bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cultural meanings of punishments in Hellenistic Egypt
Authors:   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky, Basalova Nataliya S.
Published: June 2021

The article is devoted to examination of administrative punishment in Ptolemaic Egypt, which were mentioned in Ptolemaic civil and fiscal laws in III-I B. C. The article deals with evidences in official documents of Ptolemaic Egypt, such as «Dikaiomata», «The Statute of Tax Collectors» and villagers’ complaints in terms of description of the situations, suggesting offences or required punishment for them if they were committed by free people, officers and slaves. The author studies the facts of offences with reference to males and females, villagers and tsar family. In the article the sets of elements of offences and punishment are analyzed. The author makes the conclusion about the specific features of conceptual construct, used for the characteristic of offences in laws. The author points to the fact, that the definitions «offence» and «crime» do not exist in documents and are replaced by the descriptions of situations, when this or that person should be punished. Also the author examines the nature of fiscal and civil crimes, which are described in laws and complaints made by ordinary people. The complaints are not included into laws, but describeactions, which entail material or physical damage. Also the author makes a conclusion about the responsibility for crime, committed by a slave or a free person. Also the author examines the correlation between the gravity of offence and the punishment, if the offence was committed by an officer, from the perspective of ransom, which is covered by official documents. Particularly, the author examines murders in the tzar family. The author concludes, that such unlawful actions were not considered as a heinous crime and did not entail any punishment for a ruler, but they were one of the ways to strengthen their power ideologically, because they entailed the establishment of eponym priesthood.
Folk dance: the problem of definition, demarcation and historical transformation
Authors:   Humanitarian university, Yekaterinburg, Polyakova Anna S.
Published: June 2021

Folk dance is an integral part of modern choreographic culture. At the same time, the definition of its place and role in modern artistic realities is complicated not only by understanding the boundaries of this phenomenon, but also by contradictory approaches to understanding its essence. Folk dance is also understood as folk dance, or vice versa, later layers of dance culture, not associated with ritual actions. Also, some researchers put forward the thesis that folk dance is only an area for – traditional culture, as well as the phenomena of everyday dance culture that are entrenched in the folk tradition. Quite often in modern choreographic culture, folk dance is likened to the concept of «folk stage dance» – a kind of specific model of folk dance culture, created and embodied in the conditions of the stage space. And this, as will be discussed in this article, is not legitimate. All these processes are not accidental. To a certain extent, they demonstrate the difficulties in the formation of the very phenomena related to folk dance: from traditional forms to stage versions of its representation. This article defines the boundaries of the definition of «folk dance», gives its periodization in accordance with the cultural and historical periods, and also highlights the main sources of its formation. Particular attention is paid to identifying the specific features of folk dance, among which the most vividly highlighted: ritual and ceremonial basis, syncretism, synthetism, special mentality, anonymity, heterofunctional character, imitativeness, improvisational character, tradition and rules of performance, the relationship with the musical and song basis, its collective representation. The article outlines a culturological approach to further understanding the phenomenon of «folk dance» in scientific discourse.
New didactic solutions in conditions of higher education digitalization
Authors:   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky, Danilova Larisa N. , Gaibova Veronika E. ,   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky, Khodyrev Aleksander M. ,   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky
Published: June 2021

The development of digital technologies leads to increasing of their distribution and spread in various areas of everyday life. One of those areas is education. It endures impact of digitalization, while trying to develop students' competencies needed for life in a digital society, and to adapt the capabilities of digital devices to their interests and needs. Their using in pedagogical practice depends directly not only on the educational institutions, but also on the teacher himself. Universities have been interested in E-learning elements since the early 2000s, but COVID-2019 has urged many of them to step up their work, which resulted to active creation of an E-learning environment. At the same time, many teachers feel insecure in the digital educational environment, have a view of possibilities of digital media and programs, their advantages in organizing lectures, seminars, practical classes and homework. It is obvious that digitalization of education is the future of education, and therefore teachers need to be informed and enlightened. The purpose of this article is to analyze a number of didactic aspects in digital education applied to universities. The paper shows the advantages and threats of such educational technologies, and shows the features of their application in higher education using specific universal examples. The authors note that despite the abundance of theoretical works on this topic in the world, there are very few empirical studies comparing separate models of digital learning with traditional ones, and their results are very contradictory. However, although the higher effectiveness of distance learning is not clearly proven, traditional didactic practices in higher education need to be modernized, and digital concepts will be improved to overcome their shortcomings.
Updating of cultural memory in provincial museum activities
Authors:   Uglich state historical, architectural and art museum, Vorobiova Olga Y.
Published: June 2021

