bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Qualitative Insight Into Factors Pertaining to Alcohol Consumption Among Young Adult Women During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Authors: Montague Amy , Manitsa Ifigeneia , Barlow-Brown Fiona
Published: February 2022

Emerging research suggests young adults, in particular women, may be especially sensitive to changes associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. This study, which is part of an ongoing research project focusing on young adulthood and substance use during the UK COVID-19 lockdown, aimed to provide an in-depth snapshot of factors that young adult women may describe as influential in their alcohol consumption during this period. Virtual semi-structured interviews were carried out on a sample of 12 (23–25 years) women between April and May 2020. The data were analysed through thematic analysis and preliminary findings led to the identification of three themes: (1) Changes to working environment, (2) Limitations on social opportunities and efforts to socialise in a ‘new normal’, and (3) Effects of cohabitation on increased alcohol consumption. The preliminary findings of this study highlight factors relevant to changes in alcohol use during the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK.
Association of cellular HIV-1 DNA and virological success of antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected sub-Saharan African adults
Authors: Moh Desmorys Raoul , Ntakpé Jean-Baptiste , Gabillard Delphine , Yayo-Emieme Arlette Ahoubet , Badjé Anani , Kouame Gérard M. , d’Aquin Toni Thomas , Danel Christine , Anglaret Xavier , Eholié Serge P.
Published: February 2022

Background

HIV-1 DNA persists in infected cells, forming viral reservoirs. Pre-antiretroviral treatment (ART) HIV-1 DNA load was reported to predict ART success in European severely immunocompromised patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether HIV-1 DNA levels are associated with virological success in less severely immunocompromised patients who receive early ART in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods

The association between pre-ART HIV-1 DNA and the virological response after 30 months on ART was studied in multivariate logistic regression in patients randomised to immediate ART groups in the Temprano trial, which assessed the benefits of early ART in HIV-infected adults in Côte d’Ivoire. HIV-1 DNA was quantified in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) using real-time PCR.

Results

HIV-1 DNA levels were measured in 1013 patients. Their medians [IQR] of pre-ART CD4 count, HIV-1 RNA and HIV-1 DNA levels were 465 [379–578]/mm3, 4.7 [4.0–5.3] log10 copies/ml and 2.9 [2.5–3.2] log10 copies/million PBMC, respectively. Pre-ART HIV-1 DNA was significantly correlated with pre-ART HIV-1 RNA (R = 0.59, p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, HIV-1 DNA < 3 log10 copies/million PBMC was significantly associated with virological success at M30 after adjustment for other key variables (ART regimen, IPT, sex, age, WHO clinical stage, CD4 and HIV-1 RNA; aOR 1.57; 95% CI 1.08–2.30; p = 0.02).

Conclusion

Low HIV-1 DNA was statistically associated with virological success in this population of sub-Saharan African adults who started treatment with a median pre-ART CD4 count at 465/mm3. HIV-1 DNA could become a useful tool for guiding some therapeutic decisions in the test-and-treat era.

Trial registration TEMPRANO ANRS 12136 ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00495651, date of registration 03/07/2007.
When husband migrate: effects of international migration of husbands on fetal outcomes, body mass index and gestational weight of female spouses that stay behind
Authors: Jayatissa Renuka , Wickramage Kolitha , Denuwara Buddhini Herath , Herath Himali , Jayawardana Ranbanda , Perera Amila Gayan , De Alwis Nawamali
Published: February 2022

Background

International labour migration continues to be an integral component in Sri Lanka’s economic development. Previous research indicates an adverse perinatal outcome in association with low maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (PBMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG). However, evidence of this association is limited in migrant families. This study aims to investigate the associations between PBMI, GWG among lactating mothers (LM), and fetal outcomes in migrant households, where the father is the migrant worker.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was done using a nationally representative sample of 7,199 LM. There were 284 LM whose husbands were international migrant workers. Maternal factors were taken as PBMI<18.5 kg/m2 and GWG<7kg. Preterm birth and low birth weight (LBW) were taken as fetal outcomes. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess the associated factors.

Results

There was significant difference between LM from migrant and non–migrant households with regards to place of residency, ethnicity, household monthly income, household food security, average household members, husband’s education and husband’s age. Among migrant, PBMI<18.5 kg/m2 was associated with current BMI and mode of delivery. Migrant LM had significantly higher weight gain (≥12 kg) during pregnancy (p=0.005), were multiparous (p=0.008), delivered in private hospital (p=0.000), lesser percentage of underweight (p=0.002) and higher birthweight (p=0.03) than non-migrant LM. Logistic regression model revealed that for each kilogram increment in birthweight and GWG, preterm delivery decreased by 89%(OR=0.11;95%CI:0.04-0.28) and LBW decreased by 12%(OR=0.89;95%CI:0.81-0.97) respectively. Caesarean deliveries were positively associated with low GWG.

