bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PROJECT 2061 AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC LITERACY INITIATIVES: OVERSEAS LESSONS FOR UKRAINIAN SCIENCE EDUCATORS
Authors: Svyrydenko D. B. , Revin F. H.
Published: April 2022

A rapidly growing number of nations presently strive for the active development of competitive knowledge-based economy, making the issue of achieving science literacy one of the crucial global priorities. Acknowledgment of the role of scientific enterprise in the ideological, political, economic, social, and educational context has led to a rapid increase of attention this problem receives from specialists in various disciplines. Drawing on foreign experience, the authors of this article put before them the task of reviewing Project 2061 initiated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) viewed as a promising approach to tackling the diminishing levels of science education both in our country and abroad. At the same time, we are interested in analyzing the underlying reasons that dictate the need to increase the scientific literacy of students representing various programs as they experience the effects of global technological advancement. The polydisciplinary nature of the natural sciences is yet another cardinal point of our current research since (when fully utilized) it allows one to approach study phenomena from all sides, thereby, forming a holistic picture of the world. As an international program aimed at assessing the academic achievements of schoolchildren PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) is based on precisely this kind of fruitful interdisciplinary method, whereby researchers gauge the level of the reading, mathematical, and natural scientific literacy of children. Serving as an effective evaluation tool, the PISA initiative not only helps estimate the volume of readily accessible knowledge but also measures the ability of learners to process information by utilizing scientific and critical thinking methods, dissect it and draw conclusions. Accordingly, it is our conviction that these academic benchmarking tools are invaluable for the modern generation of students worldwide as simple memorization and reproduction of information are on the cusp of being outperformed by the growing artificial intelligence industry which is able to provide more efficient alternatives for these simple mechanical knowledge acquisition skills. Consequently, if human intellectual development is swiftly reaching its bifurcation point we need to rely on ways of generating novel modes of thinking and problem-solving by taking into account consummate teaching methodologies that have the potential to serve as sure guidlines to increased global and national scientific progress and social wellbeing.
SÉCURITÉ AU LABORATOIRE DE BACTÉRIOLOGIE CLINIQUE
Authors: Sylvie TOUCHE  , Dominique ABITEBOUL
Published: April 2022

L’activité des laboratoires de biologie médicale (LBM) imposeaux professionnels qui y exercent de se prémunir vis-à-vis d’uncertain nombre de risques, pour leur propre protection et celle deleur environnement.S’agissant des laboratoires de bactériologie, le risque microbiologique occupe une place évidente. D’autres risques sont aussià prendre en considération, tels que ceux liés à la manipulation deproduits chimiques de divers types, à l’utilisation d’appareillages,aux postures contraintes dans certaines situations de travail, …L’ensemble de ces risques doit faire l’objet d’une évaluation(EvRP) dans le cadre de l’obligation réglementaire qui incombeà tout employeur (art. L.4121-2 et L.4121-3 du Code du travail).Cette évaluation doit être élaborée en concertation avec l’ensembledes professionnels concernés. Les résultats, consignés dans un« document unique » (DU), permettent de définir un plan deprévention, régulièrement actualisé en fonction de l’évolutiondes pratiques et des moyens de maîtrise des risques mis en œuvre
TROPHERYMA WHIPPLEI, AGENT DE LA MALADIE DE WHIPPLE
Authors: Florence FENOLLAR  , Didier RAOULT
Published: April 2022

Maladie de Whipple et Tropheryma whipplei sont de bonsexemples de l’impact des technologies modernes sur la connaissance médicale. La maladie de Whipple est une maladie chroniquedécrite il y a un siècle (plus précisément en 1907) par le pathologisteaméricain George Hoyt Whipple (Whipple, 1907). À cette époque,un trouble du métabolisme des graisses a été considéré commeresponsable de la maladie, qui fût alors nommée « lipodystrophieintestinale ». Quant à Tropheryma whipplei, la bactérie responsablede la maladie de Whip
Mediasi Keterikatan Kerja pada Hubungan Kepemimpinan Transformasional terhadap Kinerja Pegawai
Authors: Ali Muhtar  , Rizqa Anita
Published: April 2022

Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada Unit Pelaksana Teknis Daerah (UPTD) Puskesmas Tambusai Utara dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui apakah kepemimpinan transformasional mempengaruhi kinerja pegawai Puskesmas Tambusai Utara Kabupaten Rokan Hulu dan untuk mengetahui apakah keterlibatan kerja memediasi pengaruh kepemimpinan transformasional terhadap kinerja pegawai Puskesmas Tambusai Utara Kabupaten Rokan Hulu. Populasi penelitian yang dilakukan peneliti adalah pegawai di UPTD Puskesmas Tambusai Utara Kabupaten Rokan Hulu. Jumlah populasi dalam penelitian ini sekaligus dijadikan sampel sebanyak 46 orang. Analisa data penelitian ini menggunakan descriptive dan explanatory survey, sebagai alat analisis digunakan Struktural Equational Model yang diproses dengan software SmartPLS2. Hasil analisis membuktikan bahwa pada UPTD Puskesmas Tambusai Utara kepemimpinan transformasional berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kinerja pegawai. Kepemimpinan transformasional berpengaruh terhadap kinerja pegawai melalui keterikatan kerja.
Peran Mediasi Motivasi dan Kompetensi pada Hubungan Sertifikasi Guru terhadap Kinerja Para Guru
Authors: Rosnah
Published: April 2022

Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada Dinas Pendidikan Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui peran mediasi motivasi dan kompetensi pada hubungan sertifikasi guru terhadap kinerja para guru SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir. Populasi penelitian yang dilakukan peneliti adalah guru dilingkungan SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri. Jumlah populasi dalam penelitian ini sekaligus dijadikan sampel sebanyak 100 orang. Analisa data penelitian ini menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan analisis verifikatif, sebagai alat analisis digunakan Structural Equational Model yang diproses dengan software SmartPLS2. Hasil analisis membuktikan bahwa Sertifikasi berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap kinerja guru SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir, Sertifikasi tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kompetensi guru SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir, Motivasi kerja tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja guru SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir, Kompetensi guru tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir, Sertifikasi guru berpengaruh signifikan terhadap motivasi kerja SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir, Sertifikasi secara tidak langsung melalui kompetensi sebagai variabel mediasi tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja guru SMPN di Indragiri Hilir, Sertifikasi secara tidak langsung melalui motivasi kerja sebagai variabel mediasi tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja Guru pada Guru SMPN di Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir.
Packed in‐tube SPME–LC–MS/MS for fast and straightforward analysis of cannabinoids and metabolites in human urine
Authors: Morisue Sartore Douglas , Costa Jose Luiz , Lanças Fernando Mauro , Santos‐Neto Álvaro José
Published: April 2022

Cannabinoids are pharmacologically active compounds present in cannabis plants, which have become important research topics in the modern toxicological and medical research fields. Not only is cannabis the most used drug globally, but also cannabinoids have a growing use to treat a series of diseases. Therefore, new, fast, and efficient analytical methods for analyzing these substances in different matrices are demanded. This study developed a new packed‐in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction (IT‐SPME) method coupled to liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), for the automated microextraction of seven cannabinoids from human urine. Packed IT‐SPME microcolumns were prepared in (508 µm i.d. × 50 mm) stainless‐steel hardware; each one required only 12 mg of sorbent phase. Different sorbents were evaluated; fractional factorial design 24−1 and a central composite design were employed for microextraction optimization. Under optimized conditions, the developed method was a fast and straightforward approach. Only 250 µl of urine sample was needed, and no hydrolysis was required. The sample pretreatment included only dilution and centrifugation steps (8 min), whereas the complete IT‐SPME–LC–MS/MS method took another 12 min, with a sample throughput of 3 samples h−1. The developed method presented adequate precision, accuracy and linearity; R2 values ranged from 0.990 to 0.997, in the range of 10–1000 ng ml−1. The lower limits of quantification varied from 10 to 25 ng ml−1. Finally, the method was successfully applied to analyze 20 actual urine samples, and the IT‐SPME microcolumn was reused over 150 times.
Longitudinal 3T MRI T2* mapping of Juvenile osteochondritis dissecans (JOCD) lesions differentiates operative from non‐operative patients—Pilot study
Authors: Kajabi Abdul Wahed , Zbýň Štefan , Johnson Casey P. , Tompkins Marc A. , Nelson Bradley J. , Takahashi Takashi , Shea Kevin G. , Marette Shelly , Carlson Cathy S. , Ellermann Jutta M.
Published: April 2022

Juvenile osteochondritis dissecans (JOCD) is an orthopedic joint disorder of children and adolescents that can lead to premature osteoarthritis. Thirteen patients (mean age: 12.3 years, 4 females), 15 JOCD‐affected and five contralateral healthy knees, that had a baseline and a follow‐up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (mean interval of 8.9 months) and were treated nonoperatively during this interval were included. Retrospectively, patients were assigned to operative or nonoperative groups based on their electronic medical records. Volumetric mean T2* values were calculated within regions of interest (progeny lesion, interface, parent bone) and region matched control bone in healthy contralateral knees and condyles. The normalized percentage difference of T2* between baseline and follow up MRI in nonoperative patients significantly increased in progeny lesion (−47.8%, p < 0.001), parent bone (−13.9%, p < 0.001), and interface (−32.3%, p = 0.011), whereas the differences in operative patients were nonsignificant and below 11%. In nonoperative patients, the progeny lesion (p < 0.001) and interface T2* values (p = 0.012) were significantly higher than control bone T2* at baseline, but not at follow‐up (p = 0.219, p = 1.000, respectively). In operative patients, the progeny lesion and interface T2* values remained significantly elevated compared to the control bone both at baseline (p < 0.001, p < 0.001) and follow‐up (p < 0.001, p < 0.001), respectively. Clinical Significance: Longitudinal T2* mapping differentiated nonhealing from healing JOCD lesions following initial nonoperative treatment, which may assist in prognosis and improve the ability of surgeons to make recommendations regarding operative versus nonoperative treatment.
Cartilage decisively shapes the glenoid concavity and contributes significantly to shoulder stability
Authors: Souleiman F. , Zderic I. , Pastor T. , Varga P. , Helfen T. , Richards G. , Gueorguiev B. , Theopold J. , Osterhoff G. , Hepp P.
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Glenohumeral joint injuries frequently result in shoulder instability. However, the biomechanical effect of cartilage loss on shoulder stability remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to investigate biomechanically the effect of two severity stages of cartilage loss in different dislocation directions on shoulder stability.

