bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nutritional status and treatment outcomes of tuberculosis in Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital, a five -year retrospective study
Authors: Simieneh Asnake , Gashaneh Surafel , Dereje Rahel
Published: February 2024

Background

Public health problems related to tuberculosis (TB) remain substantial globally, particularly in resource-limited countries. Determining TB treatment outcomes and identifying contributing factors are the basic components of the TB control strategy. In Ethiopia, different studies have been done on treatment outcomes and multiple associated factors, and there is also a little information on the effect of nutritional status on TB treatment outcomes. So there is a need for comprehensive research that examines the combined effects of multiple factors along with nutritional status.

Methods

A five-year institution-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital, South West Ethiopia. This study included all tuberculosis patients who were documented in the TB registration and had known treatment outcomes at the treatment facility between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020. Data was collected through a pretested structured data extraction checklist. Data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed through SPSS version 22. Multiple logistic regression was employed to assess the association between dependent and independent variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Result

Of the total 625 TB patients, 283 (45.3%), 175 (28%), and 167 (26.7%) had smear-positive, extra-pulmonary, and smear-negative tuberculosis, respectively. The majority of study participants had normal weight (62.2%), were in the age group of 15–44 (67.4%), were new cases (73.8%), and were from urban areas (69.4%). About 32.2% of cases were HIV-positive. The overall unsuccessful treatment rate was 25%. From the total unsuccessful treatment rates, the highest proportion was a death rate of 90 (14.4%), followed by a treatment failure of 56 (9%). Being female (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2–2.5), HIV positive (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.9–4.1), undernutrition (BMI<18.5kg/m2) (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3–2.9), and smear-negative pulmonary TB (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1–2.5) were independent predictors of unsuccessful treatment outcomes.

Conclusion

The treatment success rate in the study area is very poor. Poor treatment outcomes were associated with undernutrition, female gender, HIV positivity and smear-negative pulmonary TB. So, continuous and serious supervision and monitoring of directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) program accomplishment, early detection of HIV and TB, prompt anti TB and antiretroviral treatment initiation and adherence, enhanced nutritional assessment, and counseling services need to be strengthened to improve treatment outcomes.
The role of race and insurance in trauma patients’ mortality: A cross-sectional analysis based on a nationwide sample
Authors: Acosta José A.
Published: February 2024

Background

Persistent disparities in trauma in-hospital mortality owing to insurance status and race remain a prominent issue within healthcare. This study explores the relationships among insurance status, race, length of stay (LOS) in-hospital mortality outcomes in trauma patients at extreme risk of mortality (EROM) trauma patients.

Methods

Data was retrieved from the National Inpatient Sample, focusing on high-acuity trauma patients from 2007 to 2020, aged 18–64 years. Patients were identified using specific All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups codes. Emphasis was placed on those with EROM owing to their resource-intensive nature and the potential influence of insurance on outcomes. Patients aged 65 years or older were excluded owing to distinct trauma patterns, as were those diagnosed with burns or non-trauma conditions.

Results

The study encompassed 70,381 trauma inpatients with EROM, representing a national estimate of 346,659. Being insured was associated with a 34% decrease in the odds of in-hospital mortality compared to being uninsured. The in-hospital mortality risk associated with insurance status varied over time, with insurance having no impact on in-hospital mortality during hospitalizations of less than 2 days (short LOS). In the overall group, Black patients showed an 8% lower risk of in-hospital mortality compared to White patients, while they experienced a 33% higher risk of in-hospital mortality during short LOS.

Conclusion

Insured trauma inpatients demonstrated a significant reduction in the odds of in-hospital mortality compared to their uninsured counterparts, although this advantage was not present in the short LOS group. Black patients experienced lower in-hospital mortality rates compared to White patients, but this trend reversed in the short LOS group. These findings underscore the intricate relationships between insurance status, race, and duration of hospitalization, highlighting the need for interventions to improve patient outcomes.
The influence of transphobia, homonationalism and anti-Asian prejudice: Anti-BL attitudes in English-speaking fandoms
Authors: Aburime Samantha
Published: February 2024

In recent years, hostility towards Asian boys love (BL) media and fans in western English-speaking fandoms has been growing. This has manifested in anti-BL and anti-fujoshi anti-fans, many of whom express the general notion that queer western media is morally good and queer Asian media is morally bad. This division has encouraged a dehumanizing environment and some of these anti-fans consider their prejudiced behaviour morally justified and necessary. Their proposed aim is to maintain the moral sanctity of LGBTQ+ representation in their western English-speaking fan spaces. This article explores what drives this division and how BL and fujoshi specifically came to be so vilified in parts of LGBTQ+ western English-speaking fandom. The origins of this growing desire for LGBTQ+ moral sanctity in western English-speaking fandom are critiqued and how anti-trans gender critical beliefs in online communities came to affect western English-speaking fans’ perceptions of BL and fujoshi is revealed.
Contamination of Kazakhstan cheeses originating from Escherichia coli and its resistance to antimicrobial drugs
Authors: Kuzeubayeva Anar , Ussenbayev Altay , Aydin Ali , Akanova Zhannara , Rychshanova Raushan , Abdullina Elmira , Seitkamzina Dinara , Sakharia Laura , Ruzmatov Saidulla
Published: February 2024

