Focal Point Research Articles

Study Protocol for 'PsilOCD: A Pharmacological Challenge Study Evaluating the Effects of the 5-HT2A Agonist Psilocybin on the Neurocognitive and Clinical Correlates of Compulsivity'.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex condition marked by persistent distressing thoughts and repetitive behaviours. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms behind OCD remain elusive, and current treatments are limited. This protocol outlines an investigative study for individuals with OCD, exploring the potential of psilocybin to improve key components of cognition implicated in the disorder. The PsilOCD study strives to assess the effects of low-moderate psilocybin treatment (10 mg) alongside non-interventional therapy on several facets of OCD. The main focus points of PsilOCD are cognitive flexibility, measured with cognitive tests, and neuroplasticity, assessed through electroencephalography (EEG). 20 blinded participants with OCD will complete two dosing sessions, separated by four weeks, where they will receive 1 mg of psilocybin on the first and 10 mg on the second. The first dose serves as an active placebo, and the latter is a low-moderate dose that induces relatively mild-moderate emotional and perceptual effects.Participants will be supported by trained psychedelic therapists, who will sit with them during each dosing session and provide virtual preparation and integration sessions over the 12-week study period. Therapeutic support will be the same for both the 1 mg and 10 mg sessions. PsilOCD's primary outcomes include scores in the intradimensional-extradimensional (ID-ED) shift task, which is an established measure of cognitive flexibility, and neuroplasticity as quantified by a visual long-term potentiation (vLTP) task. This task is delivered as part of an EEG paradigm and measures acute quantified changes in neuroplasticity in the brain's visual system. The ID-ED task will be conducted twice, two days after each dosing session, and the EEG recordings will also be taken twice, immediately after each session. Secondary outcome assessments will include OCD and affective symptom severity, as well as an array of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), in the form of questionnaires designed to assess well-being, dissociable and well-established mood-related (affective) measures, and participants' subjective experience of the psilocybin experience. This study's results are expected to offer critical insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy in treating OCD, and whether these correlate with changes in the cognitive features of the condition. As a secondary aim, it will ascertain whether a low, tolerable dose is a feasible and efficacious clinical treatment, and will provide crucial data to guide the design of a potential follow-up randomised control trial (RCT).

Editorial—Focus point on citizen science for physics: from education to crowdsourcing fundamental research

Editorial—Focus point on citizen science for physics: from education to crowdsourcing fundamental research

Focus point on nonlinear optical systems and applications

Focus point on nonlinear optical systems and applications

Spawn-based pellets of Pleurotus ostreatus as an applied approach for the production of laccase in different types of water.

In recent years, oxidoreductase enzymes such as laccases have received considerable attention for their ability to degrade and eliminate organic micropollutants from contaminated water in a process known as enzyme-based wastewater treatment. Thus, methods to produce high laccase activity in water are a point of focus, with white-rot fungi being highlighted as a tool in this context. This study, therefore, explored the applied approach of direct addition of mushroom spawn of the white-rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus into water and its potential for laccase production under different conditions. Grain spawn was observed to be preferable to sawdust spawn, resulting in laccase activity of 53.9±5.9U/L and 4.8±0.8U/L, respectively. Laccase activity was induced by adding kraft lignin (4g/L), and an eightfold increase to 446.3±43.1U/L was observed for grain spawn. Lignin accumulated in the spawn over time, resulting in brown pellets composed of spawn, mycelium and lignin. Our results demonstrated that high levels of laccase activity could be obtained in different types of water, including effluent municipal wastewater, using this method. No impact from the addition of inorganic nitrogen (ammonium nitrate, N-levels 14mg/L, 140mg/L) or organic nitrogen sources (urea, yeast extract, wheat bran, N-levels 14mg/L, 140mg/L) was observed for the treatment with grain spawn and lignin, suggesting that stable laccase activity can be expected under these nutritional conditions.

Characterizations of rice husk based silica made from acid leaching extraction method

Rice husk is a material that is greatly acquired through agriculture, which opens up as a source for silica. It available in high quantity that has potential to be used in the concrete. Consequently, this research aims to address this gap by extracting and characterizing the silica from rice husks using the acid leaching method. The different leaching duration of for 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours is the main point of focus in this research. Leaching was done using 0.1 M HCl at room temperature. The XRD, EDX, and SEM are used to characterize the silica. The outcome has been achieved for leaching a period of 24 hour at room temperature was optimal for producing amorphous silica with minimal crystalline and smoothest surface morphology. The study explores an energy efficient and mass production method for silica extraction from rice husks.