Methods

Joint dislocation was provoked in 11 human cadaveric glenoids for 7 different directions between 3 o'clock (anterior) and 9 o'clock (posterior). Shoulder stability ratio (SSR) and concavity gradient were assessed in three states: intact, 3 mm and 6 mm simulated cartilage loss. The influence of cartilage loss on SSR and concavity gradient was statistically evaluated.

Results

Both SSR and concavity gradient decreased significantly between intact state and 6 mm cartilage loss in every dislocation direction (p ≤ 0.038), except concavity gradient in 4 o'clock direction. Thereby, anterior–inferior dislocation directions were associated with the highest decrease in both SSR and concavity gradient of up to 59.0% and 49.4%, respectively, being significantly bigger for SSR compared with all other dislocation directions (p ≤ 0.040). Correlations between concavity gradient and SSR for pooled dislocation directions were significant in each separate specimen's state (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

From a biomechanical perspective, articular cartilage of the glenoid contributes significantly to the concavity gradient, correlating strongly with the associated loss in glenohumeral joint stability. The biggest effect of cartilage loss is observed in the most frequently occurring anterior–inferior dislocation directions, suggesting that surgical interventions to restore cartilage's surface and concavity should be considered for recurrent shoulder dislocations in presence of cartilage loss.
Reviewing the Case of Online Interpersonal Trust
Authors: Tagliaferri Mirko
Published: April 2022

The aim of this paper is to better qualify the problem of online trust. The problem of online trust is that of evaluating whether online environments have the proper design to enable trust. This paper tries to better qualify this problem by showing that there is no unique answer, but only conditional considerations that depend on the conception of trust assumed and the features that are included in the environments themselves. In fact, the major issue concerning traditional debates surrounding online trust is that those debates focus on specific definitions of trust and specific online environments. Ordinarily, a definition of trust is assumed and then environmental conditions necessary for trust are evaluated with respect to such specific definition. However, thismodus operandifails to appreciate that trust is a rich concept, with a multitude of meanings and that there is still no strict consensus on which meaning shall be taken as the proper one. Moreover, the fact that online environments are constantly evolving and that new design features might be implemented in them is completely ignored. In this paper, the richness of the philosophical discussions about trust is brought into the analysis of online trust. I first provide a set of conditions that depend on the definition of trust that can be assumed and then discuss those conditions with respect to the design of online environments in order to determine whether they can enable (and under which circumstances) trust.
Statistical Hypothesis Testing in Context
Authors: Fay Michael P. , Brittain Erica H.
Published: April 2022

Fay and Brittain present statistical hypothesis testing and compatible confidence intervals, focusing on application and proper interpretation. The emphasis is on equipping applied statisticians with enough tools - and advice on choosing among them - to find reasonable methods for almost any problem and enough theory to tackle new problems by modifying existing methods. After covering the basic mathematical theory and scientific principles, tests and confidence intervals are developed for specific types of data. Essential methods for applications are covered, such as general procedures for creating tests (e.g., likelihood ratio, bootstrap, permutation, testing from models), adjustments for multiple testing, clustering, stratification, causality, censoring, missing data, group sequential tests, and non-inferiority tests. New methods developed by the authors are included throughout, such as melded confidence intervals for comparing two samples and confidence intervals associated with Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests and Kaplan-Meier estimates. Examples, exercises, and the R package asht support practical use.
Anti-blastocystosis activity of antioxidant coated ZIF-8 combined with mesoporous silicas MCM-41 and KIT-6
Authors: Jermy B. Rabindran , Al-Jindan Reem Y. , Ravinayagam Vijaya , El-Badry Ayman A.
Published: April 2022

The biocompatible hybrid Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)/structured silica nanocomposite can be loaded with antioxidants such as curcumin and resveratrol to offer multiple advantages of drug functionalization and structural stability. blastocystosis, an enteric parasite, has various outcomes and its treatment includes drugs which have side effects and do not result in a full cure. We aimed to design novel biocompatible nanocomposites containing natural antioxidant, resveratrol or curcumin and ZIF-8/mesoporous silica. We also assessed their anti-blastocystosis activities as bioactive novel nanocomposites. The nano-silica (MCM-41 and KIT-6) was synthesized using a hydrothermal technique and made composite with ZIF-8 using an ultrasonic technique. The antioxidants, curcumin and resveratrol, were loaded over ZIF-8/MCM-41 and ZIF-8/KIT-6 using a rotary evaporator technique to form novel nanocomposites with bioactive properties. The formulated nanocomposites were characterized. To test their biological activity, suspension of cultured blastocystosis cysts (subtype 3) were exposed to increasing concentrations of nanocomposites and the minimal lethal concentration of each nanocomposite was calculated. The bioactive nanocomposites (ZIF-8/KIT-6, ZIF-8/KIT-6/Resveratrol and ZIF-8/MCM-41/Curcumin) were formulated. Anti-blastocystosis activity of the tested nanocomposites was both dose and time dependent. ZIF-8/KIT-6/Resveratol showed the maximum percentage of growth inhibition (~ 100%) at a concentration of 500 µg/ml after 5 h of exposure. More than 90% of blastocystosis cysts’ growth was significantly inhibited at all concentrations of ZIF-8/MCM-41/Curcumin, with different times of exposure, while it occurred only at the highest concentration of ZIF-8/KIT-6 (800 µg/ml). Using cheap, simple, reproducible and scalable techniques, we nano-formulated innovative bioactive nanocomposites, by incorporating the bioactive ZIF-8 (Zn2+ with imidazole), structured mesosilica and natural antioxidant compounds, curcumin or resveratrol, to generate multifunctional modalities. These eco-friendly, naturally based, safe, economical, biocompatible, and bioavailable nanocomposites are potential nanotherapeutics. The anti-blastocystosis results of these three nanocomposites indicate their potentially promising innovative and safe use as alternative Blastocystosis therapies.
The political foundations of party organizational variance
Authors: Masi Beniamino , Pizzimenti Eugenio
Published: April 2022

