Previous Research Research Articles

Prevalence of Visual Impairment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Mini Review

The association between Visual Impairment (VI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) remains an important research topic among children suffering from developmental delays and disabilities. The objective of this mini review was to evaluate previous literature on prevalence and etiology of visual impairment, frequency of visual impairment and types of refractive errors associated with autism in children. Previous researches on ASD found that the visual impairment is one of the major factors in autistic children. Hence measurement of vision screening in autism disorder is necessary for better explanation of the problem. The etiologies of visual impairment in autistic children were associated with refractive error and strabismus. Identification of refractive error in ASD children and providing them suitable corrective lenses may improve their visual functions and help in their daily activities. With these findings in mind, there is an urgent need to investigate further in this area and developed more detailed research. The findings would help optometrist, ophthalmologist in understanding types of visual impairment in autism school children.

Veratrilla baillonii Franch alleviate the symptoms of diabetes in type 2 diabetic rats induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin

Our previous research studies have shown that Veratrilla baillonii Franch, a food supplement used by ethnic minorities in Southwest China, has multiple pharmacological activities, such as detoxification, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-insulin resistance. However, the detailed signal pathways for its salutary effect on damages in multiple organs due to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains unclear. The current study is to evaluate the therapeutic effects of V. baillonii on T2DM rats and to explore the underlying mechanisms. The T2DM rat model was successfully established by a high-sugar and high-fat diet (HFD) combination with intraperitoneal injection of a small dose of streptozotocin (STZ, 35 mg/kg). Biochemical analysis and histopatholgical examinations were conducted to evaluate the anti-diabetic potential of water extracts of V. baillonii (WVBF). The results showed that the WVBF treatment can improve hyperglycemia and insulin resistance, ameliorate the liver, kidney and pancreas injuries via decreasing inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF-α, and oxidative damages. Further investigation suggested that WVBF modulates the signal transductions of the IRS1/PI3K/AKT/GLUT4 and AMPK pathways. These findings demonstrate potentials of WVBF in the treatment of T2DM and possible mechanisms for its hepatoprotective activities.

Stochastic synchronization of Kuramoto-oscillator network with pinning control

The issue of time cost for the Kuramoto-oscillator network synchronization has received widespread attention. However, there is no relevant research on the stochastic synchronization of the Kuramoto-oscillator network with partial uncontrollable oscillators. This article investigates the synchronization problem of the Kuramoto-oscillator network in noisy environments using the pinning control strategy and multilayer distributed control. Previous research requires control of all oscillators, which implies a great control cost. To reduce the control cost, the finite/fixed time pinning controllers are designed to provide the conditions for synchronization in noisy environments, and then the upper bounds on the convergence time of the network are estimated. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to justify the theoretical conclusions.

Childhood maltreatment and somatic symptoms: Examining the role of specific types of childhood maltreatment and alexithymia.

Given the strong association between a history of childhood maltreatment and somatic symptoms, identification of therapeutically modifiable intervention targets is warranted. Alexithymia, or difficulty identifying and describing emotions, may be playing an important role. The present study examined contributions of alexithymia and childhood maltreatment as related to somatic symptoms. Participants (N = 447) completed measures of childhood maltreatment, alexithymia, and somatic symptoms. Two three-step hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to examine the unique contribution of alexithymia after accounting for demographic characteristics and childhood maltreatment. The first regression utilized total scores, and the second explored five domains of childhood maltreatment, a trauma validity index, and three domains of alexithymia. In the first linear regression, childhood maltreatment and alexithymia were significantly associated with higher somatic symptoms. In the second linear regression, childhood maltreatment and alexithymia both significantly added to the model; however, only emotional abuse was significantly associated with somatic symptoms. In line with previous research, childhood maltreatment and alexithymia are associated with somatic symptoms. Given specific domains of alexithymia were nonsignificant in this relationship, it appears no single aspect of alexithymia is of greater importance. Future research should examine these associations longitudinally, as improving alexithymia may help improve outcomes in individuals with childhood maltreatment history experiencing somatic symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A Traveling Waves Perspective on Temporal Binding.

