bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Biventricular Myocardial Function with 2-Dimensional Strain and Conventional Echocardiographic Parameters: A Comparative Analysis in Healthy Infants and Patients with Severe and Critical Pulmonary Stenosis
Authors: Gozar Liliana , Iancu Mihaela , Gozar Horea , Sglimbea Anca , Cerghit Paler Andreea , Gabor-Miklosi Dorottya , Toganel Rodica , Făgărășan Amalia , Iurian Diana Ramona , Toma Daniela
Published: January 2022

Our aim was to compare the global longitudinal and regional biventricular strain between infants with severe and critical pulmonary stenosis (PS), and controls; to compare pre- and post-procedural strain values in infants with severe and critical PS; and to assess the correlations between echocardiographic strain and conventional parameters. We conducted a retrospective single-center study. The comparisons of echocardiographic variables were performed using separate linear mixed models. The overall mean right ventricle (RV) regional strains measured before intervention in PS patients was significantly different when compared to the control group (p = 0.0324). We found a significant change in the left ventricle, RV, and inter-ventricular septum strain (IVS) values from basal to apical location (p < 0.05). IVS strain values showed a higher decrease in mean strain values from basal to apical in PS patients. There was no significant difference in means of baseline and post-interventional strain values in PS patients (p > 0.05). Following the strain analysis in patients with PS, we obtained statistically significant changes in the RV global-4-chamber longitudinal strain (RV4C). The RV4C, which quantifies the longitudinal strain to the entire RV, can be used in current clinical practice for the evaluation of RV function in infants with severe and critical PS. The longitudinal and segmental strain capture the pathological changes in the IVS, modifications that cannot be highlighted through a classical echocardiographic evaluation.
Correlation between Peri-Implant Marginal Bone Loss Progression and Peri-Implant Sulcular Fluid Levels of Metalloproteinase-8
Authors: Guarnieri Renzo , Zanza Alessio , D’Angelo Maurilio , Di Nardo Dario , Del Giudice Andrea , Mazzoni Alessandro , Reda Rodolfo , Testarelli Luca
Published: January 2022

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze peri-implant marginal bone loss levels/rates and peri-implant sulcular fluid levels/rates of metalloproteinase-8 in three timeframes (6 months post-surgery—restoration delivery (T0)—and 6 (T6) and 24 (T24)-months post-loading) and to evaluate if there is a correlation between peri-implant sulcular fluid levels of metalloproteinase-8 and peri-implant marginal bone loss progression. Materials and Methods: Two cohorts of patients undergoing implant surgery between January 2017 and January 2019 were selected in this retrospective study. A total of 39 patients received 39 implants with a laser-microtextured collar surface, and 41 subjects received 41 implants with a machined/smooth surface. For each patient, periapical radiographs and a software package were used to measure marginal bone loss rates. Implant fluid samples were analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. The modified plaque index, probing depth, and bleeding on probing were also recorded. Results: High marginal bone rates at T24 were strongly associated with elevated rates between T0 and T6. The levels of metalloproteinase-8 were significantly more elevated around implants with marginal bone loss, in relation to implants without marginal bone loss. Marginal bone loss (MBL) rates at 24 months were associated with initial bone loss rates and initial levels of metalloproteinase-8. Conclusions: Peri-implant marginal bone loss progression is statistically correlated to peri-implant sulcular fluid levels of metalloproteinase-8. Moreover, the initial high levels of marginal bone loss and metalloproteinase-8 can be considered as indicators of the subsequent progression of peri-implant MBL: implants with increased marginal bone loss rates and metalloproteinase-8 levels at 6 months after loading are likely to achieve additional marginal bone loss values.
Investigating the Reliability of Novel Nasal Anthropometry Using Advanced Three-Dimensional Digital Stereophotogrammetry
Authors: Li Zhouxiao , Liang Yimin , Schenck Thilo Ludwig , Frank Konstantin , Giunta Riccardo Enzo , Koban Konstantin Christoph
Published: January 2022

Three-dimensional surface imaging systems (3DSI) provide an effective and applicable approach for the quantification of facial morphology. Several researchers have implemented 3D techniques for nasal anthropometry; however, they only included limited classic nasal facial landmarks and parameters. In our clinical routines, we have identified a considerable number of novel facial landmarks and nasal anthropometric parameters, which could be of great benefit to personalized rhinoplasty. Our aim is to verify their reliability, thus laying the foundation for the comprehensive application of 3DSI in personalized rhinoplasty. We determined 46 facial landmarks and 57 anthropometric parameters. A total of 110 volunteers were recruited, and the intra-assessor, inter-assessor, and intra-method reliability of nasal anthropometry were assessed through 3DSI. Our results displayed the high intra-assessor reliability of MAD (0.012–0.29, 0.003–0.758 mm), REM (0.008–1.958%), TEM (0–0.06), rTEM (0.001–0.155%), and ICC (0.77–0.995); inter-assessor reliability of 0.216–1.476, 0.003–2.013 mm; 0.01–7.552%, 0–0.161, and 0.001–1.481%, 0.732–0.985, respectively; and intra-method reliability of 0.006–0.598°, 0–0.379 mm; 0 0.984%, 0–0.047, and 0–0.078%, 0.996–0.998, respectively. This study provides conclusive evidence for the high reliability of novel facial landmarks and anthropometric parameters for comprehensive nasal measurements using the 3DSI system. Considering this, the proposed landmarks and parameters could be widely used for digital planning and evaluation in personalized rhinoplasty, otorhinolaryngology, and oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Dynamic Conditional Bias-Adjusted Carry Cost Rate Futures Hedge Ratios
Authors: Leistikow Dean , Tang Yi , Zhang Wei
Published: January 2022

