bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social, environmental, and developmental factors affect the microbiota of barn owls (Tyto alba) in a cross-fostering experiment
Authors: Corl Ammon , Charter Motti , Rozman Gabe , Turjeman Sondra , Toledo Sivan , Kamath Pauline L. , Getz Wayne M. , Nathan Ran , Bowie Rauri C. K. 
Published: December 2024

Abstract
Background
Species host diverse microbial communities that can impact their digestion and health, which has led to much interest in understanding the factors that influence their microbiota. We studied the developmental, environmental, and social factors that influence the microbiota of nestling barn owls (Tyto alba) through a partial cross-fostering experiment that manipulated the social and nest environment of the nestlings. We then examined the nestling microbiota before and three weeks after the exchange of nestlings between nests, along with the microbiota of the adults at the nest and nestlings in unmanipulated nests.

Results
We found that nestlings had higher bacterial diversity and different bacterial communities than adults. The microbiota of nestlings was more like that of their mothers than their fathers, but the similarity to the father tended to increase with the amount of time the father was in close proximity to the nest, as measured from movement data. Cross-fostered offspring had higher bacterial diversity and greater changes in bacterial community composition over time than control offspring. Cross-fostering led the microbiota of the nestlings in the experiment to converge on similar bacterial communities. The microbiota of nestling owls therefore rapidly changed along with alterations to their social and nest environments.

Conclusions
These results highlight the dynamic nature of the microbiota during early development and that social interactions can shape microbial communities.
Does the hedge pay? Assessing natural hedging’s role in firm valuation under varying macroeconomic conditions
Authors: Saharan Anureet , Rajendran Madhumathi 
Published: December 2024

AbstractThis study aims to assess the influence of natural hedging on firm value, incorporating the mediating role of financial derivatives and the moderating impact of macroeconomic variables. Employing partial least square structural equation modeling on data spanning 21,169 firm years (3050 firms) from 2015 to 2022, our analysis discerns significant effects. Natural hedging notably impacts firm value, while the impact on financial derivatives is contingent on the nature of the natural hedging strategy. High transactional involvement renders the relationship complementary, while a strategy with fewer and flexible transactions signifies a substitutive relation. An inflexible, cash flow-specific natural hedging strategy, such as foreign debt, can be mutually exclusive with financial derivatives when the cash inflow in foreign currency matches perfectly with interest payments. However, in subsequent periods, when the nature of cash inflows changes, this relationship can become complementary, allowing for the integration of financial derivatives to fine-tune and enhance the overall hedging strategy. Macroeconomic fluctuations do not moderate the relationship between natural hedging and firm value within the same period. Instead, the impact is moderated by GDP growth rates in subsequent periods.
Impact of cognitive tasks on postural stability in young and older adults
Authors: Shah Sakshi , Nanavati Nikita 
Published: December 2024

Abstract
Background
Postural stability requires coordination of the visual, somatosensory, and vestibular systems. Cognitive tasks can divert attention from maintaining posture, potentially reducing body sway and fall risk. The effect on postural stability increases with cognitive load complexity. Understanding these aspects is crucial for studying the relationship between cognitive functions and postural stability, especially in older adults who may face declines in both areas.

Method
The study involved 70 participants, divided into 2 groups: group I consisted of 35 young adults, and group II included 35 older adults. Each participant underwent a hearing test using pure-tone audiometry and was screened for vestibular and cognitive function. Postural stability was assessed using a stabilometer, with evaluations conducted under various conditions, both with and without cognitive tasks. The cognitive tasks utilized included word generation, backward letter repetition, and backward serial 7 subtraction.

Results
Compared to noncognitive tasks, postural stability improved with cognitive tasks for both groups. When compared across different cognitive tasks, the backward letter repetition task enhanced postural stability more than word generation and backward serial 7 subtraction task. The most significant differences were observed on a cushioned surface with eyes closed when comparing noncognitive to cognitive tasks and across different cognitive tasks in both groups. However, younger adults exhibited better postural stability with cognitive tasks than older adults.

