bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geographical distribution of ixodid ticks and tick-borne pathogens of domestic animals in Ethiopia: a systematic review
Authors: Kaba Tamirat
Published: March 2022

Background

In Ethiopia, ixodid ticks and associated tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are of great importance from both a veterinary and public health point of view. This review aimed at compiling available published data on the distribution of ixodid tick species and TBPs in the country.

Methods

A standard review approach was employed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. Published peer-reviewed articles and theses/dissertations reporting on ixodid ticks and TBPs in Ethiopia were searched using different keywords in many electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, African Journals OnLine, and institutional repositories. Articles were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria using the PRISMA flowchart. Data were retrieved from eligible articles and recorded in a preformed data record sheet. Descriptive statistics were employed to present data using graphs. QGIS (Quantum GIS) software version 3.4.5 was used to show the distribution of ixodid tick species and TBPs.

Results

Overall, 35 articles that met the inclusion criteria were included in this review. Of these, 24 articles report only on ixodid ticks of domestic animals, six articles report only on TBPs in livestock or ticks, and five articles report on both ticks and TBPs in either animals or ticks. Of these studies, 54% were in the Oromia region, while only 3% of studies were in the Benishangul-Gumuz region. The Gambela region lacked studies on ticks and TBPs. At least 19 ixodid tick species have been recorded from different domestic animals including cattle, small ruminants, donkeys, horses, camels, dogs, and cats. Morphological characterization appears to be the sole method of tick species identification in the country. The distribution and abundance of specific tick species depend on geographical locations and agroecological factors. Sixteen molecularly confirmed TBPs have been identified in animal and tick tissue using molecular methods from only four administrative regions, despite the wide distribution of ticks. Among TBPs, five Anaplasma, two Ehrlichia, two Rickettsia, five Theileria, two Babesia, and one Coxiella species are the major pathogens in both livestock and humans.

Conclusions

Many ixodid ticks circulate in a wide geographical zone of Ethiopia. However, the limited reports on TBPs at the country level in general, and the absence of either tick or TBP reports around the border region with neighboring countries in particular, highlights the need for further study.

Graphical Abstract
Health-related quality of life in T1DM patients after high-dose cholecalciferol supplementation: data from a pilot clinical trial
Authors: de Souza Ana Carolina Contente Braga , de Oliveira Maria Clara Neres Iunes , de Lemos Gabriela Nascimento , da Silva Emanuele Rocha , de Souza Ícaro José Araújo , da Silva Wanderson Maia , de Alcântara Angélica Leite , Said Nivin Mazen , de Moraes Lorena Vilhena , Neto João Felício Abrahão , dos Passos Simone Rodrigues , Monteiro Ádria Aline Alves , de Queiroz Natércia Neves Marques , de Melo Franciane Trindade Cunha , Felício Karem Miléo , de Souza D’Albuquerque Silva Lilian , Gomes Daniela Lopes , Mourão Neyla Arroyo Lara , Piani Pedro Paulo Freire , Lobato Isabel Jane Campos , Felício João Soares
Published: March 2022

Background

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) impacts health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Cross-sectional studies suggest that low levels of vitamin D (VD) may impair HRQoL, however, the effect of VD supplementation on quality of life in T1DM patients has not yet been clarified. Our study evaluated the effects of high-dose VD supplementation on HRQoL in T1DM.

Methods

We performed a prospective study with 64 patients receiving cholecalciferol (4000 IU/day for patients with 25-OH-vitamin D [25(OH)D] between 30 and 60 ng/mL, and 10,000 IU/day for those with 25(OH)D below 30 ng/mL) for 12 weeks, as part of a research protocol. HRQoL was assessed with EuroQol instruments (EQ-5D and EQ-VAS).

Results

There was an improvement in global EQ-5D index, and analysing specifically the EQ-5D domains, we observed an improvement in mobility (1.3 ± 0.6 versus 1.1 ± 0.3, p < 0.01). Evaluating possible outcome influencing variables, we detected a reduction in albuminuria at the end of the trial, without changes in BMI, lipids, blood pressure, glycemic control and insulin doses. We found correlations between final albuminuria and the dimensions: mobility (r = 0.6; p < 0.01), personal care (r = 0.7; p < 0.01), pain and discomfort (r = 0.6; p < 0.01) and habitual activities (r = 0.6; p < 0.01), suggesting an association between albuminuria reduction and the impact of VD supplementation on HRQoL.

Conclusion

Our data showed that high doses of cholecalciferol supplementation can improve HRQoL in patients with T1DM, and the reduction of albuminuria seems to be an important factor in this context.

Trial registration: (ISRCTN32601947), 03/06/2017 retrospectively registered.
Risk factors for injuries in female soldiers: a systematic review
Authors: Schram Ben , Canetti Elisa , Orr Robin , Pope Rodney
Published: March 2022

Background

Female soldiers form an integral part of any modern defence force. Previous reports have highlighted that female soldiers report injuries at higher rates than male personnel. One possible reason for this is an actual difference in underlying injury rates, purported to be due to several factors, including levels of fitness. The aim of this review was to determine risk factors for injuries in female soldiers.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted for studies which reported on risk factors for injuries in female soldiers. Databases searched included PUBMED, CINAHL and Medline through OVID. Eligible studies were rated for their methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) tools and data were extracted and synthesized using a critical narrative approach.

