Search Results (20,269)

Generative AI has drawn significant attention from stakeholders in higher education. As it introduces new opportunities for personalized learning and tutoring support, it simultaneously poses challenges to academic integrity and leads to ethical issues. Consequently, governing responsible AI usage within higher education institutions (HEIs) becomes increasingly important. Leading universities have already published guidelines on Generative AI, with most attempting to embrace this technology responsibly. This study provides a new perspective by focusing on strategies for responsible AI governance as demonstrated in these guidelines. Through a case study of 14 prestigious universities in the United States, we identified the multi-unit governance of AI, the role-specific governance of AI, and the academic characteristics of AI governance from their AI guidelines. The strengths and potential limitations of these strategies and characteristics are discussed. The findings offer practical implications for guiding responsible AI usage in HEIs and beyond. Full article

Appropriate animal models of human diseases are a cornerstone in the advancement of science and medicine. To create animal models of neuropsychiatric and neurobehavioral diseases such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) necessitates the development of sufficient neurobehavioral measuring tools to translate human behavior to expected measurable behavioral features in animals. If possible, the severity of the symptoms should also be assessed. Indeed, at least in rodents, adequate neurobehavioral and neurological tests have been developed. Since ASD is characterized by a number of specific behavioral trends with significant severity, animal models of autistic-like behavior have to demonstrate the specific characteristic features, namely impaired social interactions, communication deficits, and restricted, repetitive behavioral patterns, with association to several additional impairments such as somatosensory, motor, and memory impairments. Thus, an appropriate model must show behavioral impairment of a minimal number of neurobehavioral characteristics using an adequate number of behavioral tests. The proper animal models enable the study of ASD-like-behavior from the etiologic, pathogenetic, and therapeutic aspects. From the etiologic aspects, models have been developed by the use of immunogenic substances like polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PolyIC), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and propionic acid, or other well-documented immunogens or pathogens, like Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Another approach is the use of chemicals like valproic acid, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organophosphate pesticides like chlorpyrifos (CPF), and others. These substances were administered either prenatally, generally after the period of major organogenesis, or, especially in rodents, during early postnatal life. In addition, using modern genetic manipulation methods, genetic models have been created of almost all human genetic diseases that are manifested by autistic-like behavior (i.e., fragile X, Rett syndrome, SHANK gene mutation, neuroligin genes, and others). Ideally, we should not only evaluate the different behavioral modes affected by the ASD-like behavior, but also assess the severity of the behavioral deviations by an appropriate scoring system, as applied to humans. We therefore propose a scoring system for improved assessment of ASD-like behavior in animal models. Full article

Background/Objectives: Atypical parkinsonian syndromes (APSs) are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that differ from idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (IPD) in their clinical presentation, underlying pathology, and response to treatment. APSs include conditions such as multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal syndrome (CBS), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). These disorders are characterized by a combination of parkinsonian features and additional symptoms, such as autonomic dysfunction, supranuclear gaze palsy, and asymmetric motor symptoms. Many hypotheses attempt to explain the causes of neurodegeneration in APSs, including interactions between environmental toxins, tau or α-synuclein pathology, oxidative stress, microglial activation, and vascular factors. While extensive research has been conducted on APSs, there is a limited understanding of the symmetry in these diseases, particularly in MSA. Neuroimaging studies have revealed metabolic, structural, and functional abnormalities that contribute to the asymmetry in APSs. The asymmetry in CBS is possibly caused by a variable reduction in striatal D2 receptor binding, as demonstrated in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) examinations, which may explain the disease’s asymmetric manifestation and poor response to dopaminergic therapy. In PSP, clinical dysfunction correlates with white matter tract degeneration in the superior cerebellar peduncles and corpus callosum. MSA often involves atrophy in the pons, putamen, and cerebellum, with clinical symmetry potentially depending on the symmetry of the atrophy. The aim of this review is to present the study findings on potential symmetry as a tool for determining potential neuropsychological disturbances and properly diagnosing APSs to lessen the misdiagnosis rate. Methods: A comprehensive review of the academic literature was conducted using the medical literature available in PubMed. Appropriate studies were evaluated and examined based on patient characteristics and clinical and imaging examination outcomes in the context of potential asymmetry. Results: Among over 1000 patients whose data were collected, PSP-RS was symmetrical in approximately 84% ± 3% of cases, with S-CBD showing similar results. PSP-P was symmetrical in about 53–55% of cases, while PSP-CBS was symmetrical in fewer than half of the cases. MSA-C was symmetrical in around 40% of cases. It appears that MSA-P exhibits symmetry in about 15–35% of cases. CBS, according to the criteria, is a disease with an asymmetrical clinical presentation in 90–99% of cases. Similar results were obtained via imaging methods, but transcranial sonography produced different results. Conclusions: Determining neurodegeneration symmetry may help identify functional deficits and improve diagnostic accuracy. Patients with significant asymmetry in neurodegeneration may exhibit different neuropsychological symptoms based on their individual brain lateralization, impacting their cognitive functioning and quality of life. Full article

