Ambiguous Results Research Articles

Lithogeochemistry and origin of the komatiites from Mundonguara mine in the Manica greenstone belt, Mozambique

The Manica greenstones belt in western Mozambique constitutes the eastern extension of the Odzi-Mutare greenstone belt in Zimbabwe that is one of several Archean greenstone belts within the Zimbabwe Craton. These greenstones are in Mozambique constituting the Manica Group and are subdivided in two main lithostratigraphic units: The Macequece Formation and the Vengo Formation. The former is hosting the Mundonguara Cu-Au mine and is dominated by volcanic rocks, while the younger Vengo Formation is consisting of epiclastic sedimentary rocks. This paper considers the character and origin of the ultramafic, mafic, and felsic rocks within the Macequece Formation. They include peridotitic komatiite, pyroxenitic komatiite, komatiitic cumulate rocks, gabbroic dykes, rhyolitic units, and a granitic rock intruding the komatiites. Samples of these rocks have been collected from outcrops and drill cores and are investigated through petrographic studies of thin sections and whole rock geochemistry including major and trace elements to interpret the geological environment and tectonic setting.The supracrustal rocks are metamorphosed to greenschist facies and the komatiites consists of varying proportions of serpentine, talc, chlorite, and amphibole. Primary features are partly preserved, with spinifex, vesicular, and cumulate textures. The komatiites are variously affected by carbonate alteration and deformation and the rhyolitic rocks are mostly strongly silicified. The komatiites are of the Al-undepleted type, with a MgO content of 25–45 wt %, while the mafic intrusions are tholeiitic in character, varying from gabbronorite to diorite in composition. Trace element diagrams used for interpretation of tectonic setting gives ambiguous results that could be an effect of crustal contamination of the ultramafic and mafic magmas. Using diagrams less sensitive to crustal contamination suggests the mafic and ultramafic magma to have a mantle source Minor rhyolitic rocks are chemically similar to granitic rocks intruding the komatiites and might have a mainly crustal magma source. This suggested that the Manica greenstones belt formed from magmas generated by mantle plume activity in a continental rift setting and were deposited on older Archean continental crust. These rocks are tentatively correlated with the Bends or Brookland formations belonging to the 2.9–2.8 Ga Mtshingwe Group in the Belingwe greenstone belts in Zimbabwe.

Co-Teaching: Are We There Yet?

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades, states, districts, and schools have introduced co-teaching as a means of educating students with disabilities, even though it is not included as a placement option in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the law governing special education. Cultivated by evolving federal legislation, regulation, and policy, co-teaching can address the intersection of the least restrictive environment, general curriculum access, and improved school outcomes. In this systematic review of co-teaching research published between 2010 and 2024, we found that empirical studies remain sparse and inconclusive. Confounding factors include ill-defined and uneven implementation likely affecting the fidelity of the model, lack of evidence regarding the amount and impact of administrative support, and inattention to contextual differences across elementary and secondary school settings. Looking to the future, research on co-teaching is likely to focus on specially designed instruction (SDI) and student outcomes. We suggest the use of the co-teaching framework to ensure fidelity in future research and encourage the use of mixed methods to clarify ambiguous results. Further, co-teaching applications are likely to expand, suggested by its nascent use as a model for an inclusive approach for educating multilingual learners (MLs) and those from other marginalized groups.

The role of computed tomography in differential diagnosis of "intracardiac mass" in the mitral valve region (a series of case reports)

The differential diagnosis of "intracardiac mass" in the region of the mitral annulus, detected by echocardiography, can be challenging. A multimodal approach is usually required to clear up. Sometimes the nature of detected mass may be due to subvalvular mitral annular calcification. The presented series of case reports emphasizes the importance and clinical significance of computed tomography in identifying and characterization subvalvular mitral annular calcification with ambiguous results of other diagnostic methods, in particular echocardiography.

