Large Segments Research Articles

Book Review: Moser, K. (2024). Fake News in Contemporary Science and Politics. A Requiem for the Real? Palgrave Macmillan

When the conditions are right, there are ideas and concepts that ignite and burn with such intensity that they outshine any others of the same time period. Fake News in Contemporary Science and Politics presents a very good example of what its author, Keith Moser, describes as infodemic, “or the increasing inability of a large segment of the population to distinguish between reality and its ubiquitous misrepresentation on a plethora of divergent screens.” In this context, the current volume is meant to send a wake-up call regarding the consequences of this constant transmission of information ad infinitum that may affect our existence on this planet and even lead to a misinterpretation of democracy and its basic grasp on reality.

Evidence for large-scale, long-term highly siderophile element heterogeneities in the Atlantic mantle from Leg 153 and 209 peridotites

Seafloor abyssal peridotites are products after partial melting and melt-rock interaction, providing constraints on upper mantle processes and heterogeneity. Despite extensive studies of ophiolitic peridotites and a burgeoning dataset for dredged abyssal peridotites, limited studies have been undertaken on abyssal peridotite drill core samples. This omission means a lack of comparison between modern ocean mantle lithosphere and that of ophiolites, where field context is possible in the latter, but not the former. Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 153 near the Kane fracture zone, and ODP Leg 209, near the Fifteen-Twenty fracture zone, both on the mid-Atlantic Ridge but ∼1000 km distant from one another, recovered serpentinized mantle peridotites. We report whole-rock major-, trace- and highly siderophile-element (HSE: Re, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ir, Os) abundances and 187Os/188Os ratios of peridotites from three cores (maximum depth of 200.8 m) from the two Legs to explore mantle heterogeneity within the Atlantic Ocean basin. Peridotites from ODP Leg 153 are relatively fertile, with Al2O3 contents ranging from 1.1 to 2.7 wt%. They are characterized by relatively radiogenic 187Os/188Os (0.1259 ± 0.0017; 2 S.D.) and uniform HSE abundances. The ODP Leg 209 peridotites are highly refractory, with Al2O3 contents ranging from 0.1 to 0.8 wt%, and imply that they record an extensively depleted mantle. They have 187Os/188Os of 0.1207 ± 0.0023 (2 S.D.) and fractionated HSE abundances, indicative of depletion occurring > 1 billion years ago. Marked heterogeneity both in the extent and timing of depletion are therefore evident along a large segment of the mid-Atlantic ridge that produces zero-age basalts. Measurement of Os isotopes in spatially associated mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) is challenging due to their sub ng/g Os contents. Instead, Nd isotopes of MORB are used to show that they are unlikely to have formed directly from abyssal peridotite-like sources. Abyssal peridotites therefore represent long-lived refractory residues during mantle upwelling with the sources of MORB being more enriched. Comparison between drilled abyssal peridotites and ophiolitic mantle reveals larger compositional variations in the latter. The overall higher melting extent in ophiolite mantle is likely reflective of a more complex life cycle than the modern oceanic lithosphere.

When a Plateau Suppresses a Plume: Disappearance of the Samoan Plume Under the Ontong Java Plateau

AbstractThe Samoan hotspot generated an age‐progressive volcanic track that can be traced back to 24 Ma at Alexa Bank, but the trace of the older portion (>24 Ma) of the hotspot track is unclear. We show that six seamounts located in and around the Magellan Seamount chain—north of the Ontong‐Java Plateau (OJP)—have ages (87–106 Ma), geochemistry, and locations consistent with absolute plate motion model reconstructions of the Samoan hotspot track in the late Cretaceous, and three additional seamounts have geochemistry and locations consistent with a Samoan origin. However, a large segment of the Samoan hotspot (24–87 Ma) remains unidentified. Absolute plate motion models show that, from ∼60 to 30 Ma, the OJP passed over the Samoan plume. The exceptional thickness of the OJP lithosphere may have largely suppressed Samoan plume melting because the inferred volcanic trace of the Samoan hotspot wanes, and then disappears, on the OJP. Fortunately, 44 Ma volcanism at Malaita Island, located on the southern margin of the OJP, has a location, age, and geochemistry consistent with a Samoan plume origin, and provides a “missing link” bridging the younger and older segments of the Samoan hotspot. Our synthesis of geochemical, geochronological, and plate motion model evidence reveals that Samoa exhibits a clear hotspot age progression for over 100 Myr. Passage of ancient plateaus over young plumes—here called “plume‐plateau” interaction—may be relatively common: the OJP also passed over the putative Rarotonga hotspot, and the Society and Pitcairn hotspots were overtopped by the Manihiki Plateau.

