Applications and advancements in animal models for antiviral research on mosquito-borne arboviruses

Vector-borne diseases caused by arthropod-borne viruses(arboviruses) are a considerable challenge to public health globally. Mosquito-borne arboviruses, such as Chikungunya, Dengue, and Zika viruses, cause a range of human illnesses and may be fatal. Currently, efforts to control these diseases still face challenges due to growing vector resistance towards insecticides, urbanization, and limited effective antiviral treatments and vaccines. Animal models are crucial in antiviral research on mosquito-borne arboviruses, playing a role in understanding disease mechanisms,vaccine development, and toxicity testing, but the application of animal models still faces the challenges of ethical considerations and animal-to-human translational success. Genetically engineered mouse models, hamster models and non-human primate(NHP) are currently used in arbovirus research, but new models such as tree shrews and novel humanized mice are emerging. In the context of Malaysian research, the use of long-tailed macaques as potential NHP models for arbovirus research is possible;however, it faces the ethical dilemma of using an endangered species for scientific purposes. Overall, animal models play a crucial role in advancing infectious disease research, but a balance between medical research and species conservation must be upheld.

Research and Practice of the Blended Teaching Model of BOPPPS Teaching Method Under the Background of Digital Education: Taking Operations Research Course as an Example

The rapid development of digital education provides new opportunities and challenges for teaching model innovation.This study aims to explore the application of the BOPPPS(Bridge-in,Objective,Pre-assessment,Participatory learning,Post-assessment,Summary)teaching method in the development of a blended teaching model for the Operations Research course under the background of digital education.In response to the characteristics of the course and the needs of the student group,the teaching design is reconstructed with a student-centered approach,increasing practical teaching links,improving the assessment and evaluation system,and effectively implementing it in conjunction with digital educational technology.This teaching model has shown significant effectiveness in the context of digital education,providing valuable experience and insights for the innovation of the Operations Research course.

The Flemish Performance-based Research Funding System: A Unique Variant of the Norwegian Model

The BOF-key is the performance-based research funding system that is used in Flanders, Belgium. In this paper we describe the historical background of the system, its current design and organization, as well as its effects on the Flemish higher education landscape. The BOFkey in its current form relies on three bibliometric parameters: publications in Web of Science, citations in Web of Science, and publications in a comprehensive regional database for SSH publications. Taken together, the BOF-key forms a unique variant of the Norwegian model: while the system to a large extent relies on a commercial database, it avoids the problem of inadequate coverage of the SSH. Because the bibliometric parameters of the BOF-key are reused in other funding allocation schemes, their overall importance to the Flemish universities is substantial.

A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF MICROPHYSICAL PROCESSES ON TYPHOON NIDA(2016) USING A NEW DOUBLE-MOMENT MICROPHYSICS SCHEME IN THE WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING MODEL

The basic structure and cloud features of Typhoon Nida(2016) are simulated using a new microphysics scheme(Liuma) within the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) model. Typhoon characteristics simulated with the Liuma microphysics scheme are compared with observations and those simulated with a commonly-used microphysics scheme(WSM6). Results show that using different microphysics schemes does not significantly alter the track of the typhoon but does significantly affect the intensity and the cloud structure of the typhoon. Results also show that the vertical distribution of cloud hydrometeors and the horizontal distribution of peripheral rainband are affected by the microphysics scheme. The mixing ratios of rain water and graupel correlate highly with the vertical velocity component and equivalent potential temperature at the typhoon eye-wall region. According to the simulation with WSM 6 scheme,it is likely that the very low typhoon central pressure results from the positive feedback between hydrometeors and typhoon intensity. As the ice-phase hydrometeors are mostly graupel in the Liuma microphysics scheme, further improvement in this aspect is required.

A Review of the Logistic Regression Model with Emphasis on Medical Research

This study explored and reviewed the logistic regression (LR) model, a multivariable method for modeling the relationship between multiple independent variables and a categorical dependent variable, with emphasis on medical research. Thirty seven research articles published between 2000 and 2018 which employed logistic regression as the main statistical tool as well as six text books on logistic regression were reviewed. Logistic regression concepts such as odds, odds ratio, logit transformation, logistic curve, assumption, selecting dependent and independent variables, model fitting, reporting and interpreting were presented. Upon perusing the literature, considerable deficiencies were found in both the use and reporting of LR. For many studies, the ratio of the number of outcome events to predictor variables (events per variable) was sufficiently small to call into question the accuracy of the regression model. Also, most studies did not report on validation analysis, regression diagnostics or goodness-of-fit measures;measures which authenticate the robustness of the LR model. Here, we demonstrate a good example of the application of the LR model using data obtained on a cohort of pregnant women and the factors that influence their decision to opt for caesarean delivery or vaginal birth. It is recommended that researchers should be more rigorous and pay greater attention to guidelines concerning the use and reporting of LR models.

