Past Studies Research Articles

Satisfaction of adult and pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

Telehealth has become increasingly important in achieving universal health coverage. It offers doctors and their patients' convenience, including providing quality care at reduced costs. During the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic, telehealth has been a vital tool for remote healthcare services. This study aimed to assess the satisfaction of adult and pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons using telehealth, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. This study had 348 participants. It was conducted among adult and pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons using telehealth technology at their clinics between February and June 2021. The self-administered questionnaire included sociodemographic data, behavior in using telehealth, and an assessment of satisfaction with telehealth; the SPSS Windows software version 26 was used to analyze the data. The most common age group was 25-34 years (42.8%), with men dominating (68.4%). The mean satisfaction score was 25.9 (SD 3.91) out of 33 points, with 90.2% of respondents satisfied with telehealth and 9.8% dissatisfied. Working in an academic center or private hospital, being a first-time telehealth user, using messages as a telehealth method, and using telehealth daily were associated with increased satisfaction with telehealth use. The satisfaction of adult and pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons with telehealth was high. Although physicians still preferred face-to-face interviews, they recognized the benefits of telehealth in strengthening the patient-provider relationship, improving productivity, and integrating into daily workflows. The satisfaction levels align with past studies, but physical examination needs should be considered. Telehealth is suitable for follow-up visits and varies across subspecialties.

Flux Landscape with enhanced symmetry not on SL(2, ℤ) elliptic points

We study structures of solutions for SUSY Minkowski F-term equations on two toroidal orientifolds with h2,1 = 1. Following our previous study [1], with fixed upper bounds of a flux D3-brane charge Nflux, we obtain a whole Landscape and a distribution of degeneracies of physically-distinct solutions for each case. In contrast to our previous study, we consider a non-factorizable toroidal orientifold and its Landscape on which SL(2, ℤ) is violated into a certain congruence subgroup, as it had been known in past studies. We find that it is not the entire duality group that a complex-structure modulus U enjoys but its outer semi-direct product with a “scaling” outer automorphism group. The fundamental region is enlarged to include the |U| < 1 region. In addition, we find that high degeneracy is observed at an elliptic point, not of SL(2, Z) but of the outer automorphism group. Furthermore, ℤ2-enhanced symmetry is realized on the elliptic point. The outer automorphism group is exceptional in the sense that it is consistent with a symplectic basis transformation of background three-cycles, as opposed to the outer automorphism group of SL(2, ℤ). We also compare this result with Landscape of another factorizable toroidal orientifold.

Characterisation of IS1311 in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis genomes: Typing, continental clustering, microbial evolution and host adaptation.

Johne's disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a global burden for livestock producers and has an association with Crohn's disease in humans. Within MAP there are two major lineages, S/Type I/TypeIII and C/Type II, that vary in phenotype including culturability, host preference and virulence. These lineages have been identified using the IS1311 element, which contains a conserved, single nucleotide polymorphism. IS1311 and the closely related IS1245 element belong to the IS256 family of insertion sequences, are dispersed throughout M. avium taxa but remain poorly characterised. To investigate the distribution and diversity of IS1311 in MAP, 805 MAP genomes were collated from public databases. IS1245 was absent, while IS1311 sequence, copy number and insertion loci were conserved between MAP S lineages and varied within the MAP C lineage. One locus was specific to the S strains, which contained nine IS1311 copies. In contrast, C strains contained either seven or eight IS1311 loci. Most insertion loci were associated with the boundaries of homologous regions that had undergone genome rearrangement between the MAP lineages, suggesting that this sequence may be a driver of recombination. Phylogenomic geographic clustering of MAP subtypes was demonstrated for the first time, at continental scale, and indicated that there may have been recent MAP transmission between Europe and North America, in contrast to Australia where importation of live ruminants is generally prohibited. This investigation confirmed the utility of IS1311 typing in epidemiological studies and resolved anomalies in past studies. The results shed light on potential mechanisms of niche/host adaptation, virulence of MAP and global transmission dynamics.

Validation and Analysis of COIL, a Gene Associated with Multiple Lambing Traits in Sheep.

