bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Profile of central corneal thickness and corneal endothelial cell morpho-density in healthy Congolese eyes
Authors: Kelekele Joseph-Theodore K. , Kayembe David L. , Mwanza Jean-Claude
Published: April 2021

Purpose

To determine the pachymetric and corneal endothelial cell morphometric features and their relationship to ocular and systemic factors in healthy Congolese subjects.

Methods

Non-contact specular microscopy was used in 278 healthy eyes (278 subjects) to measure central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal endothelial cell density (CECD) along with cell size, coefficient of variation (CV) in cell size, and hexagonality (HEX). The lower and upper reference limits and average values for each parameter were determined. Correlation and association of average values with anthropo-demographic and clinical variables were assessed.

Results

The mean age was 38.9 ± 17.2 years (10.9–80.7 years). Average values were 504.2 ± 30.7 μm (CCT), 2907.1 ± 290.9 cells/mm2 (CECD), 348.5 ± 38.4 μm2 (cell size), 32.9 ± 3.6% (CV), and 51.8 ± 7.2% (HEX). CCT was 504.9 ± 33.6 μm in men and 503.6 ± 28.3 μm in women (p = .73); values for CECD were 2917.1 ± 253.5 cells/mm2 and 2899.2 ± 317.8 cells/mm2 (p = 0.61), respectively. Lower and upper reference limits were 449.6 μm and 566.0 μm for CCT, and 2165.3 cells/mm2 and 3414.4 cells/mm2 for CECD, respectively. CCT correlated with body mass index (BMI), (r = − 0.12, P = 0.04). CECD decreased with age (r = − 0.49, P < 0.001), BMI (r = − 0.20, P = 0.001), intraocular pressure (r = − 0.13, P = 0.029) and ocular perfusion pressure (r = − 0.28, P = 0.028). CECD decayed by 8.3 cells/mm2 or 0.30% per year of age and CCT decreased by 0.72 μm per kg/m2.

Conclusions

Mean central cornea was thinner, CECD higher, and references limits lower than reported in other African populations. The CCT and CECD normative values reported herein will be useful for both clinical and research purposes in this population.
Association of working shifts, inside and outside of healthcare, with severe COVID−19: an observational study
Authors: Rowlands A. V. , Gillies C. , Chudasama Y. , Davies M. J. , Islam N. , Kloecker D. E. , Lawson C. , Pareek M. , Razieh C. , Zaccardi F. , Yates T. , Khunti K.
Published: April 2021

Background

Health and key workers have elevated odds of developing severe COVID-19; it is not known, however, if this is exacerbated in those with irregular work patterns. We aimed to investigate the odds of developing severe COVID-19 in health and shift workers.

Methods

We included UK Biobank participants in employment or self-employed at baseline (2006–2010) and with linked COVID-19 data to 31st August 2020. Participants were grouped as neither a health worker nor shift worker (reference category) at baseline, health worker only, shift worker only, or both, and associations with severe COVID-19 investigated in logistic regressions.

Results

Of 235,685 participants (81·5% neither health nor shift worker, 1·4% health worker only, 16·9% shift worker only, and 0·3% both), there were 580 (0·25%) cases of severe COVID-19. The odds of severe COVID-19 was higher in health workers (adjusted odds ratio: 2·32 [95% CI: 1·33, 4·05]; shift workers (2·06 [1·72, 2·47]); and in health workers who worked shifts (7·56 [3·86, 14·79]). Being both a health worker and a shift worker had a possible greater impact on the odds of severe COVID-19 in South Asian and Black and African Caribbean ethnicities compared to White individuals.

Conclusions

Both health and shift work (measured at baseline, 2006–2010) were independently associated with over twice the odds of severe COVID-19 in 2020; the odds were over seven times higher in health workers who work shifts. Vaccinations, therapeutic and preventative options should take into consideration not only health and key worker status but also shift worker status.
The impact of novel and traditional food bank approaches on food insecurity: a longitudinal study in Ottawa, Canada
Authors: Rizvi Anita , Wasfi Rania , Enns Aganeta , Kristjansson Elizabeth
Published: April 2021

Background

Food insecurity is strongly associated with poor mental and physical health, especially with chronic diseases. Food banks have become the primary long-term solution to addressing food insecurity. Traditionally, food banks provide assistance in the form of pre-packed hampers based on the food supplies on hand, such that the food items often do not meet the recipients’ cultural, religious or medical requirements. Recently, new approaches have been implemented by food banks, including choice models of food selection, additional onsite programming, and integrating food banks within Community Resource Centres.

Methods

This study examined changes in food security and physical and mental health, at four time points over 18 months at eleven food banks in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The participants – people who accessed these food banks – were surveyed using the Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) and the Short-Form Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12). Statistical analyses included: pairwise paired t-tests between the mean perceived physical and mental health scores across the four waves of data collection, and longitudinal mixed effects regression models to understand how food security changed over time.

Results

The majority of people who were food insecure at baseline remained food insecure at the 18-month follow-up, although there was a small downward trend in the proportion of people in the severely food insecure category. Conversely, there was a small but significant increase in the mean perceived mental health score at the 18-month follow-up compared to baseline. We found significant reductions in food insecurity for people who accessed food banks that offered a Choice model of food distribution and food banks that were integrated within Community Resource Centres.

