bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing Disease Control in Mismatch Repair-Proficient Colorectal Cancer With Peritoneal Metastases Treated With Immune Checkpoint Blockade-Based Combination Therapies
Authors: Bhutiani Neal , Johnson Benny , Kopetz E. Scott , White Michael G. , Willis Jason , Morris Van K. , Chang George J. , Uppal Abhineet
Published: October 2024

PURPOSE

Metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma (mCRC) with proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) is associated with poor response to cytotoxic chemotherapy in the refractory setting. Immunotherapy regimens using a combination of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)–based combination therapies have shown promise, although few studies include patients with peritoneal metastases (PMs). This study sought to examine the disease control rate (DCR) and overall survival (OS) of patients treated with PM who were treated with ICB-containing regimens.

METHODS

Patients with pMMR metastatic colorectal cancer treated with ICB-based combination regimens after progression on first- and second-line therapy at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2015 to 2022 were identified. Disease response within each metastatic site was determined. OS and DCR were calculated.

RESULTS

A total of 30 patients with PM, with or without other metastases, had a median follow-up on an ICB containing regimen of 8.5 months and a median follow-up until death or censoring of 13.3 months. The median OS was 16.7 (10.0-Not reported) months, and 18-month survival was 47%. Among patients treated for ≥6 months, DCR at 6 months at each metastatic site was 20% (2/10) for liver, 68% for peritoneum (13/19,
P
= .02
v
liver), 50% for lung (5/10,
P
= .35
v
liver), and 0% for retroperitoneal adenopathy (0/2,
P
= 1.00
v
liver).

CONCLUSIONS

Among patients with mCRC, ICB-based combination regimens can provide disease control in the peritoneum in the majority of patients, and median OS compares favorably to standard-of-care therapy in the refractory setting. Patients with peritoneal disease should be included in future ICB trials since treatment options are otherwise limited.
Scaling of static and dynamical properties of random anisotropy magnets
Authors: Garanin Dmitry A. , Chudnovsky Eugene M.
Published: October 2024

Recently observed scaling in the random-anisotropy model of amorphous or sintered ferromagnets is derived by an alternative method and extended for studying the dynamical properties in terms of the Landau-Lifshitz equations for spin blocks. Switching to the rescaled exchange and anisotropy constants allows one to investigate the dynamics by using a reduced number of variables, which greatly speeds up computations. The proposed dynamical scaling is applied to the problem of microwave absorption by a random anisotropy magnet. The equivalence of the rescaled model to the original atomic model is confirmed numerically. The method is proposed as a powerful tool in studying static and dynamic properties of systems with quenched randomness.
Periodic information enhancing and controlling stability of complex corporate financial systems
Authors: Zhong Guangyan , Li Jiang-Cheng
Published: October 2024

We explore the mechanism and control behavior of how periodic information affects the stability of complex corporate financial systems from two viewpoints: the corporate life cycle and the stability of financial leverage risk. A complex corporate financial system model with correlated noise and periodic driving is proposed. Furthermore, two stability indicators are proposed to measure the stability of the corporate life cycle and the risk of corporate financial leverage. Stochastic simulation results show that enhancing the intensity and frequency of controllable periodic information can improve system stability. The stability of complex corporate life cycles and financial leverage risks exhibits opposite behaviors in terms of noise correlation. In addition, it is observed that there are specific threshold values of system parameters, and the relationship with the intensity of periodic information shows non-monotonic characteristics, manifesting peculiar phenomena and transition behaviors. Finally, by comparing with actual financial data, the proposed model is verified to be superior to the benchmark model.
History in an Unfamiliar Key
Authors: Bryan Joseph D.
Published: October 2024

Since the turn of the century, historians have focused on the diverse representations of the past, recognizing that traditional spaces (e.g., museums, statuary, and public commemorations) no longer have a monopoly on the public dissemination of history. This article explores representations of the past from an unusual place: punk rock music and the Canadian band Propagandhi (1986–present). It asks: Can we read history through punk rock? If so, what do we learn? Punks’ treatment of the past should be integrated into how we evaluate public consumption of history. While Propagandhi does not create new knowledge, their music acts as an alternative historical epistemology that tracks alongside professional historians. This article explains how punks have integrated historical material similar to the aesthetics used in punk zines, fashions, and record designs. It then analyzes Propagandhi’s focus on hypocrisy in punk communities through a historical framework, their perception of the early modern European epistemological origins of animal abuse, and their performance of a social history that magnifies the experiences of marginalized peoples.
The Future behind the Mountains and the Sand Dunes
Authors: Jebari Idriss
Published: October 2024

