bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aortic root measurement on CT: linear dimensions, aortic root area and comparison with echocardiography. A retrospective cross sectional study
Authors: Leong Kai'En , Knipe Henry , Binny Simon , Pascoe Heather , Better Nathan , Langenberg Francesca , Lui Elaine , Joshi Subodh B
Published: March 2021

Objective:

We sought to assess the different CT aortic root measurements and determine their relationship to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).

Methods:

TTE and ECG-gated CT images were reviewed from 70 consecutive patients (mean age 54 ± 18 years; 67% male) with tricuspid aortic roots (trileaflet aortic valves) between Nov 2009 and Dec 2013. Three CT planes (coronal, short axis en face and three-chamber) were used for measurement of nine linear dimensions. TTE aortic root dimension was measured as per guidelines from the parasternal long axis view.

Results:

All CT short axis measurements of the aortic root had excellent reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC 0.96–0.99), while coronal and three-chamber planes had lower reproducibility with ICC 0.90 (95% CI 0.84–0.94) and ICC 0.92 (0.87–0.95) respectively. CT coronal and short axis maximal dimensions were systematically larger than TTE (mean 2 mm larger, p < 0.001), while CT cusp to commissure measurements were systematically smaller (CT RCC-comm mean 2 mm smaller than TTE, p < 0.001). All CT short axis measurements had excellent correlation with aortic root area with CT short axis maximal dimension marginally better than the rest (Pearson’s R 0.97).

Conclusion:

Systematic differences exist between CT and TTE dependent on the CT plane of measurement. All CT short axis measurements of the aortic root had excellent reproducibility and correlation with aortic root area with maximal dimension appearing marginally better than the rest. Our findings highlight the importance of specifying the chosen plane of aortic root measurement on CT.

Advances in knowledge:

Systematic differences in aortic root dimension exist between TTE and the various CT measurement planes. CT coronal and short axis maximal dimensions were systematically larger than TTE, while CT cusp to commissure measurements were smaller. CT readers should indicate the plane of measurement and the specific linear dimension to avoid ambiguity in follow-up and comparison.
Comparison of lumbar degenerative disc disease using conventional fast spin echo T
2W MRI and T
2 fast spin echo dixon sequences
Authors: Saifuddin Asif , Rajakulasingam Ramanan , Santiago Rodney , Siddiqui Mateen , Khoo Michael , Pressney Ian
Published: March 2021

Objectives:

To compare the grading of lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD), Modic end-plate changes (MEPC) and identification of high intensity zones (HIZ) on a combination of sagittal T  1weighted turbo spin echo (T  1W TSE), T  2weighted fast spin echo (T  2W FSE) and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences (routine protocol) with a single sagittal T  2W FSE Dixon MRI sequence which provides in-phase, opposed-phase, water only and fat only images in a single acquisition (Dixon protocol).

Methods:

50 patients underwent lumbar spine MRI using the routine protocol with the addition of a T  2W FSE Dixon sequence. DDD grade, MEPC and HIZ for each disc level were assessed on the routine and Dixon protocols. Each protocol was reviewed independently by three readers (consultant musculoskeletal radiologists with 26-, 8- and 4 years’ experience), allowing assessment of inter-reader agreement and inter protocol agreement for each assessed variable.

Results:

The study included 17 males and 33 females (mean age 51 years; range 8–82 years). Inter-reader agreement for DDD grade on the routine protocol was 0.57 and for the Dixon protocol was 0.63 (p = 0.08). Inter-reader agreement for MEPC on the routine protocol was 0.45 and for the Dixon protocol was 0.53 (p = 0.02), and inter-reader agreement for identification of the HIZ on the routine protocol was 0.52 and for the Dixon protocol was 0.46 (p = 0.27). Intersequence agreement for DDD grade ranged from 0.61 to 0.97, for MEPC 0.46–0.62 and for HIZ 0.39–0.5.

Conclusion:

A single sagittal T  2W FSE Dixon MRI sequence could potentially replace the routine three sagittal sequence protocol for assessment of lumbar DDD, MEPC and HIZ resulting in ~60% time saving.

Advances in knowledge:

Grading of lumbar DDD, presence of Modic changes and high intensity zones were compared on sagittal T  1W TSE, T  2W FSE and STIR sequences with a T  2W FSE Dixon sequence, with fair-to-good correlation suggesting that three conventional sequences could be replaced by a single Dixon sequence.
Comparison of Path Loss Prediction Models for UAV and IoT Air-to-Ground Communication System in Rural Precision Farming Environment
Authors:   Information Engineering, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Prince of Chumphon Campus, 17/1 Chumcoo District, Pathio, Chumphon, Thailand, Duangsuwan Sarun , Maw Myo Myint
Published: March 2021

