bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Evolution of LC Troubleshooting: Protective Devices and Column Repair
Authors: Stoll Dwight R.
Published: September 2023

As chromatography technologies change, our approaches to using them in ways that value reliability, as well as the ways we should approach troubleshooting and fixing problems, should also change. In this installment, we survey several protective and troubleshooting strategies, and discuss which approaches have changed over time, and which ones have not. Understanding how the use of these approaches has evolved is helpful both for designing reliability into new methods and when considering updates to legacy methods that have been in use for decades.
Emerging Frontiers of Public Safety: Synergizing AI and Bioengineering for Crime Prevention
Authors: Arroyo Jinnifer
Published: September 2023

The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and biological engineering technology (BET) can potentially revolutionize public safety efforts. However, the responsible use of these technologies requires crucial considerations. This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-method to examine the governance mechanisms apropos AI and BET in the context of crime prevention in the Philippines. It identifies several key components that contribute to establishing governance mechanisms, including multisectoral agencies, legislative initiatives, and regulatory frameworks. The study also identifies a 3-factor model for the governance convergence of AI and BET in public safety. These factors include empowerment and sufficiency, ethical considerations, and laws and regulations. The findings underscore the notable implications of integrating AI and BET into public safety efforts, such as improving surveillance systems, proactively preventing public health crises, and optimizing emergency response capabilities. However, ethical considerations and regulatory guidelines must be in place to address privacy concerns and mitigate potential risks associated with these technologies. The convergence of AI and BET also presents opportunities for sustainability. Nevertheless, concerns arise regarding its improper utilization. Based on the study's findings, policy recommendations are directed at ethical considerations, governance and regulation, and sustainability. These policy actions aim to address the opportunities and challenges associated with the convergence of AI and BET in public safety, ensuring responsible and beneficial use within the framework of Public Safety 4.0.
Pazarlama Araştırmalarında Kullanılan Likert Tipi Ölçeklerdeki Cevap Alternatifi Sayısının Ölçek Güvenilirliğine Etkisi
Authors: BARAN Tamer , EFENDİOĞLU İbrahim Halil , ÖZKAN Bekir , KOÇ Fatih
Published: September 2023

Pazarlama alanında yapılan çalışmalarda kullanılan ölçeklerin güvenilir olması elde edilecek sonuçların sağlıklı olması açısından büyük önem arz etmektedir. Söz konusu ölçeklerin güvenilirliğinin test edilmesinde farklı değerler ele alınmaktadır. Bunlar içerisinde en çok kullanılan yöntem Cronbach Alfa değerlerinin hesaplanmasıdır. Çalışma yapısında ve veri toplamada kullanılan farklı yöntemler bu değerlerin sonuçlarını etkileyebilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, pazarlama araştırmalarında kullanılan Likert tipi ölçeklerdeki cevap alternatiflerinin Cronbach Alfa katsayılarında bir değişime neden olup olmadığının belirlenmesidir. Bu doğrultuda, Türkiye’de ULAKBİM indeksinde taranan ve pazarlama alanında yayım yapan iki dergide yayımlanmış 347 makale incelenmiştir. Bu makaleler çalışmanın yazarlarınca içerik analizine tabi tutulmuştur. Anket yöntemiyle veri toplanan, Cronbach Alfa katsayısı verilen ve 5’li (470 ölçek) ile 7’li (140 ölçek) Likert tipi ölçek kullanılan 197 makale analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler betimleyici analiz ve Bağımsız Örneklemler T-Testi kullanılarak test edilmiştir. Bulgular 7 cevap alternatifli ölçeklerin güvenilirlik ortalamasının 5 cevap alternatifli ölçeklerin ortalamasına göre daha yüksek olduğunu ancak söz konusu farkın istatistiki olarak anlamlı olmadığını ortaya koymuştur. Çalışmanın bulguları doğrultusunda araştırmacılara önerilerde bulunulmuştur.
Gestión Moderna de Portafolio
Authors: León Camacho Bernardo , Zapata Quimbayo Carlos Andrés
Published: September 2023

Presenta a nivel teórico y aplicado los principales desarrollos que han consolidado la teoría moderna de portafolio. Para ello, se presentan los elementos fundamentales del modelo media-varianza introducido por Markowitz en 1952 para la construcción de portafolios óptimos, así como sus principales extensiones mediante la incorporación de otras medidas de riesgo como: las medidas de semivarianza, el VaR o CVaR, entre otros; así como diferentes medidas de desempeño como: Sharpe, Sortino, Treynor, Omega, entre otras.Asimismo, se presentan diferentes formulaciones del problema de optimización de portafolio a partir de la incorporación de enfoques mucho más robustos como: el enfoque bayesiano, la optimización robusta de portafolio y el enfoque de paridad de riesgo. Además, se introducen los criterios ASG para el diseño de estrategias de inversión óptimas, los cuales permiten redefinir el modelo de optimización de portafolios para la incorporación de nuevas preferencias de los inversionistas.
The Effects of Remifentanil, Dexmedetomidine, and Metoral as Adjuncts to Thiopental on Hemodynamic Status After Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Authors: Tajabadi Nastaran , Kamali Alireza , Alaghmand Anita , Jamilian Hamidreza , Pazooki Shirin , Tajerian Amin
Published: September 2023

