Original Paper Research Articles

Research on the application of mathematical modeling in tumor immunology in the context of chemotherapy

Cancer is not only a highly detrimental disease but also a particularly grave health concern. Moreover, the current incidence and mortality rates in our country are far from encouraging, making the prevention and control situation very challenging. Therefore, identifying the most scientific and effective treatment methods has become one of our primary research focuses. This paper, building upon previous models and incorporating resistance factors, categorizes tumor cells into those that are sensitive to chemotherapy drugs and those that become resistant. Using MATLAB, we have adjusted various sensitivity parameters in the model to simulate the number of tumor cells over 40 days. This simulation aims to analyze the sensitivity levels of tumor cells to different parameters upon the inclusion of resistance factors. The initial data used for the simulation were derived from the original paper. Ultimately, our findings indicate that tumor cells are most sensitive to the chemotherapy drugs killing rate for normal tumor cells and the decay rate of the chemotherapy drug. Due to the drug resistance factor, the sensitivity of different parameters is influenced. For parameters related to chemotherapy drugs, the final results, when incorporating this factor, may deviate significantly from those of previous models without this factor. For instance, the decay rate of chemotherapy drugs might result in a larger total number of tumor cells or a steeper trend compared to previous findings.

(Re-)Reading Sklar (1959)—A Personal View on Sklar’s Theorem

In this short communication, I share some personal thoughts on Sklar’s theorem and copulas after reading the original paper (Sklar, 1959) in French. After providing a literal translation of Sklar’s original statements, I argue that the modern version of ‘Sklar’s theorem’ given in most references has a slightly different emphasis, which may lead to subtly different interpretations. In particular, with no reference to the subcopula, modern ‘Sklar’s theorem’ does not provide the clues to fully appreciate when the copula representation of a distribution may form a valid basis for dependence modelling and when it may not.

The aetiology of preterm birth and risks of cerebral palsy and cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The associations between the aetiology of preterm birth and later neurodevelopmental outcomes are unclear. A systematic review and meta-analysis examined the existing evidence. The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for papers published in English from inception to 16 December 2020. We included original papers on the causes of preterm birth and the risks of cerebral palsy (CP) and suboptimal cognitive development. Two reviewers independently evaluated the studies and extracted the data. The literature search yielded 5472 papers and 13 were selected. The aetiology of preterm birth was classified under spontaneous or medically indicated delivery. A meta-analysis was performed, comprising 104 902 preterm infants from 11 papers on CP. Preterm infants born after a medically indicated delivery had a lower CP risk than infants born after spontaneous delivery, with a pooled odds ratio of 0.59 (95% confidence interval 0.40-0.86). This result was robust in the subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Cognitive development was reported in three papers, which suggested that worse outcomes were associated with medically indicated deliveries. The aetiology of preterm delivery may contribute to the risk of CP and cognitive delay. Further research is needed, using individual-level meta-analyses to adjust for possible confounders, notably gestational age.

Reviews and Responses for A Catalogue of Deconfliction Actions Extracted from Historical ADS-B Data

See detailed reviews and responses in the PDF file.
 DOI for the original paper: https://doi.org/10.59490/joas.2023.7222

Review and Responses for Hidden Markov Models and Flight Phase Identification

See detailed reviews and responses in the PDF file.
 DOI for the original paper: https://doi.org/10.59490/joas.2024.7269

The past and future of occupational health nursing research in Japan

This study aimed to review the trends in "occupational health nursing research" conducted in Japan and determine research areas that need strengthening eventually. All articles published in Ichushi Web since 1903 were searched using the keywords "occupational health nursing" and "research." The 486 papers identified were extracted and categorized according to type and publication year. The research content of 194 original and review papers was categorized according to whether they addressed practical methods and abilities. According to publication type, out of the 486 papers, 230 (47.3%) were conference proceedings, whereas 194 (39.9%) were original and review papers. Among practical methods-related papers, 107 (55.2%), 86 (44.3%), and 1 (0.5%) were on general, health, and work environment management, respectively, whereas none addressed work management and occupational health education. Among practical ability-related papers, 125 (64.4%), 23 (11.9%), and 46 (23.7%) were on knowledge, technology, and competency, respectively. The overview of annual trends showed that the papers of all types have increased progressively. While conference proceedings accounted for 80% of the papers until 1992, recent proportions have shown a decrease to < 50%. Conversely, original papers accounted for < 20% of the papers early on, but observed a progressive increase, with recent proportions of > 40%. Regarding content, almost no papers addressed work environment management, work management, and occupational health education. Additionally, practical ability-related papers highlighted that although some research on technologies and competencies has been conducted, some areas remain inadequately addressed. In Japan, occupational health nursing papers have been steadily increasing since the first conference proceeding was published in 1980. Among papers addressing practical methods, those related to general management were most common, of which occupational health management accounted for approximately 80%, indicating efforts aimed at the development of occupational health nursing through research. Moreover, limited papers addressed work environment management, work management, and occupational health education, suggesting the need for future research. Among papers addressing practical ability, > 60% were related to knowledge, with research on competencies was only > 20%, suggesting the need for further research eventually.

An Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) Clinical Practice Guideline: Surveillance Strategies in Patients with Stage I, II, III or Resectable IV Melanoma Who Were Treated with Curative Intent

AimsTo make recommendations on managing the surveillance of patients with stage I, II, III or resectable IV melanoma who are clinically free of disease following treatment with curative intent. Materials and methodsThis guideline was developed by Ontario Health's (Cancer Care Ontario's) Program in Evidence-Based Care and the Melanoma Disease Site Group (including seven medical oncologists, four surgical oncologists, three dermatologists, one radiation oncologist and one patient representative). The MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO databases and the main relevant guideline websites were searched. Internal and external reviews were conducted, with final approval by the Program in Evidence-Based Care and the Melanoma Disease Site Group. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was followed, and the Modified Delphi method was used. ResultsBased on the current evidence (eight eligible original study papers and four relevant guidelines) and the clinical opinions of the authors of this guideline, the initial recommendations were made. To reach 75% agreement for each recommendation, the Melanoma Disease Site Group (16 members) voted twice and one recommendation was voted on three times. After a comprehensive internal and external review process (including national and international reviewers), 12 recommendations, three weak recommendations and six qualified statements were ultimately made. ConclusionsAfter a systematic review, a comprehensive internal and external review process and a consensus process, the current guideline has been created. The guideline authors believe that this guideline will help clinicians, patients and policymakers make well-informed healthcare decisions that will guide them in clinical melanoma surveillance and ultimately assist in improving patient outcomes.

Slope Entropy Characterisation: An Asymmetric Approach to Threshold Parameters Role Analysis.

Slope Entropy (SlpEn) is a novel method recently proposed in the field of time series entropy estimation. In addition to the well-known embedded dimension parameter, m, used in other methods, it applies two additional thresholds, denoted as δ and γ, to derive a symbolic representation of a data subsequence. The original paper introducing SlpEn provided some guidelines for recommended specific values of these two parameters, which have been successfully followed in subsequent studies. However, a deeper understanding of the role of these thresholds is necessary to explore the potential for further SlpEn optimisations. Some works have already addressed the role of δ, but in this paper, we extend this investigation to include the role of γ and explore the impact of using an asymmetric scheme to select threshold values. We conduct a comparative analysis between the standard SlpEn method as initially proposed and an optimised version obtained through a grid search to maximise signal classification performance based on SlpEn. The results confirm that the optimised version achieves higher time series classification accuracy, albeit at the cost of significantly increased computational complexity.

Unveiling the microfoundations of philanthropic foundations: A call for comprehensive research of people and practices

AbstractFocusing on the governance and leadership of philanthropic foundations has never been more important. In today's world, where societal changes are happening rapidly, and there is greater scrutiny of people and practices, it is crucial to go beyond viewing foundations solely as organizational entities. This response to the original paper highlights the unique independence of foundations and identifies the significant research gap in understanding their internal dynamics. To comprehend individual‐level decisions' impact on organizations, this response suggests adopting a microfoundations view. As part of this view, research should consider the variety of roles that influence foundations far beyond governance and internal leadership and how practices need to be both aspirational and implementable. Future research is urged to adopt an interest in the depth of foundations and their breadth across contexts and jurisdictions to generate a more nuanced and holistic understanding of these unique organizations and their roles in social change.

Reviews and Responses for Using ADS-B Trajectories to Measure How Rapid Exit Taxiways Affect Airport Capacity

See detailed reviews and responses in the PDF file.&#x0D; DOI for the original paper: https://doi.org/10.59490/joas.2023.7207

From Birth to Weaning: A Window of Opportunity for Microbiota.

