bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Differences in COVID-19 testing and adverse outcomes by race, ethnicity, sex, and health system setting in a large diverse US cohort
Authors: Jefferson Celeena , Watson Eric , Certa Julia M. , Gordon Kirsha S. , Park Lesley S. , D’Souza Gypsyamber , Benning Lorie , Abraham Alison G. , Agil Deana , Napravnik Sonia , Silverberg Michael J. , Leyden Wendy A. , Skarbinski Jacek , Williams Carolyn , Althoff Keri N. , Horberg Michael A. ,   on behalf of the NA-ACCORD Corona-Infectious-Virus Epidemiology Team (CIVET)
Published: November 2022

Background

Racial/ethnic disparities during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic led to differences in COVID-19 testing and adverse outcomes. We examine differences in testing and adverse outcomes by race/ethnicity and sex across a geographically diverse and system-based COVID-19 cohort collaboration.

Methods

Observational study among adults (≥18 years) within six US cohorts from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020 using data from electronic health record and patient reporting. Race/ethnicity and sex as risk factors were primary exposures, with health system type (integrated health system, academic health system, or interval cohort) as secondary. Proportions measured SARS-CoV-2 testing and positivity; attributed hospitalization and death related to COVID-19. Relative risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals quantified associations between exposures and main outcomes.

Results

5,958,908 patients were included. Hispanic patients had the highest proportions of SARS-CoV-2 testing (16%) and positivity (18%), while Asian/Pacific Islander patients had the lowest portions tested (11%) and White patients had the lowest positivity rates (5%). Men had a lower likelihood of testing (RR = 0.90 [0.89–0.90]) and a higher positivity risk (RR = 1.16 [1.14–1.18]) compared to women. Black patients were more likely to have COVID-19-related hospitalizations (RR = 1.36 [1.28–1.44]) and death (RR = 1.17 [1.03–1.32]) compared with White patients. Men were more likely to be hospitalized (RR = 1.30 [1.16–1.22]) or die (RR = 1.70 [1.53–1.89]) compared to women. These racial/ethnic and sex differences were reflected in both health system types.

Conclusions

This study supports evidence of disparities by race/ethnicity and sex during the COVID-19 pandemic that persisted even in healthcare settings with reduced barriers to accessing care. Further research is needed to understand and prevent the drivers that resulted in higher burdens of morbidity among certain Black patients and men.
Mitochondrial protein, TBRG4, modulates KSHV and EBV reactivation from latency
Authors: Zhang Huirong , Wong Jason P. , Ni Guoxin , Cano Patricio , Dittmer Dirk P. , Damania Blossom
Published: November 2022

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr (EBV) are gammaherpesviruses associated with multiple human malignancies. KSHV is the etiological agent of Kaposi’s Sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD). EBV is associated with Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and gastric carcinoma (GC). KSHV and EBV establish life-long latency in the human host with intermittent periods of lytic reactivation. Here, we identified a cellular factor named transforming growth factor-beta regulator 4 (TBRG4) that plays a role in the gammaherpesvirus lifecycle. We find that TBRG4, a protein that is localized to the mitochondria, can regulate lytic reactivation from latency of both KSHV and EBV. Knockdown of TBRG4 in cells latently infected with KSHV or EBV induced viral lytic gene transcription and replication. TBRG4 deficiency causes mitochondrial stress and increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Treatment with a ROS scavenger decreased viral reactivation from latency in TBRG4-depleted cells. These data suggest that TBRG4 serves as a cellular repressor of KSHV and EBV reactivation through the regulation of ROS production.
EA-POT: An Explainable AI Assisted Blockchain Framework for HoneyPot IP Predictions
Authors: Benedict Shajulin
Published: November 2022

The culpable cybersecurity practices that threaten leading organizations are logically prone to establishing countermeasures, including HoneyPots, and bestow research innovations in various dimensions such as ML-enabled threat predictions. This article proposes an explainable AI-assisted permissioned blockchain framework named EA-POT for predicting potential defaulters' IP addresses. EA-POT registers the predicted defaulters based on the suggestions levied by explainable AI and the approval of IP authorizers to blockchain database to enhance immutability. Experiments were carried out at IoT Cloud Research laboratory using three prediction models such as Random Forest Modeling (RFM), Linear Regression Modeling (LRM), and Support Vector Machines (SVM); and, the observed experimental results for predicting the AWS HoneyPots were explored. The proposed EA-POT framework revealed the procedure to include interpretable knowledge while blacklisting IPs that reach HoneyPots.
FOOD SYSTEM IN THE REGIONS OF THE ARCTIC ZONE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Authors: Babkina L. N. , Skotarenko О. V. , Khatsenko E. S.
Published: November 2022

