bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analisis Spasial Angka Kematian Balita di Pulau Papua Menggunakan Mixed Geographically Weighted Regression
Authors: Rahman Muhammad Fathu , Syafia Hamada , Ula Sya'adatul Maf , Amini Nur Azizah , Siagia Arief Priambudi, Tiodora Hadumaon
Published: February 2024

One of the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals is to end under five mortality which can be prevented by at least 25 per 1000 live births by 2030. Based on Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) data, in 2020 the Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) in Papua Province is 49.04, while in West Papua Province of 47.23. This figure makes the island of Papua the island with the highest U5MR compared to other islands in Indonesia. The problem of U5MR has different influencing factors for each region, so it is important to include spatial effects in the analysis. The Mixed GWR model can be used to overcome spatial linkages between regions, accommodate variations in the form of spatial heterogeneity, and handle variations in parameters that are global and local in nature. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the variables that affect U5MR in Papua Island using Mixed GWR. This study uses secondary data sourced from BPS. The unit of analysis for this research is the districts/cities in Papua Island. The dependent variable in this study is U5MR, while the independent variables include the percentage of women aged at first pregnancy less than 21 years, Gross Regional Domestic Product per capita, the percentage of households with the main type of fuel in the form of solid fuel, the average length of schooling, and the percentage of households with access to source of proper drinking water. The results showed that the percentage of women aged at first pregnancy less than 21 years, the percentage of households with the main type of fuel in the form of solid fuel, the average length of schooling, and the percentage of households with access to source of proper drinking water had a significant effect on U5MR in several districts/cities on the island of Papua. Therefore, it is hoped that district/city governments on the island of Papua in developing programs/policies to reduce U5MR can adjust to the conditions of each region.

Keywords: Under Five Mortality Rate; Papua island; Mixed GWR
IMPACTO DA COVID-19 NA RENTABILIDADE DOS MAIORES BANCOS BRASILEIROS
Authors: CALDAS INÊS LUANA SANTANA , Bonizio Roni Cleber , Magnani Vinícius Medeiros
Published: February 2024

A partir do final de 2019, o mundo foi surpreendido por um vírus altamente contagioso que rapidamente se espalhou por todos os continentes. Uma crise sanitária sem precedentes na contemporaneidade, com fortes efeitos políticos e econômicos. Dada a recência do tema, não há ampla gama de investigações acerca do impacto da COVID-19 nos diversos setores da economia brasileira. No presente estudo, aborda-se o setor bancário para análise do impacto da COVID-19 em sua rentabilidade no pré e pós início da pandemia. Para tanto, foi utilizadoo o indicador ROE, calculado com base nos dados trimestrais dos anos de 2019 e 2020 dos maiores bancos, em termos do ativo total, obtidos por meio da base de dados do Banco Central do Brasil. Aliado ao cálculo dos indicadores financeiros, foi avaliado o impacto de variáveis econômicas como PIB e inflação, a fim de verificar sua influência na rentabilidade do período analisado. Nesse sentido, a análise foi dividida em duas etapas, na primeira foi demonstrado, por meio dos testes de Wilcoxon, que houve mudança no ROE com o evento da pandemia; e a segunda uma análise estatística, utilizando a metodologia de Dados em Painel, na qual foram obtidas relações estatiscamente significantes, positiva para a variável alavancagem e negativa para a dummy covid. Estes resultados apontaram que as empresas que aumentaram seu nível de alavancagem, obtiveram resultados positivos sobre sua rentabilidade.
ESTRUTURA DE CAPITAIS EM COOPERATIVAS AGROINDUSTRIAIS DO OESTE DO PARANÁ ATRAVÉS DA VISÃO DAS TEORIAS DE PECKING ORDER E TRADE-OFF
Authors: Martins Vinicius Abilio , Kunz Alessandra , Almeida Ricardo Santana de , Dall Asta Denis
Published: February 2024

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar a influência da estrutura de capital das cooperativas agroindustriais do oeste do Paraná nas perspectivas das teorias de Pecking Order e Trade-Off. A amostra contou com 16 cooperativas agroindustriais do oeste do Paraná, que apresentaram informações completas provenientes de Balanços Patrimoniais (BP) e Demonstrações de Resultado do Exercício (DRE) no período entre 2015 a 2019. Os resultados apresentaram que a variável Liquidez Corrente (LC) se demonstrou estatisticamente significante em todos os modelos, demonstrando ser uma variável essencial para esclarecimento dos graus de endividamento. Já a variável Crescimento das Vendas (CRESCVD), não foi possível comprovar a sua influência nos modelos devido à ausência de significância. Conclui-se que ao comparar os resultados com os preceitos das teorias Pecking Order e Trade-Off, averiguou que as cooperativas analisadas não apresentaram predominância de nenhuma teoria nos seus processos de estruturação de capital.
Spectacle, Haunted
Authors: Miller Jacob C.
Published: February 2024

