 were detected. Serum analysis in genetic metabolic diseases revealed 24 out of 43 tested items were abnormal, revealing the elevation of several acylcarnitines and the reduction of carnitine in the patient. By next generation sequencing technology for gene sequencing related to fatty acid oxidation and carnitine cycle defects, a rare ETFDH gene variant was identified: NM_004453:4:C.1448C>T(p.Pro483 Leu). The patient was diagnosed with late-onset GAII. He was not responsive to riboflavin and progressively worsened into multiple organ failure that finally led to death.

CONCLUSION

Type III MADD can also be fatal and not responsive to treatments.
Space optical communication system for space optical networks and deep space exploration
Authors: Wang Jianmin , Li Bin , Gao Haochun , Lin Yang , Su Zhiqian
Published: July 2024

The acquisition time of tens to hundreds of seconds in the optical link between satellites makes it difficult to meet the needs of constructing spatial optical networks. In addition, as a basic requirement for deep space explorers, autonomous attitude determination and autonomous navigation demand the installation of separate, expensive, and complex inertial devices, and the communication data rate is too low to meet the timely transmission of large amounts of data. In this paper, we proposed and developed a multifunctional fusion space optical communication system for space optical networks and deep space exploration, which has the functions of autonomous attitude determination, autonomous navigation, and high-speed optical communication. The sub-second acquisition time can meet the requirements of space optical network construction, and the ability of autonomous attitude determination and autonomous navigation significantly reduce the amount of R&D expenses of the explorer; decrease the volume, weight, and power consumption of the explorer; and improve the reliability and autonomous survival ability of the explorer. The paper provides the structure, working principle, and main algorithm models and conducts a feasibility analysis and field experiments. The experimental results showed that the average open-loop pointing accuracy of the optical terminal is 95.8 µrad (attitude determination accuracy), which can be improved to 39.1 µrad after filtering, and the acquisition time is less than 1 s. For deep space exploration, the navigation accuracy is less than 67.6 km in the cruise phase and 10 km in the acquisition phase, and field experiments have also proven its feasibility. The significance of our research work lies in proposing what we believe to be a new system operation scheme and design method for optical communication systems, and its results can be widely applied in all fields of space optical communication.
Effective photon mass in the presence of a gravity gradient emulated by an electromagnetic medium
Authors: Smolyaninov Igor I.
Published: July 2024

Geometry- and gravity-induced effective photon mass is known to arise in many cases,
such as various optical waveguides, Kaluza–Klein theories, and many
other optical and general relativity situations. Here we study the
appearance of effective photon mass in the Newtonian limit due to the
presence of a gravity gradient emulated by an electromagnetic medium.
The effective photon mass squared appears to be proportional to the
local gravity gradient, and it becomes negative in an optical
anti-waveguide around the unstable equilibrium location. A similar
effect is observed in the emulated Kottler–Møller spacetime where the
absolute value of the gravity-induced effective photon mass appears to
coincide with the Unruh temperature. We demonstrate that similar to
the Unruh effect, a bath of thermal radiation should be observed in an
optical anti-waveguide near the unstable equilibrium, whose
temperature is defined by the emulated local gravity gradient, and
which remains unchanged in the c→∞ limit.
One-way optomechanical interaction between nanoparticles
Authors: Jazayeri Amir M. , Abdelhafiz Sohila , Dogariu Aristide
Published: July 2024

Within a closed system, physical interactions are reciprocal. However, the effective interaction between two entities of an open system may not obey reciprocity. Here, we describe a non-reciprocal interaction between nanoparticles which is one-way, almost insensitive to the interparticle distance, and scalable to many particles. The interaction we propose is based on the non-conservative optical forces between two nanoparticles with highly directional scattering patterns. However, we elucidate that scattering patterns can in general be very misleading about the interparticle forces. We introduce zeroth- and first-order non-reciprocity factors to precisely quantify the merits of any optomechanical interaction between nanoparticles. Our proposed one-way interaction could constitute an important step in the realization of mesoscopic heat pumps and refrigerators, the study of non-equilibrium systems, and the simulation of non-Hermitian quantum models.
Snapshot spectropolarimeter based on a six-fold separating prism operating from 360 nm to 1 µm
Authors: Acher Olivier , Nguyên Thanh-Liêm , Villier Brice , Melizzi Géraldine , Lindberg Arvid , Watkins William L.
Published: July 2024