Moroccan historian Abdallah Laroui’s L’histoire du Maghreb: Un essai de synthèse (The History of North Africa: An Interpretative Essay) (1970) offers a prime example of a former colonized subject’s effort to decolonize the discipline of history. Scholars of Arab and North African historiography have either dismissed it as an ideological text or lauded it as an ambitious attempt to call out French hegemony in its former colonies. This essay offers an alternative reading that underlines its social and political dimensions in the context of Moroccan nation-building in the 1970s. It puts Laroui in dialogue with other intellectual voices of this time to illustrate the originality of his call for the public role of historians of decolonization. The article also discusses Laroui’s political withdrawal in the next decade and his shift from Marxism to liberal state reformism.
A Case Study on Assessing AI Assistant Competence in Narrative Interviews
Authors: Chan Chitat , Zhao Yunmeng , Zhao Jiahui
Published: October 2024

Abstract* Background Researchers are leading the development of AI designed to conduct interviews. These developments imply that AI's role is expanding from mere data analysis to becoming a tool for social researchers to interact with and comprehend their subjects. Yet, academic discussions have not addressed the potential impacts of AI on narrative interviews. In narrative interviews, the method of collecting data is a collaborative effort. The interviewer also contributes to exploring and shaping the interviewee's story. A compelling narrative interviewer has to display critical skills, such as maintaining a specific questioning order, showing empathy, and helping participants delve into and build their own stories. Methods This case study configured an OpenAI Assistant on WhatsApp to conduct narrative interviews with a human participant. The participant shared the same story in two distinct conversations: first, following a standard cycle and answering questions earnestly, and second, deliberately sidetracking the assistant from the main interview path as instructed by the researcher, to test how well the metrics could reflect the deliberate differences between different conversations. The AI's performance was evaluated through conversation analysis and specific narrative indicators, focusing on its adherence to the interview structure, empathy, narrative coherence, complexity, and support for human participant agency. The study sought to answer these questions: 1) How can the proposed metrics help us, as social researchers without a technical background, understand the quality of the AI-driven interviews in this study? 2) What do these findings contribute to our discussion on using AI in narrative interviews for social research? 3) What further research could these results inspire? Results The findings show to what extent the AI maintained structure and adaptability in conversations, illustrating its potential to support personalized, flexible narrative interviews based on specific needs. Conclusions These results suggest that social researchers without a technical background can use observation-based metrics to gauge how well an AI assistant conducts narrative interviews. They also prompt reflection on AI's role in narrative interviews and spark further research.
Fostering healthcare system sustainability through efficient practices: Can adopting biosimilars ease the financial burden of rheumatoid arthritis?
Authors: Ntais Christos , Kontodimopoulos Nikolaos , Fanourgiakis John , Talias Michael A.
Published: October 2024

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been successfully treated using biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. These medications are not utilized as first-line treatment, in part because of their high cost, but they are frequently seen to be cost-effective for RA patient populations that do not respond adequately to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Moreover, not all RA patients who meet clinical eligibility criteria can access biologics, not even as second-line therapy. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in biosimilars that are highly comparable to their originator biologics in terms of efficacy and safety but generally come at a lower price. This review summarizes the potential role of biosimilars in reducing RA expenditure and increasing RA patient access to biologic therapies. As the global landscape for biosimilars continues to evolve, it is essential to consider the unique challenges and opportunities in different healthcare systems. By leveraging the potential of biosimilars, healthcare systems can improve RA management, ease its economic burden and ensure that patients have access to effective and affordable treatments. The future of RA treatment lies in the integration of biosimilars into clinical practice, offering hope for more sustainable and equitable healthcare systems.
Over fifteen years of chloroquine withdrawal in Nigeria: a qualitative investigation into the execution of this policy by healthcare providers and amongst patients in a rural community.
Authors: Ikegbunam Moses , Eze Daniel , Ezissi Makuachukwu , Anagu Linda , Oli Angus , Ikemefuna Uzochukwu
Published: October 2024

Background Chloroquine (CQ) was once an important drug used in malaria treatment especially due to its affordability, ease of use and high anti-malarial efficacy. However, it was withdrawn from clinical practice in Nigeria in 2005 following a widespread of resistance cases reported in the public health domain. This study aims to ascertain the level of compliance with the policy on CQ withdrawal among patients, Patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs), Pharmacists and Physicians. Method A cross-sectional survey involving both online and offline data collection was carried out. A total of 582 participants were recruited and consisted of patients (N = 300), PMVs (N = 94), Physicians (N = 94), and Pharmacists (N = 94). Patients spanned across health services at primary health centers and hospitals in the Anaocha community. Result Our findings show that the patients were equally aware of what CQ is used for (χ² = 7.071, p = 0.215). However, significant disparities were observed in the knowledge, attitude, and perception of CQ resistance and its continual use among health professionals and PPMVs (χ² = 160.54 and 158.54, p = 0.000). Additionally, despite the chloroquine withdrawal policy in Nigeria, there was evident non-compliance among majorly PPMVs and other healthcare professionals. A few of patients continued to utilize CQ for malaria treatment and PPMVs were mostly likely to prescribe and stock CQ. Conclusion The study revealed that chloroquine use in Nigeria is still sustained notwithstanding the switch in the antimalarial drug policy from chloroquine to ACTs in 2005. Feasible implementation strategy through awareness program and campaign especially in the primary health centers across Nigeria and through associations such as Nigeria Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers (NAPPMED), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) is recommended.
Adaptive reuse of industrial heritage in a polycentric metropolitan area: the case of GZM (Silesian Province, Poland)
Authors: Koj Jacek
Published: October 2024

