6,115 results on '"Belle"'
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2. Adaptation of a Theory-Based Mobile App to Improve Access to HIV Prevention Services for Transgender Women in Malaysia: Focus Group Study
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Kamal Gautam, Roman Shrestha, Sihlelelwe Dlamini, Belle Razali, Kiran Paudel, Iskandar Azwa, Rumana Saifi, YuHang Toh, Hazriq Justin Lim, Ryan Sutherland, Arjee Restar, Nittaya Phanuphak, and Jeffrey A Wickersham
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Medicine - Abstract
BackgroundGlobally, transgender women have been disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic, including in Malaysia, where an estimated 11% of transgender women are living with HIV. Available interventions designed specifically to meet transgender women’s needs for HIV prevention are limited. Mobile health, particularly smartphone mobile apps, is an innovative and cost-effective strategy for reaching transgender women and delivering interventions to reduce HIV vulnerability. ObjectiveThis study aims to adapt a theory-based mobile health HIV prevention smartphone app, HealthMindr, to meet the unique needs of transgender women in Malaysia. We conducted theater testing of the HealthMindr app with transgender women and key stakeholders and explored barriers to transgender women’s uptake of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). MethodsFrom February to April 2022, a total of 6 focus group (FG) sessions were conducted with 29 participants: 4 FG sessions with transgender women (n=18, 62%) and 2 FG sessions with stakeholders (n=11, 38%) providing HIV prevention services to transgender women in Malaysia. Barriers to PrEP uptake and gender-affirming care services among transgender women in Malaysia were explored. Participants were then introduced to the HealthMindr app and provided a comprehensive tour of the app’s features and functions. Participants provided feedback on the app and on how existing features should be adapted to meet the needs of transgender women, as well as any features that should be removed or added. Each FG was digitally recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were coded inductively using Dedoose software (version 9.0.54; SocioCultural Research Consultants, LLC) and analyzed to identify and interpret emerging themes. ResultsSix subthemes related to PrEP barriers were found: stigma and discrimination, limited PrEP knowledge, high PrEP cost, accessibility concerns, alternative prevention methods, and perceived adverse effects. Participants suggested several recommendations regarding the attributes and app features that would be the most useful for transgender women in Malaysia. Adaptation and refinement of the app were related to the attributes of the app (user interface, security, customizable colors, themes, and avatars), feedback, and requests for additional mobile app functional (appointment booking, e-consultation, e-pharmacy, medicine tracker, mood tracker, resources, and service site locator) and communication (peer support group, live chat, and discussion forum) features. ConclusionsThe results reveal that multifaceted barriers hinder PrEP uptake and use among transgender women in Malaysia. The findings also provide detailed recommendations for successfully adapting the HealthMindr app to the context of Malaysian transgender women, with a potential solution for delivering tailored HIV prevention, including PrEP, and increasing accessibility to gender-affirming care services.
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- 2024
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3. Untangling the genetics of beta cell dysfunction and death in type 1 diabetes
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Catherine C. Robertson, Ruth M. Elgamal, Belle A. Henry-Kanarek, Peter Arvan, Shuibing Chen, Sangeeta Dhawan, Decio L. Eizirik, John S. Kaddis, Golnaz Vahedi, Stephen C.J. Parker, Kyle J. Gaulton, and Scott A. Soleimanpour
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GWAS ,QTL ,SNP ,Autoimmunity ,Apoptosis ,Islet ,Internal medicine ,RC31-1245 - Abstract
Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a complex multi-system disease which arises from both environmental and genetic factors, resulting in the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. Over the past two decades, human genetic studies have provided new insight into the etiology of T1D, including an appreciation for the role of beta cells in their own demise. Scope of Review: Here, we outline models supported by human genetic data for the role of beta cell dysfunction and death in T1D. We highlight the importance of strong evidence linking T1D genetic associations to bona fide candidate genes for mechanistic and therapeutic consideration. To guide rigorous interpretation of genetic associations, we describe molecular profiling approaches, genomic resources, and disease models that may be used to construct variant-to-gene links and to investigate candidate genes and their role in T1D. Major Conclusions: We profile advances in understanding the genetic causes of beta cell dysfunction and death at individual T1D risk loci. We discuss how genetic risk prediction models can be used to address disease heterogeneity. Further, we present areas where investment will be critical for the future use of genetics to address open questions in the development of new treatment and prevention strategies for T1D.
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- 2024
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4. Danish ban on Ashwagandha: Truth, evidence, ethics, and regulations
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Bhushan Patwardhan, Sarika Chaturvedi, Girish Tillu, Sharad Deshpande, and Belle Monappa Hegde
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Miscellaneous systems and treatments ,RZ409.7-999 - Published
- 2024
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5. Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development
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Brenna Lincoln, Kira N. Patel, Molly Binder, Terese J. Lund, and Belle Liang
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civic engagement ,purpose ,adolescence ,positive youth development ,qualitative methods ,Psychiatry ,RC435-571 ,Pediatrics ,RJ1-570 ,Psychology ,BF1-990 - Abstract
As tomorrow’s leaders, adolescents are navigating coming-of-age tasks in the context of both the fast-growing promises of technology and the burdens of overwhelming global challenges. The Climate Leaders Fellowship (CLF) is an extracurricular program that supports adolescents interested in environmental sustainability. Program participants are connected with like-minded peers and mentors across the globe who help them develop and implement community-based volunteer projects (CLF, 2022). This study focuses on whether and how participation in CLF shaped adolescents’ development. A directed content analysis approach was utilized to conduct and analyze semi-structured interviews with adolescent CLF participants (n = 9, 89% female). Results indicate that engagement in the program is associated with civic purpose development. Specifically, participants reported experiencing civic reflection, motivation, and action through their CLF involvement. Findings offer supporting evidence that the development of civic purpose may be associated with burgeoning critical consciousness. Recommendations for future programming, study limitations, and implications are discussed.
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- 2024
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6. Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination to prevent febrile and respiratory illness in adults (BRACE): secondary outcomes of a randomised controlled phase 3 trialResearch in context
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Laure F. Pittet, Nicole L. Messina, Ellie McDonald, Francesca Orsini, Simone Barry, Marc Bonten, John Campbell, Julio Croda, Mariana G. Croda, Margareth Dalcolmo, Kaya Gardiner, Amanda Gwee, Bruno Jardim, Marcus V.G. Lacerda, Michaela Lucas, David J. Lynn, Laurens Manning, Kirsten P. Perrett, Jeffrey J. Post, Cristina Prat-Aymerich, Peter C. Richmond, Jorge L. Rocha, Jesus Rodriguez-Baño, Adilia Warris, Nicholas J. Wood, Andrew Davidson, Nigel Curtis, Tenaya Jamieson, Nicole Messina, Thilanka Morawakage, Susan Perlen, Kirsten Perrett, Laure Pittet, Amber Sastry, Jia Wei Teo, Katherine Lee, Cecilia Moore, Suzanna Vidmar, Rashida Ali, Ross Dunn, Peta Edler, Grace Gell, Casey Goodall, Richard Hall, Ann Krastev, Nathan La, Nick McPhate, Thao Nguyen, Jack Ren, Luke Stevens, Ahmed Alamrousi, Rhian Bonnici, Thanh Dang, Susie Germano, Jenny Hua, Rebecca McElroy, Monica Razmovska, Scott Reddiex, Xiaofang Wang, Jeremy Anderson, Kristy Azzopardi, Vicki Bennett-Wood, Anna Czajko, Nadia Mazarakis, Conor McCafferty, Frances Oppedisano, Belinda Ortika, Casey Pell, Leena Spry, Ryan Toh, Sunitha Velagapudi, Amanda Vlahos, Ashleigh Wee-Hee, Pedro Ramos, Karina De La Cruz, Dinusha Gamage, Anushka Karunanayake, Isabella Mezzetti, Benjamin Ong, Ronita Singh, Enoshini Sooriyarachchi, Suellen Nicholson, Natalie Cain, Rianne Brizuela, Han Huang, Veronica Abruzzo, Morgan Bealing, Patricia Bimboese, Kirsty Bowes, Emma Burrell, Joyce Chan, Jac Cushnahan, Hannah Elborough, Olivia Elkington, Kieran Fahey, Monique Fernandez, Catherine Flynn, Sarah Fowler, Marie Gentile Andrit, Bojana Gladanac, Catherine Hammond, Norine Ma, Sam Macalister, Emmah Milojevic, Jesutofunmi Mojeed, Jill Nguyen, Liz O'Donnell, Nadia Olivier, Isabelle Ooi, Stephanie Reynolds, Lisa Shen, Barb Sherry, Judith Spotswood, Jamie Wedderburn, Angela Younes, Donna Legge, Jason Bell, Jo Cheah, Annie Cobbledick, Kee Lim, Sonja Elia, Lynne Addlem, Anna Bourke, Clare Brophy, Nadine Henare, Narelle Jenkins, Francesca Machingaifa, Skye Miller, Kirsten Mitchell, Sigrid Pitkin, Kate Wall, Paola Villanueva, Nigel Crawford, Wendy Norton, Niki Tan, Thilakavathi Chengodu, Diane Dawson, Victoria Gordon, Tony Korman, Jess O'Bryan, Sophie Agius, Samantha Bannister, Jess Bucholc, Alison Burns, Beatriz Camesella, John Carlin, Marianna Ciaverella, Maxwell Curtis, Stephanie Firth, Christina Guo, Matthew Hannan, Erin Hill, Sri Joshi, Katherine Lieschke, Megan Mathers, Sasha Odoi, Ashleigh Rak, Chris Richards, Leah Steve, Carolyn Stewart, Eva Sudbury, Helen Thomson, Emma Watts, Fiona Williams, Angela Young, Penny Glenn, Andrew Kaynes, Amandine Philippart De Floy, Sandy Buchanan, Thijs Sondag, Ivy Xie, Harriet Edmund, Bridie Byrne, Tom Keeble, Belle Ngien, Fran Noonan, Michelle Wearing-Smith, Alison Clarke, Pemma Davies, Oliver Eastwood, Alric Ellinghaus, Rachid Ghieh, Zahra Hilton, Emma Jennings, Athina Kakkos, Iris Liang, Katie Nicol, Sally O'Callaghan, Helen Osman, Gowri Rajaram, Sophia Ratcliffe, Victoria Rayner, Ashleigh Salmon, Angela Scheppokat, Aimee Stevens, Rebekah Street, Nicholas Toogood, Nicholas Wood, Twinkle Bahaduri, Therese Baulman, Jennifer Byrne, Candace Carter, Mary Corbett, Aiken Dao, Maria Desylva, Andrew Dunn, Evangeline Gardiner, Rosemary Joyce, Rama Kandasamy, Craig Munns, Lisa Pelayo, Ketaki Sharma, Katrina Sterling, Caitlin Uren, Clinton Colaco, Mark Douglas, Kate Hamilton, Adam Bartlett, Brendan McMullan, Pamela Palasanthiran, Phoebe Williams, Justin Beardsley, Nikki Bergant, Renier Lagunday, Kristen Overton, Jeffrey Post, Yasmeen Al-Hindawi, Sarah Barney, Anthony Byrne, Lee Mead, Marshall Plit, David Lynn, Saoirse Benson, Stephen Blake, Rochelle Botten, Tee Yee Chern, Georgina Eden, Liddy Griffith, Jane James, Miriam Lynn, Angela Markow, Domenic Sacca, Natalie Stevens, Steve Wesselingh, Catriona Doran, Alice Sawka, Sue Evans, Louise Goodchild, Christine Heath, Meredith Krieg, Helen Marshall, Mark McMillan, Mary Walker, Peter Richmond, Nelly Amenyogbe, Christina Anthony, Annabelle Arnold, Beth Arrowsmith, Rym Ben-Othman, Sharon Clark, Jemma Dunnill, Nat Eiffler, Krist Ewe, Carolyn Finucane, Lorraine Flynn, Camille Gibson, Lucy Hartnell, Elysia Hollams, Heidi Hutton, Lance Jarvis, Jane Jones, Jan Jones, Karen Jones, Jennifer Kent, Tobias Kollmann, Debbie Lalich, Wenna Lee, Rachel Lim, Sonia McAlister, Fiona McDonald, Andrea Meehan, Asma Minhaj, Lisa Montgomery, Melissa O'Donnell, Jaslyn Ong, Joanne Ong, Kimberley Parkin, Glady Perez, Catherine Power, Shadie Rezazadeh, Holly Richmond, Sally Rogers, Nikki Schultz, Margaret Shave, Patrycja Skut, Lisa Stiglmayer, Alexandra Truelove, Ushma Wadia, Rachael Wallace, Justin Waring, Michelle England, Erin Latkovic, Susan Herrmann, Marcus Lacerda, Paulo Henrique Andrade, Fabiane Bianca Barbosa, Dayanne Barros, Larissa Brasil, Ana Greyce Capella, Ramon Castro, Erlane Costa, Dilcimar de Souza, Maianne Dias, José Dias, Klenilson Ferreira, Paula Figueiredo, Thamires Freitas, Ana Carolina Furtado, Larissa Gama, Vanessa Godinho, Cintia Gouy, Daniele Hinojosa, Tyane Jardim, Joel Junior, Augustto Lima, Bernardo Maia, Adriana Marins, Kelry Mazurega, Tercilene Medeiros, Rosangela Melo, Marinete Moraes, Elizandra Nascimento, Juliana Neves, Maria Gabriela Oliveira, Thais Oliveira, Ingrid Oliveira, Arthur Otsuka, Rayssa Paes, Handerson Pereira, Gabrielle Pereira, Christiane Prado, Evelyn Queiroz, Laleyska Rodrigues, Bebeto Rodrigues, Vanderson Sampaio, Anna Gabriela Santos, Daniel Santos, Tilza Santos, Evelyn Santos, Ariandra Sartim, Ana Beatriz Silva, Juliana Silva, Emanuelle Silva, Mariana Simão, Caroline Soares, Antonny Sousa, Alexandre Trindade, Fernando Val, Adria Vasconcelos, Heline Vasconcelos, Carolinne Abreu, Katya Martinez Almeida, Camila Bitencourt de Andrade, Jhenyfer Thalyta Campos Angelo, Ghislaine Gonçalvez de Araújo Arcanjo, Bianca Maria Silva Menezes Arruda, Wellyngthon Espindola Ayala, Adelita Agripina Refosco Barbosa, Felipe Zampieri Vieira Batista, Fabiani de Morais Batista, Miriam de Jesus Costa, Mariana Garcia Croda, Lais Alves da Cruz, Roberta Carolina Pereira Diogo, Rodrigo Cezar Dutra Escobar, Iara Rodrigues Fernandes, Leticia Ramires Figueiredo, Leandro Galdino Cavalcanti Gonçalves, Sarita Lahdo, Joyce dos Santos Lencina, Guilherme Teodoro de Lima, Bruna Tayara LEOPOLDINA MEIRELES, Debora Quadros Moreira, Lilian Batista Silva Muranaka, Adriely de Oliveira, Karla Regina Warszawski de Oliveira, Matheus Vieira de Oliveira, Roberto Dias de Oliveira, Andrea Antonia Souza de Almeida dos Reis Pereira, Marco Puga, Caroliny Veron Ramos, Thaynara Haynara Souza da Rosa, Karla Lopes dos Santos, Claudinalva Ribeiro dos Santos, Dyenyffer Stéffany Leopoldina dos Santos, Karina Marques Santos, Paulo César Pereira da Silva, Paulo Victor Rocha da Silva, Débora dos Santos Silva, Patricia Vieira da Silva, Bruno Freitas da Rosa Soares, Mariana Gazzoni Sperotto, Mariana Mayumi Tadokoro, Daniel Tsuha, Hugo Miguel Ramos Vieira, Margareth Maria Pretti Dalcolmo, Cíntia Maria Lopes Alves da Paixão, Gabriela Corrêa E Castro, Simone Silva Collopy, Renato da Costa Silva, Samyra Almeida da Silveira, Alda Maria Da-Cruz, Alessandra Maria da Silva Passos de Carvalho, Rita de Cássia Batista, Maria Luciana Silva De Freitas, Aline Gerhardt de Oliveira Ferreira, Ana Paula Conceição de Souza, Paola Cerbino Doblas, Ayla Alcoforado da Silva dos Santos, Vanessa Cristine de Moraes dos Santos, Dayane Alves dos Santos Gomes, Anderson Lage Fortunato, Adriano Gomes-Silva, Monique Pinto Gonçalves, Paulo Leandro Garcia Meireless Junior, Estela Martins da Costa Carvalho, Fernando do Couto Motta, Ligia Maria Olivo de Mendonça, Girlene dos Santos Pandine, Rosa Maria Plácido Pereira, Ivan Ramos Maia, Jorge Luiz da Rocha, João Victor Paiva