bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of non-progressive dysarthria: practice and attitude of speech and language therapists in Lebanon
Authors: Summaka Marwa , Harati Hayat , Hannoun Salem , Zein Hiba , Koubaisy Nour , Fares Youssef , Nasser Zeina
Published: November 2021

Background

Non-progressive dysarthria is an acquired motor speech disorder resulting from neurological diseases such as stroke and traumatic brain injury. The evidence base for the assessment of non-progressive dysarthria remains limited with professional practices relying mainly on therapists’ clinical experience. Limited information on the assessment practices of Lebanese speech and language therapists (SLTs) is available. Such information is crucial for the development of adequate therapy services for clients with non-progressive dysarthria. This study aims to explore the assessment practices and attitudes of Lebanese SLTs working with adults with non-progressive dysarthria and to investigate their adherence to the framework of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lebanon between March and May 2021. Data was collected through an online survey that included information on socio-demographic characteristics, practices, and attitudes of SLTs who assess adults with non-progressive dysarthria.

Results

A total of 50 Lebanese SLTs responded to the survey. The majority of SLTs (78%) assessed clients with non-progressive dysarthria across all ICF domains. SLTs reported dissatisfaction with the available assessment tools (64%) and reliance on informal tools (84%). In addition, 68% of the SLTs suggested the crucial need for the development of Arabic formal assessments that can quantitatively evaluate dysarthria and determine severity. The survey also showed that the respondents demonstrated a preference for the use of impairment-based tools.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the assessment practices of Lebanese SLTs, generally, follow the international trend and the recommended professional guidelines. Further research initiatives should be held to develop Arabic formal assessment tools for non-progressive dysarthria.
Infant crying problems related to maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Ölmestig Tabitha Krogh , Siersma Volkert , Birkmose Anna Rubach , Kragstrup Jakob , Ertmann Ruth Kirk
Published: November 2021

Background

Infant crying may cause concerns among new parents and is a frequent reason for seeking help from their general practitioner (GP). The etiology of crying problems in infancy is not fully understood, but recent studies have found associations with maternal mental factors. It is well-established that postpartum depression is related to infant crying problems while the influence of maternal mental problems in pregnancy on infant crying is less investigated. We aimed to explore whether maternal depressive symptoms or maternal anxiety during pregnancy were related to crying problems by the newborn child.

Methods

In this prospective cohort study, 1290 pregnant women and their newborn children were followed throughout pregnancy until 8 weeks postpartum. Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were assessed three times during pregnancy and again 8 weeks postpartum with the Major Depressive Inventory (MDI) and the Anxiety Symptoms Scale (ASS). Eight weeks postpartum the mothers were also asked whether their child cried in a way they found problematic. Multivariable regression was used to assess the association between depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and crying problems, and to adjust for potential confounders.

Results

We found statistically significant associations between high scores of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in pregnancy and infant crying problems. Previously reported strong associations postpartum between depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and infant crying problems were also observed in the present data.

Conclusion

These results indicate that mental problems during pregnancy are associated with having a child with crying problems after birth. If more focus is given to maternal mental problems during pregnancy, the healthcare system might be able to detect and help these women, which would be beneficial for both mother and child.
Too long to wait: South Asian migrants’ experiences of accessing health care in Australia
Authors: Adhikari Manju , Kaphle Sabitra , Dhakal Yamuna , Duwadi Sabina , Subedi Rajan , Shakya Sonu , Tamang Sunil , Khadka Mukesh
Published: November 2021

Background

Migrants settling in a new country experience multiple complexities in navigating health care systems and adapting to a new way of life in the host country. In South Asia, migrating to another country for better life opportunities has been an ongoing trend and migration to Australia has significantly increased in recent years. Lower utilisation of health services and higher risks of chronic diseases among South Asian migrants poses a continuing challenge for the Australian health care system and little is known about why this demographic group does not access health services at the same rate. This study aimed to explore factors influencing access to health care by South Asian migrants in Australia.

Methods

Using a mixed-method design, we conducted 62 online survey and 14 in-depth interviews with participants from four South Asian countries: Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. Participants were recruited using a purposive snowball sampling approach following a standard ethical approval process. Survey data were analysed descriptively in SPSS and interview data were recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically.

Results

South Asian migrants experienced various complexities while accessing health services in Australia. The findings of this study highlighted a number of negative factors influencing their experiences of accessing health care: long waiting times for public health care, the expense of private health care, and communication problems due to socio-cultural differences. South Asian migrants also expressed their concern for a greater investment of resources into public health care to enable them to access quality and affordable care in these settings.

