bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Comprehensive Systematic Review on the Multifaceted Factors Influencing Teacher Flourishing
Authors: Yulisinta Florence , Setiadi Bernadette Narulina , Suci Eunike Sri Tyas
Published: April 2024

Teacher flourishing encompasses a broad range of well-being, encompassing hedonic (pleasure-based) and eudaimonic (meaning-based) satisfactions. In the context of the literature review, a concise overview is provided, consisting of definitions, predictors, mediators, and outcomes. Conforming to the PRISMA protocol, the present review progresses through four stages: identification, screening, eligibility assessment, and including relevant studies. Furthermore, the search strategy focused on flourishing, well-being, and measuring tools, leveraging databases such as EBSCO Host, Proquest, Science Direct, and DOAJ. In line with the PRISMA statement, systematic review methodology guides the final analysis, incorporating twenty-seven studies published between 2017 and 2023. Despite being studied in numerous theoretical frameworks, teacher flourishing needs a more widely accepted definition and operational framework in studying the concept. The results show that multiple factors impact teacher flourishing, including individual, relational, and organizational elements. Additionally, the evaluation considers direct and indirect predictors, mediators, and outcomes. The new model is related to global well-being, including emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects, stating the connections of these elements. The implications of the results can be effectively applied within educational settings by teachers, policymakers, and scholars specializing in education.

 
Development and implementation of the external quality assessment program for erythrocyte sedimentation rate in hematology laboratories in Thailand
Authors:   Division of Clinical Microscopy, Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, Duangmano Suwit , Kulawong Panida ,   AMS CMU EQA Unit, Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, Lawapakull Puwadon ,   AMS CMU EQA Unit, Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, Pongpunyayuen Panida ,   AMS CMU EQA Unit, Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, Chairatanapiwong Saowanit ,   AMS CMU EQA Unit, Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand
Published: April 2024

Background: The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) remains the most widely used screening test for monitoring the course of infections, inflammatory diseases, and some types of cancer. Proficiency Testing (PT) programs are unavailable in Thailand for ESR. Objective: This study aimed to develop and initiate the PT program to improve testing quality through evaluation and analysis of the laboratory test results for ESR. Materials and methods: The PT program for ESR was established at the AMS CMU EQA Unit by the ISO/IEC17043:2010 requirements. The unit produced and sent the ESR control materials to participants for laboratory analysis; the test results were returned to the unit. The PT program was carried out in two cycles per year, with two samples in each cycle. The performance of each laboratory was assessed using robust Z score and performance score. Results: ESR control materials presented with satisfactory homogeneity and stability according to ISO 13528: 2015. One hundred and four laboratories were enrolled in the PT program. Of these laboratories, 96 (92.3%) returned their data: 40 (42.7%) used the modified Westergren method, 29 (29.2%), 14 (15.7%), and 13 (12.4%) used Microsed, Mixrate, and other methods, respectively. Satisfactory and questionable performance was obtained in 82/96 (85.4.%) and 8/96 (8.3%), respectively. Unsatisfactory performance was noted at 6/96 (6.3%). The level of excellent performance was achieved by 82 (approx. 85%) of these laboratories. Two main types of errors found from analyzing the received data were (i) specimen processing and (ii) incorrect identification of the analytical method. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the advantage of participation in the PT program for ESR is that the laboratories can monitor and investigate the source of laboratory errors. Therefore, the PT program for ESR testing should become an integral part of the quality assurance system in the laboratory.
Equity, diversity and inclusion in neurosurgery: results of the SBNS engagement survey
Authors:   Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, Society of British Neurological Surgeons
Published: April 2024

INTRODUCTION

Bullying, undermining and harassment (BUH) as well as discrimination have shown to be present throughout the National Health Service, especially in surgery. The Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS) created its equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) group to investigate the demographics of UK and Irish neurosurgeons, along with their experiences of BUH.

METHODS

A 31-item electronic survey was distributed through the national society email list for all neurosurgeons throughout the UK and Ireland in spring 2022. Descriptive statistics were used to present the results, along with 2x2 chi-squared contingency tables, with a p-value of <0.05 deemed statistically significant.

RESULTS

There were 175 respondents (approximately 18% of neurosurgeons in the UK and Ireland). Two-thirds (67%) were consultants and a quarter (23%) were women. Almost half (44%) were White British/Irish. A third (30%) went to university outside the UK/Ireland although most (82%) completed neurosurgical training in the UK or Ireland. Thirty-eight per cent said they did not have a primary caregiver or parental role. Two-thirds (65%) of respondents stated that they had been a victim of BUH, with 70% having witnessed BUH. Being female was the only demographic category with a significantly increased likelihood of experiencing BUH. A quarter (23%) of respondents felt uncomfortable about being open about themselves in the workplace and 39% had perceived a barrier to career progression due to a particular characteristic.