Buprenorphine/Naloxone vs Methadone for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

Previous studies on the comparative effectiveness between buprenorphine and methadone provided limited evidence on differences in treatment effects across key subgroups and were drawn from populations who use primarily heroin or prescription opioids, although fentanyl use is increasing across North America. To assess the risk of treatment discontinuation and mortality among individuals receiving buprenorphine/naloxone vs methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorder. Population-based retrospective cohort study using linked health administrative databases in British Columbia, Canada. The study included treatment recipients between January 1, 2010, and March 17, 2020, who were 18 years or older and not incarcerated, pregnant, or receiving palliative cancer care at initiation. Receipt of buprenorphine/naloxone or methadone among incident (first-time) users and prevalent new users (including first and subsequent treatment attempts). Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% compatibility (confidence) intervals were estimated for treatment discontinuation (lasting ≥5 days for methadone and ≥6 days for buprenorphine/naloxone) and all-cause mortality within 24 months using discrete-time survival models for comparisons of medications as assigned at initiation regardless of treatment adherence ("initiator") and received according to dosing guidelines (approximating per-protocol analysis). A total of 30 891 incident users (39% receiving buprenorphine/naloxone; 66% male; median age, 33 [25th-75th, 26-43] years) were included in the initiator analysis and 25 614 in the per-protocol analysis. Incident users of buprenorphine/naloxone had a higher risk of treatment discontinuation compared with methadone in initiator analyses (88.8% vs 81.5% discontinued at 24 months; adjusted HR, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.53-1.63]), with limited change in estimates when evaluated at optimal dose in per-protocol analysis (42.1% vs 30.7%; adjusted HR, 1.67 [95% CI, 1.58-1.76]). Per-protocol analyses of mortality while receiving treatment exhibited ambiguous results among incident users (0.08% vs 0.13% mortality at 24 months; adjusted HR, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.24-1.35]) and among prevalent users (0.08% vs 0.09%; adjusted HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.54-1.73]). Results were consistent after the introduction of fentanyl and across patient subgroups and sensitivity analyses. Receipt of methadone was associated with a lower risk of treatment discontinuation compared with buprenorphine/naloxone. The risk of mortality while receiving treatment was similar for buprenorphine/naloxone and methadone, although the CI estimate for the hazard ratio was wide.

Resolving Ambiguities in Deceased Donor HLA Typing: Next Generation Sequencing’s Role in DPB1 Allele Discrimination and Immunological Implications

Abstract HLA typing is crucial for assessing immunological compatibility between donors and recipients before transplantation. Deceased donor (DD) typing, typically via real-time PCR (rtPCR), provides rapid results vital for organ allocation. rtPCR primarily targets exons encoding the highly polymorphic peptide binding region (PBR) of HLA molecules. rtPCR cannot target all polymorphic sequences. Consequently, several possibilities of allele combinations are provided, leading to ambiguous typing results. As recent evidence suggests antibody responses can target regions in exons outside the PBR, notably in Exon 3 of the DPB1 locus, typing ambiguities can lead to the inability to assess histocompatibility between a donor and recipient. Herein, the aim was to investigate the utility of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in resolving DPB1 ambiguities in DD typing. A retrospective analysis of DD typing from February 2022 to January 2024 examined instances where NGS was used to resolve ambiguities reported via rtPCR. Each case was reviewed to understand the reason for resorting to NGS typing. The study focused on DPB1 ambiguities and assessed whether NGS effectively reduced ambiguity and differentiated alleles with polymorphisms outside the PBR. In total, 29 DD cases were found to have NGS testing results. In 14 cases, NGS was specifically performed to resolve DPB1 ambiguities. The ambiguities were significantly reduced from hundreds detected in rtPCR to 4 or fewer possible allele combinations with NGS. Eleven cases demonstrated polymorphism in exons outside the PBRs. Of these, only 2 cases showed no typing ambiguity with NGS. In the remaining 9 cases, though polymorphisms could be resolved in the PBR, ambiguities remained in exon 3, specifically at codon 96. In these cases, NGS could not distinguish lysine (K) from arginine (R). For example, DPB1*835:01 with the 96R motif could not be distinguished from DPB1*34:01with the 96K motif. The current investigation found that NGS cannot resolve all ambiguities at position 96, likely due, at least in part, to persistent cis-trans ambiguities. Our results suggest that although NGS drastically limited the number of ambiguities in 9 of 11 cases, it still could not adequately distinguish all immunologically relevant alleles. Inability to resolve the 96R/K epitope, which has been shown to be immunogenic, could impact solid organ transplantation, potentially leading to rejection in mismatched recipient-donor pairs at this position. Sequencing methods that generate longer reads, such as nanopore, may help resolve some of these cases if they are indeed due to cis-trans ambiguities.