Bayesian Uncertainty Estimation by Hamiltonian Monte Carlo: Applications to Cardiac MRI Segmentation

Deep learning (DL)-based methods have achieved state-of-the-art performance for many medical image segmentation tasks. Nevertheless, recent studies show that deep neural net- works (DNNs) can be miscalibrated and overconfident, leading to ”silent failures” that are risky for clinical applications. Bayesian DL provides an intuitive approach to DL failure de- tection, based on posterior probability estimation. However, the posterior is intractable for large medical image segmentation DNNs. To tackle this challenge, we propose a Bayesian learning framework using Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC), tempered by cold posterior (CP) to accommodate medical data augmentation, named HMC-CP. For HMC compu- tation, we further propose a cyclical annealing strategy, capturing both local and global geometries of the posterior distribution, enabling highly efficient Bayesian DNN training with the same computational budget as training a single DNN. The resulting Bayesian DNN outputs an ensemble segmentation along with the segmentation uncertainty. We evaluate the proposed HMC-CP extensively on cardiac magnetic resonance image (MRI) segmentation, using in-domain steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine images as well as out-of-domain datasets of quantitative T1 and T2 mapping. Our results show that the proposed method improves both segmentation accuracy and uncertainty estimation for in- and out-of-domain data, compared with well-established baseline methods such as Monte Carlo Dropout and Deep Ensembles. Additionally, we establish a conceptual link between HMC and the commonly known stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and provide general insight into the uncertainty of DL. This uncertainty is implicitly encoded in the training dynamics but often overlooked. With reliable uncertainty estimation, our method provides a promising direction toward trustworthy DL in clinical applications. We release our code in <a href='https://gitlab.tudelft.nl/yidongzhao/hmc_uncertainty'>https://gitlab.tudelft.nl/yidongzhao/hmc_uncertainty</a>

Theatre of the Absurd, Pre-Election Matters and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria: Reflections on APC V Machina

The practice of theatre of the absurd is more present and popular with politicians in Africa than with playwrights. Particularly in Nigeria, the grotesque images and ridiculousness in the utterances of those saddled with the responsibilities of governance can only be viewed as characters in any known absurdist’ play. Nigeria is a nascent democracy, and the 2023 general elections are fraught with inadequacies right from the moment of selection of party candidates through the election proper. Candidates, political parties executives and the court have engineered these inadequacies. The concern of court being the last hope of common man, is on the administration of justice as perceived by parties involved in a case and the society. Therefore, a flawed judgment can only serve to dampen the peoples’ belief in the sanctity of the judiciary. On 28th May 2022, Bashir Machina contested and won the All Progressive Congress’s Yobe North Senatorial primary election unopposed, and in June the same year, the political party submitted the name of Ahmad Lawan to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for the main election into the Senate. In the ensuing litigation, both lower court and court of appeal affirmed the authentic candidacy of Machina, however, the Supreme Court in its judgment, affirmed Ahmad Lawan as the APC candidate for the election to the Senate. It is against this background that this study examines APC v Machina and argued that in this particular case, justice has been perceived not to have been done by the large segment of the society based on the peoples reaction in the media. We conclude that the five justices of the Supreme Court with divided resolution of three against two, and other participants in the litigation, merely represent different characters of an absurd drama fit only for the stage.

Placing Behavior in Context: Political Interpretations of Individual Behavior in Countering Information Warfare in Finland

Malign information influence often targets large segments of the population, with the intent to manipulate individual behavior for the benefit of the actors disseminating this harmful information. However, in a liberal society like Finland, individual behavior is closely tied to personal freedoms and liberties, making the commentary and regulation of individual behavior for the sake of security a complex endeavor. This paper investigates how Finnish politicians and officials perceive individual behavior within the context of information warfare. We examine the emergence of particular discourses that interpret, critique, and potentially seek to influence individual behavior. Our research draws from parliamentary debates and legislative documents, as well as executive branch materials, providing insight into contemporary political thought. By exploring the evolving landscape of political discourse in Finland, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the environment in which countermeasures against information warfare are developed and the roots of national security policy. It underscores the intricate challenges of safeguarding cognitive security while respecting individual freedoms in a modern democratic society.