The article discusses the process of converting industrial heritage for new uses in a large Central European metropolitan area (the case of GZM: Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia – Metropolis GZM). The aim of the research is to investigate the distribution of industrial heritage sites and to identify the factors influencing their current use. The methods include desk research (analysis of documents and database queries), field research and spatial analysis. The research has found 119 preserved industrial heritage sites, whose distribution reflects the historical spatial pattern of industrialisation and the priorities of the restructuring policy. To date, 70 sites have been converted, with commercial and institutional uses dominating and residential and recreational uses being much less common. Although minor differences in the average distance of industrial heritage sites from the city centre, shopping centre, university, train station or motorway exit depending on their current use have been observed, they were not statistically significant.
Scaffolding in the development of learning and innovative skills (4Cs): An action research study in a Chilean teacher education program
Authors: Vega-Abarzúa Jessica , Jarpa Gutiérrez Camilo , Palma Pulgar Valentina , Salazar Marabolí Vasco
Published: October 2024

Situated in an action research study, this investigation describes the impact of scaffolding on the perceptions of preservice teachers of English. An action plan was developed for this group of preservice teachers as they showed concern for some of their communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration skills known as learning and innovative skills or 4Cs. The action plan comprised the use of scaffolding as the main means of instruction, which was executed by the design of various evidenced-based scaffolds including group discussions, note-taking, summarizing, comparing, hypothesizing and problem-solving. The group of preservice teachers included 11 students, 4 male and 7 female, aged 20 and 38 of an English education program in a private university in Ñuble, Chile. Data was collected in three main stages using an open-ended questionnaire before, during and after the implementation of the action plan. Findings showed that the use of scaffolding increased participants’ perceptions of their overall 4Cs skills, being critical thinking the most salient area of change. It is hoped that English teacher education programs can incorporate scaffolding as a potential instructional method in the development of academic and crucial skills for future teacher generations.
The impacts of blended corpus-based instruction on enhancing writing proficiency of Thai university students
Authors: Satchayad Patcharin , Charubusp Sasima
Published: October 2024

Collocational competence is gaining more attention in the field of second language acquisition as it indicates a higher level of target language proficiency. However, Thai university students have been reported as obtaining a low degree of collocational competence which affects productive second language writing (Boonyarattanasoonthorn et al., 2020). The current study aimed to examine the impacts of blended corpus-based instruction (BCBI) on enhancing Thai university students’ writing proficiency and to examine the students’ attitudes towards the implementation of BCBI. A mixed-methods one-group experimental study was conducted with 43 first-year English major students at an autonomous university in Thailand for 8 weeks. The data were gathered utilizing a pre-test, a post-test, an attitude questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview. The results revealed significant differences between the scores before and after the implementation of BCBI at 0.05. Despite there being no drastic change in their collocational competence, the students were highly positive towards the instruction, in particular the use of corpus-based data to assist their writing as well as the awareness of gaining collocational competence. To effectively integrate corpus-based instruction into a writing pedagogy, tasks should be manageable and achievable by the students.
Ecuadorian Manufacturing Companies in Pandemic: Comparative Analysis of Bankruptcy Forecast
Authors: Buele Irene , Inga Christian , Mejía Joselyn
Published: October 2024

The Altman Z-Score model helps to determine the possibility of a company's bankruptcy, offering the opportunity to make corrective decisions in a prompt manner. This article compares the financial situation of manufacturing companies in the years 2019 and 2020, through the analysis of financial ratios and the Altman Z-Score model. This research aims to determine the changes in the financial situation and the probability of bankruptcy in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. The results show a negative impact on liquidity (0.11%), the profitability showed an increase of 4%, demonstrating that profits have been generated despite the fact that sales did not increase. The probability of bankruptcy is 2.22 for manufacturing companies in 2019 and 1.97 for 2020, because of a 10% decrease in sales.
Top Management Team Diversity and Competitive Advantage: An Emirical Investigation of Insurance Companies in Kenya
Authors: Opiyo Jacqueline Odunga , Awino Zachary Bolo , Ogollah Kennedy
Published: October 2024

