bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Point-of-care HbA1c testing in an urban primary care diabetes clinic in South Africa: a mixed methods feasibility study
Authors: Hirst Jennifer A , Bobrow Kirsten , Farmer Andrew , Morgan Jennie , Levitt Naomi
Published: March 2021

Introduction

Monitoring and treatment of type 2 diabetes in South Africa usually takes place in primary care using random blood glucose testing to guide treatment decisions. This study explored the feasibility of using point-of-care haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing in addition to glucose testing in a busy primary care clinic in Cape Town, South Africa.

Subjects

185 adults aged 19–88 years with type 2 diabetes.

Materials and methods

Participants recruited to this mixed methods cohort study received a point-of-care HbA1c test. Doctors were asked to use the point-of-care HbA1c result for clinical decision-making. Qualitative interviews were held with clinical staff.

Results

Point-of-care HbA1c test results were obtained for 165 participants of whom 109 (65%) had poor glycaemic control (>8% HbA1c, 64 mmol/mol). Medical officers reported using a combination of HbA1c and blood glucose 77% of the time for clinical decision-making. Nurses found the analyser easy to use and doctors valued having the HbA1c result to help with decision-making.

Discussion

Our results suggest that 30% of patients may have received inappropriate medication or not received necessary additional medication if random blood glucose alone had been used in routine appointments. Clinicians valued having access to the HbA1c test result to help them make treatment decisions.
How can we estimate QALYs based on PHQ-9 scores? Equipercentile linking analysis of PHQ-9 and EQ-5D
Authors: Furukawa Toshi A , Levine Stephen Z , Buntrock Claudia , Ebert David D , Gilbody Simon , Brabyn Sally , Kessler David , Björkelund Cecilia , Eriksson Maria , Kleiboer Annet , van Straten Annemieke , Riper Heleen , Montero-Marin Jesus , Garcia-Campayo Javier , Phillips Rachel , Schneider Justine , Cuijpers Pim , Karyotaki Eirini
Published: March 2021

Background

Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are widely used to measure the impact of various diseases on both the quality and quantity of life and in their economic valuations. It will be clinically important and informative if we can estimate QALYs based on measurements of depression severity.

Objective

To construct a conversion table from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the most frequently used depression scale in recent years, to the Euro-Qol Five Dimensions Three Levels (EQ-5D-3L), one of the most commonly used instruments to assess QALYs.

Methods

We obtained individual participant data of randomised controlled trials of internet cognitive-behavioural therapy which had administered depression severity scales and the EQ-5D-3L at baseline and at end of treatment. Scores from depression scales were all converted into the PHQ-9 according to the validated algorithms. We used equipercentile linking to establish correspondences between the PHQ-9 and the EQ-5D-3L.

Findings

Individual-level data from five trials (total N=2457) were available. Subthreshold depression (PHQ-9 scores between 5 and 10) corresponded with EQ-5D-3L index values of 0.9–0.8, mild major depression (10–15) with 0.8–0.7, moderate depression (15–20) with 0.7–0.5 and severe depression (20 or higher) with 0.6–0.0. A five-point improvement in PHQ-9 corresponded approximately with an increase in EQ-5D-3L score by 0.03 and a ten-point improvement by approximately 0.25.

Conclusions and Clinical Implications

The conversion table between the PHQ-9 and the EQ-5D-3L scores will enable fine-grained assessment of burden of depression at its various levels of severity and of impacts of its various treatments.
LRP1Bmutations are associated with favorable outcomes to immune checkpoint inhibitors across multiple cancer types
Authors: Brown Landon C , Tucker Matthew D , Sedhom Ramy , Schwartz Eric B , Zhu Jason , Kao Chester , Labriola Matthew K , Gupta Rajan T , Marin Daniele , Wu Yuan , Gupta Santosh , Zhang Tian , Harrison Michael R , George Daniel J , Alva Ajjai , Antonarakis Emmanuel S , Armstrong Andrew J
Published: March 2021

Background

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1b (encoded byLRP1B) is a putative tumor suppressor, and preliminary evidence suggestsLRP1B-mutated cancers may have improved outcomes with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

Methods

We conducted a multicenter, retrospective pan-cancer analysis of patients withLRP1Balterations treated with ICI at Duke University, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and University of Michigan (UM). The primary objective was to assess the association between overall response rate (ORR) to ICI and pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP)LRP1Balterations compared withLRP1Bvariants of unknown significance (VUS). Secondary outcomes were the associations with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) byLRP1Bstatus.

Results

We identified 101 patients (44 Duke, 35 JHU, 22 UM) withLRP1Balterations who were treated with ICI. The most common tumor types by alteration (P/LP vs VUS%) were lung (36% vs 49%), prostate (9% vs 7%), sarcoma (5% vs 7%), melanoma (9% vs 0%) and breast cancer (3% vs 7%). The ORR for patients withLRP1BP/LP versus VUS alterations was 54% and 13%, respectively (OR 7.5, 95% CI 2.9 to 22.3, p=0.0009). P/LPLRP1Balterations were associated with longer PFS (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.68, p=0.0003) and OS (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.01, p=0.053). These results remained consistent when excluding patients harboring microsatellite instability (MSI) and controlling for tumor mutational burden (TMB).

