bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in patients with and without systemic lupus erythematosus: a retrospective study
Authors: Yue Cai , Su Jian , Fan Xiaohong , Song Li , Jiang Wei , Xia Jinghua , Shi Tao , Zhang Xuan , Li Xuemei
Published: August 2020

Background

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is associated with more deleterious outcomes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13) levels and ADAMTS13 inhibitor were not routinely assayed in most previous studies. The objective of this study is to compare the characteristics and outcomes of immune-mediated TTP (iTTP) in patients with and without SLE.

Methods

The medical data of 28 patients with iTTP from Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analysed. ADAMTS13 activity and ADAMTS13 inhibitor were measured in all patients.

Results

All 28 patients had ADAMTS13 inhibitor and severe ADAMTS13 deficiency. iTTP was considered SLE-related (SLE-TTP) in 10 patients and primary (primary iTTP) in 18 patients. Renal involvement on presentation was more severe in patients with primary iTTP as determined by higher serum creatinine (162.7 ± 110.6 vs 73.3 ± 13.4 μmol/L, p < 0.01) and more prevalent acute kidney injury (72.2% vs 10.0%, p < 0.01) than in patients with SLE-TTP. More patients with SLE-TTP were treated with steroid pulse therapy (90.0% vs 16.7%, p < 0.01) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (50.0% vs 5.6%, p = 0.01) compared to patients with primary iTTP. After adjustments for age and treatment, including steroid pulse therapy and IVIG treatment, the likelihood of clinical remission of SLE-TTP was significantly increased compared to that of primary iTTP (HR 7.6 [1.2, 50.1], p = 0.03). Mortality was also lower among patients with SLE-TTP than among patients with primary iTTP (0 vs 38.9%, p = 0.03).

Conclusions

Renal involvement was less severe in patients with SLE-TTP than in patients with primary iTTP. The treatment responses and outcomes of SLE-TTP were no worse and perhaps even better than those of primary iTTP. When TTP is diagnosed in SLE patients, the ADAMTS13 level and ADAMTS13 inhibitor profile should be considered in addition to clinical features.
Association of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection with oncological outcomes in urothelial bladder cancer
Authors: Ohadian Moghadam Solmaz , Mansori Kamyar , Nowroozi Mohammad Reza , Afshar Davoud , Abbasi Behzad , Nowroozi Ali
Published: August 2020

Background

Bladder cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in adults worldwide. There are various risk factors described for the bladder cancer development including genetic background as well as environmental exposure. Currently, infectious agents such as human papilloma virus (HPV) has also been linked to bladder cancer risk. The current study aimed to evaluate the potential correlation between HPV infection and the oncological outcome in urothelial bladder cancer.

Methods

Totally 106 tissue samples of histopathologically confirmed transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder were included in this study. The presence of high risk (types 16 and 18) and low risk (types 11 and 6) types of HPV was evaluated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by in situ hybridization.

Results

Out of 106 bladder cancer patients, a total of 24 cases (22.6%) were positive HPV infection. The most common type of HPV detected was type 16 followed by types 11 and 18, and 6. According to independent T-test results, there was a significant association between mean age and HPV infection (P = 0.015). Moreover, our findings showed a significant relation between infection with HPV and tumor stage, tumor grade, muscle invasion of the tumor, as well as tumor recurrence. The results of Chi-square Test indicated that there is significant statistical association between types of HPV and tumor grade (P-Value = 0.044).

Conclusion

Our findings indicated that a family history of cancer and HPV infection can be potential independent predictive factors for tumor recurrence in bladder cancer. Overall, the results of this study strongly indicate a significant relationship between HPV infection and an aggravated outcome of the disease and a higher risk of recurrence in patients with bladder cancer.
Help-seeking, trust and intimate partner violence: social connections amongst displaced and non-displaced Yezidi women and men in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq
Authors: Strang Alison , O’Brien Oonagh , Sandilands Maggie , Horn Rebecca
Published: August 2020

Background

Conflict and displacement impact the social fabric of communities through the disruption of social connections and the erosion of trust. Effective humanitarian assistance requires understanding the social capital that shapes patterns of help-seeking in these circumstances - especially with stigmatised issues such as violence against women (VAW) and intimate partner violence (IPV).

Methods

A novel social mapping methodology was adopted amongst a Yezidi population displaced by ISIS (ISIS: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, locally known as Da’esh) occupation and a neighbouring settled Yezidi population in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq in late 2016. Six participatory workshops were conducted to identify available resources with respect to: meeting basic needs, dispute resolution and VAW. Subsequently, 51 individual interviews were conducted (segmented by gender and settlement status) to identify connectedness to, and trust in, the resources identified, with a focus on IPV against women.

Results

90% of participants reported God as a key source of help in the previous 6 months, representing the most widely cited resource. Following God, the most accessed and trusted resources were family and community, with NGO (non-governmental organisation) provision being the least. Women drew more strongly upon familial resources than men (Χ2 = 5.73, df = 1, p = 0.017). There was reduced trust in resources in relation to seeking help with IPV. A distinction between trust to provide emotional support and trust to resolve issues was identified. Settled women were 1.6 times more likely to trust community members and government services and 3.7 times more likely to trust NGOs than displaced women.