The aim of this contribution is twofold: first, to verify empirically how and to what extent party organizations vary within countries, in time; second, to enhance the role of political factors in explaining organizational variance. While mainstream literature has generally overestimated cross-national party convergence, a renewed interest in the study of variance has recently gained ground. We thus focus on seven European countries, from 1990 to 2010, by combining party organizational data from the Party Organization Data Handbook and the Political Party Database Project, with domestic cultural, socioeconomic, technological data from the European Values Survey and the World Bank, as well as supranational economic data provided by the OECD. We are interested in verifying how much of the variance in party organizations can be explained by resorting to the parameters of the party systems vis-à-vis domestic and supranational extra-political factors. Our results show that the explanatory power of party systems’ parameters is stronger than the predictive ability of contextual variables.
Diary-interview studies: longitudinal, flexible qualitative research design
Authors: Thille Patricia , Chartrand Louise , Brown Cara
Published: April 2022

Lay Summary

Diary-interview studies are a longitudinal qualitative approach that allows both participants and researchers to explore participants’ experiences and sense-making in relation to life situations. The purpose of this Methods Brief is to introduce readers to the diary-interview method and highlight methodological decisions researchers need to make when using this type of qualitative approach to generating data. We will introduce each of these decisions in turn, then detail the methodological options. To further exemplify, we describe our 2020–2021 diary-interview study of Canadian primary care clinicians navigating the first year of the pandemic.
Survival and associated predictors for patients with pineoblastoma or pineal parenchymal tumors of intermediate differentiation older than 3 years: Insights from the National Cancer Database
Authors: Kerezoudis Panagiotis , Yolcu Yagiz Ugur , Laack Nadia N , Ruff Michael W , Khatua Soumen , Daniels David J , Burns Terry C , Kizilbash Sani H
Published: April 2022

Background

The management of pineal parenchymal tumors remains controversial.

Methods

The 2004-2017 National Cancer Database was queried for cases (age >3 years) with histologically confirmed pineal parenchymal tumors of intermediate differentiation (PPTID, n = 90) or pineoblastoma (n = 106).

Results

Within the PPTID group, median age was 41 years; 49% were males. Five- and 10-year survival were 83% and 78%, respectively. Adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy were administered in 64% and 17% patients, respectively. The effect of radiation with or without chemotherapy (HR 1.15, P = .81, and HR 1.31, P = .72, respectively), and extent of resection (HR = 1.07, P = .93) was not significant. Within the pineoblastoma group, median age was 25 years; 51% were males. Five- and 10-year survival were 66% and 42%, respectively. Adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy were administered in 72% and 51%, respectively. In multivariable analysis, patients with pineoblastoma who received both radiation and chemotherapy (n = 39) had significantly lower hazard of death (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.14-0.85, P = .02) compared to those who received radiation alone (n = 20) or no adjuvant treatment (n = 19). Finally, females in the pineoblastoma group were found to have a lower hazard of death compared to males (HR 0.24, 95% CI 0.10-0.58, P = .001); this comparison trended toward statistical significance in the PPTID subgroup (HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.14-1.08, P = .07).

Conclusions

Survival rates were higher in patients with PPTID vs patients with pineoblastoma. Adjuvant chemoradiation was associated with improved survival in pineoblastoma and females had lower hazards of death. Further research should identify specific patient profiles and molecular subgroups more likely to benefit from multimodality therapy.
Imaging of Lung Cancer: A Pictorial Review of TNM8
Authors: Chan HingKiu , Pierce Lillian D. , Pierce Charles F. , Xie Karen L.
Published: April 2022

Lung cancer continues to be a pervasive disease. It is the second most common cancer behind prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women.1 There were an estimated 229,000 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the United States and an estimated 136,000 deaths from lung cancer in 2020.1 The high mortality of lung cancer is partly explained by its tendency to be asymptomatic in early stages, which makes it much more likely to be first diagnosed at more advanced stages when treatment options are much less effective.2 Once diagnosed, it is essential that the patient and physician quickly decide on the best treatment course.
Data availability of open T-cell receptor repertoire data, a systematic assessment
Authors: Huang Yu-Ning , Patel Naresh Amrat , Mehta Jay Himanshu , Ginjala Srishti , Brodin Petter , Gray Clive M , Patel Yesha M , Cowell Lindsay G. , Burkhardt Amanda M. , Mangul Serghei
Published: April 2022