The comparison of path loss model for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and Internet of Things (IoT) air-to-ground communication system was proposed for rural precision farming. Due to the uncertainty of propagation channel in rural precision farming environment, the comparison of path loss prediction was investigated by the conventional particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms: PSO (exponential or Exp), PSO (polynomial or Poly) and the machine learning algorithms: k-nearest neighbor (k-NN), and random forest, are exploited to accurate the path loss models on the basic of the measured dataset. Meanwhile, the empirical model in the rural precision farming was considered. By using the machine learning-based algorithms, the coefficient of determination (R-squared: R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE) were evaluated as highly accuracy and precision more than the conventional PSO algorithms. According to the results, the random forest method was able to perform more than other methods. It has the smallest prediction errors.
Energy Harvesting Enabled Full-Duplex Cooperative Relaying System over Fisher-Snedecor F-Distribution Fading Channel
Authors:   Department of Computer Systems Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria-0001, South Africa, Odeyemi Kehinde O. , Owolawi Pius A.
Published: March 2021

In this paper, the performance of an Energy Harvesting (EH) enabled full-duplex cooperative decode-and-forward (DF) relaying system is investigated over the Fisher-Snedecor F-fading channel. The system energy-constrained relay unit utilizes time-switching relay protocol for scavenging energy from the source signal and information transmission to the destination. To quantify the system performance, the exact analytical closed-form expression for the system outage probability is derived, and then used to obtain the analytical expression for the average throughput of delay-limited transmission mode. Moreover, the exact closed-form expression for the system Ergodic capacity is derived through which the average delay-tolerant throughput is determined for the system. In addition, the results demonstrate the impact of fading and shadowing severity on the system performance. It also is noticeable from the results that the performance of system is strongly affected by the loop back interference from the relay node. Finally, the accuracy of the derived analytical expressions is then validated through the Monte-Carlo simulation.
Fortification Against Cascade Propagation Under Uncertainty
Authors: Gillen Colin P. , Veremyev Alexander , Prokopyev Oleg A. , Pasiliao Eduardo L.
Published: March 2021

Network cascades represent a number of real-life applications: social influence, electrical grid failures, viral spread, and so on. The commonality between these phenomena is that they begin from a set of seed nodes and spread to other regions of the network. We consider a variant of a critical node detection problem dubbed the robust critical node fortification problem, wherein the decision maker wishes to fortify nodes (within a budget) to limit the spread of cascading behavior under uncertain conditions. In particular, the arc weights—how much influence one node has on another in the cascade process—are uncertain but are known to lie in some range bounded by a worst-case budget uncertainty. This problem is shown to be [Formula: see text]-hard even in the deterministic case. We formulate a mixed-integer program (MIP) to solve the deterministic problem and improve its continuous relaxation via nonlinear constraints and convexification. The robust problem is computationally more difficult, and we present an MIP-based expand-and-cut exact solution algorithm, in which the expansion is enhanced by cutting planes, which are themselves tied to the expansion process. Insights from these exact solutions motivate two novel (interrelated) centrality measures, and a centrality-based heuristic that obtains high-quality solutions within a few seconds. Finally, extensive computational results are given to validate our theoretical developments as well as provide insights into structural properties of the robust problem and its solution.
Credit Default Swaps and Debt Overhang
Authors: Wong Tak-Yuen , Yu Jin
Published: March 2021

We analyze the impact of credit default swaps (CDSs) trading on firm investment, long-term debt financing, and valuation. In our model, the firm is endowed with a real option to initiate a project and enhance its future growth. Its creditors have access to CDS contracts that hedge them against default losses. We show that CDS protection increases the firm’s pledgable income: that is, the maximum amount of debt it can raise. However, at the same time CDS protection decreases asset growth and impedes project initiation. As a result, CDS trading could reduce firm value, and the negative effects are stronger when the firm is riskier, where shareholders have stronger bargaining power, and growth opportunities are less valuable. Using simulated cross-sections of firms, we find that CDS trading increases corporate default rates and deters investment. Altogether, CDS firms tend to have a lower firm value and more volatile equity returns than non-CDS firms.

This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.
No-Fly Zone in the Loan Office: How Chief Executive Officers’ Risky Hobbies Affect Credit Stakeholders’ Evaluation of Firms
Authors: Ouyang Bo , Tang Yi , Wang Chong , Zhou Jian
Published: March 2021

The extant research has often examined the work-related experiences of corporate executives, but their off-the-job activities could be just as insightful. This study employs a novel proxy for the risky hobbies of chief executive officers (CEOs)—CEOs’ hobby of piloting a private aircraft—and investigates its effect on credit stakeholders’ evaluation of the firms led by the CEOs as reflected in bank loan contracting. Using a longitudinal data set on CEOs of large United States-listed firms across multiple industries between 1993 and 2010, we obtain strong evidence that bank loans to firms steered by CEOs who fly private jets as a hobby tend to incur a higher cost of debt, to be secured, to have more covenants, and to be syndicated. These effects are mainly driven by banks, which perceive such firms as having a higher default risk. These relationships become stronger when the CEO is more important to the firm and/or can exercise stronger control over decision making. Supplemented by field interviews, our results are also robust to various endogeneity checks using different experimental designs, the Heckman two-stage model, a propensity score-matching approach, a difference-in-differences test, and the impact threshold of confounding variables.
Implicações do afeto no desenvolvimento do psiquismo dos bebês no primeiro ano de vida
Authors: KOHLE ERIKA Christina , Godoy Paredes Camila
Published: March 2021

