bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the metabolic syndrome and its association with cART in HIV positive individuals receiving various cART regimens with review of literature
Authors: Joshi Kavita S. , Saraf Udit U. , Gujarathi Rushabh Y.
Published: March 2022

Context

Many endocrine and metabolic disorders are seen in patients with HIV infection. Various comorbidities have been reported at a higher rate in HIV positive individuals, some at an earlier age. Since metabolic syndrome and its determinants are slowly developing, studies are needed in this regard.

Aims

The study aimed to analyze various parameters associated with the metabolic syndrome in HIV positive individuals and stratify subjects based on their treatment regimens, and present a brief comparison based on the same.

Settings and Design

A cross sectional study involving 155 participants was conducted at a tertiary care centre in Western India.

Materials and Methods

Detailed history and clinical examination was carried out. Routine investigations were done and parameters of interest to the study were then analysed based on AHA/NHLBI definitions.

Statistical Analysis used

Univariate analysis of all parameters. Multiple logistic regression for statistically significant parameters.

Results and Conclusion

Deranged HDL cholesterol was the most common component of the metabolic syndrome seen amongst all participants (53.8%) which was significantly higher in the treatment naïve group (P = 0.001). The difference between the incidence of metabolic syndrome between the ART naïve group and patients receiving ART was not significant. Males had a significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome than females (26.3%>12.4%, P = 0.026). There was a significant difference in the incidence between the Zidovudine and Tenofovir treatment groups(P=0.02). Patients on the TLE (Tenofovir, Lamivudine, and Efavirenz) regimen had the lowest prevalence (4.2%) of metabolic syndrome.
Hippocampal Interneuronal Dysfunction and Hyperexcitability in a Porcine Model of Concussion
Authors: Ulyanova Alexandra V. , Adam Christopher D. , Cottone Carlo , Maheshwari Nikhil , Grovola Michael R. , Fruchet Oceane E. , Alamar Jami , Koch Paul F. , Johnson Victoria E. , Cullen D. Kacy , Wolf John A.
Published: March 2022

Cognitive impairment is a common symptom following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI or concussion) and can persist for years in some individuals. Hippocampal slice preparations following closed-head, rotational acceleration injury in swine have previously demonstrated reduced axonal function and hippocampal circuitry disruption. However, electrophysiological changes in hippocampal neurons and their subtypes in a large animal mTBI model have not been examined. Usingin vivoelectrophysiology techniques, we examined laminar oscillatory field potentials and single unit activity in the hippocampal network 7 days post-injury in anesthetized minipigs. Concussion altered the electrophysiological properties of pyramidal cells and interneurons differently in area CA1. While the firing rate, spike width and amplitude of CA1 interneurons were significantly decreased post-mTBI, these parameters were unchanged in CA1 pyramidal neurons. In addition, CA1 pyramidal neurons in TBI animals were less entrained to hippocampal gamma (40 - 80 Hz) oscillations. Stimulation of the Schaffer collaterals also revealed hyperexcitability across the CA1 lamina post-mTBI. Computational simulations suggest that reported changes in interneuronal physiology may be due to alterations in voltage-gated sodium channels. These data demonstrate that a single concussion can lead to significant neuronal and circuit level changes in the hippocampus, which may contribute to cognitive dysfunction following mTBI.
A rich get richer effect governs intracellular condensate size distributions
Authors: Lee Daniel S.W. , Choi Chang-Hyun , Sanders David W. , Beckers Lien , Riback Joshua A. , Brangwynne Clifford P. , Wingreen Ned S.
Published: March 2022

Phase separation of biomolecules into condensates has emerged as a ubiquitous mechanism for intracellular organization and impacts many intracellular processes, including reaction pathways through clustering of enzymes and their intermediates. Precise and rapid spatiotemporal control of reactions by condensates requires tuning of their sizes. However, the physical processes that govern the distribution of condensate sizes remain unclear. Here, we utilize a combination of synthetic and native condensates to probe the underlying physical mechanisms determining condensate size. We find that both native nuclear speckles and FUS condensates formed with the synthetic Corelet system obey an exponential size distribution, which can be recapitulated in Monte Carlo simulations of fast nucleation followed by coalescence. By contrast, pathological aggregation of cytoplasmic Huntingtin polyQ protein exhibits a power-law size distribution, with an exponent of −1.41 ± 0.02. These distinct behaviors reflect the relative importance of nucleation and coalescence kinetics: introducing continuous condensate nucleation into the Monte Carlo coarsening simulations gives rise to polyQ-like power-law behavior. We demonstrate that the emergence of power-law distributions under continuous nucleation reflects a “rich get richer” effect, whose extent may play a general role in the determination of condensate size distributions.
Introducing RELAX (the Reduction of Electroencephalographic Artifacts): A fully automated pre-processing pipeline for cleaning EEG data - Part 2: Application to Event-Related Potentials
Authors: Bailey Neil , Hill Aron T , Biabani Mana , Murphy Oscar W , Rogasch Nigel C , McQueen Brittany , Miljevic Aleks , Fitzgerald Paul
Published: March 2022