Conclusions

Food banks offer some relief of food insecurity but they don’t eliminate the problem. In this study, reductions in food insecurity were associated with food banks that offered a Choice model and those that were integrated within a Community Resource Centre. There was a slight improvement in perceived mental health at the 18-month time point; however, moderately and severely food insecure participants still had much lower perceived mental health than the general population.
The validity of the claims-based definition of rheumatoid arthritis evaluated in 64 hospitals in Japan
Authors: Kubota Kiyoshi , Yoshizawa Masaki , Takahashi Satoru , Fujimura Yoshiaki , Nomura Hiroko , Kohsaka Hitoshi
Published: April 2021

Background

An administrative database covering a whole population such as the national database in Japan may be used to estimate the nationwide prevalence of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) when a well-validated definition of the disease is available. In Japan, the record linkage between the administrative database and medical charts in hospitals is strictly prohibited. A “hospital-based” validation study is one of few possible validation studies where claims kept inside the study hospital are rearranged into the database structure.

Methods

We selected random samples of 19,734 patients from approximately 1.6 million patients who received medical care between February 2018 and January 2019 in one of the 64 hospitals of the Tokushukai Medical Group. We excluded patients whose observation period was less than 365 days and identified 334 patients who met the definition of “possible cases of RA” whose medical charts were then independently evaluated by two rheumatologists. In a sensitivity analysis, we assessed bias due to misclassifying some patients with RA who did not meet the definition of “possible cases of RA” as a patient with no RA.

Results

The kappa coefficient between the two rheumatologists was 0.80. The prevalence of RA in the study population was estimated to be 0.56%. We found that [condition code of RA] and ([any disease-modifying antirheumatic drug] or [oral corticosteroid with no systemic autoimmune diseases (other than RA) and no polymyalgia rheumatica]) had a relatively high sensitivity (approximately 73%) and a high positive predictive value (approximately 80%). In a sensitivity analysis, we found that when some patients with RA who did not meet the definition of “possible cases of RA” were misclassified as a patient with no RA, then this would lead to underestimation of the prevalence of the definition-positive patients and the adjusted prevalence.

Conclusions

We recommend using the claims-based definition of RA (found in the current validation study) to estimate the prevalence of RA in Japan. We also suggest estimating the adjusted prevalence using the quantitative bias analysis method, since the prevalence of the disease in the “hospital-based” validation study is different from that in the administrative database.

Trial registration

The current study is not a clinical trial and hence not subject to trial registration.
Burnout syndrome in Spanish medical students
Authors: Gil-Calderón Javier , Alonso-Molero Jéssica , Dierssen-Sotos Trinidad , Gómez-Acebo Inés , Llorca Javier
Published: April 2021

Background

Burnout syndrome is a frequent syndrome related to people that feel a deterioration in their daily activities due to highly demandant psychological requirements in their workplaces. Within last decades, this syndrome has been studied across medical professionals, concluding that stress levels that physicians suffer is high enough to make them develop burnout syndrome. In the case of medical students, there are some recent studies, although with small samples. For this reason, given that this phenomenon may produce a huge impact in medical students’ development, the aim of this study is to analyze the influential factors that may contribute to its occurrence.

Methods

The necessary information was gathered through a web-based questionnaire, divided in two parts. The first part of the survey included questions related to personal aspects of the students. Burnout related questions (second part) were divided in three subscales to evaluate exhaustion, cynicism, and academic efficacy levels.

Results

Family support for studying medicine is associated with lower burnout levels in all three scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The number of years spent in the degree show the opposite trend: the more years in the degree, the higher score in all burnout scales.

Conclusions

Burnout syndrome is a problem among medical students in Spain that increases with the number of years studying medicine. It should be also noticed that family support and vocational studies are independent factors related to lower levels of burnout.
Effects of coenzyme Q10 on ovarian surface epithelium-derived ovarian stem cells and ovarian function in a 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide-induced murine model of ovarian failure
Authors: Lee Hyun Joo , Park Min Jung , Joo Bo Sun , Joo Jong Kil , Kim Yeon Hee , Yang Sun Woo , Kim Chang-Woon , Kim Ki Hyung
Published: April 2021

Background

Several studies have shown that coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) can rescue ovarian aging and that ovarian surface epithelium (OSE)-derived ovarian stem cells (OSCs) are useful for treating infertility due to ovarian aging. However, few studies have examined the effect of CoQ10 on OSCs. This study was aimed to investigate whether CoQ10 activates OSCs and recovers ovarian function in a 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD)-induced mouse model of ovarian failure.

Methods

Forty female C57BL/6 mice aged 6 weeks were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10/group): a control group administered saline orally, a CoQ10 group administered 150 mg/kg/day of CoQ10 orally in 1 mL of saline daily for 14 days, a VCD group administered 160 mg/kg/day of VCD i.p. in 2.5 mL of saline/kg for 5 days, and a VCD + CoQ10 group administered VCD i.p. for 5 days injection and CoQ10 (150 mg/kg/day) orally for 14 days. After treatment, follicle counts were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, and ovarian mRNA expressions of Bmp-15, Gdf-9, and c-Kit were examined by quantitative real-time PCR. Serum FSH, AMH, and ROS levels were also measured. Oocyte-like structure counts and the expressions of Oct-4 and MVH were also evaluated after culturing OSE for 3 weeks. In a second experiment, 32 female mice were administered CoQ10 as described above, induced to superovulate using PMSG and hCG, and mated. Numbers of zygotes and embryo development rate were examined.