CONCLUSIONS

BUH and barriers to feeling comfortable in the workplace/career progression are problems in UK/Irish neurosurgery. Further work will be undertaken by the SBNS EDI working group to better understand the demographics of its community, to spread awareness of the issues, and to improve the experiences of neurosurgeons in the UK and Ireland.
‘Now there is no escape’: the impact of the COVID-19 social restrictions on parents experiencing violence and abuse from their children
Authors: Miles Caroline , Condry Rachel , Adebogun Anuoluwapo , Oldham Megan
Published: April 2024

Child- and adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) has gained recognition over the past decade and, to an extent, gained momentum on the violence against women and girls (VAWG) policy agenda. However, CAPVA remains subordinate to the omnipresent problem of violence and abuse perpetrated by current and former intimate partners, as do responses to this often-hidden form of violence. This was especially apparent during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent social restrictions, when many parent victims of CAPVA faced a silent struggle of enforced proximity with their violent and/or abusive child alongside a significant drop in respite and means of support. In this article, we present research findings from a project conducted during the 2020 lockdown period in the UK, examining parents’ experiences of CAPVA and support during this period, as well as practitioners’ experiences of providing support. In addition to revealing that over two-thirds of parents reported an increase in CAPVA during the initial lockdown, our discussion highlights the need for sustained recognition and attention to be afforded to CAPVA, so that systematic, strategic, and evidence-based nationwide responses can be developed, including adequate risk assessment processes, safeguarding measures and support.
Twin-stagnation-free phase retrieval with vortex phase illumination
Authors: Kularia Muskan , Banerjee Manidipa , Khare Kedar
Published: April 2024

The recovery of a complex-valued exit wavefront from its Fourier transform magnitude is challenging due to the stagnation problems associated with iterative phase retrieval algorithms. Among the various stagnation artifacts, the twin-image stagnation is the most difficult to address. The upright object and its inverted and complex-conjugated twin correspond to the identical Fourier magnitude data and hence appear simultaneously in the iterative solution. We show that the twin stagnation problem can be eliminated completely if a coherent beam with charge-1 vortex phase is used for illumination. Unlike the usual plane wave illumination case, a charge-1 vortex illumination intentionally introduces an isolated zero near the zero spatial frequency region, where maximal energy in the Fourier space is usually concentrated for most natural objects. The early iterations of iterative phase retrieval algorithms are observed to develop a clockwise or anti-clockwise vortex in the vicinity of this isolated zero. Once the Fourier transform of the solution latches onto a specific vortex profile in the neighborhood of this intentionally introduced intensity zero in early iterations, the solution quickly adjusts to the corresponding twin (upright or inverted) and further iterations are not observed to bring the other twin into the reconstruction. Our simulation studies with the well-known hybrid input-output (HIO) algorithm show that the solution always converges to one of the twins within a few hundred iterations when vortex phase illumination is used. Using a clockwise or anti-clockwise vortex phase as an initial guess is also seen to deterministically lead to a solution consisting of the corresponding twin. The resultant solution still has some faint residual artifacts that can be addressed via the recently introduced complexity guidance methodology. There is an additional vortex phase in the final solution that can simply be subtracted out to obtain the original test object. The near guaranteed convergence to a twin-stagnation-free solution with vortex illumination as described here is potentially valuable for deploying practical imaging systems that work based on the iterative phase retrieval algorithms.
Damage effect evaluation of CCD irradiated by laser based on multi-source information fusion
Authors: Niu Chun-Hui , Yu Ting
Published: April 2024

This study introduces an advanced approach for assessing the damage state of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) caused by laser interactions, leveraging a multi-source and multi-feature information fusion technique. We established an experimental system that simulates laser damage on CCDs and collects diverse data types including echo information from active laser detection based on the ‘cat's eye’ effect, plasma flash data, and surface image characteristics of the CCD. A probabilistic neural network (PNN) was utilized to integrate these data sources effectively. Our analysis demonstrated that using multiple features from single sources significantly improves the accuracy of the damage assessment compared to single-feature evaluations. The error rates using dual features from each information type were 10.65% for cat's eye echo, 7.3% for plasma flash, and 7.17% for surface image analysis. By combining all three information sources and six features, we successfully reduced the error rate to 0.85%, with the evaluation time under 60 milliseconds. These findings confirm that our multi-source, multi-feature fusion method is highly effective for the online and real-time evaluation of CCD damage, offering significant improvements in the operational reliability and safety of devices in high-energy environments.
Adaptive beam forming across temperature variation in optical phased array enabled with deep neural network
Authors: Nakai Makoto , Takai Isamu , Chung SungWon , Hashemi Hossein
Published: April 2024

