Extensive Studies Research Articles

Role of Bioactive Compounds in the Regulation of Hemostasis: Lessons from Nature

Abstract: The maintenance of hemostasis is a crucial component of the healing process for wounds. Hemostasis may be disrupted when there is a genetic abnormality in the process of platelet production or blood coagulation. The use of herbal remedies derived from plants native to India that exhibit a broad range of physicochemical qualities is becoming more common. This study uses an electronic database to investigate the hemostatic action of commonly accessible medicinal herbs, as well as the bioactive components and potential mechanisms behind this activity. It is possible that the transformation of traditional medicine into pharmaceuticals might be facilitated by taking into account the therapeutic characteristics of spices, garden plants, and wild plants. This review discusses a variety of topics related to plants, including their bioactivities, clinical uses, Indian traditional medicinal approaches, and modern developments. It includes several herbs and spices that have therapeutic and hemostatic properties. Extensive study is required prior to the use of herbal treatments within the context of the present healthcare system. This study deals with making a strategy to discover new medical plant-based therapeutic compounds and keeping track of the ones you already have.

A novel test of missing completely at random: U-statistics-based approach

In this paper, a novel test for testing whether data are missing completely at random is proposed. Asymptotic properties of the test are derived utilizing the theory of non-degenerate U-statistics. It is shown that the novel test statistic coincides with the well-known Little's d 2 statistic in the case of a multivariate data that has only one variable susceptible to missingness. Then, the extensive simulation study is conducted to examine the performance of the test in terms of the preservation of type I error and in terms of power. Various underlying distributions, dimensions of the data, sample sizes and alternatives are used. Performance of the Little's MCAR test is used as a benchmark for the comparison. The novel test shows better performance in all of the studied scenarios, better preserving the type I error and having higher empirical powers for every studied alternative.

Oil-yielding Non-timber Plants Seeds: A Review on their Application for Health Care Products

Abstract: Oil-yielding non-timber forest products (NTFPs), such as Diploknema butyracea (Roxb.) H. J. Lam, Saipindus mukurossi Gaertn, and Hippophae salicifolia L. are widely distributed throughout Nepal and have traditionally been used as medicines by the locals since ancient times. Extensive scientific studies have demonstrated a wide range of benefits of these plants, which can have multiple uses in the pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, and food industries. The potential of the plants, however, has not been fully explored, and they are, thus, minimally used only by locals. These plants have the potential for the development of several value-added products, leading to commercialization. This paper aims to explore in detail the health benefits and economic values of these plants to review the entrepreneurial aspects, improved farming and processing, and value addition in the product.

Croton's therapeutic promise: A review of its phytochemistry and critical computational ADME/Tox analysis

The genus Croton (Euphorbiaceae family) is constituted of approximately 1300 species with remarkable ethnomedicinal backgrounds supported by extensive pharmacological studies alongside over 900 compounds associated with some of the activities. However, there is no systematic review of the compounds' physicochemical features in tandem with their absorption, distribution, metabolism, extraction, and toxicity (ADMET) to corroborate both ethnomedicinal and pharmacological potential. This study focused on a virtual analysis of the physicochemical-ADMET properties of compounds from the genus Croton reported between 1990 and 2024. Various electronic databases, namely Google, Google Scholar, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Biomed Central, and Pubmed, were used to search for information related to the chemistry and pharmacology of Croton species. The physicochemical, ADMET and Scaffold information of the reported croton compounds were obtained from SWISSADME, pKCSM, and Data Warrior webservers, which were then analyzed by Origin Pro 2023 statistical software. Diterpenoids (67.2 %), alkaloids (11.1 %), sesquiterpenes (4.7 %), flavonoids (3.2 %), other terpenoids (Sesterterpenoid and triterpenoids; 2.7 %), monoterpenoids (1.7 %), megastigmane glycosides (2.2 %), proanthocyanidins (0.8 %), and other assorted compounds (6.4 %) make up the total of 900 compounds reported among the genus Croton between 1990 and 2024. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) results (PC1 and PC2, with total variances of 43.79 % and 16.50 %, respectively), most of these compounds have the same chemical space as FDA-approved medications. The biological activity that was most frequently reported was cytotoxicity (52 %) followed by anti-inflammatory actions (13 %). After the ADME screening, 38 % of the Croton compounds met the predetermined criteria for drug-likeness while toxicity analysis cleared 35.487 %, as nontoxic. The primary appropriate therapeutic candidates identified by the post- ADMET analysis were clerodanes, kauranes, labdanes and abietanes compounds, with respective ratios of 10, 10, 10, and 5 %. Alkaloids (5 %), crotofolanes at 20 %, and sesquiterpene majorly at 40 % were too determined to be appropriate therapeutic candidates. The majority of these compounds are drug-like with recommended ADME/Tox profiles. Given the promising cytotoxic potential of compounds from the genus Croton, further studies are warranted to determine their therapeutic applications and optimize their pharmaceutical development.

