bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Response to recombinant yeast‐derived hepatitis B vaccine in Arab infants
Authors: Jaber L. , Merlob P. , Samra Z.
Published: December 2024

To determine the long‐term (3 years) response to hepatitis B vaccine, 246 full‐term healthy children, aged 10–44 months, who had been given three doses of Engerix B vaccine were studied. Children were divided into three groups by age at the time of the study: group I, 10–19 months (mean, 13.6 months) $(n = 117)$ ; group II, 20–29 months (mean, 24.7 months) $(n = 63)$ , and group III, 30–44 months (mean, 37.7 months) $(n = 62)$ . The groups were compared for seroprotection rate by measuring the anti‐HBs titers (Abbott Axsym System). Anti‐HBs levels above the presumed protection limit were found in 96.6% of group I, 95.2% of group II and 83.8% of group III. The respective geometric mean titers (GMT) were 429.6, 185.7 and 186.5 mIU/ml. There was a significant difference in seroprotection between group I and II $(p = 0.0001)$ , group I and III $(p < 0.0001)$ , and group I and groups II and III combined $(p < 0.0001)$ . The specific response to the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in this specific infant population was characterized by high immunogenicity with rates of nonresponse of 3.4–4.8% but with an early decline in antibody titer after 2 years of age. At a mean age of 35 months, 16.2% of the children had antibody levels below the presumed protection limit.
Gender at birth and meteorological factors
Authors: Grech Victor , Vella Catherine C. , Vassallo‐Agius P. , Savona‐Ventura Charles
Published: December 2024

Objective. In a previous study, we showed that the ratio of gender at birth (M/F ratio) appeared to vary by latitude. We postulate that meteorological factors may be responsible for this variation. In this study, M/F ratio in a central Mediterranean island were correlated to latitude dependent meteorological factors.

Design. The 1957–1998 live birth monthly sex ratios in Malta were correlated with mean monthly temperatures and mean monthly bright sunshine hours.

Results. A positive but not statistically significant correlation was found between M/F ratios and mean monthly temperatures and sunshine hours even over the narrow range of meteorological values investigated.

Conclusions. While no significant trends could be confirmed, the results suggest that M/F ratios may be linked to meteorological factors influenced by latitude. Further studies in countries with a wider mean monthly meteorological value range may confirm or exclude this hypothesis.
Simulation study to assess the precision and accuracy of the two‐stage cluster survey for injection safety
Authors: Woodard Stacy , Lemeshow Stanley , Chen Meng , Fitzner Julia , Duclos Philippe
Published: December 2024

A simulation study was conducted to assess the accuracy and precision of the proposed sampling design for the World Health Organization (WHO) Injection Safety Assessment Survey. The proposed sampling design specifies that 8 clusters would be selected with probability proportionate to the size (PPS) of the population, and within each of the selected clusters, 10 health care facilities would be randomly selected. Two artificial populations were created based on the two African countries in which the assessment was pilot tested. To create a wide variety of hypothetical populations, the assignment of whether a health care facility was safe or not was based on the different combinations of the population proportion of safe health care facilities in the country and the homogeneity of the districts in the country with respect to injection safety. Based on results obtained through univariate and multi‐factor analysis of variance, it was found that the absolute bias, standard error, and MSE are all significantly smaller when the true population proportion of safe health care facilities for both the urban and rural clusters is small (p=0.10) or large (p=0.90), as compared to the populations with differing urban and rural proportions; and that the populations with homogeneous clusters (i.e., standard deviation =0.01) had lower absolute bias, standard error, and MSE. From this study, we conclude that this sampling design yields an unbiased estimate of the true proportion of safe health care facilities in a country, and has an average precision of plus/minus 13.6 percentage points.
Risk of medicines: Counterfeit drugs
Authors: Akunyili Dora Nkem , Nnani Ijeoma P.C.
Published: December 2024

Living in general is a risky endeavour. Certain risks are taken without much thought because of the apparent overwhelming benefits. This is often the case for many consumers of medicines who assume medicines to be wholly safe and health care providers infallible. Patients rely on healthcare providers for information, risk assessment, and protection from risks due to medical interventions.

Some common risks due to medical interventions include medication errors, exposure to radiation, over/under dosing, adverse events/reactions, hospital acquired infections, counterfeit drugs, etc. Unfortunately, risk factors such as counterfeit medicines (though occurring for a long time) are just becoming apparent in the last three decades, first to only a few countries while others still seem unaware or choose to dwell in denial of their existence.

There has been an astronomical increase in the detection of counterfeit medicines worldwide. The magnitude of this increase and consequent death toll demands greater attention in the consideration of the safety of medicines. Counterfeit medicines constitute a risk to the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare providers, the healthcare system as a whole and ultimately to the patient. The risks to the patient include, lack of effect, toxicity, adverse drug reactions (ADRs), loss of economic and other resources and ultimately death.