Background and Aim: Escherichia coli, a commensal intestine bacterium of vertebrates, is widely distributed in the environment and indicates the microbiological quality of food products in relation to coliforms. In addition, virulent strains, particularly E. coli O157:H7, cause outbreaks of toxic infections caused by consuming dairy products. Because food safety studies regarding E. coli have not been conducted in Central Asia, this research aimed to study the characteristics of contamination, microbiological and genotypic properties, and resistance to antimicrobial agents of E. coli strains that contaminate various types of commercialized cheeses originating from Kazakhstan.

Materials and Methods: In retail outlets, 207 samples of three types of cheese produced by 22 industrial and eight small enterprises in the central, eastern, southern, and northern regions of Kazakhstan were selected in 2020–2023. E. coli contamination was examined using standard microbiological, mass spectrometric, and molecular genetic methods. The discodiffuse European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing method was used to test the resistance of the identified E. coli isolates (65/207; 31.4%) to 20 antibacterial drugs. The Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (VT1 and VT2) and E. coli O157:H7 (eae) genes were investigated in all E. coli isolates using multiplex polymerase chain reaction.

Results: An average of 31.4% samples of commercial Kazakhstani cheeses of various types were found to be contaminated with E. coli in almost all geographical regions of Kazakhstan, regardless of the productivity of the dairy enterprises. Soft cheeses produced by small farms (80% of samples) packaged at the retail site (100%) were the most contaminated with E. coli. The microbiological index (colony-forming unit/g) was unsatisfactory and unsuitable in 6.2% of such cheese samples. For the first time in Central Asia, the enteropathogenic strain E. coli O157:H7 was detected in 0.5% of cheese samples. E. coli isolates from cheese samples were resistant to 65% of antibacterial drugs and contained resistance genes to β-lactams, sulfonamides, and quinolones groups. At the same time, 25% of the E. coli isolates were multi-resistant to three or more antimicrobial agents.

Conclusion: The high level of contamination caused by multi-antibiotic resistant E. coli strains, including pathogenic pathogens, poses a risk to public health and highlights the need for further research on the monitoring and control of coliform enteropathogens in food products.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Kazakhstan cheese, microbial contamination.
Map of brazilian tourism – Analysis of the criteria to include the municipality of Casserengue-PB
Authors: Cardoso da Silva Gutemberg , Coelho Mendes Francisco
Published: February 2024

Tourism in Paraíba represents a potentiality, portrayed in natural attractions, strong cultural identity, relevant material and intangible heritage, as well as a hospitable and supportive people. But this tourism needs to be disseminated and promoted with emphasis on the appreciation and creativity of regional and local tourism. Given this context, it is proposed as a general objective to present a proposal for integrated tourism planning, participatory management and encourage the insertion of the municipality of Casserengue in the Brazilian Tourism Map.  Data collection was bibliographic and through field research, from May to November 2020, with updates from January to April 2022.  As a result, it was found that the insertion of the municipality in the Brazilian Tourism Map enables integrated planning and participatory management, as well as the development of an action plan for municipal management for the benefit of society.  Therefore, the tourism planning proposed for Casserengue suggests a restructuring of infrastructure, public policies, as well as the valorization of local labor to offer quality tourism services or products and provide the economic and social development of the municipality.
THE POTENTIAL FOR DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO MITIGATE AND ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Authors: Ogunmodede Peace
Published: February 2024

Climate change poses an immediate global threat, requiring aggressive mitigation and adaptation of unavoidable impacts to curb emissions. Traditional climate policies offer a partial solution, but disruptive technologies can offer a transitional solution by enabling deeper decarbonisation and increased energy efficiency enabling them to cope. This paper explores the potential of disruptive technologies to address climate change through a comprehensive and integrated literature review, defined as innovations that dramatically change policy. It provides an overview of key concerns such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. The importance of timely mitigation to avoid climate reversals and adaptation to respond to increasing climate risks is emphasised. The role of disruptive technologies in enabling greenhouse gas reductions across sectors of the economy and contributing to changes in industry, agriculture and disaster management is analysed Shown as carbon reduction scale, improved efficiency, flexibility and economic growth potential of disruptive technologies as key advantages Recommendations are made for policymakers to encourage disruptive technologies through improved market regulation, by enhancing research and development, removing barriers, and facilitating correct change. Implementing disruptive technologies, combined with aggressive climate policies, offers hope for tackling catastrophic climate change through deep decarbonization and resilience building Technical resources another radical one can transform climate action, but it requires the support of purposeful policy and conditions that enable it
Clinical Outcomes Before and After Prucalopride Treatment: An Observational Study in Patients With Chronic Idiopathic Constipation in the United States
Authors: Lembo Anthony , Cash Brooks D. , Lu Mei , Terasawa Emi , Terreri Brian , Du Shawn , Ayyagari Rajeev , Feuerstadt Paul , Moshiree Baharak , Westermeyer Ben , Pi Selina , Boules Mena
Published: February 2024

INTRODUCTION:

This real-world US-based claims study compared constipation-related symptoms and complications 6 months before and after prucalopride initiation in adults with chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC).