The article substantiates the relevance of the study of the dynamics of the development of the food system in the regions of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, because the degree of increment in the food production rate in the main industries (agriculture, crop farming and animal breeding) affects the provision of these territories with labor forces. It affects the implementation of national and federal projects, target programs for further extension of production and economic activities in the Arctic territories. Examines the dynamic of changes in a group of indicators presented in the annual State statistical reporting of the Russian Federation. This group of three indicators reflects the dynamic of changes in production indices in the main sectors of the food system in the regions of the Arctic zone: agriculture, crop farming and animal breeding. Arranging the positions of the regions according to these three studied indicators, which was carried out in the process of comparison study, allowed us to conclude that in none of the regions has there been a tendency to increase the growth rates of production of agricultural, crop farming and animal breeding products, which provide the consumer markets of the Arctic regions with food products.
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES OF TUVA AS A BORDER REGION
Authors: Kylgyday A. Ch. , Soyan Sh. Ch.
Published: November 2022

The proposed study considers the development features of Tuva as a border region of Russia and the prospects for its further development. The study of the region's development features was carried out on the basis of comparison and dynamics methods as well as a set of generalizing indicators for the region's development. The methods of tabular visualization of the study results were applied. The analysis of Tuva's foreign economic cooperation with border Mongolia at the present stage is carried out. The analysis of the dynamics indicators revealed that the mutual trade turnover between Mongolia is becoming a factor in the economic development of the border republic. The possibilities and limitations of trade and economic integration of the Republic of Tuva with neighboring Mongolia are considered. Study results show the conclusion that Tuva occupies a favorable geographical position as a border region of Russia in terms of transit opportunities. Positive trends in the transformation of one region's economy are expected according to the program of socio-economic development of Tuva approved by the Government of the Russian Federation until 2024.
USE OF PROPERTY OF INDIVIDUALS IN BUSSINES ACTIVITIES: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
Authors: Ogorodnikova I. I.
Published: November 2022

The presence of real estate in individuals imposes obligations on its rational use, maintenance, as well as the payment of taxes. At the same time, tax liabilities arise in two cases: in connection with the ownership of property and with its use. The desire of citizens to increase their personal well-being leads to situations of using existing property in order to obtain additional income. In this case, various kinds of tax incidents arise. The law enforcement practice of property taxation of individuals is extremely contradictory, but basically boils down to the classification of income from the use of property to the implementation of entrepreneurial activity with all the ensuing tax consequences. Despite the fact that, for the most part, citizens are trying to be law-abiding, nevertheless, the presence of tax disputes related to the use of property of individuals in business activities is increasing. The tax policy of the state on this issue is reduced to the formation of a law-abiding taxpayer, who in this case is provided with various kinds of tax benefits and preferences. The current analysis of the situation has shown that a significant part of individuals, earning on real estate, strive to minimize tax liabilities, thereby increasing tax risks.
O FENÔMENO USE IT OR LOSE IT NA EXECUÇÃO ORÇAMENTÁRIA DAS UNIVERSIDADES FEDERAIS E A INSCRIÇÃO EM RESTOS A PAGAR
Authors: Araújo Jaqueline Gomes Rodrigues de , Lins Thales Spinelli Maximo , Alvez Diniz Josedilton
Published: November 2022

Objetivo: Verificar qual a influência do fenômeno “use ou perca” no processo de execução orçamentária das Universidades Federais brasileiras, a partir da análise da relação entre a pressão por gastos na execução orçamentária do 4º trimestre do exercício financeiro e a proporção dos restos a pagar cancelados e reinscritos nessas instituições.

Método: Foram estudadas as 63 Universidades Federais brasileiras no período de 2015 a 2019. A variável “Pressão por gasto no 4º trimestre” (PO) foi calculada a partir da proporção entre as despesas empenhadas nos últimos três meses do ano em relação ao orçamento discricionário empenhado total. Outras variáveis da pesquisa foram Restos a pagar – do total empenhado no 4º trimestre (RAP), “Dotação Discricionária Total” (DOT) e “Alunos de graduação equivalentes” (AGE).

Resultados/Discussão: Os resultados da pesquisa apontam que 87% das universidades federais apresentaram pressão por gastos no último trimestre do exercício financeiro. Evidenciou-se também que o recurso orçamentário é empenhado sob uma atmosfera de “use ou perca”, tendo em vista a impossibilidade de utilização da dotação orçamentária no exercício seguinte.

Contribuições: Os achados da pesquisa confirmam a influência positiva da pressão por gastos sobre a quantidade de restos a pagar cancelados ou reinscritos no exercício subsequente, contribuindo de forma prática para o entendimento da dificuldade de planejamento inerente ao que é executado sob uma atmosfera de “pressão”. A identificação desta influência é importante para explicação do crescimento expressivo dos restos a pagar, além de fornecer um insight de como este problema pode ser atenuado.
IMPROVING THE GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES OF SMALLSCALE ACCOMMODATION BUSINESSES THROUGH GOVERNMENT-PRIVATE SECTOR INTERVENTION
Authors:   Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Okouwadela Miria Claude Eulalie , Tengeh Robertson Khan , Iwu Chux Gervase ,   University of the Western Cape
Published: November 2022