Conclusion

Our study showed LM in migrant families had invested remittances to utilize private health facilities for deliveries, to improve weight gain during pregnancy and adequate PBMI to deliver higher birth weight babies. In depth study is needed to understand further utilisation of remittances to improve fetal outcomes by increasing birthweight and GWG in migrant families.
Impact of tanezumab on health status, non-work activities and work productivity in adults with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis
Authors: Conaghan Philip G. , Abraham Lucy , Viktrup Lars , Cislo Paul
Published: February 2022

Background

To evaluate the impact of tanezumab on health status, non-work activities, and work productivity in a pooled analysis of two large phase 3 osteoarthritis (OA) studies.

Methods

Subcutaneous tanezumab (2.5 mg and 5 mg) was tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled, 16-week (NCT02697773) and 24-week (NCT02709486) clinical trials in patients with moderate-to-severe OA of the hip or knee. At baseline and week 16, all patients completed EQ-5D-5L and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment-OA (WPAI-OA) activity impairment item. Those currently employed also completed WPAI-OA work time missed, impairment while working, and overall work impairment items. Between-group differences in least squares (LS) mean changes from baseline at week 16 were tested using analysis of covariance.

Results

Of 1545 pooled patients, 576 were employed at baseline. Improvements in EQ-5D-5L index value at week 16 were significantly greater for the tanezumab 2.5-mg group (difference in LS means [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.03 [0.01, 0.05];p = 0.0083) versus placebo. Percent improvements (95% CI) in activity impairment (− 5.92 [− 8.87, − 2.98];p < 0.0001), impairment while working (− 7.34 [− 13.01, − 1.68];p = 0.0112), and overall work impairment (− 7.44 [− 13.22, − 1.67];p = 0.0116) at week 16 were significantly greater for the tanezumab 2.5-mg group versus placebo. Results for the tanezumab 5-mg group were generally comparable to the tanezumab 2.5-mg group, although, compared with placebo, percent improvement (95% CI) in work time missed was significantly greater for the tanezumab 5-mg group (− 3.40 [− 6.47, − 0.34];p = 0.0294), but not the tanezumab 2.5-mg group (− 0.66 [− 3.63, 2.32];p = 0.6637).

Conclusions

These pooled analyses showed that health status, non-work activities, and work productivity were significantly improved following tanezumab administration, compared with placebo.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02697773, NCT02709486.
Challenges faced by Chinese community nurses when providing home-based hospice and palliative care: a descriptive qualitative study
Authors: Zhang Jinxin , Cao Yingjuan , Su Mingzhu , Cheng Joyce , Yao Nengliang
Published: February 2022

Background

Hospital facilities in China are experiencing increased strain on existing systems and medical resources, necessitating the use of home-based hospice and palliative care (HBHPC). HBHPC primarily relies on community nurses and related medical personnel. Understanding the challenges that community nurses face when providing this form of care is urgently needed to optimize the design and delivery of HBHPC. Our study aimed to gain insight into community nurses’ challenges when providing HBHPC for patients.

Methods

We performed a descriptive qualitative study using a phenomenology approach. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 13 nurses from two community health service centers in Jinan, Shandong Province, China. A thematic analysis was applied to identify themes from the transcribed data.

Results

Three major themes emerged: 1) Community nurses’ inadequate self-preparation for providing HBHPC; 2) Patients and their families’ non-collaboration in HBHPC; 3) Community health service career disadvantages. Many negative experiences can be attributed to institutional barriers.

Conclusion

Community nurses faced multifaceted challenges in home care settings. This study could provide a framework for guiding the improvement of interventional variables in the provision of HBHPC. Future research should involve developing effective methods of improving community nurses’ job motivation and community health service institutions’ incentive systems, as well as increasing advocacy around HBHPC.
Co-payments and equity in care: enhancing hospitalisation policy for Palestine refugees in Lebanon
Authors: Valente de Almeida Sara , Paolucci Gloria , Seita Akihiro , Ghattas Hala
Published: February 2022

Background

This paper measures the impact of introducing a 10% co-payment on secondary care hospitalization costs for Palestine refugees living in Lebanon (PRL) in all UNRWA contracted hospitals, except for the Red Crescent Society. This ex-post analysis provides a detailed insight on the direction and magnitude of the policy impact in terms of demand by hospital type, average length of stay and treatment costs.

Methods

With a complete population episode level dataset, we use multinomial logit, negative binomial, and linear models to estimate impacts on the different dependent variables, controlling for disease, patient and hospital characteristics.