Conclusions

Mapping social connections and trust provides valuable insight into the social capital available to support help-seeking in populations of humanitarian concern. For these Yezidi populations, family, religious and community resources were the most widely utilised and trusted. Trust was mostly reserved for family and their main religious leader regarding IPV against women. Lack of trust appeared to be a major barrier to stronger engagement with available NGO provision, particularly amongst displaced women. The role of faith and religious resources for this population is clearly significant, and warrants an explicitly faith-sensitive approach to humanitarian assistance.
Lysine-222 succinylation reduces lysosomal degradation of lactate dehydrogenase a and is increased in gastric cancer
Authors: Li Xiang , Zhang Chen , Zhao Ting , Su Zhongping , Li Mengjing , Hu Jiancheng , Wen Jianfei , Shen Jiajia , Wang Chao , Pan Jinshun , Mu Xianmin , Ling Tao , Li Yingchang , Wen Hao , Zhang Xiaoren , You Qiang
Published: August 2020

Background

Lysine succinylation is an emerging posttranslational modification that has garnered increased attention recently, but its role in gastric cancer (GC) remains underexplored.

Methods

Proteomic quantification of lysine succinylation was performed in human GC tissues and adjacent normal tissues by mass spectrometry. The mRNA and protein levels of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) in GC and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed by qRT-PCR and western blot, respectively. The expression of K222-succinylated LDHA was measured in GC tissue microarray by the K222 succinylation-specific antibody. The interaction between LDHA and sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) was measured by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and proximity ligation assay (PLA). The binding of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) to LDHA was determined by co-IP. The effect of K222-succinylated LDHA on tumor growth and metastasis was evaluated by in vitro and in vivo experiments.

Results

Altogether, 503 lysine succinylation sites in 303 proteins were identified. Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), the key enzyme in Warburg effect, was found highly succinylated at K222 in GC. Intriguingly, this modification did not affect LDHA ubiquitination, but reduced the binding of ubiquitinated LDHA to SQSTM1, thereby decreasing its lysosomal degradation. We demonstrated that CPT1A functions as a lysine succinyltransferase that interacts with and succinylates LDHA. Moreover, high K222-succinylation of LDHA was associated with poor prognosis in patients with GC. Finally, overexpression of a succinylation-mimic mutant of LDHA promoted cell proliferation, invasion, and migration.

Conclusions

Our data revealed a novel lysosomal pathway of LDHA degradation, which is mediated by the binding of K63-ubiquitinated LDHA to SQSTM1. Strikingly, CPT1A succinylates LDHA on K222, which thereby reduces the binding and inhibits the degradation of LDHA, as well as promotes GC invasion and proliferation. This study thus uncovers a new role of lysine succinylation and the mechanism underlying LDHA upregulation in GC.
Histone methyltransferase and drug resistance in cancers
Authors: Yang Cheng , Zhang Jiayu , Ma Yukui , Wu Chunfu , Cui Wei , Wang Lihui
Published: August 2020

A number of novel anticancer drugs have been developed in recent years. However, the mortality of cancer patients remains high because of the emergence of drug resistance. It was reported that drug resistance might involved in changes in gene expression without changing genotypes, which is similar to epigenetic modification. Some studies indicated that targeting histone methyltransferase can reverse drug resistance. Hence, the use of histone methyltransferase inhibitors or histone demethylase inhibitors opens new therapeutic approaches for cancer treatment. While the relationship between histone methyltransferase and tumor resistance has been determined, there is a lack of updated review on the association between them. In this review, we summarized the mechanisms of histone methyltransferases in cancer drug resistance and the therapeutic strategies of targeting histone methyltransferase to reverse drug resistance.
The diagnostic benefit of antibodies against ribosomal proteins in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Shi Zhen-rui , Han Yan-fang , Yin Jing , Zhang Yu-ping , Jiang Ze-xin , Zheng Lin , Tan Guo-zhen , Wang Liangchun
Published: August 2020

Background

Anti-ribosomal P (anti-Rib-P) antibody is a specific serological marker for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and routinely tested by targeting the common epitope of three ribosomal proteins of P0, P1 and P2. This study aimed to investigate if testing antibodies against individual ribosomal protein, but not the common epitope, is required to achieve the best diagnostic benefit in SLE.

Methods

The study included 82 patients with SLE and 22 healthy donors. Serum antibodies were determined by ELISA and immunoblot.

Results

The prevalence of each antibody determined by ELISA was 35.4% (anti-Rib-P), 45.1% (anti-Rib-P0), 32.9% (anti-Rib-P1) and 40.2% (anti-Rib-P2) at 99% specificity, respectively. Of 53 patients with negative anti-Rib-P antibody, 21 (39.6%) were positive for anti-Rib-P0, 9 (17.0%) for anti-Rib-P1 and 12 (22.6%) for anti-Rib-P2 antibody. The positive rate of anti-Rib-P antibody detected by ELISA was close to the results by immunoblot (33.4%). Patients with any of these antibodies were featured by higher disease activity and prevalence of skin rashes than those with negative antibodies. Moreover, each antibody was particularly related to some clinical and laboratory disorders. The distribution of subclasses of IgG1–4 was varied with each antibody. Anti-Rib-P0 IgG1 and IgG3 were strongly correlated with disease activity and lower serum complement components 3 and 4.

