Significant Findings Research Articles

초등 사회과 교육과정의 개념적 접근에 관한 고찰: IB와의 비교 분석을 중심으로

Objectives This study conducts a comparative analysis of conceptual approaches in social studies curricula, fo-cusing on the interpretations and applications of concepts in the IB PYP Social Studies and the 2015 and 2022 re-vised elementary social studies curricula in Korea. Methods This study is a normative study (Steiner-Khamsi, 2014) that explores the effectiveness of policy bor-rowing by identifying and adapting best practices from international cases in the context of comparative curricu-lum studies. Specifically, using a comparative curriculum analysis, this study compares the concepts and con-ceptually-oriented strands in the IB PYP Social Studies with the corresponding concepts and domains in the ele-mentary social studies curriculum in Korea. Results A comparative analysis of conceptual approaches between the IB and national curricula also yielded sig-nificant findings. The IB curriculum provides clear definitions and explanations of concepts (big ideas), while the national curriculum lacks precise definitions. The IB also presents generalized statements that connect concepts, whereas the national curriculum's generalized knowledge or core ideas are not articulated in terms of inter-con-cept connections. Additionally, the IB allows for the application of concepts across strands, while the national cur-riculum restricts concept application to specific domains, limiting interconnected use. Finally, the IB incorporates transdisciplinary core concepts, whereas such concepts are absent in the national curriculum. Conclusions Based on these findings, this study proposes improvements to the national curriculum from a con-ceptual approach perspective, focusing on two key areas: the categorization of domains and the definition, hier-archy, and utilization of concepts.

Biogenic Carbon Quantum Dots: Synthesis and Applications.

The new class of nanomaterials termed carbon dots: a quasi-spherical nanoparticle having a size less than 10 nm, possesses some unique characteristics like good aqueous solubility, colloidal stability, resistance to photobleaching, and fluorescence tunability, resulting in the unfolding of their various properties and their usage in different applications. Materials that are naturally derived or produced by living organisms are termed 'biogenic'. Over the past few years, there has been a gradual increase in the use of naturally derived materials in synthesizing carbon dots. Green precursors or biogenic materials are of low cost, readily available, renewable, and environmentally benign. Most importantly, they provide essential benefits not found in synthesized carbon dots. This review focuses on the use of biogenic materials for the synthesis of biogenic carbon dots developed in the past five years. It also briefly explains different synthetic protocols used, along with some significant findings. Thereafter, an overview of the use of biogenic carbon dots (BCDs) in different applications like chemo and biosensors, drug delivery, bioimaging, catalysis and energy applications, etc., is discussed. Thus biogenic carbon dots are future sustainable materials that are now fast replacing conventional carbon quantum prepared from other sources.

Effect of the Program «Caring for caretakers»: Findings of a multicenter study

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the program Caring for the Caregivers on the caring ability of family caregivers of people with chronic illnesses attended by programs coordinated by the Latin American nodes for the care of caregivers with chronically ill family members.Methods: The study had a Quasi-experimental method with an experimental group (family caregivers that took the Program Caring for the caregivers and a control group. Data was collected with the Ngozi Nkongho’s Caring Ability Inventory (CAI). The sample was taken by convenience in (8) nodes, with an average of 60-100 family caregivers for a total group of 643 individuals (417 in the experimental group and 226 in the control group). Statistical tests were used to evaluate proposals of normality and the Mann-Whitney U test to evaluate data. Results: Findings report similar study groups with small differences in ages and socioeconomic levels. Family caregivers that took part in the Program significantly improved their caring ability with improvement in each of the dimensions of the caring ability. Discussion: The effectiveness of the Program Caring for the caregivers in the caring ability of family caregivers is a significant finding that match with previous reports and it confirm the importance of having specific proposals for the care of caregivers in the Latin American context. Findings shows a strengthening of the general caring ability of family caregivers, as well as an straightening of each one of their dimensions that is favorable to the Program effect. These findings slightly differ from previous findings because in previous studies the caring ability never showed increase in all its components.

