bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Editorial
Authors: Cortés-García, PhD Claudia Margarita , Medina, Ch, PhD Ana María
Published: May 2023

A lo largo del siglo XIX, diferentes médicos argumentaron cómo los problemas sanitarios no solo debían recibir respuestas médicas, sino también respuestas políticas, económicas, sociales y culturales. Rudolf Virchow, influenciado por el pensamiento socio-médico francés, consideraba que la medicina tenía fuertes relaciones con la sociedad, y la salud y la enfermedad estaban entremezcladas en el tejido social. Así, consideró que, por un lado, la acción política entraba dentro del campo de la medicina, y, por el otro, que las reformas sociales eran del interés del médico y sus obligaciones a asumir. Concluyó que la medicina podría pensarse como una ciencia social y la política, principal herramienta de prevención, pasaba a ser un instrumento médico. Este pensamiento quedó registrado en la célebre frase “La medicina es una ciencia social y la política no es más que medicina en una escala más amplia” (Die Medizin ist eine soziale Wissenschaft, und die Politik ist nichts weiter als Medizin im Großen). Salomón Neumann, alineado con Virchow, creía que la salud del pueblo era un problema que concernía a toda la sociedad y, por ende, al Estado, al vincularse directamente con las condiciones contextuales de la vida de las personas (4). Este médico dejó escrito que “la mayor parte de las enfermedades […] dependen de condiciones sociales, establecidas culturalmente”...
Support for mental health issues
Authors: Bunkham Sally
Published: May 2023

Sally Bunkham outlines the various support services provided by the PANDAS Foundation for families experiencing mental health issues both pre- and postnatally
Short interpregnancy interval and adverse pregnancy outcomes among women in a Middle Eastern country
Authors: Al-Rumhi Amira Abdullah Saleh , Arulappan Judie , Al-Hashmi Iman
Published: May 2023

Background/Aims

A short interpregnancy interval is associated with several maternal and neonatal complications. In Oman, the incidence of short interpregnancy interval is well documented in the annual health report, but evidence is lacking on its impact on adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study examined short interpregnancy interval, its risk factors and its association with the prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes among Omani pregnant women.

Methods

A retrospective matched case–control design was adopted. Data were collected from medical records between January and December 2020. A total of 597 pregnant women from two tertiary care hospitals in Oman were included.

Results

There was a significant relationship between interpregnancy interval and the prevalence of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes, including postpartum haemorrhage, iron deficiency anemia, preterm birth and low birth weight. Significant risk factors for a short interpregnancy interval were advanced maternal age, young age at first birth, low parity and previous perinatal loss.

Conclusions

Encouraging acceptance of birth spacing through the use of contraception would signify a notable change in cultural values that can act as a barrier to birth spacing. This would therefore improve pregnancy outcomes.
Exploring informed consent in midwifery care
Authors: Madeley Anna
Published: May 2023

One of the single most important tenets of healthcare ethics is that of informed consent. Situated in ethical, legal and human rights frameworks, informed consent at its core represents the ability to retain autonomy over one's bodily integrity and to decide freely who can and cannot touch them. While consent at its simplest means being able to say yes or no, facilitating informed consent requires a more nuanced understanding of a dynamic process that, for midwives and other healthcare professionals, might seem challenging. The aim of this article is to provide a brief introduction to historical context and key legal cases that set the foundations for that which constitutes informed consent. This article focuses on what ‘informed’ means in relation to consent and, importantly, aims to dispel myths around receiving informed consent in contemporary midwifery practice.
Assisted reproduction and morality
Authors: Winter George F
Published: May 2023

George F Winter explores the complicated topic of assisted reproductive technology and the ethical and moral responsibilities that it may confer on those involved in assisted conception
The implementation of a national online teaching platform for UK trainee otolaryngologists
Authors: Green FR , Wahid NW , How Hong EA , Yao A , Bola S , Ojha S , Ghosh S , George MM
Published: May 2023

Disruption to face-to-face postgraduate surgical teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the need for a virtual learning platform for UK otolaryngology trainees. With this impetus, the Association of Otolaryngologists in Training (AOT) created an educational platform on YouTube™ on which to assemble all official online teaching occurring in the UK alongside teaching from international sources that reliably reflected the UK Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Programme (ISCP) in otolaryngology. Since its commencement in April 2020, contributions have come from UK regional deaneries, the National Association of Programme Directors in ENT, and UK and international ear, nose and throat subspecialist organisations. The AOT has edited and annotated webinars, produced transcripts, mapped each individual webinar to the ISCP, maintained a calendar of events and recorded usage data for platform content.
Flexible transceiver for an access network: a multicarrier entropy loading approach
Authors: Liu Gengchen , Zhou Ji , Huang Yuanda , Wang Guanyu , Bo Yu , Wu Yiwen , Lu Yanzhao , He Jiale , Li Mo , Ye Zhicheng , Mo Wenxuan , Li Liangchuan
Published: May 2023