Brain oscillations are involved in many cognitive processes, and several studies have investigated their role in cognition. In particular, the phase of certain oscillations has been related to temporal binding and integration processes, with some authors arguing that perception could be an inherently rhythmic process. However, previous research on oscillations mostly overlooked their spatial component: how oscillations propagate through the brain as traveling waves, with systematic phase delays between brain regions. Here, we argue that interpreting oscillations as traveling waves is a useful paradigm shift to understand their role in temporal binding and address controversial results. After a brief definition of traveling waves, we propose an original view on temporal integration that considers this new perspective. We first focus on cortical dynamics, then speculate about the role of thalamic nuclei in modulating the waves, and on the possible consequences for rhythmic temporal binding. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of considering oscillations as traveling waves when investigating their role in cognitive functions.

Observational Evidence for a Regime Shift in Summer Antarctic Sea Ice

Abstract In recent years, the Southern Ocean has experienced extremely low sea ice cover in multiple summers. These low events were preceded by a multidecadal positive trend that culminated in record high ice coverage in 2014. This abrupt transition has led some authors to suggest that Antarctic sea ice has undergone a regime shift. In this study we analyze the satellite sea ice record and atmospheric reanalyses to assess the evidence for such a shift. We find that the standard deviation of the summer sea ice record has doubled from 0.31 million km2 in 1979–2006 to 0.76 million km2 for 2007–22. This increased variance is accompanied by a longer season-to-season sea ice memory. The atmosphere is the primary driver of Antarctic sea ice variability, but using a linear predictive model we show that sea ice changes cannot be explained by the atmosphere alone. Identifying whether a regime shift has occurred is difficult without a complete understanding of the physical mechanism of change. However, the statistical changes that we demonstrate (i.e., increased variance and autocorrelation, and a changed response to atmospheric forcing), as well as the increased spatial coherence noted by previous research, are indicators based on dynamical systems theory of an abrupt critical transition. Thus, our analysis is further evidence in support of a changed Antarctic sea ice system. Significance Statement In recent years, there have been several summers with extremely low Antarctic sea ice cover, including consecutive record lows in February 2022 and February 2023. Since then, the 2023 winter has seen a remarkably low sea ice growth with an anomaly far below expected climatology. This has led researchers to question whether there has been a regime shift, and we assess the observational evidence for such a shift. In the last decade or so, the variability of summer sea ice has almost doubled, accompanied by a much longer sea ice memory from season to season. These statistical changes, as well an increased spatial coherence noted by other researchers, are consistent with theoretical indicators of a critical transition, or regime shift.

The possibility of Polygonum cuspidatum Against Osteoarthritis Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

Polygonum cuspidatum（PC）, a widely used Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), plays an important role in treating various diseases including osteoarthritis (OA). Yet, the multicomponent and multitarget characteristics of PC make deciphering the pharmacological mechanisms difficult. The purpose of this study is to identify the core molecular mechanisms of PC against OA. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database was used to search the active ingredients of PC. GeneCards was then screened to establish relevant databases for OA. A visual interactive network diagram of the relationship between the active ingredient, action target, and disease was built using Uniprot. Finally, we used STRING (Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins) database to explain the interaction network of proteins and to further analyze the relationships between related proteins. PC was screened for nine potentially effective active compounds that can be used to treat OA: 6,8-Dihydroxy-7-methoxyxanthone, rhein, physovenine, beta-sitosterol, picralinal, quercetin, luteolin, catechin, and resveratrol. Using GeneCards database and TCMSP database, we obtained 149 OA-related genes after taken the intersection of OA and PC targets. Moreover, eight core target proteins were calculated by CytoNCA plugin, which is used for network centrality analysis. The enrichment analysis of the common target genes shared by PC and OA unraveled the main biological processes, such as responses to lipopolysaccharide, chemical stress, and reactive oxygen species. Previous research has been demonstrated that signaling pathways related to apoptosis, inflammation, and cartilage protection are involved with those core target genes we found, like TNF and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. The outcome of the molecular docking experiments illustrates that some PC's active components, including luteolin, resveratrol, and 6,8-Dihydroxy-7-methoxyxanthone, share strong molecular docking as well as binding ability with the core common target protein. The results bring that PC similarly has the potential to treat OA. The main purpose of this study is to screen the active ingredients and most important target molecules of PC in treating OA. This was achieved using bioinformatic tools and databases to investigate molecular docking technology. The findings provide a theoretical foundation and potential new treatment plan for OA using PC.