Conclusions

This multicenter study shows significantly better outcomes with ICI therapy in patients harboring P/LP versus VUSLRP1Balterations, independently of TMB/MSI status. Further mechanistic and prospective validation studies are warranted.
Laser ablation ICP–MS trace element composition of native gold from the Abitibi greenstone belt, Timmins, Ontario
Authors: Greenough John D. , Velasquez Alejandro , Shaheen Mohamed E. , Gagnon Joel , Fryer Brian J. , Tetland Mikkel , Chen Yuan , Mossman David
Published: March 2021

Trace elements in native gold provide a “fingerprint” that tends to be unique to individual gold deposits. Fingerprinting can distinguish gold sources and potentially yield insights into geochemical processes operating during gold deposit formation. Native gold grains come from three historical gold ore deposits: Hollinger, McIntyre (quartz-veined ore), and Aunor near Timmins, Ontario, at the western end of the Porcupine gold camp and the southwestern part of the Abitibi greenstone belt. Laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) trace element concentrations were determined on 20–25 µm wide, 300 µm long rastor trails in ∼60 native gold grains. Analyses used Ag as an internal standard with Ag and Au determined by a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The London Bullion Market AuRM2 reference material served as the external standard for 21 trace element analytes (Al, As, Bi, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, Rh, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Te, Ti, Zn; Se generally below detection in samples). Trace elements in native gold associate according to Goldschmidt’s classification of elements strongly suggesting that element behaviour in native Au is not random. Such element behaviour suggests that samples from each Timmins deposit formed under similar but slightly variable geochemical conditions. Chalcophile and siderophile elements provide the most compelling fingerprints of the three ore deposits and appear to be mostly in solid solution in Au. Lithophile elements are not very useful for distinguishing these deposits and element concentrations may be controlled by microinclusions such as tourmaline. The deposits show low Ag contents, which is consistent with mesothermal Au. Hollinger and McIntyre deposits have similar trace element abundances with higher Ag, Pb, Bi, Sb, and Pd and generally low Cu; however, Cu concentrations in McIntyre are higher than in Hollinger. In contrast, Aunor shows comparatively low Ag, Bi, Sb, Pb, and Pd and higher Au/Ag consistent with higher hydrothermal fluid temperatures. Gold grain signatures reflect the chemical characteristics of the host rock superimposed on a chemical signature inherited from the mineralizing fluid. The association of Pb–Bi–Cu bearing phases such as galena and chalcopyrite with gold apparently enriched in these elements supports precipitation from hydrothermal fluids carrying the elements.
Research facilities and highlights at the Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA)
Authors: Gómez-Camacho J. , García López J. , Guerrero C. , López Gutiérrez J. M. , García-Tenorio R. , Santos-Arévalo F. J. , Chamizo E. , Ferrer F. J. , Jiménez-Ramos M. C. , Balcerzyk M. , Fernández B.
Published: March 2021

The Centro Nacional de Aceleradores is a user-oriented accelerator facility in Seville, Spain. Its main facilities are a 3 MV tandem accelerator, an 18 MeV proton Cyclotron, a tandetron used for AMS, a compact accelerator used for radiocarbon measurements, a $$^{60}$$

60

Co irradiator and a PET/CT scanner. The technical specifications and research applications of these facilities are described. A neutron beam line associated to a charged pulsed beam in the tandem allows for time of flight measurements which determine the neutron energy. The use of an adequate stripper gas in the AMS tandetron permits to measure heavy radionuclides with very low detection levels, allowing to perform environmental studies using these radionuclides as tracers. The use of the microbeam in the tandem accelerator allows to apply the ion beam-induced current technique to investigate the spectroscopic properties and radiation hardness of different semiconductor detectors.
GROWTH AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF DC MAGNETRON SPUTTERED Co0.2Fe0.8 THIN FILM
Authors: MOHANTA MAHESWARI , PARIDA S. K. , SAHOO ANANYA , MEDICHERLA V. R. R.
Published: March 2021

