bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
IMPACT OF WOMEN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS ON MICRO-ENTERPRISES SURVIVAL DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN NIGERIA
Authors: BABARINDE SOLOMON ADEJARE
Published: January 2023

Global economy activities, especially as it concerns the micro-small and medium enterprises (MSME), have been affected by the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social entrepreneurs are, however, leading efforts to combat the pandemic’s economic menace. Therefore, this study examines the impact of women social entrepreneurs on the survival of micro-enterprises in Nigeria. A survey research design was utilized covering micro-enterprises in Lagos state, which houses Nigeria’s highest number of MSMEs. A random sampling method was used to administer a structured questionnaire to 1537 managers and owners in the selected micro-enterprises. The descriptive and regression analysis result revealed that women social entrepreneurs played critical roles during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, as they were able to alleviate poverty to an extent, involved in environmental sustainability, create jobs and enhance human capital development. The results reveal that women social entrepreneurs ([Formula: see text]; [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) significantly affect micro-enterprises’ survival during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further results showed that the need to eradicate poverty, the desire to make the society a better place, empathy and the desire to make money are the driving factors of women social entrepreneurs. The study concludes that women social entrepreneurs significantly impact micro-enterprises’ survival during COVID-19 pandemic. The study recommends a combination of laws facilitating women’s social entrepreneurship with multiple activities to establish and diversify micro-enterprises’ supply.
Bidirectional Sentence Ordering with Interactive Decoding
Authors: Bai Guirong , He Shizhu , Liu Kang , Zhao Jun
Published: January 2023

Sentence ordering aims at restoring orders of shuffled sentences in a paragraph. Previous methods usually predict orders in a single direction, i.e., from head to tail. However, unidirectional prediction inevitably causes error accumulation, which restricts performance. In this article, we propose a bidirectional ordering method, which predicts orders in both head-to-tail and tail-to-head directions at the same time. In our bidirectional ordering method, two directions can interact with each other and help alleviate the error accumulation problem of ordering. Experiments demonstrate that our method can effectively improve performance of previous models.
A Sequential Generation Redispatch Algorithm to Ensure Power System Small Signal Stability under Low-Frequency Oscillations
Authors: Golzari-Kolur Hassan , Bathaee Seyed Mohammad-Taghi , Amraee Turaj
Published: January 2023

Generation rescheduling is a major action against abnormal system conditions such as small signal instability. The operating point of the power system impacts the small signal stability; therefore, this article proposes a novel sequential generation rescheduling model as a preventive control against low-frequency fluctuations. An optimal power flow (OPF) problem is utilized to determine the base operating point. Then, in the process of improving the small signal stability, the modal analysis specifies the system stability status in each step, and the proposed second-order convex redispatch model defines the optimal direction of generation rescheduling. Small signal stability is considered a constraint in this model. Using a sensitivity analysis, system generators and system buses are divided into two increasing and decreasing groups, which are included in the model according to their contribution coefficients in damping improvement. Finally, the alternating current (AC) power flow analysis provides the subsequent operating points. The redispatch model is solved using the quadratic programming algorithm, and the Newton algorithm is used to manage the nonlinear and nonconvex characteristics of the power flow model. The proposed method is simulated over the IEEE 9, 39, and 118 bus test systems. It is shown that the proposed method increases the damping of the power system from the unstable state to the desired condition by controlling the operating point.
Redescription of Neocarus platensis Silvestri, 1905 (Acari: Opilioacaridae) and a new species from the syntype series
Authors: DE ARAÚJO MARCEL SANTOS , DI PALMA ANTONELLA , FERES REINALDO JOSÉ FAZZIO , PENTEADO-DIAS ANGELICA MARIA
Published: January 2023

Neocarus platensis is redescribed from part of the syntype series collected in Argentina and lectotype specimens are designated. The remaining syntype material from Uruguay represents a new species, herein named Neocarus paraplatensis sp. nov. Taxonomic problems within the Opilioacaridae are discussed in light of a comparative morphological discussion including setae quantity variation.
Accommodating multiple potential normalizations in microbiome associations studies
Authors: Song Hoseung , Ling Wodan , Zhao Ni , Plantinga Anna M. , Broedlow Courtney A. , Klatt Nichole R. , Hensley-McBain Tiffany , Wu Michael C.
Published: January 2023

Background

Microbial communities are known to be closely related to many diseases, such as obesity and HIV, and it is of interest to identify differentially abundant microbial species between two or more environments. Since the abundances or counts of microbial species usually have different scales and suffer from zero-inflation or over-dispersion, normalization is a critical step before conducting differential abundance analysis. Several normalization approaches have been proposed, but it is difficult to optimize the characterization of the true relationship between taxa and interesting outcomes. 