Arbitrariness of bibliometric parameters: a case study on leading scientists in the German Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT)

Bibliometric rankings of researchers are increasingly important for academic hiring and for making grant application decisions in the biomedical sciences. As a case study, we performed a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of German pharmacology and toxicology. The 42 members of the German Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT) represented in the German ‘best scientist’ ranking in biology and biochemistry on www.research.com for the year 2022 were analyzed according to various aspects. The scientist ranking on Research.com is based on the Hirsch Index (h-Index). In the comparatively small field of pharmacology, which accounts for only 4.2% of the scientists in the ranking on Research.com, there are only two women. This shows that female pharmacologists are highly underrepresented in elite pharmacology. To achieve a high h-Index, a pharmacologist must publish more papers than a biochemist or biologist. Furthermore, German elite pharmacology was compared in the three sub-societies of the DGPT. There are no significant differences between elite pharmacologists and toxicologists in terms of productivity. Two large German pharmacology schools (Günter Schultz and Franz Hofmann) are similar in all bibliometric parameters except for number of total publications. Age-specific factors were also defined for the analysis: ‘academic age’ and the quotient of the h-Index by ‘academic age’. Any given bibliometric parameter (or combination of parameters) yielded different ranking results. This became even more evident when additionally considering the highly popular and widely used Laborjournal ranking of top pharmacology and toxicology researchers with only very few DGPT members listed. We unmasked 7 types of publication patterns of pharmacologists, an age-dependent publication peak at around 55 years and different trajectories for high- and low-volume publishing pharmacologists. In the future, less emphasis should be paid to bibliometric parameters in academic hiring and grant decisions than to the authentic societal and scientific impact of the research. Bibliometric parameters are very arbitrary within a very large segment of pharmacologists. Studies according to the paradigm of this account should be made for other countries, other learned societies, and other scientific fields. The different cultures among related scientific fields must be considered in bibliometric analyses as exemplified here for pharmacology versus biochemistry. Conversely, the bibliometric similarities between pharmacology and toxicology show that both fields belong together and have a very similar culture.

General Equilibrium Model for Monetary Policy Responses to Macroeconomic Instabilities in Developing Economy: A Ghanaian Perspective

The study develops a standard New Keynesian model to examine how monetary authority reacts to both domestic and external shocks as well as how its policy decision impacts the general macroeconomy in developing African economy. Using Bayesian estimation techniques and a Ghanaian dataset, the article also seeks to determine the best-suited monetary policy rule for Ghana and countries with similar characteristics. The basic finding is that a forward-looking Taylor rule—where authority reacts to one-period-ahead inflation deviation from target alongside the current output gap—is the most appropriate monetary policy rule for Ghana. Another salient finding is that variations in output are mainly driven by price markup, labour supply, monetary policy and productivity shocks across the forecast horizons. In addition, the dominant determinants of inflation are exchange rate risk premium and price markup shocks. Collectively, the article also unveils that monetary policy responses to macroeconomic shocks are broadly in line with conventional economic theory. There is also conspicuous evidence that the general equilibrium model with representative consumers is practically suitable for monetary policy analysis in Ghana, as contractionary monetary policy impulse is able to contemporaneously induce disinflation and output contraction. Given the strong evidence of a large segment of the unbanked population in Ghana, the findings in this study could be verified based on a model that allows for the co-existence of optimizing and non-optimizing consumers. JEL Classification: B41, C5, C11, D11, D21, D41, D42, E2, E12, E43, E52, E58, F31, F41

Experience with a novel high frequency optical coherence tomography device for intracoronary imaging: a case series.

