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Dietary fatty acids and mortality risk from heart disease in US adults : an analysis based on NHANES

  • Authors: Wang, Yutang , Fang, Yan , Witting, Paul , Charchar, Fadi , Sobey, Christopher , Drummond, Grant , Golledge, Jonothan
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Scientific Reports Vol. 13, no. 1 (2023), p.
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  • Description: We investigated the association of dietary intake of major types of fatty acids with heart disease mortality in a general adult cohort with or without a prior diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI). This cohort study included US adults who attended the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1988 to 2014. Heart disease mortality was ascertained by linkage to the National Death Index records through 31 December 2015. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of fatty acid intake for heart disease mortality. This cohort included 45,820 adults among which 1,541 had a prior diagnosis of MI. Participants were followed up for 532,722 person-years (mean follow-up, 11.6 years), with 2,313 deaths recorded from heart disease being recorded. Intake of saturated (SFAs) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) was associated with heart disease mortality after adjustment for all the tested confounders. In contrast, a 5% higher calorie intake from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was associated with a 9% (HR, 0.91; 95% CI 0.83–1.00; P = 0.048) lower multivariate-adjusted risk of heart disease mortality. Sub-analyses showed that this inverse association was present in those without a prior diagnosis of MI (HR,0.89; 95% CI 0.80–0.99) but not in those with the condition (HR, 0.94; 95% CI 0.75–1.16). The lack of association in the MI group could be due to a small sample size or severity and procedural complications (e.g., stenting and medication adherence) of the disease. Higher PUFA intake was associated with a favourable lipid profile. However, further adjustment for plasma lipids did not materially change the inverse association between PUFAs and heart disease mortality. Higher intake of PUFAs, but not SFAs and MUFAs, was associated with a lower adjusted risk of heart disease mortality in a large population of US adults supporting the need to increase dietary PUFA intake in the general public. © 2023, The Author(s).

Differences between DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 revisions of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder : a commentary on implications and opportunities

  • Authors: Gomez, Rapson , Chen, Wai , Houghton, Stephen
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: World J Psychiatry Vol. 13, no. 5 (2023), p. 138-143
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  • Description: Current ICD-11 descriptions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were recently published online, in the same year as the DSM-5-TR (text revised edition) was released. In this commentary, we compare and contrast the DSM-5/DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 diagnostic criteria, summarize important differences, and underscore their clinical and research implications. Overall, three major differences emerge: (1) The number of diagnostic criteria for inattention (IA), hyperactivity (HY) and impulsivity (IM) symptoms ( , DSM-5-TR has nine IA and nine HY/IM symptoms, whereas ICD-11 has 11 IA and 11 HY/IM sym-ptoms) (2) the clarity and standardization of diagnostic thresholds ( , the diagnostic thresholds for symptom count in IA and HY/IM domains are explicitly specified in DSM-5-TR, whereas in ICD-11 they are not) and (3) the partitioning of HY and IM symptoms into sub-dimensions ( , difference in partitioning HY and IM symptom domains relates to the differences between the current and previous editions of DSM and ICD, and this has important research implications). Currently, no ICD-11 based ADHD rating scales exist and while this absence represents an obstacle for respective research and clinical practice, it also presents opportunities for research development. This article highlights these challenges, possible remedies and novel research opportunities.

Digital twin for risk and uncertainty analysis in complex industrial control and automation systems using artificial intelligence and machine learning

  • Authors: Siddiqui, Muhammad
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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  • Description: Industrial control systems play a crucial role in enabling advanced manufacturing operations. However, these systems are inherently susceptible to failure. Detecting faults at an early stage is of paramount importance, as it can prevent the occurrence of fatal and catastrophic consequences resulting from equipment failures. Moreover, timely detection and resolution of faults can save significant costs and time for organizations. The failure of these systems not only poses risks to operators but can also lead to substantial delays in the advanced manufacturing process, imposing substantial financial burdens on organizations. Therefore, a methodology is needed that can be used to avoid the adverse effects of equipment failure of industrial control systems to achieve smooth advanced manufacturing operations. To achieve this, the methodology should be able to detect the abnormal behaviour of the system at very early stages for predictive maintenance. This methodology can be designed using an extremely popular concept known as the Digital Twin, which has gained significant importance in the era of Industry 4.0. In this research, artificial intelligence techniques will be employed to develop a highly accurate and detailed digital twin model. This model will serve as a valuable tool for predictive maintenance in complex industrial control systems, facilitating the achievement of smooth and uninterrupted advanced manufacturing processes. Also, the performance of the proposed Digital Twin model will be compared with state-of-the-art anomaly detection approaches. The digital twin, utilizing the proposed algorithms, will not only be able to detect anomalies but also quantify their severity, classifying them into different levels such as minor, severe, and faulty operations. Furthermore, the research addresses the generalization challenges faced by state-of-the-art approaches, showcasing the digital twin's ability to effectively classify unseen data as healthy or anomalous. The results obtained from the analysis and comparison of state-of-the-art approaches with the proposed algorithms clearly demonstrate the methodology's capability to detect anomalies, quantify their level, and classify them accurately and effectively in real-world data. This validation underscores the robustness and reliability of the developed methodology, further solidifying its potential as a valuable tool for predictive maintenance in complex industrial control systems.
  • Description: Masters by Research

