bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Business Model Innovation as a Result of Opportunity-Based Disruption
Authors: Schembri Joe , Fletcher Margaret
Published: February 2023

Path-breaking international opportunities are a source of disruption for firms. This chapter argues that international opportunities trigger firm growth, and the firm itself evolves in the process, on the level of both organisational structure and business model. The authors report on a longitudinal study which traced the international trajectory of seven case study firms and finds that the organisational structure of a firm—namely the role of who leads the opportunity-development effort for the firm; the financing of international growth; and the role of the Board of Directors—does prepare the firm for evolution of its business model. However, the key trigger of business model change originates from outside the firm, when a path-breaking international opportunity leads the firm to develop new revenue streams or new market entry modes; or ways of capturing value changes the way the firm enacts commercial opportunity.
Living With Transformations of International Opportunities
Authors: Hurmelinna-Laukkanen Pia , Mainela Tuija , Puhakka Vesa
Published: February 2023

This study addresses the question of how organizations, as parts of global value chains, may respond to, and in some situations initiate, transformations of international opportunities and how that is related to the business model change. It examines the forms of international opportunities and argues that different sources of transformation affect the viability of these opportunities, thereby driving the ways in which organizations live with these transformations. These, in turn, connect to the changes in the firms' business models through 1) transformation intensifying, 2) transformation utilizing, 3) shifting, and 4) exit activities. It suggests that patterns can be detected regarding the alignment of the present manifestation of the international opportunity, the transformation type that influences it, and the ways in which these situations are met. The chapter develops a framework that advances understanding the connectedness of opportunities, business models, and global value chains in the era of discontinuities.
Digitization of Archival Materials in South Africa
Authors: Netshakhuma Nkholedzeni Sidney
Published: February 2023

Digitization projects enable organisations to disseminate their information all over the world. This book chapter assessed digitization of archival materials post-apartheid in South Africa. The literature review was used to assess the state of digital records in South Africa. The researcher found that most of digitisation project conducted in post-apartheid South Africa were conducted without digital framework or strategy, lack of skills, and lack of personnel to conduct digitization project. The success of digitization project depends on collaboration of organisation.
Digital Transformation in the Tourism Industry
Authors: Schäfer-Dorn Nadja , Knudsen Gry Høngsmark
Published: February 2023

In this chapter, the authors address how Danish public tourism agents such as museums and destination agencies decide on the use of, embrace, and adopt digital technology. Based on interviews with four organizations in a peripheral region, they demonstrate the challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs in the Danish tourism industry. Building on current theory, they suggest that the SMEs could benefit in areas such as communication, customer management, and improved data quality for business development to adapt to market demands and shape their future. However, SMEs in general, and the tourism industry in particular, lack the knowledge, resources, and incentives to engage in fundamental digital transformation processes. Based on interviews, the authors end the chapter by providing suggestions for where to start digital transformation and how to tackle challenges in the process.
Direct-to-Consumer eCommerce (D2C) Business Model
Authors: Sharma Neha , Dutta Nirankush
Published: February 2023

COVID-19 brought substantial shifts in market dynamics and consumer behaviour. It drove enterprises to innovate and alter their business models, culminating in the emergence of the dynamic eCommerce model, often known as D2C. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) businesses such as Made.com, Typology, Patch Plants, and Glossier flourished well in 2021, with an average growth rate of 19.2%. Additionally, Indian D2C startups such as boAt, Mamaearth, Wakefit, and Country Delight have earned approximately Rs. 100 crores revenue in a relatively short time, with an estimate of the Indian D2C industry to expand up to $100 billion by 2027 based on the current trend. Thus, this chapter seeks to comprehend the D2C model, its benefits, obstacles, and a viable approach for adopting the D2C model in light of the shifting competitive landscape and favorable environment for online purchases.
Parents' Perceptions of Foreign Language Assessment and Parental Involvement
Authors: Ozturk Nesrin , Atsan Begum
Published: February 2023

International and national foreign language education policies recognize the invaluable role of parents. Because parents' perceptions of foreign language assessment may initiate any parental involvement behavior, a qualitative descriptive study was conducted to investigate the phenomenon. Data were collected from 25 parents via semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically. Findings confirmed parents' understandings of a foreign language proficiency pertain to communicative use of the language. However, assessment practices at schools are test-driven, and they may not be authentic, valid, and criterion-referenced practices. Parents, moreover, highlighted a need for assessment literacy; nevertheless, they do not get any support from any stakeholders. Also, assessment practices' outcomes may initiate parental involvement behaviors that pertain to parenting helping, communicative effective, and learning at home. This study highlights an urgent need to improve parents' foreign language assessment literacy and parental involvement behaviors to enrich learners' development.
Academic Integrity in Online Foreign Language Assessment
Authors: Sevimel-Sahin Aylin
Published: February 2023

