bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Better Mentorship, Better Student Experience: Tips for Mentees
Authors: Barry Debra M. , Nesbitt Heather , McAuslane Heather
Published: July 2024

This third publication of the Better Mentorship, Better Student Experience series focuses on the experience of the mentee. This article aims to serve as a resource for mentees who are seeking tips and support as they work with their mentors in academia and beyond. This publication describes the role of the mentee and provides practical tips that can be applied in any setting. Written by Debra M. Barry, Heather Nesbitt, and Heather McAuslane, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, June 2024.
Assessing the Impact of Sequence Length Learning on Classification Tasks for Transformer Encoder Models
Authors: Baillargeon Jean-Thomas , Lamontagne Luc
Published: July 2024

Classification algorithms using Transformer architectures can be affected by the sequence length learning problem whenever observations from different classes have a different length distribution. This problem causes models to use sequence length as a predictive feature instead of relying on important textual information. Although most public datasets are not affected by this problem, privately owned corpora for fields such as medicine and insurance may carry this data bias. The exploitation of this sequence length feature poses challenges throughout the value chain as these machine learning models can be used in critical applications. In this paper, we empirically expose this problem and present approaches to minimize its impacts.
Human Cognition for Mitigating the Paradox of AI Explainability: A Pilot Study on Human Gaze-based Text Highlighting
Authors: Lee Changhyun , Kwon Hun Yeong , Cha Kyung Jin
Published: July 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) explainability plays a crucial role in fostering robust Human-AI Interaction (HAI). However, circular reasoning compromises decision robustness due to limitations in existing AI explainability methods. To address this challenge, we propose leveraging human cognition to enhance explainability, aligning with analysis goals without relying on potentially biased labels. By developing text highlighting driven by human gaze patterns, our research demonstrates that human gaze-based text highlighting sig-nificantly reduces decision time for proficient readers, with-out significantly affecting accuracy or bias. This study con-cludes by emphasizing the value of human cognition-based explainability in advancing explainable AI (XAI) and HAI.
Intelligent Prevention of DDoS Attacks using Reinforcement Learning and Smart Contracts
Authors: Emily Struble  , Leon Espinosa Maikel , Skordilis Erotokritos
Published: July 2024

(Distributed) Denial-of-Service (DoS/DDoS) attacks are among the most dangerous cybersecurity threats to computer networks. Lately, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) cyberdefense applications have successfully been implemented to identify attack patterns. This paper proposes a novel collaborative, blockchain-based multi-agent reinforcement learning (RL) cyberdefense method using smart contracts. Initial numerical experiments have shown that the agents quickly learn to predict attacks, which can lead to mitigating network-wide service disruptions.
POLOR: Leveraging Contrastive Learning to Detect Political Orientation of Opinion in News Media
Authors: Jararweh Ala , Mueen Abdullah
Published: July 2024

News articles are naturally influenced by the values, beliefs, and biases of the reporters preparing the stories and the policies of the publishing outlets. Numerous studies and datasets have been proposed to detect the political orientation of news articles. However, most of these studies ignore real textual clues and learn the textual signature of the source (commonly the publisher and rarely the writer) of the article instead. Moreover, a good volume of opinion pieces published by major news outlets do not reflect the political orientation of the publisher but rather reflect the political orientation of a non-professional writer. Existing methods are not built to correct this difference in the training data and, hence, perform poorly on human-annotated data. We propose, POLOR, a fine-tuned BERT model that employs contrastive learning to detect the political orientation of news articles even when the training data is labeled by the source (i.e. the publisher of the news article). Unlike previous work in the literature, the model learns features by employing different contrastive learning objectives where each sentence is contrasted with sentences from various sources simultaneously. POLOR achieves a 15\% increase on our dataset compared to previously proposed baselines. Finally, we release two datasets of opinion news: source-annotated and human-annotated datasets. The full paper including supplementary materials, code, and datasets can be found at https://www.cs.unm.edu/~ajararweh/.
Improving Axial-Attention Network via Cross-Channel Weight Sharing
Authors: Shahadat Nazmul , Maida Anthony S.
Published: July 2024

In recent years,Hypercomplex-inspired neural networks improved deep CNN architectures due to their ability to share weights across input channels and thus improve cohesivenessof representations within the layers.The work described herein studies the effect of replacing existing layers inan Axial Attention ResNet with their quaternion variants that use cross-channel weight sharingto assess the effect on image classification. We expect the quaternion enhancements to produce improved feature maps with more interlinked representations.We experiment with the stem of the network, the bottleneck layer, and thefully connected backend, by replacing them with quaternionversions.These modifications lead to novel architectures which yield improved accuracyperformance on the ImageNet300k classification dataset. Our baseline networks for comparison were the original real-valued ResNet, the original quaternion-valuedResNet, and the Axial Attention ResNet.Since improvement was observed regardless of which part of the network was modified,there is a promise that this technique may be generally useful in improvingclassification accuracy for a large classof networks.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap: Improving BERT models for answering MCQs by using Ontology-generated synthetic MCQA Dataset
Authors: Sahil  , Kumar P Sreenivasa
Published: July 2024

