bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diagnosing and Managing Patients with Reactions to Radiocontrast Media
Authors: Brockow Knut
Published: August 2021

Purpose of the review

Iodinated radio contrast media (RCM) belong to the most common elicitors of drug hypersensitivity reactions (HR). Urticaria or anaphylaxis may occur ≤ 1(−6) hour(s) (immediate HR) and exanthems (non-immediate HR) develop > 6 h after application of RCM. Evidence for an immunologic mechanism of RCM HR against the different RCM benzene ring molecules and the benefit of allergological testing in patients with previous hypersensitivity reactions is progressively increasing.

Recent findings

Positive skin tests can confirm allergy in patients with previous reactions to RCM and help to select alternative better tolerated RCMs. Severe hypersensitivity reactions are mainly caused by an allergic mechanism, whereas the majority of non-severe reactions appear to be non-allergic. Skin testing is highly recommended to help identify allergic hypersensitivity reactions and to select alternatives. Using structurally different RCM is more effective than premedication for the prevention of future reactions. Drug provocation tests to RCM have been increasingly used, but are not yet standardized among different centers.

In patients with previous severe hypersensitivity reactions to RCM, skin testing is recommended. For future RCM-enhanced examinations in patients with previous reactions, structurally different, skin test-negative preparations should be applied. Drug provocation tests do confirm or exclude RCM hypersensitivity or may demonstrate tolerability of alternative RCMs.
Kähler packings of projective complex manifolds
Authors: Fleming Aeran
Published: August 2021

We show that the multipoint Seshadri constant determines the maximum possible radii of embeddings of Kähler balls and vice versa.
‘e’-thinking teaching and assessment to uphold academic integrity: lessons learned from emergency distance learning
Authors: Khan Zeenath Reza , Sivasubramaniam Shivadas , Anand Pranit , Hysaj Ajrina
Published: August 2021

Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on many day-to-day activities but one of the biggest collateral impacts was felt by the education sector. The nature and the complexity of higher education is such that no matter how prepared we are as faculty, how planned our teaching and assessments, faculty are all too aware of the adjustments that have to be made to course plans, assessments designed, content delivery strategies and so on once classes begin. Faculties find themselves changing, modifying and deviating from original plans to ensure accessibility and inclusiveness, this may be due to a variety of reasons such as student abilities, behaviour, disturbances and even outside factors that may be political, environmental, social etc. Majority of the time, faculty are prepared for the change that needs to be incorporated and are quick to adjust. However, no one expected the disruption to education that was caused by COVID19 pandemic. The world came to a standstill while schools and universities scrambled to push learning to the digital space. It was important to try to ensure continuity of learning for students, but the issue of integrity came to the forefront by summertime. Faculties were suddenly expected to restructure their lessons, delivery, teaching and assessing digitally, at the same time ensuring and upholding integrity of the concepts taught and assessed. This has neither been easy or straightforward because the situation was unprecedented with little or no prior documentation or guidelines to help. Recognising this gap, this paper is an attempt at providing exploratory findings from authors’ experiences in their respective institutions over the ensuing months. The paper attempts to record the changes made by the faculty and colleagues to lessons and assessments with particular focus on how technology has been used to help restructure classes, deliver lessons and assess students which have aided in minimizing the likelihood of students cheating. The paper further narrates the reflective changes that were made in response to experience, student/external examiners feedback etc.
City consumption profile: a city perspective on the spending behavior of citizens
Authors: Galdeman Alessia , Ba Cheick T. , Zignani Matteo , Quadri Christian , Gaito Sabrina
Published: August 2021

In designing the city of the future, city managers and urban planners are driven by specific citizens’ behaviors. In fact, economic and financial behaviors, and specifically, which goods and services citizens purchase and how they allocate their spending, are playing a central role in planning targeted services. In this context, cashless payments provide an invaluable data source to identify such spending behaviors. In this work, we propose a methodology to extract the consumption behaviors of a large sample of customers through credit card transaction data. The main outcome of the methodology is a concise representation of the economic behavior of people residing in a city, the so-called city consumption profile. We inferred the city consumption profile from a network-based representation of the similarity among the customers in terms of purchase allocation; on top of which we applied a community detection algorithm to identify the representative consumption profiles. By applying the above methodology to a set of credit card transactions of an Italian financial group, we showed that cities, even geographically close, exhibit different profiles which makes them unique. Specifically, usage patterns focused on a single type of good/service—mono-categorical consumption profile—are the main factors leading to the differences in the city profiles. Our analysis also showed that there is a group of consumption profiles common to all cities, made up by purchases of primary goods/services, such as food or clothing. In general, the city consumption profile represents a tool for understanding the economic behaviors of the citizens and for comparing different cities. Moreover, city planners and managers may use it in the outline of city services tailored to the citizens’ needs.
Ausgabenseitige Effekte der demografischen Entwicklung auf die Kommunalfinanzen
Authors: Starke Tim
Published: August 2021

Der demografische Wandel stellt die Kommunen vor zahlreiche Herausforderungen: Darunter sind insbesondere die Effekte der Altersstruktur (ausgabensteigernde Effekte durch Jugendlastigkeit, tendenziell entlastende Effekte durch eine ansteigende Quote an über 65-Jährigen), aber auch sog. Kostenremanenzeffekte zu nennen. Zur empirischen Überprüfung, inwiefern sich die Bevölkerungsstruktur und der Bevölkerungsrückgang auf die kommunalen Haushalte auswirken, wird auf einen Datensatz der kreisangehörigen Gemeinden und kreisfreien Städte Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns im Zeitraum 2000–2016 zurückgegriffen.

Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass sich der andauernde Rückgang der Einwohnerzahlen und die verändernde Altersstruktur in den Kommunen Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns zu einem höheren Niveau von Pro-Kopf-Zuschussbeträgen und -Ausgaben führen. So wird zum einen deutlich, dass höhere Anteile von unter 6‑Jährigen sowie 6‑ bis 18-Jährigen zu Mehrbelastungen in den Gemeinden und Städten führen. Die bislang vermehrt in der finanzwissenschaftlichen Literatur beschriebenen Kostenremanenzen werden zum anderen statistisch signifikant nachgewiesen, wobei die Ergebnisse der geografisch gewichteten Regression einen stärkeren Kostenremanenzeffekt in Gemeinden mit einem höheren Bevölkerungsrückgang anzeigen.

Mit Blick auf den Kommunalen Finanzausgleich bietet es sich daher an, die demografischen Sonderbedarfe der Gemeinden gezielt bei der Bestimmung des Finanzbedarfs zu veredeln. Der Bevölkerungsrückgang könnte dabei nach geografischer Lage und somit nach Stärke des Kostenremanenzeffektes unterschiedlich stark berücksichtigt werden.
Kommissionieren in Kälte – eine Superposition aus körperlich schwerer Arbeit und Klimabelastung
Authors: Groos Sandra , Penzkofer Mario , Strasser Helmut , Kluth Karsten
Published: August 2021

Zur Objektivierung von Belastung und Beanspruchung beim Kommissionieren in Kälte wurden insgesamt 120 Ganztagsanalysen mit 60 Arbeitspersonen (Apn) in einem Kühl- (+3 °C) bzw. Tiefkühllager (−24 °C) durchgeführt. Während des Kommissionierens von 2–15 kg schweren Warenpaketen mit einer Umsetzleistung von 1,6 t/h wurden u. a. die Parameter Energieumsatz, Herzschlagfrequenz und Körperkerntemperatur erfasst sowie durch subjektive Einschätzungen ergänzt. Die Werte der O2-Aufnahme zeigen, dass die Tätigkeit in Abhängigkeit von den Lauf- und Fahrwegen knapp unter bzw. oberhalb der energetischen Dauerleistungsgrenze (DLG) stattfindet. Auch die Arbeitspulse sprechen für ein Arbeiten knapp unterhalb bzw. an der DLG. Die Körperkerntemperaturabnahmen zeigen, dass die tiefe Kälte trotz der anstrengenden und somit wärmeproduzierenden Arbeit die Körperkerntemperatur signifikant absinken lässt. Das geht auch mit einem verstärkten Kälteempfinden einher. Insgesamt wird das Kommissionieren bei −24 °C im Vergleich zu +3 °C bei gleicher Arbeitsbelastung von den Apn als körperlich beanspruchender empfunden.

Praktische Relevanz: Kommissionierarbeitsplätze erfordern eine besondere ergonomische Gestaltung, insbesondere dann, wenn die Tätigkeit im tiefkalten Bereich ausgeführt wird. Die Superposition aus kalter Arbeitsumgebung und körperlich schwerer Arbeit verursacht eine hohe Belastung und resultiert in einer erheblichen Beanspruchung, die durch die Gefahr einer eintretenden Unterkühlung zudem ein ernstzunehmendes Gesundheitsrisiko darstellt. Im Sinne des präventiven Gesundheitsschutzes müssen daher insbesondere die Kälteschutzkleidung, das Arbeitszeit-Pausenzeit-Regime sowie verbindliche Regelungen zur arbeitsmedizinischen Vor- und Nachsorge angepasst werden.
Projected Changes in Climate Extremes Using CMIP6 Simulations Over SREX Regions
Authors: Almazroui Mansour , Saeed Fahad , Saeed Sajjad , Ismail Muhammad , Ehsan Muhammad Azhar , Islam M. Nazrul , Abid Muhammad Adnan , O’Brien Enda , Kamil Shahzad , Rashid Irfan Ur , Nadeem Imran
Published: August 2021