Results

Postcultured OSE showed significant increases in the numbers of oocyte-like structure and that the expression of Oct-4 and MVH were higher in the VCD + CoQ10 group than in the VCD group (p < 0.05). Numbers of surviving follicles from primordial to antral follicles, numbers of zygotes retrieved and embryo development rate to blastocyst were significantly greater in the VCD + CoQ10 group than in the VCD group (p < 0.01). Serum AMH level and ovarian expressions of Bmp-15, Gdf-9 and c-Kit were also significantly greater in the VCD + CoQ10 group than in the VCD group (p < 0.05). In contrast, serum ROS level was significantly lower in the VCD + CoQ10 group than in the VCD group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

This study shows that CoQ10 stimulates the differentiation of OSE-derived OSCs and confirms that CoQ10 can reduce ROS levels and improve ovarian function and oocyte quality in mice with VCD-induced ovarian failure.
Correction to: High IRF8 expression correlates with CD8 T cell infiltration and is a predictive biomarker of therapy response in ER-negative breast cancer
Authors: Gatti Gerardo , Betts Courtney , Rocha Darío , Nicola Maribel , Grupe Verónica , Ditada Cecilia , Nuñez Nicolas G. , Roselli Emiliano , Araya Paula , Dutto Jeremías , Boffelli Lucia , Fernández Elmer , Coussens Lisa M. , Maccioni Mariana
Published: April 2021

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.
The Lutein and Zeaxanthin in Pregnancy (L-ZIP) study—carotenoid supplementation during pregnancy: ocular and systemic effects—study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Addo Emmanuel Kofi , Gorusupudi Aruna , Allman Susan , Bernstein Paul S.
Published: April 2021

Background

Lutein (L), zeaxanthin (Z), and meso-zeaxanthin (MZ), collectively called the macular pigment (MP), are dietary carotenoids that preferentially localize in the macula of the human eye. MP protects the macula from photo-oxidative damage and enhances visual function. Inadequate maternal intake of carotenoids, coupled with the placental transfer of maternal carotenoids to support fetal brain and retina development, potentially put mothers at risk of depletion systemically and in their ocular tissues. Presently, maternal carotenoid status throughout pregnancy remains poorly characterized, and no prospective randomized controlled trial of L and Z supplementation via prenatal vitamins has assessed maternal and infants’ systemic and ocular carotenoid status during pregnancy. We hypothesize that prenatal maternal carotenoid supplementation will counteract maternal carotenoid depletion during pregnancy and will improve biomarkers of carotenoid status of both mothers and infants.

Methods

Lutein and Zeaxanthin in Pregnancy (L-ZIP) is a phase 2, single-center, prospective, double-masked, randomized active-controlled clinical trial conducted at the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Participants consume a daily standard prenatal multivitamin with no added carotenoids and are randomized (1:1 allocation) to receive either a capsule containing 10 mg L and 2 mg Z in safflower oil (Carotenoid group) or a capsule containing only safflower oil with no added carotenoids (Control group) for a period of 6 to 8 months. Skin, serum, and ocular carotenoids are measured at every study visit (i.e., within the first trimester [baseline], second trimester, third trimester, and 0–2 weeks postpartum). Skin carotenoid assessment is by resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS); serum carotenoid status is quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); and MP is measured with the dual-wavelength autofluorescence. Infants’ MP and foveal anatomy are assessed using RetCam retinal camera and Bioptigen SD-OCT, respectively. The primary outcomes are changes in maternal systemic and ocular carotenoid status during pregnancy.

Discussion

L-ZIP is the first prospective RCT to investigate maternal carotenoid status throughout pregnancy and to determine whether prenatal maternal carotenoid supplementation will offset maternal carotenoid depletion and improve biomarkers of maternal and infant’s carotenoid status. Findings from L-ZIP will strengthen recommendations regarding prenatal carotenoid supplementation and consequently inform policy decisions.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03750968. Registered on November 23, 2018
Diphyllobothrium sprakeri n. sp. (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae): a hidden broad tapeworm from sea lions off North and South America
Authors: Hernández-Orts Jesús S. , Kuzmina Tetiana A. , Gomez-Puerta Luis A. , Kuchta Roman
Published: April 2021

Background

The systematic of several marine diphyllobothriid tapeworms of pinnipeds has been revised in recent years. However, 20 species of Diphyllobothrium from phocids and otariids are still recognized as incertae sedis. We describe a new species of Diphyllobothrium from the intestine of California sea lions Zalophus californianus (Lesson) (type-host) and South American sea lions Otaria flavescens (Shaw).

Methods

Zalophus californianus from the Pacific coast of the USA and O. flavescens from Peru and Argentina were screened for parasites. Partial fragments of the large ribosomal subunit gene (lsrDNA) and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) mitochondrial gene were amplified for 22 isolates. Properly fixed material from California sea lions was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy.

Results

A total of four lsrDNA and 21 cox1 sequences were generated and aligned with published sequences of other diphyllobothriid taxa. Based on cox1 sequences, four diphyllobothriid tapeworms from O. flavescens in Peru were found to be conspecific with Adenocephalus pacificus Nybelin, 1931. The other newly generated sequences fall into a well-supported clade with sequences of a putative new species previously identified as Diphyllobothrium sp. 1. from Z. californianus and O. flavescens. A new species, Diphyllobothrium sprakeri n. sp., is proposed for tapeworms of this clade.