Results

After the implementation patients were at least 4 pp (p <0.01) more likely to choose a Red Crescent Society hospital for secondary care, instead of one with co-payment. Average length of stay was not affected in general, despite the increase in control at all UNRWA contracted hospitals. Except for the decrease in UNRWA contribution, did not find a statistically significant impact of the co-payment on costs, nor for the provider or for the patient. Findings suggest that introducing a 10% co-payment for secondary hospital care had an impact on patients’ health care budget, leading to demand shifts towards cheaper options - i.e., patients had to chose care based on financial constraints rather than on their treatment preferences.

Conclusion

Before changing healthcare payment schemes in different types of hospitals, facilities offering free of charge treatment should be assessed and prepared for potential demand shifts to avoid overcapacity and the collapse of health care services for such a fragile population. In addition, exemptions from co-payments should be considered for patients with severe health conditions and financial constraints, who, according to our results, are the most likely to change their pattern of care due to an increase in treatment costs.
Nutritional and fungal load dynamics of fresh brewers’ grain stored under aerobic conditions
Authors: Kitaw Getu , Faji Mulisa , Terefe Geberemariyam
Published: February 2022

Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) is the amplest by-product of the brewing process. The fresh BSG is currently used as low-cost cattle feed due to its microbiological instability and high perishability. While recent research looked at the effects of storage time and temperature on the characteristics of wet brewers grains (WBG) as ruminant feeds. Three storage temperatures (15, 20, and 25 °C) and periods (2, 4 and 6 days) were arranged in a 3 × 3 factorial design. Surface spoilage was not apparent at 15 °C throughout the storage periods. Deterioration was not also observed at 20 °C until the fourth day of storage where slight mold growth was apparent. Extensive mold growth was detected late in the sixth day at 20 °C and continued manifestations up until the last day of storage at 25 °C. Changes in major nutrients, DM losses, and yeast and mold colony count were significantly affected by the interaction of storage temperatures and durations (P < 0.05). Except for samples stored at 15 °C, nutrients contents decreased concomitantly (exceptions are ADF, lignin, and loss in DM) with prolonged storage times (p < 0.05) and increasing temperatures (p < 0.05). Contrast analysis indicated that it would be safe to store under aerobic storage conditions and feed the WBG for dairy cattle.
Monitoring NAD(H) and NADP(H) dynamics during organismal development with genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors
Authors: Li Ting , Zou Yejun , Liu Shuning , Yang Yi , Zhang Zhuo , Zhao Yuzheng
Published: February 2022

Cell metabolism plays vital roles in organismal development, but it has been much less studied than transcriptional and epigenetic control of developmental programs. The difficulty might be largely attributed to the lack of in situ metabolite assays. Genetically encoded fluorescent sensors are powerful tools for noninvasive metabolic monitoring in living cells and in vivo by highly spatiotemporal visualization. Among all living organisms, the NAD(H) and NADP(H) pools are essential for maintaining redox homeostasis and for modulating cellular metabolism. Here, we introduce NAD(H) and NADP(H) biosensors, present example assays in developing organisms, and describe promising prospects for how sensors contribute to developmental biology research.
Male involvement in family planning use and its determinants in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol
Authors: Anbesu Etsay Woldu , Aychiluhm Setognal Birara , Kahsay Zinabu Hadush
Published: February 2022

Background

The need to include males who require joint spousal decisions is critical in achieving key reproductive health indicators. Low involvement of males in family planning use is one of the contributing factors for low contraceptive use in Ethiopia. Despite this, there are inconsistent findings on the prevalence and determinants of male involvement in family planning use in Ethiopia. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning use and its determinants in Ethiopia.

Methods

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines will be used to develop the protocol. The online databases PubMed, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and unpublished gray literature will be searched to retrieve available articles from April 10 to August 11, 2021. The two authors will conduct selection of studies, data extraction, and quality assessment. The quality of the studies will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. The chi-squared test and I-squared statistic will be used to examine heterogeneity among studies. Sources of heterogeneity will be investigated using subgroup analysis and meta-regression based on regions and residence (urban and rural). Publication bias will be examined by observation using funnel plots and statistically by Begg’s and Egger’s tests. A random-effects model will be used to estimate the pooled prevalence and its determinants of male involvement in family planning use.

