bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sorption of recalcitrant phosphonates in reverse osmosis concentrates and wastewater effluents – influence of metal ions
Authors: Drenkova-Tuhtan Asya , Sheeleigh Emily K. , Rott Eduard , Meyer Carsten , Sedlak David L.
Published: January 2021

Magnetic microparticles functionalized with tailored ZnFeZr oxyhydroxide adsorbent were used for the reversible sorption of orthophosphate and recalcitrant organo-phosphonates from wastewater. The loaded particles were harvested magnetically from water, regenerated in an alkaline solution and reused numerous times. The applicability of the technology to treat brackish water reverse osmosis concentrates was tested under controlled synthetic conditions by investigating the influence of typical metals (Ca2+, Pb2+, Cu2+) on the removal of common phosphonates (HEDP, NTMP, EDTMP), and vice versa. When present at equimolar concentrations, metal cations enhanced the adsorption of phosphonates and were co-adsorbed at pH 4.0–4.5 (with removals of 83–93% for Pb2+ and 53–73% for Cu2+), likely through ternary complex formation. In the absence of metals, at pH > pHPZC ∼ 7 (the material point of zero charge), a drop in adsorption efficiency was observed for orthophosphate and all phosphonates. Thus, at pH 7, an increased adsorbent dose (>0.1 g/L) was necessary to remove 1 mg/L NTMP-P in 30 min. The reusability and effluent polishing potential of the ZnFeZr particles was demonstrated in a pilot test with municipal wastewater throughout 55 adsorption/desorption cycles without any drop in performance. Consistent removal of the non-reactive phosphorus species to ultra-low concentrations (<0.05 mg/L Ptot) and complete orthophosphate elimination (<0.005 mg/L PO4-P) was maintained under optimal conditions.
Effect of different disinfection treatments on the adhesion and separation of biofilm on stainless steel surface
Authors: Zhang Yi , Ge Honghua , Lin Weiwei , Song Yanfang , Ge Fang , Huang Xin , Meng Xinjing
Published: January 2021

Attachment and separation of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) biofilm on stainless steel (SS) in simulated cooling water with and without different sterilization treatments was investigated by calculation of surface energy, theoretical work of adhesion and analysis of Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive Spectrometer. Two types of biocides, glutaraldehyde and Polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG), and electromagnetic treatment were used in this paper. The results show that PHMG had the best bactericidal performance, followed by glutaraldehyde, and electromagnetic treatment was the lowest one. The theoretical work of adhesion was used to quantitatively evaluate the adhesion of biofilm on the surface of the metal. Theoretical work of adhesion between biofilm and SS in simulated cooling water increased with time. The theoretical adhesion work and adhesive capacity of biofilm to SS surface increased after treating with glutaraldehyde while decreasing after treating with PHMG and electromagnetic field. As the theoretical adhesion work decreased, the biofilm was gradually removed from the stainless steel surface. On the contrary, the biofilm adhered more firmly. The results of SEM were also consistent with the calculation results of theoretical adhesion work. The results obtained indicated that electromagnetic treatment had the lowest effect in sterilization but the best in biofilm separation.
A module-based approach for elimination of organic micropollutants at wastewater treatment plants
Authors: Teichgräber Burkhard , Jagemann Peter , Hetschel Martin , Bechtel Antje , Phan Linh-Con
Published: January 2021

A technical feasibility study was carried out at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) Hamm-West in 2018, which included preliminary planning for the improvement of the plant, using different advanced wastewater technologies. The results of the technical feasibility study show that the application of activated carbon or ozone, in combination with an additional filtration system, can not only remove organic micropollutants efficiently but can also significantly improve the quality of other standard parameters in the WWTP effluent. This technical feasibility study, along with seven other studies, is part of the module-based approach the Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband (EGLV) is pursuing in order to improve wastewater treatment plants with advanced treatment systems. Finally, the module-based approach can be used to pair the most suitable WWTPs with the best applicable technologies to improve the treatment process in the whole Lippe catchment area.
A Novel Food Record App for Dietary Assessments Among Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: Development and Usability Study
Authors: Jung Hyunggu , Demiris George , Tarczy-Hornoch Peter , Zachry Mark
Published: January 2021

Background

More than 1 in 4 people in the United States aged 65 years and older have type 2 diabetes. For diabetes care, medical nutrition therapy is recommended as a clinically effective intervention. Previous researchers have developed and validated dietary assessment methods using images of food items to improve the accuracy of self-reporting over traditional methods. Nevertheless, little is known about the usability of image-assisted dietary assessment methods for older adults with diabetes.

Objective

The aims of this study were (1) to create a food record app for dietary assessments (FRADA) that would support image-assisted dietary assessments, and (2) to evaluate the usability of FRADA for older adults with diabetes.

