bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes of proapoptotic and antiapoptotic genes affect sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli in impaired contractility due to long term bladder outlet obstruction
Authors: Kim Jae Heon , Yang Hee Jo , Choi Sung Sik , Lee Hong J. , Song Yun Seob
Published: December 2022

Introduction

The normal biological process that necessitates cell removal greatly depends on apoptosis. Long term bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) causes damaged smooth muscle cells to undergo apoptosis. However, smooth muscle cell apoptosis that BOO causes is not well known in impaired bladder contractility. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate whether long-term BOO could induce apoptosis activities and to obtain an expression profile of apoptosis related genes.

Materials and methods

We used 10 Sprague-Dawley six-week-old female rats. We separated them equally into two groups: a sham intervention group (group 1) and an eight-week BOO group (group 2). We conducted cystometric evaluation eight weeks following BOO onset, with processing of bladder tissue for PCR array. Every array comprised 84 genes, which were established to contribute to an apoptosis response, cell differentiation and metabolism, and 12 sequences were established for the regulation of loading and the quality of cDNA. We performed real-time PCR. Changes in gene expression presented as a fold increase/decrease. Alterations of more than two-fold constituted the cut-off determining expression.

Results

Group 2 had a greater bladder weight and Impaired bladder contractility. Immunofluorescent staining with CAS3, TUNEL showed increased in the BOO group. In comparison to group 1, group 2 exhibited an at least two-fold upregulation in five genes, the Bcl-2 (15.1), Birc5 (5.8), Cd40lg (7.5), Il10 (16.2), and Naip2 (13.2). They also demonstrated at least a two-fold downregulation in the PRLR (-18.1) gene. Genes Bcl2ald, Circ5, Cd40lg, Il10, Naip2, and PRLR were among the genes with activity against apoptosis. TNF, STAT3 and TP53 mediated the effect that genes had on one another.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that the relative ratios of pro- and antiapoptotic genes determine bladder cell sensitivity cells to apoptotic stimuli in impaired contractility caused by long term BOO. Although we cannot confirm whether this finding is the result of the decompensated phase of the bladder or the process, the gene expression profiles could explain molecular mechanisms of apoptosis in impaired bladder contractility caused by long-term BOO with further studies.
Water temperature and precipitation stimulate small-sized Japanese eels to climb a low-height vertical weir
Authors: Kume Manabu , Yoshikawa Yudai , Tanaka Tomoichiro , Watanabe Shun , Mitamura Hiromichi , Yamashita Yoh
Published: December 2022

Although river-crossing structures can have a detrimental effect on the movement and distribution of anguillid eels (genusAnguilla), they have inhabited locations upstream of river-crossing structures in many rivers. However, the growth stage in which the eels start to climb river-crossing structures remains unclear. In this study, we directly observed, using infrared video camera systems, that the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) climbs a low-height vertical weir as a migratory barrier, confirming the ability of eels to climb over a low-height weir within a river. All eels climbed the weir at night, between sunset and sunrise. We observed that the total length of Japanese eels that climbed the weir ranged from 60 to 140 mm, suggesting that eels inhabiting the upstream area of a weir climbed it when they were small and then lived and grew upstream. Moreover, the general additive model showed considerable effects of water temperature and precipitation on eel climbing, suggesting that water temperature and precipitation are important for its activation. The results of this study also show the effectiveness of infrared video cameras in monitoring eel climbing, which could be applied to monitor fish migratory behavior through fish passages. The findings of this study are useful for the comprehensive management and conservation of wild eel stocks.
Is the effectiveness of policy-driven mitigation measures on carabid populations driven by landscape and farmland heterogeneity? Applying a modelling approach in the Dutch agroecosystems
Authors: Ziółkowska Elżbieta , Tiktak Aaldrik , Topping Christopher J.
Published: December 2022

The growing challenges of protecting biodiversity in agro-ecosystems and maintaining high agricultural productivity has become an important issue within the European Union, shaping both European and national agro-policies. The presented study is part of a broader evaluation of the interim targets of the 2013 Dutch policy plan on sustainable use of pesticides, carried out in 2019 by the PBL (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving) Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of selected mitigation measures suggested in the policy plan on non-target terrestrial arthropods using a common carabid beetleBembidion lamprosas a model species. We combined dynamic landscape models with detailed agent-based population modelling to simulate impacts of reduction of toxicity of insecticides, reduction of spray drift to the off-crop area, and increase in area of field margins on the beetle population dynamics in ten agricultural landscapes representing different farming systems. Our simulations showed that a shift towards low-risk products should be the priority if the goal is to increase beetle range. To promote local beetle abundance this needs be coupled with increasing amount of field margins in a landscape. Overall, the observed treatment and landscape effects were highly context-specific and therefore we suggest that care is used when defining and interpretting metrics based on population effects of policy measures. This caveat notwithstanding, the use of simulation to assess complex interactions between landscape, ecology and behaviour of species, and policy measures can be a powerful tool supporting innovative policy management. This should include the development of landscape-context specific targets and/or mitigation measures.
Assessing electrocardiogram changes after ischemic stroke with artificial intelligence
Authors: Zeng Ziqiang , Wang Qixuan , Yu Yingjing , Zhang Yichu , Chen Qi , Lou Weiming , Wang Yuting , Yan Lingyu , Cheng Zujue , Xu Lijun , Yi Yingping , Fan Guangqin , Deng Libin
Published: December 2022

Objective

Ischemic stroke (IS) with subsequent cerebrocardiac syndrome (CCS) has a poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate electrocardiogram (ECG) changes after IS with artificial intelligence (AI).