To cope with the extraordinary bandwidth demand, an optical access network based on point-to-multipoint (P2MP) topology has been widely applied. Recently, flexible transceivers have been investigated to maximize the optical power budget of optical network units for increasing the capacity of passive optical networks. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a low-cost, high-bandwidth P2MP solution based on multicarrier modulations and probabilistic constellation shaping technology by reusing a 10G class directly modulated laser and avalanche photodetector for the first time to our knowledge. The proposed P2MP solution is capable of achieving fine granularity data rate adjustment from 12.5 Gb/s up to 63 Gb/s. We discuss the hardware implementation aspect of the proposed multicarrier entropy loading flexible transceiver. By means of a real-time transmission experiment, we show that the proposed P2MP solution can achieve a 29 dB power budget at a symmetric 53 Gb/s line rate, which makes it well positioned to support non-residential P2MP applications such as passive optical local area networks and fiber-to-the-office.
Frequency noise of laser gyros
Authors: Mecozzi Antonio
Published: May 2023

Laser gyros are powerful tools to test the predictions of the general theory of relativity. The precision of a measurement of the rotation rate with a laser gyro is limited by the frequency noise of the beat between two counterpropagating modes of a ring laser. The frequency noise of a single mode of a laser is limited by quantum mechanical constraints because it is related to the maximum precision with which the phase of a coherent state can be measured. If two modes are uncorrelated, the variance of the fluctuations of the difference of the their frequencies is the sum of the variance of the frequency noise of the two modes. If two modes are correlated, this result does not hold any longer. In this paper, we show that there are mechanisms in a laser gyro that are capable to dynamically lock the two modes together without forcing the two modes to the same frequency. The lock of modes decouples the noise of the beat note from the frequency noise of the individual modes, and allows the realization of sub-shot noise laser gyros. These mechanism may explain the recent observation of sub-shot noise performance of the GINGERino laser gyro recently reported in the literature.
Sex modifies the effect of genetic risk scores for polycystic ovary syndrome on metabolic phenotypes
Authors: Actkins Ky’Era V. , Jean-Pierre Genevieve , Aldrich Melinda C. , Velez Edwards Digna R. , Davis Lea K.
Published: May 2023

Females with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder in women, have an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, obesity, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). While only diagnosable in females, males with a family history of PCOS can also exhibit a poor cardiometabolic profile. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the role of sex in the cardiometabolic comorbidities observed in PCOS by conducting bidirectional genetic risk score analyses in both sexes. We first conducted a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) using PCOS polygenic risk scores (PCOSPRS) to identify potential pleiotropic effects of PCOSPRS across 1,380 medical conditions recorded in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center electronic health record (EHR) database, in females and males. After adjusting for age and genetic ancestry, we found that European (EUR)-ancestry males with higher PCOSPRS were significantly more likely to develop hypertensive diseases than females at the same level of genetic risk. We performed the same analysis in an African (AFR)-ancestry population, but observed no significant associations, likely due to poor trans-ancestry performance of the PRS. Based on observed significant associations in the EUR-ancestry population, we then tested whether the PRS for comorbid conditions (e.g., T2D, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, etc.) also increased the odds of a PCOS diagnosis. Only BMIPRS and T2DPRS were significantly associated with a PCOS diagnosis in EUR-ancestry females. We then further adjusted the T2DPRS for measured BMI and BMIresidual (regressed on the BMIPRS and enriched for the environmental contribution to BMI). Results demonstrated that genetically regulated BMI primarily accounted for the relationship between T2DPRS and PCOS. Overall, our findings show that the genetic architecture of PCOS has distinct sex differences in associations with genetically correlated cardiometabolic traits. It is possible that the cardiometabolic comorbidities observed in PCOS are primarily explained by their shared genetic risk factors, which can be further influenced by biological variables including sex and BMI.
The utility of Zip4 codes in spatial epidemiological analysis
Authors: Ajayakumar Jayakrishnan , Curtis Andrew , Curtis Jacqueline
Published: May 2023

There are many public health situations within the United States that require fine geographical scale data to effectively inform response and intervention strategies. However, a condition for accessing and analyzing such data, especially when multiple institutions are involved, is being able to preserve a degree of spatial privacy and confidentiality. Hospitals and state health departments, who are generally the custodians of these fine-scale health data, are sometimes understandably hesitant to collaborate with each other due to these concerns. This paper looks at the utility and pitfalls of using Zip4 codes, a data layer often included as it is believed to be “safe”, as a source for sharing fine-scale spatial health data that enables privacy preservation while maintaining a suitable precision for spatial analysis. While the Zip4 is widely supplied, researchers seldom utilize it. Nor is its spatial characteristics known by data guardians. To address this gap, we use the context of a near-real time spatial response to an emerging health threat to show how the Zip4 aggregation preserves an underlying spatial structure making it potentially suitable dataset for analysis. Our results suggest that based on the density of urbanization, Zip4 centroids are within 150 meters of the real location almost 99% of the time. Spatial analysis experiments performed on these Zip4 data suggest a far more insightful geographic output than if using more commonly used aggregation units such as street lines and census block groups. However, this improvement in analytical output comes at a spatial privy cost as Zip4 centroids have a higher potential of compromising spatial anonymity with 73% of addresses having a spatial k anonymity value less than 5 when compared to other aggregations. We conclude that while offers an exciting opportunity to share data between organizations, researchers and analysts need to be made aware of the potential for serious confidentiality violations.
Management of acid and alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase activities by sugarcane industry waste under lead contamination- A case study of Indian Vertisol
Authors: Dotaniya M. L. , Nagar M. C. , Sharma Amita , Dotaniya C. K. , S. Rajendiran , Singh V. B. , Doutaniya R. K. , Saha J. K.
Published: May 2023