The improvement of next-generation sequencing technologies has promoted the field of immunogenetics and produced numerous immunogenomics data. Modern data-driven research has the power to promote novel biomedical discoveries through secondary analysis of such data. Therefore, it is important to ensure data-driven research with great reproducibility and robustness for promoting a precise and accurate secondary analysis of the immunogenomics data. In scientific research, rigorous conduct in designing and conducting experiments is needed, specifically in scientific and articulate writing, reporting and interpreting results. It is also crucial to make raw data available, discoverable, and well described or annotated in order to promote future re-analysis of the data. In order to assess the data availability of published T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire data, we examined 11,918 TCR-Seq samples corresponding to 134 TCR-Seq studies ranging from 2006 to 2022. Among the 134 studies, only 38.1% had publicly available raw TCR-Seq data shared in public repositories. We also found a statistically significant association between the presence of data availability statements and the increase in raw data availability (p=0.014). Yet, 46.8% of studies with data availability statements failed to share the raw TCR-Seq data. There is a pressing need for the biomedical community to increase awareness of the importance of promoting raw data availability in scientific research and take immediate action to improve its raw data availability enabling cost-effective secondary analysis of existing immunogenomics data by the larger scientific community.
Coronavirus infection in neonates: Neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months of age
Authors: Ayed Mariam , Alsaffar Zainab , Bahzad Zainab , Buhamad Yasmeen , Abdulkareem Ali , AlQattan Alaa , Embaireeg Alia , Kartam Mais , Alkandari Hessa
Published: April 2022

Background

Although most neonates with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections have mild disease, the impact on neurodevelopmental outcomes is unknown. This study aimed to assess 18-month neurodevelopmental outcomes of neonates infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study of neonates diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between June 2020–August 2020 through nasopharyngeal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) PCR testing. A total of 58 neonates were identified from the Kuwait national COVID-19 registry and were enrolled. Historical controls were selected from the neonatal follow-up registry and matched 2:1 based on sex and gestational age. At 18 months of age, neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed using Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-3rd Edition (BSID-III) by two trained assessors.

Results

A total of 40 children were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection and included in the final analysis. The median age at infection was 18 days (range: 10-26 days). Eighteen (45%) were asymptomatic, 15 (37.5%) had a sepsis-like presentation, 5 (12.5%) had respiratory distress and 2 (5%) had a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)-like presentation. At 18 months follow up, only one child had severe developmental delay, and one child had a language delay. BSID-III outcomes did not significantly differ between the SARS-CoV-2 infected group and the control group.

Conclusions

There is no difference in neurodevelopmental outcomes in children infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection at 18 months compared to controls, although longer neurodevelopmental follow-up studies are required.
Quantitative landscapes reveal trajectories of cell-state transitions associated with drug resistance in melanoma
Authors: Pillai Maalavika , Chen Zihao , Jolly Mohit Kumar , Li Chunhe
Published: April 2022

Drug resistance and tumor relapse in melanoma patients is attributed to a combination of genetic and non-genetic mechanisms. Non-genetic mechanisms of drug resistance commonly involve reversible changes in the cell-state or phenotype, i.e., alterations in molecular profiles that can help cells escape being killed by targeted therapeutics. In melanoma, one of the most common mechanisms of non-genetic resistance is dedifferentiation, which is characterized by loss of melanocytic markers. While various molecular attributes of de-differentiation have been identified, the transition dynamics remains poorly understood. Here, we construct cell-state transition landscapes, to quantify the stochastic dynamics driving phenotypic switch in melanoma based on its underlying regulatory network. These landscapes reveal the existence of multiple alternative paths to resistance – de-differentiation and transition to a hyper-pigmented phenotype. Finally, by visualizing the changes in the landscape duringin silicomolecular perturbations, we identify combinatorial strategies that can lead to the most optimal outcome – a landscape with the minimal occupancy of the two drug-resistant states. Therefore, we present these landscapes as platforms to screen possible therapeutic interventions in terms of their ability to lead to most favourable patient outcomes.
Reconciling biodiversity conservation and flood risk reduction: The new strategy for freshwater protected areas
Authors: Akasaka Takumi , Mori Terutaka , Ishiyama Nobuo , Takekawa Yuya , Kawamoto Tomonori , Inoue Mikio , Mitsuhashi Hiromune , Kawaguchi Yoichi , Ichiyanagi Hidetaka , Onikura Norio , Miyake Yo , Katano Izumi , Akasaka Munemitsu , Nakamura Futoshi
Published: April 2022

Aim

Natural disaster risk reduction (DRR) is becoming a more important function of protected area (PAs) for current and future global warming. However, biodiversity conservation and DRR have been handled separately and their interrelationship has not been explicitly addressed. This is mainly because, due of prevailing strategies and criteria for PA placement, a large proportion of PAs are currently located far from human‐occupied areas, and habitats in human‐occupied areas have been largely ignored as potential sites for conservation despite their high biodiversity. If intensely developed lowland areas with high flooding risk overlap with important sites for biodiversity conservation, it would be reasonable to try to harmonize biodiversity conservation and human development in human‐inhabited lowland areas. Here, we examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and whether human‐inhabited lowland flood risk management sites might be suitable to designate as freshwater protected areas (FPAs).