This paper proposes new dynamic conditional futures hedge ratios and compares their hedging performances along with those of common benchmark hedge ratios across three broad asset classes. Three of the hedge ratios are based on the upward-biased carry cost rate hedge ratio, where each is augmented in a different bias-mitigating way. The carry cost rate hedge ratio augmented with the dynamic conditional correlation between spot and futures price changes generally: (1) provides the highest hedging effectiveness and (2) has a statistically significantly higher hedging effectiveness than the other hedge ratios across assets, sub-periods, and rolling window sizes.
The Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Risk Factors and Option-Implied Expected Market Risk Premia: An International Perspective
Authors: Nieto Belén , Rubio Gonzalo
Published: January 2022

Institutional investors often have to decide which strategy to use across international business cycles. This is especially important during economic and financial crises. The exogenous nature of the outbreak of the dramatic COVID-19 crisis represents a unique opportunity to understand the performance of risk factors during severe economic times across international stock markets. Even more important is to analyze how these factors behave across very different economic crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Recession. Although, the overall results show that the momentum and quality factors are the winners, with the value factor as the loser, this research also reports different responses of factors across crises and countries. The size, value, and defensive factors tend to perform worse during the health crisis relative to the Great Recession, while the momentum factor shows a poor performance during the financial crisis, but a positive one during the outbreak of COVID-19. The quality factor is an extraordinary defensive factor in both crises. Similarly, this paper reports heterogeneous responses of option-implied expected market risk premia across alternative stock market indices, and between the Great Recession and the COVID-19 crisis.
Cluster Enterprise Comprehensive Risk Assessment: Methodology Based on the Functional-Target Approach
Authors: Vertakova Yulia , Izmalkova Irina , Leontyev Evgeniy
Published: January 2022

The effectiveness of the unification of enterprises in the cluster is also associated with high uncertainty and risks. Thus, the development of theoretical approaches and methodological instruments for efficient risk management of enterprises under the conditions of cluster association is an urgent scientific task. The methodology of a comprehensive risk assessment of the cluster enterprise is based on the use of the approach for building a functional-target model of a cluster enterprise, and is reduced to the search for a response to the question: can an event change the value of a providing indicator in such a way that this will lead to a deterioration in the resulting indicator in each enterprise subsystem? Based on the results of forecasting external risks, it was established that the group of state and global risks, in particular, political, territorial and financial, is characterized by significant threats for the next 5 years for the studied cluster enterprises. We proposed and tested a methodology for a comprehensive assessment of the risks of cluster enterprises, based on a functional-target approach, according to which a cluster enterprise as a socio-economic system is considered as a set of three basic subsystems: management, production and financial and economic.
Organisational Support for High-Performance Athletes to Develop Financial Literacy and Self-Management Skills
Authors: Hong Hee Jung , Fraser Ian
Published: January 2022

This paper reports the results of analysing desk-based data on organisational support for high performance athletes to develop their financial literacy and self-management skills when transitioning out of sport. There are two research questions: (1) Do sport organisations provide support schemes or other interventions such that high-performance athletes develop their financial literacy and self-management skills? and (2) Do sport organisations provide financial support schemes for high-performance athletes’ retirements? If so, what do they involve? Desk-based data collection was applied to 23 sporting organisations; these comprised 21 national organisations representing 19 countries, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Oceanic National Olympic Committee (ONOC). Fifteen of the 23 organisations, representing 14 countries, provided some support or interventions on financial planning and self-management within their career assistance programmes. The findings also indicate that most organisations in 17 different countries did not provide any financial support for athletes’ retirements. While a number of sport organisations have developed appropriate interventions to assist high-performance athletes to develop financial literacy and self-management skills, such schemes appear only to be provided to high-performance athletes who have competed at the highest level e.g., Olympics, world championships, etc. Support for athletes at lower levels should also be developed and delivered by national governments, or by national sport organisations.
Factors Influencing Investments into Human Resources to Support Company Performance
Authors: Šebestová Jarmila Duháček , Popescu Cristina Raluca Gh.
Published: January 2022