Methods

We collected ECGs from a healthy population and patients with IS, and then analyzed participant demographics and ECG parameters to identify abnormal features in post-IS ECGs. Next, we trained the convolutional neural network (CNN), random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) models to automatically detect the changes in the ECGs; Additionally, We compared the CNN scores of good prognosis (mRS ≤ 2) and poor prognosis (mRS > 2) to assess the prognostic value of CNN model. Finally, we used gradient class activation map (Grad-CAM) to localize the key abnormalities.

Results

Among the 3506 ECGs of the IS patients, 2764 ECGs (78.84%) led to an abnormal diagnosis. Then we divided ECGs in the primary cohort into three groups, normal ECGs (N-Ns), abnormal ECGs after the first ischemic stroke (A-ISs), and normal ECGs after the first ischemic stroke (N-ISs). Basic demographic and ECG parameter analyses showed that heart rate, QT interval, and P-R interval were significantly different between 673 N-ISs and 3546 N-Ns (p < 0.05). The CNN has the best performance among the three models in distinguishing A-ISs and N-Ns (AUC: 0.88, 95%CI = 0.86–0.90). The prediction scores of the A-ISs and N-ISs obtained from the all three models are statistically different from the N-Ns (p < 0.001). Futhermore, the CNN scores of the two groups (mRS > 2 and mRS ≤ 2) were significantly different (p < 0.05). Finally, Grad-CAM revealed that the V4 lead may harbor the highest probability of abnormality.

Conclusion

Our study showed that a high proportion of post-IS ECGs harbored abnormal changes. Our CNN model can systematically assess anomalies in and prognosticate post-IS ECGs.
Identification of β2 microglobulin, the product of B2M gene, as a Host Factor for Vaccinia Virus Infection by Genome-Wide CRISPR genetic screens
Authors: Matía Alejandro , Lorenzo Maria M. , Romero-Estremera Yolimar C. , Sánchez-Puig Juana M. , Zaballos Angel , Blasco Rafael
Published: December 2022

Genome-wide genetic screens are powerful tools to identify genes that act as host factors of viruses. We have applied this technique to analyze the infection of HeLa cells by Vaccinia virus, in an attempt to find genes necessary for infection. Infection of cell populations harboring single gene inactivations resulted in no surviving cells, suggesting that no single gene knock-out was able to provide complete resistance to Vaccinia virus and thus allow cells to survive infection. In the absence of an absolute infection blockage, we explored if some gene inactivations could provide partial protection leading to a reduced probability of infection. Multiple experiments using modified screening procedures involving replication restricted viruses led to the identification of multiple genes whose inactivation potentially increase resistance to infection and therefore cell survival. As expected, significant gene hits were related to proteins known to act in virus entry, such as ITGB1 and AXL as well as genes belonging to their downstream related pathways. Additionally, we consistently found β2-microglobulin, encoded by the B2M gene, among the screening top hits, a novel finding that was further explored. Inactivation of B2M resulted in 54% and 91% reduced VV infection efficiency in HeLa and HAP1 cell lines respectively. In the absence of B2M, while virus binding to the cells was unaffected, virus internalization and early gene expression were significantly diminished. These results point to β2-microglobulin as a relevant factor in the Vaccinia virus entry process.
Evolving identities in popular culture
Authors: Piatti-Farnell Lorna , Peaty Gwyneth , Prosser Ashleigh
Published: December 2022

In our twenty-first century context, we tell stories through the foods we eat, the images we share, the people we follow on social media, the shows we watch and the music we listen to. From film to television, from Twitter accounts to the latest fandom trend, popular culture provides us with channels through which our narratives of everyday can transform from immaterial notions to very material and tangible objects of consumption. At the centre of our ways of storytelling lies the formation of our identities. This editorial introduces a Special Issue of the Australasian Journal of Popular Culture that is focused on exploring the many complex intersections between storytelling, identity and popular culture.
The legend of the ‘gentlemen of the flashing blade’: The canecutter in the Australian imagination
Authors: Boyne Kerry
Published: December 2022

The ‘gentlemen of the flashing blade’ laboured in an occupation that no longer exists in Australia: canecutting. It was a hard job done by hard men, and its iconic figure – the canecutter – survives as a Queensland legend, so extensively romanticized in the popular culture of the time as to constitute a subgenre characterized by subject matter and motifs particular to the pre-mechanization sugar country culture. Yet, it may seem like the only canecutters immortalized in the arts are Summer of the Seventeenth Doll’s Roo and Barney. To show the breadth and diversity of this subgenre, and the legend of the canecutter and sugar country culture, this article reviews a selection of novels, memoirs, plays, short stories, cartoons, verse, song, film, television, radio and children’s books. These works address the racial, cultural and industrial politics of the sugar industry and its influence on the economic and social development of Queensland. The parts played by the nineteenth-century communities of indentured South Sea Islanders and the European immigrants who followed are represented along with those of the itinerant Anglos. These works depict, and celebrate, a colourful, often brutal, part of Queensland’s past and an Australian icon comparable with the swaggie or the shearer.
Renters: Disgust, judgement and marginalization of the dirty poor
Authors: Burn Jo Anna
Published: December 2022