Conclusions

Anti-Rib-P antibody is not adequate to predict the existence of antibodies against ribosomal P0, P1 and P2 protein. The examination of antibodies against each ribosomal protein is required to achieve additional diagnostic benefit and to evaluate the association with clinical and serological disorders as well.
Pinhead signaling regulates mesoderm heterogeneity via FGF receptor-dependent pathway
Authors: Ossipova Olga , Itoh Keiji , Radu Aurelian , Ezan Jerome , Sokol Sergei Y.
Published: August 2020

Among the three embryonic germ layers, mesoderm plays a central role in the establishment of the vertebrate body plan. Mesoderm is specified by secreted signaling proteins from the FGF, Nodal, BMP and Wnt families. No new classes of extracellular mesoderm-inducing factors have been identified in more than two decades. Here we show that the pinhead (pnhd) gene encodes a secreted protein that is essential for the activation of a subset of mesodermal markers in the Xenopus embryo. RNA sequencing revealed that many transcriptional targets of Pnhd are shared with those of the FGF pathway. Pnhd activity was accompanied by Erk phosphorylation and required FGF and Nodal but not Wnt signaling. We propose that during gastrulation Pnhd acts in the marginal zone to contribute to mesoderm heterogeneity via an FGF receptor-dependent positive feedback mechanism.
Pathological evaluation of rats carrying in-frame mutations in the dystrophin gene: a new model of Becker muscular dystrophy
Authors: Teramoto Naomi , Sugihara Hidetoshi , Yamanouchi Keitaro , Nakamura Katsuyuki , Kimura Koichi , Okano Tomoko , Shiga Takanori , Shirakawa Taku , Matsuo Masafumi , Nagata Tetsuya , Daimon Masao , Matsuwaki Takashi , Nishihara Masugi
Published: August 2020

Dystrophin, encoded by the DMD gene on the X chromosome, stabilizes the sarcolemma by linking the actin cytoskeleton with the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC). In-frame mutations in DMD cause a milder form of X-linked muscular dystrophy, called Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), characterized by the reduced expression of truncated dystrophin. So far, no animal model with in-frame mutations in Dmd has been established. As a result, the effect of in-frame mutations on the dystrophin expression profile and disease progression of BMD remains unclear. In this study, we established a novel rat model carrying in-frame Dmd gene mutations (IF rats) and evaluated the pathology. We found that IF rats exhibited reduced expression of truncated dystrophin in a proteasome-independent manner. This abnormal dystrophin expression caused dystrophic changes in muscle tissues but did not lead to functional deficiency. We also found that the expression of additional dystrophin named dpX, which forms the DGC in the sarcolemma, was associated with the appearance of truncated dystrophin. In conclusion, the outcomes of this study contribute to the further understanding of BMD pathology and help elucidate the efficiency of dystrophin recovery treatments in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a more severe form of X-linked muscular dystrophy.
A regulação executiva da moeda: a variedade institucional da regulação monetária brasileira na Nova República
Authors: Gomes Schapiro Mario
Published: August 2020

The presidential dominance in monetary regulation: the institutional variety of brazilian monetary regulation throughout the New Republic RESUMOO objetivo do trabalho é, a partir da literatura sobre “estado regulador”, caracterizar a variedade regulatória brasileira que se constituiu no sistema financeiro, entre 1988 e 2018. O principal argumento deste artigo é que, no sistema financeiro brasileiro, o Poder Executivo (e não o Congresso) foi o principal da delegação regulatória. Além disso, o Executivo, por meio do Conselho Monetário Nacional, empregou predominantemente mecanismos administrativos ex post para governar a máquina regulatória. Em outras palavras, no lugar de uma delegação ex ante por meio da legislação, o Executivo contou com ferramentas discricionárias para moldar as atividades regulatórias. Esse arranjo ocorreu dentro da cadeia de comando e controle do Poder Executivo, com pouca participação do Congresso. O artigo descreve essa variedade regulatória como regulação executiva da moeda. ABSTRACTDrawing on the literature on “regulatory state”, this paper aims at characterizing the variety of regulatory state that shaped the Brazilian financial system, between 1988 and 2018. The central claim of this paper is that, at the Brazilian financial system, the Executive branch (and not the Congress) was the principal. Moreover, the Executive, through the National Monetary Council, employed ex-post administrative mechanisms predominantly to govern the regulatory machine. In other words, instead of ex-ante delegation via legislation, the Executive relied on discretionary tools to shape regulatory activities. This arrangement took place within the command and control’s chain of the Executive Power, having little participation of the Congress. The article describes this regulatory variety as the presidential dominance in monetary regulation.
Segurança jurídica para a inovação pública: a nova Lei de Introdução às Normas do Direito Brasileiro (Lei no 13.655/2018)
Authors: Bonacorsi de Palma Juliana
Published: August 2020