Human resources are very important in a business; however, the return on investment in human resources is longer than in fixed assets, so entrepreneurs frequently consider how much to actually invest. This article, based on primary research, examines the motivations for investment when a 20% profit is typically invested with a model return of around 14%. Those findings are supported by the results presented in Archetype models based on similarity clustering. The results are based on an empirical study (278 respondents, omnibus survey) in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the study concludes that the business experience positively influences human resource management and future development to increase the investment share. In essence, this article displays the paramount importance of human resources and human resource management in the international business environment, demonstrating that investments in human resources are crucial to the success of all businesses, positively and consistently supporting organizations’ performance, and entrepreneurship will continue to remain a vital component of the activities belonging to the post COVID-19 era. In addition, in an era governed by the influences specific to the knowledge-based society and the knowledge-based economy, in which intellectual capital will be considered one of the most relevant intangible assets of entities all over the world, the measurement of human resources investment will turn out to be essential for the success of all businesses, while taking the necessary steps in supporting sustainability, sustainability assessment and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Financial Burden and Shortage of Respiratory Rehabilitation for SARS-CoV-2 Survivors: The Next Step of the Pandemic?
Authors: Dutheil Frédéric , Clinchamps Maelys , Baker Julien S. , Supriya Rashmi , Cole Alistair , Gao Yang , Navel Valentin
Published: January 2022

We read with great enthusiasm the recent article by Daynes et al [...]
A Survey of Outlier Detection Techniques in IoT: Review and Classification
Authors: Samara Mustafa Al , Bennis Ismail , Abouaissa Abdelhafid , Lorenz Pascal
Published: January 2022

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a fact today where a high number of nodes are used for various applications. From small home networks to large-scale networks, the aim is the same: transmitting data from the sensors to the base station. However, these data are susceptible to different factors that may affect the collected data efficiency or the network functioning, and therefore the desired quality of service (QoS). In this context, one of the main issues requiring more research and adapted solutions is the outlier detection problem. The challenge is to detect outliers and classify them as either errors to be ignored, or important events requiring actions to prevent further service degradation. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive literature review of recent outlier detection techniques used in the IoTs context. First, we provide the fundamentals of outlier detection while discussing the different sources of an outlier, the existing approaches, how we can evaluate an outlier detection technique, and the challenges facing designing such techniques. Second, comparison and discussion of the most recent outlier detection techniques are presented and classified into seven main categories, which are: statistical-based, clustering-based, nearest neighbour-based, classification-based, artificial intelligent-based, spectral decomposition-based, and hybrid-based. For each category, available techniques are discussed, while highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. The related works for each of them are presented. Finally, a comparative study for these techniques is provided.
Antecedents of Online Impulse Buying: An Analysis of Gender and Centennials’ and Millennials’ Perspectives
Authors: Cavazos-Arroyo Judith , Máynez-Guaderrama Aurora Irma
Published: January 2022

Impulse buying continues to be a relevant topic for retail management, yet few studies have examined the role of online impulse buying. This study analyzes the effect of impulse buying tendency on online impulse buying behavior through the mediation of normative evaluation and the urge to buy impulsively on the Internet. As a secondary objective, we aim to identify whether gender and generation influence the model. The research was conducted in Mexico with millennials and centennials who had previously bought products on the Internet. We used quantitative, explanatory, non-experimental, cross-sectional research. We applied an electronic survey, and, for the statistical technique, we used PLS. According to the results, impulse buying tendency both directly and indirectly influences online impulse buying behavior through the mediating roles of normative evaluation and the urge to buy impulsively on the Internet. Moreover, we found that gender does not have an effect on the model. Regarding generation, two significant differences were found between centennials and millennials.
Valuing the Benefits and Enhancing Access: Community and Allotment Gardens in Urban Melbourne, Australia
Authors: Bailey Aisling , Kingsley Jonathan
Published: January 2022

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of the benefits and challenges experienced by community and allotment gardens utilising a broad theoretical analysis, pertaining to the case study of Melbourne, a city in Australia that until recently has been experiencing significant population growth and urban densification. The study involved qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 23 participants from six urban community and allotment gardens. Interviews identified the perceived benefits of community and allotment gardening, perceived demographic patterns of engagement, challenges faced in relation to secure land access, and the potential offered by community and allotment gardens for social and environmental wellbeing. Findings revealed a range of perceived benefits, perceived demographic patterns, highlighted challenges posed to participation due to insecurity around ongoing land access, and detailed the perceived capacity community and allotment gardens have to contribute to social and environmental wellbeing. This study contributes to existing literature focused on the benefits and potential of community and allotment gardening for personal, social and environmental wellbeing, by offering an original theoretical contribution through carrying out an analysis informed by urban geography, phenomenology, political economy and ecology, and to literature focused on issues of access to land for these amenities.
The Assessment of the Tourism Potential of the Tagus International Nature Reserve Landscapes Using Methods Based on the Opinion of the Demand
Authors: Ferreira Dora Isabel Rodrigues , Sánchez-Martín José-Manuel
Published: January 2022

