bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Methods to improve antibacterial properties of PEEK: A review
Authors: Uysal Idil , Tezcaner Ayşen , Evis Zafer 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
As a thermoplastic and bioinert polymer, polyether ether ketone (PEEK) serves as spine implants, femoral stems, cranial implants, and joint arthroplasty implants due to its mechanical properties resembling the cortical bone, chemical stability, and radiolucency. Although there are standards and antibiotic treatments for infection control during and after surgery, the infection risk is lowered but can not be eliminated. The antibacterial properties of PEEK implants should be improved to provide better infection control. This review includes the strategies for enhancing the antibacterial properties of PEEK in four categories: immobilization of functional materials and functional groups, forming nanocomposites, changing surface topography, and coating with antibacterial material. The measuring methods of antibacterial properties of the current studies of PEEK are explained in detail under quantitative, qualitative, and in vivo methods. The mechanisms of bacterial inhibition by reactive oxygen species generation, contact killing, trap killing, and limited bacterial adhesion on hydrophobic surfaces are explained with corresponding antibacterial compounds or techniques. The prospective analysis of the current studies is done, and dual systems combining osteogenic and antibacterial agents immobilized on the surface of PEEK are found the promising solution for a better implant design.
The effect of Wharton’s jelly-derived stem cells seeded/boron-loaded acellular scaffolds on the healing of full-thickness burn wounds in the rat model
Authors: Nikzad Sadeneh , Same Saeideh , Safiri Saeid , Dolati Sanam , Roushangar Zineh Babak , Meshgi Shahla , Roshangar Leila , Şahin Fikrettin 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Burn wounds are the most destructive and complicated type of skin or underlying soft tissue injury that are exacerbated by a prolonged inflammatory response. Several cell-based therapeutic systems through the culturing of potent stem cells on modified scaffolds have been developed to direct the burn healing challenges. In this context, a new regenerative platform based on boron (B) enriched-acellular sheep small intestine submucosa (AOSIS) scaffold was designed and used as a carrier for mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton’s jelly (WJMSCs) aiming to promote the tissue healing in burn-induced rat models. hWJMSCs have been extracted from human extra-embryonic umbilical cord tissue. Thereafter, 96 third‐degree burned Wistar male rats were divided into 4 groups. The animals that did not receive any treatment were considered as group A (control). Then, group B was treated just by AOSIS scaffold, group C was received cell-seeded AOSIS scaffold (hWJMSCs-AOSIS), and group D was covered by boron enriched-cell-AOSIS scaffold (B/hWJMSCs-AOSIS). Inflammatory factors, histopathological parameters, and the expression levels of epitheliogenic and angiogenic proteins were assessed on 5, 14 and 21 d post-wounding. Application of the B/hWJMSCs-AOSIS on full-thickness skin-burned wounds significantly reduced the volume of neutrophils and lymphocytes at day 21 post-burning, whilst the number of fibroblasts and blood vessels enhanced at this time. In addition, molecular and histological analysis of wounds over time further verified that the addition of boron promoted wound healing, with decreased inflammatory factors, stimulated vascularization, accelerated re-epithelialization, and enhanced expression levels of epitheliogenic genes. In addition, the boron incorporation amplified wound closure via increasing collagen deposition and fibroblast volume and activity. Therefore, this newly fabricated hWJMSCs/B-loaded scaffold can be used as a promising system to accelerate burn wound reconstruction through inflammatory regulation and angiogenesis stimulation.