Development of two step reverse transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) for simultaneous identification of saliva and semen

Determination of the type of body fluids is essential for crime scene reconstruction and for improving the reliability of expert testimonies. Messenger RNA (mRNA) analysis by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) has been used in forensic genetics, particularly for body fluid identification. It is a relative quantification method that compares the Ct values of target and reference gene. Thus, the method is unsuitable for determining exact copy numbers of the target gene. To address this limitation, this study performed body fluid-specific mRNA analysis using two-step reverse transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR), which is capable of absolute quantification. We found that RT-ddPCR was accurate and sensitive enough to detect as little as 1.5 copies/μl of complementary DNA (cDNA), making it suitable for application using casework samples. It was also highly specific for body fluids, as non-specific amplification did not occur. In addition, saliva-semen mixtures with ratios ranging from 1:50 to 50:1 were successfully identified. When comparing the results of RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR, some samples were difficult to interpret because of the high Ct values of RT-qPCR. However, when the same samples were analyzed using RT-ddPCR, saliva and semen were distinctly identified. Thus, RT-ddPCR is useful for mixed samples (e.g., in sexual assault cases) with low amounts of DNA, which often leads to ambiguous results when using RT-qPCR. Other body fluids (e.g., vaginal fluid and menstrual blood) can also be identified by including additional markers. This study demonstrates the potential of RT-ddPCR for applications in forensic science.

Indiferentní reakce sazenic borovice lesní a buku lesního ošetřených hydroabsorbenty

Super-absorbents are expected to amend soils as they are capable of retaining water, which turns dry loose powdery substances (also capsule) into hydrogel. These were applied to prevent an artificial regeneration failure due to drought events. Four commercially-available products were mixed with soil from planting holes (the capsule was put to the soil) in order to support bare-root Scots pine and European beech seedlings after a spring planting on eleven clear-cut sites in 2020–2021. The plantations were designed as rows with 4 × 150 plants treated with four hydrogels plus 150 plants without hydrogel as a control. The performance evaluation of new plantations was based on attributes such as mortality/survival and relative height and root-collar diameter increments. The plants, which lost their initial size, due to pine weevil damage, dry tops and damage by game, were excluded from the evaluation. Besides the plant response to the applied super-absorbents, the planting operations were evaluated from economic point of view. The 2020 plantations showed higher mortality than 2021 ones; both years showed an excessive loss. The hydrogels did not help the plants to survive better compared to control and growth data also showed ambiguous results. Therefore, from commercial perspective, the application of all tested super-absorbents just increased the renewal costs.

Clonality Determination by Detecting Unmodified Monoclonal Serum Free Light Chains Using On-Probe Extraction Coupled with Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

Serum free light chains (FLCs) are an essential clinical biomarker for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with plasma cell neoplasms. The current widely used immunoassay methods quantify total serum FLCs, which include monoclonal FLCs as well as FLCs in the polyclonal background. Patients with chronic diseases, inflammatory disorders, or renal dysfunction can have elevated total FLCs that lead to ambiguous results. These patients may benefit from a direct measurement of monoclonal FLCs. The purpose of this study was to develop a method that couples on-probe extraction (OPEX) with liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS), abbreviated to OPEX-MS, to directly determine the clonality of FLCs. OPEX immunocapture was performed using microprobes loaded with anti-kappa or anti-lambda light chain antibodies. Captured proteins were separated by reversed-phase LC and analyzed by HR-MS. Four cohorts of samples from unique patients were tested based on immunoassay FLC results. The LC-HR-MS analysis in the OPEX-MS method provides both a unique retention time along with deconvoluted masses of FLC monomers and dimers for each clone. The study found that 16 out of 49 (33%) kappa FLC elevated samples as well as 83 out of 100 (83%) dual kappa and lambda FLC elevated samples did not have monoclonal FLCs, which is consistent with the knowledge that there is often no clonal population in samples with mildly elevated FLC immunoassay results. The OPEX-MS method can serve as a complementary approach to directly determine clonality in patients with difficult-to-interpret FLC immunoassay results.

Primary Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Adrenal Glands: a Rare Cause of Paraneoplastic Neuropathy

The article presents a detailed analysis of clinical observation of primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the adrenal glands, a rare disease affecting less than 1% of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. It describes the case of a 46-year-old man hospitalized with progressive limb paralysis, later diagnosed as paraneoplastic polyradiculoneuropathy associated with bilateral adrenal lymphoma. The diagnostic challenges of this pathology, including ambiguous imaging results and the need for histological verification to confirm the diagnosis are discussed. Special attention is paid to the uniqueness of clinical manifestations and the importance of early symptom recognition to improve prognostic outcomes in highly aggressive forms of the disease. The necessity of multidisciplinary approach in managing such patients with the participation of oncologists, endocrinologists, and neurologists to optimize diagnostic and therapeutic processes is also emphasized.