A Review of Pharmacotherapeutic Potentials of Black seeds (Nigella sativa) in the Management of Monkeypox Infection

Abstract: Around 3500 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox infection, from 42 non-endemic countries have been reported to World Health Organization (WHO), during the current multicountry monkeypox outbreak. As of now, patients with monkeypox infection are managed symptomatically with supportive care. Hence, our current review focuses on the analysis of the pharmacotherapeutic potentials of black seeds (N. sativa). The literature was searched in web-based databases including web of science, Medline/PMC/PubMed, Embase, EBSCO, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and reference lists to identify relevant publications. Several clinical, animal, in-vivo, in-vitro, and in-silico studies have confirmed the antiviral efficacy of N. sativa against various viruses. In addition, previous research have demonstrated the analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects of Black seeds (N. sativa), which would help to alleviate the signs, symptoms, and complications associated with monkeypox infection. In consequence, black seeds (N. sativa) could be added as an adjuvant therapy along with repurposed/ investigational antiviral drugs and supportive care in the management of patients with monkeypox infection in early stages to prevent inflammatory conditions and secondary bacterial infections. The safety and efficacy of Black seeds (N. sativa) in the management of monkeypox infection would further be established by future randomized controlled clinical trials.

It is not what you say but how you say it: Evidence from Russian shows robust effects of the structural prior on noisy channel inferences.

Under the noisy-channel framework of language comprehension, comprehenders infer the speaker's intended meaning by integrating the perceived utterance with their knowledge of the language, the world, and the kinds of errors that can occur in communication. Previous research has shown that, when sentences are improbable under the meaning prior (implausible sentences), participants often interpret them nonliterally. The rate of nonliteral interpretation is higher when the errors that could have transformed the intended utterance into the perceived utterance are more likely. However, previous experiments on noisy channel processing mostly relied on implausible sentences, and it is unclear whether participants' nonliteral interpretations were evidence of noisy channel processing or the result of trying to conform to the experimenter's expectations in an experiment with nonsensical sentences. In the current study, we used the unique properties of Russian, an understudied language in the psycholinguistics literature, to test noisy-channel comprehension using only simple plausible sentences. The prior plausibility of sentences was tied only to their word order; subject-verb-object (SVO) sentences were more probable under the structural prior than object-verb-subject (OVS) sentences. In two experiments, we show that participants often interpret OVS sentences nonliterally, and the probability of nonliteral interpretations depended on the Levenshtein distance between the perceived sentence and the (potentially intended) SVO version of the sentence. The results show that the structural prior guides people's final interpretation, independent of the presence of semantic implausibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Can pre-service teachers learn about fake news by playing an augmented reality escape game?