Soil fertility management and crop productivity both are inter-related need extensive attention for sustainability. Industries are being built, which over time produces a lot of effluents containing heavy metal(s), which is then dumped on healthy soils and water bodies. Long-term discharge of lead (Pb)-containing wastewater resulted in significant Pb buildup as well as a decrease in soil biological activity. In this experiment, graded dose of Pb, i.e. 0, 100, 150 and 300 mg/kg and pressmud (PM) (0, 2.5, 5, 10 g/kg) were applied to monitor the Pb toxic effect on soil acid and alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase activity. Different treatment combinations were formulated and the experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. In this experiment, spinach crop was used as a test crop. According to the findings, increased Pb levels in the soil lowered dehydrogenase activity (DHA), acid and alkaline phosphatase. The addition of PM enhanced enzymatic activities by decreasing the labile fraction of Pb in the soil. Incorporation of PM improved the soil enzymatic activities as alkaline phosphatase activity > DHA > acid phosphatase activity in the study. This study suggested that the addition of 10 g/kg PM reduced Pb toxicity (contamination level 300 mg/kg) and improved the soil microbial properties in black soil. These findings are very useful for the remediation of Pb contaminated soil with the help of PM, particularly in peri-urban Pb effluent irrigated areas.
Extraction, phytochemical characterization and anti-cancer mechanism of Haritaki churna: An ayurvedic formulation
Authors: Khan Md Rafi Uz Zama , Yanase Emiko , Trivedi Vishal
Published: May 2023

Haritaki churna (HC), a single herb ayurvedic formulations is known to be prescribed for various gastro-intestinal disorders in Ayurveda. Haritaki churna aqueous extract (HCAE) has anti-cancer activity against different types of cancer cells with an IC50 in the range of 50–97 μg/ml. Bioavailability of Haritaki Churna is very high in digestive track and treatment of colorectal cancer cells HCT-116, DLD1, HT-29 with HCAE reduces its cellular viability with anti-cancer IC50 70μg/ml. HCAE consumption is safe for human as it didn’t affect the cellular viability of primary human PBMCs or non-cancerogenic HEK-293 cells. Haritaki churna was found to be stable in biological gastric fluids and bioactive agents are not losing their anti-cancer activity under such harsh conditions. The HPLC Chromatogram of HCAE is giving 13 major peaks and 11 minor peaks. Exploiting LC-MS, IR and NMR spectroscopic techniques, a total of 13 compounds were identified from HCAE namely Shikimic acid, Chebulic acid, gallic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, Protocatechuic acid, 4-O-galloyl-shikimic Acid, 5-O-galloyl-shikimic Acid, Methylgallate, corilagin, 1, 2, 6, Tri-O-galloyl β-D-glucose, chebulagic acid, chebulinic acid, and Ellagic acid. Reconstitution and subtraction of phytochemicals from the mixture indicate that Ellagic acid significantly contribute into anti-cancer effect of HCAE. Cancer cells treated with ellagic acid from HCAE were incapable of completing their cell-cycle and halted the cell-cycle at DNA synthesis S-Phase, as demonstrated by decreased cyclin A2 expression levels with increasing ellagic acid concentration. Halting of cells at S-phase causes induction of apoptosis in cancer cells. Cancer cells exhibiting DNA fragmentation, changes in expression of several apoptotic proteins such as Bcl2, cytochrome-c and formation of cleaved products of caspase 3 and PARP-1 suggests ellagic acid induces cell death via mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis.
Unravelling the genetic diversity of water yam (Dioscorea alata L.) accessions from Tanzania using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers
Authors: Massawe Joseph Innocent , Temu Gladness Elibariki
Published: May 2023

Water yam (Dioscorea alata L.) is among the most cultivated species used as a source of food and income for small-scale farmers in Tanzania. However, little is documented about Dioscorea species available in Tanzania, including their genetic diversity. This study used ten polymorphic microsatellite markers to determine the genetic diversity and relationship of 63 D. alata accessions from six major producing regions. Results revealed a polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.63, while the number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 12 with a mean of 7.60. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.20to 0.76, with a mean of 0.53, which suggests moderate genetic diversity of D. alata accessions. Kagera region had the highest mean number of (1.5) private alleles. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that 54% of the variation was attributed to within individual, 39% was attributed to among individual while among population contributed 7% of the total variation. The highest Nei’s genetic distance (0.43) was for accessions sampled from Kilimanjaro and Mtwara regions. Principal coordinate analysis and cluster analysis using Unweighted Paired Group Method using Arithmetic (UPGMA) grouped D. alata accessions into two major clusters regardless of geographical origin and local names. The Bayesian structure analysis confirmed the two clusters obtained in UPGMA and revealed an admixture of D. alata accessions in all six regions suggesting farmers’ extensive exchange of planting materials. These results are helpful in the selection of D. alata accessions for breeding programs in Tanzania.
Myth, virtue and method in Plato’s Meno
Authors: Giasoumi Athanasia
Published: May 2023

