bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Moth Species Caught by Ultraviolet and Visible Light Sources in Connection with Their Wingspan
Authors: Nowinszky László , Hill Lionel , Puskás János , Tar Károly , Hufnagel Levente
Published: March 2022

For a long time, researchers have compared light traps operating with different light sources. According to the results, ultraviolet lights often performed better than visible light sources. In the present study, we examine the wingspan of macrolepidoptera species in relation to the catch result of visible (visible) and BL traps in choice and no-choice situations using data from the Hungarian light-trap network. We used the catch data of 19 light-trap stations from 1962 to 1963. Up to 18 stations belonged to the national network and the last one was in Nagytétény. We processed data of 381 species of the 18 light-traps data of the national network and data of 222 species from the light traps of Nagytétény. The data of the wingspan of the different macrolepidoptera species we collected from the websites of UKmoths (http://ukmoths.org.uk/index.php), and Guide to the Butterflies and Moths of Hungary (macrolepidoptera) (http://www.macrolepidoptera.hu). We summarised for each light-trap station and each trap type the number of the macrolepidopteran species and individuals caught from different generations. Then, using the Mann–Whitney test, we checked for species the number of individuals captured by visible and BL traps, and the difference of the level of significance. We summarised the wingspan data of all the 381 species, the more efficient light source for each species in a no-choice situation at multiple sites and for the single site of Nagytétény the more efficient light source for species detected there. The BL trap seems most efficient for operation for plant protecting purposes, despite the fact that their use is far more problematic. Insect species are not only endangered by light trapping but also by the light pollution of urban areas. Our results confirm that the different light sources should incur mortality on different species to differing levels. Such differential mortality from artificial light sources could disturb the balance of life in biological communities.
Circadian Modulation of Neurodevelopment in the Adult Human Brain: Importance of Melatonin
Authors: Solís-Chagoyán Héctor , Muñoz-Delgado Jairo , Estrada-Reyes Rosa , Alarcón-Elizalde Salvador , Benítez-King Gloria
Published: March 2022

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indoleamine synthesized by the pineal gland in the dark phase of the photoperiod. Released melatonin into the pineal recess and the cerebrospinal fluid is the chemical signal that conveys information about the environmental illumination to the brain. In recent years, it was described that melatonin stimulates the neurodevelopment in the adult brain. During this complex process, new neurons are formed and differentiate to form synaptic connections. Neuropsychiatric disorders are characterized by the loss of neuronal connectivity and diminished levels of melatonin, among other features. Importantly, these patients have impaired circadian rhythms. In recent years, evidence aroused indicating that neurodevelopment occurs in the adult brain, making important the study of chemical compounds and endogenous molecules that stimulate neurodevelopment to reestablish synaptic connectivity. In this chapter, we will review the evidence that supports the circadian melatonin modulatory effects on neurodevelopment and its importance for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases.
Piperine Increases Pentagamavunon-1 Anti-cancer Activity on 4T1 Breast Cancer Through Mitotic Catastrophe Mechanism and Senescence with Sharing Targeting on Mitotic Regulatory Proteins
Authors: Endah Endah , Wulandari Febri , Putri Yurananda , Jenie Riris Istighfari , Meiyanto Edy
Published: March 2022

: Pentagamavunon-1 performs more potent anti-cancer effects than curcumin against various cancer cells, but it remains to be optimized. Piperine shows the activity as an enhancer of a therapeutic agent. This study expects to achieve higher effectiveness of PGV-1 on 4T1 breast cancer cells through co-treatment with piperine with exploring the effect of cytotoxicity, mitotic catastrophe, cellular senescence, and target proteins of PGV-1 and piperine on the regulation of mitosis in TNBC cells (4T1). The assays emphasize MTT assay, May Grünwald-Giemsa staining, SA-β-galactosidase assay, and bioinformatics analysis, respectively, to elicit the respected activities. The results revealed that PGV-1 performed a cytotoxic effect with an IC50 value of 9 µM while piperine showed a lower cytotoxic effect with an IC50 value of 800 µM on 4T1 cells 24 h treatment. However, the combination treatment of both showed a synergistic cytotoxic enhancement effect with an average CI value < 1. Furthermore, the combination of PGV-1 and piperine induced mitotic catastrophe and senescence better than the single treatment. Treatment of 1 µM of PGV-1 and 400 µM of piperine increased the percentage of senescent cells by 33%. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that PGV-1 and piperine target proteins play a role in mitotic regulation, namely CDK1, KIF11, AURKA, AURKB, and PLK1, to contribute to mitotic catastrophe. Therefore, piperine increases the effectiveness of PGV-1 to suppress 4T1 cells growth synergistically that may occur through mitotic catastrophe and senescence targeting on mitotic regulatory proteins.
No Community without Socialism
Authors: Arnold Samuel ,   University of Arkansas Press
Published: March 2022