In a past study, the team used specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF sequencing) to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) contributing to the differences in lambing numbers in Xinjiang sheep. This study verified the correlation between the COIL gene and lambing number characters in sheep and explored its possible mechanism of action. In this study, three SNPs in the COIL gene, namely COILSNP1 (rs7321466), COILSNP2 (rs7314134), and COILSNP3 (rs7321563), were explored in terms of their possible mechanism of action. A tissue expression profiling analysis revealed that the COIL gene was significantly more expressed in the uterus and ovaries than in other tissues (p < 0.05), whereas an association analysis revealed that the number of lambs born was significantly different among individuals with different genotypes of this COILSNP1 (p < 0.05). The Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8) revealed that the overexpression of the COIL gene significantly increased the proliferation of mouse ovarian fibroblasts and sheep fibroblasts (p < 0.05). The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) revealed that the overexpression of the COIL gene significantly increased the activity of sheep fibroblasts (p < 0.01) and mouse ovarian fibroblasts (p < 0.05). The overexpression of the COIL gene affected the biogenesis pathway of spliceosomal U snRNPs by validating protein network connections. This activity affects ovulation, embryonic development, and changes in lambing size in sheep.

Reinforced concrete block masonry walls under eccentric compression: Assessment using experimental and numerical data

This paper presents the outcome of a research study carried out to assess the eccentric compression behaviour of reinforced concrete block masonry (RM) walls. The design provisions pertaining to axial compression capacity of RM walls are overly conservative, especially where slender walls are to be designed. To verify the relevancy of the design provisions outlined in the Australian masonry standards (AS 3700), an experimental database of RM walls tested under eccentric compression was created by gathering data from the past studies. In total, 76 partially grouted (PG) and 18 fully grouted (FG) RM wall test data were gathered. The established database revealed that the performance of fully grouted (FG-RM) walls are generally overlooked. To fill this gap, a finite element (FE) based numerical modelling procedure was established to understand the performance of FG-RM walls under eccentric compression. The established FE modelling procedure was validated with a set of experimental results and the validated modelling procedure was then used to parametrically analyse the eccentric compression behaviour of FG-RM walls. In total, 72 FG-RM wall cases were numerically simulated under eccentric compression, varying slenderness ratios (15, 21, 26, 32, 37, and 42), grout strengths (20 MPa, 30 MPa and 40 MPa) and boundary conditions (pinned-pinned and fixed-fixed). The analysed numerical data along with the experimental database were then used to verify the design provisions outlined in previous version of AS 3700 (2011) and current version of AS 3700 (2018). It was found that the provisions specified in AS 3700 (2011) were overly conservative than the AS 3700 (2018), justifying the need of deliberate revisions in terms of the treatment of slenderness, eccentricity and grout strength for designing the RM walls under compression.

Microbiota changes: the unseen players in cervical cancer progression.

Cervical cancer ranks among the most prevalent cancers globally with high-risk human papillomaviruses implicated in nearly 99% of cases. However, hidden players such as changes in the microbiota are now being examined as potential markers in the progression of this disease. Researchers suggest that changes in the vaginal microbiota might correlate with cervical cancer. This review provides a comprehensive look at the microbiota changes linked with the advancement of cervical cancer. It also scrutinizes the databases from past studies on the microbiota during healthy and cancerous stages, drawing connections between prior findings concerning the role of the microbiota in the progression of cervical cancer. Preliminary findings identify Fusobacterium spp., Peptostreptococcus spp., Campylobacter spp., and Haemophilus spp., as potential biomarkers for cervical cancer progression. Alloscardovia spp., Eubacterium spp., and Mycoplasma spp. were identified as potential biomarkers for HPVs (+), while Methylobacterium spp. may be indicative of HPV (-). However, the study's limitations, including potential biases and methodological constraints, underscore the need for further research to validate these findings and delve deeper into the microbiota's role in HPV development. Despite these limitations, the review provides valuable insights into microbiota trends during cervical cancer progression, offering direction for future research. The review summarizes key findings from previous studies on microbiota during healthy and cancerous stages, as well as other conditions such as CIN, SIL, HPV (+), and HPV (-), indicating a promising area for further investigation. The consistent presence of HPV across all reported cervical abnormalities, along with the identification of distinct bacterial genera between cancerous and control samples, suggests a potential link that merits further exploration. In conclusion, a more profound understanding of the microbial landscape could elucidate the pathogenesis of cervical diseases and inform future strategies for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.