O artigo discute a relevância do afeto na organização da atividade pedagógica direcionada ao desenvolvimento das capacidades humanas dos bebês no primeiro ano de vida. Por meio de um diálogo entre teoria e prática, problematiza questões do dia a dia de uma escola de educação infantil situada no interior do estado de São Paulo, com base nos referenciais da teoria histórico-cultural sobre as implicações da função afetiva nas experiências vividas pelos bebês na creche. Considerando que, nas últimas décadas, a produção de pesquisas e a constante reformulação da legislação brasileira tentaram apresentar pressupostos orientadores para a articulação entre a dimensão afetiva e o processo educativo, faz-se necessário compreender como o afeto contribui para o desenvolvimento das funções psicológicas e para o desenvolvimento das capacidades humanas na escola da infância. Os resultados elucidam que aproximar teoria e prática pode evitar equívocos conceituais sobre a dimensão afetiva e as leis de desenvolvimento dos pequenos, estabelecendo o lugar social do professor como sujeito que cuida, educa e contribui para a formação da personalidade desde os primeiros meses de vida dos bebês.
Caosgrafia do amor docente
Authors: Almeida Verônica Domingues
Published: March 2021

Apresenta-se a caosgrafia, uma metodologia criada em uma pesquisa de Doutorado em Educação. Tendo como temática amor e docência, objetivou tensionar a vinculação do amor à representações cristalizadas e a juízos de valor que impõe perfis à profissão, apresentando paisagens da docência, esboçadas por professores no Facebook. Engendrada em uma postura complexa e multirreferencial, estabelecida entre a Bricolagem de Lévi-Strauss e a ampliação de Kincheloey, e a Geofilosofia de Deleuze e Guattari, a caosgrafia empreendeu uma bricolagem acêntrica, construída em ensaios metodológicos, delineados por um mapa - roteiro-esboço-coreografias - que contemplou o atravessamento de referências heterogêneas sobre o amor, as quais coabitam na contemporaneidade e ressoam no campo da Educação. Como resultados, apresentou duas paisagens de amor e docência no Facebook: “Bailes dos 15 de outubro” e “Focos de abominação a Paulo Freire”. Propôs, ainda, que fundemos novas éticas amorosas efetivadas no esteio de uma educação para as relações.
Práticas afrorreligiosas, literatura e ensino de história: por uma educação decolonial
Authors: Serafim Vanda Fortuna , Fialho Laís Azevedo
Published: March 2021

A finalidade desse artigo é pensar possibilidades para o ensino da história e cultura afro-brasileira por meio da literatura, atentando às práticas afrorreligiosas, mas problematizando os discursos colonizadores presentes na maioria das narrativas existentes. A obra literária escolhida para tanto consiste em Deuses de dois mundos – a trilogia épica dos orixás, de autoria de PJ Pereira, que teve amplo sucesso literário, especialmente entre o público juvenil, e chama a atenção pelo modo como o autor contava uma história contemporânea utilizando os mitos dos orixás, tornando-se uma boa ferramenta para o ensino de história e cultura afro-brasileira. Rica em detalhes sobre a cultura iorubana, ainda assim, exige preparo do (a) professor (a) para reconhecer o processo de “embranquecimento cultural” operado na obra
Navigating the job market with a congenital heart condition
Authors: Phillips Hannah
Published: March 2021

In this month's patient story, Hannah Phillips contemplates the difficulties of entering the world of work with a congenital heart condition and outlines how treatment teams can better prepare patients for this process.
The role of breast milk fortifier in the post-discharge nutrition of preterm infants
Authors: McCormick Kenny , King Caroline , Clarke Sara , Jarvis Chris , Johnson Mark , Parretti Helen M , Greene Nora , Males Joanna
Published: March 2021

Infants born prematurely are often discharged from hospital before 37 weeks post-menstrual age. While breastfeeding will meet all the nutritional requirements of full-term infants, these preterm infants may need enhanced levels of protein, minerals and possibly energy to ensure optimum growth, bone mineralisation and neurological development. To meet these additional nutrient needs in the neonatal unit, it is currently recommended that multinutrient breast milk fortifier is added to maternal breast milk. There may also be benefits in continuing to provide fortified milk after discharge, potentially including improved growth and preserving breastfeeding, and this is increasingly becoming a recognised practice in some neonatal units. This article presents the discussion and consensus of a multidisciplinary panel of neonatologists, neonatal dietitians, a GP and a neonatal outreach sister. The aim is to develop guidance on providing safe and effective nutritional supplementation for preterm infants after discharge in order to maintain optimal growth. This guidance is aimed at community healthcare staff and is based on the limited evidence available, using shared best practice and expertise.
Lameness in dairy heifers: a narrative review of control strategies
Authors: Bell Nick J. , Randall Laura
Published: March 2021

Lameness is a prevalent condition in mature dairy cows, but the common underlying diseases — sole bruising-sole ulcers, white line lesions and digital dermatitis — invariably arise from management factors in first lactation or rearing. The published evidence would indicate once infected by the Treponemes causing digital dermatitis, heifers retain these bacteria in the skin despite apparent clinical resolution, meaning the emphasis of control should be placed on minimising risk of early life exposure, largely through biocontainment, foot cleaning and foot disinfection. For sole bruising and sole ulcers, there has been a major switch from the acidosis and laminitis-base models of disease, to a biomechanical pathogenesis for claw horn lesions. This has focused attention on the development and preservation of the digital cushion, with the emphasis on preventive strategies combined with early intervention involving anti-inflammatory drugs among other things. This article reviews the evidence-based underpinning the rationale that heifers should be the focus of foot health control, a message that can be challenging to convey when the perceived problem invariably sits with how to deal with chronic, end-stage lesions.
Copper poisoning in sheep
Authors: Hinde Davinia
Published: March 2021