Results

To avoid the challenge of picking an optimal normalization and accommodate the advantages of several normalization strategies, we propose an omnibus approach. Our approach is based on a Cauchy combination test, which is flexible and powerful by aggregating individualpvalues. We also consider a truncated test statistic to prevent substantial power loss. We experiment with a basic linear regression model as well as recently proposed powerful association tests for microbiome data and compare the performance of the omnibus approach with individual normalization approaches. Experimental results show that, regardless of simulation settings, the new approach exhibits power that is close to the best normalization strategy, while controling the type I error well. 

Conclusions

The proposed omnibus test releases researchers from choosing among various normalization methods and it is an aggregated method that provides the powerful result to the underlying optimal normalization, which requires tedious trial and error. While the power may not exceed the best normalization, it is always much better than using a poor choice of normalization.
Transcriptional networks orchestrating red and pink testa color in peanut
Authors: Ahmad Naveed , Zhang Kun , Ma Jing , Yuan Mei , Zhao Shuzhen , Wang Mingqing , Deng Li , Ren Li , Gangurde Sunil S. , Pan Jiaowen , Ma Changle , Li Changsheng , Guo Baozhu , Wang Xingjun , Li Aiqin , Zhao Chuanzhi
Published: January 2023

Background

Testa color is an important trait of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) which is closely related with the nutritional and commercial value. Pink and red are main color of peanut testa. However, the genetic mechanism of testa color regulation in peanut is not fully understood. To elucidate a clear picture of peanut testa regulatory model, samples of pink cultivar (Y9102), red cultivar (ZH12), and two RNA pools (bulk red and bulk pink) constructed from F4 lines of Y9102 x ZH12 were compared through a bulk RNA-seq approach.

Results

A total of 2992 differential expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among which 317 and 1334 were up-regulated and 225 and 1116 were down-regulated in the bulk red-vs-bulk pink RNA pools and Y9102-vs-ZH12, respectively. KEGG analysis indicates that these genes were divided into significantly enriched metabolic pathways including phenylpropanoid, flavonoid/anthocyanin, isoflavonoid and lignin biosynthetic pathways. Notably, the expression of the anthocyanin upstream regulatory genes PAL, CHS, and CHI was upregulated in pink and red testa peanuts, indicating that their regulation may occur before to the advent of testa pigmentation. However, the differential expression of down-stream regulatory genes including F3H, DFR, and ANS revealed that deepening of testa color not only depends on their gene expression bias, but also linked with FLS inhibition. In addition, the down-regulation of HCT, IFS, HID, 7-IOMT, and I2’H genes provided an alternative mechanism for promoting anthocyanin accumulation via perturbation of lignin and isoflavone pathways. Furthermore, the co-expression module of MYB, bHLH, and WRKY transcription factors also suggested a fascinating transcriptional activation complex, where MYB-bHLH could utilize WRKY as a co-option during the testa color regulation by augmenting anthocyanin biosynthesis in peanut.

Conclusions

These findings reveal candidate functional genes and potential strategies for the manipulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis to improve peanut varieties with desirable testa color.
Genome-wide identification, evolutionary and expression analysis of the cyclin-dependent kinase gene family in peanut
Authors: S Gokul Babu , Gohil Deependra Singh , Roy Choudhury Swarup
Published: January 2023

Background

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are a predominant group of serine/threonine protein kinases that have multi-faceted functions in eukaryotes. The plant CDK members have well-known roles in cell cycle progression, transcriptional regulation, DNA repair, abiotic stress and defense responses, making them promising targets for developing stress adaptable high-yielding crops. There is relatively sparse information available on the CDK family genes of cultivated oilseed crop peanut and its diploid progenitors.

Results

We have identified 52 putative cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and CDK-like (CDKLs) genes in Arachis hypogaea (cultivated peanut) and total 26 genes in each diploid parent of cultivated peanut (Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaensis). Both CDK and CDKL genes were classified into eight groups based on their cyclin binding motifs and their phylogenetic relationship with Arabidopsis counterparts. Genes in the same subgroup displayed similar exon–intron structure and conserved motifs. Further, gene duplication analysis suggested that segmental duplication events played major roles in the expansion and evolution of CDK and CDKL genes in cultivated peanuts. Identification of diverse cis-acting response elements in CDK and CDKL genes promoter indicated their potential fundamental roles in multiple biological processes. Various gene expression patterns of CDKs and CDKLs in different peanut tissues suggested their involvement during growth and development. In addition, qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that most representing CDK and CDKL gene family members were significantly down-regulated under ABA, PEG and mannitol treatments.

Conclusions

Genome-wide analysis offers a comprehensive understanding of the classification, evolution, gene structure, and gene expression profiles of CDK and CDKL genes in cultivated peanut and their diploid progenitors. Additionally, it also provides cell cycle regulatory gene resources for further functional characterization to enhance growth, development and abiotic stress tolerance.
Effects of the establishment of trauma centres on the mortality rate among seriously injured patients: a propensity score matching retrospective study
Authors: Zhou Qiangping , Huang Haijin , Zheng Linhui , Chen Haiming , Zeng Yuanlin
Published: January 2023

Background

Little evidence suggests that trauma centres are associated with a lower risk of mortality in severely injured patients (Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥16) with multiple injuries in China. The objective of this study was to determine the association between the establishment of trauma centres and mortality among severely injured patients with multiple injuries and to identify some risk factors associated with mortality.