Methods

For the development of FRADA, we identified design principles that address the needs of older adults and implemented three fundamental tasks required for image-assisted dietary assessments: capturing, viewing, and transmitting images of food based on the design principles. For the usability assessment of FRADA, older adults aged 65 to 80 years (11 females and 3 males) were assigned to interact with FRADA in a lab-based setting. Participants’ opinions of FRADA and its usability were determined by a follow-up survey and interview. As an evaluation indicator of usability, the responses to the survey, including an after-scenario questionnaire, were analyzed. Qualitative data from the interviews confirmed the responses to the survey.

Results

We developed a smartphone app that enables older adults with diabetes to capture, view, and transmit images of food items they consumed. The findings of this study showed that FRADA and its instructions for capturing, viewing, and transmitting images of food items were usable for older adults with diabetes. The survey showed that participants found FRADA easy to use and would consider using FRADA daily. The analysis of the qualitative data from interviews revealed multiple categories, such as the usability of FRADA, potential benefits of using FRADA, potential features to be added to FRADA, and concerns of older adults with diabetes regarding interactions with FRADA.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates in a lab-based setting not only the usability of FRADA by older adults with diabetes but also potential opportunities using FRADA in real-world settings. The findings suggest implications for creating a smartphone app for an image-assisted dietary assessment. Future work still remains to evaluate the feasibility and validity of FRADA with multiple stakeholders, including older adults with diabetes and dietitians.
Dissemination and Refutation of Rumors During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Infodemiology Study
Authors: Chen Bin , Chen Xinyi , Pan Jin , Liu Kui , Xie Bo , Wang Wei , Peng Ying , Wang Fei , Li Na , Jiang Jianmin
Published: January 2021

Background

During the outbreak of COVID-19, numerous rumors emerged on the internet in China and caused confusion among the public. However, the characteristics of these rumors in different phases of the epidemic have not been studied in depth, and the official responses to the rumors have not been systematically evaluated.

Objective

The aims of this study were to evaluate the rumor epidemic and official responses during the COVID-19 outbreak in China and to provide a scientific basis for effective information communication in future public health crises.

Methods

Data on internet rumors related to COVID-19 were collected via the Sina Weibo Official Account to Refute Rumors between January 20 and April 8, 2020, extracted, and analyzed. The data were divided into five periods according to the key events and disease epidemic. Different classifications of rumors were described and compared over the five periods. The trends of the epidemic and the focus of the public at different stages were plotted, and correlation analysis between the number of rumors and the number of COVID-19 cases was performed. The geographic distributions of the sources and refuters of the rumors were graphed, and analyses of the most frequently appearing words in the rumors were applied to reveal hotspots of the rumors.

Results

A total of 1943 rumors were retrieved. The median of the response interval between publication and debunking of the rumors was 1 day (IQR 1-2). Rumors in text format accounted for the majority of the 1943 rumors (n=1241, 63.9%); chat tools, particularly WeChat (n=1386, 71.3%), were the most common platform for initial publishing of the rumors (n=1412, 72.7%). In addition to text rumors, Weibo and web pages were more likely to be platforms for rumors released in multimedia formats or in a combination of formats, respectively. Local agencies played a large role in dispelling rumors among social media platforms (1537/1943, 79.1%). There were significant differences in the formats and origins of rumors over the five periods (P<.001). Hubei Province accounted for most of the country’s confirmed rumors. Beijing and Wuhan City were the main centers for debunking of disinformation. The words most frequently included in the core messages of the rumors varied by period, indicating shifting in the public’s concern.

Conclusions

Chat tools, particularly WeChat, became the major sources of rumors during the COVID-19 outbreak in China, indicating a requirement to establish rumor monitoring and refuting mechanisms on these platforms. Moreover, targeted policy adjustments and timely release of official information are needed in different phases of the outbreak.
COMPARISON OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF EXTRACT OF PROSOPIS JULIFLORA SEEDS AGAINST AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC BACTERIA
Authors: AMRITHA A. , BHUVANESHWARI G. , MALAVIKA M. , VENNILA ROSY
Published: January 2021

Objective: To compare the antibacterial activity of prosopisjuliflora seed extract against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted for 6 mo in the clinical microbiology laboratory of SMCH. Agar cup diffusion technique is used to isolate the strains of Clostridium perfringens ATCC 3624, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherechiacoli ATCC 25922. The prosopisjulifloraseeds are collected from the saveetha medical college.

Results: By performing the research with proper guidance it is observed that all the three bacterias–Staphylococcus aureus, Escherechia coli, Clostridium perfringens showed sensitivity to prosopisjulifloraseed extract.