This paper presents projected changes in extreme temperature and precipitation events by using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) data for mid-century (2036–2065) and end-century (2070–2099) periods with respect to the reference period (1985–2014). Four indices namely, Annual maximum of maximum temperature (TXx), Extreme heat wave days frequency (HWFI), Annual maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation (RX5day), and Consecutive Dry Days (CDD) were investigated under four socioeconomic scenarios (SSP1-2.6; SSP2-4.5; SSP3-7.0; SSP5-8.5) over the entire globe and its 26 Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change
Adaptation (SREX) regions. The projections show an increase in intensity and frequency of hot temperature and precipitation extremes over land. The intensity of the hottest days (as measured by TXx) is projected to increase more in extratropical regions than in the tropics, while the frequency of extremely hot days (as measured by HWFI) is projected to increase more in the tropics. Drought frequency (as measured by CDD) is projected to increase more over Brazil, the Mediterranean, South Africa, and Australia. Meanwhile, the Asian monsoon regions (i.e., South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia) become more prone to extreme flash flooding events later in the twenty-first century as shown by the higher RX5day index projections. The projected changes in extremes reveal large spatial variability within each SREX region. The spatial variability of the studied extreme events increases with increasing greenhouse gas concentration (GHG) and is higher at the end of the twenty-first century. The projected change in the extremes and the pattern of their spatial variability is minimum under the low-emission scenario SSP1-2.6. Our results indicate that an increased concentration of GHG leads to substantial increases in the extremes and their intensities. Hence, limiting CO2 emissions could substantially limit the risks associated with increases in extreme events in the twenty-first century.
A hybrid environment control system combining EMG and SSVEP signal based on brain-computer interface technology
Authors: Rashid Mamunur , Bari Bifta Sama , Sulaiman Norizam , Mustafa Mahfuzah , Hasan Md Jahid , Islam Md Nahidul , Naziullah Shekh
Published: August 2021

The patients who are impaired with neurodegenerative disorders cannot command their muscles through the neural pathways. These patients are given an alternative from their neural path through Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems, which are the explicit use of brain impulses without any need for a computer's vocal muscle. Nowadays, the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) modality offers a robust communication pathway to introduce a non-invasive BCI. There are some crucial constituents, including window length of SSVEP response, the number of electrodes in the acquisition device and system accuracy, which are the critical performance components in any BCI system based on SSVEP signal. In this study, a real-time hybrid BCI system consists of SSVEP and EMG has been proposed for the environmental control system. The feature in terms of the common spatial pattern (CSP) has been extracted from four classes of SSVEP response, and extracted feature has been classified using K-nearest neighbors (k-NN) based classification algorithm. The obtained classification accuracy of eight participants was 97.41%. Finally, a control mechanism that aims to apply for the environmental control system has also been developed. The proposed system can identify 18 commands (i.e., 16 control commands using SSVEP and two commands using EMG). This result represents very encouraging performance to handle real-time SSVEP based BCI system consists of a small number of electrodes. The proposed framework can offer a convenient user interface and a reliable control method for realistic BCI technology.
Women in Surgery Italia: National Survey Assessing Gender-Related Challenges
Authors: Parini Sara , Lucidi Daniela , Azzolina Danila , Verdi Daunia , Frigerio Isabella , Gumbs Andrew A. , Spolverato Gaya
Published: August 2021

BACKGROUND:

In 2019, women accounted for 46% of surgical residents. Despite the international debate on gender disparities, no literature regarding the experience in Italy is available. The aim of this survey study was to assess satisfaction among female surgeons in Italy, and determine whether they encounter gender-based discrimination.

STUDY DESIGN:

An anonymous, 83-item web-based survey was distributed among female surgeons working in Italy, from November 18 to December 31, 2020. Gender equity, satisfaction, and factors associated with higher satisfaction and work-life balance were explored.

RESULTS:

There were 3,242 volunteer respondents, 1,833 of whom completed at least 50% of the specific questions and were included in the study. Approximately 54% of female Italian surgeons reported being satisfied with their job, but only 34% with their work-life balance. Among residents, 67% thought they were not adequately trained. The majority of respondents were responsible for most of the housekeeping (60%) and childcare duties (53%), regardless of their partner's workload, and 62% reported that gender affects the way they are treated at work, with most of them experiencing microaggressions. Sexual harassment was common (59%), but only 10% of women reported it.

CONCLUSIONS:

Most Italian female surgeons are satisfied with their professional choice. However, they face gender discrimination, including incidents of sexual harassment and microaggression. Due to the fact that half of surgeons working in Italian hospitals will be females in the next few years, actions are urgently required to build a culture that supports a gender-neutral environment.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual Behaviors: Findings From a National Survey in the United States
Authors: Gleason Neil , Banik Swagata , Braverman Jesse , Coleman Eli
Published: August 2021

Background

Studies from the first months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting lockdown and social distancing measures have shown that there have been decreases in sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction.

Aim

To evaluate the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual behavior, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence in the United States using a large national convenience sample.

Methods

About 1,051 participants across the United States were recruited in October 2020 to complete a cross-sectional online survey.