The study investigated the influence of top management team diversity on competitive advantage of insurance companies in Kenya. A cross sectional descriptive survey was applied to research 41 insurance companies and primary data collected from members of their top management teams using a structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that top management team diversity accounted for 26.8% variation in competitive advantage of insurance companies. Since top management team diversity had a significant and positive effect on competitive advantage, it was useful for competitive advantage of insurance companies in Kenya. The study presented policy and practical implications for practitioners tasked with selection of top executives as it enlightened on designing teams whose members have diverse characteristics to enhance competitive advantage. The research boosted strategy literature by backing the postulations in the upper echelon and resource advantage theories that anchored it. The findings could thus be interpreted and applied in the insurance industry and related settings to boost competitiveness of firms. Since the study conclusions were drawn from analysis of primary data, the researcher recommended that future studies adopt a longitudinal approach to observe relationships among these variables for a longer time.
Implementation of Intellectual Resources in Strategic Vector of Innovative Development of the Enterprise
Authors:   Private Institution of Higher Education ", Skoptsov K. ,   Rauf Ablyazov East European University", Petlenko Т. ,   Central Ukrainian National Technical University, Bezuhlyi O. ,   University of Customs and Finance
Published: October 2024

Various approaches to determining the essence of the enterprise's innovative development strategy have been studied. The concept of strategic management of innovative development of the enterprise and directions of innovative development of the enterprise are proposed. The relationship between the directions of innovative development of the enterprise and the components of the intellectual capital of the enterprise is determined. The object and subject of scientific research in the field of strategic management of the innovative development of the enterprise is substantiated. The theoretical and methodological approaches to determining the essence of the innovative potential of the enterprise are considered and systematized. On the basis of systemic and complex approaches, a generalized definition of innovative potential and its structure is proposed, which shows that the innovative component is inherent in all structural elements of the economic potential of the enterprise, as it acts as a supporting element and an internal source of the creation of basic innovations in the process of its management.
Evaluation of the Competitiveness of the Medical Industry and its Educational Institutions in the Context of Economic Interaction
Authors:   Private Higher Education Institution ", Hutsaliuk O. ,   Rauf Ablyazov East European University", Bondar Iu. ,   Volodymyr Vynnychenko Central Ukrainian State University, Boiko O. ,   Private Higher Education Institution "Rauf Ablyazov East European University"
Published: October 2024

In today's conditions of rapid development of the world economy and technologies, the medical industry plays a key role in ensuring the sustainable development of states. Not only the quality of medical services depends on its competitiveness, but also the country's ability to maintain a high level of population health and economic growth. Assessing the competitiveness of the medical industry and its educational institutions is an extremely important task that involves the analysis of many factors, such as innovation, training of specialists, government policy and economic interaction at the national and international levels. The role of medical educational institutions in the training of highly qualified personnel, which is a critical element of the industry's competitiveness, is considered. In today's world, where the demands for medical services are growing, it is important to ensure that educational programs are in line with the latest trends and technologies. A comprehensive study of factors affecting the competitiveness of the medical industry and its educational institutions was conducted. The results of this study can be useful for the development of strategies for improving the effectiveness of medical education, the development of the industry, and the formation of economic interaction between different sectors of health care.
Analysis of the State of Women's Entrepreneurship in the Conditions of War
Authors:   National Academy of Statistics, Accounting and Audit, Lazorenko L.
Published: October 2024

The article reveals the features of women's entrepreneurship and its role in Ukraine in modern conditions. It becomes especially relevant in wartime, because, despite the fact that men continue to be the leaders of entrepreneurial activity, women are forced to conduct business activities to support society, the economy of the state, because many men must defend our country and join the ranks of the Armed Forces. There is not much of a gender difference in entrepreneurship. There are certain specifics. Women prefer small businesses and separate, closer and more understandable types of activities, such as accounting and auditing, services, and trade. On the other hand, these activities themselves bring a good quick profit and are in demand in the market. Women entrepreneurs are a special social group of women, mainly from 25-50 years old, who have the social status of an entrepreneur, have value orientations, worldview, interests, needs and socio-psychological properties due to the transforming society. The features that distinguish a woman entrepreneur include the presence of individual labor activity, high responsibility in promoting her own business, industry specialization. The peculiarity of women's entrepreneurship is that this type of employment allows a woman to successfully combine professional activity and household duties, to control her time; successfully use their skills, abilities, knowledge, promotes self-development. In total, almost a million operating commercial companies are registered in Ukraine. Women own more than 18% of enterprises. 14% of companies are jointly owned by women and men. The most popular activity of women's entrepreneurship is audit and accounting – more than 40% of companies are owned by women, another 20% are jointly owned. Activities such as tourism, education, catering, and light industry are also popular. Among the main problems of women's entrepreneurship are: the consequences of the economic crisis, high competition, frequent and unpredictable changes in legislation, state regulation, tax system, possible interruptions in communication, the Internet, electricity, corruption.
Analysis of Expert Evaluations of the Effectiveness of the Reform of the Health Care System of Ukraine
Authors:   Classic Private University, Shyshka I.
Published: October 2024

