bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Anti-Hyperglycaemia Effects of Functional Bread Containing Sericin and Mulberry Bark Powder from Sericulture Waste
Authors: Wei Zhen-Zhen , Li Ji-Xin , Yin Xiao-Lu , Zhang Yu-Qing
Published: February 2022

To develop a multi-functional edible bread with significant adjuvant therapeutic effect, a functional bread (FB) with anti-oxidative and hypoglycaemic functional ingredients from sericulture waste, mulberry branch bark powder (MBBP) and silk sericin powder (SSP), was investigated. Trial
settings of low, medium and high doses of sample powder (5, 10, 15% MBBP and 0.3, 0.6, 1.0% SSP) are three FB diet groups LBB, MBB, and HBB, respectively. After four weeks of oral administration, HFB had a hypoglycaemic rate of 36.54% and significantly alleviated the symptoms of hyperglycaemia.
TG and LDL-C levels in serum were evidently reduced while HDL-C, T-SOD, and CAT levels increased significantly. MDA and 8-OHdG levels were evidently decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.001); abnormal glucose tolerance and insulin resistance were significantly alleviated; abnormally
increased glycated serum protein (GSP) levels and serum liver function enzyme activity (AST and ALT) were also significantly reduced. Liver glycogen content also increased significantly. These results demonstrate that the addition of FB to a diet can significantly reduce the blood glucose
level of T2D mice, enhance antioxidant capacity, improve insulin resistance, and improve the ability of glycogen to regulate blood sugar, thus offering new possibilities for developing multi-functional healthy bread products.
Modification of Peanut Shell Biochar and Its Adsorption Performance
Authors: Wang Liucheng , Song Xianglin , Xing Wenting , Zhao Huanhuan , Li Yake , Zhang Liya
Published: February 2022

In order to improve the efficient recovery and utilization of agricultural waste, biochar was prepared from peanut shells through oxygen-limited pyrolysis at 240 °C in this work, and biochar was modified with sodium hydroxide solution to explore the adsorption performance of Pb2+
on biochar before and after modification. The specific surface area, pore structure, surface functional groups, microscopic morphology, surface element distribution of the peanut shell biochar before and after modification were analyzed by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared
Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS). The Pb2+ adsorption experiments on biochar before and after modification were carried out under different conditions, it was found that the suitable solution pH for biochar to adsorb
Pb2+ were both 5.5~6.5, the suitable solid-liquid ratio of unmodified biochar was 2.5 g·L−1, the suitable solid-liquid ratio of modified biochar was 2.0 g·L−1, and equilibrium adsorption time of modified biochar was shortened. The
adsorption behaviors of the two kinds of biochar conformed to Pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isothermal model, thermodynamic parameters were ΔG < 0, |ΔG| < 40 kJ·mol−1, ΔH > 0, ΔS > 0. These
adsorption processes were spontaneous endothermic processes including both physical and chemical adsorption.
Diversity of Endophytic Bacteria in Parasitic and Non-Parasitic Centranthera grandiflora Benth. Based on High-Throughput Sequencing
Authors: Jin Song , Chen Ze-Bin , Li Yu-Chuan , Su Yuan , Fan Zhi-Wei , Wang Ding-Kang
Published: February 2022

The community of endophytic bacteria varies with the genotypes, nutritional status and growth environment of host plants, and in turn it also affects the growth, metabolism and biochemical synthesis of plants. Using the root, stem and leaf of parasitic and non-parasitic Centranthera
grandiflora Benth. (PR, PS, PL and NR, NS, NL) as materials, the differences of endophytic bacteria community and diversity were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. Alpha diversity analysis shows that the richness and diversity of endophytic bacteria in NR were lower than those in
PR; while those in NS were higher than those in PS. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria was the dominant phyla, followed by Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria; the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in each tissue of non-parasitic sample (NR 93.87%, NS 84.27%, NL 90.00%) was higher than that
in parasitic sample (PR 77.06%, PS 78.28%, PL 84.96%). The relative abundance in roots increased the most, up to 16.84%. At the genus level, each sample had its own dominant group, Acinetobacter (37.90%) was the dominant in NR, and the relative abundance was 9.56 times than that in
PR. The nutritional status and the endophytic bacteria community of host plants have an impact on the structure and diversity of endophytic bacteria in Centranthera grandiflora Benth.; the nutrients needed for Centranthera grandiflora Benth. growth may not only come from the
host plant, but also from endophytic bacteria. The results aim to provide a theoretical basis for related study in the relationship between root hemiparasitic plants and their hosts.
Successive Application of Physicochemical and Enzymatic Treatments of Office Paper Waste for the Production of Bioethanol with Possible Using of Carbon Dioxide as an Indicator for the Determination of the Bioethanol Concentration
Authors: Taha Rania H. , Taha Tarek H. , Elsherif Mervat A. , Mansy A. E.
Published: February 2022