Conclusion
Postural stability was enhanced with cognitive tasks compared to noncognitive tasks for both young and older adults.
Measurement of angle of progression by trans perineal-ultrasound in labour to predict mode of delivery in nulliparous women
Authors: Masood Humaira , Rubaba Abid  , Muhammad Ahmed  , Munir Mehmood  
Published: December 2024

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess whether the measurement of the angle of progression in nulliparous women in labour can predict the mode of delivery.
Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi Medical University from 16th February to 25th March 2024. Nulliparous pregnant women in the active first stage of labour with singleton pregnancy and cephalic presentation were included in the study after taking informed consent. The angle of progression (AOP) was measured by trans-perineal ultrasound using the curvilinear probe. The primary outcome was the mode of delivery in relation to angle of progression.
Results: Seventy-eight patients were included in the study. Angle of progression was wider in patients who underwent vaginal delivery and narrower in patients who underwent cesarean section. AOP of 121 or more is associated with 86.6% of vaginal delivery and an angle of progression of 70 or less is associated with 83.3% of cesarean section.
Conclusion: The angle of progression is a reliable tool for predicting the mode of delivery. Wider angle is associated with vaginal delivery and a narrower angle is associated with cesarean section.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.1.9930
How to cite this: Humaira Masood1, Rubaba Abid2, Muhammad Ahmed3, Munir Mehmood4. Measurement of angle of progression by trans perineal-ultrasound in labour to predict mode of delivery in nulliparous women. Pak J Med Sci. 2025;41(1):147-150. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.1.9930
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
FIRST REPORT OF CO-HARBORING BLEOMYCIN RESISTANCE GENE (bleMBL) AND CARBAPENEMASE RESISTANCE GENE (blaNDM-1) KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE IN IRAQ WITH COMPARISON STUDY AMONG THE SENSITIVITY TEST, THE BD PHOENIX CPO DETECT TEST, AND THE RAPIDEC® CARBA NP TEST
Authors: Hasan Sarah Ahmed , Raoof Waad Mahmood , Ahmed Khaled Khalil 
Published: December 2024

Two hundred and fifty samples were collected from burn and wound patients between January and July 2023 in Plastic Reconstructive and Burn Surgery Hospital at Sulaymaniyah city/Kurdistan region of Iraq, in addition to the Burn Unit and Wound Care Units of the Azadi Teaching Hospital in Kirkuk, Iraq. We performed a comparison study among (Antibiotic sensitivity test, BD Phoenix CPO detect test and RAPIDEC CARBA NP test), this was the first study of its kind to be performed in Iraq. The findings were supported by molecular detection of two of the most common major carbapenemases in the country, NDM-1 and OXA-48, as well as this study detected five of the recently identified minor/rare carbapenemases worldwide for the first time in Middle East (BKC-1, FRI-1, LMB-1 ,OXA-426, and OXA-198). We recorded five isolates containing chromosomal NDM-1 and OXA-48 genes. The findings indicated that the RAPIDEC CARBA NP test serves as a quick, accurate and sensitive means of detecting all five isolates containing the blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48 genes. The antibiotic sensitivity test was insufficient in detecting the CPOs while phoenix NMIC-413 AST panel was revealed to be more reliable and accurate in identifying carbapenem resistant isolates in clinical settings than antibiotic sensitivity test and the BD Phoenix CPO detect test report was found to have low detection specificity, further confirmatory tests are required. The current study recorded first report of co-harboring bleomycin resistance gene (bleMBL) and carbapenemase resistance gene (blaNDM-1) Klebsiella pneumoniae in Iraq with accession NO. PP411935. The development of new routine tests for identifying isolates resistant to carbapenem in Iraqi hospitals and other developing countries is very essential. Gram-negative isolates from Iraq that were resistant to carbapenem did not harbor the recently found minor carbapenemase.
E-learning course "Bioorganic chemistry"
Authors: Kataeva Natalya Nikolaevna , Naronova Natalia Anatolyevna , Golitsyna Kristina Olegovna 
Published: December 2024

The electronic training course "Organic Chemistry" was created as an auxiliary resource to accompany the curriculum of bioorganic chemistry for the specialties of Medical and Preventive Care.
The purpose of studying the course is to form ideas about the spatial structure, reactivity of bioorganic substances and their biological significance for the most important processes in human life.
Course objectives:
formation of knowledge about the structure of the main classes of bioorganic compounds;
formation of skills in writing the main chemical reactions of bioorganic compounds;
formation of skills in qualitative and quantitative reactions for the analysis of various classes of bioorganic compounds;
formation of experimental skills necessary in future professional activities.
The course labor intensity is 108 hours. The course consists of 3 didactic units.
Each topic of the course "Organic Chemistry" contains theoretical material, a training test to check the assimilation of the theory, and a final test. Each final test on the topic is equivalent to a control event according to the point-rating system. Laboratory work consists of a video file and a video test. In this way, laboratory work is carried out and the assimilation of theoretical and practical material is monitored.
Interactive notebook on anatomy "Digestive glands"
Authors: Yalunin Nikolay Viktorovich , Shestakova Anastasia Alexandrovna , Ushakov Alexey Alexandrovich , Spirina Galina Alekseevna , Yakupova Zhanna Bulatovna , Chepurnykh Varvara Pavlovna , Latypova Marina Maratovna 
Published: December 2024