This paper challenges the prevailing interpretations about the role and the function of recollection in Plato’s Meno, by suggesting that recollection is a cognitive process inaugurated by a myth. This process sets out the methodological and epistemological context within two transitions are feasible: On the one hand, the methodological transition from the elenchus to the method of hypothesis and, on the other hand, the cognitive upshift from opinions to knowledge. Furthermore, this paper argues that Socrates uses the myth of recollection just when Meno niggles and tries to escape the inquiry, introducing the paradox. Based on my deductions, Socrates’ myth imprints on Meno’s soul a true belief which facilitates the process of recollection by rending Meno valiant in continuing the inquiry.
Choosing and Desire in Plato's Republic 4
Authors: Parry Richard
Published: May 2023

Donald Davidson’s causal theory of action greatly influenced a dominant analytic interpretation of the argument, in Republic 4, for parts of the soul.  According to Davidson, actions are caused by a combination of belief and desire (pro-attitude).  In the interpretation inspired by this account, parts of the soul have distinctive beliefs and desires, which cause action; thus, parts are distinct agents.  As well, the argument in Republic 4 is taken to show that, while reason desires the good, appetite is a desire which is good-independent.  Then, since appetite is not a desire for the good, its being a distinct agent implies the possibility of akrasia—appetite could overcome reason’s judgment about the better course of action.  In fact, the possibility of akratic conflict is taken to be integral to the distinction among parts.  By contrast, this paper offers an interpretation which shows that the causal theory is not needed to establish the parts of the soul.  As a consequence, akrasia has no role to play in distinguishing parts of the soul.
«El camino es la vida»: Transgresiones de género y edad en Ladies of Steel
Authors: Menéndez Menéndez María Isabel
Published: May 2023

Ladies of Steel, largometraje de Pamela Tola, fue la película más vista del año 2020 en Finlandia y nominada como Mejor Comedia a los European Film Awards. Se trata de una road movie protagonizada por tres mujeres septuagenarias que rompe los paradigmas edadistas y la estereotipia sexista. Mediante un acercamiento de corte cualitativo y un análisis feminista, este artículo se aproxima a las variables de diferencia de las películas de carretera protagonizadas por mujeres con especial interés por la representación desde el punto de vista etario. Las conclusiones defienden que el filme desmitifica la vejez, el cuerpo, la sexualidad y los mandatos de género, permitiendo (re)elaborar el imaginario de las mujeres mayores desde ideas de autonomía y empoderamiento. Así, Ladies of Steel se enmarca en una tradición de transgresión de los roles de género que han seguido muchas road movies desde los años noventa y que había comenzado con Thelma & Louise. Como aportación significativa, la obra impugna el edadismo al ofrecer un canto a la vida a través de unos personajes que, lejos del retrato habitual de decrepitud que el audiovisual reserva para la vejez, reclaman que nunca es tarde para perseguir las propias metas.
Cultivating the Unseen: Paʻakai and the Role of Practice in Coastal Care
Authors: McGuire Gina , Mawyer Alexander
Published: May 2023

This piece centers itself in paʻakai (seasalt) practices as providing a critical lens for an ethnoecology of the rural Puna coastline on the island of Hawaiʻi. Grounded by ethnographic engagement with ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) tradition, interweaving moʻolelo (stories) from kūpuna (ancestors, elders) alongside contemporary praxis in Puna, Hawaiʻi Island, we explore the role of paʻakai gathering, limu (seaweed) provisioning, and offshore spring water collection in what we are calling coastal care—the reciprocal relationship of care between communities and coasts. Hawaiian cultural practices around paʻakai are a striking home for biocultural linkages including practitioners’ understandings of human and other-than-human wellbeing that exemplify the diversity of cultural dimensions tangibly present in coastal places. Highlighting the plurality of roles culture plays in the sustainable stewardship and wellbeing of coastal places and communities, this work contributes to ongoing discourses around the role of human dimensions in coastal conservation and management. Here we use water, pa‘akai, and limu to make visible what we call the “unseen realm” within contemporary conservation—the persistent blind spots around Indigenous and local culture(s) within conservation policy, planning, and enactment. Encouraging conservation and island sustainability scientists and practitioners to better engage with their blind spots, we identify the need for collaborative coastal management inclusive of ʻŌiwi practices and understandings of coastal care with implications for coastal studies in Hawai‘i and in other Indigenous contexts across Oceania.
Mutiny on the Boundary? Examining ILK-Based Conservation Collaborations through the Lens of Rubbish Theory
Authors: Singleton Benedict E. , Boyd Gillette Maris
Published: May 2023

