cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Outdoor Time Could Regulate the Effects of Green Environment on Myopia in Chinese Children and Adolescents
Creators: name: Wang, Jingjing
name: Li, Ruilan
name: Chen, Jun
name: Yang, Jinliuxing
name: Du, Linlin
name: Du, Yuchen
name: Zhang, Bo
name: Shi, Huijing
name: He, Xiangui
name: Wang, Ling
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
Science Policy

description: To explore the relationship between myopia and green space, and the mediation effects of outdoor time. We used large-scale, cross-sectional observational data from Shanghai, China. Participants were aged 3~20 years and underwent visual acuity and non-cycloplegic refraction in 2021. Using GIS-based data on environments surrounding participants’ schools and kindergartens, we examined the association between green space (measured by NDVI) and myopia. We employed a logistic mixed-effects model to assess the impact of school-level green environments on individual myopia, reporting odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals. Mediation analysis was conducted to explore whether outdoor activity time mediates the relationship between green environments and myopia. Additionally, we conducted age- and gender-stratified analyses and validated the robustness of the model through sensitivity analysis. Complete case sample sizes were 1,727,709 from 3,399 schools and kindergartens [899,817 (52.082%) boys; mean age 10.065 years (SD: 3.633)]. NDVI within 1000 m of schools was independently associated with lower odds of myopia (OR: 0.299, 95% CI: 0.249 ~ 0.357, p < 0.001), with 2.7% of the total effects attributed to the mediation effects of outdoor time. The effect sizes for NDVI were comparatively more protective in boys and those aged 7~12 years (OR: 0.223, 95% CI:0.156 ~ 0.319, p < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis with a 500-meter NDVI radius and alternative outcome variable of wearing glasses confirmed consistency with the previous results. This study demonstrates a significant impact of green environments on myopia in children and adolescents aged 3~20 years, revealing the potential mediating effect of outdoor activities. Policymakers should consider implementing intervention measures to enhance green spaces in schools to promote eye-health-friendly environments.
Yoked variable-ratio and variable-interval responding in pigeons
Creators: name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Matthews, T. James
name: Silverman, Phillip J.
name: Yohalem, Rona
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1977
Subjects: variable-ratio
variable-ratio response
variable-interval rates

description: Pigeons' key pecks were maintained by variable-ratio or variable-interval schedules of food reinforcement. For pairs of pigeons in one group, variable-ratio reinforcement was arranged for one pigeon's pecks; for the second pigeon, reinforcement was arranged according to a variable-interval schedule yoked to the interreinforcement times produced by the first pigeon. For pairs of pigeons in another group, variable-interval reinforcement was arranged for one pigeon's pecks; for the second pigeon, reinforcement was arranged according to a variable-ratio schedule yoked to the interreinforcement responses produced by the first pigeon. For each pair, the yoking procedure was maintained for four or five consecutive sessions of 50 reinforcements each. In more than three-quarters of the pairs, variable-ratio response rates were higher than variable-interval rates within two sessions; in all cases, the rate difference developed within four sessions.
Current status of Phytophthora in Australia
Creators: name: Burgess, TI
name: Edwards, Jacqueline
name: Drenth, A
name: Massenbauer, T
name: Cunnington, J
name: Mostowfizadeh-Ghalamfarsa, R
name: Dinh, Q
name: Liew, ECY
name: White, D
name: Scott, P
name: Barber, PA
name: O’gara, E
name: Ciampini, J
name: McDougall, Keith
name: Tan, YP
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2022
Subjects: classificationCode: 31
subject: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
classificationCode: 3104
subject: Evolutionary biology
classificationCode: 3107
subject: Microbiology
classificationCode: 3108
subject: Plant biology