Conclusions

Given limited evidence available to help understand factors leading to the lower utilisation of health care and higher risks of chronic diseases among South Asian migrants, this study plays an important role in highlighting social, cultural, financial, and institutional factors that are critical to designing appropriate health-care strategies. This study recommends incorporating a collaborative and culturally competent model of care to increase access to health care and thereby help reduce existing disparities in health outcomes among South Asian migrant populations.
Blood transfusion had no influence on the 5-year biochemical recurrence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a retrospective study
Authors: Han Jiwon , Jeon Young-Tae , Ryu Jung-Hee , Oh Ah-Young , Kim Hwanik , Bae Yu Kyung , Koo Chang-Hoon
Published: November 2021

Background

Although red blood cells (RBC) transfusion is known to be significantly associated with biochemical recurrence in patients undergoing open prostatectomy, its influence on biochemical recurrence after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the effect of RBC transfusion on the 5-year biochemical recurrence in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Methods

This study retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy at single tertiary academic hospital between October 2007 and December 2014. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to identify any potential variables associated with 5-year biochemical recurrence.

Results

A total of 1311 patients were included in the final analysis. Of these, 30 patients (2.3%) were transfused with RBC either during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy or during their hospital stay, which corresponded to 5-year biochemical recurrence of 15.7%. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that RBC transfusion had no influence on the 5-year biochemical recurrence. Variables including pathologic T stage (Hazard ratio [HR] 3.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.4–5.1p< 0.001), N stage (HR 2.3, 95% CI 1.5–3.7,p< 0.001), Gleason score (HR 2.4, 95% CI 1.8–3.2,p< 0.001), and surgical margin (HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.5–2.8,p< 0.001) were independently associated with the 5-year biochemical recurrence.

Conclusions

RBC transfusion had no significant influence on the 5-year biochemical recurrence in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
Future palliative competence needs – a qualitative study of physicians’ and registered nurses’ views
Authors: Suikkala Arja , Tohmola Anniina , Rahko Eeva K. , Hökkä Minna
Published: November 2021

Background

Globally, the need for palliative care will increase as a result of the ageing of populations and the rising burden of cancer, non-communicable diseases as well as some communicable diseases. Physicians and registered nurses working in palliative care should have a sufficient level of education and competence in managing the changing needs and requirements of palliative care. There is, however, need for evidence-based palliative care training and education of physicians and registered nurses. The purpose of this study was to describe the views of physicians and registered nurses regarding future competence needs within palliative care.

Methods

The study was conducted through use of a cross-sectional qualitative design. A total of 54 physicians and 110 registered nurses completed an open-ended questionnaire about the future competence needs of palliative care. The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis.

Results

The results revealed four main competence needs within palliative care for the coming decade: palliative care competence at all levels within healthcare and social welfare services; individualized palliative care competence; person-centered encounters competence; and systematic competence development within palliative care.

Conclusions

The results offer cues for education and professional development, which can be used to support physicians and registered nurses when future palliative care competences are included in educational programs. Seamless cooperation between palliative care services and educational institutions is recommended to ensure that undergraduate and postgraduate education is based on a continuous assessment of competence requirements within the field of palliative care. Therefore, online multi-professional simulations, for example, could be used to enhance future competencies within palliative care; undergraduate medical, nursing and allied healthcare students as well as postgraduate palliative care professionals and experts of experience could work together during simulations.
Actinomycosis presenting as an isolated pleural effusion in a patient with an HIV infection: a case report and literature review
Authors: Park Jung Wan , Kim Yon Hee , Lee Eunjung , Park Se Yoon , Kim Tae Hyong
Published: November 2021

Background

Thoracic actinomycosis is an uncommon, chronic, and progressive infection, especially in patients with HIV. We report a case of thoracic actinomycosis presenting as an isolated pleural effusion in a patient with an HIV infection.

Case presentation

A 68-year-old patient with progressive dyspnea and fever was admitted. On the right side, an ipsilateral massive pleural effusion was confirmed on the chest radiograph, and an HIV infection was newly diagnosed. A pleural biopsy was performed for the further differential diagnosis of potential opportunistic infections and malignancies. The pathology findings were consistent with actinomycosis.

Conclusions

Active diagnostic approaches such as a pleural biopsy should be considered for indeterminate pleural effusions in immunocompromised patients.
Association between local public housing authority policies related to criminal justice system involvement and sexually transmitted infection rates
Authors: Purtle Jonathan , Tekin Erdal , Gebrekristos Luwam T. , Niccolai Linda , Blankenship Kim M.
Published: November 2021

The policies of U.S. local public housing authorities influence which populations have access to stable housing, an important resource for health. We assessed whether the restrictiveness of local public housing authority policies related to people with criminal justice histories—a population at high risk for HIV/STIs—were associated with HIV/STI rates at the local-level. An ecological analysis was conducted using data from 107 local public housing authority jurisdictions. The independent variable was a score that quantified the presence/absence of eight policies related to the ability of people with criminal justice histories to obtain and retain public housing. The dependent variables were county-level rates of HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia. Ordinary least squares regression with state fixed effects was used. We find that the restrictiveness of housing authority policies towards people with criminal justice histories were significantly associated with higher HIV and gonorrhea rates, but not syphilis or chlamydia. For example, local housing authorities with a policy score more restrictive than the median score had an additional 6.05 cases of HIV per 100,000 population (32.9% increase relative to the mean rate) and 84.61 cases of newly diagnosed gonorrhea (41.3% increase). Local public housing authority policies related to people with criminal justice histories could affect HIV/STI risk at the population-level. These policies should be considered in studies and interventions at the intersection of housing, health, and justice involved populations.
Experimental investigation into the effect of surface roughness and mechanical properties of 3D-printed titanium Ti-64 ELI after heat treatment
Authors: Lebea L. , Ngwangwa H. M. , Desai D. , Nemavhola F.
Published: November 2021