Siak Tourism Based on Environmental Policy: Analysis of Tourism Development Opportunities and Challenges

This research seeks to examine various environmentally based international tourism developments with investment policies in Siak Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia. This research aims to identify, map international tourism opportunities and solutions specifically for tourism in Siaknegara district. Research data was collected based on observations, interviews and documentation in the field. Once collected, the data is analyzed by SWOT analysis. The research results show the need to make strategic formulations in order to develop internationally so that it is sustainable. The government’s policy of developing international border tourism for various stakeholders to collaborate has not been well integrated between the central government and the local government. The focus point for Siak tourism development is basic infrastructure and public facilities so that it is hoped that it will continue to increase the value and competitiveness of international border tourism. Siak tourism has the tagline “The Homeland of Malay”. All tourism activities must consider the existence of existing ecosystems in order to preserve existing life and maintain environmental quality. The need for policies and strategies in environmentally based management of natural tourism aims to preserve the environment and maintain the continuity of natural tourism activities so as to increase the country’s foreign exchange.

Silicon-via (Si-via) hole metrology and inspection by grayfield edge diffractometry

This paper introduces a novel silicon-via (Si-via) hole metrology and inspection method based on grayfield edge diffractometry, enabling simultaneous measurement of Si-via hole geometry and roughness. The edge diffraction interferogram occurs when incident light interacts with the via edge. A grayfield imaging system consists of a pair of axicon lenses, two objective lenses and imaging system was developed to capture the fringes. Here, a pair of axicon lenses shape the collimated beam into a donut-shaped beam profile. The shaped beam has an adjustable focus point, allowing scanning along the Si-via hole depth axis. The cross-correlation approach to comprehensive analysis of the fringes was performed to extract via roundness and via-edge roughness (VER). The relationship between cross-correlation output and VER was characterized, assuming the line-edge roughness (LER) represents VER. The proposed method was cross-verified with the conventional microscopy approach. In addition, the through-focus scanning optical microscopy method was also used to intuitively characterize the fringe feature in three-dimension. In conclusion, the proposed method can characterize Si-via hole's roundness and estimate VER, showcasing potential adaptability for automated Si-via hole inspections in wafer-level hybrid bonding applications.

Water as a Key Focus Point for Developing Education for Sustainable Development: Content Analysis Based on Curriculum Standards

Water, as the source of life, is a key element of environmental education. Geography education is strongly linked to the three pillars of sustainable development (SD). Firstly, this paper used the water-related standards of China’s national geography curriculum (GCSs) as the object of textual analysis. Two coders categorized the water-related GCSs, coding them with two distinct dimensions: geography core competencies and the SD literacy framework. Then, the coding results were analyzed by word frequency analysis to compare them with U.S. high school GCSs. Finally, the distribution of core competencies and the degree of SD literacy in China’s water-related GCSs were summarized and described. Finally, this study showed that China’s sustainable water education content is rich in content, yet fragmented. China’s water-related GCSs focus on the three dimensions of ESD, with an emphasis on the environmental dimension. GCSs in both countries emphasize human–Earth relations effectively.

Upper-level leaders’ perceptions of integrating health and social care services after the structural reform in Finland: a qualitative study

PurposeIn Finland, a major health and social service system reform was implemented in 2023. The reform introduced macro-level organizational integration of health and social services as the responsibility for organizing the services was transferred from c. 300 municipalities to 22 well-being services counties which get their funding from the state. The purpose of this study is to describe different leadership actions to promote integration at the meso- and micro-levels of the service system after the macro-level organizational reform.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews (n = 25) collected from the upper-level leaders of the well-being services counties. The study participants represented 11 well-being services counties in Finland. The data were collected in May–August 2023. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis.FindingsFour leadership actions to promote integration at the meso- and micro-levels of the service system were identified: (1) service user-based leadership actions, (2) partnership-based leadership actions, (3) service system-based leadership actions and (4) knowledge-based leadership actions. Most of the interviewees combined several different leadership actions in their recount.Originality/valueThe study highlights important information of the focus points set for leading integration in the unique context of reforming health and social services. With this paper, we provide a new way of comprehending integration from the leadership point of view. The conceptualization through the different leadership actions may facilitate forming a shared vision for integration among leaders and managers.