Intravascular imaging, especially optical coherence tomography (OCT), has significantly improved percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), yet its routine clinical application faces challenges. This case series introduces the Gentuity® High-Frequency Optical Coherence Tomography (HF-OCT), a novel device designed to enhance intracoronary imaging with a significantly faster pullback and smaller catheter size, potentially offering enhanced navigability in complex lesions. We aimed to assess the image quality of Gentuity® HF-OCT in complex vessel conditions, as well as presenting a case series to illustrate the application of the device in various clinical scenarios. In this case series, we included all patients who underwent intracoronary HF-OCT imaging at our center. The primary endpoint was image quality assessed by clear image length (CIL). Image quality was assessed in relation to (1) lesion severity assessed by minimum lumen area (MLA); (2) vessel size, differentiating between larger (diameter ≥ 4 mm) and smaller vessel segments; (3) pre- vs. post-PCI conditions, and (4) vessel tortuosity, categorized into none, moderate, and severe. Twenty-four HF-OCT runs from 14 patients were included. No significant differences in CIL were observed across lesion severity terciles (p = 0.449), between small and large vessel segments [mean CIL% difference 1.3%; confidence interval (CI), -9.3 to 11.8; p = 0.802], and pre- vs. post-PCI conditions (mean CIL difference -3.9 mm; CI, -14.0 to 6.1; p = 0.373). Vessel tortuosity significantly impacted image quality, with clear reductions in CIL observed in cases of moderate (74.8; CI, 73.5 to 76.0; vs. 63.9; CI, 56.2 to 71.5; p = 0.043) and severe tortuosity (74.8; CI, 73.5 to 76.0; vs. 65.0; CI, 62.1 to 67.9; p = 0.002) compared to vessels with no tortuosity. Overall, the HF-OCT demonstrated excellent catheter deliverability and crossability, with very satisfactory image quality and no significant adverse events. The Gentuity® HF-OCT is a new OCT device capable of navigating both small- and large-diameter vessels, with similar image quality, but vessel tortuosity seems to have an impact on image quality. It appears to be as usable as conventional OCT for pre-PCI diagnosis and OCT-guided PCI, potentially bringing additional benefits in terms of deliverability, lesion crossover and ease of use in routine clinical practice.

Unveiling the Uncommon: Gastrointestinal Basidiobolomycosis of the Colon and its Distinctive Splendore-Hoeppli Phenomenon

Background Basidiobolomycosis is a rare fungal infection caused by Basidiobolus ranarum. Case Presentation A 53-year-old man from Saudi Arabia with a known history of diverticulosis presented with severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. A CT scan revealed circumferential wall thickening of the descending and sigmoid colon with surrounding fat stranding, suggesting a diagnosis of complicated diverticulitis. Additional thick fluid was observed around the affected area. Surgical excision was pursued. A gross examination of two received large bowel segments disclosed marked ulcerated mucosa and wall thickening with exudate-covered serosal surfaces and adhesions. Microscopic examination unveiled significant infiltration by eosinophils, polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and granulomatous inflammation. Thin-walled, broad fungal hyphae of Basidiobolus, surrounded by eosinophilic material, were identified. Granulomas displayed abundant multinucleated giant cells and palisading histiocytes around central necrosis or abscess formation. Thin-walled, broad fungal hyphae of Basidiobolus, with sparse septations, are surrounded by a radiating, intensely eosinophilic cuff (Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon). These hyphae, visible with hematoxylin and eosin staining, were further highlighted with periodic acid-Schiff and Gomori methenamine silver staining. Discussion Basidiobolomycosis may mimic neoplastic lesions. Histologically, the characteristic features include broad, thin-walled septate hyphae surrounded by eosinophilic material, a finding that is accentuated by the Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon. Microscopic examination, along with special stains such as periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and Gomori methenamine silver, is essential for accurate diagnosis. Conclusion Prompt recognition and appropriate antifungal therapy are vital for favorable patient outcomes. This report highlights the distinctive features of Basidiobolomycosis to raise awareness and understanding of this infrequent yet clinically significant fungal infection.

Spatial variation and predictors of composite index of HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude and behaviours among Ethiopian women: A spatial and multilevel analyses of the 2016 Demographic Health Survey.