The projected depletion of fossil fuels is a big challenge for the scientists and researchers to find out new alternative sources of energy. Using of environmental wastes as raw materials for energy productions is a new trend that most countries are directed to. Office paper wastes
are sources of pure cellulosic wastes that could be intensively used as precursors for bioethanol production. Current study is concerning by liberating glucose units from office paper waste to be used as fermentable sugars for bioethanol production. Both of physical/chemical and enzymatic
hydrolysis were applied in individual and successive processes to maximize the amount of produced sugars. The obtained results showed that both of autoclaving and acidic hydrolysis were efficient than microwaving and buffer hydrolysis. Both of 10% H2SO4 and 10% HCl were
effectively able to release 5 and 4.9 mg/ml of glucose units from paper waste under autoclaving, respectively. However, the successive acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis elevated the glucose concentration to 7 mg/ml after 48 h of incubation. Both of SEM and FTIR were used to characterize the
paper waste before and after hydrolysis. Both techniques proved the degradation of cellulosic fibers of the tested paper matrix in addition to the formation of new hydroxyl group that indicates the enzymatic break down of the bond that link the glucose units together. Saccharomyces cerevisiae
strain showed an ability to ferment the liberated glucose units into 0.12% bioethanol. The released carbon dioxide gas was estimated using GC analysis and the obtained concentration was quite equal to the measured bioethanol concentration. These data prove the possibility of using CO2
concentration as an in-direct assay that reflects the exact concentration of formed bioethanol without the need of regular sampling of the ferment that may result in accidental microbial contamination.
Counter-Cultural Groups in the Age of Covid: Ravers, Travellers and Legal Regulation
Authors: Ashford Chris , O’Brien Mark
Published: February 2022

The Covid-19 pandemic once again brought into sharpened focus the contested relationships of marginalised groups in the criminal law sphere, and the liminal (re-)regulation of space. Over the course of the last four decades, the law has borne witness to an episodic yet regular intertwining of the fortunes of arguably two elements of Britain's counterculture: ravers and travellers, specifically ‘new age’ travellers. The two groupings of peoples have had a long, complex and often uncomfortable and fractious relationship both with English law, and also its enforcement agencies. This is perhaps particularly evident in the criminal law provisions and sometimes questionable enforcement of the Public Order Act 1986 and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, through to the social and environmental provisions of the Caravan Sites Act 1968, Entertainments (Increased Penalties) Act 1990, and subsequent provisions.

Both the groupings of ravers and travellers have been faced with a series of legislative and administrative measures that, directly or indirectly, curtail or otherwise restrict their choices as to activities, lifestyles and behaviours. The article analyses how the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to some long-established legal and regulatory themes being once again played out in relation to these two counter-cultural groups.
Universities in Transition: The Promise and the Challenge of New Technologies
Authors: Burbules Nicholas C. , Callister Thomas A.
Published: February 2022

This essay reviews two interrelated sets of changes that are having a major influence on higher education now and for the future. Our primary concern is with the changes wrought by the incorporation of new information and communication technologies into the teaching activities of colleges and universities. Today these are normally discussed under the rubric of “distance education,” but we believe this label misconceives the importance of online technologies in blurring the distinctions between on- and off-campus teaching. We consider a number of ethical and policy issues arising from these changes and the ways in which the uses of these new technologies affect and are affected by a second set of changes affecting universities, the conditions of globalization. In general, we want to question the forced options of boosterism or rejectionism, along with other unhelpful dichotomies that have characterized much of the discussion of these issues up until now.
Hope, Anguish, and the Problem of Our Time: An Essay on Publication of the Black-White Test Score Gap
Authors: Lucas Samuel R.
Published: February 2022

The Black-White Test Score Gap, edited by Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, raises a series of important questions as to the cause and consequences of observed differences in measured achievement. Jencks, Phillips, and colleagues provide the most successful and sustained assessment of the claims of racial difference attributed to Herrnstein and Murray's The Bell Curve. Even so, striking similarities between the two books reveal the inability of current analyses to truly deepen our understanding of race in America.
Thinking Power and Pedagogy Apart— Coping with Discipline in Progressivist School Reform
Authors: Lefstein Adam
Published: February 2022

This article suggests that failure of progressivist school reforms is due in part to inadequate treatment of the relationship between pedagogy and classroom control. Traditional teaching techniques and disciplinary technologies coincided. Progressivist teaching methods undermined traditional disciplinary structures, without proposing an alternative classroom supervision theory. This study examines the way schools in a current, Israeli progressivist school reform initiative cope with classroom control, both conceptually and practically. Teachers’ thinking and discourse is partitioned, such that teaching and control issues are kept distinct. Numerous school structures and other practices reinforce this partition. A number of questions are posed for the creation of a progressivist theory of classroom control.
Urban Education
Authors: Gordon Edmund W.
Published: February 2022

The research literature on urban education has tended to focus on the problems of low-status minority groups, the complexity of urban school systems, and the financing and governance of such systems. Given this focus, the deeper problems and the significant opportunities associated with the condition of urbanicity have not yet been properly explored. This condition has several prominent features: a high degree of diversity and heterogeneity, conflicting lifestyles of people who live in close proximity, cultural richness, a concentration of material resources, ease of communication, geographic mobility, and the coexistence of fluidity and rigidity in institutional and personal behavior. Through the mass media, the characteristics of urbanicity have become a familiar part of most people's lives, even those who do not live in cities. From the perspective of urbanicity, educators should be most concerned about how the concentration of people, resources, and sources of stimulation found in urban society leads to interactions that have great potential for affecting human development.
Adolescent Girls’ Body-Narratives: Learning to Desire and Create a “Fashionable” Image
Authors: Oliver Kimberly L.
Published: February 2022

