bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The ‘Degree of Fit' English Training Program for the Madarsa Community in India
Authors: Nehal Raashid
Published: June 2021

Madrasa teachers working in marginalized institutions get training, but this training is not commensurate with the level of learning crisis they face. They are victims of both 'teaching and training poverty'. This actually explains for their inability to understand English and to impart training in foundational English Language skills: literacy, numeracy, digital, and transferable skills. Unable to find opportunities for acquiring these skills, Madrasa teachers are not able to connect themselves with the mainstream education and therefore miss opportunities for productive employment. The impact of 'learning and training poverty' on the morale of the Madrasa teachers is well established as they miss opportunities normally linked with their disadvantaged conditions, yet their religious sentiment remains a significant concern. In view of these, the chapter looks at the possibility of a ‘degree of fit' English training program so as to focus on Madrasa mainstreaming with a view to building more spaces for training-employment connectivity.
Big Data HE Communities
Authors: Edghiem Farag , Abualqumboz Moheeb
Published: June 2021

This chapter intends to explore the use of the Twitter social media platform as a microblog to share COVID-19 prescribed knowledge through observing the Twitter accounts of the five most student-populated UK universities. The chapter provides valuable practical insight to UK universities practitioners, students, and concerned stakeholders on the use of Twitter microblogs to share or retrieve knowledge required to cope with the current COVID-19 transition. The chapter sheds light on the unique characteristics of knowledge shared by UK universities through Twitter in relation to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter also highlights the unconventional use of Twitter by UK universities to share COVID-19 prescribed knowledge with their stakeholders.
Strategic Implications of Organizational Culture, Knowledge, Learning Organizations, and Innovation on Sustainable Organizations
Authors: Vargas-Hernández José G.
Published: June 2021

This study aims to analyze the strategic implications that the organizational culture has on organizational knowledge, learning, and innovation. It begins from the assumption that there is a direct and positive relationship between the organizational culture and knowledge, learning, and innovation in organizations. It also is assumed that organizational culture, knowledge, learning, and innovation play a receptive to sustainable organizational practices. The method used is the appreciative inquiry as a collaborative dialogue based on the question of what is the best of and what might be that aims to design and implement innovations in sustainable organizational arrangements and processes. The theoretical framework is based on organizational cultural cognitivism theory and the theory of socio-ecological intergradation. It is concluded that sustainable organizations practices require the creation and development of an organizational culture supportive of knowledge, learning, and innovation practices.
The Social Impact of Sport
Authors: Spears, Jr. Joseph Cornelius , Coleman Sean T.
Published: June 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic assumed an international health threat, and in turn, spotlighted the distinct disparities in civil rights, opportunity, and inclusion witnessed by lived experiences of African Americans. Although these harsh disparities have existed through the United States of America's history, the age of technology and mass media in the 21st century allows for a deeper and broader look into the violation of African Americans civil liberties in virtual real time. Also, historically, the sports world has been instrumental in fighting for the civil rights of African Americans; athletes such as Jesse Owens and Muhammed Ali led by example. This chapter will showcase how the sports world continues to support social justice overall and specifically during this international pandemic. The authors will examine contemporary events like the transition in support for Colin Kaepernick's protest against police brutality and the NBA play-off (Bubble) protest in 2020.
Odes of Tree of Life
Authors: Mthembu Ntokozo Christopher
Published: June 2021

This chapter aims at revelation of the significance of odes of Tree of Life, especially when moulding the post-colonial curriculum in all social spheres including education sector in Africa and the world in general. Literature reveals the possibilities in the personal development in relation to various social developmental opportunities and curbing of threats to human life and specifically to tenants of indigenous knowledge systems. A review of various literature that included documents and related research reports from various sources—including journal articles, books, policy, and observation—on the significant aspects of African knowledge creation such as the Tree of Life is explored. In conclusion, this chapter argues that each knowledge system is embedded in its social order. Thus, the notion of a multicultural education system becomes a considerable intervention to put an end to the historical intellectual violence against Black African wisdom including indigenous African knowledge system practice in general.
Infrastructural Drivers of Online Shopping
Authors: Akhter Syed
Published: June 2021

While online shopping expenditures have been increasing in both developed and developing economies, they still account for a small share of total retail sales. Significant differences also exist across countries in the amount of money consumers spend on a per capita basis on online purchases. The authors utilize the conceptual foundations of infrastructural framework to examine the effects of infrastructural drivers on online shopping expenditures in 43 countries. Findings show that per capita telecommunications investments and per capita gross national income are significantly associated with per capita online shopping expenditures. Privacy protection, Internet penetration, and credit card penetration were not significant.
The Role of Social Commerce Components on the Consumer Decision-Making Process
Authors: Kutabish Saleh Mohammed , Soares Ana Maria
Published: June 2021