Electroencephalography (EEG) is commonly used to examine neural activity time-locked to the presentation of a stimulus, referred to as an Event-Related Potential (ERP). However, EEG is also influenced by non-neural artifacts, which can confound ERP comparisons. Artifact cleaning can reduce artifacts, but often requires time-consuming manual decisions. Most automated cleaning methods require frequencies <1Hz to be filtered out of the data, so are not recommended for ERPs (which often contain <1Hz frequencies). In our companion article, we introduced RELAX (the Reduction of Electroencephalographic Artifacts), an automated and modular cleaning pipeline that reduces artifacts with Multiple Wiener Filtering (MWF) and/or wavelet enhanced independent component analysis (wICA) applied to artifact components detected with ICLabel (wICA_ICLabel) (Bailey et al., 2022). To evaluate the suitability of RELAX for data cleaning prior to ERP analysis, multiple versions of RELAX were compared to four commonly used EEG cleaning pipelines. Cleaning performance was compared across a range of artifact cleaning metrics and in the amount of variance in ERPs explained by different conditions in a Go-Nogo task. RELAX with MWF and wICA_ICLabel cleaned the data the most effectively and produced amongst the most dependable ERP estimates. RELAX with wICA_ICLabel only or MWF_only may detect experimental effects better for some ERP measures. Importantly, RELAX can high-pass filter data at 0.25Hz, so is applicable to analyses involving ERPs. The pipeline is easy to implement via EEGLAB in MATLAB and is freely available on GitHub. Given its performance, objectivity, and ease of use, we recommend RELAX for EEG data cleaning.
ITS-based assessment of Madagascar’s fungal diversity and arrival of ectomycorrhizal fungi to the island
Authors: Rivas-Ferreiro Mauro , Suz Laura M. , Skarha Shannon M. , Rakotonasolo Franck , Dentinger Bryn T.M.
Published: March 2022

Madagascar is known for its high diversity and endemism of Fauna and Flora, which makes it particularly interesting for research on diversity and evolution. Fungi, however, have been largely overlooked, and whether fungi exhibit the same patterns as animals and plants has yet to be further examined.

We collected fungal sporocarps and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) roots during opportunistic surveys in five forests in Madagascar and generated a dataset of fungal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) DNA sequences. We analysed them together with all publicly available fungal ITS DNA sequences. We identified 620 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) from Madagascar, 10% of which contained only sequences from our surveys. We found 292 OTUs belonging to EcM species with /russula-lactarius, /boletus, /tomentella-telephora, /cortinarius and /amanita as the most abundant EcM lineages. Overall, sixty percent of all the fungi and 81% of the EcM species found are endemic to Madagascar. Lastly, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis using all the OTUs in Amanitaceae, Boletaceae and Russulaceae families to elucidate their relative timing of arrival in Madagascar. We found that the EcM species from Madagascar in the three families diverged recently (less than 34 mya), long after the separation of India and Madagascar (88 mya), which is consistent with a dispersal mediated process of arrival on the island. Our study provides the first comprehensive view of the current state of knowledge of EcM fungi in Madagascar represented by molecular data useful for ecological and evolutionary studies.
Crystal structure of 1H-imidazole-1-methanol
Authors: Wysocki Megan M. , Puzovic Gorana , Dowell Keith L. , Reinheimer Eric W. , Gerlach Deidra L.
Published: March 2022

The synthesis and the crystal structure of 1H-imidazole-1-methanol, C4H6N2O, are described. This compound comprises an imidazole ring with a methanol group attached at the 1-position affording an imine nitrogen atom able to receive a hydrogen bond and an alcohol group able to donate to a hydrogen bond. This imidazole methanol crystallizes with monoclinic (P21/n) symmetry with three symmetry-unique molecules. These three molecules are connected via O—H...N hydrogen bonding in a head-to-tail configuration to form independent three-membered macrocycles.
([2.2.2]Cryptand)potassium (4-methylbenzenethiolato)[5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)porphyrinato]manganate(II) tetrahydrofuran disolvate
Authors: Yuan Yiwen , Li Jianfeng
Published: March 2022

Single crystals of the title compound, [K(C18H36N2O6)][Mn(C44H24Cl4N4)(C7H7S)]·2C4H8O, were obtained by the solvent evaporation method. The MnII cation is coordinated by four pyrrole N atoms (Np) of the porphyrin ring and one S atom of the apical 4-methylbenzenethiolate ligand with the average Mn—Np and the apical Mn—S bond lengths being 2.160 (9) and 2.4642 (8) Å, respectively. Two tetrahydrofuran solvent molecules and a potassium cation chelated inside a [2.2.2]cryptand (4,7,13,16,21,24-hexaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo[8.8.8]hexacosane) are also present.
1-(2-Methylphenyl)-4,4′-bipyridin-1-ium tetrafluoridoborate
Authors: Welton Claire E. , Nesterov Vladimir N. , Smucker Bradley W.
Published: March 2022

