bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dec-DISCO: decolorization DISCO clearing for seeing through the biological architectures of heme-rich organs
Authors: Zhu Jingtan , Ma Yilin , Xu Jianyi , Li Yusha , Wan Peng , Qi Yisong , Yu Tingting , Zhu Dan
Published: August 2021

The tissue optical clearing technique plays an important role in three-dimensional (3D) visualization of large tissues. As a typical solvent-based clearing method, 3DISCO can achieve the highest level of tissue transparency with favorable clearing speed. However, 3DISCO cannot deal with the residual blood within tissues, leading to tissue brownness or redness after clearing, thus greatly influencing the tissue transparency and image quality due to the strong absorption of residual blood. To address this problem, we proposed an optimized clearing method by introducing CUBIC-L solution combined with 3DISCO for effective decolorization, termed Dec-DISCO (Decolorization DISCO). Dec-DISCO achieves better transparency than 3DISCO for various heme-rich tissues and performs enhanced fluorescence preservation capability. Dec-DISCO allows high-quality 3D imaging of fluorescently labeled heme-rich organs, as well as pathological tissue with severe hemorrhage. Dec-DISCO is expected to provide a powerful tool for histological analysis of kinds of heme-rich tissues in various medical conditions.
Antibody and cytokine levels in visceral leishmaniasis patients with varied parasitemia before, during, and after treatment in patients admitted to Arba Minch General Hospital, southern Ethiopia
Authors: Tadesse Dagimawie , Abdissa Alemseged , Mekonnen Mekidim , Belay Tariku , Hailu Asrat
Published: August 2021

Background

Visceral leishmaniasis is a disease caused by disseminated Leishmania donovani infection which affects almost half a million people annually. Most of the patients are reported from the Indian sub-continent, Eastern Africa and Brazil. In this study, we aimed to determine the levels of antibodies and cytokines in visceral leishmaniasis patients and to examine associations of parasitemia with the clinical states of patients. A prospective study was carried out, enrolling a total of 48 active VL patients who were evaluated before, during different time points and, three months after treatment. Serum cytokine concentrations, antibody levels, parasitemia, laboratory (hematologic and biochemical) measurements, and clinical parameters were assessed.

Results

Counts of WBC and platelets, and measurements of hemoglobin (Hb) increased during treatment (P ≤ 0.05). Elevated levels of circulating IL-10, IFN-γ, and TGF-β1 were measured before treatment. The observed increase in serum IL-10 remarkably declined within 7 days after the start of treatment. Anti-leishmanial antibody index (AI) was high in all VL patients irrespective of spleen aspirate parasite grade before treatment and at different times during treatment. However, a significant (P ≤ 0.05) decrease of AI was observed 120 days post-treatment. IL-2 serum levels were below the detection limit at all sampling points.

Conclusions

The present results suggest that IL-10, IFN-γ, and TGF-β1 can be used as markers of active visceral leishmaniasis. In addition, measuring circulating cytokines concentrations, particularly IL-10, in combination with other clinical evaluations, could be used as criteria for the cure. The observation that a high serum concentration of IFN-gamma at baseline was associated with low parasitemia deserves further investigations.
Stopwords in technical language processing
Authors: Sarica Serhad , Luo Jianxi
Published: August 2021

There are increasing applications of natural language processing techniques for information retrieval, indexing, topic modelling and text classification in engineering contexts. A standard component of such tasks is the removal of stopwords, which are uninformative components of the data. While researchers use readily available stopwords lists that are derived from non-technical resources, the technical jargon of engineering fields contains their own highly frequent and uninformative words and there exists no standard stopwords list for technical language processing applications. Here we address this gap by rigorously identifying generic, insignificant, uninformative stopwords in engineering texts beyond the stopwords in general texts, based on the synthesis of alternative statistical measures such as term frequency, inverse document frequency, and entropy, and curating a stopwords dataset ready for technical language processing applications.
Medical malpractice related to dialysis and vascular access: An analysis of lawsuit judgements in South Korea
Authors: Kim Ji Eun , Ahn Shin Young , Cho Soo Ick , Kwon Young Joo , Shin SuHwan , Ko Gang-Jee
Published: August 2021

Background

Hemodialysis is a life-saving renal replacement treatment for patients with chronic kidney disease, but various complications occur during hemodialysis and associated procedures. This study was conducted to analyze the specific characteristics of hemodialysis-related complications and malpractice that have led to legal disputes.

Methods

Judgments from cases litigated between 1991 and 2019 due to complications related to hemodialysis or vascular access were analyzed using the database of the Korean Supreme Court Judgment System.

Results

Of 32 dialysis-related litigation cases, 14 cases were dismissed and malpractice was recognized in 18 cases. Among all cases and those in which malpractice was recognized, the most common clinical complication was associated with central venous catheter (CVC) insertion (25.0% and 42.9%, respectively). In 22 of 32 (68.8%) cases, complications occurred before or after (not during) dialysis, and performance error was the most common clinical error leading to legal disputes (58.3%). Complications resulted in death in 59.4% of cases, and CVC-related complications were associated with the largest proportion (63.2%) of deaths.