Romano, Glauce dos Santos, Erica Fernandes da Silva, Marilda Agudo Mendonça Teixeira de Siqueira, Ágatha Cristinne Prudêncio Soares, Sandra Franch Arroyo, Henny Ophorst-den Besten, Anna Boon, Karin M. Brakke, Axel Janssen, Marijke A.H. Koopmans, Toos Lemmens, Titia Leurink, Engelien Septer-Bijleveld, Kimberly Stadhouders, Darren Troeman, Marije van der Waal, Marjoleine van Opdorp, Nicolette van Sluis, Beatrijs Wolters, Jan Kluytmans, Jannie Romme, Wouter van den Bijllaardt, Linda van Mook, M.M.L (Miranda) van Rijen, P.M.G. Filius, Jet Gisolf, Frances Greven, Danique Huijbens, Robert Jan Hassing, R.C. Pon, Lieke Preijers, J.H. van Leusen, Harald Verheij, Wim Boersma, Evelien Brans, Paul Kloeg, Kitty Molenaar-Groot, Nhat Khanh Nguyen, Nienke Paternotte, Anke Rol, Lida Stooper, Helga Dijkstra, Esther Eggenhuizen, Lucas Huijs, Simone Moorlag, Mihai Netea, Eva Pranger, Esther Taks, Jaap ten Oever, Rob ter Heine, Kitty Blauwendraat, Bob Meek, Isil Erkaya, Houda Harbech, Nienke Roescher, Rifka Peeters, Menno te Riele, Carmen Zhou, Esther Calbo, Cristina Badia Marti, Emma Triviño Palomares, Tomás Perez Porcuna, Anabel Barriocanal, Ana Maria Barriocanal, Irma Casas, Jose Dominguez, Maria Esteve, Alicia Lacoma, Irene Latorre, Gemma Molina, Barbara Molina, Antoni Rosell, Sandra Vidal, Lydia Barrera, Natalia Bustos, Ines Portillo Calderón, David Gutierrez Campos, Jose Manuel Carretero, Angel Dominguez Castellano, Renato Compagnone, Encarnacion Ramirez de Arellano, Almudena de la Serna, Maria Dolores del Toro Lopez, Marie-Alix Clement Espindola, Ana Belen Martin Gutierrez, Alvaro Pascual Hernandez, Virginia Palomo Jiménez, Elisa Moreno, Nicolas Navarrete, Teresa Rodriguez Paño, Jesús Rodríguez-Baño, Enriqueta Tristán, Maria Jose Rios Villegas, Atsegiñe Canga Garces, Erika Castro Amo, Raquel Coya Guerrero, Josune Goikoetxea, Leticia Jorge, Cristina Perez, María Carmen Fariñas Álvarez, Manuel Gutierrez Cuadra, Francisco Arnaiz de las Revillas Almajano, Pilar Bohedo Garcia, Teresa Giménez Poderos, Claudia González Rico, Blanca Sanchez, Olga Valero, Noelia Vega, Anna Barnes, Helen Catterick, Tim Cranston, Phoebe Dawe, Emily Fletcher, Liam Fouracre, Alison Gifford, Neil Gow, John Kirkwood, Christopher Martin, Amy McAnew, Marcus Mitchell, Georgina Newman, Abby O'Connell, Jakob Onysk, Lynne Quinn, Shelley Rhodes, Samuel Stone, Lorrie Symons, Harry Tripp, Darcy Watkins, Bethany Whale, Alex Harding, Gemma Lockhart, Kate Sidaway-Lee, Sam Hilton, Sarah Manton, Daniel Webber-Rookes, Rachel Winder, James Moore, Freya Bateman, Michael Gibbons, Bridget Knight, Julie Moss, Sarah Statton, Josephine Studham, Lydia Hall, Will Moyle, and Tamsin Venton
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Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine ,Immunity ,Heterologous ,Health personnel ,Randomised controlled trial ,Primary prevention ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Summary: Background: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination has off-target (non-specific) effects that are associated with protection against unrelated infections and decreased all-cause mortality in infants. We aimed to determine whether BCG vaccination prevents febrile and respiratory infections in adults. Methods: This randomised controlled phase 3 trial was done in 36 healthcare centres in Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Healthcare workers were randomised to receive BCG-Denmark (single 0.1 ml intradermal injection) or no BCG in a 1:1 ratio using a web-based procedure, stratified by stage, site, age, and presence of co-morbidity. The difference in occurrence of febrile or respiratory illness were measured over 12 months (prespecified secondary outcome) using the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04327206. Findings: Between March 30, 2020, and April 1, 2021, 6828 healthcare workers were randomised to BCG-Denmark (n = 3417) or control (n = 3411; no intervention or placebo) groups. The 12-month adjusted estimated risk of ≥1 episode of febrile or respiratory illness was 66.8% in the BCG group (95% CI 65.3%–68.2%), compared with 63.4% in the control group (95% CI 61.8%–65.0%), a difference of +3.4 percentage points (95% CI +1.3% to +5.5%; p 0.002). The adjusted estimated risk of a severe episode (defined as being incapacitated for ≥3 consecutive days or hospitalised) was 19.4% in the BCG group (95% CI 18.0%–20.7%), compared with 18.8% in the control group (95% CI 17.4%–20.2%) a difference of +0.6 percentage points (95% CI −1.3% to +2.5%; p 0.6). Both groups had a similar number of episodes of illness, pneumonia, and hospitalisation. There were three deaths, all in the control group. There were no safety concerns following BCG vaccination. Interpretation: In contrast to the beneficial off-target effects reported following neonatal BCG in infants, a small increased risk of symptomatic febrile or respiratory illness was observed in the 12 months following BCG vaccination in adults. There was no evidence of a difference in the risk of severe disease. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Minderoo Foundation, Sarah and Lachlan Murdoch, the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, Health Services Union NSW, the Peter Sowerby Foundation, SA Health, the Insurance Advisernet Foundation, the NAB Foundation, the Calvert-Jones Foundation, the Modara Pines Charitable Foundation, the UHG Foundation Pty Ltd, Epworth Healthcare, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Swiss National Science Foundation and individual donors.
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- 2024
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7. Specific and off-target immune responses following COVID-19 vaccination with ChAdOx1-S and BNT162b2 vaccines—an exploratory sub-study of the BRACE trialResearch in context
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Nicole L. Messina, Susie Germano, Rebecca McElroy, Rhian Bonnici, Branka Grubor-Bauk, David J. Lynn, Ellie McDonald, Suellen Nicholson, Kirsten P. Perrett, Laure F. Pittet, Rajeev Rudraraju, Natalie E. Stevens, Kanta Subbarao, Nigel Curtis, Andrew Davidson, Kaya Gardiner, Amanda Gwee, Tenaya Jamieson, Nicole Messina, Thilanka Morawakage, Susan Perlen, Kirsten Perrett, Laure Pittet, Amber Sastry, Jia Wei Teo, Francesca Orsini, Katherine Lee, Cecilia Moore, Suzanna Vidmar, Rashida Ali, Ross Dunn, Peta Edler, Grace Gell, Casey Goodall, Richard Hall, Ann Krastev, Nathan La, Nick McPhate, Thao Nguyen, Jack Ren, Luke Stevens, Ahmed Alamrousi, Thanh Dang, Jenny Hua, Monica Razmovska, Scott Reddiex, Xiaofang Wang, Jeremy Anderson, Kristy Azzopardi, Vicki Bennett-Wood, Anna Czajko, Nadia Mazarakis, Conor McCafferty, Frances Oppedisano, Belinda Ortika, Casey Pell, Leena Spry, Ryan Toh, Sunitha Velagapudi, Amanda Vlahos, Ashleigh Wee-Hee, Pedro Ramos, Karina De La Cruz, Dinusha Gamage, Anushka Karunanayake, Isabella Mezzetti, Benjamin Ong, Ronita Singh, Enoshini Sooriyarachchi, Natalie Cain, Rianne Brizuela, Han Huang, Veronica Abruzzo, Morgan Bealing, Patricia Bimboese, Kirsty Bowes, Emma Burrell, Joyce Chan, Jac Cushnahan, Hannah Elborough, Olivia Elkington, Kieran Fahey, Monique Fernandez, Catherine Flynn, Sarah Fowler, Marie Gentile Andrit, Bojana Gladanac, Catherine Hammond, Norine Ma, Sam Macalister, Emmah Milojevic, Jesutofunmi Mojeed, Jill Nguyen, Liz O’Donnell, Nadia Olivier, Isabelle Ooi, Stephanie Reynolds, Lisa Shen, Barb Sherry, Judith Spotswood, Jamie Wedderburn, Angela Younes, Donna Legge, Jason Bell, Jo Cheah, Annie Cobbledick, Kee Lim, Sonja Elia, Lynne Addlem, Anna Bourke, Clare Brophy, Nadine Henare, Narelle Jenkins, Francesca Machingaifa, Skye Miller, Kirsten Mitchell, Sigrid Pitkin, Kate Wall, Paola Villanueva, Nigel Crawford, Wendy Norton, Niki Tan, Thilakavathi Chengodu, Diane Dawson, Victoria Gordon, Tony Korman, Jess O’Bryan, Sophie Agius, Samantha Bannister, Jess Bucholc, Alison Burns, Beatriz Camesella, John Carlin, Marianna Ciaverella, Maxwell Curtis, Stephanie Firth, Christina Guo, Matthew Hannan, Erin Hill, Sri Joshi, Katherine Lieschke, Megan Mathers, Sasha Odoi, Ashleigh Rak, Chris Richards, Leah Steve, Carolyn Stewart, Eva Sudbury, Helen Thomson, Emma Watts, Fiona Williams, Angela Young, Penny Glenn, Andrew Kaynes, Amandine Philippart De Floy, Sandy Buchanan, Thijs Sondag, Ivy Xie, Harriet Edmund, Bridie Byrne, Tom Keeble, Belle Ngien, Fran Noonan, Michelle Wearing-Smith, Alison Clarke, Pemma Davies, Oliver Eastwood, Alric Ellinghaus, Rachid Ghieh, Zahra Hilton, Emma Jennings, Athina Kakkos, Iris Liang, Katie Nicol, Sally O’Callaghan, Helen Osman, Gowri Rajaram, Sophia Ratcliffe, Victoria Rayner, Ashleigh Salmon, Angela Scheppokat, Aimee Stevens, Rebekah Street, Nicholas Toogood, Nicholas Wood, Twinkle Bahaduri, Therese Baulman, Jennifer Byrne, Candace Carter, Mary Corbett, Aiken Dao, Maria Desylva, Andrew Dunn, Evangeline Gardiner, Rosemary Joyce, Rama Kandasamy, Craig Munns, Lisa Pelayo, Ketaki Sharma, Katrina Sterling, Caitlin Uren, Clinton Colaco, Mark Douglas, Kate Hamilton, Adam Bartlett, Brendan McMullan, Pamela Palasanthiran, Phoebe Williams, Justin Beardsley, Nikki Bergant, Renier Lagunday, Kristen Overton, Jeffrey Post, Yasmeen Al-Hindawi, Sarah Barney, Anthony Byrne, Lee Mead, Marshall Plit, David Lynn, Saoirse Benson, Stephen Blake, Rochelle Botten, Tee Yee Chern, Georgina Eden, Liddy Griffith, Jane James, Miriam Lynn, Angela Markow, Domenic Sacca, Natalie Stevens, Steve Wesselingh, Catriona Doran, Simone Barry, Alice Sawka, Sue Evans, Louise Goodchild, Christine Heath, Meredith Krieg, Helen Marshall, Mark McMillan, Mary Walker, Peter Richmond, Nelly Amenyogbe, Christina Anthony, Annabelle Arnold, Beth Arrowsmith, Rym Ben-Othman, Sharon Clark, Jemma Dunnill, Nat Eiffler, Krist Ewe, Carolyn Finucane, Lorraine Flynn, Camille Gibson, Lucy Hartnell, Elysia Hollams, Heidi Hutton, Lance Jarvis, Jane Jones, Jan Jones, Karen Jones, Jennifer Kent, Tobias Kollmann, Debbie Lalich, Wenna Lee, Rachel Lim, Sonia McAlister, Fiona McDonald, Andrea Meehan, Asma Minhaj, Lisa Montgomery, Melissa O’Donnell, Jaslyn Ong, Joanne Ong, Kimberley Parkin, Glady Perez, Catherine Power, Shadie Rezazadeh, Holly Richmond, Sally Rogers, Nikki Schultz, Margaret Shave, Patrycja Skut, Lisa Stiglmayer, Alexandra Truelove, Ushma Wadia, Rachael Wallace, Justin Waring, Michelle England, Erin Latkovic, Laurens Manning, Susan Herrmann, Michaela Lucas, Marcus Lacerda, Paulo Henrique Andrade, Fabiane Bianca Barbosa, Dayanne Barros, Larissa Brasil, Ana Greyce Capella, Ramon Castro, Erlane Costa, Dilcimar de Souza, Maianne Dias, José Dias, Klenilson Ferreira, Paula Figueiredo, Thamires Freitas, Ana Carolina Furtado, Larissa Gama, Vanessa Godinho, Cintia Gouy, Daniele Hinojosa, Bruno Jardim, Tyane Jardim, Joel Junior, Augustto Lima, Bernardo Maia, Adriana Marins, Kelry Mazurega, Tercilene Medeiros, Rosangela Melo, Marinete Moraes, Elizandra Nascimento, Juliana Neves, Maria Gabriela Oliveira, Thais Oliveira, Ingrid Oliveira, Arthur Otsuka, Rayssa Paes, Handerson Pereira, Gabrielle Pereira, Christiane Prado, Evelyn Queiroz, Laleyska Rodrigues, Bebeto Rodrigues, Vanderson Sampaio, Anna Gabriela Santos, Daniel Santos, Tilza Santos, Evelyn Santos, Ariandra Sartim, Ana Beatriz Silva, Juliana Silva, Emanuelle Silva, Mariana Simão, Caroline Soares, Antonny Sousa, Alexandre Trindade, Fernando Val, Adria Vasconcelos, Heline Vasconcelos, Julio Croda, Carolinne Abreu, Katya Martinez Almeida, Camila Bitencourt de Andrade, Jhenyfer Thalyta Campos Angelo, Ghislaine Gonçalvez de Araújo Arcanjo, Bianca Maria Silva Menezes Arruda, Wellyngthon Espindola Ayala, Adelita Agripina Refosco Barbosa, Felipe Zampieri Vieira Batista, Fabiani de Morais Batista, Miriam de Jesus Costa, Mariana Garcia Croda, Lais Alves da Cruz, Roberta Carolina Pereira Diogo, Rodrigo Cezar Dutra Escobar, Iara Rodrigues Fernandes, Leticia Ramires Figueiredo, Leandro Galdino Cavalcanti Gonçalves, Sarita Lahdo, Joyce dos Santos Lencina, Guilherme Teodoro de Lima, Larissa Santos Matos, Bruna Tayara Leopoldina Meireles, Debora Quadros Moreira, Lilian Batista Silva Muranaka, Adriely de Oliveira, Karla Regina Warszawski de Oliveira, Matheus Vieira de Oliveira, Roberto Dias de Oliveira, Andrea Antonia Souza de Almeida dos Reis Pereira, Marco Puga, Caroliny Veron Ramos, Thaynara Haynara Souza da Rosa, Karla Lopes dos Santos, Claudinalva Ribeiro dos Santos, Dyenyffer Stéffany Leopoldina dos Santos, Karina Marques Santos, Paulo César Pereira da Silva, Paulo Victor Rocha da Silva, Débora dos Santos Silva, Patricia Vieira da Silva, Bruno Freitas da Rosa Soares, Mariana Gazzoni Sperotto, Mariana Mayumi Tadokoro, Daniel Tsuha, Hugo Miguel Ramos Vieira, Margareth Maria Pretti Dalcolmo, Cíntia Maria Lopes Alves da Paixão, Gabriela Corrêa E Castro, Simone Silva Collopy, Renato da Costa Silva, Samyra Almeida da Silveira, Alda Maria Da-Cruz, Alessandra Maria da Silva Passos de Carvalho, Rita de Cássia Batista, Maria Luciana Silva De Freitas, Aline Gerhardt de Oliveira Ferreira, Ana Paula Conceição de Souza, Paola Cerbino Doblas, Ayla Alcoforado da Silva dos Santos, Vanessa Cristine de Moraes dos Santos, Dayane Alves dos Santos Gomes, Anderson Lage Fortunato, Adriano Gomes-Silva, Monique Pinto Gonçalves, Paulo Leandro Garcia Meireless Junior, Estela Martins da Costa Carvalho, Fernando do Couto Motta, Ligia Maria Olivo de Mendonça, Girlene dos Santos Pandine, Rosa Maria Plácido Pereira, Ivan Ramos Maia, Jorge Luiz da Rocha, João Victor Paiva Romano, Glauce dos Santos, Erica Fernandes da Silva, Marilda Agudo Mendonça Teixeira de Siqueira, Ágatha Cristinne Prudêncio Soares, Marc Bonten, Sandra Franch Arroyo, Henny Ophorst-den Besten, Anna Boon, Karin M. Brakke, Axel Janssen, Marijke A.H. Koopmans, Toos Lemmens, Titia Leurink, Cristina Prat-Aymerich, Engelien Septer-Bijleveld, Kimberly Stadhouders, Darren Troeman, Marije van der Waal, Marjoleine van Opdorp, Nicolette van Sluis, Beatrijs Wolters, Jan Kluytmans, Jannie Romme, Wouter van den Bijllaardt, Linda van Mook, M.M.L (Miranda) van Rijen, Margreet Filius, Jet Gisolf, Frances Greven, Danique Huijbens, Robert Jan Hassing, Roos Pon, Lieke Preijers, Joke van Leusen, Harald Verheij, Wim Boersma, Evelien Brans, Paul Kloeg, Kitty Molenaar-Groot, Nhat Khanh Nguyen, Nienke Paternotte, Anke Rol, Lida Stooper, Helga Dijkstra, Esther Eggenhuizen, Lucas Huijs, Simone Moorlag, Mihai Netea, Eva Pranger, Esther Taks, Jaap ten Oever, Rob ter Heine, Kitty Blauwendraat, Bob Meek, Isil Erkaya, Houda Harbech, Nienke Roescher, Rifka Peeters, Menno te Riele, Carmen Zhou, Esther Calbo, Cristina Badia Marti, Emma Triviño Palomares, Tomás Perez Porcuna, Anabel Barriocanal, Ana Maria Barriocanal, Irma Casas, Jose Dominguez, Maria Esteve, Alicia Lacoma, Irene Latorre, Gemma Molina, Barbara Molina, Antoni Rosell, Sandra Vidal, Lydia Barrera, Natalia Bustos, Ines Portillo Calderón, David Gutierrez Campos, Jose Manuel Carretero, Angel Dominguez Castellano, Renato Compagnone, Encarnacion Ramirez de Arellano, Almudena de la Serna, Maria Dolores del Toro Lopez, Marie-Alix Clement Espindola, Ana Belen Martin Gutierrez, Alvaro Pascual Hernandez, Virginia Palomo Jiménez, Elisa Moreno, Nicolas Navarrete, Teresa Rodriguez Paño, Jesús Rodríguez-Baño, Enriqueta Tristán, Maria Jose Rios Villegas, Atsegiñe Canga Garces, Erika Castro Amo, Raquel Coya Guerrero, Josune Goikoetxea, Leticia Jorge, Cristina Perez, María Carmen Fariñas Álvarez, Manuel Gutierrez Cuadra, Francisco Arnaiz de las Revillas Almajano, Pilar Bohedo Garcia, Teresa Giménez Poderos, Claudia González Rico, Blanca Sanchez, Olga Valero, Noelia Vega, John Campbell, Anna Barnes, Helen Catterick, Tim Cranston, Phoebe Dawe, Emily Fletcher, Liam Fouracre, Alison Gifford, John Kirkwood, Christopher Martin, Amy McAnew, Marcus Mitchell, Georgina Newman, Abby O’Connell, Jakob Onysk, Lynne Quinn, Shelley Rhodes, Samuel Stone, Lorrie Symons, Harry Tripp, Adilia Warris, Darcy Watkins, Bethany Whale, Alex Harding, Gemma Lockhart, Kate Sidaway-Lee, Sam Hilton, Sarah Manton, Daniel Webber-Rookes, Rachel Winder, James Moore, Freya Bateman, Michael Gibbons, Bridget Knight, Julie Moss, Sarah Statton, Josephine Studham, Lydia Hall, Will Moyle, and Tamsin Venton