(1) Background: The first 1000 days of life constitute a critical window of opportunity for microbiota development. Nutrients play a crucial role in enriching and diversifying the microbiota, derived not only from solid food but also from maternal dietary patterns during gestation. (2) Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature review using the PubMed database, covering eleven years (2013-2023). We included English-language reviews, original research papers, and meta-analyses, while excluding case reports and letters. (3) Results: Consensus in the literature emphasizes that our interaction with a multitude of microorganisms begins in the intrauterine environment and continues throughout our lives. The existing data suggest that early nutritional education programs, initiated during pregnancy and guiding infant diets during development, may influence the shaping of the gut microbiota, promoting long-term health. (4) Conclusions: Further research is necessary in the coming years to assess potential interventions and early nutritional models aimed at modulating the pediatric microbiota, especially in vulnerable populations such as premature newborns.

Reviews and Responses for On the Causes and Environmental Impact of Airborne Holdings at Major European Airports

See detailed reviews and responses in the PDF file.&#x0D; DOI for the original paper: https://doi.org/10.59490/joas.2023.7198

Training stress, neuromuscular fatigue and well-being in volleyball: a systematic review

BackgroundVolleyball, with its unique calendar structure, presents distinct challenges in training and competition scheduling. Like many team sports, volleyball features an unconventional schedule with brief off-season and pre-season phases, juxtaposed against an extensive in-season phase characterized by a high density of matches and training. This compact calendar necessitates careful management of training loads and recovery periods. The effectiveness of this management is a critical factor, influencing the overall performance and success of volleyball teams. In this review, we explore the associations between training stress measures, fatigue, and well-being assessments within this context, to better inform future research and practice.MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted in databases including PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria were original research papers published in peer-reviewed journals involving volleyball athletes.ResultsOf the 2535 studies identified, 31 were thoroughly analysed. From these 31 articles, 22 included professional athletes, seven included collegiate-level volleyball athletes, and two included young athletes. Nine studies had female volleyball players, while the remaining 22 had male volleyball athletes.ConclusionsInternal training load should be collected daily after training sessions and matches with the session rating of perceived exertion method. External training load should also be measured daily according to the methods based on jump height, jump count, and kinetic energy. If force platforms are available, neuromuscular fatigue can be assessed weekly using the FT:CT ratio of a countermovement jump or, in cases where force platforms are not available, the average jump height can also be used. Finally, the Hooper Index has been shown to be a measure of overall wellness, fatigue, stress, muscle soreness, mood, and sleep quality in volleyball when used daily.

Surface Treatment of Indirect Restorations

Background: All ceramic CAD/CAM materials require surface treatment protocols varying from one type to another according to their chemical composition, including hydrofluoric acid etching, sandblasting, silica coating, laser etching, and non-thermal plasma treatment. This review's objective to analyze and bring up-to-date data about the surface treatment of ceramics.Data: The review just searched electronic publications of papers. Websites "Google Scholar" and "PubMed" were utilized as sources for performing data searches using the following keywords: Surface modification, plasma surface treatment, indirect restoration, ceramics The original papers and clinical investigations that were published between the years 2006 to March 2023 that were the most relevant to the subject at hand were chosen.Conclusion: A variety of surface treatment methods have been proposed to enhance the bonding of restorative materials to resin cement and provide micromechanical retention by altering the restoration's surface mechanically by increasing the degree of roughness or physico/chemically by activating the surface. Hydrophloric acid etch is a golden standard for the surface treatment of feldspathic and lithium disilicate ceramics, the APC concept for zirconia, and hydrofluoric acid or sandblast surface treatment for resin nano-ceramic. A new approach used for surface treatment is plasma treatment, which is really promising in dentistry.

Self-reported checklists and quality scoring tools in radiomics: a meta-research.

