bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Diet Variation on Growth Performance, Feeding Efficiency, Health Condition and Water Quality of Juvenile Short-finned Eel (Anguilla bicolor).
Authors: Wahyudi Annisa Apriliani , Ching Fui Fui , Senoo Shigeharu
Published: February 2025

This study aimed to assess the effects of three different types of feed on the growth and feeding performance, water quality and health condition of short-finned eel (Anguilla bicolor) juvenile. This experiment was conducted for 31 days and involved a total of 180 fish with initials of  body weight of 202.89±3.80 g and total length of 44.33±0.6 cm. The fish were divided into three groups , with each group were fed with different types of diets: 1) Japfa dough feed (JDF),  2) dough feed made of from grinded marine pellet (GDF) and 3) pelleted feed (PF). Each treatment was prepared in triplicate. The findings revealed that the pellet-type feed (PF) significantly improved the overall growth performance including  survival rate (100.00%) and specific growth rate (3.176±1.08 %/day) with excellent feeding performance recorded with lower feed conversion ratio (2.15±0.9) and  high protein efficiency ratio (1.15±0.45).  Histological examination of the intestine and liver showed no notable differences in condition of fish in all treatments.  In conclusion, this study demonstrated that PF is an effective feed and beneficial for improving growth and feeding performance while maintaining health condition of short-finned eel juveniles hence it suggests the potential for developing a promising feed in the future for eel aquaculture industry.
Inventory of Non-Volant Small Mammals in the Mixed-land Use Habitats at Pusat Penyelidikan Pertanian Tun Razak, Jerantut, Pahang.
Authors: Roslan Siti Nur Liyana , Anwar Nor Irdina , Yusof Muhammad Afif , Talibe Hamzah , Farinordin Farah Ayuni , Mohd Izam Nur Amalina , Abdullah Nur Athirah , Abd Wahab Muhammad Farhan
Published: February 2025

The extensive use of land for agriculture has significantly influenced the distribution and diversity of wild species, including small mammals. From 22nd February to 17th March 2023, an inventory was conducted to identify the diversity and bait preferences of non-volant small mammals across three localities which are oil palm, orchard and forest area at Pusat Penyelidikan Pertanian Tun Razak (PPPTR), Jerantut, Pahang. A total of 105 individuals representing three families and six species of the orders Rodentia and Scandentia were trapped and identified. Out of this, four species from 26 individuals were caught in the oil palm area, six species from 36 individuals in the orchard, and five species from 43 individuals in the forest area. Rattus tiomanicus was the most abundant species recorded at PPPTR. The Shannon-Wiener Index was calculated and compared, showing that the forest area (H = 1.391) had a greater diversity value than the oil palm (H = 1.293) and orchard (H = 1.367). Simpson's Diversity Index also revealed that the forest area (0.7258) had a higher index value than the oil palm (0.7012) and orchard (0.6852), indicating that the forest area has better habitat suitability for small mammals. The analysis of bait preferences revealed that non-volant small mammals at PPPTR showed a strong preference for oil palm loose fruit, followed by bananas, likely due to dietary habits and food availability in the area. In conclusion, this inventory provides fundamental data on non-volant small mammal diversity in the mixed-land use habitats at PPPTR and offers valuable insights for small mammals’ conservation and agricultural pest management strategies.
Precision in Uric Acid Detection: Unlocking Higher Sensitivity with Zinc Oxide-Coated Tapered No-Core Fibre-Based Sensor
Authors: Ahmad Zaini Muhammad Ilham , Azmi Mohamad Farid Izuan , Ahmad Noorden Ahmad Fakhrurrazi , Daud Suzairi
Published: February 2025

In this paper, ZnO coated non tapered and tapered no-core fibre (NCF) were developed and experimentally demonstrated for the detection of changes in the uric acid (UA) concentrations. The fabricated main optical fibre-based sensor used non tapered and tapered NCF sandwiched in between SMF region. The tapered NCF by CO2 laser technique to achieve a waist diameter of 19.17 µm. The non tapered NCF was tested under the UA solutions for comparison purposes. The non tapered and tapered NCF sensing regions were then coated with ZnO solution using the dip-coating method. The ZnO was chosen as the coating due to its remarkable properties such as high transmittance, and good electrical conductivity. It is also known as effective in immobilizing with low isoelectric point (IEP) acidic proteins. Non-tapered UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to characterize the element of the thin composite film. The sensing performance test was performed by using different concentrations of UA solutions ranging from 100 µM to 800 µM for both non tapered and tapered NCF sensors. From the results, the tapered NCF biosensor with a coating of ZnO shows an excellent sensitivity than the non tapered NCF biosensor with the highest sensitivity of 0.00775 ± 0.00072 nm/µM. The reversibility, reproducibility, and reusability test of the designated optical fibre biosensor were also analysed and discussed in this paper.
Estrategias de afrontamiento y características derivadas de crecer con un progenitor con diagnóstico de Trastorno Mental Grave
Authors: Vivanco Bobadilla Gabriela , Grandón Fernández Pamela , Cova  Solar Félix
Published: February 2025

