bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Phase II Single-Arm Study to Assess Trastuzumab and Vinorelbine in Advanced Breast Cancer Patients With HER2-Negative Tumors and HER2-Positive Circulating Tumor Cells
Authors: Parsons Heather A. , Macrae Erin R. , Guo Hao , Li Tianyu , Barry William T. , Tayob Nabihah , Wulf Gerburg M. , Isakoff Steven J. , Krop Ian E.
Published: May 2021

PURPOSE

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–directed treatments improve outcomes for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Current identification of patients with HER2-positive disease relies on tumor tissue testing, which can be inaccurate because of tumor heterogeneity or tumor evolution. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are often present in patients with cancer. We hypothesized that HER2 assessment of CTCs in patients with HER2-negative breast cancer could identify a subset of patients with HER2-positive CTCs who could benefit from HER2-directed treatments.

METHODS

This was a single-arm, two-stage, phase II trial. Patients with HER2-negative progressive MBC with HER2-positive CTC (defined as HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥ 2.0 by fluorescence in situ hybridization), ≥ 1 prior chemotherapy regimen for MBC, and no prior vinorelbine received trastuzumab in combination with vinorelbine on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 21-day cycle. The primary end point was objective response rate.

RESULTS

From January 2013 to June 2014, we prospectively screened CTCs from patients with HER2-negative MBC. CTCs were detected in 201 of 311 patients (65%). The median number of CTCs was 10 (interquartile range, 3-57). Sixty-nine of 311 patients (22%) had HER2+ CTCs, with a median of three HER2+ CTCs (range 1-21). Twenty patients with HER2+ CTCs were treated on study. At data cutoff (January 13, 2017), no patients remained on study therapy. The objective response rate was 5% (95% CI, 0.1 to 24.9), with one of 20 patients experiencing a partial response. The clinical benefit rate was 20.0% (1 partial response and 3 stable diseases > 24 weeks, 95% CI, 5.7% to 43.7%). The median progression-free survival was 2.7 months.

CONCLUSION

CTC analysis of patients with HER2-negative MBC identifies a subset with HER2-amplified CTCs. However, clinical activity of an HER2-directed regimen in this population was low. The functional significance of HER2-positive CTCs remains uncertain.
Integrating Somatic and Germline Next-Generation Sequencing Into Routine Clinical Oncology Practice
Authors: Hicks J. Kevin , Howard Rachel , Reisman Phillip , Adashek Jacob J. , Fields Karen K. , Gray Jhanelle E. , McIver Bryan , McKee Kelly , O'Leary Mandy F. , Perkins Randa M. , Robinson Edmondo , Tandon Ankita , Teer Jamie K. , Markowitz Joseph , Rollison Dana E.
Published: May 2021

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is rapidly expanding into routine oncology practice. Genetic variations in both the cancer and inherited genomes are informative for hereditary cancer risk, prognosis, and treatment strategies. Herein, we focus on the clinical perspective of integrating NGS results into patient care to assist with therapeutic decision making. Five key considerations are addressed for operationalization of NGS testing and application of results to patient care as follows: (1) NGS test ordering and workflow design; (2) result reporting, curation, and storage; (3) clinical consultation services that provide test interpretations and identify opportunities for molecularly guided therapy; (4) presentation of genetic information within the electronic health record; and (5) education of providers and patients. Several of these key considerations center on informatics tools that support NGS test ordering and referencing back to the results for therapeutic purposes. Clinical decision support tools embedded within the electronic health record can assist with NGS test utilization and identifying opportunities for targeted therapy including clinical trial eligibility. Challenges for project and change management in operationalizing NGS-supported, evidence-based patient care in the context of current information technology systems with appropriate clinical data standards are discussed, and solutions for overcoming barriers are provided.
Drawing the Line on Oil inPetrochemical America
Authors: Houser Heather
Published: May 2021

Petrochemical America, an art book and atlas cocreated by photographer Richard Misrach and landscape architect Kate Orff, is a rejoinder to commonplaces about oil’s invisibility and evasion of representation. The book’s visualizations produce a narrative atlas that depicts the oil industry’s transformations of US landscapes and communities. Central to this depiction is Orff’s use of the line, a form essential to visualization technique. Orff’s lines go deep rather than “look across” surfaces to tell stories of growth, fragmentation, toxicity, and displacement. Detailing the affordances of the line as a tool of atlas making and mapmaking, this article argues that Petrochemical America employs lines in ways that stage the oppositional logics at the heart of the petrochemical industry, that is, its tactical recruitment of vertical and horizontal, natural and human made, visible and invisible, proximity and dispersal, and containment and contamination. Without purporting to expose the hidden and without reproducing deterministic narratives of petrochemical dominance, Orff promotes ways of apprehending oil’s pasts, presents, and futures.
Bird Banding and the Environmental Humanities
Authors: Whitney Kristoffer
Published: May 2021