Prenatal testing technologies in Australia: Unintended clinical and emotional complexities in underprepared systems

The past decade has seen technological advances in prenatal screening technologies rapidly integrated into clinical practice. These technologies have revolutionised healthcare and raised complex socio-ethical issues such as equitable access, medical commercialisation, and new eugenics. However, the important issue of the impact of these technologies on healthcare professionals is receiving less attention. Exploring this issue in the Australian context, we conducted a survey from August to November 2022, targeting health and allied health professionals who work with parents in the perinatal period who have received a fetal diagnosis. We received 75 substantive responses from a diversity of professionals, including sonographers, midwives, genetic counsellors and medical providers.In this article, we consider the unintended impacts of prenatal screening technologies on healthcare workers, drawing from Ziebland et al., ’s 2021 unintended consequences framework. Our reflexive thematic analysis produced three key themes: “Unintended Clinical Complexities”, “Adapting Work Practices to Keep Up in Systems that Lack”, and “Unintended Intensification of Emotional Labour”. Prenatal testing technologies have intentionally increased early testing and fetal information, offering veiled promises of increased certainty in pregnancy. However, our analysis highlights that these advancing technologies also generate more ambiguous results, creating unintended clinical and emotional complexities for healthcare providers. Workers must manage increased clinical uncertainty and constant change, creating intensified emotional labour in under-prepared systems. We conclude by identifying the need to recognise the impacts of advancing prenatal screening technologies on healthcare workers and for targeted professional training to prepare healthcare professionals for the complexities introduced by these new technologies.

Genesis of legal protection of animated audiovisual works

The article is devoted to studying of the history of legal protection of animated audiovisual works in the course of development of technologies for production of such works. The author establishes that the creation of ‘live’ images, which was carried out to conduct scientific experiments in physics and mathematics, eventually became the starting point for the development of animation and cinematography. The history of animation is divided into six main periods. These periods naturally do not coincide with the stages of development of legal protection of objects created by animation and cinematography. It is determined that the stages of animation development as a field of creative activity and a business area are distinguished by the criteria of technology and economic development. They are also associated with the development of cinematography due to the similarity of the production process. The conclusions reflect that it is difficult to divide the genesis of the legal protection of animated audiovisual works into stages due to the diversity of legal provisions in different jurisdictions. Using the example of the evolution of national legislation of certain countries of the world and the provisions of the Berne Convention, the article reveals theoretical approaches to the legal protection of animated audiovisual works. The article provides an overview of the following approaches: 1) protection of a cinematographic work (film) as a dramatic work if it is original and does not infringe the rights of the authors of dramatic works on which it was created; 2) protection of an animated work (film) as a photographic work, according to which protection is provided for a cinematographic work that does not have any features of originality; 3) protection of an animated work (film) as a moving image, which is inherent in US law; 4) protection of an animated work (film) as a cinematographic work, which provides for the protection of such a work as a separate object; 5) protection of an animated audiovisual work, which is a new approach to legal protection. It is concluded that the reason for the diversity of terminology such as cinematographic work, film, moving image, and audiovisual work in modern legislation is the result of the historical ambiguity of approaches to legal protection of this type of work.

Evaluation of Postoperative Anastomotic Patency in Lymphaticovenular Anastomosis Using Photoacoustic Imaging.

Lymphaticovenular anastomosis (LVA) is a surgical technique used to alleviate lymphedema by bypassing the lymphatic and venous vessels and facilitating lymphatic fluid drainage. Accurate evaluation of anastomotic patency is crucial for assessing LVA outcomes. Traditional near-infrared fluorescence lymphography has limitations, including fluorescence diffusion in subcutaneous fat and difficulty evaluating areas beneath the dermal backflow. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a potential alternative for high-resolution visualization of lymphatic and blood vessels. We aimed to evaluate the utility of PAI for assessing LVA patency. Using the LUB0 PAI system, we examined patients who underwent LVA. Imaging was conducted using subcutaneously injected indocyanine green (ICG) to visualize lymphatic vessels. Results showed clear patency in some cases, inability to evaluate it in others, and confirmed occlusion in certain instances. While PAI provides valuable insights, challenges remain, including the potential for ambiguous results from the intermittent nature of lymphatic flow and difficulty visualizing low-ICG-concentration lymphatic vessels. Nonetheless, PAI offers a promising method for detailed 3D evaluation of anastomoses. It may improve surgical outcomes and contribute to future evidence in the field. Further advancements, including real-time video assessment, may enhance the accuracy and reliability of LVA patency evaluation.