Conclusions

Diphyllobothrium sprakeri n. sp. is the first diphyllobothriid species described from Z. californianus from the Pacific coast of North America, but O. flavescens from Argentina, Chile and Peru was confirmed as an additional host. The present study molecularly confirmed the first coinfection of two diphyllobothriid species in sea lions from the Southern Hemisphere.

Graphical Abstract
Correction to: The molecular tweezer CLR01 improves behavioral deficits and reduces tau pathology in P301S-tau transgenic mice
Authors: Di Jing , Siddique Ibrar , Li Zizheng , Malki Ghattas , Hornung Simon , Dutta Suman , Hurst Ian , Ishaaya Ella , Wang Austin , Tu Sally , Boghos Ani , Ericsson Ida , Klärner Frank-Gerrit , Schrader Thomas , Bitan Gal
Published: April 2021

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.
Efficacy of low-dose methimazole in control of multiple relapses of Graves’ hyperthyroidism: a case report
Authors: Azizi Fereidoun , Amouzegar Atieh , Abdi Hengameh
Published: April 2021

Introduction

Methimazole (MMI) is the treatment of choice for patients with Graves’ disease. The major drawback of this treatment is the relapse of hyperthyroidism in half of the patients after discontinuation of the recommended conventional 12–18 months of MMI treatment. TSH receptor antibody (TRAb) concentration is recognized as the strongest predictor of hyperthyroidism relapse. In this case report, efficacy of low-dose MMI to control hyperthyroidism even after multiple recurrences in the setting of normal TRAb concentrations is shown.

Case presentation

An 80-year-old Iranian woman with Graves’ disease was treated with MMI for 31 years. While receiving treatment, she always had a normal serum TRAb concentration; however, three times during the 31 years she decided to stop MMI therapy, and each time the disease recurred 16–21 months after MMI withdrawal. It is noteworthy that she maintained euthyroidism with the low-dose 1.25–2.5 mg MMI daily without any adverse events during three decades of treatment.

Conclusions

Normal serum TRAb is not a sufficiently strong marker to predict relapse of Graves’ hyperthyroidism. Long-term therapy with low-dose MMI is an effective and safe treatment to sustain euthyroidism.
Refractory dermatitis contributed by pityriasis versicolor: a case report
Authors: Li Mingjia , Spaccarelli Natalie , Kendra Kari , Wu Richard C. , Verschraegen Claire
Published: April 2021

Background

Dermatologic toxicity is a very common immune-related adverse event (irAE) for patients with melanoma who are receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (ICI). Concurrent skin infection, such as in the case of pityriasis versicolor reported here, can mimic and/or exacerbate dermatologic toxicity from irAE.

Case presentation

A 58-year-old Caucasian man with a history of pityriasis versicolor infection and metastatic melanoma received ICI therapy. He developed progressively worsening pruritic maculopapular lesions 22 weeks into his treatment that ultimately covered 40% of his body. He was diagnosed with dermatologic toxicity due to ICI therapy with concurrent pityriasis versicolor. He was initially started on topical steroid and topical antifungal cream but achieved minimum improvement. His treatment was then escalated to oral prednisone, but it only achieved modest control of his dermatitis. All subsequent attempts to wean him from oral prednisone resulted in worsening of his dermatitis. Eventually he was started on oral fluconazole in combination with prednisone, which led to rapid resolution of his dermatitis.

Conclusion

We report a case of dermatological toxicity due to an irAE with concurrent pityriasis versicolor. The steroid treatment for irAE was likely exacerbating the underlying fungal infection, and the fungal infection was in term mimicking the symptoms of irAE. This patient’s severe dermatitis was only brought under control after receiving a more potent antifungal therapy in combination with a steroid. It is vital to look beyond the irAE when managing dermatitis in patients receiving ICI therapy.
Correction to: Cascading rupture of patches of high seismic energy release controls the growth process of episodic tremor and slip events
Authors: Nakamoto Keita , Hiramatsu Yoshihiro , Uchide Takahiko , Imanishi Kazutoshi
Published: April 2021

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.
The “Better Judgement” behind the “Walk on Air”
Authors: Laverty Christopher
Published: April 2021

This essay examines the influence of Elizabeth Bishop on Seamus Heaney’s poetics in the 1980s and 1990s as he became a global poet. She stands as a unique and overlooked exemplar in Heaney’s poetic pantheon. His reading of Bishop’s work, for all its limitations, nonetheless enables some of his most celebrated poetry of “home.” Since the 1990s, Bishop’s reputation has grown considerably, and recent critical assessments of newly published work have led to new ways of reading her older collections, so that the “reticence” for which she was famed now appears less as an aesthetic principle—as Heaney understands it—than as a concession to a repressive environment. Through intertextual close-readings alongside an examination of Heaney’s literarycritical responses to her work, this essay argues Heaney’s view of Bishop is often refracted through the lens of his own concerns. Ultimately, however, that view helps Heaney develop a poetics where form itself—the essential border-making and border-crossing apparatus—is emblematic of a solution to political crisis, making his misreading a highly productive one.
Critique of Archived Life: Toward a Hesitation of Sikh Immigrant Accumulation
Authors: Judge Rajbir Singh , Brar Jasdeep Singh
Published: April 2021