Fake news is increasingly becoming a major problem for global social coexistence, for example by undermining trust in democracies. There is a consensus that educational institutions need to respond and prepare students to recognize fake news. Teachers have a central role to play in preparing students and therefore need to learn about fake news during their studies. Previous research has shown that games are particularly effective for learning about fake news, but the group of pre-service teachers has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study is to address this gap by examining whether pre-service teachers can learn about fake news using the augmented reality escape game <i>Escape Fake</i>. To investigate this question, a pre-/post-test design was conducted with 45 pre-service teachers (four males, mean age=22.59 years, standard deviation=1.80). The results show that after playing <i>Escape Fake</i>, the pre-service teachers demonstrate significantly higher knowledge about fake news, are significantly more critical towards online information, and are significantly more confident in being able to recognize fake news in the future. However, playing the game did not promote the ability to discern real from false information. The paper discusses reasons for this finding and suggests ways to improve learning with the game. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

The career history of Chinese entrepreneurs and their life outcomes: a life history study using sequence analysis

Chinese entrepreneurs, whose population has been steadily growing since the Reform and Open Up in 1978, are a diverse group of people. Though previous research has analysed Chinese entrepreneurs by special cases, few have conducted a nationally representative study of their typology. And even fewer have analysed the life outcomes of the different types of entrepreneurs. Relying on two waves of the panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and with the technique of sequence analysis, for the first time, we explored the heterogeneous career trajectories of Chinese entrepreneurs and their corresponding life outcomes. We successfully depicted four unique entrepreneurial trajectories in China since the 1950s, which are necessity entrepreneurs, employee entrepreneurs, persistent entrepreneurs and farmer entrepreneurs. Our empirical results can support both the cumulative disadvantage theory and the set-point theory in health-related studies. Among all the entrepreneurs, farmer entrepreneurs have the worst self-rated health in the long run, which supports the cumulative disadvantage theory. At the same time, all types of entrepreneurs have similar depressive symptoms and economic returns, which supports the set-point theory.

A review on internet of things-based stingless bee's honey production with image detection framework

Honey is produced exclusively by honeybees and stingless bees which both are well adapted to tropical and subtropical regions such as Malaysia. Stingless bees are known for producing small amounts of honey and are known for having a unique flavor profile. Problem identified that many stingless bees collapsed due to weather, temperature and environment. It is critical to understand the relationship between the production of stingless bee honey and environmental conditions to improve honey production. Thus, this paper presents a review on stingless bee's honey production and prediction modeling. About 54 previous research has been analyzed and compared in identifying the research gaps. A framework on modeling the prediction of stingless bee honey is derived. The result presents the comparison and analysis on the internet of things (IoT) monitoring systems, honey production estimation, convolution neural networks (CNNs), and automatic identification methods on bee species. It is identified based on image detection method the top best three efficiency presents CNN is at 98.67%, densely connected convolutional networks with YOLO v3 is 97.7%, and DenseNet201 convolutional networks 99.81%. This study is significant to assist the researcher in developing a model for predicting stingless honey produced by bee's output, which is important for a stable economy and food security.

Mapping literature of multicultural education: a bibliometric review

<span lang="EN-US">The value of multicultural education is acknowledged on a global scale, despite the fact that various barriers prevent its complete implementation. These include cultural, linguistic, religious, economic, difference in physical condition, and ethnic backgrounds. By assessing publishing trends, extracting data on author keyword trends, examining conceptual evolution, and establishing possible future research on this topic using the Scopus database. This study found that publications grew in quantity from 2013 to 2022, decreased in 2015 and 2018 but were not significant, and 2021 was the highest peak with 221 documents. With 111 publications, the United States is the most prolific and co-authored with authors from Canada, China, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and South Korea. Based on thematic evolution, ‘subspace-clustering’, ‘conversational-system’, ‘aortic-aneurysm’, ‘Bayesian-network-classifier’, are themes or topics that have recently developed. By utilizing these important terms, the study of multicultural education can be examined more thoroughly and more extensive in the future in order to learn new knowledge. In conclusion, this research has the potential to contextualize previous research on the topic and create an evidence-based practice paradigm for future studies grounded in science.</span>