Comprehensive Performance Analysis of Hybrid Solar Water Heating Systems: Synergizing Photovoltaic and Thermal Technologies

Abstract: Solar water heaters are an efficient and sustainable technology for meeting the growing demand for hot water in residential and commercial applications. This abstract presents a comprehensive overview of the performance evaluation of solar water heater systems through an extensive experimental study. The study aims to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of different solar water heater configurations under varying operating conditions. The experimental investigation involved the measurement and analysis of key performance parameters such as solar collector efficiency, heat transfer efficiency, thermal storage capacity, and overall system efficiency. A range of factors including solar radiation intensity, ambient temperature, water flow rate, and collector tilt angle were systematically varied to examine their impact on system performance. The results of the experimental study demonstrated the significant potential of solar water heaters in providing cost-effective and environmentally friendly hot water solutions. The solar collector efficiency was found to be highly influenced by the solar radiation intensity, with higher levels of solar irradiation leading to increased thermal energy generation. The heat transfer efficiency was optimized by adjusting the water flow rate and collector tilt angle, ensuring efficient transfer of heat from the collector to the water. Furthermore, the thermal storage capacity of the system played a crucial role in maintaining a consistent supply of hot water during periods of low solar radiation or high demand. Overall system efficiency was found to be strongly dependent on the integration of efficient heat exchangers and insulation materials. Based on the experimental findings, recommendations for system design and optimization were formulated, highlighting the importance of proper sizing, selection of suitable materials, and appropriate control strategies. The results also identified areas for future research, such as the integration of advanced heat transfer enhancement techniques and the utilization of hybrid solar water heater systems

Comprehensive Performance Analysis of Hybrid Solar Water Heating Systems: Synergizing Photovoltaic and Thermal Technologies

Abstract: Solar water heaters are an efficient and sustainable technology for meeting the growing demand for hot water in residential and commercial applications. This abstract presents a comprehensive overview of the performance evaluation of solar water heater systems through an extensive experimental study. The study aims to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of different solar water heater configurations under varying operating conditions. The experimental investigation involved the measurement and analysis of key performance parameters such as solar collector efficiency, heat transfer efficiency, thermal storage capacity, and overall system efficiency. A range of factors including solar radiation intensity, ambient temperature, water flow rate, and collector tilt angle were systematically varied to examine their impact on system performance. The results of the experimental study demonstrated the significant potential of solar water heaters in providing cost-effective and environmentally friendly hot water solutions. The solar collector efficiency was found to be highly influenced by the solar radiation intensity, with higher levels of solar irradiation leading to increased thermal energy generation. The heat transfer efficiency was optimized by adjusting the water flow rate and collector tilt angle, ensuring efficient transfer of heat from the collector to the water. Furthermore, the thermal storage capacity of the system played a crucial role in maintaining a consistent supply of hot water during periods of low solar radiation or high demand. Overall system efficiency was found to be strongly dependent on the integration of efficient heat exchangers and insulation materials. Based on the experimental findings, recommendations for system design and optimization were formulated, highlighting the importance of proper sizing, selection of suitable materials, and appropriate control strategies. The results also identified areas for future research, such as the integration of advanced heat transfer enhancement techniques and the utilization of hybrid solar water heater systems

Unusual Cascade Reactions of 8-Acetoxy-6-hydroxymethyllimonene with Salicylic Aldehydes: Diverse Oxygen Heterocycles from Common Precursors.