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Vaccine ,Off-target ,Immunoregulation ,Cytokine ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Heterologous immunity ,Medicine ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Summary: Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the rapid development and deployment of several highly effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Recent studies suggest that these vaccines may also have off-target effects on the immune system. We sought to determine and compare the off-target effects of the adenovirus vector ChAdOx1-S (Oxford-AstraZeneca) and modified mRNA BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccines on immune responses to unrelated pathogens. Methods: Prospective sub-study within the BRACE trial. Blood samples were collected from 284 healthcare workers before and 28 days after ChAdOx1-S or BNT162b2 vaccination. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies were measured using ELISA, and whole blood cytokine responses to specific (SARS-CoV-2) and unrelated pathogen stimulation were measured by multiplex bead array. Findings: Both vaccines induced robust SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody and cytokine responses. ChAdOx1-S vaccination increased cytokine responses to heat-killed (HK) Candida albicans and HK Staphylococcus aureus and decreased cytokine responses to HK Escherichia coli and BCG. BNT162b2 vaccination decreased cytokine response to HK E. coli and had variable effects on cytokine responses to BCG and resiquimod (R848). After the second vaccine dose, BNT162b2 recipients had greater specific and off-target cytokine responses than ChAdOx1-S recipients. Interpretation: ChAdOx1-S and BNT162b2 vaccines alter cytokine responses to unrelated pathogens, indicative of potential off-target effects. The specific and off-target effects of these vaccines differ in their magnitude and breadth. The clinical relevance of these findings is uncertain and needs further study. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council, Swiss National Science Foundation and the Melbourne Children’s. BRACE trial funding is detailed in acknowledgements.
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- 2024
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8. Using societal conditional regard to cope with drug use in the ultraorthodox community and the unintended consequences
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Yael Itzhaki-Braun and Belle Gavriel-Fried
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tight culture ,substance use disorder ,Ultraorthodox Jewish ,societal conditional regard ,self-determination theory ,Psychology ,BF1-990 - Abstract
IntroductionA developing theoretical framework for the investigation of tight cultures’ reaction toward members who violate communal norms is societal conditional regard (SCR).MethodsUsing a qualitative interpretive approach, in the current study we investigated the way the Ultraorthodox Jewish community uses SCR to cope with substance use disorders (SUDs), which considered to be a norms violation in closed religious communities. We did so by drawing on in-depth interviews with 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD and were in recovery.Results(a) The community’s socialization process, educating its members to lead a life that is the only right one; (b) The community’s use of God as the one whose love and regard are conditional; (c) The SCR emotional and behavioral practices used by the community toward individuals who violate norms, and (d) How, paradoxically, the use of SCR may eventuate in the initiation of drug use, and within the community itself.DiscussionFindings are discussed in the context of self-determination theory and SCR, and shed light on how tight cultures cope with the threat of deviation of communal norms. Implications for intervention and policy are outlined.
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- 2024
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9. Malaysia: Towards GE15 and Beyond GE15 by Murray Hunter and Lim Teck Ghee, and: Dark Forces Changing Malaysia by Lim Teck Ghee and Murray Hunter (review)
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Belle, Carl Vadivella
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- 2023
10. Taking pleasure in distinction: Unlocking specialty coffee preference
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Ondrej Mitas, Danny Han, Belle Struijer, Lotte Willems, and Thomas Chatwick
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specialty coffee ,taste preference ,involvement ,customer experience ,behavioral intentions ,Business ,HF5001-6182 - Abstract
Specialty coffee, comprising a tenth of the global coffee trade, is distinguished by its strict quality requirements and traceable origins. The diverse flavor profiles of specialty coffee raise demands on providers to serve individual taste preferences. Prior research has not sufficiently explored how to predict customer preferences for specific flavor profiles or how these preferences influence behavioral intentions such as revisiting or recommending a café. This study hypothesized that customer involvement, the extrinsic factors of coffee experience, and culinary risk-taking would predict flavor preference, which would in turn affect behavioral intentions. In an experiment involving 47 participants, individuals tasted and evaluated two espresso flavor profiles in a counterbalanced order. Results showed that taking pleasure in buying coffee, an aspect of involvement, significantly predicted preference for a distinctly acidic single-origin flavor profile over a more conventional blend. However, factors such as interest in involvement, sensory and service quality aspects of the café experience, and culinary risk-taking in coffee consumption were not significant predictors of coffee preference. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between coffee preference and the intention to revisit or recommend the establishment, though individual evaluations of each coffee were predictive of these behavioral intentions. These results refine the existing theory linking specialty coffee consumption and consumer behavior, particularly highlighting the role of acidity in flavor preferences. They also confirm the link between the sensory experience of tasting specialty coffee and subsequent behavioral intentions, applicable across diverse flavor profiles.
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- 2024
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11. Update and European consensus on a patient-centered core outcome set for multiple myeloma in clinical practice and research
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Simone Oerlemans, Belle H. de Rooij, Christine Bennink, Lars Bullinger, Annemiek Broijl, Mattia D’Agostino, Edward Laane, Maria Teresa Lupo-Stanghellini, Aurore Perrot, Ruth Wester, Viorica Cursaru, Hans Scheurer, Jan Vesseur, Mehul Dalal, Rohini Sen, Tanja Stamm, Heinz Ludwig, and Pieter Sonneveld
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Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs ,RC633-647.5 - Published
- 2024
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12. Randomized controlled trials of mind–body interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review
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Josh Kaplan, Vanessa C. Somohano, Belle Zaccari, and Maya E. O’Neil
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mind–body ,mindfulness ,movement ,exercise ,intervention ,posttraumatic stress disorder ,Psychology ,BF1-990 - Abstract
Mind–body interventions (MBIs) include mindfulness-based interventions (MiBIs), meditation- and mantra-based interventions (MMIs), and movement-based interventions (MoBIs). These approaches have demonstrated preliminary efficacy in improving posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have noted that this area of research is limited by inadequate comparator conditions, heterogeneity of measurement, and absence of objective outcome measures. For these reasons, an updated review of the highest-quality evidence available is warranted. We used the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded evidence tables for the PTSD-Repository to identify relevant studies and assess the risk of bias as follows: The search was conducted between June 2018 and June 2022, and databases included PTSDpubs (formerly PILOTS), Ovid® MEDLINE®, Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase®, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL®), SCOPUS, and PsycINFO®. Twenty-six randomized controlled trials met our inclusion criteria. After identifying studies and retrieving risk of bias information from the PTSD-Repository evidence tables, we extracted additional data and synthesized the evidence. The strength of evidence was rated as low for MiBIs and MMIs, largely due to contradicting results, inconsistent use of active versus passive comparators, and high risk of bias. The strength of evidence for MoBIs was rated as moderate due to individual studies consistently favoring the intervention and a relatively large number of studies and participants. Of the 26 included studies, only two included objective outcome measures. Implications for future MBI research and clinical applications for treating PTSD are discussed.
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- 2024
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13. Deep Learning by Domain Transfer for Early Tumor Detection in the Urinary Bladder
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Eixelberger Thomas, Maisch Philip, Kruck Stephan, Belle Sebastian, Kriegmair Maximilian, Bolenz Christian, and Wittenberg Thomas
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yolo networks ,deep learning ,domain transfer ,urinary bladder cancer ,early detection ,Medicine - Abstract
Background: Bladder cancer (BCa) is the second most common genitourinary malignancy and has a mortality of 165,000 deaths p.a. The diagnosis of BCa is mostly carried out using cystoscopy - the visual examination of the urinary bladder with an endoscope. White light cystoscopy is currently considered as gold standard for the diagnosis. Nevertheless, especially flat, small or weakly textured lesions, are very difficult to detect and diagnose. Objective: With the advent of deep learning and already commercially available systems for the detection of adenomas in colonoscopy, it is investigated how such a system - for colonoscopy - performs if retrained and tested with cystoscopy images. Methods: A deep neural network with a YOLOv7-tiny architecture was pre-trained on 35,699 colonoscopy images (partially from Mannheim), yielding a precision = 0.92, sensitivity = 0.90, F1 = 0.91 on public colonoscopy data collections. Results: Testing this adenomadetection network with cystoscopy images from three sources (Ulm, Erlangen, Pforzheim), F1 scores in the range of 0.67 to 0.74 could be achieved. The network was then retrained with 12,066 cystoscopy images (from Mannheim), yielding improved F1 scores in the range of 0.78 to 0.85. Conclusion: It could be shown that a deep learning network for adenoma detection in colonoscopy is ad-hoc able to detect approximately 75% of the lesions in the urinary bladder in cystoscopy images, suggesting that these lesions have a similar appearance. After retraining the network with additional cystoscopy data, the performance for urinary lesion detection could be improved, indicating that a domain-shift with adequate additional data is feasible.
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- 2023
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14. Mesenchymal stem cells alleviate dexamethasone-induced muscle atrophy in mice and the involvement of ERK1/2 signalling pathway
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Belle Yu-Hsuan Wang, Allen Wei-Ting Hsiao, Hoi Ting Shiu, Nicodemus Wong, Amanda Yu-Fan Wang, Chien-Wei Lee, Oscar Kuang-Sheng Lee, and Wayne Yuk-Wai Lee
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Mesenchymal stem cell ,Muscle atrophy ,Dexamethasone ,Cell therapy ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 ,Biochemistry ,QD415-436 - Abstract
Abstract Background High dosage of dexamethasone (Dex) is an effective treatment for multiple diseases; however, it is often associated with severe side effects including muscle atrophy, resulting in higher risk of falls and poorer life quality of patients. Cell therapy with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) holds promise for regenerative medicine. In this study, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of systemic administration of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) in mitigating the loss of muscle mass and strength in mouse model of DEX-induced muscle atrophy. Methods 3-month-old female C57BL/6 mice were treated with Dex (20 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) for 10 days to induce muscle atrophy, then subjected to intravenous injection of a single dose of ADSCs ( $$1\times {10}^{6}$$ 1 × 10 6 cells/kg body weight) or vehicle control. The mice were killed 7 days after ADSCs treatment. Body compositions were measured by animal DXA, gastrocnemius muscle was isolated for ex vivo muscle functional test, histological assessment and Western blot, while tibialis anterior muscles were isolated for RNA-sequencing and qPCR. For in vitro study, C2C12 myoblast cells were cultured under myogenic differentiation medium for 5 days following 100 $$\mu$$ μ M Dex treatment with or without ADSC-conditioned medium for another 4 days. Samples were collected for qPCR analysis and Western blot analysis. Myotube morphology was measured by myosin heavy chain immunofluorescence staining. Results ADSC treatment significantly increased body lean mass (10–20%), muscle wet weight (15–30%) and cross-sectional area (CSA) (~ 33%) in DEX-induced muscle atrophy mice model and down-regulated muscle atrophy-associated genes expression (45–65%). Hindlimb grip strength (~ 37%) and forelimb ex vivo muscle contraction property were significantly improved (~ 57%) in the treatment group. Significant increase in type I fibres (~ 77%) was found after ADSC injection. RNA-sequencing results suggested that ERK1/2 signalling pathway might be playing important role underlying the beneficial effect of ADSC treatment, which was confirmed by ERK1/2 inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions ADSCs restore the pathogenesis of Dex-induced muscle atrophy with an increased number of type I fibres, stronger muscle strength, faster recovery rate and more anti-fatigue ability via ERK1/2 signalling pathway. The inhibition of muscle atrophy-associated genes by ADSCs offered this treatment as an intervention option for muscle-associated diseases. Taken together, our findings suggested that adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy could be a new treatment option for patient with Dex-induced muscle atrophy.
