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The role of communication variables such as communication apprehension (CA), self-perceived communication competence (SPCC), and intercultural willingness to communicate (IWTC) in improving L2 WTC has rarely been compared or even considered in detail in project-based learning (PBL) classroom contexts. Given this research gap, a mixed-methods study was designed to examine the interconnection of the above-mentioned communication variables in PBL contexts. A questionnaire was administered to a total of 82 senior-year students from four sections of a PBL course at a university in northern Taiwan at the beginning and the end of the 18-week semester. The findings showed that SPCC and IWTC had significant explanatory power for L2 WTC, with the former exerting a greater impact on L2 WTC. Furthermore, with the exception of CA, the results for all the communication variables indicated significant positive change towards the end of the course. To gain more insight into the cognitive, affective, and contextual factors that may influence L2 WTC in PBL contexts, qualitative data derived from reflection reports revealed that situational WTC in PBL L2 classrooms was regulated and mediated by the interplay of multiple factors: group member support, learner engagement, mastery experience and practice, intrinsic motivation, and positive feedback and interaction.

We report the validity of a test instrument that assesses the arithmetic ability of primary students by (a) describing the theoretical model of arithmetic ability assessment using Wilson's (2004) four building blocks of constructing measures and (b) providing empirical evidence for the validation study. The instrument consists of 21 multiple-choice questions that hierarchically evaluate arithmetic intended learning outcomes (ILOs) on arithmetic ability, hierarchically, based on Bloom's cognitive taxonomy for 138 primary three grade students. The theoretical model describes students' arithmetic ability on three distinct levels: solid, developing, and basic. At each level, the model describes the characteristics of the tasks that the students can answer correctly. The analysis shows that the difficulty of the items followed the expected order in the theoretical construct map, where the difficulty of each designed item aligned with the cognitive level of the student, the item difficulty distribution aligned with the structure of the person construct map, and word problems required higher cognitive abilities than the calculation problems did. The findings, however, pointed out that more difficult items can be added to better differentiate students with different ability levels, and an item should be revised to enhance the reliability and validity of the research. We conclude that the conceptualizations of such formative assessments provide meaningful information for teachers to support learning and tailoring instruction.

Abstract Background Integrating computational thinking (CT) into STEM education has recently drawn significant attention, strengthened by the premise that CT and STEM are mutually reinforcing. Previous CT-STEM studies have examined theoretical interpretations, instructional strategies, and assessment targets. However, few have endeavored to delineate the transfer effects of CT-STEM on the development of cognitive and noncognitive benefits. Given this research gap, we conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to provide deeper insights. Results We analyzed results from 37 studies involving 7,832 students with 96 effect sizes. Our key findings include: (i) identification of 36 benefits; (ii) a moderate overall transfer effect, with moderate effects also observed for both near and far transfers; (iii) a stronger effect on cognitive benefits compared to noncognitive benefits, regardless of the transfer type; (iv) significant moderation by educational level, sample size, instructional strategies, and intervention duration on overall and near-transfer effects, with only educational level and sample size being significant moderators for far-transfer effects. Conclusions This study analyzes the cognitive and noncognitive benefits arising from CT-STEM’s transfer effects, providing new insights to foster more effective STEM classroom teaching.

Background: Cardiac surgery patients are at increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Prevention is the most critical strategy to reduce VTE-associated morbidity and death. However, there is a lack of data on the optimal approach to VTE prophylaxis in this population of high-risk patients. This study aimed to assess whether the standard dose of enoxaparin, the subcutaneous injection of 40 mg of enoxaparin daily, achieves adequate anti–factor Xa (aFXa) levels for VTE prophylaxis in patients after open heart surgery. Methods: All patients with open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass from August to December 2022 who received at least 3 consecutive doses of subcutaneously administered enoxaparin were included in the study. Patients receiving therapeutic anticoagulation, patients who underwent cardiac transplantation or placement of ventricular assist device, and patients with renal insufficiency were excluded. Serum aFXa was measured 0.5 to 1 hour before the fourth dose to attain the steady-state trough levels. Results: Data were completed for 44 patients. The target aFXa level was between 0.10 and 0.20 IU/mL for the avoidance of both underanticoagulation (≤0.10 IU/mL) and overanticoagulation (>0.20 IU/mL). The mean was 0.049 IU/mL with SD of 0.026 IU/mL, which was statistically significantly lower than the lower end of the target aFXa values (0.10 IU/mL; t43 = −13; P < .001; d = −1.9; 99% CI, −0.059 to −0.043). Conclusions: The daily subcutaneous administration of 40 mg of enoxaparin leads to subprophylactic aFXa levels for most patients who undergo cardiac surgery. Further studies on the clinical relevance are warranted.