METHODS:

This observational, retrospective cohort analysis used the IBM MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database and the Medicare Supplemental Database (January 2015–June 2020). Prucalopride-treated patients (≥18 years old) who had ≥1 constipation-related International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) diagnosis code during the baseline or study period were included. The proportions of patients with constipation-related symptoms (abdominal pain, abdominal distension [gaseous], incomplete defecation, and nausea) and constipation-related complications (anal fissure and fistula, intestinal obstruction, rectal prolapse, hemorrhoids, perianal venous thrombosis, perianal/perirectal abscess, and rectal bleeding) were examined. Constipation-related symptoms and complications were identified using ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-Procedure Coding System, or Current Procedural Terminology codes. Data were stratified by age (overall, 18–64 years, and ≥65 years).

RESULTS:

This study included 690 patients: The mean (SD) patient age was 48.0 (14.7) years, and 87.5% were women. The proportions of patients overall with constipation-related symptoms decreased 6 months after prucalopride initiation (abdominal pain [50.4% vs 33.3%, P < 0.001]; abdominal distension [gaseous] [23.9% vs 13.3%, P < 0.001]; and nausea [22.6% vs 17.7%, P < 0.01]; no improvements observed for incomplete defecation). Similarly, the proportions of patients overall with constipation-related complications decreased 6 months after prucalopride initiation (intestinal obstruction [4.9% vs 2.0%, P < 0.001]; hemorrhoids [10.7% vs 7.0%, P < 0.05]; and rectal bleeding [4.1% vs 1.7%, P < 0.05]).

DISCUSSION:

This study suggests that prucalopride may be associated with improved constipation-related symptoms and complications 6 months after treatment initiation.
To Feel or Not to Feel: Dissociative Feminism and Modalities of Unfeeling in 21st-Century Literary Fiction
Authors: Miki Cleo
Published: February 2024

The term ‘dissociative feminism’ can be traced back to Emmeline Clein’s 2019 article for Buzzfeed News, ‘The Smartest Women I Know Are All Dissociating’. In it, Clein describes a new affective tone which shifts from the declarative protestations of ‘girlboss feminists’ to detached, flat descriptions of ‘overtly horrifying facts’ which comprise the everyday existence of women today. Abuse, depression, and burnout are all treated with a ‘so what?’ attitude. In addition to a generally marked dispassion, many argue that this emerging archetype ‘glamourizes her own destruction’ to the point that she knowingly engages in self-interested, fatalistic behaviours, only to scoff in the face of the subsequent fallout. The dissociative feminist deems emotional reactivity trite; she is ‘aware that woundedness” is overdone and overrated’.
Dead Ends: Ruin, Redundancy, and the Horrors of Precarity in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and It Follows
Authors: Round Emily
Published: February 2024

While Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows (2014) ostensibly focalise their films’ narratives upon the imminent threat of bodily violence which endangers their respective protagonists’ lives, a deeper analysis of both films illuminates the terror at the heart of the narratives: economic precarity and immobility. Both Hooper and Mitchell deliberately situate their horror films within settings that are haunted by the past hope of prosperity and which have corroded into ruins, left to rust and rot under the hostile conditions of post-industrial capitalism. These rents in the socio- economic fabric are intimately registered on a corporeal level, as the bodies of both Chain Saw protagonist Sally Hardesty and It Follows protagonist Jay Height become the sites onto which the capitalist horrors of unequal prosperity and labour redundancy are violently enacted. In Hooper’s film, the rural backwoods of Texas play host to a brutal confrontation between a working-class family—made redundant by the rise of automation and thus embodying the industrial atrophy of the American South—and a group of drifting, unfettered young people, represented by Sally and her friends.
Automobility in the Age of Apocalypse: On the Beach, Nuclear Nostalgia, and Atomic (Im)Mobilities
Authors: O'Hara Christopher
Published: February 2024

In the 1966 animated short film What on Earth!, viewers are presented with a news-reel styled broadcast—ostensibly from the ‘National Film Board of Mars’—detailing Martians’ first glimpses of alien life on Earth. As a car enters from the right, the narrator announces: ‘And then, the big news: there is life on Earth!’ The ‘cameras on our orbiting spaceship’ then follow these Earthlings through their daily rituals: ‘at dinner’ (fuelling with petrol), taking ‘shelter for the night’ (parking in a garage), and ‘browsing in curiously designed libraries’ (driving through a region inundated with billboards). Yet this colourful, comedic, slightly surreal animation takes a sinister turn towards its end as we glimpse the human occupants of the vehicle for the first time.
‘Something like words for | motion’: Ian Patterson’s Shell Vestige Disputed
Authors: Burns William
Published: February 2024