In 2016, the Pioneering Punjabi Digital Archive (PPDA) went online. Attempting to reveal how the Punjabi community struggled and then thrived in California, the PPDA accumulates narratives of Punjabi American life. Against such models of archival intimacy and recovery, which look to cultivate limitless public access to a knowable and transparent subject while reducing structural precarity to the failure of an exceptional Punjabi, this article hesitates in a vexed archival space without guarantees. Within this hesitation, it explores the traces of untimely lives displaced in creating archival legibility—traces that reveal a different form of being that challenge the additive logic of the PPDA. This hesitation is cultivated through a comparative approach that couples archival and ethnographic research based on articles about Punjabi American life in both the archive and public sphere alongside ethnographic work conducted with Sikh immigrants who work in canneries and the fields. The aim is to pause in the present impasse to consider the nonbecoming of unknown forms—an ethnographic “reaching and ungrasping” in which the future is not fixed as a requirement for thinking, refusing the accumulating demands of narrative sequence that archiving presents.
“He Rests from His Labors”: Racialized Recreation and Missionary Science in Colonial Korea
Authors: Kramer Derek J.
Published: April 2021

This article examines how Anglo-American evangelicals in colonial Korea employed racialized understandings of the environment to justify a culture of recreation and health. In the metropole and periphery, missionary researchers studying climate, geography, and public health asserted a science-based injunction to rest that was intended to maintain a population of evangelical workers. The production of this scientific research, external to the Japanese colonial state, allowed the missionary community to establish a rationale for collective segregation from the local populations they sought to save. In Korea, this dynamic is profiled through the history of a missionary resort at Sorai beach. Initially believed to have contributed to the suicide of an evangelical worker in 1895, within a few years the Sorai area rapidly transformed. In step with the broader culture of summer recreation that emerged in Korea during the 1910s and 1920s, the missionaries recast Sorai from a deleterious space into a site of strategic and devotional rest.
Entrepreneurs of the National Past: The Discourse of Ethnic Indigeneity and Indigenous Cultural Writing in China
Authors: Zhang Yanshuo
Published: April 2021

This article probes a long-overlooked concept in modern China—ethnic indigeneity—to propose new ways of looking at the relationship between the Chinese nation and its multiethnic minority groups. The Western scholarly community has long held that because the Chinese state uses the Marxist-tainted term shaoshu minzu (ethnic minorities) as the official designation for the non-Han people, the concept of indigeneity is irrelevant to understanding China and its ethnic diversity. This article investigates how reform-era China has witnessed the emergence of an indigenous cultural consciousness exhibited by the non-Han people such as the Qiang people from southwest China. The article argues that minority groups like the Qiang are enthusiastic about “enterprising” their ethnic identities by writing minority histories into the foundational myths of a multiethnic, unified China and challenging the historical hierarchy of the “civilized” Han center and its “uncultured” non-Han peripheries. By analyzing locally produced scholarly and touristic discourses, ethnocultural writing, and filming efforts in southwest China, the article proposes that “indigeneity” entails the interactive processes for a minority group to carve out its cultural, economic, and political spaces of creative belonging within the state by conversing with national narratives and contending for the epistemological authority to represent itself in multiethnic China.
Sounding the Ineffable: Third-Century Chinese Whistling as an Alternative Voice
Authors: Zheng Yiren
Published: April 2021

This article examines the role of whistling as an elusive voice in the literary world from around the third century onward. It argues that as an alternative to normalized forms of vocal, musical, and poetic expression, whistling destabilized, blurred, and reconfigured notions of voice, language, writing, and music within the larger context of Six Dynasties thought and aesthetics. Despite the wide range of vocalizations (e.g., wailing, the tiger's roar) associated with whistling in premodern China, the whistling examined in this article refers to a particular vocal art commonly practiced by the literati. It reached its height around the third century, signaled by a rise in literary texts that illustrate its musical features, elaborate its mechanism, and tell stories about whistlers. An analysis of two main texts on whistling, Rhapsody on Whistling (third century) and Principles of Whistling (circa eighth century), uncovers the act of whistling as a gap: it is not yet a voice, not quite a kind of music, and it is beyond the realm of language. The whistler does not produce the whistling; it is his breath—passing through a bodily gap—that activates his body as a musical instrument, making the whistled sound an echo even before it sounds.
Metabolic Effects of Cortisol Treatment in a Marine Teleost, the Sea Raven
Authors: Vijayan M. M. , Mommsen T. P. , Glémet H. C. , Moon T. W.
Published: April 2021

Sea raven (Hemitripterus americanus) given intraperitoneal implants of coconut oil containing cortisol (50 mg kg−1) and sampled 5 days later had plasma cortisol, glucose and urea concentrations higher than in a sham-implanted group. No differences in plasma ammonia, free amino acid or fatty acid concentrations were apparent between the cortisol-and sham-treated groups. There was no change in hepatic glycogen content, whereas glutamine synthetase, allantoicase, arginase, aspartate aminotransferase, tyrosine aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase activities were higher in the cortisol-treated fish liver compared with the sham-implanted fish. On the basis of these general increases in enzyme activities, our results suggest that cortisol stimulates nitrogen metabolism in the sea raven. Amino acid catabolism may be a major source of substrate for gluconeogenesis and/or oxidation, while fatty acid mobilization may provide the fuel for endogenous use by the liver in cortisol-treated sea raven. These results further support the hypothesis that cortisol plays a role in the regulation of glucose production in stressed fish.
Treatment of Chronic Large and Persistent Macular Hole by a new technique in a Tertiary Care Hospital
Authors: Khan Tanweer Hasan , Syed Fawad Rizvi , Syed Asaad Mahmood , Feroz Lubna
Published: April 2021

Objective: To assess the anatomical and functional outcomes of treating chronic persistent large macular hole by macular hole hydrodissection technique in a tertiary eye care hospital.

