bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A qPCR assay for the rapid and specific detection of Shining ram’s-horn snail (Segmentina nitida) eDNA from Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, UK
Authors: Rees Helen C. , Cousins Mags E. , Baker Claire A. , Maddison Ben C.
Published: November 2023

Segmentina nitida Müller 1774 is a freshwater snail which was formerly widespread throughout England and south Wales. Since the 1840s it has seen a rapid decline in its range which has been attributed to deteriorating water quality due to nutrient enrichment, lowering of water tables and over-management of the ditches in which it resides. S. nitida has therefore been identified as a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) priority species which recommends further research for its conservation. Here we have developed a Taqman based qPCR eDNA assay for the detection of S. nitida at the Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve and compared the results with a manual survey of the ditches at this location. 32 ditches were surveyed in November 2020 (22 at Stodmarsh) and February 2021 (10 outside the known range of S.nitida). Our eDNA analysis exhibited an observed percentage agreement of 84% with a kappa coefficient of agreement between manual and eDNA surveys of 0.56 (95% CI 0.22 to 0.92). Three ditches determined to be negative for S. nitida by eDNA analysis were manual survey positive, and a further two ditches that were negative by manual survey were positive by eDNA analysis revealing the potential for improved overall detection rates using a combination of manual and eDNA methodologies. eDNA analysis could therefore augment manual survey techniques for S. nitida as a relatively quick and inexpensive tool for collecting presence and distribution data that could be used to inform manual surveys and management of ditches.
Hazardous materials facility siting optimization and ranking: A transportation risk mitigation framework
Authors: Khan Musharraf Ahmad , Mehran Babak
Published: November 2023

Hazardous material transportation problems have widely been studied in the past especially in the context of routing, scheduling, and network design problems. Yet, the combined hazardous material facility location-routing problem has not been studied adequately. We emphasize that locating a hazardous material facility is a rich process, and a good site can mitigate the potential transportation risk beforehand. A methodological framework is proposed which allows evaluation and ranking of potential sites based on hierarchical relationship utilities. The proposed method attempts to improve the risk functions and applies a stochastic analysis to measure the risk, which relaxes some assumptions in deterministic analysis, and is more realistic while avoiding overestimation of the risk. The study covers multi-objective optimization considering the decision-makers’ preferences on network segments and risk to the population and water bodies. Potential hazardous material facility sites’ rank is determined by the probability of optimality and one-to-one relationship utilities with the points of interests. Results show that the proposed stochastic analysis offers more flexibility to select and rank the potential sites.
Forensic analysis of the Turkey 2023 presidential election reveals extreme vote swings in remote areas
Authors: Klimek Peter , Aykaç Ahmet , Thurner Stefan
Published: November 2023

Concerns about the integrity of Turkey’s elections have increased with the recent transition from a parliamentary democracy to an executive presidency under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Election forensics tools are used to identify statistical traces of certain types of electoral fraud, providing important information about the integrity and validity of democratic elections. Such analyses of the 2017 and 2018 Turkish elections revealed that malpractices such as ballot stuffing or voter manipulation may indeed have played a significant role in determining the election results. Here, we apply election forensic statistical tests for ballot stuffing and voter manipulation to the results of the 2023 presidential election in Turkey. We find that both rounds of the 2023 presidential election exhibit similar statistical irregularities to those observed in the 2018 presidential election, however the magnitude of these distortions has decreased. We estimate that 2.4% (SD 1.9%) and 1.9% (SD 1.7%) of electoral units may have been affected by ballot stuffing practices in favour of Erdoğan in the first and second rounds, respectively, compared to 8.5% (SD 3.9%) in 2018. Areas with smaller polling stations and fewer ballot boxes had significantly inflated votes and turnout, again, in favor of Erdoğan. Furthermore, electoral districts with two or fewer ballot boxes were more likely to show large swings in vote shares in favour of Erdoğan from the first to the second round. Based on a statistical model, it is estimated that these shifts account for 342,000 additional ballots (SD 4,900) or 0.64% for Erdoğan, which is lower than the 4.36% margin by which Erdoğan was victorious. Our results suggest that Turkish elections continue to be riddled with statistical irregularities, that may be indicative of electoral fraud.
Net cost savings arising from patient completion of an active self-management program
Authors: Gorniak Maja , Pardillo Marvin , Keating Catherine , Brown Courtney , Schilling Chris
Published: November 2023

Objective

The objective of this study is to investigate changes in willingness for total knee replacement (TKR) surgery following a randomised control trial (RCT) of an osteoarthritis management program, and to extrapolate orthopaedic cost consequences for private health insurers (PHI).

Methods

Willingness for surgery data from the RCT is analysed using a multinomial logistic regression model. A decision analytic model is used to conduct a break-even cost benefit analysis of the intervention from a PHI payer perspective. The analysis estimates the minimum probability of progression to surgery required for the intervention to be cost-neutral when considering savings limited to reduced orthopaedic costs. Cost data and orthopaedic pathway probabilities are sourced from payer data.