What should we make of this series of opaque observations and reflections, composed in what might strike an unfamiliar reader at first as a peculiarly rapid form of shorthand? Looked at again, these stanzas constitute two remarkably sustained syntactical performances, whose respective hypotaxis and parataxis are, however, hard to construe: a crisscrossing of a remembered past tense and second-order commentary that in each case leaves their speaker’s temporal location uncertain. This figure’s spatial movement in the first stanza, although similarly occluded, provides one route into the poem, while at the same time introducing its own form of hesitancy. I find myself liable to fall foul of ‘to step on’, with what might be sensed as its apparently incomplete preposition, and leaning into it conversely seems to risk trampling over the poem entire.
The Forest Navigator
Authors: Cannon Karen Jane
Published: February 2024

is a cartographer
of rolling sound
a mapper
of sonar valleys circumnavigating
grid references
fine as hair
Moveable Type XV 2023-24 "MOVEMENT" Full Issue
Authors: Moveable Type Editors at
Published: February 2024

First published in 2024 by
Moveable Type Journal
Department of English Language and Literature
University College London
Gower Street
 
Available to download free: https://student-journals.ucl.ac.uk/MT/
 
ISSN 1755-4527 (online)
Text © Contributors, 2024
Images © Copyright holders named in captions, 2024
 
Cover image: Florian Klauer for Unsplash
El Laboratorio ciudadano de narrativa transmedia: una experiencia de integralidad de funciones universitarias desde Diseño de la Comunicación Visual
Authors: Tamayo Ysabel , Suppo Rubén , Gómez Mariano , Olcina María Laura
Published: February 2024

Este artículo expresa el recorrido crítico de un proyecto de investigación–acción a partir del establecimiento del Laboratorio ciudadano de narrativa transmedia, que vincula una cátedra de la Licenciatura en Diseño de la Comunicación Visual de la Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral con las organizaciones sociales reunidas en la Feria de Organizaciones Sociales de la Defensoría del Pueblo de la Provincia de Santa Fe. El trabajo expone los posicionamientos políticos, teóricos, epistemológicos y metodológicos que permitieron sustentar la intervención de los estudiantes, pasantes y cientibecarios en la producción de narrativas transmedia que dieran a conocer el trabajo denodado de más de 300 organizaciones sociales nucleadas en la Federación. El proyecto construye creativamente un espacio de diálogo con el fin de pensar y diseñar una producción académica que involucra el diseño, las narrativas transmedia y la interculturalidad en el debate.
Das höhere Bildungswesen der Schweiz in Spätmittelalter und Früher Neuzeit: Institutionen und Formen der Peregrinatio academica
Authors: Asche Matthias
Published: February 2024

This study presents an overview of the institutions and forms of higher education in Switzerland. In addition to the University of Basel, founded in 1460, the author deals with Protestant Hohen Schulen (academies) (established in Zurich in 1525, in Bern in 1528, in Lausanne in 1537, and in Geneva in 1559) and Jesuit colleges which were founded between the last third of the sixteenth century and the first third of the seventeenth century. Apart from the Basel university, which was transformed into a Protestant university after the Reformation, Swiss Protestants had no possibility of studying law or medicine or even obtaining an academic degree in their own country. The Protestant academies were essentially training centres for the next generation of pastors and the same applied to the Jesuit colleges, which likewise granted no university privileges. Many students therefore had to seek academic training in the neighbouring countries. Both the University of Basel and the Protestant academies (though less so the Jesuit colleges) nevertheless attracted high numbers of foreign students, especially religious refugees who immigrated to Switzerland in several waves from the second half of the sixteenth century onwards, initially from Italy and England, but later also from France, Savoy-Piedmont, and Hungary. As a result, all Protestant educational institutions functioned as ‘exile colleges’ until the early eighteenth century. This specific situation of institutions of higher learning remained largely in place until the end of the nineteenth century – largely in consequence of the peculiarities of Switzerland’s strong federal constitution.
Herkunft und Wirkungsorte von Besuchern der Universität Basel, 1460–1550. Forschungsperspektiven und Zugänge einer Digital History
Authors: Hesse Christian
Published: February 2024

The Repertorium Academicum (REPAC) database records all visitors to the Basel University until 1550 and, in part, also their later careers. Thanks to these records, one can visualise on a map changes in the place of origin and increasingly also the location of later activities of these scholars. This approach can help us to better understand the dissemination of academic knowledge during that time. It also shows that, in contrast to for instance the Wittenberg University, Basel University did not play a significant role for Bohemia and other areas of East Central Europe during the period under consideration.
Polish and Lithuanian Students at the University of Basel from the Sixteenth to the Seventeenth Century
Authors: Tomczak Robert T.
Published: February 2024

This article examines the question of the participation of students from Poland and Lithuania in the academic life in Basel from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Because the article is a prosopographic study, the group of surveyed students is presented in the context of their ethnicity, territorial and social origins, confession and field of studies. Two figures from Poland (Jan Osmólski and Marcin Chmielecki) most distinguished for intellectual contacts with Basel are also presented.
Die Universität Basel und die böhmischen Länder (1460–1630). Eine Matrikelauswertung
Authors: Holý Martin
Published: February 2024