BERT-based models possess impressive language understanding capabilities but often lack domain-specific knowledge, limiting their performance on specialised tasks such as medical multiple-choice question answering (MCQA). In this paper, we study how biomedical ontologies, rich repositories of medical knowledge, can be harnessed to enhance BERT-based models for medical MCQA task. Our contributions include OntoMCQA-Gen, a system which leverages different biomedical ontologies to construct BioOntoMCQA, a large synthetic MCQA dataset. OntoMCQA-Gen exploits the subclass-class relationships, definitions of concepts, and also synonym relationships from the ontologies to create this dataset of MCQs automatically. We then use this synthetic dataset to fine-tune various BERT-based models to answer medical MCQs. We evaluated these fine-tuned BERT models on the challenging MedMCQA and MedQA datasets of questions from admission examinations for medical degrees in India and USA, respectively. Our evaluation study on these datasets shows that fine-tuning the BERT-based models on BioOntoMCQA results in significantly improved accuracy scores. BioBERT and PubMedBERT, pretrained on the large medical corpus, have also shown significant improvements with our technique of fine-tuning ontology-generated synthetic data. This finding highlights the effectiveness of incorporating biomedi- cal ontologies to enhance the BERT-based model in the medical domain. Moreover, our results underscore the importance of using ontology-generated data along with model adaptation for specialised domains, contributing to a novel advancement in natural language processing.
Automatically Learning HTN Methods from Landmarks
Authors: Li Ruoxi , Nau Dana , Roberts Mark , Fine-Morris Morgan
Published: July 2024

Hierarchical Task Network (HTN) planning usually requires a domain engineer to provide manual input about how to decompose a planning problem. Even HTN-MAKER, a well-known method-learning algorithm, requires a domain engineer to annotate the tasks with information about what to learn. We introduce CURRICULAMA, an HTN method learning algorithm that completely automates the learning process. It uses landmark analysis to compose annotated tasks and leverages curriculum learning to order the learning of methods from simpler to more complex. This eliminates the need for manual input, resolving a core issue with HTN-MAKER. We prove CURRICULAMA's soundness, and show experimentally that it has a substantially similar convergence rate in learning a complete set of methods to HTN-MAKER.
Adapted Contrastive Predictive Coding Framework for Accessible Smart Home Control System Based on Hand Gestures Recognition
Authors: Elsayed Nelly , Zekios Constantinos L. , Asadizanjani Navid , ElSayed Zag
Published: July 2024

Smart home control systems have been widely used to control multiple smart home devices such as smart TVs, smart HVAC, and smart bulbs. While targeting the design of a smart home environment, the accessibility of the entire system is crucial to achieving a comfortable and accessible environment for all home individuals. Thus, in this paper, we are aiming to improve the daily quality of life of the elderly and Disabled individuals by improving the user experience of a vision-based accessible home control system based on an integrated self-supervised and supervised learning framework that provides a robust capability of extracting the features to enhance the overall performance via adapting the contrastive predictive coding concepts and deep learning for real-time hand gesture recognition system. The proposed framework provides an accessible smart home control system with a significant improvement in the user experience.
Financial Literacy, Financial Education and Financial Experience: Conceptual Framework
Authors: Chabaefe Nancy Neoyame , Qutieshat Abubaker
Published: July 2024

Low levels of financial literacy continue to persist around the world with women, the poor, lowly educated groups and the youth possessing the least levels of financial literacy. Research has shown that both financial education and financial experience can help boost levels of financial literacy. Despite this, there remains no conceptual framework that shows how financial education and financial experience can be used to boost levels of financial literacy. The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual framework that links financial literacy, financial education, and financial experience. This paper is based on a literature review of journals on financial literacy, financial education, and financial experience that were published on both Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, and Scopus from 2018 to 2023. Variables that emerged from the literature review were used to construct a conceptual framework. The findings of this study reveal that financial education and financial experience can be used to enhance financial literacy levels. Thus, it can be concluded that both financial education and financial experience can help to improve levels of financial literacy among individuals and various groups.
Building Resilience for Transformational Recovery: An Analysis of Monetary Policy and Economic Growth in West Africa before and Following the COVID-19 Periods
Authors: Awoyemi Bosede Olanike , Achukwu Mark , Asala Simon , Aiyegbusi Oluwole , Onikate-Amosu Tajudeen Abiodun
Published: July 2024

This study investigates the effectiveness of monetary policy in the pre and post COVID-19 periods in West Africa. The panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) was used. Before the estimation, the correlation analysis and summary statistics were done. Unit root test was carried out to ascertain whether the data series are stationary or not and the panel cointegration test was used to determine the existence of long run relationship among the variables. The findings indicate that monetary policy has 12.3% negative and significant effects on economic growth in the periods before COVID-19, while it has insignificant effect after the pandemic. Furthermore, monetary policy has 21.01% negative and significance effects on inflation in the pre COVID-19 era, while it has 52.5% negative and significant effect on inflation after the pandemic. This indicates that the effectiveness of the central bank’s efforts to affect and control inflation has declined after COVID-19. Causes for this could include the pandemic’s effect on supply chains, demand, and the weaker economic environment. On this basis, the monetary authority should create an economic environment that will play a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of monetary policy in the post-COVID-19 periods to foster economic recovery.
Effects of Corruption, Government Effectiveness and Political stability on Economic Growth: Evidence from Morocco
Authors: Ritahi Oussama , Echaoui Abdellah
Published: July 2024