Although the dissemination of health information is one of the pillars of HIV prevention efforts in Ethiopia, a large segment of women in the country still lack adequate HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, and behaviours. Despite many studies being conducted in Ethiopia, they mostly focus on the level of women's knowledge about HIV/AIDS, failing to examine composite index of knowledge, attitude, and behaviour (KAB) domains comprehensively. In addition, the previous studies overlooked individual and community-level, and spatial predictors. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence, geographical variation (Hotspots), spatial predictors, and multilevel correlates of inadequate HIV/AIDS-Knowledge, Attitude, and Behaviour (HIV/AIDS-KAB) among Ethiopian women. The study conducted using the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data, included 12,672 women of reproductive age group (15-49 years). A stratified, two-stage cluster sampling technique was used; a random selection of enumeration areas (clusters) followed by selecting households per cluster. Composite index of HIV/AIDS-KAB was assessed using 11 items encompassing HIV/AIDS prevention, transmission, and misconceptions. Spatial analysis was carried out using Arc-GIS version 10.7 and SaTScan version 9.6 statistical software. Spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I) was used to determine the non-randomness of the spatial variation in inadequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression was performed, with the measure of association reported using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with its corresponding 95% CI. The prevalence of inadequate HIV/AIDS-KAB among Ethiopian women was 48.9% (95% CI: 48.1, 49.8), with significant spatial variations across regions (global Moran's I = 0.64, p<0.001). Ten most likely significant SaTScan clusters were identified with a high proportion of women with inadequate KAB. Somali and most parts of Afar regions were identified as hot spots for women with inadequate HIV/AIDS-KAB. Higher odds of inadequate HIV/AIDS-KAB was observed among women living in the poorest wealth quintile (AOR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.21, 2.18), rural residents (AOR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.22), having no formal education (AOR = 2.66; 95% CI: 2.04, 3.48), non-autonomous (AOR = 1.71; 95% CI: (1.43, 2.28), never listen to radio (AOR = 1.56; 95% CI: (1.02, 2.39), never watched television (AOR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.92), not having a mobile phone (AOR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.27, 1.88), and not visiting health facilities (AOR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.28, 1.72). The level of inadequate HIV/AIDS-KAB in Ethiopia was high, with significant spatial variation across regions, and Somali, and Afar regions contributed much to this high prevalence. Thus, the government should work on integrating HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts with existing reproductive health services, regular monitoring and evaluation, and collaboration and partnership to tackle this gap. Stakeholders in the health sector should strengthen their efforts to provide tailored health education, and information campaigns with an emphasis on women who lack formal education, live in rural areas, and poorest wealth quintile should be key measures to enhancing knowledge. enhanced effort is needed to increase women's autonomy to empower women to access HIV/AIDS information. The media agencies could prioritise the dissemination of culturally sensitive HIV/AIDS information to women of reproductive age. The identified hot spots with relatively poor knowledge of HIV/AIDS should be targeted during resource allocation and interventions.

Use of Computer Navigation for Optimal Acetabular Cup Placement in Revision THA: Case Reports and Surgical Techniques

The outcomes of revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) have become increasingly important as their volume increases. Computer navigation, a reliable method to improve component positioning during primary total hip arthroplasty (THA), is not well studied in the rTHA setting. Given that dislocation rates following rTHA are significantly higher than those of primary THA, component positioning becomes paramount in these cases. Here, we present two case reports and surgical techniques, one of a 77-year-old man undergoing rTHA for recurrent hip instability following primary THA, and one of a 61-year-old woman undergoing rTHA for severe iliopsoas bursitis who was at increased risk for instability and dislocation given her history of large segment spinal fusion. Both patients achieved optimal acetabular component positioning after rTHA with imageless computer navigation. The use of imageless computer navigation in rTHA provides accurate and reproducible component positioning during acetabular rTHA.

Pediatric obesity in the United States: Age–period–cohort analysis

The rates of obesity among American children aged 2–5 years has reached a historic high. It is crucial to identify the putative sources of population-level increases in obesity prevalence among preschool-aged children because early childhood is a critical window for obesity prevention and thus reduction of future incidence. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data and hierarchical age–period–cohort analysis to examine lifecycle (i.e., age), historical (i.e., period), and generational (i.e., cohort) distribution of age- and sex-specific body mass index z-scores (zBMI) among 2–5-year-olds in the U.S. from 1999 to 2018. Our current findings indicate that period effects, rather than differences in groups born at a specific time (i.e., cohort effects), account for almost all of the observed changes in zBMI. We need a broad socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental strategy to counteract the current obesogenic environment that influences children of all ages and generations in order to reach large segments of preschoolers and achieve population-wide improvement.

A Rapidly Reconfigurable DC Battery for Increasing Flexibility and Efficiency of Electric Vehicle Drive Trains