Chiral oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds are of great interest for the development of pharmaceuticals. Monoterpenes and their derivatives are naturally abundant precursors of novel synthetic chiral oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds. In this study, acid catalyzed reactions of salicylic aldehydes with (-)-8-acetoxy-6-hydroxymethyllimonene, readily accessible from α-pinene, leads to the formation of chiral polycyclic products of various structural types. Three of the six isolated chiral heterocyclic products obtained from salicylic aldehyde contain previously unknown polycyclic ring types. Having carried out the reaction in the presence of Brønsted or Lewis acids (Amberlyst 15, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, trifluoroacetic acid and boron trifluoride etherate) or aluminosilicates (montmorillonite K10, halloysite nanotubes), we found that the nature of products depends on the catalyst as well as the reaction conditions (reaction time, reactant ratio, presence or absence of solvent). Detailed mechanistic insight on the complex cascade reactions for product formation is provided with extensive experimental and quantum mechanical computational studies.

Long-term safety and efficacy of filgotinib for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis: Interim analysis from up to 4 years of follow-up in the SELECTION open-label long-term extension study.

Filgotinib, an oral, once-daily, Janus kinase 1 preferential inhibitor, is an approved treatment for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of continued filgotinib therapy over ~4 years in the long-term extension of the phase 2b/3 SELECTION trial (SELECTIONLTE; NCT02914535). In this interim analysis of SELECTIONLTE, SELECTION completers (week 10 responders to filgotinib who completed the maintenance study) continued their assigned treatment (double-blind filgotinib 200 mg [FIL200] or filgotinib 100 mg) and SELECTION week 10 non-responders received open-label FIL200. We assessed safety by adverse events (AEs), and efficacy by partial Mayo Clinic Score (pMCS), inflammatory biomarkers and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We compared safety and efficacy between achievers and non-achievers of a multi-component endpoint, comprehensive disease control (CDC), comprising symptomatic, endoscopic, inflammatory biomarker and HRQoL improvements. Data for completers (n = 250) and non-responders (n = 372) were reported for ≤202 weeks. AE occurrences were low and consistent with previous analyses. The as-observed proportion of FIL200-treated patients in pMCS, biomarker and HRQoL remission during SELECTIONLTE remained high among completers (week 144: 80.0%, 86.4% and 86.0%, respectively) and increased among non-responders (week 192: 62.1%, 76.7% and 59.3%, respectively). Significantly higher proportions of CDC achievers at SELECTION week 58 achieved pMCS, IBDQ and corticosteroid-free pMCS remission than non-achievers, up to LTE week 96. Filgotinib induced and maintained symptomatic remission and improved HRQoL over 4 years. Safety results showed a proven long-term benefit-risk profile. FIL200-treated CDC achievers had better long-term outcomes than non-achievers.