The article presents understanding of the cultural memory phenomenon in the context of museum activity. Special attention is given to the mainstreaming of memory in provincial museum activities. Cultural memory is interpreted by the author as «history recreated in memory», appealing not to a specific event of the past, but to his image, formed in the minds of people. The work highlights the key characteristics of the museum as an institute of memory, determining its special role in the process of forming, broadcasting and updating cultural memory: working with genuine sources of information – museum objects; attractiveness and expressiveness of museum objects – the ability to attract the attention of the audience and have emotional impact; special atmosphere that allows the visitor to «plunge into the era» (this is especially characteristic of memorial, environmental museums and exhibitions built on the ensemble principle). The specificity of the provincial museum in the process of updating cultural memory is due to its special functions, primarily the function of identifying the local population. Based on the analysis of empirical material (the practice of the Uglich State Historical Architectural and Art Museum), the levels of memory updating in the activities of the provincial museum were revealed: national, regional and local, as well as forms of updating. Key and at the same time traditional forms of memory updating in the provincial museum are expositions, exhibitions, lectures, local history meetings. New forms of memory updating include educational (interactive) programs and festivals (museum holidays). The author concludes that the issue of the formation and updating of cultural memory by the provincial museum itself remains insufficiently conscious.
Possibilities of the textocentric approach in control and assessment of students’ general cultural competency
Authors:   Kaliningrad state technical university, Klementsova Nadezhda N.
Published: June 2021

General cultural competency is considered as an essential factor for the development of the student's personality and an important instrument of improving the quality of education. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to control the formation of general cultural competency, as one of the results of the educational process, and the lack of methods for assessing it at technical university. The article is aimed at solving a set of problems related to the control and assessment of the general cultural competency of students, with regard to the possibilities realized in the process of foreign language teaching at technical university. The study is carried out in line with the textocentric approach to the general cultural competency formation developed by the author. The ability of general cultural competency to be diagnosed is ensured by the proven correlation between a number of general cultural competency components formed in the foreign language classroom and textual skills of students. This correlation makes it possible to diagnose the general cultural competency of students on the basis of evaluating the results of their textual activity which dominates in the course of the foreign language teaching. Textocentric approach makes it possible to develop two methods of assessing general cultural competency described in the paper and testifying to its practical significance: express assessment which is relevant for classroom monitoring, and detailed diagnostics which meets the tasks of final examination of students. Text is characterized not only as the means of forming general cultural competency but also as the main means of assessing it. The prospects of using textocentric approach in the development of the assessment tools fund are linked to the ability of the approach to maintain the continuity of diagnosing general cultural competency at different stages of its formation under conditions of various types of control.
Use of gamification tools in foreign language training
Authors:   Voronezh institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation, Goltsova Tatiyana A. , Protsenko Ekaterina A. ,   Voronezh institute of the Ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation
Published: June 2021

The article is devoted to the problem of creating an effective model of gamification in teaching foreign languages. The article provides brief history of the issue; explains the reasons for rising popularity of gamification nowadays; describes the main principles and ways of its implementation; gives examples of educational games. The main principles and ways of practical application of gamification in teaching foreign languages in higher school have been considered in the article. This technology integrates in a whole a content, a game and pedagogical technologies in order to increase students’ motivation. Based on this conception the authors describe gamification as an innovative pedagogical technology which can be successfully applied to teaching students of different ages, at different stages of educational process and various forms of work. The article describes different variants of applying gamification in teaching foreign languages, from a simple computer game to a specialized web quest. The authors underline that a set of pedagogical conditions should be observed for a successful implementation of gamification; they suggest a model of its effective use in teaching foreign languages. The proposed model represents in a generalized manner a set of factors increasing the effectiveness of the educational process. It describes not only the key didactic principles but also some specific principles, means and forms of teaching foreign languages. Gamification in teaching foreign languages is considered by the authors primarily as a technology allowing to realize principles of active and interactive learning in the framework of a competence-based approach. The authors describe in detail the advantages of gamification as a rather flexible technology that can be adapted to particular educational aims and purposes, age peculiarities and professional interests of students.
Automated analysis of the rhythm of advertising text
Authors:   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky, Bojchuk Elena I.
Published: June 2021