Background: Depression is a prevalent mental disorder affecting more than 300 million people of all ages globally. Despite being the first-line treatment for depression, antidepressant medications are only effective for 60% - 70% of patients. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for severe cases, although it can result in short-term side effects. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of remifentanil, dexmedetomidine, and metoral as premedications for ECT in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: In this prospective double-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial, a total of 120 MDD patients aged 18 - 60 were included. They were randomly assigned to receive remifentanil, dexmedetomidine, or metoral in combination with thiopental before ECT. Hemodynamic responses (mean arterial blood pressure, pulse rate, arterial blood oxygen saturation), seizure duration, recovery time, agitation scores, and patient satisfaction scores (reverse coded) were measured and compared. Results: Dexmedetomidine exhibited superior hemodynamic control with lower mean arterial blood pressure (P < 0.001) and pulse rate (P < 0.001) than remifentanil and metoral. Patients receiving dexmedetomidine or remifentanil showed reduced agitation (P < 0.001) and better satisfaction than the metoral group (P < 0.001). Remifentanil displayed intermediate outcomes, while metoral exhibited the least favorable results. Seizure duration was not significantly different between the dexmedetomidine and remifentanil groups (P = 0.843). Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine is considered the most satisfactory group due to the better control of blood pressure, heart rate, and agitation and better patient satisfaction despite the longer recovery time.
That Obscure Object that Sounds. Metamorphoses of the Composer’s Score in the Opera Industry
Authors: Dubov N.
Published: September 2023

In the 20th century, the composer’s music score acquired the status of the firmest and almost sacred core of the opera in stage performance. Battles between traditionalists and Regieoper lovers are still ongoing both online and offline. However, oaths of allegiance to it and accusations of wrongdoing against it show that it is almost impossible to maintain the inviolability of the score in theater practice. The history of opera presents various approaches to this problem. From the birth of the art of opera, the composer was an equal contributor to the show, just like the set designer, stage manager, or impresario. However, their position underwent changes until the 19th century when the phenomenon of repertoire theater emerged, and the operatic canon began to establish itself. From then on, music started to be considered a sacred element of every opera evening. Nevertheless, even the most traditionalistic opera houses nowadays modify the original scores by removing especially long passages, changing original arias, and rewriting default music or text.This article o5ers a historical essay on the relationship between composers and the opera industry, and discusses types of modifications to opera scores, such as cuts, inserts, and the pasticcio phenomenon.
Diva Plavalaguna’s Aria
Authors: Manulkina O.
Published: September 2023

In the opera episode of Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element (1997), the alien Diva Plavalaguna performs an aria in which a fragment of theMad scenefrom Act III of Gaetano Donizetti’s operaLucia di Lammermooris replaced by a vocalization composed by Eric Serra. This article examines the relationship of the vocalization to the opera number and the unified form of the aria, created by combining seemingly incompatible parts. The Diva’s aria, in a concise and elementary form, isla solita forma, the traditional form of the Italian aria of the first half of the nineteenth century. Even though most of Rossini’s, Bellini’s, and Donizetti’s operas — solo and ensemble — and many of Verdi’s numbers up to his mature operas, including his most popular arias, are based on this form,la solita formais often not perceived by the modern listener. The Diva’s aria, whose structure is wittily emphasized by its cinematic solution, offers a visualization and a lesson in hearing the central nineteenth-century operatic form. In addition, the article discusses nineteenth- and twentieth-century operatic practice, the way opera, and in particularLucia di Lammermoor, are performed, and the transformation of the operatic work from performance to performance, as well as from era to era. The inclusion of the vocalization in the aria of the Diva of Plavalaguna is considered in the context of the changes introduced into theMad sceneby the author of the opera and the opera divas of past centuries.
GREEN PRODUCT QUALITY, GREEN BRAND IMAGE, E-WOM TERHADAP GREEN CUSTOMER LOYALTY TRUST STRATEGI MARKETING
Authors: Yuwanti Destiyana , Sofriana Imaningsih Erna , Wibowo Wahyu , Yuwono Imam
Published: September 2023

Perubahan perilaku konsumen menjadi lebih green sangat menarik untuk diamati. Hal ini menjadi titik fokus penelitian ini, yaitu mengangkat topik green customer loyalty. Terdapat lima variabel yang akan menjadi pembahasan yaitu : Green Product Quality, Green Brand Image, e- WOM, Green Customer Loyalty, dan Trust. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui sejauh mana variabel-variabel yang merupakan elemen marketing tersebut dalam mempengaruhi green customer loyalty dengan dimediasi. Metode pengumpulan data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kuesioner. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini yaitu menggunakan skala likert. Hasil pengukuran variabel laten melalui alat ukur yang reliabel dapat dijamin akurat dan konsisten, sehingga dapat digunakan untuk mengambil kesimpulan yang tepat dalam analisis SEM. Kesimpulan dari penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Green Product Quality, Green Brand Image, dan E-Wom berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap trust. Trust, Green Product Quality, Green Brand Image, dan E-Wom berpengaruh positif tetapi tidak signifikan terhadap customer loyalty, Efek mediasi Trust berpengaruh positif tetapi tidak signifikan pada Green Product Quality, Green Brand Image,dan E-Wom.
The Duty to Distribute Philosophy
Authors: Rocha James ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: September 2023