Conclusion: Due to its vast antibacterial activity it can be used along with other antibiotics to increase its efficacy. This is used for the treatment of infectious diseases.
ROLE OF PROBIOTICS IN GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT DISEASES: INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE AND NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS
Authors: SHUKLA SHATAKSHI , VERMA SALONI , SHARMA REKHA , KUMARI ANKITA , ADLINGE RAHUL
Published: January 2021

Bacterial microflora which is present in gastrointestinal tract cause various disorders. Probiotics provides beneficial effects in gut related disease. Previously probiotics are used as alternative medicine but now entering in mainstream medicine. Probiotics help in restoring normal bacterial microflora and regulate the gastrointestinal tract functioning through different mechanisms. There are only few evidences available which show potential benefits of probiotics. The efficiency of probiotics used as a single strain or multiple formulation is tested in various diseases such oral health, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, necrotising enterocolitis and many more. The purpose of this paper is to focus on diseases related to gastrointestinal tract including inflammatory bowel disease and necrotising enterocolitis based on the literature review available and propose future perspective to reduce the translocation of bacterial microflora in gastrointestinal tract and reducing subsequent inflammation of gut. Keywords were searched in goggle scholar, academic research, PubMed and Embase databases.
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERISATION OF ANTI-BACTERIAL RESISTANCE PATTERNS OF BACTERIAL ISOLATES FROM URINARY TRACT INFECTION IN DIABETICS
Authors: S. HARIKRISHNAN , VENNILA ROSY , MONICA R.
Published: January 2021

Objective: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections observed in diabetic patients. This study is aimed at identifying the organisms with their anti-bacterial resistance pattern.

Methods: A total of 400 diabetic patients over a period of nine months presenting with symptom s of urinary tract infection were taken for the study. Their urine were cultured and an antibiogram done.

Results: E. coli, Klebsiella and Enterococci were the commonest organism found. It was found that E. coli, which was the commonest organism E. Coli was sensitive to Norfloxacin and resistant to Ciprofloxacin.

Conclusion: Empirical treatment with ciprofloxacin, Which is considered the drug of choice, will lead to failure of treatment.
ASSESSMENT OF PHYTOCHEMICALS AND IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF SARCOSTEMMA BRUNONIANUM WIGHT AND ARN
Authors: S. AMALA DIVYA , V. THAMARAIKANI , T. SEKAR
Published: January 2021

Objective: Sarcostemma brunonianum Wight and Arn is a potential medicinal plant belonging to Asclepiadaceae. Bioactive constituents of the plant support the application of treating various ailments in the traditional system of medicine. The study aims to determine the presence of various phytoconstituents in stem, root, and flowers.

Methods: Hot percolation method was carried out to obtain crude extracts using different solvent systems from low polar-high polar solvents ranging from petroleum ether, chloroform, (mid-polar) ethyl acetate, methanol and water. Estimation of total phenols, tannins and In vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated for the determination of potential pharmaceutical drugs.

Results: The results revealed the presence of some phytoconstituents such as phenols, tannins, glycosides, gums and mucilages. Ascorbic acid, BSA, Rutin and Gallic acid were used as the reference standard. The total phenolic content was found to be high in stem methanol extract 440.84±69.99 mg/g Gallic acid equivalent, whereas the tannin content was 291.78±4.68 mg/g GAE. The result proves that the S. brunonianum stem methanol extract possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities when compared to reference standards. In vitro, Nitric oxide scavenging activity of stem showed a maximum % of inhibition in methanol stem extract (24.39µg/ml) and anti-inflammatory activity maximum inhibition was found to be (55.56 %) in stem methanol and flower(53.62 %). The IC50 (concentration required for 50% inhibition) was also calculated for the DPPH radical model.

Conclusion: This study results proclaims and justifies the role of folklore medicinal plant S. brunonianum in the treatment of inflammatory-related ailments and can be recommended for an effective drug.
DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ORAL SWELLABLE RAPID RELEASE FILM WITH SUPERDISINTEGRANT-SURFACTANT
Authors: IMTIAZ NEHA , MAJEE SUTAPA BISWAS , BISWAS GOPA ROY
Published: January 2021

Objective: Oral disintegrating films consisting of hydrophilic polymer are designed to be quickly hydrated by saliva, adhere to the mucosa and disintegrate rapidly to release the drug. The aim of the present study was to prepare stable, flexible swellable rapid release oral films with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose E15 LV (HPMC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in different ratios. Guar gum was incorporated as the mucoadhesive agent. In order to achieve rapid disintegration of the film cross carmellose sodium (superdisintegrant) and surfactant like Tween 80 were added. The model drug used in the study was diclofenac sodium.

Methods: Films were developed using HPMC E15 LV and PVA by solvent casting method and characterized for thickness, swelling index, disintegration time, folding endurance, drug content, and in vitro drug release pattern and kinetics.

Results: The prepared swellable rapid release oral films were quite flexible and transparent with a smooth texture. The swelling index study confirmed that the films possessed the desired swelling property. Fastest disintegration was observed with the oral film containing HPMC: PVA in the ratio of 2:1, guar gum at 120 mg, 20% w/w crosscarmellose sodium and 4%w/w Tween 80. The swellable rapid release oral films were found to follow either Higuchi or Korsmeyer-Peppas model with drug release following either Fickian or non-Fickian diffusion. Maximum drug release of around 70% was observed from the above-mentioned film in 1hr in simulated salivary fluid.