Spatial Analysis Using Geographically Weighted Ordinary Logistic Regression (GWOLR) Method for Prediction of Particle-Size Fraction in Soil Surface
Authors: Pramoedyo Henny , Ngabu Wigbertus , Riza Sativandi , Iriany Atiek 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Spatial analysis is a method used to understand the spatial variation of geospatial data. In this study, the Geographically Weighted Ordinary Logistic Regression (GWOLR) method was used in spatial analysis to predict the particle size fraction of the surface soil. The particle size fraction of the surface soil is an important parameter in determining soil productivity and environmental quality. However, the particle size fraction in surface soils can vary spatially and is influenced by geographical factors such as elevation, rainfall, and soil texture. This study will be carried out by collecting particle size fraction data and geospatial data at randomly selected locations. Accurate modelling of soil texture is necessary because it‘s a crucial factor in determining how soil management will go. However, because soil texture is a compositional data set, it is one of the soil attributes that is more challenging to model. The challenge presented by this compositional data set is the imposition of constant quantities, specifically the requirement that the total of the fractions of clay, silt, and sand be 100%. Topographical variability can be derived from DEM data, making it an independent variable or predictor for soil texture prediction. The data will then be analyzed using the GWOLR method to predict the particle size fraction at locations that have not been observed before. The resulting prediction model will then be evaluated using cross-validation to check the accuracy of the model. This study will provide benefits for land management and natural resource management and can improve understanding of the spatial variation of particle size fractions in surface soils and the spatial and geographical factors that influence them. The GWOLR model for predicting particle size fractions in surface soils was carried out with a fixed bi-square weight and a bandwidth of 0.28895. The GWOLR model classification accuracy value is 94 percent, this shows that the GWOLR model for predicting soil particle size is more suitable than the ordinal logistic regression model with a classification accuracy of 90 percent. The aims of this study are to: (1) Establish a soil texture prediction model using the GWOLR method; and (2) Test the reliability of the model in predicting surface soil texture.
Soil Water in Different Management Systems of Coffee-Pine Agroforestry and Its Relation to Coffee Bean Yields
Authors: Ali Yuddin Fitra Ahmad , Oakley Simon , Prayogo Cahyo , Ratna Sari Rika , Dwi Saputra Danny , Maulana Ishaq Rizki , Sigit Wicaksono Kurniawan , Suprayogo Didik 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Coffee-pine agroforestry is a common land use system in Indonesia, that provides several benefits, including increased soil fertility, biodiversity, and economic returns. However, the management of coffee-pine agroforestry systems can significantly impact on soil water dynamics, affecting coffee bean yields. This study investigated the effects of different management systems on soil water dynamics and coffee bean yields in a coffee-pine agroforestry system in UB Forest, Malang East Java, Indonesia. Five different management systems were evaluated: (i) no management, (ii) pruned coffee with no fertilizer, (iii) pruned coffee with added organic fertilizer, (iv) pruned coffee with added organic-inorganic mix fertilizer, with a planting distance of pine trees of 3 x 2 m, and (v) pruned coffee with added organic-inorganic mix fertilizer under pine trees with a planting distance of 6 x 2 m. The soil water dynamics were measured at depths of 0-0.2 m with a soil moisture sensor and connected with a data logger measured within a year, started in April 2022. Coffee bean yield was measured with 100 coffee plants, then converted to production on ton ha−1. The results showed that the different management systems significantly impacted soil water dynamics and coffee bean yields. The combination of pruning and fertilization is a promising management strategy for increasing coffee bean yields in coffee-pine agroforestry systems. The consequent better growth of coffee plants impacts increasing soil water extraction. This study provides valuable insights for farmers and forest managers who are interested in improving the productivity of coffee-pine agroforestry systems and conserving soil water or sometimes needing water addition through irrigation.
Avoiding barren plateaus in the variational determination of geometric entanglement
Authors: Zambrano L , Muñoz-Moller A D , Muñoz M , Pereira L , Delgado A 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
The barren plateau (BP) phenomenon is one of the main obstacles to implementing variational quantum algorithms in the current generation of quantum processors. Here, we introduce a method capable of avoiding the BP phenomenon in the variational determination of the geometric measure of entanglement for a large number of qubits. The method is based on measuring compatible two-qubit local functions whose optimization allows for achieving a well-suited initial condition from which a global function can be further optimized without encountering a BP. We analytically demonstrate that the local functions can be efficiently estimated and optimized. Numerical simulations up to 18 qubit GHZ and W states demonstrate that the method converges to the exact value. In particular, the method allows for escaping from BPs induced by hardware noise or global functions defined on high-dimensional systems. Numerical simulations with noise agree with experiments carried out on IBM’s quantum processors for seven qubits.