Abstract The study explored the sociocultural influences on sugar consumption in three distinct countries: New Zealand, France, and Singapore. It employed the theory of planned behavior (TPB) alongside consumer perception and acceptance factors, such as sugar consciousness, product labeling, sugar substitution with sweeteners, and perceived flavor, to investigate participants’ behaviors regarding various yogurt types. Data was gathered through web surveys in each country, analyzed through partial least squares (PLS)–confirmatory factor analysis to create country‐specific conceptual frameworks, and then validated using PLS‐path modeling to assess the correlations between TPB and consumer perception constructs. The results indicated that perceived behavioral control positively influenced intentions to reduce sugar intake in participants from New Zealand and Singapore. Sugar consciousness exhibited a positive correlation with behavioral intentions across all three countries, suggesting heightened awareness of sugar intake motivates individuals to cut back. Notably, the presence of labels and claims showed negative correlation with perceived flavor, among the participants from New Zealand and France, suggesting that food researchers must navigate a delicate balance between labels and flavor to successfully design and market sugar‐reduced products. Further analysis, PLS‐multigroup analysis revealed significant difference in the impact of subjective norms on attitude between participants from different countries. Singaporeans placed stronger value on others’ approval for consuming less sugar‐sweetened yogurt, whereas French and New Zealand participants had a more neutral stance. This study's novelty lies in its comprehensive exploration of sociocultural factors, integration of TPB with consumer perception constructs, and tailoring of analysis to each country's cultural context, thereby enhancing our understanding of multicultural sugar consumption patterns.

A hotly debated topic is the effectiveness of inquiry-based instructional practice in science classrooms on student achievement and motivation. Numerous studies based on multinational large-scale education data show such student-centered instructional practice positively led to students' motivational beliefs but was negatively associated with science achievement. Current literature, however, drew such a conclusion based on the measures of instructional practice from students' perceptions, not teachers, despite teachers being the subject matter experts and actual implementers of classroom activities. Thus, this study examined the relationships between teacher-perceived instructional practice, science motivational beliefs, and science achievement. Specifically, this study investigated the predictive effects of instructional practices on aggregated student motivational beliefs (i.e., self-concept, utility value, and intrinsic value) and science achievement in the classroom context. Moreover, the study explored the contextual effects of student motivational beliefs on science achievement. We examined 3861 eighth graders' data nested within 168 science classrooms in the Korean portion of the latest "Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study" using multilevel structural equation modeling. The results showed that the inquiry-based instructional approach did not predict science achievement or motivational beliefs at the classroom level. On the other hand, student self-concept and utility value positively predicted individual achievement, while classroom-level utility value statistically predicted average classroom achievement. In other words, the significant effect of classroom-level utility value on achievement was beyond the effect of individual utility value. The unique contributions of the study lie in advancing the science education literature with a fresh reflection on such relationships by using a less examined data source (i.e., teacher perceptions), focusing on the classroom context (i.e., classroom-level science motivational beliefs and achievement), and situating in an underrepresented country (i.e., Korea) in the literature. The results shed light on the discrepancies in the effectiveness of instructional practice perceived by teachers versus students on desired educational outcomes in a learning context. This study also discusses the practical and methodological implications for instructional and motivational research.

Background Herpes zoster (HZ) is the reactivation of varicella zoster virus predominantly affecting individuals aged over 50 years. Dementia is a prevalent age-related condition. The association between HZ and dementia was under dispute. Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the evidence on the association of HZ with dementia. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the risk of dementia in individuals with a history of HZ compared to those without such a history. We searched PubMed, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane Library for studies published up to February 24, 2024. The risk of bias of studies was examined by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. A random effects model meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled hazard ratio (HR) and odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analyses on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), and cranial nerve involvement of HZ were executed. We used the GRADE methodology to assess the certainty of evidence. Results We included seven cohorts and two case–control studies involving 3,550,251 subjects. The risk of bias of included studies was generally low. The meta-analysis found no association of HZ with dementia (pooled HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.94–1.07 for cohort studies; pooled OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.84–1.30 for case-control studies), with the certainty of evidence being very low. Subgroup analyses for AD, VD, and cranial never HZ also revealed no significant differences (pooled HR being 0.99, 95% CI 0.89–1.09; 1.04, 95% CI 0.85–1.27; and 1.36, 95% CI 0.76–2.43, respectively). Conclusion The current evidence does not support an association of HZ with dementia.

