Slow Advancement Research Articles

EPID-01. PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA:A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract OBJECTIVE brain tumors are a global problem, leading to higher cancer-related morbidity and mortality rates in children. Despite the progressive though slow advances in neuro-oncology care, research, and diagnostics in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the epidemiological landscape of pediatric brain tumors (PBTs) remains underestimated. This study aimed to systematically analyze the distribution of PBT types in SSA. METHODS major databases and grey literature were searched for literature on PBTs in SSA published before October 29, 2022. A proportional meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS forty-nine studies, involving 2360 children, met the inclusion criteria for review; only 20 (40.82%) were included in the quantitative analysis. South Africa and Nigeria were the countries with the most abundant data. Glioma not otherwise specified (NOS) was the common PBT in the 4 SSA regions combined. However, medulloblastoma was more commonly reported in Southern-SSA(p=0.01) than in other regions. The prevalence and the overall pooled proportion of the 3 common PBTs was estimated at 46.27% and 0.41 (95%CI 0.32–0.50, 95% prediction interval [PI] 0.11–0.79), 25.34% and 0.18 (95%CI 0.14–0.21, 95%PI 0.06–0.40), and 12.67% and 0.12 (95%CI 0.09–0.15, 95%PI 0.04–0.29) for glioma-NOS, medulloblastoma, and craniopharyngioma, respectively. Sample size moderated the estimated proportion of glioma-NOS (p = 0.02). The highest proportion of craniopharyngiomas was in Western-SSA, and medulloblastoma and glioma-NOS in Central-SSA. CONCLUSION these findings provide insight into the trends of PBT types and the proportion of the top 3 most common tumors across SSA. Although statistical conclusions are difficult due to the inconsistency in the data. We identify critical areas for policy development and collaborations that can facilitate improved outcomes in PBTs in SSA. More accurate epidemiological studies are needed to better understand the burden of the disease and the geographic variation in their distribution, and to raise awareness in their subsequent management.

Clinical Outcomes of Slow versus Rapid Enteral Feeding Advancement in Very Low Birth Weight Neonates at a Tertiary Care Center

In India, every year around 3.5 million babies are born premature, accounting for almost 13% of total livebirths in the country as compared to 5% to 7% incidence in the West. Preterm is defined as babies born before 37 weeks ofpregnancy. The rapidity of feed volume increments involves controversies like faster weight gain, shorter hospital stays, therisk of necrotizing enterocolitis and vice versa. Methods: The present study was a randomized controlled trial conducted fromJune 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019. All infants in the study were randomized to slow and rapid feeding protocols by a stratifiedblock randomization sequence of 2, 4, 6 blocks. Group 1 or the slow advancement group included 64 newborns babies andGroup 2 or the rapid advancement group included 69 newborns babies. Results: The average weight gain in Group 1 was4.41 ± 0.9 g and in Group 2 it was 6.33 ± 1.3 g, the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.02). Sixty out of 64 newbornsregained birth weight within 16.87 ± 0.9 days in Group 1, while 64 out of 69 newborns regained birth weight within 13.63 ±0.9 days in Group 2. The difference was statistically significant. Increment in the mean occipitofrontal circumference perweek was 0.29 ± 0.27 cm Group 1, while in Group 2 it was 0.42 ± 0.05 cm; the difference was statistically significant. Meanaverage length increment per week was found to be 0.55 ± 0.04 cm and 0.69 ± 0.05 cm in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively,the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.005). The mean duration of hospital stay was 27.47 ± 3.33 days in Group 1while in Group 2, the duration of stay was 23.15 ± 2.22 days, the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Ourstudy supports enteral nutrition by rapid enteral feeding regimen in stable preterm neonates with very low birth weight

Nutritional Strategies for Preterm Neonates and Preterm Neonates Undergoing Surgery: New Insights for Practice and Wrong Beliefs to Uproot.