Engineered mouse H1 promoter mutants with superior RNA polymerase III activity

Vectors incorporating the human H1 (hH1) promoter are being applied for RNA interference (RNAi) experiments and genome editing. Although extensive studies have been conducted on the hH1 promoter, our understanding of the mouse H1 promoter remains limited. In this study, we predicted the 163 bp mouse H1 (mH1) promoter and 84 bp mouse H1 core (mH1 core) promoter through global alignment and detected its RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and III activities through the expression of the EGFP and the abundance of artificial sequence, which were generally slightly weaker than those of the hH1 promoter. Furthermore, to boost its Pol III activity, we engineered various promoter mutants by introducing mutations or systematically swapping elements. Surprisingly, the Pol II activity of mH1 core mut5 with AT stretch was at least 2-fold greater than that of the wild type, making it a potential candidate for target protein expression purposes. Fortunately, the Pol III activities of mH1 mut1 and mH1 core mut5 were at least 1.5 times stronger than those of the parental promoters in human and mouse cell lines on account of AT stretch, as did the mH1 mut4 with AT stretch and proximal sequence element (PSE) and TATA box insertion mutations. We highly recommend these three promoters as valuable supplements to the type 3 Pol III promoter toolbox.

Proximal femoral multiple myeloma pathological fractures, impending and actual fractures – a patient survival study

IntroductionThe femur is a common site for Multiple Myeloma (MM) involvement. This study explores the impact of preventive surgery for anticipated femoral pathological fractures (IFF), based on Mirels classification, versus treatment of pathological femur fracture (PFF) on MM patient mortality and morbidity.MethodsRetrospective cohort of 33 patients undergoing surgery due to femoral MM involvement (2004–2015), 18 patients with PFF, 15 patients with IFF, followed up until deceased or to July 2016. Demographic data, oncological, pathological, radiation, surgical reports, outpatient clinical records, and imaging studies were studied. Exclusion criteria included patients who had surgery at other medical centers.ResultsThe mean age was 70.4 ± 13.6 and 62.6 ± 12.2 years (p = 0.1) in the PFF and the IFF cohorts, respectively, primarily women (55.6% and 46.7%, respectively). The average Mirels' score was 10.4 ± 1.2. Post-operative complications were observed in 25% of patients, with no difference between IFF & PFF. We did not find a difference in mortality between IFF and PFF cohorts (p = 0.59).ConclusionThe femur is commonly involved in MM. This study found that actual fractures, compared to imminent fractures, do not affect MM morbidity or mortality. Our study shows that proximal femoral MM behaves differently from proximal femoral metastatic disease regarding the impact of surgery on life span. Due to the fracture healing potential of MM, an IFF can probably be treated initially conservatively unless it progresses to an actual fracture needing surgery. Future, more extensive studies are required before revolutionizing the proximal femoral Multiple Myeloma-related involvement treatment paradigm.

Analyzing Overnight Momentum Transmission: The Impact of Oil Price Volatility on Global Financial Markets

Fluctuations in oil prices substantially impact both the real economy and international financial markets. Despite extensive studies on oil market dynamics and overnight momentum, a comprehensive understanding of the link between oil price changes and energy market momentum, as well as their broader influence on global financial markets, remains elusive. This study delves into the intricate mechanics of overnight momentum transmission within financial markets, focusing on its origin in oil price fluctuations and its overarching impact on market dynamics. Employing the quantile VAR method, we analyze daily market data from 3 January 2014 to 17 January 2024. This study emphasizes the significance of overnight momentum on the transmission of volatility, particularly in the tails of the distribution, and highlights the necessity for efficient strategies to govern financial stability. The shale oil revolution, COVID-19, the Russia–Ukraine war, and the Israel–Hamas conflict have significantly impacted the interconnectivity of financial markets on a global scale. It is crucial for policymakers to give priority to the monitoring of the energy market to reduce risks and improve the resilience of the system.

Sinoatrial node heterogeneity and fibroblasts increase atrial driving capability in a two-dimensional human computational model