Legal certainty for public innovation: the new Brazilian Law’s Introduction Act (Law No. 13,655 OF 2018) RESUMOEste artigo busca apresentar uma leitura instrumental da recém-editada Lei no 13.655/2018, que altera a Lei de Introdução às Normas do Direito Brasileiro (LINDB) e lhe confere uma nova dimensão operacional: no âmbito público, para reforço da segurança jurídica e melhoria da qualidade das decisões públicas. O artigo analisa a agenda de pesquisa e produção acadêmica que incitou o processo legislativo que resultou na Lei no 13.655/2018, e também as alterações que o projeto sofreu no Congresso Nacional para demonstrar que a lei decorre de uma agenda voltada a viabilizar a inovação na administração pública. A tese central do texto é a de que a Lei no 13.655/2018 consiste em uma lei de planos, públicos e privados, que viabiliza o desenho de soluções jurídicas com maior criatividade e conforto decisório. No âmbito público, fundamentalmente a previsão de ônus aos controladores e a tutela do gestor público honesto permitem a definição mais efetiva de políticas públicas, contratos, licenças e permissões, entre outras manifestações. Desse modo, pela segurança jurídica, a Nova LINDB viabiliza a inovação pública na medida em que pavimenta o experimentalismo na administração pública, como a assimilação de novas tecnologias em suas atividades prestacionais e o emprego de mecanismos jurídicos atípicos. ABSTRACTThis paper tackles the recently enacted Law No. 13,655 of 2018, which changes the Brazilian Law’s Introduction Act and gives it a new operational dimension: foster legal certainty and the quality of public decisions. The paper describes how academic production influenced the Law No. 13,655 of 2018’s draft and its legislative history. The main argument is that the Law No. 13,655 of 2018 is a plan rule, enabling private entities and the State to design solutions with greater creativity for a best problem-solving. In public sphere, the Law legally protects honest public servants aiming at proving them comfort to decide and explore experimental public policies, contracts, licenses, permissions, among other manifestations. Therefore, the Law No. 13,655 of 2018 works for innovation in the State, such as use of technologies and anew administrative solutions.
Hyperpath Truck Routing in an Online Freight Exchange Platform
Authors: Miller John , Nie Yu (Marco) , Liu Xiaobo
Published: August 2020

Online freight exchange (OFEX) platforms serve the purpose of matching demand and supply for freight in real time. This paper studies a truck routing problem that aims to leverage the power of an OFEX platform. The OFEX routing problem is formulated as a Markov decision problem, which we solve by finding the bidding strategy at each possible location and time along the route that maximizes the expected profit. At the core of the OFEX routing problem is a combined pricing and bidding model that simultaneously (1) considers the probability of winning a load at a given bid price and current market competition, (2) anticipates the future profit corresponding to the current decision, and (3) prioritizes the bidding order among possible load options. Results from numerical experiments constructed using real-world data from a Chinese OFEX platform indicate that the proposed routing model could (1) improve a truck’s expected profit substantially, compared with the benchmark solutions built to represent the state of the practice, and (2) enhance the robustness of the overall profitability against the impact of market competition and spatial variations.
DAS MARGENS DO MARAÚ NO BRASIL IMPERIAL À CRIAÇÃO DA PETROBRAS: 100 ANOS DE GEO-HISTÓRIA DO PETRÓLEO NACIONAL
Authors: Reis Ciro Marques
Published: August 2020

O presente artigo tem como objetivo apresentar 100 anos de geo-história do petróleo brasileiro. Não trataremos aqui da descrição da “longa duração”, do tempo puramente geográfico ou estrutural, pois assume-se que tal dimensão permeia e engloba de forma inexorável os demais tempos históricos, e suas respectivas imposições geográficas do meio sobre o homem ao longo de seu processo civilizatório. Como método, lastreado em Fernand Braudel e Therezinha de Castro, o presente artigo foi construído conectado ao tempo médio das conjunturas (a era do petróleo) e ao tempo curto dos fatos históricos (crises financeiras, embargos econômicos, acordos, golpes de estado, e decisões políticas). Percebeu-se, no transcorrer da pesquisa, a existência de quatro fases distintas da história do petróleo no Brasil. Fase 1: O petróleo no Brasil Imperial; fase 2: O petróleo: da primeira república até a sua descoberta no Brasil; fase 3: O petróleo: da criação da Petrobras até a quebra do monopólio em 1997; e fase 4: O petróleo: da quebra do monopólio da Petrobras até o pré-sal e o novo marco regulatório do setor no Brasil. São apresentadas aqui as duas primeiras fases, o petróleo no Brasil imperial e na primeira república até a criação da Petrobras.
LEITURAS GEOGRÁFICAS DE UMA VIAGEM A MAPUTO
Authors: Santos Douglas
Published: August 2020

Retomando o velho modelo de “relatos de viagem” que, durante décadas, dominou as publicações sob a consigna de Geografia, o artigo a seguir procura, ao mesmo tempo que evidencia alguns aspectos da geografia de Moçambique e coloca em discussão dilemas mais ou menos evidentes naquele país, transformar a experiência em um conjunto de reflexões de caráter teórico e metodológico, enquanto ferramental necessário do desenvolvimento da própria ciência
O CICLO VICIOSO DE DESLOCAMENTOS FORÇADOS E A FORMAÇÃO DE ESPAÇOS INCOMPLETOS EM MOÇAMBIQUE
Authors: Raimundo Inês M.
Published: August 2020