Many conservation researchers and practitioners argue that knowledges traditionally conceptualized as non-academic are useful for guiding environmental decision-making and stewardship. As demonstrated by the articles in this special issue, bringing Indigenous and local knowledges to bear on environmental conservation requires forging new relationships and, de facto, new political arrangements. In this article, we seek to clarify what is at stake in such efforts to change (or maintain) what counts as knowledge by applying rubbish theory to the volume’s case studies. Redrawing the boundaries of what counts as conservation knowledge in engagements between academic researchers and practitioners trained to “do conservation” according to western science traditions, on the one hand, and Indigenous peoples and local communities who possess knowledge generated in non-academic contexts, on the other, effects demarcations of expertise and so challenges existing social hierarchies. Unsurprisingly, tension emerges about how far such changes should go. By increasing awareness of the relationship between (re)defining knowledge and (re)configuring social and political hierarchies, we hope to make it easier for participants to manage such collaborations.
Foveal and Macular Thickness Measurements in Myopes as Determined by Optical Coherence Tomography
Authors: Reenu Elizabeth Thomas  , Nitin Batra  , Rupali Chopra  , Amandeep Bedi
Published: May 2023

BACKGROUND

Myopia is becoming one of the major public health problems globally. Various structural changes are seen in the fundus of myopic patients. Hence there is a need to understand the normal macular thickness in myopes. With the advent of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), foveal and macular thickness can be measured with micrometer resolution. However, there have been hardly any studies that have compared the central foveal and macular thickness among low, moderate and high myopes. We wanted to assess foveal and macular thickness in low, moderate and high myopic patients and study the association between foveal and macular thickness with axial length and spherical equivalent.

METHODS

A total of 150 eyes of 150 subjects with varying degrees of myopia who presented to the Department of Ophthalmology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana formed the study group. Comprehensive ophthalmic examination was performed which included visual acuity, refraction by autorefractometer, axial length by NIDEK AL-SCAN, foveal and macular thickness measurements by Optical Coherence Tomography.

RESULTS

A total of 150 patients of different grades of myopia were analyzed. The central foveal thickness increased from mild to high myopia. The average macular thickness, and the thickness of the various quadrants in inner and outer macula ring decreased with progression of myopia.

CONCLUSIONS

It was observed from our study that with increasing grades of myopia, there is increase in central foveal thickness and decrease in the average macular thickness which should be considered mainly in high myopes in retinal disorders.
AUTOMATING DATA RETENTION FROM A WEBSITE USING AN APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE
Authors: Adekunle Gabriel
Published: May 2023

The collection and storage of data from websites is crucial for businesses, researchers, and other organizations to gain insights into user behavior and trends. However, with the increasing emphasis on data protection regulations and data privacy concerns, ensuring compliance with data retention policies can pose significant challenges. Traditional methods of web scrapping, which involve manually extracting data from websites, can be time-consuming and may violate data protection regulations. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes an API-based solution for automating data retention from a website. The proposed solution leverages Python and the Requests and Beautiful Soup libraries to extract data from the website’s API and store it in a local database. The API provides a standardized and secure way of accessing the data, reducing the risk of data breaches, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. The solution includes a data retention policy that ensures that data is retained only for the necessary period, reducing storage costs and the risk of data breaches.

The proposed solution provides an efficient and compliant method for collecting and storing data from websites. It reduces the time and resources required for data collection, while also providing valuable insights into trends and patterns in the data. The solution can be adapted to various use cases, such as market research, competitor analysis, and customer behavior analysis. Overall, the proposed solution provides an effective way to automate data retention from websites while ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
Optimizing National Security Strategies through LLM-Driven Artificial Intelligence Integration
Authors: Mikhailov Dmitry
Published: May 2023

As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to advance, we must understand their strategic importance in national security. This paper focuses on unique AI applications in the military, emphasizes strategic imperatives for success, and aims to rekindle excitement about AI's role in national security. We will examine the United States progress in integrating AI into the battle space, discuss the importance of securing these technologies from adversaries, and explore the challenges and risks associated with their integration. Finally, we will highlight the strategic significance of AI to national security and a set of strategic imperatives for military leaders and policymakers.
Stories That Matter: An Analysis of Teacher Candidates’ Compositions About Social Justice Events in Their Lives
Authors: Gormley Kathleen , McDermott Peter
Published: May 2023

This study generated from our interest in learning about social justice events in the lives of teacher candidates in our programs of study. In many schools of education, including our own, social justice is a concept that is integrated into the curriculums, yet there is wide variation as to how this is actually done. A unique aspect of this study was that more than half of the candidates were matriculated in an alternate teacher education program where the majority of candidates are people of color. Using narrative analysis, we examine 48 written narratives composed by teacher candidates about events relating to social justice in their lives. Results indicated that candidates’ narratives clustered into two themes and six categories: The themes consisted of stories about self or family members and to other stories about people in their communities. The categories pertained to racism, bullying, sexuality/gender identity, homelessness/elderly and social violence, with the stories about racism as being the most frequently described. Our findings are discussed in light of the importance of understanding the life experiences of today’s teacher candidates, especially when there is greater diversity in their color and ethnicities than previous generations of teachers. These social justice stories offered us the opportunity to learn about the saliency and the emotional effects of social justice events in our teacher candidates’ lives, and we suggest ways our programs might be improved to better prepare future candidates for teaching in today’s racially and culturally diverse schools.
Diversifying the American Teacher Workforce: Problematizing the Past and Building the Future
Authors: Easley Jacob
Published: May 2023