The immediate transition to online teaching due to the pandemic has required the institutions to employ online assessment more frequently than ever. However, most teachers, students, and schools are not ready for that. Therefore, they have not planned and practiced their assessment methods effectively in online settings because of some challenges faced. One of them is the difficulty in sustaining academic integrity in digital environments, and many studies have already concluded there is a huge increase in dishonest behaviors in online assessment tasks. But academic integrity is an indispensable concept to improve teaching and learning by performing reliable, valid, and secure assessments, especially in online platforms. Then, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss academic integrity in relation to online foreign language assessment practiced during the pandemic by presenting the background to online assessment, academic integrity, and their relationship, and reporting the recent research studies within this scope.
Organizational Management Variables Enhancing Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Authors: Vargas-Hernandez José G. , Vargas-González Omar C.
Published: February 2023

This study analyses the implications of organizational management variables in the enhancement of organizational citizenship behaviors. It departs from the assumption that management, motivation, commitment, leadership styles, innovation, and other relevant ideas have effects on the organizational citizenship behaviors. The method employed links the analysis, description, and reflection base on the theoretical and empirical literature review. It is concluded that organizational management variables enhance the self-efficacy of organizational members and the effectiveness of the organization involved in organizational citizenship behaviors.
Research on Cross-Industry Digital Transformation Under the New Normal
Authors: Yu Poshan , Zhang Yanjuan , Sampat Michael , Chen Yijun
Published: February 2023

This chapter aims to study the implications of digital transformation across businesses in China. This chapter will attempt to explore whether and how social capital can become a major driving force in designing a whole new digitally competent social fabric under the new normal in China. By analyzing the institutional impacts driven by the Chinese government, this chapter will explore how these impacts will achieve to generate any synergic effects when conducting digital transformation in business sectors. This chapter will use bibliometric analysis to perform statistical and correlation analysis on the cross-industry digital transformation. Cases from China will be used for comparison. This chapter will provide suggestions for the sustainable development of digital transformation-based business ecosystems in emerging economies.
Habilidade gerencial e a relação entre a remuneração dos executivos e o gerenciamento de resultados
Authors: Santos Lucas Líbni Ramos dos , Maritns Vinicius Gomes
Published: February 2023

O objetivo primário desta pesquisa foi analisar o papel da habilidade gerencial na relação entre a remuneração de executivos e o gerenciamento de resultados. De forma secundária, analisou-se também, se a habilidade gerencial está associada com: i) níveis relativamente elevados de remuneração de executivos; e ii) com a mitigação de práticas de gerenciamento de resultados. Para os testes empíricos, considerou-se uma amostra de 1.296 observações de firmas não financeiras listadas na B3 no período de 2010 a 2018. Para o alcance dos resultados, mensurou-se a habilidade gerencial conforme Demerjian et al. (2013), como proxy para o gerenciamento de resultados fez-se o uso dos accruals discricionários e, finalmente, como proxy para a remuneração de executivos, fez-se o uso do logaritmo natural da remuneração variável dos executivos. As evidências empíricas foram capturadas por meio da técnica de regressão linear, com dados em painel, com efeitos fixos de setor e ano. Os principais resultados sugerem que a habilidade gerencial está positivamente relacionada com a remuneração variável dos executivos e negativamente relacionada com os accruals discricionários. A principal contribuição desta pesquisa consiste em demonstrar que a habilidade gerencial é uma característica que pode mitigar o incentivo para manipulação de resultados com vistas ao aumento da remuneração variável, uma vez que gestores mais habilidosos podem atingir as suas metas mais facilmente por meio da sua competência, sem a necessidade de utilizarem práticas contábeis oportunistas.
GESTÃO E EFICÁCIA ESCOLAR
Authors: Miranda Nonato Assis de , Scutari Adriana Moda
Published: February 2023

A pesquisa analisa o grau de concordância de diretores de escola acerca da gestão e da eficácia escolar. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um questionário eletrônico tipo Likert aplicado em 25 diretores de escola de um município do ABC Paulista. Os dados foram descritos, analisados estatisticamente e interpretados na perspectiva do referencial teórico que discute o assunto, notadamente, a teoria das escolas eficazes. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que não há consenso acerca da possibilidade de o insucesso escolar estar relacionado com a atuação do diretor, pois as respostas desses profissionais mostraram-se difusas. Todavia, a maioria dos participantes atribui ao diretor de escola a responsabilidade pela busca das causas do insucesso escolar que, segundo eles mesmos, estão relacionadas ao ambiente familiar. Os resultados mostram, também que a garantia de materiais didáticos adequados às necessidades educativas dos estudantes, um bom clima escolar e infraestrutura adequada são aspectos fundamentais para a eficácia escolar.
HILDEGARDA DE BINGEN
Authors: Ezídio Camila de Souza
Published: February 2023