تثبيط تكوين الاغشية الحيوية في بكتيريا Agrobacterium tumefaciens بالمادة الطافية الخالية من خلايا Pseudomonas aeruginosa والمحللة بجهاز GC-MS

تعد Agrobacterium tumefaciens من أنواع البكتيريا المسببة للأمراض النباتية المهمة اقتصاديا، وتحصل الاصابة نتيجة استخدام اغشيتها الحيوية لالصاق نفسها بالجروح المتكونة على سطح العائل النباتي، ونظرًا لمحدودية العلاجات الحالية وفعاليتها، أصبح البحث عن عوامل جديدة مضادة لهذه البكتيريا أمرا ضروريا، لذلك تم تسليط الضوء في هذه الدراسة على معرفة التأثير التثبيطي للمادة الطافية الخالية من خلايا Pseudomonas aeruginosa على تكوين الاغشية الحيوية من قبل A. tumefaciens، فضلا عن تحديد المركبات الكيمياوية المكونة لها بجهاز GC-MS. بناءا على ذلك عزلت P. aeruginosa من التربة وتم تشخيصها باستخدام العدةAPI 20 E وتفاعل البلمرة المتسلسل باستخدام الجين 16S rRNA واظهرت تطابقا بنسبة 93% مع البكتيريا القياسية Pseudomonas sp.SeaQual P_B_845W, MT626817.1 في بنك الجينات. وعند الكشف عن قدرة المادة الطافية المجفدة وبتسعة تراكيز10، 15، 20 ،25 ، 30، 35، 40، 45، 17، 17، 15 ،على التوالي. وحسب عدد القمم التي تم إنتاجها بعد حقنها بجهاز GC، تبين انها مكونة من 30 مادة كيميائية، وبعد إدخال هذه المعلومات في جهاز MS، تم تشخيصها بأسمائها ومنها(Pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione, hexahydro-، Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester، Pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione, hexahydro-3-(2-methylpropyl)-،9-Octadecenoic acid (Z)-,methyl ester،cis-13-Octadecenoic acid,methyl ester،Octadecanoic acid, methyl ester)، البالغ وزنها الجزيئي(154، 270، 210، 296، 296، 298) دالتون ومقدار المساحة التي تشغلها (9.38، 19.12، 6.8، 4.45، 8.33، 5.90)%، على التوالي. أهم النتائج التي شخصتها هذه الدراسة هو تحديد المركبات الكيميائية لأول مرة للمادة الطافية الخالية من خلايا الزائفة الزنجارية وتأثيرها المثبط على إنتاج الأغشية الحيوية من قبل A. tumefaciens.

Geology and characteristics of petrographic rocks in the region of Trepça, Kosovo

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to accomplish a thorough identification of rock types occurring within the Mitrovica region by describing in detail all encountered varieties. The authors aim to determine the discontinuity or continuity of all inter-formational boundaries, crucial for accurate delineation on the ground and complete reflection on a 1:25000 scale map. Additionally, the objective is to identify the nature of contact between rock types and provide a detailed their description. Methods. Field exploration in the Mitrovica region was conducted for several months. Rock identification involved detailed sampling and petrographic analysis, including thin section preparation of magmatic rocks. The method included sample preparation, polarized light source interactions with minerals and observation of optical properties. Key properties observed are birefringence, interference colors, extinction angles, identification and analysis. Findings. Based on the study of stratigraphic units and geological descriptions of mineral outcrop areas, various types of rocks through petrographic microscope preparation, as well as chemical and geochemical analyses, have been differentiated. The Mitrovica area encompasses the following lithostratigraphic units: harzburgite, gabbro, diabase, metasandstone, sandstone, quartzite and grainstone with calcium (Aeolisaccus sp.; Bioclastic grainstone with dacycladal algae and small milliolides; Salpin-goporella sp.). Originality. The originality of the research lies in employing an optical microscope for the precise identification of rocks. Through the re-search carried out in the study area, we obtained a comprehensive petrographic description of mineral composition, texture, and mineralization, facilitating the assessment of the area exploitation potential. Practical implications. The petrographic exploration yielded the conclusion that the Pb-Zn mineralization is present in the study area, which is a sig-nificant finding for the advancement of the mining sector and the local community, provided that environmental preservation measures are upheld and responsible methods of area exploitation are implemented.

