bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors Influencing Technology Acceptance of Drones for Last-Mile Food Deliveries: An Adaptation of the UTAUT2 Model
Authors: Mathew Asish O. , Chowdhury Srijit , Devpura Sanjivani , Lingappa Anasuya K.
Published: November 2023

As the food delivery sector grows in importance, new delivery modes to address service issues, such as costs, swift delivery, and environmental concerns, are being researched. However, research on drone-based food delivery services is still lacking, especially in the Indian context, which the current study aims to address. The study furthered the UTAUT2 model with additional perceived risk and price sensitivity constructs. Quantitative, cross-sectional data was collected nationwide using convenience sampling through online survey questionnaires. The 323 responses were analyzed using the partial least square-structural equation modeling method. The results identified effort expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation as significant predictors of attitude and behavioral intention. In an emerging economy with a vast consumer base, this study may offer a preliminary standpoint for understanding the consumer perspective on drone food deliveries. The findings of this study might be necessary for businesses that deal with food delivery logistics as a point of view to formulate successful strategies.
Management of Concomitant Intrusion and Complicated Crown-Root Fracture Injury of Maxillary Central Incisors in a Child
Authors: Haimed Tariq Abu , Abdeltawab Samah S. , Kayal Rayyan A. , Almotairi Mona H. , Zawawi Khalid H.
Published: November 2023

Dental intrusions are a severe type of injury because they impact the neurovascular supply of the tooth as well as the supporting tissues which predispose the tooth to necrosis and root resorption. Management of these injuries requires repositioning of the teeth under close monitoring to avoid complications. The management becomes more comprehensive when an intrusion is combined with other injuries, such as a crown-root fracture. This case report represents a 4-year follow-up of a child who suffered from a concomitant injury of intrusion and complicated crown-root fracture to the maxillary immature permanent central incisors. The management involved a multidisciplinary approach including endodontics, pedodontics, orthodontics, periodontics, and prosthodontics. Given the guidelines of dental trauma and the circumstances of the case, the fractured teeth were root canal treated, filled with a bioceramic plug and gutta-percha, and then restored with posts/cores and temporary crowns. The intrusion was managed initially by passive eruption followed by an active orthodontic eruption, after which the teeth were restored with permanent ceramic crowns. Throughout the course of treatment, the teeth showed no complications of root resorption or ankylosis, although one tooth developed a periapical infection which was managed by apical surgery. At the 4-year follow-up, the teeth revealed healthy periodontium and good esthetics.
Immunologic Signatures of Peripheral Blood T Cells Reveal the Outcome of p53MVA Vaccine and Pembrolizumab Treatment in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Kos Ferdynand J. , Frankel Paul , Cristea Mihaela , Eng Melissa , Tinsley Raechelle , Dempsey Shannon , Ruel Nora , Stewart Daphne , Dellinger Thanh H. , Diamond Don J.
Published: November 2023

Purpose:

Our previous studies indicated that p53-reactive T cells were associated with clinical benefit in patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were treated with p53-expressing modified vaccinia Ankara (p53MVA) vaccine and gemcitabine chemotherapy. To replace chemotherapy with an approach that will enhance vaccine efficacy and antitumor immunity, we treated patients with p53MVA in combination with PD-1 checkpoint blocker, pembrolizumab. We also attempted to further characterize the activation status of T cells prior to vaccination and during treatment.

Experimental Design:

Patients received up to three triweekly vaccinations concurrent with pembrolizumab, followed by pembrolizumab monotherapy at 3-week intervals. Correlative studies analyzed peripheral blood T-cell phenotypes and profiles of immune function gene expression.

Results:

We observed 6/28 (21%) patients with a clinical benefit to therapy, including 3 partial responses (PR) and 3 patients with stable disease (SD) for 6+ months. The median progression-free survival was 1.8 months (95% confidence interval: 1.7–3.8) and median overall survival was 15.1 months (9.4–30.4). Two patients remain progression-free at 28 and 33 months. Of the 18 patients evaluable in correlative studies, 6 were immunologic responders of whom 5 had clinical benefit (3 PR, 2 SD). Immunologic non-responders expressed in pretreatment peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples high levels of mRNA for multiple molecules associated with terminally differentiated T cells.

Conclusions:

p53MVA/pembrolizumab immunotherapy showed promising antitumor activity in patients who demonstrated functionally competent peripheral blood T cells. Detection of markers of terminally differentiated T cells before treatment may identify patients unlikely to respond to p53MVA/pembrolizumab.

