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Retraction: Does the New Rural Pension Scheme improve residents’ livelihoods? Empirical evidence from Northwestern China

First-principles investigations on the conducting photocatalytic behaviour in SrZrxGe1−xO3 (x = 1, 0.96, 0.92 and 0.88)

Diagnostic angiography for identification and management of late vascular injuries in war-related traumatic peripheral vascular injuries: A retrospective cohort study

Purpose One of the feared complications of war-related peripheral vascular injury is the development of delayed hemorrhage. This study describes our experience with an innovative protocol of surveillance diagnostic angiography to detect occult late vascular complications in an effort to prevent delayed hemorrhage. Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single level one trauma center, reviewing patients with war-related peripheral vascular injuries caused by penetrating trauma from October 7th, 2023, to January 21st, 2024. Data collected included patient demographics, primary injury characteristics, associated complications, incidence of late vascular injuries (either symptomatic or occult), means of diagnosis, treatment strategies and outcomes. Results The cohort included 41 patients with war-related peripheral vascular injuries affecting 51 limbs. All patients were male (100%) with a median age of 25 years, the majority being soldiers (85%). 24 occurrences of late vascular injuries were observed in 22 (43%) out of 51 limbs (100%). Half were symptomatic, with delayed hemorrhage occurring in 5 limbs in total (10%), and half were asymptomatic. A total of 17 surveillance diagnostic angiographies were performed with the sole indication of identifying occult late vascular injuries in asymptomatic patients, of which 4 (24%) were positive for findings. Five additional diagnostic angiographies were performed to assess late injuries discovered incidentally on imaging studies that were performed for other indications, and all were positive for late vascular injuries. Of all late vascular injuries, a total of 83% required subsequent treatment. Conclusions Late vascular injuries are a potentially lethal complication of war-related peripheral vascular injury. Aggressive surveillance with diagnostic angiography prior to discharge from a high intensity care unit can detect asymptomatic late vascular injuries, the treatment of which may prevent life-threatening hemorrhage.

Prevalence and determinants of mental distress among patients admitted in medical and surgical wards of public hospitals in South Gondar zone, Ethiopia

Argumentative style of parent-child interactions: A case study

Parent-child argumentation is a unique form of communication, as it combines persuasion, emotional exchange, and instructional dynamics shaped by contextual factors and cultural norms. To fully understand how a parent balances dialectical reasonableness with rhetorical adaptability to resolve conflicts and foster cooperation with the child within specific context, this study investigates the argumentative style of parent-child interaction within the Chinese context, focusing on the interplay of cultural values, educational goals, and argumentative practices in family interaction. Within a corpus of 20 hours of recordings of parent-child conversations concerning educational topics from 5 Chinese families, a conversation between a mother and a son during homework was selected and qualitatively analyzed, based on the framework of Argumentative Style developed from the standard model of pragma-dialectics. The findings highlight the predominant use of an engaged argumentative style in the case, which features the parent’s radiating commitment in topical selection, communality in adaptation to audience demand and inclusiveness in presentational devices. An occasional shift to a detached style was also identified, particularly when the authority figure of the teacher was invoked. The subtle balance between nurturing parental involvement and reinforcing respect for established norms is reflective of the broad Chinese cultural values that parents bear significant responsibilities for children’s academic success, and act as guides and enforcers in family education. By investigating the roles different argumentative styles play in real-life parent-child interaction, this study provides implications for developing effective communication strategies in family education and highlights the significance of culturally informed argumentative practices.

Investigation of incipient cavitation in various liquids based on PIV quantification and numerical simulations

Cold low-latitude Ordovician paleotemperatures may be in hot water

Non-customized data asset evaluation based on knowledge graph and value entropy

With the rapid expansion of non-customized data assets, developing reliable and objective methods for their valuation has become essential. However, current evaluation techniques often face challenges such as incomplete indicator systems and an over-reliance on subjective judgment. To address these issues, this study presents a structured framework comprising 17 key indicators for assessing data asset value. A neural network is employed to calculate indicator weights, which reduces subjectivity and enhances the accuracy of the assessment. Additionally, knowledge graph techniques are used to organize and visualize relationships among the indicators, providing a comprehensive evaluation view. The proposed model combines information entropy and the TOPSIS method to refine asset valuation by integrating indicator weights and performance metrics. To validate the model, it is applied to two datasets: Bitcoin market data from the past seven years and BYD stock data. The Bitcoin dataset demonstrates the model’s capability to capture market trends and assess purchasing potential, while the BYD stock dataset highlights its adaptability across diverse financial assets. The successful application of these cases confirms the model’s effectiveness in supporting data-driven asset management and pricing. This framework provides a systematic methodology for data asset valuation, offering significant theoretical and practical implications for asset pricing and management.