Analysis of Coca-Cola Company's Marketing Strategies and Business Model

In the context of the highly competitive global beverage market, this paper takes the Coca-Cola Company as the research object to analyze its unique marketing strategies and business models. With a rich history dating back to 1886, Coca-Cola has become the world's largest beverage company nowadays, with extremely high brand recognition and loyalty. Marketing strategies are a focus point of this essay. In the early stage, it increased brand awareness through outer-package bottle design, targeting American soldiers during World War II, and changing the Chinese-market-translated name. In the later stage, it strengthened its market position by investing a large amount in advertising, emphasizing the emotional connection with consumers, and establishing strategic partnerships with major events. Besides, this paper also analyzes its business model, which includes extensive distribution channels and multi-source revenue composition. This paper aims to provide targeted suggestions for Coca-Cola Company to face current challenges and offer references for other enterprises.

Impact of ChatGPT on Academic Engagement and Personalized Learning among Postgraduate Students ˗ A Literature Review

As the education technology space continues to evolve, ChatGPT and other AI models are transforming the manner in which students interact with content, self-growing the mode. This paper provides an in-depth relationship between SDL which is also an ache of freedom and autonomy and the use of ChatGPT by postgraduate students. In an age where students are becoming more dependent on AI tools, there are questions that come up as to how different these tools will impact levels of autonomy, motivation and satisfaction from learning. All of these factors combine to form successful specific learning design for various focus points, in this case Higher education and ChatGPT’s role in them. This article gives an account of the relationship between SDL and ‘emerging’ factors bringing in new paradigms to the existence of SDL & ‘How’ possible are those paradigms, assisted by recent debates young generations use ChatGPT to elevate academic performance. Furthermore, there are evident advantages observed where students are now able to receive timely help in more flexible ways there is still a grip of obstacles accompanied with academic integrity, an over-dependence on AI tools to solve complex scenarios and the limitations in both social and geographical factors which can restrict some users to have access in basic social constructs. This study further elucidates. As higher education institutions embrace AI, recognizing its subtle function in promoting SDL will be critical for creating supportive, inclusive, and effective learning environments. This study seeks to provide educators, policymakers, and academics with a comprehensive understanding of ChatGPT's role in supporting SDL, allowing them to make more educated decisions about AI integration in higher education. Key Words: ChatGPT, Academic Engagement, Personalized Learning

Triple Bottom Line Scenario Sites as Boundary Objects for Integrating Diverse Disciplines in Convergent Research

Today’s challenges with sustainability are driven by complexity, lack necessary information, resist straightforward solutions, span multiple scales, and encompass diverse or sometimes conflicting perspectives. To tackle these issues effectively, research organizations need tools that support and accelerate the integration of disciplinary knowledge across both natural and social sciences so that they can explore and execute workable solutions. Boundary objects are tools that can bring diverse perspectives together through a shared point of focus that is meaningful across different groups and perspectives, enhancing communication between them. Here, we introduce a framework to develop Triple Bottom Line Scenario Sites (TBL Sites) as “convergence” boundary objects and intervention testbeds to support a holistic approach to sustainability research within multidisciplinary and multi-institutional organizations. We describe four key criteria used to identify a potential TBL Site: (1) proximity to researchers, (2) a bounded geographic location encompassing a particular ecosystem, (3) an integrated stakeholder network, and (4) access to existing resources. We explain how TBL Sites may be used to assess research impacts on environmental, economic, and social sustainability goals. Finally, we provide examples of aquatic, agricultural, and urban TBL Sites used by the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, demonstrating how these boundary objects facilitate convergence across a large multidisciplinary research team to tackle sustainable phosphorus management.

Analyzing Lightning Strike Susceptibility Using the Elliptical Fitting Method with a Principal Component Analysis Approach

Lightning is a high-current discharge that occurs in Cumulonimbus clouds, with CG (Cloud to Ground)lightning strikes posing significant dangers, especially to human life. Pasuruan, located in the highlandsbetween mountains and the ocean in Indonesia, is particularly vulnerable to such strikes. This studyaims to mitigate the impact of lightning strikes, particularly in industrial areas like Pasuruan, by delineating lightning-prone areas using a sophisticated methodological approach. Our research employs arobust Ellipse Fitting Method, parameterized with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), to accuratelydefine the boundaries of these high-risk zones. The Ellipse Fitting Method, which involves formingan ellipse from the intersection of a plane and a cone, uses five key parameters: a center point, twovertex points, and two focus points. PCA is then applied to these parameters to determine the ellipse’sconfiguration, with the center point derived from the mean of all data points. The major and minoraxes are defined by the first and second eigenvalues of the principal components, respectively. The sizeof the ellipse correlates with the confidence level, with higher confidence resulting in a larger ellipse.The result of integrating these advanced techniques is the generation of two PCA models from datacollected across 28 sub-districts in Pasuruan, with findings indicating a high level of vulnerability inLumbang District and a moderate level of risk in Gempol District. This methodological framework notonly enhances the precision in identifying lightning-prone areas but also provides a scalable approachfor similar studies in other regions. Suggestion for the further research are to overcome extreme pointsor extreme points in the PCA confidence ellipse such as MVEE.