Este artigo baseou-se em vários estudos realizados pela autora sobre Migracões Forçadas em Moçambique e, apresenta a radiografia de um país com espaços habitacionais resultantes da conjugação de fatores político-militares, desastres naturais, projetos de desenvolvimento e de imigrações internacionais. Moçambique é um país da África Austral situado na costa oriental de África. É banhado pelo Canal de Moçambique em uma extensão de 2700Km. Desde que ficou independente de Portugal em 1975, tem sofrido metamorfoses significativas em seu espaço geográfico, originadas por fenômenos cíclicos de desastres naturais, por eventos político-militares, sociais e econômicos que não permitem que a sua população não conheça o real significado de sedentarismo com o aparecimento da chamada População Deslocada Internamente e população refugiada. Após a sua independência, o país adotou uma “política hospitaleira” de acolhimento dos povos em fuga de países de regimes opressores, como são os casos do Chile, Rodésia do Sul (atual Zimbabwe) e África do Sul. Pela sua localização geográfica e pelo fato de ter experimentado uma paz militar entre 1992 e 2013, o país passou também a receber requerentes de asilo e refugiados, particularmente da região dos Grandes Lagos de África e do Corno de África, além de investidores ou pretensos investidores provenientes de várias partes do mundo com destaque para a África, Ásia Menor, Europa, China, América do Norte e Brasil que em muito contribuíram para a configuração espacial de Moçambique. Importa referir que a população imigrante e em ‘fuga’ raramente fixa “raízes” nos países de acolhimento, razão pela qual é possível observar em quase todo o território nacional a existência de lugares cuja ocupação reflete cenários de projetos não concluidos (ruínas) e  infraestruturas destruídas ou inacabadas. Por exemplo, no Sul de Moçambique o Distrito de Xai-Xai e o projeto de areias pesadas, no Centro de Moçambique nos Distritos de Manica e Sofala e no Norte de Moçambique no Distrito de Mandimba, na Província de Niassa. Os  projetos de desenvolvimento em curso, espelham sem dúvidas a emergência de um país em conflitos permanentes e em reconstituição. Trata-se de um processo vicioso e cíclico que, ao longo do tempo aqui considerado, faz surgir espaços habitacionais de construção e de destruição/desconstrução, razão pela qual os chamamos espaços incompletos/inacabados.
A PRESENÇA BRASILEIRA NA AGRICULTURA MOÇAMBICANA E OS PARADIGMAS DO MODELO AGRÁRIO EM QUESTÃO: UM OLHAR GEOGRÁFICO SOBRE O PROSAVANA
Authors: Catsossa Lucas Atanásio
Published: August 2020

O presente artigo analisa o processo de territorialização do ProSAVANA e os desdobramentos socioterritoriais do ProSAVANA no Corredor de Nacala. Da análise feita, compreende-se que o ProSAVANA é um programa que engendra a monopolização do território pelo capital para produção de commodities de interesse do mercado global. O interesse na verdade é o de garantir acumulação ampliada do capital à escala global a partir do Corredor de Nacala, usando os territórios comunitários e sua gente no processo de produtivo. Por de traz da ideia da modernidade e do discurso produtivista e desenvolvimentista, o ProSAVANA esconde o seu caráter rentista, expropriador, explorador, excludente, predador dos recursos naturais dentre outras barbáries no campo. A concentração de terras, da riqueza e da renda nas mãos de pequenos grupos, estão entre os impactos negativos do modelo proposto pelo ProSAVANA para a modernização da agricultura no Corredor de Nacala. Os conflitos socioambientais são inevitável por onde o agronegócio se territorializa no campo. O ProSAVANA é também uma ameaça ao modo camponês de fazer agricultura que predomina nesta região. Ameaça também a soberania alimentar dos povos locais, e consequentemente, a segurança alimentar e nutricional. As lutas e resistências camponesas e dos movimentos sociais contra sua implementação efetiva no Corredor de Nacala, são legítimas, sobretudo, olhando para o caráter desigual, contraditório e perverso do agronegócio por onde se territorializa no campo.
RETRAÇÃO EM ARGAMASSA DE REVESTIMENTO: UMA REVISÃO DA LITERATURA
Authors: Bilcati Géssica Katalyne , Da Costa Marienne Do Rocio de Mello Maron , Simioni Felipe , Albino Pâmela , Dias Roberto Luiz
Published: August 2020

O grande número de publicações contendo dados experimentais sobre manifestações patológicas que podem ocorrer em elementos de construção torna o trabalho dos pesquisadores cada vez mais complexo e extenso no que se refere à seleção de material bibliográfico para o embasamento da pesquisa. Dentre as manifestações patológicas mais importantes e recorrentes, o fenômeno de retração se destaca por influenciar na durabilidade das argamassas de revestimento. Dentre os tipos de retração existentes, a retração plástica e de secagem representam grande parcela da retração total das argamassas de revestimento. Dessa forma, foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica com os temas retração de secagem e retração plástica em argamassas de revestimento, dos últimos 5 anos, utilizando os procedimentos do método MethodiOrdinatio para avaliar a atual conjuntura das pesquisas nesse tema. Através da revisão foram identificados 1932 artigos, dos quais, 26 foram selecionados para discussão do artigo, considerando os critérios de exclusão do método MethodiOrdinatio. Foi observado um aumento do número de pesquisas relacionadas à retração no ano de 2018. Portugal aparece como líder no ranking de número de publicação por países. Apesar do crescente número de publicações, é notável a disparidade na quantidade de pesquisas entre os dois tipos de retração, sendo a grande maioria formada por retração por secagem. Além disso, estudos relacionados à retração plástica se mostraram menos relevantes no âmbito científico, aparecendo apenas em 12º lugar no ranking de relevância, o que não condiz com a importância desse tipo de retração nas características do estado plástico e endurecido do material. Dessa forma, é de suma importância o preenchimento das lacunas de conhecimento existente e formulação de ensaios capazes de avaliar a retração do material no estado plástico.
How can better monitoring, reporting and evaluation standards advance behavioural public policy?
Authors: Cotterill Sarah , John Peter , Johnston Marie
Published: August 2020

