bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Psychological distress, health-promoting lifestyle and sociodemographic factors in Honduran university students: a structural equation model
Authors: Castillo-Díaz Marcio Alexander , Martínez María Candelaria , Periañez Carlos Alberto Henao , Sauceda-Acosta Dilcia 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This study sought to analyze an explanatory model on the relationship among sociodemographic factors, health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress) in college students. This is an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study conducted on a national sample of 4203 students who entered a macro university in Honduras in 2021, 2022 and 2023. We used a sociodemographic survey, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). Univariate analysis and a multivariate structural equation model were conducted. The average HPLP-II score was 117.45 (± 23.41), and the average DASS-21 score was 20.06 (± 14.16). The multivariate model showed a good data fit (comparative fit index = 0.951; Tucker–Lewis index = 0.957; root mean square error of approximation = 0.067 [90% CI = 0.067–0.068]). Results indicate that being a woman (β = 0.11; p &lt; 0.001) and being enrolled in biological and health sciences (β = 0.09; p &lt; 0.001) significantly predict HPLP-II scores. Furthermore, being a woman (β = 0.17; p &lt; 0.001), age (β = 0.10; p &lt; 0.001) and having pre-existing medical conditions (β = 0.16; p &lt; 0.001) significantly explain part of the variance of DASS-21. A significant reverse relationship between health-promoting behavior and psychological distress was shown (r = −0.36; p &lt; 0.001). This study identifies protective and risky sociodemographic factors linked to health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress. Our findings have implications for developing comprehensive intervention policies and strategies to promote health in higher education settings.
Links between Innate and Adaptive Immunity Can Favor Evolutionary Persistence of Immunopathology
Authors: Cressler Clayton E , Adelman James S 
Published: July 2024

Synopsis
Immunopathology, or the harm caused to an organism’s own tissues during the activation of its immune system, carries substantial costs. Moreover, avoiding this self-harm may be an important mechanism underlying tolerance of infection, helping to reducing fitness costs without necessarily clearing parasites. Despite the apparent benefits of minimizing immunopathology, such damage persists across a range of host species. Prior work has explored a trade-off with resistance during a single infection as a potential driver of this persistence, with some collateral damage being unavoidable when killing parasites. Here, we present an additional trade-off that could favor the continued presence of immunopathology: robust immune responses during initial infection (e.g., innate immunity in vertebrates) can induce stronger memory (adaptive immunity), offering protection from future infections. We explore this possibility in an adaptive dynamics framework, using theoretical models parameterized from an ecologically relevant host-parasite system, house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) infected with the bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum. We find that some degree of immunopathology is often favored when immunopathology during first infection either reduces susceptibility to or enhances recovery from second infection. Further, interactions among factors like transmission rate, recovery rate, background mortality, and pathogen virulence also shape these evolutionary dynamics. Most notably, the evolutionary stability of investment in immunopathology is highly dependent upon the mechanism by which hosts achieve secondary protection (susceptibility vs. recovery), with the potential for abrupt evolutionary shifts between high and low investment under certain conditions. These results highlight the potential for immune memory to play an important role in the evolutionary persistence of immunopathology and the need for future empirical research to reveal the links between immunopathology during initial infections and longer-term immune protection.
‘Fire and Rehire’: Four Lessons from Australia
Authors: Pittard Marilyn J , Ewing K D 
Published: July 2024