This chapter turns to the critical urban studies literature to better situate these ruinous spaces and to better understand their context. Some major trends in urban thinking confirm the disruptive potential of the urban ruin. Gentrification, for example, aims at recapturing its disruptive potential, a process that has retail as one of its under-studied areas of interest. Other trends like ‘heritage-led redevelopment’ and ‘pop-up’ spaces of temporary urbanism also signal how retail capital and the spectacle also attempt to claw their way back. This chapter, then, reviews various urban strategies that attempt to exorcise the ghosts that haunt the spectacle and retail capital. In this way, then, deconstruction helps us better grasp and understand the logics of ‘creative destruction’. Equally, the void never establishes itself permanently; rather, it always keeps things moving, often by being filled in, thereby pushing it back into hiding. There is a productivity to its negativity. Other trends like heritage-led regeneration provide challenges for how we might better understand and situate retail ruins in a contested urban landscape. This chapter provides further background materials to better situate the case study as an urban and regional centre in the context of industrial decline and post-industrialization over recent decades.
Toward “a more complete . . . corpus”: Recovering Two Lost Pieces by Marita Bonner
Authors: West M. Genevieve
Published: February 2024

Abstract: This “Forgotten Manuscripts” includes two pieces—one entirely undocumented—that were not included in Marita Bonner’s Frye Street and Environs (1987). The first is a modernist essay, “—And I Passed By,” which appeared under a pseudonym in the landmark volume Ebony and Topaz (1927). The second is an undocumented short story, “A Crown of Paste,” which appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier near the end of Bonner’s career. Both texts return to the issues of religion and faith that weave throughout the body of Bonner’s creative endeavors. I situate “—And I Passed By” biographically and theologically within the Social Gospel. “A Crown of Paste” continues Bonner’s treatments of religion more than twelve years later in a spare, realistic mode, illustrating the perils of the Great Migration as well as the failures of the storefront church and government relief efforts to alleviate suffering. The quality of Bonner’s work rivals that of her better-known contemporaries. These two pieces serve as markers of an accomplished career and a beautiful body of work that deserves additional scholarly and popular attention.
Gouverneur Morris, France, and Republicanism in the Atlantic Space
Authors: Mitran Emilie
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Exemplifying par excellence the American and exotic figure Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson had epitomized before him, Gouverneur Morris worked in France as the herald of enlightened republican principles. In 1789, when he arrived in Paris, Morris was thrilled to see that the French had begun their own revolution in the name of liberty. Moreover, as he lived among the nobility, the New Yorker criticized what represented to him the decaying monarchy's corrupt values and frivolity, which he contrasted with the morals and the aesthetics of simplicity of the United States. He thus appeared as the standard-bearer of an idyllic and idealized American identity and tried to translate these virtuous republican principles to the French. However, Morris is now remembered as an enemy of the French Revolution, a traitor to the republican cause, and an ally of the French monarchy. Unraveling why this former Patriot became the foe of the Revolution that claimed to be the heir of the American War for Independence could help us to see the variety of republican sentiments making the revolutionary Atlantic world.
The Philosophy of Black Education and the Promise of Democratic Organizing
Authors: Boyte Harry C.
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT: To progress toward fulfilling the “promise of democracy” articulated in the 1963 March on Washington requires America’s self-understanding as a diverse people full of tremendous potential and capacity to address our problems. To meet that challenge requires lessons from African American community and cultural organizing in the black freedom movement and the concept of pedagogical personalism from African American education, which affirms the inviolable dignity, worth, and potential of every person. The potential and the dignity of the people came alive in the Rosenwald schools and libraries, which were organized by a network called Jeanes Teachers, some of the most remarkable community organizers in American history. Most of them were educated in HBCUs. This legacy and its vision needs to be put into conversation with community organizing today.
Media Frames in an Era of the Local
Authors: Ceresa Robert M.
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT: This article offers an analysis of contemporary American politics exploring white working-class Americans’ support for Donald Trump. The article draws on a definition of media organizations as people’s organizations or civil society groups and organizations from democratic populism’s political variant. The definition highlights the significant role that media organizations play in shaping political and social outcomes through choices media organizations make about how to present or frame information. The article contrasts political democratic populism as a general approach to the study of politics and the media with the approach from cultural studies drawing broadly on Marx. Michael Denning’s masterful account of the history of cultural studies provides the basis for discussion of the treatment of the media in cultural studies.
"To Measure is All We Know": William Carlos Williams and the Science of Measurement
Authors: Gelder Christian R.
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Critics have routinely voiced their frustrations with William Carlos Williams's term 'measure'. But from the late 1930s onwards, he compared his idea of 'measure' to the science of measurement. This article suggests, firstly, that to fully appreciate Williams's measure, one must understand how the science of measurement frequently appeared in the vocabulary of a variety of contemporaneous critics of poetry. Secondly, by close reading Williams's long poem Paterson (1963), it suggests that by rejecting the term rhythm and reprising measure, Williams was attempting to define the knowledge practices proper to poetry in an era where to measure was to know.
"A New Appropriate Poetry": Gender and the Language Track in Muriel Rukeyser's A Place to Live
Authors: Partridge Kate
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Amid the active landscape of documentary film in the early 1940s, the poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote a short screenplay advocating for public housing in Philadelphia. Despite its distinguished production team and Oscar nomination, A Place to Live (Brandon Films, 1941) has not been contextualized by scholarly work. This essay considers Rukeyser's narrative innovations as A Place to Live follows one family's desire for publicly funded housing. Rukeyser uses montage to establish a dialectical contrast between the conventions of male enunciatory authority and the film's female subject, who rises to an identificatory position that requires audience response.
Toward a Decolonial Queer Humanism: Thomas Hardy's The Well-Beloved and André Aciman's Call Me by Your Name
Authors: Friedman Dustin
Published: February 2024