Behavioural public policy interventions have been implemented across the world, targeting citizens, professionals, politicians and policymakers. This article examines poor quality reporting of interventions and methods in some behavioural public policy research. We undertake a review of existing reporting standards to assess their suitability for the behavioural public policy context. Our findings reveal that the adoption of standards can improve the reliability and reproducibility of research; provide a more robust evidence base from which to generalise findings; and convince sceptics of the value of behavioural public policy research. We conclude that use of the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist and the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (BCTTv1) would add rigour to intervention reporting. We argue there is a need for a combined tool to guide the design and reporting of randomised controlled trials, incorporating elements from the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist and other sources.
What motivates street-level bureaucrats to implement the reforms of elected politicians?
Authors: Lee Don S. , Park Soonae
Published: August 2020

The aim of this article is to explore the motivations of street-level bureaucrats when implementing change initiated by elected politicians. We analyse experimental data on more than 1,800 local civil servants from all 243 local governments in South Korea and find that street-level bureaucrats are more likely to implement change instigated by local elected politicians when their own policy positions are reflected in the reforms. Moreover, the degree to which street-level bureaucrats are likely to execute reforms instigated by local politicians is greater when bureaucrats perceive themselves as having more freedom to exercise discretion. These findings reveal a behavioural insight into the conditions in which bureaucrats are more likely to respond to change championed by elected politicians versus conditions where they are more likely to follow existing rules in the policy implementation process.
Reprovisioning for latency-aware dynamic service chaining in metro networks
Authors: Askari Leila , Musumeci Francesco , Tornatore Massimo
Published: August 2020

To support newly emerging and highly dynamic 5G services, optical metro networks must be capable of provisioning services on the fly. Network function virtualization (NFV) is leveraged to fulfill these dynamic service demands by placing virtual network functions (VNFs) in NFV-capable network nodes and chaining them together (“service chaining”). In addition, new 5G service chains often have bandwidth requirements with subwavelength granularity, making traffic grooming essential for efficient network resource utilization. However, the latency requirement for these services will not allow one to always perform traffic grooming, as grooming operations add non-negligible latency to traffic, and this might lead to poor utilization and high service blocking. Thus, it is important to investigate dynamic solutions to increase network utilization and decrease service blocking. One approach to achieve this goal is to reprovision service chains (SCs) to use network resources as efficiently as possible. Reprovisioning consists of tearing down a service chain and reallocating its resources, typically with the intent to make room for new chains that would be otherwise rejected. While traditional reprovisioning entailed only routing reassignment, reprovisioning of SCs entails both rerouting traffic and/or relocating VNFs, hence originating new research problems. In this paper, we propose new heuristic algorithms to reprovision SCs whenever a service cannot be provisioned. We provide two different approaches to perform reprovisioning, i.e., bandwidth and location. While bandwidth reprovisioning consists of modifying only bandwidth assignment of SCs, location reprovisioning considers the possibility of changing the nodes each SC is mapped to. We also considered two different optical network architectures. Results obtained on realistic network topology and services show that location reprovisioning allows us to achieve up to 28% improvement in terms of the number of SCs we are able to provision in the network.
Laser-induced cavities with a controllable shape in nanoporous glass
Authors: Fedotov S. S. , Lipatiev A. S. , Presniakov M. Yu. , Shakhgildyan G. Yu. , Okhrimchuk A. G. , Lotarev S. V. , Sigaev V. N.
Published: August 2020

The formation of birefringent structures inside nanoporous glass by femtosecond laser pulses was investigated. The laser-modified region is shown to be a cavity whose shape depends on the number of pulses. The shape of the void cross section varied from circle to ellipse when increasing the number of pulses from one to three. A layer of non-porous dense glass was revealed around the cavity. The cross section of this layer is nearly circular, regardless of the cavity shape and number of pulses in the investigated range. The mechanism of elongated cavity formation based on aniostropic light scattering on the spherical cavity is proposed.
Effects of transceiver jitter on the performance of optical scattering communication systems
Authors: Shen Zanqiu , Ma Jianshe , Provost Serge B. , Su Ping
Published: August 2020

In ultraviolet communications, the transceiver jitter effects have been ignored in previous studies, something that can result in non-negligible performance degradation especially in vibration states or in mobile scenes. To address this issue, we model the relationship between the received power and transceiver jitter by making use of a moment-based density function approximation method. Based on this relationship, we incorporate the transceiver jitter effects in combination with the Poisson distribution. The error rate results are obtained assuming on–off key modulation with optimal threshold-based detection. We validate the error rate expressions by comparing the analytical results to Monte Carlo simulation results. The results show that the transceiver jitter effects cause performance degradation especially in smaller transceiver elevation angles or shorter range cases, which are often adopted in short-range ultraviolet communications. The results also show that larger elevation angle cases have a better performance with respect to antijitter and may perform better compared to smaller elevation angle situations in the case of a larger standard deviation of jitter. This work studies for the first time the transceiver jitter effects in ultraviolet communications and provides guidelines for experimental system design.
Pharmacotherapy of COVID-19: confine to existential drugs or search for new ones?
Authors: hatip-Al-Khatib izzettin , Bolukbasi Hatip Funda
Published: August 2020