One of the fastest growing sectors of the South African economy is tourism. As such, it provides an excellent opportunity for profit-driven entrepreneurs. Within the tourism sector, small-scale accommodation businesses (SSABs) have become popular for the ‘relative’ ease of establishment. Given their relative ease of establishment and the accruable benefits for the owner/manager, factors that impede their expansion deserve research attention. Interestingly, as extant literature suggests, business expansion and sustainability issues are among the growth challenges confronting SSABs. This study thus aimed to determine the factors that interfere with developing and sustaining SSABs in Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). A quantitative technique was used in this study, with 100 questionnaires distributed to respondents within SSABs in and around Cape Town's City Centre. The data was analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics software, and the results are provided in tabular format using cross-tabulation and/or graphs. As a critical sector of the Cape Town tourism industry, SSABs face increased competition and a lack of financial assistance. Additionally, they are affected by macroenvironmental forces such as political, technological, legal, environmental, economic, and social forces. The findings suggest that the government should invest more in assisting SSABs in developing (1) more effective strategies for reducing crime in the Cape Town central business district (CBD), which affects the tourism market, and (2) more favourable regulations for visitors and tourism-related activities. Additionally, SSABs must establish business relationships with large hotels in order to accelerate the sector's growth.
Multi-Class Object Learning with Application to Fabric Defects Detection
Authors: Wei Bing , Gao Lei , Tang Xue-song , Hao Kuangrong
Published: November 2022

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown great success in single-class fabric image detection. However, real-world fabric defect images generally contain several types of defects in one image. Accurately recognizing and classifying multi-class fabric defect images is still an unsolved issue due to the complexity of intersected defects, as well as difficulty in distinguishing small-size defects. To address these challenges, this study develops a methodology based on the deep learning feature pyramid networks (FPN) approach to detect multi-class fabric defects. To evaluate the proposed detection model, we built a unique multi-class fabric defects database (DHU-MO1000), where multi-class defect images are generated by industrial monitors from a textile factory. We used the dataset as the benchmark for multi-class defects detection training and testing the FPN. Furthermore, we conducted extensive experimental validations for various design choices. The experimental results show that the model outperformed existing multi-class object detection methods.
ADHD – What Is the Meaning of Sex-dependent Incidence Differences?
Authors: Mourek Jindřich , Pokorný Jaroslav
Published: November 2022

There is a clear experience in clinical practice: boys with a diagnosis of ADHD are clearly in greater numbers than girls. It is noteworthy that even in the “older” review articles, the cause of sex-dependent incidence is not mentioned. If we accept the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of such disorder, then the possible genetic predisposition breaks down into two separate groups. On the genome of an individual with ADHD and on the genome of the parents. However, it cannot be overlooked that the incidence of ADHD (3–7%) corresponds to the incidence and sex differences of the number of newborns born at a certain risk (premature birth, immaturity, hypotrophy, hypoxic-ischemic syndrome, low birth weight, etc.). This association of possible genetic predisposition with “external” risks in the genesis of ADHD raises the question of whether a higher incidence of ADHD, as well as higher morbidity and mortality in males, are a) the norm and the female is privileged, or b) the female is the norm and the male is handicapped. The picture of ADHD includes various cognitive dysfunctions with one possible cause in norepinephrine and dopamine insufficiency. Experimental work shows that in response to stress females release more catecholamines in the CNS than males. Since catecholamines stimulate membrane Na+ K+ ATPase activity, this means both the value of the membrane potential and the threshold for activation is increased. Females are more successful in responding to and adapting to a stressful situation due to their higher production of noradrenaline in the CNS.
Jessikka Aro, Putin’s Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia’s Information War Against the World
Authors: Vaidišová Natálie
Published: November 2022

Book review on Jessikka Aro, Putin’s Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia’s Information War Against the World. New York: Ig Publishing, 2022. 375 pages. ISBN 978-1632461292.
Denis Kazanskyi and Maryna Vorotyntseva, Yak Ukraina vtrachala Donbas
Authors: Volný Vít
Published: November 2022

Book review on Denis Kazanskyi and Maryna Vorotyntseva, Yak Ukraina vtrachala Donbas. Kyiv: Knyzhkove vydavnytstvo Chorna hora, 2020. 336 pages. ISBN 978-617-95046-0-0.
Navigating Area Studies: Insiders and Outsiders in Middle Eastern and North African, South Asian and Latin American Studies
Authors: Mhajne Anwar , Whetstone Crystal
Published: November 2022

In this collaborative article, we – Anwar Mhajne and Crystal Whetstone – investigate our positionalities in diverse area studies through a critical reflection on our experiences as political science graduate students conducting fieldwork for our dissertations. We work across different area studies – the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia and Latin America – mainly as an insider (Mhajne) or simply as an outsider (Whetstone). Taking an interpretive approach and using the method of autoethnography, we critically reflect on our different fieldwork experiences undertaken as political science graduate students, relying on postcolonialism to guide us. We ask: how can our fieldwork experiences complicate the structures of insider and outsider in relation to our situatedness in different regions of area studies? We engage with a decolonial feminist framework to help unpack these experiences and to imagine how our varied experiences disrupt the colonization processes embedded within area studies. We conclude by identifying eight ways to further decolonize area studies based on our fieldwork and other scholars’ work.
The Interaction Effect of Group Formation and Individual Preparation on Computer Support Collaborative Engineering Design: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Lyu Qianru , Chen Wenli , Su Junzhu , Heng John G.
Published: November 2022