This article examines the causes and effects of copper poisoning in sheep. Whether the poisoning is acute or chronic depends on the clinical symptoms seen. Sometimes haemolytic crisis is observed leading to jaundice and dark coloured urine and the condition can lead easily to death. Strategies to minimise the copper intake of animals are essential to prevent more damage to the initial animals and to others.
Understanding the plasmon-enhanced photothermal effect of a polarized laser on metal nanowires
Authors: Wan Hui , Yu Shengtao , Lei Yu , Zhao Qiang , Tao Guoyi , Luan Shiyi , Gui Chengqun , Zhou Shengjun
Published: March 2021

Improving photothermal efficiency can reduce the melting threshold of metal nanowires. The photothermal efficiency of a polarized laser to Cu nanowires was investigated by numerical simulation and experiment. Our simulation results reveal that the photothermal efficiency of a polarized laser depends on the intensity and distribution area of surface plasmons excited by the laser. As the angle between the polarization direction of the incident laser and the long axis of the Cu nanowire increases, the laser-excited surface plasmons shift from both ends to the sidewall of the Cu nanowire. Such a distribution of surface plasmons was confirmed by the melting behavior of Cu nanowires irradiated by a 450 nm polarized laser. Increasing the laser wavelength will enhance the intensity of the surface plasmons but reduce the distribution area of the surface plasmons. As a result, a higher photothermal efficiency was achieved using a laser with a polarization direction perpendicular to the long axis of the Cu nanowire and a wavelength less than 550 nm. Due to the higher photothermal efficiency, the melting threshold of Cu nanowire irradiated by a laser with polarization perpendicular to the long axis of the Cu nanowire is 32 mW, which is around 20% lower that of Cu nanowire irradiated by a laser with polarization parallel to the long axis of the Cu nanowire.
Resonance-enhanced, rare-gas-assisted femtosecond-laser electronic-excitation tagging in argon/nitrogen mixtures
Authors: Grib Stephen W. , Stauffer Hans U. , Roy Sukesh , Schumaker S. Alexander
Published: March 2021

Multiphoton-resonance enhancement of a rare-gas-assisted nitrogen femtosecond-laser electronic-excitation-tagging (FLEET) signal is demonstrated. The FLEET signal is ideal for velocimetric tracking of nitrogen gas in flow environments by virtue of its long-lived nature. By tuning to three-photon-resonant transitions of argon, energy can be more efficiently deposited into the mixture, thereby producing a stronger and longer-lived FLEET signal following subsequent efficient energy transfer from excited-state argon to the

C

(

3

Π

u

) excited state of nitrogen. Such resonant excitation exhibits as much as an order of magnitude increase in this rare-gas-assisted FLEET signal, compared to near-resonance excitation of seeded argon demonstrated in previous work, while reducing the required input excitation-pulse energies by two orders of magnitude compared to traditional FLEET.
Numerical modeling of extreme events observed in the all-solid-state laser with a saturable absorber
Authors: Bonazzola Carlos
Published: March 2021

Extreme events (pulses of high intensity) are observed to appear
spontaneously in some chaotic regimes of the self-pulsing
all-solid-state laser with a saturable absorber (diode-pumped
Nd:YVO4 + Cr:YAG). Until now, the mechanism of build-up of these
pulses has remained unknown. Besides the practical interest in this
device of widespread use, the laser with a saturable absorber is
homologous to the Bénard–Rayleigh system with a solute. Experimental
observations show the events to appear even if a few different
transverse modes oscillate. This leads to a description in terms of a
few ordinary differential equations, instead of the more usual
description with an equation in partial derivatives. A minimum of five
transverse modes and hole burning in the absorber are found necessary
elements of the description. On the other hand, phases among the
spatial Fourier components do not need to be taken into consideration.
The demonstration that, in some systems at least, the formation of
extreme events can be explained with a few interacting degrees of
freedom has a broad impact.
Rebuild the Academy: Supporting academic mothers during COVID-19 and beyond
Authors: Fulweiler Robinson W. , Davies Sarah W. , Biddle Jennifer F. , Burgin Amy J. , Cooperdock Emily H. G. , Hanley Torrance C. , Kenkel Carly D. , Marcarelli Amy M. , Matassa Catherine M. , Mayo Talea L. , Santiago-Vàzquez Lory Z. , Traylor-Knowles Nikki , Ziegler Maren
Published: March 2021

The issues facing academic mothers have been discussed for decades. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is further exposing these inequalities as womxn scientists who are parenting while also engaging in a combination of academic related duties are falling behind. These inequities can be solved by investing strategically in solutions. Here we describe strategies that would ensure a more equitable academy for working mothers now and in the future. While the data are clear that mothers are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, many groups could benefit from these strategies. Rather than rebuilding what we once knew, let us be the architects of a new world.
Characterization of biliary microbiota dysbiosis in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Saab Massa , Mestivier Denis , Sohrabi Masoudreza , Rodriguez Christophe , Khonsari Mahmood Reza , Faraji Amirhossein , Sobhani Iradj
Published: March 2021

Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) accounts for 3% of digestive cancers. The role of biliary microbiota as an environment-related modulator has been scarcely investigated in CCA, and the putative impact of associated diseases has not been yet assessed. We characterized the biliary microbiota in CCA patients in order to identify a specific CCA-related dysbiosis. The biliary effluents were collected through an endoscopic retrograde pancreatic cholangiography (ERCP) examination involving 28 CCA and 47 patients with gallstones, herein considered as controls. The biliary effluents were submitted to bacterial DNA extraction and 16S rRNA sequencing, using Illumina technology. Overall, 32% of CCA and 22% of controls displayed another associated disease, such as diabetes, pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, or primary sclerosing cholangitis. Such associated diseases were considered in the comparisons that were made. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) detected a significant disparity of biliary microbiota composition between CCA patients and controls without an associated disease. Amongst the most abundant phyla,Proteobacteriadid not significantly differ between CCA patients and controls, whereasFirmicuteslevels were lower andBacteroideteshigher in CCAs’ biliary microbiota than in the controls’ microbiota. The most abundant genera wereEnterococcus,Streptococcus,Bacteroides,Klebsiella, andPyramidobacter in CCA’s biliary microbiota. Additionally, levels ofBacteroides,Geobacillus,Meiothermus, andAnoxybacillusgenera were significantly higher in CCA patients’ biliary microbiota, without an associated disease, in comparison with controls. A specific CCA-related dysbiosis was identified as compared to controls independently from associated diseases. This suggests that a microorganism community may be involved in CCA pathogenesis.
Spreading the sharing economy: Institutional conditions for the international diffusion of Uber, 2010-2017
Authors: Kim Hyun J. , Suh Chan S.
Published: March 2021

This study examines the factors that facilitated the international diffusion of Uber, one of the fastest growing global companies in the sharing economy. We particularly focus on the legal and institutional conditions under which this ride-sharing platform could spread to customers online. Using a unique cross-national, longitudinal dataset, we employ event history models to investigate the effect of institutional environment on the diffusion of Uber. The results suggest that the establishment of the rule of law has a positive impact on the spread of Uber, even after controlling for economic and political characteristics. In addition, the overall quality of governmental regulations on markets is positively related to the diffusion of this ride-sharing platform. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on the sharing economy by identifying critical institutional factors that enable the transformation of business models worldwide.
Epidemiology of congenital upper limb anomalies in Korea: A nationwide population-based study
Authors: Shin Young Ho , Baek Goo Hyun , Kim Ye-Jee , Kim Min-ju , Kim Jae Kwang
Published: March 2021

This study aimed to analyze the epidemiology of congenital upper limb anomalies (CULA) in Korea. We evaluated the incidence of each type of CULA, the presence of coexisting anomalies and the surgical treatment status in CULA patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged < 1 year between 2007 and 2016 who were registered with CULA in the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service of Korea. In total, 10,704 patients had CULA, including 6,174 boys (57.7%) and 4,530 girls (42.3%). The mean annual incidence of CULA was 23.5 per 10,000 live births; it was significantly higher in boys than in girls (26.3 vs. 20.5, p < 0.001). Among the four categories of CULA—polydactyly, syndactyly, limb deficiency, and other anomalies—polydactyly was the most common. In total, 4,149 patients (38.8%) had other congenital anomalies and coexisting anomalies of the circulatory system (24.9%) were the most common. In total 4,776 patients (44.6%) underwent operative treatment for CULA within minimum three years of the diagnosis. The proportion of patients who underwent surgical treatment was significantly higher for polydactyly (73.4% vs. 16.8%, p < 0.001) and syndactyly (65.3% vs. 41.5%, p < 0.001), but it was significantly lower in limb deficiency (27.6% vs. 45.4%, p < 0.001) and other anomalies (10.0% vs. 69.8%, p < 0.001) than rest of CULA patients. Among the patients who had operations, 21.5% underwent multiple operations. The proportion of patients who underwent multiple operations was significantly higher in syndactyly (35.6% vs. 18.1%, p < 0.001), but it was significantly lower in polydactyly (4.0% vs. 95.5%, p < 0.001) and other anomalies (17.9% vs. 21.9%, p < 0.001) than rest of CULA patients. These results could provide a basis for estimating the national healthcare costs for CULA and the required number of CULA specialists.
Assessing population structure and body condition to inform conservation strategies for a small isolated Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) population in southwest China
Authors: Sun Yakuan , Chen Ying , Díaz-Sacco Juan José , Shi Kun
Published: March 2021