Abstract: This essay situates queer negativity within the modernist tradition. In The Well-Beloved (1897), Thomas Hardy satirizes the then-popular notion of racial memory for its racist, colonialist implications, inaugurating the modernist critique of romantic love as complicit with the self-delusions of the liberal-humanist subject. Despite the view shared by modernists and queer negativists that this alienation is universal and unavoidable, Hardy hints at how an aestheticized version racial memory can enable collective agency beyond Western individualism. André Aciman expresses this decolonial version of racial memory in Call Me by Your Name (2007), moving beyond the limitations of modernist queer negativity in his portrayal of desire between Jewish men.
Malewicz's Mimetic Resistance: The Censor's Strike as a Spur to Suprematism
Authors: Kociałkowska Kamila
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Kazimierz Malewicz's 1919 treatise On New Systems in Art is notoriously difficult to read, not least because its text is heavily redacted and replete with strikeouts. These paratextual details are often interpreted as Suprematist symbols, yet this article traces Malewciz's iconography back to a pervasive part of Russian print culture: censorship. Emphasizing that censorship was a ubiquitous force in the early twentieth century — one which shaped art even as it suppressed it — this article uses the framework of mimetic resistance to explore how and why Malewicz stylistically imitated an institution he so vocally opposed, identifying an elective affinity which extended even to his most iconic image: the Black Square .
Introduction: Public Shakespeare and Performance
Authors: O'Dair Sharon , Francisco Timothy
Published: February 2024

Abstract: In this introduction to "Public Shakespeare in Performance," we chart a decades-long movement from theorizations of public spheres, whether Habermasian or post-Habermasian, with their democratic impulses, to publics as audiences or specific communities distinguished by race, class, gender, sexuality, and other lived experiences or contingencies that practitioners desire to reach. Such public scholarship is expansive across multiple contingencies and forms. We argue that imperatives for public engagement within "public Shakespeare" constitute a kind of "critical turn" for Shakespeare studies. We then briefly place the individual essays in the special issue within this frame to explicate the enormous challenges, and also the exciting possibilities for Public Shakespeare to reimagine what theater—and literary studies—might do to inspire social change.
Screens as Anthropomorphic Interfaces: How AI Changes Shakespearean Theatrical Publics
Authors: Joubin Alexa Alice
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Whom does the screen interface serve, and how do artificial intelligence (AI) tools affect theatrical publics across both the playing space and the playgoing space? Screens are a site where cultural and performative meanings are generated and negotiated. This article draws on interface theories to analyze the roles of screens in regulating publics' access to performance, producing new ambient conditions of theatergoing and changing the publics' relationships to themselves and to performance. Screens in All the World's a Screen , an Irish Sign Language production, served and became co-spectating theatrical publics. The organizers encouraged the theatergoing public to use an AI app on their phones, their anthropomorphized "machine guests," to obtain auto-captioning based on pose analysis of the actor and to receive retail suggestions that the AI deemed relevant. Operating both within and beyond the fabula of the performance, screens as anthropomorphic interfaces create multiple theatrical publics through an imperfect spectatorial proxy.
"A Fair House built on another man's ground": Public Shakespeare at Seneca Village
Authors: Corredera Vanessa I. , Geddes Louise
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Though scholars have sought to highlight how artists employ Shakespeare as an instrument of radical resistance, this essay reconsiders the relationship between Shakespeare and artistic subversion. We use Anna Watkins Fisher's concept of parasitic resistance to frame our analysis of the Public Theater's 2021 adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor . Rather than advocate for Shakespeare as either complicit or resistant to the corporatization of public theater, we suggest a spectrum of possibilities within this binary, possibilities which operationalize tactics that strategically place complicity and resistance in relation to one another. Merry Wives thus illuminates how performance can subtly subvert the intertwined pressures of capitalism and white patriarchy by appropriating and wielding the tools of performance itself, the specific cultural authority of the Shakespeare system, and the linguistic and artistic cultural capital imagined as inherent to that system, in order to lay bare some of the palimpsest historicities of settler colonialism.
Happy Blackboards: Anti-Thematic Script Analysis, or How to Teach Beyond "Themes"
Authors: Bounds Mackenzie L.
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Since the word "theme" consistently warrants redefinition, it fails to find felicitous, longstanding meaning in theatre pedagogy. In response, I have found that asking students to identify a play's "topics," "questions," and "arguments" instead of its "themes" has saved a great deal of teaching time and student confusion—confusion that the word "theme" inevitably carries with it. Through this change, not only have my students found a much deeper engagement with the assigned plays, but the quality of the dramaturgical and practical work they produce in response to their script analyses is at a much higher level than before.
The Imposed Limits of Embodied Knowledge
Authors: Tiehen Jeanne
Published: February 2024