Background: Cardiac pacemaking remains an unsolved matter from many perspectives. Extensive experimental and computational studies have been performed to describe the sinoatrial physiology across different scales, from the molecular to clinical levels. Nevertheless, the mechanism by which a heartbeat is generated inside the sinoatrial node and propagated to the working myocardium is not fully understood at present. This work aims to provide quantitative information about this fascinating phenomenon, especially regarding the contributions of cellular heterogeneity and fibroblasts to sinoatrial node automaticity and atrial driving.Methods: We developed a bidimensional computational model of the human right atrial tissue, including the sinoatrial node. State-of-the-art knowledge of the anatomical and physiological aspects was adopted during the design of the baseline tissue model. The novelty of this study is the consideration of cellular heterogeneity and fibroblasts inside the sinoatrial node for investigating the manner by which they tune the robustness of stimulus formation and conduction under different conditions (baseline, ionic current blocks, autonomic modulation, and external high-frequency pacing).Results: The simulations show that both heterogeneity and fibroblasts significantly increase the safety factor for conduction by more than 10% in almost all the conditions tested and shorten the sinus node recovery time after overdrive suppression by up to 60%. In the human model, especially under challenging conditions, the fibroblasts help the heterogeneous myocytes to synchronise their rate (e.g. −82% in σCL under 25 nM of acetylcholine administration) and capture the atrium (with 25% L-type calcium current block). However, the anatomical and gap junctional coupling aspects remain the most important model parameters that allow effective atrial excitations.Conclusion: Despite the limitations to the proposed model, this work suggests a quantitative explanation to the astonishing overall heterogeneity shown by the sinoatrial node.

Efficacy and Safety of Bimekizumab in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis With or Without Methotrexate: 52-Week Results From Two Phase 3 Studies.

The objective of this study was to assess 52-week efficacy and safety of bimekizumab in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with or without concomitant methotrexate (+/-MTX) treatment at baseline. We conducted a post hoc analysis of patients in BE OPTIMAL (NCT03895203; biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug [bDMARD]-naïve), BE COMPLETE (NCT03896581; prior inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors [TNFi-IR]), and the BE VITAL open-label extension (NCT04009499) study. Patients were randomized to one of the following treatment groups: bimekizumab 160 mg every four weeks, placebo, or a reference drug (adalimumab 40 mg every two weeks; BE OPTIMAL only). From Week 16, placebo-randomized patients received bimekizumab. Missing data were imputed using non-responder imputation, multiple imputation, or worst-category imputation. Through Week 52, similar proportions of bimekizumab-treated patients achieved American College of Rheumatology 50% (ACR50) response criteria for both +MTX and -MTX (BE OPTIMAL: 54.4% +MTX, 54.7% -MTX; BE COMPLETE: 56.3% +MTX, 48.0% -MTX). Similar proportions of bimekizumab-treated patients achieved complete skin clearance (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 100% [PASI100] response) and minimal disease activity in both +MTX and -MTX groups. Similar trends were seen in placebo/bimekizumab-treated patients. Through Week 52, the proportion of bimekizumab-treated patients with ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event were similar between the +MTX and -MTX groups (BE OPTIMAL 325 of 410 [79.3%] vs 230 of 292 [78.8%], BE COMPLETE 105 of 168 [62.5%] vs 138 of 220 [62.7%]). The safety profile was comparable between subgroups and consistent with the prior safety profile of bimekizumab. Treatment with bimekizumab demonstrated consistent, sustained efficacy to 52 weeks in bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients with PsA and was well tolerated, irrespective of concomitant MTX.

Convolutional Neural Network-Based Digital Diagnostic Tool for the Identification of Psychosomatic Illnesses

This paper appraises convolutional neural network (CNN) models’ capabilities in emotion detection from facial expressions, seeking to aid the diagnosis of psychosomatic illnesses, typically made in clinical setups. Using the FER-2013 dataset, two CNN models were designed to detect six emotions with 64% accuracy—although not evenly distributed; they demonstrated higher effectiveness in identifying “happy” and “surprise.” The assessment was performed through several performance metrics—accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-scores—besides further validation with an additional simulated clinical environment for practicality checks. Despite showing promising levels for future use, this investigation highlights the need for extensive validation studies in clinical settings. This research underscores AI’s potential value as an adjunct to traditional diagnostic approaches while focusing on wider scope (broader datasets) plus focus (multimodal integration) areas to be considered among recommendations in forthcoming studies. This study underscores the importance of CNN models in developing psychosomatic diagnostics and promoting future development based on ethics and patient care.