Renters, an Aotearoa New Zealand reality television programme by Greenstone productions, is currently in its ninth season with 77 episodes at the time of writing. It is clearly a popular series, but why? According to Kristeva (1980), we are morbidly drawn to the abject and subsequently enjoy the cathartic experience of purification. However, the psychology of dirt means that we are simultaneously compelled to reject the creator of the dirt that provokes our disgust, particularly when they belong to an extreme out-group. Disgust prompted by dirtiness may therefore fuel dehumanization and diminish sympathy and engagement of the viewer towards the tenants featured in the series. Renters satisfies by providing the viewer with ‘filth porn’ and a rewarding clean-up with the bonus of a marginalized other to condemn. The morality play element is a familiar format that validates the viewer’s in-group status and sanctions judgemental impulses. An underlying subtext exhibits a neo-liberal attitude to the poorest elements in society, blaming them for their own predicament. This article will analyse selected scenes from Renters to highlight how the producers promote stereotypes that marginalize and dehumanize the underclass of unsuccessful renters, or ‘dirty poor’, in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Pop art meets pop culture: A semiotic reading of Bephen Bahana’s The Curry Bunch
Authors: Neill Lindsay , Basnet Lavanya
Published: December 2022

Inspired by Barthes’s analysis of a Paris Match cover image, our paper semiotically explores two oil-on-canvas images by New Zealand-born Indian artist Bephen Bahana. Within our exploration, we use constructs of denotation, connotation, myth and archetype to illuminate those images. Our research aim was to find the meaning behind the two portraits’ visual aesthetics. In doing so, we reveal Bahana’s images to be a visual shorthand signifying Indian history and the ways in which American media influence impacts notions of identity. Specifically, our insights reveal the ways in which many contemporary Indian people might ‘see themselves’. While our work concentrates upon Indian imagery, myth and archetype, those considerations have pan-cultural connections. In these ways, our paper links pop art to popular culture and, in doing so, raises questions about how the canon and hierarchy of art have come to reflect and reinforce wider sociocultural norms. Our paper offers a voice of resistance, in much the same style as Bahana’s images.
Sexy, slimy, monstrous: Infection as collaboration in Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth and Jaco Bouwer’s Gaia
Authors: Lord Catherine
Published: December 2022

This article offers a discussion of two eco-horror feature films, each released in 2021: Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth, and Jaco Bouwer’s Gaia. With a pandemic theme, both film fictions feature sentient woods and forests which infect humans with fungal spores. This is the non-human world enlisting human collaboration. Both films break the mould of the traditional eco-horror; invariably, the latter dramatizes how the natural world avenges itself on humankind. This storytelling mode involves the use of catastrophe narratives. Elizabeth Parker has explored the alternative genre, the ‘ecoGothic’ (), which stimulates ambiguous emotional responses to human–non-human hybrid forms. To date, there is little scholarship which analyses such hybrids through the lens of queer ecology. Therefore, I will bring Timothy Morton’s theory of queer ecology (), dark ecology () and his concept of the spectral non-human world () into dialogue with Simon C. Estok’s term ‘the slimic imagination’ (). My thesis is that both films engage an interaction between queer and slimic narratives in order to undo the catastrophe narrative. Queer slime is that which destabilizes gender binaries as a means of creating uneasy but intimate collaborations between the human and non-human world.
Breast augmentation and artificial insemination: Monstrous medicine and the female body in recent fiction
Authors: Moffat Amber
Published: December 2022

Recent fiction that depicts medical intervention upon the female body as monstrous reveals societal anxiety around aesthetic and reproductive medicine. As biotechnology rapidly advances, the female body continues to be a site on which improvements, efficiencies and controls are imposed. While Kristeva’s abject and Creed’s ‘monstrous-feminine’ explain the capacity of the female body to imbue horror, this literary analysis explores how the experience of the medicalized female body can convey anxiety relating to escalating aesthetic and reproductive demands. Works of fiction by Kawakami, Mazza, Hortle, Booth, Giddings, Gildfind and Taylor are considered in terms of medicine and the female body, with the narratives revealing common themes of monstrosity. Bakhtin’s grotesque and Kristeva’s abject informs the analysis, as does Foucault’s concept of the ‘medical gaze’. Bartky’s ‘fashion-beauty complex’ frames the investigation into depictions of cosmetic surgery, while the impact of capitalism is considered in relation to reproductive technologies and medical experimentation. The power structures that medicine operates within are considered and the article argues that the representation of medicine as monstrous in relation to the female body expresses collective unease about the increasingly unstable boundaries of the human body itself.
Charles Manson and his Family: ‘Human monsters, human mutants’
Authors: McLean Lesley , Wise Jenny
Published: December 2022

Joan Didion famously described the 1960s as ending abruptly on 9 August 1969 when word spread of the murders of seven people including Hollywood actor Sharon Tate. Fifty years on and the ‘Manson murders’ remain a focal point of interest in American popular culture and media. Netflix’s recent true-crime drama Mindhunter (2017–19) and Quentin Tarantino’s Once upon a Time in
Hollywood () represent but two popular examples invoking the crimes. What is consistent across most popular renderings of the murders is the representation of the Family, and of their leader Charles Manson especially, as monstrous, warranting investigation. Utilizing both Jeffrey foundational text ‘Monster culture (seven theses)’ and Natasha Mikles and Joseph Laycock’s () ‘Five further theses on monster theory and religious studies’, this article examines the creation and representation of Charles Manson as a serial killer, a cult leader, but especially as a monster, in the popular culture context.
Gothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the Anthropocene, Jodey Castricano (2021)
Authors: Eklund Tof
Published: December 2022