We report the growth and characterization of the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film. The thin film was deposited on Si (100) substrate by using a direct-current magnetron sputtering deposition technique. The Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) analysis suggests a bcc crystal structure with a lattice constant of 2.87[Formula: see text]. The X-ray reflectivity (XRR) data analysis shows the thickness of the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film is about 30 nm. The Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis shows the presence of 22.94% of Co and 77.06% of Fe in [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film. The Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) technique was used to investigate the magnetic properties and results support that [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]thin film exhibits soft magnetic character. The analysis of the M–H loop suggests that the value of the coercive field decreases with the increase of angle with respect to the magnetic easy axis. The MOKE measurement suggests that [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] thin film alloy exhibits the least anisotropy with two-fold magnetic anisotropy. Magnetization reversibility was observed by using high-resolution Kerr microscopy. The domain images showed that reversibility occurs through nucleation and domain wall motion. Magnetic anisotropy dispersion was also observed which may be due to the misalignment of grains in the film due to which we got the least anisotropy. These properties of the prepared sample found potential application in the field of spintronics and magnetic sensors.
A Novel Optimization Algorithm Based on Modal Force Information for Structural Damage Identification
Authors: Aval Seyed Bahram Beheshti , Mohebian Pooya
Published: March 2021

This paper proposes a novel optimization algorithm called modal force information-based optimization (MFIBO) to identify the location and severity of damage in structures. The main idea behind the MFIBO is to take advantage of information captured from the modal force of structural elements to seek the optimum damage variables. The modal element force, defined as the internal element force caused by the action of mode shapes, allows the MFIBO to recognize promising directions in the search space and assists in accelerating the optimization process. Indeed, unlike meta-heuristic optimization algorithms, which disregard explicit information about the problem and rely only upon time-consuming stochastic search computations, the MFIBO employs an informed search strategy to perform optimization in a rational and directed manner. In order to assess the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed MFIBO algorithm, four benchmark damage identification examples of truss and frame structures are conducted under both noise-free and noisy conditions. In each example, the results of the MFIBO are also compared with those attained by two well-known meta-heuristic algorithms, namely the differential evolution and the teaching–learning-based optimization. The obtained results reveal that the MFIBO is able to accurately and reliably identify structural damage with a significantly lower computational burden compared to the meta-heuristic algorithms.
Computational Complexity of Intensional Emotive Constructions, (In)tractability and Natural Language Processing
Authors: Mondal Prakash
Published: March 2021

This paper will focus on linguistic constructions involving intensional emotive predicates in order to assess the computational complexity of such constructions based on the features of intensional elements in such constructions. It will be first shown that linguistic constructions vary as a function of the nature of intensional elements involved in such constructions. The important insights derived from these facts will be then carried forward for an exploration of the computational complexity of intensional emotive constructions which can be seen to co-vary in complexity scales with the number of intensional elements or features of intensional elements. Possible ramifications emanating from this for the cognitive tractability of semantic contents and for natural language processing will be offered at the end of the paper.
Conjugation curvature in solvable Baumslag–Solitar groups
Authors: Taback Jennifer , Walker Alden
Published: March 2021

For an element in [Formula: see text] written in the normal form [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], we exhibit a geodesic word representing the element and give a formula for its word length with respect to the generating set [Formula: see text]. Using this word length formula, we prove that there are sets of elements of positive density of positive, negative and zero conjugation curvature, as defined by Bar Natan, Duchin and Kropholler.
Magnitude and Distribution of Electricity and Water Subsidies for Households with Private Connections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Authors: Cardenas Helena , Whittington Dale
Published: March 2021

This paper presents the first detailed analysis of the combined effects of increasing block tariff (IBT) structures for both electricity and water in an urban area of a developing country. In Addis Ababa, an IBT has been used to calculate households’ monthly bills for electricity and water services. This study estimates the magnitude of combined water and electricity subsidies received by households with private connections to both the electricity grid and the piped network water in 2016, and it evaluates the distribution of these subsidies among wealth groups. Customer billing data supplied by utility companies are matched with socioeconomic information collected through a household survey. Results show that the combined subsidies are large. The average household receives a subsidy of USD 26 per month, about 6% of household income. The findings also show that both electricity and water subsidies under the IBT disproportionately accrue to richer households. The poorest quintile receives 12% of the total subsidies for electricity and water services, while the richest quintile receives 31%. The IBT used in the water sector performed worse in terms of targeting of subsidies to poor households than the IBT used in the electricity sector.
A Multi-Floor Indoor Pedestrian Localization Method Using Landmarks Detection for Different Holding Styles
Authors: Nguyen-Huu Khanh , Lee Seon-Woo
Published: March 2021

The pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) technique is widely used due to its ease of implementation on portable devices such as smartphones. However, the position error that accumulates over time is the main drawback of this technology. In this paper, we propose a fusion method combining a PDR technique and the landmark recognition methods for multi-floor indoor environments using a smartphone in different holding styles. The proposed method attempts to calibrate the position of a pedestrian by detecting whether the pedestrian passes by specific locations called landmarks. Three kinds of landmarks are defined, which are the WiFi, the turning, and the stairs landmarks, and the detection methods for each landmark are proposed. Besides, an adaptive floor detection method using a barometer and a WiFi fingerprinting technique is suggested for tracking a pedestrian in a multi-floor building. The developed system can track the pedestrian holding a smartphone in four styles. The results of the experiment conducted by three subjects changing the holding style in a three-floor building show the superior performance of the proposed method. It reduces the error rate of positioning results to less than 57.51% compared with the improved PDR alone system.
Identification of Subclinical Myocardial Dysfunction in Breast Cancer Patients with Metabolic Syndrome after Cancer-Related Comprehensive Therapy
Authors: Zhang Feng , Wang Siyuan , Liang Siying , Yu Chao , Li Sufang , Chen Hong , Wang Shu , Zhu Tiangang
Published: March 2021