This study focuses on relations between the Basel University and the Czech Lands since the university’s foundation until 1630. The analysis is based chiefly on the university’s official records, that is, on the university and faculty registers. It follows not only the changes in the numbers of students from Bohemia or Moravia who attended the Basel University in the course of nearly two centuries, but also their geographical, social, and confessional composition, educational profile, and subsequent careers. It concludes by considering other related issues.
Studenten aus den Böhmischen Ländern und ihre literarischen Aktivitäten im Umfeld der Universität Basel am Anfang des Dreißigjährigen Krieges
Authors: Vaculínová Marta
Published: February 2024

This contribution describes the changes which took place in the literary activities of students from the Czech Lands who studied at the Basel University during the first decade of the Thirty Years’ War. The war was changing their social position and career opportunities, and this is reflected also in the form of their publications and in their dedication strategy. The motif of war and political changes is reflected above all in their poetry. As an appendix to the article, there is attached a letter addressed to the by then exiled Jan Škréta Šotnovský of Závořice written by his brother Jindřich in 1628.
Böhmische Studenten in Basel und ihre Kontakte anhand von Stammbüchern
Authors: Ryantová Marie
Published: February 2024

This article deals with records made in Basel in personal albums belonging to various owners, including Basel professors, whose notes also figure in many of these books. Special attention is paid to attested contacts of students from the Czech Lands, whereby extraordinary in this respect is the family album of Jan Maconius, a Czech exile, who gathered during his stays in Basel a large number of records in his album.
Robert T. Tomczak, Kontakty edukacyjne Polaków z uniwersytetami praskimi w okresie średniowiecza. Studium prozopograficzne
Authors: Zilynská Blanka
Published: February 2024

Book review on Robert T. Tomczak, Kontakty edukacyjne Polaków z uniwersytetami praskimi w okresie średniowiecza. Studium prozopograficzne Poznań 2020, 245 pp., ISBN 978-83-66355-39-2
Identification of magnetic mineralogy and paleo-flow direction of the Miocene-quaternary volcanic products in the north of Lake Van, Eastern Turkey
Authors: Kayın Sercan , İşseven Turgay
Published: February 2024

One of the major challenges facing geochemistry, petrology, and volcanology researchers is the difficulty in determining the origin and paleo-flow directions of igneous and volcanic rocks. It is not possible to clearly determine origins and paleo-flow directions in areas with numerous volcanic centers. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is a valuable method that provides insights into the origins and paleo-flow directions of lavas that are complex to study. The presence of volcanic materials with thicknesses up to 1 km, coming from different sources at varied time intervals in the north of Lake Van, makes this area an ideal setting for implementing AMS in establishing paleo-flow directions. This study presents the magnetic mineralogy and AMS analysis of volcanic rocks from the Miocene to the Quaternary in the Lake Van region. We conducted isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) and high-temperature susceptibility (HTS) studies to determine the magnetic mineralogy. IRM studies revealed that (titano)magnetite is responsible for the magnetization in most samples, while both (titano)magnetite and hematite are responsible for the rest. Alteration degrees and Curie temperatures of the rock samples were also determined through HTS measurements. There is good agreement between the anticipated directions of lava flow and our findings for nearly all volcanic rocks.
“I usually just rely on my intuition and go from there.” pedagogical rules and metalinguistic awareness of pre-service EFL teachers
Authors: Rankin Tom , Wagner Thomas
Published: February 2024

The present study explores Austrian pre-service EFL teachers’ language awareness. The negative polarity properties of ‘any’ are investigated. These are informative since some of the grammatical constraints are taught in EFL instruction while others are not. The research question addresses whether pre-service teachers’ knowledge is constrained by pedagogical rules. 66 pre-service EFL teachers rated eight sentence types illustrating varying grammatical constraints on the occurrence of ‘any’ by means of paced acceptability judgement. Then knowledge of metalinguistic was assessed through untimed sentence pair assessment, open rule verbalisation, and recall of rule teaching. Results suggest that ability to distinguish grammaticality as indexed by judgements was generally high but most robust for taught properties. Metalinguistic knowledge was similarly restricted mainly to the taught pedagogical rules. Based on these results, ramifications for the role of language knowledge in EFL teacher training and avenues for further research are discussed.
The distribution of robotic surgery in general and visceral surgery departments in Switzerland – a nationwide inquiry
Authors: Stalder Andreas , Mazzola Federico , Adamina Michel , Fahrner René
Published: February 2024

Objectives

Since its introduction as a clinical technique, robotic surgery has been extended to different fields of surgery. However, the indications as well as the number of robotic procedures varied in different institutions. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the current use of robotic surgery in general and digestive surgery in Switzerland.

Methods

All Swiss surgical departments that are recognized training institutes for postgraduate training in surgery by the Swiss Institute of Medical Education (SIWF) were queried with a detailed questionnaire regarding the use of robotic surgery techniques and were analyzed regarding hospital size and type of hospital.