Hybrid Fuzzy Method for Performance Evaluation of City Construction

Evaluating the performance of city construction not only helps optimize city functions and improve city quality, but it also contributes to the development of sustainable cities. However, most of the scoring rules for evaluating the performance of city construction are overly cumbersome and demand very high data integrity. Moreover, the properties, change scale, and scope of different evaluation indicators of city construction often lead to uncertain and ambiguous results. In this study, a hybrid fuzzy method is proposed to conduct the performance evaluation of city construction in two phases. Firstly, a city performance index (CPI) was developed by combining the means and standard deviations of indicators of city construction to address the volatility of historical statistical data as well as different types of data. Considering the sampling errors in data analysis, the parameter estimation method was used to derive the 100% × (1 − α) confidence interval of the CPI. Buckley’s fuzzy approach was then adopted to extend the statistical estimators from the CPI into fuzzy estimators, after which a fuzzy CPI was proposed. To identify the specific improvement directions for city construction, the fuzzy axiom design (fuzzy AD) method was applied to explore the relationship between the targets set by city managers and actual performance. Finally, an example of six cities in China is provided to illustrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed method. The results show that the performance of Chongqing on several evaluation indicators is lower than that of other cities. The proposed method takes into account the issues of uniformity and diversity in the performance evaluation of city construction. It can enable a quantitative assessment of the city construction level in all cities and provide theoretical support and a decision-making basis for relevant government departments to optimize city construction planning and scientifically formulate city construction policies.

Predicting attitudes related to stuttering from an international database

PurposeA vast number of studies over the past 50 years have explored public and professional attitudes toward stuttering, and many of them have identified variables that predict more—or less—positive attitudes. Part I of this study summarized 91 studies in terms of consistency of prediction of stuttering attitudes. Part II sought to compare a considerable number of potential predictors and to quantify their prediction strengths. MethodThirty-seven predictors were analyzed in linear regression models using a retrospective analysis of a database consisting of 22,413 respondents from 44 countries who had filled out the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA–S) in 26 different languages. Dependent variables were two POSHA–S subscores, Beliefs about stuttering and Self Reactions to people who stutter, as well as the mean of these two subscores, the Overall Stuttering Score. ResultsAll 37 predictors were statistically significant for most—but at least one—of the three scores. The strongest predictors related to regions of the world and related variables of countries and languages, with greater strength for Beliefs than for Self Reactions. Knowing persons who stutter, or knowing about stuttering, were moderate predictors of Self Reactions but weak predictors of Beliefs. Different populations, such as the public, students, or speech-language pathologists, moderately predicted attitudes on all three dependent variables while education level and self-ratings of ability to speak were weak predictors. Sex (gender), age, income, parental or marital status, and most of 12 life priorities (e.g., get things done; be safe and secure) had very weak and practically insignificant predictive potential. ConclusionsThe study confirmed previous research showing ambiguous results for such predictors as sex and age but consistent differences from various geographic regions. Beliefs and Self Reactions measure different constructs that are often predicted differently by variables.

The Role of Employee Ownership, Financial Participation, and Decision‐Making in Corporate Governance: A Multilevel Review and Research Agenda

ABSTRACTResearch Question/IssueThe allocation of return and control rights to employees has been somewhat overlooked in governance literature, but it has garnered interest from scholars across various fields. Our analysis of five decades of research integrates and juxtaposes theory and evidence from three independent yet intertwined domains: employee ownership, financial participation, and decision‐making. Our work synthesizes an extensive body of past and current findings and introduces a multilevel contingency framework to formulate novel theoretical, methodological, and contextual remedies.Research Findings/InsightsWe conducted a multilevel analysis of 184 articles published in reputable journals. Our results reveal complementary and substitutive relationships between employee financial participation and decision‐making and show that various contextual variables operating at different levels (i.e., individual, company and country) jointly impact employees behaviors and firm outcomes. Our findings help explain the mixed or ambiguous results of previous studies and offer novel theoretical and methodological pathways for future research.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsOur study invites scholars to further investigate the antecedents and consequences of employee ownership, financial participation and decision‐making. Specifically, we recommend adopting theories and methods that illuminate the complex nature of the employee ownership construct, develop a multilevel understanding of the phenomenon, and analyze the moderating effects of various contextual variables.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsInsights from our review can assist practitioners and policymakers in designing plans that allocate either one or both of ownership rights to employees, enhancing their understanding of the role and impact of diverse contextual factors operating at various levels.