Outcomes

Participants were asked to retrospectively report their sexual behavior frequency, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence during the pandemic and prior to the pandemic

RESULTS

There was a small but significant decrease in some retrospectively-reported partnered sexual activities, and men reported a small increase in masturbation and pornography use. There was no evidence for a change in relationship satisfaction or intimate partner violence, but both men and women reported a small decrease in sexual pleasure, and women reported a small decrease in sexual desire. The sexual behaviors with greatest reduction were casual sex, hookups, and number of partners, and the most diminished as aspect of sexual functioning was sexual enjoyment. Depression symptoms, relationship status, and perceived importance of social distancing emerged as predictors of these reductions. Less than half of individuals who engaged with casual sex partners before the start of the pandemic ceased this behavior completely after the start of the pandemic. Individuals waited on average 6–7 weeks before reengaging in casual sex.

Clinical Implications

These results inform public health response to the effects of the pandemic and add to our understanding of how the pandemic has continued to impact sexual behavior.

Strengths and Limitations

This is the first known study to evaluate sexual behavior several months into the COVID-19 pandemic using a large national sample. However, the results of this study are limited by its convenience sampling method and cross-sectional design.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that the changes in sexual behavior observed in the early months of the pandemic have continued, with small but significant decreases in many partnered sexual behaviors and a small increase in men’s solitary sexual behaviors.
Hydrodynamic dispersion in Hele-Shaw flows with inhomogeneous wall boundary conditions
Authors: Dehe Sebastian , Rehm Imke-Sophie , Hardt Steffen
Published: August 2021

Single-phase flow inside a Hele-Shaw cell can exhibit inhomogeneous flow fields, for example when actuated by electroosmosis with varying wall mobilities, leading to internal pressure gradients. We derive a two-dimensional dispersion model for a dissolved species in such a non-uniform flow field, utilizing a multiple-scale perturbation approach. The resulting two-dimensional transport equation is an advection–diffusion equation containing an effective dispersion tensor field and additional advection-correction terms. It can be viewed as a generalization of the well-known Taylor–Aris dispersion model. The dispersion model allows for flow fields with both stationary and oscillatory components. For the special case of non-uniform flow induced by both pressure gradients and electroosmosis, we derive expressions for the flow field in the long-wavelength limit. These include arbitrary, time-dependent functions for both the driving field as well as the wall mobilities. We discuss the general characteristics of the model using a sinusoidally varying wall mobility, and derive analytical expressions for the dispersion tensor. Then, in order to validate the model, we compare three-dimensional Lagrangian particle tracing simulations with the dispersion model for several test cases, including stationary and oscillatory shear flow as well as a recirculating flow field. For each test case, a good agreement between the full three-dimensional simulations and the results of the two-dimensional dispersion model is obtained. The presented model has the potential to significantly simplify computations of mass transport in Hele-Shaw flows.
Electrokinetic instability due to streamwise conductivity gradients in microchip electrophoresis
Authors: Dubey Kaushlendra , Sanghi Sanjeev , Gupta Amit , Bahga Supreet Singh
Published: August 2021

We present an experimental and numerical investigation of electrokinetic instability (EKI) in microchannel flow with streamwise conductivity gradients, such as those observed during sample stacking in capillary electrophoresis. A plug of a low-conductivity electrolyte solution is initially sandwiched between two high-conductivity zones in a microchannel. This spatial conductivity gradient is subjected to an external electric field applied along the microchannel axis, and for sufficiently strong electric fields an instability sets in. We have explored the physics of this EKI through experiments and numerical simulations, and supplemented the results using scaling analysis. We performed EKI experiments at different electric field values and visualised the flow using a passive fluorescent tracer. The experimental data were analysed using the proper orthogonal decomposition technique to obtain a quantitative measure of the threshold electric field for the onset of instability, along with the corresponding coherent structures. To elucidate the physical mechanism underlying the instability, we performed high-resolution numerical simulations of ion transport coupled with fluid flow driven by the electric body force. Simulations reveal that the non-uniform electroosmotic flow due to axially varying conductivity field causes a recirculating flow within the low-conductivity region, and creates a new configuration wherein the local conductivity gradients are orthogonal to the applied electric field. This configuration leads to EKI above a threshold electric field. The spatial features of the instability predicted by the simulations and the threshold electric field are in good agreement with the experimental observations and provide useful insight into the underlying mechanism of instability.
Role of surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses in drop-interface coalescence
Authors: Constante-Amores C.R. , Batchvarov A. , Kahouadji L. , Shin S. , Chergui J. , Juric D. , Matar O.K.
Published: August 2021

We study the effect of surfactants on the dynamics of a drop-interface coalescence using full three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. We employ a hybrid interface-tracking/level-set method, which takes into account Marangoni stresses that arise from surface-tension gradients, interfacial and bulk diffusion and sorption kinetic effects. We validate our predictions against the experimental data of Blanchette and Bigioni (Nat. Phys., vol. 2, issue 4, 2006, pp. 254–257) and perform a parametric study that demonstrates the delicate interplay between the flow fields and those associated with the surfactant bulk and interfacial concentrations. The results of this work unravel the crucial role of the Marangoni stresses in the flow physics of coalescence, with particular attention paid to their influence on the neck reopening dynamics in terms of stagnation-point inhibition, and near-neck vorticity generation. We demonstrate that surfactant-laden cases feature a rigidifying effect on the interface compared with the surfactant-free case, a mechanism that underpins the observed surfactant-induced phenomena.
An Early Devonian clam shrimp community from Hunan Province, China
Authors: Liao Huanyu , Shen Yanbin
Published: August 2021