Results

At baseline, 39% of participants in the treatment and control group were willing for surgery. At 12 months, 16% of participants in the treatment group remained willing for surgery, versus 36% in the control group. Participants in the treatment group are 2.96 (95% CI: 1.01–8.66) times more likely than those in the control group to move from initially willing for surgery, to unsure or unwilling at 12 months. The analysis indicates that the intervention is likely to be cost saving when at least 60% of initially willing participants progress to surgery over a 5-year time horizon.

Conclusion

Our study estimates that an education, exercise and weight loss intervention can deliver both improved participant outcomes and a return on investment to Australian PHIs through a reduction in TKR surgery incidence.
A study of steady-state strategies for collaborative quality improvement in new retail service supply chains considering emotional factors
Authors: Guo Bang , Li Yixin
Published: November 2023

How to improve the quality of the new retail service supply chain (RSSC) has become a hot topic for enterprises and consumers. Considering the influence of the new RSSC enterprises’ emotional attitude on the decision-making of quality improvement, the theory of rank-dependent expected utility (RDEU) is combined with an evolutionary game, constructing an evolutionary game model of collaborative quality improvement of new RSSC, and analyzing the game strategy choice of each participant in collaborative quality improvement of new RSSC. The study shows that when only one party is emotional, the rationality of retail service integrators will promote the synergistic improvement of the quality of the new RSSC more than functional service providers. Moreover, pessimism and optimism have an inverted U-shaped effect on quality decisions. When both parties have emotions, functional service providers remain optimistic, and retail service integrators remain pessimistic or rational can promote the collaborative improvement of new RSSC quality. In addition, the effects of quality preference, peer mechanism, feedback mechanism, and risk mechanism on the collaborative quality improvement of new RSSC are analyzed. Based on the research findings, relevant countermeasures are proposed to incentivize new retailers to conduct collaborative improvement in quality in terms of establishing an open mechanism for negotiation and consultation, strengthening the emotion management of new retail node firms, and adjusting the transmission of quality signals, with a view to realizing the quality collaborative improvement of the new RSSC.
Effects of tactical dimension and situational variables in throw-ins on the offensive performance in football
Authors: Casal Claudio A. , Armatas Vasilis , Losada José Luis , Mitrotasios Michalis
Published: November 2023

The aim of the study was to describe the usual practices in the execution of throw-ins by La Liga teams during the 2021–2022 season, identify tactical indicators related to the outcome of plays that start with a throw-in, calculate their predictive power, and finally analyse the influence of situational variables on the effectiveness of these plays. A total of 2,658 throw-ins, during 80 matches were analysed. Two UEFA PRO coaches designed an ad hoc observation instrument “Thrinfoot” and two observers coded the data after a training process. Inter and intra-observer reliability was calculated using Cohen´s Kappa coefficient, revealing almost perfect agreement. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to predict the throw-ins outcome (p<0.05). Results showed how fast throw-ins (OR = 0.7, p<0.05), without pressing (OR = 0.4, p<0.001), short and backwards (OR = 0.3, p<0.01) in the central zone (OR = 0.6, p<0.01) and made in the 16´-30´ (OR = 0.6, p<0.01), 61´-75´ (OR = 0.7, p< 0.05) periods, presented higher probabilities of continuing with possession. Match status losing>2 (OR = 4.1, p< 0.05) showed higher probabilities of success. On the other hand, throw-ins from the defensive zone presented higher probabilities of unsuccess (OR = 8.6, p<0.01) and losing possession (OR = 1.8, p<0.01). Finally, the bottom teams showed the highest probability of losing the ball. In conclusion, tactical indicators such as duration, press, distance, direction and zone were identified as key performance indicators and the situational variables team quality, match status and time influence the outcome of throw-ins. These findings provide valuable insights to coaches regarding the factors that influence the outcome of throw-ins. This allows them to design optimal strategies for both executing and defending these plays based on the game situation and their immediate aims.
Acute myocardial infarction from a lower-middle income country—A comprehensive report on performance measures and quality metrics using National Cardiovascular Data Registry
Authors: Baloch Farhala , Arshad Ainan , Sethi Sher Muhammad , Tai Javed M.
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Epidemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is widely projected in South Asian population and estimated to get double in two decades. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the spectrums of CVD and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) being the common manifestations of IHD. National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) is a registry data that measure their practices and improve quality of care. In this project we aim to see our performance trends in the care of IHD including AMI patients over two year’s period.

Material & methods

A cross sectional study conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. All patients aged 18 years and above admitted to adult Cardiology units with chest pain and acute coronary syndrome are eligible to be included in NCDR data set. Data on demographics and initial characteristics of patients were extracted from NCDR institutional dataset. The data was then compared between 2019 and 2020 on performance, quality, and efficiency metrics.

Result

In 2019 to 2020, 1542 patients with acute coronary syndrome and stable ischemic heart disease were admitted. Out of these, 1042 patients (67.8%) were males. According to our data, the 2020 mortality rate was about 5.25%. In 2019 and 2020, bleeding rates were 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively. Our data showed 100% PCI in 90 minutes in 2019 while 87% in 2020. According to the appropriateness criteria for PCI, 80% were appropriate, while 20% were possibly appropriate in both years. The median length of stay following a procedure was 2 days in 2019 and 1 day in 2020.