This study examines the impact of Corruption, government effectiveness and political stability on economic growth in Morocco. We conduct an empirical analysis to quantify the impact of institutional quality on economic growth over the period 1996 – 2021 by employing Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS). The findings reveal that corruption has a significant negative influence on economic growth, highlighting the importance of anti-corruption measures. On the other hand, political stability emerges as a key driver of economic growth, emphasizing the need for stable political environments to attract investments and foster entrepreneurship. Additionally, the growth of the public spending negatively affects GDP per capita, stressing the significance of prudent fiscal policies and effective public sector management. This research emphasizes the critical role of institutions, political stability, and efficient governance in driving economic growth. Policymakers can leverage these insights to enhance these institutional quality indicators and foster sustainable and inclusive economic development.
ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯ НЕСПЕЦИФІЧНОЇ ФОРТЕПІАННОЇ ФАКТУРИ В СОНАТІ № 3 ДЛЯ ВІОЛОНЧЕЛІ І ФОРТЕПІАНО ЄВГЕНА СТАНКОВИЧА
Authors: Головань Євгенія Андріївна
Published: July 2024

Розглянуто комплекс проблем, пов’язаних із новітнім трактуванням фортепіано в середині ХХ століття, модернізацією прийомів гри на цьому інструменті й особливостями їх використання в камерному ансамблі. Охарактеризовано основні напрями пошуків найновіших технік виконавства на цьому клавішному інструменті, а також їх реалізацію у творчості українських композиторів. Встановлено, що модернізація музичної тканини у фортепіанному мистецтві другої половини ХХ століття вирізняється пошуком нових технік звуковидобування, розробленням експериментальних, неспецифічних способів виразності, упровадженням новітніх прийомів гри тощо. Окреслено, що пошук нових засобів виразності ділився на два основні напрями – радикальний, де використовувалися всі конструкційні частини рояля, а також уводилися додаткові пристрої різної складності; та помірний, де головним завданням було максимальне використання клавіатури без додаткових пристосувань. Проаналізовано Сонату № 3 для віолончелі та фортепіано Є. Станковича, де яскраво проявилися унікальні тенденції оновлення образу фортепіано в камерному ансамблі, окреслено основні формоутворювальні чинники, відзначено стильові, тембральні, жанрові особливості твору. Розглянуто основні прийоми та техніки, використані автором у фортепіанній партії сонати, новітні прийоми туше та нотного запису. Доведено, що цей твір є зразком пошуків новітніх виразних засобів на фортепіано в камерній музиці, а також важливим етапом авангардного мистецтва України у другій половині ХХ століття. Встановлено роль нетрадиційних способів звуковидобування на фортепіано, їхнє визначальне місце в колористичному наповненні твору. Запропонований аналіз має сприяти повнішому розумінню новітніх тенденцій і їхнього прояву в камерній музиці другої половини ХХ – початку ХХІ століття, ширшому введенню творів Є. Станковича до камерно-ансамблевого репертуару сучасних виконавців.
Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii among immunocompromised patients (heamodialysis and cancer) in the province of Thi-Qar-Iraq
Authors: Kadhim Matar AL-Rekaby Noor , A.AL-Aboody Bassad
Published: July 2024

The current study was conducted in Thi-Qar province to investigate of Toxoplasma gondii prevalenceamong renal dialysis and cancer patients by using anti-Toxoplasmosis IgG and IgM by ELISA also the studydetermined of some factors that may affected the prevalence of infection, such as age, sex, marital status,place of residence and a number of chemical dosing that exposed to it cancer patient or the number of timesthe dialysis for renal dialysis patients.The results of the current study showed that the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in Thi-Qar province inboth renal dialysis and cancer patients and control group were 28% and 36% and 24% respectively. recordedresults of Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ELISA test results for a positive antibody IgG in both renaldialysis and cancer patients and control group 25% , 30% , 22% respectively. As for the IgM antibody studydid not record any positive result in both categories of the study (dialysis and cancer) only control group was2%. The result of IgG & IgM together in renal dialysis and cancer and control group 3%, 6%, 0%respectively.The study found that the increase in the number of times the dialysis increased incidence of infectionprevalence it was 25.53% for patients who conducted the dialysis treatment more than six times and 16.66%for patients who have less than six times.For factor chemical dosing show high infection rates in patients whohave been exposed to more than one dose of a chemical 37.63%.
Molecular Detection of Helicobacter pylori by Real Time- PCR in Dyspeptic Patients
Authors: B .Salih Manal , M. Kadhim Baidaa , S. Abdulhussein Haider
Published: July 2024

Helicobacter pylori  is one of the most common infection worldwide and is associated with gastric disorders. H. pylori is genetically unstable and this reflected on its virulence factors and type of diseases. Cytotoxin associated gene A (CagA) product is a major virulence factor is thought to be associated with gastric diseases. In the present study, we used RT-PCR for rapid detection of H. pylori infection in peptic ulcer patient, the determination of CagA gene directly from gastric biopsy specimens and determining relationship between gastric cancer and H. pylori. Gastric biopsy were collected from 54 patients with disorders in digestive system from AL-Hussein teaching hospital. The results of  current study showed that the  presence of 16SrRNA for H. pylori was 21(38.9%), 15 of 24(62.5%) were males and 6 of 30(20.0%) were females, whereas the percentage of CagA gene was 18(33.3%), 12 of 24 (50%) were males and 6 of 30 (20%) were females by using Real time quantitative PCR in  54 biopsy specimens. These result revealed a significant difference between males and females. Our study indicated that CagA gene RT-PCR is the most specific for the detection of H. pylori in gastric biopsy specimens in patients with gastric cancer compared with 16SrRNA gene . There were significant differences (p≤0.05) in CagA positive rate, among different diseases. In this study the presence of H. pylori in patients with Gastric cancer and peptic ulcer has been demonstrated by using RT-PCR .
The some cytokines Levels (TGFβ1, IL-4 , IL-6, and IL-17) in sera Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Type1,Type 2 in Nassiriya city
Authors: Salih Nuhiar Rasha , Naeem Salman Ali , Raysan AL-Rekaby Hassan
Published: July 2024