ABSTRACT
The practice of firing employees and then rehiring them in their same jobs on inferior conditions and lower wages (‘fire and rehire’) has emerged as a matter of acute political controversy. Its use in the United Kingdom has become even more controversial in the period since the Covid-19 pandemic. A brutal example of the practice was seen in the P&O case, which could be viewed as an example of ‘fire and replace’ as well as ‘fire and rehire’. In March 2022, P&O Ferries summarily dismissed 786 seafarers, setting aside £44 million to meet the anticipated compensation costs arising from its failure to comply with multiple employment law obligations owed to the crew. Approximately 100 of those dismissed were re-engaged on new terms, the remainder replaced by new crew engaged through agencies on inferior terms and conditions. This article addresses what would need to be done to ‘ban’ fire and rehire, and the related practice of fire and replace. It is argued that fire and rehire is a symptom of system failure which will not be addressed by sticking plaster solutions or by an unenforceable code, but by addressing the underlying causes. This means better regulation, treating collective agreements and contracts of employment with greater respect, better procedures for the negotiation of change, and more effective remedies designed to restrain employers from acting unlawfully. In addressing these matters we draw extensively on the experience of Australia where fire and rehire as understood or practised in the United Kingdom is largely unknown.
Evaluation of a Novel Point-of-Care Blood Myxovirus Resistance Protein A Measurement for the Detection of Viral Infection at the Pediatric Emergency Department
Authors: Piri Ruut , Ivaska Lauri , Kujari Anna-Maija , Julkunen Ilkka , Peltola Ville , Waris Matti 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Background
Prompt differentiation of viral from bacterial infections in febrile children is pivotal in reducing antibiotic overuse. Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) is a promising viral biomarker.

Methods
We evaluated the accuracy of a point-of-care (POC) measurement for blood MxA level compared to the reference enzyme immunoassay in 228 febrile children aged between 4 weeks and 16 years, enrolled primarily at the emergency department (ED). Furthermore, we analyzed the ability of MxA to differentiate viral from bacterial infections.

Results
The mean difference between POC and reference MxA level was −76 µg/L (95% limits of agreement from −409 to 257 µg/L). Using a cutoff of 200 µg/L, POC results were uniform with the reference assay in 199 (87.3%) children. In ED-collected samples, the median POC MxA level was 571 (interquartile range [IQR], 240–955) µg/L in children with viral infections, 555 (IQR, 103–889) µg/L in children with viral-bacterial coinfections, and 25 (IQR, 25–54) µg/L in children with bacterial infections (P &lt; .001). MxA cutoff of 101 µg/L differentiated between viral and bacterial infections with 92% sensitivity and 91% specificity.