Abstract: Despite a lifetime of embodied knowledge that has been acquired through theatre, dance, and athletics, I discovered a contrast between the value and trust placed on the body in performance versus the value of embodied knowledge in medical care. In analyzing experiences of Long COVID as a theatre practitioner and scholar, I illustrate how foundational awareness of the body is often dismissed when seeking medical care for this new chronic illness, which is a radically different experience from how we highly prioritize the body and awareness of it in performance technique and training. This essay explains how Long COVID has reshaped how I teach, practice theatre, advocate for Long COVID and COVID-19 mitigations, and live.
Fast rate dual-comb spectrometer in the water-transparent 7.5–11.5 µm region
Authors: Moretti Luca , Walsh Mathieu , Abualsaud Nawaf , Gatti Davide , Lamperti Marco , Genest Jérome , Farooq Aamir , Marangoni Marco
Published: February 2024

We introduce a dual-comb spectrometer based on erbium fiber oscillators at 250 MHz that operates in the 7.5–11.5 µm spectral range over optical bandwidths up to 9 THz with a multi-kHz acquisition rate. Over an observation bandwidth of 0.8 THz, the signal-to-noise ratio per spectral point reaches 168 Hz0.5 at an acquisition rate of 26 kHz, which allows the investigation of transient processes in the gas phase at high temporal resolution. The system also represents an attractive solution for multi-species atmospheric gas detection in open paths due to the water transparency of the spectral window, the use of thermo-electrically cooled detectors, and the out-of-loop phase correction of the interferograms.
All-solid-state 3-µm single-frequency Er:CaF2 laser with a stable and switchable wavelength
Authors: Zong Mengyu , Zhang Zhen , Liu Jingjing , Liu Jie , Su Liangbi
Published: February 2024

We have demonstrated a 3-µm all-solid-state single-frequency laser with a stable center frequency and a switchable wavelength using the intra-cavity Fabry–Perot etalon method. Experimentally, the central wavelengths of the laser for the single-longitudinal mode are 2728 and 2794 nm, with maximum output powers of 268 and 440 mW, respectively. The corresponding single-longitudinal mode linewidths are 25 and 11 MHz. In particular, the central wavelengths of the single-longitudinal mode laser remain almost constant as the incident pump power increases. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first instance of using a laser diode to directly pump Er:CaF2 block single crystals for single-frequency lasers in the 3 µm region. Additionally, it achieves the highest output power of a 3-µm all-solid-state single-longitudinal mode.
Quantifying the clusterness and trajectoriness of single-cell RNA-seq data
Authors: Lim Hong Seo , Qiu Peng
Published: February 2024

Among existing computational algorithms for single-cell RNA-seq analysis, clustering and trajectory inference are two major types of analysis that are routinely applied. For a given dataset, clustering and trajectory inference can generate vastly different visualizations that lead to very different interpretations of the data. To address this issue, we propose multiple scores to quantify the “clusterness” and “trajectoriness” of single-cell RNA-seq data, in other words, whether the data looks like a collection of distinct clusters or a continuum of progression trajectory. The scores we introduce are based on pairwise distance distribution, persistent homology, vector magnitude, Ripley’s K, and degrees of connectivity. Using simulated datasets, we demonstrate that the proposed scores are able to effectively differentiate between cluster-like data and trajectory-like data. Using real single-cell RNA-seq datasets, we demonstrate the scores can serve as indicators of whether clustering analysis or trajectory inference is a more appropriate choice for biological interpretation of the data.
Dissecting the roles of calcium cycling and its coupling with voltage in the genesis of early afterdepolarizations in cardiac myocyte models
Authors: Wang Rui , Qu Zhilin , Huang Xiaodong
Published: February 2024

Early afterdepolarizations (EADs) are abnormal depolarizations during the plateau phase of the action potential, which are known to be associated with lethal arrhythmias in the heart. There are two major hypotheses for EAD genesis based on experimental observations, i.e., the voltage (Vm)-driven and intracellular calcium (Ca)-driven mechanisms. In ventricular myocytes, Ca and Vm are bidirectionally coupled, which can affect each other’s dynamics and result in new dynamics, however, the roles of Ca cycling and its coupling with Vm in the genesis of EADs have not been well understood. In this study, we use an action potential model that is capable of independent Vm and Ca oscillations to investigate the roles of Vm and Ca coupling in EAD genesis. Four different mechanisms of EADs are identified, which are either driven by Vm oscillations or Ca oscillations alone, or oscillations caused by their interactions. We also use 5 other ventricular action potential models to assess these EAD mechanisms and show that EADs in these models are mainly Vm-driven. These mechanistic insights from our simulations provide a theoretical base for understanding experimentally observed EADs and EAD-related arrhythmogenesis.
The prevalence of anxiety and related factors among primary and secondary school teachers in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
Authors: Tran Thuy Thi Thu , Ta Quynh Chi , Vu Son Thai , Nguyen Huong Thi , Do Thao Thu , Dang Anh Hoang
Published: February 2024