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) population in Nangunhe National Nature Reserve in China represents a unique evolutionary branch that has been isolated for more than twenty years from neighboring populations in Myanmar. The scarcity of information on population structure, sex ratio, and body condition makes it difficult to develop effective conservation measures for this elephant population. Twelve individuals were identified from 3,860 valid elephant images obtained from February to June 2018 (5,942 sampling effort nights) at 52 camera sites. Three adult females, three adult males, one subadult male, two juvenile females, two juvenile males and one male calf were identified. The ratio of adult females to adult males was 1:1, and the ratio of reproductive ability was 1:0.67, indicating the scarcity of reproductive females as an important limiting factor to population growth. A population density of 5.32 ± 1.56 elephants/100 km2 was estimated using Spatially Explicit Capture Recapture (SECR) models. The health condition of this elephant population was assessed using an 11-point scale of Body Condition Scoring (BCS). The average BCS was 5.75 (n = 12, range 2–9), with adult females scoring lower than adult males. This isolated population is extremely small and has an inverted pyramid age structure and therefore is at a high risk of extinction. We propose three plans to improve the survival of this population: improving the quality and quantity of food resources, removing fencing and establishing corridors between the east and wet parts of Nangunhe reserve.
Sperm kinematic subpopulations of the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)
Authors: Valverde Anthony , Castro-Morales Olivier , Madrigal-Valverde Mónica , Camacho Marlen , Barquero Vinicio , Soler Carles , Roldan Eduardo R. S.
Published: March 2021

There has been very limited use of computer assisted semen analysis (CASA) to evaluate reptile sperm. The aim of this study was to examine sperm kinematic variables in American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) semen samples and to assess whether sperm subpopulations could be characterized. Eight ejaculates (two ejaculates/male) from four sexually mature captive crocodiles were obtained. An ISAS®v1 CASA-Mot system, with an image acquisition rate of 50 Hz, and ISAS®D4C20 counting chambers were used for sperm analyses. The percentages of motile and progressively motile spermatozoa did not differ among animals (P > 0.05) but there was a significant animal effect with regards to kinematic variables (P < 0.05). Principal component (PC) analysis revealed that kinematic variables grouped into three components: PC1, related to velocity; PC2 to progressiveness and PC3 to oscillation. Subpopulation structure analysis identified four groups (P < 0.05), which represented, on average, 9.8%, 32.1%, 26.8%, and 31.3% of the total sperm population. Males differed in the proportion of sperm in each of the kinematic subpopulations. This new approach for the analysis of reptile sperm kinematic subpopulations, reflecting quantifiable parameters generated by CASA system technology, opens up possibilities for future assessments of crocodile sperm and will be useful in the future development of assisted reproduction for these species.
The singular effect of brevity: Why Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’ could not have been a novel
Authors: Feklistova Lisa
Published: March 2021

It is noteworthy that critics who come to very different conclusions about the symbolic meaning of Katherine Mansfield’s 1922 short story ‘The Fly’ respond to the text in much the same way emotionally. In examining why exactly ‘The Fly’ is so disturbing, this article interrogates the relationship between feeling and literary form, arguing that the emotional effect of any work of prose fiction is decisively influenced by narrative length. Drawing upon the ideas of Edgar Allan Poe and Frank O’Connor, the article examines how the effect of elaborate description differs from the effect of summary and deliberate omission. Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’ typifies how, due to its brevity, the short story as a literary form can present one single, minor incident as major, to great emotional effect and without recourse to symbolism, which is something that the longer prose form of the novel cannot do.
Regionalist short fiction as humble fiction
Authors: Correia Alda
Published: March 2021

The representation of the world cannot be separated from its spatial context. Making the effort to understand how space and landscape influence short stories and their structure, and are represented in them, can help us to make sense of the role of this formerly underestimated subgenre, its social and cultural connections and dissonances, its relation to storytelling and popular narratives, and its alleged low importance. How does the short story genre relate to regional and landscape literature? Can we see it as humble fiction and, in this case, how does the humbleness of this subgenre play a part in the growth of the modernist short story? The oral, mythic and fantastic sources of the short story, together with the travel memoir tradition that brought the love for landscape description and the interest in the narration of brief and easily publishable episodes of local life, helped to consolidate a connection between the short story form and regional literature. ‘Humbleness’ is used here in association with the absence of complexity, plainness, simplicity of approach to a complex reality, straightforwardness. From this perspective, aesthetic value was usually absent from regionalist fiction as its only aim was to render the local truth faithfully. However, this ‘aesthetic humbleness’, which should not be used as a generalization, has been increasingly questioned in regard to modernism, postmodernism and postcolonialism and also when we consider specific works.
Tourism, tourists, humility and the humble in E. M. Forster’s ‘The Story of the Siren’ (1920)
Authors: Vernadakis Emmanuel
Published: March 2021

In E. M. Forster’s ‘The Story of the Siren’ (1920), humility and the humble are highlighted by the empowering status bestowed on an embedded story told by an illiterate Sicilian boatman to a sophisticated English tourist and prospective Cambridge Fellow. The latter, who is also the narrator of the embedding narrative, proves to be transformed by the qualities (philosophic, ethical and literary) promoted by the humble status of the embedded one. As the existence of the Siren of the title is problematic – she never shows up – and the story offers a case of structuring a full intrigue on the invisible, there may be a connection between the humble and the invisible. In order to investigate this assumption, I propose to explore the way in which the myth of the siren, a myth that relates to desire, is brought into dialogue with Frazer’s evolutionary theory and Plato’s theory of ideas. The interplay between philosophy, anthropology and desire provides a critique of Edwardian society and a self-criticism based on Socratic irony, itself an irony of humility. I shall eventually suggest that the humble but desirable Sicilian storyteller functions like an avatar of the Siren. Instead of writing a dissertation on the Deist Controversy and becoming an academic, the homodiegetic narrator allows himself to be seduced by the ‘Siren’s song’ – the young Sicilian’s story – and (ironically) become a writer. For, as I will attempt to demonstrate, the relationship between this short story and the life of E. M. Forster is highlighted by the figure of metalepsis, a device that reveals the author, rather than the narrator, at work.
Humility and the humble: A reading of the Nepali short stories of Maheshbikram Shah
Authors: Chettri Kritika
Published: March 2021