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- 2023
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15. The Non-Invasive Detection of Pulmonary Exacerbations in Disorders of Mucociliary Clearance with Breath Analysis: A Systematic Review
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Emma Nessen, Belle Toussaint, Joël Israëls, Paul Brinkman, Anke-Hilse Maitland-van der Zee, and Eric Haarman
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mucociliary clearance ,cystic fibrosis ,primary ciliary dyskinesia ,exacerbation ,breath analysis ,volatile organic compounds ,Medicine - Abstract
Background: Disorders of mucociliary clearance, such as cystic fibrosis (CF), primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and bronchiectasis of unknown origin, are characterised by periods with increased respiratory symptoms, referred to as pulmonary exacerbations. These exacerbations are hard to predict and associated with lung function decline and the loss of quality of life. To optimise treatment and preserve lung function, there is a need for non-invasive and reliable methods of detection. Breath analysis might be such a method. Methods: We systematically reviewed the existing literature on breath analysis to detect pulmonary exacerbations in mucociliary clearance disorders. Extracted data included the study design, technique of measurement, definition of an exacerbation, identified compounds and diagnostic accuracy. Results: Out of 244 identified articles, 18 were included in the review. All studies included patients with CF and two also with PCD. Age and the definition of exacerbation differed between the studies. There were five that measured volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, two using an electronic nose and eleven measured organic compounds in exhaled breath condensate. Most studies showed a significant correlation between pulmonary exacerbations and one or multiple compounds, mainly hydrocarbons and cytokines, but the validation of these results in other studies was lacking. Conclusions: The detection of pulmonary exacerbations by the analysis of compounds in exhaled breath seems possible but is not near clinical application due to major differences in results, study design and the definition of an exacerbation. There is a need for larger studies, with a longitudinal design, international accepted definition of an exacerbation and validation of the results in independent cohorts.
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- 2024
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16. Physical symptom burden in patients with desmoid‐type fibromatosis and its impact on health‐related quality of life and healthcare use
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Anne‐Rose W. Schut, Leanne E. deBruin, Belle H. deRooij, Emma Lidington, Milea J. M. Timbergen, Winette T. A. van derGraaf, Winan J. vanHoudt, Johannes J. Bonenkamp, Robin L. Jones, Dirk. J. Grünhagen, Stefan Sleijfer, Spyridon Gennatas, Cornelis Verhoef, and Olga Husson
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desmoid tumour ,healthcare utilisation ,health‐related quality of life ,patient‐reported outcomes ,rare diseases ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Abstract Background Desmoid‐type fibromatosis (DTF) has a highly variable clinical course with varying intensity of symptoms. The objectives of this study were to identify subgroups of DTF patients based on physical symptom burden and to compare symptom burden subgroups on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) and healthcare use (univariate and multivariate). Methods Desmoid‐type fibromatosis patients from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands received cross‐sectional questionnaires on HRQoL (EORTC QLQ‐C30), DTF‐specific HRQoL (DTF‐QoL) and healthcare utilisation. Latent class cluster analysis was performed to identify subgroups based on patients' symptom burden using EORTC QLQ‐C30 and DTF‐QoL physical symptom items. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations of symptom burden with HRQoL and healthcare utilisation, respectively. Results Among 235 DTF patients, four symptom burden clusters were identified, with low symptom burden (24%), intermediate symptom burden‐low pain (20%), intermediate symptom burden‐high pain (25%) and high symptom burden (31%). DTF patients with high symptom burden had clinically relevant lower HRQoL scores compared to patients with low and intermediate symptom burden (p
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- 2023
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17. Ginkgolide B facilitates muscle regeneration via rejuvenating osteocalcin‐mediated bone‐to‐muscle modulation in aged mice
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Belle Yu‐Hsuan Wang, Yi‐Fan Chen, Allen Wei‐Ting Hsiao, Wan‐Jing Chen, Chien‐Wei Lee, and Oscar Kuang‐Sheng Lee
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aging ,Ginkgolide B ,osteocalcin ,rejuvenation ,skeletal muscle regeneration ,Diseases of the musculoskeletal system ,RC925-935 ,Human anatomy ,QM1-695 - Abstract
Abstract Background The progressive deterioration of tissue–tissue crosstalk with aging causes a striking impairment of tissue homeostasis and functionality, particularly in the musculoskeletal system. Rejuvenation of the systemic and local milieu via interventions such as heterochronic parabiosis and exercise has been reported to improve musculoskeletal homeostasis in aged organisms. We have shown that Ginkgolide B (GB), a small molecule from Ginkgo biloba, improves bone homeostasis in aged mice by restoring local and systemic communication, implying a potential for maintaining skeletal muscle homeostasis and enhancing regeneration. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of GB on skeletal muscle regeneration in aged mice. Methods Muscle injury models were established by barium chloride induction into the hind limb of 20‐month‐old mice (aged mice) and into C2C12‐derived myotubes. Therapeutic efficacy of daily administrated GB (12 mg/kg body weight) and osteocalcin (50 μg/kg body weight) on muscle regeneration was assessed by histochemical staining, gene expression, flow cytometry, ex vivo muscle function test and rotarod test. RNA sequencing was used to explore the mechanism of GB on muscle regeneration, with subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments validating these findings. Results GB administration in aged mice improved muscle regeneration (muscle mass, P = 0.0374; myofiber number/field, P = 0.0001; centre nucleus, embryonic myosin heavy chain‐positive myofiber area, P = 0.0144), facilitated the recovery of muscle contractile properties (tetanic force, P = 0.0002; twitch force, P = 0.0005) and exercise performance (rotarod performance, P = 0.002), and reduced muscular fibrosis (collagen deposition, P
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- 2023
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18. Genetic and functional enrichments associated with Enterococcus faecalis isolated from the urinary tract
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Belle M. Sharon, Amanda P. Arute, Amber Nguyen, Suman Tiwari, Sri Snehita Reddy Bonthu, Neha V. Hulyalkar, Michael L. Neugent, Dennise Palacios Araya, Nicholas A. Dillon, Philippe E. Zimmern, Kelli L. Palmer, and Nicole J. De Nisco
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urinary tract infection ,host-microbe interactions ,adaptation ,genomics ,hybrid assembly ,Enterococcus ,Microbiology ,QR1-502 - Abstract
ABSTRACTEnterococcus faecalis is the leading Gram-positive bacterial species implicated in urinary tract infection (UTI). An opportunistic pathogen, E. faecalis is a commensal of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT), and its presence in the GIT is a predisposing factor for UTI. How E. faecalis colonizes and survives in the urinary tract (UT) is poorly understood, especially in uncomplicated or recurrent UTI. The UT is distinct from the GIT and is characterized by a sparse nutrient landscape and unique environmental stressors. In this study, we isolated and sequenced a collection of 37 clinical E. faecalis strains from the urine of primarily postmenopausal women. We generated 33 closed genome assemblies and 4 highly contiguous draft assemblies and conducted a comparative genomics analysis study to identify genetic features enriched in urinary E. faecalis with respect to E. faecalis isolated from the human GIT and blood. Phylogenetic analysis revealed high diversity among urinary strains and a closer relatedness between urine and gut isolates than blood isolates. Plasmid replicon (rep) typing further underscored possible UT-GIT interconnection, identifying nine shared rep types between urine and gut E. faecalis. Both genotypic and phenotypic analyses of antimicrobial resistance among urinary E. faecalis revealed infrequent resistance to the front-line UTI antibiotics nitrofurantoin and fluoroquinolones and no vancomycin resistance. Finally, comparing gene presence and absence among urinary and gut strains, we identified 19 candidate genes enriched among urinary strains. These genes are involved in the core processes of sugar transport, cobalamin import, glucose metabolism, and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.IMPORTANCEUrinary tract infection (UTI) is a global health issue that imposes a substantial burden on healthcare systems. Women are disproportionately affected by UTI, with >60% of women experiencing at least one UTI in their lifetime. UTIs can recur, particularly in postmenopausal women, leading to diminished quality of life and potentially life-threatening complications. Understanding how pathogens colonize and survive in the urinary tract is necessary to identify new therapeutic targets that are urgently needed due to rising rates of antimicrobial resistance. How Enterococcus faecalis, a bacterium commonly associated with UTI, adapts to the urinary tract remains understudied. Here, we generated a collection of high-quality closed genome assemblies of clinical urinary E. faecalis isolated from the urine of postmenopausal women that we used alongside detailed clinical metadata to perform a robust comparative genomic investigation of genetic factors that may be involved in E. faecalis survival in the urinary tract.
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- 2023
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19. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination for protection against recurrent herpes labialis: a nested randomised controlled trialResearch in context
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Laure F. Pittet, Cecilia L. Moore, Ellie McDonald, Simone Barry, Marc Bonten, John Campbell, Julio Croda, Margareth Dalcolmo, Andrew Davidson, Mark W. Douglas, Kaya Gardiner, Amanda Gwee, Bruno Jardim, Marcus V.G. Lacerda, Michaela Lucas, David J. Lynn, Laurens Manning, Roberto D. de Oliveira, Kirsten P. Perrett, Cristina Prat-Aymerich, Peter C. Richmond, Jorge L. Rocha, Jesus Rodriguez-Baño, Adilia Warris, Nicholas J. Wood, Nicole L. Messina, Nigel Curtis, Tenaya Jamieson, Nicole Messina, Thilanka Morawakage, Susan Perlen, Kirsten Perrett, Laure Pittet, Amber Sastry, Jia Wei Teo, Francesca Orsini, Katherine Lee, Cecilia Moore, Suzanna Vidmar, Rashida Ali, Ross Dunn, Peta Edler, Grace Gell, Casey Goodall, Richard Hall, Ann Krastev, Nathan La, Nick McPhate, Thao Nguyen, Jack Ren, Luke Stevens, Ahmed Alamrousi, Rhian Bonnici, Thanh Dang, Susie Germano, Jenny Hua, Rebecca McElroy, Monica Razmovska, Scott Reddiex, Xiaofang Wang, Jeremy Anderson, Kristy Azzopardi, Vicki Bennett-Wood, Anna Czajko, Nadia Mazarakis, Conor McCafferty, Frances Oppedisano, Belinda Ortika, Casey Pell, Leena Spry, Ryan Toh, Sunitha Velagapudi, Amanda Vlahos, Ashleigh Wee-Hee, Pedro Ramos, Karina De La Cruz, Dinusha Gamage, Anushka Karunanayake, Isabella Mezzetti, Benjamin Ong, Ronita Singh, Enoshini Sooriyarachchi, Suellen Nicholson, Natalie Cain, Rianne Brizuela, Han Huang, Veronica Abruzzo, Morgan Bealing, Patricia Bimboese, Kirsty Bowes, Emma Burrell, Joyce Chan, Jac Cushnahan, Hannah Elborough, Olivia Elkington, Kieran Fahey, Monique Fernandez, Catherine Flynn, Sarah Fowler, Marie Gentile Andrit, Bojana Gladanac, Catherine Hammond, Norine Ma, Sam Macalister, Emmah Milojevic, Jesutofunmi Mojeed, Jill Nguyen, Liz O'Donnell, Nadia Olivier, Isabelle Ooi, Stephanie Reynolds, Lisa Shen, Barb Sherry, Judith Spotswood, Jamie Wedderburn, Angela Younes, Donna Legge, Jason Bell, Jo Cheah, Annie Cobbledick, Kee Lim, Sonja Elia, Lynne Addlem, Anna Bourke, Clare Brophy, Nadine Henare, Narelle Jenkins, Francesca Machingaifa, Skye Miller, Kirsten Mitchell, Sigrid Pitkin, Kate Wall, Paola Villanueva, Nigel Crawford, Wendy Norton, Niki Tan, Thilakavathi Chengodu, Diane Dawson, Victoria Gordon, Tony Korman, Jess O'Bryan, Sophie Agius, Samantha Bannister, Jess Bucholc, Alison Burns, Beatriz Camesella, John Carlin, Marianna Ciaverella, Maxwell Curtis, Stephanie Firth, Christina Guo, Matthew Hannan, Erin Hill, Sri Joshi, Katherine Lieschke, Megan Mathers, Sasha Odoi, Ashleigh Rak, Chris Richards, Leah Steve, Carolyn Stewart, Eva Sudbury, Helen Thomson, Emma Watts, Fiona Williams, Angela Young, Penny Glenn, Andrew Kaynes, Amandine Philippart De Floy, Sandy Buchanan, Thijs Sondag, Ivy Xie, Harriet Edmund, Bridie Byrne, Tom Keeble, Belle Ngien, Fran Noonan, Michelle Wearing-Smith, Alison Clarke, Pemma Davies, Oliver Eastwood, Alric Ellinghaus, Rachid Ghieh, Zahra Hilton, Emma Jennings, Athina Kakkos, Iris Liang, Katie Nicol, Sally O'Callaghan, Helen Osman, Gowri Rajaram, Sophia Ratcliffe, Victoria Rayner, Ashleigh Salmon, Angela Scheppokat, Aimee Stevens, Rebekah Street, Nicholas Toogood, Nicholas Wood, Twinkle Bahaduri, Therese Baulman, Jennifer Byrne, Candace Carter, Mary Corbett, Aiken Dao, Maria Desylva, Andrew Dunn, Evangeline Gardiner, Rosemary Joyce, Rama Kandasamy, Craig Munns, Lisa Pelayo, Ketaki Sharma, Katrina Sterling, Caitlin Uren, Clinton Colaco, Mark Douglas, Kate Hamilton, Adam Bartlett, Brendan McMullan, Pamela Palasanthiran, Phoebe Williams, Justin Beardsley, Nikki Bergant, Renier Lagunday, Kristen Overton, Jeffrey Post, Yasmeen Al-Hindawi, Sarah Barney, Anthony Byrne, Lee Mead, Marshall Plit, David Lynn, Saoirse Benson, Stephen Blake, Rochelle Botten, Tee Yee Chern, Georgina Eden, Liddy Griffith, Jane James, Miriam Lynn, Angela Markow, Domenic Sacca, Natalie Stevens, Steve Wesselingh, Catriona Doran, Alice Sawka, Sue Evans, Louise Goodchild, Christine Heath, Meredith Krieg, Helen Marshall, Mark McMillan, Mary Walker, Peter Richmond, Nelly Amenyogbe, Christina Anthony, Annabelle Arnold, Beth Arrowsmith, Rym Ben-Othman, Sharon Clark, Jemma Dunnill, Nat Eiffler, Krist Ewe, Carolyn Finucane, Lorraine Flynn, Camille Gibson, Lucy Hartnell, Elysia Hollams, Heidi Hutton, Lance Jarvis, Jane Jones, Jan Jones, Karen Jones, Jennifer Kent, Tobias Kollmann, Debbie Lalich, Wenna Lee, Rachel Lim, Sonia McAlister, Fiona McDonald, Andrea Meehan, Asma Minhaj, Lisa Montgomery, Melissa O'Donnell, Jaslyn Ong, Joanne Ong, Kimberley Parkin, Glady Perez, Catherine Power, Shadie Rezazadeh, Holly Richmond, Sally Rogers, Nikki Schultz, Margaret Shave, Patrycja Skut, Lisa Stiglmayer, Alexandra Truelove, Ushma Wadia, Rachael Wallace, Justin Waring, Michelle England, Erin Latkovic, Susan Herrmann, Marcus Lacerda, Paulo Henrique Andrade, Fabiane Bianca Barbosa, Dayanne Barros, Larissa Brasil, Ana Greyce Capella, Ramon Castro, Erlane Costa, Dilcimar de Souza, Maianne Dias, José Dias, Klenilson Ferreira, Paula Figueiredo, Thamires Freitas, Ana Carolina Furtado, Larissa Gama, Vanessa Godinho, Cintia Gouy, Daniele Hinojosa, Tyane Jardim, Joel Junior, Augustto Lima, Bernardo Maia, Adriana Marins, Kelry Mazurega, Tercilene Medeiros, Rosangela Melo, Marinete Moraes, Elizandra Nascimento, Juliana Neves, Maria Gabriela Oliveira, Thais Oliveira, Ingrid Oliveira, Arthur Otsuka, Rayssa Paes, Handerson Pereira, Gabrielle Pereira, Christiane Prado, Evelyn Queiroz, Laleyska Rodrigues, Bebeto Rodrigues, Vanderson Sampaio, Anna Gabriela Santos, Daniel Santos, Tilza Santos, Evelyn Santos, Ariandra Sartim, Ana Beatriz Silva, Juliana Silva, Emanuelle Silva, Mariana Simão, Caroline Soares, Antonny Sousa, Alexandre Trindade, Fernando Val, Adria Vasconcelos, Heline Vasconcelos, Carolinne Abreu, Katya Martinez Almeida, Camila Bitencourt de Andrade, Jhenyfer Thalyta Campos Angelo, Ghislaine Gonçalvez de Araújo Arcanjo, Bianca Maria Silva Menezes Arruda, Wellyngthon Espindola Ayala, Adelita Agripina Refosco Barbosa, Felipe