Results

Ninety-three departments were queried, and 67 % (n=63) answered the survey. Fifty-eight were public, and five were private institutions. Seventeen (26 %) of the queried departments used robotic surgery in digestive surgery. Four out of 17 (23 %) of the departments that performed robotic surgery were private hospitals, while 13 (77 %) were public institutions. In the majority of departments, robotic surgery of the rectum (n=12; 70.6 %) and colon (n=11; 64.7 %) was performed, followed by hernia procedures (n=8; 47.1 %) and fundoplication (n=7; 41.2 %). Less frequently, pancreatic resections (n=5; 29.4 %), cholecystectomy (n=4; 23.5 %), adrenalectomy (n=4; 23.5 %), gastric bypass (n=3; 17.7 %), gastric sleeve (n=3; 17.7 %), hepatic procedures (n=2; 11.7 %), or small bowel resections (n=1; 5.9 %) were performed as robotic procedures. More than 25 procedures per year per department were performed for hernia surgery (n=5 departments), gastric bypass (n=2 departments), cholecystectomy, fundoplication, and colon surgery (each n=1 department).

Conclusions

The number and range of robotic procedures performed in Switzerland varied widely. Higher accreditation for general surgery or subspecialization of visceral surgery of the department was positively associated with the use of robotic techniques, reflecting an unequal availability of robotic surgery.
Handle with care! teachers in Egyptian cringe comedies: a multimodal analysis
Authors: Youssef Amany Y. A. A.
Published: February 2024

For almost a century, several Egyptian comedies have set up cringe-worthy power-sensitive encounters between struggling low-paid teachers and spoiled rich and powerful students, often leading to negative portrayals of teachers and student-teacher relationship. One play, Madraset el-Moshaghbeen ‘School of the Rowdies’ (1971), has long been held accountable for student misconduct across the country. A 2008 film with a loosely similar theme, RamaDan Mabrouk Abul-Alamein Hamouda, has received a much warmer welcome as a harmless light comedy. This paper brings these two comedies into focus and probes into the management of cringe in filmic text based on the Benign-Violation Theory of humor as well as Baldry and Thibault’s (2006. Multimodal transcription and text analysis: A multimedia toolkit and coursebook with associated on-line course. Equinox) Multimodal Transcription Model. Optimizing for the four dimensions of psychological distance (temporal, social, spatial, and hypothetical) would help control the benignity of embarrassing violations and free the audience to enjoy the humor. Alternatively, minimizing psychological distance would evoke audience empathy with the violated teacher character and may block audience amusement. Audience reactions through the comment field on strategic clips from the film and play on YouTube would reveal whether a cringe-inducing scene has evoked amusement, vicarious embarrassment, or both. The paper proposes an inventory of the features that would contribute to adjusting psychological distance to achieve the desired effect. These features intersect with the four dimensions of psychological distance, narrative and stylistic choices, as well as the multimodal affordances of filmic and embodied expressions.
Stability analysis of the corruption dynamics under fractional-order interventions
Authors: Anjam Yasir Nadeem , Aslam Muhammad Imran , Cheema Salman Arif , Munawar Sufian , Saleem Najma , Rahman Mati ur
Published: February 2024

This article proposes a nonlinear deterministic mathematical model that encapsulates the dynamics of the prevailing degree of corruption in a population. The objectives are attained by exploring the dynamics of the corruption model under fractional-order derivative in the Caputo sense. The outcomes of the research are facilitated by stratifying the population into five compartments: susceptible class, exposed class, corrupted class, recovered class, and honest class. The developed model is validated by proving pivotal delicacies such as positivity, invariant region, basic reproduction number, and stability analysis. The Ulam–Hyers stability technique is used to prove the stable solution. The Adam–Bashforth numerical scheme is employed to estimate the numerical solution. Moreover, the research environment is further enriched by studying each compartment with respect to a wide range of relevant parametric settings. The realizations of this study indicate that susceptible individuals remain subject to being influenced by corrupt individuals. In addition, it is observed that the population of exposed individuals, recovered individuals, and honest individuals asymptotically approach toward the corruption equilibrium point, whereas the magnitudes of susceptible individuals and corrupted individuals decrease asymptotically to the corruption equilibrium state. The compartment dynamics are witnessed to be sensitive for various fractional-orders indicating the utility of the fractional approach. The findings of this study support the fundamental understanding of conceptualizing corruption in accordance with the viral transmission of infectious disease.
Unraveling the influence of biomaterial’s functional groups in Cd biosorption: a density functional theory calculation
Authors: Oyegoke Toyese , Igwebuike Chidiebere Millicent , Oyegoke Ademola
Published: February 2024