Location

Across Japan.

Methods

We examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and analysed the relationship between candidate sites for new FPAs and flood disaster risk and land use intensity at a national scale across Japan based on distribution data for 131 freshwater fish species and 1395 macroinvertebrate species.

Results

We found that extant PAs overlapped with approximately 30% of conservation‐priority grid cells (1 km2) for both taxa. Particularly for red‐listed species, only one species of freshwater fish and three species of macroinvertebrate achieved the representation target within extant PAs. Moreover, more than 40% of candidate conservation‐priority grid cells were located in flood risk and human‐occupied areas for both taxa.

Main conclusions

Floodplain conservation provides suitable habitat for many freshwater organisms and helps control floodwaters, so establishing new FPAs in areas with high flood risk could be a win‐win strategy for conserving freshwater biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem‐based DRR (eco‐DRR).
Climatic niche comparisons of eastern North American and eastern Asian disjunct plant genera
Authors: Melton Anthony E. , Clinton Matthew H. , Wasoff Donald N. , Lu Limin , Hu Haihua , Chen Zhiduan , Ma Keping , Soltis Douglas E. , Soltis Pamela S.
Published: April 2022

Aim

While the floras of eastern Asia (EA) and eastern North America (ENA) share numerous genera, they have drastically different species richness. Despite an overall similarity in the quality of their temperate climates, the climate of EA is more spatially heterogeneous than that of ENA. Spatial environmental heterogeneity has been found to play a key role in influencing species richness in some regions. Here, we tested the following hypotheses: (a) EA species will occupy larger climatic niches than their ENA congeners, (b) congeners of EA‐ENA disjunct genera will occupy statistically equivalent climatic niches, and (c) congeners of EA‐ENA disjunct genera will occupy more similar climatic niches than expected by their respective physiographic context.

Location

North America and Asia.

Time period

Present.

Major taxa studied

Seed plants.

Methods

Predictions generated by ecological niche models (ENMs) were compared for 88 species across 31 EA‐ENA disjunct genera. ENM predictions were assessed for geographic and ecological breadth. Tests for niche equivalency and similarity were performed for congeneric species pairs to determine if species of disjunct genera have experienced niche conservatism or divergence.

Results

EA species tend to occupy greater amounts of climatic niche space than their close relatives in ENA. Over two‐thirds of the conducted niche comparisons show that EA‐ENA congeners either occupy equivalent climatic niche space within these broader climatic regimes or occupy non‐equivalent niches that are as similar as expected given their physiographic contexts.

Main conclusions

EA species tend to occupy larger climatic niches, and congeners of EA‐ENA disjunct genera tend to occupy equivalent/similar niche space within their respective distributions, with differences in occupied niches possibly due to their respective physiographic contexts, highlighting how niche‐neutral processes and niche conservatism may affect the distributions of disjunct species.
Precision medicine in the era of potent antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Yoon Eileen L. , Jun Dae Won
Published: April 2022

With the wide use of potent and safe nucloes(t‐)ide analogues (NAs) treatment, patient‐centered care is getting important. Intensive care for comorbidity has gain utmost importance in care of aging chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with life‐long antiviral treatment. Linkage to care of patients with CHB is essential for the goal of hepatitis B virus (HBV) eradication. As long‐term suppression of HBV DNA replication does not prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), prevention of HCC is another challenge for NAs treatment. There is a possibility of hepatocarcinogenesis in the immune‐tolerant phase and risk of loss of patients during active monitoring seeking the time point for antiviral treatment initiation. Initiation of NAs treatment from the immune‐tolerant phase would improve the linkage to care. However, universal recommendation is premature and evidence for cost‐effectiveness needs to be accumulated. Early initiation of NAs in the evidence of significant disease progression, either HBV associated or comorbidity associated, would be a better strategy to reduce the risk of HCC in patients located in the gray zone.
Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia in dilated‐phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Substrate characterization and ablation outcome
Authors: Naeemah Qasim J. , Komatsu Yuki , Nogami Akihiko , Sekiguchi Yukio , Igarashi Miyako , Yamasaki Hiro , Shinoda Yasutoshi , Aonuma Kazutaka , Ieda Masaki
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Catheter ablation is a therapeutic option to suppress ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the setting of dilated‐phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (DHCM). However, the characteristics of the arrhythmogenic substrate and the ablation outcome are not fully illustrated.

Method

A total of 23 ablation procedures for drug‐refractory sustained monomorphic VTs in 13 DHCM patients (60 ± 11 years, one female, the left ventricular [LV] ejection fraction 39% ± 9%, the LV mass index 156 ± 39 g/m2) were performed. The distribution of VT substrate as endocardial or epicardial/intramural was based on detailed mapping and ablation response during VT.