Conclusion

This study described the common and unique characteristics of patients with myocardial infarction representing population from South Asian region. Overall, the procedural performance measure and outcome metrics are up to the international benchmarks. Cultural, financial, and pandemic effects identified certain challenges.
An adaptive optimized handover decision model for heterogeneous networks
Authors: Ezz-Eldien Nada Ahmed , Abdel-Atty Heba M. , Abdalla Mahmoud I. , Mahmoud Korany R. , Abdelkader Mohamed F.
Published: November 2023

A heterogeneous network (HetNet), combining different technologies, is considered a promising solution adopted by several upcoming generations of mobile networks to keep up with the rapid development of mobile users’ requirements while improving network performance. In this scenario, a vertical handover (VHO) algorithm is responsible for ensuring the continuity of the ongoing user connection while moving within the coverage of the HetNet. Although various VHO algorithms were proposed, achieving efficient performance from both network and user perspectives remains challenging. This paper proposes an adaptive optimized vertical handover algorithm based on a multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) algorithm integrated with particle swarm optimization and gravitational search algorithm (PSOGSA) as a framework to implement the handover process. The algorithm includes three main ideas. Firstly, a network selection framework is proposed considering the most important criteria, including signal strength and other networks’ attributes, along with users’ characteristics regarding their mobility and service preferences. Secondly, two new parameters are introduced as control handover parameters named load factor (LF) and score priority (SP) to reduce unnecessary handovers and the overall HetNet power consumption while achieving balanced load distribution. Lastly, the desired aims are formulated as an objective function, then the PSOGSA algorithm is used to reach the optimal values of both LF and SP, which will be considered when executing the handover algorithm. The presented algorithm is simulated in a heterogeneous wireless network where the fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology coexists with other radio access networks to improve the evaluation field of the proposed algorithm. Also, the proposed algorithm’s performance is evaluated in the case of using various MADM algorithms. The simulation results show that the proposed adaptive optimized approach attains efficient performance by decreasing unnecessary handovers by more than 40% and achieving much better load distribution by around 20% to 40%, outperforming traditional handover approaches.
IV Encuentro Latinoamericano: reflexiones entre Cuerpos confinados
Authors: Orlando Díaz Daniel
Published: November 2023

La revista Corpo-grafías es una publicación anual de la Facultad de Artes ASAB de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (Bogotá, Colombia), cuya responsabilidad la asume la Línea de Investigación de Estudios Críticos de las Corporalidades, las Sensibilidades y las Performatividades; la revista fue creada para socializar, difundir e intercambiar estudios críticos sobre las diversas modalidades de las artes, las culturas, las ciencias sociales y humanidades; su primera publicación es del año 2014 y es una publicación referente para la pluralidad de reflexiones, dispersas y heterogéneas, que se producen, sobre estos temas en el continente.
Creer en el poder del cuerpo aunque sea a la distancia: apuntes de un curso sobre corporalidad en la pandemia
Authors: Collet Celia , Barcellos Marcella
Published: November 2023

Nuestro trabajo es parte del proyecto de investigación “Antropología y educación intercorporal” desarrollado desde 2018 en la Facultad de Educación de la Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Riode Janeiro. Compartiremos nuestra experiencia en la disciplina “Antropología a través del cuerpo” impartida para el curso de Pedagogía, de septiembre a diciembre de 2020. El curso fue diseñado originalmente para ser realizado de manera presencial, sin embargo, con la pandemia se realizó a través de plataformas digitales. ¿Cómo hacer un curso a distancia sobre corporeidad? Ésta será una de las cuestiones que abordaremos, junto con la investigación sobre prácticas corporales. Sin embargo, partiendo de la certeza de que la proximidad física entre las personas es fundamental en la educación, buscábamos formas en las que el objetivo del curso de acceder creativamente al cuerpo a través de nuestra investigación pudiera hacerse realidad. Intentamos usar lo que teníamos: acceso a Internet, nuestros cuerpos y la casa. Así, partimos de la idea de ambiente “virtual”, armando una lista de canciones, sugiriendo películas, reportando nuestras investigaciones individuales, fotos de nuestras experiencias y las de otros artistas e indicando redes sociales con interesantes investigaciones sobre corporeidad, a llegar a nuestros cuerpos y en la relación con los demás cuerpos de la casa. Exploramos, individualmente, pero con reverberación en lo colectivo, cuerpos, objetos, espacio, plantas, niños, comida, bordados, fotografía, escritura. Y, poco a poco, cada alumna encontró un lugar para desarrollar su investigación artístico-antropológica individual. Y luego, en medio de la aridez de la pandemia, surgieron hermosas creaciones y auto creaciones. Hubo mucha sorpresa por parte de algunos estudiantes con el resultado de un proceso educativo y pedagógico que cree en el cuerpo y en el arte como bases para la producción y creación de conocimiento.
La danza ritual de la Pinkillada como acto de encarnación del mito
Authors: Bellott Andia Valeria
Published: November 2023