There are different methodologies to assess landscape preferences, however there is no consensual methodology that can be replicated to identify their tourism potential. Recent studies have focused on agricultural landscape preferences due to their cultural characteristics. Although agricultural activity conflicts with the management models of natural protected areas, traditional models and sustainable practices reveal opportunities to boost tourism in this area, both for their aesthetic value, and for the opportunity to preserve biodiversity and maintain “lively landscapes”. The present study focuses on a double approach to collect data to measure the preferences for landscape typologies to realize outdoor/recreative activities in Tagus International Nature Reserve (TINR), among them, agricultural landscapes, such as the agro-silvopastural system “Dehesa/Montado” or olive grove. The preference of the landscapes were evaluated through photographs with pairwise comparison and without photographs observation, in which 174 respondents were consulted with. The different methodologies applied allowed for the extraction of different results, which led to the assumption that in fact there is no single methodology to assess preferences. However, the application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology with photographical pairwise comparison allowed for the extraction of more robust results when considering attractions with tourism typologies, revealing that “Cultural tourism/Rural mixed” and “Agritourism” were the most valued. This information is pertinent to support TINR managers and local tourism promoters to plan and structure products and services based on button-up methodologies.
Most Attractive Scenic Sites of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast: Characterization and Sensitivity to Natural and Human Factors
Authors: Mooser Alexis , Anfuso Giorgio , Stanchev Hristo , Stancheva Margarita , Williams Allan T. , Aucelli Pietro P. C.
Published: January 2022

Beach management is a complex process that demands a multidisciplinary approach, as beaches display a large variety of functions, e.g., protection, recreation and associated biodiversity conservation. Frequently, conflicts of interest arise, since management approaches are usually focused on recreation, preferring short-term benefits over sustainable development strategies; meanwhile, coastal areas have to adapt and face a changing environment under the effects of long-term climate change. Based on a “Sea, Sun and Sand (3S)” market, coastal tourism has become a major economic sector that depends completely on the coastal ecosystem quality, whilst strongly contributing to its deterioration by putting at risk its sustainability. Among beach users’ preferences, five parameters stand out: safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery (the “Big Five”), and the latter is the focus of this paper. Bulgaria has impressive scenic diversity and uniqueness, presenting real challenges and opportunities as an emerging tourist destination in terms of sustainable development. However, most developing countries tend to ignore mistakes made previously by developed ones. In this paper, scenic beauty at 16 coastal sites was field-tested by using a well-known methodology, i.e., the Coastal Scenic Evaluation System (CSES), which enables the calculation of an Evaluation Index “D” based on 26 physical and human parameters, utilizing fuzzy logic matrices. An assessment was made of these high-quality sites located in Burgas (8), Varna (3) and Dobrich (4) provinces. Their sensitivity to natural processes (in a climate change context) and human pressure (considering tourist trends and population increases at the municipality scale) were quantified via the Coastal Scenic Sensitivity Indexes (CSSIs) method. The CSES and CSSI methods allowed us to conduct site classification within different scenic categories, reflecting their attractiveness (Classes I–V; CSES) and level of sensitivity (Groups I–III; CSSI). Their relationship made it possible to identify management priorities: the main scenic impacts and sensitivity issues were analyzed in detail and characterized, and judicious measures were proposed for the scenic preservation and enhancement of the investigated sites. Seven sites were classified as extremely attractive (Class I; CSES), but with slight management efforts; several Class II sites could be upgraded as top scenic sites, e.g., by cleaning and monitoring beach litter. This paper also reveals that investigated sectors were more sensitive to environmental impacts than human pressure; for example, eight were categorized as being very sensitive to natural processes (Group III; CSSI).
A Priority in Land Supply for Sustainable Transportation of Chinese Cities: An Empirical Study from Perception, Discrimination, Linkage to Decision
Authors: Wang Ke , Zhang Jianjun , Zhang Di , Wu Xia
Published: January 2022

With the rapid development of China’s economy, alleviating the shortage of land resources has become a significant challenge. Transportation infrastructure is a channel connecting cities, which carries the flow of population and material circulation. The efficient allocation of land used for transportation is closely related to production and life. By investigating the main factors affecting the priority of the supply of land used for transportation, this paper evaluates the transportation condition of all cities in China from five aspects: dominance, dependence, coordination, accessibility, and land demand for transportation. Furthermore, this paper constructs a multi-objective decision support system for land supply, which aims to find out which cities are in urgent need of the supply of land for transportation and what types of transportation infrastructure need to be focused on. The results of this paper show that most of the cities with high land supply priority are non-provincial capital cities and are important growth poles of regional economic development. The construction of a comprehensive transportation system is the short-term goal of these cities. Most cities with low land supply priority are sparsely populated, in good ecological condition, and far away from the core areas of economic development. The preferred transportation mode of these cities is generally land transportation. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a comprehensive decision support system for the land management department to determine land supply priorities and achieve the sustainable use of land.
Units of Military Fortification Complex as Phenomenon Elements of the Czech Borderlands Landscape
Authors: Kupka Jiří , Brázdová Adéla , Vodová Jana
Published: January 2022