Results

A total of 18 articles were included in this review which reported on 18 risk factors for injury. Smoking, previous injury, no history of deployment, heavy occupational tasks, lower levels of aerobic fitness and lower number of push-up repetitions appear to be risk factors for injuries in female soldiers. Age, height, body fat, high or low BMI and body mass do not appear to be consistent risk factors for injury in female soldiers and there appears to be minimal evidence for current levels of activity, sit-up ability, and other assessments of strength, power, speed, or movement being associated with injury risk. Additionally, neither flexibility nor previous levels of activity appear to be associated with injury risk in female soldiers.

Conclusion

Strategies to improve aerobic fitness and upper limb endurance, reduce smoking, and optimise rehabilitation from injuries and risk management for heavy occupational tasks need to be developed for female soldiers. Such strategies are also likely to reduce risks for male soldiers.
Association of age-related decrease in intracellular-to-total water ratio with that in explosive strength of the plantar flexors: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Hirata Kosuke , Iida Natsuki , Kanda Akihiro , Shoji Mikio , Yoshida Tsukasa , Yamada Yosuke , Akagi Ryota
Published: March 2022

Background

We aimed to investigate the association of age-related differences in the intracellular-to-total water ratio with explosive strength of the plantar flexors.

Methods

A total of 60 young (21–33 years) and older (64–83 years) individuals were recruited. Intracellular- (ICW) and total-water (TW) content within the right leg was evaluated by bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy as indicators of muscle cell mass and whole muscle mass within the segment, respectively. ICW divided by TW (ICW/TW) was calculated as an index of the occupancy of muscle cells within whole muscle. Rate of torque development (RTD) and electromyography (EMG) activity during maximal voluntary isometric plantar flexion were measured as indicators of explosive muscle strength and neuromuscular activity, respectively. RTD was calculated from three time windows of 0–50, 50–100, and 100–200 ms. Time-to-peak torque (TPT) was assessed from evoked twitch contraction.

Results

Compared with young participants, older participants showed lower ICW/TW (−7%, P < 0.001), RTD (−25 to −40%, P = 0.003 to 0.001), and longer TPT (+11%, P < 0.001). ICW/TW associated positively with RTD (r = 0.377 to 0.408, P = 0.004 to 0.001) and negatively with TPT (r = −0.392, P = 0.002), but not with EMG activity. RTD was associated positively with EMG for each time window (r = 0.527 to 0.607, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

These results indicate that ICW/TW may be a useful predictor of the age-related decrease in RTD, and that the decrease in ICW/TW with age may reflect age-associated changes in intrinsic contractile properties.
Small molecules facilitate single factor-mediated sweat gland cell reprogramming
Authors: Ji Shuai-Fei , Zhou Lai-Xian , Sun Zhi-Feng , Xiang Jiang-Bing , Cui Shao-Yuan , Li Yan , Chen Hua-Ting , Liu Yi-Qiong , Gao Huan-Huan , Fu Xiao-Bing , Sun Xiao-Yan
Published: March 2022

Background

Large skin defects severely disrupt the overall skin structure and can irreversibly damage sweat glands (SG), thus impairing the skin’s physiological function. This study aims to develop a stepwise reprogramming strategy to convert fibroblasts into SG lineages, which may provide a promising method to obtain desirable cell types for the functional repair and regeneration of damaged skin.

Methods

The expression of the SG markers cytokeratin 5 (CK5), cytokeratin 10 (CK10), cytokeratin 18 (CK18), carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), aquaporin 5 (AQP5) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was assessed with quantitative PCR (qPCR), immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. Calcium activity analysis was conducted to test the function of induced SG-like cells (iSGCs). Mouse xenograft models were also used to evaluate the in vivo regeneration of iSGCs. BALB/c nude mice were randomly divided into a normal group, SGM treatment group and iSGC transplantation group. Immunocytochemical analyses and starch-iodine sweat tests were used to confirm the in vivo regeneration of iSGCs.

Results

EDA overexpression drove HDF conversion into iSGCs in SG culture medium (SGM). qPCR indicated significantly increased mRNA levels of the SG markers CK5, CK18 and CEA in iSGCs, and flow cytometry data demonstrated (4.18 ± 0.04)% of iSGCs were CK5 positive and (4.36 ± 0.25)% of iSGCs were CK18 positive. The addition of chemical cocktails greatly accelerated the SG fate program. qPCR results revealed significantly increased mRNA expression of CK5, CK18 and CEA in iSGCs, as well as activation of the duct marker CK10 and luminal functional marker AQP5. Flow cytometry indicated, after the treatment of chemical cocktails, (23.05 ± 2.49)% of iSGCs expressed CK5+ and (55.79 ± 3.18)% of iSGCs expressed CK18+, respectively. Calcium activity analysis indicated that the reactivity of iSGCs to acetylcholine was close to that of primary SG cells [(60.79 ± 7.71)% vs. (70.59 ± 0.34)%, ns]. In vivo transplantation experiments showed approximately (5.2 ± 1.1)% of the mice were sweat test positive, and the histological analysis results indicated that regenerated SG structures were present in iSGCs-treated mice.