La experiencia de hijos/as de padres/madres con un trastorno mental grave (TMG) ha sido escasamente estudiada desde una perspectiva que considere la forma en que ellos mismos perciben las estrategias que han desarrollado para afrontar esta experiencia y los efectos, tanto positivos como negativos que ello ha significado en la propia vida. Esta investigación aborda estos aspectos a partir de un estudio cualitativo. Los participantes fueron 10 hijos (6 hombres y 4 mujeres con edades entre los 18 y 29 años). Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas individuales y una grupal. Los resultados muestran que los descendientes usan una gran cantidad de estrategias de afrontamiento, muchas consideradas como fortalezas individuales que han favorecido su adaptación social. Estos hallazgos pueden ayudar a mejorar las intervenciones y a favorecer un trabajo preventivo con los hijos e hijas de personas que poseen un TMG.
Fungicide use intensity influences the soil microbiome and links to fungal disease suppressiveness in amenity turfgrass
Authors: Chou Ming-Yi , Patil Apoorva Tarihalkar , Huo Daowen , Lei Qiwei , Kao-Kniffin Jenny , Koch Paul
Published: February 2025

Disease-suppressive soils have been documented in many economically important crops, but not in turfgrass, one of the most intensively managed plant systems in the United States. Dollar spot, caused by the fungus
Clarireedia jacksonii
, is the most economically important disease of managed turfgrass and has historically been controlled through the intensive use of fungicides. However, previous anecdotal observations of lower dollar spot severity on golf courses with less intensive fungicide histories suggest that intensive fungicide usage may suppress microbial antagonism of pathogen activity. This study explored the suppressive activity of transplanted microbiomes against dollar spot from seven locations in the Midwestern U.S. and seven locations in the Northeastern U.S. with varying fungicide use histories. Creeping bentgrass was established in pots containing homogenized sterile potting mix and field soil and inoculated with
C. jacksonii
upon maturity. Bacterial and fungal communities of root-associated soil and phyllosphere were profiled with short-amplicon sequencing to investigate the microbial community associated with disease suppression. The results showed that plants grown in the transplanted soil microbiome collected from sites with lower fungicide intensities exhibited reduced disease severity. Plant growth-promoting and pathogen-antagonistic microbes may be responsible for disease suppression, but further validation is required. Additional least squares regression analysis of the fungicides used at each location suggested that contact fungicides such as chlorothalonil and fluazinam had a greater influence on the microbiome disease suppressiveness than penetrant fungicides. Potential organisms antagonistic to
Clarireedia
were identified in the subsequent amplicon sequencing analysis, but further characterization and validation are required.

IMPORTANCE

Given the current reliance on fungicides for plant disease control, this research provides new insights into the potential non-target effects of repeated fungicide usage on disease-suppressive soils. It also indicates that intensive fungicide usage can decrease the activity of beneficial soil microbes and lead to a more disease conducive microbial environment in turfgrass. The results from this study can be used to identify more sustainable disease management strategies for a variety of economically important and intensively managed pathosystems. Understanding the factors that facilitate disease-suppressive soils will contribute to more sustainable plant protection practices.
Effect of Loading Rate on the Undrained Bearing Capacity of Non-associated Clay
Authors: Dong Yuepeng
Published: February 2025

The soil behavior is rate-dependent as observed in the laboratory and field tests, and the undrained shear strength of clay is shown to increase with the strain rate in different shear modes. In practical situations, the foundations can be loaded at various time and rate scales, which will result in a wide range of magnitudes and inhomogeneous distribution of strain rates in the surrounding soil. This may cause difficulties in calculating the undrained bearing capacity of clay using the undrained shear strength from standard laboratory and field tests at a reference strain rate. In addition, the rate-dependent soil behavior will also affect the interpretation of in-situ tests conducted at different loading rates using procedures based on rate-independent soil models. This paper investigates the effect of loading rate on the undrained bearing capacity of clay using finite element analyses and a rate-dependent constitutive model, the MIT-SR, based on two classical problems in soil mechanics. Computed results suggest that the undrained bearing capacity of clay is strongly affected by the loading rate of foundations. It also highlights the difficulty to select appropriate undrained shear strength used for practical design, and the uncertainty to interpret field tests using bearing capacity factors.
Beyond Accuracy: Rethinking Outlier Detection in Asylum Data
Authors: Kaltenhäuser Kristin , Slaats Tijs , Muller Michael , Holten Møller Naja
Published: February 2025