Due to dearth of information and research and lack of a globally coordinated approach to anti‐counterfeiting, global estimates of deaths due to counterfeit medicines can only be guessed. Indications from both published data and anecdotal evidence indicate that millions of lives may be saved annually if there are no counterfeit antibiotics, antiretrovirals, anti‐malarial, anti‐tubercular drugs, vaccines and other life saving medicines.

This paper identifies these risks and proposes a concerted global action towards reducing the production and circulation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals on the world market. It also suggests a possible role for pharmacovigilance in anti‐counterfeiting.
Preliminary safety assessment of sulphadoxine–pyrimethamine during intermittent presumptive treatment of pregnant women in a region with high prevalence of G6PD deficiency
Authors: Dodoo A.N.O. , Gyansa-Lutterodt M. , Frempong N. , Thompson H. , Amofa G. , Bart-Plange C. , Allotey N.K. , Eghan K.E.
Published: December 2024

Pregnant women in 20 administrative districts of Ghana are being monitored intensively for adverse events following intermittent presumptive treatment with sulphadoxine–pyrimethamine. Preliminary results indicate a low level of adverse events (0.16%) suggesting good tolerability of the drug, despite the relatively high G6PD deficiency prevalence of more than 20%. Since the real possibility of under-reporting cannot be overlooked, the focused surveillance approach being used in the study is being complemented with in-depth interviews following home visits and focus group discussions with patients and healthcare workers.
Risky procedures: Experiences and views of psychiatrists and views of management of mental health care institutions
Authors: de Bie J. , Cuperus-Bosma J.M. , Stortenbeeker S.K. , Gevers J.K.M. , Wal G. van der
Published: December 2024

Objective: To evaluate the functioning of the reserved procedures regulations in the Netherlands, which are included in the Individual Health Care Professions Act (1997), the experiences and views of psychiatrists and the views of management of mental health care institutions were studied with regard to risky procedures in mental health care.

Method: Postal questionnaires were sent to all 105 mental health care institutions in the Netherlands and a random sample of 300 psychiatrists.

Results: Response rates were 60% for the psychiatrists, 67% for the psychiatric hospitals and 62% for the ambualtory care institutions. According to 32% of the psychiatrists there were procedures in mental health care that are not legally regulated, but are so risky that they should only be carried out by or on the orders of psychiatrists. Two thirds of the psychiatrists (66%) thought that psychotherapy should be classified as a reserved procedure. The majority of the psychiatrists (65–96%) were of the opinion that assessment of the need for seclusion, treatment in a crisis situation and the termination of treatment can only be safely carried out by or on the orders of psychiatrists. Although 60% of the psychiatrists working in an institution had protocols, 72% were of the opinion that these guidelines were not, or partially satisfactory. Over two thirds of the institutions (69%) thought that the reserved procedures regulations provide adequate protection for patients.

Conclusions: More attention should be paid by legislators, institutions and professional organisations to risky procedures in mental health care, in particular in the field of diagnostics and therapeutic procedures.
Four decades of European medicines regulation: What have they brought us?
Authors: Lisman John A. , Lekkerkerker J. Frits F.
Published: December 2024

This article gives an overview of the development of the European regulatory system. In 1965 the First Directive on medicinal products was adopted. In 2005 a total revision of the system will come into force. How effective the European Union legislation and regulatory system has been and why has the focus of regulation changed over the years? A famous philosopher said that to know the future, the past has to be explored. From the history of EU pharmaceutical legislation it becomes clear why the law has become as it is.
Resistance: A sensitive issue. Strategic Council on Resistance in Europe
Authors: Verhoef J. , Fluit A.C. , Jansen W.T.M. , van der Bruggen J.T.
Published: December 2024

Antibiotic resistance is a considerable and growing health threat in Europe and the rest of the world. Even though antibiotic resistance is inevitably coupled to the use of antibiotics and the problem may be partly irreversible, proper action can and should be taken to contain antibiotic resistance. We urge the European Union, scientists, healthcare workers, patients and their advocates, politicians, and educators to consider, contribute to, and become advocates of the implementation of a plan of action. Once we all contribute, we can become optimistic about controlling antibiotic resistance.
Adverse incident reporting for medical devices – A comparison with pharmacovigilance
Authors: Jefferys David
Published: December 2024

This paper reviews the European Union mandatory Vigilance Reporting System and voluntary user reporting systems for medical devices. Differences between these systems and the reporting system for pharmaceuticals are highlighted. Device vigilance is run as a single harmonized system within the European Union and increasingly there are international links. Recent trends in reporting patterns within the United Kingdom are highlighted along with initiatives to improve the number and accuracy of reports. Drug/device combination products are becoming increasingly important. The handling of adverse events for these and other new technology products are described.
Publication of disciplinary proceedings in the Netherlands: Practice and policy
Authors: Hout F.A.G. , Cuperus-Bosma J.M. , Agema G.J. , Hubben J.H. , van der Wal G.
Published: December 2024