Crystals of the title compound, C17H15N2+·BF4−, were unexpectedly grown from crystallization attempts of [Pt(4,4′-bpy)4](BF4)2[Smithet al.(2019).Comments Inorg. Chem.39, 188–215] using toluene and acetonitrile. The tetrafluoroborate anion and the central pyridinium ring of the cation are disordered, with atomic site occupancies close to ½. The tolyl group of the cation has a 75.31 (11)° twist relative to the unsubstituted pyridyl group. This rotation allows for a centrosymmetric dimer of cations with weak hydrogen bonding between the pyridyl nitrogen atom and a methyl H atom on the neighbouring cation.
Implementing circular economy strategies in the automobile industry – a step toward creating sustainable automobiles
Authors: Patel Amit , Singh Sumer
Published: March 2022

Purpose

This study aims to highlight the impacts of a rapidly growing automobile industry on the environment and how implementation of Circular Economy (CE) principles and strategies can help us in improving its sustainability without compromising on our existing economic models.

Design/methodology/approach

Increase in spending capacity, improvements in technology and decrease in the prices have catapulted automobile demand over the last few decades. Harmful emissions and waste generation during the entire life cycle of these complex machines need to be addressed in an urgent manner globally. Implementation of CE principles and strategies which are based on promoting a pivotal balance between environment, economy and the society can lead to minimize economic and environmental impact leading to better results for all the stakeholders.

Findings

Carbon footprint or environmental emissions during different stages of an automobile life cycle can be minimized using CE principles and strategies without compromising on the existing economic models. Government legislation and keen participation of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and automobile manufacturers can drive the automobile industry toward sustainability despite growing consumption.

Originality/value

The literature review has been done with a fresh perspective to combine environmental sustainability with CE. This is a literature review of prior work done in this domain to explore the possibility of further intervention in this domain.
Exploring consumers’ domestic gastronomy behaviour: a cross-national study of Italy and Fiji
Authors: Sharma Shavneet , Singh Gurmeet , Ferraris Alberto , Sharma Rashmini
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors affecting locals’ domestic gastronomic behaviour. A conceptual framework is developed that examines domestic restaurant coolness, social return and tourism ethnocentrism as antecedents to attitude towards domestic gastronomic tourism, while positive word-of-mouth and domestic gastronomy behaviour are modelled as consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a quantitative methodology to conduct a cross-national examination in Italy and Fiji. A total of 621 responses (Italy = 302 and Fiji = 319) were collected through an online survey and analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results of this study show that the positive relationship between domestic restaurant coolness and tourism ethnocentrism on attitude is stronger for Italy. The positive relationship between social return and attitude is only significant for Fiji. Moreover, the positive relationship between attitude towards domestic gastronomic tourism and positive word-of-mouth is stronger for Fiji. Finally, the positive relationship between attitude towards domestic gastronomic tourism and domestic gastronomic tourism behaviour, while significant in both countries, depicted no significant differences in results.

Practical implications

The findings of this study highlight the need for building a cool image based on vibrant, iconic, rebellious and authentic attributes. Marketers need to focus on local restaurants’ effective use of social media platforms to increase the symbolic value of local restaurants. To remain competitive, there is a need for domestic restaurants to manage and understand tourism ethnocentrism to leverage success.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the scarce domestic tourism literature. It contributes to understanding destination coolness in the context of domestic restaurants and increases the generalisability of the destination coolness scale. The study also adds to understanding the symbolic value in domestic gastronomy by examining social returns from peers. It also contributes to the limited research on tourism ethnocentrism by being the first to investigate tourism ethnocentrism in domestic travel and gastronomy experience. Overall, the cross-national nature of the study demonstrates the difference between decision-making behaviour between two distinct countries.
Does authentic leadership develop inclusive classrooms: a model examination?
Authors: Srivastava Anugamini Priya , Shree Sonal , Agarwal Sucheta
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The present study aims to statistically prove the theoretical model on inclusive higher education provided by Srivastava and Shree (2019), which analyzes the effect of authentic leadership (AL) on inclusive classrooms (ICs) with the intervening role of academic optimism (AO) and art-based innovation pedagogies.

Design/methodology/approach

This current study collected data through a questionnaire method from higher education faculty and the faculty's immediate leaders. Statistical methods like descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple regression analysis were conducted to evaluate the variables, model fit and hypothesis, respectively.

Findings

The results indicated a positive effect of AL on ICs via the partial mediating role of AO. However, unlike the proven theoretical model, the moderating role of art-based innovation pedagogy between AO and the IC was not supported.