Methods

A retrospective single-centre study was performed including trauma patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University (FAHNU) between January 2016 and December 2021. To determine whether the establishment of a trauma centre was an independent predictor of mortality, logistic regression analysis and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed.

Results

Among 431 trauma patients, 172 were enrolled before the trauma centre was built, while 259 were included after the trauma centre was built. A higher frequency of older age and traffic accident injury was found in patients diagnosed after the trauma centre was built. The times for the completion of CT examinations, emergency operations and blood transfusions in the “after trauma centre” group were shorter than those in the “before trauma centre” group. However, the total expenditure of patients was increased. In the overall group, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that a higher ISS was an independent predictor for worse mortality (OR = 17.859, 95% CI, 8.207–38.86, P < 0.001), while the establishment of a trauma centre was favourable for patient survival (OR = 0.492), which was also demonstrated by PSM. After determining the cut-off value of time for the completion of CT examination, emergency operation and blood transfusion, we found that the values were within the “golden one hour”, and it was better for patients when the time was less than the cut-off value.

Conclusion

Our study showed that for severely injured patients, the establishment of a trauma centre was favourable for a lower mortality rate. Furthermore, the completion of a CT examination, emergency surgery and blood transfusion in a timely manner and a lower ISS were associated with a decreased mortality rate.
Competency lists for urban general practitioners/family physicians using the modified Delphi method
Authors: Mitsuyama Toshichika , Son Daisuke , Eto Masato , Kikukawa Makoto
Published: January 2023

Background

In recent years, the growing global urbanization and urban population have resulted in the emergence of various health problems unique to urban areas. Therefore, training general practitioners and family physicians who can tackle the complex health problems of urban areas and improve the health of urban people is one of the most important issues of our time. However, findings on competencies for urban general practitioners (GP) and family physicians (FP) were limited. This study aimed to identify their comprehensive and content-validated list of competencies.

Methods

We used the modified Delphi method to develop a content-validated competency list. First, we analyzed and synthesized the competencies extracted from the literature review using qualitative thematic analysis methods to create an initial competency list of 34 items. We then assembled 39 expert panelists in four groups of study participants: physicians, nurses, patients, and medical education specialists. The expert panelists were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the lists and provide revised comments on the description of each competency via a web-based questionnaire. Their responses were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by the research team and used to revise the list. These processes were repeated, and the survey was completed when it was determined that consensus had been reached.

Results

Three rounds of Delphi were conducted. 39 responded in the first round, 38 in the second round, and 36 in the third round. The initial list of competencies was revised and consolidated from 34 to 14 items in the first round, bringing the total to 20 items along with six new items proposed by the panelists. In the second round, it was revised and consolidated into a list of 18 items. In the third round, all 18 items were considered to have been agreed upon by the panelists, so the survey was closed.

Conclusion

We identified a comprehensive 18-item list of competencies for urban GP/FP in a content-validated manner. Several are newly discovered competencies in this study. The findings of this study will be useful for the future training of urban GP/FP and for solving urban health problems.
Correlation of cytomegalovirus viral load between whole blood and plasma of congenital cytomegalovirus infection under valganciclovir treatment
Authors: Torii Yuka , Morioka Ichiro , Kakei Yasumasa , Fujioka Kazumichi , Kakimoto Yu , Takahashi Naoto , Yoshikawa Tetsushi , Moriuchi Hiroyuki , Oka Akira , Ito Yoshinori
Published: January 2023

Background

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (cCMV) can cause sensorineural hearing loss and neurodevelopmental disabilities in children. Oral valganciclovir (VGCV) therapy has been reported to improve long-term audiological and neurodevelopmental outcomes in patients with cCMV. The levels of CMV DNA in whole blood have been monitored in previous studies. However, quantitative methods using whole blood have not been standardized. Recently, the plasma viral load has been standardized and widely used in CMV-associated diseases.

Methods

CMV viral loads in whole blood and plasma were serially measured in 24 patients with a confirmatory diagnosis of cCMV during oral VGCV therapy using an in-house real-time PCR assay. Plasma samples were assayed using the Cobas 6800 system (Roche Diagnostics) in addition to an in-house assay.

Results

Plasma CMV viral loads were remarkably decreased at the end of therapy compared to before therapy. A significant correlation of CMV levels between whole blood and plasma was observed (Spearman’s ρ = 0.566). The levels of CMV DNA before therapy were significantly correlated with the period of decreasing the viral loads to below the detection limit, not only in whole blood (Spearman’s ρ = 0.901) but also in plasma (Spearman, ρ = 0.804). Finally, CMV viral loads between the in-house assay and commercially available standardized assay in 75 plasma samples with positive PCR results for CMV were compared; a significant correlation was observed between the results of both assays.