The effectiveness, completeness, and timeliness of measures to reform the health care sector can be assessed differently by individual stakeholders, such as specialists, scientists, experts, and the public. Each of these interested parties has its own priorities regarding the results of reforming the medical industry. Despite this, the comparison of different evaluation points of view makes it possible to generalize the available results and to develop further steps to improve the operating conditions of the medical field. The results of the office analysis of data collected during 2020-2021 by WHO experts regarding the state of the Ukrainian primary medical care system were analyzed. Assessments of Ukrainian and foreign scientists, experts, specialists regarding the positive and negative results of reforming the medical industry are summarized. The results of a nationwide public opinion survey conducted by the SOCIS Center in 2019 and 2020 regarding the public's perception of the results of health care reform were analyzed, as well as the results of a survey of 1,000 Ukrainians in April 2023 conducted by the sociological company Factum Group within the scope of social “YOUkraina” initiative. In many respects, the representatives of academic and scientific circles agree with the opinions of WHO experts, who attributed the following to the shortcomings of health care reform: imperfect organization and insufficient funding, limited subject-legal relations, gaps in the functioning of the health care system, inefficient management of human resources and contradictory legislation. According to the patients, as a result of the reform measures, there were no significant changes in the level of quality of the provision of medical services. At the same time, the level of support for the medical reform from the country's population is insufficient, and almost 40% of respondents consider the reform to be unsuccessful.
Logistics Processes Modeling of Seafood Imports in the Conditions of Damaged Infrastructure
Authors:   Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Ivanov S. , Hlazkov M. ,   LLC "Albacor"
Published: October 2024

The article is devoted to issues of modeling the processes of finding solutions to logistical problems in fish and seafood supply to the population of Ukraine. The paper analyzes the numerous publications of Ukrainian and foreign researches on topics related to issues of marketing and logistics of fish products. The modern conditions’ assessment in which the supply of seafood is carried out is given. The problems faced by product carriers are considered, among which the main ones are hostilities, constant shelling, damage and destruction of infrastructure and energy networks of Ukraine. The Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) metaheuristic algorithm is used to solve the given problem, which helps to solve NP-complex problems that are difficult to solve by any traditional exact methods, or these methods do not exist at all. Productivity of such type algorithms is evaluated based on five indicators: solution quality, convergence speed, computational efficiency, robustness, and flexibility. The proposed GWO-based model enabled the optimization of several objectives, including the minimization of total supply chain costs, maximization of customer satisfaction, and reduction of harmful environmental impacts, enabling an integrated approach to supply chain management.
Tracking the Economic Contributions West Virginia’s Forest Products Industry During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: A Look at 2019 Through 2022 Data
Authors: Gazal Kathryn Arano , Deskins John , Spong Ben , McNeel Joseph
Published: October 2024

West Virginia’s forest products industry’s (FPI) contributions to the state’s economy have historically been influenced by factors such as increasing global competition, increasing automation, recessions, the shale gas boom, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are limited data regarding the impact of the pandemic on the industry and state economy. Given its importance to the state economy, it is therefore important to examine the effect of the pandemic on the industry and the state economy and its recovery postpandemic. This study quantifies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on West Virginia’s FPI from 2019 through 2022, highlighting significant recovery postpandemic. As expected, during the peak of the pandemic spanning the periods of 2019 and 2020 marked a decline in the West Virginia FPI performance across all measures of economic contributions. However, the magnitude and length of the adverse impact is not as significant as the impact of the Great Recession. The forestry sector experienced the largest decline in terms of direct and total economic contributions while the furniture sector remained relatively resilient. By 2021, the industry already experienced recovery which continued through 2022. In fact, 2022 levels were higher than the prepandemic levels except for employment and direct employee compensation. In general, most sectors of the industry have shown recovery and are even performing better than before the pandemic, except for the logging sector. The West Virginia FPI has proven its resiliency during the pandemic and capitalized on opportunities to respond to the changing demand for forest products.
Case Report: Medial Clavicle Physeal Injury Mimicking a Posterior Clavicular Dislocation in a Young Adult
Authors:   Department of Orthopedics, Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences, Palghar, Maharashtra, India,, Angachekar Dhruva , Nemade Pradip ,   Department of Orthopedics, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,, Patel Shivam ,   Department of Orthopedics, Dr. KNS Memorial Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India,, Nakade Swastik ,   Department of Orthopaedics, Gleneagles Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,, Angachekar Utkarsh ,   Department of Orthopedics, Paramount Hospital and ICCU, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Published: October 2024