Result

Two patients underwent ablation of sustained monomorphic VT that was not scar‐mediated tachycardia. Of the remaining 11 patients, eight (73%) patients had VT substrate in the basal regions, most frequently at the epicardial and/or intramural basal antero‐septum. None of the patients had VT substrate located at the LV inferolateral region. Ablation at the right ventricular septum and the aortic cusps was done in four and five patients, respectively. Other approaches including bipolar and chemical ablations, were done in three and two patients, respectively. Six (55%) out of 11 patients (two patients lost follow‐up) had VT recurrence. All the six patients had basal substrate. However, anti‐tachycardia pacing was sufficient for VT termination except in one patient.

Conclusion

Catheter ablation of VT in patients with DHCM is challenging because of the predominant basal anteroseptal epicardial/intramural location of arrhythmogenic substrate. An ablation approach from multiple sites and/or adjunctive interventional techniques are often required.
KV1/D‐type potassium channels inhibit the excitability of bronchopulmonary vagal afferent nerves
Authors: Sun Hui , Patil Mayur J. , Ru Fei , Meeker Sonya , Undem Bradley J.
Published: April 2022

The KV1/D‐type potassium current (ID) is an important determinant of neuronal excitability. This study explored whether and howIDchannels regulate the activation of bronchopulmonary vagal afferent nerves. The single‐neuron RT‐PCR assay revealed that nearly all mouse bronchopulmonary nodose neurons expressed the transcripts of α‐dendrotoxin (α‐DTX)‐sensitive,IDchannel‐forming KV1.1, KV1.2 and/or KV1.6 α‐subunits, with the expression of KV1.6 being most prevalent. Patch‐clamp recordings showed thatID, defined as the α‐DTX‐sensitive K+current, activated at voltages slightly more negative than the resting membrane potential in lung‐specific nodose neurons and displayed little inactivation at subthreshold voltages. Inhibition ofIDchannels by α‐DTX depolarized the lung‐specific nodose neurons and caused an increase in input resistance, decrease in rheobase, as well as increase in action potential number and firing frequency in response to suprathreshold current steps. Application of α‐DTX to the lungs via trachea in the mouseex vivovagally innervated trachea–lungs preparation led to action potential discharges in nearly half of bronchopulmonary nodose afferent nerve fibres, including nodose C‐fibres, as detected by the two‐photon microscopic Ca2+imaging technique and extracellular electrophysiological recordings. In conclusion,IDchannels act as a critical brake on the activation of bronchopulmonary vagal afferent nerves by stabilizing the membrane potential, counterbalancing the subthreshold depolarization and promoting the adaptation of action potential firings. Down‐regulation ofIDchannels, as occurs in various inflammatory diseases, may contribute to the enhanced C‐fibre activity in airway diseases that are associated with excessive coughing, dyspnoea, and reflex bronchospasm and secretions.

Key points

The α‐dendrotoxin (α‐DTX)‐sensitive D‐type K+current (ID) is an important determinant of neuronal excitability.

Nearly all bronchopulmonary nodose afferent neurons in the mouse expressIDand the transcripts of α‐DTX‐sensitive,IDchannel‐forming KV1.1, KV1.2 and/or KV1.6 α‐subunits.

Inhibition ofIDchannels by α‐DTX depolarizes the bronchopulmonary nodose neurons, reduces the minimal depolarizing current needed to evoke an action potential (AP) and increases AP number and AP firing frequency in response to suprathreshold stimulations.

Application of α‐DTX to the lungsex vivoelicits AP discharges in about half of bronchopulmonary nodose C‐fibre terminals.

Our novel finding thatIDchannels act as a critical brake on the activation of bronchopulmonary vagal afferent nerves suggests that their down‐regulation, as occurs in various inflammatory diseases, may contribute to the enhanced C‐fibre activity in airway inflammation associated with excessive respiratory symptoms.
Effects of High-Speed Trains on Trucks Running on a Road–Rail Dual-Use Bridge Under Crosswind
Authors: Zou Yunfeng , Yue Peng , Shi Kang , Xue Fanrong , He Xuhui , Liu Qingkuan
Published: April 2022

The road–rail dual-use bridge can simultaneously meet the requirements of both the highway and railway transportation owing to its unique bridge type, which makes it environmentally friendly and cost-effective when compared to independent railway and road bridges. This study establishes a dynamic model of a wind-road vehicle–bridge system considering the aerodynamic sheltering effect of trains based on the coupling vibration method of wind-road vehicle–bridge systems. A container truck and a CRH2 high-speed train are considered as the research objectives, and a series of wind tunnel tests are conducted for the train and truck running simultaneously on a road–rail dual-use bridge to determine the effect of the aerodynamic interference of trains on the aerodynamic characteristics and dynamic behavior of vehicles under crosswinds. The entire process of driving the truck through the cable-stayed bridge under crosswinds and the interference of stationary trains is subsequently simulated to generate the time histories of the dynamic displacements of the truck. Consequently, the effect of the stationary trains is separately compared at different locations, such as on the track of the bridge deck and on the truck placed upwind and downwind. Furthermore, the interference effect of stationary trains on the truck placed upwind and downwind is analyzed corresponding to different wind yaw angles. The results demonstrate that the presence of trains on the bridge significantly affects the aerodynamic coefficients and dynamic responses of the truck placed downwind when compared to the truck placed upwind. Additionally, the presence of the trains on the bridge deck has a different effect on the aerodynamic coefficients and dynamic responses of the truck placed downwind. The effect of the trains on the truck at different wind yaw angles presents different patterns of change for different locations of the trains on the bridge deck.
A Novel Approach of Feature Space Reconstruction with Three-Way Decisions for Long-Tailed Text Classification
Authors: Li Xin , Hu Lianting , Lu Peixin , Huang Tianhui , Yang Wei , Lu Quan , Liang Huiying , Lu Long
Published: April 2022