In asylum decision-making, algorithmic tools are developed to optimize decision-making processes, for example, to streamline the application process. Accuracy, defined as correctly categorizing cases against a ground truth dataset, is a main concern. Data scientists employ outlier detection algorithms (ODA) to boost accuracy by fine-tuning datasets and discarding cases deviating from mathematical norms to prevent over-fitting. However, algorithms increasingly face scrutiny for possibly harmful effects on marginalized communities. Just as supervised machine learning are understood as methods to produce decision boundaries, ODAs are understood as methods to produce outliers – who sometimes are human beings. Organizations that use ODAs put people at risk of becoming marginalized by discarding them from a dataset, which motivates this paper. We critically engage with outlier handling as a significant juncture that molds representation within datasets. Using a dataset of asylum case summaries, we investigate the when individuals are constructed as outliers, by comparing three different ODAs and four different parameters for data modeling. This is significant because inclusion in datasets used for training automated decision tools and as ground truth, like the one under study, is crucial for ensuring transparent decisions. This study finds little overlap between the outliers constructed by the three algorithms and different data representations. This means that the outlier designation heavily depends on the choice of ODA and the parameters used in modeling the data; yet, data analysts rarely give much thought to this choice. Instead, decisions are primarily guided by technical considerations such as accuracy. Algorithms shape a specific understanding of key concepts such as text topics and norms, urging us to reconsider the design of algorithmic tools beyond merely achieving high accuracy and focusing on what makes an algorithmic decision tool useful for the particular context and the consequences for those who are constructed as outliers.
stEELlm: An LLM for Generating Semantic Annotations of Tabular Data
Authors: Cremaschi Marco , D'Adda Fabio , Maurino Andrea
Published: February 2025

The capabilities of LLMs represent a pivotal step in transforming how we manage and interact with information and data. We witness an increasingly pervasive use of such models in various computational tasks. In some preliminary works, attempts to integrate Knowledge Graphs and Large Language Models (LLMs) can be identified, in particular, to perform the classic tasks related to the construction of Knowledge Graphs through semantic annotation of texts. Nowadays, tables are widely used and play a crucial role in creating, organising, and sharing information that could be used to produce factual knowledge to be integrated into a Knowledge Graph. However, table-to-KG techniques through LLM have not been extensively investigated. This paper presents stEELlm, an innovative Semantic Table Interpretation approach obtained by fine-tuning the Mixtral 8x7B model. Conducted experiments demonstrate the capabilities of our model to successfully create semantic annotations of heterogeneous datasets, a scenario where classic approaches based on heuristics tend to fail.
LLM4TS: Aligning Pre-Trained LLMs as Data-Efficient Time-Series Forecasters
Authors: Chang Ching , Wang Wei-Yao , Peng Wen-Chih , Chen Tien-Fu
Published: February 2025

Multivariate time-series forecasting is vital in various domains, e.g., economic planning and weather prediction. Deep train-from-scratch models have exhibited effective performance yet require large amounts of data, which limits real-world applicability. Recently, researchers have leveraged the representation learning transferability of pre-trained Large Language Models (LLMs) to handle limited non-linguistic datasets effectively. However, incorporating LLMs with time-series data presents challenges of limited adaptation due to different compositions between time-series and linguistic data, and the inability to process multi-scale temporal information. To tackle these challenges, we propose LLM4TS, a framework for time-series forecasting with pre-trained LLMs. LLM4TS consists of a two-stage fine-tuning strategy: the
time-series alignment
stage to align LLMs with the nuances of time-series data, and the
forecasting fine-tuning
stage for downstream time-series forecasting tasks. Furthermore, our framework features a novel two-level aggregation method that integrates multi-scale temporal data within pre-trained LLMs, enhancing their ability to interpret time-specific information. In experiments across 7 time-series forecasting datasets, LLM4TS is superior to existing state-of-the-art methods compared with trained-from-scratch models in full-shot scenarios, and also achieves the highest rank in few-shot scenarios. In addition, evaluations compared with different unsupervised representation learning approaches highlight LLM4TS’s effectiveness with representation learning in forecasting tasks. Ablation studies further validate each component’s contribution to LLM4TS and underscore the essential role of utilizing LLM’s pre-trained weights for optimal performance. The code is available at
https://github.com/blacksnail789521/LLM4TS
.
Multiparametric MRI before and after Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Pearls and Pitfalls for the Reporting Radiologist
Authors: Lai Anna L. , Velaga Jyothirmayi , Tay Kae Jack , Hang Guanqi , Tan Yu Guang , Yuen John S. P. , Cheng Christopher W. S. , Ngo Nye Thane , Law Yan Mee
Published: February 2025

Radiologists play a crucial role in pretreatment selection and posttreatment surveillance of patients undergoing focal therapy for primary prostate cancer.
The flux of energy in critical illness and the obesity paradox
Authors: Jaitovich Ariel , Hall Jesse B.
Published: February 2025