Conclusion

We developed a SG reprogramming strategy to generate functional iSGCs from HDFs by using the single factor EDA in combination with SGM and small molecules. The generation of iSGCs has important implications for future in situ skin regeneration with SG restoration.
o-Aminoazotoluene, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, which are mutagenic but not carcinogenic in the colon, rapidly induce colonic tumors in mice with dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis
Authors: Hakura Atsushi , Koyama Naoki , Seki Yuki , Sonoda Jiro , Asakura Shoji
Published: March 2022

Background

Several rodent models with chemically induced colon cancer have been developed. Among these models, dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), a colitis inducer, combined with azoxymethane as a colon mutagenic carcinogen, is commonly used. We previously reported that although benzo [a] pyrene (BP) is mutagenic but not carcinogenic in the colon, it rapidly develops colon tumors at a high incidence/multiplicity after treatment with DSS. In the present study, we examined whether other colon-mutagenic non-carcinogens (CMNCs) induced colon tumors after treatment with DSS.

Results

o-Aminoazotoluene, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea were selected as CMNCs. Male CD2F1 mice were orally administered CMNC for 5 consecutive days. After a 9-day dose-free period, mice were treated with 4% DSS in drinking water for 1 week. Three months after DSS treatment, colon samples were collected for histopathology and β-catenin immunohistochemistry analyses. All CMNCs in combination with DSS induced colonic adenocarcinomas at a high incidence/multiplicity in the distal and middle parts of the colon, coinciding with the location of colitis. Unlike in normal cells where β-catenin is exclusively located on the cell membrane, in adenocarcinoma cells, it was translocated to both the nucleus and cytoplasm or only to cytoplasm. The translocation of β-catenin is closely associated with colon carcinogenesis in rodents and humans. No colonic tumors or dysplastic lesions were found after exposure to either CMNC or DSS alone.

Conclusion

We provided further evidence clearly showing that CMNCs can rapidly induce colonic tumors in mice with DSS-induced colitis, even if they are not colonic carcinogens.
Assessment of CO2 storage potential in reservoirs with residual gas using deep learning
Authors: Bakhshian Sahar , Shariat Ali , Raza Arshad
Published: March 2022

[Formula: see text] injection into the underlying water leg of depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs is a desirable option for carbon storage as demonstrated by existing industrial-scale storage projects in these geologic environments. This study sheds light on the effect of residual methane on the [Formula: see text] storage efficiency as a screening criterion for selecting a water-bearing zone of a depleted gas reservoir to store [Formula: see text]. Using compositional reservoir simulations, we have evaluated the impact of residual methane on the injectivity, operational pressure, and long-term [Formula: see text] trapping efficiency during injection and postinjection stage in a reservoir model representative of the so-called “HC sand” gas reservoir in the High Island 24L field located in the offshore Texas State Waters. Results suggest that the presence of residual hydrocarbon gas negatively affects [Formula: see text] residual and dissolution trapping because it enhances the injectivity and pressure management arising from the increased mobility of [Formula: see text] plume in the vicinity of the injection zone due to its mixing with the resident residual hydrocarbon gas. We further investigate the application of artificial neural network (ANN)-based proxy models for fast-track modeling of [Formula: see text] storage in geologic structures associated with depleted gas reservoirs, aiming at the prediction of [Formula: see text] trapping efficiency. We then use the developed ANN model to perform Monte Carlo simulations for quantifying the uncertainty of geologic and reservoir parameters on [Formula: see text] trapping efficiency in these formations. It becomes evident that the residual hydrocarbon saturation is a key screening criterion for the storage site selection. The developed data-driven model can offer a robust and fast tool for screening the water-bearing zone of the depleted gas reservoirs by evaluating the efficiency of [Formula: see text] storage.
"Perils of Prussianism": Main Street German America, Local Autonomy, and the Great War
Authors: Gross Stephen J.
Published: March 2022

Scholars have recognized World War I as a time of crisis for German Americans. The government’s campaign against the "hyphen" and for 100 percent Americanism threatened all ethnic Americans but especially those of German descent. This essay examines the wartime events in two rural German Catholic communities in central Minnesota and asserts the power of local culture to shape the communities’ response to the nativism unleashed by the war. More specifically, the war exacerbated pre-existing conflict between area farmers and members of the village merchant class. This played out politically. Merchants were supportive of the loyalty campaign and tried to control its impact, while area farmers broke from a tradition of antipathy to populist politics and rushed to join the newly established Nonpartisan League. These differences expressed conflicting material interests, but they also reflected a growing community-wide debate over the meaning of local identity and the content of local culture. That the merchant class failed during the war to challenge significantly the communities’ island status--indeed the merchants’ own interests precluded a closer alliance with the larger national community--speaks to the tenacity of ethnic culture in the countryside and its ability to support resistance to larger hegemonic forces.
A Tale of Three Land Grants on the Northern California Borderlands
Authors: Vaught David
Published: March 2022

This essay examines three classic Mexican land grants along Putah Creek in the lower Sacramento Valley--Rio de los Putos, Los Putos, and Laguna de Santos Callé. The first was confirmed rather routinely, the second was a "floating" claim, and the third was an out and out fraud. Analyzed together, these three grants complicate our understanding of the northern borderlands, a term rarely applied to the far reaches of Alta California. Anglo and Hispanic grantees fostered a corrupt land grant system and permitted it to persist because it ultimately benefited them--Anglos more than Hispanics, to be sure--but both nonetheless. As demonstrated in the case Brown v. Greene (1884), corruption became institutionalized to such a high degree that adjudication could become impossible. Reluctance to reform the system permeated the cultural borderlands of northern California and in the process left an imprint on the physical borderlands that is still visible today.
Agrarian Changes in the Lower Neretvian Area from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century
Authors: Faričić Josip , Šiljković Željka , Glamuzina Martin
Published: March 2022