This critical narrative inquiry took place in an inner city middle school in the southeast part of the country. The purpose of the study was to explore how four adolescent girls constructed the meanings of their bodies. Of interest were the stories girls told about their bodies and how their stories, cultural storylines, and images of women could empower and disempower girls in the process of becoming healthy women. The girls and I met 50 min twice a week for 15 weeks during their health and physical education class. Data collection techniques included 25 audiotaped and transcribed group discussions, journal writing, freewriting, written stories, and more. These girls were learning, through fashion, to desire and create a normalized image of the perfect woman. Fashion was a heuristic as they constructed the meanings of their bodies.
Baudrillard and Heidegger: Between Two Deaths
Authors: Anne-Cecile Freerks Vanessa
Published: February 2022

In this article, I compare the ways in which Baudrillard and Heidegger seek to bring attention to the importance of death for our personal existential situation which has now become repressed in conceptions of existence and society. Heidegger critiques public conceptions of death that serve to cover up its importance. Less well known is that, somewhat in parallel fashion, Baudrillard charts a ‘genealogy’ of the ‘extradition’ of the dead from the centre of the social and he claims that we live currently in a death denying society. This reduces the meaning of our own impending deaths. However, unlike Heidegger, Baudrillard’s ‘genealogical’ critique of the exclusion of death in modern society is not a one-way dismissal because he proposes an alternative social role for death in the form of ‘primitive symbolic exchange’.
Lipid emulsions attenuate the inhibition of carnitine acylcarnitine translocase induced by toxic doses of local anesthetics in rat cardiomyoblasts
Authors: Ok Seong-Ho , Kang Dawon , Lee Soo Hee , Kim Hyun-Jin , Ahn Seung Hyun , Sohn Ju-Tae
Published: February 2022

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of lipid emulsions on carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT-I), carnitine acylcarnitine translocase (CACT), carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (CPT-II), and the mitochondrial dysfunctions induced by toxic doses of local anesthetics in H9c2 rat cardiomyoblasts. The effects of local anesthetics and lipid emulsions on the activities of CPT-I, CACT, and CPT-II, and concentrations of local anesthetics were examined. The effects of lipid emulsions, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), and mitotempo on the bupivacaine-induced changes in cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and intracellular calcium levels were examined. CACT, without significantly altering CPT-I and CPT-II, was inhibited by toxic concentration of local anesthetics. The levobupivacaine- and bupivacaine-induced inhibition of CACT was attenuated by all concentrations of lipid emulsion, whereas the ropivacaine-induced inhibition of CACT was attenuated by medium and high concentrations of lipid emulsion. The concentration of levobupivacaine was slightly attenuated by lipid emulsion. The bupivacaine-induced increase of ROS and calcium and the bupivacaine-induced decrease of MMP were attenuated by ROS scavengers NAC and mitotempo, and the lipid emulsion. Collectively, these results suggested that the lipid emulsion attenuated the levobupivacaine-induced inhibition of CACT, probably through the lipid emulsion-mediated sequestration of levobupivacaine.
Care-deficits and polarization: Why the time is ripe for a universal care conscription
Authors: de Vries Bouke
Published: February 2022

A large share of countries is struggling to provide adequate care to their older populations. To deal with this challenge, philosopher Ingrid Robeyns has advocated legislation that requires (most) citizens to spend 1 year of their life providing dependency care. My aim of this contribution is to strengthen the case for this proposal, which I will refer to as a ‘universal care conscription’. I do so by defending this type of conscription against various alternative ways of addressing care-deficits that have been proposed. As I show, not only is it doubtful whether pursuing these alternatives will always, or even generally, suffice to prevent and/or alleviate care-deficits at reasonable financial and moral cost, a universal care conscription has significant civic benefits in an age of polarization that count strongly in its favour.
Anorexia nervosa, weight restoration and biological siblings: Differences and similarities in clinical characteristics
Authors: Phillipou Andrea , Gurvich Caroline , Castle David J , Rossell Susan L
Published: February 2022

Objective

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with clinical characteristics including eating disorder symptomatology, negative mood states, perfectionism and cognitive inflexibility. Whether these characteristics differ across illness stages, and are also present in first-degree relatives, demonstrating heritability, is unclear. The aim of this research was to compare current AN (c-AN), weight-restored AN (wr-AN), sisters of individuals with AN (AN-sis) and healthy controls (HC) on these measures.

Method

Eighty participants ( n = 20/group) completed the study.