Abstract Background The diagnosis of pyelonephritis in cats is challenging and development of a noninvasive and accurate biomarker is needed. Hypotheses Serum amyloid A (SAA) is increased in cats with pyelonephritis, but not in cats with other urinary tract diseases. Animals A cohort of 125 cats (149 observations). Methods This was a prospective study. Group 1 included cats with a diagnosis of pyelonephritis either confirmed by bacterial culture of pelvic urine (Group 1a) or presumed (1b). Group 2 included cats for which pyelonephritis was ruled out (with certainty: Group 2a or judged unlikely: Group 2b). SAA concentration was compared between groups, and accuracy of SAA for the diagnosis of pyelonephritis was calculated using a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results Median SAA concentration was significantly higher in Group 1a (86.8 mg/L [73.3; 161.5]; n = 8) than in Group 2a (4 mg/L [1.8; 5.6], n = 19; P

Although all herpesviruses utilize a highly conserved replication machinery to amplify their viral genomes, different members may have unique strategies to modulate the assembly of their replication components. Herein, we characterize the subcellular localization of seven essential replication proteins of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and show that several viral replication enzymes such as the DNA polymerase subunit ORF28, when expressed alone, are localized in the cytoplasm. The nuclear import of ORF28 can be mediated by the viral DNA polymerase processivity factor ORF16. Besides, ORF16 could markedly enhance the protein abundance of ORF28. Noteworthily, an ORF16 mutant that is defective in nuclear transport still retained the ability to enhance ORF28 abundance. The low abundance of ORF28 in transfected cells was due to its rapid degradation mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. We additionally reveal that radicicol, an inhibitor of the chaperone Hsp90, could disrupt the interaction between ORF16 and ORF28, thereby affecting the nuclear entry and protein abundance of ORF28. Collectively, our findings imply that the cytoplasmic retention and rapid degradation of ORF28 may be a key regulatory mechanism for VZV to prevent untimely viral DNA replication, and suggest that Hsp90 is required for the interaction between ORF16 and ORF28.

The (pro)renin receptor ((P)RR) is an essential component of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) as a specific single-pass transmembrane receptor for prorenin and renin and has now emerged as a multifunctional protein implicated in a wide variety of developmental and physio-pathological processes and pathways. The (P)RR may be of pathological significance in metabolic syndrome. The (P)RR has received much consideration; substantial efforts have been made to understand the localization, regulation, and function of the (P)RR at both a molecular and system level. (P)RR regulation of cell function depends on whether it is intact or cleaved into its constituent forms. Therefore, the present chapter describes immunohistochemical approaches to examine the expression of (P)RR in various organs. It was shown that different molecular forms of (P)RR could be present in different tissue compartments in almost all organs. Among them, the liver has high PRR activity. Our findings could elucidate more detailed distribution of different (P)RR molecular forms in different organs, which could provide useful information to further investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of the development of various diseases in the future.

An audiogram records the hearing status, including each hearing threshold at multiple frequencies. While deep learning is gradually maturing in the clinical research approach, audiologists could speed up their diagnostic process with audiogram digitization for handwritten graphs or electronically generated images from instruments. However, given the diversity of audiogram symbols and formats, the existing audiogram digitization model has room for improvement in recognition accuracy. We propose a multi-stage workflow to enhance accuracy by integrating YOLOv5 and the optical character recognition (OCR) model. Our proposed audiogram digitization model could identify all audiogram symbols with an accuracy rate of 98%. We hope that this model could help future research in audiology.

Deep learning (DL) has demonstrated remarkable achievements in various fields. Nevertheless, DL models encounter significant challenges in detecting and defending against adversarial samples (AEs). These AEs are meticulously crafted by adversaries, introducing imperceptible perturbations to clean data to deceive DL models. Consequently, AEs pose potential risks to DL applications. In this paper, we propose an effective framework for enhancing the robustness of DL models against adversarial attacks. The framework leverages convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for feature learning, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) with softmax for classification, and a defense mechanism to identify and exclude AEs. Evasion attacks are employed to create AEs to evade and mislead the classifier by generating malicious samples during the test phase of DL models i.e., CNN and DNN, using the Fast Gradient Sign Method (FGSM), Basic Iterative Method (BIM), Projected Gradient Descent (PGD), and Square Attack (SA). A protection layer is developed as a detection mechanism placed before the DNN classifier to identify and exclude AEs. The detection mechanism incorporates a machine learning model, which includes one of the following: Fuzzy ARTMAP, Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbors, XGBoost, or Gradient Boosting Machine. Extensive evaluations are conducted on the MNIST, CIFAR-10, SVHN, and Fashion-MNIST data sets to assess the effectiveness of the proposed framework. The experimental results indicate the framework’s ability to effectively and accurately detect AEs generated by four popular attacking methods, highlighting the potential of our developed framework in enhancing its robustness against AEs.