Several biomass wastes, including forest wastes, bagasse, algae, and others, have been studied to determine their biosorption capability for adsorbing different ranges of heavy metals in the literature. Most experimental studies have not clearly shown the impact of functional groups in biomaterials discovered by FTIR analysis on the investigated biosorption processes. Because of this, the findings of this study indicate that it is necessary to theoretically investigate the influence of identified functional groups (as determined by FTIR analysis) on the biosorption activities of the sorbent or biomaterial prepared for the removal of cadmium metal from an effluent. Using the most geometrical structure for cadmium (Cd) metal, a series of identified functional groups for the sorbent were analyzed using FTIR to determine their mode and intensity of interaction to computationally understand better how they each influence the biosorption of cadmium. This was done to determine how each functional group contributes to the intensity of the cadmium biosorption, using a ground-state B3LYP density functional theory calculation performed in a Spartan 20 simulation package utilizing the 6-31G* and LANL2DZ > Kr basis sets. According to the study’s findings, carboxylate (–COO*) had the most significant effect on cadmium biosorption activity of all the functional groups studied due to the stronger binding strength obtained for it. Therefore, this research suggests exploring biomaterials with greater intensity for carboxylate function, which would aid cadmium sorption efficiency in an effluent treatment process.
Synthesis, physicochemical and quantum chemical studies of 7-azaindolinium-3,5-dinitrobenzoate single crystal for nonlinear optical applications
Authors: Anandhan Arivazhagan , Sivasankari Chandrasekaran , Siva Vadivel , Al-Sehemi Abdullah G. , Kim Ikhyun , Sivaprakash Paramasivam
Published: February 2024

A novel hydrogen bonded single crystal of 7-azaindolinium-3,5-dinitrobenzoate (7AIDNB) has been grown, and the structure of the crystal was determined by single-crystal XRD analysis. The results show that the grown crystal belongs to a triclinic crystal system with centrosymmetric space group P-1 and the unit cell parameters: a = 6.998(9) Å, b = 8.498(12) Å, c = 13.103(17) Å, V = 710.78(17) Å3, Z = 2. The presence of expected discrete functional groups in 7AIDNB has been identified by an FT-IR spectroscopic study. The thermal stability and decomposition of the title crystal have been studied by TG-DTA analysis. The optical property of the grown crystal has been analyzed by UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy analysis. The DFT with 6-311++G(d, p) basis set has been used to examine optimization of molecular geometry, Mulliken charge, and HOMO-LUMO. As the frequency of the grown crystal increases, the dielectric loss and dielectric constant decrease. The third-order NLO parameters of 7AIDNB have been examined by a Z-scan technique.
Multi-attribute Feature Fusion Algorithm of IoT Communication Big Data Based on Ant Colony Neural Network
Authors: Li Ruihua , Feng Zhidong , Guo Hongbo
Published: February 2024

To address the issues of time-consuming and inaccurate feature fusion in traditional Internet of Things (IoT) communication big data multi-attribute fusion algorithms, a new algorithm based on the ant colony neural network is proposed. Modeling and feature decomposition processing is carried out on IoT communication big data, communication data information and data attribute characteristics are optimized into different data groups according to a data clustering algorithm, and a rough set calculation method is used to calculate information attribute characteristics. The genetic algorithm is used to improve the ant colony neural network, improve the search ability, extract the multi-attribute characteristics of IoT communication big data, filter the current big data’s characteristic attribute demand through the comparison method, and achieve multi-attribute feature fusion of IoT communication big data through the similarity measurement method. The experimental results show that the fusion error of the IoT communication big data multi-attribute feature fusion algorithm based on the ant colony neural network is small and relatively stable. During the 600 MB data fusion process, the data fusion processing time of the method in this paper is 150 ms, and the average energy consumption ratio is below 2 %, which reflects better IoT communication big data multi-attribute feature fusion performance.
Popular Saying and Moral Judgment: The Influence of Proverbs on Moral Intuition
Authors: Seruti Amanda , Ferreira Mário B. , Kluwe-Schiavon Bruno
Published: February 2024

The present research explores whether popular proverbs can shape moral intuitions and influence people's moral judgments. A two-response experimental paradigm was used to obtain participants' evaluations of immoral behaviors that were condemned or condoned using popular proverbs. When used to condemn immoral behaviors, proverbs increased the strength of participants' moral intuitions—making their judgments more polarized, confident, and resistant to response revision. When used to condone immoral behaviors, proverbs did not change moral judgment (i.e., immoral behaviors were still considered unacceptable) but weakened participants moral intuitions—making their judgments relatively less polarized and confident. Our results further suggest that the cognitive ease of processing associated with proverbs contributes to explaining their impact on people's moral judgments.
Rated A: Soft-Porn Cinema and Mediations of Desire in India
Authors: Mini Darshana Sreedhar
Published: February 2024

In the 1990s, India’s mediascape saw the efflorescence of edgy soft-porn films in the Malayalam-speaking state of Kerala. In Rated A, Darshana Sreedhar Mini examines the local and transnational influences that shaped Malayalam soft-porn cinema and maps the genre’s circulation among the Indian diaspora in the Middle East. She explores the soft-porn industry’s precarious labor structure, as well as how actresses and production personnel who are marked by their involvement with a taboo form navigate their social lives. By surveying the tense negotiations among sexuality, import policy, and censorship, this study offers a model for understanding film genres as entire fields of social relations and gendered imaginaries.
Zastosowanie modelowania PLS-SEM do badania innowacyjności gospodarek krajów Unii Europejskiej
Authors:   Uniwersytet w Białymstoku, Skrodzka Iwona
Published: February 2024