Redesigning the Model of Book Evaluation in the Polish Performance-based Research Funding System

Purpose: This study aims to present the key systemic changes in the Polish book evaluation model to focus on the publisher list, as inspired by the Norwegian Model. Design/methodology/approach: In this study we reconstruct the framework of the 2010 and 2018 models of book evaluation in Poland within the performance-based research funding system. Findings: For almost 20 years the book evaluation system in Poland has been based on the verification of various technical criteria(e.g. length of the book). The new 2018 model is based on the principle of prestige inheritance(a book is worth as much as its publisher is) and is inspired by the publisher list used in the Norwegian Model. In this paper, we argue that this solution may be a more balanced policy instrument than the previous 2010 model in which neither the quality of the publisher nor the quality of the book played any role in the evaluation.Research limitations: We work from the framework of the 2018 model of book evaluation specified in the law on higher education and science from 20 July 2018, as implementation acts are not available yet. Practical implications: This study may provide a valuable point of reference on how structural reforms in the research evaluation model were implemented on a country level. The results of this study may be interesting to policy makers, stakeholders and researchers focused on science policy. Originality/value: This is the very first study that presents the new framework of the Polish research evaluation model and policy instruments for scholarly book evaluation. We describe what motivated policy makers to change the book evaluation model, and what arguments were explicitly raised to argue for the new solution.

Cancer research in the era of next-generation sequencing and big data calls for intelligent modeling

We examine the role of big data and machine learning in cancer research.We describe an example in cancer research where gene-level data from The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA) consortium is interpreted using a pathway-level model.As the complexity of computational models increases,their sample requirements grow exponentially.This growth stems from the fact that the number of combinations of variables grows exponentially as the number of variables increases.Thus,a large sample size is needed.The number of variables in a computational model can be reduced by incorporating biological knowledge.One particularly successful way of doing this is by using available gene regulatory,signaling,metabolic,or context-specific pathway information.We conclude that the incorporation of existing biological knowledge is essential for the progress in using big data for cancer research.

Impact of systems modelling on agronomic research and adoption of new practices in smallholder agriculture

An analysis of the impact of simulation modelling in three diverse crop-livestock improvement projects in Agricultural Research for Development（AR4D） reveals benefits across a range of aspects including identification of objectives, design and implementation of experimental programs, effectiveness of participatory research with smallholder farmers, implementation of system change and scaling-out of results.In planning change, farmers must consider complex interactions within both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of their crop and animal production activities.For this, whole-farm models that include household models of food, workload and financial requirements have the most utility and impact.The analysis also proposes improvements in design and implementation of AR4 D projects to improve the utility of simulation modelling for securing positive agronomic and livestock outcomes and lasting legacies.

A Methodological Study on Using Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) Model Outputs to Drive a One-Dimensional Cloud Model

A new method for driving a One-Dimensional Stratiform Cold （1DSC） cloud model with Weather Research and Fore casting （WRF） model outputs was developed by conducting numerical experiments for a typical large-scale stratiform rainfall event that took place on 4-5 July 2004 in Changchun, China. Sensitivity test results suggested that, with hydrometeor pro files extracted from the WRF outputs as the initial input, and with continuous updating of soundings and vertical velocities （including downdraft） derived from the WRF model, the new WRF-driven 1DSC modeling system （WRF-1DSC） was able to successfully reproduce both the generation and dissipation processes of the precipitation event. The simulated rainfall intensity showed a time-lag behind that observed, which could have been caused by simulation errors of soundings, vertical velocities and hydrometeor profiles in the WRF output. Taking into consideration the simulated and observed movement path of the precipitation system, a nearby grid point was found to possess more accurate environmental fields in terms of their similarity to those observed in Changchun Station. Using profiles from this nearby grid point, WRF-1DSC was able to repro duce a realistic precipitation pattern. This study demonstrates that 1D cloud-seeding models do indeed have the potential to predict realistic precipitation patterns when properly driven by accurate atmospheric profiles derived from a regional short range forecasting system, This opens a novel and important approach to developing an ensemble-based rain enhancement prediction and operation system under a probabilistic framework concept.