Learning Hidden Markov Models with Structured Transition Dynamics

The hidden Markov model (HMM) provides a natural framework for modeling the dynamic evolution of latent diseases. The unknown probability matrices of HMMs can be learned through the well-known Baum–Welch algorithm, a special case of the expectation-maximization algorithm. In many disease models, the probability matrices possess nontrivial properties that may be represented through a set of linear constraints. In these cases, the traditional Baum–Welch algorithm is no longer applicable because the maximization step cannot be solved by an explicit formula. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to efficiently solve the maximization step problem under linear constraints by providing a Lagrangian dual reformulation that we solve by an accelerated gradient method. The performance of this approach critically depends on devising a fast method to compute the gradient in each iteration. For this purpose, we employ dual decomposition and derive Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions to reduce our problem into a set of single variable equations, solved using a simple bisection method. We apply this method to a case study on sports-related concussion and provide an extensive numerical study using simulation. We show that our approach is in orders of magnitude computationally faster and more accurate than other alternative approaches. Moreover, compared with other methods, our approach is far less sensitive with respect to increases in problem size. Overall, our contribution lies in the advancement of accurately and efficiently handling HMM parameter estimation under linear constraints, which comprises a wide range of applications in disease modeling and beyond. History: Accepted by Paul Brooks, Area Editor for Applications in Biology, Medicine, & Healthcare. Funding: This research was funded by [Grant R01DE028283] from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health. G.-G. Garcia was also funded by the Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance National Institutes of Health award [Grant UL1-TR002378]. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2022.0342 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2022.0342 ). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .

Systematic Assessment of Mechanisms, Developments, Innovative Solutions, and Future Perspectives of Microplastics and Ecotoxicity – A Review

AbstractAs plastics become more ubiquitous, their impact on the environment and on human health cannot be overlooked. Once generated, micro‐ and nano‐plastics end‐up in the environment, causing widespread health and environmental risks. This is a significant environmental problem given the minuscule sizes of microplastics, and therefore warrants further investigation. This study presents a comprehensive review of the ecotoxicology of microplastics and methods for their degradation and decomposition besides discussing the fate and transport processes, recent progress, emerging strategies, challenges and potential future directions. The authors carefully evaluate the processes through which microplastics cause harm, from molecular interactions in species, to ecological impacts, and end with advances in microplastic biodegradation. Different kinds of microplastics found in the environment include polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polyurethane, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Analysis of microbial and enzymatic decomposition provides several swelling mitigation strategies designed to reduce environmental threats. In‐depth investigations of microplastic ecotoxicity and biodegradation are being facilitated by interdisciplinary proposals in the areas of nanotechnology, new analytical methods, and synthetic biology. The extensive study helps understand microplastics comprehensively which in‐turn ensures informed actions to mitigate the challenge of the environmental impact of microplastics for sustainable future.

Decentralized Federated Recommendation with Privacy-aware Structured Client-level Graph

Recommendation models are deployed in a variety of commercial applications to provide personalized services for users. However, most of them rely on the users’ original rating records that are often collected by a centralized server for model training, which may cause privacy issues. Recently, some centralized federated recommendation models are proposed for the protection of users’ privacy, which however requires a server for coordination in the whole process of model training. As a response, we propose a novel privacy-aware decentralized federated recommendation (DFedRec) model, which is lossless compared with the traditional model in recommendation performance and is thus more accurate than other models in this line. Specifically, we design a privacy-aware structured client-level graph for the sharing of the model parameters in the process of model training, which is a one-stone-two-bird strategy, i.e., it protects users’ privacy via some randomly sampled fake entries and reduces the communication cost by sharing the model parameters only with the related neighboring users. With the help of the privacy-aware structured client-level graph, we propose two novel collaborative training mechanisms in the setting without a server, including a batch algorithm DFedRec(b) and a stochastic one DFedRec(s), where the former requires the anonymity mechanism while the latter does not. They are both equivalent to probabilistic matrix factorization trained in a centralized server and are thus lossless. We then provide formal analysis of privacy guarantee of our methods and conduct extensive empirical studies on three public datasets with explicit feedback, which show the effectiveness of our DFedRec, i.e., it is privacy aware, communication efficient, and lossless.