The present study was carried out in the Labs of collage of education for pure science and Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology of the Health Directorate in Nassiriya city, during period from January 2017 to end July of the same year. The immune status investigates for patients with diabetes type I and type II  by measuring the levels of cytokines (TGFβ1, IL4, IL6,IL17 ) in sera using a technique enzyme-linked immune Sorbent adsorptive  (ELISA). The study included 88 subjects with (34) type I, (34) II diabetes and (20) were healthy control. 
The statistical analysis showed that a high significant increase  (P ≤ 0.05) in serum IL6 and IL17 as the rate of concentration of  IL-6 in patients (33.07 pg / ml) compared to the control group (4.68 pg/ml) with significant difference (0.00), while IL-17 concentration    (113.66 pg / ml) for patients  compared with the healthy  control (43.67 pg / ml ) with a significant difference (0.01) in type I patients. While a highly significant (p<0.05) of (TGFβ1 , IL-6, and IL-17 ) in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with the concentration in IL – 4 and a healthy control group. The highest concentration recorded was (132.26  , 24.69 and102.02 pg/ml)  respectively, compared to the other groups . These results revealed that the excessive presence of cytokines might play a role in diabetic in Nassryain population.
Nasal Foreign bodies: Review of 195 patients
Authors: Adel AL-HUSSONA Aws , Sahib ATSHAN Saddam
Published: July 2024

Objectives: To assess the characteristics of 195 cases with nasal foreign bodies regarding the sex , age , types , site and complain at presentation.
Materials and Methods : One hundred ninety five patients with nasal foreign bodies , their age range of 1-12 years old visiting the private clinic from March 2010 – June 2015 retrospectively analyzed.
Results : The nasal foreign bodies mostly presented with males , the most common age group from 1-6 years and the most common foreign bodies were beads and plastic toys.
Conclusions : Nasal foreign bodies one of the most common otolaryngological emergencies in pediatric practice , although it is not life threatening , it still need special care to prevent complications.
The protective effect of taurine against liver disorder induced by gentamicin in male rats
Authors: Saad Kahyoon Orass , H. Flayyih Salam , G, Al-Fartosi Khalid
Published: July 2024

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of an amino acid taurine on gentamicin-induced liver disorder in male rats. Twenty four male rats were used in this study, the animals divided into four groups, each group contained six rats including: G1 normal group, G2 injection IP with 100mg/kg of gentamicin only for 10 days, G3 injection IP with 100mg/kg of taurine only for 10 days, G4 injection IP with 100mg/kg of gentamicin and injection IP with 100mg/kg of taurine for 10 days, The result shows significant increase (p<0.05) in liver enzymes ALT, AST, ALP and significant increase in TC, TG, LDL with marked decrease in HDL levels  in gentamicin group compared with normal group. This animal study suggests that the treatment with gentamicin plus taurine protects against gentamicin-induced acute liver injury by a significant (p<0.05) and improvement in the biochemical markers of liver and normalized lipid profiles.
The Study of Histopathological Changes in Some of Intermediate Hosts Infected With Cystic Echinococcosis
Authors: Jasim Hansh Wesam
Published: July 2024

The present study aimed to investigate the histopathological changes in liver and lung of sheep, cattle and buffaloes, spleen of cattle and lung of human infected with cystic echinococcosis (Hydatidosis). The infected organs with hydatid cysts were collected from abattoir of Nassiriyah municipality in Thi-Qar province, southern of Iraq and preserved immediately in 10% formalin solution. The gross examination noticed that liver and lung more affected organs with infection of cystic echinococcosis, also harden area was observed around the hydatid cyst and all these cysts were unilocular. The present study showed that the defensive response of hosts represented by formation of massive fibrous layer which surrounded the hydatid cysts in liver, lung and spleen of sheep, cattle and buffaloes.  The fibrosis surrounded the hydatid cyst in lung of human was noticed in this study, also the blood vessels in lung were affected by complications of hydatid cyst. The infiltration of inflammatory cells against expanding cysts was observed in liver of sheep and cattle infected with hydatid cysts. The calcification associated with fibrosis in liver of cattle and buffaloes infected with hydatid cysts was noticed while did not demonstrate in liver of sheep. The degeneration of hepatocytes and enlargement of bile duct was recorded in infected cattle.
The histopathological changes in lungs of infected hosts represented by the dilatation of pulmonary alveoli in lung of sheep and cattle, also the cystic echinococcosis is affected on the bronchiole by proliferation of bronchial epithelium in cattle.
Screening and sensitivity of non-lactose fermenting bacteria to antibiotics by Vitek-2 compact system
Authors: Khaleel Ibrahim Hanaa
Published: July 2024