Discriminative ability of lower limb strength and power measures in lacrosse athletes

  • Authors: Talpey, Scott , Axtell, Robert , Gardner, Elizabeth , Maloney, Maggie , Newman, Thomas , Cordone, Jason , O'Grady, Mathew
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 44, no. 1 (2023), p. 29-37
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  • Description: The objective of this investigation was to compare isokinetic strength, countermovement jump and drop jump variables between high-contributors and low-contributors within NCAA Division I Men's and Women's lacrosse athletes. Men's (N=36) and Women's (N=30) NCAA Division I lacrosse athletes completed strength testing of the quadriceps and hamstring across three speeds (60°·s -1, 180°·s -1, 300°·s -1), countermovement and drop jumps. To determine the discriminative ability of select lower-limb strength and power characteristics participants were categorized as high-contributors (Males N=18, age=20.3±0.4 yrs, height=183.9±5.5 cm, mass=90.8±5.8 kg; Females N=15, age=20.8±0.8 yrs, height=169.3±6.7 cm, mass=64.1±7.2 kg) or low-contributors (Males N=18, age=19.5±0.2 yrs, height=184.1±5.6 cm; mass=87.9±8.1 kg; Females N=15, age=19.7±0.2 yrs, height=169.8±7.0 cm, mass=62.9±7.7 kg) based upon the number of games the participants competed in during the regular season. Within the male cohort, moderate significant (p<0.05) differences were observed between high-contributors and low-contributors in isokinetic hamstring strength of the left leg at 300°·s -1(d=0.69) and peak power in countermovement jump (d= 0.68). Within the women's cohort a large (d= 0.87) significant difference (p<0.05) in isokinetic strength of the left hamstring was observed between high-contributors and low-contributors at 60°·s -1. Hamstring strength and lower-limb power are important strength measures for lacrosse performance and should be prioritized in training prescription for lacrosse athletes. © 2023 Georg Thieme Verlag. All rights reserved.

Discussion : effects of plastic waste materials on geotechnical properties of clayey soil [doi: 10.1007/s40515-020-00145-4]

Disordered social media use during COVID-19 predicts perceived stress and depression through indirect effects via fear of COVID-19

  • Authors: Tillman, Gabriel , March, Evita , Lavender, Andrew , Braund, Taylor , Mesagno, Christopher
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Behavioral Sciences Vol. 13, no. 9 (2023), p.
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  • Description: The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global threat that can have an adverse effect on an individuals’ physical and mental health. Here, we investigate if disordered social media use predicts user stress and depression symptoms indirectly via fear of COVID-19. A total of 359 (timepoint 1 = 171, timepoint 2 = 188) participants were recruited via social media and snowball sampling. They completed an online survey that measured disordered social media use, fear of COVID-19, perceived stress, and depression symptomatology at two cross-sectional timepoints. We found that disordered social media use predicts depression indirectly through fear of COVID-19 at both timepoints. We also found that disordered social media use predicts perceived stress indirectly through fear of COVID-19, but only at timepoint 1. Taken together with previous research, our findings indicate that disordered social media use may lead to increased fear of COVID-19, which in turn may lead to poorer psychological wellbeing outcomes. Overall, there is evidence that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the physical, psychological, and emotional health of individuals worldwide. Moreover, this impact may be exacerbated by disordered use of social media. © 2023 by the authors.

