Gap Area Research Articles

Georgia’s potentials for sustainable intensification, increasing food security and rural incomes.

Abstract Increasing global demand for agricultural commodities spurs conversions of natural ecosystems. Sustainable intensification in areas of high yield gaps has been proposed a pathway to achieve food security, support rural livelihoods, while also reducing the impact of commodity production by narrowing yield gaps on existing agricultural lands, while improving resource efficiency. Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Georgia experienced one of the highest losses of agricultural productivity among all former USSR countries and is now highly dependent on food imports. Closing yield gaps in Georgia through sustainable intensification has the potential to increase food self-sufficiency, support rural livelihoods, and strengthen food security and sovereignty. We estimated its potential for sustainable intensification in current agricultural areas to achieve self-sufficiency for wheat, maize, and barley. We found that crop yields can be doubled to tripled under high-input production systems, using high-yielding varieties, optimized inputs, fertilizers, and pest control. Yet, self-sufficiency in wheat can only be reached if at least 80% of the potentially attainable yields are achieved and if land is strategically allocated between crops. To achieve such increases, farmers need access to and training for using different crop varieties, fertilizers, and pest and disease control practices and products. Intensification increases the risks to ecosystem services’ health and livelihoods, particularly raising equity concerns. Yet, intensifying very low input systems is often found to be more sustainable, with high yield increases compared to limited impacts on the environment. The high employment rate in the agricultural sector in Georgia particularly provides opportunities to reduce poverty and increase livelihoods through increasing incomes and food security.

Lead-related tricuspid regurgitation: an important phenotype seen through the lens of computed tomography

Abstract Background The imaging diagnostic approach of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED)-related tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is undefined. Functional cardiac computed tomography angiography (4D-CTA) provides a complementary role to echocardiography in the evaluation of tricuspid valve (TV) apparatus and right ventricle (RV) remodeling, but the capability to assess lead-leaflet interaction is unknown. Purpose To evaluate the role of 4D-CTA anatomical and morphological diagnostic assessment in a cohort of patients with severe TR and CIED vs those without. Methods Clinical, echocardiographic and CTA data were collected from two quaternary centers for patients with severe TR and a CIED evaluated between January 2017 to October 2023. Functional and morphological CTA information assessed lead-leaflet relationship to divide patients in those with lead-related TR, those with no lead-TR causal relationship, and those with severe isolated TR but without CIED. Primary end-point was the occurrence of all-cause death. Results A total of 143 patients were identified, roughly dividng the cohort into thirds. Baseline characteristics and imaging characteristics of these 3 groups revealed important differences suggesting a more advanced patophysiology phenotype for those with lead-related TR, particularly presenting both the largest 4D-CTA-derived TV maximum coaptation gap and anatomical regurgitant orifice area (see Figure 1). At regression analysis, time from CIED implantation (OR 1.01, CI 1.00-1.09, p=0.031) and >3 leaflets valve morphology (OR 2.90, CI 1.01-8.32, p=0.040) were independently associated with lead-related TR. After a median follow-up of 18 months, the primary end-point occurred in 36 patients (25%) and was more common among patients with lead-related TR (p-value overall= 0.007, see Figure 2). While no differences in the rate of TV intervention were found, excessive mortality persisted for lead-related TR group even after adjustement for age and gender (HR 6.49, CI 1.72-14.47, p=0.006). Conclusion Systematic 4D-CTA in patients with severe TR and presence of a CIED, identified a large number of patients with lead-related TR with important functional and anatomical implications including greater TR severity and > 3 leaflets. These findings appear to have prognostic relevance that might have decision-making implications for patient management.Figure 1Figure 2

Research and implementation of intelligent diagnostic system for temporomandibular joint disorder

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a common oral and maxillofacial disease, which is difficult to detect due to its subtle early symptoms. In this study, a TMD intelligent diagnostic system implemented on edge computing devices was proposed, which can achieve rapid detection of TMD in clinical diagnosis and facilitate its early-stage clinical intervention. The proposed system first automatically segments the important components of the temporomandibular joint, followed by quantitative measurement of the joint gap area, and finally predicts the existence of TMD according to the measurements. In terms of segmentation, this study employs semi-supervised learning to achieve the accurate segmentation of temporomandibular joint, with an average Dice coefficient (DC) of 0.846. A 3D region extraction algorithm for the temporomandibular joint gap area is also developed, based on which an automatic TMD diagnosis model is proposed, with an accuracy of 83.87%. In summary, the intelligent TMD diagnosis system developed in this paper can be deployed at edge computing devices within a local area network, which is able to achieve rapid detecting and intelligent diagnosis of TMD with privacy guarantee.