Philosophers unknowingly subscribe to two competing conceptions of philosophy. On the inclusive conception, teaching philosophy provides a valuable social good that should be distributed as much as possible. On the traditionalist conception, certain materials and techniques constitute the way philosophy should be taught, which must be conserved. Unfortunately, the traditionalist conception clings to methods that have repeatedly produced an elitist, hierarchal version of philosophy that inhibits diverse engagement. Given the value of philosophy, philosophers have a duty to distribute philosophy to a greater number of people, which requires embracing the inclusive conception. Acting towards this duty can be done by working beyond the classroom, spreading philosophy through service, and improving our teaching both to reach a more diverse audience and to follow pedagogical research, such as with experiential learning techniques. Philosophers should also ensure that the duty’s burden falls more on privileged philosophers who can take on the necessary sacrifices.
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN ISLAMIC ECONOMY
Authors: ANDRIANI EVA
Published: September 2023

EVA ANDRIANI

Universal Institut of Professional Management United State of America /

Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Tarbiyah Muhammadiyah Lumajang Indonesia
LECTURERS AND STUDENT TEACHERS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENTS’ OWN PERCEPTIONS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY OF KITWE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION - ZAMBIA
Authors: Kumatongo Brighton , Muzata Kenneth K.
Published: September 2023

The level of education attained by students is dependent on their ability to understand learnt concepts and demonstrate their acquired knowledge and skills in problem solving as well as their performance academically. This study sought to investigate the perceptions of lecturers on academic performance of student teachers with hearing impairments. A descriptive case study was used as research design. The study sample included three (3) Lecturers and four (4) student teachers with hearing impairments making the total of seven (7) participants who were purposively sampled. Data was generated using interviews and analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis techniques based on emerging themes from the study. The study revealed that lecturers perceived student teachers with hearing impairments as average and below-average performers academically. The study further revealed that student teachers with hearing impairments had mixed feelings towards their academic performance and perceived their academic performance as being influenced by their inability to understand concepts as well as lecturers’ inability to handle them appropriately. The study recommended the need by educators of students with hearing impairments to have positive perception towards students in order to instill self-positive regard in students. The study further recommended need for lecturers to adapt tests and examinations items in order to accommodate deaf student teachers.
GENOME AND GENETIC VARIATIONS OF CORONAVIRUSES
Authors: Alcochete António A. N.
Published: September 2023

The knowledge of genetics, using innovative technologies and methodologies that allow the analysis and comparison of multiple genomes of viruses, vectors and hosts, as a function of time and space is very informative because it allows the understanding of the origin, evolution and geographical dispersion of the disease.
rOpenSci News Digest, April 2022
Authors:   The rOpenSci Team
Published: September 2023

Dear rOpenSci friends, it’s time for our monthly news roundup!
How do you measure the impact of a champions program?
Authors: Saibene Yanina Bellini
Published: September 2023

How do you measure the impact of a champions program? This was the central question of a working session at

CZI’s Accelerating Open Science in Latin America

workshop, convened by rOpenSci’s Community Manager Yani Bellini Saibene and attended by CSCCE’s Founder and Director, Lou Woodley. Measuring the impact of any kind of community program presents a series of challenges: What is the impact that you’re hoping your program will have?
New Package yfR
Authors: Perlin Marcelo S.
Published: September 2023

Package yfR recently passed peer review at rOpenSci and is all about downloading stock price data from Yahoo Finance (YF). I wrote this package to solve a particular problem I had as a teacher: I needed a large volume of clean stock price data to use in my classes, either for explaining how financial markets work or for class exercises. While there are several R packages to import raw data from YF, none solved my problem.
rOpenSci Champions Pilot Year: Training Wrap-Up
Authors: Saibene Yanina Bellini , Santistevan Camille , Sanghvi Maya , Woodley Lou , Salmon Maëlle , Lepore Mauro , Turner Heather , Corrales Pao
Published: September 2023

Our first cohort of the rOpenSci Champions Program has now completed the first phase of their training.One of the goals of this program was to ensure that all participants gained new skills and understanding.We wanted to support Champions and Mentors, but also those who applied to the program but were not selected.Therefore we ensured that all groups had access to different training opportunities.
rOpenSci Code of Conduct Annual Review
Authors: Saibene Yanina Bellini , Padgham Mark , Woo Kara , Carter Megan
Published: September 2023

This report presents our annual review of the rOpenSci Code of Conduct, reporting process, and internal guidelines for handling reports and enforcement.Updates Changes to the text, including addition of greater detail about acceptable and unacceptable behaviors in online settings.Added a new language, through doing the first translation of the text to Spanish.Changes to the committee.
Our First Peer-Reviewed Statistical R Packages!
Authors: Ross Noam , Padgham Mark
Published: September 2023

rOpenSci is

very

excited to announce our first peer-reviewed statistical Rpackages! One of rOpenSci’s core programs is software peer-review, where we use bestpractices from software engineering and academic peer-review to improvescientific software. Through this, we aim to make scientific software morerobust, usable, and trustworthy, and build a supportive community of practitioners.
Interesting Uses of censo2017 a Year After Publishing
Authors: Sepúlveda Mauricio Vargas
Published: September 2023