Conclusions

Hemodialysis was implicated in various medical disputes, and CVC-related complications were the most common and serious adverse events. Clinicians’ awareness of the incidence and severity of possible complications of hemodialysis procedures should be increased.
Evaluating mortality and recovery of extreme hyperbilirubinemia in critically ill patients by phasing the peak bilirubin level: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Han Hong Seok , Park Chi-Min , Lee Dae-Sang , Sinn Dong Hyun , Gil Eunmi
Published: August 2021

Background

Hyperbilirubinemia is a devastating complication in patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). The sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score classifies hyperbilirubinemia without further detailed analyses for bilirubin increase above 12 mg/dL. We evaluated whether the level of bilirubin increase in patients with extreme hyperbilirubinemia (total bilirubin ≥ 12 mg/dL) affects and also helps estimate mortality or recovery.

Methods

A retrospective cohort analysis comprising 427 patients with extreme hyperbilirubinemia admitted to the ICU of Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea between 2011 and 2015 was conducted. Extreme hyperbilirubinemia was classified into four grades: grade 1 (12–14.9 mg/dL), grade 2 (15–19.9 mg/dL), grade 3 (20–29.9 mg/dL), and grade 4 (≥ 30 mg/dL). These grades were then assessed for their association with hospital mortality and recovery from hyperbilirubinemia to SOFA grade (point) 2 or below (total bilirubin < 6 mg/dL). The influences of various factors, some of which caused extreme hyperbilirubinemia, while others induced bilirubin recovery, were assessed.

Results

A total of 427 patients (mean age: 59.8 years, male: 67.0%) were evaluated, and the hospital mortality for these patients was very high (76.1%). Extreme hyperbilirubinemia was observed in 111 (grade 1, 26.0%), 99 (grade 2, 23.2%), 131 (grade3, 30.7%), and 86 (grade 4, 20.1%) patients with mortality rates of 62.2%, 71.7%, 81.7%, and 90.7%, respectively (p < 0.001). The peak bilirubin value correlated with the mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–1.15, p < 0.001). Compared to those with grade 1 extreme hyperbilirubinemia, the mortality rate gradually increased as the grade increased (OR [95% CI]: 1.92 [0.70–5.28], 3.55 [1.33–9.48], and 12.47 [3.07–50.59] for grades 2, 3 and 4, respectively). The main causes of extreme hyperbilirubinemia were infection including sepsis and hypoxic hepatitis. The recovery from hyperbilirubinemia was observed in 110 (25.8%) patients. Mortality was lower for those who recovered from hyperbilirubinemia than for those who did not (29.1% vs. 92.4%, p < 0.001). The favorable factors of bilirubin recovery were albumin and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA).

Conclusions

This study determined that the level of extreme hyperbilirubinemia is an important prognostic factor in critically ill patients. We expect the results of this study to help predict the clinical course of and determine the optimal treatment for extreme hyperbilirubinemia.
Mechanisms of socioeconomic differences in COVID-19 screening and hospitalizations
Authors: Dalton Jarrod E. , Gunzler Douglas D. , Jain Vardhmaan , Perzynski Adam T. , Dawson Neal V. , Einstadter Douglas , Tarabichi Yasir , Imrey Peter B. , Lewis Michael , Kattan Michael W. , Yao James , Taksler Glen , Berg Kristen A. , Krieger Nikolas I. , Kaelber David , Jehi Lara , Kalra Ankur
Published: August 2021

Background

Social and ecological differences in early SARS-CoV-2 pandemic screening and outcomes have been documented, but the means by which these differences have arisen are not well understood.

Objective

To characterize socioeconomic and chronic disease-related mechanisms underlying these differences.

Design

Observational cohort study.

Setting

Outpatient and emergency care.

Patients

12900 Cleveland Clinic Health System patients referred for SARS-CoV-2 testing between March 17 and April 15, 2020.

Interventions

Nasopharyngeal PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Measurements

Test location (emergency department, ED, vs. outpatient care), COVID-19 symptoms, test positivity and hospitalization among positive cases.

Results

We identified six classes of symptoms, ranging in test positivity from 3.4% to 23%. Non-Hispanic Black race/ethnicity was disproportionately represented in the group with highest positivity rates. Non-Hispanic Black patients ranged from 1.81 [95% confidence interval: 0.91–3.59] times (at age 20) to 2.37 [1.54–3.65] times (at age 80) more likely to test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus than non-Hispanic White patients, while test positivity was not significantly different across the neighborhood income spectrum. Testing in the emergency department (OR: 5.4 [3.9, 7.5]) and cardiovascular disease (OR: 2.5 [1.7, 3.8]) were related to increased risk of hospitalization among the 1247 patients who tested positive.

Limitations

Constraints on availability of test kits forced providers to selectively test for SARS-Cov-2.

Conclusion

Non-Hispanic Black patients and patients from low-income neighborhoods tended toward more severe and prolonged symptom profiles and increased comorbidity burden. These factors were associated with higher rates of testing in the ED. Non-Hispanic Black patients also had higher test positivity rates.
Does the board’s on-site decision inhibit over-investment
Authors: Shi Xiaofei , Zhao Fei , Xu Long , Bian Na , Wang Fengfei
Published: August 2021

