Public Version Research Articles

Effects of artificial intelligence on English speaking anxiety and speaking performance: A case study

AbstractForeign language anxiety (FLA) has been a perennial concern in language learning, as foreign language (FL) learners often communicate feelings of anxiety, stress, or nervousness. This study explored the role of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in speaking practice for FLA management of 48 undergraduate participants in an EFL class in Egypt. An eight‐week, quasi‐experimental pretest–posttest design examined learner anxiety levels using a 33‐item FLA questionnaire. Their oral proficiency was assessed via roleplaying using an interaction‐enhanced public version of the IELTS speaking evaluation rubric. The results confirmed that FL learners experienced FLA pre‐ and post‐intervention. The identified anxiety levels played a facilitative role in FL learning with several ensuing gains. The use of conversationally enhanced AI chatbots in interactive activities slightly intensified learners' FLA, thus meriting further investigation of these objectives. Overall, subject to further development, AI chatbots are promising for significantly improving linguistic output gains; however, this study found that learners' speech‐related anxieties were not reduced following the interactions with the chatbots. It is concluded that FLA plays an underexplored facilitative role in sharpening learner cognitive faculties and linguistic capacities. Moreover, AI chatbots may be beneficial in advancing FL learning with significant potential in EFL contexts, facilitating improved interaction and oral communication. These findings support the integration of AI technologies as effective tools in FL education, providing flexible, interactive, and learner‐centred learning. This study is expected to be of considerable interest to FL educators and learners.

Awareness and Willingness to Use HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Survey.

Awareness and Willingness to Use HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Survey.

O-GlcNAcAtlas: A database of experimentally identified O-GlcNAc sites and proteins.

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a post-translational modification (i.e., O-GlcNAcylation) on the serine/threonine residues of proteins. As a unique intracellular monosaccharide modification, protein O-GlcNAcylation plays important roles in almost all biochemical processes examined. Aberrant O-GlcNAcylation underlies the etiologies of a number of chronic diseases. With the tremendous improvement of techniques, thousands of proteins along with their O-GlcNAc sites have been reported. However, until now, there are few databases dedicated to accommodate the rapid accumulation of such information. Thus, O-GlcNAcAtlas is created to integrate all experimentally identified O-GlcNAc sites and proteins. O-GlcNAcAtlas consists of two datasets (Dataset-I and Dataset-II, for unambiguously identified sites and ambiguously identified sites, respectively), representing a total number of 4571 O-GlcNAc modified proteins from all species studied from 1984 to 31 Dec 2019. For each protein, comprehensive information (including species, sample type, gene symbol, modified peptides and/or modification sites, site mapping methods and literature references) is provided. To solve the heterogeneity among the data collected from different sources, the sequence identity of these reported O-GlcNAc peptides are mapped to the UniProtKB protein entries. To our knowledge, O-GlcNAcAtlas is a highly comprehensive and rigorously curated database encapsulating all O-GlcNAc sites and proteins identified in the past 35years. We expect that O-GlcNAcAtlas will be a useful resource to facilitate O-GlcNAc studies and computational analyses of protein O-GlcNAcylation. The public version of the web interface to the O-GlcNAcAtlas can be found at http://oglcnac.org/.

The reporting checklist for public versions of guidelines: RIGHT-PVG

BackgroundPublic or patient versions of guidelines (PVGs) are derivative documents that “translate” recommendations and their rationale from clinical guidelines for health professionals into a more easily understandable and usable format for patients and the public. PVGs from different groups and organizations vary considerably in terms of quality of their reporting. In order to address this issue, we aimed to develop a reporting checklist for developers of PVGs and other potential users.MethodsFirst, we collected a list of potential items through reviewing a sample of PVGs, existing guidance for developing and reporting PVGs or other similar evidence-based patient tools, as well as qualitative studies on original studies of patients’ needs about the content and/or reporting of information in PVGs or similar evidence-based patient tools. Second, we conducted a two-round Delphi consultation to determine the level of consensus on the items to be included in the final reporting checklist. Third, we invited two external reviewers to provide comments on the checklist.ResultsWe generated the initial list of 45 reporting items based on a review of a sample of 30 PVGs, four PVG guidance documents, and 46 relevant studies. After the two-round Delphi consultation, we formed a checklist of 17 items grouped under 12 topics for reporting PVGs.ConclusionThe RIGHT-PVG reporting checklist provides an international consensus on the important criteria for reporting PVGs.