description: Among the most economically relevant and environmentally devastating diseases globally are those caused by Phytophthora species. In Australia, production losses in agriculture and forestry result from several well-known cosmopolitan Phytophthora species and infestation of natural ecosystems by Phytophthora cinnamomi have caused irretrievable loss to biodiversity especially in proteaceous dominated heathlands. For this review, all available records of Phytophthora in Australia were collated and curated, resulting in a database of 7 869 records, of which 2 957 have associated molecular data. Australian databases hold records for 99 species, of which 20 are undescribed. Eight species have no records linked to molecular data, and their presence in Australia is considered doubtful. The 99 species reside in 10 of the 12 clades recognised within the complete phylogeny of Phytophthora. The review includes discussion on each of these species’ status and additional information provided for another 29 species of concern. The first species reported in Australia in 1900 was Phytophthora infestans. By 2000, 27 species were known, predominantly from agriculture. The significant increase in species reported in the subsequent 20 years has coincided with extensive surveys in natural ecosystems coupled with molecular taxonomy and the recognition of numerous new phylogenetically distinct but morphologically similar species. Routine and targeted surveys within Australian natural ecosystems have resulted in the description of 27 species since 2009. Due to the new species descriptions over the last 20 years, many older records have been reclassified based on molecular identification. The distribution of records is skewed toward regions with considerable activity in high productivity agriculture, horticulture and forestry, and native vegetation at risk from P. cinnamomi. Native and exotic hosts of different Phytophthora species are found throughout the phylogeny; however, species from clades 1, 7 and 8 are more likely to be associated with exotic hosts. One of the most difficult challenges to overcome when establishing a pest status is a lack of reliable data on the current state of a species in any given country or location. The database compiled here for Australia and the information provided for each species overcomes this challenge. This review will aid federal and state governments in risk assessments and trade negotiations by providing a comprehensive resource on the current status of Phytophthora species in Australia.
The Sleep Health of Individuals with Visual Impairments: A Scoping Review
Creators: name: Choi, Soyoung
name: Kim, Grace
name: Pionke, J. J.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Science Policy
subject: Mental Health
subject: Hematology

description: Amidst the global aging population and an increasing prevalence of visual impairment across all age groups, this study aims to investigate the current state of research on sleep health in visually impaired populations. A scoping review was conducted to synthesize the existing literature on sleep health and visual impairment. We employed conceptual mapping to identify key research topics, analyzing data from four databases: PubMed (n = 290), CINAHL (n = 81), Scopus (n = 117), and PsycInfo (n = 96). A total of 83 peer-reviewed articles, published from 1977 to August 2023, were included in the review. Our analysis identified 11 distinct eye health conditions including blindness, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, low vision, cataract, retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, optic neuropathy, visual field defects, ocular hypertension, and retinal vein occlusion. Additionally, 8 major sleep problems were recognized: abnormal sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, Non-24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder, sleep apnea, sleep disorders, sleep disturbances, and sleep disordered breathing. The dominant research themes were (1) poor sleep quality in individuals with visual impairments and ophthalmic diseases, (2) high prevalence of sleep issues in patients with ophthalmic diseases, (3) sleep apnea in patients with ophthalmic conditions, and (4) circadian rhythm disruptions in blind individuals. This review highlights research gaps that, when addressed, could greatly enhance our comprehension of the interplay between visual impairment and sleep health. Bridging these gaps promises to lead to more holistic care strategies, potentially improving vision functioning and rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with visual impairments.
Are changes in parenting related to the decline in youth drinking? Evidence from a comparison of Sweden and Denmark
Creators: name: Ramstedt, Mats
name: Raninen, Jonas
name: Larm, Peter
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2022
Subjects: classificationCode: 529999
subject: Other psychology not elsewhere classified

description: Introduction: The aim of this study was to replicate earlier studies suggesting that changes in parenting have contributed to the recent decline in youth drinking by comparing parenting in a country experiencing a sharp decline in youth drinking (Sweden) with a country with only a small decline (Denmark). Data and analysis: Data stem from self-reported information from 15–16-year-old children in the Swedish and Danish subsamples of ESPAD. Youth drinking was measured by prevalence and frequency of drinking over the past year. Parenting was measured in terms of the extent the child reported that: (1) parents’ attitudes towards offspring drinking are restrictive, (2) parents set up general rules for what their children are allowed to do, and (3) parents have high level of knowledge about where and with whom their children spend time. The association between these indicators of parenting and youth drinking was first estimated with logistic regressions. Second, changes in parenting between 1999 and 2015 were compared between Denmark and Sweden across the study period. Results: Restrictive parental attitudes were associated with a lower likelihood of past-year drinking and frequent drinking in both Sweden and Denmark. This attitude was more common in Sweden, where it also became more prevalent between 2003 and 2015 in contrast to in Denmark. The association between strict parental rule-setting and youth drinking was weak in both countries. A high parental knowledge of the child's whereabouts was linked to a lower likelihood of past-year drinking in Sweden and a lower frequency of drinking in both countries. Parental knowledge of offspring's whereabouts did not develop differently in Sweden and Denmark, with a high and stable proportion in both countries. Conclusion: More restrictive parental attitudes towards youth drinking may have contributed to the decline in youth drinking, whereas the importance of general parental rule-setting and parental knowledge of offspring's whereabouts was not supported.
Contingency and Stimulus Change in Chained Schedules of Reinforcement
Creators: name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Yohalem, Rona
name: Silverman, Philip J.
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1980
Subjects: chained schedule
conditioned reinforcement
contingency
fixed-interval schedule
key peck
mixed schedule
multiple schedule
pigeons
tandem schedule