Background

The recent COVID-19 outbreak (pandemic) has inflicted great human lives and economic losses. Aside from being abated, new surges in cases are being recorded. The sudden emergence and fulmination of the disease and its rapid spread caught the health authorities worldwide, including the developed ones, off guard, with no novel drugs available. Therefore there was no choice other than using the old drugs.

Objectives

This study aims to reveal the possible mechanism of action, adverse drug reactions and beneficial combination of drugs used in COVID-19 treatment

Methods

We undertook a comprehensive living structural review of COVID-19, searching databases, and other sources to identify literature on drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19. We analyzed the sources, publication date, type, and the topic of the retrieved articles/studies in the available search machines.

Results

Although a large number of literature on COVID-19 deals with pathology, clinic, and epidemiological issues, few studies that tackle pharmacology and toxicology of the drugs used could be found in the literature. At least twenty six (26) drugs, alone or in various combinations, are found in the literature to be used in various countries in the world. These drugs had been used previously for other purposes but they also possess activities that could target various steps involved in the virus invasion-replication-multiplication and leaving the cell. Pharmacokinetic fundamentals had also been applied in some combination (decrease Lopnavirs metabolism by ritonavir), but some drugs that were initially extensively used at high doses without benefiting from some of their properties are recently being abandoned
(hydroxychloroquine, ionophore for Zn2+).

Conclusion

The literature concerning drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19 lag far behind the great number of literature that discusses diseases pathogenicity, clinical picture, and epidemiology. The World indeed had been caught unprepared for COVID-19, hence obliged to use old drugs.
Public transport usage among university students: what to expect based on customer satisfaction survey (CSS) analysis
Authors: Silveira Thiago Carvalho dos Reis , Romano Cezar Augusto , Gadda Tatiana Maria Cecy
Published: August 2020

Pesquisas de Satisfação do Consumidor são ferramentas valiosas tanto para gestores públicos quanto para empresas de operação. Estas fornecem informações úteis para a compreensão das necessidades dos usuários de transporte público, para a definição de objetivos mais efetivos e para fazer investimentos mais assertivos. Na literatura, a combinação de segmentação de mercado e a comparação entre satisfação e importância relativa foi poucas vezes estudada. Este estudo investiga a tendência de adoção contínua do transporte público entre alunos universitários de Curitiba por meio de hábitos de consumo, satisfação, importância relativa dos fatores componentes e análise de GAP. De modo geral, os resultados não indicam uma intenção do grupo estudado em continuar usando este modal de transporte. No entanto, se motivados corretamente, estudantes podem se tornar mais facilmente agentes de mudança e podem afetar positivamente as intenções comportamentais em relação ao transporte público.
Os PlanMobs têm contemplado o transporte urbano de carga?
Authors: Dias José Maria , Vieira José Geraldo Vidal , Da Silva João Eduardo A. R. , De Oliveira Leise Kelli
Published: August 2020

A Política Nacional de Mobilidade Urbana regulamenta a acessibilidade e a mobilidade de pessoas e mercadorias nos centros urbanos. No entanto, os gestores públicos aparentam conferir menor importância ao transporte urbano de carga (TUC) em comparação ao transporte público de passageiros. Nesse sentido, esse artigo tem por objetivo investigar se os Planos de Mobilidade Urbana (PlanMobs) têm incorporado a gestão do TUC. Para tanto, foi conduzida uma pesquisa tipo survey com os gestores públicos para identificar a importância do TUC para a mobilidade urbana, bem como analisar os conteúdos dos PlanMobs com referência ao TUC por meio da técnica ‘Análise de Conteúdo’. Os resultados mostram que a mobilidade da carga está sendo contemplada de forma superficial nos PlanMobs e, de certa forma, negligenciada pelos gestores públicos.
Modeling travel mode choice under social influence for the brazilian context
Authors: Mota Diego Rosa , Taco Pastor Willy Gonzales , Feitosa Zuleide Oliveira
Published: August 2020

Busca-se neste trabalho a definição de um modelo comportamental para verificar a existência da influência social na escolha do modo de viagem no contexto brasileiro. Para isso, realizou-se uma pesquisa no campus Darcy Ribeiro da Universidade de Brasília (UnB) com coleta e modelagem logit multinomial de dados sociais e de viagem. Verificou-se, como resultado, a existência da influência social por conformidade na escolha do modo de viagem para a universidade quando se consideram os modos sustentáveis (bicicleta e caminhada) e a carona: a probabilidade de um indivíduo utilizar modos sustentáveis em detrimento do automóvel é 76% maior quando a quantidade de contatos sociais usuários destes modos aumenta em 10%. Para a carona este aumento é de 27%. A consideração da influência social permite a percepção mais abrangente dos fatores relevantes no processo decisório individual, sendo referência para a formulação de políticas públicas de mobilidade, com destaque para aquelas que buscam promover alternativas sustentáveis e compartilhadas.
MEME POLITIK SETYA NOVANTO SEBAGAI REPRESENTASI DEMOKRASI DIGITAL DI INDONESIA: ANALISIS WACANA KRITIS
Authors: Andriani Viena Wanidha
Published: August 2020