Collaboration, as one of the most essential skill sets for engineering students, remains challenging for both engineering educators and student engineers. This study explores the role of pedagogical support individual preparation before collaboration on engineering students’ collaborative learning outcome as well as the process. A total of 36 dyads engineering students from a university engineering class participated in the study, divided into 2 group formations: homogeneous group (two similarly experienced student engineers) and heterogeneous group (one experienced student engineer and one less experienced student engineer). All dyads completed two engineering design tasks in two conditions: immediate collaboration (control condition) and individual preparation before collaboration (experimental condition) in a face-to-face (F2F) computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) context. The results indicated the interaction effect of individual preparation and group formation on students’ collaborative knowledge co-construction. The homogeneous group formation produced higher quality knowledge co-construction and design solutions when there was an individual preparation before collaboration than immediate collaboration. Meanwhile, the heterogeneous group formation produced lower quality knowledge co-construction and design solutions when there was an individual preparation before collaboration than immediate collaboration. These findings expand the current understanding of individual preparation before collaboration and provide insights for the design of computer-supported collaborative learning in classrooms.
Student Feedback Literacy - measurement conceptual framework
Authors: Farmer Ian
Published: November 2022

One of the key enablers for learning is feedback. The student’s experience receiving feedback can have long-lasting impacts on their beliefs, motivation and behaviour, which influences academic achievement levels and lifetime learning potential (Carless & Boud, 2018). For students to become proactive in the feedback loop process, they require competencies (understandings, capacities and dispositions) for the feedback process, known as Feedback Literacy (Carless & Winstone, 2020). Student Feedback Literacy (SFL) describes the necessary competencies for students to effectively and proactively engage and act on feedback to improve their learning ability (Sutton, 2012). Whilst the student feedback literacy competencies have been well defined (Molloy et al., 2020), these competencies are difficult to quantify. Therefore feedback literacy remains hidden and, for students, is earned as a by-product of student learning that is only acquired subconsciously through student learning experiences.

The conceptual framework in this proposal contributes to Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by quantifying Student Feedback Literacy levels which inform and trigger additional feedback loops that enable students to grow their feedback literacy, which empowers students’ lifetime learning potential
Exploring adult learners’ experience with VR-generated feedback for improving online presentation
Authors: Quek Choon Lang Gwendoline , Tan Seng Chee , Lim Kenneth Yang Teck
Published: November 2022

Poor presentations could be due to presenters’ lack of presentation skills, and lack of informed knowledge for improvement and feedback to self-monitor the speaking process. In a typical training setting, feedback involves using either video or human-intensive feedback that may not explicitly and effectively target at oral speaking components such as facial expression, eye contact, and gestures. Authentic feedback should be real-timed and aimed to improve presenters’ speaking skills and help them make decisions for targeted improvement. This pilot study reports 50 participants’ experiences. It investigates two groups of participants (VR and Non-VR) and their oral speaking experience, informed by feedback (VR-generated system or human supported), and analyses milestones in their presentations. Participants in the VR group receive VR-generated feedback while those in the Non-VR group receive computer and human feedback. Both groups work towards improving their speaking skills in subsequent presentation activities. Preliminary findings and implications will be discussed.
Whakapiri (Engagement): Using an Indigenous engagement framework to enhance online teaching
Authors: Moriarty Hoani , Towers Andy , Murray Fiona , Severinsen Christina , Rowe Luke
Published: November 2022

Massey University staff used a New Zealand indigenous (M?ori) engagement framework, developed for working with at-risk youth, to restructure the content and student engagement for an online introductory course with a non-traditional student cohort. Each online teaching page embedded three sections reflecting the concepts of Whakapiri (Engagement), Whakam?rama (Enlightenment) and Whakamana (Empowerment). This sequenced content provision for students, guiding them through an initial topic overview and learning outcomes through to core teaching content and learning activities and finally onto assessments, putting their learning to practice. This framework also underpinned staff engagement approaches with students, focusing on ensuring staff presence online, proactive contact, recognition for learning illustrated, encouragement of class engagement, clarity in course guidance and assessment feedback that praised and empowered change. Compared to the old course, subsequent deliveries showed greater course engagement, improved class GPA of 36%-50%, and feedback confirms a consistently positive and connected student learning experience.
Conversations that count in online student engagement – a case study
Authors: Rowan Linda M. , Jin Ying
Published: November 2022