The initial stability after implantology is paramount to the survival of the dental implant, and the surface roughness of the implant plays a vital role in this regard. The characterisation of surface topography is a complicated branch of metrology, with a huge range of parameters available. Each parameter contributes significantly towards the survival and mechanical properties of three-dimensional printed specimens. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally investigate the effect of surface roughness of three-dimensional printed dental implants and three-dimensional printed dogbone tensile samples under areal height parameters, amplitude parameters (average of ordinates), skewness parameters and mechanical properties. During the experiment, roughness values were analysed, and the results showed that the skewness parameter demonstrated a minimum value of 0.59%. The three-dimensional printed dental implant recorded the arithmetic mean deviation of the assessed profile with a 3.4-mm diameter at 43.23% and the three-dimensional printed dental implant with a 4.3-mm diameter at 26.18%. Samples with a complex geometry exhibited a higher roughness surface, which was the greatest difficulty of additive manufacturing when evaluating surface finish. The results show that when the ultimate tensile stress decreases from 968.35 to 955.25 MPa, the arithmetic mean deviation increases by 1.4%, and when ultimate tensile stress increases to 961.18 MPa, the arithmetic mean deviation increases by 0.6%. When the cycle decreases from 262,142 to 137,433, the arithmetic mean deviation shows that less than a 90.74% increase in the cycle is obtained. For the three-dimensional printed dental implants, the higher the surface roughness, the lower the mechanical properties, ultimately leading to decreased implant life and poor performance.
Making Women Pay
Authors: Radhakrishnan Smitha
Published: November 2021

In Making Women Pay, Smitha Radhakrishnan explores India's microfinance industry, which in the past two decades has come to saturate the everyday lives of women in the name of state-led efforts to promote financial inclusion and women's empowerment. Despite this favorable language, Radhakrishnan argues, microfinance in India does not provide a market-oriented development intervention, even though it may appear to help women borrowers. Rather, this commercial industry seeks to extract the maximum value from its customers through exploitative relationships that benefit especially class-privileged men. Through ethnography, interviews, and historical analysis, Radhakrishnan demonstrates how the unpaid and underpaid labor of marginalized women borrowers ensures both profitability and symbolic legitimacy for microfinance institutions, their employees, and their leaders. In doing so, she centralizes gender in the study of microfinance, reveals why most microfinance programs target women, and explores the exploitative implications of this targeting.
Effect of environmental factors on hematology profile of Gambusia affinis caught at Brantas River watershed, Indonesia
Authors: Hertika Asus Maizar Suryanto , Arfiati Diana , Lusiana Evellin Dewi , Putra Renanda B.D.S.
Published: November 2021

Background: Contamination of freshwater ecosystems has become a major issue as it threatens public water sources as well as aquatic life. It is important to predict changes in organism health, given a known number of environmental factors and pollutant concentrations, in order to better manage contaminants through biomarker analysis. This study aims to examine the ecosystem health of the Brantas River based on its environmental condition and the hematology profile of Gambusia affinis fish present in the river. This species was chosen because of its wide distribution along the Brantas River, and because it is very tolerant, adaptable, highly abundant, and easy to catch.

Methods: The study area included 10 sampling sites along the Brantas River watershed. In total, six water quality parameters were observed (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), ammonia concentration, and phenol concentration) and hematology measurements consisted of erythrocyte, leucocyte, and micronuclei analyses.

Results: The results showed that the upstream area of Brantas River, located in Batu, was the least polluted region, while Mojokerto was the most polluted. The erythrocyte level of Gambusia affinis caught in most sampling sites was quite low. Furthermore, research revealed that the status of Gambusia affinis' hematological profile was significantly correlated (p<0.05) with water quality parameters, particularly DO, BOD, ammonia, and phenol.