During critical illness, systemic inflammation causes organ-specific metabolic changes. In the immune and inflammatory compartments, predominantly anabolic reprogramming supports cellular replication and inflammatory response execution. Pari passu, catabolism of adipose tissue and skeletal muscle supplies carbon skeletons and enthalpy for inflammatory and immune cell anabolism. The liver plays a key role during these metabolic shifts in enabling adequate supply of glucose and ketone bodies to the circulation. While often perceived as passive surrogates of prehospitalization frailty, body mass constituents are active parties of an over-arching metabolic trade-off that is key for survival following acute insults. Muscle and adipose tissue remodel in response to critical illness and thus profoundly influence the systemic metabolic landscape during and after hospitalization. Whether obesity’s effect on patient systemic metabolism and survival is paradoxically beneficial or not remains controversial. Substrate-induced epigenetic changes lead to abnormal transcriptional programs which in turn regulate metabolic pathways critical to patient survival. We present a summary of major mechanisms involved in the flux of energy in critical illness from body mass into immune response execution and suggest future research avenues focused on perturbed immune metabolic and epigenetic programs that could lead to improved understanding of these process, and eventually to better outcomes for the critically ill.
Application of Combined Irradiation Mutagenesis Technique for Hyperproduction of Surfactin in Bacillus velezensis Strain AF_3B
Authors: Farooq Syeda Amna , Khaliq Shazia , Ahmad Saeed , Ashraf Neelma , Ghauri Muhammad Afzal , Anwar Munir Ahmad , Akhtar Kalsoom
Published: February 2025

The major challenge in large‐scale industrial use of lipopeptide surfactin is the low yield by indigenous bacterial strains and the higher cost of its production that have been proved as a limiting factor in commercial applications. Therefore, there is an urgent demand for high‐yielding strains that can be achieved through strain improvement. A first report on the use of a combination of UV and gamma‐irradiation mutagenesis for the development of surfactin hyperproducing mutants of Bacillus spp. proved to be significant and resulted in a twofold enhancement in surfactin yield. The mutant was able to grow and produce surfactin on all the tested carbon and nitrogen sources, while 2% glycerol favored maximum surfactin yield (1.62 g/L) as compared to the wild‐type strain that showed a maximum 0.85 g/L surfactin yield at 3% sucrose. Additionally, the mutant exhibited a good yield of pure surfactin, that is, 1.55 g/L as compared to the wild strain (0.411 g/L) by using corn steep liquor as the main component of the fermentation medium. The study concluded overall a threefold enhancement in the relative abundance of purified surfactin and its isoforms detected by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) analysis in mutant strain AF‐UVγ2500.
Reclaiming Professional Identity: A Study Exploring the Impact of COVID‐19 on Nurses
Authors: Kaiser Jennifer , Strouse Susan M. , Woltschlaeger-Brooks Susanne , Perkins Ashley
Published: February 2025

The COVID‐19 pandemic affected all roles within healthcare but had a unique impact on the professional identity (PI) of nurses. This study assessed the PI of practicing nurses in a Midwestern US healthcare setting using a standardized tool and focus groups exploring the lived experience of practicing nurses’ PI formation and enactment during COVID‐19. The survey included 312 responses, and the focus groups included 36 participants. Overall, all domains of nurses’ PI were impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic, regardless of role or years of experience. Phenomenological qualitative analysis revealed four themes: polarities in identity, wartime identity, relationships and identity, and flexibility and experience as resilience factors to identity. PI is linked to high quality care, wellness, and retention in the nursing profession, which benefits the individual nurse, patients and families, organizations, and communities. Leaders are urged to identify strategies to help practicing nurses reclaim and strengthen their PI moving forward from the pandemic. These strategies include reclaiming evidence‐based practice, engaging nurses in shared governance and practice improvement work, recognizing nurses for their contributions to patient care, and creating opportunities for human connections with other nursing professionals.
Two new species of Diastatotropis Lacordaire from protected areas in Madagascar (Coleoptera: Anthribidae)
Authors: TRÝZNA MILOŠ , RAVELOSON RICCA , RAKOTONIRINA JEAN CLAUDE
Published: February 2025

Two new species, Diastatotropis lilae Trýzna, Raveloson & Rakotonirina sp. nov. and Diastatotropis strunci Trýzna, Raveloson & Rakotonirina sp. nov. (Anthribidae: Anthribinae), from central and eastern Madagascar are described. Colour habitus photographs, ecological notes and photographs of the habitat are provided.
Decolonizing social work: Lessons for social work practice and education from the Jamaican Diaspora transnational movement
Authors: Gentles-Gibbs Natallie , Murphy Kameika S
Published: February 2025

Social work practice has become increasingly concerned with decolonization and anti-oppressive approaches. Both terms can be ambiguous and practice examples are often difficult to identify. This article describes the Jamaican Diaspora movement and its use of transnational communities to broker power and resist the status quo, serving as examples of decolonial and anti-oppressive orientations. The authors trace the evolution of the Diaspora as a transnational movement, and discuss how centering interdependence and community can be used to move practice toward decolonization. Implications for social work practice and education are discussed, particularly as it relates to serving diverse racial/ethnic communities.
Implementation path for public participation in micro-space renovation of old urban communities
Authors: Huang Beina
Published: February 2025

Background

Public participation can not only enhance community residents’ sense of identity and belonging to the renovation project, but also ensure that the renovation project can better meet the needs of residents.