Traditional electric vehicle (EV) battery drive trains comprise hard-wired batteries forming a fixed high-voltage DC link, and a main inverter. This paper proposes a novel topology to break hard-wired batteries into smaller subunits interfaced by low-voltage field effect transistors (FET). The new DC link, named <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">reconfigurable DC battery</i> , can offload a great portion of the switching duty from the main inverter. Several benefits follow: <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1)</i> The proposed topology reduces the total loss despite the added components. The net loss is reduced because the reconfigurable DC battery can generate an optimal high-frequency voltage waveform to spare up to 2/3 of the switching actions of the main inverter—i.e., delegating the modulation duty from the main inverter to the reconfigurable DC battery. The added semiconductor loss is negligible compared to that of the main inverter, thanks to small voltage steps of multilevel conversion and the latest low-voltage transistors. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2)</i> The main inverter’s output waveform has less distortion, e.g., down to 50% compared to conventional space-vector modulation. This distortion reduction is a consequence of large segments of the overall output voltage (particularly the apex) being entirely formed by the reconfigurable DC battery with multilevel precision. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3)</i> The multilevel output qualities substantially reduce the voltage transients d <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">v</i> /d <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i> of the inverter output, which is known to reduce insulation and bearing stress in motors. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4)</i> The topology eliminates the vulnerability of large hard-wired battery packs to the weakest cells. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5)</i> The constant presence of the high voltage in conventional hard-wired batteries and the associated issues, e.g., during manufacturing, maintenance, and crashs are avoided because of normally-off FETs. We demonstrate the proposed motor drive on a 3-kW setup with eight battery modules.

What is the most profitable targeting strategy from mass marketing to personalization? Results from a simulation in tourism

ABSTRACT Scholars know that setting the right target, from the aggregated market to personalization, raises a cost-benefit trade-off, but we found little research on this topic. Personalization is very popular, but it may be costly. Using broader market segments can be affordable but less accurate. We did a simulation analysis in the tourism industry based on a case-study. We compared the profits of four different targets, aggregated market, large segments, micro-segments, individuals, in different conditions by varying consumers’ attitudes, price, and scale/scope economies. Our findings show that micro-segmentation is the most profitable strategy on average, but the comparison strongly depends on the business conditions.

Assessing seromuscular layer and serosa removal on intestinal permeability measurements in weaned piglet everted sac segments.

The integrity of the intestinal barrier is crucial for regulating the passage of pathogens and toxins, while facilitating nutrient absorption. The everted gut sac technique, an ex-vivo technique, can be used to study interventions on barrier function. This cost-effective approach utilizes relatively large gut segments to study specific intestinal regions. Typically, intact (non-stripped) intestinal segments are used, but their use may underestimate permeability due to the medial positioning of blood vessels relative to the seromuscular layer and serosa. However, removing these layers risks physical damage, resulting in an overestimation of intestinal permeability. Therefore, we investigated the impact of stripping jejunal segments on permeability to fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC, 4kDa) and tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-dextran (TRITC, 40kDa), and on the absorption of glucose, lysine, and methionine in jejunal segments from 80 piglets at 8 d postweaning. Piglets were subjected to either high or low sanitary housing conditions and diets provoking intestinal protein fermentation or not, expected to influence intestinal permeability. Stripping of the seromuscular layer and serosa increased the passage of 4kDa FITC-dextran (stripped vs. non-stripped; 1.1 vs. 0.9 pmol/cm2/min, P < 0.001), glucose (40.0 vs. 19.1 pmol/cm2/min, P < 0.001), lysine (2.5 vs. 2.0 nmol/cm2/min, P < 0.001), and methionine (4.1 vs. 2.7 pmol/cm2/min, P < 0.001). As permeability increased, the differences in methionine passage between stripped and non-stripped intestinal segments also increased (slope = 1.30, P = 0.009). The coefficients of variation were comparable between stripped and non-stripped intestines (over all treatments, stripped vs. non-stripped 38% vs. 40%). Stripping, by isolating mucosal processes without introducing additional variation, is thus recommended for studies on intestinal permeability or absorption.

Exploring Sustainable Urban Transportation: Insights from Shared Mobility Services and Their Environmental Impact

The transportation landscape is witnessing profound changes due to technological advancements, necessitating proactive policy responses to harness innovation and avert urban mobility disruption. The sharing economy has already transformed ridesharing, bicycle-sharing, and electric scooters, with shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) poised to reshape car ownership. This study pursues two objectives: firstly, to establish a market segmentation for shared ride services and secondly, to evaluate the environmental impact of ridesharing in different contexts. To mitigate potential biases linked to stated preference data, we analysed the navette service, utilized by a research institute in Europe, closely resembling future SAVs. The market segmentation relied on hierarchical cluster analysis using employee survey responses, while the environmental analysis was grounded in the 2019 navette service data. Our analysis revealed four unique employee clusters: Cluster 1, emphasizing active transportation and environmental awareness; Cluster 2, showing openness towards SAVs given reliable alternatives are available; Cluster 3, the largest segment, highlighting a demand for policy support and superior service quality; and Cluster 4, which places a premium on time, suggesting a potential need for strategies to make the service more efficient and, consequently, discourage private car use. These findings highlight a general willingness to adopt shared transport modes, signalling a promising transition to shared vehicle ownership with significant environmental benefits achievable through service design and policy measures.