The nutrition of preterm infants remains contaminated by wrong beliefs that reflect inexactitudes and perpetuate old practices. In this narrative review, we report current evidence in preterm neonates and in preterm neonates undergoing surgery. Convictions that necrotizing enterocolitis is reduced by the delay in introducing enteral feeding, a slow advancement in enteral feeds, and the systematic control of residual gastric volumes, should be abandoned. On the contrary, these practices prolong the time to reach full enteral feeding. The length of parenteral nutrition should be as short as possible to reduce the infectious risk. Intrauterine growth restriction, hemodynamic and respiratory instability, and patent ductus arteriosus should be considered in advancing enteral feeds, but they must not translate into prolonged fasting, which can be equally dangerous. Clinicians should also keep in mind the risk of refeeding syndrome in case of high amino acid intake and inadequate electrolyte supply, closely monitoring them. Conversely, when preterm infants undergo surgery, nutritional strategies are still based on retrospective studies and opinions rather than on randomized controlled trials. Finally, this review also highlights how the use of adequately fortified human milk is strongly recommended, as it offers unique benefits for immune and gastrointestinal health and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Kurangnya Minat Baca Anak Generasi Alpha Di Era Perkembangan Teknologi

The alpha generation is the children that the millenial generation has left behind. This article was written by Mark Mc Crindle and published in the Business Insider magazine (Christina Sterbenz, 2015). The Alpha Generation (2011–2025) is the most advanced generation in terms of digital technology and the least advanced generation in comparison to the previous generation. Every day, almost 2.5 million children of the Alpha Generation are born into the world. The generation most familiar with the internet over the long term is Gen A. Mc Crindler also asserts that the Alpha generation is not averse to technology, somewhat socially adept, somewhat creative, and somewhat independent. Alpha generators require quick and somewhat chaotic processes. By enticing them with a technology, they become socially alienated. This article aims to understand the challenges faced by the Alpha Generation in the Industrial Revolution. For many people, literacy is a familiar language. Literasi is a concept with a complex, dynamic, and ever-changing definition that is defined by several methods with extreme caution. According Keywords: Literacy, Technology, Development, and Generation Alpha. to an online Merriam-Webster dictionary, the words "literature" and "letter" come from the Latin and English languages, respectively. Literasi is quality, or the ability to read and write with huruf/aksara that is included in the text. Technology is described as a concept that has to do with the type of application and knowledge about how it might improve human ability to identify and modify objects that are around. At this point in time, technological advancement is experiencing relatively slow advancement. The idea of technological advancement is to advance technology from one era to the next, making it more advanced or better. The ability of the Alpha generation to communicate (read, write, study, and sketch) has somewhat declined as a result of the rapid advancement of technology. Many Alpha children nowadays are highly dependent on their gadgets (games, YouTube videos, and other apps). However, due to technological developments, alpha generation children are lagging behind in literature, which is why they are interested in reading at an age when they should be able to read and understand the content of what they read.

The manifestation of health equity tourism in psychological science and research.

Health equity tourism (HET) represents yet another example of how structural racism may manifest in our discipline. While not a new phenomenon, HET was coined recently in the context of medicine and is defined as investigators without the requisite experience or commitment to health equity work "parachuting into the field in response to timely and often temporary increases in public interest and resources" (Lett et al., 2022, p. 2). To determine how HET manifests in psychological science, we interviewed 18 health equity experts. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results revealed that HET manifests as a passing interest in health equity research, minimal engagement with communities under study or with health equity experts, and a failure to appreciate health equity scholarship as a specialty area of psychological science. Consequences of HET include poor quality research, harm to communities under study, funneling of resources away from health equity experts, frustration with and disengagement from the field and academia (leading to slow career advancements and attrition), and a maintenance of structural racism in psychological science. We provide recommendations for preventing the further manifestation of HET in psychology and for reducing the associated harms. These recommendations include education and training regarding the construct of HET, engagement in reflective practice, and a reconsideration of how research with minoritized populations is approached and evaluated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Barriers to Women Professionals’ Career Growth during Covid-19 in India