This article tells a history of bird banding—the practice of catching and affixing birds with durable bands with the intent of tracking their movements and behavior—by focusing on the embodied aspects of this method in field ornithology. Going beyond a straightforward, institutional history of bird banding, the article uses the writings of biologists in the US Bureau of Biological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to describe the historical practices of bird banding and the phenomenological experience of banding, both for the scientists and the birds (via their banding interlocutors). The article then presents the career and research of Margaret Morse Nice as an exemplar of the embodied practice of banding for the purposes of understanding bird behavior. Finally the article uses the example and heritage of Nice as well as banders and scientists like her to discuss a phenomenological approach common to any number of observation-based field biology disciplines (including, especially, ethology) and deep connections between human and animal subjectivities. And these connections, in turn, have implications for the environmental humanities, environmental conservation, and the ethics of knowing the nonhuman world.
Art for a Future Planet
Authors: Page Joanna
Published: May 2021

Joanna Zylinska proposes a “feminist counterapocalypse,” which would resist the anthropocentric, technicist perspectives that shape apocalyptic narratives of climate crisis. Like Anna Tsing’s exploration of collaborative survival, Zylinska’s counterapocalypse is founded on the notion of precarity as a shared condition of life in the postindustrial world. This article focuses on art-science projects by Joaquín Fargas (Argentina) and Paul Rosero Contreras (Ecuador) that imagine environmental futures. In contrasting their projects the author asks how they endorse or subvert the anthropocentrism that often motivates the representation of climate change as reversible (humans save the planet) or, indeed, as irreversible (humans destroy the planet). Drawing on the work of Andreas Weber and several Latin American scholars, including Eduardo Gudynas and Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar, the author suggests ways in which biosemiotic and biocentric perspectives may make a valuable contribution to the counterapocalypse Zylinska proposes. The analysis of Rosero’s work in particular opens up ways in which one might consider other paradigms rather than precarity as the basis for a postanthropocentric counterapocalypse, including abundance, reciprocity, collaboration, and coevolution. These are found everywhere in complex ecosystems and relate closely to the principles on which theories and practices of the commons are founded, both in Latin America and beyond.
Species Suicide Notes
Authors: Cardon Kristen
Published: May 2021

This article tracks the history of species suicide, a phrase that originally referred to a potential nuclear holocaust but is now increasingly cited in Anthropocene discourses to account for continued carbon emissions in the face of catastrophic climate change. With its Anglophone roots in the Cold War, species suicide discourse unites concerns about nuclear arsenals, so-called overpopulation, and environmental injustice across disciplines. Species suicide discourse is indebted to the US-based field of suicide prevention, which for more than half a century has analyzed suicide notes in search of effective prevention methods. Therefore, to theorize suicide prevention in relation to anthropogenic climate change, this article imagines a version of this genre that mediates between individual and collective subjects—called a species suicide note. As an example, the interdisciplinary and multimedia art project “Dear Climate” (2012–ongoing) by Una Chaudhuri, Oliver Kellhammer, and Marina Zurkow rewrites familiar narratives of crisis, shifting species suicide notes toward irony and unconventional techniques of hope. In analyzing these performative species suicide notes, the author complicates species suicide prevention by foregrounding narratives of irony. These notes accentuate a self-reflexive irony that works toward climate justice for vulnerable humans and more-than-human species.
A nematode-derived, mitochondrial stress signaling-regulated peptide exhibits broad antibacterial activity
Authors: Sapkota Madhab , Adnan Qureshi Mohammed , Arif Mahmud Siraje , Balikosa Yves , Nguyen Charlton , Boll Joseph M. , Pellegrino Mark W.
Published: May 2021

A dramatic rise of infections with antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens continues to challenge the healthcare field due to the lack of effective treatment regimes. As such, there is an urgent need to develop new antimicrobial agents that can combat these multidrug-resistant superbugs. Mitochondria are central regulators of metabolism and other cellular functions, including the regulation of innate immunity pathways involved in the defense against infection. The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) is a stress-activated pathway that mitigates mitochondrial dysfunction through the regulation of genes that promote recovery of the organelle. In the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, the UPRmt also mediates an antibacterial defense program that combats pathogen infection, which promotes host survival. We sought to identify and characterize antimicrobial effectors that are regulated during the UPRmt. From our search, we discovered that the antimicrobial peptide CNC-4 is upregulated during this stress response. CNC-4 belongs to the caenacin family of antimicrobial peptides, which are predominantly found in nematodes and are known to have anti-fungal properties. Here, we find that CNC-4 also possesses potent antimicrobial activity against a spectrum of bacterial species and report on its characterization.
Initiation of Otx2 expression in the developing mouse retina requires a unique enhancer and either Ascl1 or Neurog2 activity
Authors: Kaufman Michael L. , Goodson Noah B. , Park Ko Uoon , Schwanke Michael , Office Emma , Schneider Sophia R. , Abraham Joy , Hensley Austin , Jones Kenneth L. , Brzezinski Joseph A.
Published: May 2021