We describe a new type of spectropolarimeter in which light is separated to simultaneously measure six spectra carrying polarimetric information on a 2D CMOS camera. The polarization separation along one of the camera axes was obtained using a novel prism, and the spectral dispersion along the other camera axis was obtained using an imaging spectrometer. An ideal version of the six-fold separating prism is first described, in which polarimetric separation is performed along the canonical polarization states used to define the Stokes vector, and it can be explained without any math. The real version is then presented, with math that is simple for those familiar with polarization. The operation of the spectropolarimeter is described. Experimental results show that the polarimetric accuracy is a few 10−3, and noise (mainly due to shot noise) is in the same range for a single acquisition. The spectral resolution depends on the entrance pinhole width and can be as low as 2 nm. Several examples are presented that feature how informative snapshots, high spectral resolution, spectropolarimetric measurements can be. The anticipated applications of this spectropolarimeter and, more broadly, for this novel polarization-separating prism are discussed. Technical details, such as the calibration procedure, noise levels, and consistency checks, are presented as supplementary material.
Influence of the atmosphere on the phosphorescence of a brominated diphenylphosphine oxide–ethyl naphthaleneimide dyad
Authors: Malchau M. , Reichstein P. M. , Reichstein W. , Eichen Y. , Kador L.
Published: July 2024

The molecular dyad diphenylphosphine–ethyl bromine naphthaleneimide (Br-DPPENI) emits strong fluorescence and phosphorescence. We studied the intensity and lifetime of the phosphorescence of Br-DPPENI embedded in PMMA films in atmospheres of air, He, Ar, N2, and O2 as a function of pressure between vacuum and ambient pressure (1 bar). The experiment was performed in the frequency domain with a two-channel lock-in amplifier, and the data were analyzed with the polar plot or phasor technique. Reversible shortening of the lifetime due to triplet–triplet annihilation was found in the presence of atmospheric or pure oxygen. With small modulation frequencies, an additional slow component of the phosphorescence dynamics is observed, which is ascribed to the diffusion of oxygen into the sample films.
Significant improvement of n-contact performance and wall plug efficiency of AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes by atomic layer etching
Authors: Liu Zhiyuan , Liu Tingang , Cao Haicheng , Jiang Zixian , Xiao Na , Garcia Glen Isaac Maciel , Lu Yi , Tang Xiao , Li Xiaohang
Published: July 2024

The reactive ion etching (RIE) process is needed to fabricate deep ultraviolet (DUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, the n-contact performance deteriorates when the high-Al n-AlGaN surface undergoes RIE, leading to decreased LED performance. In this study, we employed an atomic layer etching (ALE) technology to eliminate surface damage generated during the mesa etching process, thus enhancing the n-Al0.65Ga0.35N ohmic contact. The improved contact performance reduced LED operation voltage and mitigated device heat generation. It was observed that DUV LEDs treated with 200 cycles of ALE showed a reduction in operating voltage from 8.3 to 5.2 V at 10 mA, with a knee voltage of 4.95 V. The peak wall plug efficiency (WPE) was approximately 1.74 times that of reference devices. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that ALE removed the surface damage layer induced by plasma etching, eliminating surface nitrogen vacancies and increasing surface electron concentration. Consequently, it facilitated better ohmic contact formation on n-Al0.65Ga0.35N. This study demonstrates that the ALE technology achieves etching with minor surface damage and is suitable for use in III-nitride materials and devices to remove surface defects and contaminations, leading to improved device performance.
Serological diagnosis of strongyloidiasis: An evaluation of three commercial assays
Authors: Weitzel Thomas , Dittrich Sabine , Mockenhaupt Frank P. , Lindner Andreas K.
Published: July 2024

Background

Strongyloidiasis is caused by a neglected nematode, manifesting as chronic intestinal infection with potentially severe manifestations. The disease is an emerging problem in non-endemic countries affecting travelers and migrants. Diagnosis of strongyloidiasis is hampered by the lack of standardization and absence of a gold standard. Since adequate direct methods to detect the motile larvae in stool samples are not widely available, other techniques such as serology have been developed.

Methods

We evaluated three commercial ELISA kits (DRG Instruments, IVD Research, and Bordier Affinity Products) to detect IgG antibodies against Strongyloides stercoralis assays utilizing serum samples from travelers with microscopically confirmed strongyloidiasis (n = 50) and other imported helminthic infections (n = 159) as well as healthy controls (n = 50).

Results

The DRG, IVD, and Bordier assays showed sensitivities of 58.0%, 64.0%, and 56.0%, respectively. Specificity values were 96.0%, 96.0%, and 92.0% in healthy controls, and 67.3%, 62.9%, and 76.7% in cases with other helminth infections, respectively. Cross-reactions were mostly observed in cases with other nematodes (37.5%, 42.5%, and 20.0%, respectively), but also in trematode (33.3%, 38.1%, and 19.0%, respectively) and in cestode infections (25.0%, 30.0%, and 32.5%, respectively).