Este artigo tem por objetivo tratar, ainda que sumariamente, de alguns temas ligados à vida e a obra de Hildegarda de Bingen. Entretanto, em primeiro lugar, faremos alguns apontamentos sobre a história da filosofia feita pelas mulheres que, silenciada por séculos e séculos pelo cânone, vem sendo redescoberta nos últimos anos no Brasil. A partir disso, consideraremos esta história tomando como referência uma de suas personagens, neste caso, Hildegarda de Bingen. O breve relato biográfico sobre a vida dessa pensadora do século XII que assumiu funções de poder no contexto da vida religiosa, nos ajudará a compreender, a seguir, alguns dos temas e problemas que envolvem sua escrita, seu desenho e sua música. Dentre estes problemas o que mais nos pede atenção, neste texto, é a representação do feminino e a discussão, que Hildegarda realiza, sobre a natureza da mulher no âmbito físico, moral, teológico e epistemológico que, por sua vez, se traduz como uma narrativa que quebra alguns paradigmas estruturantes do período.
Music Recommendation System Using Facial Emotions
Authors: Sharath P. , Senthil Kumar G. , Vishnu Boj K.S.
Published: February 2023

Emotions play an important role in human life. Extracting human emotions is important because it conveys nonverbal communication cues that play an important role in interpersonal relations. In recent years, facial emotion detection has received massive attention, and many businesses have already utilized this technology to get real-time analytics and feedback from customers to help their business grow. Currently, we have to manually find playlists according to our mood, and it's time-consuming and stressful. Therefore, this process is made automated and simple in this project by proposing a recommendation system for emotion recognition that is capable of detecting the users' emotions and suggesting playlists that can improve their mood. Implementation of the proposed recommender system is performed using Caffemodel to detect faces and the MLP Classifier to detect facial emotions based on the KDEF dataset.
Brain Tumor Detection Using Deep Learning
Authors: Jairam S.J.A. , Lokeshwar D. , Divya B. , Fathimal P. Mohamed
Published: February 2023

Brain tumors are developed as a result of unregulated and fast cell proliferation. It may result in death if not treated in the early stages. The imaging technology used to diagnose brain tumors is known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Early detection of brain tumors is critical in medical practise in order to determine whether the tumor will progress to malignancy. For picture categorization, deep learning is a useful and effective method. Deep learning has been widely used in a variety of sectors, including medical imaging, because its application does not necessitate the expertise of a subject matter expert, but does necessitate a large amount of data and a variety of data in order to produce accurate classification results. The deep learning technique for image categorization is the convolutional neural network (CNN).In this research work , two different models are used to categorize brain tumors and their results were evaluated using performance metrics like accuracy and precision and the results were impressive
Sentiment Analysis of National Eligibility-Cum Entrance Test on Twitter Data Using Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Chandralekha E. , Jemin V.M. , Rama P. , Prabakaran K.
Published: February 2023

People around the world use social media to communicate and share their perceptions about a variety of topics. Social media analysis is crucial to interacting, distributing, and stating people's opinions on various topics. Governments and organizations can take action on alarming issues more quickly with the help of such textual data investigation. The key purpose of this effort is to perform sentiment analysis of textual data regarding National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET), perform classification and determine how people feel about NEET. In this study, 11 different machine learning classifiers were used to analyze tweet sentiment, along with natural language processing (NLP). Tweepy is the python library which is used to get user opinion about NEET Exam. Annotating the data is accomplished using TextBlob and Vader. Text data is pre-processed with a natural language toolkit. The dataset downloaded from Twitter shows that unigram models perform well compared to bigram and trigram models. TF-IDF models are more accurate than count vectorizer which is based on word frequency. classifier achieves an average accuracy of 92%. Perceptron also receives the uppermost average accuracy of 91%. According to the data from the experiment, most people have a neutral opinion of NEET.
Classification of Retinal Images Using Self-Created Penta-Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Narain Ramaswamy S. , Siddhant R. , Barath Vimanthann S. , Anubhaps Pearline S. , Muthurasu N.
Published: February 2023

The primary way to classify retinal illnesses is to conduct several medical examinations, the most important of which is a visual examination. Human error is common as a result of a poor-higher cognitive process, which is one of the major challenges in visual disease diagnosis. Automated image processing technologies are more useful for early disease diagnosis and evaluation than the digitized diagnostic imaging conventional operations are confusing and time-consuming. The aim of this paper is to create a system that detects retinal abnormalities based on images using Deep learning technique. The images are first pre-processed. The photographs are enhanced after they have been pre-processed. The images that have been pre-processed are fed into the Penta-Convolutional Neural Network (Penta-CNN). Penta-CNN is a five-layered architecture that includes two convolutions, max pooling, and three fully connected layers. The performance of Penta-CNN is evaluated using STARE(Structured Analysis of the Retina) database [14]. The model is also trained with several hyperparameters which are tweaked and assessed.
Farm Track Application Development Using Web Mining and Web Scraping
Authors: Karthigeiyan K. , Devi M. Durga
Published: February 2023