CCAT1 lncRNA is chromatin-retained and post-transcriptionally spliced

Super-enhancers are unique gene expression regulators widely involved in cancer development. Spread over large DNA segments, they tend to be found next to oncogenes. The super-enhancer c-MYC locus forms long-range chromatin looping with nearby genes, which brings the enhancer and the genes into proximity, to promote gene activation. The colon cancer-associated transcript 1 (CCAT1) gene, which is part of the MYC locus, transcribes a lncRNA that is overexpressed in colon cancer cells through activation by MYC. Comparing different types of cancer cell lines using RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (RNA FISH), we detected very prominent CCAT1 expression in HeLa cells, observed as several large CCAT1 nuclear foci. We found that dozens of CCAT1 transcripts accumulate on the gene locus, in addition to active transcription occurring from the gene. The accumulating transcripts are released from the chromatin during cell division. Examination of CCAT1 lncRNA expression patterns on the single-RNA level showed that unspliced CCAT1 transcripts are released from the gene into the nucleoplasm. Most of these unspliced transcripts were observed in proximity to the active gene but were not associated with nuclear speckles in which unspliced RNAs usually accumulate. At larger distances from the gene, the CCAT1 transcripts appeared spliced, implying that most CCAT1 transcripts undergo post-transcriptional splicing in the zone of the active gene. Finally, we show that unspliced CCAT1 transcripts can be detected in the cytoplasm during splicing inhibition, which suggests that there are several CCAT1 variants, spliced and unspliced, that the cell can recognize as suitable for export.

Direct transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus from farm-raised fur animals to workers in Weihai, China.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease. SFTS virus (SFTSV) is transmitted by tick bites and contact with the blood or body fluids of SFTS patients. Animal-to-human transmission of SFTS has been reported in Japan, but not in China. In this study, the possible transmission route of two patients who fed and cared for farm-raised fur animals in a mink farm was explored. An epidemiological investigation and a genetic analysis of patients, animals and working environment were carried out. It was found that two patients had not been bitten by ticks and had no contact with patients infected with SFTS virus, but both of them had skinned the dying animals. 54.55% (12/22) of the farm workers were positive for SFTS virus antibody. By analyzing the large, medium and small segments sequences, the viral sequences from the two patients, animals and environments showed 99.9% homology. It is suspected that the two patients may be directly infected by farm-raised animals, and that the virus may have been transmitted by aerosols when skinning dying animals. Transmission by direct blood contacts or animal bites cannot be ignored.

Biomimetic bone-periosteum scaffold for spatiotemporal regulated innervated bone regeneration and therapy of osteosarcoma

The complexity of repairing large segment defects and eradicating residual tumor cell puts the osteosarcoma clinical management challenging. Current biomaterial design often overlooks the crucial role of precisely regulating innervation in bone regeneration. Here, we develop a Germanium Selenium (GeSe) co-doped polylactic acid (PLA) nanofiber membrane-coated tricalcium phosphate bioceramic scaffold (TCP-PLA/GeSe) that mimics the bone-periosteum structure. This biomimetic scaffold offers a dual functionality, combining piezoelectric and photothermal conversion capabilities while remaining biodegradable. When subjected to ultrasound irradiation, the US-electric stimulation of TCP-PLA/GeSe enables spatiotemporal control of neurogenic differentiation. This feature supports early innervation during bone formation, promoting early neurogenic differentiation of Schwann cells (SCs) by increasing intracellular Ca2+ and subsequently activating the PI3K-Akt and Ras signaling pathways. The biomimetic scaffold also demonstrates exceptional osteogenic differentiation potential under ultrasound irradiation. In rabbit model of large segment bone defects, the TCP-PLA/GeSe demonstrates promoted osteogenesis and nerve fibre ingrowth. The combined attributes of high photothermal conversion capacity and the sustained release of anti-tumor selenium from the TCP-PLA/GeSe enable the synergistic eradication of osteosarcoma both in vitro and in vivo. This strategy provides new insights on designing advanced biomaterials of repairing large segment bone defect and osteosarcoma.