Conclusions: It can be concluded from these results that the hematological profile of the fish is poor due to high levels of organic waste and harmful substances.
Initiation of Long‐Acting Opioids Following Hospital Discharge Among Medicare Beneficiaries
Authors: Deshpande Bhushan R , McCarthy Ellen P , Jung Yoojin , Anderson Timothy S , Herzig Shoshana J
Published: November 2021

Guidelines recommend against initiating long‐acting opioids during acute hospitalization, owing to higher risk of overdose and morbidity compared to short‐acting opioid initiation. We investigated the incidence of long‐acting opioid initiation following hospitalization in a retrospective cohort of Medicare beneficiaries with an acute care hospitalization in 2016 who were ≥65 years old, did not have cancer or hospice care, and had not filled an opioid prescription within the preceding 90 days. Among 258,193 hospitalizations, 47,945 (18.6%) were associated with a claim for a new opioid prescription in the week after hospital discharge: 817 (0.3%) with both short‐ and long‐acting opioids, 125 (0.1%) with long‐acting opioids only, and 47,003 (18.2%) with short‐acting opioids only. Most long‐acting opioid claims occurred in surgical patients (770 out of 942; 81.7%). Compared with beneficiaries prescribed short‐acting opioids only, beneficiaries prescribed long‐acting opioids were younger, had a higher prevalence of diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, and had more known risk factors for opioid‐related adverse events, including anxiety disorders, opioid use disorder, prior long‐term high‐dose opioid use, and benzodiazepine co‐prescription. These findings may help target quality‐improvement initiatives.
Aerolíneas bajo costo y convencionales: la satisfacción y lealtad de sus clientes
Authors: Garmendia Mora Juan Carlos , Tavera Morales Diego Alejandro
Published: November 2021

Se evaluaron niveles de satisfacción y lealtad del cliente en las aerolíneas de bajo costo y convencionales en Colombia. El enfoque fue cuantitativo, se aplicó una encuesta a 421 usuarios en el aeropuerto El Dorado, de Bogotá. La brecha que separa a estos tipos de aerolíneas es cada vez más reducida, aunque sigue existiendo un diferencial entre la satisfacción que expresan los clientes; el modelo de bajo costo hace que sus pasajeros estén menos satisfechos y, por lo tanto, sean menos leales. Existe una alta correlación entre satisfacción y lealtad: 0.81 para las tradicionales y 0.85 para las de bajo costo.
Does Nonprofit Ownership Matter for Firm Performance? Financial Distress and Ownership Conversion of Nursing Homes
Authors: Lu Lauren Xiaoyuan , Lu Susan Feng
Published: November 2021

In the past two decades, many nursing homes converted their ownership status from nonprofit to for-profit (NP-to-FP). These conversions have drawn public scrutiny and triggered a debate about the implications of ownership conversions on nursing home performance. Exploring a nationwide panel data set of U.S. nursing homes from 2006 to 2017, we observe that nursing homes with higher financial distress are associated with higher likelihood of NP-to-FP conversions. The postconversion operating margins increased significantly. Converted nursing homes improved their financial performance by reducing operating costs while keeping net resident revenues unchanged. Both cutting registered nurse staffing and cutting overhead staffing contributed to reductions in operating costs; however, only the former cost-reduction measure had a negative impact on quality. On average, the postconversion quality of care declined. The effects of NP-to-FP conversions on nursing homes were moderated by preconversion financial distress: High-distress nursing homes aggressively cut registered nurse staffing and experienced severe quality decline, whereas low-distress ones kept registered nurse staffing unchanged and largely avoided quality decline. These findings lead to both policy and managerial insights. To nursing home regulators, we recommend increased oversight on NP-to-FP conversions of nursing homes with high preconversion financial distress. To managers of nursing homes undergoing NP-to-FP conversions, our findings suggest that although cost reduction is an effective strategy to improve financial performance, they need to avoid the pitfall of cutting registered nurse staffing and instead focus on streamlining overhead operations in order to increase operating efficiency without compromising quality.

This paper was accepted by Stefan Scholtes, healthcare management.
Stochastic Last-Mile Delivery with Crowd-Shipping and Mobile Depots
Authors: Mousavi Kianoush , Bodur Merve , Roorda Matthew J.
Published: November 2021

This paper proposes a two-tier last-mile delivery model that optimally selects mobile depot locations in advance of full information about the availability of crowd-shippers and then transfers packages to crowd-shippers for the final shipment to the customers. Uncertainty in crowd-shipper availability is incorporated by modeling the problem as a two-stage stochastic integer program. Enhanced decomposition solution algorithms including branch-and-cut and cut-and-project frameworks are developed. A risk-averse approach is compared against a risk-neutral approach by assessing conditional-value-at-risk. A detailed computational study based on the City of Toronto is conducted. The deterministic version of the model outperforms a capacitated vehicle routing problem on average by 20%. For the stochastic model, decomposition algorithms usually discover near-optimal solutions within two hours for instances up to a size of 30 mobile depot locations, 40 customers, and 120 crowd-shippers. The cut-and-project approach outperforms the branch-and-cut approach by up to 85% in the risk-averse setting in certain instances. The stochastic model provides solutions that are 3.35%–6.08% better than the deterministic model, and the improvements are magnified with increased uncertainty in crowd-shipper availability. A risk-averse approach leads the operator to send more mobile depots or postpone customer deliveries to reduce the risk of high penalties for nondelivery.
The structure of g-digroup actions and representation theory
Authors:   Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Rodríguez-Nieto J. G. , Salazar-Díaz O. P. ,   Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Velásquez R. ,   Universidad de Antioquia
Published: November 2021