Introduction: Sternoclavicular injuries are rare and account for 1% of all dislocations. Medial clavicular physeal separation is another rare entity and may sometimes mimic a sternoclavicular dislocation. Diagnosis is usually missed in young adults due to a lack of clinical suspicion. Case Report: A 22-year-old male patient sustained a right shoulder girdle injury due to a motorcycle accident. He was clinically diagnosed with a posterior sternoclavicular dislocation. On further imaging, a medial clavicular physeal injury was suspected. An attempt of closed reduction was attempted but not successful so it was converted to an open reduction. Physeal injury was confirmed and reduction was fixed with transosseous sutures using low-cost polyglactin suture material. The patient had a good clinical recovery. Conclusion: Medial clavicle physeal injury may mimic sternoclavicular dislocations and should be clinically suspected in young adult patients. Keywords: Posterior clavicle dislocation×physeal injury, transosseous fixation, medial clavicle epiphysis ossification.
Intra-articular Knee Neurofibroma in a Patient with Neurofibromatosis: A Case Report and Review of Literature
Authors:   Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, Falconiero Thomas , LaGreca Mark ,   Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, Badragheh Arash ,   Department of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, Jones Nathan ,   Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, Kester Christopher ,   Main Line Orthopaedics and Spine, Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Published: October 2024

Introduction: Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder that typically results in Café-au-lait macules and peripheral nerve sheath tumors (i. e, neurofibromas). While peripheral neurofibromas are common, intra-articular knee neurofibromas are rarely described in the literature. To date, there only have been two other case reports noting intra-articular knee neurofibromas. The authors present the case of a patient with NF1 who was found to have an intra-articular knee neurofibroma incidentally discovered during the surgical approach to a retrograde femoral nail. Case Report: The patient is a 65-year-old female who presented to the emergency room after a fall from standing height with left distal thigh pain. X-rays were obtained and demonstrated a left supracondylar, extra-articular distal femur fracture. The patient had known NF1 with widespread cutaneous neurofibromas and was noted to have a large palpable soft-tissue mass over the anterior aspect of the knee on pre-operative examination. After an incision was made for a retrograde femoral intramedullary nail, the large soft-tissue mass prevented adequate surgical visualization. The mass was noted to track laterally around the patellar tendon, into the knee joint, communicating with Hoffa’s fat pad. The mass was resected and sent for pathology. The case proceeded uneventfully. The mass sent for pathology was positive for a neurofibroma. Clinical features alongside radiographic, computed tomography, and histopathological findings are presented. Conclusion: Intra-articular knee neurofibromas are rare and there is a paucity of literature on the topic. While found incidentally in our patient, the discovery of an intra-articular neurofibroma underscores the need for further investigation into its potential association with neuropathic arthropathy and other associated joint disorders. Keywords: Neurofibromatosis, intra-articular lesion, distal femur fracture.
DVT with Pulmonary Embolism in Patient with Grade 2 Compound Tibia Shaft Fracture- Treated with Thrombolysis and Use of Prophylactic IVC Filter: Case Report
Authors:   Department of Orthopaedics, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,, Agrawal Prashant , Mehta Yash ,   Department of Orthopaedics, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,, Matta Rajesh ,   Department of Cardiology, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India., Vishwakarma Ranjeet ,   Department of Orthopaedics, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,, Bedwal Dharm ,   Department of Orthopaedics, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,
Published: October 2024