Rapid changes in commerce, technology, and consumer behaviour are leading businesses to shift their online activities. The popularity of social media pushed online merchants to integrate these platforms into their online presence, leading to the rise of social commerce. Consumers' interaction and participation online create a massive amount of information. The use of social commerce components facilitates the interaction of consumers by sharing their experiences and learning from others' experiences. In this chapter, the authors look at how this process has impacts throughout the consumer decision-making process when making a purchase and suggests directions for future research.
A Study on Performance of E-Commerce Web Applications
Authors: G Sreedhar
Published: June 2021

The growth of World Wide Web and technologies has made business functions to be executed fast and easier. E-commerce has provided a cost efficient and effective way of doing business. In this paper the importance of e-commerce web applications and how Internet of Things is related to e-commerce is well discussed. In the end-user perspective, the performance of e-commerce application is mainly connected to the web application design and services provided in the e-commerce website. A grading system is used to evaluate the performance of each e-commerce website.
Antecedents of Social Commerce Adoption in Developing Countries
Authors: Koranteng Felix Nti , Boateng Richard , Apau Richard
Published: June 2021

The emergence Web 2.0 technologies has transformed e-commerce into social commerce. The benefits associated with social commerce are well known. However, for businesses to reap such benefits, the factors that influence user intention to use social commerce must be understood. However, existing studies draw samples from developed countries. Given that geography and cultural factors affect technology adoption, findings from existing studies may not apply in the developing country context. This study therefore investigates the factors that influence user intention to use social commerce in developing countries. A survey questionnaire was used to gathered responses from 614 students in Ghanaian universities and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results indicate that information quality, system quality, and service quality have significant influence on user intention to use social commerce. The findings point out the need to provide relevant support to users and ensure accurate and reliable information on social commerce platforms.
Exploring Supportive and Deterrent Factors on Online Shopping in a Developing Country
Authors: Pusatli Tolga , Akman Ibrahim
Published: June 2021

This study explores the influence of the reasons of individuals' supportive and deterrent behaviors against commercial usage of online media in the emerging market of Turkey. The supportive and deterrent factors are grouped in empirical categories as discouragement and encouragement, respectively. The impact of these factors on actual behavior were assessed via intermediary empirical category including the variables inefficiency, efficiency, intention, and subjective norm. A survey was conducted using a sample of 251 observations obtained from the visitors of three large/busy malls using purposive sampling. The multiple least-square regression was utilized to test the nature of the relationships between variables. Results indicated a significant discouraging impact of warranty, finance, habits, security on inefficiency perceptions, an encouraging impact of geography and convenience on efficiency perceptions. Significant behavioral impact of perceptions regarding inefficiency, efficiency, subjective norms, and intention on actual usage of online shopping was also observed.
Trust, Perceived Benefit, and Purchase Intention in C2C E-Commerce
Authors: Zhao Shukuan , Fang Yiwen , Zhang Weiyong , Jiang Hong
Published: June 2021

It is a class research question about how trust and perceived benefit affect consumers' purchase intentions. This research examines the relationship in a very different context: consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce in China. Specifically, this research empirically assesses the differences in effect size due to the change of context. First, a theoretical model linking trust, perceived benefit, and their antecedents to purchase intention is developed upon the literature. Then the model is evaluated using empirical data collected at Taobao, the largest C2C e-commerce website in China. Partial least squares based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results strongly support the model and research hypotheses. A developing country context can indeed affect the strength of effect. These results contribute to the literature in that they provide new insights toward a more in-depth theoretical understanding. Meanwhile, they can also provide useful guidance for managers.
Exploring Online Marketing Adoption Factors Among Used Car Sellers in Ghana
Authors: Ibrahim Masud , Mensah Anthony' Freeman , Asare Frederick
Published: June 2021

This article seeks to explore factors responsible for the adoption of online marketing by second hand (used) car dealers to sellers in Ghana. A conceptual framework was adopted from the extant literature using the Technology Acceptance Model as a theoretical base. This article adopts a quantitative research approach. Data for the study was obtained from 60 second hand car sellers through a self-administered questionnaire. Findings from this study revealed that factors responsible for online marketing adoption by second hand car dealers in Ghana are: perceived usefulness (marketing online, customer demand and increase productivity; ease of use (ability to upload pictures, interaction with clients, and online vehicles sales) of the platform. The study however, found no significant relationship between IT knowledge of the owner/manager, age of business and adoption of the online technology. This article highlights the importance of technology adoption in business among SMEs from technologically disadvantaged market.
Examination of the Extent and Effects of Strategic Management on E-Commerce Companies
Authors: Adiguzel Zafer
Published: June 2021