Originality/value

The implications of this study advanced the theoretical aspect of the model while providing managerial suggestions that can be applied to support the development of ICs in educational institutions.
Partnership building between NGOs and Indonesian local governments: a case study of integrative leadership immersing itself in innovativeness
Authors: Sumiyana  , Wivaqussaniyyah  , Darwin Muhadjir , Hadna Agus Heruanto
Published: March 2022

Purpose

This study investigates partnership building between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the regencies of Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Sleman, Yogyakarta Province and Indonesia's central government. This study focuses on the perspective of the collaboration theory to reflect the usefulness of different leadership types. Furthermore, this study identifies the impact of partnership building on program effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses an instance case study with thirteen informants who are NGO activists or members of the village, district and provincial governments. This study concludes that NGOs and local government partnerships have reached a collaborative level, characterised by their stakeholders' unity, regular communication, mutual trust and consensus in decision-making.

Findings

This collaborative relationship also shows the integrative leadership style, characterised by openness and active networks with all external parties. Furthermore, this study identifies that partnership building positively impacts and increases the outcomes, especially in capacity building and commitment. Finally, this research proposes a series of innovative policies through stakeholder mapping, forming joint forums, sharing responsibilities and accentuating intimate partnerships.

Originality/value

This research is unique in the following ways: First, this study argues that partnership building occurs due to a specific social contract between a local government and an NGO. The authors show that this contract occurs when a local government possesses innovativeness. Local governments know which programs are not financed from the central budget. They accent their innovativeness for increasing society's welfare by collaborating with an NGO. Second, local governments realise that building partnerships with NGOs is no longer an option but an obligation. This study considers the similarity objectives of providing the best services they can to the community, with the differentiation of the capacities and resources owned by both. Third, this study demonstrates that partnerships between NGOs and governments positively impact communities' development in emerging economies with all the obstacles that exist.
Measuring the impact of organizational characteristics on the sustainability performance of US institutions of higher education
Authors: Roosa Tyler , Mischen Pamela
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine how organizational characteristics at higher education institutions (HEI) influence their sustainability performance as measured by the advancement of sustainability in higher education’s sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS).

Design/methodology/approach

This analysis identified 11 independent variables to measure the impact of four general organizational characteristics – structure, commitment, culture and planning – on sustainability performance. Through an examination of relevant literature, especially that specific to HEI, 13 hypotheses were formulated to test the impact of these organizational characteristics on sustainability performance and to explore the relationships between these characteristics. Using self-reported STARS data from US HEI, a variety of statistical methods, including ordinary least squares regression, ANOVA, Chi-square test and bi-variate correlation, were used.

Findings

The analysis suggests that HEI with both a sustainability office and a sustainability committee, more staff in a sustainability office, a more comprehensive sustainability plan and earlier and more frequent STARS submissions had higher STARS scores. Furthermore, doctoral-granting HEI had higher STARS scores and were more likely to have the organizational characteristics of higher-performing HEI.

Originality/value

Although other studies have used STARS data to examine organizational characteristics, this study includes more organizational characteristics, and it explores both their relationship to sustainability performance and their relationship with each other.
Good looks and better outlooks: does satisfaction with physical appearance associate with future expectations?
Authors: Dilmaghani Maryam
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The present paper examines how satisfaction with one's physical appearance associates with hopeful feelings, as well as optimism.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the Canadian General Social Survey of 2016 and multivariate regression analysis.

Findings

At constant levels of current socioeconomic attainment, perceived intergenerational social mobility and self-confidence, satisfaction with one's physical appearance is found to associate with a greater hopefulness and more optimistic expectations about the future.

Originality/value

The present paper is the first economic study of how physical appearance associates with hope and optimism.
An exploratory qualitative analysis of AI ethics guidelines
Authors: Franzke Aline Shakti
Published: March 2022

Purpose

As Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) proliferate, calls have emerged for ethical reflection. Ethics guidelines have played a central role in this respect. While quantitative research on the ethics guidelines of AI/Big Data has been undertaken, there has been a dearth of systematic qualitative analyses of these documents.

Design/methodology/approach

Aiming to address this research gap, this paper analyses 70 international ethics guidelines documents from academia, NGOs and the corporate realm, published between 2017 and 2020.

Findings

The article presents four key findings: existing ethics guidelines (1) promote a broad spectrum of values; (2) focus principally on AI, followed by (Big) Data and algorithms; (3) do not adequately define the term “ethics” and related terms; and (4) have most frequent recourse to the values of “transparency,” “privacy,” and “security.” Based on these findings, the article argues that the guidelines corpus exhibits discernible utilitarian tendencies; guidelines would benefit from greater reflexivity with respect to their ethical framework; and virtue ethical approaches have a valuable contribution to make to the process of guidelines development.