Disseminating sleep education to graduate psychology programs online : a knowledge translation study to improve the management of insomnia

  • Authors: Meaklim, Hailey , Meltzer, Lisa , Rehm, Imogen , Junge, Moira , Monfries, Melissa , Kennedy, Gerard , Bucks, Romola , Graco, Marnie , Jackson, Melinda
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Sleep Vol. 46, no. 10 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Study Objectives: Despite the negative impact of poor sleep on mental health, evidence-based insomnia management guidelines have not been translated into routine mental healthcare. Here, we evaluate a state-wide knowledge translation effort to disseminate sleep and insomnia education to graduate psychology programs online using the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) evaluation framework. Methods: Using a non-randomized waitlist control design, graduate psychology students attended a validated 6-hour online sleep education workshop delivered live as part of their graduate psychology program in Victoria, Australia. Sleep knowledge, attitudes, and practice assessments were conducted pre- and post-program, with long-term feedback collected at 12 months. Results: Seven out of ten graduate psychology programs adopted the workshop (adoption rate = 70%). The workshop reached 313 graduate students, with a research participation rate of 81%. The workshop was effective at improving students’ sleep knowledge and self-efficacy to manage sleep disturbances using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), compared to the waitlist control with medium-to-large effect sizes (all p < .001). Implementation feedback was positive, with 96% of students rating the workshop as very good-to-excellent. Twelve-month maintenance data demonstrated that 83% of students had used the sleep knowledge/skills learned in the workshop in their clinical practice. However, more practical training is required to achieve CBT-I competency. Conclusions: Online sleep education workshops can be scaled to deliver cost-effective foundational sleep training to graduate psychology students. This workshop will accelerate the translation of insomnia management guidelines into psychology practice to improve sleep and mental health outcomes nationwide. © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Sleep Research Society.

Distinct subpopulations of DN1 thymocytes exhibit preferential gamma delta T lineage potential

DMD-associated dilated cardiomyopathy : genotypes, phenotypes, and phenocopies

  • Authors: Johnson, Renee , Otway, Robyn , Chin, Ephrem , Horvat, Claire , Ohanian, Monique , Wilcox, Jon , Su, Zheng , Prestes, Priscilla , Smolnikov, Andrei , Soka, Magdalena , Guo, Guanglan , Rath, Emma , Chakravorty, Samya , Chrzanowski, Lukasz , Hayward, Christopher , Keogh, Anne , MacDonald, Peter , Giannoulatou, Eleni , Chang, Alex , Oates, Emily , Charchar, Fadi , Seidman, Jonathan , Seidman, Christine , Hegde, Madhuri , Fatkin, Diane
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine Vol. 16, no. 5 (2023), p. 421-430
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  • Description: Background: Variants in the DMD gene, that encodes the cytoskeletal protein, dystrophin, cause a severe form of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) associated with high rates of heart failure, heart transplantation, and ventricular arrhythmias. Improved early detection of individuals at risk is needed. Methods: Genetic testing of 40 male probands with a potential X-linked genetic cause of primary DCM was undertaken using multi-gene panel sequencing, multiplex polymerase chain reaction, and array comparative genomic hybridization. Variant location was assessed with respect to dystrophin isoform patterns and exon usage. Telomere length was evaluated as a marker of myocardial dysfunction in left ventricular tissue and blood. Results: Four pathogenic/likely pathogenic DMD variants were found in 5 probands (5/40: 12.5%). Only one rare variant was identified by gene panel testing with 3 additional multi-exon deletion/duplications found following targeted assays for structural variants. All of the pathogenic/likely pathogenic DMD variants involved dystrophin exons that had percent spliced-in scores >90, indicating high levels of constitutive expression in the human adult heart. Fifteen DMD variant-negative probands (15/40: 37.5%) had variants in autosomal genes including TTN, BAG3, LMNA, and RBM20. Myocardial telomere length was reduced in patients with DCM irrespective of genotype. No differences in blood telomere length were observed between genotype-positive family members with/without DCM and controls. Conclusions: Primary genetic testing using multi-gene panels has a low yield and specific assays for structural variants are required if DMD-associated cardiomyopathy is suspected. Distinguishing X-linked causes of DCM from autosomal genes that show sex differences in clinical presentation is crucial for informed family management. © 2023 American Heart Association, Inc.