Integrated optical phased arrays (OPA) require calibration to account for mismatches amongst the channels. Furthermore, beams emitted from an OPA tend to distort when the chip’s temperature changes. We propose to utilize a deep neural network (DNN) to adaptively control the phase modulator voltages of the OPA and create a desired beam pattern in the presence of process mismatches and temperature changes. As a proof of concept, adaptive beam forming was demonstrated with an integrated 128-channel OPA realized in a commercial foundry silicon photonics (SiP) process. Beam forming within 50° field of view (FoV) is demonstrated, while accuracy of 0.025° is achieved when the beam is swept in 0.1° step at a fixed temperature. The DNN is also used to create beams with multiple peaks at desired spatial angles. The DNN is shown to properly adjust the phase modulator voltages to keep the beam nearly intact as temperature changes within 20°C range.
Omni-polarized Faraday isolator based on non-Hermitian Faraday system
Authors: Hu Hao , Fu Xianhui , Qi Jiwei , Zhang Sihao , Wu Qiang , Lu Yao , Chen Zongqiang , Chen Jing , Yu Xuanyi , Wang Xiaolei , Sun Qian , Xu Jingjun
Published: April 2024

Non-Hermitian systems have recently attracted significant attention in photonics due to the realization that the interplay between gain and loss can lead to entirely new and unexpected features. Here, we propose and demonstrate a non-Hermitian Faraday system capable of non-reciprocal omni-polarizer action at the exceptional point. Notably, both forward and backward propagating light with arbitrary polarization converge to the same polarization state. Leveraging the robustness and non-reciprocity of the non-Hermitian Faraday system, we realize an omni-polarized Faraday isolator that can effectively isolate any polarized light without the need for a polarizer at the incident port of backward propagation. Remarkably, under the given parameter configuration, the isolator achieves a maximum isolation ratio of approximately 100 dB and a minimum isolation ratio of around 45 dB for various polarized light, accompanied by near-zero insertion loss. Furthermore, our research reveals the remarkable tolerance of the non-Hermitian Faraday isolator to nonlinear effects. This unique characteristic allows us to harness nonlinear effects to achieve various optical functions, all while maintaining excellent isolation performance. The proposed non-Hermitian Faraday system paves the way for the realization of magnetically or optically switchable non-reciprocal devices.
Chaos key enhanced physical layer secure transmission method based on the convolutional long short-term memory neural network
Authors: Zha Yongpeng , Ren Jianxin , Liu Bo , Mao Yaya , Wu Xiangyu , Ullah Rahat , Song Xiumin , Chen Shuadong , Ma Yiming , Wang Feng , Zhao Lilong
Published: April 2024

In this paper, we propose a method for training a key-enhanced chaotic sequence using the convolutional long short term memory neural network (CLSTM-NN) for secure transmission. This method can cope with the potential security risk posed by the degradation of chaotic dynamics when using chaotic model encryption in traditional secure transmissions. The simulation results show that the proposed method improves the key space by 1036 compared to traditional chaotic models, reaching 10241. The method was applied to orthogonal chirp division multiplexing (OCDM). To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme, we conducted transmission experiments of encrypted 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) OCDM signals at a speed of 53.25 Gb/s over a 2 km length of 7-core optical fiber and test different encryption schemes. After key enhancements, the overall number of keys in the system can increase from 18 to 105.The results show that there is no significant difference between the bit error rate (BER) performance of the encryption method proposed in this paper and the traditional encryption method. The maximum performance difference between the different systems does not exceed 1 dBm. This fact proves the feasibility of the proposed scheme and provides new ideas for the next generation of secure transmission.
Single-beam velocimetry with dual frequency comb absorption spectroscopy
Authors: Yun David , Egbert Scott C. , Frymire Augustine T. , Coburn Sean C. , France Jacob J. , Rice Kristin M. , Donbar Jeffrey M. , Rieker Gregory B.
Published: April 2024

Laser absorption Doppler velocimeters use a crossed-beam configuration to cancel errors due to laser frequency drift and absorption model uncertainty. This configuration complicates the spatial interpretation of the measurement since the two beams sample different volumes of gas. Here, we achieve single-beam velocimetry with a portable dual comb spectrometer (DCS) with high frequency accuracy and stability enabled by GPS-referencing, and a new high-temperature water vapor absorption database. We measure the inlet flow in a supersonic ramjet engine and demonstrate single-beam measurements that are on average within 19 m/s of concurrent crossed-beam measurements. We estimate that the DCS and the new database contribute 1.6 and 13 m/s to this difference respectively.
Asymmetric-absorption-induced spectral redshift in a monolithic III-nitride on-chip system
Authors: Zhang Hao , Ye Ziqi , Fu Jianwei , Shi Fan , Yan Jiabin , Fu Kang , Zhu Hongbo , Wang Yongjin
Published: April 2024

Integrating optoelectronic devices with various functions into a monolithic chip is a popular research frontier. The top-down integration scheme on silicon-based III-nitride wafers has unique advantages. A monolithic III-nitride on-chip system with lighting source, electrical absorption modulator, waveguide and photodetector with the same structure were designed and fabricated to discover the asymmetry of photon emission and absorption in quantum well diode. The characteristics of the chip were characterized in detail and three different spectral redshifts were observed in the experiment. Results revealed that the asymmetric absorption causes spectral redshift in a quantum well diode, and self-absorption is a fundamental and universal phenomenon in quantum wells. This work provides an important reference for future III-nitride optoelectronic integration.
Birefringence compensation method of test-mass substrates for gravitational wave detectors with arbitrary polarization states
Authors: Eisenmann Marc , Singh Shalika , Leonardi Matteo
Published: April 2024