The purpose of this study is to determine the specificity of the rhythm in advertising texts based on the analysis of rhythm figures using the ProseRhythmDetector computer application, which allows to search for certain rhythm figures in a text of any nature in four languages (English, French, Russian and Spanish). The issue of the specific nature of advertising texts has been studied in some detail, as is evident from a large number of scientific works in this area; the issues of the impact of advertising on the recipient have been studied in detail. However, the question of the means of influence remains controversial, regarding which there is no consensus among researchers and no single structure of linguistic means of influencing the consumer's subconscious. The suggestive aspect of this problem is often presented through the means of repetition, which is quite logical, since it is the repetition that allows us to remind the customer of the product, to impose the product, to provoke a purchase. This tool is multifaceted, it includes various combinations of the main element and repeating elements depending on the position, compatibility, the number of repetitions, their nature and the degree of intensity of manifestation in the text. This study presents various types of repetitions, some of which are characterized as rhetorical figures (anaphora, epiphora, symploce, diacope, epanalepsis, episeuxis, anadiplosis, polysyndeton, chiasmus, aposiopesis), some refer to grammatical means, such as repeating sentences of the same purpose of the statement. The materials for the research are English-language advertising texts of a verbal-visual communicative type (more than 50,000 characters), obtained from the websites of selling companies. However, the analysis takes into account only the verbal component of the advertising text that accompanies the visual image of the product being sold. As a result, the most frequent means typical for advertising texts in English have been identified, in particular, the most active is diacope, repetition after intermediate words. Epiphora, anaphora, anadiplosis and the sequence of interrogative sentences were less active.
The city and its co-existential chronotope: a diagnostic aspect
Authors:   Samara state medical university, Ilivitskaya Larisa G.
Published: June 2021

The article attempts to substantiate the possibilities of the chronotope as a tool for cultural diagnostics of the city. The angle of the research is chosen due to the current demand for a transdisciplinary approach in the study of a variety of phenomena associated with human existence. In this regard, the city is no exception, its research also involves the use of methodologies which allow combining managerial practices and scientific theories. The city is considered in the article in its «medial existence» as a space of meanings, which makes it possible to use the chronotope as an ontological unit, which can be used as the basis for the cultural diagnostics of the city. Due to the fact that the chronotope connects temporal-topos and semantic criteria into a single structure, different dimensions of the city acquire specific expression, being reflected in various chronotopic invariants (profane, global, innovative, etc.). The author concentrates on the co-existential chronotope which focuses on the present of the city, reflecting its spatio-temporal foundations, within the boundaries of which the life and activity of a person as a consumer of urban spacetime take place. Saturation, concentration and proportionality are suggested as indicators of the co-existential chronotope, which make it possible to carry out culturological diagnostics of the city. Saturation reflects the existing spectrum of spatio-temporal configurations, in which there is a direct reproduction of human life in the city, the realization of human needs and interests, the formation of a person as a city dweller. Concentration indicates the differentiation of the city from the point of view of the «centrality» of the place, determined by its functional purpose. Proportionality allows you to identify the correspondence between the city and its inhabitants, considered in a subjective aspect.
Representation of the concept 'thief' in the modern mass media
Authors:   Saratov State law academy, Kuznetsova Yulia A. , Kalmazova Nadezhda A. ,   Saratov State law academy
Published: June 2021

The main purpose of the article was to study the representation of the concept 'thief' in the language of Russian mass media. This concept is important for both national and scientific legal concept spheres. The appeal to journalistic texts is due to the fact that they quickly reflect the main characteristics of the current state of mass consciousness and manifest its key stereotypes. The analysis was carried out in accordance with the main task of the study: to identify the key features of the concept represented in the media. In the course of the study, information from the newspaper subcorpus of the National corpus of the Russian language was used in order to collect and analyze empirical data. Semantic analysis of the contexts containing the key word of the concept revealed basic characteristics of the concept prevailing in the mass national consciousness. The authors conclude that the romantic and heroic image of the thief, which has deep folklore and literary roots, continues to exist as one of the prevalent characteristics of this concept in modern public consciousness. This image of the thief is largely formed by modern mass cinema, literature and music which are discussed in the media. The image of the so called «thief in law», often mentioned in the analyzed material, also partly contributes to the strengthening of the romantic features of this concept, since it implies following some alternative principles of morality and honor. At the same time, the research has shown that this concept receives an ambiguous evaluation in the Russian society, since the idea of criminality of this phenomenon is clearly expressed in many of the contexts under study.
Functioning of Gospel quotations in N. S. Leskov's «autobiographical» narrative
Authors:   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky, Luchenetskaya-Burdina Irina Y. , Fedotova Anna A. ,   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky
Published: June 2021