Serum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity: A neglected diagnostic biomarker for Wilson disease

BackgroundLow serum ceruloplasmin concentration is considered robust marker for Wilson disease (WD) screening, measuring serum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity might be an even more valuable diagnostic tool, but it has not been sufficiently studied. MethodsAll patients who were assessed for serum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity between January 1, 2016, and September 2, 2019, were enrolled in this study. The diagnostic performance of serum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (ROC), Spearman's rank correlation, and Mann-Whitney U test. ResultsSerum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity was significantly decreased in WD patients (0.87 U/L, IQR 0.61–1.54). The optimal cut-off of serum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity to identified WD is 7 U/L, with sensitivity and specificity of 97.03 % and 98.19 %, respectively. Furthermore, this study revealed a positive correlation between enzymatic and immunoreactive serum ceruloplasmin tests. As primary diagnostic methods, serum ceruloplasmin levels below the diagnostic cut-offs for either the enzymatic or immunoreactive tests were observed in 818 out of 842 WD patients (97.15 %). Compared with the presence of K-F rings in asymptomatic patients, the accuracy of serum ceruloplasmin tests was significantly higher (56.12 % VS 95.08 %). Moreover, the positive rate of cranial MRI in neurological patients was similar to the tests of serum ceruloplasmin (92.91 % VS 97.40 %). Moreover, 71 patients had ambiguous genetic results, complicating the diagnosis. However, serum ceruloplasmin tests successfully identified 65 out of these 71 patients (91.55 %). ConclusionSerum ceruloplasmin oxidase activity has excellent performance in diagnosing WD, which should be widely used as preferred test in WD patients.

The Gendered Influence of Cross-Gender Friends on the Development of Adolescents’ Gender Role Attitudes

Gender role attitudes have important implications at the individual, family, and societal levels, underscoring the importance of understanding their development. Although parents predominate in the socialization of gender role attitudes in childhood, the influence of friends increases during adolescence. In particular, cross-gender friends can provide unique insights and perspectives on another gender group, making them likely to shape gender role attitudes. However, empirical explorations of the link between gender role attitudes and cross-gender friendships have been rare. Furthermore, the few studies conducted have yielded ambiguous results and have struggled to separate the influence of cross-gender friends from a selection of such friendships based on gender role attitudes. This study addresses these limitations by using longitudinal social network models to assess the co-evolution of friendship networks and gender role attitudes among 3,194 youth (Mage = 15.2, SD = 0.67, 51% female) in German schools. The findings reveal that, after accounting for selection processes, boys with cross-gender friends develop more egalitarian gender role attitudes, while girls’ attitudes are unaffected by cross-gender friendships. These findings suggest that promoting cross-gender friendships among adolescent boys holds the potential to foster egalitarian gender role attitudes.

Quadruplex Droplet Digital PCR Assay for Screening and Quantification of SARS-CoV-2.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the rapid global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) since early 2020, has highlighted the need for sensitive and reliable diagnostic methods. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) has demonstrated superior performance over the gold-standard reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) in detecting SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we explored the development of a multiplex ddPCR assay that enables sensitive quantification of SARS-CoV-2, which could be utilized for antiviral screening and the monitoring of COVID-19 patients. We designed a quadruplex ddPCR assay targeting four SARS-CoV-2 genes and evaluated its performance in terms of specificity, sensitivity, linearity, reproducibility, and precision using a two-color ddPCR detection system. The results showed that the quadruplex assay had comparable limits of detection and accuracy to the simplex ddPCR assays. Importantly, the quadruplex assay demonstrated significantly improved performance for samples with low viral loads and ambiguous results compared to the standard qRT-PCR approach. The developed multiplex ddPCR represents a valuable alternative and complementary tool for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 and potentially other pathogens in various application scenarios beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic. The improved sensitivity and reliability of this assay could contribute to more effective disease monitoring and antiviral screening during the ongoing public health crisis.