The slow advancement of women in their workplaces remains a social concern for corporates and industry experts across the globe (International Labour Organisation Report, 2018). During the covid-19 pandemic, the advancement of women got significantly impacted owing to the increased burden of domestic responsibilities and other personal challenges. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Report (2021), women in India were seven times more likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic and eleven times more likely to not return to work after the job loss. With the Covid-19 pandemic on the rise and spreading, companies were forced to redesign their work systems, initiate and adopt a remote-work setup option. While, a majority of companies continue with the hybrid model, some companies are slowly eliminating it and returning to the regular office norms as before. This change is likely to impact women, especially the working mothers, owing to the uneven distribution of child-care responsibilities, domestic work, etc. Additionally, conventional barriers such as discriminatory practices, mentoring, networking challenges and role conflicts are expected to persist or rather increase in the changed-working models – be it the hybrid, remote, or completely offline system. The present study focuses on identifying the constraints faced by the Indian women striving against the current for their career advancements, both during the Covid-19 pandemic disruption phase and post-pandemic scenario. The insights from the study will be helpful to gain a cumulative understanding about the challenges faced by women owing to the emerging work system and in addressing the future concerns more systematically.

Clinical Outcomes of Slow versus Rapid Enteral Feeding Advancement in Very Low Birth Weight Neonates at a Tertiary Care Center

In India, every year around 3.5 million babies are born premature, accounting for almost 13% of total livebirths in the country as compared to 5% to 7% incidence in the West. Preterm is defined as babies born before 37 weeks ofpregnancy. The rapidity of feed volume increments involves controversies like faster weight gain, shorter hospital stays, therisk of necrotizing enterocolitis and vice versa. Methods: The present study was a randomized controlled trial conducted fromJune 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019. All infants in the study were randomized to slow and rapid feeding protocols by a stratifiedblock randomization sequence of 2, 4, 6 blocks. Group 1 or the slow advancement group included 64 newborns babies andGroup 2 or the rapid advancement group included 69 newborns babies. Results: The average weight gain in Group 1 was4.41 ± 0.9 g and in Group 2 it was 6.33 ± 1.3 g, the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.02). Sixty out of 64 newbornsregained birth weight within 16.87 ± 0.9 days in Group 1, while 64 out of 69 newborns regained birth weight within 13.63 ±0.9 days in Group 2. The difference was statistically significant. Increment in the mean occipitofrontal circumference perweek was 0.29 ± 0.27 cm Group 1, while in Group 2 it was 0.42 ± 0.05 cm; the difference was statistically significant. Meanaverage length increment per week was found to be 0.55 ± 0.04 cm and 0.69 ± 0.05 cm in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively,the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.005). The mean duration of hospital stay was 27.47 ± 3.33 days in Group 1while in Group 2, the duration of stay was 23.15 ± 2.22 days, the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Ourstudy supports enteral nutrition by rapid enteral feeding regimen in stable preterm neonates with very low birth weight

Identification of cellular senescence-associated genes as new biomarkers for predicting the prognosis and immunotherapy response of non-small cell lung cancer and construction of a prognostic model