Methods: This interventional case series study was conducted in the Vitreoretinal department of LRBT Tertiary Teaching Eye Hospital, Karachi, from October 2017 to March 2018, with follow-ups till February 2019. The study included eighteen cases of chronic (symptoms of loss of central vision ≥ 2years), persistent (previously failed macular hole surgery), large (aperture diameter of ≥ 400µm) macular hole. Out of the eighteen patients, eight (44.4%) were males and ten (55.6%) were females. All operated patients underwent macular hole hydrodissection by balanced salt solution using a silicone soft tip extrusion cannula. Patients were followed up post operatively to assess post-operative complications and surgical results.

Results: Among eighteen patients with a mean aperture diameter of 477.1±102.9 µm and basal diameter of 849.4± 92.6µm, complete anatomical closure was achieved in sixteen (88.8%). Five (27.7%) out of the eighteen patients achieved best corrected visual acuity improvement of 6/36, whereas seven (38.8%) patients reached up to a BCVA of 6/60, with maximum improvement of two lines. The mean post-operative follow-up was 332.3± 46.7 days.

Conclusion: Macular hole hydrodissection is a relatively new emerging technique with promising results for the closure of chronic persistent large macular hole.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3618

How to cite this:Khan TH, Rizvi SF, Mahmood SA, Feroz L. Treatment of Chronic Large and Persistent Macular Hole by a new technique in a Tertiary Care Hospital. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(4):979-982. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3618

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Η διερεύνηση της δημιουργικότητας των μαθητών Δημοτικού μέσω ψυχομετρικής και συναινετικής αξιολόγησης – Ο ρόλος της ακαδημαϊκής επίδοσης
Authors: Ζμπάινος Δημήτριος , Μπελογιάννη Βασιλική , Κατσαμπάνης Παναγιώτης
Published: April 2021

Καθώς η δημιουργικότητα αποτελεί μία από τις βασικές δεξιότητες του νέου αιώνα, το σύγχρονο σχολείο καλείται να αναγνωρίσει, να ενθαρρύνει και να καλλιεργήσει τις δημιουργικές ικανότητες των μαθητών. Στην παρούσα εργασία διερευνήθηκε η δημιουργικότητα 202 μαθητών της Ε’ και της Στ’ τάξης από Δημοτικά σχολεία της Αθήνας και η σχέση της με την ακαδημαϊκή τους επίδοση. Ειδικότερα, η δημιουργική ικανότητα αξιολογήθηκε με τη χρήση του ψυχομετρικού Τεστ Δημιουργικής Σκέψης Torrance και μέσω Συναινετικής Τεχνικής Αξιολόγησης, με δασκάλους και εικαστικούς σε ρόλο ειδημόνων. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι οι αξιολογήσεις μεταξύ των εκπαιδευτικών παρουσίαζαν υψηλή, θετική και στατιστικά σημαντική συσχέτιση, αλλά και θετική συσχέτιση με τις ακαδημαϊκές επιδόσεις των παιδιών. Από την άλλη πλευρά, από τις αναλύσεις φάνηκε ότι οι επιδόσεις των μαθητών στο τεστ Torrance εμφάνιζαν μικρή και στατιστικά σημαντική συσχέτιση ανάμεσα με τις αξιολογήσεις των εικαστικών, αλλά μη στατιστικά σημαντική σχέση με τις αξιολογήσεις των δασκάλων και τις ακαδημαϊκές επιδόσεις των παιδιών. Συμπερασματικά διαπιστώθηκε ότι οι δάσκαλοι αξιολογούν τη δημιουργικότητα χρησιμοποιώντας διαφορετικά κριτήρια από εκείνα του ψυχομετρικού εργαλείου. Oι εικαστικοί, αν και τείνουν να μοιράζονται παρόμοια κριτήρια αξιολόγησης με τους δασκάλους τα οποία απαντούν ως ένα βαθμό και στην εκπαιδευτική αξιολόγηση της ακαδημαϊκής επίδοσης, φαίνεται να λαμβάνουν υπόψη σε μικρότερο βαθμό και ορισμένα από τα κριτήρια του τεστ Torrance. Τέλος, οι διαστάσεις της δημιουργικότητας που αξιολογήθηκαν ψυχομετρικά δεν φαίνεται να λαμβάνονται υπόψη κατά την αξιολόγηση της ακαδημαϊκής επίδοσης.
Η συμμετοχή εκπαιδευτικών σε προγράμματα περιβαλλοντικής εκπαίδευσης και η αμφίδρομη σχέση της με τη συγκρότηση της επαγγελματικής τους ταυτότητας
Authors: Τσιώλης Γιώργος , Λατζουράκη Μαρία
Published: April 2021