As G. A. Cohen’s camping trip argument shows, community is an important value. But is there anything particularly socialist about it? Critics suggest not. Jason Brennan argues that we don’t need socialist institutions to secure community; capitalist ones will do just fine. Louis-Philippe Hodgson argues, in a similar spirit, that we don’t need explicitly socialist principles to secure community; standard-issue liberal egalitarian ones (like Rawls’s) suffice. But these critics are mistaken. Pace Brennan, I show that capitalism inevitably runs roughshod over community. Pace Hodgson, I show that Rawls’s justice as fairness cannot, absent explicitly socialist supplementation, adequately protect community. In sum, I show that advocates of community must also, and for that reason, be advocates for distinctively socialist principles and institutions. Or, in a slogan: no community without socialism.
Social Justice and Economic Systems
Authors: O’Neill Martin ,   University of Arkansas Press
Published: March 2022

This essay is concerned with the question of what kind of economic system would be needed in order to realize Rawls’s principles of social justice. Hitherto, debates about ‘property-owning democracy’ and ‘liberal socialism’ have been overly schematic, in various respects, and have therefore missed some of the most important issues regarding the relationships between social justice and economic institutions and systems. What is at stake between broadly capitalist or socialist economic systems is not in fact a simple choice in a single dimension, but rather a range of choices across a range of different dimensions. This essay, then, has a dual objective: first, it aims to provide a richer account of this normative territory, while showing how issues of economic democracy, decommodification and the limits of markets, and the role of democratic economic planning, all raise questions of justice that are not well captured by focusing only on questions of ownership. Second, it aims to show how the case for democratic socialism can be developed from Rawlsian foundations, in a way that is sensitive to the normative affinities between Rawlsian liberal egalitarianism and democratic socialism, and which attends carefully to the different kinds of institutional elements which a stable, just, and democratic society would require. Taking these aims together, the hope is that we can move onward to a richer debate about the ways in which the realization of democratic socialist institutions may be seen as a requirement of social justice.
What’s Wrong with Equality of Opportunity
Authors: Sypnowich Christine ,   University of Arkansas Press
Published: March 2022

How do we know if people are equal? Contemporary philosophers consider a number of issues when determining if the goals of egalitarian distributive justice have been achieved: defining the metric of equality; determining whether the goal is equality, or simply priority or sufficiency; establishing whether there should be conditions, e.g. bad brute luck, for the amelioration of inequality. In all this, most egalitarians contend that what is to be equalized is not people’s actual shares of the good in question, but rather, the opportunities to have such shares. I counter this view with an ‘egalitarian flourishing’ approach that, in seeking to make people equal in actual well-being, takes exception to the role of opportunity in contemporary argument. The flourishing view means a focus on outcomes, on how people live, in order to enable people to live equally flourishing lives. I argue that if we consider the complex dynamics of choice and circumstance, the role of nonmaterial considerations and the ideal of an egalitarian community, equality of opportunity proves to be an inadequate approach to the realization of the egalitarian ideal.
Liberal Socialism Is Not Stable for the Right Reasons
Authors: Vallier Kevin ,   University of Arkansas Press
Published: March 2022

This essay provides an internal critique of John Rawls’s case for liberal socialism. A liberal socialist regime combines liberal rights with public ownership of the means of production. The state deliberately manages capital to promote both economic and moral ends. I argue that liberal socialism cannot satisfy Rawls’s own criterion for a well-ordered and legitimate regime: stability for the right reasons. Liberal socialism cannot be stable much as reasonable comprehensive doctrines cannot. Reasonable comprehensive doctrines impose detailed patterns of conduct on citizens in ways they can reasonably reject. Liberal socialism imposes similarly invasive and complex directives through what I shall call reasonable economic plans: multifaceted directives for the ownership and operation of capital that satisfy Rawls’s justice as fairness. Consequently, imposing any reasonable economic plan will destabilize the regime. For this reason, liberal socialism cannot serve as an ideal regime type for Rawlsian egalitarians.
Free Productive Agency: Reasons, Recognition, Socialism
Authors: Vrousalis Nicholas ,   University of Arkansas Press
Published: March 2022

This paper argues that recognition is, fundamentally, a relationship between a person and a reason. The recognizer acts for a reason, in the interpersonal case, only when she takes the recognizee’s rational intentions—intentions whose content is favored by reasons—as reasons. Free agency, on this view, is a rational power to act for reasons: the recognizer’s disposition to take the recognizee’s rational intentions as reasons across relevant possible worlds in which she forms these intentions. On the basis of this generic account of free agency, I argue that free productive agency is a rational power to produce for reasons: the recognizer’s disposition to take the rational productive intentions of the recognizee as reasons across relevant possible worlds in which she forms these intentions. But capitalism makes it impossible to satisfy this requirement, for it subjects the taking of reasons to the realization of profit. So capitalism makes capitalist and worker unfree and the realization of free productive agency impossible.
Socialist Action
Authors: Wollner Gabriel ,   University of Arkansas Press
Published: March 2022