Soil animal communities include more than 40 higher-order taxa, representing over 23% of all described species. These animals have a wide range of feeding sources and contribute to several important soil functions and ecosystem services. Although many studies have assessed macroinvertebrate communities in Brazil, few of them have been published in journals and even fewer have made the data openly available for consultation and further use. As part of ongoing efforts to synthesise the global soil macrofauna communities and to increase the amount of openly-accessible data in GBIF and other repositories related to soil biodiversity, the present paper provides links to 29 soil macroinvertebrate datasets covering 42 soil fauna taxa, collected in various land-use systems in Brazil. A total of 83,085 georeferenced occurrences of these taxa are presented, based on quantitative estimates performed using a standardised sampling method commonly adopted worldwide to collect soil macrofauna populations, i.e. the TSBF (Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme) protocol. This consists of digging soil monoliths of 25 x 25 cm area, with handsorting of the macroinvertebrates visible to the naked eye from the surface litter and from within the soil, typically in the upper 0-20 cm layer (but sometimes shallower, i.e. top 0-10 cm or deeper to 0-40 cm, depending on the site). The land-use systems included anthropogenic sites managed with agricultural systems (e.g. pastures, annual and perennial crops, agroforestry), as well as planted forests and native vegetation located mostly in the southern Brazilian State of Paraná (96 sites), with a few additional sites in the neighbouring states of São Paulo (21 sites) and Santa Catarina (five sites). Important metadata on soil properties, particularly soil chemical parameters (mainly pH, C, P, Ca, K, Mg, Al contents, exchangeable acidity, Cation Exchange Capacity, Base Saturation and, infrequently, total N), particle size distribution (mainly % sand, silt and clay) and, infrequently, soil moisture and bulk density, as well as on human management practices (land use and vegetation cover) are provided. These data will be particularly useful for those interested in estimating land-use change impacts on soil biodiversity and its implications for below-ground foodwebs, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem service delivery.Quantitative estimates are provided for 42 soil animal taxa, for two biodiversity hotspots: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. Data are provided at the individual monolith level, representing sampling events ranging from February 2001 up to September 2016 in 122 sampling sites and over 1800 samples, for a total of 83,085 ocurrences.

Abstract Patients with serious mental illness have a higher risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection but suboptimal HCV care. The current study aimed to facilitate HCV treatment uptake by implementing an integrated outreach care model. Multidisciplinary outreach screening followed by HCV reflex testing and onsite treatment for schizophrenia patients was accomplished through the coordination of nongovernmental organizations, remote specialists, and local care providers. The objective was microelimination effectiveness, defined as the multiplication of the rates of anti‐HCV antibodies screening, accurate HCV RNA diagnosis, treatment allocation, treatment completion, and sustained virological response (SVR12; no detectable HCV RNA throughout 12 weeks in the post‐treatment follow‐up period). A total of 1478 of the 2300 (64.3%) psychiatric patients received HCV mass screening. Seventy‐three (4.9%) individuals were seropositive for anti‐HCV antibodies. Of the 73 anti‐HCV seropositive patients, all (100%) received HCV reflex testing, and 29 (37.7%) patients had HCV viremia. Eight patients (34.8%) had advanced liver disease, including 3 with liver cirrhosis and 2 with newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma. Twenty‐three of the 24 (95.8%) patients who stayed in the healthcare system received and completed 8 weeks of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir treatment and post‐treatment follow‐up without significant DDIs or adverse events. The SVR12 rate was 100%. The microelimination effectiveness in the current study was 61.6%. Individuals with serious mental illness are underserved and suffer from diagnostic delays. This patient‐centered and integrated outreach program facilitated HCV care in this marginalized population.

This study investigated gender disparities in students' science motivational beliefs, conceptualized as self-concept and intrinsic value, from Grades 4 to 8 in 22 countries. The gender-specific relation between science motivational beliefs and achievement was also scrutinized. Data from the 2011 and 2015 national cohorts of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were explored. The "t" test and effect size results indicated gender gaps in self-concept and intrinsic value at the two grade levels. Boys' motivational beliefs were stronger than girls' in Grade 8 in the majority of countries, but the pattern in Grade 4 varied across countries. The relatively high science motivational beliefs among girls in Middle Eastern countries are extensively discussed from sociocultural perspectives. A downward trend of science motivational beliefs over grade levels occurred in all countries, and the degree to which girls' motivational beliefs decreased was greater than the decrease for boys in most of the countries. Moreover, the regression modeling results showed that boys' self-concept and intrinsic value accounted more for their science achievement than did girls' in both grades. Students' self-concept was a stronger predictor than intrinsic value of achievement, regardless of gender. The findings provide empirical evidence from multiple countries of the development trends of science motivational beliefs, with gender as the focus.