Objective. To provide insight into practice and policy regarding the publication of disciplinary verdicts in Dutch health care. Design. Descriptive. Methods. All verdicts of the disciplinary boards and courts of justice, published in the Netherlands Government Gazette during the period 1995–2002, were studied with regard to the year of publication and verdict, the disciplinary board concerned, the accused professional, the type of complainant, the nature of the complaint and verdict, and the journals that were offered the verdict. The published verdicts were related to the total number of verdicts and cases during the study period. Questionnaires were used to investigate the publication policy of the disciplinary boards and the three journals which were offered the majority of verdicts for publication. Results. A total of 4% of all verdicts were published in the Netherlands Government Gazette (323/8902). The central disciplinary board decided to publish more often than the regional disciplinary boards (8% and 2%, resp.). There were considerable differences between the various regional disciplinary boards (min–max 0.9–5%). Per professional group the percentage of verdicts in cases that were published varied from 2% to 23%. The decisions were offered to over 20 journals, but mainly to the TvGR (92%) and the MC (88%). The TvGR published almost two thirds of the verdicts that were offered (63%), and the MC published almost three quarters (74%). With regard to decisions concerning publication, the disciplinary boards differed in their interpretation of the concept of ‘general importance’. Conclusion. If disciplinary proceedings are to achieve the desired quality-promoting effect on professional practice, then more attention will need to be paid to the publication policy, and the disciplinary boards will have to develop a collective code of conduct. More verdicts could be published, also in discipline-specific journals.
Cutaneous adverse drug reactions in a North Indian Tertiary Care Hospital
Authors: Malhotra S. , Chopra S.C. , Gupta C. , Dogra A.
Published: December 2024

Background: Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are most frequently reported because, in contrast to systemic ADRs, these are generally easily visible and hence, detected by the patient even if he is symptom free. Objectives: To study the spectrum of cutaneous ADRs and the drugs implicated in these reactions. Methods: Data on cutaneous ADRs was collected prospectively over a period of one year among in and out-patients in a North Indian tertiary care hospital, after Dermatological consultation. No rechallenge with the drug was done. Results: Fifty-four cutaneous ADRs were recorded, the common ones being maculopapular rash (29.6%), Stevene Johnson Syndrome (SJS) ± Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) (22.2%) and urticaria (9.3%). Serious/life-threatening reactions were 38.9%. Common drug groups implicated were antimicrobials (33.3%), antiepileptics (16.7%) and NSAIDs (14.8%). Fifty-two cases had probable and two had possible causal relationship with the drug. Majority of the cases (61.1%) were in the age group of 20–50 years with males showing predominance (33:21) over females. H/O drug allergy was seen in 7.4% cases. Conclusion: High frequency of serious cutaneous reactions was recorded in the study. Mortality was prevented by prompt and intensive care of the patients.
Validity of diagnoses of cardiac malformations in a Danish population-based hospital-discharge registry
Authors: Jepsen Britta , Jepsen Peter , Johnsen Søren Paaske , Espersen Geert Tschentscher , Sørensen Henrik Toft
Published: December 2024

Studies of drug-induced birth defects require large sample sizes from high-quality datasets. The Danish discharge registries allow large sample sizes, but the quality of the diagnosis coding is largely unknown. We therefore examined the validity, expressed as the positive predictive value, of discharge diagnoses of cardiac malformations registered in the Danish population-based North Jutland County Hospital Discharge Registry. We reviewed the medical records of 418 (99%) of the 423 children with a first-time diagnosis of cardiac malformation between 1 January 1994 and 31 March 2002. Record review confirmed the diagnosis in 372 children, yielding an overall positive predictive value of 89% (95% confidence interval 86%, 92%) and a prevalence rate of 7.6 per 1000 livebirths. The positive predictive value was between 82% and 86% for three of the four commonest malformations, whereas that of the fourth, patent arterial duct, was only 41%. In conclusion, this registry is a valuable resource for studies of risk factors for cardiac malformations as a group and for studies of risk factors for several types of cardiac malformation. Prevalence rates based on data from this registry should be interpreted with caution.
Temporal trends in multiple pregnancy rates in the Maltese islands
Authors: Savona-Ventura Charles , Vella Alberto , Zammit Katia
Published: December 2024

Multiple pregnancy rates in the Maltese Islands have increased significantly in the last forty years from 1.04% during the period 1960–1969 to 1.30% during 1990–1999. This increase has in part been influenced by changes which have occurred in maternal age distribution which alone would have increased the twin pregnancy rate to only 1.07%. The difference must be attributable to other factors, the most likely being the increasing use of pharmacological and technological reproductive aids. The occurrence of a multiple pregnancy remains fraught with adverse outcomes and in spite of the advances in obstetric antenatal surveillance and easier recourse to early delivery, the stillbirth rates in multiple maternities has remained markedly elevated contrasting with the fall in the singleton stillbirth rate. The early neonatal mortality also remains markedly greater than that registered for singleton births, but has shown a proportional decrease.
A vigilance study of distal protection device used during percutaneous coronary interventions
Authors: Shah Kanan , Parikh Keyur , Chag Milan , Shah Urmil , Chandarana Anish , Baxi Hemang , Naik Ajay , Goyal Ramesh K.
Published: December 2024