Review of: Gothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the Anthropocene, Jodey Castricano (2021)

Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 282 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78683-794-3, h/bk, USD 88
Temas, Contextos e Desafios da Investigação Qualitativa em Educação
Authors: Vieira Cristina C.
Published: December 2022

O livro debate diversos temas, contextos e desafios metodológicos do fazer ciência, no âmbito da utilização de metodologias qualitativas de investigação em áreas sociais e humanas. Alia-se a teoria à aplicação do conhecimento através da apresentação de exemplos. Dirige-se sobretudo a estudantes de pós graduação, que lidam com dilemas em termos da conceção dos seus projetos de investigação, mas também pode ser útil para estudantes em níveis iniciais de formação superior, bem como para investigadores/as em diferentes fases da sua carreira. Discutem-se as especificidades do trabalho científico com pessoas de diferentes faixas etárias, desde as crianças às pessoas de idade adulta avançada. Também se reflete sobre questões metodológicas inerentes a contextos variados, mais privados ou mais públicos, e apresentam-se novas possibilidades de aliar a ciência ao ensino. Cumprindo a missão de tornar o conhecimento científico público, a obra integra contributos sobre a escrita científica e a comunicação em ciência. Apresenta-se um glossário não exaustivo de termos para promover uma leitura mais fácil dos capítulos da obra.
Estudar sem melancolia: Reflexões teóricas e aplicadas nos bastidores do sistema literário
Authors: Feijó Elias José Torres
Published: December 2022

O volume compõe-se de duas partes. A primeira é referida à discussão de aspetos teóricos e de metodologia de análise relativos à historiografia literária, do ponto de vista sistémico, fundamentalmente baseados na Teoria dos Polissistemas de Even-Zohar e nos desenvolvimentos realizados polo autor. Nesta parte discutem-se questões relativas à consideração das literaturas (como) nacionais e à sua historiografia de cânone e processos de canonização, da funcionalidade de estudos literários para o conhecimento de comunidades, da análise de narrativas e a sua relação com comunidades e da conceção e função do ensino e da investigação em literatura. A segunda é uma parte aplicada a casos de literatura portuguesa. Com exemplos aplicados a mulheres ilustradas, à posição de Bocage na construção historiográfica do século XIX ; à trajetória de Camilo; à análise dum período de intensidade e tensões de campo (1891-1910) e aos casos galego, brasileiro e africano em alguma historiografia portuguesa contemporânea, com destaque para a História da Literatura Portuguesa de A. J. Saraiva e Ó. Lopes
Recent unexpected decline of forest growth in North Finland: examining tree-ring, climatic and reproduction data
Authors: Mäkinen Harri , Nöjd Pekka , Helama Samuli
Published: December 2022

After a decades-long increasing trend, the recent results of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) reported a decline of forest growth in North Finland. The aim of this study was to assess climatic and reproduction influences behind the growth decline. We used tree-ring data that had been collected by NFI using systematic sampling. The tree-ring width series were detrended using the regional curve standardisation (RCS) removing age-related trends. The resulting tree-ring indices of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) showed decadal variations with low increment in the 1990s, and high increment in the 1980s and the early years of the current century. Thereafter, a prolonged growth reduction for pine started both on the mineral soil sites and peatlands. The tree-ring indices of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) had less pronounced decadal variations and no trend-like reduction over the last 15 years. High spring and summer temperatures were found to enhance radial growth, but high winter temperatures were related to low growth for pine and spruce in the following summer. Temperature variation, accompanied by variables indicating years of drought and intensive flowering, accounted for 34% annual growth variance of pine and 21–44% for spruce. Thus, the results imply that climatic factors may have to some extent contributed to the recent growth reduction of pine. Due to its ecological and economic consequences growth decline needs to be further monitored and investigated. Moreover, analyses of stand and age structure, potentially affecting the growth decline, were beyond the scope of this paper, but also warrant further investigation.
Synthesis and Morphological Studies of Nanocellulose
Fibers from Lignocellulosic Biomass in Ionic Liquid
Authors: Prasannakumar J.K. , Prakash G.K. , Suresh B. , Basavarajappa B.E. , Onkarappa H.S. , Devendra Bharath K. , Prasannakumar S.G.
Published: December 2022

Lignocellulosic agricultural biomasses and wood are the two most important natural sources of cellulose
available on the planet. When chemically treated, cellulose is the world’s most common and widely
used biopolymer, with properties such as low price, good toughness, good biocompatibility and good
thermal stability. In this study, nanocellulose was extracted from ragi stalk, mango wood and groundnut
husk. The cellulose was alkali-treated with NaOH and bleached with sodium chlorite to remove lignin
and hemicellulose. Ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) solvent was used
to treat the obtained cellulose. FTIR spectra highlight the functional groups and substantial conversion
of cellulose to nanocellulose. The crystalline or semi-crystalline nature of synthesized nanocellulose
was illustrated by XRD. The TEM images record the size of synthesized nanocellulose between 11.12
and 31.16 nm. The reduction in size is mainly due to ultrasonication and centrifugation. The thermal
stability of the obtained nanocellulose was evidenced using TGA/DTA. The thermal studies insight
that the synthesized nanocellulose samples possess superior degradation temperature up to 473.8 ºC.
A Review on Heavy Metal and Dye Removal via Activated Carbon Adsorption Process
Authors: Ho Soonmin , Saad Mohamad Jani
Published: December 2022