The optimal design of wind-induced vibration energy harvester with microscale and high efficiency
Authors: Chen Siyuan , Bao Guanyu , Guan Yuang , Ma Mingchen , Wang Kejun , Fan Cheng , Wang Qian 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In order to improve the performance of wind-induced vibration energy harvester (WIV-EH), the bluff body and cantilever beam play a significant role when the energy harvester works. In this paper, a WIV-EH model is designed to explore the factors affecting energy capture efficiency. In the Optimal design of bluff body, five kinds of bluff body is set to analyse the influence of the shape on the lift and lift coefficient by COMSOL Multiphysics 6.0. According to the simulation results, the D-shaped bluff body is optimized by changing the scale ratio and windward surface shape. In the Optimal design of cantilever beam, the result shows that under the same bluff body and wind speed, the shape of cantilever beam will affect the magnitude and distribution of strain. we also designed cantilever beams with different materials and splicing materials, and studied the response voltage output at different wind speeds. According to the above results, a wind tunnel test was designed for verification. The research results may provide new ideas for improving the energy harvesting efficiency of energy harvesters.
A social media intervention for high-intensity drinking among emerging adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial
Authors: Bonar Erin E , Tan Chiu Y , Fernandez Anne C , Goldstick Jason E , Chapman Lyndsay , Florimbio Autumn R , Walton Maureen A 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Aims
High-intensity drinking (HID) is a pattern of risky drinking defined as at least 8 drinks (for women) or 10 drinks (for men) in a single episode. Individuals engaged in HID may be at greater risk for consequences, necessitating tailored interventions. Herein, we report the feasibility and acceptability of a social media-delivered 8-week intervention for emerging adults with recent HID.

Methods
Using social media advertising, we recruited 102 emerging adults who reported past-month HID. Average age was 20.0 year-olds (SD = 2.0); 51.0% were male. Most identified as White (64.7%; 14.7% Black/African American, 13.7% multiracial) and 26.5% identified as Hispanic/Latinx. Participants were randomized to an 8-week intervention delivered via Snapchat by health coaches (N = 50) or to a control condition (psychoeducational website referral; N = 52). Follow-ups occurred at 2 and 4 months post-baseline.

Results
The intervention was acceptable (85.1% liked it/liked it a lot) and there were high follow-up rates. Participants rated coaches as supportive (91.5%) and respectful (93.6%). Descriptively, helpfulness ratings were higher for non-alcohol-related content (e.g. stress; 59.6% very/extremely helpful) than alcohol-related content (40.4% very/extremely helpful). Regarding engagement, 86.0% engaged approximately weekly and 59.6% indicated they saved intervention snaps. Descriptive data showed reductions over time in several measures of alcohol consumption and consequences as well as cannabis-impaired driving and mental health symptoms.

Conclusions
This 8-week social media intervention for HID was feasible and acceptable among emerging adults, supporting the benefit of future testing in a fully powered trial.
A Bayesian survival treed hazards model using latent Gaussian processes
Authors: Payne Richard D , Guha Nilabja , Mallick Bani K 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Survival models are used to analyze time-to-event data in a variety of disciplines. Proportional hazard models provide interpretable parameter estimates, but proportional hazard assumptions are not always appropriate. Non-parametric models are more flexible but often lack a clear inferential framework. We propose a Bayesian treed hazards partition model that is both flexible and inferential. Inference is obtained through the posterior tree structure and flexibility is preserved by modeling the log-hazard function in each partition using a latent Gaussian process. An efficient reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is accomplished by marginalizing the parameters in each partition element via a Laplace approximation. Consistency properties for the estimator are established. The method can be used to help determine subgroups as well as prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers in time-to-event data. The method is compared with some existing methods on simulated data and a liver cirrhosis dataset.