Ag induced plasmonic TiO2 for photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical under visible light: Insights into mechanism, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity studies

Global concerns include water scarcity and shortage, which are escalated by organic pollutants such as naproxen (NPX) that deteriorate drinking water and taint access to safe drinking water by humans. Moreover, NPX may cause gastrointestinal difficulties, cardiovascular risks, kidney damage, allergic reactions, liver toxicity, bleeding issues and pregnancy risks, hence it is essential to remove it in water. Ag-TiO2 was synthesized by hydrothermal method for NPX degradation. Ag on TiO2 reduced the band gap and surface area of TiO2 and resulted in a plasmonic Ag-TiO2 composite of 0.2 % Ag. The photocatalytic degradation of 0.2 % Ag-TiO2 was 80 % in 180 minutes using a solar simulator during NPX degradation with a first order reaction rate that was 3.6 times faster than that of pure TiO2 and the catalyst showed good stability for four cycles. The dual activity of Ag0 surface plasmon resonance improved light absorption capability and enhanced charge transfer for increased photodegradation rate and stability. The antibacterial studies demonstrated that 0.2 % Ag-TiO2 posted strong antibacterial properties under light irradiation and less in the dark, with a greater effect on gram-negative than gram-positive bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 620, 1250, 2500, 2500 µg/mL were attained against B. subtilis, S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhimurium bacteria, respectively. The low cell toxicity of 0.2 % Ag-TiO2 was determined using human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells with an inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 61.09 ± 0.24 µg/mL under light irradiation. Radical trapping experiments demonstrated that hydroxyl radicals (OH•) played a vital role during the degradation and bactericidal activity of NPX under light irradiation. This work advances new insights on the synthesis of less toxic nanoparticles with high photocatalytic and bactericidal activity for possible applications at industrial scale.

Lyophilization strategy to synthesize ultrafine NaCl template for preparation of photocatalytic BiOCl nanoplates via chemical vapor deposition

Two-dimensional (2D) bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) has attracted increasing attention in nanoelectronics, catalysis, energy storage, and the environment, attributed to its wide indirect band gap and large surface area. However, the imprecise control of the catalytic site on the substrate makes it challenging to produce 2D BiOCl in large quantities economically. Here, we developed lyophilization to create ultrafine NaCl templates to obtain a higher yield of 2D BiOCl nanoplates than traditional substrates using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. In contrast to ball milling or recrystallization, lyophilization can produce the sodium chloride (NaCl) in the ice lattice domain, resulting in ultrafine NaCl particles after removing water. Moreover, the NaCl particles synthesized by lyophilization showed lower crystallinity with partially distorted structures, such as twisted octahedral structures and the structure with Na+ separated from other atoms by an ice lattice. In addition, our method offers an opportunity to introduce and engineer the oxygen vacancies (OVs) on 2D BiOCl to narrow the band gap, improve the separation of photogenerated carriers, and enhance their photocatalytic efficiency by 17.2 times. Thus, our work opens a new avenue to produce 2D BiOCl by tuning the substrate in CVD growth and inspires a new strategy to promote the performance of 2D photocatalysts.