The article is devoted to the topical issue of N. Leskov’s strategies for Gospel text «appropriation». The material for the analysis were the less studied works of the writer written in 1892 which Leskov himself positioned as «autobiographical» – «rhapsody» The Vale of Tears and «picture from life» The Improvisers. Applying modern methods of textual analysis (communicative-pragmatic, receptive) and a complex of research methods of theoretical poetics, the authors of the article investigate the problem of the Gospel reception by the writer at the level of the author's style as a combination of basic stylistic elements (narrative, compositional, plot, figurative, linguistic). In the 1890s Leskov's works, the «autobiographical» kind of narration became quite common. It can be found both as a form of primary narrative, complementing the secondary fairy tale narration (Midnighters, Rabbit Remiz), and as an independent narrative form (Concerning the Kreutzer Sonata, The Vale of Tears, The Improvisers, Lady and Fefela).The comparative analysis of The Vale of Tears and The Improvisers demonstrates fundamental similarities in the functioning of the Gospel quotes in Leskov's «autobiographical» works. The semantic and emotional culmination of the latter is the lyrical monologue of the I-narrator, in which the writer turns to quoting the Gospel. The Gospel quotes do not result directly from the plot and are presented not as rational conclusions from the events described, but as a kind of «revelation» of the I-narrator. It is not the power of logical persuasion that comes to the fore, but feeling. Appeal to the Gospel word, which acts in his works as the main means of satisfying spiritual «hunger,» allows Leskov to show the reader a way out of the situation of moral and spiritual ignorance, which, according to the writer, the Russian «common people» found themselves in at the end of the 19th century.
Yaroslavl microtoponym ZAVOLGA: grammatical status, semantics
Authors:   Yaroslavl state pedagogical university named after К. D. Ushinsky, Melnikova Ekaterina M.
Published: June 2021

The article analyses semantic and grammatical features of the Yaroslavl microtoponym Zavolga. It is noted that the sphere of modern unofficial microtoponymy (urbanonymy) is heterogeneous in its stylistic status: speech communication of city dwellers includes both expressive colloquial and vernacular names from urban jargons and emotionally coloured neutral micro-toponyms. The urban name Zavolga belongs to the latter group: the appearance of this word on Yaroslavl's minibus taxi signs as well as in the local press, indicates that it is widespread in the city's usage and has gone beyond the limits of verbal vernacular. Replacing the word combination Zavolzhsky district and the single-word name Zavolzhye, the urbanonym Zavolga is actively acquiring the full declension paradigm in the singular, is used with adjectives and combines with prepositions of space. The article considers both normative prepositional phrases and non-normative constructions. It is shown that the prepositional case form «v Zavolge» is used very rarely and its place is taken by the adverbialized form «Zavolgoi»; the form «Zavolgu» is used instead of the form *v Zavolgu. The author suggests that not distinguishing these forms from the normative Za Volgoi and Za Volgu reveals the irrelevance of distinguishing their semantics: both spellings denote the same thing – the city district, not the river beyond which something takes place. The study also points out that such variability in the spelling of urban toponyms is not unique to the speech of Yaroslavl residents: the coexistence of spatial names merged with prepositions and prepositional case combinations is found in the toponymy of different Russian regions, and the convergence with nominal nouns like zagranitsa and adverbial phrases za granitsei, za granitsu, underlines the transitional status of such units.
Factor Associated with Underweight among People with Tuberculosis
Authors: Fitriyana Wildana Widad , Ayuningrum Dewi Puji
Published: June 2021

Background: The relationship between Tuberculosis (TB) and nutritional status is a significant one. Patients with TB who are underweight face a higher risk of death. Purpose: This research aims to analyze the factors related to the occurrence of being underweight among TB patients at the Public Health Center (PHC) in Perak Timur, Surabaya. Method: This was an analytical observational study and used a cross-sectional design. The sample for this research was 41 respondents, who were TB patients and were undergoing treatment at the PHC in Perak Timur, Surabaya. Data collection was done from March 2020 to June 2020. Primary data was collected by conducting interviews using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using a chi-square test. Results: The results indicated that, out of the 41 respondents, there were 21 respondents who were underweight (51.22%). Descriptively, underweight TB patients were more likely to be in the intensive phase of treatment (90%), have a low income (56.76%), have a low education status (65.38%), and be unemployed (59.38%), with PR=0.43 and 95%CI=0.76–9.38. The results of this research indicated a link between the treatment phase and TB patients being underweight (p=0.01; PR=2.33; 95% CI=1.43–3.79), the level of education attained by underweight TB patients (p=0.04; PR=0.41; 95% CI=0.17–0.99), and the income of underweight TB patients (p=0.04; PR=0.43; 95%CI=0.30–0.63). The results of this research indicated that there was a correlation between the work status and TB patients being underweight (p=0.07; PR=2.67; 95%CI=0.76–9.38). Conclusion: The treatment phase, education level and income are significantly related to TB patients being underweight.
Applying Location Quotient and Shift-Share Analysis in Determining Leading Sectors in Teluk Bintuni Regency
Authors: Maspaitella Marcus , Parinussa Sisilia M.
Published: June 2021