«ГЕНИАЛЬНОМУ МИХАИЛУ МИХАЙЛОВИЧУ БАХТИНУ...»: КАТАЛОГ ИНСКРИПТОВ НА КНИГАХ, ПОДАРЕННЫХ М.М. БАХТИНУ, КАК ИСТОЧНИК К ЕГО НАУЧНОЙ БИОГРАФИИ. РЕЦЕНЗИЯ НА КНИГУ «ИЗДАНИЯ С ДАРСТВЕННЫМИ НАДПИСЯМИ В КОЛЛЕКЦИИ “ЛИЧНАЯ БИБЛИОТЕКА М.М. БАХТИНА” НАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ БИБЛИОТЕКИ ИМ. А.С. ПУШКИНА РЕСПУБЛИКИ МОРДОВИЯ»: КАТАЛОГ / CОСТ. Н.Н. ЗЕМКОВА; РЕД. О.А. ПАЛЬТИНА. САРАНСК, 2018. 264 с.

The publication of the catalog of publications with dedicatory inscriptions is of great importance for the research of various aspects of the personality, biography and work of Mikhail Bakhtin. It provides new opportunities for clarifying and even revising certain facts of his biography. The authors note that despite all the efforts of Bakhtin’s studies, his biography in many respects remains a mixture of real facts and various legends, and the task of creating a complete biography of the thinker is still far from being solved. The review highly appreciates the new publication, which reveals the potential of the collection of Bakhtin’s library and especially books with dedicatory inscriptions as a source of historical and biographical information. It values any facts that can shed light on Bakhtin’s daily life, his relationship with official academia, academic and research institutions, the degree of his recognition in the academic environment, the impact of his ideas on his contemporaries and younger generations of scholars. The first book in the list of donations to Bakhtin is dated 1943, and the most recent was given to him shortly before his death on February 1, 1975. The review introduces new documents, such as the inscriptions of Nikolai Lyubimov, a translator of the novel by Francois Rabelais, and Gennady Pospelov, a theorist and historian of literature. To a great extent, the history of the inscriptions becomes the story of the reception of Bakhtin’s ideas, the attitude to his works and personality during several decades. This allows a researcher not only to clarify the specific facts of Bakhtin’s biography, but also to understand some features of various periods of his life. The catalog contains 234 inscriptions on 227 books and 5 journals, each of which is valuable for researchers. It includes the illustrations and photographs of the books and journals containing these inscriptions, which increases the value of this book. So, if needed, a reader can compare the existing inscriptions and the proposed decryption. Each of the inscriptions given in the book deserves to be studied and considered in the context of Bakhtin’s biography and works. Bakhtin’s full biography has not yet been created, and the catalog allows not only clarifying certain facts of his biography and surrounding, but also clarifying certain scenarios of Bakhtin’s relationship with formalists (Viktor Shklovsky, Lydia Ginzburg), with the scholars of the Moscow-Tartu Semiotic School (Yuri Lotman, Vyacheslav Ivanov), and with the representatives of official Soviet literary criticism (Leonid Timofeev, Alexander Revyakin). The review examines the inscriptions of Bakhtin’s colleagues and students, Bakhtin’s inner circle and their acquaintances (Ivan Kanaev, Judith Kagan, Mikhail Alpatov), and Bakhtin’s “younger circle” (Vadim Kozhinov, Sergey Bocharov, Georgy Gachev). The authors draw the reader’s attention to a remarkable detail of the digital era – the electronic version of the publication which has been available on the website of the National Library of the Republic of Mordovia named after A.S. Pushkin since 2020.