Summary This post is about the surprising uses I’ve noticed and the questionsabout the censo2017 R package, a tool foraccessing the Chilean census 2017 data, I’ve gotten since it was peer-reviewedthrough rOpenSci one year ago.
How to Save ggplot2 Plots in a targets Workflow?
Authors: Grenié Matthias
Published: September 2023

I really enjoy using targets for all of my data analysis projects, especially because it helps me structure all of the projects nicely in the same folder.For targets projects, I often produce several figures using ggplot2.However, there are no formal recommendations for saving ggplot2 objects (as opposed to static images) in a targets workflow.
rOpenSci News Digest, January 2023
Authors:   The rOpenSci Team
Published: September 2023

Dear rOpenSci friends, it’s time for our monthly news roundup! You can read this post on our blog.Now let’s dive into the activity at and around rOpenSci!rOpenSci HQ {targets} in Action Community Call Tuesday, 31 January 2023 20:00 UTC / Tuesday, 31 January 2023 15:00 EST / Wednesday, 1st February 07:00 AEDT.
Teaching targets with Penguins
Authors: Mowinckel Athanasia Mo , Nitta Joel
Published: September 2023

Many researchers are becoming more aware of the importance of reproducibility.Although reproducibility involves a diverse array of topics and tools, one rOpenSci package has gained considerable attention for enabling reproducible analysis pipelines in R: targets, by Will Landau.Why a targets workshop?
Scheduling Mastodon Posts in R with rtoot and GitHub Actions
Authors: LaZerte Steffi
Published: September 2023

A lot of what I do as rOpenSci’s community assistant is related to social media.I check for posts about rOpenSci packages, invite people to share usecases,advertise upcoming events, as well as promotingnew packages which completed software peer review.
Downloading snapshots and creating stable R packages repositories using r-universe
Authors: Ooms Jeroen
Published: September 2023

Downloading repository snapshots The new snapshot API lets you download a full copy of any CRAN-like repository on r-universe. You can use such a snapshot to mirror the entire CRAN-like repository on your own servers, or for example to build a stable, validated release of your package suite. The API endpoint is simply /api/snapshot and has several options to filter content.
CRediTas is Now Part of rOpenSci
Authors: Pueyo-Ros Josep
Published: September 2023

I’m thrilled to share that CRediTas has passed peer review and been accepted to rOpenSci as well as to CRAN. I am glad to acknowledge the editor Emily Riedered and the two reviewers Marcelo S. Perlin and João Martins. Their comments and support were really insightful. CRediTas is a tiny package to facilitate the tedious job of creating CRediT authors statements for scientific publications.
rOpenSci Champions Program Teams: Meet Ghozayel Elotteebi and Zebulun Arendsee
Authors: Elotteebi Ghozayel , Arendsee Zebulun
Published: September 2023

We designed the rOpenSci Champions Program with a mentorship aspect. Mentoring plays a significant role in the growth and development of both mentors and mentees alike.
Evaluating GitHub Activity for Contributors
Authors: Salmon Maëlle
Published: September 2023

Say you have a bug report or feature request to make to a package.How can you use information on GitHub to manage your expectations (will there be a quick fix) and actions (should you go ahead and fork the repository)?In this post, we shall go over sources of information and explain how they can be used.In the end, there is no magical recipe, except perhaps graciousness, as software is made by humans.
rOpenSci News Digest, May 2023
Authors:   The rOpenSci Team
Published: September 2023

Dear rOpenSci friends, it’s time for our monthly news roundup!
My Life with the R-universe
Authors: Kamvar Zhian N.
Published: September 2023

Summary Installing a package that has

just

been released to CRAN is painful for many users on Mac and Windows because often the difference between a ‘binary’ and a ‘source’ version is not immediately clear and they end up trying to install the source version, which leads to errors and heartbreak.When I was designing The Carpentries Workbench, I needed to make sure that people could reliably install R packages at

any time
Expanding our Community through Multilingual Publishing
Authors: Saibene Yanina Bellini , Corrales Pao , Campitelli Elio , Salmon Maëlle
Published: September 2023

We are excited to announce that, with the support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, NumFOCUS, and the R Consortium, we have begun the process of translating rOpenSci’s materials on best practices for software development, code review, and contribution to open source projects into Spanish.As part of this effort, we are also developing guidelines and tools for translating open source resources to reach a wider audience.
New cran.dev shortlinks to package information and documentation
Authors: Ooms Jeroen
Published: September 2023

Introducing cran.dev shortlinks! On r-universe you can find package repositories from many different organizations and maintainers. But sometimes you just want to lookup a particular CRAN package, without knowing the developer.The new cran.dev shortlink service lets you navigate or link directly to the r-universe homepage and docs of any established CRAN package.
Attract Contributors with 'help wanted' Issues
Authors: Salmon Maëlle , Saibene Yanina Bellini , LaZerte Steffi
Published: September 2023