Activated carbon could be prepared by using various precursors, which contained carbonaceous materials. In this work, preparation process as well as properties of the obtained activated carbon, removal of heavy metal ions and toxic dyes were reported. The adsorption process was affected under different conditions such as carbonization process, activating agent, adsorbent dose, adsorbate’s concentration, agitation process and the pH value. The adsorption data could be observed well fitted with Langmuir, Freundlich, pseudo second order kinetic, pseudo-first order kinetic, Temkin model and other isotherms, if showed the highest correction efficiency value. The spontaneous (−ΔG), increase in randomness (ΔS), endothermic (ΔH) and exothermic (−ΔH) could be determined via thermodynamic studies.
Electrochemical Investigations on the NO-Releasing Property of Ruthenium Nitrosyl Complex
Authors: Dela Rosa Lyka B. , Jorolan Joel H.
Published: December 2022

In this study, the NO-donating property of [Ru(BPG)Cl(NO)]Cl (BPG = N,N-bis(2- pyridylmethyl)glycinato anion) via electrochemical activation was assessed. The synthesized BPG and [Ru(BPG)Cl(NO)]Cl were characterized by UV-Vis and FT-IR spectroscopy. To determine if NO may be released from the compound via one-electron reduction, cyclic voltammetric experiments in aqueous and non-aqueous solutions were performed using a three-electrode cell consisting of glassy carbon working electrode, Pt wire counter electrode and Ag/AgCl or Ag/Ag+ reference electrode. The [Ru(BPG)Cl(NO)]Cl complex showed two one-electron reversible reductions in dimethylformamide, which suggests decreased ability as NO donor. In aqueous solution at pH 2.0, [Ru(BPG)Cl(NO)]Cl exhibited a one-electron irreversible reduction, which could be assigned to a Ru-NO centered reduction. The irreversibility of the reduction could be due to NO labilization and suggests that [Ru(BPG)Cl(NO)]Cl could be a potential NO donor in acidic aqueous medium.
DFT and Experimental Study of Electronic, Absorption and FT-IR Spectral Properties of
Cu(II) Complex of Pyridine-Amide Ligand with Appended Ether Functionality
Authors: Shrivastava K. , Das D. , Kumari B. , Das P.P.
Published: December 2022

The electronic structure, TD-DFT and FT-IR vibrational frequencies of copper(II) complex viz.
[Cu(II)L2], L = deprotonated form of N-(2-methoxyphenyl)benzamide] were investigated by DFT
calculation and experimental studies. The optimized structure reveals distortion in the octahedral geometry
of the complex. The magnetic orbitals, spin-density plot and orbitals involved in calculated electronic
transitions from TD-DFT were all identified. Theoretical and experimental data were in comparable
agreement.
Microwave Assisted Synthesis and Evaluation of Anticonvulsant Activity of
Some 3-(3-(Substituted benzylidine)amino)phenyl-2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-ones
Authors: Rishipathak Dinesh , Karanjikar Chaitrali , Udavant Pavan
Published: December 2022

Herein, the synthesis of 3-(3-(substituted benzylidine)amino)phenyl-2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-ones
from 3-aminophenyl-2-phenyl-quinazolin-4(3H)-ones is reported. The chemical structures of the
synthesized compounds were confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR studies. All compounds
were evaluated for their anticonvulsant activity against maximal electroshock seizure method. The
LD50 value was found to be 550 mg/Kg and the duration of tonic phase was reduced upto 1.1 s and that
of stupor phase was reduced upto 70 s. The structure activity relationship of the compounds revealed
that Schiff bases viz. 3-(3-benzylidineamino)phenyl-2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-one, 3-(3-(3-
chlorobenzylidine)amino)phenyl-2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-one, 3-(3-(3-
nitrobenzylidine)amino)phenyl-2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-one by significantly shorten the tonic and
stupor phases of convulsions compared to controls, thus thereby these compounds demonstrated strong
anticonvulsant potential.
Acetic Acid-Water Mediated Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of
Functionalized Isoxazolyl Amino Chromeno[4,3-b]pyridine Derivatives
Authors: Danda Ravinder Reddy , Reddy P. Muralidhar , Raju A. Krishnam , Kumar K. Santosh , Kumar B. Vijaya , Reddy V. Naveen
Published: December 2022

A simple, efficient, economical and environmentally benign method has been developed for one-pot
three component synthesis of isoxazolyl amino chromeno[4,3-b]pyridine derivatives from
4-amino-3-methyl-5-styrylisoxazoles, malononitrile and (E)-3-benzylidenechroman-4-one by using
acetic acid (AcOH) as a promoter and water as a green reaction medium under thermal condition. The
interesting features of this method are environmental friendly, metal-free, less reaction time, wide
substrate scope, operational simplicity, easy purification of products and good yields.
Phenolic, Flavonoids Content, Antioxidant Potential of Murraya koenigii L.
(Curry Leave): in vitro and in vivo Protective Effects
Authors: Heeralal  , Chauhan Abhishek , Basniwal Rupesh Kumar , Tuli Hardeep Singh , Aggarwal M.L , Dhupper Renu
Published: December 2022