It is an effective expansion of the research on the Board of Directors to do the research based on different board meeting forms and their effects sampling A-share companies listed in 2007–2017, the article empirically tests the impact of the times of board meetings, the proportion of on-site board meetings on listed companies’ over-investment. Consequently and significantly, the times of board meetings is positively correlated with over-investment, while the proportion of on-site board meetings is negatively correlated with over-investment. That is, the on-site meeting for the Board decision-making will better inhibit the enterprises’ over-investment behaviors. Further research shows that when there is a controlling shareholder in the company or in a dual position, the on-site board meeting no longer has a significant inhibitory effect on over-investment. By research on the independence of the Board of Directors, it is found that when selecting on-site board decision-making, the existence of independent directors has an over-investment suppression effect, and the higher the proportion of independent directors, the more obvious the inhibitory effect is. The samples are divided into state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, the study found that when choosing on-site board meetings, state-owned enterprises have a greater inhibitory effect on over-investment than private enterprises. The findings of this study will enrich the research of the board meeting and provide a new testing method for the relevant research of the Board of Directors.
Finding inhibitors for PCSK9 using computational methods
Authors: Zainab Rida , Kaleem Afshan , Ponczek Michał B. , Abdullah Roheena , Iqtedar Mehwish , Hoessli Daniel C.
Published: August 2021

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is one of the key targets for atherosclerosis drug development as its binding with low-density lipoprotein receptor leads to atherosclerosis. The protein-ligand interaction helps to understand the actual mechanism for the pharmacological action. This research aims to discover the best inhibitory candidates targeting PCSK9. To start with, reported ACE inhibitors were incorporated into pharmacophore designing using PharmaGist to produce pharmacophore models. Selected models were later screened against the ZINC database using ZINCPHARMER to define potential drug candidates that were docked with the target protein to understand their interactions. Molecular docking revealed the top 10 drug candidates against PCSK9, with binding energies ranging from -9.8 kcal·mol-1to -8.2 kcal·mol-1, which were analyzed for their pharmacokinetic properties and oral bioavailability. Some compounds were identified as plant-derived compounds like (S)-canadine, hesperetin or labetalol (an antihypertensive drug). Molecular dynamics results showed that these substances formed stable protein-ligand complexes. (S)-canadine-PCSK9 complex was the most stable with the lowest RMSD. It was concluded that (S)-canadine may act as a potential inhibitor against atherosclerosis for the development of new PCSK9 inhibitory drugs in futurein vitroresearch.
Prediction of gait trajectories based on the Long Short Term Memory neural networks
Authors: Zaroug Abdelrahman , Garofolini Alessandro , Lai Daniel T. H. , Mudie Kurt , Begg Rezaul
Published: August 2021

The forecasting of lower limb trajectories can improve the operation of assistive devices and minimise the risk of tripping and balance loss. The aim of this work was to examine four Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) neural network architectures (Vanilla, Stacked, Bidirectional and Autoencoders) in predicting the future trajectories of lower limb kinematics, i.e. Angular Velocity (AV) and Linear Acceleration (LA). Kinematics data of foot, shank and thigh (LA and AV) were collected from 13 male and 3 female participants (28 ± 4 years old, 1.72 ± 0.07 m in height, 66 ± 10 kg in mass) who walked for 10 minutes at preferred walking speed (4.34 ± 0.43 km.h-1) and at an imposed speed (5km.h-1, 15.4% ± 7.6% faster) on a 0% gradient treadmill. The sliding window technique was adopted for training and testing the LSTM models with total kinematics time-series data of 10,500 strides. Results based on leave-one-out cross validation, suggested that the LSTM autoencoders is the top predictor of the lower limb kinematics trajectories (i.e. up to 0.1s). The normalised mean squared error was evaluated on trajectory predictions at each time-step and it obtained 2.82–5.31% for the LSTM autoencoders. The ability to predict future lower limb motions may have a wide range of applications including the design and control of bionics allowing improved human-machine interface and mitigating the risk of falls and balance loss.
Intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors among street dwellers and prison inmates: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Feleke Daniel Getacher , Alemu Yonas , Bisetegn Habtye , Mekonnen Melat , Yemanebrhane Nebiyou
Published: August 2021

Background

Intestinal parasitic infections are closely associated with low household income, poor personal and environmental sanitation, and overcrowding, limited access to clean water, tropical climate and low altitude. Street dwellers and prisoners are forced to live in deprived situations characterized by inadequate facilities. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence and associated factors of intestinal parasitic infections among street dwellers and prison inmates.

Method

Study searches were carried out in Electronic data bases such as PubMed/Medline, HINARI, EMBASE, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library. Studies published only in English and have high quality Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) scores were included for analysis using Stata version 14 software. Random-effects meta-analysis model was used for analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochrane’s Q test and I2 test statistics with its corresponding p-values. Moreover, subgroup, sensitivity analyses and publication bias were computed.

Result

Seventeen eligible studies consist of 4,544 study participants were included. Majority of the study participants were males (83.5%) and the mean age of the study participants was 25.7 years old. The pooled prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among street dwellers and prison inmates was 43.68% (95% CI 30.56, 56.79). Sub-group analysis showed that the overall pooled prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among prison inmates and street dwellers was 30.12% (95%CI: 19.61, 40.62) and 68.39% (95%CI: 57.30, 79.49), respectively. There was statistically significant association between untrimmed fingernail and intestinal parasitic infections (AOR: 1.09 (95%CI: 0.53, 2.23).