Conclusion: Therefore, swellable rapid release oral films with HPMC E15 LV: PVA, guar gum, croscarmellose sodium and Tween 80 demonstrated satisfactory swelling, rapid disintegration and improved drug release for oromucosal absorption.
PENINGKATKAN KEDISIPLINAN GURU DALAM KEHADIRAN MENGAJAR DI KELAS MELALUI PENERAPAN REWARD AND PUNISHMENT DI SMAN 2 BANJARSARI KABUPATEN CIAMIS
Authors: Solehudin Mochamad
Published: January 2021

Peningkatan mutu pembelajaran di sekolah dipengaruhi oleh banyak aspek. Penerapan budaya peningkatan mutu di sekolah merupakan aspek yang sangat penting. Segenap warga sekolah secara sukarela  wajib mempertahankan kebiasaan-kebiasaan yang positif. Perilaku disiplin adalah budaya sekolah yang wajib dipertahankan, meliputi kedisiplinan para guru dalam kehadiran di kelas saat proses belajar mengajar. Guna meningkatkan kedisiplinan para guru bisa dilakukan upaya dengan beragam metode. Dalam School Action Research (PTS) ini, dilakukan pemberian tindakan berbentuk pemberian Reward and Punishment kepada para guru di SMAN 2 Banjarsari, Kabupaten Ciamis. PTS ini menerapkan Tindakan dalam dua siklus. Berdasarkan penjaringan data diperoleh gambaran meningkatnay disiplin guru guru yang tinggi dalam kehadiran mengajar di kelas pada proses belajar mengajar. Keterlambatan kurang dari 10 menit pada siklus I sebesar 21,74 %, dan pada siklus 2 sebesar 78,26 %. Ini berarti melampaui batas indikator pencapaian keberhasilan sebagai patokan periset yaitu 75%. Analisis data yang diperoleh menguatkan kesimpulkan bahwa Reward and Punishment  berkontribusi positif untuk meningkatkan kedisiplinan guru dalam kehadiran mengajar di kelas saat pembelajaran.
EVALUASI PROGRAM TAHFIDZ AL-QUR’AN DI SMAIT BUAHATI JAKARTA
Authors: Muntiarti Titi , Ernawati Ernawati , Indriyanto Bambang
Published: January 2021

This research aims to evaluate the program tahfidz Al-Qur'an SMAIT Buahati. The object of the study is the Formal Institute of Buahati Integrated Islamic High School in East Jakarta. This study uses CIPPO evaluation methods and descriptive research types. Research informants are principals, vice principals, teachers, and students. Data collection techniques are interviewing, observation, and document analysis.

The results showed that, the program tahfidz Al-Qur'an SMAIT Buahati viewed from context aspect is very good judging by the indicators of the purpose and vision-mission of the school, the input aspect is good value judging by the indicators of students' ability, teacher quality, and availability of infrastructure, as well as the good value process aspect judging by the indicators of planning, process, and evaluation of learning, the product aspect is good value based on the indicators of the results obtained by students during the program tahfidz Al-Qur-an , outcomes are good value judging by the benefits of the program felt by students and the surrounding environment. So, overall the evaluation of tahfidz Qur'an program at SMAIT Buahati is very good value.
In Silico Identification of Clinically Approved Medicines Against the main Protease of Sars-Cov-2 – A Causative Agent of Covid-19
Authors: Estari Mamidala  , Rakesh Davella  , Swapna Gurrapu  , Pujala Shivakrishna
Published: January 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered by SARS-CoV-2 is a worldwide health disaster. Main protease is an attractive drug target among coronaviruses, due to its vital role in processing the polyproteins that are translated from the viral RNA. There  is  presently  no  exact  drug  or  treatment  for  this  disease  caused  by  SARS-CoV-2.Speeding  up  drug  innovation  is immediately required. In the present study, we report the potential inhibitory activity of some FDA approved drugs against SARS-CoV-2 main protease by molecular docking study to investigate their binding affinity in protease active sites. Total 47 FDA approved drugs were selected for molecular docking with main COVID-19 protease. The docking of selected drugs to the active site of protein was performed using AutoDock software. Docking was achieved to attain a population of potential conformations and alignments for the ligand at the binding site. Docking study revealed that great inhibitory efficacy of the one anti-H1N1 drug (Oseltamivir), one anti-TB drug (Rifampin), four anti-HIV drugs (Maraviroc, Etravirine, Indinavir, Rilpivirine) and seven anti- malarial drugs (Atovaquone, Quinidine, Halofantrine, Amodiaquine, Tetracylcine, Azithromycin, hydroxycholoroquine) was found since they could launch H2 bonds with different amino acid residues that caused an inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 protease activity with higher binding affinity ranging from (-10.67 to -8.3 kcal/mol). However, the in-silico abilities of the drug molecules tested in this study, further needs to be validated by carrying out in vitro and in vivo studies. Moreover, this study spreads the potential use of current drugs to be considered and used to comprise the fast expanding SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Case Report on Worldwide Deaths Cases of Covid 19 from December to Mid- May 2020 and Its Impact
Authors: Sumayya Rehaman
Published: January 2021