The Devonian saw the emergence and subsequent diversification of the clam shrimp. To date, there are no credible records of any clam shrimp prior to the Devonian. Therefore, discoveries and taxonomic studies of early forms, especially the Early Devonian species, are essential to broaden our knowledge of the origin and early evolution of clam shrimp. An Early Devonian clam shrimp community that consists of four species,Cornia chenin. sp.,Pseudestheriacf.P.diensti,Palaeolimnadiopsis zhangin. sp., and ?Palaeolimnadiasp. is described and discussed in detail in this study. These species are the oldest clam shrimp in China and among the oldest worldwide. This discovery indicates that clam shrimp communities with high diversity existed since the late Early Devonian and that their early forms may have had a profound effect on the origin and evolutionary trends of the following forms.

UUID:http://zoobank.org/ae9d0ab8-0b0e-4103-ad71-601d11a024fc.
Meal frequency and incidence of type 2 diabetes: a prospective study
Authors: Wang Xiaowen , Hu Yonghua , Qin Li-Qiang , Dong Jia-Yi
Published: August 2021

Dietary habits play an important role in the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, evidence on association between diet frequency and type 2 diabetes was limited and inconclusive. We aimed to examine the association between meal frequency and risk of type 2 diabetes. The cohort study used data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study of 8874 community-dwelling people aged over 45 years. Participants were classified as eating two meals per day, three meals per day and four meals per day. Multiple Poisson regression models were used to examine risk of 4-year incident type 2 diabetes among people who ate more or less than three meals per day compared with people who ate three meals per day. We documented 706 type 2 diabetes cases during follow-up. After adjustment for known risk factors for type 2 diabetes, except for BMI, participants who ate four meals per day were at a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who ate three meals per day (relative risk(RR) = 0·73 (0·58, 0·92)). After further adjustment for baseline BMI, the association was slightly attenuated but remained statistically significant (RR = 0·76 (0·60, 0·97)). Subgroup analysis showed that the fully adjusted RR of type 2 diabetes for people eating four meals per day were 0·66 (0·48, 0·91) and 0·93 (0·65, 1·34) among those had a BMI < 25 and ≥ 25 kg/m2, respectively. Eating four meals per day, compared with eating three meals per day was associated with lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a Chinese population, particularly in those with a BMI < 25 kg/m2.
The effect of aspartame and sucralose intake on body weight measures and blood metabolites: role of their form (solid and/or liquid) of ingestion
Authors: Ragi Marie-Elizabeth E. , El-Haber Rachelle , El-Masri Fidele , Obeid Omar A.
Published: August 2021

The ingestion of non-caloric sweeteners (NCS) from food and/or drink was intended to reduce caloric intake without compromising palatability. However, the inconclusive relation between NCS and body weight may partially relate to their form of ingestion (solid or liquid). Thus, two paralleled experiments (aspartame and sucralose) were conducted. In each, Sprague Dawley rats (7-week-old male) were randomly divided into four groups. In Expt 1, aspartame (0·05 %) was added to the diet (AD) or drinking water (AW) or both diet and water (ADW), and a control group (C) was given a non-sweetened diet with plain water. In Expt 2, sucralose (0·016 %) was similarly provided in the diet (SD) or drinking water (SW) or both diet and water (SDW), with a control group (C). All rats had free access to food and water for 7 weeks. Energy intake, body weight and body composition were monitored and blood metabolites were determined. Results showed that aspartame ingestion significantly increased body weight and fat mass mainly due to an increase in energy efficiency. The effect was related to the amount rather than the form of ingestion. Additionally, aspartame ingestion was associated with glucose intolerance. Sucralose ingestion had a similar impact to that of aspartame though to a lesser extent. In conclusion, 7-week ingestion of aspartame and sucralose had adverse effects on body measures that were not related to the form of ingestion.
Undecided dreams: France in the Antarctic, 1840–2021
Authors: Martin-Nielsen Janet
Published: August 2021

This paper traces France’s role in the Antarctic from 1840, when explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville discovered the slice of the white continent he named Terre Adélie, to the present day. Since World War II, Terre Adélie has been the site of a host of performances of sovereignty: the French have built bases, drawn maps, conducted scientific investigations and erected plaques. But France’s commitment to Terre Adélie has been tested and has fallen into crisis several times. The history of France in Antarctica is a tale of ambition, ambivalence, trade-offs and political strategy. This paper aims to elucidate this story, focusing on the concept of sovereignty and the nexus of scientific and political interests. I argue that France’s relationship with the Antarctic has been characterised by continual tension, by peaks and troughs and by brinkmanship on the part of actors with their own stakes. While there is broad agreement that Terre Adélie serves a fundamental national interest, I show that France’s ambitions on the white continent are far from decided. With its focus on France, which has largely been left out of the growing body of literature on the Antarctic, this paper contributes to building a robust historical understanding of Antarctic claims.
Dietary intake, physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns in a sample with established psychosis and associations with mental health symptomatology
Authors: Martland Rebecca , Teasdale Scott , Murray Robin M. , Gardner-Sood Poonam , Smith Shubulade , Ismail Khalida , Atakan Zerrin , Greenwood Kathryn , Stubbs Brendon , Gaughran Fiona
Published: August 2021