In the current investigation, the proximate value, total phenolic content, toal flavonoid content,
antioxidant potential and in vitro and in vivo protective effects of Murraya koenigii L. (curry leave)
extracts were carried out. Flavonoids, phenols and alkaloids were recorded in ethanol, methanol, ethyl
acetate, petroleum ether, benzene and acetone extracts. A higher level of total phenolic content was
recorded in ethanolic fraction followed by benzene, ethyl acetate, methanol, petroleum ether and
acetone fractions. The total flavonoids content was recorded in the range of 5.12 mg RE g−1 to 9.24 mg
RE g−1. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity was estimated in all
the solvent fractions at the concentration ranging from 312.5 μg mL-1 to 5000 μg mL−1. Percentage
inhibition was recorded in the range of 39.40 to 72.32. To study the antimutagenic property, the plate
incorporation method was used to see the effects of the MKLE fraction on S. typhimurium trains TA
1537, TA 1535, TA 98, TA 100 and TA 102 both in the absence and presence of S9 mix (5% v/v).
Higher antimutagenic property at a concentration of 5000 μg/plate with 2-nitrofluorene 7.5 μg/plate was
observed against TA 98. In vivo study indicates the protective effects of the extract of the MKLE
against chlorpyrifos-induced toxicity in brain and lungs of the experimental rats. Four animal groups
5 male and 5 females were selected, group I serve as a control, group II was given a single dose of
MKLE as such for 28 consecutive days while group III was treated with chlorpyrifos at the dose level
of 60 mg/kg B.wt and group IV was dosed with chlorpyrifos at the dose level of 60 mg/kg B.wt
simultaneously treated with the MKLE as such twice in a day (B.D.). Chlorpyrifos administration
(group III) to the rats resulted in reduced body weight. decrease Ache level increases, SGOT, SGPT,
ALP were observed while no significant alterations were noticed in any parameter in the II group
animals, Histopathology of brain and lung of the chlorpyrifos treated animals shows the cellular deficit
in the brain tissue and mild congestion in the lung tissue. The present study concluded that curry
leaves are a rich source of phenolic, alkaloids, flavonoids and exhibit antioxidant and antimutagenic
activity and appeared to be beneficial to rats to a great extent in attenuating and resulting in the
damage sustained by chlorpyrifos exposure.
Design, Synthesis, Characterization of Novel Sulfathiazole Derivatives and their in silico
and in vitro Analysis against Multidrug-Resistance Tuberculosis using Docking Studies
Authors: Sheela M. Jasmin , Sharulatha V.
Published: December 2022

In this study, seven novel sulfathiazole derivatives were synthesized from sulfathiazole using different
substituted aldehydes and characterized by IR, NMR and LC-MS analysis. Using molecular docking
and toxicity prediction, all the seven novel sulfathiazole derivatives (Mol-14, Mol-15, Mol-21, Mol-27,
Mol-36, Mol-39 and Mol-43) were virtually screened from generated 70 compounds and assessed
their effectiveness against multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The Inha protein
of TB were performed and all the compounds found to have good docking scores in the range of -7.2 to
-9.1 Kcal/mol. Compound, 4-(4-oxo-2-phenyl-1,3-thiazolidin-3-yl)-N-(1,3-thiazol-2-yl)benzene-1-
sulfonamide (Mol-27) shown to inhibit the MDR-TB and wild-type TB strain with an MIC value of 1
μg/mL and 0.25, respectively. The standard sulfathiazole and isoniazid were compared to the minimal
inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the synthesized Mol-14, Mol-15, Mol-21, Mol-27, Mol-36, Mol-39
and Mol-43 new sulfathiazole derivatives. Based on the results, these compounds shows promising
activity against MDR-TB.
ABX464 (obefazimod) up-regulates miR-124 to reduce pro-inflammatory markers in inflammatory bowel diseases
Authors: Apolit Cécile , Campos Noëlie , Vautrin Audrey , Begon-Pescia Christina , Lapasset Laure , Scherrer Didier , Gineste Paul , Ehrlich Hartmut J. , Garcel Aude , Santo Julien , Tazi Jamal
Published: December 2022

Advanced therapies have transformed the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease; however, many patients fail to respond, highlighting the need for therapies tailored to the underlying cell and molecular disease drivers. The first-in-class oral molecule ABX464 (obefazimod), which selectively up-regulates miR-124, has demonstrated its ability to be a well-tolerated treatment with rapid and sustained efficacy in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we provide evidence that ABX464 impacts the immune system in vitro, in murine model of IBD, as well as in patients with UC. In vitro, ABX464 treatment up-regulated miR-124 and led to decreases in proinflammatory cytokines including IL17 and IL6, and in the chemokine CCL2. Consistently, miR-124 expression was upregulated in the rectal biopsies and blood samples of UC patients and a parallel reduction in Th17 cells and IL17a levels was observed in serum samples. In a mouse model of induced intestinal inflammation with dextran sulfate sodium, ABX464 reversed the increases in multiple proinflammatory cytokines in the colon and the upregulation of IL17a secretion in the mesenteric lymph nodes. By up-regulating miR-124, ABX464 acts as “a physiological brake” of inflammation which may explain the efficacy of ABX464 with a favorable tolerability and safety profile in UC patients.
Pancreatitis and the Risk of Developing Gastric Neuromuscular Dysfunction
Authors: Pasricha Trisha S. , Staller Kyle , Kuo Braden
Published: December 2022

INTRODUCTION:

Most gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia cases (collectively, gastric neuromuscular dysfunction [GND]) remain idiopathic. It is believed that some idiopathic cases of GND may be triggered by an inflammatory insult to the gastrointestinal tract. We theorized that the profound foregut inflammation induced by pancreatitis could result in increased risk of GND.