Maintaining a package can be a lonesome activity, which sometimes poses a problem if you prefer team work or if you encounter a very thorny-for-you problem.Beside belonging to a supportive community of maintainers (like rOpenSci 😉), for collaborative help and commiseration you can try to build a community of contributors around your package!In this post, we’ll explore one tool helping you towards that goal: “help wanted” issues, with which your
Analysis of effective techniques and algorithms in terms of “text mining” to predict the authorship in Albanian language
Authors: Harizaj Miranda , Minga Arli , Harizaj Alfons
Published: September 2023

Natural Language Processing has gained a special importance and development in recent years, where the analysis of written texts through various techniques of “text mining” and the extraction of all their features is a prerequisite to be used and be further implemented for various purposes. In this paper it will be compared some of the most effective techniques and algorithms in termsof “text mining”, to predict the authorship of a written text in the Albanian language, using for training the model, a fund of articles written by some of the most well- known bloggers of Albanian journalism. When talking about finding the authorship of a text it must kept in mind many important elements such as: number of sentences, sentence structure, number of words in a sentence, repetition of the same word, length of words used, frequency of the use of punctuation, literary figures used; elements which best display the unique narrative style for each author. This paper can serve as a good starting point to go further to its specific objective, predicting the authorship of an anonymous text, but also for other applications related to “text mining”, referring to the Albanian language.
Тhe positive implications of the decentralization process on primary education management
Authors: Blazeski Aleksandar
Published: September 2023

Democratization has emerged as a need for the good of citizens, to improve the quality of life, the process of accession to communities (democratization of society, creating a democratic, accountable, transparent and accountable government) and to improve and maintain stable interethnic relations in the country. As in other segments, decentralization in education refers to the transfer of responsibilities from national to local level, thus placing primary and secondary education under the jurisdiction of municipalities. The decentralization process is changing the way schools are managed and managed where schools tend to become open learning centers, involving more entities, including parents and students, and local government officials, increasing cooperation with enterprises and NGOs such as and utilizing local resources in order to enrich the experience and raise the level of skills acquired. The research part is aimed at determining the effects of primary education management before and after the decentralization process. The research was conducted on a sample of respondents from primary school teachers, principals, ie deputy principals and professional associates from the pedagogical-psychological service in schools. A research questionnaire technique was used to conduct the research. The poll is anonymous and the questions are clearly worded. The obtained results from the research are processed quantitatively, and certain areas will be interpreted qualitatively.
Capitalism as an economic system. An empirical analysis of the capitalist financial stability during crisis
Authors: Tafa Besarta , Tafa Gjergji
Published: September 2023

Capitalism is a very powerful regime nowadays. Capitalism regards capital as a main factor of production. It supports the capitalist to benefit from wealth accumulation without putting this capital at risk. The mechanism to do so is called interest. This results in the following consequence; Weak competitors who are not able to provide a capital compared to that of a big capitalist are excluded from the competition and put aside. So, the capital is of nature to influence the basic economic decisions like what and whom to produce.At the state level, governments depend on the capital of capitalists to expend on development. The capital also influences policy making and election campaigns. In other words, the political and social life depends on the market which is in the hands of capitalists.This article empathizes the problems that accompany the capitalism by conducting an analysis of the financial stability. To achieve this, there are used the profitability ratios for 20 financial institutions in times of different crises that have affected the financial market. This article concludes that; in the todays’ economic environment, which is ever changing, the capitalist system might be at risk. It needs either restructuring or reconceptualization in order for the economic system to perform accurately.
The main factors affecting credit card use in Albania-the case of Tirana
Authors: Cani Klea , Mansaku Isida
Published: September 2023

Considering the importance of debt in the economy, this study aims to find out the main factors that indicate the changes in credit card usage in Albania. Moreover, the research is focused on answering the questions regarding the attitude of cardholders and non-cardholders in particular after Covid-19 pandemic. Firstly, specific data have been taken from the Bank of Albania and the information was used to release the position of credit cards in Albania in recent years, by illustrating the total number of credit card payments and the number of issued and active credit cards in years. After that, a survey was conducted through an online questionnaire and personal interviews in order to have a clear picture of the current use of credit cards in Tirana. Data collected and analyzed points out that the majority of citizens have knowledge about credit cards. It is indicated that education and level of income are the main factors that affect credit card usage. The pandemic situation affected also the behavior of customers, making them buy more often with credit cards. The data show that the biggest advantage regarding credit cards is that they are a very practical payment method. However, financial institutions should create other eligibility criteria that could be met by a wider proportion of the population and also they should be more informative. As this research paper is related only to people who live in Tirana, further study is needed to cover other regions of Albania as well.
Determinación del valor nutricional de bloques nutricionales obtenidos a partir de residuos agroindustriales enriquecidos
Authors: Chafla Ana Lucia , Aillón Fernanda , Silva Lucía , Acosta Iván
Published: September 2023