description: Higher rates of pecking were maintained by pigeons in the middle component of three-component chained fixed-interval schedules than in that component of corresponding multiple schedules (two extinction components followed by a fixed-interval component). This rate difference did not occur in equivalent tandem and mixed schedules, in which a single stimulus was correlated with the three components. The higher rates in components of chained schedules demonstrate a reinforcing effect of the stimulus correlated with the next component; the acquired functions of this stimulus make the vocabulary of conditioned reinforcement appropriate. Problems in defining conditioned reinforcement arise not from difficulties in demonstrating reinforcing effects but from disagreements about which experimental operations allow such reinforcing effects to be called conditioned.
Shape restricted smoothing splines via constrained optimal control and nonsmooth Newton’s methods
Creators: name: Shen, Jinglai
name: Lebair, Teresa M.
Publisher: name: Elsevier
Year: 2015
Subjects: Constrained optimal control
Constrained smoothing splines
Convergence analysis
Nonsmooth Newton method

description: Shape restricted smoothing splines receive considerable attention, motivated by many important applications in science and engineering. In this paper, we consider smoothing splines subject to general linear dynamics and control constraints, and formulate them as finite-horizon constrained linear optimal control problems with unknown initial state and control. By exploring techniques from functional and variational analyses, optimality conditions are developed in terms of variational inequalities. Due to the control constraints, the optimality conditions give rise to a nonsmooth B-differentiable equation of an optimal initial condition, whose unique solution completely determines the shape restricted smoothing spline. A modified nonsmooth Newton’s algorithm with line search is used to solve this equation; detailed convergence analysis of the proposed algorithm is presented. Using techniques from nonsmooth analysis and polyhedral theory, we show the global convergence of the algorithm for shape restricted smoothing splines subject to general polyhedral control constraints.
Association Analysis of Telomere Length and Vision in a Large Community-Based Survey
Creators: name: Zhang, Bing
name: Zhao, Yune
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biotechnology
Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
Cancer
Science Policy

description: To investigate whether there is a direct, age-independent association between telomere length and visual acuity decline in a large community-based cohort study. Participants older than 40 with linked leukocyte telomere length (LTL) were enrolled in NHANES. LTL was assayed using qPCR from the participants’ blood samples. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the better-seeing eye was analyzed, with visual impairment (VI) defined as the BCVA of 20/40 or worse. LTL was grouped into quartiles, and its association with BCVA and VI was evaluated after adjusting for covariates. Among the 4,480 enrolled participants, the weighted means of age, BCVA, and telomere length were 56.1 ± 11.9 years, 0.05 ± 0.08 logMAR, and 5,662 ± 36 base pairs, respectively. The proportion of VI was 2.6%. After adjusting for covariates including sex, ethnicity, education, family poverty income ratio, general health status, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and body mass index, BCVA was significantly worse in participants with shorter LTL, with a significant trend (p = 0.002). However, after further adjusting for age, the association between LTL and BCVA was no longer significant, without a trend (p = 0.640). No significant association or trend between LTL and VI was found in the stepwise logistic model. No age-independent association between LTL and BCVA was found. Our study indicates LTL may not serve as a biomarker for age-related visual acuity decline.
Preference for Free Choice Over Forced Choice in Pigeons
Creators: name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Sagvolden, Terje
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1980
Subjects: concurrent chain schedules
free vs forced choice
freedom
key peck
pigeon
position preference
preference
response variability

description: In a six-key chamber variable-interval initial links of concurrent-chain schedules operated on two lower white keys. Terminal links operated on four upper keys; green keys were correlated with fixed-interval reinforcement and red keys with extinction. Free-choice terminal links arranged three green keys and one red key; forced-choice terminal links arranged one green key and three red keys. Thus, terminal links were equivalent in number, variety, and information value (in bits) of the keylights. Preferences (relative initial-link rates) were studied both with location of the odd key color varying over successive terminal links and with the odd color fixed at key locations that had controlled either relatively high or relatively low terminal-link response rates. Free choice was consistently preferred to forced choice. Magnitude of preference did not vary systematically with terminal-link response rate or stimulus control by green and red keys. The origins of free-choice preference could be ontogenic or phylogenic: organisms may learn that momentarily preferred alternatives are more often available in free than in forced choice, and evolutionary contingencies may favor the survival of organisms that prefer free to forced choice.
Short-Term Remembering of Discriminative Stimuli in Pigeons
Creators: name: Jans, James E.
name: Catania, A. Charles
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1980
Subjects: delay
discrimination
key peck
memory
pigeons
rehearsal
remembering
short-term memory
stimulus control