During retinal development, a large subset of progenitors upregulates the transcription factor Otx2, which is required for photoreceptor and bipolar cell formation. How these retinal progenitor cells initially activate Otx2 expression is unclear. To address this, we investigated the cis-regulatory network that controls Otx2 expression in mice. We identified a minimal enhancer element, DHS-4D, that drove expression in newly formed OTX2+ cells. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of DHS-4D reduced OTX2 expression, but this effect was diminished in postnatal development. Systematic mutagenesis of the enhancer revealed that three basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor-binding sites were required for its activity. Single cell RNA-sequencing of nascent Otx2+ cells identified the bHLH factors Ascl1 and Neurog2 as candidate regulators. CRISPR/Cas9 targeting of these factors showed that only the simultaneous loss of Ascl1 and Neurog2 prevented OTX2 expression. Our findings suggest that Ascl1 and Neurog2 act either redundantly or in a compensatory fashion to activate the DHS-4D enhancer and Otx2 expression. We observed redundancy or compensation at both the transcriptional and enhancer utilization levels, suggesting that the mechanisms governing Otx2 regulation in the retina are flexible and robust.
The miR-26 family regulates neural differentiation-associated microRNAs and mRNAs by directly targeting REST
Authors: Sauer Mark , Was Nina , Ziegenhals Thomas , Wang Xiantao , Hafner Markus , Becker Matthias , Fischer Utz
Published: May 2021

Repressor element 1-silencing transcription factor (REST) plays a crucial role in the differentiation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs). C-terminal domain small phosphatases (CTDSPs) are REST effector proteins that reduce RNA polymerase II activity on genes required for neurogenesis. miR-26b regulates neurogenesis in zebrafish by targeting ctdsp2 mRNA, but the molecular events triggered by this microRNA (miR) remain unknown. Here, we show in a murine embryonic stem cell differentiation paradigm that inactivation of miR-26 family members disrupts the formation of neurons and astroglia and arrests neurogenesis at the neural progenitor level. Furthermore, we show that miR-26 directly targets Rest, thereby inducing the expression of a large set of REST complex-repressed neuronal genes, including miRs required for induction of the neuronal gene expression program. Our data identify the miR-26 family as the trigger of a self-amplifying system required for neural differentiation that acts upstream of REST-controlled miRs.
The technology, trade, and degradation pathologies of late bronze age vitreous materials in the Eastern Mediterranean
Authors: Μούρος Βανέσσα
Published: May 2021

Οι αρχαιομετρικές μελέτες για τα υαλώδη αντικείμενα της Ύστερης Εποχής του Χαλκού μπορούν να παρέχουν σημαντικές πληροφορίες για τις πρώτες ύλες και τις μεθόδους παραγωγής που χρησιμοποιούνται για την κατασκευή αυτών των τεχνουργημάτων, προσφέροντας παράλληλα εικόνα για την προέλευση αυτού του ιδιαίτερου υλικού. Παρόλο που έχει σημειωθεί αύξηση στον αριθμό των αναλύσεων γυαλιού και ευρημάτων από αυτήν την περίοδο, το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της έρευνας επικεντρώθηκε στην Αίγυπτο, την Εγγύς Ανατολή και τη Μυκηναϊκή Ελλάδα λόγω της σημαντικότας των αναφερόμενων περιοχών. Η διατριβή επικεντρώνεται σε χάντρες που έχουν ανασκαφεί από την Αρχαία Μεθώνη (βόρεια Ελλάδα), την Κεφαλονιά (δυτική Ελλάδα) και το Lofkënd (νοτιοδυτική Αλβανία) με σκοπό την διερεύνηση της τεχνολογίας και την προέλευσής τους και σε συσχέτιση με τις αναφερόμεςνες περιοχές. Οι αναλυτικές τεχνικές pXRF, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, SEM-EDS, XRD καθώς και οι ισοτοπικές αναλύσεις παρέχουν πληροφορίες οι οποίες γενικά υποδηλώνουν ότι η πλειονότητα των γυάλινων σφαιριδίων και των φαγεντιανών χαντρών κατασκευάστηκαν σε πρωτογενείς εγκαταστάσεις παραγωγής στην Αίγυπτο και την Εγγύς Ανατολή. Τα αποτελέσματα αποκάλυψαν επίσης περιφερειακές διαφορές στους τύπους σφαιριδίων και στις τεχνολογίες γυαλιού, καθώς και την διακίνηση προϊόντων από διαφορετικές ζώνες παραγωγής, πλέον των αναφερόμενων.Τα υαλώδη δείγματα από την Κεφαλονιά υποδηλώνουν ότι επηρεάστηκαν σε μεγάλο βαθμό από άλλες μυκηναϊκές περιοχές της ηπειρωτικής χώρας. Ωστόσο, βρέθηκαν μοναδικοί τύποι ανάγλυφων σφαιριδίων που έχουν κατασκευαστεί από γυαλί αιγυπτιακής προέλευσης. Η ταυτοποίηση του μικτού αλκαλικού γυαλιού παρέχει ένα άλλο πρώιμο παράδειγμα αυτού του τύπου σύνθεσης που κατασκευάζεται σε κέντρα πρωτογενούς παραγωγής που βρίσκονται στη Δύση. Η Αρχαία Μεθώνη και το Lofkënd χαρακτηρίζονται από συλλογές γυαλιού με λιγότερο κοινή χρωματική παλέτα καθώς και τεχνολογία παραγωγής. Στην περίπτωση του Lofkënd, τα γυαλιά που αναλύθηκαν δείχνουν μια σύνθεση που δεν απαντάται στην Ύστερη Εποχή του Χαλκού αλλά είναι συγκρίσιμη με άλλες συλλογές με χαμηλό ασβέστιο καθώς και μαύρα γυαλιά από νάτρο που βρέθηκαν στην Ευρώπη και την Εγγύς Ανατολή από τον 10ο-8ο αι. π.Χ. Το Lofkënd εντοπίζει την περιφερειακή καινοτομία στην τεχνολογία γυαλιού και σε μια πιθανή νέα ζώνη παραγωγής που μπορεί να περιλαμβάνει πολύ πρώιμο πειραματισμό με μια άγνωστη πηγή ορυκτών αλκαλίων.Η διατριβή διερευνά επίσης την παθολογία διάβρωσης που εντοπίζεται στο υλικό της μελέτης και προσπαθεί να αποτυπώσει τους μηχανισμούς εξαλλοίωσης. Η εξέταση και ανάλυση των σφαιριδίων δείχνει ότι πολυπαραμετρικές διαδικασίες, οι οποίες περιλαμβάνουν το περιβάλλον ταφής, την παρουσία μικροοργανισμών και τη σύνθεση του γυαλιού, δρουν συνδυαστικά και επηρεάζουν την κατάσταση διατήρησης των αρχαιολογικών υαλωδών υλικών.
Case Report: Acute presentation of autoimmune hepatitis in a male patient
Authors: Hammami Aya , Ben Abdessalem Khouloud , Mestiri Sarra , Elleuch Nour , Dahmani Wafa , Ben Ameur Wafa , Ksiaa Mehdi , Ben Slama Aida , Ajmi Salem , Braham Ahlem , Jaziri Hanen , Jmaa Ali
Published: May 2021