To evaluate the use of reporting checklists and quality scoring tools for self-reporting purposes in radiomics literature. Literature search was conducted in PubMed (date, April 23, 2023). The radiomics literature was sampled at random after a sample size calculation with a priori power analysis. A systematic assessment for self-reporting, including the use of documentation such as completed checklists or quality scoring tools, was conducted in original research papers. These eligible papers underwent independent evaluation by a panel of nine readers, with three readers assigned to each paper. Automatic annotation was used to assist in this process. Then, a detailed item-by-item confirmation analysis was carried out on papers with checklist documentation, with independent evaluation of two readers. The sample size calculation yielded 117 papers. Most of the included papers were retrospective (94%; 110/117), single-center (68%; 80/117), based on their private data (89%; 104/117), and lacked external validation (79%; 93/117). Only seven papers (6%) had at least one self-reported document (Radiomics Quality Score (RQS), Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (TRIPOD), or Checklist for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging (CLAIM)), with a statistically significant binomial test (p < 0.001). Median rate of confirmed items for all three documents was 81% (interquartile range, 6). For quality scoring tools, documented scores were higher than suggested scores, with a mean difference of - 7.2 (standard deviation, 6.8). Radiomic publications often lack self-reported checklists or quality scoring tools. Even when such documents are provided, it is essential to be cautious, as the accuracy of the reported items or scores may be questionable. Current state of radiomic literature reveals a notable absence of self-reporting with documentation and inaccurate reporting practices. This critical observation may serve as a catalyst for motivating the radiomics community to adopt and utilize such tools appropriately, thereby fostering rigor, transparency, and reproducibility of their research, moving the field forward. • In radiomics literature, there has been a notable absence of self-reporting with documentation. • Even if such documents are provided, it is critical to exercise caution because the accuracy of the reported items or scores may be questionable. • Radiomics community needs to be motivated to adopt and appropriately utilize the reporting checklists and quality scoring tools.

The influence of SARS-CoV-2 on the immune system elements and on the placental structure. Clinical, histological and immunohistochemical study.

The effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during pregnancy remain relatively unknown. We present this original paper where we analyzed 60 parturients, at term, 30 without associated infection (C-) and 30 with associated infection (C+), present at birth. We analyzed the blood count and placental microscopic structure through classical and immunohistochemical staining and observed the placental areas affected by the presence of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 infection was accompanied by a decrease in the number of lymphocytes, the number of platelets and the presence of placental structural changes, identifying extensive areas of amyloid deposits, placental infarcts, vascular thrombosis, syncytial knots, with a decrease in placental vascular density and the presence of infection in the cells located at decidual level, at syncytiotrophoblast level and at the level of the cells of the chorionic plate, still without overcoming this barrier and without causing any fetal infection in the analyzed cases. This study shows that the invasion of SARS-CoV-2 in the placenta can produce significant structural changes, with a decrease in placental vascular density that can have significant implications on proper fetal perfusion. Also, the presence of immunoreactivity at the level of decidua, the placental villi, as well as the chorionic plate proves that the virus can overcome the maternal-fetal barrier. However, in the analyzed cases there were no fetal infections at birth, which may show that local placental factors can be a protective filter for the fetus.

Construction of super hydrophobic paper by modified nano-SiO2 hybrid medium fluoro-epoxy polymer and its properties

Most of the super hydrophobic paper surfaces prepared at present will change the original properties of the paper and can not be used for oil-water separation continuously. There is not yet much systematic research on super hydrophobic modification of paper-based materials. The use of polymers and inorganic fillers for synergistic modification is also relatively rare. In this paper, fluorine-containing epoxy polymer P(GMA-r-DFMA) and KH550 modified nano-SiO2 were mixed to obtain an organic-inorganic hybrid super hydrophobic solution, which was chemically cross-linked to the surface of paper fibers to form a micro- and nano-thin coating to construct a super hydrophobic surface, but the original properties of the paper remain unchanged. The optimal parameters (polymer concentration, soaking time, drying time, drying temperature) for building super hydrophobic surface on paper were explored, and the optimal conditions are the polymer concentration of 7 mg/mL, soaking time of 5 h, drying time of 6 h, drying temperature of 100 °C. Under the optimum conditions, the water contact angle of the modified paper surface is 164 ± 2o and the water rolling angle is 5 ± 2o. The surface of the super hydrophobic modified paper contaminated with toner can be self-cleaned by water droplets. Compared with the unmodified paper, the whiteness, smoothness and glossiness of the surface of the super hydrophobic modified paper have not changed greatly. When the oils were n-hexane, n-octane and trichloromethane, the oil-water separation efficiency of the modified paper could reach 99.9 %, 99.9 % and 98 %, and the effects were stable. Super hydrophobic modified paper in water formed a large number of bubbles on its surface, resulting in silver mirror phenomenon. SEM results showed that the pore structure of the paper was not changed after modification. The surface of the original paper fiber is very smooth, but the surface of the super hydrophobic modified paper fiber has a large number of micro and nano protrusions.