description: Pigeons learned to peck the left or right of two white keys depending on whether a red or a green stimulus was displayed on a third key. The opportunity to peck the white keys was then delayed for zero to six seconds after the red or green (to-be-remembered) stimulus. On half the trials, the feeder operated during the delay to interrupt behavior that might mediate discriminated responding. No events were scheduled on the remaining trials. In a later condition, the pigeons had the opportunity to peck the white keys during the delay. In general, accuracy decreased as delay increased in all conditions, but performance was least accurate following feeder operations and most accurate when pecking was allowed during the delay. The procedures may be analogous to varying the opportunity for rehearsal in studies of human short-term memory.
Uninstructed Human Responding: Sensitivity of Low-Rate Performance to Schedule Contingencies
Creators: name: Shimoff, Eliot
name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Matthews, Byron A.
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1981
Subjects: contingency sensitivity
DRL
humans
instructions
random interval
random ratio
rule-governed behavior
shaping
telegraph key

description: College students' presses on a telegraph key occasionally turned on a light in the presence of which button presses produced points later exchangeable for money. Initially, responding was maintained by low-rate contingencies superimposed on either random-interval or random-ratio schedules. Later, the low-rate contingencies were relaxed. Low-rate key pressing had been established for some students by shaping and for others by demonstration and written instructions. After the low-rate contingencies were relaxed, higher response rates generally did not increase point earnings with random-interval scheduling, but did so with random-ratio scheduling. In both cases, shaped responding usually increased, and instructed responding usually continued at an unchanged low rate. The insensitivity of instructed responding typically occurred despite contact with the contingencies. The differential sensitivity to schedule contingencies of shaped responding relative to instructed responding is consistent with the different properties of contingency-governed and rule-governed behavior and is not rate-dependent.
Additional file 1 of Mesoporous silica nanoparticles boost aggressive cancer response to hydrophilic chlorin e6-mediated photodynamic therapy
Creators: name: Abdel Gaber, Sara A.
name: Stepp, Herbert
name: Abdel Kader, Mahmoud H.
name: Lindén, Mika
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Medicine
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Plant Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 1. Fig. S1: Cellular uptake of Ce6 after 15 min incubation with U87 cells. Fig. S2: Representative spheroids of Sk-Br-3 (a), MCF-7 (b) and U87 cells (c). Fig S3: FTIR spectra of free Ce6, MSN and MSN-Ce6 conjugate. Fig. S4: Caspase3 average optical density of DMBA-induced breast cancer rat model treated with 5 mg/kg Ce6 in the dark control, free Ce6-PDT and MSN-Ce6-PDT groups. Fig. S5: Bax average optical density of DMBA-induced breast cancer rat model treated with 5 mg/kg Ce6 in the dark control, free Ce6-PDT and MSN-Ce6-PDT groups. Table (1): Cellular uptake of 5 and 10 μM Ce6, 0.3 and 1.2 mM 5-ALA incubated with Sk-Br-3, MCF-7, U87, and HF-5 cells for 4 h in either serum-free medium or medium supplied with 10% FCS. Table (2): Summary of our findings compared to relevant studies.
Impact of hot weather on animal performance and genetic strategies to minimise the effect
Creators: name: Pryce, Jennie
name: Nguyen, TTT
name: Cheruiyot, Evans Kiptoo
name: Marett, L
name: Garner, JB
name: Haile-Mariam, Mekonnen
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 310599
subject: Genetics not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 300403
subject: Agronomy
classificationCode: 300299
subject: Agriculture, land and farm management not elsewhere classified

description: Dairy cows in Australia and New Zealand are generally kept outdoors, making them susceptible to weather variability and in particular heat stress. In this paper, we review (1) exploiting genetic variability to improve heat tolerance, (2) genotype by environment interactions, i.e. suitability of high merit cows to weather variability and (3) how novel phenotyping and genomics can help improve heat tolerance. Selection for heat tolerance is a permanent and cumulative strategy and especially useful in grazing situations where management practices, such as cooling mechanisms, are sometimes impractical. Australia was the first country in the world to release breeding values for heat tolerance in dairy cattle nationally in 2017. The breeding value captures genetic variation in the reduction of milk production traits with rising temperature and humidity. The breeding values have been validated in independent studies (in Victoria, Australia, and California, USA), showing that thermotolerant cows maintain a lower core body temperature under hot and humid conditions. Genotype by environment interactions for traits sensitive to heat is only a concern for farms in very extreme conditions and therefore affect only a small proportion of individuals (those in the extreme 5th percentile). Heat tolerance is a complex trait in that in addition to milk traits, health and fertility may also be affected. Next-generation heat tolerance breeding values may include sensor device information in addition to changes in milk composition, or other measurable biomarkers. This is especially useful when measured in genotyped female populations. Research into novel ways of measuring heat tolerance could transform the way we select for this trait and capture more of the complexity of this trait. To be successful in this area, multi-disciplinary collaboration among animal scientists is likely to facilitate this goal. Combining genomics, traditional and novel measures of heat tolerance with intermediate metabolic biomarkers and prioritised genetic variants could be a way to capture the complexity of thermotolerance in future heat tolerance breeding values. Finally, selecting cows that are resilient to variability in weather is feasible and heat tolerance is a good example of this.
Instructed Versus Shaped Human Verbal Behavior: Interactions with Nonverbal Responding
Creators: name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Matthews, Byron A.
name: Shimoff, Eliot
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1982
Subjects: awareness
button pressing
contingency-shaped behavior
humans
instructions
multiple RR RI schedule
point reinforcers
rule-governed behavior
verbal behavior