Internet technology can be used not only in commercial applications but also in the implementation and distribution of public services like education and health, making e-commerce essential not only for the business world but also for all of society. Thus, companies can take advantage of internet opportunities in order to develop their strategies in e-commerce environment, creating working groups by bringing together employees in different geographical locations with tools such as newsgroups, communication rooms, etc., benefiting from customer suggestions. Therefore, it is important to examine and analyze the companies that have commercial activities in e-commerce environments in terms of strategic management. From a strategic point of view, the aim of companies should be to increase their activities by influencing their existing customers and continuously gaining new customers within the e-commerce environment.
Study of Emotional Factors Influencing Professionals' Adoption to E-Payment in Sri Lanka
Authors: De Silva Damith Dhanushka , Sutha Jayaranjani
Published: June 2021

Electronic payment is widely regarded as a fund transfer between parties electronically for commercial purposes, and it is increasingly being recognized as a key competitive tool in the present situation. While businesses are focusing more on rational factors behind consumer acceptance and adoption of e-payment, academic research is lagging in investigating the emotional factors. This chapter is providing a clear background about how businesses can emotionally influence and motivate consumers to utilize e-payment methods for their day to day transactions. A sample of 460 professionals in Sri Lanka was empirically investigated with the aim of identifying the emotional factors influencing professionals to adopt and use e-payment methods. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data and the exploratory factor analysis identified that the professionals' e-payment adoption was influenced by six different emotional factors. Based on the literature these factors are innovativeness, professional satisfaction, optimism, insecurity, skepticism, and discomfort.
Taxing E-Commerce
Authors: Dhaundiyal Pankaj
Published: June 2021

With the advent of globalization, world governments have been under pressure to face the significant challenges of e-commerce. The vast growth of e-commerce, sale and purchase of commodities over the internet, has ruined the existing tax structure. With the smart phones and internet getting cheaper, the tax administration of every country is facing the difficulty of protecting their share of revenue in this dynamic e-market. The tussle between the developed and developing country is going to stretch as it would be an alarming signal for the reduction of the tax base for the developing economy. E-commerce challenges the current International taxation regime. In the present scenario, personal income tax is being taxed by the resident country while business income is being taxed by the source country.
Electronic Commerce and Actual Problems of Taxation
Authors: Teixeira Isabel Lopes , Paiva Inna Sousa
Published: June 2021

This chapter examines the problems related to the international taxation of electronic commerce and identifies the alternative solutions that have been adopted in the current fiscal framework. The results obtained demonstrate the proposed models of e-commerce taxation based on existing international legislation, notably origin-based taxation, tax withheld at source and technology based solutions. This study argues that any legislative change should be implemented by a number of countries or through international efforts to harmonize practices, and sets out the future directions in the taxation of e-commerce. This chapter contributes to the scientific knowledge to accounting and tax research on the taxation of e-commerce.
Domestic vs. International E-Shopping
Authors: Saprikis Vaggelis
Published: June 2021

Contemporary commerce is completely different as regards features some years ago. Nowadays, a considerable number of individuals and firms take advantage of the information and communication technologies and conduct transactions online. In particular, the mobile industry along with the broad use of social networks and improvements in the internet bandwidth worldwide has created a completely different business environment. Consequently, the technology incited many consumers to cross-border e-shopping, allowing access to a wider variety of products and services, and in numerous circumstances, access to cheaper goods. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the perceptions internet users have towards e-shops focusing on Greece. More precisely, it aims to find out whether there are contingent differences on customers' perceptions regarding domestic vs. international e-shops, since a gradually augmented number of people have been expressing their preference on non-domestic e-stores for their purchases. Additionally, the chapter intends to shed light on the difficulty in understanding vital aspects of e-consumer behaviour.
The Dispositive of Intercultural Communication
Authors: Busch Dominic
Published: June 2021

This article presents the concept of dispositives as it has been introduced by the French philosopher Michel Foucault. The concept will be contrasted with competing approaches from discourse analysis, and it will then be explored in its potential as a basis for empirical analysis. Dispositive analyses provide insights into how discourse, power, and knowledge shape society on a very general macro-level. Instead of linguistic, textual analyses, dispositive analysis helps to re-read the emergence, the development, and, as an example here, the inner composition of academic fields. This article sketches insights from a dispositive perspective into the field of intercultural communication research that is then interpreted as maintaining the dispositive of intercultural communication even if recent debates primarily aim at transcending old cementations of the discipline. The article will close with a discussion of shortcomings of the method that culminate in the challenge of argumentative circularity.
Open Educational Resources Repositories
Authors: Khan Nadim Akhtar , Shafi S. M.
Published: June 2021