Introduction: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is one of the major immune mediated chronic liver diseases.  It typically affects young and middle-aged females. Acute liver failure (ALF) is an unusual initial form of presentation of AIH and is particularly rare in male patients. Consequently, the clinical characteristics and optimal management of this entity remain poorly defined.

Patients with AIH sometimes present features of the spectrum of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), simultaneously or consecutively, suggesting the diagnosis of overlap syndrome (OS) PBC- AIH. Data concerning PBC-AIH has been scarcely published and mainly comprises small retrospective studies.

Case presentation: Herein, we report the case of a 40-year-old man with no history of any chronic liver disease, who presented with ALF. After carrying out extensive etiological screening, we suspected him of having ALF due to auto-immune liver disease namely AIH. The positivity of anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA) which is a significant serologic marker of PBC, suggested a diagnosis of OS PBC- AIH. Since urgent liver transplantation could not be performed in our country (Tunisia), the only available therapeutic option was the administration of corticosteroids. During the two years of follow up and treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid, azathioprine and a low dose of prednisolone, our patient is still asymptomatic with normal hepatic function tests.

Conclusion: ALF due to AIH in a male patient is a very rare condition. The diagnosis should be considered in all patients with acute hepatitis of undetermined etiology. Corticosteroids were an effective and lifesaving therapeutic option. The association of AIH and PBC features could suggest an OS.
Case Report: Diabetic urinary auto-brewery and review of literature
Authors: A. Alduraywish Abdulrahman
Published: May 2021

Background: Although candiduria is an expected encounter and should not be surprising in uncontrolled diabetes with glucose-enriched urine, urinary auto-brewery is rarely thought of by diabetologists. Moreover, endogenous ethanol production in humans from gut microbiome, urinary tract fungi and bacteria, and intermediary metabolism, has been reported for a long time, particularly in diabetics. 

Case description: To alert physicians to the overlooked implication of endogenously produced ethanol both as a biomarker for poor control of diabetes and as a complicating factor, we report this case of an elderly male smoker alcohol-abstinent insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetic patient. Because of circumstantial treatment and incompliance for one week, he developed endogenously produced alcohol intoxication. We proposed candidal urinary auto-brewery evidence sourced from the case history, urinalysis, and culture/identification tests - without excluding other sources. Fortunately, his diet and glycemic control were fairly controlled and, liver and kidney functions were almost normal. Amphotericin B I/V for five days, insulin, and a fluid therapy regimen greatly improved the case and cleared both the candiduria and ethanol from the urine and blood and the patient regained his base-line normal life.  

Conclusion: Symptoms of alcohol intoxication should be expected in patients with uncontrolled diabetes that most often correlates with candiduria and/or constipation. These symptoms can be exaggerated in those already suffering a degree of dementia and/or comorbid psychiatric/neurologic affections. Direct wet mount examination of urine under phase contrast microscopy would show the budding yeast cells.  Appropriate antifungal, insulin and fluid therapies regained the base-line norms.
TwinsUK COVID-19 personal experience questionnaire (CoPE): wave 1 data capture April-May 2020
Authors: Suthahar Aaruthy , Sharma Pramila , Hart Deborah , García María Paz , Horsfall Rachel , Bowyer Ruth C.E. , Thompson Ellen J. , Steves Claire J.
Published: May 2021