Objective

This paper aims to comprehensively review and optimize the public participation mechanism in the micro-space transformation of old urban communities through support vector machine algorithm, and establish a collaborative participation mechanism to enhance public participation and promote sustainable community development.

Methods

Based on the analysis of the current situation and existing problems of micro-space renovation in Shanghai’s old communities, an evaluation model of urban characteristic planning with support vector machine was constructed, and then the performance of the research method was tested and empirically analyzed.

Results

In the dataset, when the maximum deviation value was 0.7, the accuracy of the mesh optimization method is 0.9739, and when the maximum deviation value is 4.9, the accuracy of the mesh optimization method was 0.9453.

Conclusions

This study proposes strategies for effective public participation that improve the quality of life of residents and the overall environment of the community.
Association between serum uric acid and the risk of breast cancer: A meta-analysis of observational studies
Authors: Yang Liping , Yu Ziyun , Zhu Jin , He Longbo , Wang Lieliang , Luo Qingfeng
Published: February 2025

Background

The relationship between serum uric acid and breast cancer remains uncertain. This meta-analysis aimed to elucidate the dose-response association between elevated serum uric acid levels and breast cancer risk.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for observational studies evaluating serum uric acid and breast cancer risk in adult women. Risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model.

Results

Ten studies were included. High serum uric acid was associated with an increased breast cancer risk (RR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.03–1.73; P = 0.03; I2 = 78%). Meta-regression analysis revealed that the cutoff for high serum uric acid positively correlated with breast cancer risk (coefficient = 0.24; P < 0.001), explaining heterogeneity (residual I2 = 0%). Subgroup analysis demonstrated a high serum uric acid was significantly related to an increased breast cancer risk in studies with a cutoff value ≥ 5.4 mg/dL (RR: 1.95; P < 0.001), but not in those with a cutoff value < 5.4 mg/dL (RR: 0.97; P = 0.44). The dose-response meta-analysis revealed a U-shaped association between serum uric acid levels and the risk of breast cancer ( P for nonlinearity = 0.013). The risk of breast cancer fell until around 4.5 mg/dL of serum uric acid, and increased afterward.

Conclusion

Serum uric acid may be nonlinearly associated with the risk of breast cancer (U-shaped). The risk of breast cancer increases with serum uric acid above 4.5 mg/dL, and a higher association between serum uric acid and the increased risk of breast cancer could be observed in studies with cutoff of serum uric acid  > 5.4 mg/dL.
Welfare Retrenchment, Government Expenditure Structure, and Economic Growth: A Perspective of Marx’s Capital Circulation Theory
Authors: Zhao Feng , Tan Xuan , Huang Yanghua , Feng Zhixuan
Published: February 2025

This article considers the impact of government expenditure structure on economic growth. We discuss whether welfare retrenchments in European countries are conducive to overcoming debt crises. By introducing the government sector into the circuit of capital model, we consider the ways that different types of government spending act on the accumulation and realization of the total social capital. Our empirical analysis finds that higher welfare spending is favorable to long-run growth, and the more spending there is on public debts the more the growth regime becomes wage led. Therefore, austerity policies that focus on welfare cuts may aggravate the problem of underconsumption and secular stagnation.

JEL Classification: E11, H53, O11
Hidradenitis Suppurativa in Pregnancy: A Case Report and Clinical Insights
Authors: Jacob Olivia Marie , Sharmila Vijayan , Garkapati Kavitha
Published: February 2025

Introduction:

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a chronic and relapsing acneiform inflammation of the skin, apocrine glands and subcutaneous tissues. It is common among women of the reproductive age group. It is a chronic debilitating condition which may significantly affect the quality of life based on the severity of disease. HS during pregnancy requires additional care and treatment may be challenging in severe or refractory cases.

Case:

We report a case of HS during pregnancy who presented at term with painful skin lesions.

Discussion:

Patients with HS are found to have higher chances of adverse maternofoetal outcomes when compared to general population. In cases where there are worsening symptoms, treatment becomes a challenge. A postpartum flare of symptoms may also be debilitating and affect the quality of life in patients.