This paper is focused on selected units of casemates with enhanced fortification in the military fortification complex of the Czech borderlands landscape as specific forms of brownfields. They represent a functional system that interacts with surrounding nature, landscape character, and human society. Four approaches were chosen to study the function and potential of selected individual abandoned casemates with enhanced fortification, where each of them corresponds to one of the four landscape layers: genius loci, socio-economic sphere, functional relationship (between human and the landscape), and natural conditions. There is a corresponding research method for each of the landscape layers (guided interview with respondents, data analysis on abandoned casemates with enhanced fortifications as brownfields, analysis of their landscape functions, and zoological survey of interior). The main results could show that abandoned casemates with enhanced fortifications can play important roles in all landscape layers: stories and genius loci, abandoned casemates with enhanced fortification as a special type of military brownfield but also as a semi-natural ecosystem, and the same time as a habitat for invertebrates. The analyses and surveys conducted clearly demonstrate that abandoned casemates with enhanced fortification as units of military fortification complex of the Czech borderlands landscape perform several hidden important functions in the landscape for which they cannot be viewed as brownfields. This hidden functional potential is most likely best described by the concept of hidden singularity, which offers itself for integration into basic approaches to brownfields.
Ecosystem Services from Ecological Agroforestry in Brazil: A Systematic Map of Scientific Evidence
Authors: Schuler Hanna R. , Alarcon Gisele G. , Joner Fernando , dos Santos Karine Louise , Siminski Alexandre , Siddique Ilyas
Published: January 2022

(1) Brazil has great potential to expand the area under agroforestry, and thereby simultaneously enhance multiple ecosystem services. However, divergent interests are currently polarized between drastic environmental deregulation and public resource allocation to chemical-intensive land use versus conservation and sustainable agriculture. This highlights an urgent need for a comprehensive overview of the evidence of the benefits to society generated by agroforestry across Brazil. (2) We present a systematic map of the scientific evidence related to the effects of agroforestry on ecosystem services in Brazil. (3) Reviewing 158 peer-reviewed articles, published in international scientific journals (database: Web of Science), we identified a disproportionate emphasis on the Atlantic Forest. Very little research has been published on the Cerrado savanna, Pampa grasslands and Pantanal wetlands. Regulating services were much more frequently studied (85%) than provisioning (13%), while cultural services represent a major gap. A consistent positive effect of agroforestry was demonstrated for soil quality, habitat and food provisioning. Trade-offs were demonstrated for soils and habitats. (4) Our analysis identifies high-priority gaps given their critical importance for human well-being which should be filled: agroforestry effects on water provision and regulation. Moreover, they should assess other ES such as erosion control, flood protection and pest control to enable a more reliable inference about trade-offs.
Model Selection for Ecosystem Respiration Needs to Be Site Specific: Lessons from Grasslands on the Mongolian Plateau
Authors: Zou Huimin , Chen Jiquan , Shao Changliang , Dong Gang , Duan Meihui , Zhu Qingsong , Li Xianglan
Published: January 2022

Selecting an appropriate model for simulating ecosystem respiration is critical in modeling the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems due to their magnitude and high variations in time and space. There is no consensus on the ideal model for estimating ecosystem respiration in different ecosystems. We evaluated the performances of six respiration models, including Arrhenius, logistic, Gamma, Martin, Concilio, and time series model, against measured ecosystem respiration during 2014–2018 in four grassland ecosystems on the Mongolian Plateau: shrubland, dry steppe, temperate steppe, and meadow ecosystems. Ecosystem respiration increased exponentially with soil temperature within an apparent threshold of ~19.62 °C at shrubland, ~16.05 °C at dry steppe, ~16.92 °C at temperate steppe, and ~15.03 °C at meadow. The six models explained approximately 50–80% of the variabilities of ecosystem respiration during the study period. Both soil temperature and soil moisture played considerable roles in simulating ecosystem respiration with R square, ranging from 0.5 to 0.8. The Martin model performed better than the other models, with a relatively high R square, i.e., R2 = 0.68 at shrubland, R2 = 0.57 at dry steppe, R2 = 0.74 at temperate steppe, and R2 = 0.81 at meadow. These models achieved good performance for around 50–80% of the simulations. No single model performs best for all four grassland types, while each model appears suitable for at least one type of ecosystem. Models that oil moisture include models, especially the Martin model, are more suitable for the accurate prediction of ecosystem respiration than Ts-only models for the four grassland ecosystems.
Public Law Restrictions in the Context of 3D Land Administration—Review on Legal and Technical Approaches
Authors: Kitsakis Dimitrios , Kalogianni Eftychia , Dimopoulou Efi
Published: January 2022