GW detectors are ultimately limited by thermal noise in their most sensitive region. Cryogenic operation combined with crystalline substrates and coatings is a promising approach to reduce this noise, thereby increasing their sensitivity and detection rate. However, crystalline materials can exhibit birefringent behaviors which will degrade the detector’s sensitivity. Here, we demonstrate the use of a pair of identical electropolarization retarders to generate arbitrary polarization states and compensate birefringence of a KAGRA test-mass substrate.
Quasi-bound states in the continuum empowering a transmissive terahertz narrowband filter with high Q and a broad sideband free of interferential distortion
Authors: Zhou Pan , Wu Kaiyu , Wang Qingkang
Published: April 2024

Most currently available terahertz (THz) narrowband filters contain a metal and a substrate, which introduce absorption loss and spectral fluctuations caused by a Fabry–Perot interference in substrates. To address these issues, we employ quasi-bound states in the continuum (BICs) for the design and realization of a substrate-free all-dielectric THz transmissive narrowband filter. Under oblique incidence, the symmetry-protected BICs break and collapse into high-Q transmissive quasi-BIC modes, thereby achieving narrowband filtering. The filter not only minimizes energy loss but also demonstrates a smooth filtering response without an interferential spectral fluctuation associated with the substrate. An experimental high Q value of ∼127 at 4.1 THz with a broad sideband of ∼1.5 THz with transmittance below 10% is achieved.
High-visibility energy-time entanglement system enabled by a low-loss silicon-integrated platform
Authors: Qin Yue , Xu Hongnan , Hu Gaolei , Tsang Hon Ki
Published: April 2024

Energy-time (E-T) entanglement is widely employed in long-distance quantum entanglement distribution due to its strong robustness against transmission fluctuations. In this Letter, we report what we believe to be the first silicon monolithically integrated E-T entanglement system, which integrates the photon sources, wavelength demultiplexers, and Franson interferometers on a single chip. Also, by utilizing low-loss multimode waveguides in Franson interferometers, we measured an on-chip quantum interference visibility of 99.66% (±0.47%), to our knowledge one of the highest values for integrated E-T entanglement systems reported to date. The quantum interference after 1- and 5-km fiber propagation shows visibilities of 96.72% (±0.78%) and 97.46% (±1.23%), respectively. These results demonstrate the potential of using silicon monolithic integration for advance E-T entanglement-based quantum communication networks.
5 kW power-level 1050 nm narrow-linewidth fiber amplifier enabled by biconical-tapered active fiber
Authors: Ma Pengfei , Pan Zhiyong , Yao Tianfu , Yang Huan , Chen Yisha , Liu Wei , Wang Xiaolin , Wang Zefeng , Zhou Pu , Chen Jinbao
Published: April 2024

Effective wavelength extension is vital in the applications of high-power narrow-linewidth fiber lasers. In this work, we demonstrate a 5-kW power-level narrow-linewidth fiber amplifier at 1050 nm utilizing a homemade biconical-tapered Yb-doped fiber (BT-YDF). Up to ∼4.96 kW fiber laser is achieved with a 3 dB linewidth of ∼0.54 nm and a beam quality factor of Mx2 = 1.46, My2 = 1.6. The experimental comparisons reveal that BT-YDF has the advantages of improving a stimulated Raman scattering threshold and balancing transverse mode instability suppression in the fiber amplifier. This work could provide a good reference for extending the operating wavelength of high-power fiber amplifiers.
Methane sensing in the mid-IR using short wave IR photon counting detectors via non-linear interferometry
Authors: Cardoso Arthur C. , Dong Jinghan , Zhou Haichen , Joshi Siddarth K. , Rarity John G.
Published: April 2024

We demonstrate a novel MIR methane sensor shifting measurement wavelength to SWIR (1.55μm) by using non-linear interferometry. The technique exploits the interference effects seen in three-wave mixing when pump, signal, and idler modes make a double pass through a nonlinear crystal. The method allows sensing at wavelengths where detectors are poor (>3μm) and detection at wavelengths where photon counting sensitivity can be achieved. In a first experimental demonstration, we measured a small methane concentration inside a gas cell with high precision. This interferometer can be built in a compact design for field operations and potentially enable the detection of low concentrations of methane at up to 100m range. Signal-to-noise ratio calculations show that the method can outperform existing short wavelength (∼1.65μm) integrated path differential absorption direct sensing at high (>10−4) non-linear gain.
Bayesian inference of structured latent spaces from neural population activity with the orthogonal stochastic linear mixing model
Authors: Meng Rui , Bouchard Kristofer E.
Published: April 2024