Economic growth is an important aspect that reflects the success of a country or region’s economic development. The changes of its driving sectors mainly influence the changes in economic growth. This study aims to identify the leading economic sectors and analyze the sectoral shifts of the Teluk Bintuni regency’s economy. The data used in this study is the Gross Regional Domestic Product of both Teluk Bintuni Regency and Papua Barat province in the period from 2010 to 2018. In determining the leading sectors and analyzing the sector using Location Quotient and Shift-Share analysis. The results suggested that the manufacturing and mining, and quarrying sectors were the base sectors of Teluk Bintuni’s economy. However, the result of Shift-Share analysis highlighted construction, education services, procurement of electricity and gas, and public administration, defense, and compulsory social security as competitive and progressive sectors during the same period. Policy implications of this study include evaluating and reformulating development strategies and programs and considering sectoral interconnection for further development planning.Keywords: Location Quotient, Shift-Share, Leading Sectors, Teluk Bintuni
ESTIMATION OF THE ECONOMIC LOSSES POTENTIAL DUE TO UNDERWEIGHT TODDLERS IN INDONESIA IN 2013
Authors: Renyoet Brigitte Sarah
Published: June 2021

Millions of children and adolescents in Indonesia today still show a high number of premature death in children who are moderately malnourished and severely malnourished. The research objective was to calculate the estimated economic losses potential due to underweight among toddlers in Indonesia. This was a descriptive research by analyzing secondary data of nutritional status and socio-economic indicators in 2013 from the Indonesian Ministry of Health and Central Statistical Agency. The formula to calculate potential economic loss is based on Konig’s formula (1995) and the correction factor from research by Horton (1999). The results showed that the average economic loss in 32 provinces in Indonesia is approximately IDR 93 billion – IDR 417 billion, which seen from the GRDP percentage, the economic loss due to a decrease in productivity amounted to 2% and 9% or about 0.1–0.7% of the average GRDP of the provinces in Indonesia. Nationally, economic losses due to low productivity in underweight toddlers reach IDR 3,054 billion – IDR 13,746 billion (0.04–0.2%) of Indonesia’s total GDP. The results of this study are expected to show that the importance of this issue was handled and can assist the government in planning for health and nutrition programs targeted to human resources in Indonesia qualifi ed and productive.
ANALISIS FAKTOR INTERNAL DAN EKSTERNAL DALAM PERCEPATAN PENURUNAN STUNTING: STUDI KUALITATIF DI KABUPATEN BOGOR
Internal and External Factor Analysis of Stunting Reduction Acceleration: A Qualitative Study in Bogor District

Authors: Irmaida Irmaida , Briawan Dodik , Martianto Drajat
Published: June 2021

Bogor District is one of the priority districts for stunting interventions. The stunting rate in Bogor District was 28.29%. The district government should implement stunting reduction policies that referring to the national movement of nutrition improvement acceleration and the stunting programs convergence. Regional autonomy gives authority to the regions to regulate and implement policies. This study aimed to analyze the internal and external factors of the Bogor District Government that aff ecting the implementation of stunting reduction programs It was a qualitative study in Bogor District. Primary data were collected using interview guidelines to nine offi cials of the Bogor District Government agency related to the stunting program in Bogor District. Secondary data were collected using desk review. Data were analyzed using Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) and External Factor Evaluation (EFE) analysis. The results showed that total score of IFE is 2.96 and EFE scores is 2.94. Bogor District Government can optimally use its strengths and cut its weaknesses in the internal program. Likewise, Bogor District Government have taken advantage of external opportunities and avoided threats.
PENINGKATAN PENGETAHUAN DAN SIKAP IBU PRAKONSEPSI MELALUI EDUKASI SERIBU HARI PERTAMA KEHIDUPAN: STUDI KUASI-EKSPERIMENTAL
 Enhancing Knowledge and Attitude of Preconception Mother through the First Thousand Days of Life Education: a Quasi-Experimental Study