Island in the Stream: An Ethnographic History of Mayotte by Michael Lambek

Reviewed by: Island in the Stream: An Ethnographic History of Mayotte by Michael Lambek Kai Kresse Michael Lambek, Island in the Stream: An Ethnographic History of Mayotte. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018. 376 pp. "If ethnography is about anything it is surely about human being-in-the-world." —Michael Lambek (2018:281) Michael Lambek, one of the most thoughtful and stimulating anthropologists of our time, presents us with a fascinating book, in which he looks back on his 40 years of fieldwork on the island of Mayotte, situated in the western Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, to which it belongs. It is a book of books, one might say. In the new and original genre of "ethnographic history" that Lambek coins here, intertwining layers of time and ethnographic experience are presented. They unfold through layers of narrative reflection and commentaries upon earlier experiences and times, of being-in-the-world on Mayotte. These are narrated from the evolving points of view of the anthropologist's respective ethnographic presents and presences, the thens and theres of ethnographic experience. This hermeneutically oriented ethnography takes account of and reflects upon social experience. Over 13 chapters, Lambek presents, revisits, and discusses perspectives on social life in Mayotte, focusing on the dynamic interplay of religion, kinship, and marriage, and of the political dimensions of migration and citizenship. These interlacing narratives [End Page 153] constitute his "ethnographic history." The intriguing particulars of this project and its conceptual features are laid out and recapped in the introductory and concluding parts (I and IV) of the book. As readers familiar with Lambek's work might expect, Gadamer's notion of a "horizon" is central here, as a blurred and dynamically changing progressive sphere of the work of human understanding. The horizon stands as a leitmotif for a hermeneutical and, in Lambek's view, adequately sensitized approach to the understanding of human beings—anywhere in the world—as enveloped, embedded, and entrapped in dynamic and multi-layered processes of meaning-making and becoming. These are in turn, again, shaping them as particular historical and moral beings, in specific ways and according to their respective surroundings, in terms of culture, language, and history. In the interplay of understanding that Lambek sketches out here for Mayotte, "horizons of the past" and "horizons of the future" (279–280) intersect, overlap, and characterize human experience and perception as specific processes of historical coming-into-being that is shifting and in flux. "Moral horizons" mark the relational intersecting dimensions of processes of knowledge in practice, which are linked to specific obligations and normative expectations that people respond to and/or set for themselves. In related philosophical terms, from which Lambek draws often, and as ably as only few anthropologists can, aspects of "being-in-theworld" (Heidegger) and the "human condition" (Arendt) stand out and are emphasized (281). While constituting the leitmotif for this book, the newly coined genre of ethnographic history is introduced also as "central conceit" (5): as a long-term synchronic portrayal, it is a narrative that is historically oriented but narrated with a view to a given present, which is itself to be understood by means of the (historically informed) ethnographic account. In the opening paragraph of the Preface, Lambek characterizes this new anthropological genre as "composed of successive portraits or analyses written at different times in series of ethnographic presents, each with their own changing horizons of future and past" (xxi). This characterization echoes a Gadamer quotation that is used as the epigraph for the book. It points to the dynamic existential horizons of future and past which, in their interplay, constitute the human perception of what is called "the present" (xxi). The more experienced Lambek readers will see a number of versions of earlier publications in these chapters, adjusted and revised to fit the overarching narrative voice of ethnographic history presented here. This [End Page 154] works well, as a multi-layered narrative moving backwards and forwards in time becomes more meaningful as it proceeds. As readers, we are being treated to rich and vivid accounts of significant instances of everyday life, observed in different decades by the ever-returning anthropologist, who then also guides...

STRUCTURAL STATIC ANALYSIS OF THE CURVED STILT BY FEM USING THE ELCUT PROGRAM

The paper presents a study of the distribution of stresses and strains in the curved stilt of the plough-body, using the ELCUT analysis program by the finite element method. In its public version, the program allows the static structural analysis in three stages of precision. However, there are some limitations on the number of nodes for the discretized structure, depending on its complexity (250 to 500 nodes).