Η περιβαλλοντική εκπαίδευση (Π.Ε.) έχει εισαχθεί στο ελληνικό εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα από το 1991. Λειτουργεί με τη πραγματοποίηση προγραμμάτων στα οποία η συμμετοχή τόσο των μαθητών όσο και των εκπαιδευτικών είναι εθελοντική. Στο παρόν άρθρο παρουσιάζονται τα ευρήματα ποιοτικής έρευνας, η οποία μελέτησε τις ιδιαίτερες λογικές που κινητοποιούν εκπαιδευτικούς της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης για να συμμετάσχουν σε προγράμματα Π. Ε. Σε αντίθεση με έρευνες ανίχνευσης κινήτρων, που εστιάζουν κάθε φορά σε συγκεκριμένους μεμονωμένους παράγοντες, οι οποίοι εμφανίζονται να ωθούν το άτομο για την ανάληψη της μιας ή της άλλης δράσης, στην παρούσα έρευνα υιοθετήθηκε μια ολιστική προσέγγιση της κινητοποίησης προς δράση (της ανάληψης πρωτοβουλίας στο πλαίσιο περιβαλλοντικών προγραμμάτων), η οποία θέτει στο επίκεντρο την προβληματική της ταυτότητας. Για τις ανάγκες της έρευνας διενεργήθηκαν 14 ημι-δομημένες συνεντεύξεις με εκπαιδευτικούς, οι οποίοι υπηρετούν σε τέσσερα σχολεία της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης νομού της Κρήτης και έχουν οργανώσει προγράμματα Π.Ε. Από τη (θεματική) ανάλυση του υλικού προέκυψε μια τυπολογία διαφορετικών λογικών συμμετοχής των εκπαιδευτικών στα προγράμματα αυτά. Η διαφοροποίηση των λογικών αυτών εδράζεται στους διαφορετικούς τρόπους εγκιβωτισμού τους στο πλαίσιο των διαμορφούμενων επαγγελματικών ταυτοτήτων. Η έρευνα κατέδειξε, επίσης, ότι η σχέση μεταξύ της διαδικασίας διαμόρφωσης της επαγγελματικής ταυτότητας των εκπαιδευτικών και της συμμετοχής τους σε προγράμματα Π.Ε. είναι αμφίδρομη.
Evaluation of Street Food Safety and Hygiene Practices of Food Vendors in Can Tho City of Vietnam
Authors: Tong Thi Anh Ngoc , Kittirath Pisavanh , Abiola Salako Damilola , Doan Duy Le Nguyen , Cong Ha Nguyen
Published: April 2021

The objective of this study was to investigate the food safety status of street foods in the city of Can Tho, Vietnam. A total of 410 consumers was interviewed to get an insight into the popular street foods in the studied area. Vietnamese sandwich (34.63%) and sugarcane juice (24.51%) were consumed popularly according to the survey. A total of 263 street food samples (i.e.Vietnamese sandwich, n = 131 and sugarcane juice, n = 132) were collected from different locations such as schools, hospitals, markets, and other locations in four districts (i.e. Ninh Kieu, Cai Rang, Phong Dien and O Mon) of Can Tho city for microbiological analysis. Total aerobic mesophilic counts (TMC), yeast and mold, coliform, E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were assessed. Microbial contamination of Vietnamese sandwich was 5.7-9.2 log CFU/g (TMC), 2.0-7.4 log CFU/g (yeast and mold), 2.5-7.9 log CFU/g (coliform), 1.0-5.9 log CFU/g (E. coli), and 1.7-6.6 log CFU/g (Staphylococcus aureus). There was a significant difference in Vietnamese sandwich sampling among districts (p<0.05). In contrast, the contamination of sugarcane juice samples with regards to total aerobic mesophilic counts, yeast and mold, coliform, E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were 7.53±0.74, 5.56±0.71, 6.02±1.21, 2.26±1.31, 1.47±0.77 log CFU/mL, respectively. No statistically significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in sugarcane juice samples among districts and locations. The observation of the handling practices of street food vendors showed inadequate hygiene practices, assessment of the street foods safety showed that they do not satisfy the Vietnam hygiene standard of specific foods. These findings give an insight into the safety status of sampled street foods and may provide needed information for Vietnam’s authorities to further improve the safety of street food and create food safety awareness among consumers and handlers, thereby preventing risk to public health.
Effect of Acidified Ethanol on Antioxidant Properties of Morinda citrifolia Leaf Extract and Its Catechin Derivatives
Authors: Mohd Zin Zamzahaila , Mohamad Nursyafiqah , Kah Hui Chong , Majid Nurul Izwanie , Zainol Mohd Khairi
Published: April 2021

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of ethanol acidification on the antioxidant properties of Morinda citrifolia leaf (MCL) extract and its catechin derivatives. Four different ethanol (100%, 99.5%, 70%, 50%) with or without 0.5% acetic acid were used for extraction. The antioxidant profile was studied with DPPH radical scavenging activity, FRAP and TPC. The quantification of catechins in MCL was performed using HPLC, and the identification of catechins derivatives was performed with Ultra UPLC-TWIMS-QTOF. The results showed that an extraction solvent composed of 70% ethanol: 29.5% water: 0.5 % acetic acid exhibited the highest DPPH percentage of inhibition (86.12±2.96%) and highest TPC value with 97.80±0.25 mg GAE/g extract, while 100% ethanol acidified with 0.5% acetic acid showed highest FRAP antioxidant power with 1.31±0.05mg FSE/g extract. All eight types of catechins were identified in MCL and the most total catechins were quantified in 70% ethanol: 29.5% water: 0.5 % acetic acid at 153.57mg/g. The catechin derivatives identified included epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (4β, 8)-gallocatechin, gallocatechin (4α→8)-epicatechin, catechin-3-O-gallate (CG) and epigallocatechin (EGC). The results suggest that acidification improves the extraction of polyphenols as well as catechin content.
Impact of a Nutritional Intervention Based on Amaranth Flour Consumption to Recovery Undernourished Children
Authors: López-Alonso Wendy Margarita , Gallegos-Martínez Josefina , Reyes-Hernández Jaime
Published: April 2021