The brain produces diverse functions, from perceiving sounds to producing arm reaches, through the collective activity of populations of many neurons. Determining if and how the features of these exogenous variables (e.g., sound frequency, reach angle) are reflected in population neural activity is important for understanding how the brain operates. Often, high-dimensional neural population activity is confined to low-dimensional latent spaces. However, many current methods fail to extract latent spaces that are clearly structured by exogenous variables. This has contributed to a debate about whether or not brains should be thought of as dynamical systems or representational systems. Here, we developed a new latent process Bayesian regression framework, the orthogonal stochastic linear mixing model (OSLMM) which introduces an orthogonality constraint amongst time-varying mixture coefficients, and provide Markov chain Monte Carlo inference procedures. We demonstrate superior performance of OSLMM on latent trajectory recovery in synthetic experiments and show superior computational efficiency and prediction performance on several real-world benchmark data sets. We primarily focus on demonstrating the utility of OSLMM in two neural data sets: μECoG recordings from rat auditory cortex during presentation of pure tones and multi-single unit recordings form monkey motor cortex during complex arm reaching. We show that OSLMM achieves superior or comparable predictive accuracy of neural data and decoding of external variables (e.g., reach velocity). Most importantly, in both experimental contexts, we demonstrate that OSLMM latent trajectories directly reflect features of the sounds and reaches, demonstrating that neural dynamics are structured by neural representations. Together, these results demonstrate that OSLMM will be useful for the analysis of diverse, large-scale biological time-series datasets.
Catastrophic costs for tuberculosis patients in India: Impact of methodological choices
Authors: Chatterjee Susmita , Das Palash , Stallworthy Guy , Bhambure Gayatri , Munje Radha , Vassall Anna
Published: April 2024

As financial risk protection is one of the goals towards universal health coverage, detailed information on costs, catastrophic costs and other economic consequences related to any disease are required for designing social protection measures. End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy set a milestone of achieving zero catastrophic cost by 2020. However, a recent literature review noted that 7%-32% TB affected households in India faced catastrophic cost. Studies included in the review were small scale cross-sectional. We followed a cohort of 1482 notified drug-susceptible TB patients from four states in India: Assam, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal to provide a comprehensive picture of economic burden associated with TB treatment. Treatment cost was calculated using World Health Organization guidelines on TB patient cost survey and both human capital and output approaches of indirect cost (time, productivity, and income loss related to an episode) calculation were used to provide the range of households currently facing catastrophic cost. Depending on choice of indirect cost calculation method, 30%-61% study participants faced catastrophic cost. For over half of them, costs became catastrophic even before starting TB treatment as there was average 7–9 weeks delay from symptom onset to treatment initiation which was double the generally accepted delay of 4 weeks. During that period, they made average 8–11 visits to different providers and spent money on consultations, drugs, tests, and travel. Following the largest cohort of drug-susceptible TB patients till date, the study concluded that a significant proportion of study participants faced catastrophic cost and the proportion was much higher when income loss was considered as indirect cost calculation method. Therefore, ensuring uninterrupted livelihood during TB treatment is an absolute necessity. Another reason of high cost was the delay in diagnosis and costs incurred during pre-diagnosis period. This delay and consequently, economic burden, can be reduced by both supply side (intense private sector engagement, rapid diagnosis) and demand side (community engagement) initiatives. Reimbursement of expenses incurred before treatment initiation could be used as short-term measure for mitigating financial hardship.
Successful treatment of recurrent visceral leishmaniasis relapse in an immunocompetent adult female with functional hypopituitarism in Bangladesh
Authors: Hannan Tabiha Binte , Hossain Zazeba , Roy Utshab , Rahman S. M. Mahbubur , Rahman Md Sadiqur , Sabah Sadia , Rahat Md. Abu , Chowdhury Rajashree , Hossain Faria , Mondal Dinesh , Saha Shampa , Haq Tahniyah , Alam Md Rafiqul , Chowdhury Fazle Rabbi
Published: April 2024

Background

Currently available treatment options are mostly effective in achieving long-term cure in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients. However, there have been reports of recurrence of this illness in both immunosuppressed and immunocompetent patients.

Case presentation

We report the first case of recurrent VL relapse in a 19-year-old immunocompetent female with functional hypopituitarism (hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with central hypothyroidism) from Bangladesh, who has been treated three times previously with optimal dosage and duration- liposomal amphotericin B (LAmB) alone and in combination with miltefosine. We treated the patient successfully with a modified treatment regimen of 10 mg/kg body weight LAmB for two consecutive days along with oral miltefosine for seven days as loading dose. For secondary prophylaxis, the patient received 3 mg/kg body weight LAmB along with oral miltefosine for seven days monthly for five doses followed by hormonal replacement. The patient remained relapse free after 12 months of her treatment completion.