The     epidemic     spate     time     has     made     to     freeze     the     entire     world     of     pandemic     outbreak (Covid -19) Coronavirus disease 2019 which needs a crisis alert. WHO declared the Covid–19 of novel coronavirus as a public emergency and a pandemic outbreak? WHO report says, that in the end of mid-May, 2020 about 4,526,850 cases, 303,405 deaths (15%), 1,704,268 recovered (85%) were reported and about 81,997 total cases and 2,649 deaths have been reported in India. Moreover, the result of the outbreak has locked down many countries including China, USA, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Japan and Vietnam. Within 23 weeks of its spread, it has affected almost 215 countries across the world. India is in the 12th  most affected  economy  due  to  Global  and  domestic  recession.  The  positive  impact  of  the  lockdown  is  on  the  healing  of  the environment pollution proved by its Air Quality index (AQI). On analysis of total affected cases and the total deaths from January to mid-May, 2020 and on comparison about 1.4% death cases are increased. The Crude Death Rate in the month of January- mid May, 2020 was 21.6, 35.1, 51.06, 70.8 and 67.02 per 1000 individuals of given time period. WHO has recommended the drugs on physician advice such as the hydroxychloroquine with the antibiotic azithromycin and antiviral drugs were acyclovir, ribavirin, ganciclovir and methylprednisolone for the Covid -19 for clinical practice. This review has briefed about coronavirus structure  with virulence  infection  and case  report  on  crude  death  rate  and its  impact  on  world economy  as  well  as  the environment.
Diversity of Economically Useful Wild Plants of Jhalana Forest, Jaipur
Authors: Reenu Agarwal  , Shilpi Rijhwani
Published: January 2021

The Biodiversity of an area influences every aspect of the lives of people who inhabit it. Their living space and their livelihood depend on the ecosystem. Even people living in urban areas are dependent on the ecological services provided by the  wilderness  in  the  protected  areas.  The  indigenous  communities  have  played  a  vital  role  in  the  development  and management of the environment through their traditional knowledge and practice. They use abundant plant biodiversity as fodder, fuel, food, medicine etc. Jhalana forest, situated in the heart of the Jaipur city, spread across an area of 17 square kilometres.  The Aravalli Mountain Range is located nearby and surrounds the area with thick forest, which is home to varied flora and fauna. The study is to document nearly 40 species of wild plants of economic uses. Analysis of taxonomic group of plants revealed that a total of 40 wild plants species belonging to 33 genera and 21 families were listed.   Vegetation of the study area is mainly dominated by the Anogeissus latifolia, Anogeissus pendula and Boswellia serrata. Analysis of habits of plants documented show that trees share the largest proportion with 23species followed by shrub with 6 species, along with herb with 7species and Climber with 4 species Among the 40 species 26 are used as medicinal, 15 species are edible, 6 species used as fodder, 5 species used as fuel and 1 species is used as timber. Due to deforestation, colonization and industrialization there is an urgent need is felt to undertake ethnobotanical studies before extinction of the tribal life and Sustainable Utilization of wild plants.
Pregnancy complicated by idiopathic central diabetes insipidus and oligohydramnios
Authors: Imaizumi Karin , Yasuda Shun , Toba Naoya , Fukuda Toma , Ishibashi Makiho , Ito Fumihiro , Okazaki Takayuki , Murata Tsuyoshi , Kanno Aya , Kyozuka H. , Yamaguchi Akiko , Fujimori Keiya
Published: January 2021

Maternal diabetes insipidus does not usually adversely affect the course
of pregnancy. We present a rare case of central diabetes insipidus
diagnosed at 31 weeks of gestation with fetal oligohydramnios
successfully treated with intranasal desmopressin. To date, only three
cases of diabetes insipidus with oligohydramnios have been reported.
Role of Permeability glycoprotein (P-gp) and Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP-1) in drug-resistance in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
Authors: Kaur Mandeep , Gupta Tulika , Gupta Mili , Singla Navneet , Singh Parampreet , Bansal Yogendra , Radotra B.D. , Gupta S.K.
Published: January 2021

About 30% of patients with epilepsy do not respond to anti-epileptic
drugs leading to refractory seizures. The pathogenesis of
drug-resistance in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE) is not
completely understood. Increased activity of drug-efflux transporters
might be involved, resulting in subclinical concentrations of the drug
at the target site. The major drug-efflux transporters are permeability
glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug-resistance protein-1 (MRP-1). We have
studied these two transporters in the sclerotic hippocampal tissues
resected from the epilepsy surgery and compared their expression profile
with the tissues resected from non-epileptic autopsy cases.
Statistically significant over expression of both P-gp
(p-value<0.0001) and MRP-1 (p-value 0.01) at gene and protein
levels was found in the MTLE cases. The fold change of P-gp was more
pronounced than MRP-1. Immunohistochemistry of patient group showed
increased immunoreactivity of P-gp at blood brain barrier and increased
reactivity of MRP-1 in parenchyma. The results were confirmed by
confocal immunofluorescence microscopy. This suggested that P-gp in
association with MRP-1 might be responsible for the multi-drug
resistance in epilepsy.
The Effects of Multi-Level Group Identification on Intergroup Helping Behavior
Authors: Brown Jason L. , Sprinkle Geoffrey B. , Way Dan
Published: January 2021