Purpose – The article aims to present the possibility of using PLS-SEM method in research on the innovativeness of EU economies. Research method – Structural equation modeling is a method that allows the study of relationships between variables that are unobservable. The SEM model consists of two sub-models: structural and measurement. Covariance-based (CB) or partial least squares (PLS) methods are used to estimate the model. The choice depends on the empirical context, research objectives, sample size and statistical properties of the data. Due to the small size of the population, the PLS method was used in the study. The models were estimated on the basis of cross-sectional data for 2018 and 2021. Results – The article presents the stages of construction of the PLS-SEM model, from model specification, through estimation, statistical verification, to interpretation of the results. Particular attention is paid to the possibility of formulating conclusions based on various elements of the estimated model. Originality / value / implications / recommendations – PLS-SEM is a relatively new econometric method belonging to the group of second generation multivariate analysis methods. Its dynamic development can be observed especially in management sciences. In the discipline of economics, the method is not widely known and used, but it has great potential and can be useful in the study of relationships between unobservable categories. The empirical research presented in the article fills the cognitive gap in the use of advanced econometric methods in economic research.
Znaczenie dolara amerykańskiego jako waluty kluczowej w międzynarodowym systemie walutowym
Authors:   Uniwersytet Radomski im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego, Pszczółka Ireneusz
Published: February 2024

Purpose – The aim is to assess the importance of the US dollar as the key world currency after 2008. Research method – The basic research methods used in the article are the study of world literature and the analysis of statistical data delivered by the European Central Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund and SWIFT. Results – Although there has been discussion for several decades about the likelihood of the US dollar losing its position in the International Monetary System, it still maintains its status as the most important international currency. The dominant political and military position of the United States, the size of the economy and its still key share in world trade, and, above all, the market of instruments denominated in American currency and the dominant share of the dollar in the currency market, confirm the current position of the US dollar. This does not mean, however, that it will retain its current position. Analyzing historical changes in the leadership position among international currencies, one should not expect a revolution. Originality / value / implications / recommendations – The analysis of the importance of the US dollar as the key currency in the IMS, undertaken in the article, shows the importance of the problem and implies the need to carry out further research on this issue.
Elementi mažoret plesa u nastavi tjelesne i zdravstvene kulture
Authors: Tolja Martina , Jerak Tonći , Alić Jelena
Published: February 2024

Različite plesne strukture kao što su društveni plesovi, folklor, ritmička gimnastika i sl. dio su programskih sadržaja nastave Tjelesne i zdravstvene kulture u nižim razredima osnovne škole. Jedan od društvenih plesova je i mažoret ples koji u svojoj suštini sadržava i neke od elemenata drugih plesova koji su spojeni u jednu plesnu strukturu. Mažoret ples specifična je plesna struktura koja se pleše s mažoret štapom ili pom-ponom u jedinstvenoj uniformi. Kao i sve ostale plesne strukture, tako i mažoret ples utječe na razvoj kinantropoloških obilježja kod učenika. Upravo iz tog razloga poželjno je provođenje elemenata mažoret plesa u nastavi Tjelesne i zdravstvene kulture. Uvježbavanjem i ponavljanjem ovih plesnih struktura u prvom redu razvija se osjećaj za ritam i dinamiku, poboljšava se kinestetički osjećaj kod učenika, razvija se pravilna tjelesna postura što je bitna sastavnica ove plesne strukture, također se razvija kreativnost i izražajnost pokreta. Poticanjem razvoja svih ovih sposobnosti kod djeteta od najranije dobi direktno utječemo na zdravlje i pravilan cjelokupni motorički razvoj. Uzimajući u obzir sve dobrobiti i karakteristike mažoret plesa kao jedne od plesnih struktura, provedba takve vrste plesnih elemenata u nastavi Tjelesne i zdravstvene kulture učenicima je zanimljiva i motivirajuća te se na interaktivan način proširuje njihov fundus motoričkih znanja i povećava razina motoričkih sposobnosti.
A study Electronic structure of InSb: Experiment and Theory
Authors: Mohammed Sameen F. , Mohammed Mahmood A.
Published: February 2024

The current study show the results related to investigating the Compton scattering(Cs) of Indium Antimonite (InSb). 241Am with 59.54 keV Gamm-radiations source Compton  spectrometer is employed for the purpose of experimental measurement. The technique of linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) is utilized within the framework of density functional theory (DFT),is used to assess the theoretical values of distributing the electron momentum density. A comparison was then made between the research findings and empirical data. Additionally, calculations employing the ionic model (IO) based on the 5p state of In and the 5p state of Sb atoms reveal that 0. 5 electrons of the state of 5pIn may have been transferred to the 5p state of Sb atoms in order to estimate the charge transfer in indium antimonite (InSb).