As an agricultural country, India's economy is heavily reliant on agricultural yield growth and agroindustry goods. Food demand is rising as the world's population grows by the day. Climatic conditions are the foundation for growing the best produce. The internet technology is advancing on a regular basis, and companies are becoming digitized. Every company has a website or a mobile application that they use to give services to its customers.
Detect Anomalies on Metal Surface
Authors: Arnav Kumar , Ravindran Harshul
Published: February 2023

Detection of surface imperfections in planar surfaces in the modern assembling process is a continuous area of examination. It has generally been difficult to ensure the outright faultlessness of surfaces of carbon and iron combinations, or any surface so far as that is concerned. Nature of appearance, or rather, the outer layer of modern items like metal sheets is being held at an especially elevated expectation particularly of late, to satisfy these guidelines and to guarantee that client necessities are met, we use PC vision based arrangements, these arrangements basically involve utilizing a 2D or 3D deformity recognition procedure like for example edge identification, these calculations joined with an AI model will recognize and distinguish absconds on the different planar surfaces. The model will be prepared with a dataset of pictures that will contain harmed as well as unharmed surfaces, this is to ensure that the model can distinguish a deformity and without any imperfection the model ought to perceive the surface as homogeneous. However long the model is prepared appropriately, these techniques have been demonstrated to be particularly vigorous, and as an answer they have been common of late and throughout the course of recent years. CNN and brain networks in view of CNN designs were utilized to prepare the model to group the imperfections.
Obstacle Detection and Text Recognition for Assisting Visually Impaired People
Authors: Aishwarya M. , Shivani S. , Deepthi K. , Dilip Golda
Published: February 2023

As a potential medium for informing blind people, the project remodels the visual world into the audio world. In computer vision, Obstacle detection is the most widely used field with incredible achievement. The obstacles and texts can be enlightened to the visually impaired people where obstacles detected from the frame are addressed by their names and converted to speech. The image-to-text framework is an advanced innovation that is utilized to get the message in the image which will be extremely helpful to read any content. The voice result of the input text is produced by evaluating the adjoining and the recurrence of events of the words by the system. It is used to find the distance to the object that the user wants. This application is compact and helpful to economical society as well as an efficient assistant for visually impaired people. Thus, ultimately this could increase the confidence level of the user and make him/her feel secure.
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in a pediatric heart transplant recipient with coarctation of aorta
Authors: Das Bibhuti B. , Ghaleb Stephanie , Moskowitz William , Arya Sandeep , Taylor Mary
Published: February 2023

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinical-radiographic syndrome reported in children with hypertension due to renal diseases, immunosuppression after solid organ transplant, cytotoxic agents for chemotherapy, and many others rare instances. We described PRES in a 6-year-old child with hypertension secondary to an incidental postoperative coarctation of the aorta after heart transplantation (HT). Her blood pressure was well controlled with amlodipine during the outpatient visits and home monitoring of blood pressure, but she had hypertension when presented with neurological symptoms. This case’s unique feature is that although PRES has been described after pediatric HT, this is the first case report due to a postoperative coarctation of the proximal descending aorta related to scarring from previous multiple sternotomies leading to inadvertent external compression of the aorta with scar tissue. We discussed the risk factors associated with hypertension before PRES and the correlation of brain magnetic resonance imaging findings with clinical outcomes.
A case of incomplete Kawasaki disease – A 2-month-old infant with 1 day of fever who developed multiple arterial aneurysms
Authors: Tsuda Keitaro , Kiyomatsu Kouki , Teramachi Yozo , Suda Kenji
Published: February 2023

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis and is the most frequent pediatric acquired heart disease in developed countries. The diagnosis of KD is typically made by the: ≧ 5 of 6 principal signs. However, approximately 20% of KD patients present with less than 5 of these diagnostic signs but may be suffering from coronary artery aneurysms and have been diagnosed with incomplete KD. In this case report, we describe a 2-month-old infant who showed just fever without any other signs of KD but was suffered from multiple arterial aneurysms, including coronary, pulmonary, and carotid arteries. Because she did not respond to intravenous immunoglobulin infusion, we placed her on plasma exchange that has successfully brought defervescence without any significant complications. This case may represent the end spectrum of incomplete KD in very young infants.
Multisummability for generalized power series
Authors: Rolin Jean-Philippe , Servi Tamara , Speissegger Patrick
Published: February 2023

We develop multisummability, in the positive real direction, for generalized power series with natural support, and we prove o-minimality of the expansion of the real field by all multisums of these series. This resulting structure expands both
$\mathbb {R}_{\mathcal {G}}$
and the reduct of
$\mathbb {R}_{\text {an}^*}$
generated by all convergent generalized power series with natural support; in particular, its expansion by the exponential function defines both the gamma function on
$(0,\infty )$
and the zeta function on
$(1,\infty )$
.
Обвертывание значений аналитической функции, связанной с числом $e$
Authors: Kostin Andrew Borisovich , Sherstyukov Vladimir Borisovich
Published: February 2023