Human anatomy is the first fundamental science in the medical education system, which forms the basic knowledge for the subsequent study of all clinical disciplines. The Federal State educational standard of higher education in the specialties "Pediatrics", "Medicine" not only puts anatomy in a leading place among the disciplines of the medical and biological cycle, but also emphasizes the importance of anatomy for all disciplines of professional orientation
The interactive workbook for practical classes in human anatomy has been developed in accordance with the work program of the discipline provided for in the curriculum for students in the areas of "Medicine" and "Pediatrics".
The interactive notebook presents the main questions on the anatomy of the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, namely: external structure, internal structure, as well as situational tasks. The relevance of the reviewed notebook is due to the fact that in the first years of study at the medical university, anatomy is a fundamental subject. The study of anatomy with a clinical focus, that is, subject-oriented to clinical disciplines, is one of the main tasks of this work.
The educational and methodological manual meets the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for the level of training "Medicine" and "Pediatrics" and can be recommended for publication and use in the educational process
Improved Guarantees for Offline Stochastic Matching via New Ordered Contention Resolution Schemes
Authors: Brubach Brian , Grammel Nathaniel , Ma Will , Srinivasan Aravind 
Published: December 2024

Matching is one of the most fundamental and broadly applicable problems across many domains. In these diverse real-world applications, there is often a degree of uncertainty in the input, which has led to the study of stochastic matching models. Here, each edge in the graph has a known, independent probability of existing derived from some prediction. Algorithms must probe edges to determine existence and match them irrevocably if they exist. Further, each vertex may have a patience constraint denoting how many of its neighboring edges can be probed. We present new ordered contention resolution schemes yielding improved approximation guarantees for some of the foundational problems studied in this area. For stochastic matching with patience constraints in general graphs, we provide a 0.382-approximate algorithm, significantly improving over the previous best 0.31-approximation. When the vertices do not have patience constraints, we describe a 0.432-approximate random order probing algorithm with several corollaries, such as an improved guarantee for the Prophet Secretary problem under Edge Arrivals. Finally, for the special case of bipartite graphs with unit patience constraints on one of the partitions, we show a 0.632-approximate algorithm that improves on a recent result providing a guarantee of 1/3. Funding: N. Grammel and A. Srinivasan were financially supported in part by the National Science Foundation Division of Computing and Communication Foundations [Award CCF-1749864] and by research awards from Amazon and Google.
Clinical and Carotid Plaque Features in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Zhou Shili , Yan Yanhong , Hui Pinjing 
Published: December 2024

Aims/Background Ischemic stroke (IS), a cerebrovascular condition, is commonly detected by evaluating carotid intima-media (CIA) stenosis. Symptomatic CIA stenosis carries a high risk (up to 32%) of another ischemic event within 12 weeks, while asymptomatic CIA stenosis has an annual risk ranging from 1% to 2%. Therefore, this study aims to explore the diagnostic value of clinical features and carotid plaque characteristics in both symptomatic and asymptomatic IS. Methods This study enrolled 543 consecutive patients with internal carotid artery stenosis confirmed by carotid ultrasonography. Participants were categorized into the symptomatic group (n = 356) and the asymptomatic group (n = 187) by clinical symptoms and computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Demographic data, clinical features, and ultrasonographic characteristics of the carotid plaque were collected, and logistics regression analysis was carried out to explore the predictive risk factors of IS. Results According to the differences in clinical and carotid plaque characteristics between the two groups, coronary heart disease (CHD), stenosis degree, plaque diameter, plaque length, plaque vulnerability, and plaque echo type were included. The results of the multivariate logistics regression analysis showed that plaque vulnerability, CHD, and plaque hypoechogenicity were independent predictors of symptomatic stroke. The clinical-ultrasonographic prediction model showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82–0.88], a sensitivity of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.69–0.78), and a specificity of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.76–0.87), with a good performance in the model prediction. Conclusion Plaque vulnerability, CHD, and plaque hypoechogenicity are meaningful predictors of symptomatic ischemic stroke and deserve attention in the future.
Removing Friction and Bark Improves Drill Resistance Data for Selection on Wood Density in Pinus taeda Plantations
Authors: Trachta Mariano A. , Acosta Juan J. , Walker Trevor D. 
Published: December 2024