Do health service waiting areas contribute to the health literacy of consumers? A scoping review

  • Authors: McDonald, Cassie , Voutier, Catherine , Govil, Dhruv , D'Souza, Aruska , Truong, Dominic , Abo, Shaza , Remedios, Louisa , Granger, Catherine
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Health Promotion International Vol. 38, no. 4 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Health service waiting areas commonly provide health information, resources and supports for consumers; however, the effect on health literacy and related outcomes remains unclear. This scoping review of the literature aimed to explore the use of waiting areas as a place to contribute to the health literacy and related outcomes of consumers attending health appointments. Articles were included if they focussed on health literacy or health literacy responsiveness (concept) in outpatient or primary care health service waiting areas (context) for adult consumers (population) and were published after 2010. Ten bibliographic databases, one full-text archive, dissertation repositories and web sources were searched. The search yielded 5095 records. After duplicate removal, 3942 title/abstract records were screened and 360 full-text records assessed. Data were charted into a standardized data extraction tool. A total of 116 unique articles (published empirical and grey literature) were included. Most articles were set in primary and community care (49%) waiting areas. A diverse range of health topics and resource types were available, but results demonstrated they were not always used by consumers. Outcomes measured in intervention studies were health knowledge, intentions and other psychological factors, self-reported and observed behaviours, clinical outcomes and health service utilization. Intervention studies overall demonstrated positive trends in health literacy-related outcomes, although the benefit declined after 3-6 months. Research on using waiting areas for health literacy purposes is increasing globally. Future research investigating the needs of consumers to inform optimal intervention design is needed. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press.

Do maturation, anthropometrics and leg muscle qualities influence repeated change of direction performance in adolescent boys and girls?

  • Authors: Giuriato, Matteo , Pellino, Vittoria , Lovecchio, Nicola , Codella, Roberto , Vandoni, Matteo , Talpey, Scott
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Biology of Sport Vol. 40, no. 4 (2023), p. 1033-1038
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  • Description: The ability to change direction rapidly is a key fitness quality especially in invasive sports where young players perform approximately 300 changes of direction in a game. There is currently limited understanding of how anthropometric characteristics and maturation status influence change of direction ability in adolescent. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to assess the influence of anthropometrics and maturation status on change of direction ability in young people. The study involved 706 adolescents (367 girls) aged 14-19-year-old attending the same high school in Northern Italy. Stature, body mass, seated height and leg length were measured to determine the anthropometrics and maturation status of the participants. Repeated change of direction ability (10 × 5 m shuttle run test), lower limb power and muscle strength were evaluated using field tests from the Eurofit test battery. Maturity offset was calculated separately for boys and girls, in accord with the equation proposed by Mirwald. Preliminary analysis with 10 × 5 m as a dependent variable and sex and PHV as a fixed factor, suggests a significant difference between sex (p < 0.001; d = 0.35) but not with PHV (p = 0.986; d = 0.000) and interaction PHV × sex (p = 0.836; d = 0.000). Our results suggested that repeated change of direction performance was influenced by anthropometrics, maturation and muscle qualities in adolescent boys and girls. © 2023 Institute of Sport. All rights reserved.

Does multisession cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex prime the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on fear of pain, fear of movement, and disability in patients with nonspecific low back pain? A randomized clinical trial study

  • Authors: Ehsani, Fatemeh , Hafez Yousefi, Mohaddeseh , Jafarzadeh, Abbas , Zoghi, Maryam , Jaberzadeh, Shapour
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Brain Sciences Vol. 13, no. 10 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Many studies have shown that low back pain (LBP) is associated with psychosomatic symptoms which may lead to brain changes. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the concurrent application of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and transcranial direct electrical stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on fear of pain, fear of movement, and disability in patients with nonspecific LBP. This study was performed on 45 LBP patients (23 women, 22 men; mean age 33.00 ± 1.77 years) in three groups: experimental (2 mA cathodal tDCS (c-tDCS)), sham (c-tDCS turned off after 30 s), and control (only received CBT). In all groups, CBT was conducted for 20 min per session, with two sessions per week for four weeks. Fear of pain, fear of movement, and disability were evaluated using questionnaires at baseline, immediately after, and one month after completion of interventions. Results indicated that all three different types of intervention could significantly reduce fear and disability immediately after intervention (p > 0.05). However, improvement in the experimental group was significantly higher than in the other groups immediately after and at the one-month follow-up after interventions (p < 0.05). DLPFC c-tDCS can prime the immediate effects of CBT and also the lasting effects on the reduction in the fear of pain, fear of movement, and disability in LBP patients. © 2023 by the authors.