Exploring pre-service teachers’ ICT competence beliefs

It is essential for pre-service teachers to hold positive beliefs about information and communication technology (ICT) and possess digital skills to integrate digital technology successfully into the teaching and learning environments. Although numerous studies have examined teachers’ attitudes toward ICT, little research has examined teachers’ ICT competency beliefs. This research aimed to explore pre-service teachers’ ICT competence beliefs.<b> </b>We used an instrument developed by previous researchers for data collection. The results showed that the pre-service teachers had good ICT competence beliefs. A few gender differences were found between participants’ mean scores on six dimensions of the data collection instrument. No gender differences were found for many items. It was found that there were no significant differences in the years of study of participants across five different grade levels. However, the lowest mean scores were found in analyzing and reflecting, problem-solving, and information and data literacy. Conversely, the highest mean scores were detected in communication and collaboration, digital content creation, and safety and security. Based on these findings, recommendations have been made for practice and future research.

Longitudinal associations between adolescent skin color satisfaction and adult health outcomes in Black women.

Although emerging studies examine the inverse relationship between body satisfaction and disordered eating for Black women, it has not been established how racially salient aspects of body satisfaction may have implications for eating behaviors and longitudinal health outcomes. In a longitudinal sample of 455 Black women, we examined whether skin color satisfaction across ages 10-15 was directly related to adult health outcomes at age 40 (e.g., disordered eating, self-esteem, self-reported health, depressive symptoms, and cardiovascular risk). We also investigated the indirect impact of skin color satisfaction on adult health, mediated by body satisfaction, and binge eating. No significant direct or indirect effects of adolescent skin color satisfaction were observed for depressive symptoms or cardiovascular health outcomes. At ages 10 and 12, skin color satisfaction had negative and positive direct effects, respectively, on self-esteem. At age 15, greater skin color satisfaction was directly associated with greater self-reported health. Post hoc analyses revealed that when additionally accounting for adolescent body satisfaction, greater skin color satisfaction was indirectly associated with greater self-esteem and self-reported health, alongside lower cardiovascular risk. Although previous research suggests that in adolescence, Black girls' skin color satisfaction affects both body satisfaction and disordered eating behaviors, this association does not hold into midlife. Rather, post hoc analyses suggest that the lasting effects of adolescent skin color satisfaction are mediated by the longitudinal stability of body satisfaction, which in turn, is associated with adult health outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

تصور مقترح لتفعيل دور التربية الفنية في الحد من ظاهرة العنف لدى الطلاب في المرحلة المتوسطة بمدارس الطائف

The phenomenon of violence is one of the biggest problems facing society. This phenomenon has become a concern for all segments of society، including academics، especially educators، due to its increase and spread، not to mention its different forms and the different motives producing it and its negative effects. Psychologists، sociologists and educators believe that art education is one of the best means of modifying the behavior of middle school students in Ta’if schools. The study aimed to reveal the role of art education in contributing to reducing the phenomenon of violence among middle school students in Ta’if schools. It addressed the implications of violence and its causes، discussed art education and its importance، and presented a proposed vision to activate the role of art education in reducing the phenomenon of violence among middle school students in Ta’if schools. The researcher used the descriptive analytical approach. The study was limited to middle school students in Ta’if schools. The researcher checked previous studies and research in the field of violence and then presented and analyzed the important role of art education in contributing to reducing the phenomenon of violence among Students. The conclusions of the study verified the validity of its hypothesis and objectives. The study presented a proposed vision to activate the role of art education in reducing the phenomenon of violence among middle school students in Ta’if schools.

Enhancing Structural Resilience: Exploring the Novel Sleeve Method for Steel T-Stub Connections

A new sleeve device has been introduced with the aim of enhancing the performance of steel structures under extreme loading conditions. Previous research has primarily focused on numerical simulations of this sleeve's application, emphasizing the need for further investigation to validate its effectiveness. This research paper presents a numerical analysis that explores how the sleeve device influences the deformation capacity and strength of a bolt up to the point of failure. The study involved the use of a T-stub connection with multiple sleeves, each featuring different geometric parameters. To assess the impact on strength and deformation capacity, a comparison was drawn between these findings and the behavior of a T-stub bolted connection without using the sleeve. In addition, Finite Element (FE) models were employed for additional parametric studies. The test outcomes demonstrated a substantial increase in the deformability of the bolted connection when utilizing the sleeve device, all the while preserving the strength and initial stiffness of the bolts. This proposed sleeve method in the study significantly enhances the connection's capacity by delaying bolt failure.