The aim of this paper is to propose two possible ways of defining a g-digroup action and a first approximation to representation theory of g-digroups.
Deep Learning Methods for Lung Cancer Nodule Classification: A Survey
Authors: Illa Pavan Kumar , Kumar T. Senthil , Hussainy F. Syed Anwar
Published: November 2021

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths. It is due to the complexity of early detection of nodules. In clinical practice, radiologists find it difficult to determine whether a condition is normal or abnormal by manually analysing CT scan or X-ray images for nodule identification. Currently, various deep learning techniques have been developed to identify lung nodules as benign or malignant, but each technique has its own advantages and drawbacks. This work presents a thorough analysis based on segmentation techniques, Related features-based detection, multi-step detection, automatic detection, and deep convolutional neural network techniques. Performance comparison was conducted on a selected works based on performance measures. A potential research direction for the recognition of lung nodules is given at the end of this study.
Weed Detection Model Using the Generative Adversarial Network and Deep Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Anthoniraj S. , Karthikeyan P. , Vivek V.
Published: November 2021

Agriculture crop demand is increasing day by day because of population. Crop production can be increased by removing weeds in the agriculture field. However, weed detection is a complicated problem in the agriculture field. The main objective of this paper is to improve the accuracy of weed detection by combining generative adversarial networks and convolutional neural networks. We have implemented deep learning models, namely Generative Adversarial Network and Deep Convolutional Neural Network (GAN-DCNN), AlexNet, VGG16, ResNet50, and Google Net perform the detection of the weed. A generative Adversarial Network generates the weed image, and Deep Convolutional Neural Network detects the weed in the image. GAN-DCNN method outperforms than existing weed detection method. Simulation results confirm that the proposed GAN-DCNN has improved performance with a maximum weed detection rate of 87.12 and 96.34 accuracies.
Machine Learning Based Clinical Diagnosis of Liver Patients with Instance Replacement
Authors: Prasad J. V. D. , Raghuvira Pratap A. , Sallagundla Babu
Published: November 2021

With the rapid increase in number of clinical data and hence the prediction and analysing data becomes very difficult. With the help of various machine learning models, it becomes easy to work on these huge data. A machine learning model faces lots of challenges; one among the challenge is feature selection. In this research work, we propose a novel feature selection method based on statistical procedures to increase the performance of the machine learning model. Furthermore, we have tested the feature selection algorithm in liver disease classification dataset and the results obtained shows the efficiency of the proposed method.
Blockchain Smart Contract Meta-modeling
Authors: Sánchez-Gómez Nicolás , Torres-Valderrama Jesus , MEJÍAS RISOTO Manuel , GARRIDO Alejandra
Published: November 2021

One of the key benefits of blockchain technology is its ability to keep a permanent, unalterable record of transactions. In business environments, where companies interact with each other without a centralized authority to ensure trust between them, this has led to blockchain platforms and smart contracts being proposed as a means of implementing trustworthy collaborative processes. Software engineers must deal with them to ensure the quality of smart contracts in all phases of the smart contract lifecycle, from requirements specifications to design and deployment. This broad scope and criticality of smart contracts in business environments means that they have to be expressed in a language that is intuitive, easy-to-use, independent of the blockchain platform employed, and oriented towards software quality assurance. In this paper we present a key component: a first outline of a UML-based smart contract meta-model that would allow us to achieve these objectives. This meta-model will be enriched in future work to represent blockchain environments and automated testing.
Risk of heavy metals accumulation in soil and wheat grains with waste water irrigation under different NPK levels in alkaline calcareous soil
Authors: Mussarat Maria , Jamal Waqar Ahmad , Muhammad Dost , Ahmad Manzoor , Saleem Abida , Khan Sowm , Aman Faiza , Bibi Hamida , Shah Wajid Ali , Dawar Khadim , Akbar Noor ul , Mian Ishaq Ahmad , Waheed Muhammad , Ali Irshad , Zia Afia , Malik Wasiullah
Published: November 2021

A field study was conducted on the reuse of wastewater from Mardan city to evaluate its risk of contaminating soil and wheat grains at different NPK levels. Three irrigation sources i.e. waste water (WW), canal water (CW) and alternate waste + canal water (WW+CW) were applied to wheat (cv Atta Habib 2010) grown at 0, 50, 75 and 100% NPK levels of 120:90:60 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 at Palatoo Research Farm, Amir Muhammad Khan Campus, Mardan during 2015.The results showed higher grain and biomass yields in WW irrigated plots as compared to CW at NPK levels up to 50% of recommending dose revealing supplementing nutrient requirements in deficient conditions. However, irrigation of WW at higher NPK levels especially at or beyond 75% of recommended dose tended to reduce the crop yield that could be associated with heavy metals toxicity and nutritional imbalances. The use of WW substantially increased AB-DTPA extractable Zn, Mn, Pb, Ni and Cd indicating a potential threat to soil contamination. Similarly, WW irrigated wheat had higher concentrations of these heavy metals as compared to CW which limits its use for production purposes without any remediation measures. The alternate use of CW and WW as revealed by its comparative lower contamination in soil and wheat than sole WW could be one of the possible solutions and may increase the time required for threshold soil contamination.
School reopening and risks accelerating the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol
Authors: Lopes-Júnior Luís Carlos , Siqueira Priscila Carminati , Maciel Ethel Leonor Noia
Published: November 2021