Conclusion

In this study, the pooled prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among street dwellers and prison inmates was relatively high. Fingernail status had statistically significant association with intestinal parasitic infection. The prevention and control strategy of intestinal parasitic infection should also target socially deprived segment of the population such as street dwellers and prison inmates.
Measurement of green total factor productivity on Chinese laying hens: From the perspective of regional differences
Authors: Li Junzhi , Li Junwei , Sun Zhenlei , Zhong Shen
Published: August 2021

Eggs contain the essential cholesterol and protein for the human body, which plays an irreplaceable role in human survival, production and life. There are significant differences in the development of laying hens feeding in different regions. It is of great significance to improve egg production and reduce pollution emission for China’s laying hens industry. Based on the SBM model, this paper constructs MML index, considering unexpected output under common frontier, to comprehensively evaluate the green total factor productivity on Chinese laying hens (GTCL). The results show that: (1) GTCL shows a large spatial and temporal differentiation under both the common frontier and the regional frontier. Compared with the eastern region and central region, the western region has obvious advantages in GTCL. (2) GTCL overall shows a downward trend, however, it emerges an upward trend in recent years. (3) Compared with small-scale and large-scale, middle-scale GTCL has advantages. According to the above empirical results, combined with the China’s actual national situation, this paper finally puts forward some policy recommendations to improve GTCL.
Early and late outcomes of single versus bilateral internal thoracic artery revascularization for patients in critical condition
Authors: Fertouk Michal , Gordon Amit , Pevni Dmitry , Ziv-Baran Tomer , Sela Orr , Mohr Rephael , Farkash Ariel , Kramer Amir , Teich Nadav , Nesher Nachum , Ben-Gal Yanai
Published: August 2021

Objective

The optimal surgical approach for critically ill patients with complex coronary disease remains uncertain. We compared outcomes of bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) versus single ITA (SITA) revascularization in critical patients.

Methods

We evaluated 394 consecutive critical patients with multi-vessel disease who underwent CABG during 1996–2001. Outcomes measured were early mortality, strokes, myocardial-infarctions, sternal infections, revisions for bleeding, and late survival. The critical preoperative state was acknowledged concisely by one or more of the following: preoperative ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, aborted sudden cardiac death, or the need for mechanical ventilation or for preoperative insertion of intra-aortic-balloon counter-pulsation.

Results

During the study period, 193 of our patients who underwent SITA and 201 who underwent BITA were in critical condition. The SITA group was older (mean 68.0 vs. 63.3 years, p = 0.001) and higher proportions were females (28.5% vs. 18.9% p = 0.025), after recent-MI (69.9% vs. 57.2% p = 0.009) and with left-main disease (38.3% vs. 49.3% p = .029); the median logistic EuroSCORE was higher (0.2898 vs. 0.1597, p<0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between the SITA and BITA groups in 30-day mortality; and in rates of early CVA, MI and sternal infections (13.0% vs. 8.5%, p = 0.148; 4.1% vs. 6.0%, p = 0.49; 6.7% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.32 and 2.1% vs. 2.5%, p>0.99, respectively). Long-term survival (median follow-up of 15 years, interquartile-range: 13.57–15) was better in the BITA group (median 14.39 vs. 9.31± 0.9 years, p = 0.001). Propensity-score matching (132 matched pairs) also yielded similar early outcomes and improved long-term survival (median follow-up of 15 years, interquartile-range: 13.56–15) for the BITA group (median 12.49±1.71 vs. 7.63±0.99 years, p = 0.002). In multivariable analysis, BITA revascularization was found to be a predictor for improved survival (hazard-ratio of 0.419, 95%CI 0.23–0.76, p = 0.004).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated long-term survival benefit for BITA revascularization in patients in a critical pre-operative state who presented for surgical revascularization.
Crash severity analysis of vulnerable road users using machine learning
Authors: Komol Md Mostafizur Rahman , Hasan Md Mahmudul , Elhenawy Mohammed , Yasmin Shamsunnahar , Masoud Mahmoud , Rakotonirainy Andry
Published: August 2021

Road crash fatality is a universal problem of the transportation system. A massive death toll caused annually due to road crash incidents, and among them, vulnerable road users (VRU) are endangered with high crash severity. This paper focuses on employing machine learning-based classification approaches for modelling injury severity of vulnerable road users—pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorcyclist. Specifically, this study aims to analyse critical features associated with different VRU groups—for pedestrian, bicyclist, motorcyclist and all VRU groups together. The critical factor of crash severity outcomes for these VRU groups is estimated in identifying the similarities and differences across different important features associated with different VRU groups. The crash data for the study is sourced from the state of Queensland in Australia for the years 2013 through 2019. The supervised machine learning algorithms considered for the empirical analysis includes the K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF). In these models, 17 distinct road crash parameters are considered as input features to train models, which originate from road user characteristics, weather and environment, vehicle and driver condition, period, road characteristics and regions, traffic, and speed jurisdiction. These classification models are separately trained and tested for individual and unified VRU to assess crash severity levels. Afterwards, model performances are compared with each other to justify the best classifier where Random Forest classification models for all VRU modes are found to be comparatively robust in test accuracy: (motorcyclist: 72.30%, bicyclist: 64.45%, pedestrian: 67.23%, unified VRU: 68.57%). Based on the Random Forest model, the road crash features are ranked and compared according to their impact on crash severity classification. Furthermore, a model-based partial dependency of each road crash parameters on the severity levels is plotted and compared for each individual and unified VRU. This clarifies the tendency of road crash parameters to vary with different VRU crash severity. Based on the outcome of the comparative analysis, motorcyclists are found to be more likely exposed to higher crash severity, followed by pedestrians and bicyclists.
Transformation in homespun: Power and creativity in early nineteenth-century Hawaiian cloth manufacturing
Authors: Kuaiwa Sarah
Published: August 2021

