bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association of temperament with oral health behaviour and caries status in Thai preschool children
Authors: Gultangvattana Piyanuch , Chutabhakdikul Nuanchan , Leelataweewud Pattarawadee , Smutkeeree Apiwan , Jirarattanasopha Varangkanar 
Published: July 2023

AbstractBackgroundTemperament associated with oral health behaviour and early childhood caries (ECC) in preschoolers remains inconclusive.AimThis cross‐sectional study investigated the association of temperament with oral health behaviour and ECC status.DesignA total of 421 Thai preschoolers were recruited from elementary schools in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Their caregivers assessed three temperament dimensions (surgency, negative affectivity and effortful control) using the Thai version of the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire Very Short Form and reported oral health behaviours (brushing cooperation and cariogenic snack frequency). Three calibrated dentists assessed ECC status using the modified WHO dmft/dmfs (decayed, missing and filled teeth/surface) index that included noncavitated and cavitated carious lesions.ResultsMultiple regression analysis, after adjusting for child's and caregiver's characteristics, revealed that children with high negative affectivity or low effortful control were more likely to have uncooperative brushing behaviour. The temperament scores of children who consumed cariogenic snacks daily and those who did not were comparable. Children with low surgency, high negative affectivity or low effortful control were more likely to have high dmfs scores.ConclusionNegative affectivity and effortful control were associated with brushing behaviour. Temperament was not associated with the frequency of cariogenic snack consumption. All temperamental dimensions, however, were associated with ECC.
The impact of pre‐existing influenza antibodies and inflammatory status on the influenza vaccine responses in older adults
Authors: Kang Min , Lin Fangmei , Jiang Zhanpeng , Tan Xiaohua , Lin Xia , Liang Zaolan , Xiao Cheng , Xia Yonghe , Guan Wenda , Yang Zifeng , Yu Guangchuang , Zanin Mark , Tang Shixing , Wong Sook‐San 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAge‐associated immune changes and pre‐existing influenza immunity are hypothesized to reduce influenza vaccine effectiveness in older adults, although the contribution of each factor is unknown. Here, we constructed influenza‐specific IgG landscapes and determined baseline concentrations of cytokines typically associated with chronic inflammation in older adults (TNF‐α, IL‐10, IL‐6, and IFN‐γ) in 30 high and 29 low influenza vaccine responders (HR and LR, respectively). In a background of high H3 antibody titers, vaccine‐specific H3, but not H1, antibody titers were boosted in LRs to titers comparable to HRs. Pre‐vaccination concentrations of IL‐10 were higher in LRs compared with HRs and inversely correlated with titers of pre‐existing influenza antibodies. Baseline TNF‐α concentrations were positively correlated with fold‐increases in antibody titers in HRs. Our findings indicate that baseline inflammatory status is an important determinant for generating post‐vaccination hemagglutinin‐inhibition antibodies in older adults, and IgG responses can be boosted in the context of high pre‐existing immunity.
Sleep quality, frailty and overall health among community‐dwelling older people: A longitudinal study
Authors: Xu Lijuan , Tao Xuemei , Lou Yan , Engström Maria 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAimsThe aims of the study were to describe sleep quality among community‐dwelling older people; determine the association between sleep quality (total and multidimensional), frailty and overall health; study frailty as a mediator in the association between sleep quality and overall health.DesignThis longitudinal, correlative study used data from 2020 to 2022.MethodsA total of 181 community‐dwelling older people in a city in Southeast China were assessed twice. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at Time 1 (year 2020); frailty was measured using the FRAIL scale, and overall health was measured using the EuroQol visual analogue scale at Time 1 and 2 (1 year later). Associations and indirect effects were examined using linear regression analyses using the PROCESS Macro (Model 4).ResultsPoor sleep quality (higher scores) was associated with increased frailty over time (total scale), as well as subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep efficiency and daytime dysfunction. Mediation analyses indicated that frailty change had an indirect effect on the association between sleep quality total score Time (T) 1 and overall health T2 and between the dimensions subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep efficiency and daytime dysfunction and overall health. All analyses were adjusted for age, multimorbidity and overall health T1.ConclusionsPoor sleep quality is a common problem associated with poor overall health after 1 year, and the progression of frailty mediates this association.ImpactThe findings provide a better understanding of the association between sleep quality and overall health and elucidate the mediating effect of frailty. Regular screening and effective treatment by healthcare providers for sleep problems and frailty in older people are necessary to improve their overall health and enhance healthy ageing.Patient or Public ContributionParticipants in the study provided the data used for all data analysis in the manuscript. Patient or public were not involved in data analysis, interpretation or manuscript preparation. Staff in the community health centre helped with data collection.
De‐noising method of aquatic product image with foreign matters based on improved wavelet transform and bilateral filter
Authors: Zhang Chunyan , Li Xinxing 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAiming at the strong spot noise caused by the reflection of meat slices in fish image with foreign matters that collected by ordinary camera or Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera, we proposed an improved wavelet transform and bilateral filtering algorithm to reduce the noise of image. In this paper, our algorithm absorbed the advantages of wavelet threshold de‐noising algorithm and bilateral filtering algorithm, the wavelet threshold de‐noising algorithm being used for high frequency components and bilateral filtering being used for low frequency components, which not only achieved the effect of eliminating noise and weakening light spot, but also protected the details of the image. In the experiment, in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we used the traditional bilateral filtering, Gaussian filtering and median filtering algorithms to process 500 salmon fish images which had residual fishbone, respectively. Since the original image itself was a noisy image, it was impossible to evaluate the noise reduction effect by using an algorithm that requires a noiseless image as a reference image, so we used five methods to evaluate the quality of the image processed by each algorithm, which were Blind/Referenceless Image Spatial QUality Evaluator (BRISQE), Cumulative Probability of Blur Detection (CPBD), variance, image entropy, and operation speed. Among them, BRISQE and CPBD could quantitatively reflect the overall quality of the image, the lower the BRISQE score or the higher the CPBD score, the better the quality of the image. Compared with other algorithms, the BRISQE score and CPBD score of the image processed by our algorithm were the best, with the average scores reaching 20.65 and .8421, respectively. Experimental results showed that the improved algorithm in this paper can effectively eliminate this kind of strong spot noise. The processed image has achieved better visual effect in both subjective and objective level.
Strategic Behaviour and Risk Aversion in Local Governance
Authors: Harmon Josephine 
Published: July 2023