Abstract
Wood density is used for genetic selection because of its association with wood quality. Traditional assessments of wood density, such as volumetric measurement and X-ray densitometry, are labor intensive and time consuming. Drill resistance (measured with a Resistograph) is faster and gives an indirect assessment of wood density. The Resistograph generates thousands of data points for each tree that must be summarized. The data include bark and air as the drill enters and exits the bole, as well as friction that builds on the drill shaft. This study evaluated data processing methods for drill resistance to improve correlation with wood density, with a focus on practical implementation by breeding programs. We compared methods that thoroughly removed bark, air, and friction, as well as simple methods based on expected bark thickness and depth to the pith. The most thorough method produced the highest phenotypic correlation with density (rp = 0.81). All methods that excluded data after the drill exits the tree had very strong genetic correlations (rg > 0.92), although avoiding bark gave a noticeable increase in genetic correlation. Unprocessed drill resistance had unacceptably low phenotypic correlations (rp = 0.38) and the lowest genetic correlation observed, although it was still very high (rg = 0.91). For tree breeding programs, we recommend developing reasonable bark and pith depth thresholds and using simple rules to avoid bark and friction.
Effect of Adhesives on Bonding Performance of Softwood and Hardwood Plywood
Authors: Belaidi Dalila , Lamichhane Aadarsha , Pradhan Suman , Mohammadabadi Mostafa , Shmulsky Rubin , Wang Xiping 
Published: December 2024

Abstract
In this study, the effects of adhesives on the bonding performance of both southern yellow pine (SYP) and red maple plywood were investigated. Phenol–formaldehyde (PF), polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (pMDI), phenol–resorcinol–formaldehyde (PRF), and polyurethane (PUR) were evaluated. This allowed us to understand the difference between thermosetting and cold-setting adhesives, as well as phenolic and isocyanate ones. Three-ply plywoods were fabricated using red maple veneers (Acer rubrum) for hardwood plywood specimens and using SYP (Pinus spp.) for softwood plywood specimens. The bonding was evaluated using lap shear and cyclic tests. According to ASTM D906, approximately 40 specimens per adhesive per species were subjected to a lap shear test to determine their shear strength. Wood failure of the shear specimens was evaluated visually and using an image processing software, ImageJ. In accordance with the American National Standards Institute for Hardwood and Decorative Plywood/Hardwood Plywood and Veneer Association (ANSI/HPVA HP-1 2020), 12 specimens per adhesive per species were tested for delamination. These specimens underwent three cycles of soaking in water for 4 hours followed by drying for 19 hours. The findings of this study indicated that the isocyanate-based adhesives produced superior bonding, particularly PUR for red maple and pMDI for SYP. PF resin could potentially substitute for these isocyanate-based adhesives, as the observed difference was not statistically significant.
Compact high-power MIR laser through pulse fiber laser pumped PPMgLN-based OPO
Authors: Yang Shengxiang , Shen Yonghang 
Published: December 2024

We present a compact high-power mid-infrared laser (MIR) through pulse fiber laser pumped PPMgLN-based optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The pulse fiber laser consists of a gain-switched pulse fiber laser seed and one stage fiber amplifier, which features an all polarization-maintained fiber structure with a linearly polarized maximum average power output of 40 W. A semi-external-cavity structure is utilized to simplify the OPO system and to mitigate the thermal lens impact under high-power operation. Mid-infrared output of 4.75 W at 3.81 µm is achieved under pump power of 31.31 W at pulse repetition rate of 50 kHz, corresponding to pump to MIR conversion efficiency of 15.17%. High beam quality MIR output is obtained, in which the beam quality factor (M2) is measured to be 1.72 for horizontal and 1.87 for vertical, respectively.
Design of a compact long-wave infrared inverse telephoto lens
Authors: Batshev Vladislav I. , Kryukov Alexander V. 
Published: December 2024

Subject of study. This study focuses on the methodology for designing a miniature thermal imaging lens tailored for integration within a compact multispectral device that captures multiple spectral images simultaneously using a single-matrix radiation detector. Aim of study. The aim was to develop a fundamental design scheme and calculation methodology for the optical system of a miniature thermal imaging lens operating within the 8–14 µm long-wave infrared (LWIR) range. Method. The proposed design approach combines a compositional optical-system synthesis method with an algebraic technique based on the third-order aberration theory. The lens utilizes an inverse telephoto configuration, consisting of a primary two-element cemented component and a corrective element with two meniscus lenses, to address astigmatism and field curvature. Main results. A scheme for constructing a miniature LWIR inverse telephoto lens was introduced along with a synthesis methodology for its optical system based on the third-order aberration theory. Dimensional and aberrational calculations were performed, and the image quality produced by the lens was assessed. The lens achieved correction close to the diffraction limit, with a standard aperture and wide field-of-view. Notably, its final optical system was developed with no automated correction. Practical significance. The proposed lens design can be applied in various fields, particularly in multispectral thermal imaging systems requiring spatial-spectral data acquisition, which is valuable for remote sensing, environmental monitoring, and other applications. Owing to the compact dimensions of the lens, it is suitable for integration within small devices and mounting on mobile platforms.