Multiple studies highlight the crucial role of management of a positive organisational climate, which in turn contributes to employee well-being and healthy workplace relationships and mitigates the occurrence of negative behaviour, including harassment at the workplace. Furthermore, contemporary scholars emphasise the importance of open and transparent communication channels in reducing workplace tensions and improving employee mental health. However, the interrelationship between organisational climate, open communication, employee well-being, and negative behaviours in the workplace is a complex phenomenon. Despite the relevance and interest in organisational climate on employee well-being, limited efforts have been devoted to the area of relationships and causality, and straightforward answers about the objective links between these phenomena and their general nature remain complex. Therefore, this study aims to strengthen the understanding of the impact of the organisational climate on employee well-being and negative behaviours in the workplace. This is the first study that applied causality to the investigated problem to identify statistical relationships between the variables. This study was conducted in Lithuanian social service centres and schools, focussing on professionals with a high psychological risk at work due to their nature. This study offers valuable contributions and provides a comprehensive and profound insight into the management field, focussing on the impact of the organisational climate. The values of harassment in the workplace are explained by the values of organisational climate and employee well-being. This study demonstrates that improving the organisational climate contributes to employee well-being and healthy relationships and reduces the prevalence of negative behaviours in the workplace. This study introduces the academic and practical implications and suggests the pathways for further research. Full article

Although there have been concerted efforts to integrate Tibetan Buddhist monastic education into the Indian university system since the 1960s, the attainment of academic accreditation has tended to require significant curricular trade-offs. The majority of Tibetan Buddhist monastic colleges have therefore eschewed the potential advantages of academic accreditation—including greater opportunities for monastic graduates in universities and other secular contexts—in order to preserve the rigour of traditional scholastic programmes. However, through its affiliation to the University of Mysore in 2022, the Geluk monastery of Sera Je is now able to award accredited Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees even without making significant changes in practice to its traditional curriculum and pedagogy. This article examines the structure and content of Sera Je’s new programmes and contextualises what may prove to be a landmark development against the backdrop of previous attempts to negotiate the boundary between Tibetan Buddhist monastic education and university education in India. It suggests that the accreditation of research programmes raises further challenges in addition to those associated with the accreditation of taught programmes. Nonetheless, the urgency of solving these longstanding issues appears to have been heightened by a developing crisis in Tibetan Buddhist monastic recruitment. In investigating the topic of academic accreditation, this article throws light on an issue that has driven notable evolutions in Tibetan Buddhist monastic education in India but has previously received little scholarly attention. Full article