Originality/value

The paper provides qualitative insights into the ethical discourse surrounding AI guidelines, as well as a concise overview of different types of operative translations of theoretical ethical concepts vis-à-vis the sphere of AI. These may prove beneficial for (applied) ethicists, developers and regulators who understand these guidelines as policy.
Audit quality and digitalization: some insights from theItalian context
Authors: Lugli Ennio , Bertacchini Federico
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The differences between Big audit firms (BigN) and non BigN (nBigN) have been discussed at the international level from various points of view, focusing in particular on issues regarding the different quality of the services offered. This study aims to analyze the impact of digitalization on audit firms in the Italian context, seeking to understand how this phenomenon has influenced the quality differences already studied in the scientific literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopts a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews. A total of 16 professionals working in the legal audit world were interviewed. The firms involved were PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst and Young and Deloitte in the BigN category and BDO Italia Spa, MooreAxis Srl and Analisi Spa in the non Big class. The data collected via the interviews underwent thematic analysis. This analysis allowed the identification of three topics, on which the presentation of the results concentrated.

Findings

The findings of this research reveal that the digitalization of companies has widened the quality gap between Big and non BigN. BigN have been better able to exploit the benefits of the new digital technologies due to their greater investment capacity. At the same time, stakeholders’ expectations of the audit process in terms of quality have increased sharply, also in relation to nBigN.

Originality/value

This study’s main contribution is its analysis of the impact of digitalization on the audit quality of BigN and nBigN. This paper contributes to the existing literature by studying the consequences of digitalization on nBigN, a topic previously unexplored in the scientific literature (Manita et al., 2020), and the impact of new technologies in the context of audit firms in general.
Organizational change capability: a systematic review and future research directions
Authors: Supriharyanti Elisabeth , Sukoco Badri Munir
Published: March 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review existing research on organizational change capabilities (OCC), which remains fragmented. This study aims to fill gaps in the literature by scientifically discussing contributions and highlighting the main issues with previous research findings regarding the dimensions that comprise them, as well as the antecedents and consequences of OCC.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper searched all research that studied OCC and published from 2005 to 2020. In total, 48 studies out of 249, found on Scopus and EBSCO-host, were included in the review.

Findings

This research found that OCC is a complex concept and that it has many definitions and dimensions. The findings also suggest that existing research has found that a number of organizational and individual factors are antecedents of OCC and have consequences for organizational outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

This review was only conducted on scientific publications from two article databases. Future research should search other databases on OCC as the broad concept may provide additional insights.

Originality/value

Literature on OCC is limited, and there is still no generally accepted definition of OCC, the different perspectives and measurement dimensions. On the other hand, for academics and practitioners, this study provides a comprehensive, critical systematization of the limited OCC academic literature. This study also offers opportunities for further research to address the limitations of empirical testing of OCC constructs, antecedents and consequences of the various theories and methodologies.
Perspectives of the academic employees on university social responsibility: a survey study
Authors: Reichel Janusz , Rudnicka Agata , Socha Blazej
Published: March 2022

Purpose

This study aims to investigate differences and similarities in the approach to understanding university social responsibility (USR) among the academic and university administrative staff.

Design/methodology/approach

The quantitative research was conducted on a group of 1,160 respondents from the chosen university. The survey contributes to the discussion about the needs and expectations regarding USR. The data were subjected to reliability verification and statistically tested.

Findings

The study revealed that academic and university administrative staff pay attention to different aspects of USR. The differences appear in expectations of the senior and junior academic staff and when scientific disciplines are taken into consideration. It may suggest that not only the level of research performance but also the structure of academic staff can be a driver for corporate social responsibility benefits.

Practical implications

Research results can be helpful for proper designing of socially responsible activities regarding different groups of employees and enable a better understanding of the needs of employees regarding the creation of socially responsible activities at the university.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by presenting the academic and university administrative staff’s attitude towards USR, giving better insights into their expectations and needs. Research findings contribute to the more grounded discussion on the topic and can be used by organizations to set goals and priorities for USR.
Dispensing care?: The dosette box and the status of low‐fi technologies within older people’s end‐of‐life caregiving practices
Authors: Morgan Tessa , Duschinsky Robbie , Barclay Stephen
Published: March 2022

Technology has been lauded as a solution to range of challenges presented by ageing population internationally. While the lion‐share of scholarship has focussed on high‐fi, digital technologies, there has been a recent shift to exploring the contributions mundane, low‐fi technologies make to older people's daily lives and our understandings of health, illness and care more broadly. Drawing from serial narrative interview data collected with 19 married couples aged 70 and over living in the U.K., this article explores the way one medical technology—the dosette box—was taken‐up and deployed in their end‐of‐life caring process. Informed by actor–network theory and critical feminist scholarship, this article considers how the dosette box played an active role in structuring relationships, scheduling daily care activities and enforcing medical compliance. In doing so, we suggest that the dosette box provided an unexpected companion and ‘weapon of the weak’ for older partner's attempting to assert their expertise and power while caring. We also explore how the dosette box demanded an even higher level of regular, vital care from older partner's once introduced into the home, thus entrenching the physical and emotional demands of dispensing care.
Association between porpoise presence and fish choruses: implications for feeding strategies and ecosystem‐based conservation of the East Asian finless porpoise
Authors: CHENG Zhaolong , LI Yongtao , PINE Matthew Keith , ZUO Tao , NIU Mingxiang , WANG Jun
Published: March 2022