Conclusions
POC MxA measurement demonstrated acceptable analytical accuracy compared to the reference method, and good diagnostic accuracy as a biomarker for viral infections.
An efficient lightweight railway track segmentation network for resource-constrained platforms with TensorRT
Authors: Chen Chenglin , Wang Fei , Yang Min , Qin Yong , Bai Yun 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Accurate and rapid railway track segmentation is fundamental for foreign object intrusion detection, inspection, online monitoring, and non-destructive assessment of transportation infrastructure. Recently, vision-based track segmentation algorithms have demonstrated strong performance. However, most existing models struggle to meet the real-time requirements of resource-constrained edge devices. Considering this challenge, we propose an edge-enabled real-time railway track segmentation algorithm, which is optimized to be suitable for edge applications by optimizing the network structure and quantizing the model after training. Initially, Ghost convolution is introduced to reduce the complexity of the backbone, thereby achieving the extraction of key information on the region of interest at a lower cost. To further reduce the model complexity and calculation, a new lightweight detection head is proposed to achieve the best balance between accuracy and efficiency. Subsequently, we introduce quantization techniques to map the model’s floating-point weights and activation values into lower bit-width fixed-point representations, reducing computational demands and memory footprint, ultimately accelerating the model’s inference. Finally, we draw inspiration from GPU parallel programming principles to expedite the pre-processing and post-processing stages of the algorithm by doing parallel processing. The approach is evaluated with the public and challenging dataset RailSem19 and tested on Jetson Nano. Experimental results demonstrate that our enhanced algorithm achieves an accuracy level of 83.3% with 25 FPS inference speed when the input size is 480$\times $480. The code can be found at: https://github.com/ccl-1/light-yolov8-seg-quantization-tensorrt.
Zinc proteinate with moderate chelation strength enhances zinc absorption by upregulating the expression of zinc and amino acid transporters in primary cultured duodenal epithelial cells of broiler embryos
Authors: Hu Yun , Wu Wei , Huang Liang , Zhang Liyang , Cao Chunyu , Zhang Weiyun , Hu Yangyang , Cui Xiaoyan , Li Tingting , Wang Shengchen , Luo Xugang 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Recent study showed that zinc (Zn) and amino acid transporters may be involved in enhancing Zn absorption from Zn proteinate with moderate chelation strength (Zn-Prot M) in the duodenum of broilers. However, the specific mechanisms by which Zn-Prot M promotes the above Zn absorption are unknown. Therefore, in this study, 3 experiments were conducted to investigate specific and direct effects of Zn-Prot M and Zn sulfate (ZnS) on Zn absorption and expression of related transporters in primary duodenal epithelial cells of broiler embryos so as to preliminarily address possible mechanisms. In experiment 1, cells were treated with 100 μmol Zn/L as ZnS or Zn-Prot M for 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, or 120 min. Experiment 2 consisted of 3 sub-experiments. In experiment 2A, cells were treated with a Zn-unsupplemented basal medium (Control) or the basal medium supplemented with 100 or 200 μmol Zn/L as ZnS or Zn-Prot M for 60 min; in experiment 2B, cells were treated with a Zn-unsupplemented basal medium (Control) or the basal medium supplemented with 200 μmol Zn/L of as the ZnS or Zn-Prot M for 120 min; in experiment 2C, cells were treated with a Zn-unsupplemented basal medium (Control) or the basal medium supplemented with 400 or 800 μmol Zn/L as ZnS or Zn-Prot M for 120 min. In experiment 3, cells were treated with a Zn-unsupplemented basal medium (Control) or the basal medium supplemented with 400 μmol Zn/L as ZnS or Zn-Prot M for 120 min. The results of experiment 1 indicated that the minimum incubation time for saturable Zn absorption was determined to be 50.83 min using the best fit line. The results in experiment 2 demonstrated that a Zn concentration of 400 μmol/L and an incubation time of 120 min were suitable to increase the absorption of Zn from Zn-Prot M compared to ZnS. In experiment 3, Zn absorption across cell monolayers was significantly increased by Zn addition (P &lt; 0.05), and was significantly greater with Zn-Prot M than with ZnS (P &lt; 0.05). Compared to the control, Zn addition significantly decreased Zn transporter 10 and peptide-transporter 1 mRNA expression levels and increased y + L-type amino transporter 2 (y + LAT2) protein abundance (P &lt; 0.05). Moreover, protein expression levels of zrt/irt-like protein 3 (ZIP3), zrt–irt-like protein 5 (ZIP5), and y + LAT2 were significantly greater for Zn-Prot M than for ZnS (P &lt; 0.05). These findings suggest that Zn-Prot M promote Zn absorption by increasing ZIP3, ZIP5 and y + LAT2 protein expression levels in primary duodenal epithelial cells.
Bayesian linearized inversion for petrophysical and pore-connectivity parameters with seismic elastic data of carbonate reservoirs