METHODS:

This was a case-control study of all patients undergoing gastric emptying scintigraphy between October 2017 and 2020 in an urban medical center with presumed GND. These were age-, sex-, and comparative health-matched to control patients with newly diagnosed microscopic colitis. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were calculated using conditional logistic regression.

RESULTS:

Among the 650 patients with GND, 359 had gastroparesis, and 9.2% had a history of acute pancreatitis (vs 3.1% of controls). Patients with GND demonstrated increased odds of having a history of acute pancreatitis (aOR 2.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33–4.03, P = 0.004) and recurrent pancreatitis (aOR 2.08, 95% CI 1.67–3.48, P = 0.002). Median time to GND diagnosis after first acute pancreatitis episode was 1,544 days (477.5, 3,832). Patients with a history of pancreatitis-associated GND had increased mortality vs controls (aOR 3.41, 95% CI 0.96–5.48). In addition, patients with pancreatitis-associated GND had more hospitalizations vs GND alone (13.8 vs 3.7, P < 0.0001) during the study period.

DISCUSSION:

This is the first study demonstrating an independent association between pancreatitis and the risk of GND, which occurred ∼4.2 years after the first episode of acute pancreatitis. Pancreatitis should therefore be regarded as a possible risk factor for developing GND with important consequences for healthcare utilization.
Posdaya Sebagai Alternatif Pemerataan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini
Authors: Murfi Ali , Jannah Rina Roudhotul
Published: December 2022

This research is intended to reveal the importance of Posdaya as an alternative in equal distribution of early childhood education which is the community-based organization or educational embodiment of, by and for the community. The results showed that the implementation of the model of Posdaya is one of alternative in the equal distribution of early childhood educational levels or it which is called PAUD. The organization of PAUD Posdaya is evidence of the the answers of credibility the challenge of demographic bonus the year 2045, or 100 years of independence of Indonesia and can be a solution related to a classical problem of educational about equal distribution that occurred in Indonesia. Some of the things that make Posdaya important to be held because the first, Posdaya get higher percentage of community pasticipation. The second, it can be reached by all circles of society, especially medium to bottom class people. The third is as media to synergize the existence of each instituiton in society, such as government programs related to toddler, mothers, and society as Posyandu, PKK, BKB, KB, the national program for community empowerment (PNPM Mandiri), and other empowerment programs.
Analisis Efektivitas Program Kepemudaan KEMENPORA dalam Memperkuat Resiliensi Keluarga Menghadapi Krisis
Authors: Saputra Nopriadi
Published: December 2022

COVID-19 membawa dunia pada krisis multi-dimensional yang berpengaruh terhadap kesehatan fisik, mental, dan finansial. Kondisi demikian ini sangat membutuhkan resiliensi keluarga. Untuk meningkatkan resiliensi keluarga, KEMENPORA mengambil inisiatif menyelenggarakan Pelatihan Kepemimpinan Pemuda dalam Rumah Tangga (PKPRT). Artikel ini berupaya menguji efektivitas dari PKPRT dengan menganalisis dampak dari kelima materi pelatihan tersebut terhadap resiliensi keluarga.  Data yang diperoleh dari 296 alumni PKPRT dianalisis menggunakan Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS SEM). Hasil analisis menjelaskan bahwa PKPRT cukup efektif. Tiga materi pelatihan berdampak langsung, satu materi berdampak tidak langsung, dan hanya satu subyek yang tidak berdampak terhadap resiliensi keluarga. Perbaikan dan penyesuaian dapat dilakukan berbasis hasil ini untuk program pelatihan yang lebih efektif dalam membantu keluarga dan melindung anak-anak semasa krisis.Kata kunci: resiliensi keluarga; pengembangan kepemimpinan pemuda; kualitas pengasuhan
A Pilot Study: The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Learning in an Academic Service-Learning Course
Authors: Simons Lori , Blank Nancy , Schoneman Sarah
Published: December 2022

This pilot study examined the impact from COVID-19 on academic learning. An explanatory mixed-methods research design was used to explore student learning outcomes for 70 students who participated in an academic service-learning course during the pandemic. Student surveys revealed increases in their racial-cultural-ethnic identity development and interest in multicultural work from the beginning to the end of the semester. Student reflections also indicate that they gained confidence and patience, reformulated diversity attitudes, and acquired White privilege awareness through participation in service activities with recipients who culturally differed from them. The impact of COVID-19 on student learning is discussed.
Spatial Hierarchy of Climate Injustice
Authors: Ikporukpo Chris O. , Ikporukpo Ninane Nina
Published: December 2022