A systematic literature review on the role of UAV-enabled communications in advancing the UN’s sustainable development goals

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, show great potential in advancing the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 worldwide targets outlined by the United Nations (UN) to tackle diverse social, economic, and environmental issues and foster sustainable development by 2030. As per the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), UAVs can significantly improve areas of sustainability like wildlife and wildfire monitoring, precision agriculture, as well as healthcare. Furthermore, drones with communication capabilities are seen as key elements of non-terrestrial networks, and as enabling technologies for future 6G communication networks. This systematic literature review focuses on the role of UAV-enabled communications to achieve the SDGs. Our study is based on a thorough selection and analysis of scientific articles. Initially, we performed a broad search across three major databases: IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, and Scopus, yielding a set of 10,499 papers. Following a strict selection methodology (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - PRISMA), we narrowed this set down to 28 key journal articles. Our analysis highlights six global targets that greatly benefit from UAV-enabled aerial communication. In order of impact, these are: “Sustainable Cities and Communities,” where UAVs improve security and disaster management; “Life on Land,” where drones help with wildlife monitoring and reforestation; “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure,” where UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) aid in infrastructure inspection; “No Hunger,” where drones improve agricultural practices; “‘Good Health and Wellbeing,” where UAVs assist with disease prediction and monitoring; and “Clean water and sanitation,”where drones play a crucial role in efficiently monitoring water quality and distribution. In summary, this paper offers a detailed look at the applications of UAVs in achieving the SDGs through aerial communications. By identifying areas of major impact and spotting gaps and weaknesses in current research, this review article aims to guide future research and policy-making in sustainable drone applications.

An enhanced transit accessibility evaluation framework by integrating Public Transport Accessibility Levels (PTAL) and transit gap

Rapid urbanization has presented many challenges, notably spatial imbalances between the transit supply and demand within cities. The inequitable distribution of transit supply, which include the transit infrastructure and services, may lead to formation of areas where transit is under provisioned. This work aims to develop an enhanced framework for measuring spatial disparities in accessing transit systems by combining established concepts of Public Transport Accessibility Levels (PTAL) and transit gap. The proposed framework incorporates PTAL as a supply indicator and transit dependent population as the demand indicator while estimating the transit gap. PTAL takes into account the intricate relationship between transit infrastructure and transit services, an aspect that was overlooked by the previous studies on transit gap. Inclusion of PTAL enhances the transit gap evaluation method by offering a deeper understanding and a holistic perspective on the transit system. We demonstrate the proposed approach with an application in Singapore. Additionally, we propose a new classification system based on PTAL and transit gap to distinguish areas where high transit gap is a result of very high demand rather than poor supply. Results show that 44.82 % of the transit dependent population in Singapore lives in high transit gap area out of which 4.69 % population stays in transit desert zones, where supply is poor, and 40.13 % lives in transit stressed zone, where demand is very high. The study also developed a simple decision framework based on PTAL and transit gap scores to suggest effective policy measures for reducing the spatial disparity in transit system accessibility. The findings from the work can aid policymakers and transport planners in land-use and transport planning of cities.

Merging the Application of Artificial Intelligence Technology in Maritime Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

This article presents a thorough literature review on the use of technology in artificial intelligence technology within the maritime industry. The aim is to analyse existing research and identify crucial themes, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and areas of research gaps in this field. Specific keywords related to artificial intelligence and the maritime industry were used to search the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. A list of the 34 most frequently cited articles was compiled and analysed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to ensure a systematic and rigorous approach to selecting relevant manuscripts. The analysis revealed three key themes: (1) Role of Artificial Intelligence technology in the maritime industry, (2) challenges in adapting Artificial Intelligence technology in the maritime industry and (3) digitalisation and smart shipyards. Additionally, navigational safety and environmental impact were identified as important considerations in this field. Integrating artificial intelligence into maritime organisations able to develop immersive and impactful syllabus that simulate advanced technology. This allows maritime practitioners to develop related skills and better understand advanced technology. Furthermore, this integration fosters growth and success in the maritime industry, preparing for future development.