Between 1837 and 1840, governor and chief John Adams Kuakini engaged in cotton farming and cloth production, the first Hawaiian to ever do so. His success in running a cloth-making operation was not done alone, however, but with the guidance from New England Congregationalist missionaries who introduced homespun to Kuakini and hired foreigners and makaʻāinana men and women labourers. This article explores Kuakini’s motivations for investing in cloth-making through the lens of his chiefly power, with special attention to the ways in which Kuakini asserted dominance over those who challenged him and those he believed were subservient to him. I examine Kuakini’s motivations and foray into cloth-making, which differed greatly from Congregational Christian ideas about cloth-making, further demonstrating how Kuakini’s power in the early Hawaiian Kingdom extended over both native and foreign bodies.
Practices of cultural collectivity: Style activism, Miromoda and Māori fashion in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Richards Harriette
Published: August 2021

Familiar narratives of fashion history in Aotearoa New Zealand recount the successes of Pākehā (New Zealand European) designers who have forged a distinctive fashion industry at the edge of the world. This narrative overlooks the history of Māori fashion cultures, including the role of ‘style activism’ enacted by political figures such as Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan and collectives such as the Pacific Sisters who advanced the status of Māori and Pasifika design in the twentieth century. It also ignores the changing nature of the New Zealand fashion industry today. One of the most significant recent initiatives to alter perceptions of fashion in Aotearoa New Zealand has been Miromoda, the Indigenous Māori Fashion Apparel Board (IMFAB), established in 2008. By championing the work of Māori fashion designers and prioritizing the values of te ao Māori (the Māori world-view), Miromoda is successfully contributing to the ‘decolonization’ of the New Zealand fashion industry. This article foregrounds practices of cultural collectivity, including that of style activists such as Tirikatene-Sullivan and the Pacific Sisters, and Māori fashion designers such as Kiri Nathan, Tessa Lont (Lontessa) and Bobby Campbell Luke (Campbell Luke), to explore the expansion of a more affirmative fashion future in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Protocol State Machine Reverse Engineering with a Teaching-Learning Approach
Authors: Székely Gábor , Ládi Gergő , Holczer Tamás , Buttyán Levente
Published: August 2021

In this work, we propose a novel solution to the problem of inferring the state machine of an unknown protocol. We extend and improve prior results on inferring Mealy machines, and present a new algorithm that accesses and interacts with a networked system that runs the unknown protocol in order to infer the Mealy machine representing the protocol's state machine. To demonstrate the viability of our approach, we provide an implementation and illustrate the operation of our algorithm on a simple example protocol, as well as on two real-world protocols, Modbus and MQTT.
Geometric Distance Fields of Plane Curves
Authors: Bán Róbert , Valasek Gábor
Published: August 2021

This paper introduces a geometric generalization of signed distance fields for plane curves. We propose to store simplified geometric proxies to the curve at every sample. These proxies are constructed based on the differential geometric quantities of the represented curve and are used for queries such as closest point and distance calculations. We investigate the theoretical approximation order of these constructs and provide empirical comparisons between geometric and algebraic distance fields of higher order. We apply our results to font representation and rendering.
IMAGE OF A MIGRANT IN THE POPULATION OF THE BORDER REGION OF RUSSIA'S NOTIONS
Authors: Saryglar Syldysmaa A.
Published: August 2021

The issues of adaptation and integration of migrants are one of the main directions of the sociology of migration. The success of a migrant's adaptation depends not only on himself, but also on the local community. Each of them faces the consequences and difficulties of migration to varying degrees. And the actions of each of the parties determine the success of migration processes. The article examines the issue of the adaptive potential of the host community through the study of migrant images in the perception of the population of the border region. The paper presents the results of a psychosemantic experiment conducted in the Altai Territory in 2020-2021 (n = 85). The average age of the respondents is 31.4 years. The image of a migrant in the perceptions of the population is explored through the role positions "migrant", "migrant from the CIS countries", "labor migrant". As scales, 28 pairs of categories were used, describing persons with different social activity. Based on the analysis of average values and factor analysis, the semantic spaces for assessing the mental representations of the "image of a migrant", "the image of a migrant from the CIS countries", "the image of a labor migrant" were built. There is a negative perception of the images of “migrant” and “migrant from the CIS countries”. They are characterized by such categories as "hardy", "alien", "distant", "impatient", "cunning", "arouses hostility", "warlike". A labor migrant is defined by the population as honest, responsible, hardworking, religious, sociable, easy-going and ready to help. The image of a “labor migrant” inspires more confidence in the population and is perceived more positively than the images of a “migrant” and “a migrant from the CIS countries”.
SOCIAL TRUST AS A FACTOR OF PERCEPTION OF CORRUPTION(AS RESULTS OF A SOCIOLOGICAL SURVEY IN THE ALTAI KRAI)
Authors: Spirina Anastasiya S.
Published: August 2021

The article presents the data of a sociological study conducted among the population of the Altai Territory (n = 1200). The purpose of this work is to determine the relationship between the population's perception of corruption and the level of social trust. Within the framework of this article, the characteristics of the level of generalized, interpersonal, particular and institutional trust were given. Perceptions of corruption were examined at the social, group and individual levels. An analysis was also made of the degree to which the population feels that they are protected from corruption. The analysis revealed statistically significant differences in the perception of corruption depending on the socio-demographic characteristics of the population (gender, income, education, social status). As a result of the classification carried out using the decision tree method, it was revealed what role generalized, interpersonal, particular and institutional trust plays in conjunction with the socio-demographic characteristics of the population and the feeling of their protection from corruption in the structure of positive / negative perception of corruption by the population in the public, group and individual level.
INVESTIGANDO REPRESENTAÇÕES GAYS MASCULINAS EM TATUAGEM (2013): DISCURSOS, IMAGENS DE CONTROLE, E TRANSGRESSÕES
Authors: Alves de Oliveira José , Silva Bezerra Fábio Alexandre
Published: August 2021