Oriented oxidation of all alkanes by iron inactivation of hydrophilic functional groups in soil organic matter

While extensive studies concentrated on catalyst modification in Fenton technology, few focused on functional groups of soil organic matter inactivation by iron in soil remediation. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of oriented oxidation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) by regulating the hydrophilic functional groups of soil organic matter (SOM). The oriented oxidation experiment was conducted using petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil by stepwise addition of Fe ions and H2O2, with the initial TPH of 21068 mg/kg and SOM of 54000 mg/kg. The results revealed that the oxidation of TPH in the inactive Fe-SOM group was 1.9 times higher than that in the active Fe-SOM group (4059 mg/kg versus 2187 mg/kg). Conversely, the oxidation of SOM decreased by a factor of 2.4-fold in the active Fe-SOM group (7532 mg/kg versus 3153 mg/kg). Moreover, the oriented oxidation of all alkanes such as short, medium, and long-alkanes (C13-C17: 409.07 mg/kg, C18-C24: 402.17 mg/kg, C25-C30: 400.09 mg/kg) was considerable compared to active Fe-SOM group. Furthermore, based on the characterization of FT-IR, XPS and 3DEEM, the inactivation of SOM was attributed to the formation of FeOOH, Fe-C-O, Fe-N by the combination of Fe and hydrophilic functional groups. Additionally, the possible oxidation pathway was proposed by gas chromatography. The relative reaction coefficient of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) contributes to improving the oriented oxidation of all alkanes by optimizing TPH allocation after SOM inactivation. This study enriches our understanding of oriented oxidation of all alkanes in petroleum-contaminated soil.

Studying Chinese, studying in Chinese and studying with the Chinese: international students’ experiences and identity construction in Chinese-medium instruction (CMI) programs

ABSTRACT While extensive studies have been devoted to English-medium instruction (EMI) in the internationalisation of higher education, only a few studies have investigated the language-related experiences and perceptions of international students in non-Anglophone contexts where the local/national language(s) serve as a medium of instruction for academic purposes. Given that Chinese universities have adopted a strong Chinese-medium instruction (CMI) initiative for international students in the past decade, this article makes a critical analysis of interviews with 48 African students to uncover CMI implementation in Chinese universities. The findings reveal that the students generally held positive attitudes towards the top-down CMI policy being implemented, despite the challenges encountered. However, the uncritical curriculum ‘Sinicisation’ also raised concerns about Chinese-only practices, the absence of appropriate learning materials and testing regimes, a lack of institutional support for using Chinese as an academic lingua franca, epistemic and social marginalisation of international students. As such, the article presents a complex interplay of language attitudes, language practices and identity construction in CMI programs, highlighting a hiatus between policy intentions and actual practices in classrooms. I conclude the article with recommendations for policymakers and future research on CMI policies and practices in China.

Semiparametric varying-coefficient additive hazards model for informatively interval-censored failure time data

The analysis of interval-censored data with informative observation processes has recently attracted much attention and a few methods have been developed. However, all of the existing methods assume that covariate effects are constant and this may not be true sometimes in practice. To address this, in this paper, we propose a varying-coefficient additive hazards model and in the proposed method, frailty variables are used to describe the dependence between the failure time and the informative observation process. For inference, a Bernstein polynomials-based, two-step sieve maximum likelihood method is developed and the proposed method can be easily implemented. Furthermore, the resulting estimators of regression parameters are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. An extensive simulation study is conducted and suggests that the proposed approach works well for practical situations. The proposed method is applied to a cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) study that motivated this investigation.