Effect of extended egg quiescence and elevation in carbon dioxide on life history traits of Aedes aegypti

Abstract Elevation in carbon dioxide is a global threat, driving anthropogenic climate change. How disease-vectoring mosquitoes respond to these changes is currently largely unknown. The dengue vector, Aedes aegypti, has adapted to urban environments, which are more affected by climatic changes, especially CO2. Aedes aegypti lay eggs around ephemeral water bodies that are prone to desiccation, with the pharate larvae possessing the ability to resist the desiccation, during which the permeability across the chorion is compromised. The study investigates the combined effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and extended egg quiescence duration on life-history traits of immature and adult stages, including development rate, survival and size. Furthermore, we analysed the metabolic reserves of newly emerged females and whether mosquitoes display compensatory feeding in response to restricted reserves. Extended egg quiescence duration, combined with elevated CO2 level, differentially affected developmental duration and larval survival, with carry-over effects on adult metabolic reserves, size and survival. The interaction of elevated CO2 conditions and egg quiescence period differentially impact life-history traits of Ae. aegypti. The findings of this study provide evidential support for assertion that changing climatic conditions significantly impact survival and population dynamics, as well as feeding propensity, which directly affect the vectorial capacity of Ae. aegypti.

Spatial association of biosocial and economic factors with reproductive women obesity in urban India

Obesity creates several health complications among the urban women from reproductive age group. So far it is most ignored public health concern particularly in Indian context. The study aims to focus on the identification of cluster of districts with obese urban women and its spatial association with selected spatial determining explanatory factors.This study utilized secondary data obtained from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-2021.The study performed spatial cluster of districts through univariate Moran’s I and its association with selected determining factors through bivariate Local Indicator of Spatial Association (BiLISA). Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was applied to measure the magnitude of independent factors over the space affecting the prevalence of outome of urban obese women.The spatial autocorrelation value of obesity among the urban women was found 0.429, depicting the moderate concentration of obesity coverage among the urban women over the districts of India. The results of bivariate LISA revealed that the highest bivariate Moran’ I value among all the predictors were identified for those women who had caesarean delivery (I = 0.274), followed by non-poor population (I = 0.208). The adjusted R2 value evidenced by the GWR model was 0.727 indicated that the employed explanatory variables was explaining about 73% for making influence on the prevalence of obesity among urban women of reproductive age group across the districts of India. This study recommends for an urgent need of interventions of the target areas focusing predominantly the urban women belonging from higher socio-economic status.

Stages prediction of Alzheimer’s disease with shallow 2D and 3D CNNs from intelligently selected neuroimaging data

The shortcomings of synthetic census microdata

U.S. Census Bureau officials recently reaffirmed the Bureau’s ongoing efforts to replace the American Community Survey (ACS) public use microdata sample with “fully synthetic” data to protect respondent confidentiality. With the growth of computing power and expansion of private sector data about the population, the Census Bureau has valid concerns about confidentiality threats to public data. The current plan for fully synthetic data, however, threatens a cornerstone of the nation’s scientific infrastructure. Census microdata samples are among the most frequently used sources in social science research, and they are an essential tool for policy formation and planning from the local to the national level. Synthetic census microdata are not suitable for most research and policy applications. There have been no recent attempts to quantify disclosure risk in the ACS microdata, and the sole existing study failed to establish a credible threat for positive identification of ACS respondents by external intruders. I argue that we need new empirical research to pinpoint specific vulnerabilities that could allow an intruder to determine a particular individual’s confidential census responses. If significant vulnerabilities are uncovered, the Census Bureau in partnership with the research community should develop targeted methods for disclosure risk reduction that minimize damage to data usability.