Digital Framework for the History of the Austrian Military Border in Transylvania

"The study provides the documentation for the first public version of the database Digital Framework for the History of the Austrian Military Border in Transylvania by means of a detailed description and user manual. It includes: a short overview of the historical context of the establishment of the Austrian military border in this province, references to the international and Romanian state of the art, the detailing of primary sources issued by the military environment and starting from which the database was built and the main principles of construction and operation of the latter. The information in the database is extracted from the records of the military and administrative personnel of the Transylvanian border regiments between 1763 and 1850, including monthly staff records, information on salaries, enrollments, transfers, desertions, medical certificates, etc. The lists of conduct of the officers should also be mentioned, each of them including a detailed physical and psychological description of the respective person. The database serves two aims. On the one hand, to boost the use of and access to documents generated by the Austrian military and with this to bring the Romanian historical writing on the military border in Transylvania closer to the primary sources. On the other hand, to complement, for the territory of the former military border, the vital registration data provided by parish registers with social history data that can improve life course reconstruction and analysis. Keywords: Historical databases, Austrian Military Border, Transylvania, Habsburg Monarchy, Military history "

Sz-Tim/2020_McCainEtAl: Publication version

Sz-Tim/2020_McCainEtAl: Publication version

Analysis of news media reports of suicides and attempted suicides during the COVID-19 lockdown in India

BackgroundBased on previous experience there is justifiable concern about suicidal behaviour and news media reporting of it during COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis study used a systematic search of online news media reports (versions of newspapers, magazine and other digital publications) of suicidal behaviour during India’s COVID-19 lockdown and compared it to corresponding dates in 2019. Data was gathered using a uniform search strategy from 56 online news media publications 24 March to 3 May for the years 2019 and 2020 using keywords, suicide, attempted suicide, hangs self and kills self. Demographic variables and methods used for suicide were compared for suicide and attempts between the 2 years using chi-squared tests (χ2).ResultsThere were online news media reports of 369 cases of suicides and attempted suicides during COVID lockdown vs 220 reports in 2019, a 67.7% increase in online news media reports of suicidal behaviour. Compared to 2019, suicides reported during lockdown were significantly older (30 vs 50 years, p < 0.05), men (71.2% vs 58.7%; p < 0.01), married (77.7% vs 49%; p < 0.01) and employed (82.9% vs 59.5%; p < 0.01). During the lockdown, significantly more suicides were by hanging (64.4% vs 42%), while poisoning (8.5% vs 21.5%) and jumping in front of a train (2% vs 9.4%) (p < 0.05) were significantly reduced. Comparison of COVID and non-COVID groups showed that online news media reports of COVID cases of suicide and attempted suicide were significantly more likely to be men (84.7% vs 60.4%; p < 0.01), older (31–50 years 52.9% vs 25.8%; p < 0.01) employed (91.5% vs 64.3%; p < 0.01), had poor mental (40.1% vs 20.8%; p < 0.01) and poor physical health (24.8% vs 7.9%;11.8, p < 0.01).ConclusionIncrease in online news media reports of suicides and attempts during COVID-19 lockdown may indicate an increase in journalists’ awareness about suicide or more sensational media reporting or may be a proxy indicator of a real community increase in suicidal behaviour. It is difficult to attribute changes in demographic profile and methods used only to changes in journalists’ reporting behaviour and should be further explored. We therefore call upon the Government of India to urgently release national suicide data to help devise a comprehensive suicide prevention strategy to address COVID-19 suicidal behaviour.

ConnecTF: A platform to integrate transcription factor-gene interactions and validate regulatory networks.