La presente investigación indaga etnográficamente en la relación que existe entre religiosidad, danza y cuerpo, enfatizando en la composición simbólica y la relación que todo esto guarda con la red intercorporal y cultural de la comunidad de Tumuyo. Las formas de materialización de la relación entre mito, rito y símbolo son ampliamente diversas y en el caso de la fiesta andina de Carnaval en la comunidad de Tumuyo, dicha materialización se hace presente en los múltiples ritos que componen la fiesta, destacándose la danza por la construcción simbólica en sus componentes corporales y culturales.
Descolonizando los sentidos de los bailarines profesionales de ballet en el aprendizaje en la clase de ballet
Authors: Dornelles de Almeida Doris
Published: November 2023

Esta investigación aborda el papel de las emociones y las experiencias multisensoriales en el aprendizaje de los bailarines profesionales en las clases de ballet de Londres a través de método etnográfico. Partiendo de los conceptos de sensorium, corazonar y decolonial sensing, abogo por la democratización y descolonialización de los sentidos del bailarín uniendo sensorial, razón y emociones como elementos principales para el aprendizaje de la danza.Los bailarines de ballet mostraron un sensorium diversificado para aprender que amplía la noción de los cinco sentidos. Los bailarines perciben y aprenden de manera diferente con y a través de sus sentidos, a partir de antecedentes, culturas y hábitos distintivos. Un uso más igualitario de múltiples formas de percepción por parte de bailarines profesionales puede promover una nueva forma de aprendizaje en la clase de ballet. Ampliar la comprensión de los sentidos y las emociones de los bailarines les ayuda a explorar su técnica y expresión artística.
Encarnarios. Diarios desde el encierro
Authors: De investigación El Cuerpo Habla Semillero
Published: November 2023

Este texto da cuenta del proceso de investigación-creación, que busca fisurar a través de acontecimientos artísticos, los procesos de subjetivación ejercidos por los sistemas disciplinarios, securitarios y de control. Partimos del confinamiento y distanciamiento social generados en consecuencia de la emergencia sanitaria por el Covid-19, que cambió nuestra forma de vida y que afectará la relación con el cuerpo, con los otros y el entorno después del mismo.
Nuestra invitación es a la generación de nuevos actos de habla, de resistencia; sustentar la relación entre el arte y los procesos sociales en el lugar de intersección entre la micropolítica, las subjetividades y el acontecimiento; proponer diversas formas de colectividad para crear una manera de habitar y deshabitar a través de la construcción de pliegues que permitan el cuidado de sí.
El principal hallazgo es entendernos como comunidad virtual y ser capaces de crear desde allí maneras de resistencia.
Cuerpos rituales otomíes: variaciones múltiples. Entes sensibles, intencionales y kinéticos
Authors: Mora Libertad
Published: November 2023

Esta ponencia parte de las exégesis de un grupo otomí de la Huasteca, en México. La intervención gira en torno a responder ¿Cuáles son las connotaciones o implicaciones de la noción de “cuerpo” entre los otomíes? ¿Qué es y por qué es un cuerpo? A partir de sus propias epistemologías la noción de cuerpo tiene características distintas de la mirada antropocéntrica que predomina en algún tipo de academia. Tomo como punto de análisis un rito chamánico denominado “el costumbre”, a partir del cual, desarrollo dos objetivos: explicar quiénes son los distintos partícipes en el rito –humanos y no humanos–; y a la par, explicar las cualidades y variaciones de los distintos tipos de no humanos o cuerpos “otros”. El lector identificará que acudimos a las propuestas de las ontologías indígenas, del perspectivismo y de la antropología relacional, ya que nos brindan los marcos teóricos, metodológicos y conceptuales para el análisis etnográfico que aquí se propone.
Sismografías corporales en cercanías al aprendizaje del cuidado integral de la salud
Authors: López Adriana , Angelini Carla , Díaz Fernanda
Published: November 2023

Hace tiempo nos encontramos junto a docentes y estudiantes de la Licenciatura en Enfermería de la Universidad Nacional del Sur en Bahía Blanca/Argentina para investigar diversas vinculaciones entre las corporalidades y el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de formación profesional.
A partir de las vivencias de quienes participaron de esta investigación, resultan novedosas aquellas que, en distintos escenarios de aprendizaje, buscan no sólo teorizar sobre los cuerpos sino principalmente incorporar la experiencia de pensarlos histórica y políticamente situados. Compartimos problematizaciones y reflexiones sobre la multiplicidad de dimensiones del “cuerpo humano”, tensiones y elementos implicados en este proceso. Aunque el discurso oral aún suele mostrarse disociado en ese corporizar la experiencia, reconocemos inquietudes y búsquedas de otros lenguajes expresivos senti-pensantes en relación a los dispositivos de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Conocimiento y sabiduría. Información y experimentación. ¿Cómo pensar si no es con el cuerpo, como dejar de forzar las experiencias a entrar en un molde?
Hiperparatiroidismo primario y cáncer papilar de tiroides: nuestra experiencia en una asociación no tan infrecuente
Authors: Bernal Tirapo Julia , Sánchez García Carmen , Guadarrama González Francisco Javier , Yuste García Pedro , Ferrero Herrero Eduardo
Published: November 2023