Intense exploitation of land implies the development of multi-level, multi-purpose, overlapping and interlocking structures on 3D space, thus resulting in complex, stratified, 3D real property rights between individual owners, as well as restrictions. Legislation regulates the ownership status and use of land by imposing restrictions known as Public Law Restrictions (PLRs). PLRs extend to various fields and various legislative frameworks, such as the protection of archaeological sites, protection and maintenance of underground infrastructures and utilities, environmental protection, flying of unmanned air vehicles, etc. PLRs are usually investigated in the context of property rights and restrictions in the various Land Administration Systems worldwide, and do not often gain specific attention. However, it is noticed that the restrictions that arise from Public Law need to be investigated and classified, so that they can be better utilised in the property status of land ownership. This review paper investigates the legal statutes on PLRs within the context of 3D land administration and the stipulations used to provide unambiguous modelling of PLRs, as provided by the relative literature. Moreover, the PLRs applied in the 3D space, to clearly depict rights, restrictions and responsibilities on the relevant spatial unit (land, air, marine parcel, mine, utility network, etc.), are particularly examined. Therefore, this work is to critically review and assess the aforementioned approaches on PLRs’ registration, modelling and organisation, as provided by a literature survey, and provides an overall view of the requirements and challenges within the development of 3D Land Administration Systems also considering standardisation developments.
Green May Be Nice, but Infrastructure Is Necessary
Authors: Mertens Elke , Stiles Richard , Karadeniz Nilgül
Published: January 2022

Green infrastructure is presented as a novel and innovative approach in the current environmental planning discourse, but how new is it really? An historical overview of planning ideas in both the urban and the rural contexts indicates that the concept, if not the term, “green infrastructure” has a very long and distinguished pedigree in the field of landscape and open space planning. To determine how far the concept is indeed new, definitions of green infrastructure from the literature are examined. While “green” has long been loosely used as a synonym for natural features and vegetation in the planning context, “infrastructure” is the part of the term which is really novel. Infrastructure is otherwise understood as being either “technical” or “social”, and the common features of these otherwise very different forms are considered in order to gain a better understanding of how they might also relate to a new interpretation of green infrastructure. A number of international case studies of different “green infrastructure” projects are then presented, again to better understand their common features and potential relationship to other infrastructure types. Finally, the necessity to consider green and blue areas together and to take them as seriously as other forms of infrastructure is emphasized. The developing climate and biodiversity crises underline the urgency of implementing a flexible and multifunctional green-blue infrastructure system. This must be carefully integrated into the existing fabric of both urban and rural landscapes and will require an appropriately resourced administration and management system, reflecting its beneficial impacts.
Does the Accessibility of Regional Internal and External Traffic Play the Same Role in Achieving Anti-Poverty Goals?
Authors: Yang Dazhi , Song Wei
Published: January 2022

Traffic development can promote the flow of goods and people, which has long been widely considered to have a poverty reduction effect but, in fact, is not unbreakable. The development of traffic is similar to economic and social development, with internal and external characteristics, but few studies have explored the differences between the effects of their poverty reduction. Taking the land traffic of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone (CCEZ) as an example, this paper represents traffic accessibility at a county level by relying on the average internal and external travel times. Rural poverty was identified by the pentagon of livelihoods to measure the Multidimensional Development Index (MDI). Furthermore, a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model was used to explore the relationship and spatial differentiation characteristics between county traffic accessibility and poverty. The results show that the traffic accessibility of the counties in the CCEZ was quite different. The average internal travel time was between 0.16 and 7 h, and the average external travel time was between 4.2 and 10.6 h. The radiation gradient structure centered on Chengdu municipal districts and the Chongqing main urban area, and the accessibility level needed to be improved. Furthermore, the MDI values of each county in the CCEZ showed the structural characteristics of “large bottom and small top”; additionally, the higher the high-value group of MDI, the stronger the spatial aggregation and the more obvious the characteristics of regional differentiation. Finally, the relationship between traffic accessibility and poverty in counties cannot be generalized. The improvement of external traffic accessibility obviously helped to improve the poverty situation in the CCEZ; the improvement of internal traffic accessibility had a multidimensional impact, but it was mainly due to the occupation or spillover of livelihood capital in rural areas; counties accounting for 82.74% would even reduce the MDI and, thus, aggravate poverty.
Crosslinguistic Influence in the Discrimination of Korean Stop Contrast by Heritage Speakers and Second Language Learners
Authors: Seo Yuhyeon , Dmitrieva Olga , Cuza Alejandro
Published: January 2022