TwinsUK is a population-based study which consists of 14,575 adult twins at present (55% monozygotic and 43% dizygotic) who are between 18 to 101 years of age from around the United Kingdom (UK). In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting UK ‘lockdown’ restrictions, our team developed the TwinsUK COVID-19 personal experience (CoPE) questionnaire. To date the CoPE questionnaire has been implemented three times, once during the first lockdown (April-May 2020), once as the restrictions eased (July-August 2020) and another when we entered the second wave of the pandemic and stricter restrictions were put into place (October-November 2020). This data note details the sample characteristics, and response rates of the data collected during the initial lockdown phase (wave 1) using the CoPE questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to capture a variety of social, behavioural, psychological, environmental and health factors. It includes both measures that have been collected previously in TwinsUK as well as new measures. This data can be combined with pre-pandemic TwinsUK data and biological and genetic data. TwinsUK will also soon be complemented with the availability of linked health records. All TwinsUK data is available upon request and details are provided on how to access the data below.
Assessment of Research Collaborations for Improving Intellectual and Economic Performance in Public Renewable Energy R&D
Authors:   Seoul National University Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Korea, Kim Dohyoung , Jang Sojin ,   University of North Carolina at Pembroke United States, Jung Sungdo ,   Korea Construction Infonet Korea, Hwang Junseok ,   Seoul National University Korea
Published: May 2021

Abstract. Public R&D investment in renewable energy has burgeoned at the global level in a concerted effort to expedite energy transition. Unlike traditional energy sources, the renewable energy industry produces a favorable collaboration environment for small and medium enterprises, affecting traits of R&D collaboration in R&D as well. The main purpose of this study is to find relationships between R&D collaboration and intellectual & economic performances in renewable energy R&D. We have analyzed 484 projects completed between 2006 and 2014 in South Korea’s public renewable energy R&D program. We found that university-industry-government research institute collaboration is not the most effective for creating intellectual nor economic performance, interpreting as a necessity in the revision on current UIG collaboration policy. For a leader organization, we found that medium enterprises are the most positively related with economic outcomes, interpreting medium enterprises had as much technical competency and investment capacity as large enterprises. Keywords: R&D, performance measurement, collaboration, renewable energy, triple helix, r&d leader
How Muslim Youth Community Brand Sells Merchandise Case: Shift Youth Movement
Authors:   School of Business and Management, Institute Technology of Bandung, Indonesia, Kusumawati Nurrani , Arrahim Dzikry
Published: May 2021

Abstract. Shift is a Muslim youth movement community in Indonesia. As one of the Islamic Brand in Indonesia, Shift starts selling the merchandise to broaden the brand. However, selling the brand's merchandise is not easy work to do. A couple of factors might affect customer purchase intention, such as brand loyalty and brand image. This research aims to find a strategy on how Islamic Brand sell merchandises. This study will discuss several variables, such as brand knowledge, brand satisfaction, brand identification, brand image, brand loyalty, and perceived quality to purchase intention. The data collection uses the questionnaire as the method and analyses it on Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The questionnaires are distributed by online platforms with sample size of 436 respondents who knew about Shift Brand and Shift's Merchandise. The outcomes are brand knowledge, brand satisfaction, brand identification, influence brand image and brand loyalty. Brand loyalty has a positive impact on purchase intention; however, brand image and perceived quality insignificant impact purchase intention. The Shift must develop a strategy to strengthen brand knowledge, brand satisfaction, and brand identification; therefore, it can increase brand loyalty, leading to purchase intention. Keywords: Brand loyalty, brand image, perceived quality, purchase intention, Islamic brand, and partial least square.
Dampak Visual Complexity Terhadap Minat Beli Konsumen dalam Bisnis Ritel
Authors:   Binus Business School, Universitas Bina Nusantara Jakarta,Indonesia, Gunadi Willy , Stephanie Diana Melliza ,   Business School, Universitas Pelita Harapan Indonesia
Published: May 2021

Abstract. Along with the rapid economic growth in Indonesia, high buying power led to significant emergence of new-comers brand in retail market. Bottled tea business that used to dominated by two brands, now become highly competitive with more than 20 brands in the market, also an increase in chocolate consumption by more than 25 percent per year making chocolate display in supermarkets become remarkably widespread. This is challenge for manufacturers and retailers to develop strategy to gain maximum profit. This research aims to analyze the effect of display's visual complexity on consumers evaluation process and purchase intention. This research also analyzes the effect of consumer field dependence and shopping goal on perceived target attractiveness. This research consists of 3 experimental studies, each in ANOVA 2x2. Study 1 analyze abstract stimuli, study 2 analyze real product and study 3 complements with eye tracking data. The results prove that the more complex is the product's display, the more product target attractiveness will be rated lower, especially for utilitarian customer with field dependent character. Keywords: Package, processing fluency, purchase intention, retail, visual complexity
Analisis Pelaksanaan Quality Control untuk Mengurangi Defect Produk di Perusahaan Pengolahan Daging Sapi Wagyu dengan Pendekatan Six Sigma
Authors:   Fakultas Pasca Sarjana, Universitas Mercu Buana, Indonesia, Nugroho Adi , Kusumah Lien Herliani
Published: May 2021