Vibration Response Analysis of a New Scientific Research Ship Based on Finite Element Modeling

To control the vibration level of ships under construction,MSC Software’s Patran&Nastran modeling solutions can be used to establish a detailed finite element model of a new manned submersible support mother ship based on a line drawing,including the deck layout,bulkhead section,and stiffener distribution.After a comprehensive analysis of the ship simulation conditions,boundaries,and excitation forces of the main operating equipment,modal analysis and calculation of the ship vibration can be conducted.In this study,we calculated and analyzed the vibration response of key points in the stern area of the ship’s main deck and the submersible warehouse area under design loading working conditions.We then analyzed the vibration response of typical decks(including the compass deck,steering deck,captain’s deck,forecastle deck,and main deck)under the main excitation forces and moments(such as the full swing pod and generator sets).The analysis results showed that under DESIDEP working conditions,the vibration of each deck and key areas of the support mother ship could meet the vibration code requirements of the ship’s preliminary design(using the pod excitation and generator sets).Similarly,the vibration response of a scientific research ship under other loading conditions also met the requirements of the code and provided data support for a comprehensive understanding of the ship’s vibration and noise levels.Using actual vibration measurements,the accuracy of the vibration level simulations using finite element modeling was verified,the vibration of each area of the ship comfortably meeting the requirements of the China Classification Society.

Choosing the right animal model for infectious disease research

A complex biological system is often required to study the myriad of host-pathogen interactions associated with infectious diseases, especially since the current basis of biology has reached the molecular level. The use of animal models is important for understanding the very complex temporal relationships that occur in infectious disease involving the body, its neuroendocrine and immune systems and the infectious organism. Because of these complex interactions, the choice of animal model must be a thoughtful and clearly defined process in order to provide relevant, translatable scientific data and to ensure the most beneficial use of the animals. While many animals respond similarly to humans from physiological, pathological, and therapeutic perspectives, there are also significant species-by-species differences. A welldesigned animal model requires a thorough understanding of similarities and differences in the responses between humans and animals and incorporates that knowledge into the goals of the study. Determining the intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with the disease and creating a biological information matrix to compare the animal model and human disease courses is a useful tool to help choose the appropriate animal model. Confidence in the correlation of results from a model to the human disease can be achieved only if the relationship of the model to the human disease is well understood.

Research on the Model of Consumer Health Information Seeking Behavior via Social Media

Purpose: We aim to create a model of consumer health information seeking behavior via social media, then to have a better understand of it. After that further efforts should be made to provide targeted recommendations for media managers to promote health communication via social media. Methods: Our custom model was derived from literature review, empirical research was tested by the use of questionnaire investigation, and then the collected data were analyzed by structural equation model tool SmartPLS. Finally, the custom model was modified according to the experimental results of SmartPLS. Results: A total of 239 (66.39%) of the respondents were female and 121 (33.61%) were male. The maximum of two stages of age were 18 - 29 (70.56%), 30 - 39 (13.89%). Wechat (60.28%), QQ Zone (55.22%), Micro-blog (48.89%) were the most commonly used social media to obtain health information. About 44.72% of respondents used social media to obtain health information multiple times a day. The whole numerical values of AVE, cronbach’s alpha, CR and square roots of AVE were above the benchmarks of themselves and showed great reliability and validity. All the 11 hypotheses had obvious statistical significance, the P-value of eight path coefficients exhibited <0.001, one path coefficient exhibited <0.01 and two path coefficients exhibited <0.05. Conclusions: A suitable model of consumer health information seeking behavior via social media was created and some inner relationships were found. Namely, gratification of health information and its platform had a positive effect on attitudes toward health information seeking behavior. Health information literacy and health status were proved to have a significant influence on attitudes toward health information seeking behavior, subject norms and perceived behavioral control respectively. In addition, attitudes toward the health information seeking behavior, subject norms and perceived behavioral control were proved to positively associate with health information seeking behavior intention.

An Research on the Model Design of the Academic Education's Credit Transfer in the Open University

Based on the analyses of the credit bank both at home and abroad, explore the effective way to construct the credit transfer model, find out the main problems in the process of transferring, design a much better model, formulate a new standard for credit transfer and carry out the research on the model design of the academic education's credit transfer in the open university.