Discussion

The role of males in family planning and participation in contraceptive use improves women’s uptake and continuity of family planning use. Although there are studies on male involvement in family planning use, there are no synthesis research findings on the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning use and its determinants in Ethiopia. Therefore, the findings from this systematic review and meta-analysis will help the national health sector transformational plane emphasize the pooled prevalence and its determinants that drive low male involvement in family planning use in Ethiopia.
An underactuated parallel-link gripper for a multicopter capable of plane perching
Authors: Xu Maozheng , Senoo Taku , Takaki Takeshi
Published: February 2022

The need for a perching robot is increasing in the field of rescue and transportation. Accordingly studies on perching an object by attaching a robot arm to a perching robot have been conducted. However, almost all the studies related to perching have been conducted using an actuated or electric device. However, perching by using an electric device has several disadvantages, such as additional power consumption and an increase in the mass of the multicopter used to load the electric source. Instead of using an electric device, perching by using an underactuated gripper can effectively avoid these disadvantages. Accordingly, we developed an underactuated passive gripper that has the advantage of nonconsumption of electric power for perching. A method to confirm the available range for stable perching is one of the problems of using an underactuated passive gripper. Therefore, in this study, we analyze a multicopter carrying an underactuated parallel-link passive gripper for available plane perching. To enable perching on planes with different thicknesses and being embedded at different depths, we summarize the available perching range and limitations based on the friction cone theory. Our conclusion is supported by both theoretical and experimental results.
Cardiac solution for a vascular scenario!
Authors: Moosavi Jamal , Ahmadi Somaye , Firouzi Ata , Sadeghipour Parham , Mohebbi Bahram , Shafe Omid , Alizadeasl Azin , Asadian Sanaz , Hoseini Mehran
Published: February 2022

Background

Ascending aortic pseudoaneurysms (AAPs) constitute a rare, albeit potentially dangerous, condition that occurs in up to 13% of patients after cardiac or aortic surgeries. For patients with a history of cardiac surgery, repeat thoracotomy poses additive risks. The high morbidity and mortality rates associated with the surgical management of AAPs have led to the development of transcatheter approaches.

Case report

We report a case of AAP percutaneous closure at the site of aortic cannulation with an ASO device in a post-CABG 65-year-old man, who refused surgery.

Conclusion

The use of the Amplatzer Atrial Septal Defect Occluder (ASO) device represents an acceptable alternative to surgery in treatment of Ascending aortic pseudoaneurysms.
Characteristics that influence purchase choice for cannabis products: a systematic review
Authors: Donnan Jennifer , Shogan Omar , Bishop Lisa , Swab Michelle , Najafizada Maisam
Published: February 2022

Introduction

When non-medical cannabis use became legal, government regulators implemented policies to encourage safer consumption through access to a regulated market. While this market is growing, sales still occur through unregulated channels. This systematic review identifies factors influencing cannabis purchasing to help policymakers understand why consumers still purchase illicit market cannabis (registered with PROSPERO CRD42020176079).

Methods

A comprehensive search strategy included databases in health, business, and social science fields (inception to June 2020). Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were conducted with persons who purchase cannabis and examine at least one attribute that would influence purchase choice and were published in the English language. Studies could be of any methodological design. Two independent reviewers completed two levels of screening, and all extraction was verified by a second reviewer. A qualitative synthesis of the findings was completed. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

Results

Of the 4839 citations screened, 96 were eligible for full-text review and 35 were included in the final synthesis. Aspects of price were the most common factors (27 studies). Twenty studies measured price elasticity; most studies found that demand was price inelastic. Many other attributes were identified (e.g., product quality, route of administration, product recommendations, packaging), but none were explored in depth. Eleven studies addressed aspects of product quality including demand elasticity based on quality, potency, and aroma. Studies also explored consumer-perceived “quality” but provided no definition; differences in quality appeared to impact consumer choice. Smoking cannabis appeared to be the preferred route of administration but was only examined in three studies. There was insufficient data to understand in the impact of other attributes on choice. There appeared to be preference heterogeneity for different attributes based on the consumer’s experience, reason for use, and gender.

Conclusion

While price influences choices, demand is relatively inelastic. This suggests that consumers may be seeking lowest-cost, unregulated cannabis to avoid reducing consumption. Beyond price, there is a significant gap in our understanding of consumer choices. Perceived quality does appear to impact choice; however, more research is needed due to the lack of a recognized definition for cannabis quality.
TIM: threat context-enhanced TTP intelligence mining on unstructured threat data
Authors: You Yizhe , Jiang Jun , Jiang Zhengwei , Yang Peian , Liu Baoxu , Feng Huamin , Wang Xuren , Li Ning
Published: February 2022

TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures), which represent an attacker’s goals and methods, are the long period and essential feature of the attacker. Defenders can use TTP intelligence to perform the penetration test and compensate for defense deficiency. However, most TTP intelligence is described in unstructured threat data, such as APT analysis reports. Manually converting natural language TTPs descriptions to standard TTP names, such as ATT&CK TTP names and IDs, is time-consuming and requires deep expertise. In this paper, we define the TTP classification task as a sentence classification task. We annotate a new sentence-level TTP dataset with 6 categories and 6061 TTP descriptions from 10761 security analysis reports. We construct a threat context-enhanced TTP intelligence mining (TIM) framework to mine TTP intelligence from unstructured threat data. The TIM framework uses TCENet (Threat Context Enhanced Network) to find and classify TTP descriptions, which we define as three continuous sentences, from textual data. Meanwhile, we use the element features of TTP in the descriptions to enhance the TTPs classification accuracy of TCENet. The evaluation result shows that the average classification accuracy of our proposed method on the 6 TTP categories reaches 0.941. The evaluation results also show that adding TTP element features can improve our classification accuracy compared to using only text features. TCENet also achieved the best results compared to the previous document-level TTP classification works and other popular text classification methods, even in the case of few-shot training samples. Finally, the TIM framework organizes TTP descriptions and TTP elements into STIX 2.1 format as final TTP intelligence for sharing the long-period and essential attack behavior characteristics of attackers. In addition, we transform TTP intelligence into sigma detection rules for attack behavior detection. Such TTP intelligence and rules can help defenders deploy long-term effective threat detection and perform more realistic attack simulations to strengthen defense.
Evaluation of inflammatory and metabolic impairments regarding depression dimensions: a case control study
Authors: Sabri Youmna , Abdelsalam Noha
Published: February 2022

Background

Patients with depression are at a higher risk of developing serious medical problems such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases, increasing the burden of depression and worsening its outcome.

Recent studies revealed the presence of low-grade systemic inflammation and metabolic impairments which are playing an important role in the development of these medical problems among patients with depression.

It should be noted that not all patients with depressive disorder have these immune or metabolic impairments.

The study aims to evaluate inflammatory and metabolic impairments among patients with depression through categorizing patients with depression into four dimensional profilers which are (1) atypical energy-related symptom dimension, (2) melancholic dimension, (3) childhood trauma dimension, and (4) anxious distress dimension.

Also, the current study will evaluate inflammatory and metabolic impairments among patients with depression and a control group.

Results

This study highlights that of the patients with metabolic impairments (including hypertension, impaired glycemic control, low/high-density lipoprotein, elevated triglycerides, and central obesity), all of them had reported significantly higher scores in the atypical, energy-related symptom dimension.

Also, patients with impaired glycemic control had reported significantly (p < 0.001) high scores in the anxious distress symptom dimension.

While patients with inflammatory impairment (serum CRP > 3 mg/L) had significantly (p = 0.009) reported higher scores in the childhood trauma symptom dimension.

In addition, statistically significant metabolic and inflammatory impairments are detected among the depression cases group in comparison with the control group.

Conclusions

This study found that patients with depression presented by atypical, energy-related symptoms were at a higher risk of metabolic impairments than other depression profilers.

Also, patients of the Anxious distress symptom dimension reported significant impaired glycemic control.

In addition, patients with depression of the childhood trauma dimension were associated with high levels of inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein).

Potential implications

These results can be applied clinically to improve treatment and prognosis in patients with depression. For example, depressed patients with atypical, energy-related symptoms should increase their daily physical activities and exercise, and they should follow a special diet. Also, anti-inflammatory medications could be added to depressed patients of the childhood trauma dimension.
An Egyptian study to assess the accuracy and reliability of CAD-RADS CT coronary angiography algorithm in the evaluation of coronary artery disease
Authors: Ekladious Mena E. Y. , Guirguis Mounir Sobhy , Haggag Ahmed Mohammed , Abdelrahman Ahmed S.
Published: February 2022

Background

Multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCT) is a non-invasive examination for coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease reporting and data system (CAD-RADS) is a structured reporting system that successfully facilitated communication with clinicians. Our study aimed to assess the accuracy as well as the agreement of the CAD-RADS system with the conventional angiography results.

Results

48 patients were enrolled in this prospective study, all patients underwent MDCT coronary angiography and conventional coronary artery angiography. An excellent inter method agreement between coronary CT angiography (CCTA) and conventional coronary angiography was noted for the left main trunk (LMT) with k = 1 (p < 0.001). An excellent inter method agreement was found for the proximal, mid- and distal segments of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and the second diagonal segment, with k = 1, 0.842 0.886 and 0.886, respectively (p < 0.001). A good agreement was noted at the first diagonal segment with k = 0.765 (p < 0.001). An excellent inter-method agreement was found for the proximal, mid- and distal segments of the left circumflex artery (LCx) and the obtuse marginal branch, with k = 0.838, 0.846, 1 and 0.846, respectively (p < 0.001). An excellent agreement was found for the proximal and mid-segments of the right coronary artery (RCA) and the posterior descending artery, with k = 1 for all segments (p < 0.001), yet a good agreement was noted at its distal segment with k = 0.782 (p < 0.001). The overall per-patient sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the CT coronary angiography were 92.9%, 90% and 91.7% respectively.