We are collected 150 clinical sample from different private veterinary clinics  in Basrah province . Included 25 isolates from nasal discharge,  45 from feces , 35 from pus/wound infections, 20 from blood and 25 from ear swab .All isolates were subjected to microscopic examination and diagnosed 4 species of  Non- Fermenting Gram Negative  Bacilli (NFGNB)  bacteria based on 47 biochemical tests by Vitek 2 a compact system where the species were 48 strain (32%) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa , 32 strain (21.33%) of Burkholderia cepacia, 31strain (20.66%) of Sphingomonas paucimobilis, 20 strain (13.33%) of Proteus mirabilis and 19 strain (12.66%) of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus . NFGNB results showed antibiotic susceptibility to different antibiotic resistance and susceptibility, where isolates showed Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cepacia and Proteus mirabilis were susceptibility to antibiotic Meropenem (80% -98%), while Acinetobacter spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa least susceptible to Cefuroxime and Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (20% – 30%). The bacteria showed Sphingomonas paucimobilis showed resistance to all the antibiotics tested. The current study was carried out with the aim of diagnosing and identifying NFGNB isolated from clinical samples and evaluating their clinical importance and study of antibiotic resistance.
Gemini Surfactant Performance Evaluation as Inhibitive action of PAPM for Treatment of AISI steel Corrosion and Studying Temperatures Influence in Acidic Medium
Authors: Jerri  Meften Mushtaq
Published: July 2024

To inhibit corrosion of the AISI 4130 steel in 1M H2SO4 solution at different temperatures, the gemini surfactant was used, namely N,N'-((1,4-phenylenebis(azanediyl)) bis (2-hydroxy propane-3,1-diyl)) bis (N,N-dimethyldecan-1-aminium) (PAPM). The gemini surfactant by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique and weight loss method has been evaluated at different temperatures 30, 40 and 50°C. The gemini surfactant showed a very good performance as a corrosion inhibitor in acidic solution, and inhibition efficiency increases with increase inhibitor concentration but decreased with increasing temperatures. Impedance technique results shown, that studied molecule act as mixed-type inhibitor toward AISI steel, also values of standard free energy of adsorption suggest the physisorption and chemisorption were occurred for inhibitor molecules on AISI surface. In addition, the inhibitor adsorption behavior on the AISI surface was investigated at specified temperatures and it coincide with Langmuir’s adsorption isotherm. Furthermore, time effect on corrosion inhibition efficiency was studied where results shown that influence was slight. From quantum calculations,  the inhibitor act as soft molecule were noted, also it was  shown that the inhibitor  more responding for reacting  with the AISI surface and prefer the electrophilic attack because it contains on a nucleophilic centers. Experimental inhibition efficiency obtained from both two methods are on a good agreement to each other where optimum efficiency reached 90.32% for weight loss method and 87.17% for EIS technique. On other hand, theoretical inhibition efficiency and experimental inhibition efficiency were in a good agreement to each other, where as theoretical efficiency reached 92.35%.
Interdiffusion of Zinc-Stannate Buffer Layer and Cadmium Sulfide Heterojunction and Its Correlation with CdCl2 Treatment
Authors: Ayad Khedhair Al-mebir Alaa
Published: July 2024

In this paper, a highly transparent and conductive Zinc Stannate (Zn2SnO4) buffer layer is integrated between the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer and the Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) window layer to improve the optical properties of (TCO\Zn2SnO4\CdS\CdTe) heterojunctions in CdTe\CdS solar cells. This buffer layer is used to reduce the excess interdiffusion between the window and absorber layers when Ultra-thin CdS window layer, d < 100 nm, is employed, and post CdCl2 treatment is applied at high temperature after deposition of CdTe layer. The fabricated Zinc Stannate (Zn2SnO4) buffer layer was found to have ideal transmission, reflectance and absorption properties which helped in introducing good optical properties in the short wavelengths. It has been found that using the Zn2SnO4 buffer layer enhanced the short circuit current  Jsc and the open circuit voltage Voc of the solar cells that used Ultra-thin CdS thickness (80nm) by preventing TCO\CdTe direct contact, and led to improved solar cells’ performance and reproducibility.
CO2 emissions from solid biofuel consumption in rural communities in Durango, Mexico
Authors: Valenzuela Luis , Briceño-Contreras Edwin A. , García-De La Peña Cristina , Martínez-Sifuentes Aldo R. , Hernández-Herrera José A. , Navarrete-Molina Cayetano
Published: July 2024

Objective: the objective of this study was to calculate the amount, in kilotons per year (kt a-1), of CO2 emissions from firewood consumption in rural communities of Durango in managed areas (UMAFOR– Forest Management Units) and at the municipality scale.
Design/ Methodology/ Approach: the firewood consumption was determined for each of the UMAFOR areas and the 39 municipalities into which the state of Durango is divided. Greenhouse Inventory Software® was used to determine CO2 emissions.
Results: the annual CO2 balance due to firewood consumption in Durango was 268.05 kt of CO2. These emissions in relation to the national scale represent 1.52% per year. Those UMAFOR and the municipalities that are geographically located in the semi-arid zone of the state of Durango were those with the higher CO2 emissions.
Findings/ Conclusions: it is necessary to couple the consumption of firewood with eco-technologies that favor its efficient consumption, thus mitigating CO2 emissions.
HORSES AN IMPORTANT SPECIE IN CHARRERIA, ITS MANAGE-MENT AND WELFARE IN THE STATE OF GUERRERO, MEXICO
Authors: Robledo-Reyes Eduardo E. , Olivares Pérez Jaime , Hernández-Gil M. , Rojas-Hernández S. , Damián-Valdez Miguel A. , Villa-Mancera A. , Quiroz-Cardoso F.
Published: July 2024