Multiobjective tree-based reinforcement learning for estimating tolerant dynamic treatment regimes
Authors: Song Yao , Wang Lu 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT
A dynamic treatment regime (DTR) is a sequence of treatment decision rules that dictate individualized treatments based on evolving treatment and covariate history. It provides a vehicle for optimizing a clinical decision support system and fits well into the broader paradigm of personalized medicine. However, many real-world problems involve multiple competing priorities, and decision rules differ when trade-offs are present. Correspondingly, there may be more than one feasible decision that leads to empirically sufficient optimization. In this paper, we propose a concept of “tolerant regime,” which provides a set of individualized feasible decision rules under a prespecified tolerance rate. A multiobjective tree-based reinforcement learning (MOT-RL) method is developed to directly estimate the tolerant DTR (tDTR) that optimizes multiple objectives in a multistage multitreatment setting. At each stage, MOT-RL constructs an unsupervised decision tree by modeling the counterfactual mean outcome of each objective via semiparametric regression and maximizing a purity measure constructed by the scalarized augmented inverse probability weighted estimators (SAIPWE). The algorithm is implemented in a backward inductive manner through multiple decision stages, and it estimates the optimal DTR and tDTR depending on the decision-maker’s preferences. Multiobjective tree-based reinforcement learning is robust, efficient, easy-to-interpret, and flexible to different settings. We apply MOT-RL to evaluate 2-stage chemotherapy regimes that reduce disease burden and prolong survival for advanced prostate cancer patients using a dataset collected at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Twenty years of embolization for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding: a meta-analysis of rebleeding and ischaemia rates
Authors: Yu Qian , Funaki Brian , Ahmed Osman 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
Transarterial embolization (TAE) for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) can be technically challenging due to the compromise between achieving haemostasis and causing tissue ischaemia. The goal of the present study is to determine its technical success, rebleeding, and post-embolization ischaemia rates through meta-analysis of published literature in the last twenty years.

Methods
PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were queried. Technical success, rebleeding, and ischaemia rates were extracted. Baseline characteristics such as author, publication year, region, study design, embolization material, percentage of superselective embolization were retrieved. Subgroup analysis was performed based on publication time and embolization agent.

Results
A total of 66 studies including 2121 patients who underwent embolization for acute LGIB were included. Endoscopic management was attempted in 34.5%. The pooled overall technical success, rebleeding, post-embolization ischaemia rates were 97.0%, 20.7%, and 7.5%, respectively. Studies published after 2010 showed higher technical success rates (97.8% vs 95.2%), lower rebleeding rates (18.6% vs 23.4%), and lower ischaemia rates (7.3% vs 9.7%). Compared to microcoils, NBCA was associated with a lower rebleeding rate (9.3% vs 20.8%) at the expense of a higher post-embolization ischaemia rate (9.7% vs 4.0%). Coagulopathy (P = .034), inotropic use (P = .040), and malignancy (P = .002) were predictors of post-embolization rebleeding. Haemorrhagic shock (P &lt; .001), inotropic use (P = .026), malignancy (P &lt; .001), coagulopathy (P = .002), blood transfusion (P &lt; .001), and enteritis (P = .023) were predictors of mortality. Empiric embolization achieved a similarly durable haemostasis rate compared to targeted embolization (23.6% vs 21.1%) but a higher risk of post-embolization ischaemia (14.3% vs 4.7%).

Conclusion
For LGIB, TAE has a favourable technical success rate and low risk of post-embolization ischaemia. Its safety and efficacy profile has increased over the last decade. Compared to microcoils, NBCA seemed to offer a more durable haemostasis rate at the expense of higher ischaemia risk. Due to the heterogeneity of currently available evidence, future prospective and comparative studies are warranted.

Advances in knowledge
(1) Acute LGIB embolization demonstrate a high technical success rate with acceptable rate of rebleeding and symptomatic ischaemia rates. Most ischaemic stigmata discovered during routine post-embolization colonoscopy were minor. (2) Although NBCA seemed to offer a more durable haemostasis rate, it was also associated with a higher risk of ischaemia compared to microcoils. (3) Coagulopathy, malignant aetiology, and inotropic use were predictors of rebleeding and mortality. (4) Routine post-embolization endoscopy to assess for ischaemia is not indicated.