The associations between feeding activities and environmental variables inform animal feeding tactics that maximize energetic gains by minimizing energy costs while maximizing feeding success. Relevant studies in aquatic animals, particularly marine mammals, are scarce due to difficulties in the observation of feeding behaviors in aquatic environments. This data scarcity concurrently hinders ecosystem‐based fishery management in the context of small toothed‐cetacean conservation. In the present study, a passive acoustic monitoring station was deployed in an East Asian finless porpoise habitat in Laizhou Bay to investigate potential relationships between East Asian finless porpoises and their prey. The data revealed that porpoises were acoustically present nearly every day during the survey period. Porpoise detection rates differed between spring and autumn in concert with activities of fish choruses. During spring, fish choruses were present throughout the afternoon, and this was the time when porpoise vocalizations were the most frequently detected. During autumn, when fish choruses were absent, porpoise detection rates decreased, and diurnal patterns were not detected. The close association between fish choruses and finless porpoise activities implies an “eavesdropping” feeding strategy to maximize energetic gains, similar to other toothed cetaceans that are known to engage similar feeding strategies. Underwater noise pollution, particularly those masking fish choruses, could interrupt finless porpoises’ feeding success. Fisheries competing soniferous fishes with finless porpoise could impact finless porpoise viability through ecosystem disruption, in addition to fishing gear entanglement.
Antifertility effects of levonorgestrel, quinestrol, and their mixture (EP‐1) on plateau zokor in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau
Authors: KANG Yukun , TAN Yuchen , WANG Chan , YAO Baohui , AN Kang , LIU Ming , SU Junhu
Published: March 2022

The plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi) is a key species in the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau ecosystem, and fertility control could be an ideal approach to manage populations of this subterranean species. In this laboratory study, we explored the effects of the mixture of levonorgestrel and quinestrol (EP‐1, 1:2), quinestrol (E), and levonorgestrel (P) on the reproductive status of plateau zokors. Groups of 5 animals of each sex were treated with different concentrations of EP‐1 (1, 5, and 10 mg/kg), E (0.33, 3.3, and 6.6 mg/kg), and P (0.67, 3.35, and 6.7 mg/kg) by oral gavage over 7 successive days and killed on day 15. Body mass reduction was observed in the EP‐1 and E groups. EP‐1 and E significantly reduced the weight of testis and epididymis at 10 and 3.3 mg/kg, respectively. Sperm count and motility were significantly reduced by 5 mg/kg EP‐1 and 0.33 mg/kg E. The levels of serum testosterone, estradiol, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone were significantly reduced by 5 mg/kg EP‐1 and 3.3 mg/kg E. EP‐1 and E significantly increased the uterine and ovarian weights at 10 and 3.3 mg/kg, respectively. In the plateau zokors, treatment with P had no influence on the reproductive status. These data demonstrate that EP‐1 and E have an inhibitory effect on a range of reproductive parameters in the plateau zokors. Further assessment is required to determine the effects on breeding and recruitment in enclosure or field experiments.
The Intersecting Identities of Chinese Urban Middle‐Class Women: Stories from Two Popular TV Shows
Authors: Hou Xiaoshuo
Published: March 2022

Popular media often reflect and guide major trends and discourses in a society. This article analyzes two popular Chinese TV shows. One is a TV drama series aired in 2020, and the other is a reality show broadcast in 2021. Both programs showcase the intersecting identities of Chinese urban middle‐class women and their challenges in balancing marriage and individual identity, work and life. While marriage is still a strong institution in China, especially in the eyes of the older generations and the Chinese state, the new generation of urban middle‐class women is increasingly unsatisfied with the constraints and gender inequality imposed by marriage. These women have made progress in some areas due to the privileges of their class, but they still struggle to balance the expectations of their different social roles.
Visible Women in Chinese Feminist Movies
Authors: Tang Qing
Published: March 2022

The past decades have witnessed the birth and growth of feminist movies in China since the Second Enlightenment following China’s reform and opening up. While a movie, like other forms of art, mirrors its times and cultural milieu, the female characters reflect specific groups of women living in specific contexts. Focusing on the works of three representative female directors born in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s, this article illustrates the development of China’s feminist movies by analyzing the themes they highlight and decoding the underlying similarities of their female characters as they are shaped by Chinese culture.
The Dao of Oshin
Authors: Gan Xia , Wang Zhihe , Yu Lan , Hu Rong
Published: March 2022