Immunological testing for female infertility: a modern view on the problem

Introduction. According to various estimates, in Russia 10 to 20 % of people of reproductive age are infertile. Changes in the immune system play a key role in the etiology and treatment of various infertility forms. The active introduction of immunological testing into clinical practice can potentially improve the results of infertility diagnostics and treatment.Aim: to analyze the current literature data on immunological testing in female infertility, as well as to assess its potential role in infertility diagnostics and treatment.Materials and Methods. There was conducted a search for publications in the electronic databases PubMed and eLibrary by using the following keywords and their combinations: "infertility", "immunology", "immune system", "immunological testing", "diagnostics", "treatment". The articles were evaluated in accordance with the PRISMA recommendations. Ultimately, 88 publications were included in the review.Results. Testing for antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) may be useful for women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) therapy, as these antibodies increase the risk of pregnancy complications and thrombotic risks associated with ovarian stimulation, but studies assessing AFA effect on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes have ambiguous results. The presence of antithyroid antibodies (ATA) may be associated with infertility, so their assessment is indeed important to determine treatment tactics. It has been suggested that antinuclear antibodies (ANA) may affect reproductive function by disrupting trophoblast cell development and interfering with RNA transcription, which may lead to lowered reproductive success. Studies have shown that patients with a positive ANA data have a lower incidence of pregnancy and a higher rate of miscarriages after IVF procedure. The human herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6) affects female fertility and is often the cause of spontaneous termination of pregnancy. B-cell lymphoma protein 6 (BCL-6) can serve as an important prognostic biomarker to identify individuals with endometriosis and related reproductive disorders, including idiopathic infertility. Evaluation of endometrial decidualization can be a useful tool to assess readiness for endometrial implantation and provide opportunities for targeted therapeutic interventions. The issue of testing for NK-cells in patients undergoing infertility screening remains controversial due to the difficulties of standardizing testing recommendations.Conclusion. To date, there is a limited number of reliable data on the role of various immunological tests in infertility diagnostics and treatment. With the exception of testing for AFA in patients with RPL, as well as for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb) in patients undergoing therapy using various types of assisted reproductive technologies, the remaining immunological tests provide scant data to justify their routine use in clinical practice. The major limitations of existing studies are coupled to a small patient sample, as well as heterogeneity of inclusion criteria, patient groups and research methods.

Anti-HNA testing of allo-exposed COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors including genetic human neutrophil antigen screening to prevent anti-HNA antibody-mediated transfusion-related acute lung injury.

Transfusion-related acute lung injury caused by antibodies against human neutrophil antigens (HNA) is a serious but rare complication associated with blood transfusion. The presence of such antibodies is most probable in donors with a transfusion/pregnancy history. During the COVID-19 pandemic period convalescent plasma (CP) containing neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was widely used for COVID-19 patients as a therapy in the absence of any treatment. The aim of the study was to work out a simple diagnostic algorithm of anti-HNA testing of allo-exposed CP donors including genetic HNA screening. A total of 457 anti-HLA-negative allo-exposed CP donors were genotyped for HNA-1a/1b, HNA-3a/3b, and HNA-2, and only donors with homozygous HNA-1a/1a; HNA-3b/3b; or HNA-2null genotypes were tested for anti-HNA antibody using LabScreenMulti (One Lambda) and homozygous HNA-1b/1b using the granulocyte immunofluorescence test (GIFT) but verified using LabScreenMulti. Testing of 83 homozygous HNA-3b/3b; HNA-2null; or HNA-1a/1a donors revealed anti-HNA-3a antibody in one case. Testing of 181 HNA-1b/1b donors using GIFT gave 10 ambiguous results verified using LabScreenMulti which confirmed anti-HNA-1a antibody in one case. The frequency of FCGR3B*01 and *04 encoding HNA-1a was 0.34; FCGR3B*02, *03, and *05 encoding HNA-1b-0.66; SLC44A2*01 encoding HNA-3a-0.80; and SLC44A2*02 encoding HNA-3b-0.20. In 3.7% cases the HNA-2null genotype was revealed. Due to applying HNA genotyping as a primary test before anti-HNA antibody testing the serological work was limited only to HNA-homozygous donors revealing two anti-HNA immunized donors. The distribution of HNA genotypes in the cohort was similar to other Caucasian populations.