Visible light-induced continuous process for photodegradation of chlorpyrifos using g-C3N4/GO/La2O3 photocatalyst from agricultural aquatic waste

The widespread use of pesticides and the formation of by-products on the gradual decomposition of these pesticides have led to environmental pollution, which in turn has caused harm to both human and ecosystem health. Pesticides have been found in water bodies worldwide and are a cause of concern. Photocatalytic reactions have received significant attention in the past few decades for the breakdown of pesticides. Different parameters were studied, including the effects of pH, kinetics, dose, and regeneration. The UV–vis spectroscopy results suggest that the g-C3N4/GO/La2O3 nanocomposite is a superior reusable photocatalyst for the degradation of chlorpyrifos (CPF) compared to pure g-C3N4 and GO/ g-C3N4. This is demonstrated by the fact that the g-C3N4/GO/La2O3 nanocomposite outperforms both of these materials. The increased photocatalytic performance may be attributed to a balance between the band gap, morphology, crystalline quality, and surface area, all of which may be slowing down the electron-hole recombination rates. This may be due to the enhanced photocatalytic performance. In addition, the feasible processes were outlined from radical quenching studies, and the results clearly indicate that the presence of more OH radicals plays an essential role in the process of efficient photodegradation using novel g-C3N4/GO/La2O3 nanocomposites.

A Multiple-physics coupled model for nanoconfined CO2-CH4 mixture transport behavior: Implications for CO2 geological storage in ultra-tight formation

Considerable efforts have been made to examine the feasibility of CO2-enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR), a promising approach for improving gas recovery by using CO2 to displace in-situ CH4 in ultra-tight gas reservoirs rich in nanopores. However, most research has focused on either single-component gas flow physics or competitive adsorption of multiple gas components in nanopores. The flow behavior of nanoconfined CO2-CH4 mixtures remains an area of knowledge gap. This work establishes a theoretical framework for CO2-CH4 mixture flow capacity by coupling mixture flow in the bulk region with surface diffusion in the adsorption area. Results indicate that: a) Total mixture flow conductance increases rapidly at pressures below ∼10 MPa, with CO2 contributing over 99 % to surface diffusion conductance; b) Increasing CO2 molar ratio from 0.2 to 0.8 can lead to a 167 % enhancement in total mixture conductance; c) Variations in CO2-CH4 competitive adsorption characteristics have little impact on total conductance.

Typology and Development of Value Chains in Science, Technology and Innovation Organizations: Efficiency of Operating Model

The structure and activities of science, technology and innovation organizations should be reviewed in planning for change in accordance with (a) a framework operating model, (b) principles of organizational structures and (c) value chains in order to identify (1) areas of inefficiency, (2) the existence and maturity of chain links as well as (3) gaps with best practice. The operating model of organizations, whose support, development and effectiveness are influenced by legislation, budget and external factors, includes many components, from management policy to culture. Changes in organizational charts together with renaming of departments sometimes look like promising reforms. However, in any case, values brought by organizations should be put on the agenda. Social effect of science, technology and innovation as a contribution to public good or a measure of the social good extend to groups in society or to the whole of society both directly and indirectly, for example, through other values and social mechanisms of influence. In this article, the following typology of values is used in the context of the innovation ecosystem and discussions on public good: internal, economic, social and humanitarian ones. The last three values are often generalized by the term “impact”. Internal values of science and technology express the essence of development that knowledge is built on knowledge, and thereby increase the level and readiness of organizations. We consider links in the value proposition chains produced by these organizations, from planning to legal support management. Current national macro factors that influence them are formulated. The contemporary generation of the innovation ecosystem in the Republic of Kazakhstan is characterized by a lack of a group of elements that determine national internal and external goals, ways to achieve them, as well as monitoring the results of activities and impact. This article aims to formulate and study the linking of management at the level of the principles of the organizational structure and the framework operating model to the values at the level of the introduced typology, which are created in a certain way by science, technology and innovation organizations. In terms of research and practical significance, this allows for a detailed review, identification of areas of inefficiency and gaps with best practice. And then, by formulating and implementing initiatives, this allows to increase their capabilities and effectiveness taking into account the ambiguity and delayed nature of results of scientific, technological and innovative activities, as well as specific external national and international factors that influence organizations. Comparing value chain links to the typology of values, we have identified a specific distribution of their influence of on the types of these values. In terms of academic and theoretical significance, this study also attempts to reveal contradictions between resulting and procedural values in science, technology and innovation organizations by examining the development of value chains and the context of public good.