Background Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) represents a major burden for society and health care, with an average incidence in adults of 67 to 170 cases per 100,000 person-years in Europe and in-hospital survival rates of less than 10%. Patients and practitioners would benefit from a prognostication tool for long-term good neurological outcomes. Objective We aim to develop a machine learning (ML) pipeline on a local database to classify patients according to their neurological outcomes and identify prognostic features. Methods We collected clinical and biological data consecutively from 595 patients who presented OHCA and were routed to a single regional cardiac arrest centre in the south of France. We applied recursive feature elimination and ML analyses to identify the main features associated with a good neurological outcome, defined as a Cerebral Performance Category score less than or equal to 2 at six months post-OHCA. Results We identified 12 variables 24 h after admission, capable of predicting a six-month good neurological outcome. The best model (extreme gradient boosting) achieved an AUC of 0.96 and an accuracy of 0.92 in the test cohort. Conclusion We demonstrated that it is possible to build accurate, locally optimised prediction and prognostication scores using datasets of limited size and breadth. We proposed and shared a generic machine-learning pipeline which allows external teams to replicate the approach locally.

Abstract Objective Using a system, which accuracy is equivalent to the gold standard Douglas Bag (DB) technique for measuring oxygen consumption (VO2), carbon dioxide generation (VCO2), and respiratory quotient (RQ), we aimed to continuously measure these metabolic indicators and compare the values between post-cardiothoracic surgery and critical care patients. Methods This was a prospective, observational study conducted at a suburban, quaternary care teaching hospital. Age 18 years or older patients who underwent mechanical ventilation were enrolled. Results We included 4 post-surgery and 6 critical care patients. Of those, 3 critical care patients died. The longest measurement reached to 12 h and 15 min and 50 cycles of repeat measurements were performed. VO2 of the post-surgery patients were 234 ± 14, 262 ± 27, 212 ± 16, and 192 ± 20 mL/min, and those of critical care patients were 122 ± 20, 189 ± 9, 191 ± 7, 191 ± 24, 212 ± 12, and 135 ± 21 mL/min, respectively. The value of VO2 was more variable in the post-surgery patients and the range of each patient was 44, 126, 71, and 67, respectively. SOFA scores were higher in non-survivors and there were negative correlations of RQ with SOFA. Conclusions We developed an accurate system that enables continuous and repeat measurements of VO2, VCO2, and RQ. Critical care patients may have less activity in metabolism represented by less variable values of VO2 and VCO2 over time as compared to those of post-cardiothoracic surgery patients. Additionally, an alteration of these values may mean a systemic distinction of the metabolism of critically ill patients.

Abstract Few studies have genetically screened variants related to familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and investigated their survival impact in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). Patients with CAD and reduced EF (

Objectives This paper examined the magnitude of differences in performance across domains of cognitive functioning between participants who attrited from studies and those who did not, using data from longitudinal ageing studies where multiple cognitive tests were administered.Design Individual participant data meta-analysis.Participants Data are from 10 epidemiological longitudinal studies on ageing (total n=209 518) from several Western countries (UK, USA, Mexico, etc). Each study had multiple waves of data (range of 2–17 waves), with multiple cognitive tests administered at each wave (range of 4–17 tests). Only waves with cognitive tests and information on participant dropout at the immediate next wave for adults aged 50 years or older were used in the meta-analysis.Measures For each pair of consecutive study waves, we compared the difference in cognitive scores (Cohen’s d) between participants who dropped out at the next study wave and those who remained. Note that our operationalisation of dropout was inclusive of all causes (eg, mortality). The proportion of participant dropout at each wave was also computed.Results The average proportion of dropouts between consecutive study waves was 0.26 (0.18 to 0.34). People who attrited were found to have significantly lower levels of cognitive functioning in all domains (at the wave 2–3 years before attrition) compared with those who did not attrit, with small-to-medium effect sizes (overall d=0.37 (0.30 to 0.43)).Conclusions Older adults who attrited from longitudinal ageing studies had lower cognitive functioning (assessed at the timepoint before attrition) across all domains as compared with individuals who remained. Cognitive functioning differences may contribute to selection bias in longitudinal ageing studies, impeding accurate conclusions in developmental research. In addition, examining the functional capabilities of attriters may be valuable for determining whether attriters experience functional limitations requiring healthcare attention.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) serves as a photocatalyst, but it faces challenges due to its high band gap energy, limiting photoactivation to ultraviolet irradiation and rendering it scarcely recoverable after degradation. This work focuses on enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO through cobalt doping and immobilization onto magnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) via co-precipitation. The concentration of the cobalt precursor (0–10 mol %) and the molar ratio between Co–ZnO and Fe3O4 (5:1–15:1) were varied to achieve the optimal degradation efficiency and magnetic properties. Characterization tools such as the scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), attenuated total reflectance – Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) were utilized to evaluate the effect of cobalt doping on the physicochemical properties of the developed photocatalyst. Tauc plots indicated that 5 mol % Co–ZnO (Co5–ZnO) had the smallest band gap energy (2.79 eV), resulting in the highest photodegradation of methylene blue (88.72 %), compared to pristine ZnO (74.88 %) with a band gap energy of 3.39 eV. Co–ZnO/Fe3O4 showed a slight degradation efficiency decline, reaching a minimum of 84.53 % for the 5:1 molar ratio. These photocatalysts exhibited magnetic properties, with recovery efficiency ranging between 69.8 % and 72 %. Active radicals trapping experiments confirmed the involvement of holes, hydroxyl, and superoxide radicals in the degradation process, with superoxide radicals playing the most significant roles. In summary, this study successfully demonstrated that the synthesized Co–ZnO photocatalysts gained visible light sensitivity, and the incorporation of Fe3O4 imparted magnetic separability to the composite, thereby facilitating photocatalyst recovery.