Open educational practices (OEP) are being enriched with many repositories to support teaching and learning activities in the modern era. Hence, the study aims to understand the trends of such repositories at global level by making analysis of 782 repositories categorized under learning object repositories (LOR) in directory of open access repositories (OpenDoar) with a focus on identifying open educational resources repositories (OERR) specifically possessing ‘open educational resources' for reuse, modification, and adaption. The authors looked into LOR under different facets like global distribution, operational status, interface language, etc. A total of 78 OERR identified from the LOR focus mainly on open teaching learning materials when their availability was ascertained by visiting each repository and browsing randomly through “collections and communities,” “content types,” “license statements,” etc. The results reveal that these hail predominantly from North America and Europe with different distribution patterns, while little visibility is evident among other geographical locations.
Semantic Pattern Detection in COVID-19 Using Contextual Clustering and Intelligent Topic Modeling
Authors: Kherwa Pooja , Bansal Poonam
Published: June 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic is the deadliest outbreak in our living memory. So, it is need of hour, to prepare the world with strategies to prevent and control the impact of the epidemics. In this paper, a novel semantic pattern detection approach in the Covid-19 literature using contextual clustering and intelligent topic modeling is presented. For contextual clustering, three level weights at term level, document level, and corpus level are used with latent semantic analysis. For intelligent topic modeling, semantic collocations using pointwise mutual information(PMI) and log frequency biased mutual dependency(LBMD) are selected and latent dirichlet allocation is applied. Contextual clustering with latent semantic analysis presents semantic spaces with high correlation in terms at corpus level. Through intelligent topic modeling, topics are improved in the form of lower perplexity and highly coherent. This research helps in finding the knowledge gap in the area of Covid-19 research and offered direction for future research.
Working Poor in Decommodification Between Belgium and China
Authors: Liu Jinghong
Published: June 2021

The research uses a comparative analysis framework to interpret the multiple commodification processes for the working poor, which consists of research tropisms from a macro-sight system and from the internal mechanism and proceeding course of the social security system. Based on this framework, the authors try to establish an ideal type with a universal explanatory power to reveal the impact of cross-national diversity on social security systems in the decommodification process among poor female workers. The research also examines the extent to which such differences ever existed between Belgium and China in empirical terms.
Influence of meteorological elements on behavioral responses of gir cows and effects on milk quality
Authors: Silva Marcos Vinícius da , Almeida Gledson Luiz Pontes de , Pandorfi Héliton , Moraes Alex Souza , Macêdo Gleidiana Amélia Pontes de Almeida , Batista Pedro Henrique Dias , Silva Rodes Angelo Batista da , Quiselini Cristiane
Published: June 2021

This study aimed to analyze the principal components of the meteorological variables, physiological and behavioral response of cows subjected to different cooling times and their influence on milk quality, in the dry and rainfall periods, and to establish multiple regression models for milk quality. The data used in the study came from an experiment conducted in the Agreste Region of Pernambuco. The pre-milking cooling time was 10, 20, 30 min. and the control (without cooling). Sixteen multiparous lactating Gir cows were selected. Data were analyzed by principal component analysis and a multiple regression analysis was applied to determine milk quality. There was a strong relationship between somatic cell count (SCC) and activity of the animal in the shade for dry, and lying for rainfall, with increased SCC in cow milk. It was possible to establish two multiple regression models to determine milk quality in dry and rainfall periods. According to the principal component analysis, the cooling time to meet the thermal requirement of the animals was 20 min., regardless of the season and milking shift.
The Self-Adhesive Carbon Powder Based on Coconut Coir Fiber as Supercapacitor Application
Authors: Taer Erman , Nikmatun Nazilah , Apriwandi Apriwandi , Agustino Agustino , Taslim Rika , Hidayat Ezri
Published: June 2021

Activated carbon powder is a popular material used as an electrode material for large scale applications, especially supercapacitors because of its excellent physical and electrochemical properties. Self-adhesive carbon powder based on coconut coir was prepared via single-step pyrolysis and chemical activation with NaOH solution. A single-step pyrolysis was performed, including carbonization and physical activation in the N2/CO2 atmosphere. The physical temperature of 750 °C, 800 °C, 850 °C and 900 °C is the major focus to evaluate the behavior of self-adhesive activated carbon. The density and the microcrystalline characteristics of the electrodes are inﬂuenced by the physical activation temperature. The density feature was evaluated based on the approach of self-adhesive carbon reduction dimensions such as mass, diameter, and thickness. Microcrystalline behavior was performed by using X-ray diffraction method, and it has shown the good amorphous properties of the activated carbon. The self-adhesive activated carbon electrodes were characterized and evaluated in symmetrical supercapacitor cells. The electrochemical characterization of the carbon electrodes using cyclic voltammetry method found that the high specific capacitance of 96 F.g-1 in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte at a low scan rate of 1 mV.s-1 with energy specific and power specific of 13.33 Wh.kg-1 and 48.03 W.kg-1, respectively.
Synthesis of Metallic Zinc Nanoparticles by Reduction of Zinc Ions in Protonic Solvent
Authors: Noda Shota , Yamauchi Noriko , Nakashima Kouichi , Watanabe Ken-ichi , Koda Hidekazu , Kunigami Hiroshi , Kunigami Hideki , Kobayashi Yoshio
Published: June 2021