Conclusions

There was a significant correlation between the two assays (Spearman, ρ = 0.882), suggesting that CMV plasma viral loads measured by the standardized assay are widely used to monitor the levels of CMV DNA in patients with cCMV during oral VGCV therapy.
Prognostic prediction of subjective cognitive decline in major depressive disorder based on immune biomarkers: a prospective observational study
Authors: Wang Meiti , Wei Zheyi , Huang Qinte , Yang Weijie , Wu Chenglin , Cao Tongdan , Zhao Jie , Lyu Dongbin , Wang Fan , Zhou Ni , Huang Haijing , Zhang Mengke , Chen Yiming , Xu Yi , Ma Weiliang , Chen Zheng , Hong Wu
Published: January 2023

Objective

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is highlighted in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), which impairs objective cognitive performance and worsens the clinical outcomes. Immune dysregulation is supposed to be the potential mechanism of cognitive impairment. However, the peripheral immune biomarkers in patients troubled with MDD and SCD are not conventionally described.

Methods

A prospective-observational study was conducted for 8 weeks. Subjective cognitive function was measured using the Chinese version of the 20-item perceived deficits questionnaire-depression (PDQ-D) and depression symptoms were evaluated with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17). Luminex assays were used to measure 48 immune cytokines in plasma at baseline. Integrating these results and clinicopathological features, a logistic regression model was used to develop a prognostic prediction.

Results

Totally, 114 patients were enrolled in this study. Among the patients who completed follow-up, 56% (N = 50) had residual subjective cognitive decline, and 44% (N = 50) did not. The plasma levels of FGF basic, INF-γ, IL-1β, MCP-1, M-CSF and SCF were increased and the levels of IL-9, RANTES and PDGF-BB were decreased in the SCD group. Additionally, Basic FGF, IFN-γ, IL-1β, and SCF were positively correlated and IL-9, RANTES, and PDGF-BB were negatively correlated with the PDQ-D scores after treatment. Notably, combinations of cytokines (SCF and PDGF-BB) and PDQ-D scores at baseline showed good performance (The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.818) in the prediction of subjective cognitive decline.

Conclusion

A prognostic model based on protein concentrations of SCF, PDGF-BB, and scores of PDQ-D showed considerable accuracy in predicting residual subjective cognitive decline in depression.
Knowledge Graph Embeddings for ICU readmission prediction
Authors: Carvalho Ricardo M. S. , Oliveira Daniela , Pesquita Catia
Published: January 2023

Background

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) readmissions represent both a health risk for patients,with increased mortality rates and overall health deterioration, and a financial burden for healthcare facilities. As healthcare became more data-driven with the introduction of Electronic Health Records (EHR), machine learning methods have been applied to predict ICU readmission risk. However, these methods disregard the meaning and relationships of data objects and work blindly over clinical data without taking into account scientific knowledge and context. Ontologies and Knowledge Graphs can help bridge this gap between data and scientific context, as they are computational artefacts that represent the entities of a domain and their relationships to each other in a formalized way.

Methods and results

We have developed an approach that enriches EHR data with semantic annotations to ontologies to build a Knowledge Graph. A patient’s ICU stay is represented by Knowledge Graph embeddings in a contextualized manner, which are used by machine learning models to predict 30-days ICU readmissions. This approach is based on several contributions: (1) an enrichment of the MIMIC-III dataset with patient-oriented annotations to various biomedical ontologies; (2) a Knowledge Graph that defines patient data with biomedical ontologies; (3) a predictive model of ICU readmission risk that uses Knowledge Graph embeddings; (4) a variant of the predictive model that targets different time points during an ICU stay. Our predictive approaches outperformed both a baseline and state-of-the-art works achieving a mean Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve of 0.827 and an Area Under the Precision-Recall Curve of 0.691. The application of this novel approach to help clinicians decide whether a patient can be discharged has the potential to prevent the readmission of$$40\%$$40%of Intensive Care Unit patients, without unnecessarily prolonging the stay of those who would not require it.

Conclusion

The coupling of semantic annotation and Knowledge Graph embeddings affords two clear advantages: they consider scientific context and they are able to build representations of EHR information of different types in a common format. This work demonstrates the potential for impact that integrating ontologies and Knowledge Graphs into clinical machine learning applications can have.
Increasing cellular fitness and product yields in Pseudomonas putida through an engineered phosphoketolase shunt
Authors: Bruinsma Lyon , Martin-Pascual Maria , Kurnia Kesi , Tack Marieken , Hendriks Simon , van Kranenburg Richard , dos Santos Vitor A. P. Martins
Published: January 2023

Background

Pseudomonas putida has received increasing interest as a cell factory due to its remarkable features such as fast growth, a versatile and robust metabolism, an extensive genetic toolbox and its high tolerance to oxidative stress and toxic compounds. This interest is driven by the need to improve microbial performance to a level that enables biologically possible processes to become economically feasible, thereby fostering the transition from an oil-based economy to a more sustainable bio-based one. To this end, one of the current strategies is to maximize the product-substrate yield of an aerobic biocatalyst such as P. putida during growth on glycolytic carbon sources, such as glycerol and xylose. We demonstrate that this can be achieved by implementing the phosphoketolase shunt, through which pyruvate decarboxylation is prevented, and thus carbon loss is minimized.