We conduct an experiment to examine the effects of multi-level group identification on intergroup helping behavior. We predict and find that stronger identification with a sub-group and a superordinate group—separately and interactively—increase helping behavior. We provide evidence that the relationships between stronger identification and helping behavior operate in part through increased salience of superordinate group boundaries, perceived potential benefits to one's own group of intergroup helping, and positive affect. Collectively, our findings illustrate the importance of understanding how individuals identify with the different groups naturally present in organizations and highlight how identification can be used as an informal control to motivate important organizational behaviors. Such an understanding can help firms determine the best organizational hierarchy, develop communication and control strategies to build identification at appropriate levels, and establish evaluation and compensation systems that measure and reward outcomes in a manner that accounts for these group effects.
Introduction
Authors: Elster Jon
Published: January 2021

This chapter compares the making of the American constitution in 1787 and the French constitution in 1791. It discusses aspects of the pre-constitutional systems that would prove relevant for the understanding of the constitution-making processes. It also attempts to practice the union of history and psychology, which are the two main pillars of the social sciences. The chapter focuses on the quest for causality and the quest for agency or methodological individualism. It covers the main features of the prodigiously complex social system of the French ancien régime. It also cites many contemporary texts that illuminate the perverse and sometimes pathological effects of the social system.
The Psychology of the Main Social Groups
Authors: Elster Jon
Published: January 2021

This chapter refers to the beliefs of individuals that occupied various positions in the structures of the old regime. For histoire des mentalités, the chapter tries to determine popular beliefs, elite beliefs, and beliefs about beliefs in accordance with reasons given in the Madisonian caveats. It also analyzes the behavior of the main agents in the economic and political system, which includes the peasantry, local authorities, several urban groupings, the parlements, provincial estates, the royal administration, the royal court, and the king himself. It includes the top-down beliefs of the authorities about their subjects and the bottom-up beliefs of the subjects about the authorities. This chapter also describes beliefs of the members of any group in the social hierarchy about other members of the same group.
Deliberating Bodies
Authors: Elster Jon
Published: January 2021

This chapter talks about the genuinely representative bodies in the old regime. It describes the Estates-General, the provincial Estates in the pays d'états, the quinquennial assemblies of the clergy, the occasional assemblies of notables, and the provincial assemblies that were created in the last decade before the French Revolution. It assesses how the representative bodies in earlier times were far from the satisfying democratic criteria of suffrage, eligibility, and apportionment. The chapter gives attention to the Estates-General, which served a valuable function in preparing legislative reforms during the three centuries of their effective existence. It also points out the most important concession the Estates-General demanded of the king in exchange for consent to taxation was the achievement of constitutional status.
Conclusion
Authors: Elster Jon
Published: January 2021

This chapter emphasizes the incompleteness of knowledge on key economic variables, which is in part due to the reluctance of individuals, from all social classes, to comply with requests for information. It notes how individuals and institutions had an incentive to misreport, exaggerate, or understate their income and property. At a different level, statements by royal officials, venal magistrates, and elected deputies can rarely be taken at face value. The chapter analyzes the universal tendency of speakers or writers to disguise self-interest or group interest as the public interest. It also argues that by the end of the ancien régime, public opinion was considered a poor substitute for publicity as it is often based on rumors rather than on facts in the public domain.
Hidden Heretics
Authors: Fader Ayala
Published: January 2021

What would you do if you questioned your religious faith, but revealing that would cause you to lose your family and the only way of life you had ever known? This book tells the fascinating, often heart-wrenching stories of married ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and women in twenty-first-century New York who lead “double lives” in order to protect those they love. While they no longer believe that God gave the Torah to Jews at Mount Sinai, these hidden heretics continue to live in their families and religious communities, even as they surreptitiously break Jewish commandments and explore forbidden secular worlds in person and online. Drawing on five years of fieldwork with those living double lives and the rabbis, life coaches, and religious therapists who minister to, advise, and sometimes excommunicate them, the book investigates religious doubt and social change in the digital age. The Internet, which some ultra-Orthodox rabbis call more threatening than the Holocaust, offers new possibilities for the age-old problem of religious uncertainty. The book shows how digital media has become a lightning rod for contemporary struggles over authority and truth. It reveals the stresses and strains that hidden heretics experience, including the difficulties their choices pose for their wives, husbands, children, and, sometimes, lovers. In following those living double lives, who range from the religiously observant but open-minded on one end to atheists on the other, the book delves into universal quandaries of faith and skepticism, the ways digital media can change us, and family frictions that arise when a person radically transforms who they are and what they believe. In stories of conflicts between faith and self-fulfillment, the book explores the moral compromises and divided loyalties of individuals facing life-altering crossroads.
Life-Changing Doubt, the Internet, and a Crisis of Authority
Authors: Fader Ayala
Published: January 2021