Improved Surface Currents from Altimeter-Derived and Sea Surface Temperature Observations: Application to the North Atlantic Ocean

We present a study on the ocean surface currents reconstruction by merging Level-4 (L4, gap-free) altimeter-derived geostrophic currents and satellite sea surface temperature. Building upon past studies on the multi-variate reconstruction of geostrophic currents from satellite observations, we regionalized and optimized an algorithm to improve the altimeter-derived surface circulation estimates in the North Atlantic Ocean. A ten-year-long time series (2010–2019) is presented and validated by means of in situ observations. The newly optimized algorithm allowed us to improve the currents estimate along the main axis of the Gulf Stream and in correspondence of well-known upwelling areas in the North Eastern Atlantic, with percentage improvements of around 15% compared to standard operational altimetry products.

Revisiting the Porter hypothesis: a multi-country meta-analysis of the relationship between environmental regulation and green innovation

Although large numbers of studies have examined the Porter hypothesis, one important issue that remains to be addressed is that why past studies give rise to mixed results. By filling this knowledge gap, our research aimed to provide a fuller picture of the Porter hypothesis. By using the method of meta-analysis, including a total of 58 papers across the world, the findings showed that (1) the overall Porter hypothesis was confirmed—that, in general, environmental regulation had a positive effect on green innovation; (2) by decomposing environmental regulatory types and measures of green innovation, it validated the ‘narrow’ version of the Porter hypothesis—that flexible environmental regulation could foster innovation. Especially, we found the command and control regulation had shown its highest consistency and effectiveness in driving green innovation, whereas voluntary regulation had the highest level of flexibility among all regulatory measures; (3) we also found that heterogeneities of the results were attributed to country type and level of analysis. Overall, by integrating studies with large sample sizes and identifying variations among studies, we offered a comprehensive understanding of the mixed results of the Porter hypothesis and generated more precise and generalizable conclusions than the past studies.

RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH – AN IGNORED BUT EMERGING INDICATOR TO PREDICT ADVERSE EVENTS IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Objectives: Hypertension (HT) is related to the development of ischemic heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and chronic kidney disease. It is one of the primary causes of long-term morbidity and mortality. Past studies showed that red blood cell (RBC) morphology plays a significant role in inflammatory conditions of HT. Hence, this study was conducted to find association of erythrocyte parameters like RBC distribution width (RDW) with arterial blood pressure in hypertensives. Methods: The study was conducted in two groups: study and control. Fifty hypertensives and 50 normotensives between 40 and 60 years, matching inclusion and exclusion criteria were involved, and blood samples were taken and analyzed. Results: Our study has found significantly low values of mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin in the study group. However, the study group shows significantly high RDW values as compared to control group. Conclusion: High RDW values in hypertensives are a strong indicator of RBC abnormality, and it is associated with various vascular complications along with end-organ damage.

Interview Anxiety of Job Applicants in Relation to Age, Gender, and Academic Performance

Interview anxiety is a prevalent issue among job applicants. It poses a significant threat to applicants' interview performance. Past studies suggest a substantial gap in the comprehension of the various factors that can influence the anxiety experienced by job applicants during interviews. The goal of this research was to explore the interview anxiety of male and female job applicants in relation to their age and academic performance. A personal information form along with the adapted Bangla version of the Measurement of Anxiety in Selection Interview (MASI) scale was applied to 260 job applicants selected purposively from different public universities in Dhaka city. In the present study, a cross-sectional survey design was employed and data were analyzed by using independent sample t-tests, Pearson product-moment correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The results of the study indicated that females experience more anxiety in the selection interview than males. For both males and females, there was a positive correlation between age and interview anxiety, and academic performance was negatively correlated with interview anxiety. The results further revealed that, for both males and females, age and academic performance could predict interview anxiety where academic performance was the strongest predictor of interview anxiety. These findings may be useful to employers and human resource professionals concerned with these issues and to raise awareness regarding the interview anxiety of job applicants. Jagannath University Journal of Science, Volume 10, Number II, Dec. 2023, pp. 136-144

Analysis of Parvovirus B19 persistence and reactivation in human heart layers

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Myocarditis, or inflammation of the cardiac muscle, is estimated to cause up to 1.5 million cases annually, with viral infection being the most common disease culprit. Past studies have shown that Parvovirus B19 is routinely detected in endomyocardial biopsies. This virus has been linked to acute heart inflammation, which can cause cardiac muscle damage. However, because Parvovirus B19 can be found in the heart tissues in the absence of disease symptoms, it is unclear if the long-term presence of the virus contributes to, or initiates, heart disease. Here, we utilized a PCR-based detection assay to assess the presence of the B19V genome and its mRNA intermediates in human heart tissues. The analysis was carried out in three heart layers derived from one individual: epicardium, endocardium and myocardium. We showed the Parvovirus B19 genome presence variability in different heart layers. Similarly, viral transcriptional activity, assessed by the mRNA presence, was detected only in a few of the analyzed samples. Our results suggest that localized sites of Parvovirus B19 infection may exist within individual heart layers, which may have implication for the cardiac muscle inflammation.