Introducción: La asociación sincrónica de patología tiroidea con el hiperparatiroidismo primario (HPTP) no es lo habitual, su incidencia oscila del 17.8% al 84.3%, siendo del 2.7% al 9.5% en el caso de cáncer de tiroides bien diferenciado. Material y métodos: se revisan 103 pacientes que fueron sometidos a cirugía paratiroidea. Resultados: 82 mujeres y 21 hombres. Todos tenían diagnóstico preoperatorio de HPTP. La patología tiroidea concomitante fue investigada mediante el examen físico, ecografía y/o Tomografía computarizada. 10 pacientes (9,7%) presentaron cáncer papilar de tiroides. Todos los pacientes eran eutiroideos. El análisis anatomopatológico posterior reveló 6 carcinomas T1a (60%), 1 T1b (10%), 1 T2 (10%), 1 T3 (10%) y 1 T4a (10%). 2 pacientes presentaron metástasis ganglionares cervicales (20%) y en 4 pacientes se detectaron focos de microcarcinoma (40%). El carcinoma fue unifocal en 6 pacientes (60%) y unilateral en 8 pacientes (80%). En la mayoría de los casos se realizó una tiroidectomía total (n=8, 80%), con 2 casos de hemitiroidectomía (20%). En un único caso fue necesario realizar una disección laterocervical. No hubo complicaciones postoperatorias. Discusión: La coexistencia del cáncer papilar de tiroides en pacientes con HPTP puede ser muy frecuente, y esto a menudo causa dificultades en el diagnóstico y tratamiento del HPTP. El examen tiroideo pre e intraoperatorio se debe realizar en todos los pacientes con diagnóstico de HPTP para evitar pasar por alto importantes patologías tiroideas, y del mismo modo en aquellos pacientes con sospecha o diagnóstico de carcinoma tiroideo, se debe realizar un despistaje de HPTP. Palabras clave: hiperparatiroidismo, cáncer papilar tiroides, sincrónico, despistaje.
Phytoremediation: A Green Approach to Fight Heavy Metal Contamination in the Soil
Authors: Novalic Jasmin
Published: November 2023

The purpose of this review paper is to present the extent and importance of the problem of heavy metal contamination in the environment, most notably in the soil. Phytoremediation is one approach for tackling this issue through the use of leafy plants for the uptake of excess heavy metals from the soil. An example of such plant species are the members of the Brassica genus which, when put in contact with different heavy metals present in soil, will act to remove them and therefore decrease their concentration. Heavy metals that are mostly observed in this context were copper, lead, and zinc, because of their abundance in different ecological environments. Different plants in general have a satisfactory phytoremediation potential, depending on the plant part, heavy metals in question, as well as used remediation technique. Therefore, introducing Brassica spp. into use would be a good way of enhancing the quality of the environment.
The Presence of Bioactive Compounds in Plants of the Amaranthaceae Family and Their Use in Medicine: A Review
Authors: Kadric Lejla
Published: November 2023

Various plants have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years as natural medicines with therapeutic and other pharmacologic effects. Bioactive compounds found in plants, such as flavonoids, trace minerals, essential oils, phenols, glycosides, alkaloids, and tannins, can affect microbial growth, reproduction, and essential cell functions. Plants of the Amaranthaceae family have a broad range of bioactive phytochemical constituents, which provide a variety of medicinal benefits. This review article discusses the characteristics of Amaranthaceae plants that may indicate their use as medicinal plants, especially against infectious diseases. According to the literature, Amaranthaceae plants contain considerable levels of bioactive compounds that make them effective in traditional medicine, even though their impact on numerous microbes has yet to be examined.
Synthesis and Characterization of Corn Husk (Zea Mays L.) Cellulose Using Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE)
Authors: Yupa Nor Pana , Purwaningsih Henny , Kemala Tetty
Published: November 2023

This research focuses on synthesizing cellulose from corn husks using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), which aims to produce cellulose from corn husks through liquefaction, delignification, and bleaching processes. The total time required is only 14 minutes, thus shortening the process time. This study used three power variations: 450 W, 600 W, and 800 W. The results showed that the optimum conditions occurred at 800 W power. Hence, the higher the power caused the high cellulose content obtained, which amounted to 75.23% and decreased the lignin value to 15.78%, along with the increase in microwave power. FTIR analysis also confirmed the cellulose results obtained and indicated that the lignin groups were weakened or lost. Furthermore, morphological analysis of cellulose fibers by SEM showed that the surface of cellulose fibers was rough, oval, and irregular due to cracks caused by erosion. Then, the result of cellulose crystallinity using XRD was 45.8%. Compared to conventional methods, microwave-assisted cellulose synthesis exhibits better and more promising potential. This is because microwave radiation can be used to improve process time efficiency and achieve higher yields. Moreover, the proposed method is easier, faster, and straightforward.
Water resources utilization and tourism environment assessment based on water footprint
Authors: Su Juanjuan
Published: November 2023

Purpose

With population growth and economic development, global Water Resources (WR) are becoming increasingly scarce. As an important consumer sector, the tourism industry is increasingly consuming and polluting WR. How to reasonably utilize WR and protect the water environment has become an important issue for the sustainable development of the current tourism industry.