BackgroundGlobally, lung carcinoma remains the leading cause of death, with its associated morbidity and mortality rates remaining elevated. Despite the slow advancement of treatment, the outlook remains bleak. Cellular senescence represents a halt in the cell cycle, encompassing a range of physiological and pathological activities, along with diverse phenotypic alterations, including variations in secretory phenotype, macromolecular harm, and metabolic disturbances. Research has revealed its vital function in the formation and growth of tumors. This study aimed to examine cellular senescence-related mRNAs linked to the outlook of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to formulate a predictive risk framework for NSCLC. MethodsWe acquired the NSCLC expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to examine mRNAs linked to cellular senescence. Both single-variable and multiple-variable cox proportion risk assessments were utilized to determine the traits of cellular senescence-related mRNAs linked to NSCLC prognosis. Subsequently, the prognostic model for cellular senescence-related mRNAs was integrated with clinical-pathological characteristics to create a prognostic nomogram. Furthermore, the study delved into the risk-oriented predictive model, examining immune infiltration and responses to immunotherapy among both high and low-risk categories. ResultsUtilizing both univariate and multivariate Cox proportion risk assessments, a risk model comprising 12 mRNAs associated with cellular aging was ultimately developed: IGFBP1, TLR3, WT1, ID1, PTTG1, ERRFI1, HEPACAM, MAP2K3, RAD21, NANOG, PRKCD, SOX5. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis illustrated that the risk score served as a standalone indicator for prognosis, and the hazard ratio (HR) of the risk score were 1.182 (1.139–1.226) (p < 0.001) and 1.162 (1.119 − 1.206) (p < 0.001), respectively. Individual prognoses were forecasted using nomogram, c-index, and principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, the risk-oriented model revealed notable statistical variances in immune infiltration and response to immunotherapy among the high and low risk categories. ConclusionsThis study shows that mRNAs related to cell senescence associated with prognosis are reliable predictors of NSCLC immunotherapy reaction and prognosis.

Impact of the Mbarara University of Science and Technology residency training on increasing access to specialty care workforce.

Graduate tracer studies provide an avenue for assessing the impact of residency training on the distribution and access to specialty care and exploring job and professional satisfaction of alumnus. This study examined how the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) clinical residency training program influenced the spatial distribution and career paths of specialists. We conducted a mixed methods study involving an online survey and 12 in-depth interviews (IDIs) from June to September 2022. The online survey was distributed to a convenient sample of clinical residency alumnus from MUST via email and Whatsapp groups. Alumnus were mapped across the countries of current work in QGIS (version 3.16.3) using GPS coordinates. Descriptive and thematic analyses were also conducted. Ninety-five alumni (34.3%) responded to the tracer survey. The majority were males (80%), aged 31-40 years (69%), and Ugandans (72%). Most graduated after 2018 (83%) as obstetricians/gynecologists (38%) and general surgeons (19%). There was uneven distribution of specialists across Uganda and the East-African community-with significant concentration in urban cities of Uganda at specialized hospitals and academic institutions. Residency training helped prepare and equip alumnus with competencies relevant to their current work tasks (48%) and other spheres of life (45%). All respondents were currently employed, with the majority engaged in clinical practice (82%) and had obtained their first employment within six months after graduation (76%). The qualitative interviews revealed the reported ease in finding jobs after the training and the relevance of the training in enhancing the alumnus' ability to impact those they serve in teaching, research, management, and clinical care. Graduates cited low payment, limited resources, and slow career advancement concerns. Residency training improves the graduates' professional/career growth and the quality of health care services. Strategic specialty training addressing imbalances in subspecialties and rural areas coverage could optimize access to specialist services.

Atomic-scale observation of nucleation- and growth-controlled deformation twinning in body-centered cubic nanocrystals

Twinning is an essential mode of plastic deformation for achieving superior strength and ductility in metallic nanostructures. It has been generally believed that twinning-induced plasticity in body-centered cubic (BCC) metals is controlled by twin nucleation, but facilitated by rapid twin growth once the nucleation energy barrier is overcome. By performing in situ atomic-scale transmission electron microscopy straining experiments and atomistic simulations, we find that deformation twinning in BCC Ta nanocrystals larger than 15 nm in diameter proceeds by reluctant twin growth, resulting from slow advancement of twinning partials along the boundaries of finite-sized twin structures. In contrast, reluctant twin growth can be obviated by reducing the nanocrystal diameter to below 15 nm. As a result, the nucleated twin structure penetrates quickly through the cross section of nanocrystals, enabling fast twin growth via facile migration of twin boundaries leading to large uniform plastic deformation. The present work reveals a size-dependent transition in the nucleation- and growth-controlled twinning mechanism in BCC metals, and provides insights for exploiting twinning-induced plasticity and breaking strength-ductility limits in nanostructured BCC metals.