Zampieri Vieira Batista, Fabiani de Morais Batista, Miriam de Jesus Costa, Mariana Garcia Croda, Lais Alves da Cruz, Roberta Carolina Pereira Diogo, Rodrigo Cezar Dutra Escobar, Iara Rodrigues Fernandes, Leticia Ramires Figueiredo, Leandro Galdino Cavalcanti Gonçalves, Sarita Lahdo, Joyce dos Santos Lencina, Guilherme Teodoro de Lima, Larissa Santos Matos, Bruna Tayara Leopoldina Meireles, Debora Quadros Moreira, Lilian Batista Silva Muranaka, Adriely de Oliveira, Karla Regina Warszawski de Oliveira, Matheus Vieira de Oliveira, Roberto Dias de Oliveira, Andrea Antonia Souza de Almeida dos Reis Pereira, Marco Puga, Caroliny Veron Ramos, Thaynara Haynara Souza da Rosa, Karla Lopes dos Santos, Claudinalva Ribeiro dos Santos, Dyenyffer Stéffany Leopoldina dos Santos, Karina Marques Santos, Paulo César Pereira da Silva, Paulo Victor Rocha da Silva, Débora dos Santos Silva, Patricia Vieira da Silva, Bruno Freitas da Rosa Soares, Mariana Gazzoni Sperotto, Mariana Mayumi Tadokoro, Daniel Tsuha, Hugo Miguel Ramos Vieira, Margareth Maria Pretti Dalcolmo, Cíntia Maria Lopes Alves da Paixão, Gabriela Corrêa E Castro, Simone Silva Collopy, Renato da Costa Silva, Samyra Almeida da Silveira, Alda Maria Da-Cruz, Alessandra Maria da Silva Passos de Carvalho, Rita de Cássia Batista, Maria Luciana Silva De Freitas, Aline Gerhardt de Oliveira Ferreira, Ana Paula Conceição de Souza, Paola Cerbino Doblas, Ayla Alcoforado da Silva dos Santos, Vanessa Cristine de Moraes dos Santos, Dayane Alves dos Santos Gomes, Anderson Lage Fortunato, Adriano Gomes-Silva, Monique Pinto Gonçalves, Paulo Leandro Garcia Meireless Junior, Estela Martins da Costa Carvalho, Fernando do Couto Motta, Ligia Maria Olivo de Mendonça, Girlene dos Santos Pandine, Rosa Maria Plácido Pereira, Ivan Ramos Maia, Jorge Luiz da Rocha, João Victor Paiva Romano, Glauce dos Santos, Erica Fernandes da Silva, Marilda Agudo Mendonça Teixeira de Siqueira, Ágatha Cristinne Prudêncio Soares, Sandra Franch Arroyo, Henny Ophorst-den Besten, Anna Boon, Karin M. Brakke, Axel Janssen, Marijke A.H. Koopmans, Toos Lemmens, Titia Leurink, Engelien Septer-Bijleveld, Kimberly Stadhouders, Darren Troeman, Marije van der Waal, Marjoleine van Opdorp, Nicolette van Sluis, Beatrijs Wolters, Jan Kluytmans, Jannie Romme, Wouter van den Bijllaardt, Linda van Mook, M.M.L (Miranda) van Rijen, P.M.G. Filius, Jet Gisolf, Frances Greven, Danique Huijbens, Robert Jan Hassing, R.C. Pon, Lieke Preijers, J.H. van Leusen, Harald Verheij, Wim Boersma, Evelien Brans, Paul Kloeg, Kitty Molenaar-Groot, Nhat Khanh Nguyen, Nienke Paternotte, Anke Rol, Lida Stooper, Helga Dijkstra, Esther Eggenhuizen, Lucas Huijs, Simone Moorlag, Mihai Netea, Eva Pranger, Esther Taks, Jaap ten Oever, Rob ter Heine, Kitty Blauwendraat, Bob Meek, Isil Erkaya, Houda Harbech, Nienke Roescher, Rifka Peeters, Menno te Riele, Carmen Zhou, Esther Calbo, Cristina Badia Marti, Emma Triviño Palomares, Tomás Perez Porcuna, Anabel Barriocanal, Ana Maria Barriocanal, Irma Casas, Jose Dominguez, Maria Esteve, Alicia Lacoma, Irene Latorre, Gemma Molina, Barbara Molina, Antoni Rosell, Sandra Vidal, Lydia Barrera, Natalia Bustos, Ines Portillo Calderón, David Gutierrez Campos, Jose Manuel Carretero, Angel Dominguez Castellano, Renato Compagnone, Encarnacion Ramirez de Arellano, Almudena de la Serna, Maria Dolores del Toro Lopez, Marie-Alix Clement Espindola, Ana Belen Martin Gutierrez, Alvaro Pascual Hernandez, Virginia Palomo Jiménez, Elisa Moreno, Nicolas Navarrete, Teresa Rodriguez Paño, Jesús Rodríguez-Baño, Enriqueta Tristán, Maria Jose Rios Villegas, Atsegiñe Canga Garces, Erika Castro Amo, Raquel Coya Guerrero, Josune Goikoetxea, Leticia Jorge, Cristina Perez, María Carmen Fariñas Álvarez, Manuel Gutierrez Cuadra, Francisco Arnaiz de las Revillas Almajano, Pilar Bohedo Garcia, Teresa Giménez Poderos, Claudia González Rico, Blanca Sanchez, Olga Valero, Noelia Vega, Anna Barnes, Helen Catterick, Tim Cranston, Phoebe Dawe, Emily Fletcher, Liam Fouracre, Alison Gifford, John Kirkwood, Christopher Martin, Amy McAnew, Marcus Mitchell, Georgina Newman, Abby O'Connell, Jakob Onysk, Lynne Quinn, Shelley Rhodes, Samuel Stone, Lorrie Symons, Harry Tripp, Darcy Watkins, Bethany Whale, Alex Harding, Gemma Lockhart, Kate Sidaway-Lee, Sam Hilton, Sarah Manton, Daniel Webber-Rookes, Rachel Winder, James Moore, Freya Bateman, Michael Gibbons, Bridget Knight, Julie Moss, Sarah Statton, Josephine Studham, Lydia Hall, Will Moyle, and Tamsin Venton
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Herpes simplex virus ,Cold sore ,Herpes labialis ,Bacille Calmette-Guérin ,Mycobacterium bovis ,Prevention ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Summary: Background: Recurrences of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in the orofacial region (herpes labialis or cold sores) impact quality-of-life. We aimed to study whether the bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine can attenuate cold sore recurrences through off-target immunomodulatory effects. Methods: In this nested randomised controlled trial within the multicentre, phase 3 BRACE trial, 6828 healthcare workers were randomised in 36 sites in Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and Brazil, to receive BCG-Denmark or no BCG (1:1 ratio using a web-based procedure) and followed for 12 months with 3-monthly questionnaires. Exclusion criteria included contraindication to BCG vaccine or previous vaccination with BCG within the past year, any other live-attenuated vaccine within the last month, or any COVID-specific vaccine. The intervention group received one intradermal dose of 0.1 mL of BCG-Denmark corresponding to 2−8 x 105 colony forming units of Mycobacterium bovis, Danish strain 1331. The primary outcome was the difference in restricted mean survival time (i.e., time to first cold-sore recurrence), in participants with frequent recurrent herpes labialis (≥4 recurrences/year), analysed by intention-to-treat. Secondary outcomes addressed additional questions, including analyses in other sub-populations. Adverse events were monitored closely during the first 3 months and were reported in all participants who received one dose of study drug according to intervention received. The BRACE trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04327206. Findings: Between March 30, 2020 and February 18, 2021, 84 individuals with frequent recurrent cold sores were randomly assigned to BCG (n = 38) or control (n = 46). The average time to first cold-sore recurrence was 1.55 months longer in the BCG group (95% CI 0.27–2.82, p = 0.02) than the control group (hazard ratio 0.54, 95% CI 0.32–0.91; intention-to-treat). The beneficial effect of BCG was greater in the as-treated population (difference 1.91 months, 95% CI 0.69–3.12, p = 0.003; hazard ratio 0.45, 95% CI 0.26–0.76). In prespecified subgroup analyses, only sex modified the treatment effect (interaction p = 0.007), with benefit restricted to males. Over 12 months, a greater proportion of participants in the BCG group compared with the control group reported a decrease in duration (61% vs 21%), severity (74% vs 21%), frequency (55% vs 21%), and impact on quality of life (42% vs 15%) of cold sore recurrences. In participants who had ever had a cold sore, there was also a decrease in self-reported burden of recurrences in the BCG group. In participants who had never had a cold sore, there was an increased risk of a first episode in the BCG group (risk difference 1.4%; 95% CI 0.3–2.6%, p = 0.02). There were no safety concerns. Interpretation: BCG-Denmark vaccination had a beneficial effect on herpes labialis, particularly in males with frequent recurrences, but may increase the risk of a first cold sore. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Minderoo Foundation, Sarah and Lachlan Murdoch, the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, Health Services Union NSW, the Peter Sowerby Foundation, SA Health, the Insurance Advisernet Foundation, the NAB Foundation, the Calvert-Jones Foundation, the Modara Pines Charitable Foundation, the UHG Foundation Pty Ltd, Epworth Healthcare, and individual donors.
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- 2023
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20. Mapping of Values Associated With Open-Mindedness, Responsibility, and the Collaborative Collective in the Mauritian Education Population
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Belle, Louis Jinot, Hosenally, Muzzammil, and Atchia, Mohammad Shakeel Cassam
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- 2022
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21. Is dexamethasone-induced muscle atrophy an alternative model for naturally aged sarcopenia model?
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Belle Yu-Hsuan Wang, Allen Wei-Ting Hsiao, Nicodemus Wong, Yi-Fan Chen, Chien-Wei Lee, and Wayne Yuk Wai Lee
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Sarcopenia ,Dexamethasone ,Animal model ,Skeletal muscle function ,Skeletal muscle mass ,Diseases of the musculoskeletal system ,RC925-935 - Abstract
Background: Primary sarcopenia is usually known as age-related skeletal muscle loss; however, other factors like endocrine, lifestyle and inflammation can also cause muscle loss, known as secondary sarcopenia. Although many studies have used different sarcopenia animal models for exploring the underlying mechanism and therapeutic approaches for sarcopenia, limited study has provided evidence of the relevance of these animal models. This study aims to investigate the similarity and difference in muscle qualities between primary and secondary sarcopenia mice models, using naturally aged mice and dexamethasone-induced mice. Methods: 21-month-old mice were used as naturally aged primary sarcopenia mice and 3-month-old mice received daily intraperitoneal injection of dexamethasone (20 mg/ kg body weight) for 10 days were used as secondary sarcopenia model. This study provided measurements for muscle mass and functions, including Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning, handgrip strength test and treadmill running to exhaustion test. Besides, muscle contraction, muscle fibre type measurements and gene expression were also performed to provide additional information on muscle qualities. Results: The results suggest two sarcopenia animal models shared a comparable decrease in forelimb lean mass, muscle fibre size, grip strength and muscle contraction ability. Besides, the upregulation of protein degradation genes was also observed in two sarcopenia animal models. However, only primary sarcopenia mice were identified with an early stage of mtDNA deletion. Conclusion: Collectively, this study evaluated that the dexamethasone-induced mouse model could be served as an alternative model for primary sarcopenia, according to the comparable muscle mass and functional changes. However, whether dexamethasone-induced mice can be used as an animal model when studying the molecular mechanisms of sarcopenia needs to be carefully evaluated. The translational potential of this article: The purpose of sarcopenia research is to investigate appropriate treatments for reversing the loss of skeletal muscle mass and functions. Using animal models for the preclinical study could predict the safety and efficacy of the treatments. This study compared the typical age-related sarcopenia mice model and dexamethasone-induced secondary sarcopenia mice to provide evidence of the pathological and functional changes in the mice models.
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- 2023
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22. A New Proposal Generalized Predictive Control Algorithm With Polynomial Reference Tracking Applied for Sodium Fast Reactors
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Luis Felipe Da Silva Carlos Pereira, Edson Antonio Batista, Joao Onofre Pereira Pinto, Belle R. Upadhyaya, and J. Wesley Hines
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Generalized predictive control ,orthonormal Laguerre functions ,polynomial reference tracking ,quadratic programming ,sodium fast reactor ,Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering ,TK1-9971 - Abstract
This paper proposes a generalized predictive control (GPC) with constraints and orthonormal Laguerre functions using the simplified model of the primary system (reactor core and intermediate heat exchanger (IHX)) of a prototypical sodium fast reactor (SFR). This paper develops a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) GPC with input constraints able to track polynomial references of any degree applied in coolant temperature difference across the core and fractional power. The manipulated variables of the GPC-SFR are the reactivity and the sodium flow rate of the primary and secondary pipes. Moreover, orthonormal Laguerre functions and step down condition number techniques were also applied to avoid the numerical ill-conditioning issue in quadratic programming of large systems. Thus, a GPC type-2 was designed to control fractional power, coolant temperature difference across the core and sodium tank temperature of the SFR primary system when temperature references change according to a linear ramp after reaching their steady-state operation, sustaining 100% power operation on the reactor. In order to analyze the load tracking capability of the GPC-SFR type-2, the load following from 100% fractional power (FP) to 60% FP at 0.8% FP/min rate is simulated. Constraints on the rate of coolant temperature difference across the core and reactivity were applied for the design safety. For comparison criteria, this paper compares the GPC-SFR type-2 with the GPC-SFR type-1, i.e, standard model predictive control (MPC), to verify the viability and superior performance of the proposal regarding: (a) ramp-tracking capability of temperature and load; (b) the rejections of a reactivity disturbance of -1 cent and a secondary sodium inlet temperature disturbance of $+10 ^{o}F$ ; and (c) a simulation with uncertainty in reactor design. The simulations show that the GPC-SFR type-2 overcome the GPC-SFR type-1 robustness and performance.
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- 2023
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23. Problem gambling severity in a nationally representative sample of the Israeli population: the moderating role of ethnonational affiliation
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Belle Gavriel-Fried, Amit Loewenthal, and Noa Vana
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problem gambling severity ,ethnonational ,representative sample ,Israel ,risk factors ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
IntroductionGambling is a public health concern. Problem gambling is related to a range of psycho-social risk factors including ethnonational affiliation. Israel is an insightful case to probe problem gambling, given the socio-economic marginalization of Israeli Arabs, the continued exposure of Israelis to stress and the conservative Israeli gambling market. This study aimed to estimate problem gambling severity in Israeli society, characterize the sociodemographic, environmental, mental health, and gambling-related risk factors associated with problem gambling severity, and examine the role of ethnonational affiliation (Israeli Jewish/Arab) as a moderating factor in the associations between these risk factors and problem gambling severity.MethodsA cross-sectional study based on a representative sample of 3,244 Israelis was conducted in 2022, of whom 1,626 had gambled in the previous year. Measurements included Problem Gambling Severity Index, Gambling Behaviors, Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion, Stress, the Patient Health Questionnaire-4, and sociodemographic variables.ResultsLow-risk, moderate-risk and problem gambling were reported by 16.7% of the total sample. The main risk factors for problem gambling were being an Israeli Arab, traditional, residing in a low socio-economic cluster, reporting anxiety symptoms, and higher gambling behaviors, specifically in legal/illegal online gambling. Ethnonational affiliation (Israeli Jewish/Arab) moderated the associations between gambling, illegal online gambling, and problem gambling severity. Higher neighborhood cohesion emerged as a risk factor for problem gambling solely for Israeli Arabs.DiscussionAs an excluded minority, Israeli Arabs may turn to gambling as a method to access the core republican community, thus, exposing themselves to a higher risk of developing problem gambling.