In the light of increased incidences of cardiovascular diseases world wide, there is also an increase in number of percutaneous interventions (PCI) and many new devices are introduced that may be expensive. Distal Protection Device (DPD) is one of them with costs that are twice those of conventional devices. In the present study we evaluated the usefulness of DPD after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients undergoing PTCA and to analyze the effect on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at the end of three months and consider its requirement as compared to the conventional stents. 109 patients with ACS were divided into two groups: PTCA done using DPD and PTCA done without DPD. Patients having active significant bleeding, major surgery within the previous six weeks or those who were participating in other trials using investigational drugs or devices were excluded. All patients without DPD required the administration of intracoronary (IC) adenosine and sodium nitroprusside to avoid no-reflow but in patients with DPD only 7.7% patients required IC vasodilators. In patients with DPD only 29% patients required the additional use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (Gp IIb/IIIa) receptor antagonists as compared to 100% usage in patients without DPD. On studying the MACE data it was found that amongst the patients with DPD no patient had either dysnea or needed repeat revascularization or urgent Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG). Amongst the patients without DPD four patients had angina and one had dysnea. In conclusion, although one can suggest that the use of DPD is safe and, it cannot be used indiscriminately because it is an expensive modality.
Antidepressants and violence: Problems at the interface of medicine and law
Authors: Healy David , Herxheimer Andrew , Menkes David B.
Published: December 2024

Recent regulatory warnings about adverse behavioural effects of antidepressants in susceptible individuals have raised the profile of these issues with clinicians, patients, and the public. We review available clinical trial data on paroxetine and sertraline and pharmacovigilance studies of paroxetine and fluoxetine, and outline a series of medico-legal cases involving antidepressants and violence. Both clinical trial and pharmacovigilance data point to possible links between these drugs and violent behaviours. The legal cases outlined returned a variety of verdicts that may in part have stemmed from different judicial processes. Many jurisdictions appear not to have considered the possibility that a prescription drug may induce violence. The association of antidepressant treatment with aggression and violence reported here calls for more clinical trial and epidemiological data to be made available and for good clinical descriptions of the adverse outcomes of treatment. Legal systems are likely to continue to be faced with cases of violence associated with the use of psychotropic drugs, and it may fall to the courts to demand access to currently unavailable data. The problem is international and calls for an international response.
Inappropriate drug prescribing identified among Indian elderly hospitalized patients
Authors: Mandavi  , Tiwari Pramil , Kapur Vinay
Published: December 2024

Objective: To determine the prevalence and predictors for inappropriate drug prescribing to hospitalized Indian elderly patients. Design: One year prospective study. Setting: All inpatient wards in the Department of General Medicine of a public teaching hospital. Participants: Inpatient 60 yrs or older (n=515). Measurements: Potentially inappropriate medication prescribing was identified by using the Modified Updated Beers Criteria 2003. Results: The average (±SEM) number of drugs prescribed was 7.0±0.09. As much as 18% (92 out of 515) of the patients received at least one or more drugs that was identified as inappropriate. Out of the total of 92 patients who received inappropriate drugs, the most common examples were the administration of anticoagulant therapy with Aspirin or Clopidogrel (27.2%), Amiodarone (15.2%), Digoxin (15.2%), and Promethazine (15.2%), followed by Amitriptyline (6.5%). The three important predictors for the inappropriate medication prescribing were age over 70 yrs, number of medications prescribed more than 5 and longer length of stay in the hospital. Conclusion: The results indicate that inappropriate drug prescribing is common among hospitalized Indian elderly patients. It is feasible to reduce this practice through provision of appropriate unbiased information to healthcare professional.
From mono, multiple to extensive drug resistant TB: Where are we heading for?
Authors: Khan Sohil A. , Chundru Sakunthala D. , Rodrigues Gabriel S. , Pokharel Nabin , Kansakar Prasanbir S.
Published: December 2024

Background: A short course of antitubercular drugs in 1960s offered the prospect of eradicating this disease. By late 1980s HIV pandemic lead to a rapid upsurge of tuberculosis (TB) and shattered this hope. In the 1990s, multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis received widespread attention and in this present decade, we are heading towards an emergence of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB and adding a new chapter to the history of this disease.

Methods: The emergence of XDR-TB, spread and the reasons for its emergence was studied from the available and published literature from January 1996 till December 2006. Search strategy involved primary, secondary literatures with search term: XDR-TB, spread of XDR-TB. Official websites of WHO and Global TB Alliance were also accessed for latest updates. Data extraction was independently done by the authors. Available relevant information was pooled and arranged with respect to XDR-TB emergence, reasons, clinical studies and preventive measures. Current status on anti-TB drug research was also looked into.