Salinity restricts the growth of irrigated fruit crops in semi-arid areas, making it crucial to find ways to reduce salt stress. One effective strategy is using eliciting substances like ascorbic acid. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of application methods and concentrations of ascorbic acid on the morphophysiology and production of sour passion fruit irrigated with saline water. The experiment was organized using a factorial randomized block design (3 × 3 × 2) with three application methods (soaking, spraying, and soaking and spraying), three concentrations of ascorbic acid (0, 0.8, and 1.6 mM) and two levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water—ECw (0.8 and 3.8 dS m⁻¹). Foliar spraying of ascorbic acid at a concentration of 0.8 mM mitigated the effects of salt stress on the relative water content of leaves, the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange, and total production of sour passion fruit when irrigated with ECw of 3.8 dS m⁻¹. Plants grown with water of 0.8 dS m⁻¹ and under foliar application of 0.8 mM of ascorbic acid achieved the maximum growth in stem diameter and the greatest volume of pulp in the fruits. Full article

Background/Objectives: Trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) plays a role in the mucus barrier. Methods: To evaluate the prevalence of TFF1 expression in cancer, a tissue microarray containing 18,878 samples from 149 tumor types and 608 samples of 76 normal tissue types was analyzed through immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: TFF1 staining was detectable in 65 of 149 tumor categories. The highest rates of TFF1 positivity were found in mucinous ovarian carcinomas (76.2%), colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas (47.1–75%), breast neoplasms (up to 72.9%), bilio-pancreatic adenocarcinomas (42.1–62.5%), gastro-esophageal adenocarcinomas (40.4–50.0%), neuroendocrine neoplasms (up to 45.5%), cervical adenocarcinomas (39.1%), and urothelial neoplasms (up to 24.3%). High TFF1 expression was related to a low grade of malignancy in non-invasive urothelial carcinomas of the bladder (p = 0.0225), low grade of malignancy (p = 0.0003), estrogen and progesterone receptor expression (p < 0.0001), non-triple negativity (p = 0.0005) in invasive breast cancer of no special type, and right-sided tumor location (p = 0.0021) in colorectal adenocarcinomas. Conclusions: TFF1 IHC has only limited utility for the discrimination of different tumor entities given its expression in many tumor entities. The link between TFF1 expression and parameters of malignancy argues for a relevant biological role of TFF1 in cancer. TFF1 may represent a suitable therapeutic target due to its expression in only a few normal cell types. Full article

Tables serve as a widely adopted data format, attracting considerable academic interest concerning semantic understanding and logical inference of tables. In recent years, the prevailing paradigm of pre-training and fine-tuning on tabular data has become increasingly prominent in research on table understanding. However, existing table-based pre-training methods frequently exhibit constraints, supporting only single tasks while requiring substantial computational resources, which hinders their efficiency and applicability. In this paper, we introduce the TabMoE, a novel framework based on mixture-of-experts, designed to handle a wide range of tasks involving logical reasoning over tabular data. Each expert within the model specializes in a distinct logical function and is trained through the utilization of a hard Expectation–Maximization algorithm. Remarkably, this framework eliminates the necessity of dependency on tabular pre-training, instead exclusively employing limited task-specific data to significantly enhance models’ inferential capabilities. We conduct empirical experiments across three typical tasks related to tabular data: table-based question answering, table-based fact verification, and table-to-text generation. The experimental results underscore the innovation and feasibility of our framework. Full article

The presented work provides a comprehensive evaluation of the current availability of education programs and courses related to of AI the field of Information Technologies and Computer Science in higher education institutions (HIEs) in the Republic of Bulgaria. More specifically, this study examines 163 bachelor’s and 239 master’s degree programs from 28 HEIs available during the 2023/24 academic year in four professional fields: (1) Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Automation; (2) Communication and Computer Technologies; (3) Informatics and Computer Science; and (4) Mathematics. The conducted evaluation shows that 41.1% of evaluated BSc programs and 26.4% of MSc programs include at least one AI-dedicated course. Results indicate a significant presence of AI-focused education, particularly in degrees related to Informatics and Computer Science, where 47.8% of AI courses are concentrated. However, a notable disparity exists in the inclusion of AI subjects across other technical fields, particularly in Electrical Engineering and related degrees, which contain only 8% of the identified AI courses for BSc degree programs. The findings highlight the need for a broader and more accelerated integration of AI education to meet the evolving demands of both students and the labor market. This work underscores the importance of strategic curriculum adaptation to enhance the readiness of Bulgarian HEIs to support the development and application of AI technologies, addressing the skills gap and fostering a workforce capable of navigating the AI-driven future. Full article