AbstractUnder what conditions is local governance influenced by external interests? I illustrate the capacity of external lobbies' strategic behavior to affect local change on hot button issues by exploiting resource asymmetries between them. Using a case of gun policy in the Chicago suburbs, I analyse how local policymaking on guns changed. While the gun lobby's federal impact has been explored, its local influence is insufficiently considered. I find two main insights. First, the institutional landscape around firearms after 2008 impacted local policymaking that was resilient to challenge in 1981. Second, the gun lobby became more resourceful in its influencing strategies, which activated the latent potential of these institutional changes to exert a local effect. This granular study contributes insights on the gun lobby's local impact and the institutional local consequences federal changes brought. This comparative analysis theorises the NRA's strategic use of ‘precedent as resource’, locales' risk aversion when faced with better‐resourced external lobbies, and how resource asymmetries become significant in unfavorable legal environments, with wider implications regarding lobby‐locale policy interactions afterDobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization(2022). The social‐political uses of law as a strategic resource offers a study of the downstream impacts of the courts' politicization since the 2000s.
Comprehensive cornified envelope protein profile of odontogenic keratocysts clarifies the characteristics of non‐keratinized oral epithelium
Authors: Roy Rita R. , Ochiai Takanaga , Shimada Katsumitsu , Hasegawa Hiromasa 
Published: July 2023

AbstractBackgroundOdontogenic keratocysts constitute 10%–20% of odontogenic cysts and exhibit a distinctive corrugated parakeratinized lining epithelium. Considering that cornified envelope formation is an important phenomenon during keratinocyte differentiation, this study aimed to clarify the characteristics of cornified envelope formation in odontogenic keratocysts.MethodsWe investigated the cellular distribution of cornified envelope‐related proteins (transglutaminases and their substrates), as well as the upstream regulatory protein c‐Fos, by immunohistochemical analysis of the lining epithelium of 20 odontogenic keratocysts. We examined the corresponding mRNA levels by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Ten dentigerous cysts served as control non‐keratinized cysts.ResultsThe distributions of transglutaminase and their substrates except loricrin and small protein‐rich protein 1a significantly differed between odontogenic keratocysts and dentigerous cysts. There was no significant difference in c‐Fos expression between odontogenic keratocysts and dentigerous cysts. The mRNA levels of transglutaminases and their substrates were significantly higher in odontogenic keratocysts than in dentigerous cysts. However, c‐Fos mRNA levels did not significantly differ between groups.ConclusionSurprisingly, the overall appearance of cornified envelope‐related proteins of odontogenic keratocysts was consistent with the characteristics of non‐keratinized oral mucosa identified in previous studies. These findings indicate that the contribution of cornified envelope‐related molecules in odontogenic keratocysts is similar to that in non‐keratinized oral epithelium, rather than keratinized oral epithelium, suggesting that odontogenic keratocysts are not genuine keratinized cysts. The upregulation of cornified envelope‐related genes in odontogenic epithelium could be an important pathognomonic event during odontogenic keratocyst development.
Burrell's Critical Thomism: Aquinas and Kant Revisited
Authors: Norman Jack E. V. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractDavid Burrell's version of Aquinas was written with Kantian parallels in mind. This is the accusation of John Milbank that was questioned by Nicholas Lash and Paul DeHart in a series of articles. ‘Burrell's Critical Thomism’ shows beyond doubt that Milbank's claim is correct: Burrell cites Kant throughout his oeuvre and finds parallels between Aquinas and Kant's philosophies. However, this article also shows that the form of Kantianism promulgated by Burrell is not as dogmatic as Milbank argues, especially in Burrell's later writings. If Milbank's critique holds, it follows that a properly negative theology must be denied. Finally, the relationship between Milbank's participatory theology and Burrell's emphasis on divine simpleness is examined in order to critically evaluate the status of participation in God, arguing that, for Aquinas, it does not make sense to say we participate in the divine essence, only in its likeness. Direct participation in God's essence is rendered incoherent by divine simpleness.
Display optimization under the multinomial logit choice model: Balancing revenue and customer satisfaction
Authors: Feldman Jacob , Jiang Puping 
Published: July 2023