Results

In this study, we introduced the phosphoketolase shunt in the metabolism of P. putida KT2440. To maximize the effect of this pathway, we first tested and selected a phosphoketolase (Xfpk) enzyme with high activity in P. putida. Results of the enzymatic assays revealed that the most efficient Xfpk was the one isolated from Bifidobacterium breve. Using this enzyme, we improved the P. putida growth rate on glycerol and xylose by 44 and 167%, respectively, as well as the biomass yield quantified by OD600 by 50 and 30%, respectively. Finally, we demonstrated the impact on product formation and achieved a 38.5% increase in mevalonate and a 25.9% increase in flaviolin yield from glycerol. A similar effect was observed on the mevalonate-xylose and flaviolin-xylose yields, which increased by 48.7 and 49.4%, respectively.

Conclusions

Pseudomonas putida with the implemented Xfpk shunt grew faster, reached a higher final OD600nm and provided better product-substrate yields than the wild type. By reducing the pyruvate decarboxylation flux, we significantly improved the performance of this important workhorse for industrial applications. This work encompasses the first steps towards full implementation of the non-oxidative glycolysis (NOG) or the glycolysis alternative high carbon yield cycle (GATCHYC), in which a substrate is converted into products without CO2 loss These enhanced properties of P. putida will be crucial for its subsequent use in a range of industrial processes.
Prevalence of malaria and associated clinical manifestations and myeloperoxidase amongst populations living in different altitudes of Mezam division, North West Region, Cameroon
Authors: Ngum Ntonifor Helen , Fakeh Ngahbort Belthine , Lem Abongwa Edith , Mahamat Oumar
Published: January 2023

Background

Malaria is a growing problem in Africa, with prevalence varies from areas to areas due to several factors including the altitude. This study aimed to investigate the malaria distribution and its relationship with level of some blood parameters and plasma myeloperoxidase (MPO) in population of three localities with different altitudes.

Methods

A total of 150 participants were recruited in each locality and facial body temperature of each was measured using a forehead digital thermometer. Blood samples were collected and used diagnose malaria parasite using the rapid test followed by Giemsa stain microscopy and have the full blood count and MPO level using a colorimetric method.

Results

The overall prevalence of falciparum malaria was 34.7%, with no difference between the three communities, but Bambili of high altitude had the highest prevalence (70.7%). A majority of the infected persons had mild malaria, with most cases being asymptomatic (temperature < 37.5 ºC). Patients had significant increase of geometric mean malaria parasite density (GMPD) in Bambili (1755 ± 216 parasites/µL) and Bamenda (1060 ± 2515 parasites/µL of blood) than patients in Santa (737 ± 799 parasites/µL). There was a significant risk to have malaria infection in Bambili (OR = 33.367, p = 0.021) than in Santa (OR = 2.309, p = 0.362). Bambili’ participants of 6–10 years showed a high prevalence of malaria (85.7%). GMPD was significantly different between males (p = 0.010) as well as females (p = 0.000). Participants from Santa (11.2 ± 3.2 g/dL) and Bambili (12.6 ± 2.4 g/dL) had a high haemoglobin concentration than those from Bamenda (10.6 ± 2.1 g/dL). There was a significant difference in the WBC counts and platelet counts among infected participants in the study areas. MPO level had an increasing trend among infected participants in Santa (2.378 ± 0.250), Bambili (2.582 ± 0.482) and Bamenda (2.635 ± 0.466).

Conclusion

The results of the present study demonstrated that altitudinal variations significant impact the risk of population to have malaria with high parasitaemia and may contribute to the malaria prevalence and severity by affecting the haemoglobin concentration, WBC and platelet level and plasma MPO in population.
Five ways ‘health scholars’ are complicit in upholding health inequities, and how to stop
Authors: Shahram Sana Z.
Published: January 2023

Health scholars have been enthusiastic in critique of health inequities, but comparatively silent on the ways in which our own institutions, and our actions within them, recreate and retrench systems of oppression. The behaviour of health scholars within academic institutions have far reaching influences on the health-related workforce, the nature of evidence, and the policy solutions within our collective imaginations. Progress on health equity requires moving beyond platitudes like ‘equity, diversity and inclusion’ statements and trainings towards actually being and doing differently within our day-to-day practices. Applying complex systems change theory to identify, examine and shift mental models, or habits of thought (and action), that are keeping us stuck in our efforts to advance health equity is a promising approach. This paper introduces five common mental models that are preventing meaningful equity-oriented systems transformation within academia and offers ideas for shifting them towards progressively more productive, and authentic, actions by health scholars to advance health equity across systems.
Conversion hip arthroplasty for failed internal fixation of ipsilateral femoral neck and shaft fractures: a case report
Authors: Mencia Marlon M. , Cruz Pablo Pedro Hernandez
Published: January 2023

Background

Ipsilateral femoral neck and hip fractures are uncommon high energy injuries. In the literature no single method of treatment has emerged as superior to the others. A recent publication has documented the successful application of the rendezvous technique using dual-implants for treating these injuries. However in some cases, this technique may fail and revision surgery is required.