This paper offers a new version of a historically influential, yet today unpopular, neglected, and on the whole insufficiently developed argument for socialism: socialism makes it possible for people to really act together. This idea of socialist action, combining the claims that there is a particularly valuable form of joint action and that socialism is about making such action possible, played an important role in the history of the labor movement, going back to the early Marx and running through various strands of socialist thought. I shall argue that socialist action should be seen as central to the socialist project, its critique of capitalism, and the institutional alternatives envisaged by it.
Private Duty Creation in Theories of Distributive Justice
Authors: Sazonov Sergei ,   Department of Philosophy, Florida State University
Published: March 2022

Historical entitlement theories of property rights, which claim that individuals can acquire moral property rights over natural resources by appropriating them, traditionally face a strong objection: it is widely implausible that a single individual can unilaterally impose duties on everyone around him and yet, apparently, this is exactly what such theories allow. In this essay, I argue that the same problem appears in all other theories of distributive justice and if this problem was a reason to reject historical entitlement theories, it would also be a reason to reject all rival theories. Which means that as long, as one is committed to any theory of distributive justice at all, she, at the risk of inconsistency, cannot rely on the aforementioned objection to criticize historical entitlement theories.
Classification of magnetic ground states and prediction of magnetic moments of inorganic magnetic materials based on machine learning
Authors: Li Wei , Long Lian-Chun , Liu Jing-Yi , Yang Yang ,   Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China,   Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Published: March 2022

Magnetic materials are important basic materials in the information age. Different magnetic ground states are the prerequisite for the wide application of magnetic materials, among which the ferromagnetic ground state is a key requirement for future high-performance magnetic materials. In this paper, machine learning is used to study the classification of ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic and paramagnetic ground states of inorganic magnetic materials and the prediction of magnetic moments of inorganic ferromagnetic materials. We obtain 98888 inorganic magnetic materials data from the Materials Project database, containing material ids, chemical formulae, CIF files, magnetic ground states and magnetic moments, and extract 582 elemental and structural features for the inorganic magnetic materials by using Matminer. We design a two-step feature selection method. In the first step, RFECV is used to evaluate material features one by one to remove redundant features without degrading the model accuracy. In the second step, we rank the material features to further refine and select the most important material features for the model, and 20 material features are selected for the classification of magnetic ground states and the prediction of magnetic moments, respectively. Among the selected material features, it is found that the electronegativity, the atomic own magnetic moment and the number of unfilled electrons in the atomic peripheral orbitals all make important contributions to the classification of magnetic ground states and the prediction of magnetic moments. We build a magnetic ground state classification model and a magnetic moment prediction model by using the random forest, and quantitatively evaluate the machine learning models by using the 10-fold cross-validation approach, and the results show that the constructed machine learning models has sufficient accuracy and generalization capability. In the test set, the magnetic ground state classification model has an accuracy of 85.23%, a precision of 85.18%, a recall of 85.04%, and an F1 score of 85.24%; the magnetic moment prediction model has a goodness-of-fit of 91.58% and an average absolute error of 0.098 μB per atom. This study provides a new method and choice for high-throughput classification and screening of magnetic ground states of inorganic magnetic materials and predicting the magnetic moment of ferromagnetic materials.
A World of Women
Authors: Beresford J. D.
Published: March 2022

When a plague wipes out most of the world's male population and civilization crumbles, women struggle to build an agrarian community in the English countryside.

Imagine a plague that brings society to a standstill by killing off most of the men on Earth. The few men who survive descend into lechery and atavism. Meanwhile, a group of women (accompanied by one virtuous male survivor) leave the wreckage of London to start fresh, establishing a communally run agrarian outpost. But their sexist society hasn't permitted most of them to learn any useful skills—will the commune survive their first winter? This is the bleak world imagined in 1913 by English writer J. D. Beresford—one that has particular resonance for the planet's residents in the 2020s. This edition of A World of Women offers twenty-first-century readers a new look at a neglected classic.

Beresford introduces us to the solidly bourgeois, prim and proper Gosling family. As once-bustling London shuts down—Parliament closes, factories grind to a halt, nature reclaims stone and steel—the paterfamilias Mr. Gosling adopts a life of libertinism while his daughters in the countryside struggle to achieve a radically transformed and improved egalitarian and feminist future.