In this paper, we consider an assortment optimization problem in which a platform must choose pairwise disjoint sets of assortments to offer across a series of T stages. Arriving customers begin their search process in the first stage, and progress sequentially through the stages until their patience expires, at which point they make a multinomial logit–based purchasing decision from among all products they have viewed throughout their search process. The goal is to choose the sequential displays of product offerings to maximize expected revenue. Additionally, we impose stage‐specific constraints that ensure that as each customer progresses farther and farther through the T stages, there is a minimum level of “desirability” met by the collections of displayed products. We consider two related measures of desirability: purchase likelihood and expected utility derived from the offered assortments. In this way, the offered sequence of assortments must be both high earning and well liked, which breaks from the traditional assortment setting, where customer‐centric considerations are generally not explicitly accounted for. We show that our assortment problem of interest is strongly NP‐Hard, thus ruling out the existence of a fully polynomial‐time approximation scheme (FPTAS). From an algorithmic standpoint, as a warm‐up, we develop a simple constant factor approximation scheme in which we carefully stitch together myopically selected assortments for each stage. Our main algorithmic result consists of a polynomial‐time approximation scheme (PTAS), which combines a handful of structural results related to the make‐up of the optimal assortment sequence within an approximate dynamic programming framework. We also provide an additional approximation scheme, which, under mild assumptions, can handle a cardinality constraint that enforces that an exact number of new products are introduced at each stage. Using an extensive set of numerical experiments, we demonstrate that both algorithms exhibit excellent practical performance, producing sequences of assortments that are, on average, always within 2% of optimal.
The power of the Paris Agreement in international climate litigation
Authors: Voigt Christina 
Published: July 2023