Case presentation

A 67-year old man sustained ipsilateral fractures of his femur and femoral neck in a road traffic accident. His injuries were treated by a dual construct consisting of a retrograde femoral nail and dynamic hip screw. Three months after surgery the hip screw cut out of the femoral head necessitating revision to a total hip arthroplasty. Surgery was carried out using a single stage two part procedure on a standard operating table without having to reposition or redrape the patient. There were no postoperative complications and at 1 year from surgery the patient is satisfied with the result and has returned to work.

Conclusion

Conversion hip arthroplasty in the presence of dual implants is a technically challenging and unpredictable procedure, with an increased risk of complications. Our surgical approach provides a framework for orthopedic surgeons to safely perform this complex procedure.
Application of the Elzaki iterative method to fractional partial differential equations
Authors: He Yong , Zhang Wei
Published: January 2023

In this article, we present an iterative transformation method for solving fractional partial differential equations that combines the Elzaki transform and iterative methods. By this iterative transformation method, numerical solutions in the form of series are obtained. When we apply this method to the fractional linear Klein–Gordon equation, we find that it yields the same results, just like the Homotopy perturbation method. The procedures and results of this method for solving the new generalized fractional Hirota–Satsuma coupled KdV equation are given in the paper.
Six-minute walk test may be a reliable predictor of peak oxygen uptake in patients undergoing hemodialysis
Authors: Andrade Francini Porcher , Ribeiro Heitor Siqueira , Benvenutti Heloíse , de Oliveira Samantha Gonçalves , Thomé Fernando Saldanha , Veronese Francisco Veríssimo , Rovedder Paula Maria Eidt
Published: January 2023

Background

Cardiorespiratory fitness seems to play an important role in the general health of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). However, the prediction of peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) in a clinical setting is not widely adopted for these patients.

Objectives

Evaluate the agreement and reliability between directly and indirectly V̇O2peak measurements in patients undergoing HD.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study with patients undergoing HD that performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) with 5/10 watts incremental load in each minute using a cycle ergometry to directly evaluate the V̇O2peak, and the 6-min walk test (6MWT) in a 30-m corridor to indirect measures it. Both tests were performed on a midweek non-dialysis day. Bland–Altman analysis of agreement limits was used with direct and indirect V̇O2peak values. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach’s Alpha was used to evaluate the reproducibility and reliability between direct and indirect V̇O2peak values.

Results

Twenty-six patients (54.4 ± 14.5 years, 53.8% of male) were evaluated. The V̇O2peak direct mean obtained through CPET was 15.91 ± 5.26 (ml/kg/min), while the indirect mean obtained through 6MWT was V̇O2peak of 14.89 ± 4.21 (ml/kg/min). There was a strong positive correlation between both V̇O2peak values (r = 0.734; p < 0.001). The Bland–Altman analysis demonstrated that the methods agreed with each other (p = 0.103). Also, the ICC (0.829) and Cronbach's Alpha (0.846) showed excellent reproducibility and reliability.

Conclusions

6MWT is a reliable tool for estimating V̇O2peak in patients undergoing HD.
‘A foreigner is not a person in this country’: xenophobia and the informal sector in South Africa’s secondary cities
Authors: Tawodzera Godfrey , Crush Jonathan
Published: January 2023

South Africa’s major cities are periodically wracked by large-scale xenophobic violence directed at migrants and refugees from other countries. Informal sector businesses and their migrant owners and employees are particularly vulnerable targets during these attacks. Migrant-owned businesses are also targeted on a regular basis in smaller-scale looting and destruction of property. There is now a large literature on the characteristics and causes of xenophobic violence and attitudes in South Africa, most of it based on quantitative and qualitative research in the country’s major metropolitan areas. One of the consequences of big-city xenophobia has been a search for alternative markets and safer spaces by migrants, including relocating to the country’s many smaller urban centres. The question addressed in this paper is whether they are welcomed in these cities and towns or subject to the same kinds of victimization as in large cities. This paper is the first to systematically examine this question by focusing on a group of towns in Limpopo Province and the experiences of migrants in the informal sector there. Through survey evidence and in-depth interviews and focus groups with migrant and South African vendors, the paper demonstrates that xenophobia is also pervasive in these smaller centres, in ways that both echo and differ from that in the large cities. The findings in this paper have broader significance for other countries attempting to deal with the rise of xenophobia.
Conceptual analysis of the combined effects of vaccination, therapeutic actions, and human subjection to physical constraint in reducing the prevalence of COVID-19 using the homotopy perturbation method
Authors: Kolawole Mutairu Kayode , Olayiwola Morufu Oyedunsi , Alaje Adedapo Ismaila , Adekunle Hammed Ololade , Odeyemi Kazeem Abidoye
Published: January 2023

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the world's survival in jeopardy. Although the virus has been contained in certain parts of the world after causing so much grief, the risk of it emerging in the future should not be overlooked because its existence cannot be shown to be completely eradicated.