Significance:

The activity of a combination immunotherapy of p53 vaccine and PD-1 checkpoint blockade in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer was evaluated in a phase II trial. Clinical benefit was correlated with the responsive immune status of patients before and during the treatment, defining potential predictive markers for immune therapy.
Long-Term Follow-Up of Brolucizumab in Macular Neovascularization
Authors: Ruggeri Maria Ludovica , Toto Lisa , D'Aloisio Rossella , Quarta Alberto , Aloia Raffaella , Venturoni Patrizio , De Nicola Chiara , Doronzo Emanuele , Gironi Matteo , Porreca Annamaria , Di Nicola Marta , Mastropasqua Rodolfo
Published: November 2023

Introduction: The aim of the study was to evaluate functional and anatomical changes in type 1 and type 2 naïve macular neovascularization (MNV) patients treated with brolucizumab injections up to 1 year of treatment (week 48). Methods: Thirty-eight eyes of 38 patients with active MNV were enrolled at the Ophthalmology Clinic of the University “G. d’Annunzio,” Chieti-Pescara, Italy. All patients were scheduled for brolucizumab intravitreal injections as per label, according to the standard HAWK and HARRIER trials guidelines. Enrolled patients underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation, including optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography. All measurements were evaluated at baseline and then monthly up to week 48. The main outcome measures were changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA); central macular thickness (CMT); subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT); pigment epithelial detachment presence and maximum height (PEDMH); intraretinal fluid (IRF) presence, subfoveal subretinal fluid (SSRF) presence and maximum height, macular atrophy area, and neovascular membrane flow area in the slab extending from the outer retina to choriocapillaris (ORCC flow). Results: CMT and BCVA significantly changed in both groups over time. ORCC flow and SCT significantly reduced in both groups over time. Atrophy areas increased from 0 to 0.17 mm2 and from 0 to 0.23 mm2 in type 1 MNV and type 2 MNV patients, respectively. PEDMH reduced in type 1 MNV from 138 μm at T0 to 96 μm at T5. Changes in fluids were noted, with SSRF thickness reduction and IRF changes in both groups. Conclusion: Our one-year results of treatment confirm brolucizumab to be efficient and safe in both type 1 and type 2 MNV patients, proposing novel OCT parameters as possible biomarkers of treatment.
Sentence embedding to improve rumour detection performance model
Authors: Anggrainingsih Rini , Wihidayat Endar Suprih , Widoyono Bambang
Published: November 2023

Recently, most individuals have preferred accessing the most recent news via social media platforms like Twitter as their primary source of information. Moreover, Twitter enables users to post and distribute tweets quickly and unsupervised. As a result, Twitter has become a popular platform for disseminating false information, such as rumours. These rumours were then propagated as accurate and influenced public opinion and decision-making. The issue will arise when a decision or policy with substantial consequences is made based on rumours. To avoid the negative impacts of rumours, several researchers have attempted to detect them automatically as early as feasible. Previous studies employed supervised learning methods to identify Twitter rumours and relied on feature extraction algorithms to extract tweet content and context elements. However, manually extracting features is time-consuming and labour-intensive. To encode each tweet's sentence as a vector based on its contextual meaning, we proposed utilising Bidirectional Encoder Representation of Transformer (BERT) as a sentence embedding. We then used these vectors to train some classifier models to detect rumours. Finally, we compared the performance of BERT-based models to feature engineering-based models. We discovered that the suggested BERT-based model improved all parameters by around 10% compared to the feature engineering-based classification model.
Design and simulation of remote monitoring of the intelligent automatic control system in the production line
Authors: Nasser Amal Ibrahim , Sahrab Ammar Ali , Kadhim Hasan M.
Published: November 2023

In this research, we will introduce implementation requirements of a remote wireless control and monitoring unit of industrial production lines automatically controlled using programmable logic controller (PLC). PLC is capable of collecting different types of data and converting them into electrical signals that can be controlled by the industrial network using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. SCADA will be installed in the main server inside the control unit. The PLC will be used as a decision maker of the received signals for the industrial lines that comes from a group of detectors (sensors/transducers). The output of the PLC processor will trigger the engines, according to a specific industrial process management program. The processed data could be transferred through wireless or wired method. The wireless approach will be shown in this study, along with two other ways to implement it.
Intelligent task processing using mobile edge computing: processing time optimization
Authors: Maftah Sara , El Ghmary Mohamed , El Bouabidi Hamid , Amnai Mohamed , Ouacha Ali
Published: November 2023

The fast-paced development of the internet of things led to the increase of computing resource services that could provide a fast response time, which is an unsatisfied feature when using cloud infrastructures due to network latency. Therefore, mobile edge computing became an emerging model by extending computation and storage resources to the network edge, to meet the demands of delaysensitive and heavy computing applications. Computation offloading is the main feature that makes Edge computing surpass the existing cloud-based technologies to break limitations such as computing capabilities, battery resources, and storage availability, it enhances the durability and performance of mobile devices by offloading local intensive computation tasks to edge servers. However, the optimal solution is not always guaranteed by offloading computation, therefore, the offloading decision is a crucial step depending on many parameters that should be taken in consideration. In this paper, we use a simulator to compare a two tier edge orchestrator architecture with the results obtained by implementing a system model that aims to minimize a task’s processing time constrained by time delay and the limited device’s computational resource and usage based on a modified version.
Choosing allowability boundaries for describing objects in subject areas
Authors: Lolaev Musulmon , Madrakhimov Shavkat , Makharov Kodirbek , Saidov Doniyor
Published: November 2023