Proportional impact prediction model of coating material on nitrate leaching of slow-release Urea Super Granules (USG) using machine learning and RSM technique

An accurate assessment of nitrate leaching is important for efficient fertiliser utilisation and groundwater pollution reduction. However, past studies could not efficiently model nitrate leaching due to utilisation of conventional algorithms. To address the issue, the current research employed advanced machine learning algorithms, viz., Support Vector Machine, Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest, M5 Tree (M5P), Reduced Error Pruning Tree (REPTree) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to predict and optimize nitrate leaching. In this study, Urea Super Granules (USG) with three different coatings were used for the experiment in the soil columns, containing 1 kg soil with fertiliser placed in between. Statistical parameters, namely correlation coefficient, Mean Absolute Error, Willmott index, Root Mean Square Error and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency were used to evaluate the performance of the ML techniques. In addition, a comparison was made in the test set among the machine learning models in which, RSM outperformed the rest of the models irrespective of coating type. Neem oil/ Acacia oil(ml): clay/sulfer (g): age (days) for minimum nitrate leaching was found to be 2.61: 1.67: 2.4 for coating of USG with bentonite clay and neem oil without heating, 2.18: 2: 1 for bentonite clay and neem oil with heating and 1.69: 1.64: 2.18 for coating USG with sulfer and acacia oil. The research would provide guidelines to researchers and policymakers to select the appropriate tool for precise prediction of nitrate leaching, which would optimise the yield and the benefit–cost ratio.

Increased lateral femoral condyle ratio measured by MRI is associated with higher risk of solitary meniscus injury.

Background: Past studies found that an increased lateral femoral condyle ratio is associated with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, but it is not clear if there is a link between MRI-measured lateral femoral condyle ratios and meniscal injuries. MRI provides a more accurate selection of measurement planes. Compared to X-rays, it further reduces data errors due to non-standard positions. Objective: To study the relationship between knee bone morphology and Solitary meniscal injuries by MRI. Methods: A total of 175 patients were included in this retrospective case-control study, including 54 cases of pure medial meniscus injury, 44 cases of pure lateral meniscus injury as the experimental group, and 77 control subjects. MRI images were used to measure the femoral notch width, femoral condylar width, femoral notch width index, lateral femoral condylar ratio (LFCR), posterior tibial slope, medial tibial plateau depth, and meniscus slope. In addition, carefully check for the presence of specific signs such as bone contusions and meniscal extrusions. Comparing the anatomical differences in multiple bone morphologies between the two groups, a stepwise forward multifactorial logistic analysis was used to identify the risk factors for Solitary meniscal injuries. Finally, ROC curves were used to determine the critical values and best predictors of risk factors. Results: MTS, LTS, and LFCR ended up as independent risk factors for meniscus injury. Among all risk factors, LFCR had the largest AUC of 0.781 (0.714-0.848) with a threshold of 72.75%. When combined with MTS (>3.63°), diagnostic performance improved with an AUC of 0.833 (0.774-0.892). Conclusion: Steep medial tibial plateau slope, steep lateral tibial plateau slope angle, and deep posterior lateral femoral condyles on MRI are independent risk factors for meniscal injuries. In patients with knee discomfort with the above imaging findings (X-ray, MRI), we should suspect and carefully evaluate the occurrence of meniscal injuries. It not only provides a theoretical basis to understand the mechanism of meniscus injury but also provides theoretical guidance for the prevention of meniscus injury and the development of intervention measures. Level of evidence III.

Assessing iPhone LiDAR & Recon-3D for determining area of origin in bloodstain pattern analysis.

Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) has proven to be a useful tool in forensic and criminal investigations for quite some time. Traditionally, documenting a crime scene for a bloodletting event was completed using manual techniques, physical strings, and a tape measure. In more recent years, laser scanners and 3D software programs have become a preferred method to capture accurate data that improves the validity and reliability of BPA. The initial cost of laser scanning equipment is relatively high, rendering these systems inaccessible to some police and smaller agencies. Recon-3D is a newly developed iPhone application that utilizes the iPhone LiDAR sensor in combination with video data to create 3D point clouds of crime scenes. To assess the viability of Recon-3D for area of origin analysis, two tests were performed. One was a series of bloodstain impacts which were analyzed in FARO Zone 3D software, while the second was a series of 6 repeated Recon-3D scans of two 90-degree walls which was then compared to the FARO Focus S350 scanner using CloudCompare software. A total of eight impact patterns were made at three different distances from a wall. The area of origin was measured and compared to the known location of the blood source. The average total 3D error for the area of origin set at 25, 50, and 100 cm from two perpendicular walls was found to be 6.04, 15.16, and 36.59 cm, respectively. These results are similar to past studies where programs such as HemoSpat have been used. The results of the point cloud comparison show that on average, 95% of the points from Recon-3D fall below a threshold of 3.6 mm when compared to a FARO Focus S350 laser scanner. Thus, the results of this test suggest that Recon-3D is an accurate and affordable scanning application for bloodstain patterns at crime scenes and the data provide acceptable results for area of origin analysis in BPA programs which accept laser scanner data.

Chimeric oncolytic adenovirus evades neutralizing antibodies from human patients and exhibits enhanced anti-glioma efficacy in immunized mice

Oncolytic viruses are a promising treatment for patients with high-grade gliomas, but neutralizing antibodies can limit their efficacy in patients with prior virus exposure or upon repeated virus injections. Data from a previous clinical trial using the oncolytic adenovirus Delta-24-RGD showed that generation of anti-viral neutralizing antibodies may affect the long-term survival of glioma patients. Past studies have examined the effects of neutralizing antibodies during systemic virus injections, but largely overlooked their impact during local virus injections into the brain. We found that immunoglobulins colocalized with viral proteins upon local oncolytic virotherapy of brain tumors, warranting a strategy to prevent virus neutralization and maximize oncolysis. Thus, we generated a chimeric virus, Delta-24-RGD-H43m, by replacing the capsid protein HVRs from the serotype 5-based Delta-24-RGD with those from the rare serotype 43. Delta-24-RGD-H43m evaded neutralizing anti-Ad5 antibodies and conferred a higher rate of long-term survival than Delta-24-RGD in glioma-bearing mice. Importantly, Delta-24-RGD-H43m activity was significantly more resistant to neutralizing antibodies present in sera of glioma patients treated with Delta-24-RGD during a phase 1 clinical trial. These findings provide a framework for a novel treatment of glioma patients that have developed immunity against Delta-24-RGD.

Building knowledge graphs from technical documents using named entity recognition and edge weight updating neural network with triplet loss for entity normalization

Attempts to express information from various documents in graph form are rapidly increasing. The speed and volume in which these documents are being generated call for an automated process, based on machine learning techniques, for cost-effective and timely analysis. Past studies responded to such needs by building knowledge graphs or technology trees from the bibliographic information of documents, or by relying on text mining techniques in order to extract keywords and/or phrases. While these approaches provide an intuitive glance into the technological hotspots or the key features of the select field, there still is room for improvement, especially in terms of recognizing the same entities appearing in different forms so as to interconnect closely related technological concepts properly. In this paper, we propose to build a patent knowledge network using the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent filings for the semiconductor device sector by fine-tuning Huggingface’s named entity recognition (NER) model with our novel edge weight updating neural network. For the named entity normalization, we employ edge weight updating neural network with positive and negative candidates that are chosen by substring matching techniques. Experiment results show that our proposed approach performs very competitively against the conventional keyword extraction models frequently employed in patent analysis, especially for the named entity normalization (NEN) and document retrieval tasks. By grouping entities with named entity normalization model, the resulting knowledge graph achieves higher scores in retrieval tasks. We also show that our model is robust to the out-of-vocabulary problem by employing the fine-tuned BERT NER model.