Equity in the education profession is of grave importance. The current socio-political conditions have elevated matters of social and racial justice in society broadly. As the number of students attending America’s P-12 schools has grown more diverse across racial and ethnic groups, racial parity within the teacher workforce continues to lag. Many stratagems have been employed to expand teacher diversity across the nation with varying effects. We explore the historical and contemporary contexts of teacher diversity and outline considerations to advance racial parity in the teacher workforce beginning with preparation. Specially, we discuss how university-based teacher preparation programs may continually improve through principles of knowledge, cultural, policy, and structural building.
Laparoscopic and Robotic-Assisted Extended Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection for Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Review
Authors: Fu Weijun , Zhang Xu
Published: May 2023

Minimally invasive surgical techniques, including laparoscopic and robotic-assisted radical cystectomy (RC), are emerging as the preferred treatment options for invasive bladder cancer. Mounting evidence has demonstrated that laparoscopic and robotic-assisted RC with extended pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is a viable alternative for managing invasive bladder cancer. In this review, we summarized recent advances and critically assessed the min-imally invasive approaches and risk factors associated with extended PLND in patients undergoing laparoscopic or robotic-assisted RC. The findings indicated that laparoscopic and robotic-assisted PLND, employing either a standard or extended approach, is technically feasible and offers benefits such as minimal invasiveness, superior visualiza-tion, reduced blood loss, and expedited recovery. The risk factors involved in the laparoscopic extended PLND are minimal. Clinically, laparoscopic and robotic-assisted extended PLND is significantly advantageous in that it sticks to the principles of open surgery and respects anatomical boundaries. Nevertheless, laparoscopic and robotic-as-sisted extended PLND is technically challenging and necessitate extended operation time. Furthermore, large-scale, prospective, multicenter trials are warranted to validate the long-term efficacy of laparoscopic and robotic-assisted extended PLND in terms of disease-specific survival.
Pandemic COVID-19: challenge strategic decisions on building in Egypt
Authors: Elhadad Sara , Orban Zoltan , Fülöp Attila
Published: May 2023

COVID-19 threatens the livelihood and lives of people all over the world. Presently, the disease presents a major health concern in Egypt and all over the world. Evaluating the built and physical environment is one of the solutions to reduce epidemic impact before developing its medications (as “prevention”). Epidemics have altered the usage of our built environment because of the infection fear. As a result, urbanism and architecture will never be the same after the COVID-19 epidemic. However, the current global epidemic poses significant challenges in the built environment at all levels, developing an antivirus-enabled paradigm to stop the spreading of virus or decrease the potential risks will take time. Many unanswered questions require further multidisciplinary studies. This investigation provides an overview for impact of the current COVID-19 Pandemic on the field of residential architecture and how it might change the architecture of built environment.
Sinopsis de las especies austro-americanas del género Nassella (Poaceae, Pooideae, Stipeae)
Authors: Cialdella Ana M. , Muñoz-Schick Mélica , Morrone Osvaldo
Published: May 2023

Nassella is an American genus which, according to its current circumscription, includes about 116 species, distributed from Canada to Argentina and Chile. It is characterized by its florets with the lemma conspicuously convolute, with an apical conspicuous or inconspicuous crown, and the palea shorter than the lemma; furthermore, the lemma presents a distinctive epidermal pattern. The aim of this work is to provide a synopsis of the 99 species of Nassella which grow in southern South America, comprising Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brasil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. A key to identify the species, mainly based on floret characters, is given. For each species, the current synonyms, geographic distribution, phenology, observations, and illustrations are presented. Nassella barbinodis is accepted, Nassella linearifolia is a new synonymous of Nassella caespitosa. Lectotypes were here designed for the following taxa: Danthonia nardoides, Piptochaetium collinum, P. gibbum, P. laevissimum, Stipa arechavaletae, S. barbinodis, S. breviculmis, S. calchaquia, S. carettei, S. clarazii var. bulbosa, S. curicoana, S. debilis var. papillosa, S. duriuscula, S. hispida, S. hyalina, S. julietii, S. longiglumis, S. macrathera, S. manicata var. media, S. mendocina, S. pratensis, S. pseudopampagrandensis, S. rupestris, S. tenuis, S. trachysperma, S. trichocaulos, and S. uspallatensis. A neotype is designated for S. filiculmis.
Lactifluus aurantiorugosus (Russulaceae), a new species from southern Brazil
Authors: Sá Mariana C. A. , Wartchow Felipe
Published: May 2023

Lactifluus aurantiorugosus is proposed as a new species from southern Brazil. It is characterized by the small-sized basidiomata, pileus orange, glabrous and wrinkled when fresh, distant lamellae, ellipsoid and verrucose basidiospores with warts up to 0.7 μm, interconnected with incomplete reticules, a trichopalisade as pileipellis-structure, and the context of lamella and pileus with abundant sphaerocysts.
Thursday at Miller's
Authors: Jones Brian E.
Published: May 2023