Рассматривается задача о полном описании картины приближения
числа $e$ элементами последовательности $(1+1/m)^m$
при $m\in\mathbb{N}$. С этой целью подробно изучается функция
$f(z)=\exp\{(1/z)\ln(1+z)-1\}$,
аналитическая в комплексной плоскости с разрезом по лучу
$(-\infty,-1]$ вещественной прямой. Доказано, что степенной ряд
$1+\sum^{\infty}_{n=1}(-1)^n a_n z^n$, где все $a_n>0$,
представляющий эту функцию в единичном круге,
обвертывает ее в открытой правой полуплоскости.
Это дает на положительном луче серию асимптотически точных
при $x\to 0$ двойных неравенств для величины уклонения
$e-(1+x)^{1/x}$. Важную роль в исследовании играют
установленные нами интегральные представления
как самой функции $f(z)$, так и коэффициентов $a_n$.
Для последних найдена двучленная асимптотика при $n\to \infty$
и показано, что они образуют логарифмически выпуклую
вполне монотонную последовательность. Получены также
интегральные выражения для производных любого порядка
от исходной функции $f(z)$. На луче $x>-1$, как выясняется,
$f(x)$ будет вполне монотонной. Обсуждается применение и
развитие полученных результатов.
Библиография: 20 названий.
О числах, не представимых в виде суммы $n+w(n)$
Authors: Kucheriaviy Petr Alekseevich
Published: February 2023

Пусть $w(n)$ - аддитивная неотрицательная целочисленная
арифметическая функция, равная $1$ на простых числах.
В работе изучается распределение $n+w(n)$ по простому модулю $p$
и дается нижняя оценка на плотность чисел,
не представимых в виде $n+w(n)$.
Библиография: 5 названий.
Survival Strategies Employed by Construction Firms during the 2016-2017 Recession in Kaduna
Authors: Mgbenu C. C , Musa-Haddary Y. G , Kolo B. A , Yamusa M. A
Published: February 2023

Recession has been found to severely affect the Construction Industry through reduction of construction projects output, decreased employment as well as profitability, and at times, results in firms becoming insolvent. This led to the development of various responsive strategies for survival. However, previous research efforts have overlooked the three success indices (output, profitability and employment conditions), which have been found to be the major areas affected by recession which can lead to the total collapse of a firm. The aim of the research is to assess the influence of survival strategies on the growth or decline of profitability of construction firms. The study then established the relationship between the experience and profitability of the firms. A quantitative approach using an online questionnaire survey was adopted for this study. One hundred (100) of the top customers of some selected banks were contacted and sixty-seven (67) of those firms agreed to participate in the survey and had the survey links sent to them. Forty-two (42) filled questionnaires were retrieved. The SPSS (version 23) statistics software package was used to assess the mean scores and Pearson’s chi-square test to assess the relationship between a firm’s profitability and the firm’s years of experience. The study found optimum utilization of workforce (Minimizing staff redundancies) to be the most used strategy; placing greater emphasis on marketing, building relationships, effective planning and management was rated as most important strategy; while trying new methods and technologies to improve productivity had the highest influence on growth in profitability. The study recommended that construction firms should make marketing to new clients and establishing a bond with existing clients a core job function while putting more efforts on understanding methods of optimally utilizing their existing workforce and eliminating staff redundancies.
Challenges of Democracy and Development in Africa, South of the Sahara
Authors: Aketema Joseph
Published: February 2023

Development thrives when democratic principles and governance are exuded by leaders. There is a challenge in the democratisation processes looking at the development deficits of Africa. Postcolonial leaders of Africa, south of the Sahara have struggled desperately to live up to their political expectations—a reason why many would argue, results in the snail pace development of their respective countries. Democracy nourishes strong institutions, transparent governance, accountability and equitable distribution of resources. However, what is commonly noticed in the least developed states in Africa south of the Sahara is a practices of clientelism, prebendalism, ‘clanisation’ and patrimonialism. This paper examines the link between democracy and development. It discusses some of the lapses of political leaders and how that impedes the political, and development agendas of Africa, south of the Sahara. The discussion concludes that should Africa, south of the Saharan leaders continue to promote token gestures of democracy to the masses, their development agenda will never be met. It is, therefore, important to stress by way of recommendation, the strengthening of institutions to ght corruption, and freedom of press and citizen’s speech, be critically encouraged.
An African Sense of Folk Music as Essential Tool for Rehabilitation of Speech and Language Impairment in Children
Authors: Sunday-Kanu Rita Adaobi
Published: February 2023