This article focuses on a comparative analysis of the chronicling of the civil war in Nepal, within the collection of short stories by Maheshbikram Shah, titled Chapamar ko Choro (‘The guerrilla’s son’), with the novels Palpasa Café by Narayan Wagle and Urgen ko Ghoda (‘Urgen’s horse’) by Yug Pathak, and a memoir, Khalanga ma Hamla (‘Attack at Khalanga’), by Radha Paudel. I argue that the short stories adopt a lens of humility in viewing the conflict as opposed to the totalizing narratives of the novels and the memoir that seek to represent their idea of a humble life. The stories engage with an everyday life of the conflict that overturns its representation into a humble life within the novels. This argument opens up a myriad of questions about forms and ways of seeing: what does it mean to have humility in the face of a conflict? How does humility reconcile with questions of agency and dignity? If humility is a way of seeing, then does it also influence the form taken by the short stories? What are the ethical dimensions of the relationship humility forges between self and others? As the article seeks to answer these questions, the aim will be to establish the short stories of Shah as providing an interpretation of the conflict that remains obliterated within the novels and the memoir.
From Conan the Barbarian to Gunan il guerriero: Re-contextualizing spaghetti sword and sorcery
Authors: Leotta Alfio
Published: March 2021

The release of Conan the Barbarian (1982) played a crucial role in the emergence of the sword and sorcery film, a subgenre of fantasy cinema featuring muscular heroes in violent conflict with wizards and other supernatural creatures. Italian genre filmmakers attempted to capitalize on the international popularity of sword and sorcery by quickly producing a number of low-budget films, which emulated the stylistic and narrative features of Conan. Over a period of six years, between 1982 and 1987, the Italian film industry produced almost two dozen sword and sorcery films, which achieved mixed results at the box office. Although recently an increasing number of international film scholars have focused on the critical examination of Italian genre cinema, to date, little attention has been devoted to the study of Italian sword and sorcery. By examining the aesthetic features of four Italian sword and sorcery films (Gunan il guerriero [1982], Ator l’invincibile [1982], Hercules [1983] and The Barbarians [1987]), as well as their modes of production and distribution, this article proposes the first comprehensive critical examination of this filone.
Six continents at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome: Flavia Laviosa in conversation with Alfredo Baldi
Authors: Laviosa Flavia
Published: March 2021

In this interview Alfredo Baldi, historian of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC) in Rome, gives a detailed overview of the political, cultural and artistic reasons for the prevalent presence of students from about 100 countries and six continents in all the specializations offered at the CSC in Rome (directing, photography, set design and acting), since its foundation in 1935. More specifically, Baldi explains why the CSC was popular in the 1930s and 1940s among students from the Axis nations in pre-war Europe, mentions the fascination of world artists with Italian neorealism, attributes international interest of the CSC to the artistic reputation of the film professionals who taught at the CSC and expresses his interpretation of the reasons for the large numbers of students from Greece, the Arab nations, Latin America and the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Since its foundation, the CSC has granted diplomas at the end of the two- or three-year cycle of studies, but starting in the 2021–24 academic cycle, it will grant university degrees. Baldi explains what led to this critical and long overdue academic and administrative shift.
Genere e media: non solo immagini: Soggetti, politiche, rappresentazioni, Milly Buonanno and Franca Faccioli (eds) (2020)
Authors: Bonifazio Paola
Published: March 2021

Review of: Genere e media: non solo immagini: Soggetti, politiche, rappresentazioni, Milly Buonanno and Franca Faccioli (eds) (2020)

Milan: FrancoAngeli, 226 pp.,

ISBN 978-88-351-0086-7, p/bk, €29.00
L’Italia sullo Schermo. Come il cinema ha raccontato l’identità nazionale, Gian Piero Brunetta (2020)
Authors: Bonelli Diego
Published: March 2021

Review of: L’Italia sullo Schermo. Come il cinema ha raccontato l’identità nazionale, Gian Piero Brunetta (2020)

Rome: Carocci editore, 367 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-84309-891-0, p/bk, €32.00
La scuola italiana del cinema. Il Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia dalla storia alla cronaca (1930-2017), Alfredo Baldi (2018)
Authors: Noto Paolo
Published: March 2021

Review of: La scuola italiana del cinema. Il Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia dalla storia alla cronaca (1930-2017), Alfredo Baldi (2018)

Rome and Soveria Mannelli: Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and Rubbettino, 224 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-84985-412-1, p/bk, €18.00

 

70 anni della Cineteca Nazionale del Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia 1949-2019, Alfredo Baldi (ed.) (2019)