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- 2023
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24. I Am Queen Mary
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Belle, La Vaughn and Ehlers, Jeannette
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- 2023
25. Fourth mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in immunocompromised patients with haematological malignancies (COBRA KAI): a cohort studyResearch in context
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Quincy Hofsink, Sabine Haggenburg, Birgit I. Lissenberg-Witte, Annoek E.C. Broers, Jaap A. van Doesum, Rob S. van Binnendijk, Gerco den Hartog, Michel S. Bhoekhan, Nienke J.E. Haverkate, Johan van Meerloo, Judith A. Burger, Joey H. Bouhuijs, Gaby P. Smits, Dorine Wouters, Ester M.M. van Leeuwen, Hetty J. Bontkes, Neeltje A. Kootstra, Sandra Vogels-Nooijen, Nynke Rots, Josine van Beek, Mirjam H.M. Heemskerk, Kazimierz Groen, Tom van Meerten, Pim G.N.J. Mutsaers, Marit J. van Gils, Abraham Goorhuis, Caroline E. Rutten, Mette D. Hazenberg, Inger S. Nijhof, Iris M.J. Kant, Thecla Graas, Belle Toussaint, Sterre de Jong, Shahan Darwesh, Sandjiv S. Mahes, Dora Kamminga, Matthijs Koelewijn, Gino Faber, Guus Beaumont, Marije D. Engel, R. Cheyenne N. Pierie, Suzanne R. Janssen, Edith van Dijkman, Jarom Heijmans, Yara Y. Witte, Rogers A. Nahui Palomino, Said Z. Omar, Sonja Zweegman, Arnon P. Kater, Caya van den Vegt, Ilonka Arends-Halbesma, Emma de Pater, Margriet J. Dijkstra, Nynke Y. Rots, Esther Siteur-van Rijnstra, Dennis M. de Rooij, Rogier W. Sanders, Meliawati Poniman, Wouter Olijhoek, Jacqueline van Rijswijk, Tim Beaumont, Lusia Çetinel, Louis Schellekens, Yvonne M. den Hartogh, Jacqueline Cloos, Suzanne S. Weijers, Saïda Tonouh-Aajoud, Selime Avci, Elianne Roelandse-Koop, and Willem A. Dik
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Antibody response ,SARS-CoV-2 ,COVID-19 vaccination ,Booster vaccination ,Haematological malignancies ,Immunocompromised ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Summary: Background: Patients with haematological malignancies have impaired antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. We aimed to investigate whether a fourth mRNA COVID-19 vaccination improved antibody quantity and quality. Methods: In this cohort study, conducted at 5 sites in the Netherlands, we compared antibody concentrations 28 days after 4 mRNA vaccinations (3-dose primary series plus 1 booster vaccination) in SARS-CoV-2 naive, immunocompromised patients with haematological malignancies to those obtained by age-matched, healthy individuals who had received the standard primary 2-dose mRNA vaccination schedule followed by a first booster mRNA vaccination. Prior to and 4 weeks after each vaccination, peripheral blood samples and data on demographic parameters and medical history were collected. Concentrations of antibodies that bind spike 1 (S1) and nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV-2 were quantified in binding antibody units (BAU) per mL according to the WHO International Standard for COVID-19 serological tests. Seroconversion was defined as an S1 IgG concentration >10 BAU/mL and a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection as N IgG >14.3 BAU/mL. Antibody neutralising activity was tested using lentiviral-based pseudoviruses expressing spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 wild-type (D614G), Omicron BA.1, and Omicron BA.4/5 variants. This study is registered with EudraCT, number 2021-001072-41. Findings: Between March 24, 2021 and May 4, 2021, 723 patients with haematological diseases were enrolled, of which 414 fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the current analysis. Although S1 IgG concentrations in patients significantly improved after the fourth dose, they remained significantly lower compared to those obtained by 58 age-matched healthy individuals after their first booster (third) vaccination. The rise in neutralising antibody concentration was most prominent in patients with a recovering B cell compartment, although potent responses were also observed in patients with persistent immunodeficiencies. 19% of patients never seroconverted, despite 4 vaccinations. Patients who received their first 2 vaccinations when they were B cell depleted and the third and fourth vaccination during B cell recovery demonstrated similar antibody induction dynamics as patients with normal B cell numbers during the first 2 vaccinations. However, the neutralising capacity of these antibodies was significantly better than that of patients with normal B cell numbers after two vaccinations. Interpretation: A fourth mRNA COVID-19 vaccination improved S1 IgG concentrations in the majority of patients with a haematological malignancy. Vaccination during B cell depletion may pave the way for better quality of antibody responses after B cell reconstitution. Funding: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development and Amsterdam UMC.
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- 2023
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26. Operational continental-scale land cover mapping of Australia using the Open Data Cube
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Christopher J. Owers, Richard M. Lucas, Daniel Clewley, Belle Tissott, Sean M. T. Chua, Gabrielle Hunt, Norman Mueller, Carole Planque, Suvarna M. Punalekar, Pete Bunting, Peter Tan, and Graciela Metternicht
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dea land cover ,digital earth australia ,fao lccs ,landsat ,sustainable development goals ,Mathematical geography. Cartography ,GA1-1776 - Abstract
To comprehensively support national and international initiatives for sustainable development, land cover products need to be reliably and routinely generated within operational frameworks. Coupled with consistent semantics and taxonomies, ensuring confidence in mapping land cover for multiple time periods, facilitates informed decision-making at scales appropriate to multiple policy domains. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) provides a taxonomy that comparable at different scales, level of detail and geographic location. The Open Data Cube (ODC) initiative offers a framework for operational continental-scale land cover mapping using analysis-ready Earth Observation data. This study utilised the FAO LCCS framework and the Landsat sensor data through Digital Earth Australia (DEA; Australia’s ODC instance) to generate consistent and continent-wide land cover mapping (DEA Land Cover) of the Australian continent. DEA Land Cover provides annual maps from 1988 to 2020 at 25 m resolution. Output maps were validated with ∼12,000 independent validation points, giving an overall map accuracy of 80%. DEA Land Cover provides Australia with a nationally consistent picture of land cover, with an open-source software package using readily available global coverage data and demonstrates a pathway of adoption for national implementations across the world.
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- 2022
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27. Development of a set of patient reported outcome measures for patients with benign liver tumours and cysts: patient focus groups and systematic review
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Alicia Furumaya, Lynn E. Nooijen, Martijn P. D. Haring, Hedy A. van Oers, Marlou van Beneden, Belle V. van Rosmalen, R. Bart Takkenberg, Geert Kazemier, Marc G. Besselink, Vincent E. de Meijer, Joris I. Erdmann, and the Dutch Benign Liver Tumor Group
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Benign liver tumours ,Patient reported outcomes ,Symptoms ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Abstract Background Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) may be useful for patients with benign liver tumours and cysts (BLTC) to evaluate the impact of treatment and/or guide shared decision making. Yet, a set of PROMs relevant to patients with BLTC is currently unavailable. In this study, we selected a PROMs set for patients with BLTC. Methods Potentially relevant patient reported outcomes (PROs) were selected by psychologist-researchers based on keywords used or suggested by participants of two virtual focus groups meetings consisting of thirteen female BLTC patients with a median age of 50 years. Subsequently, patients were asked to report their most relevant PROs. PROMs identified by systematic literature review and computerized adaptive tests (CATs) in the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) were considered in selecting the final PROMs set to assess relevant outcomes. Results The most important PROs were: insecurity/anxiety (11/12 patients), pain (9/12 patients), fatigue (8/12 patients), and limitations in daily life (5/12 patients). The literature review included 23 studies, which used various generic and disease-specific PROMs, often not measuring (all) relevant PROs. The final selected PROMs set included numerical rating scales for pain, two questions on overall health and quality of life and four PROMIS CATs. Conclusions A PROMs set generically and efficiently measuring outcomes relevant for patients with BLTC was developed and may be used in future research and clinical practice.
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- 2022
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28. YOLO networks for polyp detection: A human-in-the-loop training approach
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Eixelberger Thomas, Wolkenstein Gabriel, Hackner Ralf, Bruns Volker, Mühldorfer Steffen, Geissler Udo, Belle Sebastian, and Wittenberg Thomas
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colonoscopy ,polyp detection ,yolo networks ,deep learning ,Medicine - Abstract
Introduction: Early detection of adenomas and polyps is one central goal of colonoscopic screening programs. As the adenoma detection rate (ADR) depends on the experience of the endoscopist, AI-based polyp detection systems can be used for real-time assistance. Hence, to support the physicians such AI-based systems using deep-convolutional neural networks (DCNNS) have been introduced in the past years. One disadvantage of these techniques is the need of a huge amount of labeled training data. Method: We investigate a "human-in-the-loop approach" to minimize the required time to generate labeled training data. The approach is evaluated within the training a YOLOv4 neural network to detect polyps in colonoscopic image data. The performance metrics of the neural network are evaluated on three public datasets. Results: The performance of the YOLO network increased from a precision of 0.88, recall of 0.83, F1 score of 0.86, and a F2 score of 0.86 to a precision of 0.91, recall of 0.87, F1 = of 0.89, and F2 = of 0.88. The interactive labelling of 1,000 images only takes one hours. Conclusion: The proposed "human-in-theloop approach" is capable of generating labelled image data in a minimum of time while increasing the performance metrics as well. For higher performance increase more data can now be labeled within this new approach.
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- 2022
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29. Demystifying the long noncoding RNA landscape of small EVs derived from human mesenchymal stromal cells
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Chien-Wei Lee, Yi-Fan Chen, Allen Wei-Ting Hsiao, Amanda Yu-Fan Wang, Oscar Yuan-Jie Shen, Belle Yu-Hsuan Wang, Lok Wai Cola Ho, Wei-Ting Lin, Chung Hang Jonathan Choi, and Oscar Kuang-Sheng Lee
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MSCs ,Exosomes ,Cytokine priming ,lncRNAs ,protein–RNA interaction predictions ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Introduction: The regenerative capacity of mesenchymal stromal cells or medicinal signaling cells (MSCs) is largely mediated by their secreted small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), and the therapeutic efficacy of sEVs can be enhanced by licensing approaches (e.g., cytokines, hypoxia, chemicals, and genetic modification). Noncoding RNAs within MSC-derived sEVs (MSC-sEVs) have been demonstrated to be responsible for tissue regeneration. However, unlike miRNA fingerprints, which have been explored, the landscape of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in MSC-sEVs remains to be described. Objectives: To characterize lncRNA signatures in sEVs of human adipose-derived MSCs with or without inflammatory cytokine licensing and depict MSC-sEV-specific and MSC-enriched lncRNA repertoires. Methods: sEVs were isolated from MSCs with or without TNF-α and IFN-γ (20 ng/mL) stimulation. High-throughput lncRNA sequencing and an in silico approach were employed to analyze the profile of lncRNAs in sEVs and predict lncRNA-protein interactomes. Results: sEVs derived from human MSCs and fibroblasts carried a unique landscape of lncRNAs distinct from the lncRNAs inside these cells. Compared with fibroblast-derived sEVs (F-sEVs), 194 MSC-sEV-specific and 8 upregulated lncRNAs in MSC-sEVs were considered “medicinal signaling lncRNAs”; inflammatory cytokines upregulated 27 lncRNAs in MSC-sEVs, which were considered “licensing-responsive lncRNAs”. Based on lncRNA-protein interactome prediction and enrichment analysis, we found that the proteins interacting with medicinal signaling lncRNAs or licensing-responsive lncRNAs have a tight interaction network involved in chromatin remodeling, SWI/SNF superfamily type complexes, and histone binding. Conclusion: In summary, our study depicts the landscape of lncRNAs in MSC-sEVs and predicts their potential functions via the lncRNA-protein interactome. Elucidation of the lncRNA landscape of MSC-sEVs will facilitate defining the therapeutic potency of MSC-sEVs and the development of sEV-based therapeutics.
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- 2022
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30. Learning Through Practice and Practicing Learning
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Belle, Frédéric La
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- 2022
31. Role of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in cannabinoid dependence
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Belle Buzzi, Eda Koseli, Lauren Moncayo, Mohammed Shoaib, and M Imad Damaj
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Nicotine ,Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors ,Smoking ,Cannabis ,THC ,Cannabis use disorder (CUD) ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 - Abstract
Cannabis is among the most widely consumed psychoactive drugs around the world and cannabis use disorder (CUD) has no current approved pharmacological treatment. Nicotine and cannabis are commonly co-used which suggests there to be overlapping neurobiological actions supported primarily by the co-distribution of both receptor systems in the brain. There appears to be strong rationale to explore the role that nicotinic receptors play in cannabinoid dependence. Preclinical studies suggest that the ɑ7 nAChR subtype may play a role in modulating the reinforcing and discriminative stimulus effects of cannabinoids, while the ɑ4β2 * nAChR subtype may be involved in modulating the motor and sedative effects of cannabinoids. Preclinical and human genetic studies point towards a potential role of the ɑ5, ɑ3, and β4 nAChR subunits in CUD, while human GWAS studies strongly implicate the ɑ2 subunit as playing a role in CUD susceptibility. Clinical studies suggest that current smoking cessation agents, such as varenicline and bupropion, may also be beneficial in treating CUD, although more controlled studies are necessary. Additional behavioral, molecular, and mechanistic studies investigating the role of nAChR in the modulation of the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids are needed.
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- 2023
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32. Shear and hydrostatic stress regulate fetal heart valve remodeling through YAP-mediated mechanotransduction
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Mingkun Wang, Belle Yanyu Lin, Shuofei Sun, Charles Dai, Feifei Long, and Jonathan T Butcher
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congenital heart defect ,morphogenesis ,mechanobiology ,maturation ,biomechanics ,Medicine ,Science ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Clinically serious congenital heart valve defects arise from improper growth and remodeling of endocardial cushions into leaflets. Genetic mutations have been extensively studied but explain less than 20% of cases. Mechanical forces generated by beating hearts drive valve development, but how these forces collectively determine valve growth and remodeling remains incompletely understood. Here, we decouple the influence of those forces on valve size and shape, and study the role of YAP pathway in determining the size and shape. The low oscillatory shear stress promotes YAP nuclear translocation in valvular endothelial cells (VEC), while the high unidirectional shear stress restricts YAP in cytoplasm. The hydrostatic compressive stress activated YAP in valvular interstitial cells (VIC), whereas the tensile stress deactivated YAP. YAP activation by small molecules promoted VIC proliferation and increased valve size. Whereas YAP inhibition enhanced the expression of cell-cell adhesions in VEC and affected valve shape. Finally, left atrial ligation was performed in chick embryonic hearts to manipulate the shear and hydrostatic stress in vivo. The restricted flow in the left ventricle induced a globular and hypoplastic left atrioventricular (AV) valves with an inhibited YAP expression. By contrast, the right AV valves with sustained YAP expression grew and elongated normally. This study establishes a simple yet elegant mechanobiological system by which transduction of local stresses regulates valve growth and remodeling. This system guides leaflets to grow into proper sizes and shapes with the ventricular development, without the need of a genetically prescribed timing mechanism.