Background. Breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. These patients are more prone to suffer from cardiotoxicity after anticancer therapy. Patients after completion of cancer-related comprehensive therapy, who show normal myocardial function, may already have subclinical myocardial dysfunction. We sought to evaluate the subclinical myocardial dysfunction in breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome after cancer-related comprehensive therapy. Methods. In this study, 45 breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome after completion of cancer-related comprehensive therapy, 45 non-breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome, and 30 breast cancer patients without metabolic syndrome after therapy were enrolled. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) were measured using echocardiogram. Results. All the patients had normal LVEF. However, nine breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome (20%) had GLS that was lower than –17%, while all the noncancer patients had normal GLS. Breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome had a decrease of GLS and LVEF, compared with noncancer patients with metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, we found that decrease of age was associated with reduction of LVEF and that use of trastuzumab for 1 year was a significant factor associated with reduction of GLS. In addition, breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome had a decrease of GLS, compared with breast cancer patients without metabolic syndrome after cancer-related therapy. Conclusions. Breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome after completion of cancer-related comprehensive therapy suffered from subclinical myocardial dysfunction. GLS should be routinely performed to early identify subclinical myocardial damage of patients, in order to prevent the cardiotoxicity of cancer-related comprehensive therapy.
Determinants of Pro-Poor Growth and Its Impacts on Income Share: Evidence from Ethiopian Time Series Data
Authors: Fufa Gemechu Bekana
Published: March 2021

The growing research interest in the pro-poorness of growth is the main issue today. Reducing economic poverty and inequality through pro-poor growth is the aim of policies in many countries. Pro-poor growth is good for poverty eradication if it can be achieved. Ethiopia is a good example of a country where growth was pro-poor between 1990 and 2018 but the pro-poor growth was reversed in 2016. The paper examined what led to pro-poor growth between 1990 and 2018 and what may have been responsible for the reversal in 2016. Unit root test reveals that all the series are nonstationary at level and stationary at first difference and have one cointegration relation between the variables. The dynamic ordinary least squares method was used to analyze the Ethiopian time series data from World Bank Development Indicators between 1990 and 2018 for the determinant of pro-poor growth. Regression analysis shows that job creation was responsible for the pro-poor growth between 1990 and 2018. The results of the analysis showed that human capital, industrial, and services growth have negative impacts on poorest people, whereas employment and agriculture growth have positive impacts on poorest people. In the richest income group, human capital, and industrial and service growths have positive impacts while agricultural growth and employment have negative impacts.
Refining the Molecular Framework for Pancreatic Cancer with Single-cell and Spatial Technologies
Authors: Guo Jimmy A. , Hoffman Hannah I. , Weekes Colin D. , Zheng Lei , Ting David T. , Hwang William L.
Published: March 2021

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a treatment-refractory malignancy in urgent need of a molecular framework for guiding therapeutic strategies. Bulk transcriptomic efforts over the past decade have yielded two broad consensus subtypes: classical pancreatic/epithelial versus basal-like/squamous/quasi-mesenchymal. Although this binary classification enables prognostic stratification, it does not currently inform the administration of treatments uniquely sensitive to either subtype. Furthermore, bulk mRNA studies are challenged by distinguishing contributions from the neoplastic compartment versus other cell types in the microenvironment, which is accentuated in PDAC given that neoplastic cellularity can be low. The application of single-cell transcriptomics to pancreatic tumors has generally lagged behind other cancer types due in part to the difficulty of extracting high-quality RNA from enzymatically degradative tissue, but emerging studies have and will continue to shed light on intratumoral heterogeneity, malignant–stromal interactions, and subtle transcriptional programs previously obscured at the bulk level. In conjunction with insights provided by single-cell/nucleus dissociative techniques, spatially resolved technologies should also facilitate the contextualization of gene programs and inferred cell–cell interactions within the tumor architecture. Finally, given that patients often receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or chemoradiotherapy even in resectable disease, deciphering the gene programs enriched in or induced by cytotoxic therapy will be crucial for developing insights into complementary treatments aimed at eradicating residual cancer cells. Taken together, single-cell and spatial technologies provide an unprecedented opportunity to refine the foundations laid by prior bulk molecular studies and significantly augment precision oncology efforts in pancreatic cancer.
Macropinocytosis in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Is Dependent on CaMKK2/ARHGEF2 Signaling and Functions to Support Tumor and Stromal Cell Fitness
Authors: Zhang Yijuan , Recouvreux M. Victoria , Jung Michael , Galenkamp Koen M.O. , Li Yunbo , Zagnitko Olga , Scott David A. , Lowy Andrew M. , Commisso Cosimo
Published: March 2021