Anomaly detection is one of the most promising problems for study and can be used as independent units and preprocessing tools before solving any fundamental data mining problems. This article proposes a method for detecting specific errors with the involvement of experts from subject areas to fill knowledge. The proposed method about outliers hypothesizes that they locate closer to logical boundaries of intervals derived from pair features, and the interval ranges vary in different domains. We construct intervals leveraging pair feature values. While forming knowledge in a specific field, a domain specialist checks the logical allowability of objects based on the range of the intervals. If the objects are logical outliers, the specialist ignores or corrects them. We offer the general algorithm for the formation of the database based on the proposed method in the form of a pseudo-code, and we provide comparison results with existing methods.
An improved dynamic-layered classification of retinal diseases
Authors: Nagamani Gilakara Muni , Sudhakar Theertagiri
Published: November 2023

Retina is main part of the human eye and every disease shows the effect on retina. Eye diseases such as choroidal neovascularization (CNV), DRUSEN, diabetic macular edema (DME) are the main retinal diseases that damage the retina and if these damages are identified in the later stages, it is very difficult to reverse the vision for these retinal diseases. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-nosy image testing for finding the retinal diseases. OCT mainly collects the cross-section images of retina. Deep learning (DL) is used to analyze the patterns in several complex research applications especially in the disease prediction. In DL, multiple layers give the accurate detection of abnormalities in the retinal images. In this paper, an improved dynamic-layered classification (IDLC) is introduced to classify retinal diseases based on their abnormality. Image filters are used to filter the noise present in the input images. ResNet is the pre-trained model which is used to train the features of retinal diseases. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) are the DL model used to analyze the OCT image. The dataset consists of three types of OCT disease datasets from Kaggle. Evaluation results show the performance of IDLC compared with state-of-art algorithms. A better performance is obtained by using the IDLC and achieved the better accuracy. 
An efficient convolutional neural network-based classifier for an imbalanced oral squamous carcinoma cell dataset
Authors: Mohapatra Usha Manasi , Tripathy Sushreeta
Published: November 2023

Imbalanced datasets pose a major challenge for the researchers while addressing machine learning tasks. In these types of datasets, samples of different classes are not in equal proportion rather the gap between the numbers of individual class samples is significantly large. Classification models perform better for datasets having equal proportion of data tuples in both the classes. But, in reality, the medical image datasets are skewed and hence are not always suitable for a model to achieve improved classification performance. Therefore, various techniques have been suggested in the literature to overcome this challenge. This paper applies oversampling technique on an imbalanced dataset and focuses on a customized convolutional neural network model that classifies the images into two categories: diseased and non-diseased. Outcome of the proposed model can assist the health experts in the detection of oral cancer. The proposed model exhibits 99% accuracy after data augmentation. Performance metrics such as precision, recall and F1-score values are very close to 1. In addition, statistical test is performed to validate the statistical significance of the model. It has been found that the proposed model is an optimised classifier in terms of number of network layers and number of neurons.
Photo-realistic photo synthesis using improved conditional generative adversarial networks
Authors: Mandara Kirimanjeshwara Raghavendra Shetty , Prasad Sarappadi Narasimha
Published: November 2023

There are a wide range of potential uses for both the forward (generating face drawings from actual images) and backward (generating photos from synthetic face sketches). However, photo/sketch synthesis is still a difficult problem to solve because of the distinct differences between photos and sketches. Existing frameworks often struggle to acquire a strong mapping among the geometry of drawing and its corresponding photo-realistic pictures because of the little amount of paired sketch-photo training data available. In this study, we adopt the perspective that this is an image-to-image translation issue and investigate the usage of the well-known enhanced pix2pix generative adversarial networks (GANs) to generate high-quality photo-realistic pictures from drawings; we make use of three distinct datasets. While recent GAN-based approaches have shown promise in image translation, they still struggle to produce high-resolution, photorealistic pictures. This technique uses supervised learning to train the generator's hidden layers to produce low-resolution pictures initially, then uses the network's implicit refinement to produce high-resolution images. Extensive tests on three sketch-photo datasets (two publicly accessible and one we produced) are used to evaluate. Our solution outperforms existing image translation techniques by producing more photorealistic visuals with a peak signal-to-noise ratio of 59.85% and pixel accuracy of 82.7%. 
Design of fault tolerant algorithm for network on chip router using field programmable gate array
Authors: Shahane Priti , Kurup Rakhi
Published: November 2023