The Lower Neretvian area is one of the most developed agricultural regions of Croatia. Until the second half of the twentieth century, this was a scarcely populated area with poor inhabitants and undeveloped agriculture. Extensive land cultivation and low production of field crops dominated the economy of the region. The agrarian landscape was formed by a simple system of ditch digging, which helped the local people extend cultivation into the swamp area. In the period of socialist planning and economy before 1990, the government made many attempts at land improvement in this area. These primarily involved the expansion of agricultural areas, intensive land cultivation, and introduction of new field crops. However, agricultural production in the communist period, especially until the mid-1960s, was not market-oriented; therefore problems regarding the management of this big economic potential did not emerge until the transformation of the Croatian economy during the 1990s. These regional problems have much larger social and economic ramifications.
“The Exceeding Joy of Burning”— Pastoralists and the Lucifer Match: Burning the Rangelands of the South Island of New Zealand in the Nineteenth Century, 1850 to 1890
Authors: Peden Robert
Published: March 2022

The burning of the rangelands of the South Island of New Zealand by pastoralists in the second half of the nineteenth century has been highly contentious. The dogma of "indiscriminate burning" has become so entrenched in New Zealand’s environmental history that critics of burning have felt little need to provide evidence to support their assertions. Critics of tussock burning claimed that it was a catalyst for mass erosion in the hills and mountains of Canterbury. In recent years, scientists have concluded that this was unlikely as much of the erosion predated European settlement. This essay is part of the reappraisal of rangeland burning. It uses archival evidence from station diaries and memoirs to answer the questions of why the pastoralists burned, how often they burned, and when they burned. These sources show that burning was an important management tool and that the burning practices of the runholders in this study were characterized by discrimination.
Tilling Agricultural History with Paul Wallace Gates and James C. Malin
Authors: Bogue Allan G.
Published: March 2022

Paul Wallace Gates was the leading American historian of the public domain during the latter half of the twentieth century and James C. Malin’s ecological approach to the history and environment of the North American grasslands brought important new perspectives to those subjects. As a graduate student, Allan G. Bogue studied with both and here he describes and contrasts their personalities, teaching styles, and interests, as well as the graduate student mores and methods of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Although the processes of graduate student research have changed greatly since then, he believes that the careers of Gates and Malin still carry meaning in the present.
Indigenous Struggles for Land Rights in Twentieth-Century Ecuador
Authors: Becker Marc
Published: March 2022

Conflicts on the Zumbahua hacienda in the highlands of the South American country of Ecuador in the 1930s and 1940s present insights into the nature of rural social relations. Both wealthy landholders and Indigenous agricultural workers experimented with discursive elements as they attempted to draw state authorities to their side. Following their debates also inverts the normal view of power relations. The landholder, General Francisco Gómez de la Torre, presented himself as a victim, while his workers used various combinations of class and ethnic discourse to mobilize their base and gain sympathy from outsiders. The failure of government officials to support Gómez de la Torre exposed significant cracks in the ruling structures, which Indigenous workers learned to exploit. These conflicts reveal that the Ecuadorian government was not as hegemonic as is sometimes assumed; it was an arena of competing projects and interests with political officials often at odds with one another. At the same time, subaltern resistance was also not homogeneous, and divisions between Indigenous workers challenge a simplistic picture of a unified counter-hegemonic discourse. As a result, state power formed a showcase for many different groups to present and contest their social and economic interests.
Diversification or De-Agrarianization? Income Diversification, Labor, and Processes of Agrarian Change in Southern and Northern Malawi, Mid–1930s to Mid–1950s
Authors: Green Erik
Published: March 2022

This article investigates the links between market-oriented activities and subsistence production among peasant farmers in the Thyolo and Mzimba districts in Malawi from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. The two districts were chosen because of their differences in terms of land-labor ratios, quality of soils, and structure of market engagement. Exploring the different paths of agrarian change in these two districts demonstrates that they were dependent on the structure of market engagement and its effects on the supply and flexibility of labor. African agricultural history is best understood when agricultural systems are viewed in connection to the overall economic activities of rural households. More simply put, the dynamics of agrarian change in rural Africa cannot be understood without linking such changes to the wider economy and their impact on local labor processes.
Paradox of Precision: Bright Tobacco as Technology Transfer, 1880–1937
Authors: Hahn Barbara
Published: March 2022

This article compares two episodes of technology transfer in the 1890s: the movement of bright tobacco production technology to south-central Africa with the spread of the crop to eastern North Carolina and South Carolina. It finds similarities in the people who introduced the crop, but significant differences in the methods used to produce it. This is troubling because the type is defined by the cultivation and especially the curing techniques used to produce it; it is also often described in the historical literature as "Virginia tobacco," even when grown elsewhere. The technological differences are the product of different environments, which include not only the climate but also many elements of the technological system beyond immediate human control: the availability and organization of labor, differences in market structures and marketing institutions, and the government incentives provided to buyers. Therefore, this essay takes as its subject the paradox inherent in the official classification of tobacco types regulated by the USDA and argues that varietal types represent a form of market regulation disguised as botanical taxonomy.
"Poorly Co-Ordinated Structures for Public Science That Failed Us in the Past"? Applying Science to Agriculture: A New Zealand Case Study
Authors: Clayton Neil
Published: March 2022