Esta pesquisa, como um posicionamento acadêmico e político que se alinha a valores próprios de uma sociedade democrática, é uma resposta às tentativas de silenciamento e de aniquilação da comunidade LGBTQIA+ no contexto nacional atual, destacando os filmes como artefatos pedagógicos importantes. Com o suporte teórico-metodológico do modelo tridimensional para a análise crítica do discurso proposto por Fairclough (2015[1989], 1995), e do conceito de imagens de controle (COLLINS, 2019), analisamos representações gays masculinas no filme Tatuagem (2013), de Hilton Lacerda. Para tanto, descrevemos possíveis imagens de controle sobre homens gays no filme, discutimos ideologias e relações de poder que permeiam as representações analisadas, e identificamos se tais representações reforçam ou desafiam estereótipos depreciativos. Resultados gerais demonstram que as representações gays masculinas têm sido marcadas por imagens de controle e por estereótipos negativos e desumanizadores, havendo, apenas recentemente, de maneira mais expressiva, exemplos de transgressões, como evidenciados no filme em análise.
PRÁTICAS DE GESTÃO EDUCACIONAL NO COMBATE A HOMOLESBOTRANSFOBIA
Authors: Silveira Diogo de Ávila Fontoura Julian , Soares Ramos Procasko Josiane Carolina
Published: August 2021

Compreendemos o espaço escolar como reprodutor de desigualdades estruturais de toda ordem social, especialmente na perpetuação de práticas discriminatórias contra grupos socialmente vulnerais, como é o caso dos jovens LGBTs. A investigação que apresentamos objetiva desvelar os movimentos das práticas de gestão educacional implementadas no enfrentamento a homolesbotransfobia no interior do espaço escolar, na percepção dos gestores de escolas públicas de Educação Básica da cidade de Porto Alegre/RS. Para isso nos utilizamos da abordagem qualitativa presente nos Estudos de Caso em seu caráter descritivo-exploratório, articulado a entrevistas semidirigidas e a pesquisa documental, a análise de dados se desenvolveu a partir da análise de conteúdo. Os resultados da investigação apontam à falta de entendimento e preparo das equipes gestoras na efetivação de práticas de combate a preconceitos e discriminações, para além de ações pontuais e desconectadas de um projeto de educação pautado no enfrentamento a homolesbotransfobia no interior das instituições.
FREDDIE MERCURY E A AIDS
Authors: Fernandes Ítalo , Silva Ricardo Desidério da
Published: August 2021

“Bohemian Rhapsody” é uma cinebiografia de Freddie Mercury, lançada no Brasil, em novembro de 2018. Essa produção pode ser analisada enquanto produto histórico, possibilitando discussões acerca de suas vivências nas relações com a Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida (AIDS). Freddie, conviveu com o Vírus da Imunodeficiência Humana (HIV) e morreu em 1991, vítima de uma broncopneumonia depois de interromper seu tratamento. Para desvelar o mundo-vida de Freddie Mercury, elegeu-se a metodologia qualitativa na perspectiva da Educação Audiovisual da Sexualidade. Como forma complementar dessa proposta alternativa metodológica, as análises foram ancoradas na fenomenologia. Nas décadas que sucederam a descoberta do vírus, as pessoas com HIV eram estigmatizadas e marginalizadas, motivo que o levou a esconder sua sorologia. Hoje, na contemporaneidade, observamos que as vivências sexuais de homens com HIV/AIDS que fazem sexo com homens, permanece pautada em tabus, estereótipos e desinformação, causando nessa população, desconforto e negação para viver sua sexualidade.
CURRÍCULOS, CINEMA, GÊNEROS E SEXUALIDADES: FABULANDO POSSÍVEIS NA EDUCAÇÃO
Authors: Da Silva Sandra Kretli , Alves Paraíso Marlucy
Published: August 2021

Trata-se de uma pesquisa que buscou compor encontros com professoras com o objetivo de pensar a força das imagens cinematográficas em redes de conversações na fabulação de possíveis para a educação. Utiliza como metodologia uma cartografia dos fluxos e das forças que se engendram, tendo as imagens do filme Carol como elemento disparador das redes de conversações com professoras. Argumenta-se que os encontros com as imagens cinematográficas em redes de conversações possibilitam a expansão de forças intensivas, a potencialização da coletividade na invenção de novos modos de subjetivação e na luta contra os poderes que tentam normatizar, codificar as escolas e silenciar as conquistas dos discursos feministas e queer presentes na produção acadêmica sobre currículos, gêneros e sexualidades. Conclui-se que o signo artístico do cinema faz fluir a força da diferença e da coletividade, potencializando as professoras a criar resistências e fabular currículos nômades com novos trajetos para a educação.
ENTRE ESPELHOS, MALDIÇÕES E JOGATINAS: ATRAVESSAMENTOS DE GÊNERO, RAÇA E GERAÇÃO NA CONSTITUIÇÃO DE PERSONAGENS VILÃS EM LIVE-ACTIONS DE CONTOS DE FADAS
Authors: Pereira Tavares Olívia
Published: August 2021