Subject-verb agreement inflection in Arabic-speaking individuals with Down syndrome

ABSTRACT This research examines the production of subject-verb agreement inflection in person, number, and gender in Urban Jordanian Arabic-speaking individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Third person singular masculine, third person singular feminine, and third person plural suffixes (3MS/3FS/3P) were investigated to achieve this objective. The research involved 60 participants, 30 males and 30 females, enrolled in Nazik Al Hariri Welfare Center for Special Education in Amman. The participants were divided into three groups by age, kindergarten 2 (7.1 to 12.5), school-age (13.10 to 17.6), and vocational training (18.3 to 27.3). Data were collected via a picture-naming task. The results showed that verb agreement constitutes a severe problem in individuals with DS. All three age groups showed some degree of language decline. The 3MS form was the most used and the most accurate form by the three DS groups (48.5%), followed by the 3FS (35.3%) and the 3P (22.8%). A significant finding of this study is that the acquisition of agreement for person, number, and gender by the DS groups is associated with inconsistency and atypical asynchrony. In addition, the results show that age significantly affects the DS groups’ production of subject-verb agreement. Thus, the study recommends early intervention for the verb system and subject-verb agreement.

Controversy on the CONVINCE study findings: the PRO take.

The CONVINCE study, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reveals a groundbreaking 23% reduction in the relative risk of all-cause mortality among end-stage kidney patients undergoing high convective volume hemodiafiltration. This significant finding challenges the conventional use of high-flux hemodialysis and offers hope for improving outcomes in chronic kidney disease patients. While some controversies surround the study's findings, including concerns about generalizability and the causes of death, it is essential to acknowledge the study's design and its main outcomes. The CONVINCE study, part of the HORIZON 2020 project, enrolled 1360 patients and demonstrated the superiority of hemodiafiltration in reducing all-cause mortality overall, as well as in specific patient subgroups (elderly, short vintage, non-diabetic, and those without cardiac issues). Interestingly, it was shown that hemodiafiltration had a protective effect against infection, including COVID-19. Future research will address sustainability, dose scaling effects, identification of subgroups especially likely to benefit and cost-effectiveness. However, for now, the findings strongly support a broader adoption of hemodiafiltration in renal replacement therapy, marking a significant advancement in the field.

Influencer Marketing Strategies and Brand Image in Boosting Consumer Purchase Intent: The Role of Customer Support Intervention

This research explores the intricate relationships among influencer marketing strategies, brand image, customer support, and consumer purchase intent within the operational framework of PT. Len Industri (Persero) - Jakarta Office. Through path analysis, the study discerns direct and indirect effects, revealing significant findings. Marketing Strategies exhibit a notable direct impact on both Customer Support and Consumer Purchase Intent, underscoring the centrality of effective marketing initiatives in shaping customer interactions and purchase decisions. Conversely, Brand Image reveals a non-significant direct effect on Customer Support but demonstrates a marginally significant impact on Consumer Purchase Intent, indicating a nuanced relationship that warrants further investigation. The indirect effects analysis highlights the substantial influence of Marketing Strategies on Consumer Purchase Intent mediated by Customer Support. These findings underscore the importance of a holistic approach, integrating marketing strategies, brand image cultivation, and effective customer support to enhance overall consumer experiences and drive purchase intent in a competitive market landscape.

A study to untangle the puzzle of urinary incontinence and frailty co-occurrence among older adults: The roles of depression and activity engagement.