Conclusion:

There is a paucity of data for optimal management of HS in pregnancy especially mode of delivery. There is a need for guidelines for the management of skin conditions during pregnancy and its implications.
EXPRESS: Comparing Different Viral Strains in Identifying Risk Factors for the Development of Venous Thromboembolism in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients
Authors: Panesar Harsimran , Raval Ruchi , Chan Amber Wai-San , Tancredi Jana , Simonian Gregory , O'Connor David J
Published: February 2025

Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there have been nearly seven million deaths associated with COVID-19 and over thirteen billion total vaccine doses administered worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the patient demographics and laboratory values that might help predict individuals at risk of having a DVT formation while hospitalized with COVID-19, focusing on the four major strains alongside the associated vaccination availability periods in the United States to devise risk stratification and management algorithms. This retrospective cohort study analyzed 4,429 COVID-19 positive patients admitted to a single, tertiary care institution from March 2020 - February 2024 who underwent venous duplex ultrasound due to clinical suspicion.
Results: It was found that active chemotherapy treatment, higher weight (77.0 vs. 84.0 kg), and longer LOS to first duplex (5 vs. 10 days) were independent predictors of mortality. Additionally, men, older age (68 vs. 70 years old), medical history of DVTs, and longer LOS to first duplex (5 vs. 8 days) were prognostic for DVT formation. More importantly, the prevalence of DVT was not statistically different between each COVID-19 wave, despite diminished mortality and morbidity overtime. These factors should raise clinical suspicion for DVT formation and mortality among physicians. This study also demonstrated many non-predictive variables including COVID-19 as the principal diagnosis, BMI, smoking status, history of atrial fibrillation, stroke, CAD, vaccination status, and all laboratory values. This study helps establish a critical foundation to analyze trends of anticoagulant and systemic corticosteroid use in this COVID-19 patient population.
Principles and Analysis of a Novel Switched Reluctance Motor with Radial Offset Angle
Authors: Zhou Yunhong , Li Hanjie , Huang Fei , Wang Dong , Tan Zhengyi
Published: February 2025

Due to the double salient pole structure and the pulse discontinuous current excitation mode, the torque ripple of the traditional switched reluctance motor (SRM) is large in its commutation process and is easy to cause vibration and noise, which has become a bottleneck problem hindering its development. Based on the in-depth analysis of the influence of winding inductance and other factors on torque ripple, a novel switched reluctance motor with radial offset angle is proposed here. Its structural characteristics and operating principles are described, and winding excitation rules are designed. The motor has an inner stator and an outer stator which are radially staggered at a certain angle. Each inner stator pole is wound with an auxiliary winding, which is responsible for providing auxiliary torque to compensate for the torque drop during the commutation of main windings, so as to achieve the purpose of restraining torque ripple. The magnetic field characteristics are verified by finite element simulation. Based on the field-circuit joint simulation of Maxwell and Simplorer, the current chopping control system of the novel switched reluctance motor is constructed, and the simulation results show that after the auxiliary windings are put into use, the torque ripple coefficient of the motor can decrease from 1.326 to 0.494, and the torque ripple suppression effect is obvious.
Effectiveness of an educational intervention on mealtime support needs for people with dementia in residential care facilities: A cluster-randomized controlled trial
Authors: Passos Lígia , Tavares João , Batchelor Melissa , Figueiredo Daniela
Published: February 2025

Background

People with dementia face numerous challenges during mealtimes, including difficulties with food intake, cutlery use, and maintaining attention. These can lead to severe consequences such as malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia, affecting the well-being of these individuals.

Aim

To determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention in improving mealtime support needs and enhancing the well-being of both individuals with dementia and direct care workers.

Methods

A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in four residential care facilities. The study involved direct care workers and residents with dementia, with facilities randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group. The intervention comprised three weekly 2-hour training sessions, focusing on dementia-related mealtime challenges and practical support strategies. Data were collected at baseline and one-week post-intervention using questionnaires and observational tools to assess caregivers’ skills, burnout levels, and job satisfaction, as well as residents’ mealtime behavior and food intake.

Results

Direct care workers from the intervention group showed significant improvements in knowledge ( p < .001; d = 0.728) and skills ( p < .001; d = 0.842) compared to the control group. Additionally, there were notable reductions in burnout levels ( p = .001; d = 0.466) and higher job satisfaction ( p = .003; d = 0.410). People with dementia in the intervention group demonstrated better performance at mealtimes.

Conclusion

The educational intervention effectively enhanced direct care workers’ abilities to support people with dementia during mealtimes, leading to better outcomes for both caregivers and residents. Implementing such training programs can improve care quality and alleviate challenges in dementia care.
EXPRESS: Race and Ethnicity Categories Cue Cognitive Control as Evidenced by Transfer
Authors: Dey Abhishek , Brough Rachel , Bugg Julie
Published: February 2025