Speech and language impairment can be seen in both adults and children but, statistics have shown that speech and language impairments are more common among children. These impairments are initially noticeable between the ages of one to five or basically, preschool age. While it is true that some cases of speech and language impairment in children are clinically dependent, some others can be resolved without drugs. Systematic application of psycho, motor and emotional activities has in some cases proven to be remedial to speech and language impairment. Music is one of the human activities that possesses the power to permeate into psychics, and emotions and influence attitudinal or behavioural changes in human beings. The administration of appropriate music and musical activities to a client with some health challenges has resulted in the restoration of mental, emotional, social and physical well-being. This study, therefore, examines the potential of Nigerian folk music in enhancing both the development and treatment of speech and language fluency in children. The focus is on the role of children’s folk music; particularly, songs attached to folktales, play songs and dance in the correction of speech and language difficulties in children. Data for this study were gathered via interviews, participants, observational methods and a review of archival materials. The study suggests that children’s engagement in folk music; folktales playing songs and dance has proven to be a substitute or alternative to drugs for the rehabilitation of some children with a speech-language disorder. It was observed that the therapeutic power of folk music for children goes beyond speech and language treatment. Rather, it enhances mental, emotional, and physical stability and general well-being. The study recommends creating awareness in Nigerian communities to understand the therapeutic benefits of engaging children in folksongs activities even in this digital age. Trained music therapists and researchers are encouraged to pay attention to these cultural practices and the constructive curative powers inculcated in the traditional children’s playground and songs involved, to harness health benefits therein for humanity.
The Continuity of Culture in the Entropy of Civilization
Authors: Ghanta Shreeja
Published: February 2023

The article primarily focuses on the perspectives of culture, entropy, and environment. Each of these perspectives draws on tumultuous events in the course of analysis. The thought structure, in general, can be that of the radical shift from an agrarian culture to industrialism but predominantly the question comes down to if Markandaya's characters were ready to take the new road? Adopting the ecocritical approach the article interrogates Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve, showing, among other things, the workings of entropy in various layers.
Using Technology to Enhance Instruction and Learning in Musical Arts Education in Nigeria
Authors: Modeme Eyiuche Rita
Published: February 2023

Technology is a rapidly growing trend in the field of education today. Technologies have made rapid advances, and their applications to the music classroom have not been fully utilized. Researchers observed that the study of music in many parts of the world has gone far through electronic and computer technology but in Nigerian tertiary institutions, music teachers seem to use technology more for administrative tasks as opposed to music curriculum uses. This study, therefore, examines musical arts education and technologies. It discusses how technology could be used to enhance instruction and learning in the music classroom. The focus is on computer and internet usage for effective teaching and learning of music. The paper further considers technology and music education, types of technology devices, the benefits of technology in music education. The obstacles to the use of technologies in closing the gaps were fully identified. The study concludes that computerizing and networking music education in Nigeria tertiary institutions are imperative. It, therefore, recommends the mainstreaming of technology utilization (particularly the computer and internet) in music education system at all levels for the benefit of curriculum implementation and enhanced student learning.
Antimicrobial activities of volatile oils of Ocimum gratissimum, Eucalyptus citriodora and Cymbopogon citratus against organisms isolated from Nigerian currency notes
Authors: Ayinde Buniyamin A. , Bello Ronke H. , David Mosebolatan S. , Olawoye Olayinka I. , Lawal Bilqis A. , Abdullahi Abdulrasheed A. , Attah Francis A. , Usman Sukurat O. , Njinga Ngaitad S.
Published: February 2023

Naira notes are means of exchange for goods and services that may act as fomites in the transmission of pathogens. This study determined the identities of microorganisms isolated from notes and their susceptibilities to antibiotics and volatile oils of Ocimum gratissimum, Cymbopogon citratus and Eucalyptus citriodora. Fifteen notes (₦50-₦500) obtained from two Ilorin markets were soaked in sterile water and loopful of each sample was inoculated onto appropriate agar plates. Isolates were identified using standard methods, confirmed with Identification System and Mycological Atlas. Disc and agar diffusion methods were employed for susceptibility tests and positive controls were Ciprofloxacin and fluconazole. S. aureus (42%) was the most prevalent bacteria, Serratia odorifera (11.1%) including Aspergillus niger (1) while some had multiple bacteria. The isolates exhibited 100% resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanate (100%), ceftazidime (57%), sulphamethoxazole trimethoprim (43%) and 100% sensitivity to gentamicin. All S. aureus isolates were methicillin resistant – MRSA and vancomycin susceptible while A. niger exhibited 100% sensitivity to fluconazole. The volatile oil of C. citratus exhibited highest growth inhibitory effects with MBC and MIC of 3.13-0.39 and 1.56-0.39 mg/mL respectively; the oil of E. citriodora exhibited the least activity. This oil can be used as antiseptics against Naira fomites.
Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) antenna axis offset determined by geodetic VLBI analysis and ground survey
Authors: Nickola Marisa , Krásná Hana , Combrinck Ludwig , Böhm Johannes , De Witt Aletha
Published: February 2023