Astra Taylor is director of the philosophical documentaries Zizek! (2005), Examined Life (2008), and What Is Democracy? (2018). She is author of the American Book Award winner The People's Platform (2014) and Democracy May Not Exist, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone (2019), and coauthor of Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition (2020). Her latest book is Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions (2021).
Neuroanatomical abnormalities in a nonhuman primate model of congenital Zika virus infection
Authors: Beckman Danielle , Seelke Adele MH , Bennett Jeffrey , Dougherty Paige , Van Rompay Koen KA , Keesler Rebekah , Pesavento Patricia A , Coffey Lark LA , Morrison John H , Bliss-Moreau Eliza
Published: March 2022

We evaluated neuropathological consequences of fetal ZIKV exposure in rhesus monkeys, a translatable animal model for human neural development, by carrying out quantitative neuroanatomical analyses of the nearly full-term brains of fetuses infected with ZIKV and procedure-matched controls. For each animal, a complete cerebral hemisphere was evaluated using immunohistochemical (IHC) and neuroanatomical techniques to detect virus, identify affected cell types, and evaluate gross neuroanatomical abnormalities. IHC staining revealed the presence of ZIKV in the frontal lobe, which contained activated microglia and showed increased apoptosis of immature neurons. ZIKV-infected animals exhibited macrostructural changes within the visual pathway. Regional differences tracked with the developmental timing of the brain, suggesting inflammatory processes related to viral infiltration swept through the cortex, followed by a wave of cell death resulting in morphological changes. These findings may help explain why some infants born with normal sized heads during the ZIKV epidemic manifest developmental challenges as they age.
Quantitative transportomics identifies Kif5a as a major regulator of neurodegeneration
Authors: Shah Sahil H , Schiapparelli Lucio M , Ma Yuanhui , Yokota Satoshi , Atkins Melissa , Xia Xin , Cameron Evan G , Huang Thanh , Saturday Sarah , Sun Catalina B , Knasel Cara , Blackshaw Seth , Yates John R , Cline Hollis T , Goldberg Jeffrey L
Published: March 2022

Many neurons in the adult central nervous system, including retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), degenerate and die after injury. Early axon protein and organelle trafficking failure is a key component in many neurodegenerative disorders yet changes to axoplasmic transport in disease models have not been quantified. We analyzed early changes in the protein ‘transportome’ from RGC somas to their axons after optic nerve injury and identified transport failure of an anterograde motor protein Kif5a early in RGC degeneration. We demonstrated that manipulating Kif5a expression affects anterograde mitochondrial trafficking in RGCs and characterized axon transport in Kif5a knockout mice to identify proteins whose axon localization was Kif5a-dependent. Finally, we found that knockout of Kif5a in RGCs resulted in progressive RGC degeneration in the absence of injury. Together with expression data localizing Kif5a to human RGCs, these data identify Kif5a transport failure as a cause of RGC neurodegeneration and point to a mechanism for future therapeutics.
Inhibition of SHP-1 activity by PKC-θ regulates NK cell activation threshold and cytotoxicity
Authors: Ben-Shmuel Aviad , Sabag Batel , Puthenveetil Abhishek , Biber Guy , Levy Moria , Jubany Tammir , Awwad Fatima , Roy Roshan Kumar , Joseph Noah , Matalon Omri , Kivelevitz Jessica , Barda-Saad Mira
Published: March 2022

Natural killer (NK) cells play a crucial role in immunity, killing virally infected and cancerous cells. The balance of signals initiated upon engagement of activating and inhibitory NK receptors with cognate ligands determines killing or tolerance. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms regulating rapid NK cell discrimination between healthy and malignant cells in a heterogeneous tissue environment are incompletely understood. The SHP-1 tyrosine phosphatase is the central negative NK cell regulator that dephosphorylates key activating signaling proteins. Though the mechanism by which SHP-1 mediates NK cell inhibition has been partially elucidated, the pathways by which SHP-1 is itself regulated remain unclear. Here, we show that phosphorylation of SHP-1 in NK cells on the S591 residue by PKC-θ promotes the inhibited SHP-1 ‘folded’ state. Silencing PKC-θ maintains SHP-1 in the active conformation, reduces NK cell activation and cytotoxicity, and promotes tumor progression in vivo. This study reveals a molecular pathway that sustains the NK cell activation threshold through suppression of SHP-1 activity.
Distinct and diverse chromatin proteomes of ageing mouse organs reveal protein signatures that correlate with physiological functions
Authors: Oliviero Giorgio , Kovalchuk Sergey , Rogowska-Wrzesinska Adelina , Schwämmle Veit , Jensen Ole N
Published: March 2022

Temporal molecular changes in ageing mammalian organs are of relevance to disease aetiology because many age-related diseases are linked to changes in the transcriptional and epigenetic machinery that regulate gene expression. We performed quantitative proteome analysis of chromatin-enriched protein extracts to investigate the dynamics of the chromatin proteomes of the mouse brain, heart, lung, kidney, liver, and spleen at 3, 5, 10, and 15 months of age. Each organ exhibited a distinct chromatin proteome and sets of unique proteins. The brain and spleen chromatin proteomes were the most extensive, diverse, and heterogenous among the six organs. The spleen chromatin proteome appeared static during the lifespan, presenting a young phenotype that reflects the permanent alertness state and important role of this organ in physiological defence and immunity. We identified a total of 5928 proteins, including 2472 nuclear or chromatin-associated proteins across the six mouse organs. Up to 3125 proteins were quantified in each organ, demonstrating distinct and organ-specific temporal protein expression timelines and regulation at the post-translational level. Bioinformatics meta-analysis of these chromatin proteomes revealed distinct physiological and ageing-related features for each organ. Our results demonstrate the efficiency of organelle-specific proteomics for in vivo studies of a model organism and consolidate the hypothesis that chromatin-associated proteins are involved in distinct and specific physiological functions in ageing organs.
Co-aggregation and secondary nucleation in the life cycle of human prolactin/galanin functional amyloids
Authors: Chatterjee Debdeep , Jacob Reeba S , Ray Soumik , Navalkar Ambuja , Singh Namrata , Sengupta Shinjinee , Gadhe Laxmikant , Kadu Pradeep , Datta Debalina , Paul Ajoy , Arunima Sakunthala , Mehra Surabhi , Pindi Chinmai , Kumar Santosh , Singru Praful , Senapati Sanjib , Maji Samir K
Published: March 2022