Simple and low environmental impact methods for producing chemically-stable nanoparticles of metallic zinc (Zn) are asked to be developed, because metallic Zn nanoparticles are easily oxidized in air, and organic solvents, which can be used for the fabrication of metallic Zn particles, give a great environmental impact. The present work focuses on the chemical reaction in protonic solvents containing aqueous solvents, of which the use will give a smaller environmental load, and proposes a method for producing metallic Zn nanoparticles by reduction of Zn ions in the protonic solvent. Two kinds of hydrophilic solvents were examined: water and ethylene glycol (EG). The use of water and EG as the solvents produced Zn oxide. Though the addition of aluminum salt to EG also produced Zn oxide, the crystallinity of Zn oxide was lower than that for with no addition of aluminum salt. In the case of the aluminum salt addition, nanoparticles with a size of 27. 5±13.3 nm were fabricated, and not only bonds of Zn-O-Zn and Zn-OH but also a bond of Zn-Zn were confirmed to be formed, which indicated the production of low crystallinity metallic Zn nanoparticles.
Studies on Antistress Activity of Curculigo Orchioides Gaertn
Authors: Chauhan Nagendra Singh , Shah Kamal , Gupta Prashant Kumar
Published: June 2021

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antistress activity of rhizomes ethanolic extract of Curculigo orchioides Gaertn in vivo, using mice with stress-induced injury. The effect of Curculigo orchioides on motor coordination, spontaneous locomotor activity, immobility time, and analgesia was evaluated in mice using standard procedure. The ethanolic extract of Curculigo orchioides at dose levels, i.e., 100 and 200 mg/kg shows pronounced antistress activity evidenced by reduced immobility time in forced swimming and tail test. It also improved motor coordination and enhanced analgesic effect compared to standard diazepam. The Curculigo orchioides was found to be a antistress activity.
Disinfectants in the Arena of COVID-19
Authors: Shah Kamal , Chhabra Sumit , Chauhan Nagendra Singh
Published: June 2021

Currently, a disease name as corona (COVID-19) has become a serious problem around the globe. As of December 2020, the disease has spread to over 213 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances, with over 79,850,900 confirmed cases and over 1,751,705 deaths. The ailment (COVID-19) is instigated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). CoV impacts on the respiratory tract and causes infection that may be minor or deadly. Several studies reveal that coronavirus can remain live on nonliving surfaces (glass, metal, or plastic) for up to 9 days, but it may be denatured with many disinfectants having alcohol, benzalkonium chloride, sodium hypochlorite, etc., within 1 min. As we know, there is no fruitful therapy or medication for COVID-19 so early precaution and prevention is the only solution to break the chain of coronavirus. By using different types of disinfectants, we can inhibit the growth of this novel corona disease.
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Protein Expression in the Caput and Cauda Regions of the Rat Epididymis
Authors: Baruah Binita Basnet , Kola Srujana , Rukmangadachar Lokesh , Chaturvedi Pradeepkumar , Alagiri Srinivasan
Published: June 2021

Background:

The aim of this study was to identify the differentially expressed proteins in the sperm isolated from the caput and the cauda region of the rat epididymis. This is the first study on the quantitative nongel-based proteomics to have identified differentially expressed proteins in the cauda epididymal sperm.

Material and Methods:

This was achieved by isolation of sperm from the caput and the cauda of the rat epididymis followed by the tryptic digestion of the proteins and the resulted peptides were subjected to isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation-label and mass spectrometry (MS)/MS analysis. With the help of quantitative proteomics, we have been able to elucidate some of the major proteins involved in the process of sperm maturation.

Results:

In total, 999 proteins from the spermatozoa of caput and cauda region of the epididymis were identified. We have reported about 10 downregulated proteins and 15 upregulated proteins that have been in the sperm from the cauda region of the epididymis. HongrES1, the membrane of the SERPIN family specifically expressed in the principal cells of the cauda epididymis, have been found to be expressed three-fold higher.

Conclusion:

This study contributes to the understanding of the importance of different proteins at the different stages of the maturation during the transit of the spermatozoa. The higher and lower expression of different proteins in the epididymal region depicts their roles in priming the spermatozoa for normal fertilizing ability. Thus, the target proteins can be further studied for the possible development of male contraception.
Fracture-Subluxation of the Shoulder in Children
Authors: Dharmshaktu Ganesh Singh , Adhikari Navneet , Mourya Pankaj
Published: June 2021

Glenohumeral dislocation in pediatric age is a rare injury. The proximal humerus fractures, on the other hand, are relatively common with the management ranging from conservative to operative fixation. Concomitant proximal humeral fracture and subluxation or dislocation of ipsilateral glenohumeral joint are the rarer events with very few reports available in the literature. We present a series of four pediatric cases (2 males and 2 females) of fracture dislocation of the shoulder with relevant details. All the cases suffered injuries following fall from tree and were managed by operative means in two while two were managed conservatively. Good functional outcome was noted in the mean follow-up of 10 months.
Anatomical Considerations of Intercondylar Notch Dimensions of Femur in Cadavers with Intact Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Authors: Agrawal Alok Chandra , Rakshit J. , Sakale Harshal , Kar Bikram , Raj Manish
Published: June 2021

Background:

The femoral intercondylar notch is an anatomic site of interest since it houses the anterior cruciate ligament which is one of the importantstructure stabilizing knee. The configuration of the intercondylar notch is related to the active functioning of the cruciate ligaments.