This paper examines the effectiveness of applied science in a case study of two aspects of livestock and human poisoning in New Zealand, from the earliest European contact in the 1770s through to the 1950s. It considers the role and value of government science first in attempting to solve a problem that continues to affect New Zealand farmers, killing according to one estimate between 10 and 15 percent of their stock annually. Second, it addresses a related problem that has a much longer history of human poisoning, but that turned out to have quite unexpected causes in New Zealand. From this analysis, the historic bases on which present-day science funding policies were "reformed" in the 1990s are questioned.
"The Horizon Opened up Very Greatly": Leland O. Howard and the Transition to Chemical Insecticides in the United States, 1894-1927
Authors: McWilliams James E.
Published: March 2022

The transition to synthetic chemicals as a popular method of insect control in the United States was one of the most critical developments in the history of American agriculture. Historians of agriculture have effectively identified the rise and charted the dominance of early chemical insecticides as they came to define commercial agriculture between the emergence of Paris green in the 1870s and the popularity of DDT in the 1940s and beyond. Less understood, however, are the underlying mechanics of this transition. This article thus takes up the basic question of how farmers and entomologists who were once dedicated to an impressively wide range of insect control options ultimately settled on the promise of a chemically driven approach to managing destructive insects. Central to this investigation is an emphasis on the bureaucratic maneuverings of Leland O. Howard, who headed the Bureau of Entomology from 1894 to 1927. Like most entomologists of his era, Howard was theoretically interested in pursuing a wide variety of control methods--biological, chemical, and cultural included. In the end, however, he employed several tactics to streamline the government’s efforts to almost exclusively support arsenic and lead-based chemical insecticides as the most commercially viable form of insect control. While Howard in no way "caused" the national turn to chemicals, this article charts the pivotal role he played in fostering that outcome.
Guatemala’s Green Revolution: Synthetic Fertilizer, Public Health, and Economic Autonomy in the Mayan Highland
Authors: CAREY DAVID
Published: March 2022

Despite extensive literature both supporting and critiquing the Green Revolution, surprisingly little attention has been paid to synthetic fertilizers’health and environmental effects or indigenous farmers’ perspectives. The introduction of agrochemicals in the mid-twentieth century was a watershed event for many Mayan farmers in Guatemala. While some Maya hailed synthetic fertilizers’ immediate effectiveness as a relief from famines and migrant labor, others lamented the long-term deterioration of their public health, soil quality, and economic autonomy. Since the rising cost of agrochemicals compelled Maya to return to plantation labor in the 1970s, synthetic fertilizers simply shifted, rather than alleviated, Mayan dependency on the cash economy. By highlighting Mayan farmers’ historical narratives and delineating the relationship between agricultural science and postwar geopolitics, the constraints on agriculturists’ agency become clear. In the end, politics, more than technology or agricultural performance, influenced Guatemala’s shift toward the Green Revolution.
Cross-Speaker Covariation across Six Vocalic Changes in New York City English
Authors: Haddican Bill , Cutler Cecelia , Newman Michael , Tortora Christina
Published: March 2022

This article examines differences in the way that innovative variants for six vocalic changes in New York City English—fronting of too, raising of price and face, and lowering of bad, thought, and dress—co-occur across speakers and explores social correlates of these patterns of covariation. It reports on an analysis of a recently developed corpus of conversational speech from 140 speakers, which suggests that patterns of covariation across speakers are conditioned by the local social embedding of the changes. Changes affecting highly localized realizations for raised bad and thought are distributed differently from supralocal changes affecting too and dress.
Naturalistic Double Modals in North America
Authors: Coats Steven
Published: March 2022

Double modals are a well-known nonstandard feature of some regional varieties of English in North America, but due to their rareness in spoken language, questions remain as to the inventory of possible combinatorial types and the geographic extent of their use in contemporary naturalistic speech. This study investigates double modals in the Corpus of North American Spoken English (CoNASE), a 1.2-billion-word corpus of time-stamped and geolocated automatic speech recognition (ASR) YouTube transcripts from the United States and Canada. Double modal sequences were identified in the corpus using regular expressions, then verified via manual examination of videos. The study represents the first large-scale, continent-wide analysis of double modals based entirely on recent naturalistic production data, rather than data such as elicited responses or sentence acceptability judgments, and it demonstrates a larger double modal inventory and a broader geographic range of use for the feature than has previously been documented, including in Canada.
358 Cost Analysis of Complications After Craniotomy for Brain Tumor
Authors: Bajaj Ankush , Sastry Rahul , Wang Elaina , Pertsch Nathan J. , Weil Robert
Published: March 2022

INTRODUCTION:

Postoperative complications occur in 14.3% of neurosurgical cases, with cranial cases resulting in complications three times as often as spinal operations. It is important to understand the costs posed to our health systems by common neurosurgical complications.