The analysis of rural revitalization serviceplatform in smart city under back propagation neural network

To achieve rural revitalization and enhance the development of rural tourism, this study employs a back propagation neural network (BPNN) to construct a rural revitalization development model. Additionally, the Grey Relation Analysis (GRA) algorithm is used to classify rural revitalization efforts across different cities. Consistency testing is applied to analyze rural revitalization indicators, and a tourism service evaluation model is established to assess rural revitalization tourism services from the perspective of smart cities. The research results indicate that: (1) the training results and expected values of the ten cities are relatively consistent, and the classification of rural revitalization development is good; (2) The five major indicators of tourism information services, tourism security services, tourism transportation services, tourism environment services, and tourism management services all meet the consistency test, and the consistency test results are all less than 0.1, confirming the reliability and effectiveness of the research data; (3) The tourism information and management services are mainly evaluated at level C, accounting for 62% and 62.5% respectively. The tourism transportation and safety services are mainly evaluated at level D, and the model can indicate the level of rural revitalization tourism service; (4) Compared with other algorithms, the GRA-BPNN algorithm performs the best in rural revitalization evaluation, with an accuracy of 92.3%, precision of 91.8%, recall rate of 93.7%, and F1 score of 92.7%. This study optimizes the rural revitalization tourism service platform, enhances the quality of rural tourism, promotes the development of the rural tourism industry, and contributes to the realization of rural revitalization.

Assembly and comparative analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Lactuca sativa var. ramosa Hort

Randomised, double-blind study to evaluate the efficacy of rituximab in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy: A clinical trial protocol

In Japan, corticosteroid monotherapy has traditionally been recommended as the first-line therapy for membranous nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome. In contrast, except for Japan, rituximab is recommended as the first-line therapy for membranous nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome. This clinical trial aimed to verify the efficacy and safety of the intravenous administration of rituximab without steroids or immunosuppressants as an induction therapy in Japanese patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy and nephrotic syndrome. This was a multicentre (15 in Japan), placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group comparative study. A total of 88 patients diagnosed with idiopathic membranous nephropathy and nephrotic syndrome were randomly allocated to rituximab and placebo groups in a 1:1 ratio; rituximab 1,000 mg or placebo IV infusion was administered every 2 weeks for two doses in a double-blinded manner. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving less than 1.0 g/g creatinine in urine protein/creatinine ratio in random urine at 26 weeks after the first administration of rituximab or placebo. This study was approved by the institutional review boards and conducted in accordance with the Good Clinical Practice guidelines. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05914155 and the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials, jRCT2041230037 on 13 June 2023.

Data driven prediction based reliability assessment of solar energy systems incorporating uncertainties for generation planning

Reply to Crabtree: Market research panels augmenting microtask platforms

Predicting treatment response to cognitive behavior therapy in social anxiety disorder on the basis of demographics, psychiatric history, and scales: A machine learning approach

Only about half of patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) respond substantially to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, there has been little evidence available to clinicians or patients about whether any individual patient is more or less likely to have a positive response to CBT. Here, we used machine learning on data from 157 patients to examine whether individual patient responses to CBT can be predicted based on demographic information, psychiatric history, and self-reported or clinician-reported scales, subscales and questionnaires acquired prior to treatment. Machine learning models were able to explain about 26% of the variance in final treatment improvements. To assess generalizability, we evaluated multiple machine learning models using cross-validation and determined which input features were essential for prediction. While prediction accuracy was similar across models, the importance of specific features varied across models. In general, the combination of total scale score, subscale scores and responses to individual questions on a severity measure, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), was the most informative in achieving the highest predictions that alone accounted for about 26% of the variance in treatment outcome. Demographic information, psychiatric history, personality measures, other self-reported or clinician-reported questionnaires, and clinical scales related to anxiety, depression, and quality of life provided no additional predictive power. These findings indicate that combining scaled and individual responses to LSAS questions are informative for predicting individual response to CBT in patients with SAD.

Centrobin serves as a safeguard to guide timely centriole maturation during the cell cycle

Parthenolide regulates microglial and astrocyte function in primary cultures from ALS mice and has neuroprotective effects on primary motor neurons

Over the last twenty years, the role of microgliosis and astrocytosis in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases has increasingly been recognized. Dysregulation of microglial and astrocyte properties and function has been described also in the fatal degenerative motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Microglia cells, the immune cells of the nervous system, can either have an immunonegative neurotoxic or immunopositive neuroprotective phenotype. The feverfew plant (Tanacetum parthenium) derived compound parthenolide has been found to be capable of interfering with microglial phenotype and properties. Positive treatment effects were shown in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Now we were able to show that PTL has a modulating effect on primary mouse microglia cells, both wild type and SOD1, causing them to adopt a more neuroprotective potential. Furthermore, we were able to show that PTL, through its positive effect on microglia, also has an indirect positive impact on motor neurons, although PTL itself has no direct effect on these primary motor neurons. The results of our study give reason to consider PTL as a drug candidate for ALS.