Amaranth flour (AF) can be used as an alternative for nutritional recovery, however, there is not enough evidence on the efficacy of these types of programs. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of an Integral Nutritional Recovery Program (INRP) with AF as complementary feeding on anthropometry in children with grade 1 malnutrition. A quantitative before-after study with intervention and follow up was developed. Dyads of caregiver and grade one malnourished children were evaluated (Control group n=37 and experimental group n=46). A supplement based on amaranth flour were given to Control group (CG) and Experimental Group (EG), only EG received the intervention IPNR. Variables evaluated were weight/height (W/H), muscle mass (MM), fat mass (FM), arm circumference (AC), head circumference (HC), triceps skinfold (TRSF), subscapular skinfold (SSF), body mass index (BMI), subscapular/triceps index (SS/TR), and centripetal index (CI). Data were analyzed using ANOVA, orthogonal arrangements, and paired-T test, 95% CI, significance p≤0.05. Initial anthropometric evaluation showed that the conformation of the CG and EG was homogeneous (p ≥ 0.05). After three months of follow up height and HC showed no differences (p ≥ 0.05). In contrast, W/H, AC, SSF, TRSF, BMI, and FM increased in different magnitudes in function of time for both groups. Paired analysis indicated higher increases in EG than CG. Subscapular/triceps index decreased, and MM showed a tendency to increase (p ≤ 0.1). No significant differences were observed between males and females, height and HC (p ≥ 0.05). Integral Nutritional Recovery Program was effective in improving nutritional status of experimental group and continuing for three months. A follow up is recommended after six months to verify nutritional recovery.
Defining Risk in Food Safety in the Philippines
Authors: Rustia Abigail S. , P. Tan Mariel Adie , Guiriba Danisha Niña S. , Magtibay Francis Philip S. , Bondoc Isaiah Rome J. , D.G. Mariano Christine Bernadette , Caincol Desiree H. , D. Bautista Karina Angela , R. Bulagao Bebviet Franz , De Guzman Vea Clarissa L. , Musni Angelica C. , T. Salem Andrea Mae , B. Villanueva Joyce Efraim
Published: April 2021

Food safety is a fundamental public health concern that is dependent on various factors such as changing global food production patterns, public expectations, and international trade policies.1,2 As a member of the World Trade Organization, the Philippines has agreed to follow the Uruguay Round of Trade Organization, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and Technical Barriers to Trade that permits countries to take legitimate measures to protect life and health of their consumers in relation to food safety matters while prohibiting them from using those measures in a way that unjustifiably restricts food trade.3,4,5 The Philippines is also a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission that aims to ensure consumer protection and to facilitate international trade.6 With these objectives, Codex focuses on the development of food standards based on risk analysis and independent scientific advice provided by expert bodies organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.7 Risk analysis is a systematic and disciplined methodology that provides policymakers with the science-based information and evidence needed for effective and transparent decision-making, leading to improvements in food safety and public health.8 In the Philippines, Republic Act No. 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013, serves as the framework for implementing the farm to fork food safety regulatory system which ensures a high level of consumer health protection, fair trade practices and global competitiveness of Philippine foods by controlling hazards in the food chain, adoption of precautionary measures based on scientific risk analysis, and adoption of international standards.9
Association of Physical Activity and Dietary Patterns with Adults Abdominal Obesity in Gorontalo Regency, Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Nuryani Nuryani , Muhdar Izna Nurdianty , Ramadhani Firdausi , Paramata Yeni , Itsnanisa Adi Dhuha , Bohari Bohari
Published: April 2021

The study aimed to analyze the association among adults daily physical activities and dietary patterns with central adiposity in the Gorontalo Regency, Indonesia. The study method was an observational with a cross-sectional design. Sampling technique used was purposive sampling, with a total participants of 319. The data of socio-demographic, anthropometric measurement, and physical activity were collected using Physical Activity Level (PAL). While food consumption data were obtained using the method of food frequency and recall 2 x 24 hours. Subjects studied were females (77.7%) and males (22.3%), abdominal circumference for men subjects 82.3 ± 14.6 cm and 84.7 ± 12.4 cm for women, the mean physical activity level on weekdays 1.54 ± 0.2 and holidays 1.53 ± 0.1. Energy intake was higher in respondents with normal nutritional status than subjects with central obesity but did not differ significant between the subject study. In protein intake, there was a significant difference between the subject study, which is, the consumption of protein was higher in subjects with normal nutritional status (97.93 gr) compared to the subjects with central obesity (96.24 gr). Food groups with frequent scores, above 0.43 were rice, fresh fish, kale, tomato, chili, coconut oil, and palm oil. There was association between physical activity and central obesity (p-value 0.027). Eating habits included frequency of staple foods, animal-based protein, plant-based protein, vegetables, fruit, oil, and beverage groups showed no significant association with central obesity. There was an association between central obesity with physical activity but no association with dietary patterns.