Conclusion

The study demonstrates the diagnostic limitations of serological assays to detect or exclude cases of strongyloidiasis in returning travelers, who frequently present with recent or acute infections.
Cardiorespiratory dynamics of type 2 diabetes mellitus: An extensive view of breathing and fitness challenges in a diabetes prevalent population
Authors: Abbas Uzair , Shah Shahbaz Ali , Babar Nisha , Agha Pashmina , Khowaja Mohiba Ali , Nasrumminallah Maryam , Arif Hibba Erum , Hussain Niaz , Hasan Syed Mustafa , Baloch Israr Ahmed
Published: July 2024

Background

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is well known for related micro and macrovascular complications. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus leads to endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, microvascular impairment, myocardial dysfunction, and skeletal muscle changes which affect multiple organ systems. This study was designed to take an extensive view of cardiorespiratory dynamics in patients with type 2 DM.

Methods

One hundred healthy controls (HC) and 100 DM patients were enrolled. We measured and compared the breathing patterns (spirometry), VO2 max levels (heart rate ratio method) and self-reported fitness level (international fitness scale) of individuals with and without diabetes. Data was analyzed in SPSS v.22 and GraphPad Prism v8.0.

Results

We observed restrictive spirometry patterns (FVC <80%) in 22% of DM as compared to 2% in HC (p = 0.021). There was low mean VO2 max in DM as compared to HC(32.03 ± 5.36 vs 41.91 ± 7.98 ml/kg/min; p value <0.001). When evaluating physical fitness on self-reported IFiS scale, 90% of the HC report average, good, or very good fitness levels. In contrast, only 45% of the DM shared this pattern, with a 53% proportion perceiving their fitness as poor or very poor (p = <0.05). Restrictive respiratory pattern, low VO2 max and fitness level were significantly associated with HbA1c and long-standing DM.

Conclusion

This study shows decreased pulmonary functions, decreased cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2 max) and IFiS scale variables in diabetic population as compared to healthy controls which are also associated with glycemic levels and long-standing DM. Screening for pulmonary functions can aid optimum management in this population.
Scalable lipid droplet microarray fabrication, validation, and screening
Authors: Bell Tracey N. , Kusi-Appiah Aubrey E. , Tocci Vincent , Lyu Pengfei , Zhu Lei , Zhu Fanxiu , Van Winkle David , Cao Hongyuan , Singh Mandip S. , Lenhert Steven
Published: July 2024

High throughput screening of small molecules and natural products is costly, requiring significant amounts of time, reagents, and operating space. Although microarrays have proven effective in the miniaturization of screening for certain biochemical assays, such as nucleic acid hybridization or antibody binding, they are not widely used for drug discovery in cell culture due to the need for cells to internalize lipophilic drug candidates. Lipid droplet microarrays are a promising solution to this problem as they are capable of delivering lipophilic drugs to cells at dosages comparable to solution delivery. However, the scalablility of the array fabrication, assay validation, and screening steps has limited the utility of this approach. Here we take several new steps to scale up the process for lipid droplet array fabrication, assay validation in cell culture, and drug screening. A nanointaglio printing process has been adapted for use with a printing press. The arrays are stabilized for immersion into aqueous solution using a vapor coating process. In addition to delivery of lipophilic compounds, we found that we are also able to encapsulate and deliver a water-soluble compound in this way. The arrays can be functionalized by extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen prior to cell culture as the mechanism for uptake is based on direct contact with the lipid delivery vehicles rather than diffusion of the drug out of the microarray spots. We demonstrate this method for delivery to 3 different cell types and the screening of 92 natural product extracts on a microarray covering an area of less than 0.1 cm2. The arrays are suitable for miniaturized screening, for instance in high biosafety level facilities where space is limited and for applications where cell numbers are limited, such as in functional precision medicine.
Advanced Line-of-Sight (LOS) model for communicating devices in modern indoor environment
Authors: Waqas Muhammad , Abbas Qamar , Qureshi Ahsan , Amin Farhan , de la Torre Díez Isabel , Uc Rios Carlos , Gongora Henry Fabian
Published: July 2024