The management practices provided to charrería horses in the state of Guerrero, Mexico were described and were related to animal welfare. Sixty-four owners of charrería horses were interviewed and 10% underwent an evaluation according to the protocol of the Welfare Quality ®. The most used breeds are Creole, Quarter Horse, Aztec, Spanish and Arabian. The starting age in charrería is 2 to 4 years, with workdays between two to four hours a day (81.2% of horses). Hoof shoeing is done every 8 to 12 weeks in 54.3%. The diet is based on forage and commercial feed (82.8%). Deworming is every six months (60.9%), 17.1% are vaccinated against tetanus, rabies, and influenza and very few owners (48.4%) request veterinary care. The most frequent diseases are digestive and locomotor, skin and respiratory. The stereotypes presented were rocking, nodding the head, kicking doors, chewing wood, and walking in circles. Body condition is good (3/5) (33.3%), fat (4/5) (33.3%), moderate (2/5) (16.6%) and Poor (1/5) in 16.6% of the animals. The majority had white hairs on their withers and back, because of injuries caused by their harnesses. The findings observed in the horses indicate that the welfare conditions were affected, which led to the development of vices, poor body condition, sick animals, and skin lesions in the animals
Clonal micropropagation and ex-situ conservation of Rhycncholaelia digbyana (Lindley) Schltr
Authors: Chi-Ramírez Maura R. , Herrera-Cool Gilbert J. , Sánchez-Contreras A. , Lopez-Puc Guadalupe
Published: July 2024

Objective: To obtain protocols for clonal micropropagation, crop planning, and in vitro conservation of Rhycholaelia digbyana (Lindley) Schltr. Methodology: The effects of the Kundson C basal medium and benzylaminopurine concentration were evaluated for clonal micropropagation. The treatment with the greatest number of shoots formed per apex was selected for crop planning. Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of basal medium Murashige and Skoog concentration at 2.2 gL-1 and 4.4 gL-1; sorbitol, mannitol, and sucrose at 1, 2, and 3% on slow growth. Results: The best treatment for clonal micropropagation and crop planning was identified as 21.60 gL-1 Knudson C with 8.80 µM benzylaminopurine. This treatment resulted in uniform-sized shoots produced. The multiplication process can yield 10,240 seedlings in 12 months. Slow growth was achieved using Murashige and Skoog basal media at 2.2 gL-1 with 1% mannitol. Implications: More experiments must be conducted to determine the best shoot induction conditions and improve resource efficiency. Conclusions: These findings represent the first report on micropropagation and ex-situ conservation to preserve germplasm for this species as an important resource for the floriculture industry.
Update on the terrestrial orchid flora of the Tacana volcano and close area, Chiapas, Mexico
Authors: Bertolini Vincenzo , Cetzal-Ix William , Mó Edgar , Tamayo-Cen Ivan
Published: July 2024

Objective: To assess the number of terrestrial orchid species on the Tacaná volcano, Chiapas, and to empirically observe distribution/elevation patterns and ecological conditions.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Random line transect sampling, over two years, for a total of 8 sites, each starting from the vicinity of rural villages. Samples were deposited in the CICY herbarium and analysed using dichotomous keys and field photographs. New records were compared with the GBIF data distribution.
Results: 52 different taxa have been identified. 24 species are new records for the Soconusco region, where the Tacaná volcano is located. In this way, the Soconusco region becomes the richest Mexican region for the number of orchid species, joining a total of 351 species.
Study Limitations/Implications: Building an accurate prediction model based on environmental and topographic variables could suggest microsites within the Tacaná Park that we have not visited for practical and technical reasons.
Findings/Conclusions: The total number of taxa in the Soconusco region increases to 351. Terrestrial orchids are not usually studied in depth in tropical places, but they are also important in the ecological balance of the natural site. A specific inventory could show more richness of tropical ecosystems
Productive Characteristics, Nesting Substrates, and Colonies of the Escamolera Ant (Liometopum apiculatum M.) in Zacatecas, Mexico
Authors: Romero-Jiménez Humberto , Tarango-Arámbula Luis A. , Peredo-Rivera Ernesto , Del Rosario-Arellano J. , Olmos-Oropeza Genaro , Hernández-Roldán E.
Published: July 2024

Objective: The objective of this study was to connect measurements, weights, and production of escamoles with nesting substrates, foraging paths, nest types, and colony sizes of the escamolera ant.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The data about nests, colonies, and larvae were gathered during morning and evening field walks, with the support of escamoles harvesters. The basic statistics of the data were estimated (N = 59 nests/colonies) and analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis H test. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the differences per nest type.
Results: The highest production of escamoles was recorded in the Prosopis laevigata substrate (x=551.08 g/N=1), while the lowest production was recorded in the Echinocereus stramineus substrate (x=228.31 g/N=4). The length and width of the larvae (N=1,100 larvae) were similar in all the substrates. The weight of the larvae varied from 0.09 g, in the Prosopis levigata substrate, to 0.16 g, in the dry palm (Yucca spp.) substrate; therefore, 11,111 and 6,250 larvae are required, respectively, to obtain 1 kg of escamoles.
Study Limitations/Implications: The information of this study is limited to a single harvesting region.
Findings/Conclusions: The low escamoles production indicates that its harvesting must comply with a regulatory framework and a better organization, in order to guarantee the continuous presence of Liometopum apiculatum colonies.
Efeitos do Treino de Comunicação em Universitários com Transtorno do Espectro Autista
Authors: Resende Ferreira Nerúcia Andreza ,   Universidade Federal do Pará, da Silva Barros Romariz ,   Universidade Federal do Pará e Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento Cognição e Ensino
Published: July 2024