Synergistic-aggregation and cross-seeding by two different proteins/peptides in the amyloid aggregation are well evident in various neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we show co-storage of human Prolactin (PRL), which is associated with lactation in mammals, and neuropeptide galanin (GAL) as functional amyloids in secretory granules (SGs) of the female rat. Using a wide variety of biophysical studies, we show that irrespective of the difference in sequence and structure, both hormones facilitate their synergic aggregation to amyloid fibrils. Although each hormone possesses homotypic seeding ability, a unidirectional cross-seeding of GAL aggregation by PRL seeds and the inability of cross seeding by mixed fibrils suggest tight regulation of functional amyloid formation by these hormones for their efficient storage in SGs. Further, the faster release of functional hormones from mixed fibrils compared to the corresponding individual amyloid, suggests a novel mechanism of heterologous amyloid formation in functional amyloids of SGs in the pituitary.
Experimental evidence that uniformly white sclera enhances the visibility of eye-gaze direction in humans and chimpanzees
Authors: Kano Fumihiro , Kawaguchi Yuri , Hanling Yeow
Published: March 2022

Hallmark social activities of humans, such as cooperation and cultural learning, involve eye-gaze signaling through joint attentional interaction and ostensive communication. The gaze-signaling and related cooperative-eye hypotheses posit that humans evolved unique external eye morphologies, including uniformly white sclera (the whites of the eye), to enhance the visibility of eye-gaze for conspecifics. However, experimental evidence is still lacking. This study tested the ability of human and chimpanzee participants to discriminate the eye-gaze directions of human and chimpanzee images in computerized tasks. We varied the level of brightness and size in the stimulus images to examine the robustness of the eye-gaze directional signal against simulated shading and distancing. We found that both humans and chimpanzees discriminated eye-gaze directions of humans better than those of chimpanzees, particularly in visually challenging conditions. Also, participants of both species discriminated the eye-gaze directions of chimpanzees better when the contrast polarity of the chimpanzee eye was reversed compared to when it was normal; namely, when the chimpanzee eye has human-like white sclera and a darker iris. Uniform whiteness in the sclera thus facilitates the visibility of eye-gaze direction even across species. Our findings thus support but also critically update the central premises of the gaze-signaling hypothesis.
Ca2+ inactivation of the mammalian ryanodine receptor type 1 in a lipidic environment revealed by cryo-EM
Authors: Nayak Ashok R , Samsó Montserrat
Published: March 2022

Activation of the intracellular Ca2+ channel ryanodine receptor (RyR) triggers a cytosolic Ca2+ surge, while elevated cytosolic Ca2+ inhibits the channel in a negative feedback mechanism. Cryogenic electron microscopy of rabbit RyR1 embedded in nanodiscs under partially inactivating Ca2+ conditions revealed an open and a closed-inactivated conformation. Ca2+ binding to the high-affinity site engages the central and C-terminal domains into a block, which pries the S6 four-helix bundle open. Further rotation of this block pushes S6 toward the central axis, closing (inactivating) the channel. Main characteristics of the Ca2+-inactivated conformation are downward conformation of the cytoplasmic assembly and tightly knit subunit interface contributed by a fully occupied Ca2+ activation site, two inter-subunit resolved lipids, and two salt bridges between the EF hand domain and the S2–S3 loop validated by disease-causing mutations. The structural insight illustrates the prior Ca2+ activation prerequisite for Ca2+ inactivation and provides for a seamless transition from inactivated to closed conformations.
Meshing the Personal with the Professional: Digital Storytelling in Higher Education
Authors: Wright Mary F. , Ryan Karen
Published: March 2022