To explore the co-occurrence of urinary incontinence and frailty by testing the roles of depression and activity engagement guided by the mechanisms of common cause and interaction pathways. A secondary analysis of a 1-year three-wave panel data collected from older nursing home residents in China. Changes in depression and activity engagement were regressed on urinary incontinence and frailty incidence underpinned by the common cause mechanism of chronic conditions co-occurrence, and these changes were also taken as mediators linking from frailty to urinary incontinence incidence supported by the interaction pathways' mechanism. A total of 348 older adults were included in this study, and 55.7% were women. The co-occurrence of urinary incontinence and frailty was found in 16.7% of the participants at baseline. Older adults with sole frailty at baseline had almost twice the rate of incident urinary incontinence (32.7%) compared with those without (16.7%) over a 1-year period. The subsample analyses showed that changes in depression and activity engagement failed to significantly predict the incidence of urinary incontinence and frailty. The mediating roles of these changes linking frailty to urinary incontinence incidence were also not statistically significant. The co-occurrence of urinary incontinence and frailty is prevalent in older nursing home residents. Older adults with frailty at baseline are more likely to develop urinary incontinence a year later. The common cause and interaction pathways mechanisms for the co-occurrence of urinary incontinence and frailty were not verified with changes in depression and activity engagement. The phenomenon of urinary incontinence and frailty co-occurrence should be given extreme emphasis. Although statistically significant findings on the roles of depression and activity engagement were not inferred, this study provides multiple possibilities for future studies to test and depict a clear picture of this co-occurrence. What problem did the study address? This study was designed to test the roles of depression and activity engagement in predicting the incidence of urinary incontinence and frailty, and the mediating roles in linking frailty to urinary incontinence incidence. What were the main findings? Despite the methodological pitfalls in literature have been addressed, neither depression nor activity engagement would significantly predict the incidence of urinary incontinence and frailty in older adults. Their mediating roles in linking frailty to urinary incontinence incidence were also not significant. Where and on whom will the research have an impact? Our findings add important pieces of evidence to promote researchers' understanding and provide an important basis for untangling the puzzle of urinary incontinence and frailty co-occurrence. The report of this study followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement guidelines. No patient or public contribution.

Watch Your Head: Assembling Projection Heads to Save the Reliability of Federated Models

Federated learning encounters substantial challenges with heterogeneous data, leading to performance degradation and convergence issues. While considerable progress has been achieved in mitigating such an impact, the reliability aspect of federated models has been largely disregarded. In this study, we conduct extensive experiments to investigate the reliability of both generic and personalized federated models. Our exploration uncovers a significant finding: federated models exhibit unreliability when faced with heterogeneous data, demonstrating poor calibration on in-distribution test data and low uncertainty levels on out-of-distribution data. This unreliability is primarily attributed to the presence of biased projection heads, which introduce miscalibration into the federated models. Inspired by this observation, we propose the "Assembled Projection Heads" (APH) method for enhancing the reliability of federated models. By treating the existing projection head parameters as priors, APH randomly samples multiple initialized parameters of projection heads from the prior and further performs targeted fine-tuning on locally available data under varying learning rates. Such a head ensemble introduces parameter diversity into the deterministic model, eliminating the bias and producing reliable predictions via head averaging. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed APH method across three prominent federated benchmarks. Experimental results validate the efficacy of APH in model calibration and uncertainty estimation. Notably, APH can be seamlessly integrated into various federated approaches but only requires less than 30% additional computation cost for 100x inferences within large models.

Exploring intention of undergraduate students to embrace chatbots: from the vantage point of Lesotho

The increasing prevalence of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies has led to a surge in the popularity of AI application tools, particularly chatbots, in various fields, including education. This research explores the factors influencing undergraduate students' inclination to embrace AI application tools, specifically chatbots, for educational purposes. Using an expanded diffusion theory of innovation framework, the study investigates the relationship between relative advantages, compatibility, trialability, perceived trust, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention. Using a 7-point scale, a questionnaire was given to 842 undergraduate students to collect data. The analysis, conducted using SmartPLS 4.0.9.2 software with a covariance-based structural equation model, produced significant findings. The study confirms hypotheses related to the relative advantages, compatibility, trialability, perceived usefulness, and perceived trust associated with chatbots. Notably, students who perceive the benefits of chatbots show a strong intention to use them for academic purposes. The perception of compatibility between students and chatbots positively influences adoption intention, highlighting the importance of compatibility. Additionally, students who have the opportunity to trial chatbots are more likely to use them, emphasizing the significance of trialability. Interestingly, the study did not establish direct relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention. This suggests the presence of other influential factors or dynamics in the adoption of chatbots for educational purposes. These findings offer practical insights for students and contribute to the theoretical understanding of the diffusion theory of innovation. Future research can further explore these insights to unravel the complexities of chatbot adoption and facilitate the broader adoption of AI tools in educational settings.