Abstract Background Falls in older adults are the result of a complex web of interacting causes, that further results in other physical, emotional, and psychological sequelae. A conceptual framework that represents the reciprocal dynamics of these causal factors can enable clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to clarify goals in falls intervention in older adults. Methods A Group Model Building (GMB) exercise was conducted with researchers and clinicians from academic units and public healthcare institutes in Singapore. The aim of the exercise was to produce a shared visual representation of the causal structure for falls and engage in discussions on how current and future falls intervention programmes can address falls in the older adults, especially in the Asian context. It was conducted in four steps: 1) Outlining and prioritising desirable patient outcomes, 2) Conceptual model building, 3) Identifying key intervention elements of effective falls intervention programmes, 4) Mapping of interventions to outcomes. This causal loop diagram (CLD) was then used to generate insights into the current understanding of falls causal relationships, current efforts in falls intervention in Singapore, and used to identify gaps in falls research that could be further advanced in future intervention studies. Results Four patient outcomes were identified by the group as key in falls intervention: 1) Falls, 2) Injurious falls, 3) Fear of falling, and 4) Restricted mobility and life space. A CLD of the reciprocal relationships between risk factors and these outcomes are represented in four sub-models: 1) Fear of falling, 2) Injuries associated with falls, 3) Caregiver overprotectiveness, 4) Post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological resilience. Through this GMB exercise, the group gained the following insights: (1) Psychological sequelae of falls is an important falls intervention outcome. (2) The effects of family overprotectiveness, psychological resilience, and PTSD in exacerbating the consequences of falls are not well understood. (3) There is a need to develop multi-component falls interventions to address the multitude of falls and falls related sequelae. Conclusion This work illustrates the potential of GMB to promote shared understanding of complex healthcare problems and to provide a roadmap for the development of more effective preventive actions.

This study aimed to investigate obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG) at cellular, structural, and transcriptomic levels. Thirty Wistar rats were randomized into two groups: 15 rats were fed with a standard diet (SD-rats), and 15 rats were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD-rats). After 10 weeks, the weight, kidney function, histological features, and transcriptomic changes were assessed. HFD-rats gained significantly more weight (55.8% vs. 29.2%; p < 0.001) and albuminuria (10,384.04 ng/mL vs. 5845.45 ng/mL; p < 0.001) compared to SD-rats. HFD-rats exhibited early stages of ORG, with predominant mesangial matrix increase and podocyte hypertrophy (PH). These lesions correlated with differentially expressed (DE) genes and miRNAs. Functional analysis showed that miR-205, which was DE in both the kidneys and urine of HFD-rats, negatively regulated the PTEN gene, promoting lipid endocytosis in podocytes. The downregulation of PTEN was proved through a higher PTEN/nephrin ratio in the SD-rats and the presence of lipid vacuoles in HFD-podocytes. This study has found a specific targetome of miRNAs and gene expression in early stages of ORG. Also, it emphasizes the potential value of miR-205 as a urinary biomarker for detecting podocyte injury in ORG, offering a tool for early diagnosis, and opening new avenues for future therapeutic research of obesity-related glomerulopathy.

The prevalence of obesity and morbid obesity in Taiwan has risen sharply in recent decades, as in other parts of the world, necessitating urgent action to prevent and curb its detrimental effects. Asian populations are susceptible to the repercussions of obesity at a lower body weight. A higher BMI is associated with more frequent outpatient visits, in-hospital admissions, higher medical costs, and a lower quality of life. However, effective weight management approaches are unlikely to be maintained in the long term without assimilation into daily lifestyle practices. This qualitative study, based on semi-structured interviews with 14 doctors, dieticians, and nurses who work to control the weight of people with obesity, explored and identified multilevel barriers in the context of daily life to improve the efficacy and execution of weight management strategies. They considered diets, physical activity, and sleep as key weight management activities. The cultural and psychosocial aspects of daily life were observed to have an impact upon weight management, particularly family conflicts due to cultural dynamics and socially and culturally reinforced food practices. To improve population weight, less-recognised aspects need to be addressed alongside the inclusion of mental health specialists in weight management protocols and policy interventions to minimise obesogenic practices and create environments conducive to weight management.