description: Undergraduate students' presses on left and right buttons occasionally made available points exchangeable for money. Blue lights over the buttons were correlated with multiple random-ratio random-interval components; usually, the random-ratio schedule was assigned to the left button and the random-interval to the right. During interruptions on the multiple schedule, students filled out sentence-completion guess sheets (e.g., The way to earn points with the left button is to …). For different groups, guesses were shaped with differential points also worth money (e.g., successive approximations to “press fast” for the left button), or were instructed (e.g., Write “press slowly” for the left button), or were simply collected. Control of rate of pressing by guesses was examined in individual cases by reversing shaped or instructed guesses, by instructing pressing rates, and/or by reversing multiple-schedule contingencies. Shaped guesses produced guess-consistent pressing even when guessed rates opposed those characteristic of the contingencies (e.g., slow random-ratio and fast random-interval rates), whereas guesses and rates of pressing rarely corresponded after unsuccessful shaping of guesses or when guessing had no differential consequences. Instructed guesses and pressing were inconsistently related. In other words, when verbal responses were shaped (contingency-governed), they controlled nonverbal responding. When they were instructed (rule-governed), their control of nonverbal responding was inconsistent: the verbal behavior sometimes controlled, sometimes was controlled by, and sometimes was independent of the nonverbal behavior.
Impact of hot weather on animal performance and genetic strategies to minimise the effect
Creators: name: Pryce, Jennie
name: Nguyen, TTT
name: Cheruiyot, Evans Kiptoo
name: Marett, L
name: Garner, JB
name: Haile-Mariam, M
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2022
Subjects: classificationCode: 310599
subject: Genetics not elsewhere classified
classificationCode: 300403
subject: Agronomy
classificationCode: 300299
subject: Agriculture, land and farm management not elsewhere classified

description: Dairy cows in Australia and New Zealand are generally kept outdoors, making them susceptible to weather variability and in particular heat stress. In this paper, we review (1) exploiting genetic variability to improve heat tolerance, (2) genotype by environment interactions, i.e. suitability of high merit cows to weather variability and (3) how novel phenotyping and genomics can help improve heat tolerance. Selection for heat tolerance is a permanent and cumulative strategy and especially useful in grazing situations where management practices, such as cooling mechanisms, are sometimes impractical. Australia was the first country in the world to release breeding values for heat tolerance in dairy cattle nationally in 2017. The breeding value captures genetic variation in the reduction of milk production traits with rising temperature and humidity. The breeding values have been validated in independent studies (in Victoria, Australia, and California, USA), showing that thermotolerant cows maintain a lower core body temperature under hot and humid conditions. Genotype by environment interactions for traits sensitive to heat is only a concern for farms in very extreme conditions and therefore affect only a small proportion of individuals (those in the extreme 5th percentile). Heat tolerance is a complex trait in that in addition to milk traits, health and fertility may also be affected. Next-generation heat tolerance breeding values may include sensor device information in addition to changes in milk composition, or other measurable biomarkers. This is especially useful when measured in genotyped female populations. Research into novel ways of measuring heat tolerance could transform the way we select for this trait and capture more of the complexity of this trait. To be successful in this area, multi-disciplinary collaboration among animal scientists is likely to facilitate this goal. Combining genomics, traditional and novel measures of heat tolerance with intermediate metabolic biomarkers and prioritised genetic variants could be a way to capture the complexity of thermotolerance in future heat tolerance breeding values. Finally, selecting cows that are resilient to variability in weather is feasible and heat tolerance is a good example of this.
Autoshaped Responding: A Baseline for Studying Stimulus Preference
Creators: name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Owens, Marian Colleen
name: Lossberg, Virginia Von
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1983
Subjects: autoshaping
discrete trials
feeder
key color
key intensity
key peck
pigeons
preference
two-key procedure