Dificuldades de comunicação e interação social estão entre os critérios para o diagnóstico do Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA). Considerando que estas limitações contribuem para prejuízos sociais e acadêmicos, este estudo avaliou, em dois estudantes universitários com TEA, a efetividade de um treino de discriminação de estímulos sociais e de comunicação com propósito de favorecer a emissão de respostas verbais nas categorias: comunicar preferência, emitir opinião, fazer pergunta, iniciar conversa e fazer troca de turno. No treino, foram implementados dicas textuais e visuais, role-play com feedback positivo e corretivo. O delineamento experimental foi linha de base múltipla entre participantes com medições do efeito do treino em cada uma das categorias comportamentais. Os resultados mostraram aumento na frequência de respostas na maioria das categorias manejadas, com uma frequência oito vezes maior em troca de turno para um dos participantes. Esta intervenção contrasta com a tendência de pesquisas na área em que pares também são treinados para facilitar interações. As conclusões apontam para uma alternativa viável para promover autonomia a estudantes com TEA em situações reais de ambiente de ensino, a partir da discriminação das contingências em vigor e de que respostas mais prováveis de serem positivamente reforçadas.
Variaciones Temporales en los Términos Referidos a Procesos Psicológicos: Una Revisión Crítica
Authors: Bautista Castro Luis René ,   Universidad Ean, Mérida Vélez Fátima Y. ,   Universidad de Guadalajara-CEIC
Published: July 2024

La reconstrucción de la historia natural de los fenómenos psicológicos comprende la identificación de los usos de los términos y expresiones que eventualmente se refieren a ellos, con el fin de encontrar regularidades en dichos usos. En ese contexto, el objetivo de este trabajo es explorar variaciones temporales en el significado de algunos términos referidos a procesos psicológicos, con el fin de analizar su devenir en nuestra lengua y ofrecer un análisis crítico sobre la conveniencia de configurar la geografía lógica disciplinar con base en ellos. Para lograr este objetivo realizamos una revisión del origen, uso y cambio en el uso de los términos: emoción, motivación, sensación, percepción, atención, comprensión, aprendizaje, inteligencia, memoria y pensamiento. A partir de este análisis, es posible advertir tres elementos críticos en el establecimiento de un sistema conceptual para abordar el objeto analítico de la psicología, a saber: la extensión metafórica de los términos, su reificación y la proximidad semántica entre ellos. Se concluye que estas condiciones no permiten una delimitación e identificación precisa de fenómenos o procesos distintos como objetos analíticos diferenciados y que por tanto no es útil para referirse a los procesos psicológicos.
Efectos de la historia de interacción en el establecimiento de reciprocidad
Authors: Ávila-Hernández Ángela Karina ,   Universidad de Guadalajara / Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Tamaulipas, Moreno-Morales Keila Carolina ,   Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas
Published: July 2024

Las interacciones recíprocas parecieran ser fundamentales para el establecimiento de las relaciones sociales y las interacciones interindividuales (Ávila-Hernández, 2017; Ávila-Hernández y Pulido-Ávalos, 2018; Pulido et al., 2015; Pulido et al., 2016; Rangel et al., 2015; Rangel, 2016; Ribes et al., 2010; Ribes y Pulido, 2015), por lo que se vuelve necesario el análisis de las condiciones en las que se establecen y las variables que las modulan. El presente estudio evaluó el efecto de la historia de interacción, creada mediante la tarea experimental, sobre el establecimiento de episodios recíprocos en interacciones diádicas. Los resultados mostraron un efecto diferencial del tipo de historia de interacción no sólo en el establecimiento, sino también en el patrón de interacción mediante el que la reciprocidad se estableció, así como en el tipo de reciprocidad implicada (agresiva o prosocial). Lo anterior se discute en términos del papel funcional de la historia de interacción y de las variables y variaciones paramétricas que modulan las interacciones recíprocas.
“Conecte-se”: avaliação de um programa educacional para casais
Authors: Marques da Silva-Dias Antoniela Yara ,   Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUCPR), dos Santos Alessandra Cristina , Dobrianskyj Weber Lidia Natalia ,   Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC),   Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR)
Published: July 2024