Social Work and Intractable Conflict: Professional Experiences and Role Perceptions
Authors: Soffer-Elnekave Ruth 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Social workers worldwide share a common framework and mission: to provide aid to those in need and promote social justice. Yet as an international profession, both global and local realities contribute to the unique ways in which the profession is understood and practised in various locations. This article considers the broad issue of how local and global realities shape social workers’ understanding of the profession using the case of Israeli-Jewish social workers as an exemplar. Narrative and life story methods were used to understand individual life stories within collective political and professional contexts. Sixteen Jewish-Israeli social workers participated in two, individual zoom interviews each in which they described becoming a social worker and practising in the context of an intractable conflict, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Three approaches to social work practice emerged, suggesting that social work in Israel has shifted away from applying ecological perspectives, limiting both how social workers understand their roles and how they practise. Recommendations for incorporating a politically aware framework to social work practice, research and education are discussed.
Trauma as the ‘Belief That the World is a Dangerous Place’: The Obfuscation of Systemic Violence in Social Work’s Discourses of Trauma
Authors: Chatterjee Alicia , Park Yoosun 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
The concept of psychological trauma has been taken up widely in popular culture and in diverse academic fields including social work. In this work of poststructuralist discourse analysis, we used methods of close reading to examine a random sample of thirty social work articles on trauma (published 2010–2020). Our aim was not to refute the salience of the concept nor to establish its true meaning and correct usage, but to critically examine its discursive functions; what does ‘trauma’ do in social work? In our analysis, the progressive aims of the discourses of trauma—to counter pathologisation and confer legitimacy to harms that have been marginalised—are unrealised. ‘Trauma’ is deployed in multiple, often contradictory ways and the slippages between intent and function work to construct the trauma-laden as non-normative, damaged subjects, and legitimate objects, thus, of social work scrutiny and intervention. Social work’s discourses of trauma undermine their own efforts to centre a structural analysis. If ‘to perceive the world as a safe place’ is a signifier of normative, non-traumatised functioning, then what does ‘trauma’ do when applied to the racialised, gendered, colonised and marginalised, for whom the world is not a place of safety but of material and psychical violence?
Evolutionary adaptation to climate change
Authors: Edelsparre Allan H , Fitzpatrick Mark J , Saastamoinen Marjo , Teplitsky Céline 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWhen the notion of climate change emerged over 200 years ago, few speculated as to the impact of rising atmospheric temperatures on biological life. Tens of decades later, research clearly demonstrates that the impact of climate change on life on Earth is enormous, ongoing, and with foreseen effects lasting well into the next century. Responses to climate change have been widely documented. However, the breadth of phenotypic traits involved with evolutionary adaptation to climate change remains unclear. In addition, it is difficult to identify the genetic and/or epigenetic bases of phenotypes adaptive to climate change, in part because it often is not clear whether this change is plastic, genetic, or some combination of the two. Adaptive responses to climate-driven selection also interact with other processes driving genetic changes in general, including demography as well as selection driven by other factors. In this Special Issue, we explore the factors that will impact the overall outcome of climate change adaptation. Our contributions explain that traits involved in climate change adaptation include not only classic phenomena, such as range shifts and environmentally dependent sex determination, but also often overlooked phenomena such as social and sexual conflicts and the expression of stress hormones. We learn how climate-driven selection can be mediated via both natural and sexual selection, effectively influencing key fitness-related traits such as offspring growth and fertility as well as evolutionary potential. Finally, we explore the limits and opportunities for predicting adaptive responses to climate change. This contribution forms the basis of 10 actions that we believe will improve predictions of when and how organisms may adapt genetically to climate change. We anticipate that this Special Issue will inform novel investigations into how the effects of climate change unfold from phenotypes to genotypes, particularly as methodologies increasingly allow researchers to study selection in field experiments.