Although pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells are exposed to a nutrient-depleted tumor microenvironment, they can acquire nutrients via macropinocytosis, an endocytic form of protein scavenging that functions to support cancer metabolism. Here, we provide evidence that macropinocytosis is also operational in the pancreatic tumor stroma. We find that glutamine deficiency triggers macropinocytic uptake in pancreatic cancer–associated fibroblasts (CAF). Mechanistically, we decipher that stromal macropinocytosis is potentiated via the enhancement of cytosolic Ca2+ and dependent on ARHGEF2 and CaMKK2-AMPK signaling. We elucidate that macropinocytosis has a dual function in CAFs—it serves as a source of intracellular amino acids that sustain CAF cell fitness and function, and it provides secreted amino acids that promote tumor cell survival. Importantly, we demonstrate that stromal macropinocytosis supports PDAC tumor growth. These results highlight the functional role of macropinocytosis in the tumor stroma and provide a mechanistic understanding of how nutrient deficiency can control stromal protein scavenging.

Significance:

Glutamine deprivation drives stromal macropinocytosis to support CAF cell fitness and provide amino acids that sustain PDAC cell survival. Selective disruption of macropinocytosis in CAFs suppresses PDAC tumor growth.

This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1601
Targeted Therapy Given after Anti–PD-1 Leads to Prolonged Responses in Mouse Melanoma Models through Sustained Antitumor Immunity
Authors: Phadke Manali S. , Chen Zhihua , Li Jiannong , Mohamed Eslam , Davies Michael A. , Smalley Inna , Duckett Derek R. , Palve Vinayak , Czerniecki Brian J. , Forsyth Peter A. , Noyes David , Adeegbe Dennis O. , Eroglu Zeynep , Nguyen Kimberly T. , Tsai Kenneth Y. , Rix Uwe , Burd Christin E. , Chen Yian A. , Rodriguez Paulo C. , Smalley Keiran S.M.
Published: March 2021

Immunotherapy (IT) and targeted therapy (TT) are both effective against melanoma, but their combination is frequently toxic. Here, we investigated whether the sequence of IT (anti–PD-1)→ TT (ceritinib–trametinib or dabrafenib–trametinib) was associated with improved antitumor responses in mouse models of BRAF- and NRAS-mutant melanoma. Mice with NRAS-mutant (SW1) or BRAF-mutant (SM1) mouse melanomas were treated with either IT, TT, or the sequence of IT→TT. Tumor volumes were measured, and samples from the NRAS-mutant melanomas were collected for immune-cell analysis, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and reverse phase protein analysis (RPPA). scRNA-seq demonstrated that the IT→TT sequence modulated the immune environment, leading to increased infiltration of T cells, monocytes, dendritic cells and natural killer cells, and decreased numbers of tumor-associated macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and regulatory T cells. Durable responses to the IT→TT sequence were dependent on T-cell activity, with depletion of CD8+, but not CD4+, T cells abrogating the therapeutic response. An analysis of transcriptional heterogeneity in the melanoma compartment showed the sequence of IT→TT enriched for a population of melanoma cells with increased expression of MHC class I and melanoma antigens. RPPA analysis demonstrated that the sustained immune response induced by IT→TT suppressed tumor-intrinsic signaling pathways required for therapeutic escape. These studies establish that upfront IT improves the responses to TT in BRAF- and NRAS-mutant melanoma models.
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and Internalization: Lessons from the Western Balkans
Authors: Craig Elizabeth
Published: March 2021

The precise form of internalization of the provisions of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in domestic law is crucial in ensuring its long-term effectiveness. Experiences in the Western Balkans raise important questions about the role of minority (or community) rights legislation in deeply divided societies. This article uses the case-studies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Republic of North Macedonia to highlight key themes and limitations that have emerged. Comparative analysis reveals a surprising divergence of approaches to internalization in the region. The article further demonstrates that the ‘nation-cum-state paradigm’ remains prevalent, despite the premise of universality. It argues that such legislation can play an important symbolic and practical role, but that legal internalization needs to be seen as an ongoing process. It concludes that attention needs to be given to ensuring the continued particularization and adaptation of such legislation in light of both the limitations and changing circumstances, providing a key lesson also for other divided societies.
Le lingála dans l’enseignement des sciences dans les écoles de Kinshasa. Une approche socioterminologique
Authors: Mongaba Bienvenu Sene
Published: March 2021