This chapter follows the trajectory of the crisis of authority as it has been unfolding over struggles about the Internet. It discusses the perspectives of individuals living double lives and rabbinic leadership from the turn of the twenty-first century to 2019. It looks into the stories of people living double lives and about their moral struggles that are filled with human pain, contradictions, and unexpected discoveries. The chapter also explains what and who defines moral responsibility, how age and gender shape ethical judgment, and what are the politics of ethnographic fieldwork that are in shared online and face-to-face spaces. It also assesses how media of many sorts can create publics with their own authorities, including the ways that new digital media might be changing human interactions, expression, and concentration.
The Treatment of Doubt
Authors: Fader Ayala
Published: January 2021

This chapter follows Jews whose life-changing doubt was discovered by or confessed to a spouse. It talks about therapeutic professionals who tried to help double lifers such as Jewish life coaches, outreach rabbis, and religious therapists. It also explains the profession of religious therapy that are in the midst of a moral struggle as to which authorities they owed their allegiance: their own religious orthodoxy or their clients' individual autonomy. The chapter explains how most therapeutic professionals rejected the common rabbinic explanation in circulation for the contemporary crisis of faith, the Internet. It also points out how therapeutic professionals drew on the authority of therapeutic discourse in order to argue that it was emotional and interpersonal dynamics that obstructed emuna or faith.
Double-Life Worlds
Authors: Fader Ayala
Published: January 2021

This chapter recounts the secret social lives of double lifers as they experimented with other ways of living, writing, and feeling in digital and face-to-face spaces. It describes the inescapable changes the experiments on double life wrought on exterior forms, such as on bodies and clothing, in writing or speaking. It also looks into the exterior changes of double lifers as efforts to feel more comfortable in their own skins and hints to their loved ones that they were slowly changing inside. The chapter explores the double life of Jews that are manifested in rebellious, sexualized partying in the comfort of ultra-Orthodox settings and sampling of objects, tastes, writing, and experiences based on ultra-Orthodox imaginaries of the secular world. It analyzes how double lifers pursued newfound values of autonomy, self-expression, and personal fulfilment yet stayed close to the emotional attachments of ultra-Orthodox sensibilities.
Introduction
Authors: Osanloo Arzoo
Published: January 2021

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the work of forbearance in Iran's criminal justice system. In Iran, the codification of forbearance emerges from a hybrid crimtort justice system, complete with its own conditions of possibility. Iran's criminal laws are clear in defining certain categories of punishment as a consequence of specific injuries. The laws also stipulate the conditions for forbearance. However, the penal code is silent with respect to how parties should arrive at reconciliation. That is, the state encourages settlement, but for all intents and purposes, leaves to the parties themselves to determine what the substance and process of that settlement might be. The conjuncture of a clear legal and moral duty to seek reconciliation alongside the absence of specific guidelines on how to do so has a generative quality and produces an arena outside of the state's judicial apparatus, yet still of it, for bringing about a settlement short of retribution or for forgiveness work. Thus, the manifest moral and legal compulsion to forgive without meaningful guidelines on how to do so has produced an informal cottage industry of advocacy, one that is populated by diverse actors and which produces numerous avenues for negotiating forbearance by forging reconciliation and settlement.
The Art of Forgiveness
Authors: Osanloo Arzoo
Published: January 2021

This chapter focuses on the forgiveness work of artists, particularly in modern theater and poetry, which partly fills-in and shapes the unregulated spaces of forgiveness work. It considers how art and aesthetics cultivate a feeling of forgiveness, both in the families that hold the key to an offender's life and in the communities whose residents may help to produce new social conditions that render retaliation unacceptable, and even dishonorable. The chapter tracks the performance of a theatrical production in part to show the extensive efforts involved in creating such an experience. By exploring this production and the local tragedy that motivated the artists to stage it, it also investigates the complex array of meanings and the effects that forgiveness work has on the different parties involved. Appeals to empathy are not by themselves action and do not always lead to such. What the chapter offers, instead, is a reflection on actors' attempts at cultivating a broad cultural shift.
From Circulation Numbers to Web Analytics
Authors: Christin Angèle
Published: January 2021

This chapter provides the structural and historical background for the analysis of web analytics. It traces the distinct relationships and quantitative modes of representation that developed between journalists and their publics over the course of the past century and a half. It also relates developments from the different trajectories of the journalistic field in the United States and France. The chapter offers a comparative genealogy of how the relationship between journalists and their readers shapes current interpretations and debates about web analytics. It also argues how impossible it is to separate the question of publics from the broader and conflicting forces that shape journalistic field.
Entering the Chase for Clicks
Authors: Christin Angèle
Published: January 2021