Conclusion

In the absence of protective vaccines against Leishmania species and standard treatment regimen, this modified treatment regimen could help the management of recurrent relapse cases.
Pore structure characterization and its influence on aqueous phase trapping damage in tight gas sandstone reservoirs
Authors: Guo Qing , Lu Xiaojia , Liu Tao , Yang Mengtao , Wang Kai , Zhao Yande , Tao Liang
Published: April 2024

Aqueous phase trapping (APT), which is one of the most prominent damages, seriously restricts the natural gas production in tight gas sandstone with low permeability. Pore size and microscopic pore structures are the most important factors to determine the water blocking damage. In this paper, 9 core samples from tight gas sandstone with various physical properties were employed, and the pore size distribution (PSD) of the core samples were investigated by high pressure mercury intrusion tests (HPMI). Results showed that the porosity of core samples ranges from 5.68% to 13.7%, and the permeability ranges from 0.00456 to 7.86 mD, which is a typical tight reservoir with strong heterogeneity. According to the HPMI capillary curve, the cores can be divided into two types: Type I and Type II, and the pore sizes of type I are larger than that of type II. Fractal distributions were obtained using HPMI data to further determine the pore structure characteristics of tight reservoirs. The pore structures of tight sandstones display the multifractal fractal feature: D1 corresponding to macro-pores, and D2 corresponding to fractal dimension of micro-pores. Furthermore, APT damage was determined by the permeability recovery ratios (Kr) after gas flooding tests. The correlation of Kr and PSD and fractal dimensions were jointly analyzed in tight gas sandstone. Although positive correlations between pore size parameters and the permeability recovery ratios were observed with relatively weak correlations, for those core samples with very close permeability, pore size parameters (both permeability and PSD) is inadequate in clarifying this damage. The fractal dimension can well describe the complexity and heterogeneity of flow channels in pores, which can become the determining factor to distinguish the flow capacity of tight sandstone. The D2 for samples of type I and type II exhibited a good negative relation with Kr with a correlation coefficient of 0.9878 and 0.7723, respectively. The significance of this finding is that for tight gas sandstone, fractal dimensions, especially the small pore fractal dimension (D2), can be used to predict the possible APT damage very well.
Psychoactive and other ceremonial plants from a 2,000-year-old Maya ritual deposit at Yaxnohcah, Mexico
Authors: Lentz David L. , Hamilton Trinity L. , Meyers Stephanie A. , Dunning Nicholas P. , Reese-Taylor Kathryn , Hernández Armando Anaya , Walker Debra S. , Tepe Eric J. , Esquivel Atasta Flores , Weiss Alison A.
Published: April 2024

For millennia, healing and psychoactive plants have been part of the medicinal and ceremonial fabric of elaborate rituals and everyday religious practices throughout Mesoamerica. Despite the essential nature of these ritual practices to the societal framework of past cultures, a clear understanding of the ceremonial life of the ancient Maya remains stubbornly elusive. Here we record the discovery of a special ritual deposit, likely wrapped in a bundle, located beneath the end field of a Late Preclassic ballcourt in the Helena complex of the Maya city of Yaxnohcah. This discovery was made possible by the application of environmental DNA technology. Plants identified through this analytical process included Ipomoea corymbosa (xtabentun in Mayan), Capsicum sp. (chili pepper or ic in Mayan), Hampea trilobata (jool), and Oxandra lanceolata (chilcahuite). All four plants have recognized medicinal properties. Two of the plants, jool and chilcahuite, are involved in artifact manufacture that have ceremonial connections while chili peppers and xtabentun have been associated with divination rituals. Xtabentun (known to the Aztecs as ololiuhqui) produces highly efficacious hallucinogenic compounds and is reported here from Maya archaeological contexts for the first time.
Study on design optimization of GFRP tubular column composite structure based on machine learning method
Authors: Shu Peiyao , Xue Chengqi , Zhang Gengpei , Deng Tianyi
Published: April 2024

Circular reinforced concrete wound glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) columns and reinforced concrete filled GFRP columns are extensively utilized in civil engineering practice. Various factors influence the performance of these two types of GFRP columns, thereby impacting the whole project. Therefore, it is highly significant to establish the prediction models for ultimate displacement and ultimate bearing capacity to optimize the design of the two types of GFRP columns. In this study, based on the experiments conducted under different conditions on the two kinds of GFRP columns, automatic machine learning along with four other commonly used machine learning methods were employed for modeling to analyze how the column parameters (cross section shape, concrete strength, height of GFRP column, wound GFRP wall thickness, inner diameter of wound GFRP column) affect their performance. The differences in performance among these five machine learning methods were analyzed after modeling. Subsequently, we obtained the variation patterns in ultimate displacement and ultimate bearing capacity of the columns influenced by each parameter by testing the data using the optimal model. Based on these findings, the optimal design schemes for the two types of GFRP columns are proposed. The contribution of this paper is three-fold. First, AutoML sheds light on the automatic prediction of ultimate displacement and ultimate bearing capacity of GFRP column. Second, in this paper, two optimal design schemes of GFRP columns are proposed. Third, for AEC industrial practitioners, the whole process is automatic, accurate and less reliant on data expertise and the optimization design scheme proposed in the article is relatively scientific.
Cervical microbiota dysbiosis associated with high-risk Human Papillomavirus infection
Authors: Zeber-Lubecka Natalia , Kulecka Maria , Dabrowska Michalina , Baginska-Drabiuk Katarzyna , Glowienka-Stodolak Maria , Nowakowski Andrzej , Slabuszewska-Jozwiak Aneta , Bednorz Bożena , Jędrzejewska Ilona , Piasecka Magdalena , Pawelec Jolanta , Wojciechowska-Lampka Elzbieta , Ostrowski Jerzy
Published: April 2024