Rome and Soveria Mannelli: Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and Rubbettino, 240 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-84986-124-2, p/bk, €18.00
Carosello… e poi tutti a nanna: 1957-1977: i vent’anni che hanno cambiato l’Italia, Vito Molinari (2019)
Authors: Fiumara Francesco
Published: March 2021

Review of: Carosello… e poi tutti a nanna: 1957-1977: i vent’anni che hanno cambiato l’Italia, Vito Molinari (2019)

Sestri levante: Gammarò, 378 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-89941-537-2, p/bk, €21.00
Satire, masculinity and the rhetoric of conflict resolution in War Chhod Na Yaar and Kya Dilli Kya Lahore
Authors: Singh Shailendra Kumar
Published: March 2021

Unlike its western counterparts, Hindi war films constitute a rather peripheral genre, one that has understandably received scant critical attention over the last two decades. The conventional aesthetic registers and thematic templates of these films reveal an explicit engagement with questions relating to heroic masculinity, exceptional leadership and nationalist triumphalism. And yet, movies such as War Chhod Na Yaar (‘Quit the war, dude’) () and Kya Dilli Kya Lahore (‘Delhi and Lahore are not so different after all’) () categorically denounce idealistic notions of armed conflicts and sensationalized portrayals of ostensibly justified violence. This article examines the rhetoric of conflict resolution that constitutes the organizing principle of these two films. It demonstrates how War Chhod Na Yaar discursively satirizes the earlier Hindi war films through a pronounced emphasis on the fanciful camaraderie that exists between the respective battalion captains of India and Pakistan. By contrast, the anti-war rhetoric of Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is not only historically situated within the larger framework of Partition narratives, but is also facilitated by an alternative configuration of masculinity that resists territorial divisions in favour of affective solidarities and shared lived experiences.
Centenary newspapers in Porto: Identity editorial features and the construction of audiences in a city background. Main evolutionary journalistic lines in the late nineteenth century until the First Republic
Authors: Lima Helena
Published: March 2021

O Comércio do Porto, O Primeiro de Janeiro and Jornal de Notícias were the main newspapers launched in Porto during the nineteenth century. They were founded at a time the city was of central importance for its trade and international relations, but also because it was the epicentre of the main political movements that led to great changes in the country’s governance. They evolved according to the city developments and gradually gained prestige and national reach. Ideological models of press gave way to news editorial projects, and Porto newspapers also followed that path. Each editorial profile was built from the initial matrix, but also by gradually adapting to reader preferences and enhancing identification processes within the novelty of news formats. These daily newspapers were, at some point, led by charismatic owners and directors who became key factors in their evolution. The aim of this study is to identify these specific editorial lines and how they gained the loyalty of readers, taking into consideration the role of these newspapers in building common identity.
Singing-in-between spaces: Bhooter Bhabisyat and the music transcending class conflict
Authors: Mukherjee Dhrubaa
Published: March 2021

This article analyses Bhooter Bhabisyat, a Bengali political horror satire, as a counter-narrative to Bengali cinema’s monocultural bhodrolok branding. The article argues that Bhooter Bhabisyat is radical in its refusal to follow hegemonic homogenizing musical styles classified into genres such as folk, popular, traditional and modern, which tend to be ethnocentric and class based with serious value judgments about the superiority of certain musical forms over others. Instead, Bhooter Bhabisyat uses a variety of distinct Bengali musical traditions to problematize the historic role of capitalist media that work to homogenize and popularize the dominant culture of the ruling classes. The hybrid songs of the film disrupt a sense of homogeneous bhodrolok class position that Bengali cinema has historically sustained. Through the strategies of musical pastiche, Bhooter Bhabisyat offers a meta-historic narrative about Bengali cinema, which makes possible a critical investigation of the cultural discourses and historical narratives that are discursively embedded within the history of filmic production, circulation and consumption. If film histories are produced by repressing differences between social groups and constructing universal identification, then foregrounding film songs as decolonial storytelling methods that reemphasize local voices and subject matters can lead to an effort to read history from below.

The vulgar representation of time as a precise

and homogeneous continuum has […] diluted the

Marxist concept of history.

(Giorgio Agamben)

The history of all hitherto existing society is the

history of class struggles.

(Karl Marx)
Mapping intersections: A dialectical reflection on postcolonial memory in Shyam Benegal’s Trikaal (Past, Present, Future)
Authors: Sethi Arundhati
Published: March 2021

The article explores how Shyam film Trikaal (Past, Present, Future) navigates the social and psychic map of postcolonial Indian memory to reveal a pattern of persistent dualities and unlikely convergences of time, space and subjectivities. Via the domestic cosmos of a fictional Goan family, the film delves into the transitional and largely neglected phase of Goa’s decolonization from the Portuguese Empire. While situating itself in this specific moment, the film also puts forth an alternative discourse of approaching national history and the boundaries of the self. This is achieved by rerouting memory away from the high street of conventional history, utilizing the critical prism of reflective nostalgia and allowing the shadows of marginality to spill over the entirety of the narrative stage. Ultimately, we encounter a dialectical fabric of national identity dominated by unsettling intersections of past and present, home and abroad, memory and amnesia, power and oppression, romance and horror.