Background: Climate justice has emerged as an organising frame in the attempt at addressing the challenge of climate change. The principle that there should be no disproportionality in the burden of climate change, which underlies climate justice, is widely accepted. Be that as it may, climate justice analysis is usually based on an assumption that the global climate system is the norm. This article, based on facts and figures, makes the case for a spatial hierarchical organization of climate justice analysis. Methods: Data from four sources are used. These are published researches, position papers by climate change related organizations, statistical bulletins/abstracts of relevant organizations, and field observations/field records. A descriptive approach is the basic information/data analysis method from which conclusions are derived. Results and Discussion: Three spatial tiers of climate change and associated climate injustice (global, regional, and local) are identified, characterized and analyzed. The global one, which is the usual one discussed by extant works, though couched in terms of anthropogenic climate change, has a natural dimension. In contradistinction, the regional and the local ones are purely anthropogenic. The regional component examined is regional transborder pollution and the associated challenge of acid precipitation. Gas flaring in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and the associated challenges form the basis of the local dimension. Conclusion: Climate (in)justice cannot be analyzed simply from the perspective of the global climate system. A spatial hierarchical organization is possible. Such a framework could be employed in other cases beyond the examples used here.
Situating Norbert Elias’ Power Differential in a Critical Exploration of Violence in Chilean Education
Authors: Bacquet Gaston
Published: December 2022

Once hailed as a poster boy for neoliberalism, or what Milton Friedman called “The Miracle of Chile”, Chile has undergone a myriad of social and political changes that since 2011 have resulted in increased polarization and violent clashes between the opposing parties. The apex of this violence was reached in 2019, where civilians were blinded, public buses and subway stations burned and businesses vandalized in a series of violent acts that continued for weeks. Between October and November 2019, the country also experienced large peaceful demonstrations demanding greater equality towards women, sexual minorities and migrants (Chile has seen a surge in migration over the last 5 years, with 1.5 million people immigrating from Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia). 

It is against this background that I began my research to investigate to what degree this direct, structural and cultural violence had spilled over into classrooms. My doctoral research, titled “Non-violence as a practice of equality: an exploration in Chilean higher education classrooms through participatory action research” sought to co-develop non-violent strategies to tackle violence in the way of exclusion, discrimination and any other manifestation within classroom settings.

This paper will explore the application of Elias’ notion of power differentials in the perpetration of cultural violence and the experience of violence by Chilean minorities as documented in my own research. I am particularly inspired by Norbert Elias’ work “The established and the outsiders”. Discussions with my research participants, all trainee teachers at Chilean universities, revealed that at the core of the instances of violence found lies a power imbalance and a view of those “outsiders” (migrants, lower income students, LGBTQI+) as less worthy and valuable and therefore victims to a wide range of violent acts resulting in exclusion and discrimination.
Public Expenditure and Revenue Causality Pattern in Nigeria
Authors: Ojelabi Sunday Adeyemi , Bulama Mohammed , Aruwa Suleiman A. S.
Published: December 2022

Government expenditure remains an important instrument utilised in the process of development. It plays a pivotal role in the functioning of any economy at almost all stages of growth and development. The expenses incurred will provide the necessary infrastructures such as health care, educational and social security services etc. Funds spent on the provision of infrastructures are basically sourced from taxes, fines, royalties, borrowings and grants from the states, national and international governments. This study is on Nigeria public expenditure and revenue for the period of 2010-2020, data were collected for eleven years and were analyzed using statistical package E-view 10. The study revealed that fiscal synchronization and tax and spend have positive and significant effects on government expenditure. While spend-revenue and spend and tax were found to be negative and insignificant on government expenditure in Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study concluded that federal government revenue, tax and spend and fiscal synchronization among the independent variables were statistically significant at 5% level of significance in the short run. In the long run, spend-revenue and spend and tax also turned out to be statistically significant. The study recommended that spend and tax of the country should cautiously be under watch to ensure that government should first make expenditure decision then adjust the tax policy and revenue in a way that it can go with the expenditure of the country. As for spend-revenue,government should always keep her expenditure under control by making sure that her expenditure change does not have any significant change on the revenue.
Różnorodne formy apokalipsy w literaturze popularnej
Authors: Bartos Rafał
Published: December 2022

The main objective of the paper is to discuss the theme of apocalypse and post-apocalypse used by popular literature creators. Four types of possible apocalypses will be analyzed and will be examinated, each with an example from literature. The sources of contemporary apocalypse and the consequences of introducing the theme into fantastic worlds will also be described. This theme is popular with creators and is also of great interest to the public, especially nowadays.
Poznanie języka jako fundament pracy misyjnej. Prace ojców białych nad gramatyką języka bemba
Authors: Madej Małgorzata
Published: December 2022

It was always important for the Church, that a communication between the preacher and the listener was the best; the former must be understood in such a way that the latter is moved by the words of the Gospel. Before the arrival of Europeans in Central Africa (in late nineteenth century), the Bemba people did not know any written form, and their language only had a spoken form. It was with the arrival of Europeans on the Bemba lands that the era of learning, writing, studying and classifying the language of this ethnic group began. The first Europeans to reach the Bemba area were the missionaries, the White Fathers, and it was they who, after beginning their missionary activity, began to study the Bemba language. This article presents the achievements of the White Fathers in this field and tries to explain how the process of learning the Bemba language by the White Fathers was carried out.