Many internet protocol (IP) modules are present in contemporary system on chips (SoCs). This could provide an issue with interconnection among different IP modules, which would limit the system's ability to scale. Traditional bus-based SoC architectures have a connectivity bottleneck, and network on chip (NoC) has evolved as an embedded switching network to address this issue. The interconnections between various cores or IP modules on a chip have a significant impact on communication and chip performance in terms of power, area latency and throughput. Also, designing a reliable fault tolerant NoC became a significant concern. In fault tolerant NoC it becomes critical to identify faulty node and dynamically reroute the packets keeping minimum latency. This study provides an insight into a domain of NoC, with intention of understanding fault tolerant approach based on the XY routing algorithm for 4×4 mesh architecture. The fault tolerant NoC design is synthesized on Field programmable gate array (FPGA).
Innovative systems for the detection of air particles in the quarries of the Western Rif, Morocco
Authors: Fattah Ghizlane , Mabrouki Jamal , Ghrissi Fouzia , Elouardi Mohamed
Published: November 2023

In a world where climate change looms large the spotlight often shines on greenhouse gases, but the shadow of man-made aerosols should not be underestimated. These tiny particles play a pivotal role in disrupting Earth's radiative equilibrium, yet many mysteries surround their influence on various physical aspects of our planet. The root of these mysteries lies in the limited data we have on aerosol sources, formation processes, conversion dynamics, and collection methods. Aerosols, composed of particulate matter (PM), sulfates, and nitrates, hold significant sway across the hemisphere. Accurate measurement demands the refinement of in-situ, satellite, and ground-based techniques. As aerosols interact intricately with the environment, their full impact remains an enigma. Enter a groundbreaking study in Morocco that dared to compare an internet of thing (IoT) system with satellite-based atmospheric models, with a focus on fine particles below 10 and 2.5 micrometers in diameter. The initial results, particularly in regions abundant with extraction pits, shed light on the IoT system's potential to decode aerosols' role in the grand narrative of climate change. These findings inspire hope as we confront the formidable global challenge of climate change.
Hyperelliptic curve based authentication for the internet of drones
Authors: Gnanaraj Aloy Anuja Mary , Abbasali Farithkhan , Kumar Aanandha Saravanan , Subramanian Sathyasri Bala , Chinnathambi Murugan
Published: November 2023

Drones provide an alternative progression in protection submissions since they are capable of conducting autonomous seismic investigations. Recent advancement in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication is an internet of a drone combined with 5G networks. Because of the quick utilization of rapidly progressed registering frameworks besides 5G officialdoms, the information from the user is consistently refreshed and pooled. Thus, safety or confidentiality is vital among clients, and a proficient substantiation methodology utilizing a vigorous sanctuary key. Conventional procedures ensure a few restrictions however taking care of the assault arrangements in information transmission over the internet of drones (IOD) environmental frameworks. A unique hyper elliptical curve (HEC) cryptographically based validation system is proposed to provide protected data facilities among drones. The proposed method has been compared with the existing methods in terms of packet loss rate, computational cost, and delay and thereby provides better insight into efficient and secure communication. Finally, the simulation results show that our strategy is efficient in both computation and communication.
Proximate node aware optimal and secure data aggregation in wireless sensor network based IoT environment
Authors: Priyadarshini Sushma , Parveen Asma
Published: November 2023

Internet of things (IoT) has become one of the eminent phenomena in human life along with its collaboration with wireless sensor networks (WSNs), due to enormous growth in the domain; there has been a demand to address the various issues regarding it such as energy consumption, redundancy, and overhead. Data aggregation (DA) is considered as the basic mechanism to minimize the energy efficiency and communication overhead; however, security plays an important role where node security is essential due to the volatile nature of WSN. Thus, we design and develop proximate node aware secure data aggregation (PNA-SDA). In the PNA-SDA mechanism, additional data is used to secure the original data, and further information is shared with the proximate node; moreover, further security is achieved by updating the state each time. Moreover, the node that does not have updated information is considered as the compromised node and discarded. PNA-SDA is evaluated considering the different parameters like average energy consumption, and average deceased node; also, comparative analysis is carried out with the existing model in terms of throughput and correct packet identification.
Deep convolutional neural network framework with multi-modal fusion for Alzheimer’s detection
Authors: Sharma Manoj Kumar , Kaiser M Shamim , Ray Kanad
Published: November 2023