Text classification is widely studied by researchers in the natural language processing field. However, real-world text data often follow a long-tailed distribution as the frequency of each class is typically different. The performance of current mainstream learning algorithms in text classification suffers when the training data are highly imbalanced. The problem can get worse when the categories with fewer data are severely undersampled to the extent that the variation within each category is not fully captured by the given data. At present, there are a few studies on long-tailed text classification which put forward effective solutions. Encouraged by the progress of handling long-tailed data in the field of image, we try to integrate effective ideas into the field of long-tailed text classification and prove the effectiveness. In this paper, we come up with a novel approach of feature space reconstruction with the help of three-way decisions (3WDs) for long-tailed text classification. In detail, we verify the rationality of using a 3WD model for feature selection in long-tailed text data classification, propose a new feature space reconstruction method for long-tailed text data for the first time, and demonstrate how to effectively generate new samples for tail classes in reconstructed feature space. By adding new samples, we enrich the representing information of tail classes, to improve the classification results of long-tailed text classification. After some comparative experiments, we have verified that our model is an effective strategy to improve the performance of long-tailed text classification.
A Multitask Deep Learning Framework for DNER
Authors: Jin Ran , Hou Tengda , Yu Tongrui , Luo Min , Hu Haoliang
Published: April 2022

Over the years, the explosive growth of drug-related text information has resulted in heavy loads of work for manual data processing. However, the domain knowledge hidden is believed to be crucial to biomedical research and applications. In this article, the multi-DTR model that can accurately recognize drug-specific name by joint modeling of DNER and DNEN was proposed. Character features were extracted by CNN out of the input text, and the context-sensitive word vectors were obtained using ELMo. Next, the pretrained biomedical words were embedded into BiLSTM-CRF and the output labels were interacted to update the task parameters until DNER and DNEN would support each other. The proposed method was found with better performance on the DDI2011 and DDI2013 datasets.
Recommendation System for Privacy-Preserving Education Technologies
Authors: Xu Shasha , Yin Xiufang
Published: April 2022

Considering the priority for personalized and fully customized learning systems, the innovative computational intelligent systems for personalized educational technologies are the timeliest research area. Since the machine learning models reflect the data over which they were trained, data that have privacy and other sensitivities associated with the education abilities of learners, which can be vulnerable. This work proposes a recommendation system for privacy-preserving education technologies that uses machine learning and differential privacy to overcome this issue. Specifically, each student is automatically classified on their skills in a category using a directed acyclic graph method. In the next step, the model uses differential privacy which is the technology that enables a facility for the purpose of obtaining useful information from databases containing individuals’ personal information without divulging sensitive identification about each individual. In addition, an intelligent recommendation mechanism based on collaborative filtering offers personalized real-time data for the users’ privacy.
Broken Engagement: Teaching Finance during Pandemic Times
Authors: Saravanan Palanisamy , Banerjee Sumit
Published: April 2022

Student engagement is critical to creating a collaborative and involved learning environment. The pandemic brought the class room engagement between the faculty and the students to a halt. We tried to find different avenues for the students to reach out to the faculty and to have an open forum to facilitate discussions among themselves. This approach helped us in increasing engagement and also allowed students who would normally not speak during the class hours to contribute to the overall learning during the course.

JEL Codes: I20, I23, I29
Reconceptualising Digital Placemaking: A Netnographic Study from the State of Uttarakhand, India
Authors: Sharma Aanchal , Jaggi Ruchi Kher
Published: April 2022

This article aims to contribute towards the theoretical and practical implications of ‘digital placemaking’ in the context of the state of Uttarakhand, India. In this study, we conducted a prolonged netnographic immersion with a popular online community on Facebook and analysed how the members make sense of digital placemaking in the cultural context of Uttarakhand. The data is collected using observations of the digital community and in-depth interviews of the administrators. We draw the theoretical inspirations from the perspective of ‘dialogue’ and ‘participation’ to further re-conceptualise digital placemaking and align its conceptual roots with the discipline of social change communication. Furthermore, using inductive insights, we propose key strategies shaping the process of digital placemaking.
Book review: Reena Marwah and Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake, 2021. China’s Economic Footprint in South and Southeast Asia: A Futuristic Perspective—Case Studies of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand
Authors: Kaur Silky
Published: April 2022

Reena Marwah and Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake, 2021. China’s Economic Footprint in South and Southeast Asia: A Futuristic Perspective—Case Studies of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. World Scientific, 356 pp., US$108. ISBN-10: 9811236372 (hardcover); ISBN-13: 9789811236396 (e-book).