Background

One of the most recent concerns of this pandemic regards the role of schools reopening in disease transmission, as well as the impact of keeping schools closed. While school reopening seems critical for the education and mental health of children, adolescents, and adults, so far the literature has not systematically reached a consensus whether to recommend the return to schools in a way that would be safe for students and staff.

Objective

To synthesize and critically evaluate the scientific evidence on the potential risk of accelerating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among children, adolescents, young adults, and adults with school reopening.

Methods

This systematic review and meta-analysis protocol was elaborated following the PRISMA-P. We will include all observational study designs, which report on the potential risk of accelerating the COVID-2019 pandemic with school reopening. Electronic databases included were MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, SCOPUS and CNKI. Additional sources will be also retrieved, including Clinical trials.gov-NIH, The British Library, Pro Quest Dissertations Database, Public Health Gray Literature Sources and Health Evidence, Google Scholar, and pre-prints [medRXiv]. No restriction to language or date will be used as search strategy. In an independently manner, two investigators will select studies, perform data extraction, as well as perform a critical appraisal of the risk of bias and overall quality of the selected observational studies, based on their designs. The heterogeneity among the studies will be assessed using the I2 statistic test. According to the results of this test, we will verify whether a meta-analysis is feasible. If feasibility is confirmed, a random-effect model analysis will be carried out. For data analysis, the calculation of the pooled effect estimates will consider a 95% CI and alpha will be set in 0.05 using the R statistical software, v.4.0.4. In addition, we will rate the certainty of evidence based on Cochrane methods and in accordance with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE).

Expected results

This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide better insights into safety in the return to school in the context of the COVID-2019 pandemic, at a time when vaccination advances unevenly in several countries around the world. Hence, consistent data and robust evidence will be provided to help decision-makers and stakeholders in the current pandemic scenario.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42021265283; https://clinicaltrials.gov.
A game of mirrors: Western/Eastern European crime series and the struggle for recognition
Authors: Dobrescu Caius , Eichel Roxana , Molnár-Kovács Dorottya , Kálai Sándor , Keszeg Anna
Published: November 2021

Our article focuses on a corpus of crime television series reflecting upon differences between western and eastern Europe – a phenomenon that we will address as the ‘West–East slope’. The series figure as instances of the struggle for recognition at the level of the social imaginary, between western and eastern Europe. Addressing the double logic of the western narrative on eastern Europe and the eastern narrative of western Europe, one of our main findings is that the recognition aesthetics of eastern Europe produced a multi-layered representation of the West varying from country to country. On the other hand in western productions, there is still a bias towards a more politically correct image of easternness, a state of affairs that is questioned by eastern European attempts to produce their original contents.
Collect, analyse, visualize data: establishing the field of Cultural Analytics in Digital Humanities
Authors: Vasques Liliana
Published: November 2021

Review of Lev Manovich, Cultural Analytics. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2020. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-0262037105.
Quando a matéria importa (e como importa)
Authors: Ministro Bruno
Published: November 2021

Recensão crítica de Rebecca Kosick,  Material Poetics in Hemispheric America: Words and Objects 1950-2010. Edinburgh University Press, 2020. 240 pages. ISBN: 9781474474603 (Hardback), 9781474474627 (Ebook – PDF).
Caracterização estrutural em top-down de aquíferos fraturados: exemplo em Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Sartorio Fábio , Bertolo Reginaldo Antonio , Pino Daphne Silva , Saraiva Fernando Augusto
Published: November 2021