description: In an autoshaping procedure with pigeons, trials consisted of the illumination of two keys, each with a different color, and then a response-independent feeder operation. Over successive conditions, all key-color pairs were arranged from the set of amber, red, green, and blue lamps. During sessions with a given pair, the left-right configuration of the colors varied irregularly, and the two colors alternated in illuminating the feeder. With one red and one green key, for example, red appeared sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right, and the feeder was alternately lit red or green on successive trials. Both total pecks and proportion of trials with at least one peck on a key of a given color were generally greater for red and amber than for green and blue, and relations among preferences were generally transitive across different color pairs. Repeating the procedure with decreased red and amber intensities and increased green and blue intensities reduced red and amber pecking relative to green and blue pecking, implying that differences in responding were determined more strongly by intensive than by chromatic properties of the stimuli.
Additional file 1 of In-silico and in-vitro assessments of some fabaceae, rhamnaceae, apocynaceae, and anacardiaceae species against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and triple-negative breast cancer cells
Creators: name: Nyambo, Kudakwashe
name: Adu-Amankwaah, Francis
name: Tapfuma, Kudzanai Ian
name: Baatjies, Lucinda
name: Julius, Lauren
name: Smith, Liezel
name: Ngxande, Mkhuseli
name: Govender, Krishna
name: Mabasa, Lawrence
name: Traore, Afsatou
name: Masiphephethu, Maano Valerie
name: Niang, Idah Sithole
name: Mavumengwana, Vuyo
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Cancer
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Plant Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 1: Appendix.
The effect of estrogen on brown adipose tissue activity in male rats
Creators: name: Sievers, William
name: Kettle, Christine
name: Green, Rodney
name: Van Schaik, John
name: Hale, Matthew
name: Irving, Helen
name: Whelan, Donna
name: Rathner, JA
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2022
Subjects: classificationCode: 32
subject: Biomedical and clinical sciences
classificationCode: 3215
subject: Reproductive medicine

description: Objective: Centrally administered estrogen can increase sympathetic nerve activity to brown adipose tissue, resulting in thermogenesis. The central thermogenic effects of estrogen have not been investigated in males. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the effects of peripherally and centrally administered estrogen on thermogenesis, heart rate and mean arterial pressure in male rats. Thermogenesis was assessed by monitoring brown adipose tissue temperature. Results: Peripherally administered estrogen elicited no significant effect on brown adipose tissue temperature, heart rate or mean arterial pressure. Centrally administered estrogen elicited a coincident increase in both brown adipose tissue and core temperature. Centrally administered estrogen also resulted in a decrease in mean arterial pressure but had no effect on heart rate. With the present data it is not possible to elucidate whether changes in temperature were the result of thermogenic or thermoregulatory mechanisms.
Additional file 3 of Myasthenia gravis and independent risk factors for recurrent infection: a retrospective cohort study
Creators: name: Chien, Chia-Yin
name: Chang, Chun-Wei
name: Liao, Ming-Feng
name: Chu, Chun-Che
name: Ro, Long-Sun
name: Wu, Yih-Ru
name: Chang, Kuo-Hsuan
name: Chen, Chiung-Mei
name: Kuo, Hung-Chou
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Mathematical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Virology

description: Additional file 3. Demographic and clinical characteristics upon initial admission between MG patients with and without recurrent infection (full version).
Robust Non-Zenoness of Piecewise Affine Systems with Applications to Linear Complementarity Systems
Creators: name: Shen, Jinglai
Publisher: name: SIAM
Year: 2014

description: A linear complementarity system (LCS) is a hybrid dynamical system defined by a linear time-invariant ordinary differential equation coupled with a finite-dimensional linear complementarity problem (LCP). The present paper is the first of several papers whose goal is to study some fundamental issues associated with an LCS. Specifically, this paper addresses the issue of Zeno states and the related issue of finite number of mode switches in such a system. The cornerstone of our study is an expansion of a solution trajectory to the LCS near a given state in terms of an observability degree of the state. On the basis of this expansion and an inductive argument, we establish that an LCS satisfying the P-property has no strongly Zeno states. We next extend the analysis for such an LCS to a broader class of problems and provide sufficient conditions for a given state to be weakly non-Zeno. While related mode-switch results have been proved by Brunovsky and Sussmann for more general hybrid systems, our analysis exploits the special structure of the LCS and yields new results for the latter that are of independent interest and complement those by these two and other authors.
Nanobiotechnology approaches for cardiovascular diseases: site-specific targeting of drugs and nanoparticles for atherothrombosis
Creators: name: Liu, H
name: Pietersz, G
name: Peter, Karlheinz
name: Wang, Xiaowei
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2022
Subjects: classificationCode: 320101
subject: Cardiology (incl. cardiovascular diseases)
classificationCode: 310607
subject: Nanobiotechnology