This paper chronicles a yearlong journey of learning about digital storytelling and leading the creation of five digital stories within a higher education community. We bring two complementary perspectives to guide this inquiry: as a faculty member in teacher education and as the University of Wisconsin system representative for the Learning Technology Development Council as well as director of our educational technology center. Our passion for the arts, aesthetics and education bring us to extend an inquiry into teacher identity and reflection by connecting our colleagues’ stories with the art of digital storytelling. We see its place and value in an academic environment; although not always currently clear, the roots of personal insight permeate the lives of professionals within the academy. Digital storytelling spans the artificial divide between the experiences of the past and our professional identities. The myriad uses of digital storytelling in higher education are explored as a reflective tool for practice, to highlight academic projects, interests or initiatives, and most importantly, to simply reflect on how we are shaped by the stories we live and how we in turn share our diverse identities.
Essential…but also vulnerable? Work intensification, effort/reward imbalance, fatigue and psychological health of Spanish cargo drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Montoro Luis , Cendales Boris , Alonso Francisco , Gonzalez-Marin Adela , Lijarcio Ignacio , Llamazares Javier , Useche Sergio A.
Published: March 2022

Objective

This study investigates the combined effect of the Effort/Reward Imbalance (ERI) model of stress and work intensification within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health (general and work-related fatigue, and psychological strain) of cargo drivers, one of the most demanded workforces during the first year of this pandemic.

Methods

For this cross-sectional research, the data provided by n = 1,013 professional drivers from the different 17 autonomous communities (regions) of Spain were analyzed. Participants answered a questionnaire composed of the short version of the Effort Reward Imbalance (ERI) questionnaire, a Work Intensification Scale (WIS) designed for this study, the fatigue subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), the Need for Recovery after Work Scale (NFR), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).

Results

Hierarchical regression analyses show that both (ERI and work intensification) models significantly predict driver’s fatigue and psychological strain. The effect of work intensification exists above and beyond the effect of effort/reward imbalance, which has been previously related to the safety performance of cargo drivers.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that the ERI and work intensification models can be complementarily used, especially in scenarios introducing substantial changes in the work environment, such as the COVID-19 crisis. Also, the results of this study support the need to intervene in the working conditions of professional drivers in order to improve their psychological health and well-being during both pandemic and post-pandemic times, as crisis-related management interventions are necessary to promote health and safety in professional drivers in potentially similar contexts in the future.
Physicochemical Evaluation of Sugarcane Molasses (Black Honey) during Storage in Various Packaging Materials
Authors: Abdel Reheem A. H. , Kenawi M. A. , Ali H. M. , Hussien S. M.
Published: March 2022

Sugarcane molasses is a nutritious beverage with a black color, characterized by its viscosity, distinctive taste and aroma, which makes it a unique food with high nutritional value. The quality characteristics of sugarcane molasses stored inside various packaging materials at different storage periods were evaluated. The evaluation included the determination of the physicochemical properties of sugarcane molasses stored in four types of packaging materials (glass jar, pottery pitcher, plastic jar and tin container). The stored sugarcane molasses were analyzed periodically at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months for the optical density (at 420 nm), acidity, viscosity values and total phenol content. All studied physicochemical properties increased significantly (p≤0.05) with increasing storage time, the results showed that pottery pitchers and glass jars are suitable for packaging sugarcane molasses. They produce the most stable sugarcane molasses, so they are practical containers to use. Therefore, it is recommended to use this type of packaging materials with care of the storage temperature.
Production of Cellulase and Amylase Enzymes in both Solid and Liquid States by Two Species of Fungi
Authors: O. Jesubunmi Christianah, , Ogbonna James O.
Published: March 2022

Aims: To isolate fungi capable of simultaneous production of amylase and cellulase

Study Design: The experiment was carried out in aseptic conditions, data were subjected to one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the means were separated using Least Significance Deference (LSD).

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria, between August 2010 and July 2013.

Methodology: Plantain peels and infected bark of the stump of a tree were collected for fungi isolation. A 1 g sample each was weighed separately and added to 10 ml distilled  water, 1 ml of each of the diluents was plated out on Emerson’s yeast phosphate soluble starch (YPSs) medium. After growth, colonies were picked and subcultured several times for purity. The isolates were characterized and identified based on colony morphology and microscopic examination. They were later screened for amylase and cellulase activities by growing them on various concentrations of starch and carboxymethyl cellulose

Results: Amylolytic and cellulosic fungi were isolated from plantain peels and infected bark of a tree. The isolates were identified as Rhizopus and Fusarium sp and they were able to produce amylase and cellulase simultaneously. The enzyme activities were determined on various concentrations of starch and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in liquid medium. At 2 % starch + 0 % CMC, enzymes activities were 127.44 U/ml and 144.59 U/ml glucoamylase and 356.43 U/ml and 263.63 U/ml cellulase for Rhizopus and Fusarium sp respectively. When the organisms were grown on a solid medium (koji) supplemented with various concentrations of CMC, there was an increase in cellulase activities as CMC increased. Cellulase activity of 1902.02 U/g was recorded by Rhizopus sp at 1.5 g CMC supplementation and 1481.18 U/g was from Fusarium sp at 1 g CMC supplementation, but highest glucoamylase activities of 322.68 U/g and 302.12 U/g were recorded for Rhizopus and Fusarium spp respectively at 1 g CMC supplementation. Glucoamylase activities were not significantly affected by CMC supplementation in solid state culture.