The biomedical profession has gained importance due to the rapid and accurate diagnosis of clinical patients using computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tools. The diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using complementary multimodalities can improve the quality of life and mental state of patients. In this study, we integrated a lightweight custom convolutional neural network (CNN) model and nature-inspired optimization techniques to enhance the performance, robustness, and stability of progress detection in AD. A multi-modal fusion database approach was implemented, including positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets, to create a fused database. We compared the performance of custom and pre-trained deep learning models with and without optimization and found that employing natureinspired algorithms like the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) algorithm significantly improved system performance. The proposed methodology, which includes a fused multimodality database and optimization strategy, improved performance metrics such as training, validation, test accuracy, precision, and recall. Furthermore, PSO was found to improve the performance of pre-trained models by 3-5% and custom models by up to 22%. Combining different medical imaging modalities improved the overall model performance by 2-5%. In conclusion, a customized lightweight CNN model and nature-inspired optimization techniques can significantly enhance progress detection, leading to better biomedical research and patient care.
Plástico de uso único no Brasil: contexto e impactos ambientais
Authors:   Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Gonçalves-Dias Sylmara Lopes Francelino , Vallin Isabella de Carvalho ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Carvalho Isabela Ribeiro Borges de ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Energia e Ambiente, Dias Beatriz Magalhães ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Energia e Ambiente, Corrêa Carolina Berti de Souza ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Salles Guilherme dos Santos ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Silva Júlia Valle ,   Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades
Published: November 2023

A produção de plástico no mundo foi maior do que qualquer outro tipo de material nas últimas décadas. Estimativas preveem que o modelo de consumo e descarte triplicará até 2050. Esses dados reforçam a importância de estudos sobre o tema, para que possam ser formuladas estratégias para a redução do consumo e melhorias na reciclagem de plásticos. Nesse sentido, o primeiro volume apresenta os dados e contexto do resíduo plástico no Brasil e seus principais impactos ambientais. Esta obra integra a coleção "NOSS Repensando o Plástico".
Esboço sobre questões de Contemporaneidade e Autoria na obra de Valêncio Xavier
Authors: Horemans Bruno
Published: November 2023

O ensaio tem como objetivo tratar de questões sobre autoria e contemporaneidade na obra atípica do autor brasileiro Valêncio Xavier. São abordados questionamentos sobre a inserção do autor em uma literatura brasileira contemporânea que expresse a importância e as consequências dessa denominação, abrindo espaço mais amplo para reflexões sobre a sua obra. As problemáticas de autoria e reflexões sobre gênero literário são trazidas como desdobramento dessa chave de entendimento e oferecem possibilidade de análise que conseguem abarcar os modelos e formatos à primeira vista estranhos com que o autor trabalha em suas obras diversas.
Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Activate Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway and Promote Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Homing to Repair Bone Defects in Rats with Osteosarcoma
Authors: Wang Xiang , Dong Xiaochuan , Wang Huabin , Xiang Zhengkai
Published: November 2023

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles exert its action on repairing bone defects. Whether they have the same repair effect on osteosarcoma bone defects and the mechanism is worth studying. The bone defect model of osteosarcoma rats was constructed and divided into bone defect group,
positive control group, low-dose nano-group, medium-dose nano-group, high-dose nano-group, and blocker group followed by analysis of new bone formation, bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) homing, bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), Collagen I, and Phosphorylated 44/42 mitogen-activated
protein kinase (p44/42) protein expression. The proportion of new bone formation in positive control group and different dose groups was higher than bone defect group and blocker group (P <0.05). The positive control group had rich collagen fibers at repair site, which were more
cellulose and neatly arranged. Low-dose group was more collagenous than positive control group. There was no new bone formation in the bone defect group and the blocking agent group and no Y chromosome positive cells were found in the blood vessel wall. New bone formation was seen in the positive
control group and the nano-group and the number of blood vessels was abundant and rich in Y chromosome positive cells. Compared with the other two groups, positive control group and nano-group had higher BMP-2, Collagen I expression (P <0.05), and lower p44/42 expression (P
<0.05). The p-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) levels were the lowest in bone defect group, blocker group, and positive control group, while nano-group was opposite. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can repair bone defects in osteosarcoma rats, and the mechanism of action
is mainly related to the activation of the MAPK pathway.
Head teacher perspectives on school lunch: At variance with national policy
Authors: Berggren Linda , Waling Maria , Olsson Cecilia
Published: November 2023

Objective:

Previous research indicates that head teachers in Sweden frequently fail to see school lunch as part of the educational activities of a school. This study contributes to an understanding of how head teachers in Sweden perceive and experience current national policy intentions related to school lunch.

Design:

Qualitative inquiry.

Setting:

Ten municipal state schools in Sweden.

Method:

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 head teachers responsible for the compulsory education of 6- to 15-year-olds in state schools. Data from digitally recorded and transcribed interviews were thematically analysed.

Results:

Head teachers primarily saw school lunch as a means to ensure pupils were fed and energised. Their focus tended to be on what followed after school lunch in the form of academic performance and mood, rather than the stated intentions of national school meal policy. Head teachers stressed the value of a free and nutritious school lunch for social equality, and the importance of good collaboration with food service managers and school meal personnel, despite the difficulty of achieving this.