General laws of funding for scientific citations:how citations change in funded and unfunded research between basic and applied sciences

Purpose:The goal of this study is to analyze the relationship between funded and unfunded papers and their citations in both basic and applied sciences.Design/methodology/approach:A power law model analyzes the relationship between research funding and citations of papers using 831,337 documents recorded in the Web of Science database.Findings:The original results reveal general characteristics of the diffusion of science in research fields:a)Funded articles receive higher citations compared to unfunded papers in journals;b)Funded articles exhibit a super-linear growth in citations,surpassing the increase seen in unfunded articles.This finding reveals a higher diffusion of scientific knowledge in funded articles.Moreover,c)funded articles in both basic and applied sciences demonstrate a similar expected change in citations,equivalent to about 1.23%,when the number of funded papers increases by 1%in journals.This result suggests,for the first time,that funding effect of scientific research is an invariant driver,irrespective of the nature of the basic or applied sciences.Originality/value:This evidence suggests empirical laws of funding for scientific citations that explain the importance of robust funding mechanisms for achieving impactful research outcomes in science and society.These findings here also highlight that funding for scientific research is a critical driving force in supporting citations and the dissemination of scientific knowledge in recorded documents in both basic and applied sciences.Practical implications:This comprehensive result provides a holistic view of the relationship between funding and citation performance in science to guide policymakers and R&D managers with science policies by directing funding to research in promoting the scientific development and higher diffusion of results for the progress of human society.

Pricing Models in Marketing Research

Pricing a product is one of the most important decisions an organization can make. Marketing research has developed several different approaches to price optimization. They include direct methods such as estimation of willingness to pay, indirect methods such as Gabor-Granger and van Westendorp techniques, and product/price mix methods such as various discrete choice models. All of them are widely used in practical marketing research for evaluation of optimal prices for different products and product innovations. This work describes and compares several main of these approaches.

Research progress and comparison of the establishment of animal models of radiotherapy or chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis

The mechanism of radiotherapy or chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis is not yet clear.And model establishment is needed in further study.In order to summarize the methods of model establishment and make a comparison,literature databases including Web of Science、Pubmed and CNKI were searched for related researches from January 2015 to January 2021.Hamsters,mice,rats,guinea pigs and miniature pigs were chosen to be modeling animals and modeling methods could be classified into:chemotherapy,chemotherapy combined with superficial mucosal irritation,radiotherapy,radiotherapy combined with superficial mucosal irritation and chemoradiotherapy.Advantages and disadvantages had been analyzed in this study to provide reference for following studies.

Experimental Research and Mathematical Modelling for Coal Reburning in Furnace

Reburning technology is one of the most cost-effective NOx reduction strategies for coal combustion systems. In this paper, a nitric oxide submodel incorporated into a comprehensive coal combustion model was developed for predicting NOx reduction in a 93 kW laboratory-scale coal combustion furnace by reburning. This NO submodel, including reburning mechanism, requires the solution of only two transport equations to model the behavior of NO reduction in the reburning process. A number of experiments have been performed in the same furnace, and the experimental data obtained from the optimized reburn configuration was used to validate the model. Measurements and predictions both show above 50% reduction of NO emissions for the optimized reburning process. Profile comparisons show that the predicted temperature and oxygen concentration match well with the measurements, and the general trend of predicted NO concentration is very similar to that measured. The results of this study show that the present nitric oxide submodel depicts quite well the observed behaviour of NO annihilation in the reburning process. It is expected that this usable and computationally economic model represents a useful tool to simulate the gaseous fuel reburning process for the researchers concerned with practical combustors.

Research on the Agricultural Remote Sensing Image Enhancement Technology Based on the Mixed Entropy Model

Uncertainty is the most important factor affecting the quality of the remote sensing image classification.Aiming at the characteristics ofboth the random and the fuzzy uncertainties in the process of the remote sensing image classification,a method based on the mixed entropy model is proposed to measure these two uncertainties comprehensively,and a multi-scale evaluation index is established.Based on the analysis of the basic principles of the mixed entropy model,a method of using the statistical data of the feature space and the fuzzy classifier to establish the information entropy,the fuzzy entropy and the mixed entropy is proposed.At the same time,on the scale of the pixel and the category,the index of the mixed entropy of the pixel and the mixed entropy of the category are established to evaluate the uncertainty of the classification.

The Application of Research Teaching Model in English Courses

The research teaching in the field of education is not a new vocabulary, but to give a complete definition of scientific is not an easy task.It is so much better to say it is a teaching model or teaching philosophy than teaching model and its purpose is to ＂teach＂ and ＂learning＂ the whole process runs through the characteristics of research, including research of teachers＇ ＂teach＂ and students＇ research- based ＂learning＂ . According to the characteristics of English language teaching combined with the advantages of teaching research to explore the teaching model of English courses.