METHODS:

We employed the 2012-2018 ACS-NSQIP Participant Use File to identify adult patients undergoing elective craniotomy for brain tumor resection. Rates of major complications associated with these procedures were then generated. The costs of these complications were derived from the AHRQ statistical briefs and HAC report and extrapolated to the study population. All costs were reported in 2021 US dollars.

RESULTS:

20,414 adult patients who underwent craniotomy for tumor resection were identified. 20.8% of patients sustained one or more postoperative complications. The three most frequent complications were: unplanned 30-day-readmission (9.78%), venous thromboembolism (2.99%), and surgical site infection (2.17%). Across the AHRQ data, the three most expensive complications included: surgical site infection ($28,219), myocardial infarction ($21,000), and sepsis ($18,400). No discernible trends in complication incidence were found apart from a moderate decrease in rates of unplanned readmission between 2016 and 2018. With an estimated 152,360 craniotomies for tumor resection occurring in the United States every year, the aggregate cost of patient complication after craniotomy for brain tumor approximates $55,340,017.3.

CONCLUSION:

Unplanned 30-day-readmission, venous thromboembolism, and surgical site infections were among the most frequent complications after craniotomy for brain tumor.
Unexpected Changes of Resonance-Line Positions in 1H-Decoupled 13C MAS NMR Spectra of Adamantane Depending on Sample-Spinning Frequencies: Interference between Intermolecular 13C-1H and 1H-1H Dipolar Couplings
Authors: Nakai Toshihito
Published: March 2022

Unexpected resonance-line shifts in addition to the inherent chemical shifts were discovered in the solid-state MAS (Magic Angle Spinning) NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectra of adamantane. Such additional shifts were dependent on the sample-spinning frequencies. The shifts attributed to the sample-temperature effects were experimentally evaluated and excluded to explicate the effects due only to the sample spinning. The resultant net shifts proved relevant to neither 1H decoupling-field strengths nor the distinction of the CH and the CH2 groups. A theory for explaining such spectral features was developed, clarifying that the phenomena were identified to be caused by the interference between the intermolecular 13C-1H and 1H-1H dipolar couplings of adamantane.
Lipoma at an unusual site - an intrinsic laryngeal lipoma involving the aryepiglottic fold
Authors: Yegnaraman Lavanya , Rathi Vinita , Goyal Kavita
Published: March 2022

Lipomas are common tumours. However they are a rare occurrence in the larynx. They are an unusual cause for hoarseness of voice and may at times present acutely with respiratory distress due to significant airway compromise. The characteristic imaging features help to differentiate it from laryngeal malignancy and other common pathologies. We present a case of a laryngeal lipoma arising from the aryepiglottic fold, which was diagnosed on imaging and confirmed on histopathological examination after surgical excision. We also briefly discuss the differential diagnoses of this entity.
Οι παραστάσεις των έργων του Αισχύλου στη νεοελληνική σκηνή
Authors: Μποσταντζής Τριαντάφυλλος
Published: March 2022

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή ανήκει στο πεδίο της Ιστορίας της Τέχνης του Θεάτρου, και συγκεκριμένα, στον κλάδο της Παραστασιολογίας. Επιχειρεί να αφηγηθεί τη διαδικασία της γέννησης, ανάπτυξης και εξέλιξης της επιτέλεσης του αισχύλειου δράματος στη νεοελληνική σκηνή, από τις απαρχές της προσπάθειας ‘αναβίωσης’ της αρχαίας τραγωδίας στην Ελλάδα (αρχές του 20ού αιώνα) έως και τις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1980. Η εργασία επιχειρεί να ερευνήσει τις θεατρικές παραστάσεις που παρουσιάστηκαν στην Ελλάδα το διάστημα 1903-1980, με την προϋπόθεση αυτές να βασίζονται στις επτά σωζόμενες τραγωδίες του Αισχύλου ή σε σπαράγματα μη διασωθέντων έργων του Ελευσίνιου τραγικού ποιητή. Η μελέτη φιλοδοξεί να εντοπίσει όλες τις παραστάσεις αισχύλειων έργων στη χρονική περίοδο που ερευνάται και να αναλύσει τις σημαντικότερες καλλιτεχνικές παραμέτρους των παραστάσεων αυτών: θεατρικό οίκημα, σκηνογραφία, ενδυματολογία, τρόπο ερμηνείας χορικών και υποκριτικής ηθοποιών, μετάφραση αρχαίου κειμένου, μουσική σύνθεση και θεατρικό φωτισμό. Επιπρόσθετα, η έρευνα καλείται να σκιαγραφήσει την ιδεολογική αποτύπωση των παραστάσεων, αρχικά ως προς την πρόσληψή τους από το κοινό της εποχής τους, και στη συνέχεια, ως προς την επιρροή τους στη διαμόρφωση της φυσιογνωμίας του αρχαίου δράματος στο ελληνικό θέατρο, εμβαθύνοντας στη συσχέτιση μεταξύ αρχαιότητας και νεότερης σκηνικής ερμηνείας. Στην παρούσα μελέτη περιλαμβάνονται όλες οι παραστάσεις ελληνικών θιάσων, κρατικών και μη, επαγγελματικών ή ερασιτεχνικών, καθώς και οι παραστάσεις ξένων θεατρικών οργανισμών που φιλοξενήθηκαν στην Ελλάδα κατά το ερευνώμενο διάστημα.
Έφηβοι με υψηλές επιδόσεις στα μαθηματικά
Authors: Μουστάκας Δημήτριος
Published: March 2022