Replication of Changing Hearts and Minds? Why Media Messages Designed to Foster Empathy Often Fail (Gubler et al., 2022)

This paper focuses on computational reproducibility and robustness replicability of Gubler et al.’s(2022) studies which examine the effect of media messages on empathic concern, dissonance, and out-group policy attitudes. The original paper tests four hypotheses using two online experiments with large samples from one US state (N1=5,800; N2=2,200). Regarding the first experiment, we successfully reproduced the effect that initial antipathy weakens the effect of humanizing treatment on empathic concern (H1). However, we show that the moderating effect is negligible and has little practical significance. Moreover, the individual effect estimates in our analyses slightly differed from the original paper due to different procedure of data cleaning and minor coding errors in the original paper. The most relevant difference was the opposite effect of gender than reported in the original paper. We also show that empathic concern might mediate the effect of humanizing treatment on attitudes toward immigrants (H3). The original study rejected the mediation hypothesis due to not finding a total effect of humanizing treatment on attitudes. In contrast, we found that humanization treatment has a positive indirect effect on attitudes through empathic concern. At the same time, it also has a direct negative effect on attitudes. For the second experiment (H1, H2a, H2b, H3), we attempted to reproduce the results using a different software. We partially succeeded once receiving support from the authors of the original study. We note throughout the report issues we have encountered. Reproduction, Replication, Research Transparency, Open Science, Economics, Political Science, Persuasion, Political Communication, Empathic Concern

Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication Principles: A Gravitational Search based Fuzzy Approach for Edge Detection in Colour And Grayscale Images

Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication Principles A Gravitational Search based Fuzzy Approach for Edge Detection in Colour And Grayscale by Swagatam Das, Satrajit Mukherjee, Bodhisattwa Prasad Majumder and Aritran Piplai Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy System After careful and considered review of the content and authorship of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE's Publication Principles. This paper duplicates significant amounts of content from the original paper cited below. The original text was copied without attribution (including appropriate references to the original author(s) and/or paper title) and without permission. Due to the nature of this violation, reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper, and future references should be made to the following article: An Optimal Fuzzy System for Edge Detection in Color Images using Bacterial Foraging Algorithm, by Om Verma Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 12 April 2012 This article presents an optimal edge detection scheme based on the concepts of fuzzy Smallest Univalue Assimilating Nucleus (SUSAN) and the Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). Initially, the Univalue Assimilating Nucleus (USAN) area is calculated from the gray levels of every neighborhood pixel of a pixel of interest in the test image. In accordance with the SUSAN principle, the neighborhood is chosen as a circular mask and applied separately on the individual RGB components of the image in case the image is a color image. The USAN area edge map of each component is fuzzified using a Gaussian membership function (used for detecting strong edges) and a bell-shaped function (used for detecting weak edges). Then the entropy and edge sharpness factors are calculated from these fuzzy measures and optimized using GSA by evolving the fuzzifier and the parameters controlling the shape and range of the bell-shaped curve. Adaptive thresholding converts the fuzzy domain edge map to a spatial domain edge map. Finally, the individual RGB edge maps are concatenated to obtain the final image edge map. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons have been rendered with respect to a few promising edge detectors (both traditional as well as state-of-the-art) and also optimal fuzzy edge detectors based on metaheuristic algorithms like Differential Evolution (DE) and Particle Swarm Optimizer (PSO). Extensive comparisons based on several quantitative measures strongly reflect merits of the proposed method.

Bayesian mediation analysis in trauma research.

Bayesian methods are growing in popularity among social scientists, due to the significant advantages offered to researchers: namely, intuitive probabilistic interpretations of results. Here, we highlight the benefits of using the Bayesian framework in research where collecting large samples is challenging, specifically: the absence of a requirement of large samples for convergence, and the possibility of building on prior research by including informative priors. We demonstrate how to fit a single mediator model and impute missing data in the Bayesian framework using the software JAGS via the R package rjags. To this end, we use open-access data to fit a mediation model and calculate the posterior probability that the mediated effect is above a specified criterion. We replicate the results of the original paper in the Bayesian framework and provide annotated code for mediation analysis in rjags, as well as two additional R packages for Bayesian analysis (brms and rstan) and two additional software packages (SAS and Mplus). We provide guidelines for reporting and interpreting results obtained in the Bayesian framework, and two extensions to the mediation model are discussed: adding covariates to the model and selecting informative priors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).