TV soap operas are disdained by the elite class in modern society, but some of them are much welcomed by ordinary people. Oshin, a 1983 Japanese serialized morning television drama, captivated both audiences. This series reflects both social transformation and prevailing norms. It also actively participates in the creation of a new social atmosphere and a new concept of womanhood. The characterization of the central heroes and heroines in this series convey the writer’s ideals and anticipation. Through her actions and her demeanor, the eponymous Oshin opens up a new path toward emancipation and a new image of women. To some extent, she shapes her world and that of others. The emergence of thousands of businesswomen has both echoed and responded to this popular, rags‐to‐riches story. This explains why Oshin has met worldwide acclaim. Oshin bravely pursues her personal independence, freedom, and happiness, but she also cares about others and always puts others first. She fights against patriarchy, but she respects men and treats them as partners rather than rivals. She is the integration of Western and Eastern culture and a fruit of the Second Enlightenment. She catches the essence of dao, whose wisdom lies in synthesizing and harmonizing seeming opposites in order to resolve predicaments and move forward. As we face an increasingly severe ecological crisis, such wisdom is urgently needed.
Representing Women Entrepreneurs in Tamil Movies
Authors: Arumugam Thangaraja , Sethu S. , Kalyani V. , Shahul Hameed S. , Divakar P.
Published: March 2022

Women’s entrepreneurship is one of the most evocative terms used in this century. Women have achieved sustained progress in all domains. Nourishing a business as an entrepreneur is a critical activity, which means we need to understand the role of women in developing businesses. Movies about the struggles of female entrepreneurs can help provide that understanding. This article discusses women entrepreneurs in Tamil‐speaking regions of India. Three Tamil movies that center on women’s entrepreneurship are chosen: 36 Vayadhinile (2015), KaatrinMozhi (2018), and Miss India (2020). One question that drives the action in the first of these films is what sets limits on women’s ambitions. Kaatrin Mozhi is about a woman driven by the desire to work as a radio host while maintaining her family life. In Miss India, the protagonist aims even higher. She hopes to create a corporate empire. These three movies portray different dimensions of women’s entrepreneurship and the struggles women face in establishing businesses. The movies reflect real situations. This article reveals the mounting evidence of consistent achievement by women entrepreneurs in Tamil society.
The Portrayal of Women in Popular Punjabi Music
Authors: Nancy
Published: March 2022

The Punjabi music industry, which generates an annual revenue of around ₹7 billion, is the largest independent music industry in India. Popular Punjabi songs produced for entertainment are also ideological constructs. They represent, reproduce, and reinforce gender disparities and foster the internalization of longstanding male hegemonic cultural beliefs. This article studies the lyrics and visual imagery of 10 popular Punjabi songs. The analysis of selected songs offers significant insights into gender power relations and identity construction in a patriarchal Punjabi society.
Negotiating Gendered Spaces and Contextualizing the Female Body: Reading Indian Films
Authors: Swamy D Premila
Published: March 2022

Indian films, both mainstream Hindi and those in regional languages, have successfully portrayed the everyday sociopolitical and cultural maps of Indian life. No doubt, contemporary filmmakers have experimented with forms and techniques and have also given enough space to address gender issues to provide empowerment. Recent films like Ki and Ka (2016) and The Great Indian Kitchen (2021) have used visual media to represent varied dimensions of gender performances, to negotiate gendered spaces, and to ask pertinent questions about women’s bodies. Using the cinematic narrative, I explore deep‐rooted marriage‐and‐family structures that are layered within the patriarchal psyche that limits women’s freedom and sexuality. Through analysis, I explore how these films subvert and negotiate “naturalized” gender dictums and allow us to reorient our thoughts on gender.
Portraying Women in Advertisements: An Analogy Between Past and Present
Authors: Arumugam Thangaraja , Latha Lavanya B. , Karthik Vignesh , Velusamy Kalyani , Kommuri Uday Kiran , Panneerselvam Divakar
Published: March 2022

Advertising in India from the 1980s until very recently has portrayed women as having sole responsibility for housework, even when they are employed. Women have been expected to live with restrictions imposed by men. In the last decade, the culture has begun to acknowledge women’s rights in limited ways, in part because of rising living standards. As a result, some cutting‐edge advertisements have begun to present a wider range of roles available to women. This article examines 10 Indian TV commercials and their relation to cultural attitudes about women and their role in society. The new advertisements recognize the need for gender equality, although they still express that ideal in relatively conservative terms.
Peri‐operative care of elective adult surgical patients with a learning disability
Authors: King T. A. , Duffy J.
Published: March 2022