Methods

Based on the Water Footprint of WR utilization and tourism environment assessment, this article used four different WR management schemes in different tourist areas to compare with the traditional scheme.

Result

According to the experimental results, it could be concluded that the wastewater discharge and environmental risk index under low Water Consumption technology in a certain mountainous tourist attraction were approximately 90,000 m3 and 0.25, respectively; the wastewater discharge and environmental risk index of a certain tourist city using renewable water technology were approximately 600,000 m3 and 0.5, respectively. The impact of adopting different WR management schemes in different regions has also varied.

Conclusion

This also indicated that when formulating WR management plans for various tourist areas, it was necessary to fully consider the impact of the tourism environment and develop scientific and reasonable management measures. The research in this article has broad application prospects in practice, which helped to promote sustainable economic development and progress in social civilization.
Desarrollo de un índice de calidad ambiental mediante el uso de tecnología satelital para zonas cañeras: el caso de San Luis Potosí, México
Authors: Pérez Medina Pedro , Quiroz Gaspar Ángel de Jesús , Galindo Mendoza María Guadalupe
Published: November 2023

El monitoreo ambiental y su uso para la creación de índices de calidad ambiental son técnicas que desde hace algunos años se utilizan para conocer el impacto que las actividades antropogénicas o naturales tienen sobre el ambiente. El uso de la tecnología satelital ha coadyuvado en el uso de estas metodologías, ampliando su alcance espacial y haciéndolas más asequibles, precisas y oportunas. El objetivo de esta investigación fue monitorear con tecnología satelital las concentraciones de carbono negro en la zona cañera de San Luis Potosí durante la zafra 2021-2022 y proponer un índice de calidad ambiental que, además de este contaminante, incluya otras variables afectadas por el sector cañero azucarero. Con el análisis se observó que la calidad ambiental disminuye durante la época de zafra y se recomienda continuar experimentando con más variables y ampliar el periodo de análisis.
Criticism After This Crisis
Authors: Newfield Christopher
Published: November 2023

How do we build the working conditions we need to really do our jobs? By really do I mean being able to create the new forms of knowledge that society will need to get through the next thirty years, and being able to work with our students with a scope and intensity we desire and they deserve. Only a small minority of us now have proper working conditions. We need them for the whole profession and not just for the privileged few.
Milton’s Coalitions
Authors: Clayton Tom
Published: November 2023

This article proposes “coalition” as an organizing dynamic for opposition politics that influenced an emergent conception of religious toleration in the English Civil Wars. Through readings of John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644), and in comparisons with his immediate forbears and contemporaries, the article distinguishes this conception of toleration from later liberal formulations. In closing, it argues that the formal dynamics of coalition also characterize the marital relationship of Adam and Eve after the fall in Milton’s epic Paradise Lost (1667, 1674).
Everybody’s Statistical Record
Authors: Daniels Devin William
Published: November 2023

This essay approaches Richard Wright’s naturalist novel Native Son (1940) as a statistically informed project that explores probability and potentiality not as theoretical concepts but as material and historical phenomena instantiated by the emerging statistical governance of the New Deal state. I demonstrate the ways Bigger is rendered as information throughout the novel to show that Wright’s work anticipates how the state was increasingly relying on nonvisual, informatic processes of perception, foreshadowing the racialized data of the digital age.
Acts of Feeling
Authors: Bigman Alexander
Published: November 2023

In this essay I address the emotive charge of James Welling’s photographic abstractions from the early 1980s, described by the artist as “images about the act of feeling.” Welling’s endeavor to stage this “act,” I argue, places his work within a wider effort by peers like Sherrie Levine, Cindy Sherman, and David Salle to reassess what it meant for art to be “expressive.” At a moment when modernist models of this concept had lost their credibility and “expressionism” as a genre had come to appear politically toxic, such an inquiry took on new urgency, raising questions that remain central to ongoing debates about the relationship between art, affect, and the social.
Acquired immunity against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and vaccination
Authors: Renia Laurent , Ng Lisa FP
Published: November 2023

The ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) pandemic has caused more than 700 million confirmed infections and ~7 million fatalities worldwide since its emergence in December 2019. SARS‐CoV‐2 is part of a family of positive‐sense, enveloped RNA viruses known as coronaviruses. Today, at least seven human coronaviruses have been identified and are known to cause respiratory tract illnesses with varying severity. The COVID‐19 pandemic spurred the generation of a vast amount of scientific knowledge on coronaviruses in record time, leading to a broad understanding of host immunity against SARS‐CoV‐2, and the rapid development of life‐saving vaccines (mainly mRNA and adenovirus‐ or inactivated virus‐based vaccines). Real world data on licensed SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccines have shown that efficacy ranges from 50 to 95% depending on viral variants, pre‐infections, and vaccine formulations, regimens, and combinations. While vaccination does markedly decrease the chances of infection and severe disease, breakthrough symptomatic and asymptomatic infections have occurred due to the emergence of immune escape virus variants. Therefore, despite these early successes, a better understanding of the mechanisms of protective immunity against infection is essential for the development of longer lasting and more efficient vaccines against SARS‐CoV‐2 and future coronaviruses.
O papel do preconceito sexual na compreensão das atitudes face a gays e lésbicas
Authors: Vieira de Figueiredo Camilla , Teixeira Rezende Alessandro , Magalhães de Moura Hysla
Published: November 2023

O preconceito sexual é um fenômeno complexo, multidimensional e resistente à mudança que representa uma problemática pervasiva tanto no Brasil quanto em outros países. Diante desse cenário, o presente estudo objetivou investigar as relações entre preconceito sexual e atitudes frente a gays e lésbicas, verificando, adicionalmente, se o preconceito poderia se constituir como uma variável explicadora para essas atitudes. Para tanto, contou-se com a participação de 430 universitários (M = 23,5 anos; DP = 7,90; 72,5% mulheres) de uma instituição pública de João Pessoa (PB), que responderam à Escala Multidimensional de Preconceito Sexual, à Escala Multidimensional de Atitudes frente a Gays e Lésbicas e perguntas demográficas. Os resultados demonstraram que o preconceito sexual predisse positivamente atitudes de homopatologização, rejeição da proximidade e heterossexismo, enquanto teve uma associação negativa com atitudes de suporte a homossexuais. Esses achados indicam que o preconceito sexual se configura como um importante mecanismo explicativo das atitudes face a gays e lésbicas.
Pieśni nabożne o piekle... i Wieczność straszliwa [...] na uchronę potępienia (1692) – uwagi o nieznanym polskim druku Stefana Wielowieyskiego
Authors: Banaś-Korniak Teresa
Published: November 2023

This article contains observations on the content of a hitherto unexplored Old Polish work of the late 17th century on religious and eschatological themes. Although its author, a Jesuit Stefan Wielowieyski, refers to 17th-century conventions of writing about hell and the final destiny of the human soul, he modifies these conventions considerably. The article demonstrates that the modification of writing about hell and the afterlife was influenced both by the teachings of eminent theologians (the Fathers of the Church, St Augustine and especially St Bernard of Clairvaux) and by new trends in Christian spirituality. Indeed, Polish mysticism was developing exuberantly in the Polish Nobles’ Republic at the end of the 17th century, and the new generation of the Counter-Reformation promoted ‘spiritual exercises’ in the monasteries.
Zpracování identické kauzy v různých on-line denících
Authors: Svobodová Jindřiška , Faltýnek Dan
Published: November 2023

The paper deals with the reflection of the poisoning of the river Bečva on the news servers iDnes.cz and Seznam zprávy. The selection of on line newspapers was motivated by the person of their owner, the aim of the contribution was to find out how much this circumstance will be reflected in the way the event is presented. In the analysis, the authors used the method of critical reading based on the quantitative processing of the corpus of reports that were published in the period of 13 months after the environmental disaster. They mainly focused on what kind of media image is created for the company DEZA in the news (the prime minister was financially connected to both the iDnes.cz newspaper and this company), what space in the news are given to witnesses “from the people” and experts from the academic sphere, and as the then Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec is presented in the news.
Osobnost Józefa Piłsudského v polských učebnicích literatury
Authors: Zormanová Michaela
Published: November 2023

The article aims to compare the image of Józef Piłsudski in Polish textbooks of literary education from the first grade to the last year of high school. Using discourse analysis, the article will offer metaphors, adjectives, images, historical context and concrete and abstract objects of living memory at the first, second and third levels of education.
Kategoria bohatera absurdalnego w Kamieniu na kamieniu Wiesława Myśliwskiego oraz Sońce Ignacego Karpowicza
Authors: Jamiołkowski Andrzej
Published: November 2023

The article is an attempt to find elements of the concept of the absurd man presented by Albert Camus in the essay The Myth of Sisyphus in selected texts of polish rural prose. The heroes of Kamień na Kamieniu and Sońka, in a way similar to the mythical Sisyphus, whom Camus presents as a model of a person overcoming the absurdity of existence, deal with the nonsense of existence. The attitudes presented by the characters presented are driven by quiet, inconspicuous heroism, the symptom of which is the disagreement with the lack of a deeper meaning that accompanies their existence.
Gāyatrī
Authors: Haas Dominik A.
Published: November 2023