Deciphering gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is both a promise and challenge of systems biology. The promise lies in identifying key transcription factors (TFs) that enable an organism to react to changes in its environment. The challenge lies in validating GRNs that involve hundreds of TFs with hundreds of thousands of interactions with their genome-wide targets experimentally determined by high-throughput sequencing. To address this challenge, we developed ConnecTF, a species-independent, web-based platform that integrates genome-wide studies of TF–target binding, TF–target regulation, and other TF-centric omic datasets and uses these to build and refine validated or inferred GRNs. We demonstrate the functionality of ConnecTF by showing how integration within and across TF–target datasets uncovers biological insights. Case study 1 uses integration of TF–target gene regulation and binding datasets to uncover TF mode-of-action and identify potential TF partners for 14 TFs in abscisic acid signaling. Case study 2 demonstrates how genome-wide TF–target data and automated functions in ConnecTF are used in precision/recall analysis and pruning of an inferred GRN for nitrogen signaling. Case study 3 uses ConnecTF to chart a network path from NLP7, a master TF in nitrogen signaling, to direct secondary TF2s and to its indirect targets in a Network Walking approach. The public version of ConnecTF (https://ConnecTF.org) contains 3,738,278 TF–target interactions for 423 TFs in Arabidopsis, 839,210 TF–target interactions for 139 TFs in maize (Zea mays), and 293,094 TF–target interactions for 26 TFs in rice (Oryza sativa). The database and tools in ConnecTF will advance the exploration of GRNs in plant systems biology applications for model and crop species.

TAF-ID: An international thermodynamic database for nuclear fuels applications

The Thermodynamics of Advanced Fuels – International Database (TAF-ID) was developed using the Calphad method to provide a computational tool to perform thermodynamic calculations on nuclear fuel materials under normal and off-normal conditions. Different kinds of fuels are considered: oxide, metallic, carbide and nitride fuels. Many fission products are introduced as well as structural materials (e.g., zirconium, steel, concrete, SiC) and absorbers (e.g., B4C), in order to investigate the thermochemistry of irradiated fuels and to predict their chemical interaction with the surrounding materials. The approach to develop the database and the models implemented in the database are described. Examples of models for key chemical systems are presented. Finally, a few examples of application calculations on severe accidents with UO2 fuels, irradiated fuel chemistry of MOX and metallic fuels and metallic fuel/cladding interaction show how this tool can be used. To validate the database, the calculations are compared to the available experimental data. A good agreement is obtained which gives confidence in the maturity degree and quality of the TAF-ID database. The working version is only accessible to the participants of the TAF-ID project (Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, USA). A public version is accessible by all the NEA countries. The current version contains models on the Am–Fe, Am–Np, Am-O-Pu, Am–U, Am–Zr, C–O–U-Pu, Cr–U, Np–U, Np–Zr, O–U–Zr, Re–U, Ru–U, Si–U, Ti–U, U-Pu-Zr, U–W systems. It is progressively extended with our published assessments. Information on how to join the project is available on the website: https://www.oecd-nea.org/science/taf-id/.

Improving Cancer Data Interoperability: The Promise of the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) Initiative.

Because of expanding interoperability requirements, structured patient data are increasingly available in electronic health records. Many oncology data elements (eg, staging, biomarkers, documentation of adverse events and cancer outcomes) remain challenging. The Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) project is a consensus data standard created to facilitate transmission of data of patients with cancer. In 2018, mCODE was developed through a work group convened by ASCO, including oncologists, informaticians, researchers, and experts in terminologies and standards. The mCODE specification is organized by 6 high-level domains: patient, laboratory/vital, disease, genomics, treatment, and outcome. In total, 23 mCODE profiles are composed of 90 data elements. A conceptual model was published for public comment in January 2019 and, after additional refinement, the first public version of the mCODE (version 0.9.1) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) implementation guide (IG) was presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting in June 2019. The specification was approved for balloting by Health Level 7 International (HL7) in August 2019. mCODE passed the HL7 ballot in September 2019 with 86.5% approval. The mCODE IG authors worked with HL7 reviewers to resolve all negative comments, leading to a modest expansion in the number of data elements and tighter alignment with FHIR and other HL7 conventions. The mCODE version 1.0 FHIR IG Standard for Trial Use was formally published on March 18, 2020. The mCODE project has the potential to offer tremendous benefits to cancer care delivery and research by creating an infrastructure to better share patient data. mCODE is available free from www.mCODEinitiative.org. Pilot implementations are underway, and a robust community of stakeholders has been assembled across the oncology ecosystem.