As relações amorosas permeiam todo o ciclo de desenvolvimento do indivíduo, podendo impactar áreas como saúde física e emocional, a parentalidade e o bem-estar. Intervenções que visem prevenir efeitos deletérios por meio do fortalecimento da relação do casal são, portanto, bem-vindas. Programas educacionais para casais com este objetivo são descritos, testados e divulgados no exterior. No Brasil, entretanto, iniciativas como essas são escassas. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar um programa educacional para casais denominado “Conecte-se”, o qual teve como principal variável o comportamento de intimidade, aqui considerado como um comportamento vulnerável à punição interpessoal, conforme proposto por Cordova e Scott (2001). Este estudo adotou o método pré-experimental com delineamento de grupo pré-teste e pós-teste. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: a Escala de Ajustamento Diádico, a Escala de Satisfação Conjugal, a Escala de Dimensões da Intimidade, o The Intimate Safety Questionnaire e, elaborado para este estudo, um questionário sociodemográfico e um questionário de medidas indiretas contínuas. Os resultados mostraram que o programa produziu aumento na satisfação diádica, bem como as médias das variáveis intimidade, satisfação e compromisso aumentaram após o encontro de intimidade. Conclui-se que implementar programas educacionais para casais tem um potencial de melhorar a interação do casal.
Efeitos de Videomodelação por Si Mesmo e por Par Sobre Respostas Textuais em Crianças com TEA
Authors: Pereira dos Santos Maria Vivianne ,   Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, Crescer – Centro de Especialidades Terapêuticas, Silva Sampaio Angelo Augusto ,   Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco
Published: July 2024

A videomodelação consiste na exibição de vídeos retratando um comportamento para instalar ou modificar o respectivo comportamento do espectador, que, após assistir ao vídeo, é solicitado a imitá-lo. O presente estudo comparou videomodelação por si mesmo e videomodelação por par para o ensino de respostas textuais sob controle de consoantes do alfabeto português em três crianças diagnosticadas com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA). Para isso, foi utilizado um delineamento misto de linha de base múltipla entre participantes e de tratamentos alternados. Alguns cuidados no controle experimental foram acrescentados em relação a trabalhos anteriores: as consequências para a emissão de respostas corretas e incorretas nas condições de linha de base e de tratamento foram idênticas; os pares utilizados foram fisicamente semelhantes aos participantes; e incluiu-se a avaliação de preferência dos participantes pelos vídeos. Os resultados indicaram efeitos semelhantes do ensino em ambas as condições de videomodelação, sendo que dois dos três participantes aprenderam igualmente nas duas condições e um participante atingiu o critério apenas na videomodelação por par. As evidências sugerem efeitos positivos advindos do tipo de intervenção avaliado e a necessidade de futuras pesquisas avaliarem o ensino de outras habilidades.
La construcción política del “yo” en el conductismo radical: opresión, sumisión y subversión
Authors: Lopes Carlos Eduardo ,   Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Laurenti Carolina ,   Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL)
Published: July 2024

Aunque no se trata de una filosofía centrada en el yo, el conductismo radical puede discutir esta noción. Desde una perspectiva conductista, el yo puede ser entendido como un repertorio verbal complejo compuesto de autoconocimiento, autocontrol y autogobierno ético (en algunos casos, contracontrol). Como es un repertorio verbal, el yo tiene una génesis social. Esta tesis permite un análisis político, reconociendo que las relaciones de poder permean las contingencias sociales responsables de la constitución del yo. Sin embargo, una concepción radicalmente social del yo, como la que propone el conductismo skinneriano, plantea un problema político: si el entorno social determina enteramente al yo, ¿de dónde vendría la eventual “voluntad” de ruptura con este sistema, como la que muestran los “yoes” comprometidos con el cambio político? A primera vista, la posibilidad de una acción política transformadora parece requerir mantener una noción descontextualizada del yo, es decir, un yo iniciador. Esta conclusión parece cuestionar la posibilidad de que el conductismo radical dé cuenta de un yo políticamente activo. Considerando esa dificultad, este trabajo propone una interpretación política del yo en el conductismo radical, manteniendo en el horizonte la posibilidad de una acción política transformadora. Para ello, examinamos cómo los “yoes” oprimidos se vuelven sumisos y cómo ciertas contingencias permiten el surgimiento de “yoes” subversivos, que se oponen al sistema de dominación. La constitución de este yo desobediente depende de contingencias diferentes a las formalmente organizadas por las agencias controladoras poderosas, como el gobierno, la religión y, principalmente, la economía. Un yo subversivo también requiere un repertorio “más amplio” de autoconocimiento, incluida la discriminación del control que estas agencias poderosas promueven. Finalmente, el yo subversivo también exhibe un repertorio bien establecido de autocontrol, ya que actuar contra el control institucional es muy probable que produzca consecuencias aversivas inmediatas. Concluimos que el análisis de las contingencias responsables de la constitución de un yo subversivo nos permite hablar de un yo políticamente activo en el conductismo radical.
Los componentes literarios en el Barrio Santa Tere, de Marco Aurelio Larios.
Authors: Estrada Ramírez Jesús Octavio ,   Universidad de Guadalajara
Published: July 2024

Marco Aurelio Larios, quien en vida fue profesor de la licenciatura en Letras hispánicas y la licenciatura en Escritura creativa de la UDG, se dedicó al estudio y aprendizaje de la novela como género de escritura. Su obra principal, la novela Barrio Santa Tere escrita en 2019, es una muestra de su bagaje literario que recopiló los conocimientos extraídos de sus lecturas. A través de un análisis es posible ver las huellas de estas lecturas, los homenajes a modo de referencias que dejó en su obra y las técnicas que empleó inspirado por sus autores predilectos. También son notables los aportes de su estilo propio a la literatura, por lo que vale la pena examinarlos para un entendimiento pleno del logro creativo que Marco Aurelio Larios tuvo con su novela semi-autobiográfica.