Abstract. The industrial competition requires companies to produce high-quality products, but the phenomenon is that companies still produce products that do not meet specifications and are returned by customers. This is the basis for conducting research aimed at analyzing the implementation of quality control, knowing the main defects of the product, and making improvements to reduce or eliminate problems during the production process using the Six Sigma approach with steps: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. The research sample is the result of the final product inspection in April - September 2019. The results of the study indicate that the implementation of Quality control has been carried out but not maximally, with the root causes of the main defects being method, material, and machine. CTO in this research are: foreign body contamination, leak packaging, product temperature exceeds the standard, over drip, and thick fat. After improving, there was an increase in sigma level from 3.48 (performance baseline) to 3.83. Control is carried out to maintain consistency of corrective actions by regular briefings to operators, increasing GMP training, 5S, and product knowledge, standardizing SOP changes, adding necessary tools, and controlling preventive maintenance implementation. Keywords: Quality control, six sigma, wagyu, defect product, DMAIC
QUALITY OF ALFALFA SENAGE WITH THE«GREENGRASSE 3×3» BIOPRESERVATIVE
Authors: Mironov Nikolai , Karamayeva Anna , Karamayev Sergei , Bakayeva Larisa
Published: May 2021

The aim of the research is to improve the quality and nutritional value of the alfalfa haylage applying the «Green-grass 3×3» biopreservative with herbage. Current biological preparations contain live cultures of specially selected lactic, propionic acids, and sporogenous bacillus, a complex of amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and minor nutrient elements. Preparation use with herbage during haylage leads to intensification the lactic acid fermentation, im-provement of ratio of organic acids, increase the content of nutrients and ensuring their reliable safety during stor-age. The research was carried out at the milk production complex of «Radna» LLC in the Samara region. The re-search was provided involving Holstein and Ayrshire breeds. The haylage was fed to cows in the amount of 24 kg as part of a balanced feed mixture in accordance with the casein diet. As a result of applying a bio-preservative with herbage, the content of organic acids in the ready made feeds increased by 0.54%, including lactic acid – by 0.80%. The dry weight increased by 4.6%, available energy – by 37.4%, energy feed units – by 9.1%, digestible protein – by 13.8%, crude fiber – by 0.9%. Feeding the cows haylage with a bioconservative increased the meta-bolic processes in the tripe of animals. Ciliata weight in the ruminal fluid of Holstein cows increased by 29.0%, Ayr-shire – by 25.8%, number of bacteria, respectively, by 26.5 and 27.5%. As a result, the content of total nitrogen in-creased by 15.0-15.1%, protein nitrogen – by 40.4-42.9%, and ammonia, on the contrary, decreased by 40.0-40.6%. The content of volatile fatty acids decreased by 12.6-16.2%, while the proportion of acetic acid increased by 7.73-8.71%. All this had a positive effect on the digestibility of nutrients by the animals of the experimental groups. The digestibility of the dry weight of the feed increased, respectively, by 4.14-4.57%, and its components – by 4.23-6.97%.
Inattention in Contract Markets: Evidence from a Consolidation of Options in Telecom
Authors: Reme Bjørn-Atle , Røhr Helene Lie , Sæthre Morten
Published: May 2021

We study customer inattention by utilizing a notification about a future price change in the mobile subscription market. With detailed customer-level data from a large telecom operator, together with data on prices and contracts offered by competitors, we document that the notification causes an increase in customer attention, which triggers search, plan switching, and churn. In particular, we show that the monthly propensity to churn increases by 60% (from 1% to 1.6%) among customers whose costs would decrease with the new prices. We also document an increase in churn directly after the notification, not at the time of the future price change, and argue that this timing pattern is evidence of sophisticated inattention: customers take immediate action to mitigate the impact of their own future inertia. We supplement the analysis with a survey and find supporting evidence for the important role of inattention in determining how consumers adapt to changes in the market.

This paper was accepted by Eric Anderson, marketing.
Low anterior resection syndrome: impact on quality of life and nurse-led management
Authors: Burch Jennie
Published: May 2021

Rectal cancer is common and is often treated with surgical removal of the rectum, potentially including chemoradiation. Despite improvements in surgical technique, this treatment often results in long-term negative consequences. The most common of these symptoms involve bowel dysfunction, such as faecal incontinence, constipation and urgency, and are collectively termed low anterior resection syndrome (LARS). These often negatively impact on quality of life in a number of areas, including work, relationships and mental wellbeing. These symptoms can be eased with conservative management techniques, such as dietary modification, pelvic floor exercises and medication. If these are insufficient, patients can try specialist nurse-led interventions, including biofeedback, hypnotherapy, nerve stimulation and/or transanal irrigation. If these management options do not provide adequate quality of life, a permanent colostomy can be formed. It is important for nurses to recognise that problems can occur after treatment for rectal cancer and assist patients to overcome these problems and improve their quality of life.
Idi Amin
Authors: Leopold Mark
Published: May 2021

Idi Amin began his career in the British army in colonial Uganda and worked his way up the ranks before seizing power in a British-backed coup in 1971. He built a violent and unstable dictatorship, ruthlessly eliminating perceived enemies and expelling Uganda's Asian population as the country plunged into social and economic chaos. This book places Amin's military background and close relationship with the British state at the heart of the story. It traces the interwoven development of Amin's career and his popular image as an almost supernaturally evil monster, demonstrating the impossibility of fully distinguishing the truth from the many myths surrounding the dictator. Using an innovative biographical approach, the book reveals how Amin was, from birth, deeply rooted in the history of British colonial rule, how his rise was a legacy of imperialism, and how his monstrous image was created.
Amin and Obote, 1965–69
Authors: Leopold Mark
Published: May 2021