Results: A total of 14 articles were obtained. However, these were clinical studies from single or multicenters highlighting the incidence of XDR-TB. Information on reasons for drug resistance, preventive measures, status in developing countries were obtained from WHO website. Global TB Alliance mentioned only 3 compounds under clinical testing against TB. Major causes for XDR-TB emergence included an incorrect prescription of drug regimens, poor drug quality, erratic drug supply, non-adherence by patients and poor infection control.

Conclusion: XDR-TB has emerged due to negligent case-management and poorly functioning public-health services. An acquisition and transmission of drug-resistant strains add to their incidence. However till date the overall incidence is arguably infrequent. The real problem from a public-health perspective therefore is to prevent transmission of resistant strains. The need of the hour is to gear up a sound public-health practice. Major attention to issues like research in developing safe and effective newer anti-TB compounds, which should be made available at an economical rate, is what we recommend.
Drug interaction related information sought from a hospital based drug information center
Authors: Jimmy Beena , Jose Jimmy , Rao Padma G.M.
Published: December 2024

Independent drug information (DI) centers provide health care professionals with information related to drugs for safe prescribing. Drug interaction is one among the various categories of DI queries received by DI centers. This study was aimed at assessing the nature of drug interaction related queries received by the DI center of a tertiary care hospital and evaluates the utility of the information provided. Drug interactions related queries received by the DI center for 18 months were evaluated. The DI forms were evaluated for various parameters such as the drug and drug class most commonly involved in the queries. Those DI queries in which there was a documented drug–drug interaction; the severity, documentation and onset of the drug interaction was also assessed. Out of the DI queries (n=980) received during the study period, 128 (13%) were related to drug interactions. Majority (97, 75.7%) of the queries were from the department of medicine and clinicians utilized the service to an enormous extend (108, 84.3%). A drug interaction which was documented in literature was observed only in 40 (32%) queries which constituted 59 potential drug interactions. Fifty two percent of these interactions had good documentation in literature and 57.8% of these were of moderate severity as per literature. Majority (51, 86.4%) of these drug interactions have a delayed onset as per literature. Warfarin (18, 4.6%) was the drug and antimycobacterials was the drugs class most commonly involved (48, 12.2%) in the queries. Our study data revealed that information on drug interactions is one amongst the frequently sought drug related aspect by the health care professionals. Queries are most frequently asked for agents with wider interaction potential, even those which are well established and widely used which and those for which prescribers are less familiar with interaction potential.
A prospective study of medication errors arising out of look-alike and sound-alike brand names confusion
Authors: Joshi M.C. , Joshi H.S. , Tariq K. , Ejaj A. , Prayag S. , Raju A.
Published: December 2024

Objective: The study was conducted to estimate and to analyze the medications errors because of look-alike & sound-alike brand names confusion and prepare the list of such brand names and further to suggest methods to reduce errors arising out of such confusion.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted in a general hospital in Delhi over a period of six months. The possibilities of errors because of brand name confusion was high when the staff nurses were sending drug orders to the pharmacy because these drug orders were send electronically. In the used software the brand names of drugs were displayed alphabetically and the nurse had to select the drug by clicking on it. After making the list of prescribed drugs, it is sent to the pharmacy for dispensing. The errors in the drug ordering method were assessed for six months and a list of commonly involved brand names was made which was further classified into different categories (Category 1 – Look alike drugs with same generic name, Category 2 – Look alike drugs with different generic name, Category 3 – Sound alike drugs with same generic name, Category 4 – Sound alike drugs with different generic name, Category 5 – Identical brand names with same generic name) and analyzed for seriousness on the basis of there potential to cause patient harm.

Results: The occurrence of these 5 different categories in percentages was: Category 1 – 4.51%, Category 2 – 4.92%, Category 3 – 0%, Category 4 – 6.56% and Category 5 – 84.01%. Category 5 errors were most commonly seen. Further, the monthly trend for category 5 errors showed a decreasing number of errors and improvement in quality of drug order entry.

Conclusion: Most commonly brand name confusion is seen with almost identical brand names for combination drugs. Such type of errors could be dangerous (e.g., in antihypertensive or hypoglycemic drug combinations). They also increase the cost of therapy and unnecessary exposure of the patient to more drugs and there side effects. Brand name confusion could be prevented by strict adherence to the hospital drug formulary. It would be a good practice to write the generic name of the prescribed drug in brackets along with the brand name. This matter requires some serious legal steps to stop the marketing of those brand names with intentional look alike and sound alike names.
LLaVA-MR: Large Language-and-Vision Assistant for Video Moment Retrieval
Authors: Li Jian
Published: December 2024

Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) are widely used for visual perception, understanding, and reasoning. However, long video processing and precise moment retrieval remain challenging due to LLMs’ limited context size and coarse frame extraction. We propose the Large Language-and-Vision Assistant for Moment Retrieval (LLaVA-MR), which enables accurate moment retrieval and contextual grounding in videos using MLLMs. LLaVA-MR combines Dense Frame and Time Encoding (DFTE) for spatial-temporal feature extraction, Informative Frame Selection (IFS) for capturing brief visual and motion patterns, and Dynamic Token Compression (DTC) to manage LLM context limitations. Evaluations on benchmarks like Charades-STA and QVHighlights demonstrate that LLaVA-MR outperforms 11 state-of-the-art methods, achieving an improvement of 1.82% in R1@0.5 and 1.29% in mAP@0.5 on the QVHighlights dataset. Our implementation will be open-sourced upon acceptance.
Conceptualizando lugares de devastación ambiental, hacia una geografía política de “regiones de emergencia sanitaria y ambiental”
Authors: Tapia Martínez David , Hernández Lara Oliver Gabriel , Crane Nicholas Jon
Published: December 2024

El texto expuesto a continuación se divide en 3 partes. La primera busca dar cuenta de una discusión conceptual. Para ello hacemos un breve recorrido por cuatro conceptos. Creamos una conversación entre “zonas de sacrificio”, “infiernos ambientales” y “Regiones de Emergencia Sanitaria y Ambiental” (resas), que actualmente en México se encuentran en tensión para denominar regionalmente la problemática ambiental, sus causas, efectos y posibles respuestas. El cuarto concepto es el nuestro, “paisajes de desaparición”, que describe producciones del espacio por parte de autoridades territoriales que les permite desentenderse de las consecuencias de, o evadir la responsabilidad por la creación de lugares de devastación ambiental. El repaso que damos se encuentra guiado por la pertinencia política de problematizar de tal o cual manera los territorios en los que sus habitantes viven, sufren y se oponen a condiciones graves de contaminación y morbilidad. La segunda parte sitúa nuestra lectura de estos conceptos en el contexto de una zona núcleo de la Región Tolteca –compuesta por los municipios de Atitalaquia, Atotonilco de Tula, Apaxco y Tula de Allende–, ubicada en el Valle del Mezquital, la cual concentra en su territorio actividades extractivas e industriales de considerable huella ecológica, como son una termoeléctrica, una refinería, siete plantas cementeras, incontables caleras, así como algunas fábricas de agroquímicos. Aquí planteamos una breve contextualización, a nivel general, para luego centrarnos en los daños sociales y ecológicos que han acompañado el desarrollo capitalista en la región y las movilizaciones de las organizaciones ante ello. Finalmente, cerramos el texto con una serie de conclusiones acerca de la necesidad de considerar conceptos por lo que implican políticamente y por cómo posicionan a los posibles sujetos de acción. Nos preocupa lo que nuestros conceptos suponen sobre los espacios de lo político y la manera en que hacen visible las capacidades de los sujetos críticos activos en estos espacios. En relación con los tres conceptos con los que abrimos el texto –“zonas de sacrificio,” “infiernos ambientales” y “Regiones de Emergencia Sanitaria y Ambiental” (resas)–, promovemos un modo de relación con las producciones teóricas como herramientas de politización en torno a las problemáticas que surgen en las regiones.
Gaza y el espíritu del capitalismo
Authors: Tischler Sergio
Published: December 2024

Texto inspirado en Walter Benjamin
No es solamente el Estado de Israel el perpetrador del genocidio en Gaza. Es el sistema. El genocidio en Gaza es la expresión más clara de su espíritu, de su ethos más profundo, el cual se disfraza de manera cínica y éticamente insostenible con los ropajes de la democracia liberal, exhibida hoy en toda su falsedad como una manifestación de lo que trata de ocultar, es decir, ser ideología de un universal violento. No podemos entender Gaza si no relacionamos la particularidad del genocidio de la población perpetrado en esas tierras con la reproducción del sistema como proceso de totalización que implica la violencia como forma de existencia, con la nuda vida que le es inherente al capital. La verdad del genocidio en particular, y la violencia moderna en general, es que están en el corazón mismo de sistema, constituyen el verdadero “espíritu” del capitalismo.
Accounting Policy of the Enterprise in the Management of Electronic Transactions
Authors:   West Ukrainian National University, Shevchuk Oleh
Published: December 2024

