bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Implementation framework for Income Generating Activities identified by community heath volunteers: a strategy to reduce CHV attrition rate in Kilifi County Kenya
Authors: Riang’a Roselyter Monchari , Nyanja Njeri , Lusambili Adelaide , Mwangi Eunice Muthoni , Ehrlich Joshua R. , Clayde Paul , Mostert Cyprian , Ngugi Anthony 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Background
Strategy Implementation has increasingly become a focus of scientific studies. Failure of strategy implementation may result in high monetary costs, wasted time and human resources, and reduced community enthusiasm and diminished trust in project sponsors. This study sought to investigate viable modalities for implementing Income Generating Activities (IGAs) for Community Health Volunteers (CHV) in Kilifi County Kenya as a strategy to improve their livelihoods, increase motivation and reduce attrition.
Methods:
This was an exploratory qualitative research study. Key informant in-depth interviews were conducted among sub-county Ministry officials and multi-lateral stakeholder representatives. A further 10 Focus group discussions with CHVs were conducted. The data were thematically analysed using MAXQDA 20.2 software. Data codding, analysis and presentation was guided by the Okumu’s (2003) Strategy Implementation framework on factors to consider when implementing strategic decisions: 1) Need for Strategy (Income Generating activities) development, 2) Operational process [ (i) IGAs selection strategy, ii) Resources, iii) people & iv) controls. A new variable, however, emerged from the findings; namely, networks.
Results:
A need for stable income was identified as the driving factor for CHVs seeking IGAs, as their health volunteer work is non-remunerative. Contextualized projects that acknowledged diversity of CHVs in terms of environmental conditions of origin, experience, culture, and market viability, informed their IGA selection strategy. Self-savings through table-banking, seeking funding support through loans xx from government funding agencies (e.g., Uwezo Fund, Women Enterprise fund, Youth Fund), grants from corporate agencies, politicians, and other donors were proposed. Formal registration of IGAs with a Government Ministry, developing a guiding constitution, empowering CHVs with leadership skills, project and group diversity management, and entrepreneurial skills, and connecting them to support agencies, were the control measures proposed by the CHVs & Key Informants to enhance sustainability of IGAs. Group owned and managed IGAs were preferred over individual IGAs.
Conclusion:
CHVs are in need of IGAs and proposed their own implementation strategies informed by local context. Agencies supporting IGAs should therefore be guided by the modalities proposed by CHVs and local stakeholders.
Identification of a Novel and Stable QTL for Seed Oil Content in Soybean
Authors: Li Bing , Peng Jinyu , Wu Yueying , Hu Quan , Huang Wenxuan , Yuan Zhihui , Tang Xiaofei , Cao Dan , Xue Yongguo , Luan Xiaoyan , Hou Jingjing , Liu Xinlei , Sun Lianjun 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Soybean oil content is one of the most valuable quantitative traits. The improvement in seed oil contents is very important for breeding application. In this study, we constructed a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) linkage genetic map by using two genetically similar parents, Heinong 84 (HN 84) and Kenfeng 17 (KF 17), and performed QTL mapping of seed oil content based on recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations from a cross between two parents. QTL analysis showed that five QTLs related to seed oil content were identified, distributing on Gm05, Gm07, Gm10, Gm15, and Gm18 chromosomes, respectively. Of which, a novel QTL for seed oil content on Gm15, named qOil_15, was notably detected, both explaining over 10.00% phenotypic variation explained (PVE) in two years. In addition, twenty candidate genes were identified in the oil-related QTL region, and the key candidate gene is identical to previously reported gene GmRNF1a, encoding an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Two insertions in the coding regions of KF 17 resulting in protein elongation variant, which speculated GmRNF1a is a potential seed oil content related gene. These results provided an enrichment of QTLs and potential candidates for seed oil content, as well as useful new information for genetic mechanism and genetic improvement of seed oil content in soybean.
Investigating anabolic-androgenic steroid dependence and muscle dysmorphia with network analysis
Authors: Scarth Morgan , Westlye Lars T. , Havnes Ingrid A. , Bjørnebekk Astrid 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Background
Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) dependence has numerous adverse health consequences, and may be driven in part by body image concerns, primarily muscle dysmorphia. This study aims to further understanding and identify potential clinical targets using network analyses of AAS dependence and muscle dysmorphia symptoms in males who used AAS and weightlifting controls.
Methods
A sample of 153 men who had used AAS and 88 weight-lifting controls were recruited through social media and relevant online forums, and via posters and flyers distributed in select gyms in Oslo, Norway. Symptoms of AAS dependence and muscle dysmorphia were assessed using clinical interviews and standardized questionnaires. Severity of muscle dysmorphia symptoms were compared between the groups using independent samples t-tests. The following symptom networks were computed using Gaussian graphical modeling or mixed graphical modeling: 1) AAS dependence symptoms among men who has used AAS 2) muscle dysmorphia symptoms among men who had used AAS and weight-lifting controls in two separate networks, which were compared using a network comparison test, and 3) AAS dependence and muscle dysmorphia symptoms among men who had used AAS.