In the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) space geodetic technique, various station-specific error sources corrupt the observable VLBI delay. An antenna axis offset (AO) model is applied in the VLBI data analysis for antennas with non-intersecting rotational axes, such as the 26-m and 15-m antennas for the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO). The a priori AO values recommended by the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) for use in geodetic VLBI data analysis are taken, where possible, from values measured in ground surveys. The a priori AO values used for the HartRAO antennas in geodetic VLBI analysis have been identified as possible sources of error. The a priori AO value of 6695.3 mm for the 26-m antenna originates from a 2003 co-locational ground survey, conducted before a major bearing repair in 2008, which could have changed the AO. The a priori AO value of 1495.0 mm for the 15-m antenna was determined in 2007 in only a preliminary GPS survey. In this study, the respective AO values of the HartRAO 26-m and 15-m antennas were estimated from a VLBI analysis using the Vienna VLBI and Satellite Software (VieVS) and compared with measurements from co-locational ground surveys. It was found that the VLBI estimated values do not agree within the formal margins of error with the ground survey values, in that they differ by up to eight millimetres (8 mm) for the 26-m antenna and up to five millimetres (5 mm) for the 15-m antenna. As the ground survey values are considered to be more accurate than the VLBI estimated values, a further investigation of the site-specific error sources that may be contaminating the accuracy of VLBI results is required.
Riccardin D, a drug candidate, inhibits gastric cancer progression by targeting RAD54L
Authors: Pan Qi , Zhu Weimin , Xiang Pei
Published: February 2023

Purpose: To investigate the beneficial function of RAD54L in gastric cancer.

Methods: Batch correction, metaboanalyst, volcano plot and heatmap were used for analyzing different expression genes. Metascape and strings were used for functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction network analysis, respectively. Expression of RAD54L was analyzed using online platform-timer, ualcan and GEPIA. Correlation between RAD54L and poor prognosis was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curve. Expression of RAD54L was evaluated by Real Time-quantitative PCR and western blotting, while cell proliferation, cell apoptosis and cell cycle were determined by CCK8 and flow cytometry, respectively.

Results: A total of 57 upregulated DEGs and 33 downregulated DEGs were involved in gastric cancer. Among these, RAD54L was a hub gene which is highly expressed, and is related to poor survival in gastric cancer. Moreover, knockdown of RAD54L inhibited cell viability and facilitated cell apoptosis in gastric cancer cells (p < 0.05). On the other hand, overexpression of RAD54L promoted cell proliferation and reduced cell apoptosis in gastric cancer (p < 0.05). In addition, RAD54L positively regulated cell cycle in gastric cancer cell lines. Furthermore, riccardin D negatively regulated cell cycle in gastric cancer cell lines by targeting RAD54L.

Conclusion: Riccardin DRAD54L is a potential drug for the treatment of gastric cancer. However, developmental work, including in vivo studies, are required to ascertain this.
Toxicological testing of Fuganlin Oral Liquid on young Sprague Dawley rats
Authors: Guo Jianmin , Huang Yuankeng , Lei Xialing , Deng Yinghua , Li Xiaoying , Zhang Wenqiang , Chen Wenpei , Meng Feibiao , Yang Wei
Published: February 2023

Purpose: To further evaluate the safety of Fuganlin Oral Liquid (FGLOL) for clinical application by conducting toxicological tests in young rats.

Methods: Based on the clinical dose for infants aged less than 1 year, 4-day-old Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were orally administered FGLOL3.88, 11.64 and 38.75 g crude drug/kg for 18 days, followed by a 3-week withdrawal. This was followed by evaluating the effect of FGLOL on various growth and development indicators, nerve reflex function and spontaneous behavior of the rats. Based on the clinical dose for children aged 1 - 6 years, 15-day-old rats were orally administered FGLOL3.88, 11.64 and 38.75 g crude drug/kg for 31 days, followed by a 3-week withdrawal in order to evaluate the impact of the FGLOL on the development of reproductive organs and nervous systems in young rats. The effects of FGLOL on the safety of young rats were judged based on ophthalmic examination, physical examination, spontaneous behavior and other developmental effects.

Results: FGLOL did not cause animal death, and no significant toxicological changes were observed in the body weight, growth and development, and behavior of the young rats (p < 0.05). No observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) even after administering the higher dose at each stage. However, the results at each stage showed that oral administration of a large amount of FGLOL had a greater effect on normal food consumption of the rats (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The findings indicate that Fuganlin Oral Liquid, a traditional Chinese medicine formulation, is safe in rats. However, clinical trials are required to acertain its safety in humans.
Efficacy of combined application of traditional Chinese medicine foot bath and mild moxibustion in the treatment o f limb pain in diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients
Authors: Wang Jiawei , Mao Yuanyuan , Jiang Chunyan , He Mengqi , Tan Qingying , Zheng Wei
Published: February 2023

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of the combination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) foot bath and mild moxibustion in the treatment of limb pain in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).