In most African countries, former colonial languages are still used as languages of instruction in the school system, especially for science courses in secondary schools and in universities, although, ironically, proficiency in former colonial languages is dwindling. At the same time, however, African languages lack in specialized terminology to accommodate teaching. Empowering African languages is therefore becoming urgent, so that teachers can use them efficiently as languages of instruction. My PhD work strives to provide a solution to that problem by finding tools for the empowerment of the vocabulary and scientific discourse of Lingála, as well as its validation and diffusion among teachers and students of Kinshasa. This is why my PhD work aims at analyzing morpho-semantics of derivatives (verbs, deverbal nouns, nominals), since in Bantu languages, as widely established, derivation and compounding are very productive. I have systematically extracted general meanings from each combination of affixes (nominal prefix-verbal extension-final vowel). While doing so, I have created a derivative generator, i.e. a table where, by replacing a certain verbal stem, a list of nouns and verbs candidates is generated, alongside a brief definition allowing a terminologist to link a certain term to a certain scientific concept the specific definition of which best fits the general definition. The ultimate goal is the coinage of scientific terms. Creating specialty terms is useful, but fining those terms in a discourse also needs characterization of the language syntax requirements and limits. Therefore, I have then moved on to analyzing and describing noun phrases and verb phrases structures. Following that, I have then worked on verifying if the terms coined really fit in natural Lingála language, through tests designed to identify and distinguish verb and sentence complements. Having theorized the morpho-semantics and the syntax of Lingála, I have applied it in writing chemistry text in Lingála. I have conducted all of my PhD work in Lingála, which means I have conceived and written my PhD work in Lingála. Doing so has also allowed me to coin linguistics terms and discourse in Lingála.
Arab Spring in Morocco: social media and the 20 February movement
Authors: Brouwer Lenie , Bartels Edien
Published: March 2021

Encouraged by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the Arab Spring, young Moroccans began to organise huge demonstrations across the country demanding more democracy, social justice and anti-corruption measures. The 20 February movement, named after the first demonstration held on that date in 2011, is a good illustration of one of the new social movements characterized by an intense use of technology and their diffuse membership. This article explores how protesters challenge the dominant institutions and norms in society through their struggle and how they try to create new meanings for these institutions, not only by protesting but also by using social media. We argue that using new social media is not only a vehicle for the mobilisation of activists, but also represents a form of new meaning-making for them: they participate, not only in a local sense, but also globally. Their online activities intersect and influence offline practices and vice versa, creating a continuous interaction which exerts an influence on both worlds. It is precisely this interconnectedness of offline and online worlds that is the decisive force in these movements and creates new meaning-making.
Modernisation néolibérale ettransformation du profil des dirigeants des entreprises publiques au Maroc.Cas de la Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) : 1959-2009
Authors: Abdellatif Zeroual
Published: March 2021

Sous analysé par les sciences sociales au Maroc, le groupe des dirigeants des entreprises publiques marocaines a subi un ensemble de transformations sous l’effet des processus de modernisation néolibérale du secteur public entamés depuis les années 80. L’objectif de cet article est de se rendre compte de ces évolutions à travers l’étude de cas de l’une des plus grandes entreprises publiques : la Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG). En s’appuyant sur l’exploitation d’un ensemble de documents (monographies, documents officiels, articles de presse…) produits par ou sur cette institution, l’analyse du profil de ses dirigeants entre 1959 et 2009 et des entretiens semi directifs menés avec un échantillon d’actuels et d’anciens cadres, cet article montre que s’il y a eu une transformation du profil de ses dirigeants (des hauts commis de l’administration financière aux ingénieurs diplômés des grandes écoles françaises), le paradigme dominant au niveau de la gestion de la caisse est resté, en revanche, le même.
Depoliticised ethnicity in Tanzania: a structural and historical narrative
Authors: Malipula Mrisho
Published: March 2021

Much of the literature on ethnicity in Africa regards ethnicity as a central cleavage and associates its politicisation with civil war and deteriorating socio-economic conditions. Tanzanian society is not structured by this cleavage, making it an outlier among African states. Despite the negative impact of politicised ethnicity, little is known of the circumstances through which it germinates and comes to have negative consequences, or how it can be suppressed in Africa. The present article attempts a comprehensive analysis of the structural and historical factors that have made the move away from politicisation of ethnicity in Tanzania possible. It provides an eclectic structural and historical explanation that attributes lack of ethnic salience in Tanzanian politics to a particular ethnic structure, to certain colonial administrative and economic approaches, and to a sustained nation-building ethos. The argument results from a critical analysis of secondary material on ethnicity and the politics of Tanzania.
Améliorer la compétitivité du bois de sciage légal en provenance de la zone agroforestière au Cameroun
Authors: Kana Romain , Sonne Norbert , Ondua Barthelemy , Tadjo Patrick , Ondo Benjamin
Published: March 2021