Los residuos agroindustriales cuentan con un alto potencial para ser aprovechados en diferentes procesos que incluyen la elaboración de nuevos productos con valor agregado. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la composición bromatológica de los bloques nutricionales con diferentes porcentajes de inclusión de caña de azúcar y residuos agroindustriales valorizados a través del enriquecimiento proteico producto de la fermentación en estado sólido (FES). Se empleó un diseño completamente al azar, donde se evaluaron cuatro tratamientos: saccharina (30%), residuos enriquecidos a base de harina de yuca, plátano y guayaba (30%), saccharina/residuos sin enriquecimiento (15%) y saccharina/residuos enriquecidos (15%); cada tratamiento con 3 repeticiones. Se determinó el contenido de materia seca (MS), fibra cruda (FC), cenizas (Cz), fibra detergente neutra (FDN) y proteína cruda (PC). Todas las variables fueron sometidas a análisis de varianza, prueba de Tukey (5%). Se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas (P<0.05) para el contenido de FC, FDN, FDA y PC. El tratamiento con 30% de adición de saccharina obtuvo el mayor contenido de PC (28.65%), FDN (26.59%) y FDA (10.87%) y los valores bajos se encontró en la mezcla de residuos sin fermentar. La caña de azúcar y los residuos agroindustriales molidos, fermentados y con aditivos utilizados como materias primas para la fabricación de bloques nutricionales pueden ser una alternativa en la alimentación de rumiantes gracias al contenido de energía-proteína, necesarios para obtener la máxima síntesis de microorganismos celulolíticos en rumen y, con ellos, una mayor digestión de la fibra de los alimentos.
Efecto de un extracto húmico en indicadores productivos en Zea mays L
Authors: Alvarez Lima Jenifer , Martínez Balmori Dariellys , Guridi Izquierdo Fernando
Published: September 2023

Los extractos húmicos de vermicompost constituyen una alternativa para la producción agraria sostenible, que permite disminuir el uso de productos sintéticos, agresivos a la salud humana y animal, y reducir los costos de producción, debido a su fácil acceso para los agricultores. El objetivo de esta investigación fue determinar el efecto que ejerce la aplicación foliar de diferentes diluciones de un extracto líquido, rico en sustancias húmicas, obtenido a partir de un vermicompost de estiércol vacuno, sobre indicadores productivos en plantas de maíz (Zea mays L.). Bajo un diseño completamente aleatorio, con tres repeticiones, se realizaron aplicaciones de tres diluciones del extracto húmico (1:40, 1:60 y 1:80, v:v) en tres momentos (15, 30 y 45 días después de la siembra), y se asumió como control a un grupo de plantas que se mantuvieron sin aplicación. Se analizaron algunas propiedades del extracto obtenido y se evaluó su efecto sobre los indicadores productivos: número de mazorcas por planta, número de granos por hilera, diámetro de la mazorca (con y sin granos), longitud de la mazorca, número de hileras por mazorca, masa de 100 granos, masa de la producción (con y sin paja) y rendimiento. Para la comparación múltiple de medias se utilizó el test de Turkey al 95% de confianza. Ocho variables manifestaron estímulos ante la aplicación de los lixiviados, mostrándose las mejores respuestas en presencia de las diluciones 1:60 y 1:80 (v:v), con rendimientos por encima de las 12,6 t.ha-1 (considerando la masa de la tusa).
Formulación y evaluación de una pulpa mixta de tomate de árbol (Solanum betaceum) y naranjilla (Solanum quitoense L), con conservación química y térmica, en la parroquia Santa Rosa, Cantón El Chaco, Provincia de Napo
Authors: Enríquez Estrella Miguel Ángel , Abad Cristian , Trujillo Ibarra Roberth Alexis , Iza Morocho Jean Carlo
Published: September 2023

El cultivo de tomate de árbol (Solanum betaceum) y naranjilla (Solanum quitoense L) en la parroquia Santa Rosa, cantón El Chaco, Provincia de Napo, ocupa un 65 % del sector productivo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue formular y evaluar una pulpa mixta generada con las frutas, con dos métodos de conservación (térmico y químico) y su posterior análisis sensorial, físico-químico y microbiológico. La localización del trabajo se determinó en dos etapas de producción y análisis, la investigación es de tipo cuantitativa y cualitativa, donde se aplicó un diseño completamente al azar AxB. Los resultados sensoriales, nos determinan que existen diferencia significativa en todos los tratamientos, en relación a los análisis físicos químicos, el pH generó una diferencia significativa y los sólidos solubles no tuvieron diferencia. En los parámetros microbiológicos mohos, coliformes, E coli, se encuentran dentro de los rangos establecidos en la NTE INEN 2337. La combinación del 60 % de tomate de árbol y el 40% de naranjilla, brinda al consumidor un producto agradable con los contenidos nutricionales básicos que brindan las dos frutas.
BRiM: A Modular Bicycle-Rider Modeling Framework
Authors: Stienstra Timótheüs J. , Brockie Samuel G. , Moore Jason
Published: September 2023