Results

This study investigates the impact of vaccination, therapeutic actions, and compliance rate of individuals to physical limitations in a newly developed SEIQR mathematical model of COVID-19. A qualitative investigation was conducted on the mathematical model, which included validating its positivity, existence, uniqueness, and boundedness. The disease-free and endemic equilibria were found, and the basic reproduction number was derived and utilized to examine the mathematical model's local and global stability. The mathematical model's sensitivity index was calculated equally, and the homotopy perturbation method was utilized to derive the estimated result of each compartment of the model. Numerical simulation carried out using Maple 18 software reveals that the COVID-19 virus's prevalence might be lowered if the actions proposed in this study are applied.

Conclusion

It is the collective responsibility of all individuals to fight for the survival of the human race against COVID-19. We urged that all persons, including the government, researchers, and health-care personnel, use the findings of this research to remove the presence of the dangerous COVID-19 virus.
Self-Destituent Power in Iroquois Diplomacy: Interpreting the 2020 Talks on the Tyendinaga Tracks
Authors: Blouin Philippe
Published: January 2023

Preserving the original agreement between the Rotinonhsión:ni (Iroquois) and the first settlers, the Two Row Wampum belt (Teiohá:te) displays two parallel lines, where the original peoples’ canoe and the settlers’ ship are said to sail side by side, suggesting that allied parties to move in the same direction they must respect their mutual autonomy. Drawing on the transcripts of negotiations between Canadian officials and Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) warriors in Tyendinaga, this article examines how the Two Row Wampum's notion of alliance through separation played out in the 2020 rail blockade movement in support of the Wet'suwet'en people's fight against the Coastal GasLink pipelines. Central to the text is Kanien'kehá:ka warriors’ suggestion that, beyond relations with settlers, the Two Row Wampum applies to relations between and among Indigenous nations, clans, genders, and even nonhumans. The intricate consensus-based decision-making protocols that compose the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy's precolonial governance system likewise attest to the respect for separation that pervades all relations, as if the potential of Rotinonhsión:ni diplomacy to render sovereign power destitute had reached a constitutional stature.
Constructing a Communal Form of Life: Destituent Praxis in the Peripheries of Mexico City
Authors: Law Sam , Cruz Alan , Nava Vanessa
Published: January 2023

Born of revolutionary struggles in the peripheries of Mexico City, the Panchos have spent the past three decades transforming land occupations into vibrant communities aiming to take charge of every aspect of their lives. To date, they have constructed eight autonomous territories that are home to thousands of families. The Panchos insist they are building not housing projects but life projects. The struggle to transform the material environment to meet immediate needs forms part of a larger political struggle for a qualitatively different form of life, a dignified and communal life grounded in quotidian practices of self-organization, collective decision making, and shared labor. This article argues that the deepening of this communal form of life exemplifies a destituent praxis, one that reveals, refuses, and abandons the world imposed by the metropolis. By placing Ivan Illich's critique of institutionality in dialogue with recent theorizations of destituent power, this article explores emergent practices of emancipation that abandon the classical locus of revolutionary struggle—seizing state power—and instead combatively assemble, here and now, other ways of living.
The Destituent Urge Is Also a Destructive Urge: Agamben, Aristotle, and Benjamin on the Potentiality for Destitution
Authors: Robinson Idris
Published: January 2023

This article argues that a theory of destituent power must imply a twofold strategic orientation toward the state, based simultaneously in desertion and destruction. The article opens by first situating Giorgio Agamben's account of destituent power within the broader framework developed throughout his Homo Sacer project. Through a close consideration of his engagements with both Aristotle's modal ontology and Walter Benjamin's political theology, it aims to demonstrate that, although Agamben tends to disavow their consequences, the theoretical resources on which his project depends nevertheless entail destructive capacities.
Art. 58 DARIO, activities of international organizations and complicity of States in the global international law
Authors: King Briane
Published: January 2023

The subject of this paper is the complicity of the State in the offense committed by an international organization in the exercise of its regulatory function. The framework in which the case in question unfolds logically presupposes that the complicit State is part of the agreement of the body which is the author of the main conduct. We would try to examination of a question that takes on a preliminary character with respect to the one we intend to address in the following pages. This is the possibility that the main crime is supplemented by a regulatory act. We are also interested to examine the conditions under which the concurrence in the resolution of a third degree legislative act must be qualified in terms of complicity pursuant to art. 58 DARIO
Practice, evolution and protection of human rights through the International Court of Justice jurisprudence
Authors: Loger Jenifer
Published: January 2023