The working conditions for teachers in Vietnam were characterized by increased workload and pressure, burdening teachers’ well-being. The study aims to investigate anxiety prevalence and identify some related factors among primary and secondary school teachers in Hanoi after the first COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. This paper analyzed data of 481 teachers working at ten primary and secondary schools in Hanoi city. Anxiety was measured using the anxiety component of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale 42 items. Multivariable logistics regression was performed to examine anxiety-related factors using SPSS 20.0 at a significant level p less than 0.05. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 42.4% and similar between primary and secondary school teachers. More secondary teachers reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms than primary teachers did (31.6% and 27.7%). Primary school teachers who felt discomfort with their supervisor’s assessment, high responsibility for student safety, and ever thinking of leaving their current job were more likely to report anxiety symptoms (OR (95%CI) = 2.8 (1.2–6.5), 3.6 (1.0–12.8), and 2.6 (1.3–5.4), respectively). Meanwhile, the discomfort of caring for many students or problematic students, repetitive work, and disagreement with coworkers were risk factors of anxiety among secondary school teachers (OR (95%CI) = 2.6 (1.2–5.8), 3.2 (1.1–9.2), 3.4 (1.3–8.8), and 3.7 (1.1–12.6), respectively). In conclusion, the prevalence of teachers with anxiety symptoms is on the rise, caused by the characteristics of the job and professional relationships. Tailored support for teachers in different grades is necessary to improve and prevent teachers’ anxiety.
Effects of structurally distinct human HDAC6 and HDAC6/HDAC8 inhibitors against S. mansoni larval and adult worm stages
Authors: Gimmelli Roberto , Papoff Giuliana , Saccoccia Fulvio , Lalli Cristiana , Gemma Sandra , Campiani Giuseppe , Ruberti Giovina
Published: February 2024

Schistosomiasis is a major neglected parasitic disease that affects more than 240 million people worldwide caused by Platyhelminthes of the genus Schistosoma. The treatment of schistosomiasis relies on the long-term application of a single safe drug, praziquantel (PZQ). Unfortunately, PZQ is very effective on adult parasites and poorly on larval stage and immature juvenile worms; this can partially explain the re-infection in endemic areas where patients are likely to host parasites at different developmental stages concurrently. Moreover, the risk of development of drug resistance because of the widespread use of a single drug in a large population is nowadays a serious threat. Hence, research aimed at identifying novel drugs to be used alone or in combination with PZQ is needed. Schistosomes display morphologically distinct stages during their life cycle and epigenetic mechanisms are known to play important roles in parasite growth, survival, and development. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes, particularly HDAC8, are considered valuable for therapeutic intervention for the treatment of schistosomiasis. Herein, we report the phenotypic screening on both larvae and adult Schistosoma mansoni stages of structurally different HDAC inhibitors selected from the in-house Siena library. All molecules have previously shown inhibition profiles on human HDAC6 and/or HDAC8 enzymes. Among them we identified a quinolone-based HDAC inhibitor, NF2839, that impacts larval and adult parasites as well as egg viability and maturation in vitro. Importantly, this quinolone-based compound also increases histone and tubulin acetylation in S. mansoni parasites, thus representing a leading candidate for the development of new generation anti-Schistosoma chemotherapeutics.
Spatial regression models to assess variations of composite index for anthropometric failure across the administrative zones in Ethiopia
Authors: Fenta Haile Mekonnen , Zewotir Temesgen , Muluneh Essey Kebede
Published: February 2024

Background

There are a number of previous studies that investigated undernutrition and its determinants in Ethiopia. However, the national average in the level of undernutrition conceals large variation across administrative zones of Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to determine the geographic distribution of composite index for anthropometric failure (CIAF) and identify the influencing factors it’ might be more appropriate

Methods

We used the zonal-level undernutrition data for the under-five children in Ethiopia from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) dataset. Different spatial models were applied to explore the spatial distribution of the CIAF and the covariates.

Results

The Univariate Moran’s I statistics for CIAF showed spatial heterogeneity of undernutrition in Ethiopian administrative zones. The spatial autocorrelation model (SAC) was the best fit based on the AIC criteria. Results from the SAC model suggested that the CIAF was positively associated with mothers’ illiteracy rate (0.61, pvalue 0.001), lower body mass index (0.92, pvalue = 0.023), and maximum temperature (0.2, pvalue = 0.0231) respectively. However, the CIAF was negatively associated with children without any comorbidity (-0.82, pvalue = 0.023), from families with accessibility of improved drinking water (-0.26, pvalue = 0.012), and minimum temperature (-0.16).