No contexto brasileiro, aquíferos cristalinos fraturados têm importância significativa para o abastecimento público e privado nas regiões mais povoadas e de maior relevância econômica, o que justifica a necessidade de se avançar cada vez mais no seu conhecimento. Em geral, entretanto, várias das técnicas e ferramentas adequadas para a investigação desse meio geológico ainda são pouco exploradas na totalidade, tanto para as tarefas de locação de novos poços, como para a previsão do comportamento de contaminantes em situações de investigação de áreas contaminadas. Neste estudo, se pretende chamar a atenção para a aplicação conjunta de técnicas convencionais para o desenvolvimento de um modelo conceitual geológico numa área contaminada em aquífero fraturado, cujos resultados embasam as etapas de investigações subsequentes, mais avançadas. A metodologia integra três técnicas tradicionais e não invasivas, com escalas de investigação se desenvolvendo da regional para a local (top-down): (1) análise de lineamentos; (2) amostragem estrutural em afloramentos; e (3) imageamento geofísico pelo método de caminhamento elétrico. No caso estudado, as três técnicas geraram resultados progressivamente consistentes para a melhor caracterização do aquífero, possibilitando a identificação dos trends estruturais e dos principais grupos de fraturas da região. Assim, os lineamentos identificados guardaram ótima correlação com os trends estruturais identificados em campo; similarmente, zonas de baixa resistividade identificadas nos caminhamentos elétricos coincidiram com a localização dos lineamentos e das zonas de fraturas. A correlação entre os resultados das três etapas foi fundamental para a melhor compreensão da dinâmica de fluxo do aquífero, estabelecendo, em escala local, o modelo conceitual geológico-estrutural e as estruturas que apresentam maior potencial para fluxo de água e, potencialmente, para o transporte de contaminantes.
Removal and Electrochemical Investigation of Congo Red Dye in Aqueous Solutions by Using Bentonite
Authors: Flaih Eman Hassan , Kadhim Samah Hussein
Published: November 2021

Textile industry is a source of polluted water with many types of dyes., the Congo red tincture is among them. Putity of water can be noticeably affected by the presence of these dyes. Consequently, there must be an effective methods to remove dyes from water produced from the textile industry. Adsorption and many other methods were used to do the duty. In adsorption method, the cheap and affordable materials would be better. Bentonite is the one who have these qualities with a PH value of (2-10). The results showed that the change in weight of the adsorbent substance is about (0.25-2g). The changing of the initial focus within a range of (5-30 mg/l). The range of time periods is (30-240min). It was conducted that 240 min was the highest value of adsorption of Congored tincture on the Bentonite surface. The electrochemical behaviour of adsorption method of Congored dye with bentonite as a surface was monitored using the technology of cyclic voltammetry. The results illustrated that there was an increase in the oxidation process.
Structural Analysis of CdO2(1-X) AlX Thin Films Prepared by Pulsed-Laser Deposition
Authors: Taher B.Y. , Ahmed A.S. , Alatta Hassan J.
Published: November 2021

In this study, CdO2 (1-X) AlX thin films were prepared by pulsed-laser deposition. The X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that the films were polycrystalline with a cubic structure, and the composition of the material changed from CdO at the target to CdO2 in the deposited thin films. The intensity of the diffraction peak (or the texture factor) decreases with increasing hkl and has a maximum value for the (111) plane, the interplanar distance and diffraction angle has a high deviation from the standard value for the (111) plane and. This deviation is affected by doping concentration and shows its highest deviation at a doping concentration of 0.1 wt.% for the (111) and (200), and the 0.3 and 0.5 wt.% for the (210) and (220) planes, respectively. The crystalline size take a less value at plane has a high texture factor that is (111) plane and decreases with increase the doping concentration.
Regeneration of Damaged Epidermal and Neural Cells in Rats with Subcutaneous Wounds Injected with Platelet Rich Plasma and Multivitamins
Authors: Hassan Lina A. , Khalfa Hydar Muhsin , Majeed Ali A.
Published: November 2021

Introduction: The scientific definition of Wound is the disruption of various characteristics of the anatomical, functional and cellular continuity of a living tissue. Platelet-rich plasma is a natural occurring blood element that contains a vast amount of platelets in a noticeable volume. The sole function of PRP is a protective mechanism which acts as an adhesive material to maintain hemostatic and tissue properties, it also acts as an immediate hemostatic agent in surgical applications being biocompatible, safe, and effective. The sole aim of this study is to investigate the effect of PRP combined with multivitamins on the regeneration process of superficial rat skin. Methodology: Thirty male rats were used in this experiment and were divided into 3 groups control n= 10, PRP n =10 and PRP and multivitamins n=10. Each group was subjected to a skin wound and received and a treatment of 1 mil of PRP only or 1 mil PRP and 1 mil multivitamins. Control groups received nothing. Wound size was measured for 15 days. Wound site was surgically removed and processed for histological examination after 15 days. Results: Wound area was reduced in all animal groups over time. There is a more significant increase (P>0.05) between treated rats with PRP and multivitamins injections and control groups on day 15 of the experiment. The results also show a significant increase (P>0.05) in wound size between PRP treated rats and control groups beginning on day 5 of the experiment. There was no statistical significance (P=0.05) in wound size between PRP treated rats and control rats in the first 5 days post wound initiation. Tissue from PRP treated rats shows normal histological appearance of both dermal and epidermal layers however there is a thickened stratum corneum indication of scar formation. Histological examination of PRP and multivitamin treated wounds shows normal histological architecture with normal dermal and epidermal appearance. Conclusion: Overall PRP and multivitamin administration subcutaneously in wound sites of male rats shows improvement and restoration of histological architecture. Reduction in wound site was reduced significantly in comparison with other groups.
Effect of Surface Diffuseness Parameter on Quasi-elastic Scattering Calculations for 16O+208Pb,63Cu Systems
Authors: Hayef Nagham H. , Jassim Khalid S.
Published: November 2021