Results
In a network of AAS dependence symptoms, continuing use despite physical and mental problems, using longer than planned, tolerance, and work/life interference were the most central symptoms. When comparing symptom structures of muscle dysmorphia between those who used AAS and controls, the most central symptoms in each group were exercise dependence and size/symmetry concerns, respectively. Men who had used AAS demonstrated elevated muscle dysmorphia symptoms compared to controls, indicating that both the severity and structure of symptoms differ between these groups. In a network including both AAS dependence and muscle dysmorphia symptoms among men who had used, no significant connections between symptom groups were identified.
Conclusions
AAS dependence is complex, with correlated somatic and psychological challenges driving the symptom network, indicating that alleviating physical and mental health concerns during both AAS use and cessation is an important clinical target.
S-oph enzyme for efficient degradation of Polyvinyl alcohol: Soluble expression and Catalytic properties
Authors: Wang Xinyu , Li Jiaxuan , Lin Xiaoshan , Zhang Yi 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Background
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is one of the most widely used water-soluble polymers with great mechanical properties. However, water-soluble polymers are one of the major organic pollution sources in streams, river, and marine ecosystems. Once dispersed in aqueous systems, they can directly interfere with the life cycle of aquatic organisms due to their direct toxicity. Therefore, it is urgent to develop efficient microorganisms or enzyme to degrade it. The oxidized PVA hydrolase (OPHase) plays an important role in the pathway of PVA biodegradation. It is the key enzyme in the second step of PVA completely degradation.
Methods and Results
The s-oph gene was cloned from laboratory isolated strain Sphingopyxis sp. M19. The s-oph gene was expressed in the E. coli system pET32a/s-oph expression vector in the form of an inclusion body. By binding with the molecular chaperone, pET32a/s-oph/BL21 (DE3)/pGro7 was constructed successfully, which enabled the s-oph gene to achieve soluble expression in E. coli. The s-oph gene expressed protein was purified at the yield of 16.8 mg L− 1, and its catalytic activity reached 852.71 U mg− 1. In the s-oph enzyme reaction system, the degradation efficiency of PVA can be increased to 233.5% compared to the controls.
Conclusion
The s-oph enzyme had PVA degradation characteristics, high efficiency, specificity, and stability. The s-oph enzyme has good practical application potential in alleviating plastic pollution and protecting the environment.
Student nurses as a future General Practice Nursing workforce. Implementing Collaborative Learning in Practice: implications for placement learning and patient access. A mixed methods study.
Authors: Williamson Graham Richard , Kane Adele , Evans Sharon , Attrill Lisa , Cook Fiona , Nash Katy 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBackgroundThere is a global shortage of nurses, with particularly acute shortfall in General Practice Nursing in the United Kingdom estimated at as high as 50% vacancy rate by 2031 by some sources. There has previously been some reluctance for GP practices to host student nurses on placement, but it has become imperative to increase placement capacity in GP placements for student nurses if practices are to be able to recruit a future workforce. Collaborative Learning in Practice is a means of organising placement learning for student nurses using a coaching model, that allows for leadership development, peer support and earlier engagement in patient care, and increases placement capacity.MethodsThis was a mixed methods study using qualitative data from focus groups to evaluate the implementation of CLIP, and routinely collected audit data on numbers of clinic appointments to investigate the potential impact an increased capacity of student nurses might have on patient access to services. The aims of this study were: to implement and evaluate CLIP in GPN settings; to explore issues of interprofessional learning; to explore patient access to services related to increased student nurse capacity.ResultsOur qualitative data indicated the following themes as important to students and staff: Peer Support; Interprofessional Learning; and the Importance of ‘own clinics’ for students to see patients. The routinely collected audit data indicated that having students leading their own clinics increased the clinic numbers available by approximately 20% compared to when students were not in placement.ConclusionsThis study shows that student nurses increased clinic capacity and improved access for patients. Students valued their General Practice Nursing placement, felt that they were more ‘part of the team’ than in other placements and consequently had a greater sense of belonging. This was multifaceted, coming in part from the welcoming practice staff, in part from the opportunities for peer support engendered by the collaborative leaning in practice model, and in part from the interprofessional learning opportunities available. General Practice Nursing placements for students are important for future workforce recruitment and can help meet Quality and Outcomes Framework targets for General Practices.
Blow up of solutions of Kirchhoff type viscoelastic wave equations with logarithmic nonlinearity of variable exponents
Authors: Wu Yuyu , Gao Yunzhu 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
In this paper, a new Kirchhoff type viscoelastic wave equation with logarithmic nonlinearity of variable exponents is studied. By constructing auxiliary functions and using Young’s inequality and Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequality, the energy identity and finite blow up of the solution for the problem are given. These results extend and improve the previous results on logarithmic nonlinearity with variable exponents.