Conclusion:

This paper highlights a gap between head teachers’ perspectives with respect to school lunch and official intentions stated in Swedish national school meals policy. The meanings head teachers saw as connected to school lunch were those of social equality and ensuring pupils were fed, rather than the wider potential envisioned by the authorities. This paper identifies factors that affect the possibility of realising national policy intentions for school lunch in Sweden.
An adaptive bearing rigid formation control of multi-agent systems with nonlinear dead-zone inputs
Authors: Wang Qin , Chen Zitao , Yi Yang , Shen Qingcheng
Published: November 2023

In this paper, an adaptive bearing rigid formation control strategy for a class of nonlinear system with unknown dead-zone inputs and external disturbance is proposed. Firstly, the I-Type fuzzy system is used to approximate the unknown nonlinear dynamics of the formation model, and the approximation errors and unknown external disturbance are eliminated by the parameter adaptive estimation. Furthermore, the adaptive dynamic estimation algorithm is utilized to estimate and compensate the unknown dead-zone parameters, effectively suppressing the impact of dead-zone on formation system performance. Finally, the stability of the formation system is proved based on LaSalle’s invariance principle, and the effectiveness of the algorithm is verified by simulation results.
Evolution of Russian Strategic Planning in the Arctic and Enhancing of Integrated Security of the Fuel and Energy Complexes
Authors: Grinyaev Sergey N. , Medvedev Dmitriy A. , Zafar Javed
Published: November 2023

The Arctic region witnessed a lot of geopolitical activism and contestation during 2008 to 2020. These activities have had direct impact on the Arctic Policy of the Russian Federation. The present article analyses the changes in the Russian Arctic policy, including security policy and their evolution and development during this period of changed economic, political and strategic environment. To identify and appreciate the changes in the policy, a comparative analysis of the Russian strategic planning documents towards Arctic has been carried out. It reveals a transformation of approach that ensures economic development and security of critical energy facilities situated in the region. The study also analyses the achievement of the goals set by the ‘Basic Principles of Russian Federation State Policy in the Arctic to 2020’ adopted in 2008 and describes the conditions for achieving the strategic goals in the Russian Arctic zone.
Being Virtual in Real Interpersonal Interaction: What Makes People Prone to Phubbing?
Authors: Kılıç Selma , Çelik Eyüp
Published: November 2023

This study examines the relationship between phubbing, body image, and general self-efficacy. The study group consists of 282 adults over the age of 18. Phubbing Scale, Body Image Scale, and General Self-Efficacy Scale were used to collect data in the study. The collected data were analyzed by independent sample t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. As a result of the research, it was found that there was a statistically significant and negative relationship between phubbing and general self-efficacy and body image. As a result of the regression analysis, it was seen that general self-efficacy and body image predicted phubbing. In addition, it was concluded that phubbing differed significantly according to marital status. According to this finding, it has been determined that singles' phubbing level is higher than married individuals. On the other hand, it was determined that the level of phubbing did not differ significantly according to gender.
Biological properties of polycaprolactone and barium titanate composite in biomedical applications
Authors: Ibrahim Sabreen Waleed , Hamad Thekra Ismael , Haider Julfikar
Published: November 2023

The ceramic-polymer composite materials are widely known for their exceptional mechanical and biological properties. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polymer material extensively used in various biomedical applications. At the same time, barium titanate (BT), a ceramic material, exhibits piezoelectric properties similar to bone, which is essential for osseointegration. Furthermore, a composite material that combines the benefits of PCL and BT results in an innovative composite material with enhanced properties for biomedical applications. Thus, this review is organised into three sections. Firstly, it aims to provide an overview of the current research on evaluating biological properties, including antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity and osseointegration, of PCL polymeric matrices in its pure form and reinforced structures with ceramics, polymers and natural extracts. The second section investigates the biological properties of BT, both in its pure form and in combination with other supporting materials. Finally, the third section provides a summary of the biological properties of the PCLBT composite material. Furthermore, the existing challenges of PCL, BT and their composites, along with future research directions, have been presented. Therefore, this review will provide a state-of-the-art understanding of the biological properties of PCL and BT composites as potential futuristic materials in biomedical applications.
7th new insect species with high potential to be used in the production of a natural red dye: Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell, 1896) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae)
Authors: Genc Mustafa , Aydin Bengu
Published: November 2023

There is a total of six insect species belonging to four families from the order Hemiptera, used in the production of red dye as a natural dyestuff. Carmine is obtained from Dactylopius coccus (Costa, 1829) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) feeding on prickly pears ( Opuntia spp.). The genus Dactylopius includes a total of 11 species, and none of them except D. coccus were declared as a dye insect. The reported use of Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell, 1896) as a natural dye insect, was more widespread than D. coccus, and advantages versus D. coccus were announced for the first time in this study. To prove the hypothesis that D. opuntiae could be used as a natural dyestuff, silk fabric samples were dyed with D. opuntiae, naturally distributed in Cyprus. The light, wet and dry friction fastness values of the dyed fabric samples were tested. Also the carminic acid values of D. opuntiae were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography analysis and surface imaging analysis (scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer). The results of the fastness values of the dyed fabric samples and the high carminic acid content of D. opuntiae showed that this species has a very high potential to be used as the 7th natural dye insect in the world.
From Philosophy to Practice: Designing a Multi-Method, Multi-Stage Program Evaluation of the Wisconsin Domestic Violence Housing First Pilot Program
Authors: Sims Kaitlyn M. , Barnes Mariel , Walsh Kate
Published: November 2023