The current study examined university students’ insights into generative AI writing tools regarding their familiarity with, perceived concerns about, and perceived benefits of these tools in their academic work. The study used a cross-sectional descriptive research design, and data were collected using a questionnaire instrument. The participants were ninety-five undergraduate and graduate students from a College of Education at a university in Jordan. The results show that university students show moderate familiarity with generative AI writing tools (M = 3.14, SD = 0.81), especially in engagement but lacking technical knowledge. They also have moderate concerns (M = 3.35, SD = 0.85), particularly about misinformation and data security. Despite these concerns, students recognize the benefits (M = 3.62, SD = 0.81), especially regarding the capabilities of these tools in simulating creativity and fostering innovation. In addition, the results showed that gender and educational level appear to have little effect on familiarity, concerns, and perceived benefits regarding these tools. Based on the findings, the study recommends enhancing students’ familiarity with generative AI tools through providing technical training, hands-on opportunities, and ethical discussions. In addition, the study recommends addressing students’ concerns regarding generative AI writing tools by improving data security related to generative AI, providing ethical guidelines regarding the use of these tools, and boosting AI literacy. Finally, it is recommended to enhance students’ perceptions of the benefits of generative AI writing tools by highlighting the creative potential of these tools within the educational setting, using these tools to offer personalized learning experiences that adapt to individual learning styles, and promoting collaboration through generative AI writing tools. Full article

Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) is revolutionizing how businesses utilize data, but there seems to be a lack of clarity and a holistic view regarding all its advantages, especially concerning the benefits of AutoML for companies. In order to deeply understand how AutoML can improve businesses, a systematic review examined the bibliometric literature of this field, analyzing 74 academic and scientific documents from the Scopus database. Results showed that AutoML (i) reduces the time and resources needed to develop and deploy machine learning models, (ii) accelerates decision-making and enables quicker responses to market changes, (iii) empowers businesses to build accurate predictive models using sophisticated algorithms, (iv) optimizing model performance for reliable insights and better outcomes, and (v) enhances accessibility by reducing technical barriers and democratizing innovation. As businesses grow, AutoML scales to handle larger datasets and more complex problems without extensive manual intervention. In sum, AutoML enhances efficiency, accuracy, and scalability, becoming a crucial driver of business innovation and success. Full article

Background: The most common aggressive lymphoma in adults is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Consolidative radiotherapy (RT) is often administered to DLBCL patients but guidelines remain unclear, which could lead to unnecessary RT. We aimed to evaluate the value of end-of-treatment PET-CT scans, interpreted using the Deauville score (DV), to guide the utilization of consolidative RT, which may help spare low-risk DLBCL patients from unnecessary RT. Methods: We included all DLBCL patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2022 at the National Cancer Centre Singapore with DV measured at the end of the first-line chemoimmunotherapy. The outcome measure was time-to-progression (TTP). The predictive value of DV for RT was assessed based on the interaction effect between the receipt of RT and DV in Cox regression models. Results: The data of 349 patients were analyzed. The median follow-up time was 38.1 months (interquartile range 34.0–42.3 months). RT was associated with a significant improvement in TTP amongst the DV4-5 patients (HR 0.33; 95%CI 0.13–0.88; p = 0.027) but not the DV1-3 patients (HR 0.85; 95%CI 0.40–1.81; p = 0.671) (interaction’s p = 0.133). Multivariable analysis reported that RT was again significantly associated with improved TTP among the DV4-5 patients (adjusted HR 0.29; 95%CI 0.10–0.80; p = 0.017) but not the DV1-3 group (HR 0.86; 95%CI 0.40–1.86; p = 0.707) (interaction’s p = 0.087). Conclusion: Our results suggests that DLBCL patients with end-of-treatment PET-CT DV1-3 may not need consolidative RT. Longer follow-up and prospective randomized trials are still necessary to investigate long-term outcomes. Full article