This chapter examines how TheNotebook and LaPlace websites entered the chase for traffic. It recounts how the two websites realized that they needed to attract more online readers to survive. It also talks about how TheNotebook and LaPlace developed the same editorial and organizational strategies to increase their traffic over time despite distinct political and editorial identities. The chapter shows how media organizations located thousands of miles apart ended up making similar editorial decisions when they entered the chase for clicks. It also provides an analysis of TheNotebook and LaPlace when they started experiencing an acute tension between editorial and click-based modes of evaluation, which affected the kind of content they published.
The Multiple Meanings of Clicks
Authors: Christin Angèle
Published: January 2021

This chapter centers on the uses and interpretation of web analytics at TheNotebook and LaPlace. It talks about how the two publications used the same software programs to track the preferences of their online readers but made sense of the metrics provided by these programs in different ways. The chapter discusses the traffic in New York that soon became an imperative for the top editors in charge of managing the publication while staff writers refused to embrace the tyranny of metrics. It also looks into the journalists in Paris that were simultaneously deeply critical of traffic numbers and obsessed with clicks. It also shows how metrics do more than function as market indicators and reveal the journalists' representations of their algorithmic publics.
Democracy and Economic Development over the Long Run
Authors: Stasavage David
Published: January 2021

This chapter recounts the history of Europe's rise that played a critical part in debates about the relationship between democracy and economic development. It analyzes why China and the Islamic world were ahead in terms of economic development for much of the long span of history. It also argues that democracies and autocracies each have specific strengths and weaknesses when it comes to economic development. The chapter compares the economic developments in China and the Middle East with the development in England, which is a European country that have particularly good long-run data. It also explains how economic historians sometimes use levels of urbanization as an alternative measure of development for historical economies.
Why England Was Different
Authors: Stasavage David
Published: January 2021

This chapter investigates how the English invented a new kind of parliament and analyzes how its rulers and people developed a style of governance that would evolve into modern democracy. It draws a contrast between England and the Dutch Republic. While the Dutch Republic had a claim to being the world's “first modern economy,” the Dutch did not invent modern parliamentarianism. The chapter highlights the Dutch Republic's political institutions that more closely resembled early democracy and held back economic innovation and development. It draws attention to the “witan,” which was as a representative body through which England's people, via their ruling elite, placed constraints on monarchs.
Introduction
Authors: Larmore Charles
Published: January 2021

This chapter talks about the nature of political philosophy and focuses on its central problems and core concepts. It describes a fundamentally liberal conception of the basic shape political society should take today. The chapter points out the difference of the nature of political philosophy from moral philosophy. As a rule, political philosophy is seen, if only implicitly, as part of the broader discipline of moral philosophy. The chapter also talks about the right and the good that form the subject of moral philosophy. However, political philosophy, as usually practiced, sets about its work within this framework. The chapter clarifies how political philosophy bases itself on those principles of morality that it regards as governing, not individual relationships to others, but instead the functioning of society as a whole in order to determine the sorts of institutions in which political philosophy would be best embodied.
The Truth in Political Realism
Authors: Larmore Charles
Published: January 2021

This chapter analyzes groups that follow different moral or religious traditions that generally have their own internal controversies, such as conflicts in the absence of laws to handle them and render social cooperation difficult or even impossible. It also explains why political philosophy is not properly a province of moral philosophy. It talks about the fundamental task in determining the kind of political order that can justifiably impose authoritative rules for handling the major conflicts in society. The chapter also clarifies why legitimacy and not distributive justice should be the primary object of political philosophy. For legitimacy is involved with the conditions under which enforceable rules may be justifiably imposed on the members of a society.
Introduction
Authors: Goodman Adam
Published: January 2021

This chapter explores the history of expulsion and exposes the various ways immigration authorities have forced, coerced, and scared people into leaving the United States from the late nineteenth century to the present. It reveals how public officials have assembled a well-oiled deportation machine, propelled by bureaucratic self-interest as well as the concerns of local communities and private firms. The chapter focuses on the deportation machine's three expulsion mechanisms: formal deportation, voluntary departure, and self-deportation. It analyzes how authorities have used the expulsion mechanisms to exert tremendous control over people's lives by determining who can enter the country and regulating who the state allows to remain. It also talks about how undocumented immigrants and their allies have endured, adapted, and resisted to demand their constitutional rights and challenge what they have considered to be unjust laws and inhumane treatment.
Creating the Mechanisms of Expulsion at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Authors: Goodman Adam
Published: January 2021

This chapter shows how citizens, immigration authorities, and legislators created and institutionalized the deportation machine's interrelated expulsion mechanisms during the 1900s. It discusses how the deportation machine did not always run efficiently or coherently and how immigrants' active resistance to deportation or officials' executive decisions to halt removals caused breakdowns. It also mentions the new means of expulsion that expanded the fledgling immigration service's authority and instilled low-level and high-level bureaucrats with the power to shape ideas about what it meant to be American. The chapter tries to confirm how far immigration officials' authority extend and whether their considerable discretionary power allow them to act autonomously. It also talks about how immigration officials cared most about maximizing the number of expulsions and how it was done was only of secondary importance.