Results

Eating disorder symptomatology was similar among c-AN and wr-AN groups, whereas the AN-sis did not differ from either wr-AN or HC. Anxiety was significantly higher in c-AN, wr-AN and AN-sis groups, relative to HC. Increased perfectionism was identified in the c-AN and wr-AN groups compared to AN-sis and HC on the ‘concern over mistakes’, ‘personal standards’ and ‘doubt and actions’ subscales of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. Group differences were not apparent on cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that anxiety may be a risk factor or linked to genetic susceptibility for AN, as well as specific aspects of perfectionism that relate to self-imposed standards.
Level of knowledge toward essential newborn care practices among postnatal mothers in governmental hospitals of Harar Town, Eastern Ethiopia
Authors: Leta Masresha
Published: February 2022

Objectives:

Essential newborn care is a set of comprehensive recommendations designed by the World Health Organization to improve the newborn’s health through intervention before conception, during pregnancy, soon after birth, and the postnatal period. Globally 4 million newborns die every year before they reach the age of 1 month. Therefore, this study assessed the level of knowledge and associated factors toward essential newborn care practices among postnatal mothers attending postnatal service in governmental hospital of Harar town, Eastern Ethiopia, 2020

Methods:

Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Harar Town, Jugul, and HiwotFana Specialized University Hospital. Voluntary postnatal mothers who are randomly selected were participated in the study. A total number of 266 women were included in the study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The training was given for data collectors, and data evaluation was done on daily basis. Cleaned data were entered to SPSS version 20, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used for better prediction of determinants and to reduce bias due to confounders. Those variables with a p value less than 0.25 were entered into multiple logistic regression analyses. Associations with p value less than 0.05 were declared as statistically significant. Text, figures, and tables presented the result.

Result:

The overall prevalence of good knowledge was 57.2%. Educational status, average monthly income, antenatal care visit, and parity had significantly associated with outcome variables.

Conclusion:

More than half of mothers had inadequate newborn care knowledge. In addition, educational status, average family monthly income, frequency of antenatal care visit, and parity were independently associated with knowledge on essential newborn care. Therefore, more significant improvement in essential newborn care practices could be attained through policy implications and recommendations. Therefore, we recommend that stakeholders of the health sector have a close follow-up on maternal and newborn care services and maintain a strategy that will incorporate maternal education service on essential newborn care practice.
The Role of Ultrasonography and Elastography in Differentiating Benign From Malignant Breast Masses With Pathologic Correlation
Authors: Sakalecha Anil Kumar , Parameshwar Keerthi B H , Savagave Shivaprasad G. , Naik Bukke Ravindra
Published: February 2022

Objective:

Elastography has the potential in differentiating benign from malignant masses. The objectives of the study were to evaluate morphology of the breast masses with routine ultrasonography and elastography, to assess the role of elastography and conventional B-mode ultrasonography in differentiating benign from malignant breast masses and to correlate elastography and B-mode ultrasonography results with pathologic findings.

Materials and Methods:

This prospective observational study was conducted over a period of 18 months from January 2018 to June 2019 on 86 patients with 101 clinically palpable breast lumps who underwent B-mode ultrasonography and elastography of the breast. Baseline data, sonographic features, a modified color score, and mean strain ratio were recorded and compared with final diagnosis.

Results:

Sonography showed a sensitivity of 89.8%; specificity of 96.15%; positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 95.65% and 90.91%, respectively; and overall diagnostic accuracy of 93.07%. New modified dual color score showed sensitivity of 97.8%, specificity of 87.0%, PPV of 86.79%, and NPV of 87.08% with a diagnostic accuracy of 92.08%. The risk of missing a malignant case with the new modified dual color score was 2.1%. Mean strain ratio showed sensitivity of 100%; specificity of 98.11%; PPV and NPV of 97.96% and 100%, respectively; and diagnostic accuracy of 99.01%.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrates the promise of elastography in identifying possible breast malignancies, thus preventing unnecessary invasive procedures.
The superior accuracy of a novel method in total hip wear calculations following radiographic measurement
Authors: So Kazutaka , Goto Koji , Kawaguchi Atsushi , Kuroda Yutaka , Matsuda Shuichi
Published: February 2022

Background

Polyethylene wear is one of the major concerns of orthopedic surgeons. However, there is no standardized calculation method for the wear rate following radiographic measurement. The purpose of this study was to propose a novel method of wear calculation and to compare its accuracy with a representative conventional method.

Methods

Relative position of the center of the femoral head to that of the cup progresses in one direction following arthroplasty surgery because of bedding-in and wear. We predetermined the amount of bedding-in, wear rate, and random error in measuring the head center position in a 2-dimensional plane. We calculated the wear rate using the head center coordinates over a certain number of measurement periods using a representative conventional method and our novel method. The conventional method consisted of transforming vector data into scalars and conducting a least-squares method. The least-squares method was directly applied to each component of the vector in the novel method. We evaluated the accuracy of these methods by comparing the expected value for the wear rate with their predetermined true values.

Results

If the error were limited to being random, the novel method could provide the predetermined wear rate as the calculation result. However, the conventional method could not.

Conclusion

We recommend using the novel method for the wear calculation rather than the conventional method because of its mathematical accuracy.
Origanum vulgare L. essential oil inhibits virulence patterns of Candida spp. and potentiates the effects of fluconazole and nystatin in vitro
Authors: Cid-Chevecich Camila , Müller-Sepúlveda Andrea , Jara José Antonio , López-Muñoz Rodrigo , Santander Rocío , Budini Mauricio , Escobar Alejandro , Quijada Raúl , Criollo Alfredo , Díaz-Dosque Mario , Molina-Berríos Alfredo
Published: February 2022

Background

Recurrence and resistance of Candida spp. infections is associated with the ability of these microorganisms to present several virulence patterns such as morphogenesis, adhesion, and biofilm formation. In the search for agents with antivirulence activity, essential oils could represent a strategy to act against biofilms and to potentiate antifungal drugs.