High-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes, specifically HPV16 and HPV18, pose a significant risk for the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. In the multifaceted cervical microenvironment, consisting of immune cells and diverse microbiota, Lactobacillus emerges as a pivotal factor, wielding significant influence in both stabilizing and disrupting the microbiome of the reproductive tract. To analyze the distinction between the cervical microbiota and Lactobacillus-dominant/non-dominant status of HR-HPV and non-infected healthy women, sixty-nine cervical swab samples were analyzed, included 44 with HR-HPV infection and healthy controls. All samples were recruited from Human Papillomavirus-based cervical cancer screening program and subjected to 16s rRNA sequencing analysis. Alpha and beta diversity analyses reveal no significant differences in the cervical microbiota of HR-HPV-infected women, including 16 and 18 HPV genotypes, and those with squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL), compared to a control group. In this study we identified significantly lower abundance of Lactobacillus mucosae in women with HR-HPV infection compared to the control group. Furthermore, changes in bacterial diversity were noted in Lactobacillus non-dominant (LND) samples compared to Lactobacillus-dominant (LD) in both HR-HPV-infected and control groups. LND samples in HR-HPV-infected women exhibited a cervical dysbiotic state, characterized by Lactobacillus deficiency. In turn, the LD HR-HPV group showed an overrepresentation of Lactobacillus helveticus. In summary, our study highlighted the distinctive roles of L. mucosae and L. helveticus in HR-HPV infections, signaling a need for further research to demonstrate potential clinical implications of cervical microbiota dysbiosis.
Sexual and reproductive health while living with rheumatoid arthritis: The impact of the disease stage on patient perspectives
Authors: Ledón-Llanes Loraine , Contreras-Yáñez Irazú , Guaracha-Basáñez Guillermo Arturo , Valverde-Hernández Salvador Saúl , Cuevas-Montoya Maximiliano , Ortiz-Haro Ana Belén , Pascual-Ramos Virginia
Published: April 2024

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent rheumatic diseases that harms all aspects of patients’ lives, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH), often neglected in patients’ care. The study aimed to explore the sexual and reproductive experiences of Mexican outpatients with RA from a narrative perspective.

Patients and methods

From July 2020 to October 2021, 30 adult patients with RA from the Department of Immunology and Rheumatology outpatient clinic of a national referral center for rheumatic diseases had in-depth interviews audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results are presented in a descriptive and interpretative manner and integrated into a theoretical model for the topic understanding.

Results

Five intertwined major themes emerged: I) RA onset: Absence of SRH contents, II) Healthcare for RA: Emerging SRH contents, III) RA’s impact: Proliferation of SRH contents, IV) Coping with the process of living with RA: SRH-related strategies, and V) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients’ experiences: Increased SRH burden. SRH contents emerged through these major themes (but at RA onset), mostly when inquired and mainly when narrating the RA impact and coping. Patients identified that RA affected their couple dynamics, sexual function, and reproductive project. The SRH care was considered relevant but limited and focused on reproductive contents. It worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. We proposed a theoretical model where patients’ SRH experiences are embedded across their RA biography and integrated with the RA impact and the copy with the disease process. These intertwined experiences were also evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, which challenged participants’ biopsychosocial resources.

Conclusions

The sexual and reproductive experiences narrated by the RA outpatients concerning their disease-related biography showed that even when the SRH appeared as not prioritized at the disease onset, it was widely expressed during the process of living and coping with the disease and was additionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Automated stance detection in complex topics and small languages: The challenging case of immigration in polarizing news media
Authors: Mets Mark , Karjus Andres , Ibrus Indrek , Schich Maximilian
Published: April 2024

Automated stance detection and related machine learning methods can provide useful insights for media monitoring and academic research. Many of these approaches require annotated training datasets, which limits their applicability for languages where these may not be readily available. This paper explores the applicability of large language models for automated stance detection in a challenging scenario, involving a morphologically complex, lower-resource language, and a socio-culturally complex topic, immigration. If the approach works in this case, it can be expected to perform as well or better in less demanding scenarios. We annotate a large set of pro- and anti-immigration examples to train and compare the performance of multiple language models. We also probe the usability of GPT-3.5 (that powers ChatGPT) as an instructable zero-shot classifier for the same task. The supervised models achieve acceptable performance, but GPT-3.5 yields similar accuracy. As the latter does not require tuning with annotated data, it constitutes a potentially simpler and cheaper alternative for text classification tasks, including in lower-resource languages. We further use the best-performing supervised model to investigate diachronic trends over seven years in two corpora of Estonian mainstream and right-wing populist news sources, demonstrating the applicability of automated stance detection for news analytics and media monitoring settings even in lower-resource scenarios, and discuss correspondences between stance changes and real-world events.
Dimensions of caregiver strain may partially mediate the relationship between youth symptomology and counseling utilization among Latinxs
Authors: Vázquez Alejandro L. , Culianos Demi , Gudiño Omar G. , Navarro Flores Cynthia M. , Barrett Tyson S. , Domenech Rodríguez Melanie M.
Published: April 2024