Depuis 1997, année d’attribution de la première forêt communautaire au Cameroun, le bois de sciage artisanal, issu des forêts communautaires, a du mal à trouver de la place dans le marché domestique pourtant en pleine expansion. La faible compétitivité de l’offre des forêts communautaires est un des freins importants pour la réduction de la pauvreté en milieu rural telle que souhaitée dans les nouvelles politiques forestières en Afrique Centrale. Le présent article, issu des travaux d’une équipe du Fonds Mondial pour la Nature et des structures partenaires, met en évidence les facteurs explicatifs de la faible compétitivité des forêts communautaires sur le marché domestique et propose en guise de conclusions, quelques stratégies dont la mise en oeuvre permettra à la foresterie communautaire de jouer pleinement son rôle dans l’approvisionnement des marchés domestiques, la gestion durable des ressources agroforestières et la réduction de la pauvreté en milieu rural.
A review of factors associated with the utilization of healthcare services and strategies for improving postpartum care in Africa
Authors: Belemsaga Danielle Yugbare , Kouanda Seni , Goujon Anne , Kiendrebeogo Joel A. , Duysburgh Els , Degomme Olivier , Temmerman Marleen
Published: March 2021

Reducing maternal mortality continues to be a major challenge for African countries. We conducted a literature review to identify the factors associated with the utilization of maternal and child healthcare services during the postpartum period and the strategies for strengthening postpartum healthcare in Africa. We carried out an electronic search in several databases of texts published between 1995 and 2012 related to maternal and child health. Seventy-five publications fitted the eligibility criteria. Our analysis shows that to a large extent the socio-economic context was dominant among the factors associated with the quality and utilization of postpartum services. The best interventions were those on immediate postpartum maternal care combining several intervention packages such as community mobilization and provision of services, community outreach services and health training. The integration within health facilities of mother and child clinics was shown to contribute significantly to improving the frequency of mothers’ postpartum visits.
The murder of Burundi’s prime minister, Louis Rwagasore
Authors: Poppe Guy
Published: March 2021

On July 1, 1962, Burundi was granted independence. Less than nine months before, on October 13, 1961, the newly elected prime minister, prince Louis Rwagasore, son of mwami Mwambutsa, king and head of state of Burundi, was murdered, sixteen days after he had been sworn in. A few weeks before that, his party, Uprona, had won a landslide victory in Burundi’s first parliamentary elections. The murderer, a Greek citizen, Jean Kageorgis, who had lived in Burundi for many years, was arrested, sentenced to death and executed on the eve of independence. Under Belgian rule, three of his accomplices and five persons involved in the conspiracy were convicted and given jail sentences. After a thorough study of the archives of the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry the author’s conclusion is that important elements pointing to the involvement of the Belgian authorities, Belgium being granted a UN trusteeship to govern the country before independence, were almost completely overlooked in the investigation and at the trial itself. The judiciary neglected oral testimonies and written documents, refrained from questioning people who might have been implicated in the affair and did not examine facts that might have shed light on the motives and the background of the accused. One cannot but infer that the investigation and the trial were characterized by a clear lack of seriousness. On top of that, it is striking that the then king Baudouin, referring explicitly to Belgian involvement in the affair, made considerable efforts to grant a pardon to the murderer and commute his death sentence to life-long incarceration. Taking all those elements into account, it would seem reasonable that the inquiry be reopened. The establishment of a parliamentary commission, similar to that which investigated Belgian responsibility in the Lumumba murder case, would be an appropriate framework. Up to now there has been no official reaction to the book the author published recently. He concludes it is time that Belgium deals with this episode of its colonial past.
New Christians, Converted Hindus, Jesuits, and the Inquisition
Authors: Franco José Eduardo , Tavares Célia
Published: March 2021

This paper analyses the complex relationship between Jesuits, New Christians, converted Hindus, and the Inquisition. The collaboration of Jesuits with the Holy Office did not prevent voices from being raised within the Society of Jesus against the tribunal’s practices, which were observed with caution by the first Jesuit leaders. For their part, conversos were initially welcomed into the Society and even assumed high positions in the Society, such as the second superior general. Despite the difficult history of intolerance and inquisitorial persecution against New Christians, in the seventeenth century, Jesuits in Portugal became prominent advocates of their cause. In turn, Hindu conversion strategies fueled disputes and tensions between the Society of Jesus and the Inquisition of Goa. Their strained relations make these disputes an important historiographical subject for understanding many of the plots and dramas of Portuguese society under the Old Regime.
2. Syria
Authors: Badran Yazan
Published: March 2021

The nine-year-long conflict in Syria has had a ruinous impact on the country’s social fabric, economic life, and territorial integrity. The territorial fragmentation, in particular, has led to the dissolution of the tightly controlled information environment which existed before the conflict. While the regions that remained under the control of the central government reflect, more or less, a continuation of the authoritarian logics of the Syrian regime from pre-2011, the regions controlled by Kurdish forces and opposition-linked rebel forces developed radically different, albeit unstable, media environments. Additionally, the substantial Syrian refugee population in neighboring countries and beyond has given impetus to the development of exilic and diasporic media outlets. These fundamental changes, and contradictions, in the Syrian media landscape will need to be reconciled and negotiated in any future settlement of the conflict.
3. Palestine
Authors: King Gretchen
Published: March 2021