Conclusion: The result of the study showed that the isolates were able to produce amylase and cellulase enzymes in appreciable quantities and therefore can find usefulness in industrial application of these enzymes.
Effect of Coadministration of Lambda Cyhalothrin and Different Local Spices on Testicular Histology in Swiss Mice
Authors: Olubunmi Obulor Adetutu , Orlu Eme Efioanwan , Veronica Adeleke Martina Toritse
Published: March 2022

Aim: This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of coadministration of lambda cyhalothrin and different local spices on testicular histology in Swiss mice

Experimental Design: A completely randomized experimental design using standard methods for analysis.

Location and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in the Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. GPS 4o47'50''N 6o58'49''E The study lasted for 14days.

Methodology: Forty-two male mice were randomly selected into six (6) groups A-F (n=7/group). Group B were gavage 10mg/kg/bw/day of lambda cyhalothrin (LCT) alone. Group C, D, and E were gavaged 10mg/kg/bw/day of LCT and 20mg/kg/bw/day of Tetrepleura tetraptera, Piper guineense, and Xylopia aethiopica respectively, while group F received 10mg/kg/bw/day of LCT and 20mg/kg/bw/day of combination of the three spices. All animals were allowed access to cool clean water and standard rat pellet ad libitum. Twenty-four hours to the termination of the experiment, feed was withdrawn from the animals. From each mouse, 0.5g of testis was fixed in 10% formalin and sectioned with a Digital Microtome at 5µm thick and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H &E). Photomicrographs were generated with a digital Microscope Biosphere Miller B with an image processor DN2 – Microscopy Image processing Software at X40 magnification.

Results: Histological analysis of the testes reveal epithelium devoid of spermatogenic element in group B animals administered lambda cyhalothrin only, depicting that LCT impaired spermatogenesis in the mice. In group C the seminiferous epithelium had normal spermatogenic cell complement comparable to the control in group A. In group D, E and F there was gradual regeneration of the interstitial cells of leydig and the accompanying repopulation of the seminiferous epithelium. This reveals that Tetrapleura tetraptera seem to have a greater antioxidant and therapeutic effect against the cyhalothrin-induced reproductive toxicity in exposed animals compared to Piper guineense and Xylopia aethiopica. Therefore, uncontrolled dietary inclusion of Piper guineense and Xylopia aethiopica is not advised as it may hinder spermatogenesis in males. Also, regulatory bodies should ensure that people and wildlife are not exposed to pesticides and insecticides at levels that may cause adverse effects by restricting the handling of such pesticides to Professionals.
Microfinance Financial Strategies and Business Growth of Women Entrepreneurs in Gboko, Benue State Nigeria
Authors: Fabian Anoke Amechi , Isyaku Okpanaki Ibrahim,
Published: March 2022

Aim: This study aims to determine the effect of microfinance financial strategies on business growth of women entrepreneurs in Gboko, Benue state, Nigeria.

Study Design. The study adopted the survey research design to achieve the objective of the study since data are to be obtained from predefined group of respondents who are staff of registered MFBs in Gboko, Benue State.

Place and Duration of Study: The study covers 7 Registered Microfinance Banks (RMFBs) in Gboko, Benue State Nigeria; between January 2021 and January 2022.

Methodology: The population was 395 Staff of RMFBS; it is a census study since the population is the same as sample size. The questionnaire was the only instrument of data collection used in the study to collect data from sampled respondents who are junior (208), medium (139) and top staff (48) of the sampled banks.  Regression was used to analyize the formulated hypotheses.

Results: The study revealed that there is a strong association between soft loan financial strategy and women entrepreneurs’ business growth; loan repayment strategy has a substantial influence on the women entrepreneurs’ business growth, while management training strategy has no major effect on the growth of women entrepreneurs’ businesses in Gboko, Benue State.

Conclusion: The study concluded that soft loan financial strategy and loan repayment strategies are vibrant strategic tools for achieving women entrepreneurs’ business growth in Gboko, Benue State, Nigeria. The study recommended among others that Microfinance Banks in Gboko should increase the number of soft loans administered to women entrepreneurs’ for optimal growth of their business since this is seen as a catalyst for women entrepreneurs’ business growth and sustainability in a depressed economy like Nigeria.
Performance Comparison Analysis Michmon and Usermanagers on Microtic
Authors: Mulyanto Yudi , Susanto Eri Sasmita
Published: March 2022

The current condition is that the Village Bumdes in Sepakat does network management using the hotspot feature found on Mikrotik. This hotspot feature has Authentication, Authorization and Accounting functions (AAA) with the license used on MikroTik, which is a level 4 license which means it has a maximum active user limit of 50 users. The purpose of this research is to find out a better performance comparison between Mikhmon and Usermanager and also provide an alternative solution which is better in Mikrotik management between Mikhmon and Usermanager. The data collection methods used are observation, interviews, and literature studies and use the Quality Of Service (QoS) analysis method. The results of the research that has been carried out are in order toprovide an alternative solution which is better in managing mikrotik between Mikhmon and Usermanager.
Conservation Threats of White-Bellied Heron (Ardea insignis) in Zhemgang District, Bhutan
Authors: Sherub Karma , Cheku Cheku , Phuntshok Phuntshok , Dorji Namgay
Published: March 2022