Developing guidelines for designing robot-inclusive spaces has been challenging and resource-intensive, primarily relying on physical experiments and observations of robot interactions within the built environment. These conventional methods are often costly, time-consuming, and labour-intensive, demanding manual intervention. To address these limitations, this study explores the potential of using digital twins as a promising solution to offer detailed insights, reducing the dependence on physical experiments for studying robot-built environment interactions.Although the concept of digital twins is popular in many domains, the use of digital twins for this specific problem has not been explored yet. A novel methodology for assessing existing built environment guidelines by incorporating them as an architectural digital twin asset within robot simulation software is proposed in this regard. By analysing the digital interactions between robots and the architectural digital twin assets in simulations, the compatibility of the environment with robots is evaluated, ultimately contributing to enhancing these guidelines to be robot-inclusive. The ultimate goal is to create environments that are not only inclusive but also readily accessible to Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). With this objective, the proposed methodology is tested on robots of different specifications to understand the robots’ interactions with different architectural digital twin environments and obstacles. The digital twin effectively demonstrates the capability of the proposed approach in assessing the robots’ suitability for deployment in the simulated environments. The gained insights contribute to improved comprehension and strengthen the existing design guidelines.

Students' attitudes towards science (SAS) is a prominent research area as evident in the science education literature. Many SAS studies incorporated science confidence (SC), science enjoyment (SE) and importance of science (IS) into the study of SAS. However, the incorporation of these constructs often depends on the subjective judgment of the researchers. This study examines the incorporation of the three constructs in the measure of SAS based on the Asian Student Attitudes Towards Science Class (ASATSC) instrument. A total of 1,133 7th to 11th graders from China completed a survey of the three constructs. Data was collectively assessed in terms of fit to the Rasch model that requires invariant and consistent response category functioning. Results indicated that SC was not correlated well with IS whilst SC and SE were consistent with each other in the measure of SAS. Recommendations were provided on how constructs on the measurement of SAS can be better designed.

This thematic issue addresses the challenges faced by Indigenous peoples in protecting their rights and maintaining their unique cultures and ways of life. Despite residing on all continents and possessing distinct social, cultural, economic, and political characteristics, Indigenous peoples have historically faced oppression and violation of their rights. Measures to protect Indigenous rights are gradually being recognized by the international community, but ongoing issues such as illegal deforestation, mining, and land clearances continue to desecrate sacred sites and oppress Indigenous peoples. Indigenous women and youth are particularly vulnerable, facing higher levels of gender‐based violence and overrepresentation in judicial sentencing statistics. Land rights continue to be threatened by natural resource extraction, infrastructure projects, large‐scale agricultural expansion, and conservation orders. There is also a heightened risk of statelessness for Indigenous peoples whose traditional lands cross national borders, leading to displacement, attacks, killings, and criminalization.

Abstract Telomeres are environment-sensitive regulators of health and aging. Here,we present telomere DNA length analysis of two reef-building coral genera revealing that the long- and short-term water thermal regime is a key driver of between-colony variation across the Pacific Ocean. Notably, there are differences between the two studied genera. The telomere DNA lengths of the short-lived, more stress-sensitive Pocillopora spp. colonies were largely determined by seasonal temperature variation, whereas those of the long-lived, more stress-resistant Porites spp. colonies were insensitive to seasonal patterns, but rather influenced by past thermal anomalies. These results reveal marked differences in telomere DNA length regulation between two evolutionary distant coral genera exhibiting specific life-history traits. We propose that environmentally regulated mechanisms of telomere maintenance are linked to organismal performances, a matter of paramount importance considering the effects of climate change on health.

En este artículo exploramos el entramado de relaciones sociales que se activan a partir de la relación entre comida y fiesta comunitaria durante la celebración del 3 de mayo, fiesta patronal y de aniversario fundacional de una localidad andina (Cusi Cusi, Puna de Jujuy, Argentina). Desde una perspectiva versada en el ritmoanálisis, analizamos los múltiples ritmos que caracterizan tanto a la planificación como al preparado y servido de platos tradicionales a centenares de comensales. Estos ritmos son marcados por materialidades, actores y simbologías propios de un contexto extraordinario. Una polirritmia en donde el carácter cívico, por un lado, y el religioso o de celebración tradicional andina, por el otro, cohabitan entre protocolos, expectativas, reciprocidades y resolución de imprevistos.