Policies enhancing agricultural value chains in developing countries: An Evidence Gap Map

Strengthening agricultural value chains (AVCs) and ensuring continuous supply of food is of upmost importance especially for developing countries where food security and malnutrition remain vital threats. However, effective and efficient coordination of AVCs in developing countries continues to remain an issue due to capacity constraints and inefficiencies of interventions. An Evidence Gap Map (EGM) is used to systematically retrieve, organize, and map existing knowledge on AVCs and identify gaps in the literature that will suggest future areas for effective policy interventions. The marginal increase in knowledge of a project focusing on an area of a knowledge gap may be larger than that of a project which focuses on an area with many studies. A total of 4745 studies were retrieved from a systematic search, however only 165 studies meeting inclusion criteria are included in EGM. Most policy interventions address inputs supply stage of value chains with specific focus on subsidies and agricultural loans. Governance and issues related to gender, poverty and social groups are underexplored. Most frequently mentioned outcomes subcategories were yield, agricultural profits, family income, and technology adoption. Outcomes related to risk management and product movement in time and space had the smallest frequency of occurrence. As noted, underexplored areas provide opportunities for future research.

WP6.5 - Setting Up For Success: Supporting New General Surgical Registrars' Non-Operative Technical Skills Development

Abstract Aim Entry into Higher Surgical Training is associated with new challenges to trainees’ clinical, technical, professional and inter-personal skills. A three-day modular “bootcamp” course was designed for new General Surgery ST3s transitioning from Core Surgical Training to bridge the gap and support areas of developmental need. Methods Four varied modules were undertaken by candidates; one focussed on non-operative technical skills in surgery (NOTSS). Following pre-interviews with all stakeholders, immersive scenarios were developed. The programme encompassed operating in a stressful environment with a focus on crisis resource management principles, ward round leadership, theatre prioritisation, difficult communication, and a further workshop on managing bullying and sexual harassment. A multi-professional faculty included anaesthetists, theatre staff, psychiatrists and geriatricians alongside surgeons. Results All 26 trainees were invited to self-rate confidence using a 5-point Likert scale, as well as free text annotation. 13 (50%) completed both pre- and post-course confidence questionnaires. Data showed significant improvement in self-rated confidence across all NOTSS domains, particularly for operating in a stressful environment ("Confident"/ "Strongly Confident" = 69% pre-course to 100% post-course). Free text responses included highly positive feedback for high faculty to trainee ratio allowing detailed personalised feedback, exposure to multi-professional perspectives and opportunities to reflect on difficult professional scenarios. Conclusion Following the success of this course, it has now become part of ST3 Induction in Yorkshire - an opportunity to promote a positive working culture and strengthen professional relationships. A multi-specialty faculty allows for sharing of transferable inter-specialty skills. We recommend all transitional training stages would benefit from embedded induction courses.

Seeing in Color: Inclusion and Characterization of Hereditary Eye Disease in African Americans.

Hereditary eye diseases (HEDs) are individually rare but affect millions globally. The era of molecular genetics has ushered major advances in the study of these disorders; however, the inclusivity and population diversity of this research is unknown. Questions on the accuracy and applicability of these findings in diverse populations, especially African American patients, came up consistently during counselling sessions. This also raised the possibility of missed opportunities for broader understanding of these rare diseases. We conducted a literature review to measure the representation of African Americans in genomic research surrounding nine HEDs. A detailed literature search using a predetermined set of search terms for each of nine HED categories was performed across PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus focusing on studies published between Jan 1990 and July 2021. Predetermined inclusion criteria were applied to filter the sources. We identified 46 studies clearly reporting HED characterization in African Americans. Analysis of these inclusive studies revealed unique findings demonstrating the known usefulness of including diverse cohorts in genomics research. HED characterization in diverse participants, specifically African Americans, is identified as a knowledge gap area. Genomic research is more applicable to patients when conducted in populations that share their ancestral background. Greater inclusion of African Americans in ophthalmic genetics research is a scientific imperative and a needed step in the pursuit of the best possible patient care for populations of all ancestries. This work reveals gaps in genomic research in African Americans with HEDs.