Safe and secure housing is a pressing concern for survivors of domestic violence (DV). Domestic Violence Housing First (DVHF) is a policy that serves DV survivors’ needs by removing barriers to housing stability via flexible financial assistance, mobile advocacy, trauma-informed practice, and partnerships with community housing providers. In this paper, we outline a study protocol developed to evaluate the efficacy of the Wisconsin Domestic Violence Housing First Pilot Program (WI-DVHF). Funding was provided to 9 social service programs across the state and implemented in novel ways. We develop a multi-site, multi-level, longitudinal analysis of WI-DVHF at the individual, site, and community levels. WI-DVHF includes 4 elements differentiating it from previous studies, including analysis of DVHF in rural and urban locations, unique implementation across different sites, and access to a WI rental education program. We also include data from comparable non-WI-DVHF sites and clients served during the study period. This will address concerns about comparing survivors within a site as DVHF funding may free up funds that can benefit other survivors at that site and to better understand the general challenges and trends these organizations face during the study period. The US housing crisis emphasizes the importance of identifying unique and flexible ways to meet the housing needs of DV survivors. This study highlights the potential for DVHF to improve the lives of survivors, and its adaptability to previously understudied cultural groups and across the rural-urban divide. Further, WI-DVHF funds may positively benefit other programs and participants within a site by freeing up valuable space in DV shelters and other resources.
Brazil’s pragmatic equidistance: hedging and the Second World War
Authors: Bilhar Mateus , Zhaoying Han , Ohle Maximilian , Cook Richard J.
Published: November 2023

Can hedging be applied to non-Asia-Pacific regions and historical contexts? And, to what extent did Brazil operationalize hedging behavior during the Second World War? Taking these questions, the purpose of this paper is to expand the discourse on hedging twofold: First, to employ it within a South American context; second, to verify hedging historically as a widespread strategic unit-level behavior of small and middle powers amid systemic-level great power competitions. Here, by unboxing Brazil’s hedging behavior during the Second World War, specifically President Getúlio Vargas’s ‘ equidistância pragmática’ (pragmatic equidistance) coping strategy, it is found that Brazil employed hedging behavior with omnidirectional engagement with both the United States and Nazi Germany, yet later abandoned this strategy to fully align with Washington and the Allies in 1942, once Brazilian security and economic interests were aligned.
An unusual case of a giant vesico–urethral calculus in a Developing country: A case report
Authors: Goel Avinash
Published: November 2023

An elderly farmer presented with urine leakage around a long-term suprapubic catheter (SPC). He was diagnosed to have a displaced SPC with a giant vesico-urethral calculus (struvite), not reported in literature so far. Managed successfully by performing open surgery. Pre-disposing risk factors, evaluation, operative procedure, management and prevention is presented.
Institutionalizing Populist Power Coalitions in Latin America: Argentina’s Economic and Social Council and Brazil’s Council for Economic and Social Development
Authors: von-Zeschau Juan Federico , Sánchez-Mosquera Marcial
Published: November 2023

The Argentine Consejo Económico y Social (Economic and Social Council) and the Brazilian Conselho de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Council for Economic and Social Development) are institutions promoted by populist governments to shape a neodevelopmentalist agenda in countries classified as having hierarchical market economies. Both councils only partially conform to the hierarachical market economy model and have suffered from heavy governmental dependence, but Argentine unionism may constitute a potential success factor for the institution in the future. This influence represents an exception to the theory of these economies.

El Consejo Económico y Social de Argentina y el Conselho de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social de Brasil son instituciones promovidas por gobiernos populistas para dar pie a una agenda neodesarrollista en países clasificados como de economías de mercado jerárquicas. Ambos consejos se ajustan sólo parcialmente al modelo jerárquico de la economía de mercado y han sufrido una fuerte dependencia gubernamental. Sin embargo, el sindicalismo argentino podría constituir un potencial factor de éxito para la institución en el futuro. Dicha influencia constituye una excepción a la teoría de estas economías.
Civic Education and Artistic Innovation on New York City’s Dancemobile, 1967-1988
Authors: Hawk Emily
Published: November 2023