Authors: Simanjuntak Betty Yosephin , Wahyudi Anang
Published: June 2021

Stunting is one of nutritional problem in children which the manifestation started since preconception period. Sensitive intervention is a program outside the health sector that can accelerate the improvement of nutrition, especially stunting. The purpose of this study was to increase the knowledge and attitudes of the preconception period of women regarding the fi rst 1000 days of life in order to prevent stunting. This research was a quasi-experimental study with two intervention groups. The sample was registered women, consisted of 60 women who were given education on 1000 days of life using leafl et media and 60 women using pocket book. Education was carried out by offi cers at 6 Religious Aff airs Offi ce. Women knowledge in leafl et group showed no signifi cant diff erences before and after education, especially in topics of chronic energy defi ciency (p = 0.791), anemia (p = 0.503), early breastfeeding initiation (p = 0.581), exclusive breastfeeding (p = 0.832), complementary feeding (p = 1.000), and stunting in children (p = 0.327). Among pocket book group, the increament of knowledge was better compared to leafl et group, especially in the topic of anemia (p <0.001), early breastfeeding initiation (p = 0.002), exclusive breastfeeding (p = 0.021), and stunting in children (p = 0.05). Meanwhile, the increase in attitude for all educational materials using pocket books increased with p value <0.05. Conclusion of this study was the increase in knowledge and attitudes of preconception is better in the pocket book group.
Keragaan Ekonomi dan Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Penangkaran Benih Padi Binaan Program Desa Mandiri Benih di Sumatera Utara
Authors: Situmorang Sawitania , Girsang Setia Sari
Published: June 2021

Stapple food subsector is the second largest contributor after plantations subsector to Indonesian gross domestic product (GDP). However, since 2015, the productivity has been declining, though still provides a positive value. To anticipate the simultaniously decline of the productivity, the government has socialized the Seed Self Sufficiency Village (3SV) Programe with paddy. One of the provinces that has has been received the implementation of this 3SV programe is North Sumatra. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the economic performance of 3SV fostered village’s rice seed growers such as: production costs, profitability and business efficiency as well as the factors that affect the fostered paddy seed’s growers. This research was conducted using a survey method from August to November 2019. Data was collected through interviews with 30 fostered paddy seed’s growers in the districts of Deli Serdang, Batu Bara, Langkat, Serdang Bedagai, Simalungun, and South Nias. The location was chosen deliberately while the respondent farmers were chosen by judgmental method. The level of profitability is calculated using Gross Profit Ratio (GPR) while technical efficiency is analyzed using the Stochastic Frontier Production Function. The results showed that the rice seedling business in the observed area was strongly influenced by area of land, the amount of use of seeds and additional fertilizers. Meanwhile, increasing the use of labor, basic fertilizers, Growth Regulator (GR), and pesticides will reduce the performance of the rice seedling business. The availability of irrigation water and farmer groups has a big influence in reducing technical inefficiencies.
Increasing Trends in Physical and Mental Health Problems among US Workers in Different Job Sectors During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Singh Gopal K , Lee Hyunjung , Azuine Romuladus E.
Published: June 2021

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial adverse impact on workers’ employment and physical and mental health. However, job losses, job-related household income shocks, and their related physical and mental health problems have not been well-documented. Using temporal, nationally representative data, this study examines inequalities in job-related income losses and their resultant health impact among US workers aged 18-64 years in different job sectors during the pandemic.
Methods: Using April, August, and December 2020 rounds of the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey (N=56,156, 82,173, and 51,500), job-related income losses among workers in various job sectors and associated impacts on self-assessed health, depression, anxiety, worry, and lack of interest were analyzed by multivariable logistic regression.
Results: In December 2020, 64.0% of self-employed and 66.3% of unemployed adults reported that they or someone in their household experienced a loss of employment income since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. This percentage was the lowest for the public sector (35.2%) and non-profit-sector (45.0%) workers. Job/income losses increased by 26% between April and December for workers in the private and non-profit sectors. Prevalence of fair/poor overall health, serious depression, serious anxiety, serious worry, and serious lack of interest increased substantially during the pandemic for workers in all sectors, with the self-employed, those in the family business, and the unemployed experiencing the highest risk and those in the government/public and non-profit sectors experiencing the lowest risk of poor physical and mental health. Workers in all sectors reporting job-related income losses experienced approximately 2-to-4-fold higher odds of poor overall health, serious depression, serious anxiety, serious worry, and serious lack of interest, compared to public-sector workers with no job/income losses, controlling for covariates.
Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Job-related income losses and prevalence of poor overall health and mental health among workers in all sectors increased markedly during the pandemic, with the self-employed, family business, and unemployed workers being especially vulnerable to poor health, depression, anxiety, and stress.
 