Objective

To evaluate the antivirulence effect of Origanum vulgare L. essential oil (O-EO) against Candida spp. and to potentiate the effect of fluconazole and nystatin.

Methods

The effect of O-EO was evaluated on ATCC reference strains of C. albicans and non-albicans Candida species. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined through broth microdilution assay. Adhesion to microplates was determined by crystal violet (CV) assay. An adapted scratch assay in 24-well was used to determine the effect of essential oil on biofilms proliferation. Viability of biofilms was evaluated by MTT reduction assay and through a checkerboard assay we determined if O-EO could act synergistically with fluconazole and nystatin.

Results

MIC for C. albicans ATCC-90029 and ATCC-10231 was 0.01 mg/L and 0.97 mg/L, respectively. For non-albicans Candida strains MIC values were 2.6 mg/L for C. dubliniensis ATCC-CD36 and 5.3 mg/L for C. krusei ATCC-6258. By using these concentrations, O-EO inhibited morphogenesis, adhesion, and proliferation at least by 50% for the strains assayed. In formed biofilms O-EO decreased viability in ATCC 90029 and ATCC 10231 strains (IC50 7.4 and 2.8 mg/L respectively). Finally, we show that O-EO interacted synergistically with fluconazole and nystatin.

Conclusions

This study demonstrate that O-EO could be considered to improve the antifungal treatment against Candida spp.
The impact of Ethiopian community-based health extension program on diarrheal diseases among under-five children and factors associated with diarrheal diseases in the rural community of Kalu district, Northeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Tadesse Ahmed , Walelign Fentaye Fasil , Mekonen Asnakew Molla , Yasine Toyeb
Published: February 2022

Background

The health extension program is a community-based health care delivery program with eighteen defined packages. The main aim of the health extension program is to help to reduce child mortality. So, the aim of this study is to assess the impact of a health extension program on diarrheal disease under-five children in the rural community of Kalu district, Northeast Ethiopia, 2021.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from March to April/2021. A Multi-stage sampling technique was used to get a total sample size of 556 (182 model households and 374 non-model households) with a response rate of 92.22%. Binary logistic regression analysis was done, and P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Propensity score matching analysis was used to determine the contribution of health extension program “model households” on diarrhea diseases among under-five children. The average treatment effect on the treated was calculated to compare the means of outcomes across model and non-model households.

Results

Health extension program (HEP) model household contributed a 17.7% (t = -5.02) decrease in children’s diarrheal diseases among under-five children compared with HEP non-model households. Mothers from non-model households were 2.19 times more likely to develop under-five children diarrheal diseases AOR (Adjusted Odds Ratio): 2.19, 95% CI: 1.34–3.57 than mothers from model households. Households who got no frequent home visits were 3.28 times more likely to develop under-five diarrheal diseases AOR (Adjusted Odds Ratio): 3.28, 95% CI: 1.40–7.68.

Conclusion

When the health extension program is implemented fully (model household), the prevalence of under-five diarrheal disease in the rural community could decrease. The need to develop supportive strategies for the sustainability of model households and encouraging households to be model households is very important.
Model-based patient matching for in-parallel pressure-controlled ventilation
Authors: Wong Jin Wai , Chiew Yeong Shiong , Desaive Thomas , Chase J. Geoffrey
Published: February 2022

Background

Surges of COVID-19 infections have led to insufficient supply of mechanical ventilators (MV), resulting in rationing of MV care. In-parallel, co-mechanical ventilation (Co-MV) of multiple patients is a potential solution. However, due to lack of testing, there is currently no means to match ventilation requirements or patients, with no guidelines to date. In this research, we have developed a model-based method for patient matching for pressure control mode MV.

Methods

The model-based method uses a single-compartment lung model (SCM) to simulate the resultant tidal volume of patient pairs at a set ventilation setting. If both patients meet specified safe ventilation criteria under similar ventilation settings, the actual mechanical ventilator settings for Co-MV are determined via simulation using a double-compartment lung model (DCM). This method allows clinicians to analyse Co-MV in silico, before clinical implementation.

Results

The proposed method demonstrates successful patient matching and MV setting in a model-based simulation as well as good discrimination to avoid mismatched patient pairs. The pairing process is based on model-based, patient-specific respiratory mechanics identified from measured data to provide useful information for guiding care. Specifically, the matching is performed via estimation of MV delivered tidal volume (mL/kg) based on patient-specific respiratory mechanics. This information can provide insights for the clinicians to evaluate the subsequent effects of Co-MV. In addition, it was also found that Co-MV patients with highly restrictive respiratory mechanics and obese patients must be performed with extra care.

Conclusion

This approach allows clinicians to analyse patient matching in a virtual environment without patient risk. The approach is tested in simulation, but the results justify the necessary clinical validation in human trials.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa modulates alginate biosynthesis and type VI secretion system in two critically ill COVID-19 patients
Authors: Qu Jiuxin , Cai Zhao , Duan Xiangke , Zhang Han , Cheng Hang , Han Shuhong , Yu Kaiwei , Jiang Zhaofang , Zhang Yingdan , Liu Yang , Bai Fang , Liu Yingxia , Liu Lei , Yang Liang
Published: February 2022

Background

COVID-19 pneumonia has caused huge impact on the health of infected patients and associated with high morbidity and mortality. Shift in the lung microbial ecology upon such viral infection often worsens the disease and increases host susceptibility to superinfections. Bacterial superinfection contributes to the aggravation of COVID-19 and poses a great challenge to clinical treatments. An in-depth investigation on superinfecting bacteria in COVID-19 patients might facilitate understanding of lung microenvironment post virus infections and superinfection mechanism.