Η μελέτη της σχολικής επίδοσης στα Μαθηματικά έχει αναδείξει διαχρονικά ένα πλήθος παραγόντων που τη συνδιαμορφώνουν, γεγονός που ενισχύει την αναγκαιότητα για ολιστικές προσεγγίσεις της μελέτης της. Σε αυτήν την ανάγκη ανταποκρίθηκε η παρούσα έρευνα, επιχειρώντας να αξιολογήσει τον ρόλο που διαδραματίζουν σε σχέση με τη μαθηματική επίδοση οι μεταγνωστικές διεργασίες, τα κίνητρα και τα συναισθήματα των έφηβων μαθητών και μαθητριών. Ταυτόχρονα συνυπολογίστηκαν δημογραφικοί παράγοντες όπως το φύλο των μαθητών/ριών και η μόρφωση των γονέων τους, καθώς και οι απαιτήσεις του σχολικού περιβάλλοντος. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν 492 μαθητές/ριες της Γ’ Γυμνασίου, προερχόμενοι από Γενικά και Πειραματικά Γυμνάσια, καθώς και από ένα θερινό σχολείο για ακαδημαϊκά ταλαντούχους/ες μαθητές/ριες. Η επίδοσή τους στα Μαθηματικά αξιολογήθηκε μέσω μαθηματικών έργων σχολικού τύπου με διαβαθμισμένη δυσκολία, ενώ οι μεταγνωστικές τους διεργασίες, τα κίνητρα και τα συναισθήματά τους μετρήθηκαν με τη βοήθεια ψυχομετρικών εργαλείων και αυτοαναφορών. Οι μαθητές/ριες ταξινομήθηκαν με βάση την επίδοσή τους σε τέσσερις κατηγορίες: Υψηλής, Μέσης προς Υψηλή, Μέσης προς Χαμηλή και Χαμηλής επίδοσης. Ως υψηλή επίδοση ορίστηκε η βαθμολογία άνω της μιας τυπικής απόκλισης από τον μέσο όρο επίδοσης των μαθητών/τριών Γενικών Γυμνασίων του δείγματος, την οποία πέτυχε το 10% αυτών. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα των αναλύσεων, οι μαθητές/ριες υψηλής επίδοσης βρέθηκαν να διαφοροποιούνται ως προς όλες τις υπό εξέταση ψυχολογικές μεταβλητές από τους/τις μαθητές/ριες με επίδοση κάτω του μέσου όρου. Επιπλέον, μέσω της ανάλυσης συστάδων, αναδείχθηκαν πέντε διακριτά προφίλ μαθητών/ριών υψηλής επίδοσης, υπογραμμίζοντας την ανομοιογένεια αυτής της κατηγορίας μαθητών/ριών. Ανάλογα με το μορφωτικό επίπεδο των γονέων τους βρέθηκαν διαφορές στην επίδοση και τα κίνητρα επίτευξης των μαθητών/ριών, ενώ οι διαφορές ως προς τις υπό εξέταση μεταβλητές μεταξύ των μαθητών/ριών υψηλής επίδοσης από διαφορετικά σχολικά πλαίσια ήταν ελάχιστες. Επιπλέον, η έρευνα ανέδειξε τη σύγκλιση των δύο φύλων ως προς τις μαθηματικές τους επιδόσεις, τα μεταγνωστικά τους χαρακτηριστικά, τα κίνητρα, και τα συναισθήματα της ευχαρίστησης, της υπερηφάνειας και της ανίας για τα Μαθηματικά, με εξαίρεση το συναίσθημα του άγχους και της ντροπής.
CLASSIC RUSSIAN MASSAGE IN CELLULITE THERAPY
Authors: Ogui Victor
Published: March 2022

Основной концепцией данной книги является убеждение автора в необходимости комплексного подхода к профилактике и лечению целлюлита, в необходимости активного использования классического русского массажа как одного из ведущих компонентов антицеллюлитной терапии. Данная книга состоит из двух основных разделов. В теоретическом обзоре, состоящем из нескольких частей, указаны причины возникновения и образования целлюлита. Подробно описаны морфологические изменения целлюлита. Рассмотрены стадии заболевания и указаны особенности методики массажа применительно к каждой из них. Рассмотрены различные варианты комплексного подхода к лечению целлюлита. Дано четкое физиологическое обоснование применения тех или иных приемов русского классического массажа в аспекте терапии целлюлита. В практическом разделе, состоящем также из нескольких частей, автор подробно, с использованием многочисленных иллюстраций, описывает методику классического русского массажа применительно к проблеме целлюлита. Через всю книгу автор проводит основную мысль о недопустимости агрессивности и травматичности в применении массажа, не только в аспекте терапии целлюлита, но и в любой другой методике массажа. Книга рассчитана в большей степени на специалистов индустрии красоты и фитнес-услуг. Также она может быть интересна и специалистам других профессий: врачам, медицинским сестрам по массажу, инструкторам лечебной физкультуры, персональным тренерам по фитнесу и бодибилдингу, преподавателям физической культуры и т.д. - т.е. всем тем, кто использует массаж в повседневной жизни, профессиональной деятельности, лечебной практике или только собирается освоить и применять это искусство. Богатые иллюстрации позволят не только освоить технику выполнения приемов массажа, но и получить основные знания об анатомии и физиологии жизнедеятельности человека.
Umbrales de la memoria y la desaparición estudios sobre Colombia y México
Authors: Gómez Johnson Cristina , González Gil Adriana
Published: March 2022