Fracture-related infection (FRI) is a devastating event, directly affecting fracture healing, impairing patient function, prolonging treatment, and increasing healthcare costs. Time plays a decisive role in prognosis, as biofilm maturation leads to the development of antibiotic resistance, potentially contributing to infection chronicity and increasing morbidity and mortality. Research exploring the association between biofilm maturation and antibiotic resistance in orthopaedics primarily addresses aspects related to quality of life and physical function; however, little exists on life-threatening conditions and mortality. Understanding the intrinsic relationship between biofilm maturation, bacterial resistance, and mortality is critical in all fields of medicine. In the herein narrative review, we summarize recent evidence regarding biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, and infection chronicity (BARI), the three basic components of the “triangle of death” of FRI, and its implications. Preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative prevention strategies to avoid the “triangle of death” of FRI are presented and discussed. Additionally, the importance of the orthopaedic trauma surgeon in understanding new tools to combat infections related to orthopaedic devices is highlighted. Full article

This study aimed to investigate how a Facebook support group for parents of young children (ages 0–6) defines its boundaries and evaluates the acceptability of its members and content to safeguard the group’s social capital and identity. Adopting a qualitative critical content analysis approach, this research examined the discourse within the Sane and Rational (S&R) Parents group. This group, which had more than 12,000 members, describes itself as an alternative to groups that address parenting problems through “homeopathy, talismans, energies, and communicating with past incarnations”. Common subjects addressed by the group included medical issues, sleeping problems, potty training, child behavior, and nutrition. For the purpose of this study, a representative sample of 10 discourses (out of 118) that appeared during the research period was selected. The analysis considered group discourse, including both verbal and non-verbal elements such as emojis. Three central themes were revealed: (1) exclusion of participants through rules and emojis; (2) filtering posts as a mechanism for defining in-group and out-group boundaries; and (3) division of roles as a tool for distinguishing between those who do and do not belong. This study identifies power-based digital strategies used by a Facebook parent group to maintain its social capital and identity. It also highlights how verbal and non-verbal communication shapes, and is shaped by, group relationships. Practically, the findings offer tools for professionals to better understand how parental support needs are met in the digital age, emphasizing the importance of face-to-face interventions for those who feel excluded from dominant social identities. Full article

Background/Objectives: There seems to be a global reduction in the number of clinical post-mortems requested and performed worldwide, suggesting a decreasing need for post-mortem examinations. Despite advances in medical technology, autopsies remain a relevant tool to determine cause of death. Methods: A total of 276 post-mortem results were extracted from the NHLS lab track database, of which only 152 were included in this study. Discrepancies between ante and post-mortem diagnoses were evaluated using the Goldman classification. Data were analysed using STATA-18. Results: The sample consisted largely of females (n = 101, 66.45%) aged 30 and above (n = 58, 33.80%), with a mean age of 28.3. Of the 152 samples analysed, 60% (n = 92) of all postmortems showed a correlation between ante- and post-mortem diagnoses. However, 29.1% (n = 45) of cases showed major discrepancies which could have been prevented if correct diagnoses were made. Metabolic diseases were most frequently misdiagnosed (p = 0.020), with more cases of Class I discrepancies than Class V discrepancies (15.5% (n = 7) vs. 2.1% (n = 2), respectively. Additionally, infections (n = 59; 39%) were the most common cause of death. Conclusions: Even with marked improvements in diagnostic technology, a post-mortem examination is a necessary quality control tool that can be used to verify cause of death, and thus improve clinical practice. Full article