The development of computationally efficient and validated single-track vehicle-rider models has traditionally required handcrafted one-off models. Here we introduce BRiM, a software package that facilitates building these models in a modular fashion while retaining access to the mathematical elements for handcrafted modeling when desired. We demonstrate the flexibility of the software by constructing the Carvallo-Whipple bicycle model with different numerical parameters representing different bicycles, modifying it with a front fork suspension travel model, and extending it with moving rider arms driven by joint torques at the elbows. Using these models we solve a lane-change optimal control problem for six different model variations which solve in mere seconds on a modern laptop. Our tool enables flexible and rapid modeling of single-track vehicle-rider models that give precise results at high computational efficiency.
Identification of Novel Variant of EML4-ALK Fusion Gene in NSCLC: Potential Benefits of the RT-PCR Method
Authors:   Response Genetics, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, USA, Maus Martin K. H. , Grimminger Peter P. ,   Department of General, Visceral and Tumor Surgery, University of Cologne, GERMANY, Zeger Gary ,   Department of Pathology, Keck School of medicine, University of Southern California, USA, Stephens Craig , Huang Eric ,   Response Genetics, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, USA
Published: September 2023

Background: The discovery of the transforming fusion gene of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) with the echinoderm microtubule-associated protein like 4 (EML4) as an oncogene in 2007 has led toitsvalidation as a clinical target in NSCLC patients in a short period of time. Theinhibition of the anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinasehas demonstrated to prolong progression-free survival compared to the standard of care chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC that are ALK positive. However, the clinical implications of the 15 different variants of the EML4-ALK transforming gene described so far are currently not defined.Here we present a novel variant of the EML4-ALK fusion genewhich we named variant 3c.Methods: RNA extracted from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) specimensfrom patients with advanced and metastatic NSCLC was amplified, using primers and probes designed to detect specific EML4-ALK fusion gene fragments. Gel electrophoresis showed a different band for the new variant 3ccompared to the known bands of positive cell lines for variant 3a and 3b. These findings were further investigated by dye-terminator Sequencing and FISH.Results: The novel variant, detected in two NSCLC specimens, is longer than v3a and shorter than v3b, representing an 18 base pairinsertion of intron 19 of ALK between exon 6 of EML4 and exon 20 of ALK. All of the two samples showed exactly the same sequencing result. One of the samples was negative for FISH break apart testing and the other one showed a positive result, defined by ≥15% split nuclei as indicative of an ALK rearrangement.Conclusions: Compared to FISH technology, RT-PCR enables the detection of different isoforms of the EML4-ALK transforming gene, which can be validated by sequencing.Only one out of two samples that were positive for the new variant by RT-PCR could be confirmed by FISH. The clinical significance of the different variants, notably to resistance and response to ALK-Inhibitors and the concordance and sensitivity of FISH and RT-PCR should be subject to further investigations.
In Vitro and In Vivo 1H-MR Spectroscopic Examination of the Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors:   Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and the Department of Nuclear Medicine University of Cologne, Germany, Moka Detlef , Hahn J. , Sullentrop F.
Published: September 2023

Background: Paraneoplastic effects are some of the major side effects of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is known as a powerful tool to study cancer cell metabolism and cancer cell – host interactions. Aim of this study was to assess tumor cell metabolism and systemic effects using 1H-MRS. Methods: Spectroscopic analysis of 10 patients with RCC was compared with those of 15 healthy volunteers. Local tumor metabolism was assessed using image-guided 1H-in-vivo-spectroscopy in a 1.5 Tesla MR whole body tomograph. Systemic effects of RCC were measured using 1H-High-Resolution (HR) spectra of blood plasma samples in a 500 MHz Bruker DRX 500 spectrometer. Results: In-vivo-spectroscopy can significantly differentiate tumor tissue from healthy renal tissue by comparing their lipid composition. Moreover after detailed assignment of the various metabolites in blood plasma in the in-vitro-HR-spectra significant systemic alterations could be identified in patients with RCC especially regarding lipid and amino acid metabolism. Conclusion: This work indicates that using 1H-MRS both changes in tumor metabolism and resulting systemic/paraneoplastic effects can be assessed in patients with RCC. This approach therefore offers scope for diagnosis and therapy evaluation.
A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Phospholipase D1 Gene is Associated with Risk of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors:   Biomedical Research Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine,Korea, Han Joong-Soo , Park Shin-Young , Cho Ju Hwan ,   Biomedical Research Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine,Korea, Ahn Jin Seok , Park Keunchil ,   Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul 135-710, Korea, Kim Won Kyu ,   Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, Korea, Ahn Myung-Ju ,   Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul 135-710, Korea, Chang Brian Junho ,   John Muir College, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92092,USA, Kim Dong Jo ,   Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
Published: September 2023

Phospholipase D (PLD) has an important role in various biological functions including vesicular transport, endocytosis, exocytosis, cell migration, and mitosis. These cellular biological processes are deregulated in the development of various human tumors. In order to explore the relationship between the PLD1 gene and risk of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the PLD1 exon region were surveyed in 211 NSCLC patients and 205 normal controls. In this study, we identified six SNPs at exon 23 in the PLD1 gene. Among the six SNPs, the most notable was a heterozygous A to C transition at nucleotide 2698 (A2698C, p<0.001). In addition, the genotype frequencies of A2744C (AC+CC) and A2756C (AC+CC) were associated with gender (female, A2744C and A2756C: p=0.071) in NSCLC patients. Interestingly, although the SNP A2698C did not cause change in amino acid, correlation between odd ratio of NSCLC patients and the SNP A2698Cwas observed to be statistically significant.
The "Cross Talk" between the Receptors of Insulin, Estrogen and Progesterone in Neutrophils in the Synthesis of Maspin through Nitric Oxide in Breast Cancer
Authors:   Sinha Institute of Medical Science and Technology, Garia, 700084, India, Sinha Asru K. , Halder Umesh Chandra ,   Department of Chemistry, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India, (Bhattacharjee) Karabi Ganguly , Bhattacharyya Mau , Jana Pradipta
Published: September 2023