Transient magnetohydrodynamic heat and mass transfer analysis of chemically reacting fluid flow over oscillatory permeable media

This study focuses on the numerical observation of the convective motion of chemically active magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluid through a vertically oriented permeable medium, incorporating variations in mass and heat transfer. The fluid type is assumed to be incompressible, chemically strongly ionized and viscous with some mass infusibility. The model associated with this problem is solved by a highly stable Implicit Finite Difference Method (IFDM). The method is used for small and large deflection of the physical parameters, which results in a noticeable fluid flow behavior. Numerical configuration is graphically depicted to scrutinize the fluid behavior. The momentum, energy, concentration diffusion, skin friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are investigated for numerous factors such as magnetic field, permeability and chemical reaction rate. The current study unveils significant findings, demonstrating that a heightened rate of chemical reaction in the presence of magnetic effects, coupled with specific porosity, diminishes ionization energy, resulting in a concurrent decrease in the concentration and momentum profiles of the fluid flow. The rise in the viscous diffusion rate is attributed to escalating values of the Schmidt number, causing an augmentation in dynamic viscosity and consequently resulting in an overall reduction in the momentum of the fluid flow.

A Socio Economic Exploration of Bediya Community of Rasabeda Village in Pursuit of Sustainable Development By IJISRT

Tribal communities have been an integral and captivating part of Indian society since the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. India is home to the second-largest tribal population in the world. Spread all across the country, these communities have rich traditions, vibrant cultures, and unique lifestyles. One such major tribal community is Bediya. This study is focused on bediya settlement in Rasabeda, a village in the hills of the Chota Nagpur plateau. The settlement is highly vulnerable and underdeveloped. The study aims to examine the socio- economic challenges faced by the Bediya residents, highlighting the community's current state of pervasive poverty and undernourishment. The aim of the research is to present a detailed analysis of Rasabeda by employing a multifaceted approach encompassing economic, demographic, social, livelihood, health, education, and agricultural dimensions. The research seeks to contribute valuable insights into fostering lasting development in the Bediya community. The findings of this study hold significance while implementing effective strategies for sustainable growth and improvement within similar contexts.

Thermal Analysis of a Casson Boundary Layer Flow over a Penetrable Stretching Porous Wedge

This work aims to analyze the Casson thermal boundary layer flow over an expanding wedge in a porous medium with convective boundary conditions and ohmic heating. Moreover, the effects of porosity and viscous dissipation are studied in detail and included in the analysis. The importance of this study is due to its applications in biomedical engineering where the analysis of behavior of non-Newtonian blood flow in arteries and veins is desired. Within the context of blood flow, it is also applicable to many other fields, for instance, radiative therapy, MHD generators, soil machines, melt-spinning, and insulation processes. The modeled problem is a set of PDEs, which is nondimensionalized to derive a nonlinear boundary value problem (BVP). The obtained BVP is solved using the shooting technique, endowed with the order four Runge-Kutta and Newton methods. The impact of different parameters on the momentum and temperature fields is investigated along with two important parameters of physical significance, i.e., the Nusselt number and the surface drag force. Results are validated, and an excellent agreement is seen for the parameters of interest using MATLAB built-in function bvp4c. A significant finding is that by increasing the Casson liquid parameter, the velocity decreases as the wedge expands quicker than the free stream velocity at R=2. However, the velocity increases for the case when R=0.1. A decrease in the Darcy number increases the temperature profile. Furthermore, the convective parameter accelerated the heat transmission rate, and a rise in the Prandtl number thickens the thermal boundary layer. The findings of this investigation contribute to problems in fluid dynamics and heat transfer that involve studying the behavior of a non-Newtonian fluid with Casson rheological properties near a solid porous wedge surface.

Frequency of Clinically Significant Findings in the Surgical Pathology Specimen Following Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and Concordance with Preoperative Endoscopy: Insights from a Large Single-Center Experience.