Investigation of turbulence and interfacial exchange features of the gap area within the fully developed Shallow-Submerged canopy flow

The flow patterns within a longitudinal gap area formed by discontinuous distributions of submerged canopy, as well as the momentum and mass exchange characteristics between the gap area and the overlying free-flow, were studied using high-resolution Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The gap area is located within the fully developed region of submerged canopy flow. The simulations considered four aspect ratios of the gap area, L/h (ranging from 1 to 4), where L and h represent the span of the gap area and the height of the canopy, respectively, and two canopy densities, ϕ = 0.08 and 0.15. Results indicate that recirculation vortices appear only at ϕ = 0.15 and penetrate the downstream canopy patches to varying extents, with the distance of invasion decreasing as L/h increases. Influenced by the recirculation vortices, the bed shear stress in the downstream part of the gap area and the initial section of the downstream canopy patch is significantly increased compared to the fully developed region of the upstream canopy patch. Within the parameter range covered, vertical penetration of the mixing layer into the gap area always occurs, consistently falling into the shear layer growth regime, with significant enhancement of turbulence within the gap area even at L/h = 1. The high momentum entrainment elevates longitudinal velocity and turbulence intensity in the upper corner regions of the downstream canopy patch’s leading edge, combined with localized increases in bed shear stress, potentially destabilizing plants at the forefront of the downstream canopy patch. Although the total momentum exchange across the interface between the gap area and the upper free-flow layer is approximately independent of L/h, larger canopy densities lead to stronger momentum transport, and turbulent transport always dominates. Mass exchange generally increases with L/h, with more efficient vertical mass exchange in ϕ = 0.15 cases at L/h = 3 and 4.

Improving near-stall performance of axial flow compressors using variable rotor tandem stage. A steady analysis

This paper investigates the idea of substituting the first stage of a conventional axial-flow compressor and its inlet guide vane (IGV) row with a variable rotor tandem (VRT) stage to reduce the size and weight of axial-flow compressors. It is expected that a tandem stage gains higher pressure ratio than a conventional stage, and simultaneously, its variable stagger rotor provides more flexibility in handling unsteady phenomena at low mass flow rates. A three-dimensional numerical model based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations is developed to conduct this investigation. To validate the numerical model, experimental tests are conducted on a tandem single-stage axial-flow compressor test bench in the Dana laboratory of Amirkabir University of Technology, to compare the performance map with numerical results. The validated numerical model is then employed to simulate the performance of both front and aft variable rotor blades. The proposed tandem stage effectively performs the IGV duty, suppresses instabilities at low mass flow rates, and eventually extends the compressor's stable operational range. This proves that a VRT stage is an efficient active surge-control system tool. The detailed survey of the three-dimensional flow field reveals that the aft tandem rotor blade stagger angle is more effective in increasing the stall margin and decreasing the minimum operational mass flow rate than the front row of blades. It is observed that when the aft blades rotate in the direction of decreasing the tandem blades' gap area, the flow momentum increases and causes the compressor stability at lower mass flow rates.

Neuroregeneration Improved by Sodium-D,L-Beta-Hydroxybutyrate in Primary Neuronal Cultures.

Ketone bodies are considered alternative fuels for the brain when glucose availability is limited. To determine the neuroregenerative potential of D,L-sodium-beta-hydroxybutyrate (D/L-BHB), Sprague Dawley rat primary cortical neurons were exposed to simulated central nervous system injury using a scratch assay. The neuronal cell migration, cell density and degree of regeneration in the damaged areas (gaps) in the absence (control) and presence of BHB (2 mM) were documented with automated live-cell imaging by the CytoSMART system over 24 h, which was followed by immunocytochemistry, labeling synapsin-I and β3-tubulin. The cell density was significantly higher in the gaps with BHB treatment after 24 h compared to the control. In the control, only 1.5% of the measured gap areas became narrower over 24 h, while in the BHB-treated samples 49.23% of the measured gap areas became narrower over 24 h. In the control, the gap expanded by 63.81% post-injury, while the gap size decreased by 10.83% in response to BHB treatment, compared to the baseline. The cell density increased by 97.27% and the gap size was reduced by 74.64% in response to BHB, compared to the control. The distance travelled and velocity of migrating cells were significantly higher with BHB treatment, while more synapsin-I and β3-tubulin were found in the BHB-treated samples after 24 h, compared to the control. The results demonstrate that D/L-BHB enhanced neuronal migration and molecular processes associated with neural regeneration and axonogenesis. These results may have clinical therapeutic applications in the future for nervous system injuries, such as for stroke, concussion and TBI patients.