The main regulatory document in the field of accounting, control and taxation at the micro level is the accounting policy of the enterprise. The document on the accounting policy specifies the methods of accounting for electronic transactions selected from the variously available methods. Innovativeness, riskiness, significant volatility and dynamism of accounting of electronic payment means and crypto-objects require comprehensive regulation of electronic transactions in the accounting policy of the enterprise. The purpose of the study is to systematize the provisions of the accounting policy of the enterprise, which relate to electronic transactions, and their improvement in the conditions of the formation of the digital economy in Ukraine.
The article substantiates the importance of defining all aspects and features of the implementation of electronic transactions in the accounting policy. The impact of various methods of accounting for electronic payment means and crypto objects on the financial results of enterprises is explained. A list of elements of the accounting policy related to electronic transactions is proposed. Methods of accounting for electronic money and crypto-objects are defined, which are specified in the accounting policy of the enterprise and fully correspond to the principles of the functioning of the electronic transaction system. The influence of the elements of the accounting policy of the enterprise on the provision of economic and cyber protection of the system of electronic transactions is substantiated. Taking into account all the features and characteristics of electronic and cryptographic funds in the accounting policy creates a high-quality informational, instructional and regulatory field for the effective management of electronic transactions. The practical implementation of the company's accounting policy in the organization of accounting and control of electronic transactions in various organizational formats requires further research and development.
Estimation of DOPAMINE in the Human Brain Tissue: Post-Mortem Studies in a Group of Suicides and in a Control Group
Authors: Choudhary Amrita
Published: December 2024

Mind has managed to enthrall from common man on the street to researchers and scholars alike, especially when it approaches to mental diseases like Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, Huntington, Alzheimer or to the Act Of Suicide. The stories of someone known or unknown committing suicide has stewarded its way to the morning newspaper headlines and has tended to hold our miniscule attention every so often. Without losing sight of the fact, we have endeavoured to dig out the biochemical relation behind suicide in our research.
Dopaminergic pathways of brain have long been panned out as the chief commander of reward, motivation and people’ likes and dislikes psychology and also their association with major diseases like Schizophrenia, Parkinson disease, psychosis, Huntington disease been turned out to be a fact. Nucleus accumbens, neostriatum and substantia nigra’s dopamine loss over time leads to anhedonia, which is one of the major risk factor of suicide.
The scientific experiments among rats, mice have corroborated the influence of stress, aggression, strong like, dislike psychology over Hypothalamo-Pituitary Axis, culminating to a deranged cortisol and dopamine secretion which incepts suicidal behaviour and eventually the act.
We in our research have exerted to decipher the puzzle among humans on the same theorem for Dopamine by using pre-frontal cortex samples of suicide victims (N=30, CASES) and comparing it to pre-frontal cortex samples of road-traffic accident victims (N=30, CONTROLS).
Keywords: Suicide, Dopamine, HPLC, HPA, Mental Illness.
Federated Learning for Cross-Cloud System Migrations: A Privacy-Preserving Approach
Authors: Krupal Gangapatnam
Published: December 2024

This article presents an innovative approach to SAP ERP system migrations using federated learning frameworks, addressing the critical challenges of data privacy and system availability in cross-cloud migrations. The proposed article integrates distributed learning techniques with traditional migration tools to create a robust, privacy-preserving migration framework that significantly reduces system downtime while ensuring data security. The experimental results, conducted across multiple cloud platforms with a 2TB test environment, demonstrate a 40% reduction in migration time compared to conventional methods while maintaining 99.95% system availability. The article incorporates advanced encryption protocols, data anonymization techniques, and sophisticated access control mechanisms, providing comprehensive protection for sensitive enterprise data during migration. The framework's scalability and performance characteristics were validated through extensive testing, showing linear scaling capabilities up to 5TB of data. This article contributes to the field by offering a practical, secure solution for enterprise system migrations that meets modern privacy requirements while improving operational efficiency.
Agent Force Implementation in Modern CRM: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Service Agent Empowerment and Customer Experience Outcomes
Authors: Anirudh Sharma Peri
Published: December 2024

This article investigates the implementation and impact of Agent Force technology within the Salesforce ecosystem, examining its role in transforming customer service operations and agent empowerment. The article explores how AI-powered tools, centralized workspaces, and intelligent routing systems influence service delivery outcomes through a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative performance metrics and qualitative agent feedback. The article reveals significant improvements in agent productivity, case resolution efficiency, and customer satisfaction following Agent Force implementation. Integrating artificial intelligence and automated workflows substantially enhances decision-making capabilities and resource utilization. Furthermore, the article identifies critical success factors in change management and technology adoption, providing a comprehensive framework for organizations considering similar transformations. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of digital transformation in customer service and practical implementation strategies while highlighting the evolving relationship between technological advancement and human-centered service delivery in modern CRM systems. This article addresses a crucial gap in existing literature regarding the holistic impact of integrated service platforms on operational efficiency and employee empowerment in enterprise-scale customer service environments.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF THE ARMENIANS OF THE ORDUBAD DISTRICT OF THE NAKHICHEVAN ASSR IN THE 1950–1980s
Authors: Andreeva Julia O. , Guliaeva Evgenia Y. , Dalalyan Tork
Published: December 2024