Purpose: The binding of either insulin, or estrogen or progesterone to their specific receptors on neutrophils has been reported to stimulate nitric oxide (NO) induced maspin synthesis in these cells. Experiments were carried out to determine the role of insulin receptor interaction in the nitric oxide induced maspin synthesis in neutrophils that was effected by estrogen or progesterone. Methods: Estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and progesterone receptor positive (PR+) neutrophils were isolated from the blood cancer subjects. Maspin was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay after in vitro translation of maspin mRNA. NO was determined by methemoglobin method. Results: It was found that pre incubation of normal neutrophils with insulin to reach equilibrium binding decreased both ER and PR numbers by ≈50% without changing the dissociation constants of the steroids binding. The reduction of ER or PR numbers on neutrophils due to the pretreatment with insulin resulted in the decreased NO induced maspin synthesis from 2.383 ± 0.014 nM to 1.454 ± 0.004 nM in the case of estrogen and in the decrease of maspin synthesis from 2.329 ± 0.012 nM to 1.410 ± 0.002 nM in the case of progesterone. The incubation of ER+ neutrophils or PR+ neutrophils with insulin further decreased the maspin synthesis from 1.422 ± 0.029 nM to 0.790 ± 0.004 nM in the case of estrogen, and from 1.138 ± 0.024 nM to 0.555 ± 0.003 nM maspin in the case of progesterone respectively compared to normal control. Conclusion: These results suggested that a “cross-talk” between the insulin receptors and the steroid receptors down regulated maspin synthesis in normal and in breast cancer neutrophils.
Simultaneous Determination of Metformin, Nateglinide and Gliclazide in Pharmaceutical Preparations Using Micellar Liquid Chromatography
Authors:   Department of Medicinal Chemistry. Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, 35116, Mansoura, Egypt, El-Wasseef Dalia Rashad
Published: September 2023

A micellar chromatographic method has been developed and validated for simultaneous separation and determination of metformin(MF), nateglinide (NT) and gliclazide (GL) . The separation was carried out using a Nucleosil C18 column, 150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm particle size, using micellar mobile phase consisting of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), n-propanol with UV detection. The optimum conditions for the simultaneous separation of the three drugs were 0.12 M SDS, 10% (v/v) n-popanol, 0.3% triethylamine adjusted to pH5.6 with a flow rate of 1 ml.min-1 and detection at 254 nm. The limit of detection (LOD) of MF, NT, GL were 0.047, 0.00115, 0.036 µg.mL-1 respectively. The method showed good linearity in the ranges of 0.4-16 µg.mL-1, (r2=0.999), 0.8-16 μg.ml-1 (r2=0.999) and 1-40 μg.ml-1 (r2=0.999) for MF, NT, GL respectively. The suggested method was successfully applied for the analysis of the three antidiabetic drugs in pharmaceutical preparations with average recoveries of 99.66%, 100.08% and 100.31% for MT, NT and GL respectively. The results obtained were in good agreement with those obtained from comparison methods. The method was validated regarding accuracy and precision.
Salivary Ceruloplasmin Ferroxidase & Oxidase Activities in Celiac Patients
Authors:   Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq, Hasan Hathama R. , Ghadhban Jasim M. ,   Head of GIT Center, Ministry of Health, Baghdad, Iraq, Kadhum Zahraa I. Abudal ,   Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq
Published: September 2023

The aim of the current study was to evaluate salivary ferroxidase ceruloplasmin activities in celiac patients with different histopathological severity. This study included 75 celiac patients with different mean age (18.68 ± 11.13) year, who had positive screen for celiac antibodies, and who had gastrointestinal symptoms. In order to simplify the comparison with the healthy control group, celiac patients were divided into two groups according to their histopathological severity: severe (marsh IIIa, b, c) & less severe (marsh 0, I). All these patients have been evaluating for salivary ceruloplasmin (Cp) concentration and Cp ferroxidase activities. To confirm the presence of the enzymatic activity of this protein, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was carried out and then stained for Cp ferroxidase, as well as for Cp oxidase activity. Furthermore, the concentrations of salivary total protein, albumin, and globulin were measured in the studied groups. A significant increase (p<0.05) in salivary concentration of ceruloplasmin was found in all above mentioned patients groups in comparison to that of the control group, except for total villous atrophy (marsh IIIc) patients subgroup. Salivary Cp ferroxidase activity revealed statistically significant decrease among the patient groups as well as between them and the control group. The result of salivary total protein and globulin showed presence a significant increase (p<0.05) in comparison to that of the control group. Meanwhile albumin levels was found to increase non-significantly (p=0.186).