Results

We analyzed the adaptation of two pairs of P. aeruginosa strains with the same MLST type isolated from two critical COVID-19 patients by combining sequencing analysis and phenotypic assays. Both P. aeruginosa strains were found to turn on alginate biosynthesis and attenuate type VI secretion system (T6SS) during short-term colonization in the COVID-19 patients, which results in excessive biofilm formation and virulence reduction-two distinct markers for chronic infections. The macrophage cytotoxicity test and intracellular reactive oxygen species measurement confirmed that the adapted P. aeruginosa strains reduced their virulence towards host cells and are better to escape from host immune clearance than their ancestors.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection can create a lung environment that allow rapid adaptive evolution of bacterial pathogens with genetic traits suitable for chronic infections.
Niche breadth and overlap of spotted deer and domestic cattle with swamp deer in tropical region of Nepal
Authors: Regmi Siddhartha , Neupane Bijaya , Dhami Bijaya , Gautam Deepak , Panthi Saroj , Poudel Megharaj
Published: February 2022

Background

Knowledge about the niche overlap among wild species and domestic cattle is helpful to conserve and manage wildlife. We assessed the habitat niche breadth and overlap of sympatrically living spotted deer (Axis axis) and domestic cattle with swamp deer (Cervus duvaucelii) in Shuklaphanta National Park, Nepal during the dry season to explore the possibility of interspecific competition by studying the habitat use by these species. The assumption was made that the presence of pellets is proof of habitat used by species.

Methods

Grids of 2 km × 2 km have four subgrids, each with four sample plots, making a total of 16 plots (20 m × 20 m) in each grid. The size of each sub-grid was 200 m × 200 m and they were placed randomly inside the grid but at least 1 km apart from one another. The data was collected in a 96 plots in total. Levin’s niche breadth and Morisita’s overlap index were calculated to determine the niche breadth and the habitat overlap, respectively.

Results

The Levin’s measure of niche breadth suggested that spotted deer had the highest acclimatization with an index value of 0.94, followed by domestic cattle at 0.50, and swamp deer at 0.33 in our study area. Thus, our findings supported the evidence that spotted deer are habitat generalists, whereas swamp deer are habitat specialists. The swamp deer had lower niche breadth and more overlap with domestic cattle.

Conclusion

Our study showed the least niche breadth of swamp deer in comparison to spotted deer and domestic cattle. The domestic cattle had the highest and least niche overlap with spotted deer and swamp deer, respectively, in terms of habitat use. Our study suggests that domestic cattle grazing should be stopped, and grassland management should be carried out for the benefit of ungulates. Similar studies should be conducted, including different seasons and places, prior to appropriate habitat management. In addition, further studies are needed to quantify the extent of interspecific competition by incorporating more species.
Criticism as Proposition
Authors: Parsard Kaneesha Cherelle
Published: February 2022

What is possible when empire is uncertain about its authority? This essay looks to West Indian Emancipation, a moment of crisis, for a method. As emancipated peoples of African descent became wage laborers, and set the terms of their work, the sugar industry required free—unbonded—labor. With the arrival of Asian indentured labor, however, it became more difficult to manage the imbrications of race, gender, sexuality, capital, and labor. Proposition takes advantage of this epistemological and enunciative quandary. By dwelling in cultural and historical archives, proposition offers new possibilities about emancipation’s present and the futures that might follow. This essay considers this matrix through an 1871 correspondence between the secretary of state for the colonies and Governor Rawson William Rawson of Barbados and the Windward Islands. The question at hand: “the increasing disposition of Creole women to form connection with Chinese and Indian immigrants.” This question does not compel a fantasy of interracial intimacy. Rather, it suggests that good work and the racial family were crucial to the life of the plantation—and that unsanctioned “connection” might hasten its demise. Proposition is a critical mode of speaking back, a mode of testing alternative timelines and scenes of freedom.
Anticipating Blackness
Authors: Fleming Julius B.
Published: February 2022