The provision of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) service in an indoor environment is a crucial task and the decay in signal strength issues arises especially in indoor environments. The Line-of-Sight (LOS) is a path for signal propagation that commonly impedes innumerable indoor objects damage signals and also causes signal fading. In addition, the Signal decay (signal penetration), signal reflection, and long transmission distance between transceivers are the key concerns. The signals lose their power due to the existence of obstacles (path of signals) and hence destroy received signal strength (RSS) between different communicating nodes and ultimately cause loss of the packet. Thus, to solve this issue, herein we propose an advanced model to maximize the LOS in communicating nodes using a modern indoor environment. Our proposal comprised various components for instance signal enhancers, repeaters, reflectors,. these components are connected. The signal attenuation and calculation model comprises of power algorithm and hence it can quickly and efficiently find the walls and corridors as obstacles in an indoor environment. We compared our proposed model with state of the art model using Received Signal Strength (RSS) and Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) (different scenario) and found that our proposed model is efficient. Our proposed model achieved high network throughput as compared to the state-of-the-art models.
Prevalence of traditional uvulectomy and its associated factors among parents who had less than 6 months of infants in Gondar City, north-west Ethiopia: Mixed study design
Authors: Bazezew Lakachew Yismaw , Dagne Asrat Hailu , Kassie Destaye Guadie , Desta Abebaw Alemayehu , Gobeza Mengistu Berhan
Published: July 2024

Background

Traditional uvulectomy is widely practiced in Africa especially in sub-Saharan countries including Ethiopia. Limited Studies conducted in different times and areas of the world have shown that the prevalence of uvulectomy and its associated factors are varied from country to country. There is limited evidence to determine the prevalence and reasons of malpractice in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of traditional uvulectomy, and its associated factors among parents who had children aged less than 6 months.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional mixed study design was conducted among 630 participants selected by a systematic sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire. The collected data were entered into Epi-data, and analyzed by using STATA version 14software. Descriptive statistics were computed and presented using tables, figures and texts. Factors associated with the prevalence of uvulectomy were selected for multiple logistic regressions at the probability value (p-value) of less than 0.2 in the X2- analysis. Statistically significant associated factors were identified at the probability value (p-value) less than 0.05 and adjusted OR (AOR) with a 95% CI. A total of 10 individual depth interviewees and 5 key informants were included using purposive sampling techniques. For the qualitative study, and thematic content analysis was employed to analyze the data, which were transcribed, translated, coded, screened, thematized, analyzed, synthesized, and finally supplemented the quantitative finding.

Results

The prevalence of traditional uvulectomy was 84.60% (CI: 81.77%n—87.42%). Being rural residence (adjusted OR = 2.08, CI = 1.06–4.12), mothers aged 30 to 34 years (adjusted OR = 2.9, CI = 1.28–6.60), having no antenatal care visit (adjusted OR = 3.91, CI = 1.33–11.47), having no bad obstetric history (adjusted OR = 2.11, CI = 1.12–3.98), having no postnatal care visit (adjusted OR = 3.88, CI = 1.36–11.12) and mothers’ poor attitude (adjusted OR = 3.32, CI = 2.01–5.47) were statistically significant associated factors of traditional uvulectomy. Seeking traditional uvulectomy, lack of information and third-party pressure were the main themes of the qualitative study that support the findings of the quantitative study.

Conclusion

The prevalence of traditional uvulectomy was high. Being rural residents, mothers aged 30 to 34 years, having no antenatal care visit, having no complications of obstetric history, having no postnatal care visit and mothers with poor attitude were statistically significant associated factors of traditional uvulectomy. Lack of information about uvulectomy and third-party pressure was the reason for seeking traditional uvulectomy.
Transcriptional markers classifying Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus induced sepsis in adults: A data-driven approach
Authors: Irani Shemirani Mahnaz
Published: July 2024

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition mainly caused by gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Understanding the type of causative agent in the early stages is essential for precise antibiotic therapy. This study sought to identify a host gene set capable of distinguishing between sepsis induced by gram-negative bacteria; Escherichia coli and gram-positive bacteria; Staphylococcus aureus in community-onset adult patients. In the present study, microarray expression information was used to apply the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (Lasso) technique to select the predictive gene set for classifying sepsis induced by E. coli or S. aureus pathogens. We identified 25 predictive genes, including LILRA5 and TNFAIP6, which had previously been associated with sepsis in other research. Using these genes, we trained a logistic regression classifier to distinguish whether a sample contains an E. coli or S. aureus infection or belongs to a healthy control group, and subsequently assessed its performance. The classifier achieved an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.96 for E. coli and 0.98 for S. aureus-induced sepsis, and perfect discrimination (AUC of 1) for healthy controls from the other conditions in a 10-fold cross-validation. The genes demonstrated an AUC of 0.75 in distinguishing between sepsis patients with E. coli and S. aureus pathogens. These findings were further confirmed in two distinct independent validation datasets which gave high prediction AUC ranging from 0.72–0.87 and 0.62 in distinguishing three groups of participants and two groups of patients respectively. These genes were significantly enriched in the immune system, cytokine signaling in immune system, innate immune system, and interferon signaling. Transcriptional patterns in blood can differentiate patients with E. coli-induced sepsis from those with S. aureus-induced sepsis. These diagnostic markers, upon validation in larger trials, may serve as a foundation for a reliable differential diagnostics assay.