A challenge all teachers face is how to engage students meaningfully in their learning. The impact of Covid has made online learning in higher education more prevalent. While many students and teachers have readily adjusted to these new learning environments others have found the shift difficult. To enable students’ adjustment to new ways of learning teachers and course designers should consider approaches which encourage and support positive experiences and attitudes towards online learning. Students’ participation and engagement grows when good course design and a variety of learning activities are used and conveyed to them in clear communication that guides their learning processes. This case study looks at one teacher’s intentions and actions to improve student engagement within a health science core course through collecting ‘student voice’, students’ perspectives of what helped their learning and what could be improved to enhance their learning online.
Scale-up of the Artisans: Creating practices, systems & tools for a team of learning designers
Authors: Klapdor Tim
Published: November 2022

As institutions seek to increase their capacity in various modes and models of instruction, they are relying more heavily on learning designers to implement these projects. This has created a need to scale-up beyond the artisanal approaches and practices of traditional learning design. This presentation will explore the development of collaborative practices, the use of learning patterns and the development of a new tool, the Smart Storyboard, to help meet the needs of a scaled-up learning design team.
Using Participatory Co-Design to identify industries’ specific employability needs for targeted Micro-credentials
Authors: Haffenden Maryann , Steel Caroline
Published: November 2022

Industry-focused micro-credentials are paving the way to a new ‘culture of partnership’ between higher education and industry (Dawkins & Bean, 2021). With rapid changes in industries and workplaces, micro-credentials offer potential to enhance transitions from learning to work and respond to industries’ emerging workforce needs. However, this potential can only be realised if micro-credentialed learning achievements are both recognised and valued by industries and employers. Thus, strong and engaged partnership with industries is key.
Over the past five years, we have been utilising ‘Participatory Co-Design’ (PCD) (Kristiansen & Bloch-Poulsen, 2013), combined with an evidence-based, ethnographic Design Thinking approach (Liedtka & Ogilvies 2011, Liedtka, 2018), to develop employability frameworks for several professions with both educational and professional lenses. Gomez, Kya and Mancevice (2018) argue that PCD ‘represents a sociocultural theoretical commitment to learning from, and designing for, local contexts’ (p.403).
Our experience has shown that PCD offers a powerful pathway to productive partnerships that combine educational and industry expertise and insights, to surface current and future employability needs. Starting with global scans of emerging industry needs, we built out prototypes to test resonance with industry experts and gather feedback to iterate our models. This process resulted in employability frameworks that are being embedded in a range of post-graduate and professional short-form courses. The PCD process is a logical choice for validating industries’ specific employability needs for micro-credentials across tertiary and professional education. Through applying this approach, contextualised design principles are co-defined, specific employability needs are confirmed, and industry leaders and stakeholders buy into both the process and ultimately the verified learning achievements targeted by micro-credentials.
This Pecha Kucha session provides an overview of our process, opportunities and challenges we have experienced, and what’s next.
Developing a campus of the future which will reconnect the best of the old and the new
Authors: McKenzie Stephen , Arulkadacham Lilani
Published: November 2022

This symposium will explore themes that are related to the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology’s special edition on “Achieving lasting education in the new digital learning world”. The session will feature discussions between a range of online education experts on a range of big online education and broad education related questions. These questions will focus on how online education can be more than an education mode, and how it can strategically achieve real and lasting educational and community connection value. Possibilities for achieving this objective include fully connecting the campus of the future, whether online, physical or both, with the community of the future. The session will provide an opportunity for its attendants to contribute to the expert panellist led discussions and to provide valuable answers, as well as valuable questions.
Challenges in deploying educational technologies for tertiary education in the carceral setting: Reconnecting or connecting?
Authors: Farley Helen
Published: November 2022

With the COVID-19 pandemic, educators across the globe pivoted to using educational technologies such as lecture capture, video conferencing and discussion boards to reconnect with learners. For incarcerated learners, this was not an option due to the dearth of technologies and internet access in most correctional jurisdictions. As many tertiary education institutions leverage the affordances of digital technologies to increase access to learning and reconnect with learners, they are inadvertently excluding a large cohort, incarcerated learners. Prisons are typically technology poor and prohibit access, at least to some degree, to the internet. This paper examines some of the common challenges to the deployment of educational technology in prisons to reconnect with incarcerated learners. They are classified as physical challenges, operational challenges, attitudinal challenges, and human challenges.
Social Anxiety in Digital Learning Environments: Empirical Evidence and Call to Action
Authors: Cooper Martin , Ifenthaler Dirk , Sahin Muhittin
Published: November 2022

It is internationally accepted that digitally-supported learning increases the accessibility of higher education due to its capacity to overcome traditional university's spatial and temporal limitations. At the same time, increased student-teacher ratios and reduced student-targeted support may lower the quality of learning and instruction in higher education. Research focussed on digital learning environments in higher education identified social anxiety as an increased challenge for learners and teaching staff. This international case study investigates students’ social anxiety at two higher education institutions. Findings show that social anxiety exists in higher education digital learning environments and differs across cultural contexts and gender. The data suggests that it is worth tertiary educators pausing to consider the role that social anxiety may be playing in reducing interactions within online units. Additional research is required to establish the causes of social anxiety in digital learning environments and develop strategies to minimise its effect.
Towards Supporting Dialogic Feedback Processes Using Learning Analytics: the Educators’ Views on Effective Feedback
Authors: Jin Hua , Martinez-Maldonado Roberto , Li Tongguang , Chan Philip Wing Keung , Tsai Yi-Shan
Published: November 2022