Electrochemical Synthesis of Diarylsultones and Dibenzothiophene Dioxide Via C–O/C–S Bond Formation

Sultones and dibenzothiophene dioxides are widely used in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biologically active molecules, and material sciences [1][2]. While many synthetic methods have been reported, the synthesis of sultones and dibenzothiophene dioxides usually require stoichiometric amounts of oxidants, expensive transition metals, and harsh conditions. Therefore, the development of efficient and environmentally friendly methods for the synthesis of these compounds is in highly demand.Meanwhile, electrochemical reactions have received considerable attention as an environmentally benign method in organic synthesis. In particular, electrochemical C–O and C–S bond formations have been a point of focus for the synthesis of useful compounds. However, there have been no reports on the electrochemical synthesis of sultones and dibenzothiophene dioxides.Herein, we report the electrochemical synthesis of diaryl-fused sultones and dibenzothiophene dioxides through dehydrogenative C–O and C–S bond formations [3][4]. A variety of diaryl-fused sultones were obtained in moderate to good yields through hydrolysis of sulfonyl chlorides and constant current electrolysis. Control experiments suggested that the electrochemical oxidation of the sulfonates generated in situ would afford sulfo radical intermediates, and subsequent radical cyclization gave the products. For synthesizing dibenzothiophene dioxides, using Bu4NOTf as an electrolyte in HFIP/CH3NO2 was essential. On the other hand, biaryl sulfonyl hydrazides were applied to constant current electrolysis to afford the corresponding dibenzothiophene dioxides efficiently. Control experiments suggested that the electrooxidation of biaryl sulfonyl hydrazides would proceed via sulfonyl radical and cation intermediates.

Military medicine of modern hybrid wars

During the hybrid armed conflict in which Russia became involved — the Special Military Operation — the medical service of the Armed Forces faced a number of challenges. This review analyzes foreign publications indexed in PubMed® concerning the conditions and factors affecting the activities of the medical services of armed forces, primarily those of NATO countries. It was revealed that a limiting factor for operational effectiveness is the staffing levels and qualitative composition of medical personnel, their preparedness to provide care for the specific pathologies of wartime, and maintaining these competencies in an up-to-date state. Important conditions for successful provision of medical care are preserving the integrity of medical facilities during targeted attacks on them, and the ability to use infrastructure in hostile or newly occupied territories. Prehospital care serves as a limiting factor in reducing lethality, with the main causes being fatal hemorrhages and head injuries from mine-blast trauma. Proper tourniquet application, rapid evacuation, and blood transfusions make the greatest contribution to reducing prehospital mortality. Among casualties, those with limb wounds are most significant, as they subsequently create the greatest social burden on the state, exceeding the “years lived with disability” parameter for all other disease classes, including oncological and cardiovascular diseases. In modern conflicts, the most dangerous in terms of lethality are mine-blast injuries (61.4–83.5%) and head injuries (20.9–59.0%), and in terms of subsequent disease burden, limb injuries (45.7%) constitute an absolute majority and are the point of focus for the main efforts of the medical services of the warring states’ armed forces. At the same time, there are no unified approaches regarding the place of application of qualified and specialized care among countries.

Relationship Between Aberration Coefficients of an Optical Device and Its Focusing Property

The best focus point of a focused Gaussian beam subject to a phase aberration is generally shifted with respect to the focal plane of the focusing lens. This focus shift is attributed to a lensing effect that belongs to the phase aberration, which mean focal length can be determined from the aberration coefficients determined in the framework of a Zernike polynomial decomposition. In this paper, we have checked the validity of this procedure, already available in literature, applied to three aberration types: a pure primary spherical aberration, the Kerr effect induced by a Gaussian beam, and an axicon illuminated by a Gaussian beam. Note that usually, the mean focal length of an aberrated lens is based on the relation between the effective radius of curvature of the wavefront before and after the lens. However, in this paper, the focal length associated with the phase aberration under study is defined from the point of the best focus, where the diffracted intensity on the axis is the maximum.

Exploring the Influence of Masculine Norms on Suicidal Ideation and Help-Seeking Behavior.