Physical mechanisms of internal seiche attenuation for non-ideal stratification and basin topography
Authors: Bueno Rafael de Carvalho , Bleninger Tobias , Boehrer Bertram , Lorke Andreas 
Published: February 2023

Abstract

The dynamics of vertical mixing and the occurrence of basin-scale internal waves (internal seiches) in lakes and reservoirs are often classified and described based on the force balance of wind shear and horizontal pressure gradients resulting from wind-generated currents (the Wedderburn number). The classification schemes consider specific time scales that are derived from a simplified vertical density distribution, a rectangular basin shape, and a constant water depth. Using field measurements and numerical simulations with a validated hydrodynamic model, we analyzed the transfer of energy from wind to the internal seiche field in a small reservoir. Our results demonstrate that the basin shape has a strong influence on the energy dissipation and on the transfer of energy to high-frequency internal waves, thereby attenuating the generation of basin-scale internal seiches. Most of the energy loss of the internal seiche occurs at the sloping boundary, where the internal seiche is susceptible to shoaling and breaking. These findings suggest that the Wedderburn number can be used to predict the occurrence of internal seiche activity in continuously stratified systems. As the Wedderburn number and derived mixing classifications are widely applied also for the interpretation of observed ecological and biogeochemical processes, its application to basins with sloping bathymetry and complex shape should be critically scrutinized, and deviations from predicted dynamics, including the presence of hotspots of turbulent mixing, should be considered.
Lung-sparing decortication pleurectomy with intraoperative adjuvant therapy for malignant mesothelioma: a single institute experience in Taiwan
Authors: Chang Hwailuh , Pai Jih-Tung , Lee Cho-Yin , Hsieh Yei-San 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Background: This study aimed to analyze outcomes and overall survival (OS) rates in patients undergoing cytoreductive lung-sparing decortication pleurectomy surgery and intraoperative adjuvant therapy (hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy [HITHOC] or photodynamic therapy [PDT]) for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) at a single center in Taiwan.
Methods: This was a retrospective review of patients who underwent cytoreductive lung-sparing decortication pleurectomy surgery and intraoperative adjuvant therapy for MPM from April 2013 to December 2021.
Results: A total of 17 patients with MPM underwent surgery. There was one case of surgical mortality due to intraoperative uncontrolled bleeding. The subtypes according to histology were epithelioid mesothelioma (58.8%), pleomorphic subtype of epithelioid malignant mesothelioma (5.9%), biphasic mesothelioma (11.8%), and sarcomatoid mesothelioma (23.5%). The median survival was 14.0 months. However, for the epithelioid type, the median survival was 20.0 months.
Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report from a single center in Taiwan devoted to lung-sparing decortication pleurectomy with intraoperative adjuvant therapy for MPM. MPM is a rare disease in Taiwan. Although our hospital did the most operations for patients with MPM in Taiwan, we were still far away from a high-volume center in the world. The outcome is not satisfactory, but still slightly better than patients who received chemotherapy alone, especially those with epithelial type. One of our patients survived for more than 6 years. We provided an option for the treatment of patients with MPM in Taiwan.
A Verifiable, Multi-Secret, Multi-Use Secret Sharing Scheme using Sponge functions and Cellular Automata
Authors: John Anita , Binoy Abel Paul , Samuval Edvin Basil , R Nikhil Nath R Nath , Jose Jimmy 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Trusting a single person in a team and revealing a secret only to that person incurs risk in highly confidential applications. Secret Sharing (SS) schemes provide a solution to this situation, whereby the secret(s) is distributed as shares to an authorized subset of team members. The secret will be revealed only when we pool all the shares from this authorized subset. The strength of this scheme relies on the computational infeasibility of an unauthorized member to guess the share of an authorized member. This emphasizes the need for efficient techniques for the generation, distribution and re-usability of shares. This paper proposes a verifiable, multi-secret, multi-use SS scheme based on sponge functions and Cellular Automata (CA). The strength of this scheme depends on the strength of the sponge function used. We show that the use of CA in sponge functions strengthens the message digest, which in turn randomizes the shares generated by our proposed scheme. This helps to prevent the guessing of shares by unauthorized members, thereby making the SS scheme strong and secure.