People with a learning disability can experience significant problems in accessing healthcare and this may be partly reflected in worse health outcomes compared with the general population, including a shorter life expectancy. The Equality Act (2010) requires that organisations and individuals make changes to the way services are provided for all disabled people to mitigate, as far as possible, any disadvantage they may face in accessing these services. These changes are termed ‘reasonable adjustments’. This article describes the reasonable adjustments that can be made to facilitate the admission of an adult surgical patient with a learning disability, and therefore reduce health inequality. Each stage of a patient's journey through the hospital needs to be anticipated and planned for. Many of these changes are not only applicable to the wider care of people with a learning disability, but also to any person who lacks capacity and who is struggling to access healthcare. Key recommendations include the development of assessment tools, pathways and policies specific to the learning disabled patient; identification of key personnel including a learning disability lead, an acute liaison learning disability nurse, pre‐assessment and operating theatre personnel and ward learning disability champions; regular multidisciplinary team meetings for planning and best interest assessments; and establishing an electronic alert on the patient administration system to identify learning disabled patients. The anaesthetist, operating theatre and learning disability teams play a pivotal role in ensuring individualised admission plans are made for patients with a learning disability to reduce these healthcare inequalities and improve peri‐operative care.
Multi‐stage screening cell‐free seminal mRNAs to diagnose completion of meiosis and predict testicular sperm retrieval in men with non‐obstructive azoospermia
Authors: Dai Yuwan , Kong Xiangbin , Yao Chencheng , Xiong Chengliang , Li Zheng , Li Honggang
Published: March 2022

Background

Differential diagnosis of men with subtypes of non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is important for their treatment. Many genes are transcripted during meiosis. We hypothesized that some of these genes can be detected in cell‐free seminal message RNA (mRNAs) (cfs‐mRNA) and be developed as non‐invasive biomarkers for diagnosing NOA subtypes.

Objective

To screen cfs‐mRNA to diagnose the completion of meiosis and predict successful sperm retrieval (SR) in men with NOA.

Materials and methods

NOA patients who visited our institutes from September 2018 to December 2020 for testicular histopathological diagnosis (n = 109) or testicular SR (n = 92) were screened for participation in the study. Microarray and real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used in five stages to obtain candidate cfs‐mRNAs for comparisons between patients with early maturation arrest (eMA, meiosis not completed) and late MA or hypospermatogenesis (meiosis completed) and between NOA patients with successful SR and SR failure.

Results

Twelve cfs‐mRNAs were selected based on this comparison between men with eMA and hypospermatogenesis and their gene expression and function information. Of these, AKAP1, BOLL, TCP11 and SETX predominantly derived from testes and germ cells were proposed as candidate cfs‐mRNAs. Further quantification in men with NOA demonstrated significantly higher levels of BOLL cfs‐mRNA (p < 0.0001) in men with late MA or hypospermatogenesis (n = 23), compared with men with eMA (n = 51); and significantly higher levels (p < 0.0001) in patients with successful SR (n = 44) when compared with patients with SR failure (n = 37). Interestingly, with a similar cutoff value, BOLL cfs‐mRNA showed high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing late MA and hypospermatogenesis (>404 copies/ml) and predicting successful SR (>415 copies/ml). Correlation of BOLL mRNA levels was observed in paired semen and testicular tissues.

Discussion and conclusions

We propose that BOLL cfs‐mRNA is a promising non‐invasive marker for diagnosing the completion of meiosis and predicting successful testicular SR in men with NOA.
Left ventricular septal pacing versus left bundle branch pacing in the treatment of atrioventricular block
Authors: Zhou Yu , Wang Jinfeng , Wei Youquan , Zhang Wenbo , Yang Yuwen , Rui Shibao , Ju Changlin
Published: March 2022

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and clinical response of LVSP as an alternative to LBBP.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of pacemaker implantation, and 46 consecutive patients with pacemaker implantation were enrolled in the study. The patients were divided into the LBBP and LVSP groups. Electrocardiogram characteristics, pacing parameters, cardiac function, and safety events were assessed during implantation and 12‐month follow‐up.

Results

The procedure time was significantly increased in the LBBP group compared with the LVSP group (53.52 ± 14.39 min vs. 38.13 ± 11.52 min, respectively, p = .000). The pacing QRS duration (PQRSD) decreased by 14.09 ± 41.80 ms in the LBBP group and increased by 9.70 ± 29.60 ms in the LVSP group (p = .031). Furthermore, the left ventricle activation time (LVAT) was shorter in the LBBP group than in the LVSP group (48.70 ± 13.67 ms vs. 58.70 ± 13.67 ms, p =  .032). During the 12‐month follow‐up, pacing thresholds remained low and stable, and there was no significant decrease in cardiac function. No adverse event was observed during the follow‐up period.

Conclusions

Both LBBP and LVSP are safe and feasible methods. LVSP is a good option when multichannel electrophysiological instruments are not available and when the time available for the procedure is limited.