Domestic load management with coordinated photovoltaics, battery storage and electric vehicle operation

  • Authors: Das, Narottam , Haque, Akramul , Zaman, Hasneen , Morsalin, Sayidul , Islam, Syed
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Access Vol. 11, no. (2023), p. 12075-12087
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  • Description: Coordinated power demand management at residential or domestic levels allows energy participants to efficiently manage load profiles, increase energy efficiency and reduce operational cost. In this paper, a hierarchical coordination framework to optimally manage domestic load using photovoltaic (PV) units, battery-energy-storage-systems (BESs) and electric vehicles (EVs) is presented. The bidirectional power flow of EV with vehicle to grid (V2G) operation manages real-time domestic load profile and takes appropriate coordinated action using its controller when necessary. The proposed system has been applied to a real power distribution network and tested with real load patterns and load dynamics. This also includes various test scenarios and prosumer's preferences e.g., with or without EVs, number of EV owners, number of households, and prosumer's daily activities. This is a combined hybrid system for hierarchical coordination that consists of PV units, BES systems and EVs. The system performance was analyzed with different commercial EV types with charging/ discharging constraints and the result shows that the domestic load demand on the distribution grid during the peak period has been reduced significantly. In the end, this proposed system's performance was compared with the prediction-based test techniques and the financial benefits were estimated. © 2013 IEEE.

DQN-based resource allocation for NOMA-MEC-aided multi-source data stream

  • Authors: Ling, Jing , Xia, Junjuan , Zhu, Fusheng , Gao, Chongzhi , Lai, Shiwei , Balasubramanian, Venki
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Eurasip Journal on Advances in Signal Processing Vol. 2023, no. 1 (2023), p.
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  • Description: This paper investigates a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-aided mobile edge computing (MEC) network with multiple sources and one computing access point (CAP), in which NOMA technology is applied to transmit multi-source data streams to CAP for computing. To measure the performance of the considered NOMA-aided MEC network, we first design the system cost as a linear weighting function of energy consumption and delay under the NOMA-aided MEC network. Moreover, we propose a deep Q network (DQN)-based offloading strategy to minimize the system cost by jointly optimizing the offloading ratio and transmission power allocation. Finally, we design experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. Specifically, the designed strategy can decrease the system cost by about 15% compared with local computing when the number of sources is 5. © 2023, The Author(s).

E-cigarette use among male smokers in Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia : a cross-sectional study

  • Authors: Al Rajeh, Ahmed , Mahmud, Ilias , Al Imam, Mahmudul , Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Al Shehri, Fariss , Alomayrin, Salman , Alfazae, Nawaf , Elmosaad, Yousif , Alasqah, Ibrahim
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 20, no. 1 (2023), p.
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  • Description: E-cigarette use is increasing globally. Recent evidence suggests that e-cigarettes contain harmful substances that could cause adverse health outcomes. This study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of e-cigarette use among male current smokers in Saudi Arabia. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adult male current smokers in the Al-Ahsa province of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. We performed logistic regression analyses to investigate the factors associated with e-cigarette use among adult male current smokers. 325 current smokers participated in the study. A third of them (33.5%) were e-cigarette users. Almost all the study participants (97.0%) had heard about e-cigarettes. Participants who were occasional smokers (Odds Ratio (OR): 2.28; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.17–4.41) and had good knowledge perception of e-cigarettes (OR 3.49; 95% CI: 2.07–5.90) had higher odds of using e-cigarettes when compared to regular smokers of conventional cigarettes and current smokers with poor knowledge perception of e-cigarettes, respectively. In contrast, private employees (OR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.07–0.85), and business owners (OR: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.01–0.63) had lower odds of using e-cigarettes compared to unemployed individuals. Compared with non-e-cigarette users, the rate of conventional cigarette smoking per day was significantly lower among e-cigarette users. Use of e-cigarette (OR: 3.57, 95% CI: 2.14–5.98), believing that e-cigarette quitting is hard (OR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.17–3.49) and trying to quit e-cigarettes (OR: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.1–4.25) were found to be significant predictors of good knowledge perception of e-cigarettes among the current smokers. The use and knowledge perception of e-cigarettes were higher among occasional conventional male cigarette smokers than regular male smokers in Al-Ahsa province. The use of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids should be examined further in the Saudi Arabian setting. © 2022 by the authors.