Introduction: Major orthopedic procedures place patients at risk for Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). DVT has a 10–40% incidence after isolated fractures of the tibia and distal bones of the lower extremity. Diagnostic techniques are venous compression ultrasonography, venography, and pulmonary angiography. Prevention methods for venous thromboembolism (VTE) include mechanical prophylaxis and pharmacological prophylaxis. Inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) intercepts thrombus in inferior vena cava and prevents it from reaching the pulmonary artery. Case Report: A 39-year-old female having compound Type 2 mid-shaft tibia fracture and operated with intramedullary nailing at a corporate hospital, Navi Mumbai in January 2024. Despite giving DVT prophylaxis, she developed shortness of breath on 3rd day. 2D echocardiogram (ECHO) showed dilated right atrium and right ventricular and computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) showed saddle embolism at the junction of pulmonary artery division. The cardiologist immediately advised intravenous (IV) thrombolysis (injection tenecteplase 30 mg stat) followed by IV anticoagulants (injection low molecular weight heparin 0.6) and oral (rivaroxaban 20 mg) for 15 days. However, she complained of high-grade fever, right leg persistent swelling, and per vaginal (PV) bleeding. Venous Doppler showed persistent thrombi. Hence oral rivaroxaban was stopped, and IVCF was inserted in February 2024 to prevent further embolization. After observing her menstrual cycles, she was resumed on oral rivaroxaban after 1 month. Follow-up after 3 months of surgery (April 2024) showed signs of healing of shaft tibia fracture. Follow-up after 3 months of IVCF placement (May 2024) showed no persistent thrombi in bilateral lower limb venous Doppler. Hence decision of F removal was made at 3 months. Conclusion: Clinical evaluation of patients is important for the detection of DVT-PE. Complain of breathlessness on exertion suggested the diagnosis of PE, confirmed by 2D ECHO and CTPA, and immediately treated by the cardiac team with thrombolytics and anticoagulants. Since the patient developed bleeding PV, the insertion of an IVCF is the best option for treatment and prophylaxis of future VTE episodes. Keywords: Deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, tibia shaft fracture, thrombolytics, anticoagulants, inferior vena cava filter.
The Living Fraternity of Militants
Authors: Maisano Chris
Published: October 2024

Abstract: Jorge Semprún lived an uncommonly eventful life, even by the extreme standards of the twentieth century. By the time he was twenty-two years old, Semprún had already been exiled from Republican Spain, fought with the French Resistance, and been arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald, where he survived for two years until the Allies liberated the camp. By his early forties, he had become a leader of the illegal Communist Party of Spain (PCE) organization in France, served as a clandestine agent shuttling between the two countries, published a prize-winning novel about his harrowing journey by train to Buchenwald, and been expelled from the PCE for daring to disagree with the party line. By his seventies, he had enjoyed a long career as an internationally renowned novelist and screenwriter—he wrote the scripts for the classic political films Z and The Confession , among others—and served as minister of culture in Spain’s second Socialist Party government after the end of the Francisco Franco dictatorship. He kept writing and speaking from his adoptive home in France until he died in 2011, at the age of eighty-seven.
“The Uncommitted Movement Is the Floor of What’s Possible”: An Interview With Waleed Shahid
Authors: Leifer Joshua , Shahid Waleed
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACT: What can be done to challenge the U.S. government’s unflinching support for Israel’s war in Gaza? That is the question progressive organizers have been asking since the start of Israel’s devastating ground invasion and aerial bombardment of the besieged territory. In the absence of a large antiwar caucus in Congress, and with limited national organizing capacity, it has not been easy to answer. Against the backdrop of this year’s Democratic primaries, and as the death toll in Gaza mounted each day, veteran progressive strategist Waleed Shahid, along with other activists, launched the Uncommitted campaign, urging primary voters to withhold their support for President Joe Biden. The idea was to send a message: not only that the Biden administration was out of step with a large part of his party’s base, but also that Biden’s approach to Gaza risked alienating Muslim and Arab voters in key swing states like Michigan. To continue unconditionally backing Israel’s war, the Uncommitted campaign argued, would be to risk a second Trump victory.
Industrial Policy Without Nationalism
Authors: Mason J.W.
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACT: In the first two years after Biden’s election, there was considerable enthusiasm on the left for the administration’s embrace of a larger, more active economic role for the federal government. I was among those who saw both the ambitions of the Build Back Better bill and the self-conscious embrace of industrial policy as an unexpectedly sharp break with the economic policy consensus of the past thirty years.
What’s the Matter with the Democrats?
Authors: Byrnes Sean T.
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACT: It’s been a hard year for the Democrats. Well before concerns over President Joe Biden’s age rocked the presidential campaign, the party was forced to confront a grim political reality: voters did not decisively prefer them to the Republicans. Despite Donald Trump’s criminal conviction, open bigotry, history of sexual assault, semi-incoherent ramblings, and general unfitness for office; despite January 6, the end of national abortion rights, and the stumbles of the Republican House majority; despite a notable drop in violent crime and an economy that is performing statistically as well as it has in years—the best Democrats could hope for in November was a slim victory. Whatever effect swapping Biden for Harris might have, it won’t alter the underlying reality: the Democrats are roughly as popular as Trump’s Republicans, and the general election could be decided by a coin flip.
All-polarization-maintaining Figure-9 erbium-doped mode-locked fiber laser based on a bidirectionally pumped weak asymmetric NALM
Authors: Pan Yongjian , Lu Qiao , Ma Ting , Zhang Dong , Pan Hao , Liang Leben
Published: October 2024