Telos of Special Education for Students with Severe Disabilities

ABSTRACT We overview several key issues of the past, present, and near future of special education for students with severe disabilities. We contextualize the Telos of special education by briefly remarking on its historical roots in the United States, then delve into several issues we believe are critical for advancing toward better outcomes for students with severe disabilities, including the increasingly alarming shortage of special education teachers and short-sighted responses to address it. We also discuss issues related to curricular decisions, and the apparent tension between access to general education (i.e. academic) curriculum and teaching other life altering repertoires for students with severe disabilities. Attention also is given to the evidence-based practices movement in special education, including the apparent rigidity of intervention protocols and slow advances toward clarifying for whom and under what conditions an intervention is effective. Our intention is to generate discussion about and interest in areas where consensus among stakeholders appears feasible such that policy and law can be influenced in ways that advance toward realizing the Telos of special education for students with severe disabilities.

Dinophysis, a highly specialized mixoplanktonic protist

Several Dinophysis species produce lipophilic toxins (diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, DSP and pectenotoxins PTX) which are transferred through the food web. Even at low cell densities (&amp;lt; 103 cell L-1), they can cause human illness and shellfish harvesting bans; toxins released into the water may kill early life stages of marine organisms. Dinophysis species are mixotrophs: they combine phototrophy (by means of kleptoplastids stolen from their prey) with highly selective phagotrophy on the ciliate Mesodinium, also a mixotroph which requires cryptophyte prey of the Teleaulax/Geminigera clade. Life cycle strategies, biological interactions and plastid acquisition and functioning in Dinophysis species make them exemplars of resilient holoplanktonic mixoplankters and of ongoing speciation and plastidial evolution. Nevertheless, 17 years after the first successful culture was established, the difficulties in isolating and establishing cultures with local ciliate prey, the lack of robust molecular markers for species discrimination, and the patchy distribution of low-density populations in thin layers, hinder physiological experiments to obtain biological measurements of their populations and slow down potential advances with next-generation technologies. The Omic’s age in Dinophysis research has only just started, but increased efforts need to be invested in systematic studies of plastidic diversity and culture establishment of ciliate and cryptophyte co-occurring with Dinophysis in the same planktonic assemblages.

Statin therapy in patients with early-stage autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: Design and baseline characteristics

BackgroundAutosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is characterized by the development and continued growth of multiple cysts in the kidneys leading to ultimate loss of kidney function in most patients. Currently, tolvaptan is the only agency approved therapy to slow kidney disease advancement in patients with faster progressing disease underscoring the need for additional ADPKD therapies suitable for all patients. We previously showed that pravastatin slowed kidney disease progression in children and young adults with ADPKD. However, the intervention has not been tested in an adult cohort. AimsThe aim of the study is to conduct a single center, randomized, placebo-controlled double-blinded clinical trial to determine the efficacy of pravastatin on slowing kidney disease progression in adult patients with early stage ADPKD. MethodsOne hundred and fifty adult patients with ADPKD and eGFR ≥60 ml/min/1.73m2 will be enrolled in the study and randomized to receive 40 mg/day pravastatin or placebo for a period of 2-years. OutcomesThe primary outcome of the trial is change in total kidney volume assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Secondary outcomes include change in kidney function by iothalamate GFR and renal blood flow and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. ConclusionThis study will assess the kidney therapeutic benefits of pravastatin in adult patients with ADPKD. The recruitment goal of 150 subjects was attained and the study is ongoing.Registration: This study is registered on Clinicaltrials.gov # NCT03273413