Education for living well in a world worth living in

  • Authors: Kemmis, Stephen
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Living Well in a World Worth Living in for All: Volume 1: Current Practices of Social Justice, Sustainability and Wellbeing p. 13-25
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  • Description: This chapter sets out to articulate and provide a theoretical justification for the view that education has a double purpose: the formation of individual persons and the formation of societies. The argument proceeds in four parts. First, it outlines the dialectic of the individual and the collective articulated in Marx’s third thesis on Feuerbach. Second, using the theory of practice architectures, it describes the three-dimensional intersubjective space in which this dialectic is realised: the space in which people encounter one another as interlocutors, as embodied beings, and as social and political beings. Third, it shows that the dialectic of the individual-collective, as it unfolds through time, is more than an abstract matter, which Hegel pursued in the form of a history of ideas; against Hegel, the Young Hegelians, including Feuerbach and Marx, argued that the dialectic of the individual-collective is a concrete and practical matter, realised in human history and practice. The final section draws these three strands together in a contemporary theory of education underpinned by the theory of practice architectures. © The Author(s) 2023.

Educational leaders’ perceptions of STEM education revealed by their drawings and texts

  • Authors: Hatisaru, Vesife , Falloon, Garry , Seen, Andrew , Fraser, Sharon , Powling, Markus , Beswick, Kim
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology Vol. 54, no. 8 (2023), p. 1437-1457
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  • Description: This study explored school principals' and teacher educators' perceptions of STEM education based on how they described STEM as a discipline, their understanding of the nature of teaching and learning of STEM, and the capabilities of a STEM-educated person. Data were generated through the Draw a STEM Learning Environment (D-STEM) instrument comprising drawn and written descriptions where participants drew a picture of a STEM learning environment and completed five prompt statements about what STEM is and how an individual develops personal STEM capability. The Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) specialization codes were used for data analysis (198 individual response items in total) to understand how the participants perceive STEM education. Almost half the participant responses indicated knowledge-code perceptions with a smaller but significant number (approximately a third of responses) indicating knower-code perceptions. The remaining responses showed élite-code perceptions, indicating a small proportion of participants valued the development of both disciplinary knowledge/practices and generic skills/attributes in STEM education. We posit that curriculum structure and reporting requirements influence these perceptions. Further research in relation to the influence of such understandings on enacted curriculum is warranted. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Effect of corrosion on the bond behavior of steel-reinforced, alkali-activated slag concrete

  • Authors: Cui, Yifei , Qu, Shihao , Gao, Kaikai , Tekle, Biruk , Bao, Jiuwen , Zhang, Peng
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Materials Vol. 16, no. 6 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Alkali-activated slag concrete (ASC) is regarded as one of the most promising sustainable construction materials for replacing ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPC) due to its comparable strength and outstanding durability in challenging environments. In this study, the corrosion of steel bars embedded in ASC and OPC was studied by means of an electrically accelerated corrosion test of steel bars in concrete. Meanwhile, the bond performance of the corroded steel bars embedded in ASC was tested and compared with corresponding OPC groups. The results showed that ASC and OPC behaved differently in terms of bond deterioration. The high chemical resistance of ASC decreased the corrosion of steel bars and, thus, increased the residue bond strength and the bond stiffness. © 2023 by the authors.

Effect of hydralazine on angiotensin II-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm in apolipoprotein e-deficient mice

Effect of selected environmental factors on the seed germination of the invasive species Polygala myrtifolia (Polygalaceae) in Australia

  • Authors: Roberts, Natalie , Moloney, Katrina , Monie, Kristin , Florentine, Singarayer
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Botany Vol. 71, no. 6 (2023), p. 286-295
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  • Description: Context. Polygala myrtifolia L. has become a significant environmental weed in Australia, where it has invaded coastal ecosystems in temperate regions and there is a high risk of extensive further spread. Knowledge of seed-germination behaviour is essential to understand the potential future impact of this species. Aims. We investigated the effects of selected environmental factors and dormancy on P. myrtifolia seed germination and emergence to improve management strategies. Methods. Seeds were exposed to light, temperature, pH, salinity, osmotic potential and burial depth treatments to assess germination responses, dormancy and viability. Key results. Non-dormant seeds readily germinated to high percentages (93.0–95.0%) under specific day–night temperatures of 25°C–15°C regardless of light conditions and across all soil pH (75.0–100.0%). Salinities were tolerated up to 100 mM NaCl (70.0% germination) before sharply declining. Germination reduced from 98.3% to 40.0% at osmotic potentials of