Feedback plays a crucial role in learning. Yet, higher education continues to face challenges regarding facilitating effective feedback processes. One of the challenges is the difficulty to track how students interact with feedback and the impact of feedback on learning outcomes. Learning analytics (LA) has opened up opportunities to enhance feedback practice with a wide array of data. However, most research seeks to deliver data-driven feedback rather than understanding how students make use of feedback and how educators can use learning analytics to support students in this process. As a first step to address this gap, our study investigated educators’ views of challenges and elements of effective feedback processes in addition to their perceptions of data-driven feedback. The study found that feedback design (e.g., feedback purpose, content, and structure), educator-related factors (e.g., time constraints and resource limitations), and student-related factors (e.g., disposition, self-regulation, and sense-making) can have positive or negative impacts on the feedback process. It also highlights the need for the development of student feedback literacy. Based on the findings, we proposed ideas for an LA-based feedback tool that can be used to facilitate a dialogic feedback process and address challenges with feedback.
‘We’ve become a little family now’: Maximising rapport in an accelerated, fully online learning environment
Authors: Newell Sam , Adam Emily
Published: November 2022

Online learning spaces are generally considered low-interaction environments. The loss of synchronous time in an online course is balanced by additional flexibility. As such, there are limited opportunities to build rapport with students. This is especially true for online programs that are also accelerated. However, students still view opportunities to engage with educators and peers as extremely important. As a result, there is a need to identify strategies to maximise rapport building within a limited time frame. A Thematic Analysis of data sources relevant to teaching and learning activities in the Monash University Graduate Diploma in Psychology is presented. Four themes emerged and included ‘humanising’ the learning space, fostering opportunities for student-to-student interaction, reducing the power imbalance between teacher and student, and maintaining rapport beyond individual subjects or units. The individual strategies that were employed are discussed in detail. These findings provide a resource for educators to increase rapport within an online learning environment.
Learning from ‘failures’ in the development of mobile and technology-enhanced learning initiatives
Authors: Bone Elisa
Published: November 2022

Mobile and digital technologies can support learning experiences outside of the traditional classroom contexts and provide opportunities for collaborative elearning initiatives. Following design-based research (DBR) principles, curriculum developers face challenges in building mobile learning opportunities that are fit for purpose, adequately supported, and embraced by instructors and students alike. However, published accounts of mobile and technology-enhanced learning initiatives are currently largely restricted to ‘successes’ and lack descriptions of the processes and challenges involved in development. Critical factors for success – derived from accounts of ‘failed’ projects – may also be useful to guide the planning of initiatives in development. I present here potential steps towards a guiding framework for mobile and technology-enhanced learning developers that incorporates both an appraisal of these critical success factors within the context of a developing initiative and the instructive value of ‘productive failure’.
Does Practice Theory Work? Reckwitz’s Study of the ‘New Middle Class’ as an Example
Authors: Pettenkofer Andreas
Published: November 2022

‘Practice theory’—a theory program that connects the goal of offering non-rationalist explanations to a strong focus on everyday routine activities, and builds on the work of Bourdieu but tries to gain a less narrow perspective—is being used more and more widely in the social sciences. Its advocates often argue that, since practice theory is a heuristic for doing empirical work, discussing it without addressing this empirical work cannot do justice to it. Therefore, this article analyses Reckwitz’s recently translated book on The Society of Singularities, which its author presents as an example of the advantages of (one dominant version of) practice theory. As will be shown, the book demonstrates that this version of practice theory does not fulfil its promises. Looking at its difficulties is instructive, however, because it helps see more clearly how the goal of an integrative ‘theory of practice’ could be achieved.
The entire chloroplast genome sequence of Asparagus setaceus (Kunth) Jessop: Genome structure, gene composition, and phylogenetic analysis in Asparagaceae
Authors: Kuang Quan , Sheng Wentao
Published: November 2022

Asparagus setaceus (Kunth) Jessop is a horticultural plant of the genus Asparagus. Herein, the whole chloroplast (cp) genome of A. setaceus was sequenced with PacBio and Illumina sequencing systems. The cp genome shows a characteristic quadripartite structure with 158,076 bp. In total, 135 genes were annotated, containing 89 protein-coding, 38 tRNA, and 8 rRNA genes. Contrast with the previous cp genome of A. setaceus registered in NCBI, we identified 7 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and 15 indels, mostly situated in noncoding areas. Meanwhile, 36 repeat structures and 260 simple sequence repeats were marked out. A bias for A/T-ending codons was shown in this cp genome. Furthermore, we predicted 78 RNA-editing sites in 29 genes, which were all for C-to-U transitions. And it was also proven that positive selection was exerted on the rpoC1 gene of A. setaceus with the K
a/K
s data. Meanwhile, a conservative gene order and highly similar sequences of protein-coding genes were revealed within Asparagus species. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that A. setaceus was a sister to Asparagus cochinchinensis. Taken together, our released genome provided valuable information for the gene composition, genetics comparison, and the phylogeny studies of A. setaceus.
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine celebrates 60 years – narrative review devoted to the contribution of the journal to the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Favresse Julien , Douxfils Jonathan , Henry Brandon , Lippi Giuseppe , Plebani Mario
Published: November 2022