Background

People with psychosis experience cardiometabolic comorbidities, including metabolic syndrome, coronary heart disease and diabetes. These physical comorbidities have been linked to diet, inactivity and the effects of the illness itself, including disorganisation, impairments in global function and amotivation associated with negative symptoms of schizophrenia or co-morbid depression.

Methods

We aimed to describe the dietary intake, physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour patterns of a sample of patients with established psychosis participating in the Improving Physical Health and Reducing Substance Use in Severe Mental Illness (IMPaCT) randomised controlled trial, and to explore the relationship between these lifestyle factors and mental health symptomatology.

Results

A majority of participants had poor dietary quality, low in fruit and vegetables and high in discretionary foods. Only 29.3% completed ⩾150 min of moderate and/or vigorous activity per week and 72.2% spent ⩾6 h per day sitting. Cross-sectional associations between negative symptoms, global function, and PA and sedentary behaviour were observed. Additionally, those with more negative symptoms receiving IMPaCT therapy had fewer positive changes in PA from baseline to 12-month follow-up than those with fewer negative symptoms at baseline.

Conclusion

These results highlight the need for the development of multidisciplinary lifestyle and exercise interventions to target eating habits, PA and sedentary behaviour, and the need for further research on how to adapt lifestyle interventions to baseline mental status. Negative symptoms in particular may reduce patient's responses to lifestyle interventions.
Taking the Rural International
Authors: Juntunen Jacob
Published: August 2021

In March 2020, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIU) went into lockdown. With the annual Big Muddy New Play Festival about to kick off—two productions entering tech and four full-length staged readings rehearsing—SIU's M.F.A. Playwriting Program had been left in the lurch. COVID-19 and the scramble to move courses online and to graduate our M.F.A.'s canceled the entire festival. A year later, still online, the SIU M.F.A. Playwriting new play festival did not meet this same fate. Based on twelve months of experimentation, the program was able to develop a streaming festival. Our 2021 new play festival on YouTube brought together more than forty artists across eight time zones to collaborate with our five graduate student playwrights. The international ensemble, represented in an interactive map (Fig. 1), showed how open-access software and streaming platforms could help students at our rural university transcend our limited geography.
The Zambezi Development Scheme: Cabora Bassa
Authors: Radmann Wolf
Published: August 2021

The impact of African opposition to the Portuguese Zambezi Development Scheme and in particular to the construction of the Cabora Bassa hydro-electric dam in Mozambique was first felt in Europe in 1968 and reached its climax in 1971. It has influenced the thinking and the decisions of a great many individuals, groups, and organizations in the United States as well. In view of the wide publicity accorded various attempts in the United States and elsewhere to prevent any further support of Portugal's efforts to retain control over its colonies and develop them economically, one can assume that the controversy over Cabora Bassa is familiar to most people interested in African affairs. Nevertheless, more information is needed with respect to the facts and viewpoints surrounding the Cabora Bassa Dam project itself.

According to Portuguese sources, planning for the development of the Zambezi valley began with the First Development Plan in 1953. In March 1957, the Overseas Ministry created the Missao de Fomento e Povoamento do Zambezi (M.F.P.Z.)—or the Zambezi Development Office, an organization to develop and to populate the Zambezi valley. The general plan for this development was presented to the government in 1966, and in November 1967 invitations for tenders to construct the Cabora Bassa Dam were issued. Offers were due in January 1968.

The Third Development Plan for the Portuguese African territories covering the period from 1968 to 1973 provides for investments in Mozambique of about US $730.7 million. The costs for constructing the dam and the complete power scheme at Cabora Bassa are estimated at US $517.5 million. Portugal will absorb US $421 million of this amount and South Africa US $96.5 million. The ultimate production of energy is estimated to be twice that of the Aswan Dam. It will be surpassed in capacity only by the Churchill Falls Dam in Canada and by dams in the USSR at Bratsk and Krasnoyarsk. The Aswan Dam was built at a cost of more than US $1,000 million—a figure considerably higher than the estimate for the Cabora Bassa Dam.
African Literature and the American University
Authors: Priebe Richard
Published: August 2021

In a rather loose, personal way I would like to address myself to the problems of the extremely tenuous position that African literature holds in the American university, and to a step that has recently been taken towards ameliorating the situation. As much of what I will present is admittedly subjective, I hope to raise questions and precipitate discussion, having no desire to pre-empt debate with an airtight argument.
The African Redefined: The Problems of Collective Black Identity
Authors: Anise Ladun
Published: August 2021