Slow verses rapid advancement of enteral feed in preterm neonates of 28-34 weeks of gestational age with abnormal antenatal umbilical artery Doppler: A randomised controlled trial

Background: Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is the commonest and most serious gastrointestinal neonatal emergency. In preterm infants with evidence of abnormal Doppler flow velocities in the fetal umbilical artery, suboptimal intestinal perfusion is postulated to increase the risk of feed intolerance and NEC.Objectives: To compare the effect of slow versus rapid enteral feeding in preterm neonates with abnormal antenatal umbilical artery Doppler.Method: This is a randomised controlled trial; we randomised into a slow and a fast group; we randomised separately into subcategories based on the weight. Sample size was calculated as 82. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 23. For group comparisons of categorical data, Chi-squared test was used. If expected frequency in the contingency tables was &lt;5 for more than 25% cells, Fisher’s exact test was used. For non-parametric continuous data Mann-Whitney test was applied. Statistical significance was kept at p&lt;0.05 and power at 80%.Results: In neonates with slow and rapid feeding with birth weight &lt;1250g, percentage of 2b (30% and 26.7% respectively) was more compared to other stages, whereas in group with birth weight ≥1250g rapid feeding group Ia (14.3%) was more in slow feeding group and 1a and 2a equal in rapid feeding group with no statistical significance. The mean duration of stay hospital was less in rapid feeding group in both birth strata. The sepsis percentage was more in the slow feeding group. Regarding mortality in both groups, there was no statistical difference.Conclusions: In this study the type of feeding did not affect NEC or feeding intolerance in preterm infants. Rapid feeding had a significant impact on sepsis and length of stay in preterm infants.

RPU-PVB: robust object detection based on a unified metric perspective with bilinear interpolation

With the development of cloud computing and deep learning, an increasing number of artificial intelligence models have been applied to reality. Such as videos on cell phones can be uploaded to the cloud for storage, which is detected by cloud arithmetic. Nevertheless, achieving this goal requires frequent consideration of the security of the model, since videos or images that go to the cloud, it is very likely to receive an adversarial attack. Regarding object detection, there has however been slow advancement in robustness research in this area. This is because training a target detection model requires a lot of arithmetic and time. Moreover, the current research has only slightly reduced the gap between clean and adversarial samples. To alleviate this problem, we propose a uniform perspective object detection robustness model based on bilinear interpolation that can accurately identify clean and adversarial samples. We propose the robustness optimization based on uniform metric perspective (RPU) for feature learning of clean and adversarial samples, drawing on the fine-grained idea. Following this, we analyze the fragility of the adversarial samples and consequently use the proposed perturbation filtering verification (PVB) based on bilinear interpolation. With slightly degraded clean sample detection performance, it substantially improves the robustness of object detection. Extensive experiments on PASCAL VOC and MS COCO show that our model guarantees the detection performance of clean samples and increases the detection performance of adversarial samples. The work we did has been open-sourced on GitHub: https://github.com/KujouRiu/RPU-PVB.

Alarm sounded over declining US radiation professional workforce

As retirements surge, shortages threaten to slow advances in cancer therapy, diagnostics, and improved understanding of the physiological impacts of radiation.

Exercise testing and risk assessment of pulmonary hypertension

Managing pulmonary hypertension (PH) involves approaches to relieve symptoms, slow disease progression, and improve patient outcomes. Advances in treatment strategies, risk assessment methods, and lifestyle adjustments have significantly improved PH care. While PH has no cure, treatment options are available to alleviate symptoms, extend life expectancy, and slow disease advancement. Tailoring treatment strategies based on the type and severity of PH as individual patient response and tolerance is crucial. The main goals include alleviating symptoms, enhancing quality of life, improving capacity, and increasing survival rates. Diagnosis and management require evaluation and regular follow-up due to the complexity of PH treatments. Different medical approaches play a role in symptom relief. Improving overall system function. Oxygen therapy and procedures such as septostomy or lung transplantation may be warranted, contingent on disease severity. Lifestyle modifications, encompassing exercise training, smoking cessation, and weight management, complement pharmacological interventions. Risk assessment tools, typified by the REVEAL risk score, have revolutionized PH care by facilitating personalized therapeutic approaches. Genetic factors are increasingly considered, heralding a new era in tailored treatment. While challenges persist, ongoing research endeavors promise.