This review is an integral part of the special issue for the 60 years of the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM). The aim of the review is to highlight the role of the clinical laboratory since the emergence of the “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2), which causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with special focus on the contribution of the journal in generating knowledge in SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. As of October 30, 2022, a total of 186 CCLM publications were dedicated to COVID-19. Of importance, major International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) guidelines related to the diagnosis of COVID-19 were published in CCLM. Between early-2020 and late October 2022, COVID-19 publications represented around 27% of all articles in CCLM, highlighting the willingness of the editorial board to help the field in order to better describe and diagnose this new emerging disease. First launched in 1963 under the name “Zeitschrift für Klinische Chemie”, the Journal was entirely devoted to clinical chemistry in the strict sense. The various topics published in relation to COVID-19 including its diagnosis, its impact on biochemical or hematological measures, as well as biosafety measures, is the perfect example that shows that the journal has greatly diversified over time.
The future of teaching management reasoning: important questions and potential solutions
Authors: Abdoler Emily A. , Parsons Andrew S. , Wijesekera Thilan P.
Published: November 2022

Management reasoning is distinct from but inextricably linked to diagnostic reasoning in the iterative process that is clinical reasoning. Complex and situated, management reasoning skills are distinct from diagnostic reasoning skills and must be developed in order to promote cogent clinical decisions. While there is growing interest in teaching management reasoning, key educational questions remain regarding when it should be taught, how it can best be taught in the clinical setting, and how it can be taught in a way that helps mitigate implicit bias. Here, we describe several useful tools to structure teaching of management reasoning across learner levels and educational settings. The management script provides a scaffold for organizing knowledge around management and can serve as a springboard for discussion of uncertainty, thresholds, high-value care, and shared decision-making. The management pause reserves space for management discussions and exploration of a learner’s reasoning. Finally, the equity reflection invites learners to examine management decisions from a health equity perspective, promoting the practice of metacognition around implicit bias. These tools are easily deployable, and – when used regularly – foster a learning environment primed for the successful teaching of management reasoning.
The Engel graph of a finite group
Authors: Detomi Eloisa , Lucchini Andrea , Nemmi Daniele
Published: November 2022

For a finite group G, we investigate the directed graph

Γ
⁢

(
G
)

{\Gamma(G)}

, whose vertices are the non-hypercentral elements of G and where there is an edge

x
↦
y

{x\mapsto y}

if and only if

[
x

,
n

y
]

=
1

{[x,_{n}y]=1}

for some

n
∈
ℕ

{n\in\mathbb{N}}

.
We prove that

Γ
⁢

(
G
)

{\Gamma(G)}

is always weakly connected and is strongly connected if

G
/

Z
∞

⁢

(
G
)

{G/Z_{\infty}(G)}

is neither Frobenius nor almost simple.
Structural properties and reactivity variations of wheat straw char catalysts in volatile reforming
Authors: Wang Na , Hu Jinsong , Li Jingru , Tan Zhongfu , Dong Litong , Mei Nian , Wang Haiyou
Published: November 2022

In this study, wheat straw char was prepared at 500°C and used as a catalyst (at 500–700°C) to reform the wheat straw volatiles. The char samples before and after reforming were characterized in terms of N2 adsorption (BET area), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, and inductively coupled plasma measurements. The surface morphology of the used char was analyzed by a scanning electron microscope. The results have revealed that following the reforming process, the carbon content increased from 69.2% to 71.7% (at 500°C), 73.9% (at 600°C), and 74.3% (at 700°C) and the fixed carbon content increased from 64.6% to 68.7% (at 500°C), 71.4% (at 600°C), and 72.4% (at 700°C). In contrast, the higher heating value of the used char remained unchanged. We observed a decrease in specific surface area (from 112.67 to 7.93 m2·g−1), but an increase in char defects and functional groups following the reforming process (at 600°C) served to maintain catalytic activity, as shown in a second reforming test. Our results suggest that surface defects and functional groups are the main factors contributing to char reactivity.
Antibacterial and photocatalytic activity of visible-light-induced synthesized gold nanoparticles by using Lantana camara flower extract
Authors: Hidayat Habibi , Purwiandono Gani , Tohari Tohari , Nugroho Bambang Hernawan , Jauhari Muhammad Husnu , Widyaputra Satria Bagus , Fatimah Is
Published: November 2022