description: Atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis, the major contributors to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), represent the leading cause of death worldwide. Current pharmacological therapies have been associated with side effects or are insufficient at halting atherosclerotic progression effectively. Pioneering work harnessing the passive diffusion or endocytosis properties of nanoparticles and advanced biotechnologies in creating recombinant proteins for site-specific delivery have been utilized to overcome these limitations. Since CVDs are complex diseases, the most challenging aspect of developing site-specific therapies is the identification of an individual and unique antigenic epitope that is only expressed in lesions or diseased areas. This review focuses on the pathological mechanism of atherothrombosis and discusses the unique targets that are important during disease progression. We review recent advances in site-specific therapy using novel targeted drug-delivery and nanoparticle-carrier systems. Furthermore, we explore the limitations and future perspectives of site-specific therapy for CVDs. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
Caring for someone with cancer in rural Australia
Creators: name: Gunn, KM
name: Weeks, M
name: Spronk, KJJ
name: Fletcher, C
name: Wilson, Carlene
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2022
Subjects: classificationCode: 420699
subject: Public health not elsewhere classified

description: Purpose: To explore the experiences of people caring for someone with cancer, while living in rural Australia, and the impact of the cancer-caring role on their well-being. Method: Eighteen adults in regional or remote (‘rural’) Australia who cared for a person with cancer took part in semi-structured telephone interviews. Participants were aged 32–77 years and mainly female (66%). Data were analysed using thematic analysis and an essentialist approach. Results: Eight themes were identified: (1) travel is hard, but supports are available; (2) frustration with systems that do not demonstrate understanding of the rural context; (3) the importance of lay and peer support; (4) the impact of access to trusted, local health care services; (5) the importance of access to rurally relevant information (particularly on relevant services and what to expect); (6) living with uncertainty and balancing loss with hope; (7) reluctance to seek or accept psychological support; and (8) the gendered nature of care. Conclusion: Rural cancer carers’ roles can be made easier by improving health systems and coordination to ease the burden of travel, providing information about available support and what to expect throughout cancer treatment that is relevant to the rural context, and increasing access to quality health, community, and support services, including palliative care, in rural areas. More training on the specific needs of rural patients and their carers is needed for urban health care professionals. Peer support groups may have particular value for cancer carers in rural settings, where there are known to be multiple barriers to accessing professional sources of psychosocial support.
Comparative Cost-Effectiveness of Fixed and Mobile Primary Eye Health Services
Creators: name: Wong, Brad
name: Linares, Heidy
name: Marroquin, Ana Velasquez
name: Everett, Bryce
name: Yee, Juan Francisco
name: Chase, Heidi
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Science Policy

description: There is limited cost-effectiveness evidence of primary eye health strategies in low-and-middle-income countries, despite their importance for addressing vision loss. This study examines fixed and mobile primary eye health services in Guatemala to identify which delivers greatest cost-effectiveness. Using financial records of a large eye health provider, we conduct a retrospective micro-costing and economic modelling analysis of five primary eye health approaches. We report total costs, case finding cost-effectiveness, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each strategy from a provider perspective over the period 2019–2021. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis is conducted. Permanent facilities require $71.7 and $116.8 (2023 USD) to diagnose a case of refractive error and cataract respectively, and convert the patient to treatment. Case finding costs per treatment initiated for mobile approaches range from $7.7 to $21.6 per case of refractive error, and $13.3–$14.9 per case of cataract. Health outpost screening has an ICER of $245 per DALY averted (95% CI: 160–362). The ICER of community screening is $233 per DALY averted (95% CI: 134–316). The remaining strategies are dominated. Mobile approaches are substantially more cost-effective at case finding, due to the increased utilization of resources made possible by a mobile operating model. When considering both case finding and downstream treatment costs, community and health outpost screening dominate other strategies. The results point to the need for careful analysis of costs and outcomes along the entire continuum-of-care to appropriately inform planners of primary eye health networks in low-and-middle-income countries.
Effects of Uninstructed Verbal Behavior on Nonverbal Responding: Contingency Descriptions Versus Performance Descriptions
Creators: name: Matthews, Byron A.
name: Catania, A. Charles
name: Shimoff, Eliot
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1985
Subjects: button press
contingency reports
contingency-shaped behavior
multiple RR RI schedules
performance reports
point reinforcer
rule-governed behavior
undergraduates
verbal behavior