Conclusions

The CAD-RADS algorithm and invasive coronary angiography agreed perfectly; thus, CT coronary angiography can be used as the first screening test and the invasive coronary angiography can be spared for cases requiring intervention.
Seismic Soundoff: The hidden stories data tell
Authors: Geary Andrew
Published: February 2022

In this episode, Joe Dellinger discusses his 2022 Distinguished Instructor Short Course, “Forensic data processing.” Dellinger brings his experience, expertise, wisdom, and humor to this essential conversation on data that will be valuable for every geophysicist. Hear the full episode at https://seg.org/podcast/post/13652 .
Architecture and Development
Authors: Levin Ayala
Published: February 2022

In Architecture and Development Ayala Levin charts the settler colonial imagination and practices that undergirded Israeli architectural development aid in Africa. Focusing on the “golden age” of Israel’s diplomatic relations in and throughout the continent from 1958 to 1973, Levin finds that Israel positioned itself as a developing-nation alternative in the competition over aid and influence between global North and global South. In analyses of the design and construction of prestigious governmental projects in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia, Levin details how architects, planners, and a trade union--owned construction company staged Israel as a new center of nonaligned expertise. These actors and professionals paradoxically capitalized on their settler colonial experience in Palestine, refashioning it as an alternative to Western colonial expertise. Levin traces how Israel became involved in the modernization of governance, education, and agriculture in Africa, as well as how African leaders chose to work with Israel to forge new South-South connections. In so doing, she offers new ways of understanding the role of architecture as a vehicle of postcolonial development and in the mobilization of development resources.
Vulgar Beauty
Authors: Zuo Mila
Published: February 2022

In Vulgar Beauty Mila Zuo offers a new theorization of cinematic feminine beauty by showing how mediated encounters with Chinese film and popular culture stars produce feelings of Chineseness. To illustrate this, Zuo uses the vulgar as an analytic to trace how racial, gendered, and cultural identity is imagined and produced through affect. She frames the vulgar as a characteristic that is experienced through the Chinese concept of weidao, or flavor, in which bitter, salty, pungent, sweet, and sour performances of beauty produce non-Western forms of sexualized and racialized femininity. Analyzing contemporary film and media ranging from actress Gong Li’s post-Mao movies of the late 1980s and 1990s to Joan Chen’s performance in Twin Peaks to Ali Wong’s stand-up comedy specials, Zuo shows how vulgar beauty disrupts Western and colonial notions of beauty. Vulgar beauty, then, becomes the taste of difference. By demonstrating how Chinese feminine beauty becomes a cinematic invention invested in forms of affective racialization, Zuo makes a critical reconsideration of aesthetic theory.
Bashkir Verse from the Turkic Perspective
Authors: Orekhov Boris
Published: February 2022

The article discusses the statistically identified properties of Bashkir versification in comparison with the existing descriptions of other Turkic versification systems. The focus is on imparisyllabic forms, predominant meters, and peculiarities of rhyme. The study allows concluding that Bashkir Uzun-Kyuy (a regular alteration of 10- and 9-syllable lines) is unique and its equivalents are not found in other Turkic poetic traditions except the Tartar tradition, with which Bashkir verse has common roots. The frequency of Bashkir 9-syllable verse is also unusual as compared with poetry in other Turkic languages. Octosyllabic lines, which are often used together with 7-syllable verse, are common for various Turkic systems and can also be found in Bashkir poetry, most prominently in Kyska-Kyuy (a regular alteration of 8- and 7-syllable lines). More data is needed to judge to what extent the rhythm of Bashkir verse is comparable with the verse rhythm in other Turkic poetic traditions.
The Semiotics of New Era Poetry: Estonian Instagram and Rap Poetry
Authors: Lotman Rebekka
Published: February 2022

Mikhail Gasparov concludes his monograph “A History of European Versification” with the recognition that in the development of particular verse forms in each tradition of poetry, there is a permanent interaction between two types of poetry: those of oral popular and bookish culture. The forms engendered by popular culture are assimilated by bookish culture, while those engendered by literary culture descend into popular culture (Gasparov 1996: 295). Here, folk poetry represents oral popular poetry, and literary poetry represents poetry published in books. Over the last decade, and especially during the last five years, the importance of lyrical poetry as an art form in Western culture has grown precisely due to the widespread distribution of both types of poetry – oral and written. Yet oral poetry is no longer marked by folklore, and the primary medium of the written poetry is no longer books – we can see that rap poetry and digital poetry, especially Instapoetry (Instagram poetry), are increasingly occupying a central position. However, bookish poetry is also rising, thanks to the latter. The growing popularity of both subgenres of poetry is associated with the emergence of new media: the platform of the first is audio and visual media (SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube) and of the second is textual and visual media (at first Tumblr, now primarily Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook).