The Dancemobile—an initiative of the Harlem Cultural Council and New York City (NYC) Department of Cultural Affairs—was a flatbed truck that brought free dance concerts to over one million New Yorkers, in all five boroughs, between 1966 and 1988. The program had an artistic aim to showcase the work of Black choreographers within communities of color, and thus became a vital forum for defining “Black dance” within the broader Black Arts Movement. But Dancemobile also had a political mission within the framework of violence prevention and “cool out,” aiming to provide communities with an outlet for channeling grievances into fellowship with neighbors. Dancemobile choreography addressed issues of importance to their audiences, including drug addiction, mass incarceration, and police brutality. This article examines Dancemobile’s origins, operations, and outcomes, revealing how the program used live performance as cultural activism, combatting the isolating effects of urban renewal with entertainment and political education.
Urban intensification and land value capture in Toronto: Conjunctural analysis, critical junctures, and developmental pathways in urban planning
Authors: Sorensen Andre
Published: November 2023

Toronto has for 70 years been one of the fastest growing city-regions in North America, and over the last two decades has seen booming high-rise intensification. A distinctive land value capture (LVC) system and practice has emerged. This paper traces the contested evolution of Toronto LVC since 1946, including recent major changes to the rules, and makes three main contributions: First is the suggestion that at its core, LVC is an attempt to purposefully alter the distribution of the costs and benefits of urban property development between public and private actors, and should be considered a key metric to evaluate the social equity of property development processes. Second, conjunctural analysis has recently emerged as an approach to reading the intersection of political, economic, social, and ideological processes that come together to produce historical changes in specific cases. I argue that Historical Institutionalism (HI) is a valuable complement to the conjunctural analysis approach in its focus on the genesis of and contestation over specific sets of institutions. HI provides a set of midlevel conceptual frameworks and research methods to identify major institutions, the actors involved, and institutional change mechanisms, processes, and patterns. I bring together two hitherto separate traditions of thought about conjunctures, that arising from Gramsci through Stuart Hall, and that developed in HI, arguing that HI brings analytical clarity to the comparative analysis of conjunctures. Third, the Toronto case is revealing of processes of institutional change, mechanisms supporting path dependence, and the urban impacts of globally hegemonic ideological conjunctures.
Performance investigation of drying Ashwagandha roots in a forced convection-evacuated tube indirect solar dryer
Authors: SS Bhaskara Rao Thota , Murugan S
Published: November 2023

In this research work, experiments are conducted on drying Ashwagandha using an evacuated tube solar collector (ETSC) in India. The drying process performance parameters are evaluated. Experiment results obtained in drying of Ashwagandha using ETSC are compared with results obtained in open sun drying (OSD). ETSC dryer consumes 16 hours to reduce initial moisture content of 61.2% (db) to final moisture content of 8% while OSD consumes 24 hours of drying time to reach the final and safe moisture content. The average drying rate in ETSC and OSD processes are 0.004 and 0.0023% d.b min−1, respectively. Average efficiencies of the air heater and drying cabinet are 52% and 35%, respectively. From thin-layer mathematical modelling, Page and Two-Term models are the best fit for ETSC and OSD, respectively. After drying, OSD samples have the highest colour change than OSD. Total phenolic contents are 32.35 ± 1.4 and 21 ± 2.1 of the solar and OSD samples, respectively.
Holocene histories of biome stability in northern Amazonian savannas
Authors: Beltran Julian , de Toledo Mauro B , Palace Michael , Dibb Jack , Bush Mark B
Published: November 2023

Paleoecological analysis of three lake sediment cores from the Roraima savannas in northern Brazil revealed systems dominated by Poaceae pollen throughout most of the Holocene. A slight increase of palms and woody taxa, probably linked to wetter conditions, is observed during the last 1000 years but is more noticeable after 300 and 150 calibrated years BP (yr BP) respectively. Charcoal was present throughout affirming the importance of fire for the landscape but showed the highest values mostly in the last millenium. Poaceae pollen size spectra varied considerably, showing more variability than the overall pollen record. Despite evidence of some climate change in the Holocene, these savannas were stable systems. The sedimentary records showed gaps in deposition between 10,000 and 7800 yr BP and between 2500 and 1200 yr BP, suggesting dry periods during which lakes most likely dried out or became impermanent and highlighting the sensitivity of these lakes to local water table variation. The establishment of the modern climate in the region is evident after 1000 yr BP.
5p15 Duplication: Clinical Features in a Preterm Infant
Authors: Wynter Zanna , Semrin Asmaa , Asumda Faizal , Pham Quyen
Published: November 2023

Trisomy 5p is a rare chromosomal abnormality that results from the partial or complete duplication of chromosome 5. Commonly reported clinical features of Trisomy 5p include congenital heart defects, respiratory failure, seizures, and developmental delay. To date, all reported cases of Trisomy 5p have been school-aged children or adults. We present the first case of an infant who was born preterm with multiple congenital anomalies and subsequently diagnosed with 5p15.1p11 duplication via whole exome sequencing. While our patient shares some of the major features of classic Trisomy 5p, the infant has other clinical features not previously described.