The present study examines the extent of crosslinguistic influence from English as a dominant language in the perception of the Korean lenis–aspirated contrast among Korean heritage speakers in the United States (N = 20) and English-speaking learners of Korean as a second language (N = 20), as compared to native speakers of Korean immersed in the first language environment (N = 20), by using an AX discrimination task. In addition, we sought to determine whether significant dependencies could be observed between participants’ linguistic background and experiences and their perceptual accuracy in the discrimination task. Results of a mixed-effects logistic regression model demonstrated that heritage speakers outperformed second language learners with 85% vs. 63% accurate discrimination, while no significant difference was detected between heritage speakers and first language-immersed native speakers (85% vs. 88% correct). Furthermore, higher verbal fluency was significantly predictive of greater perceptual accuracy for the heritage speakers. The results are compatible with the interpretation that the influence of English on the discrimination of the Korean laryngeal contrast was stronger for second language learners of Korean than for heritage speakers, while heritage speakers were not apparently affected by dominance in English in their discrimination of Korean lenis and aspirated stops.
Preliminary Results on the Development of the Perception of Spanish /e/ and /ei/ by Heritage Learners vs. L2 Learners of Spanish in the Classroom
Authors: Icardo Isasa Ane
Published: January 2022

This exploratory study gives a first glance at the development of the perception of the Spanish /e/-/ei/ contrast by heritage learners in comparison to that of L2 learners in the classroom. To this end, two types of semester-long, explicit phonetic instruction training are compared: High Phonetic Variability Training (HPVT) with exposure to multiple sources of speech, and regular standalone phonetics courses with low variability of speech input (LPVT). Data from two identical pre-test and post-test ABX perceptual discrimination tasks were obtained from 27 students, as well as 7 control speakers whose primary language is Spanish. Results show that heritage learners perceive the contrast better than L2 learners, and that HPVT significantly improves the perception of the /e/-/ei/ contrast. Although heritage learners perform close to a native ceiling and do not significantly differ from native controls, the improvement from pre-test to post-test is larger in heritage learners enrolled in HPVT than LPVT training. These results suggest that, although the discrimination accuracy of Spanish /e/ and /ei/ is already high for heritage learners at the pre-test stage, High Phonetic Variability Training can be beneficial in the perceptual development of their heritage language, even matching their accuracy to that of native speakers.
The Emergence of a Mixed Type Dialect: The Example of the Dialect of the Bani ˁAbbād Tribe (Jordan)
Authors: Torzullo Antonella
Published: January 2022

The present article aims at questioning the status of the šāwi dialect of the Bani ʕAbbād tribe by providing a new analysis of the main distinctive phonological, morphological, and syntactical traits which may hint at dialect mixing. The data provided by the field research, based on a functional framework that relies on descriptive linguistics and a typological approach, show that this dialect is deeply affected by a koineizing tendency due to increasing contacts with the populations of the neighboring areas (especially ʕAmmān and Salṭ) which, in turn, leads to the gradual loss of its authentic features. Finally, this paper discusses whether the dialect of the Bani ʕAbbād should still be considered as belonging to the yigūl group (recently renamed Central Bedouin ygūlu) of the Syro-Mesopotamian sheep-raising tribes or if a new typology of mixed type dialects should eventually be adopted for the dialects displaying important markers of both Bedouin and sedentary types.
Swedish and Finnish Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Summative Assessment Practices
Authors: Hilden Raili , Oscarson Anne Dragemark , Yildirim Ali , Fröjdendahl Birgitta
Published: January 2022

Summative assessments are an exercise of authority and something that pupils cannot easily appeal. The importance of teachers being able to assess their pupils correctly is consequently both a question of national equivalence and individual fairness. Therefore, summative assessment is a paramount theme in teacher education, and we aimed to investigate the perceptions and competence of student teachers regarding common summative assessment practices. The study was conducted at three universities, two in Sweden and one in Finland involving prospective language teachers responding to an online survey (N = 131). In addition, interviews were carried out with 20 Swedish and 6 Finnish student teachers. The analysis of the data indicates that student teachers value practices that enhance communication and collaboration as well as the curricular alignment of summative assessments. With respect to perceived competence, the respondents in general felt most confident with deploying traditional forms of summative assessment, while they were more uncertain about process evaluation and oral skills. Regarding significant differences in the participants’ perceptions of competence among the three universities, Finnish university students reported higher levels in all variables. However, room for improvement was found at all universities involved.
Blue Laser Light Counteracts HSV-1 in the SH-SY5Y Neuronal Cell Model of Infection
Authors: Zupin Luisa , Crovella Sergio
Published: January 2022