Political memes of Setya Novanto (Setnov) are assumed to have constructed critical ideological discourses that reflect the digital democracy in Indonesia. The courage of social media users to strongly criticize the political elite is very interesting to be analyzed. By using Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this article examines how social media memes construct the discourse on Setya Novanto, which ideology is conveyed through the memes, and to whom it is addressed. Also, this study analyzes the socio-ccultural context as the background of these memes. The result of the analysis shows that the political memes of Setya Novanto construct a negative image of him and the people involved in his case. Based on the analysis of the discursive practices, it is found that the ideology is addressed to the government and the people related to the case. Meanwhile, the public response indicates that the distribution of the ideology is both received and supported by the audience. Based on the sociocultural analysis, it is understood that systematic corruption, low public trust to the political elite and government, and the flexibility of online media become the key factors to the emergence of the memes.
Biological evolution and creationism from the perspective of graduate students of biological sciences
Authors: Silva Leão Isabela Maria , Costa Fernanda de Jesus , Simões Carvalho Graça , Machado Silva Heslley
Published: August 2020

This work aimed to analyse students’ conceptions in a graduate course of biology teachers at the University Centre of Formiga, Minas Gerais, Brazil, of topics related to evolutionary theory (Chance and Natural selection) and creationism (God and Intelligent design). We used a part of the European BIOHEAD-CITIZEN questionnaire in a sample of 56 students, studying in their 2nd, 4th and 6th terms. The four-category Barbour model (conflict, independence, dialogue and integration) was used to analyse the data and characterise the students’ ideas of the relationship between science and religion. Using the Pearson chi-square statistical test (χ2), the differences among the groups of students were tested, at the statistical significance level of 5%. The results show that most students are able to establish a relationship of independence between issues of evolutionary theory and creationism. Even religious students can establish boundaries that separate the fields of science and religion. Due to the importance of evolutionary theory for science and for biology in particular, it is necessary for new research to be carried out in the Brazilian context to determine students’ and teachers’ perceptions on the topic and to improve the teaching of evolutionary theory in the biological context and to refrain from inserting personal religious considerations into general science and biology classes.
Libro: Il Diario del Cielo (El diario del cielo)
Authors: Guataquira Ramírez José Efraín
Published: August 2020

El diario del cielo es un instrumento empleado en centros de educación que, por medio de la observación directa o indirecta – usando instrumentos de construcción propia – de la bóveda celeste, permite conocer y aprender sobre las efemérides celestes, descifrando al mismo tiempo los motivos por los cuales se producen.
Paraphernalia of Funerary Display at Kaneš
Authors: Heffron Yağmur
Published: August 2020

The Hittite royal funerary ritual šalliš waštaiš prescribes gold pieces to be placed on the eyes and mouth of the deceased. This is consistent with the manner in which thin sheets of hammered gold are reported to have been found on the faces of occupants of in-house graves in the Lower Town of Kültepe, ancient Kaneš. Mouth-pieces of unmistakable similarity have also turned up in great numbers in Late Bronze Age graves on Cyprus, most notably at Enkomi. Beyond comparison with the šalliš waštaiš text, gold eye- and mouth-pieces from Kaneš have received little attention. This contribution offers the first comprehensive study of these objects specifically as a class of funerary paraphernalia. It provides a catalogue and typology of gold sheets, and explores their archaeological context before turning to their social and symbolic significance against the backdrop of the cosmopolitan Kanešean households. The discussion considers hybridity in terms of a compatibility between funerary practices across different cultural settings, also noting chronological implications.
Modeling the effect of heat treatment on fatty acid composition in home-made olive oil preparations
Authors: Dordevic Dani , Kushkevych Ivan , Jancikova Simona , Zeljkovic Sanja Cavar , Zdarsky Michal , Hodulova Lucia
Published: August 2020

The aim of this study was to simulate olive oil use and to monitor changes in the profile of fatty acids in home-made preparations using olive oil, which involve repeated heat treatment cycles. The material used in the experiment consisted of extra virgin and refined olive oil samples. Fatty acid profiles of olive oil samples were monitored after each heating cycle (10 min). The outcomes showed that cycles of heat treatment cause significant (p< 0.05) differences in the fatty acid profile of olive oil. A similar trend of differences (p< 0.05) was found between fatty acid profiles in extra virgin and refined olive oils. As expected, the main differences occurred in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Cross-correlation analysis also showed differences between the fatty acid profiles. The most prolific changes were observed between the control samples and the heated (at 180°C) samples of refined olive oil in PUFAs, though a heating temperature of 220°C resulted in similar decrease in MUFAs and PUFAs, in both extra virgin and refined olive oil samples. The study showed differences in fatty acid profiles that can occur during the culinary heating of olive oil. Furthermore, the study indicated that culinary heating of extra virgin olive oil produced results similar to those of the refined olive oil heating at a lower temperature below 180°C.