This chapter details how, from 1965, for the rest of the decade, Idi Amin's career depended largely on one factor, his relationship with Milton Obote. As the army became more of a Ugandan national force and less an arm of colonial control, the largely uneducated Kakwa officer had to learn quickly that his job was now a much more complex and very political one. To survive and thrive in the fast-changing post-independence world, he had to use all the manipulative management skills he had learned in the King's African Rifles (KAR), while also developing new abilities to adapt to developments. Ugandan politics in this era was extremely complex. Broadly speaking, political divisions ran through a range of different factors. Those of particular importance included: (1) ethnicity, especially the north–south divide; (2) class-based distinctions, particularly a struggle between the old tribal aristocracies built around the southern monarchies, and a new rising middle class; and (3) religious divides. There were also more shifting, but real, ideological differences — with left- and right-wing views aligning only roughly with class position, and an increasing divide between a centrist social democracy and a more radical left, which mapped onto the wider international background of the Cold War.
History Culture in Pre-Revolutionary British America
Authors: Hattem Michael D.
Published: May 2021

This chapter gives an overview of the role of the past in British North America during the pre-revolutionary decades. It begins by offering a survey of historical thinking and access to historical knowledge in British America in the middle of the eighteenth century. Next, it examines the structural role played by the past in colonial culture and political, religious, and legal thought, showing the cultural and political importance of ideas such as “first principles,” custom, and precedent. It also explores the degree to which colonists relied on the British past for their imperial identities and on historical works and interpretations imported from Britain to shape those identities.
On Order
Authors: Augustine Saint
Published: May 2021

The first four works written by St. Augustine of Hippo after his conversion to Christianity are dialogues that have influenced prominent thinkers from Boethius to Bernard Lonergan. Usually called the “Cassiciacum dialogues,” these four works are of a high literary and intellectual quality, combining Ciceronian and neo-Platonic philosophy, Roman comedy and Vergilian poetry, and early Christian theology. They are also, arguably, Augustine's most charming works, exhibiting his whimsical levity and ironic wryness. This book is the third work in this tetralogy, and it is Augustine's only work explicitly devoted to theodicy, the reconciliation of Almighty God's goodness with evil's existence. In this dialogue, Augustine argues that a certain kind of self-knowledge is the key to unlocking the answers to theodicy's vexing questions, and he devotes the latter half of the dialogue to an excursus on the liberal arts as disciplines that will help strengthen the mind to know itself and God.
Introduction
Authors: Foley Michael P.
Published: May 2021

This chapter presents an overview of St. Augustine's On Order. By the autumn of A.D. 386, when Augustine wrote On Order, Christianity had gained decisive victories over the polytheistic cults of ancient Greece and Rome; but with that victory came new dilemmas. The Judeo-Christian teaching concerning its Lord gives rise to the problem of theodicy, the reconciliation of God and justice. On Order is the only work by Augustine exclusively devoted to the topic, and although this dialogue is by no means the first instance of a Christian author reflecting on the moral evils of humans and angels as well as “natural evils” such as disease and natural catastrophes, it is arguably the first full and explicit Christian work on the subject. On the other hand, depending on one's definitions, On Order may not qualify as “theodicy” at all but as a “defense,” for it does not aspire to the more ambitious goal of specifying what reasons God has for allowing evil to exist.
Book Two
Authors: Foley Michael P.
Published: May 2021

1. After an interval of just a few days, Alypius came. The sunrise was utterly brilliant, and the splendor of the sky and a pleasant temperature (insofar as that is possible in those places during the winter) beckoned us to descend upon the meadow, which we used quite often and with some familiarity....
Commentary
Authors: Foley Michael P.
Published: May 2021

This chapter offers commentary on books one and two of St. Augustine's On Order. In a series of short discussions, the penultimate of which ends badly, book one manages to convey several important teachings. The most important of these is that there is an order of things, a fact that can be affirmed simply by recognizing that nothing can happen without a cause. God is the Ultimate Orderer or Uncaused Causer responsible for this order. Moreover, God can arrange things in such a way that even evils which He did not cause are justly contained by order. Book one did not, however, fully answer two questions: the containment of evils by order and the commencement of evil. Book two, on the other hand, answers the first question more fully and offers guidelines for answering the second. Evils are contained in order precisely because a limit (modus) is placed on the amount of damage they can do, while their destructive qualities are co-opted by God (the summus modus) to have a just effect as punishments on the evil itself. Such is the case even though God Himself is in no way responsible for evil.
Soliloquies
Authors: Augustine Saint
Published: May 2021

The first four works written by St. Augustine of Hippo after his conversion to Christianity are dialogues that have influenced prominent thinkers from Boethius to Bernard Lonergan. Usually called the Cassiciacum dialogues, these four works are of a high literary and intellectual quality, combining Ciceronian and neo-Platonic philosophy, Roman comedy and Vergilian poetry, and early Christian theology. They are also, arguably, Augustine's most charming works, exhibiting his whimsical levity and ironic wryness. This book is the fourth work in this tetralogy. Augustine coined the term “soliloquy” to describe this new form of dialogue. The book, a conversation between Augustine and his reason, fuses the dialogue genre and Roman theater, opening with a search for intellectual and moral self-knowledge before converging on the nature of truth and the question of the soul's immortality. The volume also includes On the Immortality of the Soul, which consists of notes for the unfinished portion of the work.
Diagnosing the (American) Crisis in Foote’s The Cozeners and Burney’s Evelina
Authors: Cohen Ashley L.
Published: May 2021