Rnf-213 knockout induces pericyte reduction and blood-brain barrier impairment in mouse
Authors: Sheng Wenli , Li Wei , Niu Xingyang , Dai Yuanyuan , Wu Xiaoxin , Li Jiaoxing 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disorder characterized by progressive occlusion of the internal carotid artery and the formation of an abnormal compensatory capillary network at the base of the brain. Genomics studies identified Ring finger protein 213 (RNF213) as a common genetic factor that increases the susceptibility to MMD in East Asian people. However, the function of RNF213 and its roles in pathogenesis of MMD is unclear. Here, we showed that genetic knockout of Rnf213 in mice causes significant pericytes reduction and blood-brain barrier impairment in the cortex. These phenotypes are accompanied with microglia activation and elevated level of proinflammatory cytokines. Additionally, Rnf213 deficient mice showed reduced expression of tight junction proteins, including Occludin, Claudin-5 and ZO-1. Together, these data suggested that RNF213 might contribute to the pathogenesis of MMD through disruption of pericyte homeostasis and blood-brain barrier integrity by dysregulation of inflammatory responses and tight junction formation.
Byzantine Consensus is Θ(n2): The Dolev-Reischuk Bound is Tight even in Partial Synchrony!
Authors: Civit Pierre , Dzulfikar Muhammad Ayaz , Gilbert Seth , Gramoli Vincent , Guerraoui Rachid , Komatovic Jovan , Vidigueira Manuel 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
The Dolev-Reischuk bound says that any deterministic Byzantine consensus protocol has (at least) quadratic communication complexity in the worst case. While it has been shown that the bound is tight in synchronous environments, it is still unknown whether a consensus protocol with quadratic communication complexity can be obtained in partial synchrony. Until now, the most efficient known solutions for Byzantine consensus in partially synchronous settings had cubic communication complexity (e.g., HotStuff, binary DBFT). This paper closes the existing gap by introducing SQuad, a partially synchronous Byzantine consensus protocol with quadratic worst-case communication complexity. In addition, SQuad is optimally-resilient and achieves linear worst case latency complexity. The key technical contribution underlying SQuad lies in the way we solve view synchronization, the problem of bringing all correct processes to the same view with a correct leader for sufficiently long. Concretely, we present RareSync, a view synchronization protocol with quadratic communication complexity and linear latency complexity, which we utilize in order to obtain SQuad.
Behavior of Atmospheric Air Pollutants during Diwali Fireworks Emission over Western Tropical Semi-Arid and Sub-Urban site, Udaipur, India
Authors: VYAS B M , Saxenna Abhishek 
Published: February 2023

Abstract

Influence of fireworks emissions activity during “The Festival of Lights” or Diwali Episode on the simultaneously measured atmospheric trace gases including suspended materials as air pollutants, i.e., Surface ozone (O3), Nitrogen Oxides (NOX), Carbon monoxide (CO), Particulate Matters of size less than 2.5µm (PM2.5) along with derived sources identification parameters concerning to atmospheric pollution, i.e., angstrom absorption coefficient of Black Carbon aerosol (αabs) and CO/NOx values have been investigated during Diwali and prior as well as in post-Diwali days over Udaipur. From induced ambient air pollution effect during Diwali episode on air pollutant strength and the source discrimination parameters, the following main interesting facts are obtained: (i) a significant amount of enhancement by two to three-time folds in PM2.5 level (peak up to 165 µgm− 3) noticed in Diwali festival day relative to background condition level, i.e., greater than the double value of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of PM2.5, (ii) specifically, during after sunset to pre-midnight hours, air pollutants along with their source identification parameters values revealed an enhancement by ~ 1.5 to 3 times more during the festival days relative to their non-festival levels resulting from the impact of extra intense spontaneous fireworks and sparklers emission activities in a coincidence of their period with the peak festival celebration. However, their highest magnitude did not go beyond their healthy prescribed limit values, (iii) only temporal day hour O3 variations showed almost appreciable enhancement (varied from 10 to 68 ppb) in conjunction with a remarkable reduction in NOX (spanned from 20 to 2 ppb) in Diwali period and (v) about 40% enhancement in source discrimination parameters values displayed a clear demonstration of majority source type as bio-mass burning activity in Diwali episode and fossil fuel combustion activity in non-festival days. Results are also explained basis on bringing air pollutants by backward airmass trajectory starting from IGP source to receptor site as regional atmospheric air pollution effect.
Ice Accumulation Process and Risk Analysis in Casing pipes in Bohai Sea
Authors: Wang Shengyong , Zhang Dayong 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Under the constraints of oil/gas reserves and ocean environment, most of the offshore platforms are simple and economical in structural design in Bohai Sea, China. Ice-induced vibration responses have been measured on those platform structures in winters. However, an ice plug was observed inside the casing pipes of the JZ9-3WHPA jacket platform in winter. During the interaction of an ice sheet and the ice plug, the test data shows that the ice-induced displacement response of the casing pipe structure increases significantly, and the ice force calculation also indicates that the casing pipes have a certain safety risk. In this paper, the formation process and mechanism of the ice plug are discussed based on field observations. Manual or mechanical methods are recommended to eliminate the ice plug to ensure the safety of the casing pipes.