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- 2023
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33. Vancomycin Resistance in Enterococcus faecium from the Dallas, Texas, Area Is Conferred Predominantly on pRUM-Like Plasmids
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Moutusee Islam, Belle Sharon, Ada Abaragu, Harita Sistu, Ronda L. Akins, and Kelli Palmer
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Enterococcus ,mobile genetic element ,plasmid ,vancomycin resistance ,mobile genetic elements ,plasmids ,Microbiology ,QR1-502 - Abstract
ABSTRACT Vancomycin-resistant E. faecium (VREfm) is a significant public health concern because of limited treatment options. Genomic surveillance can be used to monitor VREfm transmission and evolution. Genomic analysis of VREfm has not been reported for the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, TX, area, which is currently the 4th largest metropolitan area in the United States. Our study aimed to address this gap in knowledge by analyzing the genomes of 46 VREfm strains and 1 vancomycin-sensitive comparator collected during routine fecal surveillance of high-risk patients upon admission to a Dallas, TX, hospital system (August to October 2015). Thirty-one complete and 16 draft genome sequences were generated. The closed VREfm genomes possessed up to 12 extrachromosomal elements each. Overall, 251 closed putative plasmid sequences assigned to previously described and newly defined rep family types were obtained. Phylogenetic analysis identified 10 different sequence types (STs) among the isolates, with the most prevalent being ST17 and ST18. Strikingly, all but three of the VREfm isolates encoded vanA-type vancomycin resistance within Tn1546-like elements on a pRUM-like (rep17) plasmid backbone. Relative to a previously reported typing scheme for the vanA-carrying Tn1546, new variants of the Tn1546 were identified that harbored a combination of 7 insertion sequences (IS), including 3 novel IS elements reported here (ISEfa16, ISEfa17, and ISEfa18). We conclude that pRUM-like plasmids are important vectors for vancomycin resistance in the Dallas, TX, area and should be a focus of plasmid surveillance efforts. IMPORTANCE Vancomycin is an antibiotic used to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. Vancomycin resistance is common in clinical isolates of the Gram-positive pathogen Enterococcus faecium. Among E. faecium strains, vancomycin resistance genes can be disseminated by plasmids with different host ranges and transfer efficiencies. Surveillance of resistance plasmids is critical to understanding antibiotic resistance transmission. This study analyzed the genome sequences of VREfm isolates collected from the Dallas, TX, area, with particular focus on the mobile elements associated with vancomycin resistance genes. We found that a single plasmid family, the pRUM-like family, was associated with vancomycin resistance in the majority of isolates sampled. Our work suggests that the pRUM-like plasmids should continue to be studied to understand their mechanisms of maintenance, transmission, and evolution in VREfm.
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- 2023
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34. Empowering Chinese Language Learners from Low-Income Families to Improve Their Chinese Writing with ChatGPT’s Assistance Afterschool
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Xiaying Li, Belle Li, and Su-Je Cho
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ChatGPT ,writing skills ,education equity and equality ,second language acquisition ,Language and Literature - Abstract
ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot released by OpenAI in 2022. It simulates human conversation and has the capability to generate different texts at various levels of sophistication in near real time depending upon the user’s skill in creating prompts. While concerns have been raised about academic dishonesty and cheating among students, ChatGPT has significant academic potential for education, particularly in the field of language learning. This research explores the potential of ChatGPT in supporting and empowering Chinese language learners (CLLs) whose first language is English to enhance their writing skills, mainly focusing on the research question: Is there a functional relation between Chinese language learners from low‐income families using ChatGPT after school twice a week and improvements in their Chinese writing? Four participants with varying language proficiency levels were recruited, and their data were analyzed using an ABA design. Over three weeks, they utilized ChatGPT twice a week for approximately 20 min each after school. The students’ writing scores, writing samples, and learning reflections were used to triangulate the data and enhance the data’s trustworthiness. The findings indicate that (1) each participant made a noticeable improvement in their Chinese writing scores during the intervention and reversal phases; (2) ChatGPT played a crucial role in correcting errors and facilitating the development of complete sentence structures; and (3) the students expressed a sense of empowerment through their interactions with ChatGPT. These findings highlight that ChatGPT shows promise as a supportive tool for CLLs from low-income families, reducing educational inequality and promoting equitable access to language learning opportunities.
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- 2023
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35. Online survey of university students’ perception, awareness and adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures
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Salma Akhter, Meredith Robbins, Perry Curtis, Belle Hinshaw, and Ellen M. Wells
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Policy adherence ,Prevention ,Students ,COVID-19 ,Masks ,Social distancing ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Abstract Background Determining factors correlated with protective measures against COVID-19 is important to improve public health response. This study describes student opinions related to university COVID-19 preventive measures. Methods In fall 2020, 643 US university students completed an online survey on perception, awareness, and adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Outcomes included protocol effectiveness (self or others), protocol adherence (self or others), consequences of protocol violation, knowledge of violations, and level of concern for COVID-19. Multiple linear regression models determined correlates of outcome variables. Covariates included gender, race, residence, area of study, class, and knowledge of someone with a positive COVID-19 test. Results Overall, students agreed with protective measures (equivalent to higher scores). In adjusted linear models, females (versus males) had significantly higher scores for protocol effectiveness (self) (p
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- 2022
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36. Polycystic Kidney Disease Drug Development: A Conference Report
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Max C. Liebau, Djalila Mekahli, Ronald Perrone, Belle Soyfer, and Sorin Fedeles
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Diseases of the genitourinary system. Urology ,RC870-923 - Abstract
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is part of a spectrum of inherited diseases that also includes autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, autosomal dominant polycystic liver disease, and an expanding group of recessively inherited disorders collectively termed hepatorenal fibrocystic disorders. ADPKD is the most common monogenic disorder frequently leading to chronic kidney failure with an estimated prevalence of 12 million people worldwide. Currently, only one drug (tolvaptan) has been approved by regulatory agencies as disease-modifying therapy for ADPKD, but, given its mechanism of action and side effect profile, the need for an improved therapy for ADPKD remains a priority. Although significant regulatory progress has been made, with qualification of total kidney volume as a prognostic enrichment biomarker and its later designation as a reasonably likely surrogate endpoint for progression of ADPKD within clinical trials, further work is needed to accelerate drug development efforts for all forms of PKD. In May 2021, the PKD Outcomes Consortium at the Critical Path Institute and the PKD Foundation organized a PKD Regulatory Summit to spur conversations among patients, industry, academic, and regulatory stakeholders regarding future development of tools and drugs for ADPKD and autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease. This Special Report reviews the key points discussed during the summit and provides future direction related to PKD drug development tools.
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- 2023
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37. O23: Comparison of polygenic risk score in patients with early-onset vs late-onset dementia and the contribution of rare genetic variation
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Carter Wright, Sara Cooper, Nicholas Cochran, Meagan Cochran, Belle Moyers, Erik Roberson, James Lawlor, Richard Myers, Jared Taylor, Veronika Solomon, David Geldmacher, and Marissa Natelson Love
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Genetics ,QH426-470 ,Medicine - Published
- 2023
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38. Development and palliative care staff reactions to a sleep regulation educational intervention
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Elizabeth Capezuti, Rana Sagha Zadeh, Michael Ames Brigham, Brooke Ana Dias, Benjamin Chanhee Kim, Evie Lengetti, Belle Erikson, Nancy Swezey, and Ana C. Krieger
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Sleep ,Circadian Rhythm ,Non-pharmacological Intervention ,Health Professional Education ,Palliative Care ,Acceptability ,Special situations and conditions ,RC952-1245 - Abstract
Abstract Background In palliative care, sleep and circadian rhythm problems are common symptoms. Nonpharmacological interventions are available; however, health care providers are not aware of these or lack the knowledge to effectively implement in practice. This study reports the content and design development of the PRIME™ (Program for Improving & Managing Environments for Sleep) sleep online educational intervention as well as the evaluation of the intervention by practicing nurses with a focus on perceived acceptability and satisfaction. Methods Development of the education employed a multi-step process that assesses the current state of the science in this area (literature reviews), the needs of regional target recipients (hospice/palliative care staff), expert recommendations and views of a national pool of hospice/palliative workers. A cross-sectional, descriptive study with key staff informants evaluated the acceptability and usability of the modules using both scale-response items to rate the content and design of the modules and overall satisfaction and five open-response questions to suggest changes to the educational intervention. Results Among 31 palliative care professionals, most rated the content and design favorably. A total of 20 participants provided suggestions to improve the educational intervention. Their comments were categorized into six themes: Integration into Practice; Content, Exercises and Material Provided by Modules; User Interface and Design; and Adapt and Expand Modules for Public, Family and Caregivers. Conclusions The data suggest that the PRIME™ educational intervention can be an effective tool to train direct-care palliative care professionals on interventions for use in their daily practice. We also demonstrated that the educational intervention is feasible to deliver online and that the online modules appealed to respondents, suggesting that future delivery of the educational intervention can use the same or similar modes of presentation.
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- 2022
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39. Integration of tumour sequencing and case–control data to assess pathogenicity of RAD51C missense variants in familial breast cancer
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Belle W. X. Lim, Na Li, Simone M. Rowley, Ella R. Thompson, Simone McInerny, Magnus Zethoven, Rodney J. Scott, Lisa Devereux, Erica K. Sloan, Paul A. James, and Ian G. Campbell
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Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Abstract While protein-truncating variants in RAD51C have been shown to predispose to triple-negative (TN) breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer, little is known about the pathogenicity of missense (MS) variants. The frequency of rare RAD51C MS variants was assessed in the BEACCON study of 5734 familial BC cases and 14,382 population controls, and findings were integrated with tumour sequencing data from 21 cases carrying a candidate variant. Collectively, a significant enrichment of rare MS variants was detected in cases (MAF 0.5 (OR 3.95, 95% CI 1.40–12.01, p = 0.006). Sequencing of 21 tumours from 20 heterozygous and 1 homozygous carriers of nine candidate MS variants identified four cases with biallelic inactivation through loss of the wild-type allele, while six lost the variant allele and ten that remained heterozygous. Biallelic loss of the wild-type alleles corresponded strongly with ER- and TN breast tumours, high homologous recombination deficiency scores and mutational signature 3. Using this approach, the p.Gly264Ser variant, which was previously suspected to be pathogenic based on small case–control analyses and loss of activity in in vitro functional assays, was shown to be benign with similar prevalence in cases and controls and seven out of eight tumours showing no biallelic inactivation or characteristic mutational signature. Conversely, evaluation of case–control findings and tumour sequencing data identified p.Ile144Thr, p.Arg212His, p.Gln143Arg and p.Gly114Arg as variants warranting further investigation.
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- 2022
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40. Embracing the Disrupted Language Teaching and Learning Field: Analyzing YouTube Content Creation Related to ChatGPT
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Belle Li, Xiaojing Kou, and Curtis J. Bonk
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language education ,ChatGPT ,YouTube content creation ,Language and Literature - Abstract
Since late 2022, dozens of YouTube channels focusing on a diverse array of topics related to language learning with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have rapidly emerged. This study explores the implementations and perspectives of YouTube content creators who now constitute an increasingly important segment of the ecosystem of language teaching and learning. A mixed methods netnographic approach was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. A total of 140 videos were identified and analyzed, and an in-depth content analysis was conducted to uncover underlying themes. Four main categories of creators were identified: educators, learners, technology professionals, and e-learning providers. Educators, especially English and Japanese teachers, were the majority, followed by learners and technology field professionals. This study highlights the benefits, drawbacks, and concerns associated with the integration of AI tools in language learning. By examining this rapidly evolving phenomenon, the study contributes towards an understanding of the role and impact of generative AI tools in language education.
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- 2023
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41. Photophysical Properties of Cyclometalated Platinum(II) Diphosphine Compounds in the Solid State and in PMMA Films
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Belle Coffey, Lily Clough, Daphne D. Bartkus, Ian C. McClellan, Matthew W. Greenberg, Christopher N. LaFratta, Joseph M. Tanski, and Craig M. Anderson
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Chemistry ,QD1-999 - Published
- 2021
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42. Findings from a pilot study of Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga versus cognitive processing therapy for PTSD related to military sexual trauma among women Veterans
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Belle Zaccari, Athena D.F. Sherman, Sarah Febres-Cordero, Melinda Higgins, and Ursula Kelly
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Posttraumatic stress disorder ,Veterans ,Women ,Yoga ,African American ,Military sexual trauma ,Other systems of medicine ,RZ201-999 - Abstract
Objective: The study objective was to explore the preliminary efficacy of trauma-sensitive yoga compared to cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for women Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to military sexual trauma (MST) in a pilot randomized control trial (RCT). We then compared these results to published interim results for the subsequent full-scale RCT. Method: The analytic sample included women Veterans (N = 41) with PTSD related to MST accessing healthcare in a southeastern Veterans Affairs Health Care System. The majority were African American, non-Hispanic (80.5 %). The protocol-driven group interventions, Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY; n = 17) and the evidence-based control condition, CPT (n = 24), were delivered weekly for 10 and 12 sessions, respectively. Multilevel linear models (MLM) were used to compare changes over time between the two groups. Results: The primary outcomes presented here are PTSD symptom severity and diagnosis, assessed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the PTSD Symptom Checklist (PCL) total scores. PTSD symptom severity on both clinician-administered (CAPS) and self-reported (PCL) measures, improved significantly (p
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- 2022
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43. Methodological Support for the Analysis of Debt Security in Agribusiness and Measures to Improve Its Level
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Anna Hevchuk and Belle Christoffers
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calculations ,debt ,methodology ,management ,indicators ,model ,risks ,Finance ,HG1-9999 - Abstract
The relevance of the study lies in the fact that in modern competitive environment for effective business management, the analysis of settlements, namely the state of accounts receivable and accounts payable, which are an integral part of monetary relations and play an important role for risk assessment of the impact on the development of agribusiness is important. The purpose of this study is to improve the methodological support for the analysis of debt security in agribusiness and measures to improve its level as an effective way to manage settlements. Methodological techniques for comparing indicators and ratio analysis techniques were used to analyse calculations. The approaches of scientists to organise the analysis of settlements and debt security assessment in agribusiness are summarised and two phases are highlighted: 1) providing analysis; 2) organising the analytical process. Provisions are determined for the organisation of settlements analysis in terms of tasks, objects, subjects, frequency and stages which include: analysis of structure and dynamics of settlements, analysis of turnover of accounts receivable and payable; analysis of quality of settlements and assessment of debt security. A model of settlement analysis methodology has been proposed with the separation of debt security assessment, accounting and evaluation based on an integral indicator which includes: debt load indicators, structure indicators, quality indicators, and turnover indicators. It has been found that the improvement of methodological support through the introduction of the debt security assessment methodology provides ample opportunities for a comprehensive analysis of agribusiness calculations, enables the identification of threats and is the result of a detailed analysis of calculations. A matrix of measures to improve debt security is considered. The practical value of scientific work lies in the introduction of methods of analysis of settlements with the assessment of debt security, which will control the status of settlements with counterparties, reduce the risk of non-repayment of receivables, determine the need for additional resources to cover accounts payable and contribute to risk reduction
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- 2021
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44. Spin states of X-complex asteroids in the inner main belt -- I. Investigating the Athor and Zita collisional families
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Athanasopoulos, D., Hanuš, J., Avdellidou, C., van Belle, G., Ferrero, A., Bonamico, R., Gazeas, K., Delbo, M., Rivet, J. P., Apostolovska, G., Todorović, N., Novakovic, B., Bebekovska, E. V., Romanyuk, Y., Bolin, B. T., Zhou, W., and Agrusa, H.
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Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics - Abstract
The aim of our study is to characterise the spin states of the members of the Athor and Zita collisional families and test whether these members have a spin distribution consistent with a common origin from the break up of their respective family parent asteroids. Our method is based on the asteroid family evolution, which indicates that there should be a statistical predominance of retrograde-rotating asteroids on the inward side of family's V-shape, and prograde-rotating asteroids on the outward side. We used photometric data from our campaign and the literature in order to reveal the spin states of the asteroids belonging to these families. We combined dense and sparse photometric data in order to construct lightcurves; we performed the lightcurve inversion method to estimate the sidereal period, spin axis and convex shape of several family members. We obtained 34 new asteroid models for Athor family members and 17 for Zita family members. Along with the literature and revised models, the Athor family contains 60% of retrograde asteroids on the inward side and, 76% of prograde asteroids on the outward side. We also found that the Zita family exhibits 80% of retrograde asteroids on the inward side and an equal amount of prograde and retrograde rotators on the outward side. However, when we applied Kernel density estimation, we also found a clear peak for prograde asteroids on the outward side, as expected from the theory. The spin states of these asteroids validate the existence of both families, with the Athor family exhibiting a stronger signature for the presence of retrograde-rotating and prograde-rotating asteroids on the inner and outer side of the family, respectively. Our work provides an independent confirmation and characterisation of these very old families, whose presence and characteristics offer constraints for theories and models of the Solar System's evolution.