Endoscopy prior to bariatric surgery is not always performed, and in sleeve gastrectomy (SG), the surgical specimen is not always sent for pathological examination. There is limited data on the frequency of clinically significant findings in SG specimens or correlation with preoperative endoscopy. We reviewed 426 consecutive SG patients to determine the concordance of preoperative endoscopy findings in patients with clinically significant postoperative pathology. Preoperative endoscopy was performed on 397 patients (93.2%). Three hundred seventy-three patients had preoperative endoscopy and surgical pathology results available. Then, 20/373 (5.4%) patients had potentially significant postoperative pathology, including intestinal metaplasia, autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis (AMAG), gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and/or gastric cancer. The overall incidence of AMAG in the entire cohort was 2.3%. Preoperative gastric biopsies (to include gastric body) identified AMAG in nearly 1/2 of patients. Patients with clinically significant postoperative pathology results had a median [interquartile range] of 3 [3-5] tissue blocks examined as compared to 3 [1-3] for the remainder of the cohort (p < 0.001). This is one of the largest studies describing clinically significant postoperative pathology after SG. AMAG, in particular, is of particular importance as it is associated with a 3-fivefold increase in risk for gastric cancer. The incidence of significant postoperative pathology in this population is small but potentially clinically significant and requires validation in larger studies. We recommend wider sampling in preoperative endoscopy (body and antrum), especially in patients being planned for gastric bypass, consideration for routine pathological examination of SG surgical specimens, with careful gross examination and targeted sampling.

Gender differences in scholarly productivity of early-career transfusion medicine physicians.

Promotion in academic medicine requires evidence of the creation and dissemination of scholarly output, primarily through peer-reviewed publications. Studies demonstrate that scholarly activity and impact are lower for women physicians than for men physicians, especially during the early stages of their academic careers. This report reviewed physicians' academic productivity after passing their Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine (BBTM) subspecialty exam to determine if gender discrepancies exist. A cross-sectional analysis was designed to determine trends in scholarly activity for women physicians versus men physicians in BBTM. Indexed publications were reviewed using iCite, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Portfolio Analysis tool, from 1 January 2017 to 1 December 2021, for BBTM examinees who passed the sub-speciality fellowship exam in the years 2016 through 2018. Overall, women physicians had statistically significant fewer total career publications (median 6 vs. 9 cumulative papers, p = 0.03). Women published at a lower rate after passing BBTM boards, which was not statistically significant (0.7 vs. 1.3 publications per year). Other statistically significant findings include fewer early-career BBTM women physicians were first authors compared with men physicians (p = 0.03) and impact as assessed by relative citation ratio was higher for men (p = 0.01). This study demonstrates that there are gender differences in scholarly productivity and impact on early-career BBTM physicians. Given that this cohort of BBTM physicians are early-career professionals, the significant difference in first authorship publications between women and men physicians is especially concerning. Publication metrics should be followed to ensure equitable research environments for early-career BBTM physicians.

Evolution of genome diagnostics in epidermolysis bullosa: Unveiling the power of next-generation sequencing.

Genome diagnostics is considered gold standard diagnostics for epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous group of rare disorders characterized by blistering and wounding of mucocutaneous tissues. EB is caused by pathogenic variants in genes encoding proteins of the dermo-epidermal junction. Accurate genetic diagnosis of EB is crucial for prognostication, counselling and precision-medicine. Genome diagnostics for EB started in 1991 with the introduction of Sanger sequencing (SS), analysing one gene at a time. In 2013, SS was superseded by next-generation sequencing (NGS), that allow for high-throughput sequencing of multiple genes in parallel. Several studies have shown a beneficial role for NGS in EB diagnostics, but its true benefit has not been quantified. To determine the benefit of NGS in EB by systematically evaluating the performance of different genome diagnostics used over time based on robust data from the Dutch EB Registry. The diagnostic performances of SS and NGS were systematically evaluated in a retrospective observational study including all index cases with a clinical diagnosis of EB in whom genome diagnostics was performed between 01 January 1994 and 01 January 2022 (n = 308), registered at the Dutch EB Expertise Centre. Over time, a genetic diagnosis was made in 289/308 (94%) EB cases. The diagnostic yield increased from 89% (SS) to 95% (NGS). Most importantly, NGS significantly reduced diagnostic turnaround time (39 days vs. 211 days, p < 0.001). The likelihood of detecting variants of uncertain significance and additional findings increased from 5% and 1% (SS) to 22% and 13% (NGS) respectively. Our study quantifies the benefit of NGS-based methods and demonstrate they have had a major impact on EB diagnostics through an increased diagnostic yield and a dramatically decreased turnaround time (39 days). Although our diagnostic yield is high (95%), further improvement of genome diagnostics is urgently needed to provide a genetic diagnosis in all EB patients.