Objective:

The primary objective of the study was to measure the intercondylar notch dimensions of femur in cadavers with intact ACL and its correlation.

Materials and Methods:

The study was done on 30 cadaveric knees provided by department of Anatomy. The measurements of intercondylar notch like width at the base of the notch, width in the middle of the notch, width at the top of the notch, height of the notch were measured using a digital vernier callipers with knee in 90 degree flexion.

Results:

Among the 30 cadaveric knees whose intercondylar notch dimensions were measured, 20 were male and 10 were female. All the 30 knees were categorized into A-, U, and W-shaped notch knees. A shaped intercondylar notch was accounted for 13, U shaped 16 and W shaped 1 knee. There was a significant difference (P = 0.048) in notch width at base in A-, U-, and W-shaped notches. The highest is of W followed by A- and U-shaped notches.

Conclusion:

This study shreds light on the normal intercondylar notch dimensions of femur and its correlation with different notch shapes. This study would help for the comparison of notch dimensions and finding out the causal reason for ACL insufficiency.
A Case of Neuroborreliosis
Authors: Kanaujia Vinay , Verma Shipra , Yadav Raj Kumar , Patra Binayak
Published: June 2021

Lyme disease is a multisystem complex illness. Neuroborreliosis is a neurological manifestation of Lyme disease. Neuroborreliosis is not very common in India. Neuroborreliosis disease sequelae sometime resolves completely but in some cases it became chronic which ultimately impairs the quality of life. Early diagnosis, medical management, and proper rehabilitation protocol improve the outcome of the disease. This case report demonstrates medical and rehabilitation management of neuroborreliosis in a middle-aged female, a native of Garhwal, Uttarakhand, with some atypical presentation.
Role of Platelet-Rich Plasma in Painful Early Osteoarthritis Knee and Plantar Fasciitis
Authors: Dinkar Karuna Shankar , Kapoor Rajat , Mishra Vikas Kumar , Pal Chandra Prakash , Sharma Mohit , Yadav Rohit
Published: June 2021

Introduction:

Plantar fasciitis and early osteoarthritis knee are the most common painful orthopedic conditions treated by orthopedic practitioners. This study is to assess the role of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in the treatment of plantar fasciitis and early osteoarthritis knee.

Aims and Objectives:

To access the role of platelet-rich plasma in plantar fasciitis and early osteoarthritis knee.

Materials and Methods:

A prospective interventional study was conducted at our center between January 2016 to March 2017. Patients included were complaining of pain in knee for 3 months, Grade 1 to Grade 2 osteoarthritis, presenting with complaints of plantar heel pain, tenderness at the attachment of the plantar fascia. The details of the clinical assessment filled and baseline WOMAC score for osteoarthritis knee and analog pain scale for plantar fasciitis was recorded. We explained the procedure to the patients and informed consent were taken. 4 ml of PRP was injected in either condition. Patients were followed up for 6 months at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 months. Visual analog scale (VAS) for the assessment of pain in plantar fasciitis and WOMAC score for early osteoarthritis knee was recorded for all patients at the last visit and compared.

Results:

In 15 patients with osteoarthritis of knee, the mean score for preinjection baseline was 29.4 ± 5.80, which showed improvement by 27% from baseline during the 1st month with a mean of 21.4S7 ± 5.475 and during 6th month with a mean of 22.47 ± 9.516 but it never reverted to baseline pre injection value. In 30 patients with plantar fasciitis, the results are statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05), and all the patients responded to the treatment. VAS score is statistically significant in comparison with baseline at all duration.

Conclusion:

In our study, PRP is significantly effective in reducing pain in early osteoarthritis knee and plantar fasciitis.
Digit Transposition; A “Spare-Part” Surgery in a Mutilating Hand Injury
Authors: Nahar Kuldeep , Nahar Nikita
Published: June 2021

A young Male had a RTA, causing loss of whole of middle finger & crushed skin at dorsum of Index metacarpal bone with fracture of Proximal Phalanx of ring finger along with infected Palmar Lacerated wound. He presented it two weeks after the injury. Hand salvaging surgical procedure was done by transporting the index digit to middle finger metacarpal head and fixed with K wires, sacrificing distal two-third of the second nonviable metacarpal bone. Hand appears to be more functionally and esthetically viable along with avoiding multiple different surgeries, contractures, and stiffness of the joints.
Association of Sickle Cell Trait with Risk and Mortality of COVID-19: Results from the United Kingdom Biobank
Authors: Resurreccion W. Kyle , Hulsizer Joseph , Shi Zhuqing , Wei Jun , Wang Chi-Hsiung , Na Rong , Zheng S. Lilly , Struve Clay , Helfand Brian T. , Khandekar Janardan , Billings Liana , Caplan Michael S. , Xu Jianfeng
Published: June 2021