Misoginia y exculpación: el canto a Teresa

En el poema autobiográfico de Espronceda, ciertas circunstancias de sus amores adulterinos con Teresa Mancha de Bayo se expresan en forma tan sutil y poética, que hace falta confrontarlas con la historia para aclararlas. El Canto es la versión pública de estos amores, que llevaron a la corrupción moral y muerte de Teresa, y en ella Espronceda convierte a su amante en la única culpable, aunque ese papel le correspondía enteramente a él. En su fuero interno el poeta se sentía culpable, pero por las normas sociales del tiempo no podía decirlo. Compara su papel con el de Adán y el de Teresa con el de Eva. Por su concepto de la mujer, no hay poema romántico más odioso, pero por su nostalgia, sus imágenes y su versificación no hay ninguno más hermoso. Espronceda recurre al metro de la épica culta, para simbolizar su lucha romántica con sus cuitas amorosas.

Expression of Concern.

"MiRNA-218 regulates osteoclast differentiation and inflammation response in periodontitis rats through MMP9", Cell. Microbiol. 2019;21:e12979, by Jie Guo, Xuemin Zeng, Jie Miao, Chunpeng Liu, Fulan Wei, Dongxu Liu, Zhong Zheng, Kang Ting, Chunling Wang, and Yi Liu. The Editors of Cellular Microbiology and the publisher John Wiley & Sons agree to publish an Expression of Concern regarding the above article, published online in Cellular Microbiology on November 16, 2018, in Wiley Online Library (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cmi.12979). In September 2019, the journal was contacted regarding concerns about the data presented in Figures 6 and 7 because of high level of similarities in the graphs presented in these figures. The different bars in the graphs show identical height. The standard deviation bars are also of identical length. Although one graph expresses the number of TRAP-positive cells (Figure 6b) and the other graphs express the relative mRNA expression of different osteoclast-related genes (Figure 6c-g), all graphs are identical. The bars in the graphs in Figure 7 that represent 5 different osteoclast genes show the same height. Figures 6 and 7 show identical mRNA expression for a series of different genes: V-ATPase, NFATc1, CTSK, DC-STAMP and TRAP. In December 2019, the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data of the experiments presented in the article and for explanations of the similarities. The authors responded that the similarities were due to unintentional errors and provided Excel spread sheets containing processed data in March 2020. The data provided in the Excel sheets that were sent by the authors were analyzed and it was concluded that the calculations as shown in the Excel sheets are correct. However, the concerns raised regarding similarities in the heights of bars representing different parameters and narrow range of standard deviations presented in Figures 6-7 remained. The authors disagree with the concerns raised. In addition, the editors were concerned by manipulations of western blot images to represent single bands instead of doublets for COL1 in Figures 5 and 8 and for MMP9 in Figures 3A and C, 4C, 5A and D, and 8A. The first issue concerning COL1 bands has been addressed and corrected during the peer-review process. The latter has been clarified after publication and following a request from the editors for the raw data of all figures in the article. In the published article, western blots of MMP-9 in Figures 3A and C, 4C, 5A and D, and 8A show active-MMP-9 only and do not include pro-MMP-9 bands that were present in the original western blot experiments. The authors explained that on the original blots that were provided during the peer-review process, MMP-9 show doublets that represent pro-MMP-9 and active-MMP-9. As no significant difference was found for pro-MMP-9, the authors only presented single bands for active-MMP-9 in the publication version. The authors' institution, Shandong University, did not respond to a request from the Publisher and the Editor-in-Chief to investigate whether the data arose from the originally reported experiments, are unmodified, and are suitable for publication. As a result, the journal is issuing this expression of concern to readers.