Distributing Zakatu Kasbil 'Amal as an Alternative to Student Funding, Evidence in Indonesia’s Universities

Background The purpose of this paper is to clarify the use of zakat as an alternative funding for students to pay their tuition fees. Apart from that, this paper also explains how zakat collected from muzakki fixed income known as zakatu kasbil 'amal, which is known as income zakat and is still controversial in Indonesia. Method The study uses a systematic literature review with an inductive approach to find out the theoretical basis of the research questions. The analysis uses a qualitative method that explores significant findings from various literature sources. The findings will combine with the exploration results of several universities in Indonesia that use social funds as a tool for helping students. Result The income zakat controversy mediates using the precautionary principle, which ensures that the projected income indeed exceeds the nisab (1 year) of the income. Some Islamic universities in Indonesia carry out this zakat withdrawal and even use an auto debit system. On the other hand, the distribution of zakat to students is also controversial because zakat is part of worship whose distribution is regulated into nine asnaf. Nevertheless, students may be equated with one of the asnaf so that it becomes permissible to be the subject of zakat distribution. Observation findings at Indonesian Islamic universities even show that the results of zakat distribution strongly influence the success of students’ studies, even if only in aid of tuition fees.

Data Governance in AI - Enabled Healthcare Systems: A Case of the Project Nightingale

The study investigates data governance challenges within AI-enabled healthcare systems, focusing on Project Nightingale as a case study to elucidate the complexities of balancing technological advancements with patient privacy and trust. Utilizing a survey methodology, data were collected from 843 healthcare service users employing a structured questionnaire designed to measure perceptions of AI in healthcare, trust in healthcare providers, concerns about data privacy, and the impact of regulatory frameworks on the adoption of AI technologies. The reliability of the survey instrument was confirmed with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.81, indicating high internal consistency. The multiple regression analysis revealed significant findings: a positive relationship between the awareness of technological projects and trust in healthcare providers, countered by a negative impact of privacy concerns on trust. Additionally, familiarity with and perceived effectiveness of regulatory frameworks were positively correlated with trust in data, while perceptions of regulatory constraints and data governance issues were identified as significant barriers to the effective adoption of AI technologies in healthcare. The study highlights the critical need for enhanced transparency, public awareness, and robust data governance frameworks to navigate the ethical and privacy concerns associated with AI in healthcare. The study recommends adopting flexible, principle-based regulatory approaches and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure the ethical deployment of AI technologies that prioritize patient welfare and trust.

Reduced Interhemispheric Coherence and Cognition in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)-A Quantitative EEG Study.

Magnetic resonance imaging in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) children showed altered connectivity, suggesting underlying deficits in networks, which may be related to cognitive outcome. Functional connectivity has been of interest in neurophysiological research with quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) as useful tool for measuring pathology, not detectable by normal EEG. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the EEG interhemispheric coherence (ICoh) in children diagnosed with FASD compared with healthy controls and to relate the results to cognitive scores. Analysis of ICoh in 81 FASD children (4-Digit Code) compared with 31 controls. The children underwent cognitive assessment, and EEG was performed and used for analysis. Group comparisons and analysis of covariance interaction models were used to test for differences between FASD and controls but also to look for differences between FASD subgroups. Significant findings were correlated to cognitive scores. Lower ICoh was found in the frontal and temporal derivations in the FASD group. When comparing FASD subgroups, children with fetal alcohol syndrome had lower ICoh occipital. Reduced ICoh in the temporal alpha band was correlated with lower performance IQ in the FASD group. Our findings could imply hypoconnectivity between the hemispheres with impact on cognition. We suggest that EEG coherence analysis could be a sensitive parameter in the detection of electrophysiological abnormalities in FASD with possible clinical relevance. These results may indicate that QEEG could be used as biomarker for FASD. However, further research is needed to determine the role of QEEG analysis in the diagnosis of FASD.