This chapter contributes to the ongoing scholarly reassessment of the so called American Crisis, which was actually experienced — and in many ways is still best understood — as a global crisis in imperial affairs. It discusses Edmund Burke's speech “On American Taxation,” delivered on April 19, 1774, and Frances Burney's debut novel Evelina (1778). However, the primary case study is Samuel Foote's neglected comic masterpiece The Cozeners (1774). One of the goals of the chapter is to show how the theater afforded playwrights especially complex representational practices with which to render the far-flung coordinates of Britain's globally stretched imperial social formation visible. At the theater, Londoners learned how to view the empire from the perspective of the Indies mentality; and they sought to make sense of current events within this global analytic framework.
Cocaine
Authors: Crandall Russell
Published: May 2021

This chapter describes cocaine as the second most consumed illicit drug in the United States, causing more than five hundred thousand emergency room visits annually. It covers informed estimates that place the valuation of the American cocaine market at over $70 billion a year, a number on par with the annual take of Google and double that of Goldman Sachs. It also explains that cocaine is produced from the leaves of the coca plant and considered one of the first plants domesticated in the Americas as archeological evidence of coca chewing in the Andes suggests that the practice goes back at least as far as 3000 B.C.E. The chapter mentions that the Incan civilization in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries used coca leaves in religious ceremonies throughout its empire, which roughly comprised present-day Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. It elaborates how coca remains a fundamental element of Andean indigenous peoples' lives.
Cannabis
Authors: Crandall Russell
Published: May 2021

This chapter considers psychoactive cannabis as the most popular illicit drug in the United States. It explains how the consumption of cannabis has become a prevalent, mainstream practice that users are apt to forget they are committing a criminal act every time they smoke a joint. It also points out that cannabis is a resilient and adaptable botanical that thrives in all sorts of climates, sprouting serrated, diagonally veined leaves that spread like the fingers of an open hand. The chapter clarifies cannabis as one of humanity's most ancient crops that is native to Central Asia as it has been cultivated by humans since the “dawn of agriculture” some ten thousand years ago. It talks about the first medicinal application of cannabis that dated as far back as 4500 B.C.E. in China and the first written reference to medicinal cannabis that was recorded in the Pen Ts'ao Ching, the pharmacopeia of Emperor Shen Nung in 2700 B.C.E.
The Global War
Authors: Crandall Russell
Published: May 2021

This chapter talks about how U.S. anti-drug enforcement achieved a fully global reach in the post-9/11 “Age of Terror.” It refers to opaque anti-drug missions that first piloted in Latin America and then exported to Thailand, Canada, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, at times without the knowledge or cooperation of the governments concerned. It also provides an overview of a landmark piece of legislation passed by the Congress in 2006 that expanded the scope of American officials' presumptive license abroad, giving U.S. counter-narcotics agents legal standing to pursue narcotics and terrorism crimes committed anywhere in the world. The chapter cites the explosion of cocaine consumption in Europe over the first fifteen years of the twenty-first century as the key motivation for the new legislation in the global war on drugs. It mentions three Malian nationals who had been arrested in their home country by U.S. federal agents and extradited to the United States under the 2006 rule.
Cannabis Revisited
Authors: Crandall Russell
Published: May 2021

This chapter details the launch of the U.S. federal, state, and local anti-drug agencies' two-month effort called Operation Mountain Sweep in late August 2012, which targeted large illegal marijuana cultivations on public land in several Western states. It describes marijuana cultivation on public lands, especially in the American West, that had grown immensely during the previous few years, making aggressive responses from anti-drug elements unsurprising. It also discusses how the United States emerged as one of the largest marijuana producers in the Americas, with Mexico supplying about half of all the cannabis consumed in the United States. The chapter elaborates that concerns about the environmental impact of cannabis cultivation on delicate ecosystems served as a major catalyst for Operation Mountain Sweep. It points out how cultivation-driven environmental degradation in the United States was similar in cocaine source countries, where growers slashed virgin rainforest to make way for coca plantings.
Vagrant Figures
Authors: Nicolazzo Sal
Published: May 2021

This book, demonstrating the important role of eighteenth-century literary treatments of policing and vagrancy, offers a prehistory of police legitimacy in a period that predates the establishment of the modern police force. The book argues that narrative, textual, and rhetorical practices shaped not only police and legal activity of the period, but also public conceptions of police power. The author's research delves into law and literature on both sides of the Atlantic, tracking the centrality of vagrancy in establishing police power as a form of sovereignty crucial to settler colonialism, slavery, and racial capitalism. The first book in several generations to address policing and vagrancy in the eighteenth-century, and the first in the field to center race and empire in its account of literary vagrancy, this work is a significant contribution to the field of eighteenth-century literary and cultural studies.