Exercise training inhibits macrophage-derived IL-17A-CXCL5-CXCR2 inflammatory axis to attenuate pulmonary fibrosis in mice exposed to silica

Exposure to crystalline silica leads to health effects beyond occupational silicosis. Exercise training's potential benefits on pulmonary diseases yield inconsistent outcomes. In this study, we utilized experimental silicotic mice subjected to exercise training and pharmacological interventions, including interleukin-17A (IL-17A) neutralizing antibody or clodronate liposome for macrophage depletion. Findings reveal exercise training's ability to mitigate silicosis progression in mice by suppressing scavenger receptor B (SRB)/NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathways. Macrophage-derived IL-17A emerges as primary source and trigger for silica-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. Exercise training effectively inhibits IL-17A-CXC motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5)-Chemokine (C-X-C motif) Receptor 2 (CXCR2) axis in silicotic mice. Our study evidences exercise training's potential to reduce collagen deposition, preserve elastic fibers, slow pulmonary fibrosis advancement, and enhance pulmonary function post silica exposure by impeding macrophage-derived IL-17A-CXCL5-CXCR2 axis.

Unveiled Ferroelectricity in Well‐Known Non‐Ferroelectric Materials and Their Semiconductor Applications

AbstractFerroelectric materials are considered ideal for emerging memory devices owing to their characteristic remanent polarization, which can be switched by applying a sufficient electric field. However, even several decades after the initial conceptualization of ferroelectric memory, its applications are limited to a niche market. The slow advancement of ferroelectric memories can be attributed to several extant issues, such as the absence of ferroelectric materials with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility and scalability. Since the 2010s, ferroelectric memories have attracted increasing interest because of newly discovered ferroelectricity in well‐established CMOS‐compatible materials, which are previously known to be non‐ferroelectric, such as fluorite‐structured (Hf,Zr)O2 and wurtzite‐structured (Al,Sc)N. With advancing material fabrication technologies, for example, accurate chemical doping and atomic‐level thickness control, a metastable polar phase, and switchable polarization with a reasonable electric field can be induced in (Hf,Zr)O2 and (Al,Sc)N. Nonetheless, various issues still exist that urgently require solutions to facilitate the use of the ferroelectric (Hf,Zr)O2 and (Al,Sc)N in emerging memory devices. Thus, ferroelectric (Hf,Zr)O2 and (Al,Sc)N are comprehensively reviewed herein, including their fundamental science and practical applications.

Slow advancement of the endotracheal tube during fiberoptic-guided tracheal intubation reduces the severity of postoperative sore throat

Although fiberoptic-guided tracheal intubation is a gentler method than using a direct laryngoscope, injury may occur owing to impingement between the distal edge of the endotracheal tube and the glottis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of endotracheal tube advancement speed during fiberoptic-guided intubation on airway symptoms postoperatively. We randomized patients scheduled for laparoscopic gynecological surgery to either Group C or S. When advancing the tube over the bronchoscope, the operator advanced the tube at a normal speed in Group C and at a slower speed in Group S. The speed in Group S was approximately half that in Group C. The target outcomes were the severity of postoperative sore throat, hoarseness, and cough. Patients in Group C experienced a more severe sore throat than those in Group S at 3 and 24 h postoperatively (p = 0.001 and p = 0.012, respectively). However, the severity of hoarseness and cough postoperatively were not significantly different between the groups. In conclusion, the slow advancement of the endotracheal tube during fiberoptic-guided intubation can reduce sore throat severity.