Los textos que este libro presenta son fruto de varios años de reflexiones e intercambios interdisciplinarios. El Seminario Permanente de Violencia(s) y dd. hh., del Departamento de Historia de la Universidad Iberoamericana, desarrollado desde hace más de cinco años, ha servido de nicho para este intercambio y ha facilitado la incorporación de otras iniciativas e investigaciones independientes de miembros del grupo. Con el fin de comprender qué se entiende por violencia y cuáles son sus manifestaciones más severas en nuestros contextos latinoamericanos, en esta ocasión nos aproximamos a casos de estudio que nos han ayudado a comprender la dimensión y diversidad de los fenómenos asociados. Esto supuso también abordar las implicaciones que tiene la investigación sobre y en contextos de violencia, a lo que nos referimos, específicamente, en el primer capítulo. Partimos de reconocer la necesidad de discutir enfoques que nos ofrecieran un mapa amplio de interpretación de fenómenos asociados a las violencias, para superar ese lugar común, según el cual todos los fenómenos son el resultado del conflicto armado interno —en el caso de Colombia— y de la guerra contra el narcotráfico —en el caso de México—. La identificación de las particularidades de los fenómenos, el examen exhaustivo de los casos, el contexto situado en coordenadas de tiempo y lugar, el reconocimiento de actores y acciones, entre otros factores, han estado presentes en esta construcción.
The Capacitated and Economic Districting Problem
Authors: Mendes Luis Henrique Pauleti , Usberti Fábio Luiz , Cavellucci Celso
Published: March 2022

This paper presents the capacitated and economic districting problem (CEDP), which searches for the best edge partition defining connected, capacitated, and balanced districts in an undirected connected graph, weighing the economic value of each district. This problem provides a comprehensive description of the decision making on service networks districting, where the order by which the districts are serviced plays a role in the profit. This is observed in the arrangement of districts for meter reading, as the day in which each district is read impacts the revenue. Two integer linear programming formulations are proposed for CEDP, accompanied by a proof of [Formula: see text]-hardness. To tackle large instances, a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) metaheuristic, embedded with reactive parameter tuning, statistical filtering of solutions subjected to intensification, and a set of solution repairing procedures, is proposed. The GRASP is hybridized to each model to evaluate the outcomes of combining their individual merits. Computational experiments were performed on a new benchmark composed of 144 instances of different sizes, edge densities, network topologies, balance tolerances, and district capacities. The results show the effectiveness of the exact methodologies in solving the models and providing optimal solutions for the set of small instances. The GRASP was capable of tackling large networks, achieving feasible solutions to almost all instances. The results also show that the hybridized methodologies outperformed their standalone counterparts with respect to the attained primal and dual bounds.
El curioso caso de la primera musaraña descrita en México
Authors: Guevara Lázaro
Published: March 2022

Las musarañas habitan en prácticamente todo México. Hoy en día, se ha avanzado notablemente en el conocimiento que tenemos acerca de ellas en este país.  Pero, ¿cuándo, cómo y dónde empezamos a conocerlas?
Bone volume, mineral density, and fracture risk after kidney transplantation
Authors: Keronen Satu , Martola Leena , Finne Patrik , Burton Inari S. , Tong Xiaoyu F. , Kröger Heikki , Honkanen Eero
Published: March 2022

Background

Disordered mineral metabolism reverses incompletely after kidney transplantation in numerous patients. Post-transplantation bone disease is a combination of pre-existing chronic kidney disease and mineral disorder and often evolving osteoporosis. These two frequently overlapping conditions increase the risk of post-transplantation fractures.

Material and methods

We studied the prevalence of low bone volume in bone biopsies obtained from kidney transplant recipients who were biopsied primarily due to the clinical suspicion of persistent hyperparathyroidism between 2000 and 2015 at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. Parameters of mineral metabolism, results of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans, and the history of fractures were obtained concurrently.

One hundred nine bone biopsies taken at a median of 31 (interquartile range, IQR, 18–70) months after transplantation were included in statistical analysis. Bone turnover was classified as high in 78 (72%) and normal/low in 31 (28%) patients. The prevalence of low bone volume (n = 47, 43%) was higher among patients with low/normal turnover compared to patients with high turnover [18 (58%) vs. 29 (37%), P = 0.05]. Thirty-seven fragility fractures in 23 (21%) transplant recipients corresponding to fracture incidence 15 per 1000 person-years occurred during a median follow-up 9.1 (IQR, 6.3–12.1) years. Trabecular bone volume did not correlate with incident fractures. Accordingly, low bone mineral density at the lumbar spine correlated with low trabecular bone volume, but not with incident fractures. The cumulative corticosteroid dose was an important determinant of low bone volume, but not of incident fractures.

Conclusions

Despite the high prevalence of trabecular bone loss among kidney transplant recipients, the number of fractures was limited. The lack of association between trabecular bone volume and fractures suggests that the bone cortical compartment and quality are important determinants of bone strength and post-transplantation fracture.