The mantra known as Gāyatrī or Sāvitrī (Ṛgveda III 62.10) is one of the most frequently recited texts of mankind. Over the course of time it has not only been personified as the mother of the Vedas – the oldest religious literature of South Asia –, but has even come to be venerated as a goddess. Today many consider it the most important, most efficacious, or holiest mantra of all. In "Gāyatrī: Mantra and Mother of the Vedas", Dominik A. Haas reconstructs the history of the Gāyatrī-Mantra for the first time, tracing it from 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. He shows how an inconspicuous verse became an emblem of Brahminical Hinduism and presents the processes that led to its deification. To this end, he not only subjects passages from more than one hundred source texts in Vedic and Sanskrit to philological-historical analysis, but also draws upon perspectives and insights from religious studies. The Gāyatrī-Mantra plays an important role in contemporary Hinduism as well as in modern yoga and alternative spiritual currents around the globe. This book therefore not only contributes to South Asian studies and religious studies, but is also of interest to a wider readership.
Immunotherapy in Alzheimer’s disease – new treatment, old problems
Authors: Barczak Anna
Published: November 2023

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the major challenges of modern medicine. Despite strenuous research and numerous clinical trials, no registered causal treatment exists in Europe; however, such pharmacotherapy is already available in the United States (aducanumab and lecanemab). Positive results of immunotherapy clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease, both completed and still ongoing, give hope for finding safe substances that would effectively inhibit the development of Alzheimer’s disease (donanemab pending registration or remternetug in the research phase). Failures in the registration of medicines in Europe have their roots in the lack of noticeable therapeutic benefits and, despite everything, relatively serious adverse effects. The high cost of this therapy as well as the lack of trained personnel and easily accessible centres, where the drug could be administered and patient’s condition could be monitored using magnetic resonance imaging, is another problem. Early diagnosis of patients with Alzheimer’s disease before the onset of symptoms of dementia is an old, still unsolved challenge as immunotherapy is designed only for these patients. Widely applicable diagnostic criteria and guidelines have still not solved the problem of late diagnosis in most patients. A large body of evidence indicates that the efficacy of preventive measures and the control of risk factors can significantly reduce the number of patients. Creating an integrated system to adequately care for the rapidly growing number of patients is crucial. Unfortunately, access to specialist diagnostic centres and support networks for the broadly understood post-diagnosis care for patients and their carers is still a matter of the distant future.
The nematode tapeworm: rediscovery of the bizarre parasite of nematodes, Spirogyromyces vermicola Tzean & Barron (Fungi, incertae sedis) in northeastern Mexico
Authors: Santis-Santis Martha , Felipe-Victoriano Moisés , Sanchez-Peña Sergio R.
Published: November 2023

We report the second world observation of the bizarre nematode-parasitic fungus-like organism, Spirogyromyces vermicola, from forest soil at Saltillo, Mexico. It is a benign parasite of nematodes that fills their intestine. Its phylogenetic position remains a mystery, but its morphology and development are reminiscent of Harpellales and Orphellales in the Kickxellomycotina. Spirogyromyces was cultivated in vivo in the original host (Rhabditis) and in Caenorhabditis elegans. Spirogyromyces proliferated in both hosts, and it did not appear to affect significantly health, reproduction, or numbers of hosts. The rediscovery of Spirogyromyces will highlight its potential in the study of parasitic systems in nematodes, including Caenorhabditis research.
First southeastern Pacific record of Balloon Alfonsin, Beryx mollis Abe, 1959 (Beryciformes, Berycidae), with notes on geographical meristic variations
Authors: Kimura Katsuya
Published: November 2023

Four specimens (151–156 mm in standard length) of Beryx mollis Abe, 1959 were collected from the Nazca Ridge, southeastern Pacific Ocean. These specimens represent the first record of the species from the south-eastern Pacific Ocean and extend the distributional range of the species eastward by ca. 10,000 km from New Caledonia, the previously known eastern limit. Comparison with specimens from other regions reveals geographical variations of some meristic characters in the species.
Distinguishing Between Crimes and Administrative Offenses Committed During Protest Actions
Authors: Ilyin Ilya
Published: November 2023

The paper describes the mechanism of implementing the preventive function of protective legal norms, which, being a relatively independent phenomenon, is not isolated from the systematizing influence of regulative legal norms.
Regulation and prevention together form an integrated complex of measures of legal influence on public relations. However, the protective norms of administrative-tort and criminal law are «secondary», they are derived from the clauses of regulative law, follow them strictly, and support their systematizing potential.
The mechanism of using the preventive potential of protective norms has a linear option and a sequential one, depending on the degree of public danger of an illegal action, the criminological data on the cumulative effect of the damage inflicted and the growing anti-social activity of the perpetrator.
The condition for the effective use of the preventive potential of protective legal norms to prevent demonstration-protest crimes lies in applying measures of administrative law and criminal law liability together in a consistent manner, and duly coordinating them with the prescriptions of regulatory legislation.
The legal reaction of the state to the threats that objectively arise when the citizens of the Russian Federation exercise their right to the freedom of assembly and speech immediately depends on the type and content of these threats, and logically leads to the discussion of the situations when the state can use criminal law measures to react to the threats and the situations when the administrative-tort measures are sufficient.
In more general terms, this is an issue of distinguishing between crimes and administrative offences, which arises both at the stage of establishing responsibility, and the stage of its implementation.