This chapter provides an overview of Palestinian media practices in historic Palestine and in the diaspora. Since the printing press arrived in the region, the Palestinian people have used media for national liberation and self-determination. However, the Israeli regime’s ongoing occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people produces major challenges for the development and sustainability of the media system in Palestine.
5. Iraq
Authors: Khalifa Salim Sahar
Published: March 2021

This chapter discusses the historical beginnings of the media in Iraq and how it developed over time during the Ottoman control and the British occupation, which was followed by a dictatorial rule that completely restricted the media. Since 2003, Iraq entered a democratic era, which witnessed openness and relative freedom of the media. But, because of the deteriorating security conditions, widespread corruption, and the control of political parties and religious movements over governance, freedom of the press in Iraq is globally ranked among the last in the index of press freedom.
9. Bahrain
Authors: Owen Jones Marc
Published: March 2021

The media ecosystem in Bahrain has primarily been shaped by the security interests of the ruling family and its formal and informal protectors, initially the British, and following Independence in 1971, Saudi Arabia and the United States. From its inception just before the Second World War, to the Uprising of 2011, television, radio, and the local press have been leveraged as a means of distributing state propaganda and public relations. Technological change has been embraced, but only to the extent it facilitates Bahrain’s neoliberal development as a commercial ICT hub. The rise of citizen journalism, social media, and de-spatialized technologies has prompted some resistance to this top-down media-assisted authoritarianism, but the regime has adapted to instrumentalize these new technologies as instruments of surveillance.
11. Oman
Authors: Al-Kindi Abdullah K.
Published: March 2021

This chapter examines the most prominent milestones in the development of mass media in the Sultanate of Oman and the relationship between media and the political system as well as the legislative frameworks regulating media work in the Sultanate. At the end of this chapter, the author also discusses a number of challenges facing the Omani media, which are structural, legislative, and professional in nature. The author argues that the conditions and developments in the media industry globally and regionally seem to be conducive to bringing about fundamental changes in the media system in Oman, but those changes are totally linked to the political system’s desire and decision to make these changes.
13. Egypt
Authors: Badr Hanan
Published: March 2021

Egypt’s media landscape is marked by long years of struggle: a paradox, as it is one of the pioneers of media industries in the Arab region, yet today, it has a massively restrained media system. It is also marked by an unresolved identity struggle between its traditional roots in Arab and Islamic culture and the ambivalence towards modernized Westernized lifestyles, as well as highly polarized media–politics parallelism amid controlled conditions that do not allow the media system to fully develop according to its intrinsic professional logics. The recent crackdown on freedom of expression has suspended the potential for professionalization of an autonomous journalism, despite the high potential of the media system.
Introduction
Authors: Richter Carola , Kozman Claudia
Published: March 2021

Building on extant scholarship about media systems, this chapter provides a set of criteria to examine the Arab countries, and by doing so, to allow a comparative analysis. Taking into account the various issues previous studies have had with such classifications, we designed the benchmarks of our analysis to reflect the various factors that intertwine to both draw similarities and highlight differences in the media among the Arab countries. As such, the aim of this chapter is to classify Arab media along a set of dimensions in order to better understand the overall systems that characterize media in the Arab region.
Eddy-Mediated Hadley Cell Expansion due to Axisymmetric Angular Momentum Adjustment to Greenhouse Gas Forcings
Authors: Davis Nicholas A. , Birner Thomas
Published: March 2021

The poleward expansion of the Hadley cells is one of the most robust modeled responses to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. There are many proposed mechanisms for expansion, and most are consistent with modeled changes in thermodynamics, dynamics, and clouds. The adjustment of the eddies and the mean flow to greenhouse gas forcings, and to one another, complicates any effort toward a deeper understanding. Here we modify the Gray Radiation and Moist Aquaplanet (GRANDMA) model to uncouple the eddy and mean flow responses to forcings. When eddy forcings are held constant, the purely axisymmetric response of the Hadley cell to a greenhouse gas–like forcing is an intensification and poleward tilting of the cell with height in response to an axisymmetric increase in angular momentum in the subtropics. The angular momentum increase drastically alters the circulation response compared to axisymmetric theories, which by nature neglect this adjustment. Model simulations and an eddy diffusivity framework demonstrate that the axisymmetric increase in subtropical angular momentum—the direct manifestation of the radiative–convective equilibrium temperature response—drives a poleward shift of the eddy stresses which leads to Hadley cell expansion. Prescribing the eddy response to the greenhouse gas–like forcing shows that eddies damp, rather than drive, changes in angular momentum, moist static energy transport, and momentum transport. Expansion is not driven by changes in baroclinic instability, as would otherwise be diagnosed from the fully coupled simulation. These modeling results caution any assessment of mechanisms for circulation change within the fully coupled wave–mean flow system.