The study was conducted in 2018 along the Mangdechhu river basin and Bertichhu stream of Zhemgang district, which are the important habitats for White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis) in Bhutan. We have documented the anthropogenic threats, directly affecting the survival of the species through focal sampling along established transects at the study area. The major anthropogenic threats leading to the habitat degradation encountered were overhead hydropower transmission lines installed across the river/stream, firewood collection from riverbank, sand/stone quarry, temporary cattle herding camp and grazing, camping/picnicking and fishing. This study found that the sites used for foraging and resting by the species should be strictly monitored and protected from the human disturbances.
Forecast Analysis of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product in Economic Growth using Time Series ARIMA
Authors: Borbor B. S. , Brew L.
Published: March 2022

This paper analyses Ghana’s gross domestic product using time series Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA). Time series analysis involves the application of statistical models to time series data and is useful for analysing the dynamics of Gross domestic product. The Ghana’s Gross domestic products (GDP) from 1980 to 2020 were obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) datasets.  Box Jenkins’s methodology of time series analysis was employed to analyse the data.  The autocorrelation function (ACF) and partial autocorrelation function (PACF) plot suggested an Autoregression of order one AR(1). The (ARIMA) models were obtained using the minimum AIC criteria. Model diagnostics tests were performed using Ljung-Box test. The paper established that Ghana’s GDP will incline throughout the period of 2021-2025.
Diet and Cardiovascular Disease: Venous Thrombo-embolism
Authors: Agarwal Shashi K.
Published: March 2022

Venous thromboembolism is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality.  It is estimated to be the second most common medical complication, the second most common cause of prolonged hospitalisation, and the third most common cause of excess mortality. Recurrences are common. Anticoagulation is usually given for three months. However, inefficiency and major bleeding is often noted. External compression devices and balloon or direct thrombectomy and insertion of inferior vena cava filters are also available. Increasing data indicate that diet may play an important role in preventing venous thromboembolism. Obesity, which is significantly related to diet, may contribute to 30% of all venous thromboembolism cases. Further, plant-based diets, such as the Mediterranean, prudent, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diets are related to a lower incidence of venous thromboembolism. This manuscript reviews the published literature on the relationship of various dietary components and dietary patterns, and their impact on the development and progression of venous thromboembolism.
In vivo Chemosuppressive effects of Combinations of Three Nigerian Ethnomedicinal Antimalarial Plants
Authors: Odediran Samuel Akintunde , Ehigie Adeola Folasade , Akadiri Simbiatu Oyinda , Abiola Bamikole Ridwan , Adeniyi Ridwan , Adeoti Ridwan , Aladesanmi Joseph Adetunji
Published: March 2022

Aims: Appropriate ratios for combining some African ethnomedicinal plants with proven anti-plasmodial activity were determined with the aim of obtaining herbal remedies with higher efficacies.

Place and Duration of the Study: Study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacognosy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria.

Study Design: Infusions of dried powders of three Nigerian ethnomedicinal plants, Eugenia uniflora leaf, Gongronema latifolium root and stem and Artocarpus altilis stem bark, were separately evaluated and in varied combination ratios for their anti-plasmodial activities

Methodology: The infusions were separately prepared, concentrated in vacuo, freeze-dried and evaluated at 400mg/kg against Plasmodium berghei berghei parasites, using the Peter’s four-day chemosuppressive mice model. Normal saline and chloroquine (10mg/kg) were negative and positive controls, respectively. 2- and 3-combinations of the infusions were similarly tested.

Results: Of the 2-plant combination ratios, 1:1, 1:3, 2:3 of EG and GA elicited percentage chemo suppressions which were comparable (P=.28; P=.07) to those of the single drugs. Only the EG ratios gave activities that were comparable (P=.28) to the positive control in addition to double survival times and high survivor values by EG 2:3 and GA 1:3. However, those of the EA group, gave relatively low values, barely above 20% with only the ratios 2:3 and 3:2 giving values which were significantly (P=.00) higher than negative control with double survival times. The 3-plant combination ratios, EGA 2:1:2 and 3:3:2 gave suppressions that were significantly (P=.00) higher than the negative control with others but comparable (P=.33) activities to those of the individual drugs. The other ratios with low suppression values were relatively inactive. But three ratios, EGA 3:1:2, 2:1:1, 1:1:1 elicited survival times doubled (204, 242 and 202 %) that of the negative control without commensurate high antiplasmodial activities.

Conclusion: Ethnomedicinal antimalarial plants should not be combined without a data of previous scientific evaluations.