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- 2024
45. Causal machine learning for sustainable agroecosystems
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Sitokonstantinou, Vasileios, Porras, Emiliano Díaz Salas, Bautista, Jordi Cerdà, Piles, Maria, Athanasiadis, Ioannis, Kerner, Hannah, Martini, Giulia, Sweet, Lily-belle, Tsoumas, Ilias, Zscheischler, Jakob, and Camps-Valls, Gustau
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Computer Science - Machine Learning ,Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence ,Computer Science - Computers and Society - Abstract
In a changing climate, sustainable agriculture is essential for food security and environmental health. However, it is challenging to understand the complex interactions among its biophysical, social, and economic components. Predictive machine learning (ML), with its capacity to learn from data, is leveraged in sustainable agriculture for applications like yield prediction and weather forecasting. Nevertheless, it cannot explain causal mechanisms and remains descriptive rather than prescriptive. To address this gap, we propose causal ML, which merges ML's data processing with causality's ability to reason about change. This facilitates quantifying intervention impacts for evidence-based decision-making and enhances predictive model robustness. We showcase causal ML through eight diverse applications that benefit stakeholders across the agri-food chain, including farmers, policymakers, and researchers.
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- 2024
46. Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI): A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer
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Rau, Gioia, Carpenter, Kenneth G., Boyajian, Tabetha, Creech-Eakman, Michelle, Foster, Julianne, Karovska, Margarita, Leisawitz, David, Morse, Jon A., Mozurkewich, David, Peacock, Sarah, Petro, Noah, Scowen, Paul, Sitarski, Breann, van Belle, Gerard, and Wilkinson, Erik
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Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics - Abstract
NASA's return to the Moon presents unparalleled opportunities to advance high-impact scientific capabilities. At the cutting edge of these possibilities are extremely high-resolution interferometric observations at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Such technology can resolve the surfaces of stars, explore the inner accretion disks of nascent stars and black holes, and eventually enable us to observe surface features and weather patterns on nearby exoplanets. We have been awarded Phase 1 support from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to explore the feasibility of constructing a high-resolution, long-baseline UV/optical imaging interferometer on the lunar surface, in conjunction with the Artemis Program. A 1996 study comparing interferometers on the Moon versus free-flyers in space concluded that, without pre-existing lunar infrastructure, free-flyers were preferable. However, with the advent of the Artemis Program, it is now crucial to revisit the potential of building lunar interferometers. Our objective is to conduct a study with the same level of rigor applied to large baseline, free-flying interferometers during the 2003-2005 NASA Vision Missions Studies. This preparation is essential for timely and effective utilization of the forthcoming lunar infrastructure. In this paper, we highlight the groundbreaking potential of a lunar surface-based interferometer. This concept study will be a huge step forward to larger arrays on both the moon and free-flying in space, over a wide variety of wavelengths and science topics. Our Phase 1 study began in April 2024, and here we present a concise overview of our vision and the progress made so far., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024 (Invited Paper)
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- 2024
47. MoonLITE: a CLPS-delivered NASA Astrophysics Pioneers lunar optical interferometer for sensitive, milliarcsecond observing
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van Belle, Gerard T., Ciardi, David, Hillsberry, Daniel, Jorgensen, Anders, Monnier, John, Smith, Krista Lynne, Boyajian, Tabetha, Carpenter, Kenneth, Clark, Catherine, Rau, Gioia, and Schaefer, Gail
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Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics - Abstract
MoonLITE (Lunar InTerferometry Explorer) is an Astrophysics Pioneers proposal to develop, build, fly, and operate the first separated-aperture optical interferometer in space, delivering sub-mas science results. MoonLITE will leverage the Pioneers opportunity for utilizing NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to deliver an optical interferometer to the lunar surface, enabling unprecedented discovery power by combining high spatial resolution from optical interferometry with deep sensitivity from the stability of the lunar surface. Following landing, the CLPS-provided rover will deploy the pre-loaded MoonLITE outboard optical telescope 100 meters from the lander's inboard telescope, establishing a two-element interferometric observatory with a single deployment. MoonLITE will observe targets as faint as 17th magnitude in the visible, exceeding ground-based interferometric sensitivity by many magnitudes, and surpassing space-based optical systems resolution by a factor of 50 times. The capabilities of MoonLITE open a unique discovery space that includes direct size measurements of the smallest, coolest stars and substellar brown dwarfs; searches for close-in stellar companions orbiting exoplanet-hosting stars that could confound our understanding and characterization of the frequency of Earth-like planets; direct size measurements of young stellar objects and characterization of the terrestrial planet-forming regions of these young stars; measurements of the inner regions and binary fraction of active galactic nuclei; and a probe of the very nature of spacetime foam itself. A portion of the observing time will also be made available to the broader community via a guest observer program. MoonLITE takes advantage of the CLPS opportunity and delivers an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and angular resolution at the remarkably affordable cost point of Pioneers., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024
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- 2024
48. The Big Fringe Telescope
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van Belle, Gerard T. and Jorgensen, Anders M.
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Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics - Abstract
The Big Fringe Telescope (BFT) is a facility concept under development for a next-generation, kilometer-scale optical interferometer. Observations over the past two decades from routinely operational facilities such as CHARA and VLTI have produced groundbreaking scientific results, reflecting the mature state of the techniques in optical interferometry. However, routine imaging of bright main sequence stars remains a surprisingly unexplored scientific realm. Additionally, the three-plus decade old technology infrastructure of these facilities leads to high operations \& maintenance costs, and limits performance. We are developing the BFT, based upon robust, modern, commercially-available, automated technologies with low capital construction and O\&M costs, in support of kilometer-scale optical interferometers that will open the door to regular `snapshot' imaging of main sequence stars. Focusing on extreme angular resolution for bright objects leads to substantial reductions in expected costs through use of COTS elements and simplified infrastructure., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024
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- 2024
49. Determination of $|V_{ub}|$ from simultaneous measurements of untagged $B^0\to\pi^- \ell^+ \nu_{\ell}$ and $B^+\to\rho^0 \ell^+\nu_{\ell}$ decays
- Author
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Belle II Collaboration, Adachi, I., Aggarwal, L., Aihara, H., Akopov, N., Aloisio, A., Althubiti, N., Ky, N. Anh, Asner, D. M., Atmacan, H., Aushev, T., Aushev, V., Aversano, M., Ayad, R., Babu, V., Bae, H., Bahinipati, S., Bambade, P., Banerjee, Sw., Bansal, S., Barrett, M., Baudot, J., Bauer, M., Baur, A., Beaubien, A., Becherer, F., Becker, J., Bennett, J. V., Bernlochner, F. U., Bertacchi, V., Bertemes, M., Bertholet, E., Bessner, M., Bettarini, S., Bhuyan, B., Bianchi, F., Bierwirth, L., Bilka, T., Biswas, D., Bobrov, A., Bodrov, D., Bolz, A., Borah, J., Boschetti, A., Bozek, A., Bračko, M., Branchini, P., Briere, R. A., Browder, T. E., Budano, A., Bussino, S., Campagna, Q., Campajola, M., Cao, L., Casarosa, G., Cecchi, C., Cerasoli, J., Chang, M. -C., Chang, P., Cheaib, R., Cheema, P., Cheon, B. G., Chilikin, K., Chirapatpimol, K., Cho, H. -E., Cho, K., Cho, S. -J., Choi, S. -K., Choudhury, S., Corona, L., Cui, J. X., Dattola, F., De La Cruz-Burelo, E., De La Motte, S. A., De Nardo, G., De Nuccio, M., De Pietro, G., de Sangro, R., Destefanis, M., Dey, S., Dhamija, R., Di Canto, A., Di Capua, F., Dingfelder, J., Doležal, Z., Jiménez, I. Domínguez, Dong, T. V., Dorigo, M., Dorner, D., Dort, K., Dossett, D., Dreyer, S., Dubey, S., Dugic, K., Dujany, G., Ecker, P., Eliachevitch, M., Feichtinger, P., Ferber, T., Fillinger, T., Finck, C., Finocchiaro, G., Fodor, A., Forti, F., Frey, A., Fulsom, B. G., Gabrielli, A., Garcia-Hernandez, M., Garg, R., Gaudino, G., Gaur, V., Gaz, A., Gellrich, A., Ghevondyan, G., Ghosh, D., Ghumaryan, H., Giakoustidis, G., Giordano, R., Giri, A., Glazov, A., Gobbo, B., Godang, R., Gogota, O., Goldenzweig, P., Granderath, S., Greenwald, D., Gruberová, Z., Gu, T., Gudkova, K., Haide, I., Halder, S., Han, Y., Hara, T., Harris, C., Hayasaka, K., Hayashii, H., Hazra, S., Hearty, C., Hedges, M. T., Heidelbach, A., de la Cruz, I. Heredia, Villanueva, M. Hernández, Higuchi, T., Hoek, M., Hohmann, M., Horak, P., Hsu, C. -L., Humair, T., Iijima, T., Inami, K., Ipsita, N., Ishikawa, A., Itoh, R., Iwasaki, M., Jackson, P., Jacobs, W. W., Jang, E. -J., Jia, S., Jin, Y., Johnson, A., Joo, K. K., Junkerkalefeld, H., Kalita, D., Kaliyar, A. B., Kandra, J., Kang, K. H., Kang, S., Karyan, G., Kawasaki, T., Keil, F., Kiesling, C., Kim, C. -H., Kim, D. Y., Kim, K. -H., Kim, Y. -K., Kindo, H., Kinoshita, K., Kodyš, P., Koga, T., Kohani, S., Kojima, K., Konno, T., Korobov, A., Korpar, S., Kovalenko, E., Kowalewski, R., Križan, P., Krokovny, P., Kuhr, T., Kulii, Y., Kumar, J., Kumar, M., Kumar, R., Kumara, K., Kunigo, T., Kuzmin, A., Kwon, Y. -J., Lacaprara, S., Lalwani, K., Lam, T., Lanceri, L., Lange, J. S., Laurenza, M., Lautenbach, K., Leboucher, R., Diberder, F. R. Le, Lee, M. J., Leo, P., Lemettais, C., Levit, D., Lewis, P. M., Li, L. K., Li, S. X., Li, Y., Li, Y. B., Libby, J., Liptak, Z., Liu, M. H., Liu, Q. Y., Liu, Z. Q., Liventsev, D., Longo, S., Lueck, T., Lyu, C., Ma, Y., Maggiora, M., Maharana, S. P., Maiti, R., Maity, S., Mancinelli, G., Manfredi, R., Manoni, E., Mantovano, M., Marcantonio, D., Marcello, S., Marinas, C., Martellini, C., Martens, A., Martini, A., Martinov, T., Massaccesi, L., Masuda, M., Matvienko, D., Maurya, S. K., McKenna, J. A., Mehta, R., Meier, F., Merola, M., Metzner, F., Miller, C., Mirra, M., Mitra, S., Miyabayashi, K., Mizuk, R., Mohanty, G. B., Mondal, S., Moneta, S., Moser, H. -G., Mrvar, M., Mussa, R., Nakamura, I., Nakao, M., Nakazawa, Y., Charan, A. Narimani, Naruki, M., Narwal, D., Natkaniec, Z., Natochii, A., Nayak, L., Nayak, M., Nazaryan, G., Neu, M., Niiyama, M., Nishida, S., Ogawa, S., Onishchuk, Y., Ono, H., Pakhlova, G., Pardi, S., Parham, K., Park, H., Park, J., Park, S. -H., Paschen, B., Passeri, A., Patra, S., Paul, S., Pedlar, T. K., Peschke, R., Pestotnik, R., Piccolo, M., Piilonen, L. E., Angioni, G. Pinna, Podesta-Lerma, P. L. M., Podobnik, T., Pokharel, S., Praz, C., Prell, S., Prencipe, E., Prim, M. T., Prudiiev, I., Purwar, H., Rados, P., Raeuber, G., Raiz, S., Rauls, N., Reif, M., Reiter, S., Remnev, M., Reuter, L., Ripp-Baudot, I., Rizzo, G., Robertson, S. H., Roehrken, M., Roney, J. M., Rostomyan, A., Rout, N., Sanders, D. A., Sandilya, S., Santelj, L., Sato, Y., Savinov, V., Scavino, B., Schmitt, C., Schneider, S., Schnepf, M., Schwanda, C., Seino, Y., Selce, A., Senyo, K., Serrano, J., Sevior, M. E., Sfienti, C., Shan, W., Sharma, C., Shen, C. P., Shi, X. D., Shillington, T., Shimasaki, T., Shiu, J. -G., Shtol, D., Sibidanov, A., Simon, F., Singh, J. B., Skorupa, J., Sobie, R. J., Sobotzik, M., Soffer, A., Sokolov, A., Solovieva, E., Spataro, S., Spruck, B., Starič, M., Stavroulakis, P., Stefkova, S., Stroili, R., Sumihama, M., Sumisawa, K., Sutcliffe, W., Suwonjandee, N., Svidras, H., Takahashi, M., Takizawa, M., Tamponi, U., Tanaka, S., Tanida, K., Tenchini, F., Thaller, A., Tittel, O., Tiwary, R., Tonelli, D., Torassa, E., Trabelsi, K., Uchida, M., Ueda, I., Uglov, T., Unger, K., Unno, Y., Uno, K., Uno, S., Ushiroda, Y., Vahsen, S. E., van Tonder, R., Varvell, K. E., Veronesi, M., Vinokurova, A., Vismaya, V. S., Vitale, L., Vobbilisetti, V., Volpe, R., Vossen, A., Wach, B., Wakai, M., Wallner, S., Wang, E., Wang, M. -Z., Wang, Z., Warburton, A., Watanabe, M., Watanuki, S., Wessel, C., Won, E., Xu, X. P., Yabsley, B. D., Yamada, S., Yang, S. B., Yelton, J., Yin, J. H., Yook, Y. M., Yoshihara, K., Yuan, C. Z., Zani, L., Zeng, F., Zhang, B., Zhilich, V., Zhou, J. S., Zhou, Q. D., Zhou, X. Y., Zhukova, V. I., and Žlebčík, R.
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Experiment - Abstract
We present a measurement of $|V_{ub}|$ from a simultaneous study of the charmless semileptonic decays $B^0\to\pi^- \ell^+ \nu_{\ell}$ and $B^+\to\rho^0 \ell^+\nu_{\ell}$, where $\ell = e, \mu$. This measurement uses a data sample of 387 million $B\overline{B}$ meson pairs recorded by the Belle~II detector at the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider between 2019 and 2022. The two decays are reconstructed without identifying the partner $B$ mesons. We simultaneously measure the differential branching fractions of $B^0\to\pi^- \ell^+ \nu_{\ell}$ and $B^+\to\rho^0 \ell^+\nu_{\ell}$ decays as functions of $q^2$ (momentum transfer squared). From these, we obtain total branching fractions $B(B^0\to\pi^- \ell^+ \nu_{\ell}) = (1.516 \pm 0.042 (\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.059 (\mathrm{syst})) \times 10^{-4}$ and $B(B^+\to\rho^0 \ell^+\nu_{\ell}) = (1.625 \pm 0.079 (\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.180 (\mathrm{syst})) \times 10^{-4}$. By fitting the measured $B^0\to\pi^- \ell^+ \nu_{\ell}$ partial branching fractions as functions of $q^2$, together with constraints on the non-perturbative hadronic contribution from lattice QCD calculations, we obtain $|V_{ub}|$ = $(3.93 \pm 0.09 \pm 0.13 \pm 0.19) \times 10^{-3}$. Here, the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is theoretical.
- Published
- 2024
50. A Partially Pooled NSUM Model: Detailed estimation of CSEM trafficking prevalence in Philippine municipalities
- Author
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Nyarko-Agyei, Albert, Moser, Scott, Seymour, Rowland G, Brewster, Ben, Li, Sabrina, Weir, Esther, Landman, Todd, Wyman, Emily, Torres, Christine Belle, Fell, Imogen, and Boyd, Doreen
- Subjects
Statistics - Applications - Abstract
Effective policy and intervention strategies to combat human trafficking for child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) production require accurate prevalence estimates. Traditional Network Scale Up Method (NSUM) models often necessitate standalone surveys for each geographic region, escalating costs and complexity. This study introduces a partially pooled NSUM model, using a hierarchical Bayesian framework that efficiently aggregates and utilizes data across multiple regions without increasing sample sizes. We developed this model for a novel national survey dataset from the Philippines and we demonstrate its ability to produce detailed municipal-level prevalence estimates of trafficking for CSEM production. Our results not only underscore the model's precision in estimating hidden populations but also highlight its potential for broader application in other areas of social science and public health research, offering significant implications for resource allocation and intervention planning.
- Published
- 2024
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