A partir de uma perspectiva dos estudos culturais e de gênero pós-estruturalistas, neste artigo foi proposto a análise de um roteiro construído para as feminilidades representadas como “vilãs’ nos filmes Espelho, espelho meu (2012), Malévola (2014) e Cinderela (2015). Ao focalizar como são inscritas as representações destas personagens, buscou-se dar a ver como os atravessamentos de gênero e geração posicionam estas feminilidades, problematizando: quais são as marcas veiculadas nas telas e inscritas nas personagens da Rainha, da Madrasta e de Malévola? Que elementos são re(a)presentados como constituintes de feminilidades em posição de vilania? Como os marcadores de gênero, raça e geração posicionam as personagens na trama fílmica? Estes questionamentos, aliados a procedimentos metodológicos da etnografia de tela, tornaram possível analisar algumas cenas destes contos fílmicos e como constroem a vilania, posicionando-a, de distintas formas, como feminilidades ambiciosas.
SUBJETIVAÇÕES FEMININAS: ENTRE CONCORDÂNCIAS E POSSIBILIDADES DE RESISTÊNCIA NOS FILMES DE ANIMAÇÃO DA BARBIE
Authors: Bacarin Telma Iara , Xavier Filha Constantina
Published: August 2021

A pesquisa teve como fontes filmes de animação da Barbie produzidos de 2001 até 2012. O objetivo foi identificar as possibilidades de vivências de feminilidades, bem como as de resistências a modelos únicos. As questões que nortearam o estudo foram: quais as feminilidades que são veiculadas/produzidas nos filmes de animação da Barbie? De que forma essas feminilidades são legitimadas enquanto modelos para a vivência das feminilidades? Existe um modelo único nos filmes ou há a possibilidade de variadas formas de vivências de feminilidade e de ser menina/mulher? A pesquisa foi fundamentada teoricamente nos Estudos Culturais, nos Estudos de Gênero e em pressupostos foucaultianos, utilizando os conceitos de gênero, feminilidades, pedagogias culturais, identidade e diferença, identidade de gênero, subjetivação, poder e resistência. As discussões produzidas na investigação destacam a predominância de normatizações de gênero nos filmes e de algumas mudanças que percebemos como resistências de gênero.
O CINEMA E A EDUCAÇÃO COMO POSSIBILIDADE DE EMPODERAMENTO FEMININO: ESTRELANDO: MULHER -MARAVILHA
Authors: Araujo de Souza Carla , Rodrigues de Oliveira Rosemary
Published: August 2021

O artigo analisa cenas do filme “Mulher-Maravilha” (2017), elencando seu potencial pedagógico para o trabalho com gênero e sexualidade em sala de aula. Entendemos que os padrões de gênero e sexualidade sofrem manutenção a partir da repetição performática de atos no âmbito cultural. A análise se dá à luz de teóricos pós-estruturalistas como Judith Butler, utilizando como metodologia para análise do corpus fílmico, a Análise Textual Discursiva, que se configura como um processo que visa à emersão de compreensões sobre o material em análise por meio de uma sequência recursiva. A partir dos resultados da análise fílmica, foi construído um metatexto de ressignificação da narrativa a partir das análises das cenas onde foi possível elencar uma compreensão crítica voltada para a representação da mulher, os estereótipos que ali são reforçados, por vezes de forma sutil, desvelando como essas representações auxiliam na manutenção de uma sociedade patriarcal, machista e violenta.
INCRIVEIS" EDUCAÇÃO, CULTURA VISUAL, SEXUALIDADES E CARACTERIZAÇÃO DAS PERSONAGENS MULHERES DE “OS INCRÍVEIS” (2004; 2018)
Authors: Fiorini Romero Jéssica , Paulo Baliscei João
Published: August 2021

Em um recorte de três personagens que compõem as animações Os Incríveis (2004; 2018) - Helena, Violeta e Evelyn -, percebemos que há caracterizações específicas e distintas na formação de suas feminilidades. Sendo elas nossos objetos de estudos, objetivamos tensionar os debates que envolvem feminilidades, gênero e sexualidades no que tange à representação das personagens femininas. Debruçamo-nos sobre os Estudos da Cultura Visual e Estudos de Gênero para discussão teórica e analítica de como os artefatos visuais instauram e disseminam modos de ser e estar no mundo, assim como reforçam estereótipos e papéis de gênero. Concluímos, após a análise, que de modos distintos essas três personagens exemplificam estereótipos endereçados às mulheres. Helena, em relação à maternidade; Violeta, à busca pelo relacionamento heterossexual; e Evelyn, ao antagonismo destinado aos corpos que se desviam da norma.
Apresentação
Authors: Ferrari Anderson , Polato de Castro Roney , Bastos Felipe , De Boer Raphael
Published: August 2021

Trata-se da apresentação do dossiê.
Análise da socialização das experiências do projeto Agente Mirim de Defesa Civil de Blumenau/SC por meio da educação ambiental
Authors: Ribeiro Jefferson , Vieira Rafaela , Correia Luciana Schramm
Published: August 2021