In 1960, Wellesley College invited eminent scholars (Africanists!) and diplomats to discuss the question: “Does Africa Exist?” The symposium was organized to resolve “Whether or not Africa really exists as any sort of political, economic, cultural, or other concept.“ The challenge facing the experts was to determine whether Africa constitutes an entity, whether it has a real ethnic, geographical, economic, cultural, or political identity. Fortunately, most of the speakers agreed with the late Ralph Bunche that “There is an Africa seen as a continent, as a physical entity which takes concrete political and economic shape.“ That Africa, Bunche argued, is exploding onto the international political scene with an increasingly militant and demonstrable renaissance in terms of heightened and unified aspirations for true selfdetermination, human rights, rapid economic transformation, and the assertion of a collective dignity and unity for all peoples of African descent.
The Traveler's Africa
Authors: Rubin Leslie
Published: August 2021

In a foreword to this substantial book (972 pages) the publishers claim that it is “the first comprehensive guide to the entire African continent and it is written with an authority and candor that bespeak the special qualifications of its authors.” In my opinion this claim is fully justified. The challenge presented by the task of offering a detailed, authoritative, perceptive and frank description of an area as vast, varied and complex as contemporary Africa, is not to be underestimated. In introducing their readers to fifty-seven different territories (some of them islands which, I am sure, some Africanists have not heard of) and offering guidance as to what should be seen, heard, touched, tasted, and understood about their people, arts, food, beliefs, and ideas, the authors have responded to that challenge with conspicuous success.
A Report on South Africa's Black Universities
Authors: Meyer Lysle E.
Published: August 2021

In 1959, following the recommendations of the Eiselen Commission, the South African government established separate university colleges for the country's three non-white communities. Heretofore, African, Asian, and Coloured students had attended non-white Fort Hare University or certain white institutions, but the Extension of University Education Act of 1959 specifically prohibited racially integrated education except in extraordinary cases approved by the government. There are now five institutions serving these groups: the University of Durban-Westville for Indians, the University of the Western Cape at Belleville for the Coloured community. Fort Hare University, now exclusively for the Xhosa people, the University of Zululand at Ngoye for Zulus and Swazis, and the University of the North at Turfloop in the Transvaal, serving the Sotho groups as well as the Tswana, Tsonga and Venda peoples.
Apartheid and the International Community
Authors: Reddy E. S.
Published: August 2021

Rarely has the policy of an individual government attracted as wide attention throughout the world as the racial policy of South Africa. It has been discussed in several organs of the United Nations, in specialized agencies of the United Nations, and in several other international and regional intergovernmental organizations; in the Parliament of many countries; and in numerous non-governmental organizations. A number of countries have broken diplomatic, consular and trade relations with South Africa or refrained from establishing such relations. Actions protesting apartheid have involved hundreds of thousands of people outside Africa. The publications and documents on apartheid fill a good-sized library.
Africa's Rough Road: Problems of Development
Authors: Vilakazi Absolom
Published: August 2021

In studying African development and the problems facing independent Africa, we are constantly reminded by Western scholars, particularly political scientists, that Africa has dissipated its political capital and has turned away from the democratic institutions it inherited from the West towards dictatorship. Such reminders are often made without reference to the history of Western democracy, the implication being that European states behaved better, and that following the French Revolution complete emancipation of the Europeans was achieved.
Southern African Pressure Politics in the U.S.
Authors: Janosik Robert J. , Lawrence Barbara E.
Published: August 2021

Southern Africa earns little press coverage in the United States. Issues which relate to this part of the world are, newsmen feel, of minimal interest to the American news consumer. But the lack of coverage reflects another phenomenon: the nature of the activities of Southern African agents and allies in the U.S. These pressure groups, unlike those of the splashier (domestic) labor, medical and legal lobbies, do not concern themselves with grassroots activity or extensive media attention. Like the Nixon Administration at least until the Watergate debacle the Southern Africa-oriented pressure groups foster and consciously maintain a low profile.
Africa’s “Burning Issues” and United Nations Action
Authors: El-Ayouty Yassin
Published: August 2021

In January 1972 the UN Security Council accepted the invitation to meet in Africa which had been issued by the African states and, in late January and early February 1972, Addis Ababa was the scene of an historic session. For the first time, Africa's “burning issues” were considered in depth and plans were made to implement earlier decisions adopted in connection with them. Africa's success in having the Council meet on its territory was the culmination of persistent efforts by the African group at the UN aiming, since 1960, at making colonialism and apartheid in Africa matters threatening international peace and security. Today, on the twenty-seventh anniversary of the adoption of the UN Charter, it is necessary to analyze the nature of this evolving relationship between Africa and the World Organization as a case study of UN relationships with the Third World.
Black Studies Programs: Problems and Prospects
Authors: Davis William G. , Satterwhite Frank J.
Published: August 2021