At seventy-three years old, jazz trumpeter/composer/bandleader John D’earth remains a vortex of swirling energy: gigging constantly, ceaselessly composing, and tirelessly teaching. An iconic musician with a world-class reputation, D’earth is a gifted post-bop trumpeter with a fat sound, a dense knowledge of harmony, and a virtuosic sense of rhythm. D’earth is the type of player that would demand attention in any major metropolitan jazz scene, but within the small confines of the Charlottesville, Virginia jazz community, D’earth is a pillar of influence.  Simply put, D’earth is the heart and soul of the central Virginia jazz milieu. 
Beyond his skills as a performer, D’earth is a revered teacher and mentor. As the Director of Jazz Performance at the University of Virginia, D’earth has certainly helped hundreds of promising young musicians navigate the vicissitudes of institutional learning. But it is D’earth’s work as a teacher outside the academy that will ultimately cement his legacy. D’earth has been leading a Thursday night weekly gig at Miller’s, a beloved tavern in downtown Charlottesville, for over thirty years. Miller’s on Thursdays is a laboratory—a musical workshop—where D’earth holds forth with both his students and his colleagues. On the Miller’s bandstand, D’earth puts professionals next to amateurs, beginners alongside experts. Everyone solos, all players add to the collective musical interplay, and each musician has a voice within the group. 
This project engages D’earth in a series of interviews exploring his holistic approach to jazz pedagogy. Beyond interrogating D’earth’s specific teaching system(s), I inquire into his views about both the pitfalls and advantages of jazz in the academy, how improvisation can build social, political, and economic alliances, and the ways in which music can act as both a form of resistance and a strategy for survival in neoliberal times. At the forefront of my agenda is a discussion on how the jazz ecology of Charlottesville was affected by the events of August 12, 2017, when a misguided “Unite the Right” rally ended in the tragic death of Heather Heyer, bringing political upheaval and racial turmoil to the city of Charlottesville. Finally, I dissect the Miller’s phenomenon with D’earth, attempting to explain how this particular location has operated as both a performance environment and important pedagogical space for such a remarkably long time and yielded such a wealth of creativity and access to musical insight.
Buddy Bolden’s Photo
Authors: Bragalini Luca
Published: May 2023

In their 1939 monograph Jazzmen, Frederic Ramsey Jr. and Charles Edward Smith presented the photograph of a sextet from New Orleans which prominently features a cornet player identifed as Buddy Bolden. From the time of its publication, this photo has been the subject of controversy and many unanswered questions. What is the correct orientation of the photograph? What are the mysterious spherical objects that are seen on the edge of the photograph? Who is the leader of the band?
This article presents a detailed photographic analysis of this so-called first jazz photo, proposing a solution to an enigma that has lasted for eighty years. Analysis of early photographic processes, analysis of the history of musical instruments portrayed in 19th century photographs, study of the history of US clothing in 19th century photographs, and organological investigations have helped provide answers to the riddles that Buddy Bolden's photography has raised.
Revisiting Kenny G (Colloquy)
Authors: Honnold Adrianne
Published: May 2023

Saxophonists have a complicated relationship with Kenny G. His presence as the public face of the instrument is often contested by members of the saxophone community for a variety of reasons ranging from doubts about his authenticity and integrity to a perception of his lack of taste and skill, which has resulted in a form of aesthetic abjection of him and his music. Through a brief exploration of historical contexts, narratives from community members, and a survey of some of his career choices, this essay aims to illustrate that the saxophonists’ rejection of Kenny G serves to diminish the public’s understanding of the instrument’s significance.
Aliens and dragons: purposefully-framed play and non-standard learning methods in teaching evolutionary processes to primary school pupils
Authors: Antczak Mateusz
Published: May 2023

Evolutionary processes lie at the base of the entire observable biodiversity, both at present and in the geological past (i.e., in the fossil record). For this reason, the teaching of evolution should receive more recognition than it currently has (e.g., in Poland) and become accurately applied from the early formal education stages onwards. To test the possibility of effective teaching of evolution to primary school pupils, workshops using non-standard learning methods (‘purposefully-framed play’) were organised during childrens’ university (UNIKIDS) courses of one-hour sessions for 33 groups, comprising several to 20 participants, aged 7 to 12. The final task for all participants was to predict future evolutionary processes by creating new species adapted to given environmental factors. Pupils effectively completed this task, but a few misconceptions also become clear. These workshop scenarios suggest that evolution can be taught effectively at least in extracurricular settings to primary school pupils, but for a detailed insight, a quantitative analysis and application of such scenarios in school programmes should be tested in future.
Book review: Coastal geology, by Juan A. Morales, 2022. Springer International Publishing, 455 pages. eBook price: 96,29 EUR, ISBN 978-3-030-96120-6
Authors: Uścinowicz Grzegorz
Published: May 2023