A facile synthesis method of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) utilizing Lantana camara flower extract (LFE) using visible light illumination towards the bio-reduction system has been conducted. The systematic characterizations of AuNPs were employed using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The nanoparticles having a particle size of ranging 4.8–25 nm were obtained with dependence on the LFE concentration of the extract and time of light irradiation. The antibacterial activity of AuNPs was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Propionibacterium acnes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the photocatalytic activity was examined in methylene blue photooxidation. The overall results point to a promising photochemical synthesis of AuNPs utilizing plant extract and the potential activities of synthesized nanoparticles as antibacterial agents and photocatalysts.
Radii of starlikeness and convexity of generalized k-Bessel functions
Authors: Toklu Evrim
Published: November 2022

The main purpose of this study is to determine the radii of starlikeness and convexity of the generalized k-Bessel functions for three different kinds of normalization in such a way that the resulting functions are analytic in the unit disk of the complex plane. The characterization of entire functions from Laguerre–Pólya class plays a significant role in this paper. Moreover, the interlacing properties of the zeros of the k-Bessel function and its derivative is also useful in the proof of the main results. By making use of the Euler–Rayleigh inequalities for the real zeros of the generalized k-Bessel function, we obtain some tight lower and upper bounds for the radii of starlikeness and convexity of order zero.
Sprache und Wortgut der Enzyklopädie des Gettos Lodz/Litzmannstadt
Authors: Bopp Dominika
Published: November 2022

Seitens der Forschung wurde der Sprache unter dem Nationalsozialismus lange Zeit wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Vor allem wies Riecke (2020: 356) darauf hin, dass die „zahlreichen Texte von Opfern des Nationalsozialismus, also etwa die Texte der Häftlinge von Konzentrationslagern und der Bewohner von Gettobezirken keinen angemessenen Platz finden.“ Mehrere Arbeiten, darunter auch Editionen, widmeten sich in den vergangenen Jahren diesem Desiderat, das ohne Zweifel weiterhin der Aufarbeitung bedarf. Eine bedeutende Quelle des Schreibens und der Sprache unter dem Nationalsozialismus stellen beispielsweise Aufzeichnungen aus dem Lodzer Getto dar, zu denen persönliche Manuskripte, Essays sowie Texte aus dem sogenannten Archiv zählen. Diese Abteilung des Gettos hatte unter anderem die Aufgabe, das Leben hinter dem Stacheldraht, wie die Grenze zur Außenwelt bezeichnet wurde, zu dokumentieren. Hier entstand auch die Enzyklopädie des Gettos Lodz/Litzmannstadt, welche ein besonderes Zeugnis dieser Zwangsgemeinschaft und ihrer Sprache darstellt. Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich dieser Enzyklopädie des Gettos Lodz/Litzmannstadt und stellt die Besonderheiten dieses einzigartigen Textes vor. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf der Sprache der Enzyklopädie-Einträge ebenso wie auf dem Wortschatz der Sondersprache des Gettos.
Die Türken in Wörterbüchern des 15.–17. Jahrhunderts
Authors: Beckert Theresa , Münkler Marina
Published: November 2022

Der Aufsatz analysiert die Konstruktion der Türken in Werken kollektiven Wissens des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts. Untersucht werden zweisprachige lateinisch-deutsche sowie deutschsprachige Wörterbücher, um herauszufinden, ob und, wenn ja, in welcher Weise sie an einem Feindsetzungsdiskurs partizipieren, der sich im Zuge der osmanischen Expansion seit dem 15. Jahrhundert entsponnen hat. Dieser Feindsetzungsdiskurs wird grundlegend über drei historisch-semantische Felder strukturiert: politische, sozio-kulturelle sowie religiöse Semantik, deren Leitbegriffe Tyrannei, Barbarei und Unglaube bzw. falscher Glaube sind. In ihrer Kombination entfalten sie ein invektives Bild der Türken. Mittels des Konzepts der Affordanz profilieren wir die spezifische Leistung lexikografischer Werke in Prozessen der Feindsetzung und des Otherings.
Change in the composition of cave-dwelling bats after a 53-year interval at the Gruta do Limoeiro (Espírito Santo, Brazil)
Authors: Ditchfield Albert David , Maires Hoppe João Paulo , Andrade Gabriella Marchezi , Tahara Arthur Setsuo , Martins Felipe de Melo , Scabello Mirela , Oprea Monik , Coutinho Rafael Zerbini , Pimenta Vinícius Teixeira , Vieira Thiago Bernardi
Published: November 2022

An especially interesting question is “How many species of bats can be found simultaneously in the same cave?” This information is surprisingly rare in the literature, mainly in the Neotropics. The aim of this study was to sample bats in Gruta do Limoeiro cave, Municipality of Castelo, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil after a 53-year interval of the first survey, by the naturalist Augusto Ruschi. Four surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2006, capturing bats with mist-nets and actively exploring the cave. We recorded eleven species of three families, Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae and Molossidae, making Gruta do Limoeiro cave one of the most diverse caves in the World for bats. Of the 14 species found by Ruschi, seven were still present, and four species were added. The seven species lost from Ruschi’s list are mainly Emballonuridae and some Phyllostomidae, probably due to landscape changes. We recommend the long-term monitoring of the Gruta do Limoeiro cave to understand the loss in diversity, and consequently in ecosystem services.