Governing through the nationally determined contribution (NDC): five functions to steer states’ climate conduct

ABSTRACT The Paris Agreement places states’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) at the center of global climate politics. While previous research on the NDC has provided important suggestions for enhanced legitimacy and effectiveness of global climate governance, I examine the NDC not in terms of its content, but as an instrument for governing climate conduct in the post-Paris regime. By analyzing state submissions to post-Paris NDC negotiations, I identify five functions of the NDC: Progress Tracker, Trust-Builder, Influencer, Differentiator, and Gatekeeper. While the first three functions are informed by a techno-managerial rationality that posits effective climate action as a project of increased information-sharing, the last two highlight underlying political struggles of responsibility and fairness which are not necessarily solvable through intensified collaboration. I argue that these diverging views on the function of the NDC will become increasingly prominent as we move toward the first round of the global stocktake in 2023.

Adaptation to Simulated Hypergravity in a Virtual Reality Throwing Task

According to previous research, humans are generally poor at adapting to earth-discrepant gravity, especially in Virtual Reality (VR), which cannot simulate the effects of gravity on the physical body. Most of the previous VR research on gravity adaptation has used perceptual or interception tasks, although adaptation to these tasks seems to be especially challenging compared to tasks with a more pronounced motor component. This article describes the results of two between-subjects studies ( n = 60 and n = 42) that investigated adaptation to increased gravity simulated by an interactive VR experience. The experimental procedure was identical in both studies: In the adaptation phase, one group was trained to throw a ball at a target using Valve Index motion controllers in gravity that was simulated at five times of earth’s gravity (hypergravity group), whereas another group threw at a longer-distance target under normal gravity (normal gravity group) so both groups had to exert the same amount of force when throwing (approximated manually in Study 1 and mathematically in Study 2). Then, in the measurement phase, both groups repeatedly threw a virtual ball at targets in normal gravity. In this phase, the trajectory of the ball was hidden at the moment of release so that the participants had to rely on their internal model of gravity to hit the targets rather than on visual feedback. Target distances were placed within the same range for both groups in the measurement phase. According to our preregistered hypotheses, we predicted that the hypergravity group would display worse overall throwing accuracy and would specifically overshoot the target more often than the normal gravity group. Our experimental data supported both hypotheses in both studies. The findings indicate that training an interactive task in higher simulated gravity led participants in both studies to update their internal gravity models, and therefore, some adaptation to higher gravity did indeed occur. However, our exploratory analysis also indicates that the participants in the hypergravity group began to gradually regain their throwing accuracy throughout the course of the measurement phase.

Assessing the mediating role of organizational justice between the responsible leadership and employee turnover intention in health-care sector.

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which organizational justice (OJ) mediates between responsible leadership (RL) and employee turnover intention (TI). Both online and offline questionnaire was used to collect the data from 387 Indian health-care employees, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS 4. The study's findings demonstrated a significant positive association between RL and OJ and a negative association between OJ and employee TI. Furthermore, results also confirmed the mediating role of OJ between RI and TI. The generalizability of the study's data collection is limited because it is based on the responses of Indian health-care sector employees to an online and offline survey. The authors propose that the health-care sector uses RL as an approach that takes a broad view of the parties with a stake and focuses on creating fairness in acts and justice at the workplace to address the major issue of employee turnover. This study expanded on previous research by demonstrating that the influence of responsible leadership on employee TI is mediated by OJ in the context of India's health-care sector. It also contributes to the literature regarding RI, OJ and TI. The study also enriched the body of knowledge about using the PLS-SEM approach to predict employee TI.