Conclusion

The CIAF across the administrative zones of Ethiopia is spatially clustered. Improving women’s education, improving drinking water, and improving child breast feeding can reduce the prevalence of undernutrition (CIAF) across Ethiopian administrative zones. Moreover, targeted intervention in the geographical hotspots of CIAF can reduce the burden of CIAF across the administrative zones.
Tracing curves in the plane: Geometric-invariant learning from human demonstrations
Authors: Turlapati Sri Harsha , Grigoryeva Lyudmila , Ortega Juan-Pablo , Campolo Domenico
Published: February 2024

The empirical laws governing human-curvilinear movements have been studied using various relationships, including minimum jerk, the 2/3 power law, and the piecewise power law. These laws quantify the speed-curvature relationships of human movements during curve tracing using critical speed and curvature as regressors. In this work, we provide a reservoir computing-based framework that can learn and reproduce human-like movements. Specifically, the geometric invariance of the observations, i.e., lateral distance from the closest point on the curve, instantaneous velocity, and curvature, when viewed from the moving frame of reference, are exploited to train the reservoir system. The artificially produced movements are evaluated using the power law to assess whether they are indistinguishable from their human counterparts. The generalisation capabilities of the trained reservoir to curves that have not been used during training are also shown.
Morphometric differentiation of three chicken ecotypes of Ethiopia using multivariate analysis
Authors: Markos Shishay , Belay Berhanu , Dessie Tadelle
Published: February 2024

Twenty-one morphometric traits were measured on 770 extensively managed indigenous chickens in the western zone of Tigray, comprising 412 hens and 358 cocks in three agro-ecologies. The quantitative traits for male and female chicken ecotypes were separately analyzed using multivariate analysis with SAS 2008. Four and seven principal components accounted for about 74.26% and 69.77% of the total variability in morphometric traits for males and females, respectively. Earlobe length, wingspan, skull length, and shank length werethe most important traits for discriminating among female chicken ecotypes, while wingspan, neck length, earlobe length, spur length, body length, and shank length were the most important discriminatory traits among male chicken ecotypes. The discriminant analysis accurately classified 97.3% of female and 100% of male chicken ecotypes. Cluster analysis revealed the genetic heterogeneity of indigenous chicken populations in both sexes. This finding suggests the presence of morphological variations among the indigenous chicken populations in the different agro-ecological zones, classified as distinct indigenous chicken ecotypes (Lowland, Midland, and Highland). Further DNA-based studies are needed to confirm and complement these morphological variations for effective conservation and the development of sustainable genetic improvement strategies for indigenous chicken populations in the region.
Influence of climatic variation on microbial communities during organic Pinot noir wine production
Authors: Ohwofasa Aghogho , Dhami Manpreet , Zhang Junwen , Tian Bin , Winefield Christopher , On Stephen L. W.
Published: February 2024

To assess the possible impact of climatic variation on microbial community composition in organic winemaking, we employed a metabarcoding approach to scrutinize the microbiome in a commercial, organic, Pinot noir wine production system that utilizes autochthonous fermentation. We assessed microbial composition across two vintages (2018 and 2021) using biological replicates co-located at the same winery. Microbial dynamics were monitored over four important fermentation time points and correlated with contemporaneous climate data. Bacterial (RANOSIM = 0.4743, p = 0.0001) and fungal (RANOSIM = 0.4738, p = 0.0001) compositions were different in both vintages. For bacteria, Lactococcus dominated the diversity associated with the 2018 vintage, while Tatumella dominated the 2021 vintage. For fungal populations, while Saccharomyces were abundant in both vintages, key differences included Starmerella, copious in the 2018 vintage; and Metschnikowia, substantive in the 2021 vintage. Ordination plots correlated the climatic variables with microbial population differences, indicating temperature as a particularly important influence; humidity values also differed significantly between these vintages. Our data illustrates how climatic conditions may influence microbial diversity during winemaking, and further highlights the effect climate change could have on wine production.
An eight-year follow-up on auditory outcomes after neonatal hearing screening
Authors: Kleinhuis Jolien J. G. , de Graaff-Korf Karin , van Straaten Henrica L. M. , van Dommelen Paula , Benard Michel R.
Published: February 2024

Objective

The aim of this study is to assess the neonatal click Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) results in relation to the subsequently determined mean hearing loss (HL) over 1, 2 and 4 kHz, as well as over 2 and 4 kHz.

Methods

Between 2004–2009, follow-up data were collected from Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA) at 1 and 2 years and playaudiometry at 4 and 8 years of newborns who had failed neonatal hearing screening in the well-baby clinics and who had been referred to a single Speech and Hearing center. Hearing Level data were compared with ABR threshold-levels established during the first months of life. The Two One-Sided Tests equivalence procedure for paired means was applied, using a region of similarity equal to 10 dB.

Results

Initially, in 135 out of 172 children referred for diagnostic procedures hearing loss was confirmed in the neonatal period. In 106/135 of the HL children the eight-year follow-up was completed. Permanent conductive HL was established in 5/106 cases; the hearing thresholds were predominantly stable over time. Temporary conductive HL was found in 48/106 cases and the loss disappeared by 4 years of age at the latest. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) was found in 53/106 cases, of which 13 were unilateral and 40 bilateral. ABR levels were equivalent (within a 10 dB range) to VRA levels at age 1 and 2 and play audiometry levels at age 4 and 8, both when VRA and play audiometry were averaged over both frequency ranges.