Learning-guided reactive control is the flexible biasing of attention that is triggered by external cues, such that more focused control settings are retrieved and executed in response to cues predicting higher attentional demands. We investigated whether race/ethnicity is harnessed as a cue to guide control using a social Stroop task in which participants named the race/ethnicity of a face (e.g., Asian) while ignoring a superimposed word that was congruent (e.g., Asian) or incongruent (e.g., White). In the first four experiments, we manipulated item-specific proportion congruence. Faces of some races/ethnicities (e.g., Asian; Black) were mostly congruent and faces of others (e.g., White; Latina) were mostly incongruent. We observed the item-specific proportion congruence effect showing a smaller Stroop effect for mostly incongruent faces. Critically, we found transfer of the effect to faces of each race/ethnicity that were 50% congruent, indicating control at the more abstract, category level (i.e., more focused control setting retrieved and executed for racial/ethnic categories associated with higher attentional demands). Individuating faces did not disrupt category-level control but recategorization of the faces into racially/ethnically diverse teams did, as indicated by the lack of transfer. In a final experiment, we associated proportion congruence (attentional demands) with the conjunction of two social categories (race/ethnicity and gender) and found novel evidence of conjunctive learning-guided control. The findings demonstrate that race/ethnicity (and conjunctions with gender) cues control adjustments, people transfer learned control settings to other members of race/ethnicity categories, and recategorization creates an important boundary condition for transfer.
Who Should Benefit from Group-Based Quotas? Experimental Evidence from Brazil
Authors: Joseph Anissa Nia , Sediqe Nura Ahmad , Tellez Juan Fernando
Published: February 2025

Group-based quotas and affirmative action policies are common in many parts of the world. A large literature has focused on public debates over the perceived fairness of these policies. Yet in highly diverse countries, debates often centre on which groups should benefit and how to establish who counts as a member of those groups. We know comparatively little about these kinds of debates. In this article, we present new experimental evidence on public preferences over targeted race quotas in Brazil, a country where racial identity is famously ambiguous and where substantial controversy over the use of race quotas in university admissions remains. Placing respondents from an online convenience sample in the role of deciding whom to admit as part of a university race quota, the results indicate (1) that while economic class dominates other considerations in quota targeting, racial factors still matter; (2) the public places a large premium on indicators of merit; and (3) that these preferences are largely homogeneous across racial groups and resistant to priming.
Facts or Feelings? Leveraging Emotionality as a Fact-Checking Strategy on Social Media in the United States
Authors: Xue Haoning , Zhang Jingwen , Zhang Xinzhi
Published: February 2025

Emotionality is a well-established strategy for boosting audience engagement on social media. While fact-checking is positioned to provide objective information, fact-checking posts on social media often involve heightened emotionality. How much emotionality is present and how emotionality influences audience engagement and public sentiment toward fact-checked targets remain largely understudied. Informed by social psychological frameworks explicating message-level factors influencing public engagement and sentiment, the present study examines emotionality in 49,270 fact-checking posts created by 10 United States fact-checking organizations on Facebook from 2017 to 2022. Results showed that emotionality in fact-checking posts significantly increased by 13.5% over the years. Editorial fact-checkers (e.g., Washington Post) used higher levels of emotionality than independent fact-checkers (e.g., snopes.com). Emotionality positively indicated public engagement as predicted. However, in both fact-checked true and false information, emotionality was negatively associated with the public’s sentiment toward fact-checked targets, suggesting a potential spillover effect on stories verified to be true. This study reveals that emotionality in fact-checking posts boosts social media engagement yet with the potential of compromising fact-checking effectiveness.
Long-Term Outcomes After Pulmonary Valve Repair for Regurgitation Secondary to Prior Intervention
Authors: Ragheb Daniel Kyrillos , Zhang Yulin , Jaggi Ayush , Maskatia Shiraz A. , Adamson Gregory T. , Lui George K. , Martin Elisabeth , Ma Michael , Hanley Frank L. , McElhinney Doff B.
Published: February 2025

Purpose

Pulmonary valve (PV) regurgitation (PR) secondary to prior repair of congenital heart disease commonly necessitates intervention, typically with PV replacement (PVR). However, prosthetic valves are susceptible to degeneration and ultimately require reintervention. Pulmonary valve repair (PVr) can correct PR while retaining native tissue, but long-term durability is unknown.

Methods

All patients who underwent PVr from 2010 to 2018 for PR resulting from prior PV intervention were included. A control cohort included patients who underwent PVR during the same period for the same indications. Time-related outcomes including freedom from right ventricular outflow tract reintervention, moderate or greater PR, and a maximum Doppler gradient ≥36 mm Hg were compared. Approved as IRB-65340.

Results

The study included 33 and 151 patients who underwent PVr and PVR, respectively, 72% (132/184) with tetralogy of Fallot. Patients were followed for a median of 9.0 years (6.4-11.5) and 7.7 years (5.4-9.9), respectively ( P = .041). Estimated freedom from reintervention 5 and 10 years after discharge was 97% (80-100) and 89% (69-96) after PVr and 96% (92-99) and 79% (67-87) after PVR. On Cox regression analysis adjusted for age or weight at the time of surgery, and on multivariable Cox regression, PVr was associated with significantly longer freedom from reintervention and valve dysfunction than PVR.