Methods: A total of 120 patients with symptoms of DPN-induced pain who were hospitalized at the Department of Endocrinology in the 903rd Hospital of PLA, from January 2020 to June 2021, were included in this study. They were randomly assigned to a study group and a control group, with 60 patients in each group. Patients in both groups received conventional treatments and nursing care, while those in study group were additionally treated with a combination of TCM foot bath and mild moxibustion. Treatment efficacy in the patients was evaluated using Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), pain rating index (PRI), visual analogue scale (VAS), TCM symptom score (TCMSS), and Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS).

Results: Compared with control group, there were significant improvements in pain-related scores, namely, SF-MPQ, (p ˂ 0.05); PRI, (p < 0.01); VAS, (p < 0.05); as well as overall efficacy (p < 0.05). Similar improvements were also observed with regard to TCMSS (p < 0.001) and TCSS (p < 0.001) in the study group. However, there were no significant changes in Adjusted Diabetes Quality of Life (A-DQOL) score and blood glucose control in both groups.

Conclusion: Relative to the conventional treatment for DPN, limb pain and disease score of patients are significantly reduced by the combination of TCM foot bath and mild moxibustion treatments. Further clinical trials would be required prior to application in clinical practice.
Galangin protects gastric mucosa from indomethacin induced injury via scavenging ROS and inhibition of PKC, Akt, and NF κB protein expressions
Authors: Gong Jingwen , Xie Yu , Tan Yinfen , Li Hailong , Zhang Junqing
Published: February 2023

Purpose: To investigate the mechanism of action of galangin (GAL) against indomethacin (Indo)-induced gastric injury.

Methods: Ten micromolar GAL with 2 mM Indo or 0.5 mM L-NAME or 2 mM propargylglycine were co-administered to human gastric mucosal epithelial cells GES-1 for 24 h. Cell viability assay and reactive oxygen species (ROS) test were conducted with commercial kits. Protein expressions of constitutive and inducible nitric oxide synthase (cNOS and iNOS, respectively), and cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) in GSE-1 cells were investigated by western blot. After 100 - 300 mg/kg, GAL was daily administered to rats for 5 days, and 30 mg/kg Indo was administered to induce gastric injury. Protein expressions of endothelial NOS (eNOS), iNOS, CSE, nuclear factor (NF)-κB, PKC, Akt, phospho-eNOS (Ser-1177), and phospho-eNOS (Thr-495) were investigated by western blot.

Results: Galangin ameliorated the proliferative inhibitions of Indo, propargylglycine, and L-NAME on GSE-1 cells (p < 0.05), rapidly scavenged ROS, and increased cNOS protein expressions (p < 0.05). Galangin (300 mg/kg) inhibited protein expressions of iNOS (p < 0.01), NF-κB, Akt, and PKC (p < 0.05), inhibited the Ser-1177 and Thr 495 phosphorylation of eNOS, elevated eNOS and CSE protein expressions (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Galangin protects gastric mucosa from Indo by scavenging ROS and inhibiting protein expressions of Akt and PKC. The inhibition leads to Ser-1177 and Thr 495 dephosphorylation of eNOS, thereby prolonging eNOS activity. Besides, GAL inhibits iNOS-produced NO by inhibiting NF-κB to ameliorate the inflammatory reaction induced by Indo.
TRIM8 regulates contrast induced renal cell injury via the TLR4/MyD88/ NF kB pathway
Authors: Li Weigang , Su Lili , Zhang Jian
Published: February 2023

Purpose: To investigate the effect of tripartite motif-containing protein 8 (TRIM8) on contrast media-induced injury on kidneys in mice and on human renal tubular epithelial cells.

Methods: Contrast media-induced nephropathy (CIN) model was constructed by injecting meglumine diatrizoate in mice. Small interference technology was used to knock down the expression of TRIM8 in HK-2 cells, while quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to determine the expression levels of the inflammatory factors: TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-1β, and IL-4. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was employed to determine the cell viability of each group, and TUNEL staining applied to detect apoptosis morphology using a fluorescence microscope. Flow-type Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining and Caspase-3 activity colorimetry were used to observe the changes in apoptosis. Expression of apoptosis factors, including Bax, Caspase3, Caspase9, and anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2, was determined by qRT-PCR, while expressions of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-kB pathway were determined using Western blot and qRT-PCR.

Results: In CIN group, the kidney tissues significantly expressed IL-1β and Caspase3, while the contents of BUN, SCr, and UP all increased (p < 0.05). At the same time, expression of TRIM8 in the kidney tissues was up-regulated. After knocking down TRIM8, HK-2 cells inhibited the contrast agent-induced apoptosis and inflammation and as well as TLR4/MyD88/NF-kB pathway (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: TRIM8 regulates contrast-induced renal cell damage via TLR4/MyD88/NF-KB pathway. The results of the current study may provide new insights for the development of new treatment strategies for CIN.