Copyright © 2021 Singh, et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Medical Education in Nigeria
Authors: Usman Fatima , Iliyasu Zubairu , Salihu Hamisu , Aliyu Muktar
Published: June 2021

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the learning process and outcome of medical education. In this commentary, we discuss the effect of COVID-19 on medical education in Nigeria. The disruption of educational services due to government-imposed lockdown and subsequent transition to e-learning with reduction in direct tutor-trainee contact hours to limit virus spread have had a profound effect on the quality of medical education. These measures have impacted adversely on the proficiency, and the intellectual, psychological, financial and social wellbeing of trainees, worsened by a compromised educational system from pre-existing challenges militating against quality education. Prompt re-evaluation of all aspects of medical training with emphasis on developing digital learning platforms that will enable trainees to acquire the needed knowledge and improve learning outcomes is paramount, as it is likely the effects of COVID-19 will linger for a while.
 
Copyright © 2021 Usman, et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.
Modelling Oscillations in the Supply Chain: The Case of a Just-in-Sequence Supply Process from the Automotive Industry
Authors: Klug Florian
Published: June 2021

Pervasive and ubiquitous oscillations, mapping the repetitive variation in time of a specific state, are well known as abundant phenomena in research and practice. Motivated by the success of oscillators in the modelling, analysis and control of dynamical systems, we developed a related approach for the dynamic description of supply chains. This paper aims to introduce a generic oscillator model for supply chains by the original application of oscillator equations. Therefore an established oscillator model for deductive modelling of supply chain echelons is used. With the help of coupled van der Pol oscillators, the dynamical interaction of an inventory system is described and applied to a real-life supply process in automotive industry. According to its reductionist approach only two differential equations are used to analyse a Just-in-Sequence supply process in car industry. Based on the fact that any oscillatory state can be reduced to the phase of the oscillation (phase reduction), a phase space map is generated. This compact visual reference of the supply process can act as the quantitative basis for an adaptive control mechanism during its operation. By delaying or accelerating the inventory oscillations of the supplier stock a detuned coupled supply process can be re-synchronised without changing the amplitude. An additional analysis of Hilbert transform is applied to determine the boundaries of phase-locking between the inventory oscillation phases, where the instantaneous phases are bounded. Furthermore parameters of the synchronisation threshold and the transient phases between synchronous and non-synchronous regimes have been investigated, supported by an Arnold tongue representation. The investigations show that with the help of a generic oscillatory model it is possible to measure and quantify phenomena of inventory dynamics in supply chains. Especially the analysis of synchronisation phenomena with the help of phase space and Arnold tongue representations foster developments of performance measurement in supply chain management.
Associations of Preoperative Serum High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels with the Prognosis of Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Lin Qingqing , Liu Wenchao , Xu Song , Sun Liping
Published: June 2021

Background: The effect of serum lipids on ovarian cancer is controversial. We conduct this study to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative plasma lipid profile in patients with ovarian cancer.Methods: The medical records of 156 epithelial ovarian cancer patients who underwent surgical resection in our department were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Serum lipids profiles, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), apolipoprotein A-Ⅰ (apoA-Ⅰ), apolipoprotein B (apoB) and clinicopathologic data were analyzed. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses and Kaplan-Meier method were performed to evaluate the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).Results: Multivariable Cox regression analysis found that preoperative higher LDL-C level was significantly associated with worse OS (HR 2.088, 95% CI 1.052-4.147, p = 0.035), whereas higher HDL-C level showed significant association with better PFS (HR 0.491, 95% CI 0.247-0.975, p = 0.042). Further Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated that OS was longer for patients with low levels of LDL-C (< 2.76 mmol/L) compared to those with high levels of LDL-C (≥ 2.76 mmol/L) (P = 0.028), and PFS was better for patients with high levels of HDL-C (≥ 1.19 mmol/L) compared to those with low levels of HDL-C (< 1.19 mmol/L) (P = 0.001).Conclusions: Preoperative HDL-C and LDL-C levels are significant predictors of clinical outcome in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.
Salt tolerance in rice: seedling and reproductive stage QTL mapping come of age
Authors: Singh Rakesh Kumar , Kota Suneetha , Flowers Timothy J
Published: June 2021