STIE: Single-cell level deconvolution, convolution, and clustering in in situ capturing-based spatial transcriptomics

In in situ capturing-based spatial transcriptomics, spots of the same size and printed at fixed locations cannot precisely capture the randomly-located single cells, therefore inherently failing to profile transcriptome at the single-cell level. To this end, we present STIE, an Expectation Maximization algorithm that aligns the spatial transcriptome to its matched histology image-based nuclear morphology and recovers missing cells from ~70% gap area, thereby achieving the real single-cell level and whole-slide scale deconvolution, convolution, and clustering for both low- and high-resolution spots. STIE characterizes cell-type-specific gene expression and demonstrates outperforming concordance with true cell-type-specific transcriptomic signatures than the other spot- and subspot-level methods. Furthermore, STIE reveals the single-cell level insights, for instance, lower actual spot resolution than its reported spot size, unbiased evaluation of cell type colocalization, superior power of high-resolution spot in distinguishing nuanced cell types, and spatial cell-cell interactions at the single-cell level other than spot level.

A review of implementation research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2007–2023: Progress and opportunities

BackgroundThe ongoing and evolving overdose epidemic highlights the need to translate research results into routine clinical practice to address urgent service delivery needs. Implementation science is a relatively new discipline intended to develop systematic, replicable, scalable strategies to accelerate this translation. This article presents a comprehensive review of implementation research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). MethodsThe study identified all NIDA-funded research grants awarded in fiscal years 2007 through 2023 in treatment services or prevention research (n = 1111) and screened them to find those with a pre-specified implementation science component (n = 248). Using the text of the grant application, two reviewers independently coded the key characteristics of each study. ResultsThe characteristics of these grants, and trends over time, are described, and priority gap areas are identified. NIDA's implementation research grants have demonstrated increasing rigor in design and measurement. ConclusionsGrowth in the portfolio has been driven in part by NIDA's investments in research-practice partnerships in the criminal-legal system, and by recent efforts to address the overdose epidemic.

Awareness about Neonatal Lactose Intolerance among Chinese Neonatologists in Outpatient Settings: A Multi-Center Survey.

This study aimed to identify the specific areas of knowledge gaps regarding lactose intolerance among neonatologists in Chinese outpatient settings as well as to assess the availability of lactose intolerance testing in hospitals. A total of 278 neonatologists in outpatient settings from 144 hospitals were surveyed. To explore the awareness level, diagnosis, and treatment of neonatal lactose intolerance among neonatologists in outpatient settings, a multicenter cross-sectional survey was designed. Descriptive analysis based on frequency and percent distribution was performed for all variables. Most respondents were senior doctors (256, 92.09%) from general hospitals and maternity/maternal and child health hospitals, had over 10 years of experience, and were dominantly associate chief physicians and chief physicians (211, 75.90%). A significant proportion of the participants (236, 84.89%) believed that neonatal lactose intolerance tends to be overlooked during clinical practice. When the most common symptoms of neonatal lactose intolerance were surveyed, diarrhea was selected by 142 (51.08%) respondents, followed by bloating and milk regurgitation or emesis (71, 25.54%). Other symptoms included unexplained crying (36, 12.85%), stool with milk flap or foam (15, 5.40%), and increased venting (14, 5.04%). Furthermore, the survey results indicated that the most common method for diagnosing neonatal lactose intolerance in the respondents' hospitals was qualitative test for urinary galactose (78, 28.06%). Of the respondents, 137 (49.28%) stated that their hospital could not test for lactose intolerance. For treating lactose intolerance, the neonatologists primarily opted for exogenous lactase rather than lactose-free formula milk. This study sheds light on Chinese neonatologists' awareness of neonatal lactose intolerance, revealing some knowledge gaps. The expeditious popularization and conduct of lactose intolerance-related examinations in hospitals will have a positive stimulative effect on the management of lactose intolerance in newborns.