The present work tries to analyze the relationship or not of the protection of human rights from the International Court of Justice. It is a work based on jurisprudence and the dissenting opinions of the judges of the Court that with the help of the doctrine we will try to arrive not at certain conclusions but to open the way to new discussions that have to do with juridical positions that put in practice new ideas of approach to protect human rights from an international body and always remaining a topical and continuously developing topic for the next few years. This investigation has excluded cases of state liability, the use of control mechanisms and correlated ordinances for humanitarian purposes in relation to human rights.
The implementation of reparations in the Inter-American human rights system
Authors: Sommer Christian G. , Sola Victorino F.
Published: January 2023

Reparations as a consequence of the harm suffered by individuals is a general principle of law, recognized by States as a mechanism to compensate for the harm caused by others. In the regional systems for the protection of human rights, the courts have made important advances throughout their operation in generating progressive interpretations of the principle of reparations as a consequence of human rights violations by States. In the inter-American human rights system, the role of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has had an important evolutionary development on the interpretations of how States should repair violations committed in their territories.

As has already been indicated in the international arena as well as by national courts, reparation for the harm caused is not simply the payment of sums of money. This would be the simplest form that States would have for having caused human rights violations or even crimes against humanity. For this reason, the Inter-American Court, since its first case, has been indicating to the States that economic reparation is only one part of the State's obligation to make reparations. The most important judgments that the regional Court has indicated in its 40 years are marked by the so-called “non-pecuniary reparations”. In other words, reparations that seek to ensure that the events that occurred do not happen again, that the States commit to train their officials in human rights and respect for persons, build schools, hospitals, and roads to improve the living conditions of the victims, etc.

For further more about this evolution, this paper develops the main jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court on reparations and how international law has already set important standards to be applied by States.
Case management in the portuguese civil procedure code
Authors: Capelo Maria José , Duarte Dias da Silva Lucinda Maria
Published: January 2023

This study analyses the case management under the Portuguese Civil Procedure Code. The theme is developed considering the main cases in which the judge should act as case manager, as well as the legal regime that this jurisdictional activity obeys.
Environmental factors influencing milk yield and lactation length in Italian Mediterranean buffaloes in Türkiye
Authors: Yenilmez Kudret , Dogan Halef , Özbaşer Fatma Tülin
Published: January 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the environmental factors including, birth season, lactation number, age, and service period, on the annual average lactation milk yield and lactation period of the Italian Mediterranean Buffaloes that were milked by rotary milking systems. The research was carried out on the data of 347 buffaloes in a modern dairy farming between 2016 and 2018 years. Their annual average lactation milk yield and lactation period were found to be 1587.55 ± 33.82 L and 247.66 ± 4.39 days. It was observed that the prolonged service period had a positive effect on the total lactation milk yield and lactation period. The season did not affect the lactation milk yield, but the lactation period was longer in the buffaloes calving in winter months. The service period has a direct effect on the economic profitability, and it was observed that the service periods of buffaloes calving in winter was shorter. It was also determined that milk productivity was positively affected due to the increase in age and lactation number, but there were wide variations in the herd. In conclusion, age, lactation number, and service period were efficient on the annual average milk yield and lactation period, but, on the other hand, the season did not affect the annual average milk yield. More breeding studies are required to minimize variations in buffalo herds milked by different milking techniques.
Oxidative stress in dogs during mid-gestation abortion: Fetal and maternal antioxidant alterations with clinical and hematological features
Authors: Özalp Gozde , Gül Z , Seyidoglu N , Büyükuysal L
Published: January 2023

The present study aimed to evaluate the GSH and MDA levels in dog’s serum and vital organs of aborted fetuses, after application of two abortifacient. Animals of group I (n = 6) were treated twice with subcutaneous injection of 10 mg/kg aglepristone and group II (n = 3) received prostaglandin F2α at a dose of 125 μg/kg every 12 hours until abortion process completed. Hematologic examinations and sedimentation rates were performed of bitches. The duration between first occurrence of vaginal discharge to first expulsion of fetuses ranged between 14-29 hours (mean: 22.6±5.5 h) and 24-33 hours in group I and II, respectively. Both treatments significantly increased the serum MDA levels (P<0.01); however aglepristone increased the MDA levels throughout the study, prostaglandin enhanced plasma MDA levels only on day 1. GSH levels were significantly lower in aglepristone-treated bitches than prostaglandin-treated animals (P<0.05). The treatments resulted similar MDA levels in liver and heart tissues (P>0.05). GSH levels in kidney, muscle and heart tissues did not differ between groups (P>0.05), aglepristone resulted reduced GSH levels in liver tissue (P<0.05). High MDA levels could be evaluated as a useful marker for fetal suffering in pregnancy controls. The MDA and GSH levels, measured in vital organs of fetuses, could suggest possible toxic effects of abortifacients in newborns, as both medical agents are being used in parturition induction.