As ações do projeto Agente Mirim de Defesa Civil (AMDC) realizado pela Defesa Civil (DC) de Blumenau, acontecem anualmente em escolas do município, promovendo o aprofundamento no tema Gestão de Risco de Desastres (GRD), envolvendo aulas teóricas e visitas de estudo.  O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi identificar o grau de socialização das experiências dos estudantes sobre a GRD junto à sua família confrontando os dados obtidos com o conceito da Educação Ambiental (EA) Crítica-Transformadora. Como ferramenta metodológica, foram aplicados questionários com os responsáveis dos estudantes que participaram do projeto AMDC entre os anos de 2015 até 2018. A análise das respostas foi realizada pela técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Entre os resultados é possível confirmar que os responsáveis das três comunidades apresentam conhecimentos sobre a GRD, independente do ano em que foram aplicados os projetos. O pensamento Crítico-Transformador utilizado pela DC durante suas práticas consolida a percepção dos riscos de desastres na comunidade.
Educação ambiental e agroecologia
Authors: Santos Suellen Lemes Freire , Sousa Romier da Paixão , Ferreira Cícero Paulo
Published: August 2021

O artigo tem como objetivo apresentar os resultados de um ensaio de formação em educação ambiental com enfoque agroecológico, e refletir sobre a construção de um projeto de extensão em educação ambiental aplicado ao espaço escolar a partir da comunidade local, visando a construção de uma proposta pedagógica para as escolas do campo. O caminho metodológico iniciou com a pesquisa bibliográfica e exploratória, seguindo pela pesquisa de campo. Como resultado, foi observado que a proximidade e interação entre a instituição de formação profissional e tecnológica, as escolas rurais e a comunidade local possibilitam novos olhares e significados para o espaço rural, como também, dinamiza o fazer pedagógico a partir dos diálogos e das práticas de campo.
Social Networking Effect: How Do Large Corporations use #Hashtags on Twitter
Authors: Aditya G , Iyer Dr Subramanian S
Published: August 2021

Twitter, Corporate Social Media Communication, Hashatg, Big Data, Content Analysis, Corporate Communication, Social Network effect.
Growth and survival of Mud Crab, Scylla serrata, reared in bottom and floating cages within Mida Creek mangroves, coastal Kenya
Authors: Mwaluma James M. , Kaunda-Arara Boaz
Published: August 2021

Mud Crab fattening is a relatively new business idea in Kenya and is highly lucrative due to the reasonable prices offered at tourist hotels. This study was aimed at developing appropriate culture techniques for Mud Crabs to maximize harvestable biomass by the local communities and avoid recruitment overfishing. Growth and survival rates for mixed sex Mud Crabs was investigated for a period of 230 days in Mida Creek, Kenya, using bottom and floating cages, and two feed types in a crab fattening experiment. Crabs attained harvestable weight by the third month for both floating (466.2 ± 137 g) and bottom cages (542.2 ± 109.3 g). There was no significant difference in mean total weight of mixed-sex crabs in the two culture systems (t = 1.75, p>0.05), however males showed significantly higher total weight gain compared to females. A higher overall survival rate was found for crabs cultured in floating cages (63.8%), compared to bottom cages (44.9%). There was no significant difference in growth performance between crabs fed gastropod tissues and those fed fish offal. The long-term specific growth rate for floating cages (0.69 g d-1) was not significantly different from that of bottom cages (0.92 g d-1). An analysis of potential return on investment showed the floating cages to be more profitable per production cycle compared to the bottom ones. The floating cage system and mono-sex male crab culture are recommended to farmers within mangrove tidal flats in Kenya.
Heinz Dieter Kittsteiners Historismus
Authors: Blänkner Reinhard
Published: August 2021

Reinhard Blänkner widmet sich in diesem Beitrag der Frage nach dem Konzept von »Geschichte« in Heinz Dieter Kittsteiners Forschungsprogramm einer von »geschichtsphilosophischen Fragestellungen angeleiteten Kulturgeschichte«. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei Kittsteiners Theoreme von der »Unverfügbarkeit der Geschichte« und die Möglichkeit, sich in der Geschichte mithilfe von »Geschichtszeichen« zu orientieren. Herausgearbeitet wird die nicht hinreichend reflektierte Unterscheidung zwischen Geschichte als Geschehen und als historisch spezifische Wissensform des Geschehens. Der Blick auf die Historizität der Geschichte als symbolische Form der Welterschliessung zeigt, dass beide Theoreme für den historischen Denkraum des Historismus Plausibilität besitzen, nicht aber für die Fortuna-Diskurse und die eschatologischen Kosmologien der frühen Neuzeit sowie für das Verständnis der komplexen Geschehenszusammenhänge der »Globalisierungsmoderne«, in der die Vorstellung von der »Einheit der Geschichte« durch Kontinuitätsbrüche im 20. Jahrhundert und postkoloniale Fragestellungen herausgefordert wird. »Unverfügbarkeit« und »Orientierung« sind als grundsätzliche Probleme damit nicht erledigt. Sie bleiben Leitfragen auch für eine nach-historistische Historie.
Schließung und Öffnung in der Sexualkultur am Beispiel der Heteronormativität
Authors: Lautmann Rüdiger
Published: August 2021

Rüdiger Lautmann erörtert das soziologische Konzept der sozialen Schließung. Im Bereich von Geschlecht und Sexualität werden als die eindrucksvollsten Entwicklungen die Gleichberechtigung der Frauen und die Emanzipation der Homosexuellen angesehen. Ausgehen müssen wir von einer Historisierung der Sexualformen und der Kontrollregimes, also davon, dass die geschlechtliche Intimität je nach Epoche und Kontext verschieden gedeutet und organisiert wird. Als Explanandum bietet sich die Theoriefigur Heteronormativität an, also die zweigeschlechtlich-einsexuelle Lebensweise als Normalform. Neuerdings verzeichnen wir eine Öffnung des ,Marktes', ein Zu-rückweichen der heteronormativen Diktate.