This essay examines the significance of time to the production of black ontology and thus to the field of black studies. It takes as its point of departure the field-changing call to think more critically about the enduring legacies of chattel slavery, particularly how this imperative has cultivated an anticipatory logic that helps to forecast the conditions of blackness and to analyze the nature of black ontology. It argues that alongside the large-scale, transhistorical modes of structural analysis that characterize this approach, attention to the more local, everyday experiences of black people—particularly their feelings—is critical to understanding the ontological conditions of blackness. Examining plays and performances by black artists and civil rights activists Lorraine Hansberry and Nina Simone, it proposes that, while fleeting and ephemeral, these feelings not only inflect black existence but also are rife with epistemic value that is as crucial to understanding black ontology as the social, political, economic, and discursive structures that underwrite the modern racial order. Critically analyzing the shifting interrelation of time, feeling, and black ontology renders the act of proclaiming who is dead or alive, free or not, a more complex and reflexive enterprise. It shows that no singular structure or network of structural relations can fully anticipate or explain away black ontology. This calculation is always and everywhere a question of time.
Insight into the Gd–Pt Bond: Slow Magnetic Relaxation of a Heterometallic Gd–Pt Complex
Authors: Yoshida Takefumi , Shabana Ahmed , Zhang Haitao , Izuogu David Chukwuma , Sato Tetsu , Fuku Kentaro , Abe Hitoshi , Horii Yoji , Cosquer Goulven , Hoshino Norihisa , Akutagawa Tomoyuki , Thom Alex J W , Takaishi Shinya , Yamashita Masahiro
Published: February 2022

Lanthanide (Ln) compounds are common research targets in the field of magnetism and optics. Their properties arise from the electrons localized in the f-orbital. Moreover, the effect of the covalency between lanthanide and ligands on magnetism has attracted significant attention. We have provided insight into the Gd–Pt bond (of the heterometallic Ln-Pt complexes: {[Pt(PhSAc)4]Ln[(PhSAc)4Pt]} NEt4·2DMF (Ln = Y(0), La(1), Gd(2); PhSAc = thiobenzoate, NEt4 = tetraethylammonium)); single-crystal polarized X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) reveal the electronic states around metal ion, where spectra of Gd-LIII edges show the Gd–Pt direction has the highest covalency (less ionic) around Gd ion in 2. In addition, calculating natural bonding (NBO) analysis, natural population analysis (NPA), LOL, and atoms in molecules (AIM), ab initio calculations reveal the role of metallic and organic ligands in the electronic and magnetic properties of Ln complexes. The slow magnetization relaxation of the Gd complex, which has not been reported previously in the Pt–Gd–Pt system, was observed up to 45 K, the highest temperature reported to date among isolated Gd-complexes (frequency range: 0.1–10000 Hz).
Leveraging social networks and knowledge graphs for discovering and recommending engaging and credible information
Authors: Πλα Καρύδη Δανάη
Published: February 2022

Η αυξανόμενη χρήση των μέσων κοινωνικής δικτύωσης αναδεικνύει τον κρίσιμο ρόλο των αλγορίθμων κατάταξης και προτάσεων περιεχομένου που επηρεάζουν την εμπειρία των χρηστών και την ενασχόλησή τους με ενδιαφέρον περιεχόμενο. Επιπλέον, η αυξανόμενη δραστηριότητα στα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης επιταχύνει και ενισχύει την παραπληροφόρηση και τη διάδοση ψευδών ειδήσεων, επισημαίνοντας την ανάγκη για την ανάπτυξη αποτελεσματικών μοντέλων ανίχνευσης παραπλανητικού περιεχομένου. Εκτός από τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα, η ψηφιακή μετάβαση δημιουργεί σημαντική αύξηση και ποικιλομορφία των διαθέσιμων συνόλων δεδομένων τα οποία περιλαμβάνουν πλούσιο και ετερογενές περιεχόμενο. Ως εκ τούτου, ο όγκος και η πολυπλοκότητα των διαθέσιμων δεδομένων καθιστούν τα αποδοτικά συστήματα εξερεύνησης δεδομένων ολοένα και πιο κρίσιμα. Παράλληλα, οι μηχανικοί γνώσης οργανώνουν τα αντικείμενα της ανθρώπινης γνώσης και τις σχέσεις μεταξύ τους για τη δημιουργία γράφων γνώσης διαχειρίσιμων από υπολογιστικά συστήματα. Σε αυτή τη διατριβή, διερευνήσαμε τις δυνατότητες σύνδεσης μεταξύ αυτών των ερευνητικών περιοχών. Ανακαλύψαμε ότι ο συνδυασμός των γνώσεων που παρέχονται από τους πιο προηγμένους γράφους γνώσης και δεδομένων από κοινωνικά δίκτυα μπορεί να βελτιώσει σημαντικά την αποτελεσματικότητα των συστημάτων προτάσεων. Επιπλέον, οι σχέσεις που εξάγονται από βάσεις γνώσεων όπως οι υπηρεσίες ελέγχου γεγονότων μπορούν να παρέχουν σύνολα δεδομένων εκπαίδευσης για την ανάπτυξη αποτελεσματικών μοντέλων ανίχνευσης παραπληροφόρησης, ενώ τα σημασιολογικά στοιχεία των γράφων γνώσης μπορούν να βοηθήσουν στην αποτελεσματική εξερεύνηση συνόλων δεδομένων και η ανάλυση δεδομένων από τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα μπορεί να συμβάλλει στην περιήγηση και την κατανόηση των διαθέσιμων δεδομένων.
El surrealismo de Picasso: negación y nuevas aportaciones.
Authors: Castilla Álvarez Irene
Published: February 2022