Conclusion

Long term follow-up data of children with SNHL suggest that the initial click ABR level established in the first months of life, are equivalent to the hearing threshold measured at the age of 1, 2, 4 and 8 years for both mean frequency ranges. Click ABR can reliably be used as starting point for long-term hearing rehabilitation.
Prevalence and factors associated with contraceptive use among sexually active adolescent girls in 25 sub-Saharan African countries
Authors: Michael Turnwait Otu , Ojo Tolulope Funmilola , Ijabadeniyi Olasupo Augustine , Ibikunle Michael Ayodele , Oni James Olukayode , Agboola Adebanke Adeorite
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Various countries in sub-Saharan Africa have taken divergent steps toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal’s target of universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services by 2030, particularly among sexually active adolescent girls who are at risk of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. However, because contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents remains unexplored in sub-Saharan Africa, the researchers intended to examine the prevalence and factors associated with contraceptive use among adolescent girls who had been sexually active in the previous four weeks.

Materials and methods

Cross-sectional data from the most recent demographic and health surveys of 25 sub-Saharan African countries on 16,442 sexually active adolescent girls were analyzed. In the analyses, descriptive statistics and multivariate binary logistic regression were used. Analyses were statistically significant at p<0.05.

Results

The overall prevalence of contraceptive use was 25.4%. Chad had the lowest prevalence (4%), while Namibia had the highest (60.5%). Over 90% of the countries studied had less than 50% contraceptive use among sexually active adolescent girls. Adolescent girls withhigher education were eight times more likely than those with no formal education to use contraception (aOR = 7.97, 95% Cl = 6.26-9.45). When compared to single adolescent girls, married adolescent girls were 66% less likely to use contraceptives (aOR = 0.34, 95% Cl = 0.31-0.36). Adolescent girls with two or more children were seven times more likely than those without a child to use contraceptives (aOR = 6.91, 95% Cl = 5.58-8.56).

Conclusion

It is established that there exists a low prevalence of contraceptive use among adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa. As countries in the sub-region strive for universal access to reproductive health services, it is critical for the governments and civil societies in countries with low contraceptive use to strengthen mass education on the use of contraception among sexually active adolescents, with special emphasis on the less educated, married, and adolescent girls from poor households.
Physical activity among transgender individuals: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies
Authors: Lightner Joseph S. , Schneider Justin , Grimes Amanda , Wigginton Melissa , Curran Laurel , Gleason Tori , Prochnow Tyler
Published: February 2024

Transgender individuals face stigma, discrimination, and other barriers impacting their ability to engage in physical activity (PA). We aim to review current literature on PA among transgender individuals. A systemic literature search of research studies from 2010–2023 was conducted. Studies must have reported a measure of PA and gender, be original research, and focus on transgender participants’ PA. Rates of PA for transgender individuals were lower compared to cisgender or sexual minority individuals. Transgender women were less likely to engage in PA than other groups. Qualitative results suggest transgender oppression, stigma, discrimination, body image, unwelcoming environments (gyms, locker rooms, swimming pools), and the dichotomous structure of sport contribute to lower rates of PA among transgendered individuals. Disparities in PA for transgender individuals exist. Policy, environment, and system changes are needed to reduce transgender stigma in sport and PA settings. Current legislation is being developed and implemented in the United States regarding the place of transgender individuals in sport and PA. These results should inform public discourse on the topic.
Individual differences and the transposed letter effect during reading
Authors: Lee Charlotte E. , Pagán Ascensión , Godwin Hayward J. , Drieghe Denis
Published: February 2024

When a preview contains substituted letters (SL; markey) word identification is more disrupted for a target word (monkey), compared to when the preview contains transposed letters (TL; mnokey). The transposed letter effect demonstrates that letter positions are encoded more flexibly than letter identities, and is a robust finding in adults. However, letter position encoding has been shown to gradually become more flexible as reading skills develop. It is unclear whether letter position encoding flexibility reaches maturation in skilled adult readers, or whether some differences in the magnitude of the TL effect remain in relation to individual differences in cognitive skills. We examined 100 skilled adult readers who read sentences containing a correct, TL or SL preview. Previews were replaced by the correct target word when the reader’s gaze triggered an invisible boundary. Cognitive skills were assessed and grouped based on overlapping variance via Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and subsequently used to predict eye movement measures for each condition. Consistent with previous literature, adult readers were found to generally encode letter position more flexibly than letter identity. Very few differences were found in the magnitude of TL effects between adults based on individual differences in cognitive skills. The flexibility of letter position encoding appears to reach maturation (or near maturation) in skilled adult readers.
Effect of intranasal administration of concentrated growth factors on regeneration of the olfactory epithelium in an olfactory dysfunction-induced rat model
Authors: Kai Naruhiko , Nishida Naoya , Aoishi Kunihide , Takagi Taro , Hato Naohito
Published: February 2024

Objective

The development of treatments that promote the regenerative capacity of the olfactory epithelium (OE) is desirable. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of intranasal administration of concentrated growth factors (CGFs) in a rat model of olfactory dysfunction.