None provided.
Book review: The mixing of magmas. Field evidence, numerical models, experiments, by Diego Perugini, 2021. Advances in Volcanology, Springer, Switzerland; 162 pages; eBook price 85.89 EUR, ISBN978-3-030-81810-1
Authors: Scarpati Claudio
Published: May 2023

Not provided.
On isosupremic vectorial minimisation problems in L
∞ with general nonlinear constraints
Authors: Clark Ed , Katzourakis Nikos
Published: May 2023

We study minimisation problems in

L
∞

{L^{\infty}}

for general quasiconvex first order functionals, where the class of admissible mappings is constrained by the sublevel sets of another supremal functional and by the zero set of a nonlinear operator. Examples of admissible operators include those expressing pointwise, unilateral, integral isoperimetric, elliptic quasilinear differential, Jacobian and null Lagrangian constraints. Via the method of

L
p

{L^{p}}

approximations as

p
→
∞

{p\to\infty}

, we illustrate the existence of a special

L
∞

{L^{\infty}}

minimiser which solves a divergence PDE system involving certain auxiliary measures as coefficients. This system can be seen as a divergence form counterpart of the Aronsson PDE system which is associated with the constrained

L
∞

{L^{\infty}}

variational problem.
Minimal Kähler submanifolds in product of space forms
Authors: de Carvalho Alcides , Domingos Iury
Published: May 2023

In this article, we study minimal isometric immersions of Kähler manifolds into product of two real space forms. We analyse the obstruction conditions to the existence of pluriharmonic isometric immersions of a Kähler manifold into those spaces and we prove that the only ones into

𝕊

m
-
1

×
ℝ

{\mathbb{S}^{m-1}\times\mathbb{R}}

and

ℍ

m
-
1

×
ℝ

{\mathbb{H}^{m-1}\times\mathbb{R}}

are the minimal isometric immersions of Riemannian surfaces. Furthermore, we show that the existence of a minimal isometric immersion of a Kähler manifold

M

2
⁢
n

{M^{2n}}

into

𝕊

m
-
1

×
ℝ

{\mathbb{S}^{m-1}\times\mathbb{R}}

and

𝕊

m
-
k

×

ℍ
k

{\mathbb{S}^{m-k}\times\mathbb{H}^{k}}

imposes strong restrictions on the Ricci and scalar curvatures of

M

2
⁢
n

{M^{2n}}

. In this direction, we characterise some cases as either isometric immersions with parallel second fundamental form or anti-pluriharmonic isometric immersions.
The game model with multi-task for image denoising and edge extraction
Authors: Wei Wenyang , Feng Xiangchu , Wei Bingzhe
Published: May 2023

Image denoising and edge extraction are two main tasks in image processing. In this paper, a game model is proposed to solve the image denoising and edge extraction, which combines an adaptive improved total variation (AdITV) model for image denoising and a global sparse gradient (GSG) model for edge extraction.
The AdITV model is a forward-and-backward diffusion model. In fact, forward diffusion is applied to the homogeneous region to denoise, and backward diffusion is applied to the edge region to enhance the edge. A unified explicit discrete scheme is established in this paper to solve the AdITV model, which is compatible to forward diffusion and backward diffusion. The stability of the scheme is proved. On the other hand, GSG is a functional model based on sparse representation, which is robust to extract edges under the influence of noise. AdITV and GSG are chosen as two components of the game model. The alternate iteration method is used to solve the game problem. The convergence of the algorithm is proved and numerical experiments show the effectiveness of the model.
Technical efficiency changes of rice farming in the favorable irrigated areas of Indonesia
Authors: Sumaryanto S. , Susilowati Sri Hery , Saptana S. , Sayaka Bambang , Suryani Erma , Agustian Adang , Ashari A. , Purba Helena Juliani , Sumedi S. , Dermoredjo Saktyanu Kristyantoadi , Purwantini Tri Bastuti , Yofa Rangga Ditya , Pasaribu Sahat Marulitua
Published: May 2023

The main sources of rice production growth are increases in the yield and area harvested. Yield improvement is carried out through intensification, mainly using more inputs and better irrigation, while increasing the harvested area is associated with increasing the cropping intensity. Unfortunately, even in favorable irrigated areas, outcomes of the coupled approach are not always synergistic. This study aims to assess technical efficiency (TE), its changes in direction, and the factors responsible for inefficiency during the last 10 years. The data analyzed were those of rice farming through a panel survey of farmer households in several villages with favorable irrigation. The survey was conducted in 2010, 2016, and 2021. The results showed that the use of higher seed quality and inorganic fertilizers positively affected the yield. The TE level was relatively high but tended to degrade in these 3 years. The farmers’ TE in Java Island was higher than that outside Java. The older the farmer, the more inefficient the farmer was. The number of family members working in rice farming negatively affected efficiency. TE increased as the agricultural contribution to household income increased. On the other hand, the farmers’ educational background did not significantly affect TE. Based on these findings, it is recommended to encourage farmers to adopt higher quality seeds of improved rice varieties. It is also urgent to encourage young farmers to pursue rice farming as their main profession. In the middle and long term, breeding improved rice varieties adapted to climate stress will become a pressing need.