Background: Men account for 75% of all suicide deaths in Australia. Societally dominant masculine norms have been theorized to be linked with suicidality and reduced help-seeking. However, evidence is needed to establish this relationship further. Aims: To further understand the relationships between 11 masculine norms, suicidal ideation, and mental health help-seeking behavior longitudinally in Australian males. Method: We analyzed data from a cohort of 8,214 males (aged 18-55 years), using logistic regression to examine if conformity to any of the 11 masculine norms measured by the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI-22) at Wave 1 was associated with suicidal ideation and help-seeking at Wave 2. Results: Analyses revealed that being in the high conformity group for the norm of emotional control at Wave 1 was associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation longitudinally. Being in the low conformity group for the global construct of masculine norms and the specific norms of emotional control and power over women was associated with higher rates of mental health help-seeking behavior longitudinally. Limitations: The CMNI-22 scale's limited construct validity and the use of a single-item measure for suicidal ideation may have restricted the accurate capture of masculine norms and suicidal behaviors in Australian men. Conclusion: These results provide support for the contention that suicidality is a profoundly gendered phenomenon by showing an association between masculine norms and suicidal ideation in men. These norms should be a point of focus of male suicide prevention initiatives.

Leveraging 3D Convolutional Neural Networks for Accurate Recognition and Localization of Ankle Fractures.

Ankle fractures are common injuries with substantial implications for patient mobility and quality of life. Traditional imaging methods, while standard, have limitations in detecting subtle fractures and distinguishing them from complex bone structures. The advent of 3D Convolutional Neural Networks (3D-CNNs) offers a promising avenue for enhancing the accuracy and reliability of ankle fracture diagnoses. In this study, we acquired 1453high-resolution CT scans and processed them through three distinct 3D-CNN models: 3D-Mobilenet, 3D-Resnet101, and 3D-EfficientNetB7. Our approach involvedmeticulous preprocessing of images, including normalization and resampling, followed by a systematic comparative evaluation of the modelsbased on accuracy, Area Under the Curve (AUC), and recall metrics. Additionally, the integration of Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) provided visual interpretability of the models' predictive focus points. The 3D-EfficientNetB7 model outperformed the other models, achieving an accuracy of 0.91 and an AUC of 0.94 after 20 training epochs. It demonstrated particularly effective in the accurate detection and localization of subtle and complex fractures. Grad-CAM visualizations confirmed the model's focus on clinically relevant areas, aligning with expert assessments and enhancing trust in automated diagnostics. Spatial localization techniques were pivotal in improving interpretability, offering clear visual guidance for pinpointing fracture sites. Our findings highlight the effectiveness of the 3D-EfficientNetB7 model in diagnosing ankle fractures, supported by robust performance metrics and enhanced visualization tools.

Gaze-Contingent Layered Optical See-Through Displays with a Confidence-Driven View Volume.

The vergence-accommodation conflict (VAC) presents a major perceptual challenge for head-mounted displays with a fixed image plane. Varifocal and layered display designs can mitigate the VAC. However, the image quality of varifocal displays is affected by imprecise eye tracking, whereas layered displays suffer from reduced image contrast as the distance between layers increases. Combined designs support a larger workspace and tolerate some eye-tracking error. However, any layered design with a fixed layer spacing restricts the amount of error compensation and limits the in-focus contrast. We extend previous hybrid designs by introducing confidence-driven volume control, which adjusts the size of the view volume at runtime. We use the eye tracker's confidence to control the spacing of display layers and optimize the trade-off between the display's view volume and the amount of eye tracking error the display can compensate. In the case of high-quality focus point estimation, our approach provides high in-focus contrast, whereas low-quality eye tracking increases the view volume to tolerate the error. We describe our design, present its implementation as an optical-see head-mounted display using a multiplicative layer combination, and present an evaluation comparing our design with previous approaches.

Gene-based burden tests of rare germline variants identify six cancer susceptibility genes.

Discovery of cancer risk variants in the sequence of the germline genome can shed light on carcinogenesis. Here we describe gene burden association analyses, aggregating rare missense and loss of function variants, at 22 cancer sites, including 130,991 cancer cases and 733,486 controls from Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom. We identified four genes associated with increased cancer risk; the pro-apoptotic BIK for prostate cancer, the autophagy involved ATG12 for colorectal cancer, TG for thyroid cancer and CMTR2 for both lung cancer and cutaneous melanoma. Further, we found genes with rare variants that associate with decreased risk of cancer; AURKB for any cancer, irrespective of site, and PPP1R15A for breast cancer, suggesting that inhibition of PPP1R15A may be a preventive strategy for breast cancer. Our findings pinpoint several new cancer risk genes and emphasize autophagy, apoptosis and cell stress response as a focus point for developing new therapeutics.