In its present form and function, the socio-political institution of American education does not properly serve citizens of African descent. What is now recognized as higher education geared towards meeting the special needs of black students is commonly labeled Black Studies. It is submitted here that Black Studies programs, in the main, are nothing more than reactions to the oppression that obtains within the institutional system of higher education. Unquestionably, the majority of these programs differ little in concept or approach from academic programs in the Euro-American tradition.
Archaeology and Historical Reconstruction: The Nigerian Case
Authors: Ayoade John A. A.
Published: August 2021

In studying the remote past of nonliterate peoples in Africa (and throughout the world), the historian depends for pratically all his material on archaeology. This means that the empahsis in the methodology of African history is differentfrom the emphasis in that of other histories. This is not to say that attempts to accurately reconstruct the remote past of peoples outside Africa do not involve a similar technique of discovery from material as well as physical remains, but that a greater part of their history is documented and is revealed through the use of conventional historical methods.
Rhodesia: The Time-Scale for Majority Rule*
Authors: Palley Claire
Published: August 2021

The Rhodesian settlement proposals of 1971 have been described by the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, as a just and honorable settlement, conferring advantages on Rhodesian Africans, measuring them not against an ideal solution, but against an indefinite continuation of the status quo in Rhodesia, and leading by a steady addition of Africans to the Rhodesian Parliament to majority rule.
A Note on Exchange Programs Between the United States and South Africa
Authors: Mphahlele Ezekiel
Published: August 2021

Most Americans do not seem to appreciate that we are in a state of emergency in South Africa. They think that we are interested in spending money and time preventing a revolution instead of breaking down the structure of apartheid. They think that we are interested in living with apartheid, in accommodating ourselves to it. They do not believe that we will ever be able to demolish the structure.
African-Arab Relations: From Slavery to Petro-Jihad
Authors: Wai Dunstan M.
Published: August 2021

The history of the Arabs in Africa has included a number of contradictions. The Arabs have been both conquerors and liberators, both traders in slaves and purveyors of new ideas. With the Arabs came both Islam and commerce. Indeed, trade and Islam have been companions throughout much of the modern history of Africa north of the Zambezi. In Northern and West Africa caravans of Muslim traders go back for centuries. In East Africa others have come for a millenium from the Gulf of Oman and Southern Arabia, consciously engaged in cultural dissemination. The spread of Islam in Africa has been due far less to consciously organized missionary activity than to trade and conquest. Ali A. Mazrui
African and Arab States and the Call For a New International Economic Order
Authors: Kokole Omari H.
Published: August 2021

An Arab leadership within the Third World has been emerging since 1973. Since that year, major diplomatic initiatives on a wide range of issues relevant to the third World have in fact originated from the Arabs. Countries of the Third World are basically producers of raw materials and other primary commodities. The whole struggle for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) has to some extent been led by the Arabs. Some Third World causes have been championed by some Arab countries, and have been pushed by them into the main arenas of international diplomacy. Algeria virtually initiated the raw materials debate at the United Nations in 1974. This was followed by the special session of the General Assembly in 1975. The 1970s witnessed the beginning of a serious consideration of the issue of restructuring the world economy.
Islam and Politics in West Africa
Authors: Nyang Sulayman S.
Published: August 2021

The role of Islam in West African politics goes back to the beginnings of the encounter between Islamic culture and traditional African political leadership in the medieval period. When Arabo-Berber culture arrived in the West Soudan, African rulers in Ghana, Soudan, and other smaller kingdoms of the time were very much influenced by their traditional African world view. According to this world view, rulers were thought to be a link between the living and the dead, on the one hand, and between the temporal and the spiritual on the other. Indeed, it is because of this fusion of politics and primordial religion in the old Africa that the well-known American student of African religions, James W. Fernandez, wrote in the early 1960s that the “African, it can be argued, inherited a traditional disposition to shift back and forth from a political to a religious mode of address.”
Foreign Enterprise and Labor Exploitation in Namibia: A Report of the U.N. Council For Namibia
Authors: Naqvi Ali Sarawar
Published: August 2021

Following the termination of South Africa's mandate over Namibia by resolution 2145 (XXI) of 27 October 1966, the General Assembly decided that the United Nations Council for Namibia, in its capacity as the legal Administering Authority for Namibia until independence, and in fulfillment of the mandate entrusted to it under General Assembly resolution 2248 (S-V) of 19 May 1967 and reaffirmed in subsequent resolutions of the Security Council and the Assembly, should consider the activities of foreign economic interests operating in Namibia.
Africa in a Capitalist World
Authors: Wallerstein Immanuel
Published: August 2021

African studies has gone through three well-known phases as a field of study. Up until 1950 or thereabouts, those studying Africa — they were not yet called Africanists — tended to concentrate almost exclusively on the capturing (or recapturing) of a description of Africa eternal: Launcelot the ethnographer in search of a holy grail of the past that was written in the present tense and was undefiled by contact and uncorrupted by civilization. What was once a myth is now a fairy tale and it would be silly to waste time tellling each other the obvious truth that fairy tales are modes of the social control and the education of children.