AbstractClimate litigation has reached the international level with several requests for advisory opinions from international courts and tribunals, and human rights treaty bodies addressing climate change‐related human rights violations. The Paris Agreement will likely be relevant in many of these and other cases to come, whether directly in disputes about its application or interpretation, or indirectly in informing the interpretation of other international agreements, such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It could also inform the due diligence standard contained in customary international environmental law. This article first examines normative elements of the Paris Agreement that may become relevant in the interpretation of other international norms. It then identifies some potential entry points of legal influence of these elements in the interpretation and application of other international law, especially the ECHR and UNCLOS. The article argues that the legal influence of the Agreement goes above and beyond the ‘legal fold’ in which it was adopted and can inform the interpretation of other international treaties and norms. ‘Paris‐aligned’ interpretation, taking into account the diligence standards contained in the Agreement, could impact on the contemporary understanding of international law more generally. Such interpretation might be necessary to avoid undermining the relevance of the Agreement. Importantly, it suggests that Paris‐aligned interpretation of other international treaties can provide a positive feedback loop towards effective implementation of, and compliance with, the Paris Agreement. Eventually, such Paris alignment may enhance legal consistency between diverse parts of international law and break down fragmented silos.
A risk–risk trade‐off assessment of climate‐induced mortality risk changes
Authors: Mussio Irene , Chilton Susan , Duxbury Darren , Nielsen Jytte Seested 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe impact of climate change on human health was identified as a priority for the UN COP26 conference. In this article, we consider climate‐induced changes to mortality risks and how to incorporate these formally in the policy appraisal process. In the United Kingdom (UK), the Value of Statistical Life (VSL) is used to monetarize the benefits of policies to reduce mortality risks but it remains an open, empirical question as to whether the current VSL (£2.14 million per fatality prevented, December 2021 values) for traffic accidents should be applied in other contexts without any modification and particularly for extreme weather event fatalities. Using a representative sample of the UK population, we aim to estimate and better understand the trade‐offs people make when comparing mortality risks, drawing on psychological insights from construal level and regulatory focus theories. We design a stated preference survey using a relative valuation framework with nonmonetary, risk–risk trade‐off questions between extreme weather event and traffic accident mortality risks. We find evidence of an extreme weather event risk premium of 1.2–1.6 (implying a climate‐related VSL of £2.52–£3.41 million). We also find that participants who are psychologically close to climate change (based on construal level theory), weigh reducing extreme weather event mortality risks almost two times that of reducing traffic accident mortality risks.
Controlled Bubble Formation From a Microelectrode Single Bubble Generator
Authors: Yang Bo , Jafarian Mehdi , Freidoonimehr Navid , Arjomandi Maziar 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
In this work, a new micro-electrode bubble generator is presented that employs a micro-electrode installed inside a small nozzle enabling the production of bubbles with controllable size and frequency. This bubble generator can be employed as a simple and potentially cheap method for the generation of single bubbles in a liquid, as long as it enables ion exchange, as an alternative to more complicated methods such as timely injection of a gas through a nozzle, which requires sophisticated nozzle design, manufacturing, and monitoring of the injected gas flow rate. A systematic investigation was conducted to assess the effect of the bubble generator dimensions, applied voltage, and electrolyte flow conditions on the size and frequency of the generated bubbles. It was shown that when the micro-electrode is thinly concealed within the nozzle, this bubble generator can successfully produce bubbles covering a wide range of diameters from 0.4 to 1.4 mm with a size distribution standard deviation of about 25%. The mechanism of single and continuous bubbles formation from the proposed bubble generator is also discussed. While this paper introduces this new micro-electrode bubble generator, further work is required to optimize it, enabling more accurate control over bubble size and frequency.
Chromatin control of human cytomegalovirus infection
Authors: Matthews Stephen M. , Groves Ian J. , O'Connor Christine M. 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACT
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a betaherpesvirus that establishes lifelong infection in its host and can cause severe comorbidities in individuals with suppressed or compromised immune systems. The lifecycle of HCMV consists of lytic and latent phases, largely dependent upon the cell type infected and whether transcription from the major immediate early locus can ensue. Control of this locus, which acts as a critical “switch” region from where the lytic gene expression cascade originates, as well as regulation of the additional ~235 kilobases of virus genome, occurs through chromatinization with cellular histone proteins after infection. Upon infection of a host cell, an initial intrinsic antiviral response represses gene expression from the incoming genome, which is relieved in permissive cells by viral and host factors in concert. Latency is established in a subset of hematopoietic cells, during which viral transcription is largely repressed while the genome is maintained. As these latently infected cells differentiate, the cellular milieu and epigenetic modifications change, giving rise to the initial stages of virus reactivation from latency. Thus, throughout the cycle of infection, chromatinization, chromatin modifiers, and the recruitment of specific transcription factors influence the expression of genes from the HCMV genome. In this review, we discuss epigenetic regulation of the HCMV genome during the different phases of infection, with an emphasis on recent reports that add to our current perspective.
Intensive care unit sinks are persistently colonized with multidrug resistant bacteria and mobilizable, resistance-conferring plasmids
Authors: Diorio-Toth Luke , Wallace Meghan A. , Farnsworth Christopher W. , Wang Bin , Gul Danish , Kwon Jennie H. , Andleeb Saadia , Burnham Carey-Ann D. , Dantas Gautam 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACT

Contamination of hospital sinks with microbial pathogens presents a serious potential threat to patients, but our understanding of sink colonization dynamics is largely based on infection outbreaks. Here, we investigate the colonization patterns of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care unit sinks and water from two hospitals in the USA and Pakistan collected over 27 months of prospective sampling. Using culture-based methods, we recovered 822 bacterial isolates representing 104 unique species and genomospecies. Genomic analyses revealed long-term colonization by
Pseudomonas
spp. and
Serratia marcescens
strains across multiple rooms. Nanopore sequencing uncovered examples of long-term persistence of resistance-conferring plasmids in unrelated hosts. These data indicate that antibiotic resistance (AR) in
Pseudomonas
spp. is maintained both by strain colonization and horizontal gene transfer (HGT), while HGT maintains AR within
Acinetobacter
spp. and Enterobacterales, independent of colonization. These results emphasize the importance of proactive, genomic-focused surveillance of built environments to mitigate MDRO spread.

IMPORTANCE
Hospital sinks are frequently linked to outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing to track the long-term colonization patterns in intensive care unit (ICU) sinks and water from two hospitals in the USA and Pakistan collected over 27 months of prospective sampling. We analyzed 822 bacterial genomes, representing over 100 different species. We identified long-term contamination by opportunistic pathogens, as well as transient appearance of other common pathogens. We found that bacteria recovered from the ICU had more antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in their genomes compared to matched community spaces. We also found that many of these ARGs are harbored on mobilizable plasmids, which were found shared in the genomes of unrelated bacteria. Overall, this study provides an in-depth view of contamination patterns for common nosocomial pathogens and identifies specific targets for surveillance.