Sickle cell trait (SCT) carriers inherit one copy of the Glu6Val mutation in the hemoglobin gene and is particularly common in Black individuals (5–10%). Considering the roles of hemoglobin in immune responses and the higher risk for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among Black individuals, we tested whether Black SCT carriers were at increased risk for COVID-19 infection and mortality according to the United Kingdom Biobank. Among Black individuals who were tested for COVID-19, we found similar infection rates among SCT carriers (14/72; 19.7%) and noncarriers (167/791; 21.1%), but higher COVID-19 mortality rates among SCT carriers (4/14; 28.6%) than among noncarriers (21/167; 12.6%) (odds ratio [OR], 3.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69–11.82; P = 0.12). Notably, SCT carriers with preexisting diabetes had significantly higher COVID-19 mortality (4/4; 100%) than those without diabetes (0/10; 0%; (OR, 90.71; 95% CI, 5.66–infinite; P = 0.0005). These findings suggest that Black SCT carriers with preexisting diabetes are at disproportionally higher risk for COVID-19 mortality. Confirmation by larger studies is warranted.
A short introduction to historical earthquakes in Libya
Authors: A. S. Suleiman  , P. Albini  , P. Migliavacca
Published: June 2021

As a result of the relative motion of the African and European plates, Libya, located at the north central margin of the African continent, has experienced a considerable intraplate tectonism, particularly in its northern coastal regions. If the seismic activity of the last fifty years, at most, is known from instrumental recording, macroseismic effects of those earthquakes which affected Libya in the past centuries are still imperfectly known. To try and partly overcome this lack of information, in this contribution we present a short introduction to historical earthquakes in Libya, focusing on the period up to 1935. According to the studies published in the last twenty years, the earliest records of earthquakes in Libya are documented in the Roman period (3rd and 4th century A.D.). There is a gap in information along the Middle and Modern Ages, while the 19th and early 20th century evidence is concentrated on effects in Tripoli, in the western part of nowadays Libya. The Hun Graben area (western part of the Gulf of Sirt) has been identified as the location of many earthquakes affecting Libya, and it is in this area that the 19 April 1935 earthquake (Mw = 7.1) struck, followed by many aftershocks. Further investigations are needed, and some hints are here given at historical sources potentially reporting on earthquake effects in Libya. Their investigation could result in the needed improvement to lay the foundations of a database and a catalogue of the historical seismicity of Libya.
State-of-the-art of historical earthquake research in Fennoscandia and the Baltic Republics
Authors: P. Mäntyniemi  , E. S. Husebye  , T. R. M. Kebeasy  , A. A. Nikonov  , V. Nikulin  , A. Pacesa
Published: June 2021

We review historical earthquake research in Northern Europe. 'Historical' is defined as being identical with seismic events occurring in the pre-instrumental and early instrumental periods between 1073 and the mid-1960s. The first seismographs in this region were installed in Uppsala, Sweden and Bergen, Norway in 1904-1905, but these mechanical pendulum instruments were broad band and amplification factors were modest at around 500. Until the 1960s few modern short period electromagnetic seismographs were deployed. Scientific earthquake studies in this region began during the first decades of the 1800s, while the systematic use of macroseismic questionnaires commenced at the end of that century. Basic research efforts have vigorously been pursued from the 1970s onwards because of the mandatory seismic risk studies for commissioning nuclear power plants in Sweden, Finland, NW Russia, Kola and installations of huge oil platforms in the North Sea. The most comprehensive earthquake database currently available for Northern Europe is the FENCAT catalogue covering about six centuries and representing the accumulation of work conducted by many scientists during the last 200 years. This catalogue is given in parametric form, while original macroseismic observations and intensity maps for the largest earthquakes can be found in various national publications, often in local languages. No database giving intensity data points exists in computerized form for the region. The FENCAT catalogue still contains some spurious events of various kinds but more serious are some recent claims that some of the presumed largest historical earthquakes have been assigned too large magnitude values, which would have implications for earthquake hazard levels implemented in national building codes. We discuss future cooperative measures such as establishing macroseismic data archives as a means for promoting further research on historical earthquakes in Northern Europe.
Historical earthquake investigations in Greece
Authors: V. Kouskouna  , K. Makropoulos
Published: June 2021

The active tectonics of the area of Greece and its seismic activity have always been present in the country?s history. Many researchers, tempted to work on Greek historical earthquakes, have realized that this is a task not easily fulfilled. The existing catalogues of strong historical earthquakes are useful tools to perform general SHA studies. However, a variety of supporting datasets, non-uniformly distributed in space and time, need to be further investigated. In the present paper, a review of historical earthquake studies in Greece is attempted. The seismic history of the country is divided into four main periods. In each one of them, characteristic examples, studies and approaches are presented.
Exploiting ground-based optical sensing technologies for volcanic gas surveillance
Authors: C. Oppenheimer  , A. J. S. McGonigle
Published: June 2021