A la hora de hablar de la producción artística de Picasso, el gran genio del arte del siglo XX, hay que hacer mención a su libertad creadora. La búsqueda por obtener nuevos modos de expresión provocó que su producción se viera influenciada no solo por el arte del pasado, sino también por el contemporáneo. El interés por el arte de su tiempo le hizo conocer el movimiento surrealista, movimiento en el que muchos autores lo enmarcan a partir de 1925. Esta vinculación explica la realización del siguiente trabajo, puesto que, a pesar de las diversas fuentes que influyen en su obra, Picasso siempre mostró un estilo propio. Consecuencia de ello es la dualidad que existe dentro de la historiografía sobre si perteneció o no al movimiento surrealista.
Bonus Season: A Theory of Periodic Labor Markets and Coordinated Bonuses
Authors: Van Wesep Edward D. , Waters Brian
Published: February 2022

We present a general equilibrium model in which firms and workers coordinate compensation so that turnover is high in some periods and low in others. This ensures that firms and workers typically search for new matches when other firms and workers are available. If firms and workers find themselves in a periodic equilibrium, contracts often feature large bonuses paid just prior to periods of high labor market turnover. The theory’s predictions match stylized facts concerning compensation and turnover in high finance and biglaw.

This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.
Aligning Differences: Discursive Diversity and Team Performance
Authors: Lix Katharina , Goldberg Amir , Srivastava Sameer B. , Valentine Melissa A.
Published: February 2022

How does cognitive diversity in a group affect its performance? Prior research suggests that group cognitive diversity poses a performance tradeoff: Diverse groups excel at creativity and innovation, but struggle to take coordinated action. Building on the insight that group cognition is not static, but is instead dynamically and interactively produced, we introduce the construct of discursive diversity, a manifestation of group cognitive diversity, which reflects the degree to which the meanings conveyed by group members in a given set of interactions diverge from one another. We propose that high-performing teams are ones that have a collective capacity to modulate shared cognition to match changing task requirements: They exhibit higher discursive diversity when engaged in ideational tasks and lower discursive diversity when performing coordination tasks. We further argue that teams exhibiting congruent modulation—that is, those with low group-level variance in members’ within-person semantic shifts to changing task requirements—are more likely to experience success than teams characterized by incongruent modulation. Using the tools of computational linguistics to derive a measure of discursive diversity and drawing on a novel longitudinal data set of intragroup electronic communications and performance outcomes for 117 remote software development teams on an online platform ( www.gigster.com ), we find support for our theory. Our findings suggest that the performance tradeoff of group cognitive diversity is not inescapable: Groups can navigate it by aligning their levels of discursive diversity to match their task requirements and by having members stay aligned with one another as they make these adjustments.

This paper was accepted by Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, organizations.

Funding: Financial support fromthe NSF-CAREER [Grant 1847091] is gratefully acknowledged.

Supplemental Material: Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4274 .
A Risk Extended Version of Merton’s Optimal Consumption and Portfolio Selection
Authors: Bensoussan Alain , Hoe SingRu (Celine) , Kim Joohyun , Yan Zhongfeng
Published: February 2022

A risk management version of the classical investment-consumption problem known as Merton's problem in the finance literature is proposed. Risk is measured by variance, which introduces a nonlinear function of the expected value into the control problem. Standard stochastic theory cannot properly handle this type of nonlinear stochastic optimization problem. Therefore, we study this time-inconsistent problem within the mean field-type control framework. We derive the sufficient condition of optimality and solve the problem completely. Numerical results illustrating the effect of risk on optimal policies are also presented. Applications can be numerous, including all kinds of investment decisions or operations decisions.
Crimeia e Além: A Política Externa Assertiva da Rússia e Seus Impasses com o Ocidente | Crimea and Beyond: Russia's Assertive Foreign Policy and Its Impasses with the West
Authors: Lima Jean Santos , Lima Nathalia Suellen Rodrigues
Published: February 2022

A política externa da Rússia, especialmente com o seu entorno geográfico, reforça um reavivamento geopolítico no século XXI. A anexação da Crimeia em 2014 é um marco na segurança internacional, sendo fonte de impasses nas relações da Rússia com o Ocidente. Exploramos e descrevemos a acentuada divisão ideológica e por influência entre Rússia e União Europeia/Ocidente, utilizando documento legais tanto nacionais e institucionais para referendar as posições no conflito, e analisamos como a anexação faz parte de um conjunto de assertividades do país na política internacional. Argumentamos que as ações russas e as perspectivas geopolíticas da década de 2020 reforçam a Rússia como grande potência-chave no sistema internacional como parte indispensável do cálculo sistêmico de China e Estados Unidos no contexto de uma nova Guerra Fria.Palavras-chave: Rússia; Ucrânia; Crimeia; União Europeia; Geopolítica; Poder e influência.ABSTRACTRussia's foreign policy, especially with its geographic surroundings, reinforces a geopolitical revival in the 21st century. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 is a milestone in international security and is a source of impasses in Russia's relations with the West. We explore and describe the sharp ideological and influence division between Russia and the European Union/West, using both national and institutional legal documents to endorse the positions in the conflict, and we analyze how the annexation is part of a set of Russian assertiveness in international politics. We argue that Russian actions and the geopolitical perspectives of the 2020s reinforce Russia as a key great power in the international system as an indispensable part of the systemic calculus of China and the United States in the context of a new Cold War.Keywords: Russia; Ukraine; Crimea; European Union; Geopolitics; Power and influence.Recebido em 14 jun. 2021 | Aceito em 02 set. 2021