The article is devoted to the religious practices of Armenians who lived in the 1950s-1980s on the territory of the Ordubad district of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The main task is to introduce new materials into the scientific circulation, a preliminary analysis of which is offered in this article. The research was carried out within the framework of the oral history approach and is based on the materials of interviews with former residents of the Nakhichevan ASSR, who were forced or voluntarily left there in the late Soviet period. Fieldwork was conducted in Armenia and Russia in 2021-2023. Despite the religious persecution in the pre-war time, Armenians continued to identify themselves as Christians, visit holy places, light candles, and celebrate Christian holidays. Most of the informants were not baptized, all rites of the life cycle were limited to civil ceremonies. At the same time, many in one way or another celebrated some religious holidays, and for the residents of the Ordubad district the most significant event of the year was Vardavar (Transfiguration of Jesus). This day was timed to the pilgrimage to holy places, the sacrifice of matagh and the feast. Our interlocutors almost did not tell anything about the persecution or restrictions on participation in religious holidays. Our field material showed that the absence of functioning religious institutions in Nakhichevan led to the fact that religious life shifted to the sphere of domestic and informal.
GAMES OF THE ABAZA PEOPLE: A CELEBRATION OF SPORTS AND UNITY OF COMPATRIOTS
Authors: Albogachieva Makka S.-G. , Mukov Murat I.
Published: December 2024

The article will discuss the Games of the Abaz People, which originated in 2014 in the Abazinsky district of Karachay-Cherkessia. Games in the history of mankind have always occupied an important place in the culture of peoples. The Abazin people, who have long playing traditions in the national culture, are no exception. Our scientific interest is associated with the existence of games in the culture of the people and their transformation, which led to such symbiosis as the "Games of the Abaza people." These games reflect both folk games and modern sports competitions, which not only serve to educate a physically healthy generation, but also a way to consolidate society. Many compatriots, in the middle of the XIX century. Who left their historical homeland, come to the Games and become their participants? Thus, the divided people find ways of unity and further joint development. The lack of scientific publications, from which you can learn the features of modern gaming practices, prompted the author to fill the created scientific vacuum with his research. We realize that in one article it is not possible to make a holistic analysis of games for all the years of their existence, so we focused our scientific interest on the history of games: when and by whom the project "Games of the Abaz People" was conceived, by whom it is implemented, what is the age and social status of the participants in the games, what is the role of the game in the physical education of the younger generation and the consolidation of society. The study allows us to conclude: this project can claim versatility and be recommended for implementation in other regions of the country.
BURIALS OF THE EARLY MIDDLE BRONZE AGE MOUND I OF THE GUDERMES MOUNDS I
Authors: Malashev Vladimir Yu. , Ataev Gamzat D. , Saipudinov Murad Sh.
Published: December 2024

The excavation in 2017 of the burial Mound I of the Gudermes mounds I revealed three distinct burial groups from different time periods, the oldest of which is associated with the Maikop culture. Our paper primarily focuses on intrusive burials from the early stage of the Middle Bronze Age, encompassing two subgroups with distinct funerary rituals. The skeletons in the first subgroup (Burials 9, 10, 13, and possibly 3) were laid in a semi-flexed position on the left side, with the head oriented to the ENE. Burial 3, situated in the mound’s center, was constructed in a rectangular pit with walls lined using a mosaic of irregular stones and cobblestones. The grave was covered with logs, topped by a layer of river pebbles. Surrounding this central burial were three contemporaneous burials of a man, a woman, and a child. The accompanying grave goods comprised a stone axe, a bronze dagger-knife, and six bone hammer-head pins. Another subgroup comprises two supine burials wherein skeletons were laid on their backs, with their heads facing the SSE. Based on stratigraphic data, these burials are relatively recent. In terms of funerary ritual and inventory details, they align with the initial period of the Middle Bronze Age and are similar to the first group. The inventory includes fragments of vessels, a bronze trapezoidal pendant, a pierced bronze spiral piece, and a fragment of a bronze object (possibly a bead), along with glass beads. Examination of funerary rituals and inventory facilitates the identification of parallels with Middle Bronze Age sites of Chechnya, Ingushetia, the Central Caucasus, and the Kuban region, allowing us to attribute the early burials of Mound I at the Gudermes mounds I to the North Caucasian culture.
Nomes galegos das aves de Galicia e de España
Authors:   Real Academia Galega, González González Manuel , Cerradelo Gómez Silverio , Penas Patiño Xosé M. , Román Cousido Cosme Damián
Published: December 2024

Desde o ano 1977, no ámbito da ornitoloxía galega especializada publicáronse diversos traballos para as aves detectadas en Galicia. Da recolla deses traballos precedentes, dos seus usos previos e apoiándonos nas nomenclaturas vernáculas en Galicia e no ámbito das linguas circundantes, presentamos unha proposta unificada das denominacións terminolóxicas das aves en galego, para que sirva de instrumento para todo tipo de comunicación especializada no ámbito da ornitoloxía, sexa na realización de artigos científicos, libros, paneis, materiais divulgativos ou actividades de educación ambiental en lingua galega.