This article examines attitudes and issues related to the emergence of this new era poetry and outlines its poetics from a semiotic perspective. The analysis focuses on Estonian Instagram poetry and rap, studying how these subtypes of poetry, which originate from English-speaking cultures, have emerged after a time gap in smaller literature and have changed the audience, the authors, and the meaning-making of poetry.
Reuven Tsur (1932–2021)
Authors: Lilja Eva
Published: February 2022

Reuven Tsur (1932–2021)
DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS OF STRUCTURALISM AND POSTSTRUCTURALISM IN SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE XX CENTURY
Authors: Varygina Liliya B.
Published: February 2022

The article presents a brief analysis of the ideas of the 20th century thinkers M. Foucault and J. Derrida in relation to the ideas of structuralism and poststructuralism, their similarity, difference and development of the discourse of structuralism as the main direction of socio-philosophical thought in Europe of the 20th century. Researchers identify several major milestones in connection with the development of structuralist thought, as well as the key authors of this direction of thought.

Purpose: to consider structuralism and poststructuralism from the standpoint of the development of socio-philosophical discourse, as well as changing the concept of structure and the role of the subject and his place in the concept of structure.

Method and methodology of the work: historical, phenomenological and dialectical research methods were used.

Results: structuralism proclaims decentralization and deautonomization of both the structure itself and the subjects included in it, noting that the person of society is not a structure with a certain center, they are structures of structures. This is the main difference in the definition of the meaning of being of self-sustaining structures both in society and in the person himself between structuralist and poststructuralist discourse.

Field of application of the results: the results obtained can be used in the study of modern social and cultural processes.
THE SOCIAL FIELD OF THE RUSSIAN DIGITAL ECONOMY: OBJECTIVE MODEL
Authors: Podgorny Boris B. , Volokhova Natalia V. , Oboznaya Mariya V. , Ogurtsova Albina Yu.
Published: February 2022

Goal. The article presents an objective model of the social field of the Russian digital economy developed by the authors, which characterizes the sociological assessment of the development of the digital economy in our country.

Methods and methodology of the work. The methodological basis of the research is a three-stage process proposed by the French sociologist P. Bourdieu within the framework of the theory of social space for the study of social fields. The definition of social habits is made on the basis of the author’s approach, which consists in determining social habits by comparing the orientation of the main disposition of respondents and their effective capital. In the process of conducting the research, we used the following general scientific and specific scientific methods: dialectical, the method of statistical analysis of information, content analysis of documents, the method of structural sociological modeling, quantitative and qualitative sociological research.

Results. The possibility of applying the concept of “social field” in relation to the Russian digital economy is analyzed. It is shown that the social field of the RCE, formed with the participation of the fields of power, science, education, economics, culture, IT and financial fields, occupies a subordinate position in relation to the field of power. The main positions of the objective model of the RCE social field are determined: explicit and latent goals, main tasks, the role of the forming fields, the degree of support for the need and expediency of the digital economy development by agents of the forming fields, dispositions, effective capitals and habits of the main actors of the RCE social field.

The scope of the results. When planning and developing programs and activities at the federal and regional levels aimed at the development of the digital economy in the Russian Federation.
INFLUENCE OF NATURAL-GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS ON THE FORMATION OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY (ON THE EXAMPLE OF ASTRAKHAN REGION)
Authors: Molchanova Violetta V.
Published: February 2022

Explanation. The tourism industry, its functioning and development depend on many factors. One of them is natural-geographical. What natural resources a region has will determine its touristical policy. It can also be noted that the tourism industry is usually considered in terms of infrastructure, culture and politics. The natural and geographical factor is considered secondary or it considered schematically.The purpose of the study is to identify and characterize the natural and geographical factors, to analyze how in practice they affect to the tourism industry of the Astrakhan region.Methods. The research was conducted on the basis of several methods. These are analytical, comparative, method of induction, structural and functional, the method of analysis of sources. It allowed to consider the factors from different points of view.Documents from the State Archives of the Astrakhan Region were examined. Sectoral target programs dedicated to the development of tourism in the Astrakhan region were studied.Results. Natural and geographical factors affecting the tourism industry in general and the Astrakhan region in particular were identified. Theses put forward in the beginning of the article (influence of nature and geography on tourism) were confirmed, both in theory and in practice.Scope of application of the results. Materials of work can be used in various areas of knowledge. It is history, tourism, ecology. The results of the work can be used in the research of geographical science. Both the history of the region and local history can be added to this list.
COUNCIL FOR THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN 1945-1953 (BASED ON THE SA-RATOV VOLGA REGION MATERIALS)
Authors: Guseva Yana Yu.
Published: February 2022