Correction to: A class of discrete dynamical systems with properties of both cellular automata and L-systems

In the pdf version of the original publication, in the proof of Theorem 8 (second column of p. 632), the T matrices appeared incorrectly. The correct values are given here.

Adverse event profiles of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors: data mining of the public version of the FDA adverse event reporting system

BackgroundTo describe and analyze the patterns of adverse events associated with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4is) (sitagliptin, saxagliptin, linagliptin, vildagliptin, and alogliptin) from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and to highlight areas of safety concerns.MethodsAdverse events spontaneously submitted to the FAERS between 2004 Q1 to 2019 Q2 were included. The online tool OpenVigil 2.1 was used to query the database. The research relied on definitions of preferred terms (PTs) specified by the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) and the standardized MedDRA Queries (SMQ). The reporting odds ratio (ROR), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated for disproportionality analysis.ResultsOver 16 years, a total of 9706 adverse event reports were identified. Alogliptin was excluded from further analysis due to insufficient sample size. Compared with the non-insulin antidiabetic drugs, the four DPP-4is were all disproportionately associated with four SMQs: “gastrointestinal nonspecific inflammation and dysfunctional conditions,” “hypersensitivity,” “severe cutaneous adverse reactions,” and “noninfectious diarrhoea”. As for PT level analyses, DPP-4is are associated with higher reporting of the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, malignancies, infection, musculoskeletal disorders, general disorders, hypersensitivity, and skin AEs.ConclusionsData mining of the FAERS is useful for examining DPP-4 inhibitors-associated adverse events. The findings of the present study are compatible with clinical experience, and it provides valuable information to decision-makers and healthcare providers in clinical practice.

Joint galaxy–galaxy lensing and clustering constraints on galaxy formation

ABSTRACT We compare predictions for galaxy–galaxy lensing profiles and clustering from the Henriques et al. public version of the Munich semi-analytical model (SAM) of galaxy formation and the IllustrisTNG suite, primarily TNG300, with observations from KiDS + GAMA and SDSS-DR7 using four different selection functions for the lenses (stellar mass, stellar mass and group membership, stellar mass and isolation criteria, and stellar mass and colour). We find that this version of the SAM does not agree well with the current data for stellar mass-only lenses with $M_\ast \gt 10^{11}\, \mathrm{ M}_\odot$. By decreasing the merger time for satellite galaxies as well as reducing the radio-mode active galactic nucleus accretion efficiency in the SAM, we obtain better agreement, both for the lensing and the clustering, at the high-mass end. We show that the new model is consistent with the signals for central galaxies presented in Velliscig et al. Turning to the hydrodynamical simulation, TNG300 produces good lensing predictions, both for stellar mass-only (χ2 = 1.81 compared to χ2 = 7.79 for the SAM) and locally brightest galaxy samples (χ2 = 3.80 compared to χ2 = 5.01). With added dust corrections to the colours it matches the SDSS clustering signal well for red low-mass galaxies. We find that both the SAMs and TNG300 predict $\sim 50\, {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ excessive lensing signals for intermediate-mass red galaxies with 10.2 &amp;lt; log10M*[M⊙] &amp;lt; 11.2 at $r \approx 0.6\, h^{-1}\, \text{Mpc}$, which require further theoretical development.

General-purpose open-source 1D self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson Solver: Aestimo 1D

We present a general-purpose numerical quantum mechanical solver using Schrödinger-Poisson equations called Aestimo 1D. The solver provides self-consistent solutions to the Schrödinger and Poisson equations for a given semiconductor heterostructure built with materials including elementary, binary, ternary, and quaternary semiconductors and their doped structures. The software can be used to calculate electronic band structures of heterostructures either using a single-band or multi-band k.p envelope function approximation. The software is fully open-source and it is released under the GNU general public license version 3 for full freedom of usage for applications in the fields of nano-electronics, optoelectronics, and solid-state device simulations.

Inclusion, Measurement and Relevance… and Covid-19

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Postdigital Science and Education on 17/08/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00182-9 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.