Although rice has been categorized as a salt-sensitive crop, it is not equally affected throughout its growth, being most sensitive at the seedling and reproductive stages. However, a very poor correlation exists between sensitivity at these two stages, which suggests that the effects of salt are determined by different mechanisms and sets of genes (QTLs) in seedlings and during flowering. Although tolerance at the reproductive stage is arguably the more important, as it translates directly into grain yield, more than 90% of publications on the effects of salinity on rice are limited to the seedling stage. Only a few studies have been conducted on tolerance at the reproductive stage, as phenotyping is cumbersome. In this review, we list the varieties of rice released for salinity tolerance traits, those being commercially cultivated in salt-affected soils and summarise phenotyping methodologies. Since further increases in tolerance are needed to maintain future productivity, we highlight work on phenotyping for salinity tolerance at the reproductive stage. We have constructed an exhaustive list of the 935 reported QTLs for salinity tolerance in rice at the seedling and reproductive stages. We illustrate the chromosome locations of 63 meta-QTLs (with 95% confidence interval) that indicate the most important genomic regions for salt tolerance in rice. Further study of these QTLs should enhance our understanding of salt tolerance in rice and, if targeted, will have the highest probability of success for marker assisted selections.
Dust-related impacts of mining operations on rangeland vegetation and soil: a case study in Yazd province, Iran
Authors: IbrahimPour Shahab , KhavaninZadeh Alireza , mehrjardi Ruhollah Taghizadeh , De Boeck Hans , Gul Alvina
Published: June 2021

Destructive mining operations are affecting large areas of natural ecosystems, especially in arid lands. The present study aims at investigating the impact of iron mine exploitation on vegetation and soil in Nodoushan (Yazd province, central Iran). Based on the dominant wind, topography, slope, vegetation and soil of the area, soil and vegetation parameters close to ​the mine were recorded and analyzed according to the distance from the mine. In order to obtain the vegetation cover, a transect and plot on the windward and leeward side of the mine, with 100 m intervals and three replicates at each sampling location was used, yielding 96 soil samples. The amount of dust on the vegetation, the seed weight and seed germination rate of Artemisia sp. as the dominant species within the area, and the soil microbial respiration were measured. The relationship between vegetation cover and distance from the mine was not linear, which was due to an interplay between pollution from the mine and local grazing, while other factors did increase or decrease linearly. The results showed that, as the distance from the mine increased, the weight of 1000 seeds of Artemisia sp. was significantly increased from 271 to 494 mg and seed germination rate and soil microbial respiration were significantly increased from 11.7 to 48.4 % and from 4.5 to 5.9 mg CO2 g− 1 soil day− 1 respectively, while the amount of dust significantly decreased from 43.5 to 6 mg (g plant)−1 between the distance of 100 to 600 m from the mine in the leeward direction. A similar trend was observed in the windward side, though negative effects were lower compared to the same distance along the leeward sample locations. The direct and indirect effects on plant growth and health from mining impacts generally decreased linearly with increasing distance from the mine, up to at least 600 m. Our study serves as a showcase for the potential of bio-indicators as a cost-effective method for assessing impacts of mining activities on the surrounding environment.
Comparison of spatiotemporal carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus burial in two plateau lacustrine sediments: Implication for N and P control
Authors: Wang Xiaolei , Yang Hao , Xue Bin , Zhang Mingli , Yang Benjun , Huang Changchun
Published: June 2021

The long-term accumulation, burial and release of nutrients, such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in lacustrine sediments are responsible for the global lake eutrophication. Interpretation of the spatiotemporal sedimentary record of nutrients (C, N and P) in contrasting trophic level of lakes is helpful for understanding the evolutionary process of water eutrophication. Based on the radiochronology of 210Pbex and 137Cs, a comparative study of spatial and temporal concentrations, burial of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), the sources of organic matter were conducted using sediment cores from two plateau lakes Dianchi (DC) and Fuxian (FX) of SW China. Results showed that concentrations and burial of C, N and P in sediments of DC, a shallow hypertrophic lake with the maximum depth of 5.8 m, were both higher than those in FX, an oligotrophic deep lake with the maximum depth of 155.0 m. For both lakes the molar ratio of TOC/TN increased in the sediments moving from north to south. The values of TOC/TN molar ratios increased over time in DC and was higher than in FX. The extremely high values of TOC/TN appeared in the central and southern parts of FX, indicating the impacts of accumulation effect and sediment focusing in the deeper region and indirect supplement from the Lake Xingyun (XY), an adjoining lake connected with FX via the Gehe River. Time-integrated sources identification in DC indicated the contribution of allochthonous sources was dominant over the past few decades, which contributed to the increased trophic level of the lake. The comparison of relationships of carbon accumulation rates (CAR), nitrogen accumulation rates (NAR) and phosphorous accumulation rates (PAR), the ratios of N/P and the utilizations of N and P fertilizer between DC and FX implied that both of N and P inputs should be limited for reducing the trophic level, but N control was predominant in comparison with P for both lakes. The results indicated that caution is required in plateau lakes to limit transition from oligotrophic to eutrophic in these lakes.