This paper presents, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, an all-polarization-maintaining Figure-9 erbium-doped mode-locked fiber laser utilizing a weakly asymmetric nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM) with bidirectional pumping. In the constructed dispersion-managed Figure-9 erbium-doped mode-locked fiber laser, with a fixed splitting ratio of 0.5, a linear phase shift of 1.5π, and an approximately symmetric distribution of fiber within the loop, we investigated the impact of the bidirectional pumping power ratio on the intracavity asymmetry. By precisely controlling the incremental bidirectional pumping power, while ensuring the self-starting single-pulse operation of the laser, we achieved a mode-locked pulse with a repetition rate of 103 MHz, a direct output pulse width of 284 fs, and an average output power of 58 mW, corresponding to a single-pulse energy of 0.56 nJ. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the highest single-pulse energy achieved in a fully polarization-maintaining erbium-doped Figure-9 mode-locked fiber laser solely by increasing the pump power, without the need for any additional adjustments. Moreover, we constructed a bidirectional pumped dissipative soliton type fully polarization-maintaining Figure-9 erbium-doped mode-locked fiber laser without an actual filter and investigated the changes in output pulse spectral characteristics as the splitting ratio and bidirectional pumping power varied. This study provides significant reference value for future efforts to achieve higher single-pulse energies in Figure-9 mode-locked fiber lasers.
Spectral-image-based lighting adaptive color reproduction of paper cultural heritages
Authors: Ye Zhengnan , Xu Haisong , Deng Jiaci , Qiu Jueqin , Huang Yiming , Li Li
Published: October 2024

An end-to-end image reproduction method is proposed to render cultural heritage images under arbitrary illuminating conditions. When displayed on a characterized display, the appearance of paper-based cultural heritages is reproduced as actually observed under the target illumination, by leveraging spectral images of the artworks and spectral power distribution (SPD) of the identical illumination. Psychophysical experiments are conducted to verify that the proposed method outperforms the traditional pipelines on reproducing real scenes, including the CIECAM02 color appearance model. The method has the potential to be applied in the digitization and exhibition of paper cultural heritages.
Perfect absorber induced by critical coupling between phonon polaritons of molybdenum trioxide and photons of photonic crystal
Authors: Hu Hui , Zhang Hongyu , Sun Guangcheng , Yao Jiahao , Qi Bin , Yan Zhijin , Wang Yue
Published: October 2024

In this paper, we proposed and numerically verified a perfect absorber composed of unstructured nature hyperbolic material α-MoO3 layers on top of photonic crystal (PhC) layers and reflecting mirrors, which can attain nearly perfect absorption of 99.94% at 24.7 terahertz (THz) in Transverse Magnetic (TM) mode. We demonstrate that the absorption efficacy can be regulated by adjusting structural parameters, meeting the requirements of the absorption spectrum spanning from the microwave to the infrared (IR) region. This study presents an exemplary application of natural hyperbolic materials in the realm of perfect absorption, offering significant potential for use in sensing and detection.
Sub-30-fs Yb:CALGO laser oscillator based on cross-polarized multi-mode diode pumping
Authors: Trawi Firas , Drs Jakub , Müller Michael , Hamrouni Marin , Wittwer Valentin J. , Südmeyer Thomas
Published: October 2024

Ytterbium (Yb)-doped materials are an excellent choice for efficient and powerful ultrafast lasers. They exhibit favorable emission properties, which include a low quantum defect and compatibility with cost-effective high-power pump diodes. While being strongly beneficial for efficiency, the low quantum defect is a challenge for operation in the few-cycle regime. In the standard collinear pumping scheme, the optical pump light passes a dichroic mirror, whose spectral transmission and dispersion properties can substantially perturbate the oscillating broad-band pulse. Recently, we introduced a broadband cross-polarization pumping scheme that avoids this issue and enables significant improvements in optical-to-optical efficiency and output average power of modelocked few-cycle Yb-bulk laser oscillators. However, our initial prototype relied on a high-power, diffraction-limited fiber laser for pumping. Here, we demonstrate that the broadband cross-polarization pumping scheme is also well-suited for cost-effective multimode diode pumping of Kerr-lens modelocked Yb-bulk lasers. In doing so, we developed a hard-aperture Kerr-lens modelocked Yb:CALGO bulk laser oscillator delivering ultrashort pulses in the sub-30 fs regime. We present two configurations, which both operate at 85 MHz repetition rate. The first delivers 22-fs pulses at 0.3 W of average output power with a 4% optical-to-optical efficiency, while the second produces 28-fs pulses at 0.5 W of average power with a 12% optical-to-optical efficiency. This study validates the high potential of cross-polarization pumping for cost-effective, high-efficiency Yb-lasers operating in the few-cycle regime, achieving shorter pulse durations and higher power levels than previously demonstrated for multimode diode pumping.