Authors: Ba Jing , Chen Jiawei , Guo Qiang , Cheng Wei , Yang Zhifang , Chen Xiao , Luo Cong 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Carbonate reservoirs are important targets for promoting the oil and gas reserve exploration and production in China. However, such reservoirs usually contain developed complex pore structures, which heavily affect the precision in seismic prediction of petrophysical parameters. As one of the most important parameters to characterize reservoir rock, pore-related parameters can not only describe the pore structure, but also be used to evaluate the oil/gas-bearing capabilities of potential reservoirs. The conventional rock-physics models (e.g. Gassmann's model) are formulated assuming fully connected pores, which is unable to accurately capture the geometrical complexity in real rocks. To characterize the influences of multiple pores on the elastic properties, this work presents a rock-physics modeling method for carbonates, wherein the percentage composition of connected pores is equivalently quantified as the pore-connectivity factor. The method treats the pore-connectivity factor as an objective variable to characterize the spatial variations of pore structure. Specifically, the method combines the differential equivalent medium theory and Gassmann's model, and derives a linearized forward operator to quantitatively link porosity, water saturation, and pore-connectivity factor to seismic elastic parameters. According to the Bayesian linear inverse theory, the simultaneous estimation of petrophysical and pore-connectivity parameters is achieved. To characterize the statistical variations with multiple lithofacies, the Gaussian mixture model is employed to quantify the prior distribution of the objective variables. The posterior distribution of the objective variables is analytically expressed with the linearized forward operator. Numerical experiments show that the accuracy of the proposed method in predicting elastic parameters is improved. Compared with the conventional Xu–White model and the varying pore aspect-ratio method, the accuracy of predicted P-wave velocity increases by 10.29% and 1.33%, respectively, and the predicted S-wave velocity increases by 6.44% and 0.03%, in terms of correlation coefficient. The application to the field data validates the effectiveness of the method, wherein the porosity and water saturation results help indicating the spatial distribution of potential reservoirs.
Development of an operational trap for collection, killing, and preservation of triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae): the kissing bug kill trap
Authors: Hamer Gabriel L , Fimbres-Macias Juan P , Juarez Jose G , Downs Christopher H , Carbajal Ester , Melo Melinda , Garza Danya Y , Killets Keswick C , Wilkerson Gregory K , Carrera-Treviño Rogelio , Corona-Barrera Enrique , Tello-Campa Arturo Arabied , Rojas-Mesta Martha Rocío , Borden John H , Banfield Michael G , Hamer Sarah A 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Surveillance of triatomines or kissing bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae), the insect vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, a Chagas disease agent, is hindered by the lack of an effective trap. To develop a kissing bug trap, we made iterative improvements over 3 years on a basic design resulting in 7 trap prototypes deployed across field sites in Texas, United States and Northern Mexico, yielding the capture of 325 triatomines of 4 species (Triatoma gerstaeckeri [Stål], T. sanguisuga [LeConte], T. neotomae [Neiva], and T. rubida [Uhler]). We began in 2019 with vertical transparent tarpaulin panel traps illuminated with artificial light powered by AC current, which were successful in autonomous trapping of flying triatomines, but were expensive, labor-intensive, and fragile. In 2020, we switched to white LED lights powered by a solar cell. We tested a scaled-down version of the vertical panel traps, a commercial cross-vane trap, and a multiple-funnel trap. The multiple-funnel traps captured 2.6× more kissing bugs per trap-day than cross-vane traps and approached the performance of the vertical panel traps in number of triatomines captured, number of triatomines per trap-day and triatomines per arthropod bycatch. Multiple-funnel traps required the least labor, were more durable, and had the highest triatomines per day per cost. Propylene glycol in the collection cups effectively preserved captured triatomines allowing for molecular detection of T. cruzi. The trapping experiments established dispersal patterns for the captured species. We conclude that multiple-funnel traps with solar-powered LED lights should be considered for adoption as surveillance and potentially mass-trapping management tools for triatomines.
New report of Haemaphysalis longicornis (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in Mecklenburg County, Virginia from field collections
Authors: Adams Dayvion R , Barbarin Alexis M , Reiskind Michael H 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Haemaphysalis longicornis (Neumann) was first established in New Jersey and has rapidly spread across most of the eastern United States. This tick has the potential to infest a wide variety of hosts and can reproduce quickly via parthenogenesis, presenting a new threat to animal health. Here we report the first record of a single H. longicornis tick in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, from incidental field collections of ticks. In addition to H. longicornis, we collected 787 Amblyomma americanum, 25 Dermacentor variabilis, 6 Ixodes affinis, 1 Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, and 1 Amblyomma maculatum using standard dragging and flagging techniques. The expansion of H. longicornis will have economic consequences for livestock producers in south-central Virginia, who must now manage this species. Enhanced surveillance is needed to fully understand its growing geographic distribution in the United States and the subsequent consequences of its spread.
Network pharmacology prediction, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation-based strategy to explore the potential mechanism of Huashanshen dripping pill against asthma
Authors: Wang Xiaoyu , Ji Yansu , Jin Xin , Zhou Miaomiao , Wu Yujie , Xu Yanhong , Liu Rui , Feng Jihong 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Objectives
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation. Huashanshen dripping pills (HSS) are commonly utilized for relieving asthma, relieving cough, and expelling phlegm. At present, the molecular mechanism against airway inflammation remains unclear.