The Effect of Preoperative Education on Preoperative Anxiety in Patients Waiting for Surgery: A literature Review

Context: Among patients undergoing surgery, preoperative anxiety (PA) is one of the most common psychological problems that can negatively impact the patient's physical health and the operation's outcome. Preoperative patient education (PPE) is a way to reduce PA, which has many advantages over pharmaceutical methods. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of PPE on PA in patients who are candidates for surgery by reviewing similar previous studies. Evidence Acquisition: The data in this narrative review were collected by searching past studies in reliable international databases, including Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar, in the last two decades. In the first stage of the search, 248 articles and scientific reports were received, and then 30 articles were selected as final studies by considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: In most previous similar studies, PPE significantly reduced PA in patients who are candidates for surgery. However, the findings of a small number of studies also showed that PPE had little positive effect, no effect, or negative effect on PA control. There were different methods to provide information to patients before surgery, and the efficiency and application of each were different based on the demographic characteristics of the patients. Conclusions: Based on the findings, appropriate training methods can reduce the level of PA in patients who are candidates for surgery. However, in some past studies, providing information about the surgical procedure may increase patients' PA. Therefore, nurses or medical staff with more contact with patients are suggested to have sufficient experience and knowledge in providing information and choosing the training method for patients before surgery.

The reproductive microbiome and maternal transmission of microbiota via eggs in Sceloporus virgatus.

Maternal transmission of microbes occurs across the animal kingdom and is vital for offspring development and long-term health. The mechanisms of this transfer are most well-studied in humans and other mammals but are less well-understood in egg-laying animals, especially those with no parental care. Here, we investigate the transfer of maternal microbes in the oviparous phrynosomatid lizard, Sceloporus virgatus. We compared the microbiota of three maternal tissues-oviduct, cloaca, and intestine-to three offspring sample types: egg contents and eggshells on the day of oviposition, and hatchling intestinal tissue on the day of hatching. We found that maternal identity is an important factor in hatchling microbiome composition, indicating that maternal transmission is occurring. The maternal cloacal and oviductal communities contribute to offspring microbiota in all three sample types, with minimal microbes sourced from maternal intestines. This indicates that the maternal reproductive microbiome is more important for microbial inheritance than the gut microbiome, and the tissue-level variation of the adult S. virgatus microbiota must develop as the hatchling matures. Despite differences between adult and hatchling communities, offspring microbiota were primarily members of the Enterobacteriaceae and Yersiniaceae families (Phylum Proteobacteria), consistent with this and past studies of adult S. virgatus microbiomes.

Valenced Priming with Acquired Affective Concepts in Music

This study tested whether chords that do not differ in acoustic roughness but that have distinct affective connotations are strong enough to prime negative and positive associations measurable with an affective priming method. We tested whether musically dissonant chords low in valence (diminished, augmented) but that contain little acoustic roughness are strong enough in terms of negative affective connotations to elicit an automatic congruence effect in an affective priming setting, comparable to the major-positive/minor-negative distinction found in past studies. Three out of 4 hypotheses were supported by the empirical data obtained from four distinct sub-experiments (approximately N = 100 each) where the diminished and augmented chords created strong priming effects. Conversely, the minor chord and the suspended fourth failed to generate priming effects. The results demonstrate how automatic responses to consonant/dissonant chords can be driven by acquired, cultural concepts rather than exclusively by acoustic features. The obtained results of automatic responses are notably in line with previous data gathered from self-report studies in terms of the stimuli’s positive vs. negative valence. The results are discussed from the point of view of previous affective priming studies, cross-cultural research, as well as music historical observations.

Sustainable leadership practices among school leaders and their relationship with school climate

Sustainable leadership practices ensure that the mission and vision of a school continue despite changes and challenges. Such a practice can build the capacity of the organization based on the environment, especially in shaping a better school climate. Past studies have found a significant link between school leadership practices and the school climate. However, there has been little discussion about the phenomenal relationship the in rural national secondary school (SMK) context. Hence, this study aimed to identify the level of sustainable leadership practices of principals and their relationship with the school climate in rural SMK in Malaysia. A total of 450 teachers were selected to participate in the study using proportionate random sampling and questionnaires were adopted as the research method. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the research population located in rural areas, data were collected through the mail. The findings showed that the level of sustainable leadership practices of the principals was high (M=4.18, SD=0.52), along with a high level of the school climate (M=4.14, SD=0.51). Sustainable leadership practices were also positively associated with school climate (r=0.607, p&amp;lt;0.05). These findings can be used by the Ministry of Education Malaysia to enhance sustainable leadership practices in the national education leaders professional qualifications designed specifically for future school leaders in Malaysia. In this regard, it is hoped that these findings will enrich the literature on sustainable leadership practices and the school climate.