Whether Latinx families use youth mental health services (MHS) depends on complex influences of barriers and facilitators within and outside of the home. This research sought to shed light on caregiver strain as part of the equation focused on parental identification and responses to youth mental health needs. We examined multiple dimensions of caregiver strain as potential mediators between youth mental health symptom severity and psychological counseling utilization. The present sample consisted of 598 Latinx caregivers to youths ages 6–18 who provided information on youth internalizing and externalizing problems, caregiver strain, and youth psychological counseling service utilization within the last year. Our findings suggest that youth symptom severity (internalizing and externalizing problems) was generally positively associated with dimensions of caregiver strain. Youth symptom severity throughobjectiveandsubjective internalized strainpathways were associated with greater odds of youth MHS utilization. In contrast, youth symptom severity throughsubjective externalized strainreduced the odds that Latinx caregivers would report utilizing youth MHS. These models only partially mediated the relationship between youth problems and service use. Findings suggest that Latinx caregivers may navigate conflicting sources of strain related to their child’s mental health problem severity in ways that may differentially impact the odds that they access youth MHS. Along with addressing structural and systemic barriers to care, utilization of psychological counseling services may also be improved through interventions that help Latinx caregivers view youth services as avenues for addressing caregiver strain and providing psychoeducation that frames externalized strain within a mental health lens.
Epithelial-mesenchymal interaction protects normal colonocytes from 4-HNE-induced phenotypic transformation
Authors: Dupuy Jacques , Cogo Emma , Fouché Edwin , Guéraud Françoise , Pierre Fabrice , Plaisancié Pascale
Published: April 2024

Introduction

Recent studies have shown that epithelial-stromal interactions could play a role in the development of colorectal cancer. Here, we investigated the role of fibroblasts in the transformation of normal colonocytes induced by 4-HNE.

Methods

Normal Co colonocytes and nF fibroblasts from the same mouse colon were exposed, in monoculture (m) or coculture (c), to 4-HNE (5 μM) twice weekly for 3 weeks. Gene expression was then analysed and the ability of Co colonocytes to grow in anchorage-independent conditions was tested in soft agar. Fibroblasts previously treated or not with 4-HNE were also seeded in culture inserts positioned above the agar layers to allow paracrine exchanges with colonocytes.

Results

First, 60% of the genes studied were modulated by coculture in Co colonocytes, with notably increased expression of BMP receptors. Furthermore, while 4-HNE increased the ability of monoculture-treated Co colonocytes to form colonies, this effect was not observed in coculture-treated Co colonocytes. Adding a selective BMPR1 inhibitor during the treatment phase abolished the protective effect of coculture. Conversely, addition of a BMP4 agonist to the medium of monoculture-treated Co colonocytes prevented phenotypic transformation by 4-HNE. Second, the presence of nF(m)-HNE fibroblasts during the soft agar assay increased the number and size of Co(m) colonocyte colonies, regardless of whether these cells had been previously treated with 4-HNE in monoculture. For soft agar assays performed with nF(c) and Co(c) cells initially treated in coculture, only the reassociation between Co(c)-HNE and nF(c)-HNE resulted in a small increase in the number of colonies.

Conclusions

During the exposure phase, the epithelial-mesenchymal interaction protected colonocytes from 4-HNE-induced phenotypic transformation via activation of the BMP pathway. This intercellular dialogue also limited the ability of fibroblasts to subsequently promote colonocyte-anchorage-independent growth. In contrast, fibroblasts pre-exposed to 4-HNE in monoculture strongly increased the ability of Co(m) colonocytes to form colonies.
Editorial
Authors: Heylen Ann , Vickers Edward , Taylor-Jones Kate
Published: April 2024

This editorial is an overview of this edition of the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture (EAJPC). In celebration of our tenth anniversary, it features a guest-edit by Yuiko Asaba and Amane Kasai on ‘Resonating Across Oceanic Currents’. Six articles share a focus on the trans-oceanic circulation of popular music to and from Japan during the 1920s to the 1960s. Themes include Japanese tango musicians in Manchuria, interpretations of Chinese popular song in wartime Japan, trans-Pacific circulations of Japanese popular songs in Cold War South Korea and among American military personnel in East Asia. One general paper complements this issue with an analysis on the linguistic nuances of the lyrics of Japan’s top-selling female idol groups. The book reviews section features commentary on recently published works that relate to themes discussed in the research articles.