Methods
In this study, network pharmacology, molecular docking technology, and molecular dynamic simulation were used to predict the therapeutic pathways of HSS for asthma. The ovalbumin-induced mouse model was used to further validate the prediction by RT-qPCR, western blot, immunofluorescence, and related methods.

Key findings
The findings indicate that HSS improves lung function and relieves lung inflammation by reducing inflammatory cell infiltration around the bronchus and reducing eosinophilic counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). In addition, it lowers the levels of inflammatory cytokines and the expression levels of interleukin-4, interleukin-5, and interleukin-13 mRNA. HSS also inhibits the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 protein.

Conclusions
All results suggested that HSS can decrease airway inflammation in asthmatic mice by inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway. This finding will shed light on how it can be used to treat asthma.
Jerk (d(acceleration)/dt) as an operative variable in pneumatic tube transport (PTT)
Authors: Mattiello Christopher J , Stickle Douglas F 
Published: July 2024

Abstract

Background
Jerk, the rate of change of acceleration (d(acceleration)/dt), is a known operative variable in public transportation safety, but this term has never appeared in the literature regarding pneumatic tube transport (PTT) and specimen integrity. We investigated profiles of acceleration and jerk for 2 PTT routes within our hospital system.

Methods
Acceleration data were collected for PTT for 2 routes (A, B) using an accelerometer. Acceleration vectors (a) were analyzed in terms of distributions of jerk (da/dt), and distributions of θ, the angle between successive acceleration vectors.

Results
Routes A and B had transit times of approximately 300 s. Acceleration vectors (a) ranged in magnitude from 0 to 8 g. For B, a &gt; 1.2 g comprised 29.0% of results, compared to 13.5% of results for A (ratio = 2.1). Jerk ranged from 0 to 94 g/s. For B, jerk &gt; 0.5 g/s comprised 71.9% of results, compared to 32.5% of results for A (ratio = 2.2). θ ranged from 0 to 180 degrees. For B, θ &gt; 5 degrees comprised 59.3% of results, compared to 26.6% of results for A (ratio = 2.2).

Conclusion
Differences in distribution in acceleration, jerk, and θ ran in parallel as variables for comparison between 2 PTT routes. Jerk and θ are likely to be operative variables in effects of PTT.
Development of novel species-specific and genus-specific primers for the detection of Babaco Mosaic Virus (BabMV)
Authors: Albuja-Quintana Martina , Armijos Carolina E , Montero-Oleas Andrea , Torres Maria de Lourdes 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Babaco is a hybrid cultivar native to the Andean region of Ecuador and Colombia, commercially attractive for its fruit. Babaco production in Ecuador faces losses from plant pathogens like babaco mosaic virus (BabMV), an RNA virus that causes chlorosis, leaf mottling, and deformation. Phylogenetic studies link BabMV to papaya mosaic virus (PapMV), alternanthera mosaic virus, and senna mosaic virus. To address this threat, we developed novel species-specific primers to detect BabMV targeting a 165 bp region of the coat protein (CP). Genus-specific primers were designed to validate the species-specific primers and attest their ability to discriminate between BabMV and its closest relatives. These primers targeted a 175 bp fragment of the CP region. The most effective sets of primers were chosen for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and SYBR® Green-based quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in symptomatic and asymptomatic babaco plants. Among 28 plants tested, 25 were positive and 3 were negative for BabMV using species-specific and genus-specific primers in RT-PCR and RT-qPCR, while the PapMV positive control was detected with the genus-specific primers and was negative for the species-specific primers. These primers represent a valuable molecular tool for detecting BabMV, potentially enhancing crop management.