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is wide-spread virus that triggers painful and recurrent infections, as herpes labialis, causing blister lesions on the lip. HSV-1 infection can be a lifelong condition starting from childhood due to the latency of the virus hidden in the trigeminal ganglia. Despite the use of antiviral treatments, there is not a resolutive cure for herpes. In our study, we tested blue light against HSV-1 in a neuronal cellular model, aimed at mimicking the neuronal tropism of HSV-1. Two laser protocols employing continuous wave and pulse modalities were delivered to infected cell cultures and to the virus alone. A significant reduction of viral replication was observed when the beam was directly applied to the virus, along with an increase in cell survival. Our findings, considering the limitation of the still-unknown mechanisms by which the blue light acts on the virus, suggested a potential use of photobiomodulation therapy for clinical applications against herpes labialis in pediatric patients.
Renoprotection of Selected Antioxidant-Rich Foods (Water Spinach and Red Grape) and Probiotics in Gentamicin-Induced Nephrotoxicity and Oxidative Stress in Rats
Authors: Sarwar Sneha , Hossain Md. Jamal , Irfan Nafis Md. , Ahsan Tamima , Arefin Md. Saidul , Rahman Arebia , Alsubaie Abdullah , Alharthi Badr , Khandaker Mayeen Uddin , Bradley David A. , Emran Talha Bin , Islam Sheikh Nazrul
Published: January 2022

Objectives: The current study investigated the curative effects of two selected antioxidant-rich foods (water spinach and red grape) and probiotics on the kidney exposed to nephrotoxicity induced by gentamicin. Methods: A total of 30 Wistar Albino female rats equally divided into six groups were studied for seven days. Except for the normal control (NC) group, all groups received 80 mg/kg/day gentamicin (GEN) injection intra-peritoneally for seven days. NC and GEN groups received only regular diet. In the water spinach group (GEN + WS) and red grape (GEN + RG) groups, rats were provided with 20 g/rat/day of boiled water spinach and 5 mL/rat/day of red grape juice, respectively. The probiotic (GEN + P4) and (GEN + P8) groups received 4 × 109 and 8 × 109 viable bacteria, respectively. On the 8th day, all the rats were sacrificed to collect blood and kidney. Serum creatinine, urea, uric acid, malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were analyzed. In addition, kidney histopathology was taken for final observation. Results: Both antioxidant-rich foods and probiotic (P4) significantly (p < 0.05) attenuated the GEN-induced oxidative and nitrosative stress and improved kidney function by lowering uremic toxin (serum creatinine, and uric acid) levels. Histopathological findings of kidney tissues of all groups were consistent with the biochemical findings. Conclusion: The current preclinical study suggests that the consumption of antioxidant-rich foods might be a promising fighting option against gentamycin-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative stress. However, extensive studies and clinical monitoring are immediately required to determine the appropriate probiotic doses and mechanism of action for such effects.
Characterization, Comparison of Four New Mitogenomes of Centrotinae (Hemiptera: Membracidae) and Phylogenetic Implications Supports New Synonymy
Authors: Yu Ruitao , Feng Leining , Dietrich Christopher H. , Yuan Xiangqun
Published: January 2022

To explore the phylogenetic relationships of the subfamily Centrotinae from the mitochondrial genome data, four complete mitogenomes (Anchon lineatus, Anchon yunnanensis, Gargara genistae and Tricentrus longivalvulatus) were sequenced and analyzed. All the newly sequenced mitogenomes contain 37 genes. Among the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) of the Centrotinae mitogenomes, a sliding window analysis and the ratio of Ka/Ks suggest that atp8 is a relatively fast evolving gene, while cox1 is the slowest. All PCGs start with ATN, except for nad5 (start with TTG), and stop with TAA or the incomplete stop codon T, except for nad2 and cytb (terminate with TAG). All tRNAs can fold into the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, except for trnS1, which lacks the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm. The BI and ML phylogenetic analyses of concatenated alignments of 13 mitochondrial PCGs among the major lineages produce a well-resolved framework. Phylogenetic analyses show that Membracoidea, Smiliinae and Centrotinae, together with tribes Centrotypini and Leptobelini are recovered as well-supported monophyletic groups. The tribe Gargarini (sensu Wallace et al.) and its monophyly are supported.
Loss of Corticostriatal Mu-Opioid Receptors in α-Synuclein Transgenic Mouse Brains
Authors: Grigoletto Jessica , Schechter Meir , Sharon Ronit
Published: January 2022

Ultrastructural, neurochemical, and molecular alterations within the striatum are associated with the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). In PD, the dopamine-containing neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) degenerate and reduce dopamine-containing innervations to the striatum. The loss of striatal dopamine is associated with enhanced corticostriatal glutamatergic plasticity at the early stages of PD. However, with disease progression, the glutamatergic corticostriatal white matter tracts (WMTs) also degenerate. We analyzed the levels of Mu opioid receptors (MORs) in the corticostriatal WMTs, as a function of α-Synuclein (α-Syn) toxicity in transgenic mouse brains. Our data show an age-dependent loss of MOR expression levels in the striatum and specifically, within the caudal striatal WMTs in α-Syn tg mouse brains. The loss of MOR expression is associated with degeneration of the myelinated axons that are localized within the corticostriatal WMTs. In brains affected with late stages of PD, we detect evidence confirming the degeneration of myelinated axons within the corticostriatal WMTs. We conclude that loss of corticostriatal MOR expression is associated with degeneration of corticostriatal WMT in α-Syn tg mice, modeling PD.