A systematic study on the surface characteristic of the nucleus-nucleus potential for some heavy-ion. The nuclear potential has been described by using Woods-Saxon (WS), the single-channel (SC) and the coupled-channels (CC) calculations, which were between the relative motion of the colliding nuclei and their intrinsic motions, were conducted to study its influence on calculation, the ratio of the quasi-elastic to the Rutherford cross sections and probe the surface diffuseness method was used to find the best fitted value of the diffuseness parameters in comparison with the experimental data. We find that the best fitted value of the diffuseness parameter which obtained through a coupled-channel calculation with inert target and excited projectile forIn the current work, the single-channel (SC) and the coupled-channels (CC) calculations, which were between the relative motion of the colliding nuclei and their intrinsic motions, were conducted to study its influence on calculation, the ratio of the quasi-elastic to the Rutherford cross sections and probe the surface diffuseness find that the best fitted value of the diffuseness parameter which obtained through a coupled-channel calculation with excited target and projectile excited also inert projectile-excited target for the 16O+208Pb andexcited projectile and inert target for the 16O+63Cu.
MASYARAKAT ADAT DALAM PUSARAN MODAL: STUDI PENOLAKAN TAMBANG BATU GAMPING MASYARAKAT ADAT LOLOK-LUWUK-FLORES
Authors: Konradus Danggur
Published: November 2021

Menyejahterakan rakyat dengan politik hukum mono interprestasi, yang mengandalkan eksploitasi sumber daya alam, selain hanya menguntungkan segelintir orang, juga kerusakan lingkungan, keragaman hayati dan eksositemnya, kecuali itu masyarakat adat dipisahkan dari ruang kulturalnya. Pendekatan legalistik formal dengan izin eksploitasi batu gamping bukan satu-satunya mengatasi kemiskinan masyarakat termasuk masyarakat adat. Itulah sebabnya masyarakat adat lolok dan luwuk menolak eksploitasi batu gamping pada wilayah ulayat mereka, kemudian bagaimana mengonstruksi politik hukum berbasis potensi lokal, berwawasan lingkungan berkesinambungan. Permasalahan tersebut dikaji dengan pendekatan sosio legal, yang menghasilkan pendekatan baru yakni politik hukum Link Commune, yang menyinergikan potensi masyarakat adat lolok dan luwuk yang memiliki modal sosial yaitu keindahan alam, ruang kultural, tanah subur, dengan elemen masyarakat lainnya dan negara, bersama-sama mendesain kesejahteraan masyarakat adat itu yang demokratis dan berkeadilan.
EFEKTIVITAS PEMBINAAN MENTAL DAN DERADIKALISASI NARAPIDANA TERORIS DI LEMBAGA PEMASYARAKATAN KELAS III GUNUNG SINDUR BOGOR
Authors: Hamja Hamja , Dewi Sulistiani Andan , Sukarini Eri Eka
Published: November 2021

Efektifitas lapas dalam menanggulangi tindak pidana teroris memunculkan pertayaan serius apakah efektifitas lapas pembinaan narapidana saat ini masih relefan atau tidak.Berbagai permasalahan yang kemudian menjadi akar dari permasalahan lainnya kemudian melemahkan fungsi lapas sebagai institusi perbaikan sosial masyarakat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui (1) efektifitas pemberdayaan lapas klas lll gunung sindur Bogor, (2) model pembinaan narapidana di masa mendatang.Penelitian ini menggunakan metode yuridis empiris.Data sekunder dari perundang-undangan dan data kepustakaan yang berkaitan dengan terorisme,data primer didapatkan melalui Focus group discussion (FGD). Hasil yang didapatkan dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa masih terdapat permasalahan pada sejumlah aspek pengelolaan seperti rasio petugas lapas dan narapidana dan kurang optimalnya implementasi berbagai program pemberdayaan dalam mempersiapkan proses asimilasi di masyarakat.
Analyzing the functional structure of pottery jiandiping amphorae
Authors: Wei Xue , Qian Yaopeng
Published: November 2021

There are numerous, controversial theories on the function of the jiandiping amphorae as Yangshao culture water-drawing vessel, wine vessel, or other. This paper discusses jiandiping amphorae functional form from a typological perspective and presents the view from molding technique. The primary function of the pointed bottom concerned sedimentation, yet the vessel’s small opening was poorly adapted to cereal fermentation. The large jiandiping amphora was less transportable but better suited to long-term storage and sedimentation: wine decanted into medium- or small-sized flat-bottom vessels or jiandiping amphora was easily transferred and used, and decanting served to remove any sediment from turbid wine. Functional differences between the large and small jiandiping amphorae explain varying functions and uses of double-loop handles. The development of sediment separation technique is the key reason for the disappearance of the jiandiping amphorae.