description: Undergraduates' button presses occasionally made available points that were exchangeable for money. Lights over left and right buttons were respectively correlated with multiple random-ratio random-interval components. During interruptions of the multiple schedule, students filled out sentence-completion guess sheets. When shaping of these guesses produced performance descriptions (e.g., “press slowly” for the left button and “press fast” for the right), button-pressing rates typically were consistent with the verbal behavior even when rates were opposite to those ordinarily maintained by the respective schedules. When shaping instead produced contingency descriptions (e.g., the button works “after a random number of presses” or “a random time since it worked before”), pressing rates were inconsistently related to the descriptions; for some students descriptions of ratio contingencies generated higher corresponding pressing rates than were produced by descriptions of interval contingencies, but for others contingency descriptions and pressing rates were unrelated.
Human Operant Performance: Sensitivity and Pseudosensitivity to Contingencies
Creators: name: Shimoff, Eliot
name: Matthews, Byron A.
name: Catania, A. Charles
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1986
Subjects: button press
contingency-governed behavior
multiple schedule
random interval
random ratio
rule-governed behavior
sensitivity to contingencies
undergraduates
verbal behavior

description: Undergraduates' button presses occasionally produced points exchangeable for money. Left and right buttons were initially correlated with multiple random-ratio (RR) and random-interval (RI) components, respectively. During interruptions of the multiple schedule, students filled out sentence-completion guess sheets describing the schedules, and points were contingent upon the accuracy of guesses. To test for sensitivity to schedule contingencies, schedule components were repeatedly reversed between the two buttons. Pressing rates were consistently higher in ratio than in interval components even when feedback for guesses was discontinued, demonstrating sensitivity to the difference between ratio and interval contingencies. The question was whether this sensitivity was based directly on the contingencies or whether it was rule-governed. For two students, when multiple RR RI schedules were changed to multiple RI RI schedules, rates became low in both components of the multiple RI RI schedule; however, subsequent prevention of point deliveries for the first few responses in any component produced high rates in that component. For a third student, response rates became higher in the RI component that provided the lower rate of reinforcement. In each case, performance was inconsistent with typical effects of the respective schedules with nonhuman organisms; it was therefore plausible to conclude that the apparently contingency-governed performances were instead rule-governed.
Survey: Open Science In Higher Education
Creators: name: Heck, Tamara
name: Blümel, Ina
name: Heller, Lambert
name: Mazarakis, Athanasios
name: Peters, Isabella
name: Scherp, Ansgar
name: Weisel, Luzian
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Open Science
Higher Education
Survey

description: Based on a checklist that was developed during a workshop at OER Camp 2016 and presented as a Science 2.0 conference 2016 poster [1], we conducted an online survey among university teachers representing a sufficient variety of subjects. The survey was online from Feb 6th to March 3rd 2017. We got 360 responses, whereof 210 were completes, see raw data [2].

The poster is presented at Open Science Conference, 21.-22.3.2017, Berlin.

[1] Blümel, Ina, Heck, Tamara, Heise, Christian, Peters, Isabella, Scherp, Ansgar, & Weisel, Luzian. (2016). Science 2.0 & Open Science in Higher Education. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.376104

[2] Heck, Tamara, Blümel, Ina, Heller, Lambert, Mazarakis, Athanasios, Peters, Isabella, Scherp, Ansgar, & Weisel, Luzian. (2017). Survey: Open Science in Higher Education [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.400518
Additional file 3 of How do trial teams plan for retention during the design stage of the trial? A scoping review
Creators: name: Murphy, Ellen
name: Gillies, Katie
name: Shiely, Frances
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Science Policy
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Additional file 3.
Rapid Determinations of Preference in Multiple Concurrent-Chain Schedules
Creators: name: Cerutti, Daniel T.
name: Catania, A. Charles
Publisher: name: Wiley
Year: 1986
Subjects: baseline relative rate
concurrent-chain schedules
fixed interval
free choice
key peck
multiple schedules
pigeon
preference
relative rate

description: With concurrent chains arranged for a pigeon's key pecks, pecks on two concurrently available initial-link keys (left and right) respectively produce separately operating terminal links (A and B). Preferences for terminal link A over terminal link B are usually calculated as deviations of relative initial-link response rates (left divided by total pecks) from those during baseline conditions, when A equals B. Baseline preferences, however, are often variable and typically are determined indirectly (e.g., with unequal A and B, reversing left-right assignments of A and B over sessions and estimating the baseline from differences between the relative rates generated). Multiple concurrent-chain schedules, with components each consisting of a pair of concurrent chains, speed the determination of preferences by arranging A and B and their reversal within sessions. In two experiments illustrating the feasibility of this procedure, one component operated with circles projected on initial-link keys and the other with pluses; when left and right initial-link pecks respectively produced terminal links A and B in one component, they produced B and A in the other. Even as the baselines fluctuated, preference was observable within sessions as the difference between relative initial-link response rates in the two components. The first experiment demonstrated the rapid development of preferences when terminal links A and B consisted of fixed-interval 15-s and 30-s schedules. The second demonstrated the sensitivity of the procedure to preference for a fixed-interval 30-s schedule operating for pecks on either of two keys (free choice) over its operating for pecks on only a single key (forced choice).