Purpose. The article is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between the state, represented by the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, as a conductor of state -church policy, and the Russian Orthodox Church in 1945 - 1953. Subject of the study: relations of the Authorized Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church in the Saratov Volga region. The task of the work is to show how the activities of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and its commissioner influenced the inner life of the Saratov diocese.
Method and methodology. On the basis of general scientific, special historical and some methods borrowed from other sciences (for example, statistics) a set of documents from central and regional archives of the Russian Federation covering the problem presented in the title of the article is analyzed.
Results. The period from 1945 to 1953 in the relations of the ROC and the Soviet leadership was ambiguous and complex. On the one hand, there was a warming that began during the war years and some stabilization of these relations, on the other hand, the authorities had a desire to restrain the church revival. Moreover, since the beginning of 1948, the tightening of anti-religious policy began, which is a vivid example of the events that unfolded after the publication of the feuilleton "Saratov Font" in the newspaper Pravda. The active conductor of state –church policy was the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, which controlled the activities of the Church through a staff of commissioners. The article is based on many archival documents that clearly illustrate the difficult relationship between the state and the Church of that time and the attempts of the Church in the current situation to do everything possible for preserving its activities and for spiritual and moral support of believers.
The scope of applicability of results. The results of the study can contribute to a deeper understanding and assimilation of the religious policy of the Soviet state in the post-war period.
ALSO-X and ALSO-X+: Better Convex Approximations for Chance Constrained Programs
Authors: Jiang Nan , Xie Weijun
Published: February 2022

In a chance constrained program (CCP), decision makers seek the best decision whose probability of violating the uncertainty constraints is within the prespecified risk level. As a CCP is often nonconvex and is difficult to solve to optimality, much effort has been devoted to developing convex inner approximations for a CCP, among which the conditional value-at-risk ([Formula: see text]) has been known to be the best for more than a decade. This paper studies and generalizes the [Formula: see text], originally proposed by Ahmed, Luedtke, SOng, and Xie in 2017 , for solving a CCP. We first show that the [Formula: see text] resembles a bilevel optimization, where the upper-level problem is to find the best objective function value and enforce the feasibility of a CCP for a given decision from the lower-level problem, and the lower-level problem is to minimize the expectation of constraint violations subject to the upper bound of the objective function value provided by the upper-level problem. This interpretation motivates us to prove that when uncertain constraints are convex in the decision variables, [Formula: see text] always outperforms the [Formula: see text] approximation. We further show (i) sufficient conditions under which [Formula: see text] can recover an optimal solution to a CCP; (ii) an equivalent bilinear programming formulation of a CCP, inspiring us to enhance [Formula: see text] with a convergent alternating minimization method ([Formula: see text]); and (iii) an extension of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] to distributionally robust chance constrained programs (DRCCPs) under the [Formula: see text]Wasserstein ambiguity set. Our numerical study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Funding: This work was supported by the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation [Grant 2046426].

Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2021.2225 .
Highlighting the latest research: January 2022
Authors: Palmer Sarah Jane
Published: February 2022

Sarah Jane Palmer presents a selection of recently published articles of interest to nurses working in cardiovascular nursing. The aim of this roundup is to provide a brief overview of the research papers selected. A full reference is provided for those who wish to look at the research in further detail.
Navigating the world of private healthcare
Authors: Phillips Hannah
Published: February 2022

In this issue's patient story, Hannah Phillips shares her experiences of accessing private healthcare abroad and how this opened her eyes to the true value of the NHS.
Comparative wound healing potential of Mitracarpus hirtus ointment and honey in diabetic albino rats by collagen assessment
Authors: Bawa Inalegwu , Jato Jacob Aondongusha , Ovye Akyengo , John Akighir
Published: February 2022

Abstract. Inalegwu B, Jato JA, Akyengo O, Akighir J. 2021. Comparative wound healing potential of Mitracarpus hirtus ointment and honey in diabetic albino rats by collagen assessment. Biofarmasi J Nat Prod Biochem 19: 39-44. All humans will experience some type of wound in every lifetime. Most wounds heal quickly with little or no attention, but many people suffer from complex and/or persistent wounds, therefore posing a burden. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC. ointment against honey in diabetic rats. To achieve this, percentage wound closure and collagen assessments were used to express treatment efficacy. Results show that on day 21, rats treated with M. hirtus ointment had the highest percentage closure (94.5%) while honey treated and non-treated recorded 90.0% and 83.3% respectively. Similarly, a significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed on day 21 in the total collagen deposited in wounds of diabetic rats (10.57 ± 0.7) and M. hirtus ointment treated wounds (11.77 ± 0.4) as compared with the non-treated diabetic rats. M. hirtus ointment was efficacious in healing wounds in diabetic rats and heals wound faster than honey and may hold potential for wound healing in diabetes mellitus sufferers. However, the wound healing mechanism of this ointment needs further investigation.