Measurements of volcanic gas composition and flux are crucial to probing and understanding a range of magmatic, hydrothermal and atmospheric interactions. The value of optical remote sensing methods has been recognised in this field for more than thirty years but several recent developments promise a new era of volcanic gas surveillance. This could see much higher time- and space-resolved data-sets, sustained at individual volcanoes even during eruptive episodes. We provide here an overview of these optical methods and their application to ground-based volcano monitoring, covering passive and active measurements in the ultraviolet and infrared spectral regions. We hope thereby to promote the use of such devices, and to stimulate development of new optical techniques for volcanological research and monitoring.
Fluid geochemistry and seismic activityin the period 1998-2002 at Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica)
Authors: F. Tassi  , O. Vaselli  , V. Barboza  , E. Fernandez  , E. Duarte
Published: June 2021

Turrialba Volcano, located in Central-Southern Costa Rica, has been characterized, since the last period of eruptive activity in 1884-1886, by a weak and discontinuous fumarolic activity in the western area of its summit. During the 1998-2002 period, fumaroles discharging from central and West craters were collected for chemical analyses of major and trace gas compounds, 13C/12C in CO2 and 18O/16O and D/H (in one fumarolic condensate), isotopic ratios. Geophysical measurements (seismic activity and ground deformation), monitored in the same period, were compared to geochemical data to define the status of the volcanic system. Chemical and isotopic characteristics of fumaroles of Turrialba Volcano seem to be related to interaction processes between a magmatic source and a shallower hydrothermal aquifer. Since February 1997, seismicity at Turrialba Volcano gradually increased, while since August 2001 new fumaroles start to discharge from a new fracture system located in the area between central and West craters. Since September 2001, strong compositional changes of gas discharges have been recorded at central crater. These occurrences are possibly due to variations in the permeability of the conduit system feeding the fumaroles. Heat pulse episodes from a magmatic source have possibly caused the increase of vapour pressure at depth and, consequently, favoured the uprising of the magmatic fluids toward the surface. The observed evolution of chemical and physical parameters suggests that to forecast a possible renewal of the volcanic activity in the near future a full program of both geochemical and geophysical surveillance must be provided at Turrialba Volcano.
Recent changes in rainfalland air temperature at Agnone(Molise - Central Italy)
Authors: M. Izzo  , P. P. C. Aucelli  , A. Mazzarella
Published: June 2021

An exhaustive daily rainfall and extreme air temperature series (1883-2000) was reconstructed for Agnone, a small town in Molise (Central Italy). Long-term analysis identified an increasing trend of 1.3 ± 0.4°C per 100 years, statistically confident at the 95% level, only for minimum air temperature, and of a seasonal march, reasonably stationary along the entire investigated interval, explaining more than 50% of the corresponding monthly variance, with maxima in November and July for rainfall and air temperature, respectively. Daily clustering analysis evidenced scale-invariant properties, largely dependent on the threshold value, for all the investigated parameters.
Local time behaviour of low frequency geomagnetic field fluctuation power at low latitude
Authors: S. Lepidi  , P. Francia  , M. De Lauretis
Published: June 2021

In this paper we present a statistical study of the local time behaviour of low frequency (0.7-4.0 mHz) geomagnetic field fluctuation power at a low latitude station (corrected geomagnetic latitude 36.2°N). The analysis was conducted for two contiguous years during the ascending phase of the solar cycle. We found that the power of the horizontal east-west geomagnetic field component shows a diurnal and seasonal variation which can be related to variations of the ionospheric current system (Sq) mainly produced by dynamo-action in the ionospheric E region. The power of the horizontal north-south geomagnetic field component is higher in the local afternoon with respect to the morning; this asymmetry is more evident during time intervals characterized by high solar wind dynamic pressure.
The use of Monte Carlo simulations for seismic hazard assessment in the U.K.
Authors: R. M. W. Musson
Published: June 2021

The input required for a seismic hazard study using conventional Probabilistic Seismic Hazard assessment (PSHA) methods can also be used for probabilistic analysis of hazard using Monte Carlo simulation methods. This technique is very flexible, and seems to be under-represented in the literature. It is very easy to modify the form of the seismicity model used, for example, to introduce non-Poissonian behaviour, without extensive reprogramming. Uncertainty in input parameters can also be modelled very flexibly - for example, by the use of a standard deviation rather than by the discrete branches of a logic tree. In addition (and this advantage is perhaps not as trivial as it may sound) the simplicity of the method means that its principles can be grasped by the layman, which is useful when results have to be explained to people outside the seismological/engineering communities, such as planners and politicians. In this paper, some examples of the Monte Carlo method in action are shown in the context of a low to moderate seismicity area: the United Kingdom.