An engineering approach for thermal characterization of an interior permanent magnet electric motor (EM) with a specific aim to identify the interdependency between its mean coil temperature and the maximum component temperatures at the conditions with constant and variable loads/speeds is proposed. For specifying the convective thermal boundary condition between stator and rotor that spins at variable speeds/directions, an experimental study aimed at devising the empirical heat transfer correlation for the Taylor-Couette airflow with varying rotating speed/direction is performed. It is firstly revealed that the responsive air-gap heat convection to angular acceleration follows the characteristic of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) dynamic system. Along with the heat transfer correlation for the unsteady Taylor-Couette airflow, the nonhomogeneous thermal conductivity model that considers the orthogonality effect of the bent coiled winding at its two axial ends is integrated with an iteration scheme for calculating the air bulk temperature in an entrapped air chamber. The favorable experimental validation with the maximum discrepancies between predicted and measured component temperatures less than 7 % in steady and unsteady running conditions affirms the accuracy of the proposed simulation model. At a rotating speed of 4800 rev/min and power output of 1688 W, the maximum-to-mean temperature differences of stator winding, magnetic stripe, and steel sheet of stator reach respectively 6.75 °C, 3.21 °C, and 6.94 °C. Particularly, all the maximum component temperatures are well correlative with the mean temperature of the stator winding at the various steady/unsteady operating conditions. This finding extends the application of lumped thermal network analysis that predicts the averaged components’ temperatures; and enables the on-line monitoring for the maximum component temperatures using a mean stator-winding temperature as the controlling factor.

ABSTRACT Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) encodes six highly conserved core replication proteins essential for the viral lytic DNA synthesis, including ORF6 (single-stranded DNA-binding protein), ORF9 (DNA polymerase), ORF40/41 (primase-associated factor), ORF44 (helicase), ORF56 (primase), and ORF59 (polymerase processivity factor). Since the protein-protein interactions among KSHV core replication proteins are largely unknown, this study aimed to decipher their interrelationships. Herein, we propose a protein-protein interaction network of these six core replication proteins according to the results obtained from confocal fluorescence microscopy, coimmunoprecipitation, and mammalian two-hybrid (GAL4/VP16) reporter assays. In this interaction network, ORF40/41 plays a central role in the connection of different replication subcomplexes. In addition to the well-conserved helicase-primase subcomplex (consisting of ORF44, ORF56, and ORF40/41) and the replisome subcomplex (consisting of ORF9 and ORF59), our data also suggest that several discrete, stable subcomplexes exist in the cell nucleus. Among these replication subcomplexes in the nucleus, the tetrameric subcomplex composed of ORF44, ORF56, ORF40/41, and ORF6 exhibited the ability to trigger a DNA damage response. By using an established GAL4/VP16-based reporter system and confocal fluorescence microscopy, we additionally found that the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, radicicol, significantly inhibited the formation of both the helicase-primase subcomplex and the replisome subcomplex in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, these data not only provide further insights into the interaction and assembly of KSHV-encoded core replication proteins but also suggest a critical role of Hsp90 in assisting the construction of the viral core replication machinery. IMPORTANCE Eukaryotic DNA replication is a highly regulated process that requires multiple replication enzymes assembled onto DNA replication origins. Due to the complexity of the cell’s DNA replication machinery, most of what we know about cellular DNA replication has come from the study of viral systems. Herein, we focus our study on the assembly of the Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus core replication complex and propose a pairwise protein-protein interaction network of six highly conserved viral core replication proteins. A detailed understanding of the interaction and assembly of the viral core replication proteins may provide opportunities to develop new strategies against viral propagation.

Developing offshore wind farms may impact cetaceans due to vessel collisions and underwater noise. Therefore, it is critical to protect cetaceans while developing offshore wind farms. We first studied the code of conduct/guidelines for whale watching and then interviewed members of the local whale-watching industry to learn about the interaction between cetaceans and vessels. After that, we compared current whale-watching guidelines in Taiwan with 69 published guidelines from other countries and locations, then developed guidelines for the offshore wind farm industry. The results show that rules related to approaching and interacting with cetaceans in Taiwan are similar to those in other countries. However, swimming with cetaceans and approaching calves are prohibited in Taiwan. From the survey of the whale-watching industry, most whale-watching guidelines in Taiwan were found to be feasible, and the guidelines should be described in the premise with different phenotypic traits of various cetaceans. Based on the whale-watching guidelines, we developed a code of conduct for protecting cetaceans from the impact of vessels, specifically in offshore wind farm operations in Taiwan.

This study investigated research trends in civic and citizenship education by systematically reviewing research regarding international frameworks for civic and citizenship education. We focused on major international large-scale assessments -- specifically, the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, and its predecessor, the Civic Education Study. Using four electronic databases, we analyzed 135 peer-reviewed journal articles. The analysis showed that differences among countries in research interests might be linked to different cultural backgrounds. It also showed that the greatest number of articles were published in social science disciplines, education research in particular. The results highlight the necessity of investigating principals' and teachers' perceptions of civic and citizenship education. Future research could focus on understudied variables such as adolescents' civic participation, and home and peer civic education contexts, utilizing diverse variables from the ICCS 2016 data. By summarizing and discussing research trends, this study provides a blueprint for future research in the field of civic and citizenship education.