Conclusions

Pulmonary valve repair was associated with longer freedom from valve dysfunction and reintervention than PVR, particularly in pediatric patients. Lifetime management should be considered at original repair, with an effort to maintain native tissue for potential future PVr.
Contested flows: An ethnographic contribution to narratives of groundwater over abstraction in the central Jordanian highlands
Authors: Wojnarowski Frederick
Published: February 2025

This article explores the well-researched topic of Jordan's contentious hydropolitics in the face of scarcity from a new perspective: that afforded by an ethnographic case study of the poor and restive rural district of Dhiban in the highlands of central Jordan. Dhiban, well-known for its frequent protests, is experiencing some of the worst water scarcity in the country but remains relatively understudied in this context. The article traces how shifts between an emphasis on financialised demand management and supply-side megaprojects are experienced among small-scale highland farmers and their wider communities. In much of the extant literature, such communities are portrayed as complicit in wider water scarcity, as the failure of the state and its international backers to reduce groundwater over-abstraction driven by highland agriculture is blamed on the rural tribal patronage networks of highland landowners. A different picture emerges through attending to the fate of Dhiban and its farmers, and their attempts to resist and protest their position within Jordan's hydro-social metabolism. From their view, both supply and demand modes of mitigation have been experienced as forms of dispossession, with dire consequences for socio-ecological reproduction. I argue that this is because both rely on subjecting such places to the various hydraulic missions of the state and its international backers through infrastructure, rendering them zones of anticipatory ruination. This process can be conceived as the entanglement of local socio-ecological environments with global capitalogenic flows, that as they channel, transform, pollute, cheapen and consume water, also generate fragility.
Exploring Pleasure and Risks: The Interplay Between Recreational Substances and Sexual Health
Authors: Mutha Amit S. , Mulay Alok M. , Reddy D. Narayana , Rao T. S. Sathyanarayana , Langade Deepak
Published: February 2025

Sexual pleasure holds significant importance for individuals, relationships and societies due to its physiological, psychological and social dimensions. It is an individual experience that can signify or represent one or many aspects of personal importance in one’s life. Humans have always sought various means to enhance sexual pleasure. These may be physical, psychological or pharmacological. Of these, the substances with positive pharmacodynamic effects on the nervous system and the reproductive system are of particular importance. Such substances are called as aphrodisiacs. In the last few decades, recreational drugs have been abused quite a lot as aphrodisiacs, especially by the younger population. Recreational drug use has the potential to impact various aspects of sexual experience, from enhancing desire and pleasure to compromising sexual function and overall well-being. This is why the relationship between recreational drugs and sexual health is a complex, multifaceted topic and can have significant implications for both physical and mental well-being. It is important to approach this topic with care and awareness with respect to its potential risks and consequences. This review article delves into the intricate interplay between substance abuse and sexual health, shedding light on both the positive and negative dimensions of this connection.
Experiencing weight stigma during childbirth increases the odds of cesarean birth
Authors: Schwenk Regula A. , Wyss Carmen , Aubry Evelyne M.
Published: February 2025

Background

Weight-biased clinical practices and institutional characteristics can have a wide impact on the quality of care provided to women with obesity. This may substantially increase their risks for poor birth outcomes. The current study assessed experienced weight stigma by women during childbirth in maternity care settings in Switzerland. We aimed to identify frequencies, sources, and manifestations of weight-related stigmatization, hypothesizing that such stigma impacts birth outcomes, specifically cesarean birth (CB).

Methods

Data from a nationwide cross-sectional online survey was used to investigate the frequencies, sources, and manifestations of experienced weight stigma during childbirth. Binomial logistic regression was applied to predict CB from experienced weight stigma. Mediation analysis assessed the role of experienced weight stigma in the association between body mass index (BMI) and CB.

Results

In a total of 1352 women who gave birth in the last five years, women with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) experienced weight stigma more often than their peers with healthy weight (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2). Obstetricians were identified as a major source of weight stigma, accounting for 77.8% of stigmatization experienced by women, compared to stigmatization perceived from nurses (21.7%) and midwives (23.8%). Overall, weight stigma was mostly experienced in the form of dismissive or critical comments towards a woman’s figure or weight. Significantly more women with obesity indicated being blamed for weight-related risks during childbirth than their healthy-weighted peers (χ²(2) = 22.2, P < 0.001). An increase in the frequency of experienced weight stigma was related to higher odds of intrapartum CB ([aOR], 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02,1.15; P < 0.05), and it partially mediated the relationship between increased pre-pregnancy BMI and CB (b = 0.07, SE = 0.029; P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Women with obesity reported the highest proportion of weight stigmatization during childbirth, experiencing stigma more frequently than women without obesity. This increased frequency of weight stigma was associated with higher odds of CB. Raising awareness among healthcare providers and reducing potential biases and stigmatization may improve care quality and health outcomes for women with obesity.