Study design

Animal study.

Methods

Nineteen male rats were used. Fourteen olfactory dysfunction models were created by intraperitoneal administration of 3-methylindole. We randomly divided the rats from the olfactory dysfunction model after 1 week into the CGF or saline group; CGFs were administered to seven animals and saline to seven animals. Behavioral assessments using the avoidance test were conducted until day 28 after CGF/saline administration. On day 28, histological evaluation was conducted to determine olfactory epithelial thickness and the olfactory marker protein (OMP)-positive cell count. Five animals were intraperitoneally injected with saline as the control group.

Results

The avoidance rate remained decreased until 28 days after CGF/saline administration, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. Olfactory epithelial thicknesses on day 28 were 38.64 ± 3.17 μm and 32.84 ± 4.50 μm in the CGF and saline groups, respectively. OE thickness was significantly thicker in the CGF group than in the saline group (P = 0.013). The numbers of OMP-positive cells were 40.29 ± 9.77/1.0 × 104 μm2 and 31.00 ± 3.69/1.0 × 104 μm2 in the CGF and saline groups, respectively. The number of OMP+ cells in the CGF group was significantly increased compared with that in the saline group (P = 0.009). Both groups showed no improvement compared with the control group (OE thickness: 54.08 ± 3.36 μm; OMP+ cell count: 56.90 ± 9.91/1.0 × 104 μm2).

Conclusions

The CGF group showed improved olfactory epithelial thickness and OMP-positive cell numbers compared with that in the saline group.
Dietary regimens appear to possess significant effects on the development of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART)-associated metabolic syndrome
Authors: Chege Boniface M. , Mwangi Peter W. , Githinji Charles G. , Bukachi Frederick
Published: February 2024

Introduction

This study investigated the interactions between a low protein high calorie (LPHC) diet and an integrase inhibitor-containing antiretroviral drug regimen (INI-CR)in light of evidence suggesting that the initiation of cART in patients with poor nutritional status is a predictor of mortality independent of immune status.

Methods

Freshly weaned Sprague Dawley rats (120) were randomized into the standard, LPHC and normal protein high calorie (NPHC) diet groups (n = 40/group) initially for 15 weeks. Thereafter, experimental animals in each diet group were further randomized into four treatment sub-groups (n = 10/group) Control (normal saline), group 1(TDF+3TC+DTG and Tesamorelin), group 2 (TDF+3TC+DTG), and Positive control (AZT+3TC+ATV/r) with treatment and diets combined for 9 weeks. Weekly body weights, fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT); lipid profiles, liver weights, hepatic triglycerides and adiposity were assessed at week 24.

Results

At week 15, body weights increased between the diet group in phase 1(standard 146 ± 1.64 vs. 273.1 ± 1.56 g), (NPHC, 143.5 ± 2.40 vs. 390.2 ± 4.94 g) and (LPHC, 145.5 ± 2.28 g vs. 398.3 ± 4.89 g) (p< 0.0001). A similar increase was noted in the FBG and OGTT (p< 0.0001). In phase 2, there was an increase in FBG, OGTT, body weights, lipid profile, liver weights, hepatic triglycerides, adiposity and insulin levels in group 2 and positive control in both NPHC and LPHC diet groups (p<0.0001). Growth hormone levels were decreased in Tesamorelin-free group 2 and positive control in both NPHC and LPHC (p< 0.0001).

Conclusions

The obesogenic activities of the LPHC diet exceeded that of the NPHC diet and interacted with both integrase-containing and classical cART drug regimens to reproduce cART associated metabolic dysregulation. The effects were however reversed by co-administration with tesamorelin, a synthetic growth hormone releasing hormone analogue.
Epileptic seizure suppression: A computational approach for identification and control using real data
Authors: Brogin João A. F. , Faber Jean , Reyes-Garcia Selvin Z. , Cavalheiro Esper A. , Bueno Douglas D.
Published: February 2024

Epilepsy affects millions of people worldwide every year and remains an open subject for research. Current development on this field has focused on obtaining computational models to better understand its triggering mechanisms, attain realistic descriptions and study seizure suppression. Controllers have been successfully applied to mitigate epileptiform activity in dynamic models written in state-space notation, whose applicability is, however, restricted to signatures that are accurately described by them. Alternatively, autoregressive modeling (AR), a typical data-driven tool related to system identification (SI), can be directly applied to signals to generate more realistic models, and since it is inherently convertible into state-space representation, it can thus be used for the artificial reconstruction and attenuation of seizures as well. Considering this, the first objective of this work is to propose an SI approach using AR models to describe real epileptiform activity. The second objective is to provide a strategy for reconstructing and mitigating such activity artificially, considering non-hybrid and hybrid controllers − designed from ictal and interictal events, respectively. The results show that AR models of relatively low order represent epileptiform activities fairly well and both controllers are effective in attenuating the undesired activity while simultaneously driving the signal to an interictal condition. These findings may lead to customized models based on each signal, brain region or patient, from which it is possible to better define shape, frequency and duration of external stimuli that are necessary to attenuate seizures.